now with the digital, interconnected age. it is a nightmare for security services in a democracy who are sworn to protect reasonable expectations of privacy when the reasonable expectations of privacy when the definition of reasonable is a movable feast within a broader culture. >> there are two things going on legally and conceptually, in terms of privacy. one is a third-party doctrine. i voluntarily told verizon, who i voluntarily transmitted my voice over communications that cross all sorts of other companies, therefore, i have no lawful or moral reason to believe that that is confidential. privacy is relational. and a situational.

i may be happy to tell you something and not all these other guys. certainly not the government or some company that wants to sell me to an advertising network. that is not the way it works. the third-party doctrine began as an analog, pencil and paper, thanks. you rob a bank and then you visit other bank and you you had $300,000 and you waved your privacy. the equivalent is now i'm going to cut myself off entirely from civilization. there is no way for us to function in the city or society or be employed or students without using these communication methods. the idea that if we allow google to know that we are sending a love letter to our love interest, we are happy to let anyone read it. that is preposterous. the other is the reasonable

expectation of privacy. it has been interpreted by the u.s. government to mean that know the means exist to be intercepted or overheard, you have no reasonable expectation that it will not be happening to you. if i tell you that we have through the wall thermal imaging you now know that your sex life is not immune from vans driving around and taking pictures. that technology does exist. you are all warned. the concepts have been stretched. there is a lot of work being done to try to bring that back into reason. very much for an illuminating and provocative conversation. we will continue to serve failure further thoughts on this as they develop. [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014]

>> throughout this week while congress is on break, we are featuring key supreme court rulings this term. this evening, mccutchen versus the court ruled that restrictions are an unconstitutional violation of first amendment free-speech rights. tonight at 7:00 eastern on c-span. a day of tributes and a moment of silence marking the one-year anniversary of the boston marathon bombings. three people were killed and more than 260 were wounded when two bombs went after the finish line of the race. coming up in 45 minutes, live coverage of a memorial for those killed in the bombings. among those appearing our boston mayor martin walsh, massachusetts governor deval patrick, ed joe biden. live coverage starts at 12:45 eastern on c-span.

at 8:00 eastern, journalists who won the pulitzer prize for their coverage of the boston bombings. a book called "boston strong." here is a portion of what you will see. >> they could either go to the marathon or they could go hiking, which is what they did often. they chose the marathon. when they were in this position at forum when the first bomb went off, bill richard knew it was a bomb. a lot of spectators and first responders found it could have been a few things. transformer fire, a cannon that was used as part of the a manhole fire. bill richard knew it was a bomb and he knew we had to get his family away as quickly as possible. will richard john to the barricade and got onto boylston street. he thought his family would be safer on the street. >> they were at the second

bombing. they heard the first one and bill grabbed henry, the oldest boy. >> henry was directly in front of bill. tohe is pulling henry safety, he is reaching to his next child, martin, when the bomb went off. dzhokhar tsarnaev, the bombing suspect, had chosen that family, had targeted that family. there is fbi surveillance film that shows him casing that family. going back and forth behind him before he dropped the backpack. how do you read the heart out of america, you choose an all-american family. martin was still alive after the bombing for a few seconds. the only words he ever uttered were "where is jane?"

is his younger sister. jane was almost torn apart, she lost her leg. her life was saved by a first responder. their mother, denise, suffered severe injuries to her eye and other parts of her body. the things we found out in the course of writing this book was that the day of the bombing, as martin richard's body remained on boylston street because it was part of a crime scene of the fbi would not remove it, his body was lying under a sheet, as was the body of lingzi lu. outraged, police were they wanted the victims off the street and reunited with their families. one boston police officer said i am not going to leave this kid, not tonight. i'm going to stay with him. i want his parents to know he was never left alone. that is heroism.

those are the stories that we have learned over the course of the past year. they still broke us up when we recount them. it is incredible what so many people did in the wake of this unforeseeable tragedy. see the entire discussion with journalists casey sherman and david waged tonight at 8:00 eastern as we mark the one-year anniversary of the boston marathon bombings. several members of congress have sent out tweets reflecting. jeanne shaheen says "thoughts are with boston and all those struck by tragedy a year ago today." rennacci.an jim mora >> there is an old saying that

victory has 100 fathers. i would not be surprised if information is poured in in regard to the recent activities. >> talking about the facts and the interrogation last week of the committee, senator goldwater asked questions about the use of the carrier aircraft, with the markings painted out. we figure somebody over there told them about the thing wednesday morning. therefore it is going to spring it and they are going to spring it in such a way it looks like it was u.s. air cover and you were wrong and i was wrong in saying there was not. ofaudio from the aftermath the u.s.-backed attempt to overthrow fidel castro. saturday at 6:00 p.m. eastern on c-span radio. on 90.1 fm,n dc

online, and on xm radio 120. day, we hope you got your return and on-time. we spoke with a reporter about efforts in congress to reform the tax code. after which we will take you to the memorial for the boston victims of the bombing. that is coming up at 12:45. >> joining us from politico is rachel. what is the consensus of congress when it comes to changing the tax code? if you go up to any member of congress on the hill, democrat or republican, house or senate and you say do you want tax reform, you will get of course. when you get to the little details when people say tax reform, their ideas are different. you have president obama, the democrats in the senate that want to raise taxes by about one

trillion dollars, things they can use to say pay down the deficit or increase spending for transportation. republicans are talking about revenue neutral tax reform, web that means is tax reform that will not increase taxes. it will get rid of a bunch of tax breaks but use that pot of money to lower the rates. people are on different pages when we talk about tax reform. the prospect of tax reform are not looking good, nobody is moving to the center. host: would that be the same any other year? it is anstly because election year. but there are ideological reasons. we have seen tax reform happened before. 1986 was the last time we saw shows you howthat hard it is, it has been 25 years. it has -- it takes compromise by democrats and republicans.

in an election year where republicans are hoping to not only gain seats in the house but potentially take over the senate and senate democrats are fighting against losing the senate, we are not going to see much in the way of real overhaul coming out. host: we had dave camp talk about this issue and came up with a plan to do something with this. dave camp has been working on this very hard for the past couple years. he released the most extensive tax reform draft we have seen in the past two decades. remember that romney in the presidential campaign talking about lowering their rates. everyone was like how are you going to get there? is the first member who has said this is what we are going to do. the code sosimplify there are two brackets -- 10% antoni five percent.

about seven have brackets. he would condense those into to brackets and then add a third bracket for wealthy americans about 35%. paying he gets rid of popular things like people who live in states where they pay really high local and state taxes, they will not be able to write that off of their federal taxes. another thing is the mortgage interest election. people will have limits by how much they can take off their mortgage interest. lower the corporate rate to about 25%. by getting rid of a bunch of business taxes, which is making community score. host: here is a little bit about dave camp talking about his proposal. >> what we have tried to do is really iscode that progrowth. we do that by lowering rates, increasing standard deduction.

that gets at the complexion of the tax code. that is the other thing americans want, they talk about how incredibly cap located our code is. that has put a wet blanket over economic recovery. the real object there is that if 95% of the people do not itemize, which they don't under the tax plan, they will be filing a simpler 1040. they will have less opportunity for the irs to meddle in their affairs, because it will be much more straightforward. there won't be as much discretion in terms of the irs. i will tell you, there's nothing more frightening than having a letter in the mail when you get home. there's always come friday night from the irs. host: from the things he said, he talked about this going from a complex system to a less complex system.

