only conservatives can fix this. our friends on the left have zero credibility when it comes to focusing on reducing criminal activity. some moderate am a liberal thing where we shouldn't be here. this is punishing real criminals, violent criminals, and keeping the cost down so we do not have to lose the american taxpayer to fill prisons with people who were not a threat to other people. but if you leave them in prison of in a few get additional problems. this is about fighting crime smartly. i hope you will have a chance to take a look at it. -rightare a lot of center

leaders who signed on and said this is important. i have testified at a number of ideas --king taxis his -- taking texas's ideas. the number of states that have lines progress along the you were talking about, georgie, missouri, oklahoma, south carolina. pennsylvania. these are not blue states. these are red states. said it walked in and is a good idea. he did visit in vermont. they would laugh at you. can coming from the right serious criminal justice reform that saves taxpayers money and saves american lives, because , or lives theyon are damaged because the bad guys aren't in prison because we are to build the -- we are too busy

with people who don't need to be in prison. this is all about the conservative initiative to read we let the democrats vote with us. they don't get to write the bills. these are ideas that have forked. not only came up in texas. they worked in texas. this is federalism at its best. they have done this for several years. then you take it. as opposed to the guys who go we just have this thought. 3000 pages, stick it down the countries throw. why did they do that to vermont first? and come back and tell us that it worked. right on crime, smart on crime reforms, they come in state-by-state. i something isn't working want to find out about in arizona, not when someone has passed a law that affects all 57 states -- at once.

the number of states was just added to last night. mississippi senate passed a series of reforms. model is now being used in the other states. shown that it has works. a state legislature is usually with strong conservative leadership is modeling it. in adapting it to their states. we have a person here who has the most unique point of view on prisons. the largest prison in the united states. rikers island. he was commissioner of corrections. he became the nypd commissioner and was commissioner on 9/11. a true american hero. he wasn't targeted by the left when president bush nominated him for secretary of homeland security. sadly, this great man was sent to prison and spent three years

in custody, and has the perspective now of that view from behind bars. differ from when he was running a very effective prison system. please share with us your observation. cop three-day a correctional officer. a detective. a drug agent. i ran rikers island for six years. around the nypd. then i was nominated, and went to prison for three years. i have been in this business for 30 years. i was extremely dedicated. i was extremely decorated. i know the job. i know the system. i know what it is supposed to accomplish. i know the it is broken. when i went to federal prison, i was housed with men that i believed did bad things. people would tell me i have 10

years. i have 15 years. i've got 30 years. i'm in my 19th years. only eight to go. for a first time nonviolent drug offense. men, five grams of cocaine. the weight of a nickel. 10 years. man thatprison with a sold a wales tooth on ebay. he went to federal prison for selling it on ebay. fishermen, they caught too many fish. i have put people in prison. many people in prison. i put them there for a long time. bad and they did bad things. really bad things. they try to kill me. they killed my partners. cocaine.tons of

millions of drug proceeds. i go to prison, and i am housed with men that are there for first time, nonviolent, non-sense offenders. did they do something wrong? maybe. as someone said earlier, we are regular issues into crimes. we are putting people in prison regulatory and administrative issues. the reality is, i met some really good men. decent men. good fathers. good family men. they made a mistake. some of them didn't even know what they did. they went to prison. they went to prison because the system is broken. there are people who belong in prison. i have to complement the

governor. texas started the change in this country. the rest of the country should follow. it isrealized unsustainable economically poor you cannot continue down this road. havef the states that followed texas and will continue to follow texas because they have to pay for their budgets. they have to pay for those people who go to prison. , theyderal government print money. they print money. thee is the biggest harm in federal government? the mandatory minimums. the sentencing guidelines. we have to create alternatives. we have to stop putting people in prison that don't necessarily have to be there to learn their mistakes. i know people who were sentenced

to a year and a day. it is a life sentence. a felony convention is a life sentence. , a militaryng man who sold night vision goggles on ebay. 19 years old. he went to prison for three years. if i guy -- if that guy lives to be 110 years old, he is going to be a convicted felon. federal housing -- there is a list. the national association of criminal defense lawyers. they have a list of 50,000 things of collateral damage that comes from that label of being a convicted felon.

can't punish someone for life for making a mistake. i would nearly died for it, more times than i can count, for a country that has this constitution, the system is broken. >> well said. >> when i was in the legislature, i presume that the people prosecuting crimes were the good guys. i agreed with their point of view. a lot of them are. most of them are. there is also bureaucracy. just so you understand, doing

time is for the small amount of cocaine or crack, the prosecutors have these heavy sentences of the hammer. only seven percent of the people they prosecuted on cocaine charges are for major dealers. only seven percent. most of them are the salt -- small fries. think it'seaucrats easier to pick on the first time offenders. taking on a big kingpin means your family and you are threatened. we go after the numbers of small people, which isn't getting the cocaine off of the street. but it does run up there score. one of the things we as is anotheres, this government program. we should be as suspicious of department of corrections and

their spending as we are the department of transportation. if you can believe it, most states prohibit felons from cutting hair. one of the things you'll learn inside prison, you will learn to cut hair. they are prohibited from cutting hair. what are they afraid of? most felons are prohibited from ever working in a school. if they did a crime involving children, and or stand that. could maybe a gardener? something like that? we prohibited from working in a senior citizen home? part of conservative effort needs to be looking at these things and saying the bureaucracy shouldn't be

stopping these people. instead, it should be only protecting the public, not being a guild to protect workers from competition. grover, you have gone to these states. you have really been an apostle of this. right on crime has been an effective tool. i hope you will go by the booth. can you tell us about how it started? -- right on crime, i first ran into it with a working group of 10 people. starting to think through these issues. we didn't have rotter conservative movement focused on it. ae of the reasons, it took me couple of years. eventually i realized that was the one person in the room who had either been to prison or had an immediate family member in present.

had learned it was this problem. it is not quite the same thing. they let you out at the end of the day. i think that conservatives have begun to say a couple of things. we are good about pointing out the government ought not to do things that are not mentioned from time to time in the constitution. [applause] >> i am for that. >> we are clear on the government shouldn't do these things. however, having an armed forces to keep the canadians on their side of the border, that is written down. prisons to punish bad guys, a judicial system, property rights, that is in the constitution. that is a legitimate function of government. conservatives are starting to say we need to spend as much time thinking how we do this

stuff government should do intelligently, and smartly, and less expensively, and better than any other country or state in the world. that is as important as making the list of things the government should stop doing, or do less of on the way to not doing it all. i think it is more mature conservative movement that says we are ready to start governing as well as trimming it back. even when we are down to the things that are listed in the constitutional, legitimate functions of a live reasonable government, that list can be done more less expensively and controlled by people. a french leader said war is too important to leave to generals. we need to get more involved.

not have less recidivism. we need as a nation to focus on running prisons right. the digital system and the military right. -- e we say >> i have a request. i hit the page. i can see with the questions are coming from the audience. if vin can show me how. you came up with solutions. [laughter] i can't find the nolan tweets. >> he is going to fix it. [laughter] >> go ahead and ask me a question.

