is in today. legislative work starts at 2:00. they will take a vote on extending unemployment benefits at 5:30 eastern. >> is a budget reporter. thank you for joining us. sense ofo get your the ryan a budget. what is happening with the ryan budget? >> it will be debated. it will be voted on this week. probably wednesday and thursday. >> this is happening at the same time that democrats are releasing their own budget. >> they will release a budget today. compared to the ryan budget, the spending cuts will be much less

very of it will have a lot of revenue increases. this will be mainly through closing tax breaks. >> will this get any time on the floor this week? will it have a hearing? probably be considered along with the ryan budget. considered.ably be the congressional black caucus caucus willressive have budgets. they will be debated and voted on. negotiateds been caps off or the coming year, will there be any surprises? to the comingg year, which is 2015. was partt cap for 2015

of the budget deal last year negotiated by paul ryan and patty murray. proposal in the ryan budget to change that. it does propose reducing the government operating spending further in the coming 10 years. >> how much are we going to be seeing again, campaign season? >> there will probably be campaign issues. usecrats are planning to the spending cuts in orion use that iny to campaigns against republicans. republicans will be pointing to ,arious proposals in the budget spending cuts, not raising taxes in their campaigns. it is an off year election.

isr people vote area important to both parties if the bases out. will be advertising this conservative budget with their base. before we let you know, the unemployment insurance extension , is it set to happen tonight? that should pass. thatl democrats voted for bill last week. voted toublicans consider it as well. that should get an easy majority. >> how much pressure is there on the house to move this bill? >> there is a lot of pressure to move it. some republicans in the house would like to consider this area

john boehner is skeptical of it. he said it would be unworkable to go back and pay these unemployment extended benefits retroactively. republicans are emphasizing other and that initiatives and get people back to work. it is doubtful that the house would consider the bill this week. it is possible. it could considered in future weeks. not considered at all. there is a lot of opposition to it or it c-span is resenting a documentary competition. it encourages middle of high

school students to think critically about issues. this year, students were asked to create a video-based of the question what is the most important august should consider 2014?l winningthe second place video to fix the national debt. >> our national debt is a problem with the u.s. economy. it is never been as big of a problem in the past. netted the u.s. is became leading more and more debt, other countries may not continue to buy treasury bonds. >> it gets too big and somebody that our lenders get nervous about our ability to repay. they stop lending us money. that would create a cascading series of problems. that would put us into a debt

crisis like we have seen countries like greece go through. is demand the greater concern?? back.consumers pulling physicist are holding off investment because of weak consumer demand. of >> debt is our biggest concern. thow will the u.s. cope with its own debt? the dead began after the revolutionary war. america had borrowed money from france and the netherlands to pay for the war. over the next 10 years, the national debt was $43 million.

finance firms. the u.s. treasury department was created to borrow money and was supposed to keep the debt at a manageable level. was toartment of finance make sure the costs did not mean raising the debt. over $5l war cost billion to fight. passed athe government legal tender act which allowed the government to print paper money to help pay off the debt and to sell $500 million worth of treasury bonds. in the early 20th century, america. for world war i by selling bonds and raising taxes. was $25e war, the debt billion.

the depression and the stock market crash drove the debt up even further. economy had ii, the still not close to surpassing the gross domestic product. the debt had more than quintupled after the war. it was now $256 billion. >> there was a big debt after world war ii. debt arerge amount of most cause an economic lapse. the debt situation has never been more dire. >> we are approaching a level that would be the worst we have ever had. recently, one of the greatest threats to the u.s. has been default. default is the act of not being able to pay back the debt. this leads to distrust of the nation.

default would be horrific as the country would not be able to borrow the money it needs to keep itself running. the collapse of our economy. to where theose u.s. would not have been able to pay its bills. we have a ceiling and the law on how much we are allowed to borrow. unless it is lifted periodically, the treasury department runs out of money to finance the debt we have. we came close to that. it has happened several times in the last five years. >> the different parties are working together to combat the national debt. >> the good news in this round is that we hope our republican colleagues have learned the right lessons. there was unnecessary pain imposed on the country for 16

days. we hope our colleagues will sit down and recognize this negotiation should be between the budget and nobody should threaten to shut them the government for an advantage. can put down those clubs and have a serious conversation, we could advance the ball. >> they are working together to make the debt a thing of the past. ofwe submitted a series budget compromises. targetedk to very policy to reduce the debt as a share of our overall economy. >> i will work with anyone in this chamber to build on this momentum. i intend to fight obstruction with action. i will oppose any effort to return to the policies that brought on this economic crisis in the first place.

we get serious about tax issues that can impact the economic stability -- >> due to the efforts of political figures and the president, america is beginning the gross the mystic product and create jobs. >> we lost another 4 million jobs before our policies when in full effect. those are the facts. so are these. in the last 22 months, businesses have created more than 3 million jobs. it [laughter] [laughter]

think we have to be smart about it. to find a way to work of the deficit and the debt. we have to do that in balance. the winningall of videos, go to c-span.org. tell us what you think about the issues these students want congress to consider. post your comments on our facebook page. lomax road -- regionally spoke at the national press club in washington. by johnater joined lewis and danny davis. his remarks are about an hour. >> good afternoon. and welcome.

my name is myron belkind, adjunct and graduate school of political management. the former bureau chief for the associated press, and the 107th president of the national press club. the national press club is the world's leading professional organization for journalists. committed to our profession's future, through our programming, with events such as this. while fostering a free press worldwide. for more information about the national press club, please visit our website at www.press.org. and to donate to programs offered to the public through our national press club journalism institute, please visit www.press.org/institute. on behalf of our members worldwide, i would like to welcome our speaker and those of you attending today's event. our head table includes guests of our speaker as well as working journalists who are club

members. if you hear applause in our audience, i note the members of the general public are attending. so it is not necessarily evidence of a lack of journalistic objectivity. i would also like to welcome our c-span and public radio audiences. you can follow the action on twitter. a using the #npclunch. and after our guest speech in after our guest speech concludes, we'll have a question and answer period. i will ask as many questions as and time permits. now it's time to introduce our head table. and i would like to ask each of you to stand briefly as your you you to stand briefly as your name is mentioned. and on my left, your right, mark hammert, the washington bureau chief of bankright and former n.p.c. president. troy johnson, wnew, whur and nbc 4. a joe madison of sirius x.m. satellite radio. and jerry's remsky of buffalo news and chair of the n.p.c.

