emissions. affect the recent epa proposals for new and existing power plants. the u.s. house is about to gavel in. the first couple hours have been reserved for general speeches on any topic. legislative work against at 2:00, debating on bills begins later after 4:00. seven builds on the schedule for the midafternoon, mostly dealing with energy. they plan to vote on those 6:30. now 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., june 23, 2014. i hereby appoint the honorable adrian smith to act as speaker pro tempore on this day. signed, john a. boehner, speaker of the house of

representatives. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the order of the house of january 7, 2014, the chair will now recognize members from lists submitted by the majority and minority leaders for morning hour ebate. pursuant to clause 12-a of rule 1, the chair declares the house in recess until 2:00 p.m. today. >> taking you live for the next in a series of discussions about campus sexually assault. held by senator claire mccaskill from the homeland security subcommittee. watch that live at 2:30 p.m. eastern. we will have it on c-span3.

>> keep in touch with current events from the nation's capital using any phone, anytime. foury call 202-626-8888 today's washington journal program. listen to a recap of the days events on "washington today." hear audio of the public affairs programs beginning sundays at noon eastern. c-span radio on audio now. .02-626-8888 long-distance or phone charges may apply. freedomaith and coalition conference was hosted in washington, d.c. a number of presidential hopefuls appeared, including chris christie. he was there and he spoke for about 20 minutes.

[applause] >> thank you. thank you all very much. welcome, for the warm i appreciate it. thank you for being involved. it is extraordinarily important, especially in the times we are facing. not only in my state but across the entire country. that the time we are in right now, we have a greater need for people to be telling each other the truth than we have had an almost anytime time in our country's history. the challenges that we face are .ig but solvable they are solvable if we tell each other the truth. that is what we have been trying to do in new jersey for the last five years. let me acquaint you with what has been going on in my state. when i got into office, i inherited a state that had 115

tax and fee increases at the state level. in eight years. spending that had gone up 56%. that was lagging economically. in fact, during the decade before i became governor, we had zero private sector job growth. growth.vate sector job it was a state that needed to be changed. the first thing i inherited was a $2.2 billion debt -- what a deficit that had to be fixed within six weeks of taking office. they told me if we did not fix it in the first six weeks, we would not meet payroll for the second pay period in march. imagine being governor of a state the second wealthiest , state per capita in america and not being able to pay payroll. i had two choices.

i could negotiate with my democratic legislature down the hall, or, given in the new jersey state constitution, i could go into a room make the cuts necessary and sign a executive order. not involving the legislature at all. those you gotten to know me, if you i think took choice one, you need to leave the room now. [laughter] we took choice number two. i went through the budget and impounded $2.2 billion. with the stroke of a pen, we were able to get our budget back in balance. but how do we announce this? sitting in my office with a pen and the treasurer. i asked for my first joint session speech. they asked what it was about. they asked me before hand a copy of my text. i said no, we don't give copy of texts. no governor, you don't understand, it's tradition to give it to the legislature.

i said yes, you can leak it and attack it before i give it. i said, i will pass up on that opportunity. i said listen, this ain't vegas and i ain't wayne newton we do one show a night. that's it. you do not get a preview. [applause] so, i'll give you the 15 second version. i went into the chamber, i said this is your problem, you created it. you dumped it on my doorstep at the beginning of this job, i just went into my office, i cut $2.2 billion in spending. you canyour problem, thank me later, have a good day. and i left. [applause] you can imagine reaction the got from the legislature. afterwards, they were outraged. they called me all of these names. julius caesar, napoleon bonaparte, all of these great leaders of the past that i admire so much.

[applause] the next day, i saw the senate president, steve sweeney who was an iron worker. president of the ironworkers local in new jersey. we were coming through the state house coming in through the same side door. he said things in the newspaper about me. i said i thought about it, what you said really touched me. i'm going to vacate the executive order and send the problem down the hall to you guys and you can fix it. this is all you need know about new jersey politics. he said hey, do not overreact to sto. i think you did a pretty good job. no reason to send the problem down the hall for me to fix. [laughter] i tell you that story because it's about how you establish credibility in leadership by making hard decisions by taking the burden on to yourself and then to stand up for the things that you believe in order to allow yourself to have the

credibility you need to lead. it's not just on issues like our fiscal issues where i vetoed income tax increases. where state spending today on discretionary spending is $2.2 billion less than it was seven years ago in new jersey. we capped property taxes. we caps on raises public-sector unions can get. we reformed teacher tenure for the first time in a hundred years. gotten merit pay in our worse performing school district and increased charter schools throughout the state to record levels. [applause] those are all things that have been done in the last 4.5 years with a democratic legislature. what does that tell you? leadership is about figuring out a way to get things done. i absolutely believe people in my state and people across the country are tired of a government that is constantly

bickering with each other towards no end. getting nothing done. allowing our country to drift in stalemate with no progress being made towards the things that we need to do to make our country a better place. to make our children's future more safe and secure. so, i wake up every morning with a democratic legislature everybody and that means i wake up every morning knowing i'm not going to get everything i want. in knowing comfort an that you're willing to work as hard as you need to work to get the important things done. like the things i just listed. people have to know from a principle position where you stand. now, when i started to run for governor in 2009 and met with supporters, potential supporters and consultants, they went through that checklist of issues that everybody goes find out where

candidates stand. they asked me where i stood on the issue of life. i said i'm pro-life. they said to me, you know, there has never been a pro-life candidate elected statewide in new jersey since roe v. wade. we don't believe one can be elected. you need to think about this issue. i said i already have. comment comment comment comment comment comment comment comment comment comment comment -- i said i have thought about the issue. this is my position. what we did in the campaign was to speak frankly to people about how i believe every life is a gift from god and protected. [applause] i told people from new jersey that i knew many of them would consider voting for me disagreed with me. they had a right to know what was in my heart. when you know what's in someone's heart, you have a window into how they will lead. i want to say one other things about this issue before i move on to the next one. i can't say how many times i had people in the media say to me,

governor, how is it that a republican party can be a national party that wins again when their words -- you are so certain socialola issues. this is the answer i give them and the way i lead. you know, we have different definitions of intolerance. remember this, names like colin powell, condolezza rice all republicans who were pro-choice republicans and have spoken. at republican national conventions. i spoke to a number of different reporters, name me the one pro-life democrat who ever been able and allowed to speak at a democratic national convention since roe v. wade. don't strain yourself, there's never been one. [laughter] there's is the party that is intolerant. is the party that excludes other ideas. [applause] we should no longer sit around and allow ourselves to be

punching bags and have those phrases used about us. party thatthe other excludes different ideas, and not a republican party that excludes different ideas on this issue. [applause] i was giving a speech in new jersey last week about an issue that's directly connected to me personally to my stance on life. that is what we do with the drug problem in america. every day we have people of every age, of every religion, of every socioeconomic class falling victim to the disease of drug addiction. we have tried now for 40 plus years a war on drugs that is broad and lie against everyone involved in jobs in america.