>> we are offering solutions. it seems to me the republican governors association would be a .reat for him to share this i am sorry. i am really sorry. >> ivers reading the retweets -- . was reading the retweets rick santorum is outside having a good event out there. [laughter] >> he asked about the interaction between governors. we do that. democratic governors interact. we are not really that aside.

we do compete with each other. it makes people uncomfortable, competition is uncomfortable. withi show up in maryland tv ads that are talking about the rain tax that you all have, and wouldn't be wise for most of you to move to texas so you do not have to pay that outrageous tax, the governor of those states get peeved. that is ok. it is not personal. this is about truly having an open conversation. people should be able to pick and choose the place they want to live. whether it is economic issues or social issues. that is the beauty of these 50 laboratories of innovation. we do look at best practices. it islect whether economic best practices, education is practices, criminal

justice that -- best practices. i want to go back to the president of united states. both recognizing that what we have done in texas. i know this was hard for him to admit. minimum that the are wrong.guidelines they are not working. that there is a place that is implemented programs that are making a difference in people's lives, economically making sense. it is making sense. getting people's lives back. if we are really going to be honest citizens of this country, being able to give people a second chance is important. the texas prison system, we are not perfect.

moving towards perfection every day. we hope someday to attain it. we probably won't. the fact is, that should be our goal. lock people up, throw them away, never give them a chance average engine. that is not what america is about. i hope that is truly what the conservative causes all about. >> on the mandatory minimum fight, i testified in congress on suggesting they think through it. i had the list in front of me about the mandatory minimums were. the list of things in the headlines. a politician wanted to have a press conference raising or establishing a mandatory minimum saying i am against carjacking.

but all of these other crimes that were not quite treason were way up there. just our rages. clearly driven by somebody's need to get a headline one day. we are living with it decades later. people in prison living with it i years later. you go to write on crime, families against many tory minimums speak to that. >> there are bills before congress right now. you can find out at the fam site. >> all of the good guys on our team are taking the lead on this. it is important. we cannot -- we cannot let the left once again at enough i a problem and then stick on top of that a solution that makes it worse.

we have to wrestle with the problem and come up with solutions consistent with conservative principles. >> if any of you want to contact me about the acu involvement, n@conservative.org. secondernor mentioned chances. that is something as a christian i believe in. even non-christians believe in giving people another chance. the people who have tremendous potential. because of their felony convictions are held back. tell us about your thoughts on second chances for some of these people. kid getsear-old arrested in baltimore. minimal possession of cocaine. it ties into a conspiracy. he gets 10 years. he is sent to prison for 10

years. he does 8.5. during that time in federal noson, he really gets education. no life improvement skills. no tools necessary to be a better person when he gets out, because he gets a new education. cheat,ns how to steal, manipulate, gamble, and fight. that is what he learns in prison. that is what you are taught. that is what prison is. it is a training ground for thuggery. you put this kid in prison. he stays for a .5 years. by some delusion, we believe that he is going to go back to society a better person. taught a class in prison. i would talk to these young men and say you have to get your ged. you have to get education. you have to pay attention.

that same young man looked at me i am black. i am a convicted felon. that ged isn't going to help me and for. you know what, i know men right minorat went to prison on white-collar offenses. they have doctorates. they have masters degrees. they have bachelors. they cannot find work. they cannot get hired. if they can't get hired, you think that young man, 21-year-old kid is ever going to get hired? never. the problem with that is, there are thousands upon thousands of them in prison. is that really what we want? you want to take all of the societal values out of a perverse and that they have --

values out of a person. you want to infuse them with institutional values. then, let them go back to society. it is wrong. it is wrong for this country. it is wrong for this party. if there is ever a time that this stuff can get fixed, this is the time. i'm going to just say it one last time. if texas can do it, the entire country can do it. >> that's true. [applause] your remarks, thank you for your service. thank you for giving back so much to this country. to, for sake of some governor somewhere that is going ofsee this, over the course just this last legislative

session, i want to go over a number of -- we had a successful session. i signed into law requiring our prison system to provide vocational programs to inmates based on the texas job market and what we were going to need when individuals would be able to get out. requiring inmates to be given more information so that they would have professional licensing information, and restrictions before they enrolled in a vocational program. liabilityve limited to employers that hire former inmates. that is a very powerful message. people say, you have been to prison, we are not going to hire you. issee that legislation, here

the protection that you need for my limited liability standpoint. it prison entrepreneurship program that was organized by houston nonprofit to issue certificates after they completed this program, using those prisons, prisons are going to be used as a training ground. one way or the other. whether you going to train them to be really good criminals, or training to be entrepreneurs. the choice is ours. >> they are going to be our neighbors. 95% of the people in prison are going to be released someday. theyn't it be better if had skills. not only skills to have a job, but to be a good parent. to be a good citizen. there is an employer in pennsylvania. a member of the federal reserve

board for the -- reserve board. a nixon appointee. over half of his employees at his plant rx offenders. ex-offenders. he said because jesus told us to priebus give it a shot. what he found is they are the best employees. they are grateful. he is careful who he chooses. they look out for each other. they keep each other on the straight and narrow. over 50% of his employees rx offenders because they show up every day. they are grateful for the job. they are on ice on the job. they help recruit each other from the good guys inside. they know who the good guys are. this is just one businessman doing it. he said it is not only a moral decision, it is a good business decision.

if you out there have a company, think about hiring and defender. maybe that them with a chaplain to see how they are. maybe from the local church. some club that you're in. but, given that second chance. we are coming to the end of the time. i will just tell you. standard, this effort a conservative taking the lead on conservative reform is the most significant social reform movement from the right in decades. it is. this is our chance to show we can provide solutions to a vexing problem. we show that they work. we invite you to be a part of it. it is exciting. we are making the community better by applying conservative principles. >> let me wrap up by saying our goal and our job as governors or

legislatures is to create a climate where entrepreneurs know they can risk their capital, have a return on investment, and in other words, create jobs. if this country does not have the jobs available for whether it is our veterans coming back, or whether it is inmates that are being released into society, we really haven't gotten to the real heart of the issue. the folks inor washington dc, my plea specifically for the president of the united states, to open up the xl pipeline. open our federal lands where there are actual jobs being created. using the resources we have in this country. put tax policy into place that gives incentives to move manufacturing back into the united states. if the president cares about these individuals, whether they

are veterans or inmates, or a young man and woman going into the workforce, this is the way to do it. create the climate in america where the truth whenever -- where the entrepreneur knows they can risk their capital and can have a chance for a return on their investment. then the american dream truly becomes available for all. some are given a second chance. [applause] thank you all very much. ♪ [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, please welcome ralph reed, founder and chairman of faith and freedom coalition.