>> i think both republicans and democrats agree that reform will boost the economy. is just a matter of how to do it. one thing i didn't see him talking about here but that raise a lot of headlines when he introduced it was a tax on wall street, which, as a republican proposing a tax on banks was like a shocker to us reporters. wow, nobody expected that. one of my colleagues wrote, for instance, when this came out, calling this a sea change for the republican party was like calling the grand canyon a small ditch. to see republican propose a tax on wall street, that was mind-boggling. that was when a whole bunch of republicans stopped backing him. a lot of republicans said oh, you know our colleague is going to come out with this great proposal and we are excited. when it came out, a lot of people were just taken aback by that. a lot of republicans backtracked

and said well, this is just a draft. nobody should get worked up over this. the banking campaign did get worked up over it. they threatened to stop giving campaign funds. as you probably know, the financial industry is one of the gop's biggest contributors for campaigns. they said we're going to turn off the spigot if you are considering something like this. the money spigot. that was one of the biggest reactions we heard with the small bank tax that blew up the headlines. >> with all that in mind, when paul ryan releases his budget, themuch pink was devoted to tax plan of dave camp? >> just a little bit. paul ryan has been a supporter of camp in the past. when camp wanted to introduce his tax earlier, paul ryan approach leadership to allow him to introduce that draft when leadership told him no. early on, he was a supporter. his plan came out, a bunch of us approached the budget chairman

paul ryan to ask about his thoughts on this. he pretty much shied away and did not want to comment. and then, when his budget came out, you would think that it would have a big introduction in the budget. we want to pass this tax reform draft. it wasn't. it was a couple of lines. it mentioned it alongside two other tax reform drafts that have gotten zero attention in the taxa from community. abolish the tax altogether. >> their red meat proposal to abolish income tax 100% and place a 20% sales tax on everything that you would buy pretty much nationwide. the other one was to do a flat tax. we heard flat tax in the presidential election. bringing that back between 12% or 13% where everybody pays the

same amount of tax matter how much money they make. with politico talking about the congressional outlets for tax reform. ask her questions on three lines. republicans, (202) 585-3881, democrats, (202) 585-3880, independents, (202) 585-3882. submit questions via twitter or e-mail. what is next? what proposals, what happens? guest: i think we will hear talk about kant's proposal. -- camp's proposal. be main thing are going to 50 or so provisions of temporary tax breaks.

for instance commuter transit , benefits, breaks for school teachers, breaks for oil companies, a break for research and development for companies. a lot of different things for renewable energy. electric cars. these are things that are temporarily extended from one year or two years in a row, so they're not actually added into the cost of the tax cost over the 10 year window. it is like a way for lawmakers to have a tax break but not really pay for it. it is very bad tax policy if you ask anybody. the senate is going to pretty much extend the tax extenders as it normally would, for a year or two. in the house, dave camp, since he is going to be losing his chairmanship at the end of the year, he wants to dig into these extenders, get rid of all bunch of them. and then make some of them, just a few of them, permanent and the tax code. we will be hearing a lot about

that. host: our first caller is dan. go ahead. caller: the tax code is too complicated. we need to simplify it. it is hours and hours of productivity from companies that are wasted trying to figure out the tax law. let me say something. if you are a working class person, watch your wallet. what the democrats want to do is take this pretax benefits that you get from your company, for example, in health care, they will add $7,000 to income and tax you on that. money that you didn't even make benefits what you may or may not use, and they want to tax you on money that you haven't even made yet. i think we really need to watch our pocketbook. if you're working class person, you better think twice about voting democrat this time. host: when you take away from that, rachel?

guest: you mentioned the $7,000 number. i am not sure where that comes from but i would like to see a study in that. democrats -- as far as working class. on how yout depends define that. most of this would be folks making at least $250,000, if not more. ohio wasleman from talking about taxing things that are pretax. plan, any savings you would put in a ross a ira. the democrats do want to tax those things, only if you make over a certain threshold. if you make $300,000 a year, under the obama proposal you would see a reduction and think

that you could actually keep from being taxed. whether it would be working class, it depends how you define working class. long 4 million words is the tax code. been 4700 changes since 2001. it seems the horse is out of the buggy when it comes to his invocation. -- comes to simplification. another analogy we hear all the time is that the tax code is longer than the bible. host: for every deduction there washington or in someone who will protest that. guest: that is what we have with the bank tax. you will hear a whole bunch of outrage from the group. right now, we're hearing a lot

from small businesses. small businesses have an interesting tax situation where they are not taxed at the corporate rate. they use the individual rate to pay business taxes. that is 90% of all businesses in the united dates, small businesses. they are not going to see a tax cut at all under the obama plan. were the camp plan -- or they can't plan. -- or the camp plan. host: independent line, dave. caller: good morning. tax religious organizations. how much money would that bring in? thank you. guest: religious organizations, i do not see that coming for a very long time, any time in the foreseeable future. there is a big debate going on capitol hill about whether or not to allow social welfare

toanizations, 501(c) four's, engage in political activities. these groups can spend 49% supporting a candidate. that 51% has to be used for social welfare educational purposes. right now we are seeing groups like crossroads apply for 501(c) four statuses. the question is, should these groups engaging in political activity the receiving a tax break? that is the thing we will hear a lot about for the next few months. the irs has proposed regulation that will scope of political activity these groups can engage in, which will kick some of them off tax exempt roles completely. that means they will be taxed. as for how much money can be saved by eliminating tax exempt groups, i am not sure off the top of my head. there are charities and social welfare groups that are tax exempt right now. your other question was about jobs.

tax reform, everyone agrees, would create jobs. it would grow the economic environment. as for cpas and people who prepare taxes, that is a good question that i would like to ask them that myself. cpa's, the reason they have a job, is to help people get through this complicated code. if you simplify the code, there would still be a need for people to help you dig through those things, especially for businesses and people who have complicated tax provisions they have to work with. host: special interest was highlighted by chris van hollen at a breakfast sponsored by the christian science monitor. he talked about it in light of the republican budget proposal. he talked about special interests and their tax issues. here's what he had to say. >> if you look at the budget, they do two things. they set an artificial political target of a balance in 10 years.