in a news and chair of the n.p.c. speaker's committee and a former national press club president. and him and skipping over our speaker for a moment, captain kevin wensing, u.s. navy retired and speakers committee members who organized today's event. and him thank you, kevin. tamika smith of radio one. atamika smith of radio one. a larry bevins of gannett, and him retired and former and n.p.c. board member. a you and and nyrie wright, m.s.l. group corpus and chair of is the n.p.c. 5-k committee. \[applause] and him and him they're and historically black colleges him and and produced alumni who him and made history. from the reverend martin luther him king jr. to justice thurgood and him king jr. to justice thurgood marshall to tony and him marshall to tony and morrison and congressman john him and him and him lewis who is and him and him and coming right

in from the hill. all of these graduates of these schools have gone on to lead in and schools have gone on to lead in fields ranging from politics him to literature, to the arts. and and for 70 years, the united negro college fund has been the and financial lifeline that's allowed many of the students at an historically black colleges and him to thrive. and him every year, the fund and him provides more than $100 him and million in scholarships to tens of thousands of students. over the decades, the fund has raised and distributed more than $3 billion in educational an $3 billion in educational assistance. and in 1999 was the beneficiary of a $1 billion gift from the in of a $1 billion gift from the a and bill and melinda gates foundation. $1 billion may seem like a lot of money, even here in washington. but the need is so great that for the united negro college fund, even $1 billion will run out eventually. and that's just one of the challenges the united negro

college fund faces as it enters its eighth decade. and him here to address those and him here to address those and him challenges is our guest and him today, dr. michael l. lomax. and him and president and chief executive of the united negro and a college fund. a native of los angeles, dr. lomax graduated from morehouse and college and embarked on a him college and embarked on a career as a literature professor. and him he later served as and president of dillard him president of dillard university before taking the helm at the college fund. and in 2004. him ladies and gentlemen, please and join me in giving a warm national press club welcome to and a dr. michael lomax. \[applause] and in an >> thank you, myron. thank you, ladies and gentlemen. and great thanks to all of you and for joining us today. him to discuss the current state him of educational opportunities for college students of color in and the country. and particularly the challenges

facing our historically black colleges and universities for and hbcu. him hbcu. as i look around the room i feel certain a great majority of you and certain a great majority of you know who we are at the united negro college fund and what we do. him and him i'm also aware that and him many americans of a and him diverse background know him us primarily for our iconic and him motto "a mind is a and him terrible thing to and him waste." and without knowing precisely him what our role is. and in let me take a few moments to clarify. and him uncf was formed in 1944. a yes, we are in our 70th year of existence. to consolidate the fundraising andto consolidate the fundraising for a group of him and him americans historically black colleges. and uncf core mission has always him and uncf core mission has always been to help fund these him and vital institutions that him and him have brought and him educational and opportunities to african-americans for over 100 years. during our 07 years we have helped more than 400,000 students graduate from our partner schools by raising

nearly $4 billion. over time, we have developed a profile as a premium well-run nonprofit and an efficient manager of donated dollars. this led the bill and melinda gates foundation to entrust us with $1.6 billion in grants beginning in 1999 to be used for scholarships for all communities of color. andim and him and him today, we support more than an 12,000 students at 900 schools across the country each year. but our core mission remains our partnership with 37 private four-year hack's and to advocate for all 105 hack's, a number that includes the state-supported historically black institutions as well. today, our member schools are facing a financial crisis as

severe as any in uncf's history. and pressured by years of rising costs, even though uncf member schools have operating budgets that average less than 50% of those of other four-year private colleges. that is to say they tend to have much lower tuitions and are in many ways a best buy in education. the irony of the situation is that the financial crisis comes at a time when interests by african-american high school students in attending hack's has been on the rise for over a decade. between the 2001 and 2002 academic year, and the 2012-2013

year, uncf member institutions saw a 78% rise in applications. at a 64% increase had in admissions. these numbers are comparable to all four-year institutions. but while enrollment at all four-year institutions rose by 21% over that period, enrollment him and him and at uncf's member him and hack's remained him and him essentially flat. rising by only 5%. why? the answer is simple. lack of funding for scholarships. tend to draw students from comparatively low income families and the need for financial aid is significant. uncf is working hard to meet the strong demand by young african-americans for an education at our member schools. but donations have not kept pace with that demand. particularly in the aftermath of the great recession. the good news is that the demand

is there. i'm often asked, how colleges that serve an almost exclusively in black population can still be relevant in today's world. why, i'm asked, would a young african-american want to attend one of these institutions? well, for one thing, hack's do a very good job educating these students. hbcu graduates from laser focused on getting jobs. that's why they go to college. they understand the critical importance of a college degree in today's economy. most hbcu students major in business. or a business-related field like accounting. many are interested in the stem subjects, science, technology, engineering and math. they know where the jobs are. there are deeper reasons for continued demand for hack's, however.

i've talked to thousands of students about their interest in attending an hbcu. and they tend to raise three points to explain why they want to attend an historically black college. first, they say the schools feel like home. they feel like family. second, they believe hack's will let them explore themselves as an individual. rather than as a statistic. and finally, at an hbcu, they and feel they can learn more about where they come from. this is a powerful set of motivators that echoes research from uncf's frederick d. patterson research institute. and i believe will continue to motivate students for years to come. desire and high motivation, however, are not the same as in scholarship funding. i have found it personally painful to see the number of

applications for the scholarships available through uncf skyrocket while the number of scholarships themselves has grown much more slowly. the ratio of applications to available scholarships is approaching 10-1. at uncf, we all agree that this has to change. we have redoubled our efforts to increase donations and revamped and our operations to better serve uncf members and our students. the reality of these bright he and young people with dreams for a college education but desperately needing scholarships led to last year's update of our fundraising campaign which we called "better futures." we need to raise the level of urgency of our appeal to donors

and highlight the impact of a college education for everyone. but particularly for african-americans and students of color. we needed to look at funding for scholarships at hack's less as an isolated donation and more as an investment in the future. it is an investment in the future of young black men and women and an investment in the future of their communities and an investment in the future of the well-being of our society. so our iconic motto recognized according to research by over 90% of americans has been changed to reflect the urgent need to create better futures. our new motto reads "a mind is a terrible thing to waste, but a wonderful thing to invest in." and investing in students through uncf works.

our patterson research institute examines the effectiveness of our scholarships and found that an african-american freshman who receives a $5,000 uncf scholarship returns for her sophomore year at a 94% rate. graduates in six years at a 70% rate. you which is considerably higher than the 59% six-year grad wakes rate at all our four-year colleges. and sees her likelihood of graduating increase by over 7%. so let me make this point clear for you. and the six-year graduation rate for african-americans is 40%. in if we could increase that rate by over 7%, we would graduate close to 16,000 more

african-americans with bachelor's degrees each year. that is an investment that pays dividends not only for those students but also to the investors and the country at large. this data and other economic impact research undergirds our campaign so when we talk about an investment in uncf, as an investment in better futures, we have the numbers to back it up. the new campaign from supporters has been positive. and we are optimistic for the future. but the financial crisis at our hbcu members is happening right now. today. it is real. and it has been made worse by a changes made by the department and him of education in october 2011. to the credit requirements for parent plus loans. these loans are one of the most important supports for higher education provided by the u.s. him government.

and and they happen to be a major funding source for college by african-american parents who are willing to make great sacrifices to help their children realize their dreams of a college degree. we were blind-sided by the changes that literally from one in day to the next made many thousands of these parents in ineligible for parent plus loans. the impact on students who depended on parent plus funds was immediate. and devastating. many who arrived at their college dorms after the summer break in the fall of 2012 were literally turned away at the door. eventually, some 28,000 hbcu students felt the shock of the changes to parent plus. many were forced to drop out of school.