>> good morning. are you having a good cpac? it is great to be with you this morning as we celebrate not only the conservative movement, but we celebrate america and what made this country great. and my friends, mcnown mistake about it. -- make no mistake about it. what made this country great, which still makes it exceptional and unique is the fact that the pioneers who were fired by faith, who founded this nation, crossed oceans, breathed dangers, and tamed the wilderness and settled the a nation to building that honored almighty god. today the greatness of the nation they built is in grave

danger. it is in grave danger in no small measure because our freedom as americans to practice our religious beliefs and to express our faith in god is under assault as never before. there is in truth a war on religion and a war on religious values. being waged by this administration and by their radical allies. a war that vacillates between a stubborn secular insensitivity and at times outright hostility to the expression of faith in the public square. unless you think that that is hyperbole, let me point out that two years ago this sudan evangelical lutheran church that had dismissed a minister and a

teacher and actually argued in federal court that no church in america has a right to hire and fire its own ministers. this astonishing argument was so morally and legally repugnant that the supreme court ruled against the obama administration 9-0 including both justices appointed by this president. [applause] week, left-wing bullies force to defeat other religious freedom bill. this did nothing then allow people of faith standing in court to defend themselves when they are forced to violate their deeply held religious beliefs. and here in maryland, not far from where we are gathered right this administration is attempting to force an order of

catholic nuns who care for the elderly and for the poor to pay for health care services that violate their religious teachings and assault their conscience, including taking the lives of the innocent unborn. thisuisiana right now, administration is trying to block the right of minority aid ton to receive state attend either religious or a charter school where they are safe and where they can learn. 50 years ago, george wallace stood in the schoolhouse door and said that african-american students could not command. today, the obama administration stands in that same schoolhouse door and refuses to let those children leave. it was wrong then, it is wrong now, and we say to president

obama, that those children go. -- let those children go. a brazen act of lawlessness, the attorney general of the united states speaking to the association of state attorneys general actually counseled state attorneys defend theiro state possible marriage statute. why? he did not agree with those laws. friends, when the chief law-enforcement officer of the united states shows no respect ,hatsoever for the rule of law and shows no respect whatsoever for the state constitutions and duly passed laws of sovereign states, particularly

when the same attorney general has lied under oath in congress, has defied subpoenas repeatedly, and has been found in contempt of congress, that i say that is an impeachable offense, and it is time for eric holder to go. [applause] all. at thenot scandal plagued iraq's while senior officials take the fifth amendment, that agency is attempting to enforce rules that would deny our first amendment right and would shred the constitution of the united states. these rules would outlaw voter registration drives in many churches, they would prevent the distribution of voter guides in proximity to a primary election theselieve it or not,

rules would prevent the posting of the voting records of elected officials on websites. there has been a torrent of protest against these regulations. over 140,000 comments filed. demanding that these regulations be withdrawn. but more than just amending the regulations be withdrawn, we call on this administration to fire those responsible, to prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law, and then fumigate that building and abolish the irs wants and for all. -- once and for all. [applause] none of this is terribly surprising. from an administration that is led by a man who once said the american people "cling to guns religion because they have antipathy in their heart for

people different than themselves." but what is equally disappointing in many ways -- equally disappointing, in many ways, more disappointing, that this secular agenda and war on religion is that times aided and abetted by republicans who lack the courage to stand and fight. [applause] after all, last week in ohio, georgia, and/or -- arizona, it was republican legislative leaders who caved under pressure from the liberal media and the lies of the radical left and killed religious freedom bills in each of those states that were simply modeled after the federal religious freedom restoration act passed by a bipartisan congress and signed into law by bill clinton. and i have a message for these are files and cowardice --

profiles in cowardice who often display the back bone of a chocolate a clear and who caved the minute they are criticized and that is that we are really done following those who advocate mushy, mealymouthed longerion, we are no going to follow the counsel of those who offer capitulation, masquerading as compromise, who counsel only the cold seduction of surrender. we are not going to follow lukewarm, so-called leaders anymore whose god is their ambition, whose idol is power, who seek the approval of those who share none of our core values, and to dare not deign to soil their hands with the sacred stuff of principle. we will not follow them any longer. [applause] from now on, we are going to 2014, 2016 and beyond,

onhing beyond unapologetic, alloyed conservative -- unalloyed conservative [inaudible] the sanctity of life and the sacred institution of marriage. [applause] testing, maybe our finest hour as conservatives -- may it be our finest hour as themrvatives, let's give the country they richly deserve. thank you very much, god bless you and god bless america. >> on saturday, live coverage of the final day of the conservative political action conference. speakers include newt gingrich, jim demint, former hewlett

packard ceo carly fear reena, and culture, and former alaska governor sarah palin. life coverage at 12:40 p.m. eastern on c-span. >> a categorization with david k eene. and president obama talks to high school students in miami -- high school students about going to college. >> we do not have a criminal investigation role. we have a vast and fortunate role. -- of the vertical things article things is we write the rules but we do not have the criminal authority. we have the power to bring with the approval of our commission civil actions, civil fraud actions and negligence actions

against those who violate the federal securities law. we cannot send anybody to jail, but we can assess civil penalties area -- penalties. there is some legislation in congress to give us an ability to assess higher penalties. we can require those who commit wrongdoing to discords their ill-gotten gains and the profits they make from their wrongdoing and we have the our to bar someone from the securities industry so they cannot live another day to defraud again area and >> securities and exchange commission chairman mary jo white sunday night at 8 p.m. on "q&a." now discussion on the conservative movement possible is if agenda. from "washington ," this is over 45 minutes. of thees south capital is national harbor,

maryland. right on the potomac river. that is where cpac is having its 41stl conference, the annual. sponsored by the american conservative union. david keene is the long-time chair of the american conservative union. 1984 to 2011? guest: that is right. host: what have you been doing? thet: i served two years as president of the national rifle association. i have been serving as editorial editor of "the washington times." american conservative union -- did you helped to found that? thet: it was founded in late 1964, right after the goldwater campaign. bill buckley was crucial in putting it together. at that time, you can imagine after the goldwater loss, there was a big effort to put things back together. the acu was the result. , fromin those 50 years

goldwater to some of the speakers you have today out there at cpac, how has conservatism changed? then, it was a small group. the first cpac was held 40 one years ago here in washington, the speaker was ronald reagan of california. there were about 100 people in attendance. 211,000 today, we have people in attendance. cpac has grown. just as important, the movement has grown. is notservative movement the same as the republican party. at the republican party is influenced significantly now by the conservative movement. which was not true back then. ast: yesterday was quite roster of speakers. who stood out for you? guest: i do not like to pick

favorites, i think they all did a pretty good job. this is an opportunity for people to come, potential candidates and the like. to come and talk to and meet the conservative activists. the people that attend this conference are the people that anybody, whether they are running for state or national office, have to rely on to do the hard work in a campaign to support them. they want to come here to talk to these people. it is the only place in the country where these people get together. reagan, in ronald majorgave his first speech outside the white house at this conference. he said the reason i am here giving this speech is i believe you dance with those who rub rung you. these are the people who got me to the presidency, i am here to thank them. potential candidates recognize that.

it is just as true today as it was then. they come here to audition before the movement so people can get a sense of them, their positions, and whether they like them. about awill ask you couple headlines. cpac showcases a divided gop. this is "the hill." politico says paul ryan touts creative tension. is there creative tension at cpac? tension is ave good term. this conference, over all these years, conservatives have debated and discussed and considered different strategic directions. and at different positions on issues that are important. exam is represents that feeling -- paul ryan very much represent that feeling that it is fine to be opposed. if you want to win, you have to

highlight what you are going to do. that is what he talks about. other people talk about different things. it is not that they disagree. most people here generally agree in terms of principles. they often disagree in terms of strategy and tactics. they often had different priorities. defense people, economic conservatives, paul would be a good example of that. and social security. while they like -- and social conservatives. while they like each other, they have different aspects. host: very few mentions yesterday of relatively hot topic for conservatives, gay marriage. why? is up to this bigger to pick his topics. i do not know -- it is up to the his topics.ick i don't know whether there is a panel on that. i have not seen anything about it. host: is is still a hot topic in

conservative circles? strong beliefs a in traditional marriage. many conservatives believe that marriage as it was historically should not be the function of the state. it is a religious and civil ceremony that goes on within the movement. there are those who believe, i think most believe that you should not be discriminating or hurting people that are different than you. neither should you be forced to accept things that you have objections to. i think the discussion among conservatives is more than a tendency on the part of some supporters of gay marriage, for example, or gay rights, to try to force other people to agree with them or to go along with what they want as opposed to letting everyone live. host: from your newspaper.