has notnot worked, a worked. is giving those people, nonviolent offenders, addicts, the ability to get the tools they need. i doubt there's any person in this room that does not have drug or alcohol addiction touch their family, neighbors or friends. we have all seen it. for those who don't agree, that treatment is the way to go for people who are not violent, let me be clear, i'm a former federal prosecutor, i put lots of people in jail over the years -- seven years. violent sociopath drug dealers deserve to go to prison. that is not the people i'm talking about. the people i am talking about are the users who commit petty,

nonviolent crimes to support their addiction. i believe if you are pro-life, as i am, you need to be pro-life for the whole life. you just can't afford to be pro-life when the human being is in the womb. you have to be pro-life after they leave the womb. sometimes being pro-life is messy. human beings make bad choices. we are flawed. i doubt there's one of us in this audience who hasn't made a bad choice or a bad decision in your life. fortunately it didn't lead to a disease that can ruin your life. when we say we're pro-life, we need to be pro-life for the entire life. we need to stand up for the hurt and the wounded. there needs to be a culture of life that pope john paul ii spoke about. from the womb until natural death, we need to be there for those who stumble and fall.

to be there to lift them up. to me that's the true meaning, the complete meaning of being pro-life. [applause] we need to be pro-life, we know that education is the way to have people reach their greatest and fullest god given potential. the education system in this country and the way it's operating now it's not working. it's not working most particularly for our least fortunate. in our cities across this country, we have children everyday falling further and further behind because we have an educational system that cares more about the comfort of adults than they care about the potential of children. we need to be fighting that fight as well. as a derivative of us believing that life is precious.

whether you're a child who sits in a classroom in newark, new jersey or in my hometown, you deserve a great education. we need to have more charter schools. we need to have vouchers for our -- so that families, regardless of their status, can make a choice for their child. [applause] we need to hold teachers to the highest standards and reward the great ones and fire the bad ones. [applause] we need to make our first priority the god given potential of each and every one of those children sitting in that classroom. in america, we're not doing that today. that is why we are falling further and further behind. because our leaders are in the throes of the influence of the special education interests in

this country who are well funded and aggressive and protecting their turf. their turf. it's not just their turf, it's our turf too. it's the turf our children learn and grow and develop in. we need to do much better than what we're doing. that is why we have done the things we do it my state and we need to do more. our country needs to do more because every child has the right to reach his or her full potential. it's our obligation as leaders in this society to speak out for them. leadership is also about making sure that our friends know who our friends are, that our adversaries know who they are as well. we are seeing now all across this world that this

administration pulling back of american influence and american ideas around the world is having catastrophic effects in every corner of the globe. that's not anything more than a failure of the american leader. speak clearly, profoundly and inspirationally about what america's role is. whether it is drawing a red line in syria and then not enforcing it, hurting america's credibility and allowing the russian leader to fill the vacuum of leadership in way that will not be good for the world. and then watching how that movement moves from syria, our lack of engagement to causing the issues that cause in iraq. whether it's the nuclear program in iran or north korea. all of these things are happening in my opinion because

of a lack of clarity and principle in american leadership in the statement of who we are. worst of all, you have sitting in the midst of this, the beacon of hope and democracy and respect for human rights. in that section of the world, the state of israel who now feels at risk because they are no longer convinced that america is their unwavering from -- is their unwavering friend because of the action of this administration. that's wrong. israel is our friend. we need to stand up for it and fight for it. that is like the that our friends not knowing any longer who our friends are and our adversaries not knowing who they are, either. you know, i'm accused of lots of different things.

i am called lots of different names. "indirect" has never been one of them. [laughter] the fact is, that leadership is about telling people who you are and what you stand for and speaking it directly, loudly and understandably so that not only your supporters know who you are, but people who are against you know who you are too and have respect where you stand and where you stand is where you're willing to fight. that's what we need to do more of in this country. [applause] ironically, everybody, that's what creates opportunity for principled compromise. principledenter a compromise with someone you believe don't have principles. you don't compromise with someone who you do not fear. if you have nothing to fear, you think you will get exactly what you want.

the fact is, this is all about getting us to a point where our government works once again. that it works for the people who pay the bills. it works for the people who raise our families. it works for the people who run our volunteer organizations. in new jersey, when i say we watch rehabilitation for -- we want drug rehabilitation for everyone who needs it, that means from everyone who provides it. the government, private organizations, faith based organizations. all of whom have a role to play in trying to make our government our society work again. none of these things are easy but they're all completely within our grasp. if we're willing to stand up and fight and lead again. i know living in the state i live in, that if it's possible there -- goodness sake it's possible anywhere -- it's possible anywhere if it's possible in new jersey.

[applause] it's not easy to do in a state like mine but we're doing it. we're fighting everyday to make it happen. i want to end with this. we wouldn't be here today if the -- if it were not for the leaders who helped to build this country. the everyday people and those who put themselves in leadership before. i want us to think about what our responsibility is as we move forward to be a part of this change. i know i'm preaching to the choir today, if you're here, you're involved and you care. you want to be a part of the difference. i want to remind you about what our founding fathers said near the end of his life. john adams our second president, one of the authors of declaration of independence said this near the end of his life. concerned about the country he had helped found near its 50th anniversary.

john adams said, "i hope you understand all that we have sacrificed in order to secure for you your liberty. i pray you will make a good use of it. shower pen to i heaven for having made the sacrifice at all." the sacrifice is made by folks like washington and adams and jefferson and hamilton. pale in comparison to what i'm asking you to be involved in today. we do not want to be the first generation who breaks that most solemn of american commitments. that is to lead this place better for the next generation then it was left for us. let us not be part of the generation that make adams repent in heaven.

for having made the sacrifice at all. if that's a fight you're willing to engage in, it's a fight i'm willing to engage in. i will be with you. thank you for having me today. thank you for what you do. [applause] >> former gop presidential candidate and businessman herman cain also spoke at the faith and freedom coalition conference. he criticized the obama administrations' ability to handle crises and talked about being an informed citizen. >> thank you, thank you for being here. that is why i enjoy coming to this conference and being here with you. one of the problems we have in this country is not enough people are involved in the

process. politics is no longer a spectator sport. you got to be in the game. that's why you're here today. i want to thank ralph reed and his organization for inviting me to be here. i was here last year and the message that i have this year is very similar to the message that i had last year. because a lot of things haven't changed. they've only gotten worse. same message, new facts. allow me to begin with something that may resonate with most of the people in this room. we are troubled on every side, yet not distressed. we are perplexed but not in despair. persecuted but not forsaken.