themselves lost $155 million in revenue in 2012-2013 alone. further straining already tight budgets. it is astounding that this administration that has set itself up as a great promoter of education could have pursued a policy change so detrimental to the education of so many young people. and to make the change with no public discussion. no advanced communication. and zero effort to give parents and students timely information and and potential alternatives and him wasim simply irresponsible. after more than two years this situation has remained essentially unchanged. despite widespread concerns by parents and the efforts of a him broad coalition of organizations. with a leading role played by members of the congressional black caucus.

a the only effort to rectify the situation has been a letter by a secretary duncan to the c.b.c. to announce a program to allow parents to appeal their parent plus status and plan to make -- to take a look at the credit criteria through a lengthy regulatory process. not an acceptable solution. in the face of this situation, uncf has made a special appeal to our supporters for emergency funding to replace the lost parent plus loans with scholarships for students forced to drop out of school. i want to thank the many individual, philanthropic and corporate donors who have responded to our appeal. let me be clear. that uncf believes that both and him parent plus loans and and the more widely used pell him and him him grants, as well him as all of the federal loan him and programs, need attention

him by the government so they and will better serve students him and will better serve students facing today's him and facing today's him realities in college education. draconian overnight changes are adraconian overnight changes are him not the way to proceed. what's needed is a more and him thoughtful, collaborative process. and however, we are also aware that in washington, and him collaboration is lamentably in short supply. a and and you know, there was a him and you know, there was a time when partnership did not stand in the way of progress. that when partisanship, pardon me, when partisanship did not stand in the way of progress. in washington. and coalitions built with members of both parties were able to find common ground to move forward on important initiatives for the public good. but we have now entered a time of widespread paralysis in our nation's capital. him nation's capital. combined with a decade or more of cuts to higher education at

in him the state level, that and him have forced public and him college and university and him and tuitions to rise far beyond the affordable level for as him a large portion of americans. we now see higher education in a crisis mode throughout the country. a while uncf will continue to advocate for change in washington, we have responded to the paralysis by increasing our and traditional focus on the private sector. with our updated campaign, and emphasis on donations as an investment, we are sparing no effort to meet and form and him and relationships with individuals and organizations interested in supporting higher education. him and him all we ask is that and they believe in our mission him they believe in our mission and him and and in the reality is that a mind is a terrible a thing to waste but a wonderful him thing to invest in. and in and with that, let me

share a recent experience related to our new better in related to our new better futures campaign. a him and as i think it provides a a window into just how and him polarized our world has and him become. sadly, it's a world that puts andsadly, it's a world that puts him politics before a student's education and her future. many of you have probably heard and him of the ad council. and in but may not know what him and they do. him and they provide free public him and him service announcement and him time on television and radio for nonprofits such as him and uncf. the time is donated by the him stations and other sponsors. him a number of times last year, our p.s.a. announcements aired for free on rush limbaugh's program and on thel jazeera network. well, i bet you can guess what happened. we received angry letters and

calls from all across the country asking how we could possibly support rush limbaugh and al jazeera. the reality is we did not and do not financially support them. and in but we did want their and in audiences to hear our him message. while i'm not certain we received huge traction or new donors, what i do know is that our message about the importance of investing in students and students of color should be in delivered whenever and wherever there is an audience. there should be no litmus test on who wants to support uncf. ours is not a partisan message. it is a universal appeal and one we believe all americans should support.

in the end, i bet we did get a and couple of new supporters. in but the bottom line is education for low income minority students must transcend a politics. if we are to succeed. it's important to emphasize that none uncf does not consider the crisis facing hack's as the only or perhaps even the most important issue in education today. it is simply the one most central to our mission. we are advocates for education we in a number of areas. one of them is college readiness and the primary and secondary school initiatives designed to make those schools more and effective at providing solid learning and preparation for college and careers. him and him research by the and him testing firm a.c.t. last

him year indicates that only 5% in -- let me say that again. only 5% of recent a.c.t. tested in a him and african-american him high school graduates and high school graduates measured by combined scores on a english, reading, math, and him science beverage benchmarks and in that only 5% of those him tested students are college ready. and this has to change. him and it can change when students take a rigorous college preparatory curriculum that includes a core of four years of english and three years each of math, social studies and him and him and him science. as the authors of the a.c.t. and study say that they have an in consistently found the and him students who take the recommended core curriculum are more likely to be ready for in a college or career than and college or career than those him and who do not.

a a a a a a a.c.t. data show a a that african-american high a.c.t. data show that african-american high school graduates who have taken core or more as they say curriculum meet college readiness benchmarks at much higher rates than those who do not. this tells me the two new nationally adopted curriculum standards in english and math called common core, that have caused heated debate, must be preserved in the form that gives our students the rigorous preparation in basic courses they need to succeed in college and careers.

at the end of the day, i go back to our better futures campaign. we serve our partner hbcus to create more economic security for more young people. this reverberates throughout the community and our society. education is the best form of economic development. it is the best pathway to better futures. hbcus have played and continue to play a role in the education of african-americans. dating from the time in which blacks were excluded from public land grant universities and other institutions of higher learning and continuing right through today. hbcus that represent only four percent of the nation's four-year colleges and universities account for almost 20% of african-american bachelor degree recipients. hbcus have proven their value. we all have a role to play in overcoming the current crisis and ensuring their success and long-term viability. uncf has accelerated and

intensified its appeal for donations from individuals, philanthropies, and corporations. we believe that all who have a serious interest in higher education should consider donating to hbcus through uncf. please remember, a mind is a terrible thing to waste, but a wonderful thing to invest in. i am delighted to take questions. [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, please join me in welcoming the honorable john lewis who came from a busy morning on the hill. [applause] >> i am honored to have my congressman of georgia join us

and an alumnus of an hbcu member institution. congressman lewis, thank you for being here today. john, i have to do what you probably have to do. i have to answer questions at this point. i may call on you to help me out. [laughter] >> dr. lomax, you mentioned that uncf donations have not kept pace with demand. why is that? >> uncf donations have been going up but not at the same pace as the demand -- because the demand is so great. for every scholarship that uncf provides -- this year, we will provide about 12,000 scholarships with a dollor value of $100 million.

we turned down nine students for every scholarship we award. the demand is 10 to 1. uncf is committed to redoubling our efforts to increase the amount that we have to provide scholarships to students and support to private historically black colleges and that is why we're here today to let you know there is a crisis at hbcus. they are there to educate low income students. those students don't have the financial wherewithal to pay with tuition and they need scholarship support that uncf provides. >> after 70 years of success, uncf has had leaders going into many fields. has the success of your students translated into significant grants and endowments and aided fundraising efforts?