this -- mcconnell works to reassure conservatives. what did you think of mitch mcconnell's speech? guest: it was fine. it was a great honor for senator coburn, who is leaving the senate for health reasons. that mitch mcconnell came as the senate leader to present him with an award for his service. that is really the reason that mitch mcconnell was here. this goes to the whole strategic question. back in the 1960's and the early 1970's when there were disagreements within the republican coalition between the goldwater, and rockefeller wings. they had different visions of what should be done. today, if you were to talk to ted cruz, mitch mcconnell, and some others, their vision as to what ought to be accomplished does not differ very much. there is a consensus on conservative values and goals.

sometimesences occur, they are very divisive, over tactics and strategy. wasink that mcconnell here emphasizing that he shares the vision of the people here in this convention. you lived in kentucky, would you support mitch mcconnell. guest: i would. host: what do you think about the fact that he is having a really rough time right now in his reelection? guest: i am one who happens to believe that primaries and five for the nomination within a party are ultimately helpful to the party. i know the candidate does not always like that. i would be willing to bet that mcconnell overcomes that challenge and goes on to win the general election. being a party leader is a tough .osition you do not have the freedom to issue press releases and take

the position that this is the way the world ought to be. you have to work with a coalition of people in your own party and try to get votes from the other party where possible to achieve some progress. the party leader's position is always open to criticism. lord knows mitch mcconnell has been criticized thomas sometimes unfairly and sometimes fairly. i think anybody in kentucky who looks at what he has been able to accomplish what agree he is a pretty good leader. keene, lead editorial in "the washington times" this morning. harry's house of cards. talking about harry reid. did you write this? guest: i did not, i was busy here. i am not the only person with a pen. opponent tozing an avoid an argument over ideas is one of the lowest tricks in politics. this says principles are heavy

baggage and a climb to power. the next season of "house of cards" is a year away. guest: i wish i had written that. host: david keene is our guest from cpac at national harbor. phone numbers are on the screen. this tweet for you. are there any conservative democrats speaking at the conference, or are they extinct? guest: i don't know that they are extinct. if you go back to history in the 1960's and 1970's, the two parties were not as ideologically homogenous as they are today. of conservative democrats and a lot of moderate to liberal republicans. today that is not the case.

there are some conservative democrats here, the sheriff of is an electedty democrat. he is going to be speaking. there may be some others. there are not a democrats from the u.s. senate, for example, which tends to march in lockstep to harry reid's demands. why was theng and, minority outreach panel meeting room so popular. standing room only. guest: conservatives are really working to get their message out to different communities around the country. very interested and that. it is interesting because on the intellectual side in the conservative movement, there are a lot of minardi people. in terms of the politics and getting mass -- there are a lot of minority people. in terms of the politics and appeal, there is

not much effort. when you look at the politics, it really amounts to getting out and doing the work necessary to meet people. the values of most of the minority communities, the values, not the votes, 10 to in thiswith those conference. they want to know how to make fromconnection that goes those values to the people that hold them. host: when you look at demographics, is immigration reform and tour -- is immigration reform important for the hispanic vote? is an issue. it is important in many ways. one of the things that offended me over the last couple years in the debate over immigration reform is that it has been argued on those kinds of grounds. if we do this, maybe we will get some votes. something as important as the immigration rules and who we let andnd how we let them in

enforce our border policies should not be decided on the basis of how many votes you are going to get from this group or that group. it should be decided on what is good for the american republic and the american economy. i do not look at it in terms of the politics. congressmen,can the congressman who gets the highest percentage of the hispanic vote is from new mexico. he is very anti-immigration reform but he is out there. he knows his constituents. he is out there meeting with them. you do not always have to agree with them. if you get to like them you get the support. in terms be looked at of what is good for the country. people differ on that. i do think this, the two extremes in terms of debating

wakeration reform ought to up and realize that neither one are going to have their way. they ought to sit down and decide what is realistic and how to fix the problems we have. host: when is the straw poll that cpac does? is released saturday afternoon. all the registrants during the conference vote. and pick their favorites. then the results are town related and announced on saturday. it is interesting because the ,ress lise to say this year this guy is the favorite in terms of conservatives were present. that is fine and interesting. the reason the straw poll was put together is the other question. to find out where conservatives stand on some of the really important issues -- immigration the others.l that is what we look to when we analyze those poll results. host: david keene is our guest

from "the washington times." opinion editor. clark calling in from wisconsin on our democrat line. caller: good morning. conservatives that they have lost the popular vote 5 times in the last 6 national elections? see from thean speeches, the body is moving further to the right. nobody is going to vote, independents and others are not going to vote for someone that far to the right. guest: that is what i say about the democrats, they keep moving to the left. it did not bother bill clinton that he only got 43% of the vote. any political party in a two-party system has to shape its message and its product to get a majority of the vote. there are anomalies, of course.

we have the electoral college, which can make the difference on the margin. and we can have third-party candidates as we had with the perot candidacy when bill clinton was running. is asking,uestioner he is asking it rather sarcastically but it goes to a good point. as changes take place in the country and people focus on different problems, the job of a party and a coalition of people with strong beliefs is how to apply their values in a way that will attract majority support. it does not mean they should change their values. i do not advocate that democrats give up what they believe in. thatthink it is important if you believe strongly in something and if you are in the political area, you have to figure out how to make those values connect with voters. you have to figure out how to communicate those values and

op programs that help the economy. if you cannot do that, you are going to lose. i think republicans and conservatives can and are doing that. ohio, republican line. you are on "washington journal." caller: i really appreciate what he just said answering back -- answering that guy. what i like to see, i like to see a one to ten on each of them and then let people number them instead of just picking one. almost everyone on cpac so far, i am all for them. i am not for jeb bush, i do not trust the bushes. i see what is going on in florida, too. for most of them, you take a lot of good men with values and

integrity. that is what this country needs -- back to values and integrity. i really appreciate what you just said. host: mr. keene? guest: thank you. host: was jeb bush invited? guest: i am not in charge of the invitations. and spokere last year to see pat down. as governor of florida, he was a pretty good conservative. he has a marketing problem nationally because you can only thek of the fact if we had next presidential election, bush versus clinton again. we would have voters slashing their wrists. host: tweeting in. guest: conservatives believe