i will talk about that in a second. they claim a balance, it is a fake balance. having set the target, they then say they will not ask anybody except the middle class and lower income americans to pay the price hitting that target . they say it is important to reduce the deficit and we agree, but they refuse to close a single tax break. for the purpose of reducing the deficit. not one. not for hedge fund managers, not for big oil companies. we continue to ask the question, if hitting a particular target or a particular day is so important, why will you ask powerful special interests to make a contribution? because they ask nothing of the very powerful and the very wealthy, the budget socks it to everybody else. special interests,

absolutely. there are a whole bunch of business coalitions are effective on capitol hill right now. in november when dave camp wanted to release his plan. we saw the house leadership, speaker boehner and eric cantor, say no, you're not allowed to release your plan. special interests were working in a way into talking, saying, camp is not ready, we do not like the provision yet. coalition, business roundtable has been public about the support forecast reform publicly. house leadership has told me that individual companies within these coalitions have been approaching leadership and say we are not ready for them to release this. they have power when it comes to the business community and republicans have traditionally been very close. they have been keeping communication open and they are

a reason tax reform was delayed. host: democrats line from massachusetts. this is jim. caller: my question is related to special interest and the correlation between them and taxes. -- thee points would be wars we have been and with iraq and afghanistan and the byfits made on these wars special interests. like halliburton and all these companies. just two weeks ago, i saw a congresswoman on the floor speaking about how we pay $85 for a $2.12 plastic elbow. $.35 bolt. it seems to me the reason we are paying such high taxes is because we are paying for this stuff. the same companies go cover up all this stuff and take tax reductions for our wages and

whatever else they might take tax reductions for. they are not contributing on so many levels. host: there is a chart that talks about where taxes come from. talk about a corporate income taxes. as far as viewers, what do taxes look like? guest: the highest corporate tax rate is 35%. a lot of corporations do not play that rate. they pay a lower rate. a lot of corporations are multinational. if you are selling products overseas, you are deferred from paying taxes until it comes back into the u.s. and a lot of these companies are keeping a light their sales

overseas so they can create much push the tax bill off indefinitely almost. something like $2 trillion worth of profits, american corporate profits, untaxed and sitting overseas. that is the way we have developed our system. countries actually tax things immediately no matter where they are earned in the world. most companies -- most countries do not even do that. if you are earning profits not even that stuff is taxed, it is called a territorial tax system. republicans would prefer to move to this system. if you are a company selling your product overseas, it would not be taxed at all at home. that is what they would prefer. host: to your point, when it comes to the corporate tax structure, saying, the companies pay an average tax rate of 12.6%. guest: much lower than the 35

% you traditionally hear about. host: bob, up next. caller: good morning. i greatly support the sales tax, a flexed -- flat tax. the current system, the politicians use it to reward friends and punish enemies. another big issue is never talked about. there are millions in this country working under the table illegally and they are completely exempt from the tax system. i pay taxes because i work at a legitimate job. the guy across the street is busy selling drugs. he would be paying taxes as well if we had a sales tax. more than i am paying currently. caller: maybe, maybe not. -- guest: maybe, maybe not. even if there were a retail sales tax imposed on these

products, if it is a black market product, it will probably be under the table regardless. but that brings me to something besides tax reform. we have seen a lot of debate out of colorado and washington. you mentioned the black market, where they have legalized marijuana and seen a whole bunch of marijuana in washington state now these things are illegal in he states. the revenues have been more than they thought they would be. i would be cautious in terms of looking at this money and saying, maybe if we legalize marijuana we would have a whole bunch of tax revenue. the reason why these are so highest because you likely have a whole bunch of people around the country going to the tates. that is why we are likely seeing the revenue. as you legalize around the country, the revenue will probably not be as much as we are seeing right now in colorado nd washington state.

host: this gets brought up a lot. one of the big -- what are the basic elements? guest: eliminating the income tax and imposing a tax on things like anything you buy in a grocery store, any sorts of sales. the idea is that conservatives, this is an idea brought to light by a famous as could -- famous conservative economists who said, it is the most harmful tax for the economy. let's rid of the income tax and then tax things like things we purchased. the idea behind that, they say it is fair because if you are a millionaire, you are making a

lot of money but also probably spending a lot of my ear it if you buy a mercedes benz, you will pay more tax than a traditional family who will buy a honda or toyota or ford. that is the argument behind t. then you have liberal groups saying, if you do something like this, you will have people making billions of dollars and who are not getting tax on income and just saving it. and they will not be taxed at all. it is seen as a regressive in terms of the wealthier not pay nearly as much as the poor or the middle class would pay. host: roger in ohio, independent line. caller: same comment as far as the sales tax. should it and why does it not get listened to and debated? guest: it really does not. you are right. there are proposals to have the fair tax on capitol hill and it was not in the republican budget but nobody is talking about t.

the reality is it is very far from happening. you would have to have not only gop controlled congress and white house but it would have to be a very conservative republican house and republican white house. a lot of republicans who put out this huge tax proposal and look at all the different productions and loopholes in the code, you look at that and say it is not a good idea. host: even though you talk about reductions like mortgage interest, with the middle-class rise up against that as well? guest: yes. it depends on how far it is cut. it has been said the first $500,000 of the mortgage, you could write it off and that is fine. people with a large mortgage, people who live in very expensive areas like here in washington dc or people who have very expensive houses. lower that threshold goes, say

it went to 25, 200 $50,000, you would have a lot more people outraged over that, especially because the government has tried to encourage families to buy houses to own in their home. host: independent line up next. caller: hello. my name is tammy. i am interested in anybody who knows any thing about, you are doing graduated tax on income tax. i am a waitress and i currently pay 12% tax on all the food i sell. but my patience, my customers, are not aware of that. tipping in my state is not mandatory. eight percent is an average when you consider you lose money. half the time, you do not get the money in your hand before ou get out the door.

they're assuming you make 12%. i never signed anything for that. hat will be crazy. i cannot afford to pay that much on a graduated tax as it goes across the plan. for toilet paper. i am already paying ridiculous prices for milk already based on my income. how can i afford to pay the same amount on milk as someone who makes $250,000? guest: you should a -- under a flat tax system we were talking about, assuming that was what you are referring to, the tax would be applied the same for everyone. it would be more costly for you as a waitress and someone who is a ceo for a business and went out and bought a gallon of milk. as for your situation where you say your income was taxed more than your debt, there is a way when he talks -- talk to a tax preparer, there is a way to write it down in your taxes so you'd would be paying just under kids and not more than your ids.

host: maryland, democrat line. aller: good morning. tax and spenders are not paid for. why is it that extended unemployment benefits should be paid for? you mentioned republicans do not want to have companies pay taxes on overseas profits. all of this does not make sense. i'm glad you mentioned that wall street cannot id a and wall street and how the republicans were all upset about that. a few days ago, a caller said democrats were in the pockets of wall street.

now we know it is the republicans. guest: good point about unemployment insurance not being paid for. that is exactly correct. tax extenders every year, they will cost about $50 billion to $100 billion and the on how many ou extend. right now this year, the senate proposal would cost $85 billion. since they are just extended for one or two years, they are not fully paid for were included in the 10 year budget window. any tax expert would tell you it is bad policy not only because the public does not know what they can rely on when they make future budget plans, but also, they are not pay for just in general. it is very similar to unemployment. they have been extended for the ast few years.