>> we are in the final stages of this year's annual campaign which will end on march 31. when we close our books, we expect to have raised somewhere between $70 million and $75 million this year. we will have a base of tens of thousands of individual donors, as well as corporations and foundations that will of helped us raise that. we will of had almost 50 special events in cities all across this country. and throughout that network of support, uncf alumni have provided labor to help us raise those dollars. we have to get even more support from america's wealthiest individuals from major

corporations and foundations to ensure that we can address the crisis of affordability and resources for students today to pay the tuition to attend the college of their choice. if we are not able to do that, they will suffer, the communities will suffer, and our nation will. >> the gates foundation money is substantial. is it structured into an endowment and if so, why can't it meet the demand for scholarships? >> the bill and melinda gates foundation awarded uncf initially $1 million in 1999 to award 20,000 four-year scholarships to african-american students, latino students, native american, asian. we have awarded 17,000 of those scholarships.

we will award 3000 more scholarships in the next three years. 1000 scholars a year. this is a program which has a strategy. it will run out, although there will be a surplus of about $300 million at the end of the scholarship period. i see my chief financial officer shaking his head -- maybe a little less than that. they did not want an endowment. they wanted this to be a program. even $1.6 billion can't pay for everybody. we have shared with the nation the impact of that scholarship which -- these students can make this award their senior year of high school. these are high performing, low income students. they can take this to the

college of their choice. we have them attending 900 colleges and universities and they graduate at a 90% five-year rate. we also will support them through the phd, hence the stem disciplines and in public health. it has been an incredible demonstration of the power and impact of scholarships. we would like to see more people step up like bill and melinda gates have and support more young people as they work to realize their dreams of a college education. >> the night of stars led by lou rawls was always a great source of funding. does it still support uncf's mission? >> an evening of stars started almost 40 years ago. nancy wilson and clifton davis

were the first two stars to step forward and create the program in los angeles. lou rawls became the guiding light, the late lou rawls. we continue to have the show. we have made some changes. this year, we will tape it in atlanta, georgia, not in los angeles on april 6. it will be broadcast on bet on april 13. it is returning to its roots as a fundraiser. it was an old tele-thon with people sitting at a long table answering phones. we don't do that way. there will be a 1-800 number. there'll be a lot of social media and it is our plan that this will re-energize a new generation of funders around this critical time of supporting individual students in need of financial support for college

educations and historically black colleges which are in financial crisis today. >> why do you think the obama administration has been so unresponsive to your concerns about parent plus loans? [laughter] >> it has been a conundrum for me. why the administration dug their heels on what is, by even their own admission, a bad policy and a bad process at arriving at that policy. i will let secretary duncan and his team make the case for why they have maintained the policy. i will make the case today that parent plus, federal financial

aid, all of the loan programs need a comprehensive and thorough review. which is part of the reauthorization of the elementary -- the reauthorization of the acts that created these programs. my view is that they need to go turn the clock back, returned to the policy that was in place prior to the change they made, and then have an open process for considering this and other changes that need to be made. the reality is there was a huge pipeline of low income, first-generation students queuing up to go to college. they worked hard. they have learned what they were supposed to learn, they have done what they were supposed to do, they are at the doors of college classrooms all across this country. they have the academic

preparation, they don't have the financial capability of paying tuition and room and board. we need to find a way for them to get private scholarships and that is the work of uncf. the federal government needs to get the pell grant so they can pay for more of that college experience wherever the students go. we also need to recognize that students are going to have to have skin in the game. they have to borrow. they and their families have to make decisions. we need structure the loan programs so that the interest rates are appropriate. so that the repayment plans are taken into consideration whether a student is employed in how much he or she is making after graduation. also, so that the collection of those loans is not on the backs of colleges and universities. what is undertaken by the

federal government itself. in australia, if i borrow to go to college, the equivalent of the irs which is responsible for collecting my dad, they know how much i earn and they know how much i can pay back. today, that responsibility is on the back of colleges and universities. it is a distraction from the work they need to be doing which is ensuring that their students graduate with the skills and capabilities needed to compete in the 21st century. why the obama administration's focus on just parent plus and made it such a bad fix and told us a little bit about it? i think they need to defend. i think we know it has had adverse impact on the students and their families were trying to get a college education and that is why uncf is continuing to speak on this issue and why

we continue to raise dollars to help those students with private scholarships. >> one more question about president obama. president obama recently launched his my brothers keeper initiative aimed at "to help more young men of color facing especially tough odds to stay on track and reach their full potential." is the united negro college fund a part of obama's effort and do you see this as an area where you can play an important role? >> we want to model partnership and civil disagreement. we can disagree with the obama administration on an issue and we do on parent plus. we are vigorous in our disagreement, but we can also lift up the incredible work that the president, first lady, and the department of education are doing to focus on students of

color, low income students who are trying to get a college education. nowhere have they done a more important job than focusing on boys. yes, we look forward to partnering with them and had a suggestion recently from the department of education official that we focus again on the successes we have had with latino, and native islander youth. 50% of all the scholars are boys and they have a graduation rate almost as high as the girls. across-the-board graduation rate is 90%. what we demonstrate is when you remove the financial barrier and you provide support for these young people who are pursuing something that is really hard --

going to college, leaving home, leaving their support network. if you provide them support, they will soar. there are other examples within the uncf scholarship portfolio of success with the young man and we look forward to highlighting those and getting others to replicate them. >> regarding your support of the common core of national curriculum, what would you say to common core critics who say it is a top-down takeover of education? >> common core curriculum which is really just setting very high standards in math and english and writing and reading for understanding was something that was embraced by most of the

states' governors and it has only been in implementation. there are critics that say this is some kind of way of centralizing the role of the federal government and controlling what happens in local education. our kids need to be competitive in the 21st century. they don't need to learn english in one way in one community and english and another way at another community. these are fundamental building blocks for all education. i think our kids can be taught at a highly rigorous and demanding level and they can rise to that occasion. the students there competing with are not just the kids from

the suburbs. our kids are competing with kids in china, india, and western europe. they are going to compete in the 21st century, they are going to have to work harder and they're going to have to learn more and learn exacting rigorous standard levels and that is why i support common core. i made one other point. for years, the curriculum for low income kids of color has been dumbed down. it has been the general education courses, the basic courses that those kids have been exposed to which is neither prepared them for citizenship, for career, nor for college. i want low income african american, latino and other kids of color to get the chance not to be low income.

the best chance for them is to get the education that will prepare them for college and to get the support that will enable them to graduate from college. that is why i support common core. >> the level of education and reading and writing proficiency among many high school graduates has fallen in some places in recent years. are uncf schools seeing this and how do you rate the quality of incoming freshmen today compared with those from 10 to 20 years ago? >> i taught freshman composition beginning in 1959. i have a pretty good recollection of just how good those young men were nearly 35 years ago. many of the kids that i taught in an earlier generation wanted to go to college, but they had

gone to segregated schools in the deep south and they had not gotten the kinds of educational preparation. we spent a lot of time at morehouse in the 1960's doing remedial work. every student took reading and basic writing courses and they had to work very hard to be able to get proficient so that they could move into the advanced courses. today, the good news is we are seeing more young people who have gone to demanding middle and high schools who are graduating college ready and they are coming to the institutions prepared to do for credit work. the a.c.t tells us it is only five percent were college ready in all four disciplines.