cast down but not destroyed. who am i talking about? that sounded like our nation doesn't it? but it was also the words of the apostle paul to the corinthians. they've seen this picture before. that's the picture that we are seeing today. just like paul's message was one of don't give up, that's my message to you about what we are facing in this country. you had many great speakers, you will have a lot more speakers who will talk to you about some of the problems. i don't have to remind you of it.

i sum up the problems that this nation faces through this administration, three words. a crisis of crisises. think about it. it's not just one crisis, there there -- there are several crises that this administration is dealing with and the democrats are dealing with take your pick. there's no such thing as having a favorite crisis. [laughter]

iraq, collaborating with iran. obamacare, the veterans , ainistration, the epa sluggish stalled economy. do any of these elicit good thoughts as i mention the very title? the answer is no. but if that's not bad enough news, i have even worse news for you. those of you who heard me speak, i kind of pull you way down before i pull you way back up. [laughter] you will be pretty depressed by the time i pull you way back up. the administration also shown that it does not understand the least bit about crisis

management one. not 101. 101 are designated as major courses in most colleges and universities. i call it crisis management one. which mean they're not familiar with what a first grader will do in order to solve these crisis. [laughter] a first grader would approach these problems lot smarter than this administration. not saying that to be insulting, i'm going to tell you the truth. you heard me say that before. when you put all of these crises together, we have not the making of but a failed presidency. that's bad news for the people of the united states of america and it's bad news for us. it is bad news. my first message to you is, stay informed.

stay informed. the mainstream media is complicit in the cover up and in the denial and in the overlooking of information for the american people. most people don't know we're in as bad a condition we are in. you're not going to hear on the 6:00 news or the 7:00 news that only 58% of registered voters voted in the last presidential election. the mainstream media said a record. what about the 42% that stayed home? i heard people say, well, i don't vote because i don't know what's going on. i say good. [laughter] stupid people are ruining america, i'm glad some of them stayed home. the solution is real simple

folks. those of us who informed have got to outvote the stupid people. and you have got to become ambassadors of intelligence. ambassadors of information so number one, stay informed. stay informed. if you get a chance to a liberal over the weekend. let me give you a couple of compelling statics. i said if. liberals they don't like facts. they cannot handle the facts. i enjoy getting into discussions sometimes. all you have to do is come up with some of your favorite facts. let me give you a couple that i talked about on my radio show this morning.

the most recent survey has shown after surveying over 3000 counties across this country and thousands of consumers for 2013 up to now, the average increase in health insurance premiums, 49%. coming soon to health insurance premiums near you. that doesn't count what will happen in 2014 on top of that 49%. ask the liberals to try and defend that. it's indefensible. 49%. the first thing i encourage you to do is stay informed. let me give you a couple of other things. because too many people stay home that could vote. every vote counts. i hate it when somebody says to me, my vote doesn't count. back in 2012 in the iowa caucus, some of you remember, because you were involved.

mitt romney won over rick santorum by eight votes. i could have brought all of my relatives and we would have had more than eight votes. remember the big controversy over the hanging chads in florida? bush finally won after six million votes were cast in florida by 537 votes. every vote counts. in 1994, the second congressional district in connecticut was decided by 21 votes. in 1984, in the eighth

congressional district of indiana, it was decided by four votes. every vote counts. my first message to you is, stay informed. if you get an opportunity to convince people their vote counts, use those stats. when you get into a discussion and people really don't know how bad it is, just tell them it's a crisis of crises. then just start delineating the list. secondly, ralph tells me how much time i have and i always ignore him. [laughter] i say ralph, when they start throwing tomatoes and onions and at me, i will get off the stage. stay involved. you are here because you are involved. many you work in party politics, that is good. of you support your

favorite candidates. that is a good thing. many of are you involved in the tea party and the liberals and democrats are trying to make you feel ashamed about being in the tea party when you should be proud of the tea party movement in america. tea party is an attitude. let me tell you very simple what the tea party attitude is, less government, less taxes and more individual responsibility and live by the constitution. that is what it is. ?hat is wrong with that [applause] i am not mad at you all. i just get passionate. i encourage you to stay involved. don't be intimidated and not staying involved and taking back our country. thirdly, and finally ralph, stay inspired. the liberals want you to believe

that we cannot take this country back. the driver that drove me over from heritage where i was doing my radio show remotely, he said, what do you think about obamacare? i said it sucks. [applause] he said, do you think anything will be done about it? yes. he said what, it's called repeal and replace. they want you to believe that it can't be repealed and replaced. i got to tell you there's a guy by the name of tom price from georgia who put a very good solution on the table that most people never heard of. there are solutions out there better than that. that's part of our challenge. which is why we got to focus on november 2014. stay inspired and believe in tomorrow if you stay informed. how many grandparents are in here today?

raise your hand. grandparents, i'm one also, we are trying to prepare our grandkids. we're helping our kids prepare our grandkids for the future. we got another challenge. we got to make sure there's a future there when they get there. grandparents, young people, conservatives all over this country. we have a dual responsibility. my message to you today is real simple, you got to stay informed. that's why you come to these conferences so you can learn , something. you got to stay involved. it's no longer a spectator sport. you got to be in arena. that's why i ran for president the first time. because i was called to run.

somebody asked me recently, i get asked this all the time. i will share with you. are you going to run again? i remind them that our currency says, in god we trust. so it's natural that in god i trust, liberals don't understand that. they go crazy when you refer to the bible or you refer to your faith. i'm going to continue to stand and refer to my faith whenever i get an opportunity. which is why i applaud you for attending the faith and freedom conference in washington d.c. let me leave you with these words. [laughter] i closed up my ipad ralph. i speak at a lot of colleges and universities on purpose.

i recently spoke at morehouse college. a predominantly black school, by event was sponsored morehouse college republicans. school,dominantly black they have a morehouse college republicans club. [applause] the young man that is now a graduate of morehouse, he just graduated, he wrote a commentary that i later posted on my website. it was so compelling. he ended that with something that i have been using ever since as a reminder about the greatness of this country. that is, "america is a place that defeats nightmares with dreams, the american dream." that's the america that we are fighting for folks.