lawmakers do this pretty much without batting an eyelash. they just extend them. it is a good point that you raised comparing the two. we are hearing house republicans now say they do not want to stem them, just a few of them and get rid of the rest. we are starting to hear a little changed of rhetoric but for the past few decades, you're right. as for overseas profits, the argument for that, republicans say if you do not tax corporations on overseas profits, they will feel more freedom in terms of bringing profits home if they want to. there is a hold pot of money sitting around the united states and different countries, made by american countries. there is a disincentive for bringing it back home and basically, once it comes back home, it will have a 35% tax slapped on it automatically. a lot of companies are keeping the money out there and they do not want to bring it home and there is an argument if you get rid of the 35% tax to bring you then, companies will bring it home and bring more jobs here and then grow the u.s. economy. host: we talked about this a

little bit, but this chart shows us the brackets that currently exists. talk about the math involved to consolidate some of these proposals. what has to be done? guest: getting rid of a lot of tax breaks. under the camp land, he goes into several hundred pages of breaks he will get rid of. essentially, the way i saw a few studies on this, the top post would be making over $100,000, 400 to 1 million and above. a lot of those folks are rarely going to see any sort of tax break. it would stay the same or maybe have a slight increase their it the biggest change would be those between $10,000 and $20,000. they would see their taxes cut and -- cut in half. the second-biggest benefit would we those making between $40,000 and $50,000 or they would see a 12% tax cut. he estimates the middle-class and poor americans, low income -- a lot of those folks are barely going to see under his plan any sort of tax breaks. it would pretty much stay the same or maybe even have a slight increase. the biggest change is going to be for under the camp plan would

be between those making $10,000 and $20,000. they would see their taxes cut in half. and then the second biggest bracket to benefit would be those making between $40,000 and $50,000. they would see about a 12% tax cut. overall he estimates that middle class and poorer americans, low income americans would have about an extra $1,200 in their pockets. you should his plan, it would benefit the lower bottom of those -- that tax bracket while getting rid of some reductions for wealthier americans. host: john joining us from springs. on our republican line. go ahead. caller: a couple of things. the gentleman who called earlier talking about the jug at it, you aid not necessarily, what he as talking about is the fact

that if he had to pay for a loaf of bread, it is the same price as a guy using drugs. number two, what the american people need to stop doing is get away from the premise that we are supposed to pay taxes. this is a law that could be changed. it is insane to tax success. anybody who has a job should not be held to the account of it nto -- income tax. we need to stop with a republican democrat wing and start talking about americans. guest: your comment that it is insane to tax success and we do not have to pay taxes, i think even conservatives would disagree with you on that. if you want to have a working united states of america and government -- businesses moving from one side of the country to another side of the country,

research and development, education, there will have to be taxes to pay for that. i do not think you would are many republicans on the hill say there needs to be no taxes, et's get rid of the irs. we do that sometimes, but most republicans and democrats would agree taxes need to exist in some form if you want to have a country that runs well and request when it comes to reform efforts, how is investment income treated, generally? guest: a good question. investment income is right now taxed at a lower rate than traditional income. if you are a wealthy american and get 75% of income from capital gains or investing in the stock market, you now pay a row or -- a lower rate than if you are working a 9-to-5 job.

obama would like to tax these at a lower rate and not distinguish between the two. the lower investment taxes benefit mostly the wealthy because it is the wealthy who normally have a bigger amount of honey invested in these sorts of hings. they would pretty much keep capital gains and dividends the same, lowering it slightly. he would tax certain types of investments in businesses actually as ordinary income. he distinguishes by the type of investment, whether dividends or socks or capital gains or anything else. his is depending on what kind of investment. rachael bade covers policy issues. tony, thank you for waiting from philadelphia, democrats line. ou are on.

caller: i would like to know what she thinks of the single -- >> we would leave this "washington journal" segment at this point and go live to memorial in boston to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the boston marathon bombing that killed three people and killed undreds. the vice president will deliver he remarks and tributes. this is former mayor tom menino. [applause] > thank you. thank you very much. vice president biden, governor patrick, mayor walsh. [laughter]

something changed. ood afternoon. i'm so glad to so many people -- so many of you here today and a great blessed to be here. even that with know that this day will always be hard. never be easy to gather so close to that finish line. never easy to be so close to that place by lives broke apart. it will always be hard to wish there was someplace else. we long to be anywhere but here in this moment. 365 days in an hour. after hate and violence disrupted a beautiful april day. you know the memory still brings tears to our eyes, our heartaches to those who were lost? it's a comfort be here with family and friends regardless of

that tragic day -- what got us through that tragic day. it's an honor to thank the first respond others who carry some of you to safety. ease the pain just a little more to shake the hands of a doctor or a nurse who stop the bleeding, close your wounds or mend your legs or saved your lifes so you are here with us. in this moment, making this city and the world a better place. i know that many of you don't feel like you have struggled to get through the good days and the bad. i know. so many of you have told me about this year. a first, a first birthday without your beloved son, the first holiday without your daughter, the first july fourth where the fireworks scared you, the first step on a new leg.

the first sleep without a nightmare, the first day when you believed that you could live your life in a way that correspondents with your dreams. those words that many of us have to describe grief and recovery, resilience, courage, and strength. those words have even greater meaning now because what you have endured. what you have survived rings truth to the words. the world breaks -- everyone made as strong at a broken place. so to family and friends, will always miss their loved ones. you are strong at this broken place. to the victims whose long journey towards healing that has just begun. you are strong at this broken place. to those that ran toward the danger and struggled to the sights and sounds of that day, you, too, are strong at this

broken place. that strength thrives even in the heartaches of today because of you, because the compassion that took hold of this city, the generosity resides in our people. it's the -- they're so happy that be boston, there's a mighty force. in our darkst hours, one front was put up in a new p.o. box from 50 countries to every state, and 195,000 people gave. no one had to ask. no one had to make a phone call. people are ready to give that generosity helped us from bake sales to pizza parties to petty drives in maine. people gave their tip jar from restaurant in pittsburgh, they pray for you, they wrote notes like terry goodwin from juneau, alaska, said it best. she wrote boston's people are strong, beautiful, kind, and the

best. you, we, can make it through these hard times. now i know that some of you can't hear me very well. not was of the fancy way i talk. [laughter] ise guys, huh? it was because some of you lost your hearing that day. but lean in, if you have to because i want to hear -- i want you to hear the solemn promise. when lights are dim and cameras go away, know that i support and love for you will never waiver. whatever you have to do to recover and carry on, know that the people of boston, that i was right there by your side. one year ago, we came to the city and stood along a 26.2-mile route to cheer for your loved ones, to watch in awe as strangers ran by. some in wheelchairs, others

stride by stride, the blind. you gather to celebrate the strength and spirit. you came here to admire resilience as they crossed that - triumph event. because of you, we will do all of that more. we will stand with you. remember with you. we will neverering that this day means to you. i will neverering. and long after our own great races are finished the people that follow us will look to you as much as they had mire the runners pounded down our beloved streets to remember how your courage and generosity of others make it wound. the strongest, most hallowed grounds here on earth. this day will always be hard. this place will always be strong . cause we gather here today

thank you very much. [applause]