they mean that a student has a 75% chance of getting a "c' in one of the courses or getting a 50% chance of getting a "b." they may not be proficient in all four of those areas, but maybe in three or two of them. we are seeing more kids that know that college is important, are motivated, and are doing everything they can to succeed, not always with the preparation. i spoke with one college president a year or so ago as we were facing the parent plus loan problem. he said, the irony of today being a college president is i am seeing students come who are academically better prepared, but who are financially more challenge. i say -- even as we saw the academic preparation issue, we got to solve the financial capability issue and government

really has a very important role to play there. >> how has access and the rapid growth of online education affected the historically black colleges and have easy online education affecting the business model of the schools in the future? >> we continue to see significant increases in applications to black colleges. as i said, close to 80% over the last decade. admissions are up. acceptances are down. we don't think that -- we think the reason why the students don't come is because we can offer them more scholarships and financial aid. not that they think there was a better school for them to attend or that they want to go online. today, online is a vital and

vibrant and growing sector. it continues to attract older learners who are already in the workforce who want to enhance their skills. or get another degree. i don't see them as competitive with hbcus. i would say they are laboratories for best practice on how to instruct using technology and i think that all brick-and-mortar colleges and universities would be well brick-and-mortar colleges and universities would be well served partnering with online education and learning how you can instruct effectively using that medium. it is one that not many people understand. one bright spot at many historically black colleges is that members of our faculty and

staff who are working full-time in administrative and faculty positions have chosen online universities as places to pursue doctoral degrees. so, i would say that has been a good thing and i think online is here. you disregarded at your own peril. i believe there is an important role going on into the future or black colleges to provide the kinds of nurturing, family, supportive environment that many of these first-generation high school students are looking for and said they want and can only find, not online, but at an hbcu.

>> there is but also great growth in for-profit colleges in recent years. what is your opinion on the education they provide and their costs? >> some are good, some are very good, and some are bad. it is the role of the federal government through its accrediting and oversight to determine who the bad actors are and to get them out of the marketplace. >> i know you touched on this briefly but let me ask -- some people suggest that a college degree is not for everyone and that trade schools or community colleges with technical programs are better use of funds and provide more job opportunities than traditional four-year colleges.

what do you think of this train of thought and hasn't had an impact on hbcu? >> there are a lot of answers to this one. one of them is the people that always talk about college as not being valuable any longer are people who if you asked them where they are telling their own kids or their own grandkids, they are telling them to go to college. the college remains the gold standard. a four-year degree is a great investment for any young person. they will double their earnings over a lifetime. we have just gone through a terrible recession. as bad as the unemployment has been in the african-american community or at large, it has not been as severe for our college graduates. african-american unemployment

for college graduates has been about eight percent. unemployment at large was about 15%. it has been a good buy. college is not for everyone, but everybody should be ready for college. i think we shouldn't assume that certain kids are not going to go to college because when we start assuming that, we always look at the black and brown kids as the one we assume are not college material. there are some great jobs out there that don't require a college degree. most of those great jobs require a certification or some post secondary education. if you are going to be an auto mechanic working on bmws, you are going to do that with the computer on one hand and another piece of electronic equipment on the other. it is not going to be your manual labor as we used to think of it. i will say that we need to prepare all of our kids for the skills that are required in the

21st century workforce and that means some post secondary education, whether it is a certification or four-year degree. most americans in the 21st century are going to pursue education episodically. they are not all going to graduate from high school, immediately enroll in college, and complete in four years. that is, today, the minority of students. the majority of students are going to finish high school, go on and get some college, go into the workforce, beside the need to update skills and go back and forth throughout their lifetime. we need to have support for those students wherever they are on that journey, including financial support and financial

programs that recognize that people are going to go in and out. i think that is the work of the department of education and it is the work of organizations like uncf that provide scholarship support to the students throughout their educational journey. >> american university continues to attract students from around the world. do historically black colleges attract and seek out international student and in what numbers? >> hbcus are diverse institutions. if you go to xavier university in new orleans, you will find there is a large group of first and second generation vietnamese who are studying pharmacy. if you go to houston, you will find they have a significant

double-digit percentage of their students who are mexican-american, many of them first-generation. that is the case at hbcus across the country. in florida, many of the students

are first-generation haitian americans. more often than not, hbcus are attractive institutions to new americans. they are also institutions which have international reputation as places where students of color have had an opportunity to get a good degree. one of the countries that is focused a lot of attention as of late on hbcus has been brazil. with strong programs like howard university here, with morehouse and spellman, sending students to study in the u.s. and those institutions setting their

students to study abroad. there is an international dimension. there is a diverse population of students and these institutions open their arms and embrace anyone who wants to come there to learn. >> we are almost out of time. before asking the last question, we have a couple of housekeeping matters. i like to remind you of our upcoming events and speakers. on march 31, senator creigh deeds will discuss mental health and on april 2, the irs commissioner will be speaking. please feel free to come in here. [laughter] now, dr. lomax, i would like to present you with the traditional national press club mug which we give to our many distinguished visitors from around the world and united states. i am honored to do so. thank you very much. [applause] thank you for coming today. my last question -- your iconic motto is that a mind is a

terrible thing to waste. with colorado and other states having legalized marijuana, do you worry that more students will be wasted on campus and that they might waste their education as a result? [laughter] >> no. [laughter] since i have a few minutes remaining, i would like to ask my good friend and my congressman john lewis if you would say a closing remark about the importance of an hbcus education. john? [applause] >> thank you, dr. lomax, for all your great and good work. thank you for all that you do. if it hadn't been for these colleges and universities, i wouldn't be standing here today. first one in my family to finish high school. first one in my family to go to college. education is a pathway to the middle class, middle america. it makes us all citizens.

if it hadn't been for these colleges and universities, we wouldn't have a civil rights movement. maybe martin luther king junior or james farmer. a julian bond. with students sitting down, not standing up. these colleges and universities bring about a nonviolent revolution, a revolution of values, a revolution of ideas. while i have the podium, i want to take a moment to yield to a friend of mine. >> we were just going to introduce him. >> mr. davis. he is -- when it comes to education, he is a champion. danny, thank you. you want to say a word? [applause]

congressman davis of chicago. he is a native of arkansas. >> he has hbcus now. >> actually, two of my heroes have already spoken. there isn't much else that i would need or desire to say, except that the schools have provided and continue to provide, not only the experiences that john has had, but experiences that thousands of young people all over the country. if there was not a morehouse, it could've been in arkansas or a southern illinois. southern university in louisiana. or could've been all kinds of institutions. please give if you have the resources. i share with dr. lomax when he talked about education and the struggle that we had with them. i share with john all of the struggles that he has had throughout his life and the fact that he is such an inspiration to all of us. thank all of you.

[applause] >> thank you all for coming today. special thanks to dr. lomax, congressman davis, and the congressman lewis. this has been somewhat of a spontaneous ending but i think it is ending on the right note. i would also like to thank the national press club staff including the journalism institute and broadcast center for organizing today's lunch. if you would like to get a copy of today's program or to get more information about the national press club, please check out our website at press.org.

thank you and we are adjourned. [applause] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] >> both the house and senate return for business today. house gaveling in for morning hours speeches at noon eastern about 45 minutes from now. or at 4:00 eastern. four goals on the calendar, including one to take reform on the baseline, and automatic inflation increases from one year to the next. places after 6:30 to allow members to return to their home districts. senators will take a vote on extending unemployment benefits at 5:30 eastern. the senate live on c-span two.

c-span, 435 years been public affairs events from washington directly to you, putting you in the room at congressional hearings, white house events, read things, and hearings. offering complete gavel-to-gavel coverage of the u.s. house as a private industry. brought to you as a public service. >> this is an hour.