stay informed. stay involved and stay inspired and stay in the fight to take back our country. thank you very much. [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014] more from the road to majority conference in a minute. first, a look at the u.s. house. they gaveled in briefly and will be back in about an hour and a half at 2:00 p.m. eastern for legislative business. working on bills dealing with energy issues. debate tonight on the reauthorization of the commodity futures trading commission. a little bit more about the week ahead in congress. activities in congress with cristina marcos of the hill. cristina marcos joins us on the phone. thank you for making time for

us. guest: thank you for having me. house and senate floor action, what do we expect? guest: the house will be taking up hills to boost the mystic energy. one is being offered by a colorado senator, who is against senator udall in an incumbent race. that can boost his campaign scores. in the senate, they will be taking up a rare election-year bipartisan legislation that would boost job-training programs. host: tell us a little bit more about that, why is that rare? guest: it is an election year, legislation has slowed to a crawl in the senate. last week they were going to take up a package that would fund the government until 2016. it fell apart because they could

not agree on whether amendments should be subject to a 60 vote threshold. host: the environment is a hot topic with issues like pollution. does that get considered as well, especially when energy is debated on the house floor? guest: yes, it is a big deal, especially with the recent epa rule limiting carbon emissions. a nule limiting carbo omissions. host: -- carbon emissions. host: what is of note with the v.a. hearing, what is being considered? guest: this is the third primetime hearing i the department of veterans affairs. we will be hearing from officials overseeing the department about why veterans have had to wait for so long to see doctors as well as to collect benefits they have applied for. as politics goes,

is it still charged as far as democrats and publicans and the issues they bring or is this ?ore bipartisan in nature it is bipartisan with the department of veterans affairs. last week, the house and senate hasd, the house so far voted to set up conference negotiations with the senate on chamber's veterans affairs reform bill. negotiators from house and senate will sit down and hammer out differences between the two goals its chamber has passed. that is on its way to becoming legislation to reform the department on president obama's desk this year. host: we listed a couple hearings coming for this week. medicare fraud, sexual files, autism. what should people be watching for as far as hearings are

concerned? guest: another big hearing happening tonight is in the house of his a committee, -- house oversight committee. they will be hearing from the john koskinener about the missing e-mails from lois lerner. they said they were not able to recover many of the e-mails. of herwo years' worth e-mails, from january 2009 to april 2011 due to a religion -- due to an alleged computer crash. republicans say that is conveniently a critical period in their investigation. democratstion year, are accusing them of engaging in hunt.ition whicitch host: especially when you have

paul ryan expressing disbelief in what has and said. you expect more of the same. guest: absolutely, and there'll rightubpoenaed koskinen out of the gate. he testified in front of the house and means committee last week. rest assure this will be a very partisan hearing. the abilitypressed as the summer goes on, especially as elections come forward in november. the worked out perfect -- the work out put of congress, will that slow down? guest: in the senate and has slowed down a lot in the last couple weeks. democrats and republicans cannot come to an agreement on amendments. that had of things been relatively bipartisan like the tax extenders cap package and the appropriations bill,

there is a lot of bipartisan agreement underneath it all. to because they cannot come an agreement on amendments, republicans are very upset they have not been able to amend any legislation in this congress. a lot ofen blowing up major legislation in the last few weeks. in the house, they have actually been passing a lot of legislation. fiscal 2015ve appropriations bills. the senate is going to take up and sent to the president. host: cristina marcos, we are asking folks to comment on how to fix congress. this comes from a gallup poll saying that only 7% show confidence in the institution. do you know if republicans and democrats are self-aware of this kind of opinion of the body ? guest: and a lot of them will knowledge themselves, who are

the 7% that still think we are, sent? -- are competent? whosee a lot of members have decided to retire or step down. a lot of them say this is not a productive place anymore. they do not feel like it is worth tracking down to washington every weekend and having to be away from their families if they are not getting a lot done. with "thetina marcos hill," >> the house will be back in that 2:00 eastern time. mccarthy, the new majority leader in the u.s. house will be taking over from the current leader, eric tanner. -- eric cantor. cumbersome mccarthy spoke at the faith and freedom coalition conference. here are his remarks. [applause] >> thank you very much.

yesterday was a big day. yesterday i got elected majority leader. i am the grandson of a cattle rancher. the son of a firefighter. had the opportunity to run for majority leader. only in america do we have this. [laughter] -- [applause] i went to start the way i started my exceptions speech in our conference. i want to thank my lord and savior. whenever we face in the future, . know he will be stronger i'm not ashamed to say it, i am proud to be a christian. i want to tell you a little bit about my life. i am not an attorney and i do

not have a political science degree. agrew up in a town, shantytown in the central valley of california. ,ike many towns across america neighbors work hard and play by the rules. they raise their children and expect others to do the same. the lessons i learned there i did not learn by talking, i learned by listening. it is a town that does not rate success by your wealth but more by your community, your faith, and your family. family. youngest in my school, i didigh not apply myself will enough for a scholarship. foa was a firefighter and he moved furniture on his days off. i went to my local junior conflllege.

i took -- a local junior college. i started buying cars and selling them to make money. i found out later it was illegal but i did not know that. [laughter] one friday night i was going to visit friends at san diego state, i saw a girl and i bought a ticket, i won the lottery. i took this money and i took my folks to the nicest restaurant in town. you ever walk into a place you have never been and you felt uncomfortable. i had the money and we ate everything. my brother ordered dessert to make the price higher. i gave my brother and sister 100 dollars and invested the rest of the money in one stock. i believed in taking risks. i believe if i was successful i did not want the government to take my profits. if i failed, i did not want the government to bail me out, either. myt next semester, i told folks i was not going back to college. i took my money out of the market and refinance my car. i went out to try to buy a

franchise and no one would sell me one. own, a delhi. my father and i even built the garage.in our we had all the struggles of small businesses will stop first to work, last to leave and last to be paid. the regulations that came on it. but we were successful. inow had enough money that could pay my way through college without working. and no one had finished college and my family so i said you know what, i sold my business. there was article in the paper that said be a summer intern in washington, d.c. i said how lucky he would be to have me, right bac? [laughter] i applied and he turned me now. i now hold the seat i could not get an internship for. [applause]

i feel very blessed. i married my high school sweetheart and we have two kids. we know the struggles you go through it like everybody else in america. i am fortunate enough that my constituents have let me power to represent them and i got to work inside washington. i go home every weekend and sleep on the couch inside the office. i do not want to become washington, i want current county to become washington. they asked me yesterday what would you do differently as majority leader? have the courage to leave but the wisdom to listen. sometimes washington does not listen. in the capital i want you to come by office. inside my office, i have a artist.f mine, he is an he painted me two pictures.

one is abraham lincoln behind my desk, the other is ronald reagan . many times you sit there and you are wondering what would these ' advice before us today? i think there are three things abraham lincoln would tell us. the first thing lincoln would tell us would be believe in the exceptionalism of this country. i think one of the places you come to that, the gettysburg address. you all know the beginning of the gettysburg address -- "four score and seven years ago today." did you ever read the rest? "our forefathers brought forward nation dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal." if we fail the government "of the people, by the people, for the people" shall perish from the earth.