>> a year ago today, we chose to run towards smoke and danger. we chose to utilize our belts and purse straps to create tourniquets. we chose to hold the injured in our arms. we chose to offer our hearts to those in despair and our treshes to those in need. we chose to love and that has made all the difference. we continue to express profound love by sewing the threads of community. we made our city safe again. gave blood, performed and underwent countless surgeries and began the long journey of psychological and physical rehabilitation.

our hospitals show why they are the best in the world, not only through their clinical expertise, but by their enormous capacity for compassion. and while many of us here struggle to heal within those hospital walls of movement coalesced throughout our city, state and country, boston strong, a simple phrase with the not so simple meaning became our uniting call. it symbolizes our communal determination to spread compassion, generosity, unity, and pride. it is the firefighter running toward danger and the police officer insuring our safety. but it's also the quiet moments, individual snapshots of grace. it's the countless hours our families spent by our bed sides, sometimes in silence, as they

offer their love by their presence alone. it's the fellow survivor offering her hospital room to allow a married couple to reunite. it is a private visit from a wounded warrior telling us and showing us that we'll get -- it will get better. it is the movers, volunteering their time to help the newly disabled transferred to a new home. it's the department's employees searching for clothing to accommodate medical devices. it's the passerby who sees a prosthetic leg and nods in solidarity and strength. it's the ribbons proudly displayed on our cruisers, ladder, trucks, buses, and cars. and it is certainly when a band of bearded brothers brings home a championship to a beloved ballpark and its fans. [applause]

we also have heroes within our families, a devoted brother who drove for hours on the day of the marathon with a care friends to be by his brother's side and serve as his chief of staff. a loving sister who moved across the country to care for her family. parents stricken with fear and overwhelming sadness who found a way to spend day after day in hospitals with hopes of willing their children back to health. extended family giving all they could to support those they love . and couples both wed and unwed who stay by each other's side through the emotional agony of watching someone you love suffer and the beauty of knowing that you'll get through this together. -- in sickness and in health, never has that vow felt so tangible. we would never wish devastation

and pain we have experienced on any of you. however, we do wish that all of you at some point in your lives feel as loved as we have felt over this last year. it has been the most humbling experience of our lives. we hope you feel all the emotion we feel when we say thank you. to our fellow survivor community, what will we do without each other? we should have never met this way but we are so grateful for each other. we have shared our despair, sense of loss, and challenges as well as our hope, gratitude, and triumphs. we have been there for each other and we will continue to be there to pick each other up and celebrate milestones for years to come. most of all, we will cherish the friendships our families have forged with bonds of mutual admiration. and to those who continue to

struggle through despair, ongoing medical care and the heart-wrenching surgical decisions, don'tering for a second that we'll be there for ou at a moment's notice. we will always remember our garden angels -- guardian angel, lindsay, shaun, crystal, and martin. whether we raise them as our children, knew them for years, met them once or only know them in spirit, we will carry them in our hearts. to their families, know that you will never be alone and that the city stands beside you. we remember those who died, there's pieces of us. the intellectual charm of lindsay, shaun's commitment to justice, crystal's infectious smile, and the childhood charm

of martin. we will choose to think of them not in association with hate, but forever connected to our commitment to peace. peace. that will be their lasting message to us. we all know when historians write about these devastation has -- that was brought upon our families and how far of our guard yawn angels came to be but i hope they will tell the unfailing compassion and unity that followed. we no longer have to think philosophically about the capacity of the human spirit. it is right here in the city of boston. whether our families have been here for generations or recently called boston home, we know that we have written another chapter in a rich history of revolutionary people. and we take pride in knowing that we are part of something much larger than ourselves. in this spirit, we choose this marathon monday to show the

world what boston represents through our deeds and dedications. for those of us who will ride and run, we will do so for those who are no longer with us. for a family member with for those of us who will route the roof we will embrace roles as motivators and emotional catalyst. -- our guardian media's angels, let them hear us roar. let us show them that they live on in our friends family, and community. the infectious spirit that we will feel on the third monday of april for years to come. i am so proud to be a bostonian. i am so proud to be connected to all of you. [applause]

>> vice president biden, governor patrick, mayor walsh, mayor menino, survivors, worst responders, -- first responders, and distinguished guest. today marks one year from when our lives were changed forever.

it is not a change we wanted or that we would wish on anyone else. although each of our paths to recovery a bit unique of and we will travel that are on pace, we continue to move forward. today i will not focus on the past, but be mindful of our thoseses, and thank who have helped us to take our first steps, reclaim our first month of and reclaim our lives. to the first responders, for running into harms way and giving us the aid that we needed. to the doctors, surgeons, and their staffs, who completely gave of themselves to ensure that are most severely injured were given and it -- were given a chance to live again. to all law enforcement agencies, who works tirelessly and quickly to make our city secure again. to the physical therapist and counselors who continue to support us physically and emotionally. to the boston athletic association, the one fund

contributors, and the countless others are combined and gave us the strength to recognize each day as a new beginning and the hope for a brighter tomorrow. thank you for your love, compassion, and generosity. in aave touched our hearts way that many times our gratitude could only be expressed through our tears of joy. [applause] >> governor brown for -- patrick of an mayor menino, i give for your leadership and one of our darkest moments. you're both symbols of strength and compaction -- compassion. during the early days he gave us the opportunity to mourn, to grieve, and to reflect in private on boylston street and through the creation of the one fund that you immediately

provided critical and much-needed financial and emotional support. thorpe, lorie van damme, and the entire one funds that, thank you for your tyler's commitment to the survivors and families. u of been proactive and anticipating our needs, and are completely devoted to each and everyone of us on a personal level. to the survivors, although your journey has not been easy, and the road is still long, your inner strength, determination, and resolve displayed during these past 12 months have made you an inspiration to many. each step forward is a step away from the past, and a step toward a new nabarro -- tomorrow. thank you parsable by the highest qualities of mankind of and bless those who lost their lives as a result of those tragic events.

be proud that you've decided to take control of your life, and that you have chosen to live them and that each of your making a difference in the lives of a dealers -- and the lives of others. obama spoke one year ago, and said we summon the strength we did not even know we had him and we carry on and finish the race. we finished the race and we do that because of who we are, and we do that because we know that someone around the end, a stranger, has a cup of water, around the bend someone is there to boost our spirits. on that's toughest mile, just when we think we have hit a wall, there will be someone there to cheer us on and pick us up if we fall. this day next year on the third monday cover the world will return to this in full american city to run harder than ever to cheer louder than ever

for the 118th marathon and that on it. president obama was right to be here we are one year later, we are all boston strong, and we will see you on monday. [applause] >> hello. good afternoon. ago my husband, major adam david had just returned from afghanistan where he was fighting the war on terror. we took a long walk into sunny boston cap and in a matter of seconds, our world was changed forever.