that if you provide an atmosphere in which entrepreneurship can flourish, you create jobs and make life better. a way thattaxes in both stimulates the economy and puts more money into joe sixpack or anyone else's pocket, you economy and the life they live. that is the difference between conservatives and liberals on the economic front. in addition, the one thing this country stands for is freedom to make your own decisions. most of the folks i know, i grew up in a union family. my father ran a bar where joe sixpack bought his sixpack. americans value freedom, that is what conservatives stand for. tennessee, independent line. our guest is david keene of "the washington times." hold that the

democratic party is the party of slime. republicans are the party of stupid. they do not know how to be ruthless. you do not have to be back, you have to be tough. that is why romney got wet and mccain got w-- that is what romney got whipped and mccain got whipped. democrats are going to destroy them because they do not have anything. we do not negotiate with the enemy. please comment. study,by way of a case let me reference the last presidential election. going into it, president obama newberry well he was going to lose millions of voters that had in 2008 because he

had not been able to deliver on many promises he made. his presidency was a far different than what he had promised. doy realize what they had to was make sure those voters did not move over to the republican candidate, which you would expect when that kind of thing happens. they had to create a situation where voters would say it may be president obama has not done that great a job that he is better than this other guy. they set out in the summer before that election to demonize republicans and demonize mitt romney in targeted states. a hole.d, they dug he did not respond. his reaction was nobody is going to believe that. people will believe it if you do not respond. i do not happen to think that conservatives or republicans tacticsse the dirty that the obama campaign used in

this last election. i do think they have to be tough and get their message back out. talk and articulate their values. they have to respond to attacks and get the truth out there for voters to recognize. sometimes, voters do not get what they bargained for. that was true in the 2012 election. the narrative that the president put out with obamacare, for example, and other things, had little relation to what he intended to do. people voted for a candidate that was not really the candidate they got. in other places, they get what they voted for. if you are in that arena, it is tough and you have to make sure when they vote they know what they are choosing between. if they know that, i am confident conservatives will win. int: david keene, tweeting

to you. what do you find objectionable about matt bevin? guest: i said i am a believer in primaries. i believe voters have every right to put up a wherever they want. i also said if i were in kentucky, i would go for mitch mcconnell. i have nothing against his opponent. over the years, and now, has been a very tough senate leader dealing with and often weak hand. situation in the senate. although way back to campaign , he has stood up and fought for values we share. we get tired of anyone who has been around a long time.

i think he has done a good job and deserves reelection. nothing against his opponent and nothing against a primary. it is support for a fellow i think has done a good job under adversarial circumstances. ohio, democrats line. caller: good morning. two questions. out of all the speakers yesterday they did have one thing in common. hate, to use the word that very strong dislike for the president. they had rude and disrespectful and mean things they said. i was curious how you thought about what they said and do you support language such as some of the things they use yesterday about our president and the office.

the second question is on conservative outrage. i hear you saying your language needs to change and the conservative movement needs to incorporate more people. i have got to say that actions speak louder than words. you can use whatever rhetoric you want, the policies actually need to support the people. host: thank you. anti-obama rhetoric and conservatives outreach. guest: 38% of the american people approve of the way the president is handling his job. just for partisan reasons and substantive reasons, you can expect hard criticism of the way this administration has acted. post" factgton checker said the lie of the year last year it was the president suggesting if you wanted to keep

your doctor, you could. this is a president who has dissembled. it is a president who has made runs around constitutional guarantees and has ended up in court. with of people are upset the way he acts. there was a democratic professor from george washington university who testified before the senate recently. he said i agree with barack obama's policies. but i think he is endangering the constitutional structure that has allowed this country to be free for so long. we are nearing a tipping point in terms of the constitution because of his actions. those are strong words from a liberal democrat. you are going to expect that sort of thing. if you look at rhetoric and

thisty and the way administration has acted, most of the policies it has adopted the been most harmful to groups that have supported this president most strongly. particularly minority groups. the unemployment rate among minority voters is much higher than it was in the past. -- everything from the minimum wage proposal that will make it impossible to get started jobs. the regulations on banks will make it more difficult for people to realize their dream of homeownership. all kinds of things. , i understandr her partisan support for the president, that is fine. she needs to ask those questions about her party. it is not the republicans who have been claiming, as harry reid and the president have,

that republicans are unpatriotic if they criticize the policies of this president. for david keene of "the washington times comes from the republican line, las vegas. romney would have won the election when he was having that debate. all he had to do was ask president obama when you got caught saying you would be more flexible about -- there's only right or wrong or good or bad. hadad to be something that to do with putin. he had no answer. i would like you to investigate 90nklin raines, who got million dollars from fannie and freddie. the person who wrote the checks is still working for fannie and freddie. how did he get that $90 million

for five years? if you want to put a stop to the democrats, there was a sitting congressman at the greta van sussman show. explosion andthe the gulf, isn't there an agency that oversees safety on these rigs. have some issues on the table. let's see what mr. keene would like to respond to. look at theu president's performance and the performance of this administration. because of the focus that the american people usually have in bad economic times when we are trying to come out of a recession on domestic policy. the obama administration has completely failed internationally. not partly but completely. john bolton, the former u.s. ambassador, made the point at the bank yesterday -- john

nolton, the former u ambassador made the point yesterday here that we cannot forget what is going on in the world. the u.s. trying to lead from behind has stepped back. he thinks that that leads to peace, it does not. the presidents who have used american troops less than any other president was ronald reagan. he believed if the country it was strong the signal would be slear that this is an tyrant had to be careful and they were. you have this in ukraine and in asia with china going after islands, declaring sovereignty over parts of the ocean that they have no right to. you have people saying the u.s. has checked out. we reallyan do what

have wanted to do and have not been able to do in the past. some focusing to be on the foreign policy of this administration as we go forward. it has been a disaster. host: wayne lapierre spoke yesterday at cpac. you served as president of the nra for a couple years. tweeting in. do you believe in majority rule because the majority of america wants background checks? guest: depends how you ask the question. that is the thing about polls. at the nra, we represent not millio --.25 quarter who are the 5.25 people members but the people who vote on second amendment issues. we supported a reasonable background check bill. we were fearful it was a way to

interfere and it would do nothing about crime or violence. it was a way to interfere with gun owners' rights. the way itrful that was constructed would allow the federal government to do what the justice department and the fbi and others have wanted for a long time. to establish a national gun registry. which is illegal in this country. the president suggested that by even saying that we were lying. week before the election, the american civil liberties union came out and said we have examined this, the nra is right. thesenot need any more of kinds of registries. we have enough people keeping an eye on everybody else. the government should back off. we are proud of the fact that we at the nra opposed that so-called universal background check. the system in place is not working. it is a system that we have

supported in the past. the government has not got it straightened out. most of the people that are buying firearms are not convicted felons or dangerously mentally ill, but false positives. a little bit like under the tsa when senator kennedy went to national airport and they tried to keep him from boarding a plane because he was on a database that said he was dangerous. they have not even fixed any of these things within the national background check system. we do not think that adding to the burden of americans with a perfect right to exercise their second amendment rights, it would have no impact on crime but just to grow the government. it is not a good idea and we opposed it. , not juste realize legislators, when people realize what was in this legislation, what it would lead to.