we were not the strongest nation at this time but he said we are different than others. we are conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that everyone is equal. if we fail at this, england and france could not solve the problem, only us. this one summer i was in israel meet with shimon perez. we were walking through jerusalem and he turned to me and said you live in the greatest country on the face of the earth. think of how powerful that statement is for someone who is not un-american, the president of another country, saying about us. i said thank you, i got very proud. the president says do you know where your greatness comes from? it is not from what you take, it is what you give. you give the ultimate sacrifice of life so another country could have freedom. with freedom becomes human rights and an economy.

i pause for a moment and i thought, think about it, since we became the world leader after world war ii, has there ever been another world war? butthere has been conflict not another world war when we leave. there has never been another country or society like ours. and we should not be ashamed of that. we should lead with that. the second bit of advice abraham lincoln would say, he gets swornd in november 1860, in in march 1861. in a few short months, seven states leave the union. i have read all of lincoln and studied him greatly. never once have i ever heard him say it was james buchanan's fault. [laughter] lincoln would say this -- take where you are today and walked forward and find solutions. the future looks much brighter

than what history is behind you. third piece of's advice would be do not leave the tough decisions for a future generation. in the house, we have a big debt problem. we have a growth, when government grows it breaks the family. government should not replace our family, our families should become stronger. it, the wholebout duringslavery was taken the creation of our country. it was controversial, so they said postpone it. hundreds and thousands of young grandchildren had to die to decide it. it might not be the same today, -- we shouldave not ignore it if it is a tough decision. we should lead. if i look across and see ronald .eagan, i say this quickly

he is from california and is a conservative as well. [laughter] what would ronald reagan's advice be? when ronald reagan ran, think about the time in which he ran. it was the last time in american u.s. ambassador was killed, jimmy carter. the current president is making jimmy carter look good, right? he is just not coming back. ronald reagan's running, americans are held hostage, the soviet union had entered afghanistan. our president's response was not to go to the olympics. they said gray, we will win more gold medals. he said we will defeat the soviet union. there were two germanys at that time. the press comes to him and says

you have got to have a plan. how can you defeat the soviet union? do you know what ronald reagan win, they lose." we won. that advice would go a long way today. i want to lead you with this stop i know we are frustrated. i hear the message and i want to pledge this one item to you, the same thing i pledged at my conference. we will unite, we will have the kurds to lead and the wisdom to listen and we will turn this country back around. thank you very much and god bless. [applause] ♪ >> more from the faith and freedom conference in a minute. first, a look at some programs. claire mccaskill holding the latest in her series of discussions on campus sexual

soul. p.m.on c-span3 at 2:30 eastern time. columnist george will has been dropped from the st. louis dispatch after an editorial on college sexual assault. about victimhood being a covenant status. keeps theing dropped controversy alive. there have been 46,000 views of clips of him talking about the controversy. watch a portion on our facebook page. u.s. house gaveled in briefly earlier and will be back eastern an hour at 2:00 time working on legislative business that includes seven bills under suspension of the rules. mostly dealing with energy issues.

debate schedule tonight on the reauthorization of the commodity futures trading commission. >> senate republican minority leader mitch mcconnell and minority whip john cornyn were some of the speakers at the congressional reception this month at the capital for the faith and freedom coalition's policy conference. their discussion is about 40 minutes. >> ok. we have the votes coming to an end. we have members coming. we areid announce that doing a screening tonight at the new movie? that is that 8:00 in the congressional room. this is a congressional th emed day.

you have the congressional movie is inanesh's the congressional room. our speaker tonight at the great american. i think you will be a major impact player in a very short period of time on capitol hill. he does not need any directions to find his way around. he has been a staffer appear. he ran in a special election in florida in 2013, which is interpreted by everyone around the country as a bellwether of what may happen in 2014. it was widely viewed as a referendum on obamacare. there was a lot more to threesome that. -- race than that. there was $12 million spent in one congressional district in 10 weeks. our next speaker was outspent two to one by his opponent and still won.

coalition and freedom was pleased to distribute voter guides in churches. we had volunteers going to door to door. we could not talk to at the time because federal law requires that you do your thing and we do our thing. we're happy to do that. we distributed banner ads online and social media and on the internet. they were viewed in the space of overys 400-3000 times by 81,000 evangelical voters. without further ado, please welcome the newest member of the house republican conference, david jolly of tampa saint pete. [applause] >> thank you. thank you to each and every one of you. i have already met a couple constituents here today.

regina is meeting with senator rubio. i will tell you this. i say this with absolute humility. this was a team effort. my race was much more than just a race between david jolly and l alex. this was about where we stand on the issues, about the future of america, and why this community has a vision that is right for the future of the country. i am in a unique position. i come in as the most junior member of congress. number 435 out of 435. we are trying to make an impression early and we are making an impression with a radical notion. radical notion that congress should work. bottom line. i want to tell you something. every member of congress has probably at one point or another -- you run against the dysfunction of the body. the fact is, once you are elected and sworn in, you do not have the luxury of running against congress anymore.

you do not have the luxury of succumbing to the dysfunction. you do not have the luxury of resigning yourself to a body that does not work. you have to fight to make this work. i want to tell you why that is important for conservatives and the faith community. if we ever want to confront the agenda of this administration, it is not through rhetoric and vitriol. it is through exercise in article one authority and responsibility of this body to represent the american people, communities across the country that are frustrated with this president and his agenda. we knew to embrace that responsibility. [applause] as we get the congress to work, we will defeat the president's agenda. a few of you have seen me polls that now suggest that he is not in a position to lead anymore. i do not say that politically. here's something else only snow about myself.

i do not enjoy the arguing and the vitriol. in many ways come i do not enjoy the politics. i have no personal or professional or business reason to get into politics or run for the seat. i did it because of a conviction. as we fight over ideas and we fight over a deal sent fight over our convictions, it is because we are fighting for the future of the country. not because we are fighting against each other. we do not have to apologize for standing up to this administration for what they put in front of us. [applause] it is not political. it is based on convictions that represent the values of our community. i will also tell you this. we may have differing convictions of faith, but we are a faith community. as the son of a southern baptist preacher. i had never been north of tennessee. i have not for one moment and i do not think anyone should apologize for their convictions of faith. we will not do that in this

united states congress. [applause] ralph mentioned the special election is $12 million and 10 weeks. i am proud that my own mother was able to vote for me. you could not turn on a tv without seeing a commercial where i had horns in my head or the day when i laughed the loudest was when i found out i was associated with musharraf. i never met the man. my opponent suggested we were associated. the good senator from texas has just come in the room. i am the most junior member of congress, but i am excited. in about 10 days, kirk clawson is going to join us and i will say i have a junior colleague. i am proud to be part of this fight with you. i have said this before and i will say it again. we do not have to make this about politics. we are fighting for the conviction upon which our