it is difficult to believe it has only been one year. it feels like only a few weeks cap and we have a long road yet to walk. i stand here today as a round bostonian, although adam and i just moved to boston three short years ago. this day has stood by us, supported us come and help those heel. in the face other of terror, we grieved in the face of tremendous loss cap and we grew in the face of adversity. our survivor community is not something any of us have chosen to be a copper -- part up. and we're just not have a community. there were many moments we could not have made it through that had not been for one another. we provide peace in finding a shoulder to calling death cry on, a warm embrace of and intangible to the crowd. we know just by eye contact what the other is feeling.

i am thankful for our friendships. as i look back on this past year, i think of the lessons that we have learned and had to relearn, that no milestone is too small to celebrate, even walking into a non-handicap bathroom stall for the first time. doing a happy dance. [applause] things.e little i also learned that moods are contagious. our community, our city, our first responders, our surgeon, our fruits -- physical and mental there is would not and will not let us fail. there are neighboring devotion to strength is why we stand here boston strong today. i have also learned that it is ok to not be ok. that we still have to let ourselves grieve. we can stay in that even for a few days. that boston strong

attitude that gets us back out of and we cannot find the strength to do it ourselves, we have those around us that lift us back up. my wish, if i were allowed to grant one, is that we use this day, not as just a day of remembrance but a day of action. isish that everyone who facing adversity today would have the support that we all had. anyone is wondering what they can do, i would answer, look around. people in your community need your support. they need your patient, and they need your time in dealing with similar situations such as ours. let april 15 be a day where we all work together to make the world a better place. all of the lesson of lessons that i've learned over this past year is that something in your life, in anyone's lifetime go horrifically, terribly wrong in the matter of seconds. yet it is up to us to make every

single second count after, because believe me, they do. thank you. [applause] ♪

i've heard it said that people come into our lives for a reason, bringing something we must learn. those who help us most to grow. and we help them in return. know if i believe that is true. but i know i am who i am today .ecause i knew you like it, and hold from orbit as it passes the sun. like a stream that needs a boulder halfway through the wood. who have been -- who can say if i'd been changed for the better. you, i havei knew

been changed for good. it will may be that we may never meet again. me say lifetime so let me is we part so much of because i have learned it from you and you will be with me like a hand written on my heart. now no matter how our -- end.and i know you have re-written mine

by being my friend. like a ship blown from its mooring like a seed dropped by a skybird i don't know if i and -- have been changed for the better, i do believe i have been changed for the better and because i knew you because i knew you because i knew you i have been changed for good.

[applause] >> as it says in the book of james, the testing of our faith produces perseverance. perseverance. we have learned that in boston noticed past year. all of us. we have built it, we have seen it, we have shared it. lost lovedilies who ones, for those recovering from injury of every kind, it is what

life is all about now. it is about dancing again after losing a leg, it is about starting a marriage forced to forged in tragedy, is about learning to care about family and friends. the testing of our faith produces perseverance. is there a tougher test of faith for parents and the loss of a child? hurteing your child badly while you fight pain in injury or self? friends, on this day of remembrance i started the heart of the dorchester and community where i was a kid were martin richard was a kid. the other day i came across some voters from a neighborhood party a few years back. one picture stopped me cold. there he was with some friends, my arm around a little boy, holding them close. it was wearing a dorchester t-shirt and a mile that could

light up and we are. the little boy was martin richard. -- theents had recently date is not passed when we do not cry over him, but we also feel like this is the right way to remember a little boy with a gusto for life and a curing heart -- caring heart. martin played in his little league with enthusiasm and shared joy. ge,a coach in that leau understanding the importance of never giving up. his older brother gets that. ofis an exceptional student a good athlete, a great kid, always eager to help. he is the kind did you want your kids to be friends with. so as his sister. they are teaching us a thing or

two about never giving up. way, you did not hear it from me, but james is playing basketball again. [applause] martin would love that, the way he saw the world, anything was possible. all across our city, we are learning that too. we are learning not just perseverance, but resilient. resilience rooted in hope. weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning. we endure the night, alice came to our city, boylston street and the square, and felt like everyone was hurt, everyone was suffering. down the red line in dorchester,

up 93 through somerville and medford of and on memorial drive to m.i.t.. our grief drew us a painful map. in the darkest hour of that night, we looked to our first responders who are always our begin on hope, of courage, of heart. we saw police officers, firefighters and emts running toward danger as they always do, and they always will. and deaedical staff of volunteers tending to the injured. we saw businesses on boylston street children traumatized. our public employees from the city of boston were rushing to find resources. we saw people would come to cheer on the runners instead of running themselves to save the lives of perfect strangers. as the day went on in wheeler to handley of loss, we saw that their lives told us a story of our city. lingzi lu was drawn here from

halfway around the world to study, learn, and explore. was always thel last to leave work, but she was always there when her grandmother needed her. was doing what he always wanted to do, building a career as a police officer devoted to community. richard was a little neighborhood kid with a big smile and even bigger heart. together they showed us the qualities of our city that will carry us through. we boreurvivors, witness to your experience, we gain strength from your current, and we help -- i'll hope for our future. we came together as a city within 24 hours. business leaders, government, the labor of the -- philanthropy created the one fund.

help came from across the world. people reached out to us in solidarity, offering messages of healing and hope. next week thousands of runners and millions of our friends from around the world will come to boston. the 118th boston marathon will be a living breathing celebration of our cities resilience. we still hurt. we heard from trauma, we heard from grief, we heard from loss. we hurt whenever violent hits our streets anywhere in our city and our kids become victims. we become -- we heard now is the -- we hurt now as we mourn the loss of two of our firefighters in a fire. a young boston police officer injured at the scene in watertown a year ago was honored for his bravery and is suddenly gone. we hurt when brave first

responders you that they're all. weeping may adore for a night, but joy comes in the morning. after a dark night and a bitter winter, spring is here, the snow is gone and the red sox are back of and in a week and winners will be too, running from martin -- four martin, for family, for friends, for boston, for america. we are never going to be the same, we are stronger than ever. we've been tested and tested again. we face these hertz with a new understanding of our strength. we have survived the dark paste theurvive and new day -- face the new day. e can believe that anything is possible. ofs is boston, the city

courage and champion for the city of hope, and the city of heart. god bless you, god left the city of boston, and god bless united states of america. the city of boston, and god bless the united states of america. [applause] [applause] >> mr. vice president, ladies and gentlemen, brothers and sisters, none of us at this

podium could possibly add to the testimony of the survivors who have spoken today. i'm just glad to be here with all of you. i'm glad to join in the ,emembrance of krystle campbell and lingzi lu, and martin william richard, and sean a. collier. there are many years till heart from this tragedy, and yet and virus with their determination. chance tofor the honor and thank again the first responders and medical professionals and volunteers who cared for and comforted those hurt. the law-enforcement officials who meticulously and methodically worked to solve this crime and i and the killers -- find the killers. the many political leaders who emphasis on leader and

not political throughout that week. i'm glad to have this tragedy behind, and the next whereupon i had a bus. i'm glad especially to share any -- in the timeless trance of our community's response to this crisis. boston's strong is about the triumph of community itself. again these last several years we have emphasized the importance of the link community. in ourng our stake neighbor lost dreams and struggles as well as their own. sustaining such sentiments as top in the face of the crushing cynicism so prevalent in modern culture. me the thing we witnessed in the aftermath of that vicious attack last year, and that i submit we are here today to celebrate is precisely that sense of community.