>> next, a discussion about journalism and national security with the journalists who received nsa files from edward snowden. in the wheezy and i will republican senator elbert guillory rates the obama administration. after that, michael lomax on the future of the united negro college fund. glenn greenwald, laura poitras, and others appeared at the sources and secrets conference in march. they have not returned to the united states since the snowden story broke because they fear arrest or subpoena. this is 45 minutes. >> it is an honor to introduce our next speaker, who made a bold political move, switching his party, his affiliation, as a sitting state senator, from democrat to republican. senator elbert guillory defended his party transformation in an inspirational youtube video that received over one million viewers. i was one of those, by the way. i watched it. i was stunned and moved. it was brilliantly done. i don't forward a lot of things on facebook, but this one i did send to everyone.

it was very powerful. his message in the video focused on putting principles before quick results and freedom above all else. senator guillory became active in the civil rights movement in the 1950's before john dingell unitas -- before joining the united states navy. he graduated from rutgers law school. if you do not see the youtube video, you'll get a flavor of it right now. it is and gentlemen, please welcome senator elbert guillory with a speech entitled "american dream report card." [applause] a great audience for you. >> good morning, colorado. it's great to be back in colorado. i first stepped onto colorado soil when i was a young law student and young skier. the last time i was here, i then-wife's and my then-eight-year-old daughter and i climbed a mountain. i tried to explain to her on the earlier ski trip that i had saved a young man's life in a ski accident, and he turned out to be the governor's son, so he named mount elbert after me. [laughter] she was 8. she said, "oh, dad."

i couldn't sell that to her. speaking of young people, as i was coming in this morning, i noticed a lot of you young folk who cut your teeth on powerpoint presentations looking at me and saying to yourselves, "that old geezer will not have any kind of powerpoint." i'm going to for you today. last night a lot of people asked about my hometown. where is it in louisiana, because they had not seen it or heard of it. so i brought a powerpoint map of the state of louisiana with me

today, and i will present it to you now. let me just get it. powerpoint map of the state of louisiana. [laughter] [applause] as you can see, new orleans is clearly outlined over here. lake charles, right here next to the texas line. this is mississippi, arkansas here. and right here is my town. this is the heart of cajun country. we are the descendents of the cajuns who were expelled from canada many years ago. names like guillory and thibodeau and font know all originate in this area. and i welcome you to upper luces.

let me just put my powerpoint away, please. [laughter] [applause] i would like to tell you just a little bit about my family. my dad died at 102, six years ago. he was an educator, among many, many other things, but a very serious educator. my mom died two months ago at 104. she spent 44 years as an educator and teacher and principal. and as you know, i spent one year at rutgers law school, teaching. so education, teaching is an important part of our family and an important part of what we do. today, i would like to do what teachers do, and that is to analyze and grade the performance of our president's administration in one aspect,

and that is the american dream. thousands of people every day try to get into this country because they want to live the american dream. how is it working for us who are here? is it being protected? is it being uplifted, or not? so why will present to you a report card -- i will present you a report card of the mayor can dream. let's take justice, for example. this is the first of the subjects that we would grade this administration in. many months ago, a young man named trayvon martin was killed in florida, and the president stepped right up and said, "i demand justice for trayvon

martin," and he said that trayvon look like his sons would look like if he had sons. so he sent people from the justice department down to florida to ensure that trayvon martin receive justice. and i watch that. a few months later, a young australian student was killed. you probably don't know his name. it's christopher lane. christopher lane was killed, and christopher looked just like my sons. i have sons. he is a little paler than my sons, but he has two arms and two legs. he has two eyes and a nose and a heart, just like my sons have. and so i waited. [applause] i waited to hear the president say, "i demand justice for christopher lane." and i waited and i waited, and i have yet to hear that same passion and fervor. and the only conclusion i can draw from that is that justice

hinges on the color of one's skin. when the value of life is dependent upon this thin little millimeter of melonin, we are in deep trouble, we are a nation deeply divided, and we have to deal with the president for his failure to protect justice an f. [applause] well, the american dream is really dependent on three things. safety, jobs, education. let's look at jobs first. this administration has created hundreds of thousands of new jobs, built thousands of miles of roads and bridges, built new civic projects. the only problem is that he has

done that in foreign lands, while our roads and bridges crumble, while our families remain unemployed, their families go to the food stamp lines. for failure to protect jobs, provide jobs in america, mr. president, you have earned an f. [applause] let's look at education. louisiana is the poster child for this administration's session on education. 47% of the schools in louisiana are poorly performing schools. we have addressed that, "we" being the government and legislature, we have addressed that in three basic ways. we have work to uplift the public school system. we have also created probably the nation's best network of charter schools. and we created a voucher

program. [applause] 8000 students. 8000. 90% minority. 100% poor, 100% in the poorest performing schools in louisiana, some of the poorest performing schools in america. you know i'm a child of the civil rights movement. in the 1960's, someone wearing tobacco-stained sheets crawled out of the backwoods of louisiana and stood in the schoolhouse doors to prevent children from getting education, to prevent access to those school houses in louisiana. today, thugs wearing brooks brothers suits crawl around the

halls of government and washington, d.c., crawl out of the justice department, and come to louisiana and stand in the doorways and prevent little louisianans from getting an education. [applause] thugs! i guess i have to award a z, mr. president, for your failure to support and send 8000 little louisianans, taking them out of private schools, out of public schools, out of charter schools and sending them back into the worst-performing schools around. bad, bad, bad job mr. president.

america has been a godly country from day one, from day one, quite literally. america and god. in god, we trust. one nation under god. so how are we faring with respect to prayer? during the recent government shutdown catholic priests were ordered not to say mass and not to serve communion to our military soldiers. they were ordered not to. by this administration. that is correct. that is absolutely correct. and christian organizations today are listed as terrorist organizations by this administration's military mignons -- minions. and today in louisiana sabe yen parish is turned gun, the justice department is teaming with a buddhist family who moved into louisiana. they found that there was too much prayer in the public schools of sabian parrish. we know there is not a whole lot of public prayers in schools. so apparently there were a couple of moments of prayer down in louisiana and so this family now joined by the justice department, they're having problems with that little bit of prayer. there are some rules that dictate behavior when you are in someone else's home. if i went into your house today just walked in and sat down and sat on your sofa, picked up the remote and started flipping through the channels or turned on your television set when it was off, that would be a violation of the rules. if i walk into your house this afternoon, walked into your

kitchen, opened up your refrigerator started rummaging around to see what i felt like munching on in your refrigerator in your house, that would be a violation. i would have crossed the line. we need to let people know that this house is our house and this house is god's house. and we cannot let people come in and change the rules in our house. [applause] we want to be welcoming to the buddhist family and to the any muslim family or any -- any -- any family of any religion come and worship in peace. but there are some rules in our house. if you don't want your children to pray in our schools, they don't have to. but they should sit quietly and respectfully while we pray in our house. if you don't like our nativity scenes when you walk down the streets of our house turn your heads. you don't have to look at them. this is our house and these are our nativity scenes. [applause] if you don't like the 10 commandments that we have on display in our courthouses stay out of trouble. stay out of our courthouses.