country is founded. to the extent that there is any disparity in our party, we just had an election in the house. i am proud. i am so proud that we have a party that can have internal elections and internal debates and conversations and come out as one a unified party. i would much rather return to my constituents in florida and say that i belong to a political party that can have healthy debates and disagreements then returned to them and say idle into a party where everybody falls in line and as with the leadership tells us to do. we do not belong in that type of party. i stand with you and i appreciate the opportunity to be here. thank you. thank you all very much. [applause] david, thank you very much. if you do not think elections matter and you do not think what we do matters when we turn to faith-based voting -- when we get people who believe

in god, who love the lord, who love their country to turn out, you look at what a difference it makes. that is a huge difference to have david jolly appear. are you with me to do that all over the country between now and november? good. because there is another reason that elections matter and that is our next speaker. he is one of the finest pub look servants in our country today. he served as a district judge. he served on the texas supreme court. he served as attorney general of texas. he was elected to the u.s. senate in 2002. he was very shortly elected to leadership. he has been in senate leadership since 2006. he serves on very important committees here. both senate finance and judiciary committee, where he is fighting every one of obama's judicial nominees. let's thank him for that. [applause]

in 2012, he was elected as the republican minority with in the u.s. senate. say about anything to the senator, come january of next year, you will be the senate majority whip. please welcome john cornyn of texas. [applause] good afternoon. it is great to be with all of you and ralph, thank you for inviting me and bringing this wonderful group of people together. we just had a texas state republican convention in fort worth. we had a little exercise on social media. we have a chalkboard. it says what does texas mean to me? i said faith, family, and freedom. those are the things that identify conservatives. we are not the party of government. we are the party of individual

freedom and opportunity. we have the opportunity to follow faith and run life the way we see fit. that happens to be the system that helps grow opportunity and prosperity and jobs for other people. we have actually had an experiment. since the beginning of our country, we have had a philosophical debate about the size and role of the federal government. the last five years, we had an experiment. we know how the experiment has turned out. we have had the economy growing so slowly that unemployment remains high. many people have simply given up and quit looking for jobs. and moreigher taxes regulation and abominations like obamacare. they have created so much hardship and difficulty. they really have demonstrated that good government policies rarely deliver what they promise. we have heard the president say

that if you like what you have, you can keep it. we know that is not true. he said her policies would go down for a family of four. that is not true. they have gone up instead. he has also said if you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor. that is not to either. is it any wonder that any of the respondents say that they have given up on this president's leadership? in addition to what has happened domestically, we see what is happening around the world. the wheels seem to be coming up everywhere we look. whether in iraq, afghanistan, ukraine. what we see happening in texas with a flood of humanity, unaccompanied children coming across the border. the message that is being sent by this administration is that we're not going to enforce the law. that is creating a hardship on the very people that he purports

to say he wants to help. if you have an opportunity to look for a minute at what happens when young people are turned over to these transnational criminal organizations, including drug cartels -- they make the 1200 mile trip from central america through arehern mexico and en route subjected to the most perfect kinds of abuse. sexual assault, kidnapping, murder, and the like. these are not nice people. they transport human beings, guns, and drugs for money. these are the sorts of people who are empowered when the the unitedthat states is no longer the paragon or rule of law. that is no longer important. what the rules are depends on who is in power. banana more like a republic were third world country and the country that we all know and love. had a pitched battle

over the last few years while republicans have been in the minority in the senate. now, we are poised, as ralph said -- from his lips to god's ears, we have a chance to be in the rity, which will give us new challenges and responsibilities. one of the luxuries, if you look at it this way, being in the minority, is you can say no to everything. believe me, that has been my first impulse, every time president obama comes up with another boneheaded policy. when we are in charge, he will still be president of the united states. we will have to work very closely with their house colleagues, like representative to advancehe senate policies and get them on his desk. we will sign them into law. will he try to veto them? or will we be able to override his veto?

i think it is important to keep that very much in frame, so that we understand the challenges in the last two years of his term of office. the most important thing we can do in november is retire the majority leader, harry redid. [applause] let me leave you with one last thought. i see the republican leader, senator mcconnell, is here in the wings. i know he has some important words for you. one of the important things i am trying to do is make sure that other people who share our values and our principles know that they are welcome in the republican party. we need to reach out without compromising our principles, to grow our numbers. the truth is, i have found one irrefutable rule of politics. that is the candidate who gets the most votes wins.

you have to win an election before you are empowered to government. it is important that we grow our party. i am not talking about pandering or compromising our principles. i'm talking about reaching out to people who still believe in the american dream. the democrats are the party that believes in government. they have given up on the american dream. freedom,ple of faith, and family who still believe in free enterprise system as the best poverty eradication system known to humanity. that helps people work hard, take care of their family, create jobs and opportunity for others to grow the economy. we are the party of the american dream. we need to communicate that to other people who perhaps are not traditionally republican voters. flight had a nice family in some of our primaries. after those are over, we need to unify between our candidates and

win in november. thanks. [applause] there are a lot of things that i like about our next speaker, but probably the thing that i like most about him -- and can identify with the most on is that he married above himself. if you know his lovely wife, you know that is the case. he was first elected to the u.s. in 1984,om kentucky defeating an entrenched liberal democrat incumbent in a major upset. i believe i am correct in saying that you are the longest serving senator in kentucky's history. isn't that right? we are planning on extending that. if we have anything to say about it, our next speaker, mitch

mcconnell, will be the next senate majority leader when we come back in january. please welcome mitch mcconnell. [applause] welcome to town, everyone. great to see you. i want to thank ralph for being such a warrior. well led byemely ralph. ralph, thank you for your friendship over the years. this is no less than a fight over the future of the country. what does america want to be like? we have seen, over the last six years, an administration that has a totally different view of what america ought to be. i do not think they would have said it this way, but it looks to me like their goal was to european eyes the country. turn us into a western european

country. what all of those countries have in common -- big debts, slow growth, empty churches. and i think all of these things are interrelated. know, no matter when your ancestors came to this country, ralph mentioned my wife -- chao was secretary of labor during the bush administration. she came here not speaking a word of english. she could not afford an airline ticket. came on a freighter. --ered the third grade not speaking a word of english. ended up in the president's cabinet. america has been historically a land of opportunity. whether your ancestors came here a long time ago or more recently, what all of these people had in common is they

were risktakers. they came to america for opportunity. they had enough gumption to get up wherever they were and go to a new place with no guarantees. religious freedom was a big part of what led to this migration to america at various intervals over our country's history. here's where we are. we are really at a crossroads, my friends. we have had six years now of the europeanization of america. six years of it. we see all the telltale signs. government, high fightsbig regulations, over things like the conscience clause. this is their agenda.