transcendentg an display you and so many others showed last year of kindness and grace. there are no strangers here. in the days and weeks after the marathon last year we were reminded how few degrees of separation there are in fact between us. i think of the young lawyer on my own staff who finished the route on boylston street equidistant between the first and second blast. the friends who left the finish line minutes before the first explosion because their small children needed a nap. or the friends who did not. they are no strangers here. i see nurses and doctors and cbs who met one the third shift hearing for the injured. walking towards boylston when the first bomb

went off. i carry in my pocket today the photograph of martin richard holding a campaign time for me when he was three years old. he got around, mr. mayor. [applause] [laughter] there are no strangers here. day after the bombing hert with karen rant about boyfriend and his brother in the hospital while she waited to see if doctors could save her leg. toid what i could encourage and support her, and she were reminded me that we had met on shelter island. int summer with a street chicago where was born and raised was renamed for me, who should come rolling up in her wheelchair to support me but the same karen rand. there are no strangers here. we are not strangers. we are all connected to each other, to events beyond our control, to a common destiny.

we share the same fears over the same hopes, the same community. --are all caught and in thi in an inescapable community. ,hatever affects one directly affects all indirectly. we are not strangers. we are cap in the end of a one community. that. we hold tight to as we remember the dead of and encourage the injured, we remember the community. thepe that we remember courage of the first responders, we remember community. thepe that as we thank medical teams and the public officials, we remember community, because it all adds up to an enduring example of the power of common cause, and of working together and turning to each other when we could have

easily turned on each other. itself,he power of love that is when a community is. to be a part of this one. god bless you all. thank you. [applause] ♪

i have often dreamed of a far off place where a great warm welcome will be waiting for me where the crowds will cheer

when they see my face and a voice keeps saying this is where i'm meant to be down an unknown road to embrace my fate though that road may wander it will lead me to you and a thousand years would be worth the wait it might take a lifetime but somehow i'll see it through and i won't look back i can go the distance and i'll stay on track no i won't accept defeat it's an uphill slope but i won't lose hope till i go the distance glory islook he on theete

the hardest part ♪ ♪ my heroes strength is measured by his heart ♪ ♪ his heart ♪ like a shooting star ♪ i will go the distance ♪ and i'll search the world ♪ i don't care how far ♪ ♪ i will go the distance ♪ till i've find my heroes welcome ♪ ♪ waiting in your arms ♪ i will search the world

♪ i will face its harm my hero's welcome ♪ ♪ waiting in your arms [applause] [applause]

>> thank you. thank you. thank you very much. i -- in my career, i have been a part of or witnessed some incredible tributes. i've never,o say never, never witnessed a tribute like i heard today. [applause] jill and i are honored to be asked back. say to those survivors.

my god, you have survived and you have soared. it was worth it. i mean this sincerely. just to hear each of you speak. you are truly, truly inspiring. i have never heard anything as beautiful as what all of you just said. [applause] and you are really good. [laughter] i'm serious. it's just absolutely remarkable. walsh, mayoror menino, you always speak well. and tommy, i can tell you one thing. person inot a single here whose heart he did not speak to.

they understood every single word you said. [applause] you have been my friend for a long time and the reason they heard it is your heart is as big as the city. and it's an honor to be with you. [applause] tom, the boston athletic association, first of all, thank you for having jill and me, but what an incredible job you have done. this is an important day. annd important day -- important day for bostonians. it's an important day for the nation, for america, for the families of martin and lingzi lu and crystal an officer color. i know this is a bittersweet moment for all of you.

and many those of you of you have gone through your own sorrows, and know that the anniversary is "celebrated" and paid tribute. air brings every memory back with such sharp relief. in a sense, you would almost rather not have it happen. we as i said to you when talked in the back of the auditorium, thank you for your courage. thank you for your courage. ,nd i hope you take some solace again, from the outpouring of love and affection of all the people in this great city and the country. but it is still difficult. i know that no memorial, no acts can fulfill what

you yearn to fulfill. it takes incredible kurds for you to be here. -- incredible courage for you to be here. they see you. they hear you. they know of you. ie fact that you are here, promise you, gives them hope that maybe, maybe they can overcome what they are facing right now. the one thing you have vastly assert -- leslie underestimated what you're doing for so many people in dealing with your own grief with such courage. you inspire them and we owe you for just being back. and adrien,ck louise, david, all the survivors here and elsewhere, you are

canng proof that america never, never, never be defeated. you are the proof of that assertion. and youhas been taken have never, never given up. and all the survivors were not here, even those tough days lying in a hospital bed -- i remember looking up at the ceiling wondering, god, i cannot do this anymore. i don't want to do this anymore. and wondering how much more can you take. but you mustered the courage and you got up and you kept going and you brought an awful lot of other people with you as you walked on on a prosthetic leg. and you are here. you are undeterred. and you are unyielding. that stubborn perseverance that the mayor spoke of in the face of unfathomable challenge, that is just your courage.

that is just courage. because ithey kid me talk a lot about my mom -- but my mom was a great old irish lady. she told us from the time we siblings to each of my but to me, joey, you are defined by your courage and you are redeemed by your loyalty. the four of you are the purest example of my mother's standard i have ever met. you are defined by your courage. and you are redeemed by your loyalty. you'd didn't just take care of yourself. you reached back and help so many other people. in your loyalty, you inspired this great city. and even though i am not a boston fan, i love you guys, man. [laughter] what an incredible city. it really is. you are an incredible, incredible city. are notoliticians

supposed to say that, if you are not a red sox fan. you get the living hell kicked out of you. that was a good reason not to say you are not a red sox fan. in the face of america's resolve, not a liquid happen on 9/11, you become the face of america's resolve for the whole world to see. i have traveled over 900,000 miles just being vice president, all around the world. people know all about you. they know who you are. they know your pride. they know your courage. they know your resolve. they know who you are. twisted,hy the cowardly terrorists who acted here and in other places do what they do. they try to instill fear.

they try to instill fear so that we will jettison what we value the most. and what the world most values about us, an open society, our system of justice, our freedom of religion, our access to opportunity, the free flow of information, ideas, and people across the country, the willingness and capacity to gather anywhere and in any numbers and say what we believe. that is their objective. that is what they attempted to do directly in boston, is to make us afraid. but tot boston afraid, make america afraid. maybe we begin to change our ways. that is the objective. the very soul of who we are. they figure, if they instill enough fear, we will change.