[applause] but respect our house. america is a godly country. and we will practice our religion here in freedom so back off. go home. mr. president, for failure to protect prayer and godliness in this country. you earned an f. let's look at guns. now, i guess you know where i stand on guns. if you don't elbert guillory.com and you will see me and guns. my ancestor's guns sit in my house passed down. there is a cultural violence in our country. and that's an unfortunate thing. there are shootings and that's unfortunate. now, those shootings -- a gun is an inanimate object.

there's a lot of potential but it is an inanimate object. you set it down and you can come back six weeks later, the gun's going to be right there. it's not going to explode. a gun is just a tool. now, unfortunately, there are shootings there have been shootings and people have used the tool called gun. but our president has used those opportunties each of those shootings as an opportunity to attempt to limit legitimate gun ownership to attempt to limb the number of bullets you can put in your gun, the types of guns you can have if there was a shooting in mouseville, montana of a mouse

he would use that shooting to attempt that shooting to limit our gun ownership. we have to do something better than that. now, we -- one of the things that we have to make everyone realize is that guns don't have anything to do with the culture of killing in our country. if you take a 3-year-old child and you put him in front of a television set. the set is blaring violent video games and you let this child play violent video games day after day, month after month, year after year, what you will have in 10 years is a 13-year-old who has been completely programmed in a certain way. if there's conflict, he's been programmed to shoot it. if there's some discomfort in his life, he's been programmed to shoot it. and so you have a group, a large group of teenager who is have been programmed to shoot to kill. now you can take all the guns away this morning but that kill willing continue this evening. it will continue with knives, with sticks, with stones, with bricks, planks, with any tools -- any tool that can be picked up and used.

it is the culture of killing that is the problem. guns don't have a thing to do with it. [applause] for failing to protect our second amendment rights, mr. president, you have earned an f. we as americans are guaranteed life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness. before you could have liberty and before you can pursue happiness you must have life. our nation is participating in the slaughter of babies.

last year 1.3 million babies lost their lives, had their lives taken from them in their mother's wombs. this nation has participated in that level of genocide of whatever it is that you want to call it, murder, slaughter of our own people. the president of syria had some -- some weapons of mass destruction and they thought he must use some gas on his own people. and so the president rushed once again. we better do something about this gas that he might put on his people and kill his people while he supports the killing of our american baby -- babies. and so mr. president while failing to protect life in america, you've earned an f. [applause]

>> let's talk for a minute

about fiscal soundness. the sound of a dollar bill. you young folk have probably not heard that. but when i was a boy it was a big expression. it was a statement about the -- a stame of confidence in the american economy, a statement of confidence, solidness of strength of the american dollar. the sound of a dollar bill if you went to buy a truck, the salesman would open the door and slam it. listen to that. listen to that close. that's the sound of a dollar bill. you can trust this truck. you combine this truck. that's how pervasive that phrase was in our national lexicon.

you don't hear it anymore because the dollar bill is no longer sound. as difficult that could wrap the human behind around something that large -- there are economist who is say we will never be able to pay off that debt. whether we can or can't is not that very important at this moment. whether we address the problem properly is important. [applause] wherever you go is to cut down and pay down the debt. those are the only two rational responses to a $17 trillion debt. what is an irrationale response is, oh, it's only $17 trillion.

let's raise it $17 trillion more and drive our nation deeper and deeper into the physical crisis that we are in. giving or children and our grandchildren and our great grandchildren with an incredible hole to dig -- to big to dig themselves out of. mr. president, for places future generations of americans in danger, you have earned another f. [applause] now, i can see it on your faces, a lot of you saying elbert guillory you just chose a bunch of subjects where you knew our president was going to get an f. you just came in here to beat up on a real good man. i saw that on somebody's face.

[laughter] well, i'm a fair and balanced kind of guy. so i look at some topics where he would receive better grades than f's. and here's one. lying. [laughter] the lies of benghazi, the lies of the i.r.s. the lies of military death benefits and you've got an a for that. let me give you something better than that. i know you remember this one. you may keep your health plan, period. a-plus for that one, mr. president. surely there are some other topics where he's excelled and i certainly did search out one. golfing and vacations, an a. a, mr. president.

now, you're going to have to work with me on this one. i want you to take a look at old photographs and old video of the present president and if you see them and you look at him walk this is what you see. now, if you look today at him walking, watch when he gets off the helicopter. he's walking up to the helicopter. and this is what you'll see. a walk right out of the ghetto of chicago. he never lived -- probably never visited but he is massacre -- masquerading at something that he's not. it would be funny but it goes much deeper than just his walk. he's masquerading as a constitutionalist at the very moment that he's sending his thugs into the newsrooms of america to make sure that our free press rights are slanted in the direction that he wants them slanted, an unprecedented attack on the free press of our nation. foreign policy. he has implemented a foreign policy that makes us unsafe at home and abroad. our interest overseas, our

bodies overseas when we travel are at risk because of his foreign policy. he's pretending that he's interested in american people. no jobs for american workers. no education for american children. i told you about those thugs in brooks brother suits forcing people to buy a commercial product for the first time in this history of this nation, we are supposed to go out and buy some health insurance. the first time the government reaches into our pockets and says you've got to go buy a private product. mr. president, for your masquerade for your bad walk, i give you an f. [applause] >> i have another one, how about getting along well with others.

every teacher wants students to get along well. we have a student whose ego is so great that he places his ego above the interest of all americans. so get along well with others, mr. president, an f. let's take a look at one more topic and that's immigration. now, i'm from the country and we tend to simplify things. we see things that some people see as big and complex. we see them as small and simp. if we have a family of eight and we have one thin chicken for supper and we're cooking

that one chicken, that is not the night that we go down the street and invite the johnson family and the robinson family to come to dinner because we don't have enough to share. the president is attempting to get $46 million -- 46 million new americans in our school systems. now, these 46 million are not educated or they are poorly educated and they are poor. so they will come because they fit the mold of the democrats who can be kept on the plantation with a few handouts, a few free housing or some food stamps.