your callers mentioned of idea began toe crumble. when people know what it is a does not have majority support. host: john, independent line, from maine. good morning. caller: thank you for taking my call. i have a hypothetical question for you. are playing with fire. we continue going down the road we are going, there will not be any turning back. i want to ask how you feel about ralph nader, ron paul, and ross perot. there,ee of them got in things would be different. i will take my response off the air. guest: i assume what you are asking is my feeling about third-party candidates. they had every right to do that.

the problem in the two-party system, the kind of system we i was to support somebody running as a third party conservative in the national election, that would in the liberal democrat national election. it would take votes away from the more moderate conservative running against him. the question is what do you want customer do you want to make a point? you have every right to make that point. or do you want to try and move public policy and the way the country is governed in the way you believe it should be going? in the two-party system, what you need to do is in the final analysis after the primaries, support the coalition closest to your values. host: the front page of your

paper this morning, mr. keene. returns to find gop without backbone. he serves on the acu board. he regrets that the gop does not have a backbone. guest: i think tom is reflecting the feeling of many people. that perhaps the republicans in congress could have done more. at least on the margins, to move things in the right direction. the fights with the president, it is interesting that as a senator, president obama was all withvor of confrontation the president. including shutdowns if necessary. as president, he has refused to negotiate on anything. during the president -- the president who had the government shutdown the most times, jimmy carter with seven times under

reagan, it was shut down five times. the fights were over missiles in europe and abortion policy. president, jimhe baker did a piece about how reagan handled this. he said the buck stops here. he got together with congressional leaders and work something out. this president, for political reasons, refused to negotiate with opponents. saying let's say if we cannot force this into a way that will hurt republicans. on almosts backed off anything prior to the next election. if you have a president who does not believe in governing so much as running a campaign. if you have a president willing to risk anything by saying i will not negotiate on anything, remember health care. after saying he was going to talk with anybody, he would not include republicans in attracting -- in the drafting of

it. the first major thing to pass without bipartisan support. if you have a president willing to do that, you have to find someway way to get the votes you need in congress to thwart it. strategic and tactical question. i am not sure it is a lack of act on. i am sure it is overly cautious anderms of operating making challenges because of the nature of this president and his unwillingness to even talk with people he disagrees with. host: what is your take on john boehner? has had ahink boehner tough time. he has got a caucus that is very divided. he has members of the caucus who want to push harder than others. he has to try to pass things that will get some support in

the senate. the republican house has passed dozens of really good bills. none of them have moved because the senate afford -- the senate thwarted every one. i would hate to be in his position. that is a tough job. host: democrat in oklahoma city. caller: hi. the republican party has been talking about shaping their message and making sure they can supposedly reach out to minorities. sayke the fact that you what is on your mind. out of the heart of man the mouth speaks. in your attempts to sound like you are a legitimate individual who is looking out for the you-being of this country,

have shown yourself to be no more than someone who lost -- who wants to push back all the policies who have helped people ities or whor fall under and income level. you are a corporate sponsored individual. the new republican party is made up of 2 factions. for bigoratists business. and members of white the premises -- and members of white supremacist groups,. host: we have a lot of opinion on the table. guest: i love her, too. host: bill, republican in pennsylvania. caller: david, good morning.

so glad to hear from you. i miss you at the nra. guns foren getting my 15 years. between my gun and my car, that is the only thing i am looking for in this country. i am a very -- i am a very goldwater boy. is this, we have to stay away from religion and abortion. a very important thing for everybody. opinion -- whh at is the right thing for all the people. that is where we have to concentrate. to work on that basis. i guaranteed the republican party will come back. greece 50 years

ago. it is a republican country. host: bill, thank you. , int: i would only say that a two-party system, each party .s a coalition of voters republicans successes and conservative successes -- the conservative movement has been this coalition from the very beginning. the conservative coalition consists of economic free marketeers, people who believe in freedom and the free market and individual rights. people who believe in a strong national defense and a strongly protected country and people who believe in traditional values and religious conservatives. , when you'ret trying to put together a winning coalition, you don't want to drive anybody out of that coalition at shares most of your values. you remember ronald reagan says, anybody who agrees with me

percent of the time i consider a friend. when a callert looks that coalition, he agrees with that 80% of the time. i'm not one who believes in driving people out of the coalition. i want to bring more people in. host: three minutes left. rory on our independent line. caller: good morning. i would like to ask if he agrees with the 47% comment that mr. romney was caught on tape saying and whether he thinks it's all $250 for somebody worth taxesn paying less than a truck driver. guest: i think numbers often tell a story that is not as accurate as the people quoting

the numbers might think. that 47% includes veterans and receive somee who government assistance or some government subsidies. it might be nice if we lived in a society where none of that was necessary or insisted that we don't. a lot of those people in that so-called 47% are people who are conservative and who would vote for a conservative republican candidate who articulates his values well. so, no, although i don't think mitt romney meant it that way, it was a statement that obviously was incomplete and was used rather effectively to push them off into a corner. maybe warren buffet pays less taxes than a truck driver. what we need in this country is a tax code that is fair and and one that does not

punish people for success. the president believes we should punish people for success. that hurts everybody. john kennedy, when he was an taxes andmplified use the line, "a rising tide lifts all boats. ." karen tweets and -- "as whone who one -- has anyone -- that mes -- this is a straw poll of people who attended this conference on who they like. this time, there are a dozen or

more names out there. there will be a dozen or more candidates. what might be important is the attendees'second or third choice. most of the people who attend this conference are ultimately pleased with the way the primary process and convention process works. just camejob numbers out. we want to get your reaction to this. the unemployment rate is still at 6.7%. added in january. that? thatr take on beats the so-called expectations. guest: one of the reasons that we have been able to beat expectations is that more and more people continue to drop out of the workforce. peoplee are fewer working today as the percentage of the population then there have been in many years. so the unemployment rate is

still high. it persists the actual unemployment rate if you counted these people differently -- if you included in it people who have stopped looking for a job or people who have accepted jobs way below the qualifications on the other -- the situation is a lot worse than people think this. graduates can get a job anywhere near what they have trained for. we still have a serious problem in this country. the economy is growing very sluggishly. more sluggishly than it has after any previous recovery. that we are adding jobs. we are not adding nearly enough jobs. this has lasted far too long. host: opinion editor of the washington times -- the former president of the nra. a longtime chair of the american

conservative union, which sponsors see pack, which is taking place this weekend in the washington area. worked at time, you the onshore hotel. why didn't you move to the national harbor? guest: too many people. the hotel in virginia could not hold the crowds so we moved to the shore, which we had done in years before. then we moved to the marriott out there, which is a little bigger. then they cannot handle it, so now we are here. this is the largest facility in the area and it's the only facility in terms of a hotel that will handle this conference. the only other place we could hold it that would be at the convention center in t

andl singer looks at -- she discusses intelligent gathering and rights to privacy. we will take your calls. you can join the conversation on facebook and twitter, as well. the "washington journal" is live on c-span. it will be back in session next week. we have a preview of their agendas from bop to set, managing editor of the health. -- hill. >> looking ahead at the week in congress before they take their mid-march break. they wrapped up the break talking about ukraine and the

regardinging a bill ukraine. is that an issue on which the white house and congress can come to agreement? >> absolutely. only 23 members voted no. some of them cited the nation's debt. didall, bipartisan movement now we move to the senate. amendments on sanctions and other issues that --ld camp with kate complicate the situation. overall, there is a bipartisan movement to help ukraine. the white house is pushing it. one way or another it will get done. host: there was a debate on two bills regarding sexual misconduct in the military. a move forward with senator ms. gaskell's bill. will anyone vote against it? it should pass. we have been watching this