them that weates refuse to bend, refused to change, refused to yield to fear. you are boston strong. but america is strong. they are not unlike you. all around america. that is what makes us so proud of the city and the state, what makes me so how to be an american. we have never, ever, ever yielded to fear, never. just look at what you have done over the past year recovering from the attack. you form support groups, established foundations, scholarships,p opel businesses supported charity drives, houses of worship have provided comfort and so much more. the organizations like the one

and beyondone above to raise millions of dollars to help the families of the victims, the survivors and the city recover and rebuild. greater prideaken in your community that stood by you, protected you. world's greatest , membersnurses, emt's of the national guard, veterans, teachers. pride in the world's greatest police officers and firefighters was mentioned repeatedly today. [applause] last year, i had the great honor officerg to speak for collier at m.i.t..

inusands of men and women uniform stood in line as far as the eye could see. it was incredible. they showed up because they shared a fundamental obligation to serve and an unbreakable sense of duty. it is not just what they do. it's who they are. ,t is who sean collier was patrolling to protect a campus and community that he loved. it is also what officer dennis simmons, who put his life on the line last year in a shootout to hunt down the killers, he suffered a severe head injury and ultimately he succumbed. thealso, it is firefighters, michael kennedy and ed walsh, had recently to deal with when they responded and their grieving families knew

every single time they responded to an alarm, something like this could happen. yet we know there is not a single moment, not a single moment of hardship that america not been transformed by, made stronger by. we know this for certainty because it is the history of the journey of america. it is written in the not just in the brave men and women we honored today in uniform, but anchored in the end on thing courage and uncommon resolve of ordinary americans. that is the incredible thing about america. we teach our children this in that these are qualities ingrained in our national character, stamped into our dna. animate our national identity and they continue to define who we are. marathon, thes

whole world witnessed ordinary citizens doing extraordinary things. shopkeepers delivering blankets and water, doctors running through the finish line, to the hospital to care for the people who had been wounded, residents and store owners opening their doors to folks for shelter. and what has become an iconic photograph, carlos in his cowboy fate -- it is cowboy had pushing jeff ballmer. that photograph -- [applause] that picture is hanging on walls around the world. carlos did what you bostonians do and what americans do. carlos ran to him rather than from him.

a normal human instinct is to run from, not to. he wasn't a firefighter. he wasn't a trained medic. he wasn't a police officer. but yet he instinctively ran to. that is what bostonians do. that is what alstom onions did bostonians did. bob still need people line 36,000 up to start the marathon, you will send a resounding message around the world, not just to the rest of the world, but to the terrorists that we will never yield. we will never cower. [applause] america will never, ever, ever, ever stand down. we are boston. we are america. we respond.

we endure. we overcome. and we own the finish line. god bless you all and may god protect our troops. [applause] an ♪ ♪

♪

♪ let me walk with my brother ♪ ♪ in perfect harmony ♪ let peace begin with me ♪ let this be the moment now

♪ with every step i take ♪ let this be my solemn vow ♪ to take each moment ♪ and live each moment in peace eternally. ♪ let there be peace on earth ♪ and let it begin with me ♪ [applause]

>> as this event comes to a

close, president obama plans to make the remembrance privately in the oval office today. a moment of silence is planned for 2:00 p.m. today, the same time that two bombs exploded near the finish line at the boston marathon last year. president obama says that those who were injured have been an inspiration in their recovery. several members of congress have tweeted about the day-to-day. -- the day today.

the house homeland security committee marked the anniversary with testimony from law enforcement officials who responded to the attack. watertowndes massachusetts police chief edward devoe. this hearing is about one hour and 45 minutes. >> the committee on homeland security will come to order. we continue a series of hearings on the boston bombing.

today, there will be a memorial service in my home state of texas for the fort hood shooting that took place on april 2, 114. before we continue this proceeding, i would like to take a moment of silence to recognize the victims of this horrific attack. i now recognize myself for an opening statement. this is a powerful and emotional day for the witnesses and for me and this committee. it is a time to remember the anniversary of the boston marathon bombings, a time to remember the date comes. i personally -- the victims. i personally remember walking with commissioner ed davis who is with us today. out tober him pointing me the trashcan's where the bombs went off, injuring 260 innocent people and killing

three, including a little eight-year-old boy in cold blood. in the middle of the chaos, we also witnessed exceptional bravery. acts ofor the heroic the first responders and boston citizens who ran towards danger instead of away, many more could have died. attack, thefter the marathoners tying their shoes together in the hundreds in a memorial out of respect and out of dedication. the watertownr police chief who is with us here today as well. thank you for being here. i remember him taking me and congressman keating on a tour of a once quiet neighborhood and seeing the aftermath of the gunfight to take down the biggest terrorists since 9/11. what happened after that is what heroes are made of. tamerlan threw everything he had at these officers, including

pipe bombs, rounds of ammunition, and a pressure cooker ied. subdueder was finally after the heroic acts and efforts of our local law enforcement who are with us today as well. ist is not so well known that, had it not been for the efforts of commissioner ed davis and those of the watertown police force, our nation could have been further terrorized. these terrorists had six more bombs in their car and they were on their way to time square. if it wasn't for these her like acts of bravery, new york city could have been hit again. we will hear from these brave individuals today for the first time before congress. this committee, through its oversight responsibilities conducted a thorough investigation and -- into what happened and what went wrong. we found that several flags and warnings were missed.

we found that tamerlan was on the radar of the fbi and somehow fell off. this is precisely what the russian letter warned our intelligence community and fbi about. he came back even more radicalized. we also found that unfortunately custom months -- customs, fbi and authorities somehow missed him. arrogantly, some u.s. officials said it would not have made a difference if they had known about his overseas travels. that the social media would have shown indicators such as jihadist video postings, his mosque having seen escalating behavior as well. it likely would have been clear that he was becoming more and more of a threat to the community. which takes me to my last point. state and local police have a strong role in counterterrorism.

they know the streets better than anybody and they know the local threats. the boston pd should have given more information -- should have been given more information throughout the entire process. they must know the terror threats in their own backyards. this process, in my judgment, has to change. two weeks ago, our committee issued a report about the boston marathon bombings. over the course of the year, we held two hearings, had numerous briefings and engagements, travel to boston numeral times, had a bipartisan staff delegation traveled to moscow. i personally went to boston and moscow with mr. keating and spoke with officials on the ground. i want to thank the democrats for their participation in the investigation and the report. that theireased input was reflected in the final report.

based on the lessons learned, we issued our recommendations to fix some of the systemic problems that led to tamerlan tsarnaev falling off our radar. i hope to think, in a small way, the recommendations we made in this report can make a difference in preventing the tragedy we saw in boston from occurring again in the homeland. i'm pleased to know and to hear and report that both the fbi and dhs are already constructively implementing the recommendations of this committee's report, and i commend them for that. let us hope that such a tragic event like this never happens again. with that, i would now like to recognize the heroes in this hearing, in this committee room here today, the watertown officers who are with us here today who were directly involved