i run into people all the time it's a what can i do? there is only one thing you can do in 2014. one thing to take the country back. that is to change the senate. i am currently the defensive coordinator. [laughter] if you are a sports fan, you know that you can occasionally score on defense, but it is a lot harder. if you are the offense of court nader, you can call plays. in the senate, you get to decide what we debate. court nader gets to decide what we build on. >> i would wager to say that there is not a single issue that brought you to washington that harry reid will ever schedule a vote on. there's one thing to be done in 4014. just one thing. there are other things that need to be done in 2016. but only one thing in 2014. so, when you leave here, i hope

you're inspired to go out and help us begin to take back america by taking back the senate in 2014 and having a new offensive coordinator. thank you very much. [applause] well, we are looking for a new day. and i will tell you this right now. i like our chances. if you look around the country, you look at south dakota, montana, west virginia, arkansas, louisiana, alaska, iowa -- i don't want to leave anybody out. did i say colorado? north carolina -- the overwhelming majority of the states are red states. states that romney carried. obama'ses where barack approval rating is in the mid-ernie's. -- mid-30's.

there is no formula to this. it is not math, it is art. in general, it is very difficult for a senate candidate of the benty of the incum president to run more than five points ahead of of that president's job approval in that state. if you're in one of those states, get out there and start building the organization. if you are not in one of those dates, i want you to block out the last two weeks of october and plan to be in one of those dates. you keep your eye on his job approval. i have news for you. obama'sews says barack job approval is 41%. it is lower. [laughter] his incidentally, foreign-policy job approval, in the wall street journal and nbc , was 37%.

who areion to that was, the 37% who agree with his foreign-policy? the next speaker, who i think -- i think you are speaking tomorrow as well. do not steal your own thunder. save some of your applause lines for tomorrow morning. this is a guy who needs no introduction, truly. he is one of the true linebackers for the conservative cause. in the republican-led house of representatives. please welcome louie gohmert from the state of texas. [applause] it is so great to be here with you. order to steal my thunder from tomorrow, i would have to have something to begin with. what you do not have. you are such a breath of fresh air.

right here in the heart of the capital. let me tell you this too. with all the trouble so we have gotten ourselves into -- and, understanding what god told -- i like the translation that says god is telling hosea why he is they havehey said chosen leaders who were not my choice. whoa. we can hear people say, i am part of the group that does not support that. guess what? you are part of the country where it is being supported anyway. you know? believe, as was said eloquently years ago --

i have lived over a long time. the morer i live, convincing proofs i see of this truth. affairs of in the men and if a sparrow can't fall to the ground without his notice, is it possible that an empire can rise without his aid? we have been assured that unless the lord builds the house, they labor in vain to build it. i firmly believe this. without his concurring aid, we will succeed in our building no better than the builders of babel. we will be confounded by our local martial interests and we will become a bywater through the ages. we're back to that point. christian, i believe what jesus said. he actually said do not suffer for my sake.

in east texas, i did not suffer for being a christian. i didn't. that's just what people were. if you were not, apparently you were embarrassed to say that you are not. so, you do not suffer for jesu'' sake and those types of situations. but because of the apathy, because of the lack of proper leadership selection, and because of many people of faith day, faithless on hiring also known as election day -- faith, going out on hiring day, but having been faithless in failing to read the resumes, and failing to interview the applicants for the job they were hiring.

they went out and hired the wrong person. so, we are all accountable. whether you voted for somebody in office or not. these bumper stickers are ridiculous. he is now my governor. she is not my governor. he is not my president. oh yes. if you are in the united states, this president is your president. the one before was. it is not scriptural, but it is a true adage. democracy ensures a people are governed no better than they deserve. you pick the president. does not matter which one it was. i will tell you that at the time of the election, even if there was cheating in the election -- at the time of the election, the country got who they deserved. so, i hear all of these people wondering, what is going to happen in november?

you tell me what america deserves. it, and iht about will tell you exactly who will win in november. people wonder who will win in november 2016. who will be our nominee? people ask that all the time. i do not know. there's a lot of time between now and then. if we are not faithful, if we are not studious. as jefferson said, the price of liberty is eternal vigilance. if we are not vigilant, then we will not like what we deserve. but we will deserve it nonetheless. let me say, i am grateful that you are here. we have had elections, as. you may have heard regardless of anybody, i supported or did not support, our conference got who we deserved today. so, keep the prayers coming.

one other thing i just have to say. i cannot say it often enough. the modern day gas chambers are being constructed, as you sit here, stand here. they are being constructed. they are being constructed by people who say we are going to wipe out israel and we're going to wipe out the united states. and they are building what they need to do that. i am not hearing enough people concerned about the obligation to whom much is given, much has been required. no nation in history has ever been given more than we have. we have obligations that we need to keep, if we're are going to continue to be blessed. thank you for being a part of this group that cares enough to get involved and try to get us on track.

we have to get friends to help join us, don't wait? god bless you all. thank you. [applause] ok, that was just a warm-up. you get the full speech tomorrow. our next baker has an amendment pending on the floor, so he can only be here a minute. i want to get him up quick. another great champion. somebody who stands for our values in season and out of season. when it is popular and when it is not. he is not afraid to speak truth to power, including his own power. friend,elcome our great the congressman from the fourth district of iowa, steve king. [applause] >> thank you so much. thank you for the welcome. thank you for taking time from their families and the other parts of your lives to be here. to help energize me so all of us

can go together to serve god and country, in that order. if i can take you back through a couple of discussions i had today with some members that are a little younger. youid to them that when take a job like this and you end up with somewhere around here it is -- a voting card. that represents a franchise. this franchise is a trust created it as i am going to come in here and make decisions that are made in this priority, god, country, state, district. i have never found a conflict grade they all line up. we are called to this task. i reflect a little bit today saturday,is week, on i will attend a special nominating convention in iowa that will be for the nominee to replace tom, who is retiring at the end of this year. i look back on that time and during that primary campaign, when i entered into this race in