massive struggle interparty that played out on the senate floor. camp.d the allies in her that was carl levin who is the chairman of the senate armed services committee. was 55-4530 everyone wants to curb sexual assault in the military. it looks like this has a partisan support. the other measure has been defeated. what does that mean for the house? isthe companion bill sponsored by democrat. we have not heard house republicans talk about this. it has been all about the senate. once the bill passes the senate, what will the house do? a long way to go on this one. there may be some negotiation on it. is going to be an unusual day and night in the senate on monday for our

insomniac watchers. we will be on all night. >> two senators are going to be talking about climate change. this is because there has been a partisan battle over what to do on climate change, how to address it. some republicans say it is overblown. if you look at it, there is division among democrats on this. they are considering the keystone pipeline. changed affect climate in a negative pattern. the administration is downplaying that. it is expected at the keystone pipeline will be approved. the timing of this, i am sure is tied to that. one more item in the senate. we saw some reports that harry reid is not giving up on extending unemployment insurance. what are we hearing? there've been ongoing

talks to try to get a bipartisan deal. it has been between mitch mcconnell and harry reid. he is in working with a more centrist republicans to try to get some sort of deal. i would put pressure on the house. house republicans said they are not interested in moving an unemployment package. there cannot be that pressure until he gets out of the senate, and there has been no deal. in the senate, they do not want to be blamed for blocking this. they're trying to win back the majority. we do not know if they would succeed or not. about in terms of the medicare payment to physicians? what might happen with that? guest: i have been covering health care for while. in the late 1990's we were talking about this. we are still talking about it 15 years later. patch -- and this is

basically payments to physicians under that a care, they are under reimbursed good the physician lobby has been pushing very hard. it is expensive. if you change the complicated formula they are paid on, a cost roughly 100 $40 billion. they are trying to fix it with a delay in the individual obamacare mandate should that is going to be part of the boat mostly. what happens after that? in all likelihood, they will do what they always do. kick the can down the road. host: we heard there was some legislation coming down the house that deals with the president's authority and his ability to write executive actions? host: they are planning to move to bills. these bills are aimed at were public and say as overreach by the president. he is enforcing only laws that he supports, and that he wants

to delay certain parts of the law. republican say that is illegal. if they want to delay part of the bill, they have to tell congress why they are doing that. we have seen that some of the democrats are vulnerable. some of them have been siding with republicans. sec, managing editor of the health. thank you for the update. >> president obama talking to high school students in miami. after that we hear from texas governor rick perry. and john cornyn.

suffice it to say, most of health policy is not health policy at all grade it is budget policy. congress just docs -- issues, many of the big and puts together something that might be called a patch. maybe it is an extension. maybe it is called a stopgap. the fact is it ducks the big issues. it repeatedly ducks the big issues, particularly on medicare. there are 10,000 people eligible for medicare everyday. there is a very real cost attached with that. now the challenge is to try to find ways to move beyond this fixation on budgeting.

it would be one thing if it was sound budget policy. often, as i have indicated, we do not get up to the structural types of issues, and move beyond this sort of lurch from one budget amount -- calamity to another, and, with sensible policy. wyden on then challenges facing medicare. and on book tv, the time between russia and ukraine. that is sunday at 5:45 on c-span2. then the grounds and architecture of george washington's mount vernon on c-span3. president obama talks to students in miami about how to improve the nation's education system. he encouraged the students to consider college and urge them to fill out financial aid forms to get assistance. the president spoke at coral

reef high school. this is about 30 minutes. >> hello, miami. hello, cuda nation. hello. it is good to be here at coral reef senior high. you guys are just happy because it's warm down here all the time.

i don't know if you're aware of this, but the rest of the country is cold. listen, michelle and i are so grateful for the warm welcome. it is great to be here. i want to thank some people who are doing outstanding work. first of all, your superintendent, superintendent carvalho, is doing great work. [applause] we're really proud of him. your principal, principal leal, is doing great work. [applause] all the coral reef teachers and staff, you guys are all doing a great job. and you're doing what is necessary to help young people get ready for college and careers. so that's why we're here. we are proud of what's being done at this school.

i want to mention a few other folks who are here who are fighting on behalf of the people of south florida every day. we've got congressman joe garcia is here. [applause] we've got congresswoman frederica wilson here. we've got miami-dade county mayor carlos gimenez. your former governor charlie crist is here. [applause] and most of all, i want to thank the people that michelle and i came all the down here to see, and that is the students of coral reef. [applause]

we had heard great things about your school. we had heard great things about the students. we wanted to come down here and just see what was going on. and michelle and i just had a chance to visit with some of your classmates who are going through some of the scholarship applications, and we had a chance to talk to them and hear what their plans were. and first of all, michelle and i looked and we said, these must be actors playing students, because they were all smart and good-looking and organized. and i asked them, what are you going to do? and they're -- well, i'm going to be applying to business school, and then i'm going to start a company, and then i -- when i was your age, i didn't know what i was doing. i was lucky if i had gotten out of bed on time. so you guys are ahead of the

game. and we're here to tell you that you've got to keep up the good work, because by working hard every single day, every single night, you are making the best investment there is in your future. and we want to make sure you've got everything, all the tools you need to succeed. we want every young person to have the kinds of teachers and the kind of classes and the kind of learning experiences that are available to you here at coral reef. because that's the best investment we can make in america's future. now, keep in mind, michelle and i, we're only here today because of the kind of education that we got. that was our ticket to success. we grew up a lot like many of you. i was raised by a single mom. she was a teenager when i was born. we moved around a lot, we did not have a lot of money, but the

one thing she was determined to see was that my sister and i would get the best education possible. and she would press me. sometimes she'd make me wake up, do my lessons before i even went to school. she was not going to let me off the hook. and at the time, i wasn't happy about it, but now i'm glad she pressed me like that. because, thanks to my mother and my grandparents, and then great teachers and great counselors who encouraged me, and a country that made it possible for me to afford a higher education, i was able to go to college and law school. and then when i met michelle, i saw that-- [applause] there were a couple of things i noticed. i noticed she was smart. i noticed she was funny -- she's funny, she's funnier than i am.

obviously, i noticed she was cute, yes. [applause] but one of the things i also realized was, even though we had grown up in very different places, her story was a lot like mine. her dad worked at a city water plant. he didn't go to college. he was a blue-collar worker. michelle's mom -- my mother-in-law, who i love to death -- she was a secretary. no one in her family had gone to college. but because she had worked hard and her parents understood the value of education, and she had great teachers and great opportunities, and because the country was willing to invest to make sure that she was able to pay for college, she ended up going to some of the best universities in the country.