so they're brought. they're being brought. he intends to bring them and they're going to impact our schools which are already fully performing. they're going to impact on our hospitals which are already overcrowding. they're going to impact on our jobs and we've already talked about the fact that we don't have jobs for americans here today. so why would you bring 46 million new people to share what we do not have in the beginning? >> our social security system is fragile. they're already talking about cutting back on the benefits that people have earned, people who have worked and put their money -- what the government took and put their money into

the social security system. when you add 46 million new people to that social security system which is already fragile, you have a disaster happening. plp, for your plan to keep -- mr. president, for your plan to keep your party in power in america, you've earned another f. when a student has earned that many f's, a good teacher would put that child in timeout. and that is what we need to do. we need to put this president and people who work with him and his party and people who think like him into time-out. let me tell you about my cousin. i have a cousin named klovis. she's from the mother country, from louisiana where all of the fought knows and hillarys come from. he went to mardi gras one year in new orleans and he met a new

orleans creole and moved her head like that. one day she went shopping. it was a saturday afternoon and klovis was sitting at home in the kitchen. he had a bowl of fresh oysters right in the front of them. he was picking them out one at a time. he would pull it and inspect it and look at it. and he would put it down and pick up another one. and he did that with several oysters and so klovis. his wife didn't know what was happening. she put her hand on his head. she said what are you doing those oysters? my cousin told me that if i use these it would increase my

performance but i can't figure out how to put them on. [laughter] klovis was clueless. and that's what this administration is, absolutely clueless. he does not understand how to manage a country because they've never had to manage anything. professional politicians, they don't know how to manage our nation. i'm not sure that they were

steeped in the traditions of america. i don't know. i don't know what happened in the households where they were raised. i don't know where they were raised. but i do know that there's a disconnect and a cluelessness between the people who are running this country today and those of us who love america and live in america. my brothers and sisters, we've come to a point that all nations reach where we can either go up, back up to the top where great nations dwell or we can go down into the valley and be washed away. -- as many former nations have been. ancient greece, ancient rome, portugal. go through the long list of formerly great nations. when they reached a point where they had to make hard decisions and either go back up to the top of the mountain or go down into the valley they went into

the valley. they made the wrong decisions. and that's where we are. that's where we are today. in order for us to get out of this problem, i respectfully suggest to you that there are three things that we need to do. the first is unity. we must be unified. we cannot afford to have our family torn apart, tea party republicans over here. neo con republicans over here. log cabin republicans over there. we must all work together. and in rooms like this, we air out our differences. we air it out. but when we walk through the door we have to be one family.

in here we're the fingers. but in there, we are the fist of unity. we must remain unified. >> and the second thing that we must have is work. i was telling you about -- about my cousin klovis. they celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary. they went back to the same hoe nell new orleans where they spent their honeymoon. and they drank some champagne and having a romantic interlude. and she said to him, klovis, you remember what we did 30 years ago when we got married.

man, we're going the do that tonight. she said, yeah, yeah. first, you put your arm around me and you hugged me real tight. and so he did. he put his arms around him and gave him a good squeeze. then you pucker your lips and you kiss me right on the mouth. that's the way we talk in cajun land. so he did. he puckered up and gave her a fantastic kiss. and then you remember you bite me right here on my neck. he jumped up and started running. he said where are you going? come back here. he said i'm going to the bathroom to get my teeth. she was not ready to work as we must be. we must work.

unity is important but we must roll up our sleeves and work. we must work. we must get those out and watch those other people to make sure they are not stealing elections as they have done so many times. we have o work my brothers and sisters. if you look around, if each of us brought in five new people, we're an army right now. we can just increase their army but we have to do it. it takes the work of each other us to excite people, to educate people, to let them know, let them understand why they should become active. so please don't leave your teeth at home. roll up your sleeves and get to work. the final thing that we must do is to expand our party. we must define ourselves because others are defining us. and there are definitions of her are unkind. we have to let people know who we are and what we are. we have to walk to walk and not just talk to talk. there are -- let me give you a couple of examples.

there are a lot of teen mothers who don't know how to be mothers. who better to teach them than republican mothers? [applause] there are a lot of young men who don't know how to be daddies, don't know how to be fathers. who better to teach them how to be a man, how to be a father, how to be a daddy than republican men? we need to walk the walk. go and teach them. let them see us. let them understand this. let them know that we care. we have to let them know that republicans are the party of freedom. republicans are the party of free press. republicans are the party of small government. we are the party of equal rights.

we are the party of fiscal responsibility. we are the party of energy and jobs. we are the party of education. we are the warriors. we are the protectors of the american dream of the american value of america. god bless you and god bless our home. [applause] thank you. thank you. [applause] >> we've got two microphones. one there and one there. >> it's all yours. >> all right. we've got time for two questions. we'll take yours. >> ok. >> you're first and then, ma'am, you go second. >> ok. l.p.r. class of 2014. and i ask you considering the cornucopia of a cren sus we -- census we have seen from this administration, you think we should see or will we see civil disobedience?

will louisiana say we're going to continue to pray? we're going to continue to give out the vouchers? do you think it's time for civil disobedience along those lines? >> i absolutely believe it is. and i believe it's all time for our new federalism for our states so to show that they can still flex their americans, american who is will do what is problem. in louisiana we're going to continue to pray. we are going to continue our sponsor program and le have to send federal marshalls and federal troops and marines and he will be met by whatever force he sends, he will be met by force because we are tired of washington, d.c. and what it's doing. [applause]

>> your presentation today explains exactly why your video -- your youtube video went viral because you speak, your y is so powerful that you attract other people to your y. i'm melanie sterm and i'm from aspen, colorado and i'm an l.p.r. wannabe. [applause] such a delight to be amongst conservatives. it's a rare thing for me. i know, i know. and i'm jewish too. anda woman. my question for you, i loved -- people in this room are desperate to make a difference in this coming election. and i want you to turn your persuasive powers to addressing this conundrum and in so doing help us. this is the conundrum. in the last election, the exit

polls showed that romney beat obama on all of the exit poll questions including leadership and policy preferences. but he lost on the one, cares about people like me. and he lost 81-19 which means that a lot of republicans actually think that obamacare is more than romney about them. and yet i'm sure there isn't a single person in this room who wakes up in the morning not believing that our policies and our values and our principles are best especially for those most vulnerable. how can we do a better job of conveying that people as we look it play a role in the political discourse in 2014? >> great question. thank you. i believe we have to first go out into the communities where we want to expand. so that we can take our message to them. and it's -- a couple of minutes ago i was talking about walking the walk. if we go into churches and to schools where people are, and we

start to teach them, to share with them our wisdom and our knowledge, and let them understand what our values are, this is really a values battle. if we let people know that we are the party of values, and we help them. we care about them. i'm here to teach you young men how to be daddies or i'm here to teach you young ladies how to be mothers. or many of us are bankers. go into high schools and teach them how to manage bank accounts. if we go first thing that we must do is to go into other communities. and to let them know that we care. and we are there to share our wisdom, our knowledge, our expertise with them. and to make life better for them. if they see that, they will come with us. because their values are the values of our party. black folk, i'm shocked. i'm not shocked.

there should be half of this room filled with black folk because black folk are so conservative. our values are basic american values. but we have not gone and talked to them. we have to go and remind them of the history of this party. which is the history -- which is the history of civil rights and equal rights and equality. richard nixon's best president -- during my lifetime. nobody, richard nixon? he was a great president, and i think that history will bear him out. but i talked to black folk about richard nixon and all that we accomplished for equality during the richard nixon administration. if we do more of that, i think that we will bring more people to our side. thank you. thank you all. [applause]

>> the u.s. house is about to gavel in. general speeches first. a vote will take place after 630 eastern. now live to the floor of the u.s. house. the speaker pro tempore: the house will be in order. the chair lays before the house a communication from the speaker. the clerk: the speaker's room, washington, d.c., april 7, 2014, i hereby appoint the honorable frank r. wolf to act as speaker pro tempore on this day. signed, john a. boehner, speaker of the house of representatives.