so the point is she and i have been able to achieve things that our parents, our grandparents would have never dreamed of. and that's the chance this country should give every young person. that's the idea at the heart of america. what makes this country great, what makes it special when you look around, and miami is a great example of it, you've got people coming from everywhere, every background, every race, every faith. but what binds us together is this idea that if you work hard, you can make it -- that there's opportunity for all. the belief that no matter who you are, no matter where you come from, no matter what your last name is, if you are responsible and put in the effort, you can succeed. there's no limit to what you can do. that's what america is all about. opportunity is what drew many of your parents and grandparents to america. and we've got to restore that idea for your generation, so

that everybody has the same chance michelle and i did. that's why we're working on what we call an opportunity agenda to create more jobs and train more workers with new skills. to make sure hard work is rewarded with a paycheck that supports a family. to make sure that everybody can get health care when they need it, so that nobody has to get into financial trouble because somebody in the family gets sick. [applause] and for the students here, a lot of you, you may not think about these issues all the time. you're spending a lot of time on homework and sports, and this and that. but you also oftentimes see your own family struggling and you worry about it. and one of the single-most important parts of our opportunity agenda is making

sure that every young person in america has access to a world-class education -- a world-class education. so that's why we are here. i believe we should start teaching our kids at the earliest ages. so we're trying to help more states make high-quality preschool and other early learning programs available to the youngest kids. i believe that our k-12 system should be the best in the world. so we started a competition called race to the top, to encourage more states like florida to raise expectations for students like you, because when we set high expectations, every single one of you can meet them. you're recruiting and preparing the best teachers. you are turning around low-performing schools. you're expanding high-performing ones. you're making sure every student is prepared for college or a career.

i believe that every student should have the best technology. so we launched something we called connected to connect our schools to high-speed internet. and i want to congratulate miami-dade and your superintendent, because you have achieved your goal of installing wi-fi in every single one of your schools. so the good news is, in part because of some of these reforms we've initiated, when you add it all up our nation's high school graduation rate is the highest on record. the drop-out rate has been dropping, and among latino students has been cut in half since 2000. miami-dade's graduation rate is higher than it's ever been. that's all because of the efforts of so many people, including the parents and students who have been putting in the effort. it's because of the teachers and

administrators and staff who are doing such a great job. you should be proud. we're making progress -- we're making progress. yes, you guys -- by the way, you can all sit down. i didn't realize everybody was still standing up. sit down. take a load off. you guys can't sit down though, because you don't have chairs, although bend your knees so you don't faint. but here's the key thing, coral reef -- we still have more work to do, all of us -- elected officials, principals, teachers, parents, students. because, as michelle says, education is a two-way street. folks like us have to work hard to give you the best schools and support that you need. but then, you've got to hold up your end of the bargain by committing to your education. that means you've got to stretch your minds. you've got to push through subjects that aren't always

easy. and it means continuing your education past high school, whether that's a two-year or a four-year college degree or getting some professional training. so i want to talk about an easy step that high school students like you can take to make college a reality. and it's something you already know here at coral reef, but i'm speaking to all the young people out there who may be watching. it's called fafsa, the free application for federal student aid. it is a simple form. it used to be complicated. we made it simple. it doesn't cost anything -- that's why the word "free" is right there in the name. it does not take a long time to fill out. once you do, you're putting yourself in the running for all kinds of financial support for college -- scholarships, grants, loans, work-study jobs.

for the past five years, we've been working to make college more affordable. we took on a college loan system that gave billions of dollars of taxpayer money to big banks to manage the student loan system. we said, we don't need the banks, let's give the money directly to students, we can help more students. [applause] we can help more students that way. so we expanded the grants that help millions of students from low-income backgrounds pay for college. we're offering millions of people the chance to cap their student loan payments at 10 percent of their incomes once they graduate. today, more young people are earning college degrees than ever before. that's a great thing. that is a great thing. but we still need to do more to help rein in the rising cost of tuition. we need to do more to help

americans who feel trapped by student loan debt -- because no striving, hardworking, ambitious, young american should ever be denied a college education just because they can't afford it -- nobody. unfortunately, there are still a lot of young people all across the country who say the cost of college is holding them back. some of you may have sat around the kitchen table with your parents wondering about whether you'll be able to afford it. so fafsa is by far the easiest way to answer that question. and i know the barracudas know all about fafsa. last year, you had the second-highest completion rate of any large high school in the state. you should be proud of that. your teachers and parents should be proud of that. but last year, almost half of high school graduates in florida didn't fill out the fafsa form. [audience boos]

>> that isn't right. not only is it not right, but it also ain't right. and as a result, they lost out on over $100 million in pell grants. think about that -- $100 million that could have helped florida students help pay for college was just left on the table. that's just in florida. nationwide, over one million high school students did not fill out the fafsa form. that happens every year. so my challenge today to every high school student in america -- fill out the form. even if you think you might not qualify for financial aid, fill out the form. you might qualify. and we're making it easier than ever. we put the fafsa form online. we made it shorter. it takes about half an hour to fill out. and it could change the rest of your life.

we've updated it to save your parents a lot of hassle as well. and today, i'm announcing another improvement. today, i'm directing the department of education to tell every governor that, starting today, they can, if they choose, confidentially let high school administrators know which students have filled out the fafsa form and which haven't. so that way, if principal leal wants to check in with the seniors -- i know, everybody is like, wow. i know she's already on top of stuff, but this way, she could check and seniors who had not filled it out, she could then help them answer the questions and figure out what's holding her back -- what's holding them back. anybody will be able to go online and find out the number of students who have filled out the form at each high school, so we can track it. so if you want to have a friendly competition with palmetto high or miami killian .

to see who can get a higher completion rate on your fafsa, you can do that. you achieved the second-highest rate in the state, but i mean if you want to settle for number two, that's okay -- you might be able to get number one. huh? i'm just saying you could go for number one. [applause] so these are things i can do on my own, but i'm here to also tell you i need -- i could use some help from folks in washington. there are some things i don't need congress's permission for, and in this year of action, whenever i see a way to act to help expand opportunity for young people i'm just going to go ahead and take it. i'm just going to go ahead and do it.

[applause] so earlier this year, michelle and i hosted a college opportunity summit, where over 150 colleges and universities and nonprofits made commitments to help more low-income students get to college and graduate from college. but i'm also willing to work with anybody in congress -- democrat, republican, don't matter -- to make sure young people like you have a shot to success. so a few days ago, i sent my budget to congress. and budgets are pretty boring -- but the stuff inside the budgets are pretty important. and my budget focuses on things like preschool for all. like redesigning high schools so students like you can learn real-world skills that businesses want . like preparing more young people for careers in some of the fields of the future -- in science and technology and engineering and math to discover new planets and invent robots and cure diseases -- all the cool stuff that we adults haven't figured out yet.

these are not just the right investments for our schools. they're the right priorities for our country. you are our priority. we've got to make sure we have budgets that reflect that you are the most important thing to this country's success. if you don't succeed, we don't succeed. [applause] we've got to make sure all of you are prepared for the new century, and we've got to keep growing our economy in other ways -- attracting new high-tech jobs, reforming our immigration system -- something congressman garcia is fighting for. and the rest of congress needs to stop doing nothing, do right by america's students, america's teachers, america's workers. let's get to work. let's get busy. we've got work to do. all of us have work to do -- teachers, school counselors, principals, superintendents,

parents, grandparents. we all have work to do, because we want to see you succeed, because we're counting on you, barracudas. if you're convinced you can do something and apply effort and determination and energy to that vision, then not only will you be great, but this country will be great. [applause] our schools will be great. [applause] i