2002. i spent six years in the iowa senate. i entered into the congressional primary race. some of the people who were well-positioned laughed at me and said you will never be will to get this done. so, that is enough to termination to try a lot harder. i did. campaign, there were three times that my wife went in for lifesaving surgery. two of those three times, i could not be there before she went into the operating room. i was two for away when the emergency came up. one of those times, i was at mercy hospital in sioux city. she was in her surgery. i went into the chapel. i went in there to pray and went to the bible that was open. ns was open to romand 8:28. in all things god works for those who love him, and are called according to his

purpose. we are all called according to his purpose. when i hear that despair because they say we are not winning, we are losing ground, marriage is being eroded, we are not saving enough innocent, unborn human minds. those things are true. we are making progress on life. we're are not making so much progress on marriage these days. we have to keep slugging away. after we lost the majority in 2006, one of the members said it is lost, why am i here? what can we win, it is impossible now to get the majority back. down impossible to slow this leftist juggernaut that is eroding our principles. larry, the president of hillsdale college, said you do not know that we are defeated and you must not believe that we are. and, we are a long way from defeated. and, i think about that measure. i would say that, we measured

sometimes in our time, and our feeling, and where we are in the cycle of our lifetimes. are we winning are we losing? can we declare victory, no. we have victories along the way. we can count some of those. we should never think that there is a final victory for us. it will not be our victory, it is his victory. it will not be in our time, it is in his time. a time of his choosing. god taps me on the shoulder and says i am going to give you a single do over. i say twice as many kids. that is how i count my blessings. then i check with marilyn and doubled he number if i can get by with it. but what would i really ask for? let me continue to serve you with joy. that is my asked, that is my prayer. i have a secondary one that i have deployed. over the last several months, it is my prayer that god raises up

a leader whom he will use to restore the soul of america. that is my prayer. [applause] thank you very much. and, now i am going to go up and run an amendment up there. this long legal language, i will review. none of the funds made available by this act may be used to transfer weapons to the palestinian authority. [applause] we will continue to defend israel. and, we are going to defend freedom. whoave a feckless president seems to be out on the golf links when he is watching what is happening, the calamity in iraq. when he gave his speech last friday at noon, you said you things are not working so good in iraq. there will not be any boots on

the ground. we will spend several days deliberating over options. there will not be any boots on the ground. we will require that the iraqis produce a political solution before we provide aid. we know it is not going to be a day or two or three or four. it will be a long time. political solutions do not come overnight. they do not come when there is an emergency like the blitzkrie g, that now has taken over the lead refinery and threatens to surround baghdad. they do not wait for that. our feckless president waits. thousands of people are being killed, many beheaded. the sectarian violence has swept across iraq. the lives that have been lost and the treasure that has been spent in the sand that has been sanctified by our warriors has been desecrated by some of the worst heathens we have seen in our lifetime. and our president golf. and he doddle.

and he waits, and he stalls. we know he is going to do that. we do not expect him to act, neither do they. towill be a long, hard slog, quote our former secretary of defense. until we get into a position where god raises up that leader that he uses to restore the soul of america. i have to pray for that and pray for guidance for this president. i think that god can do all things in his time. i do not know what he is going to do it this president. give him a little advice to figure it out please. i will go help him out up there. thank you very much. [applause] about the u.s. house is to come in, 25 minutes from now. they will begin much as it worked. until then, more from the faith and freedom coalition road to majority conference held in washington, d.c. senator marco rubio was one of the theaters. he talked about of the debate

over immigration reform and the need for an orderly immigration process. his remarks were about 20 minutes. >> thank you very much. let me clear the air. i have nothing against the university of georgia. you have to have somewhere for people who cannot get into the university of florida. charlie is now a democrat. a few weeks ago, he announced that he is interested in potentially traveling to cuba. there may be another party change ahead. we will see. i am honored to be here with you this afternoon at this event. for what all of you do at home. for the cause of our faith.

let me begin by telling you a story from my own family. ralph talked about this a moment ago. we all come from where we come from. we're are all influenced by our background. i will highlight the importance of that in america. my grandfather was born at the turn-of-the-century in rural cuba. he was raised in a rural area to a farming family. when he was six years old, he got polio. he lost the use of his legs. he was disabled permanently. he could not work a farm, so his parents sent him away to school. i was the only chance he could have to get ahead. he learned to read and write and became educated. he was the only member of the family he knew how to read. he went to work at a cigar factory. he would sit in front of the room while the workers were rolling their cigars. he would read to them. first the newspapers and the novel. when he was done, he would roll

cigars himself. after that, he went to work at a railroad station. he actually ran the station. life was not bad by the standards of early 20th century cuba. then one day, he lost his job overnight. he lost it to someone with a political connection. some unconnected to power and politics. life was never the same for them again. in early 20th century cuba was hard for a disabled man to provide for his son and daughters. fixingd up in havana, shoes and a space he rented out in a barbershop. before finally having the opportunity to come to the united states. grandfather was like my best friend growing up. he lived with us. countless hours listening to him tell me stories about all the things he learned as he read the newspapers and novels. about history and politics. one day, the cuban revolution,

the next about world war ii. that aside, the most important lesson he left me is one that shape everything i have done since. the notion that i have chances to do things he never had the chance to do. my grandfather was born like almost anybody who has ever lived --into a society where your future was decided by the circumstances of your birth. if you were born for a rich family with political connections, you too could get ahead. if you were born to a poor family with no access to power, and your future was usually very limited. what he wanted me to understand was that i was born into one of the few places in human history where that was not true. it was, beyond anything else, the lesson he wanted to leave with pay. hethe data he died, as slipped away into a,, i grabbed his hand and told him -- i do not remember the exact words.

i said i would not let the opportunities i had go to waste. i remember him squeezing my hand as if that was what he wanted me to know. feelis not to make you good about me or you or the future in general. but because it reminds us of what makes us special and different us americans and nation. the reason america is special and what defines us as a people and nation is the idea that anyone from anywhere can accomplish anything here because we believe that every human being born anywhere on earth has a god-given right, not a law given right to go as far as their talent and work will take them. our founding says that we have a god-given right to life, liberty, and to pursue happiness. we put into place a limited government political system and a free enterprise economic system that has made that possible here or than any other place in all of history.

the problem we face now is that there are millions of americans who do not think that is true anymore. they feel as if that dream of a quality and opportunity is slipping away. in irony is that the people charge of the white house today actually ran on the promise of helping people like that. i every conceivable measure, people who were trying to get ahead are worse off than they were six years ago. why are these things happening? one is because the world around us is radically changing. the nature of our economy has changed. a moment ago, you heard from mike lee. my colleague with whom i work on many of these issues. our economy is different. now it is a global one. our competition is often halfway around the world, not halfway around town. you can see the jobs of slipped away because of automation and outsourcing. we also see challenges in the fact that the better paying jobs

require a higher level of skill. and education that people have not acquired. you also see an erosion in the values that have made our people strong. you cannot have a strong country without strong people. you cannot have strong people without strong values. the world around us has changed. our laws and government an institution have not changed with them. they are relics of a 20th century. the policies are not just wrong, they are relics of an age that has comment gone. every problem that i have described to you is a -- has a government solution. the economy will grow if we spend government money. they think they can educate more people by pouring more money into a broken educational system. they ignore families and values in our societies.

the good news is that they still have time to reclaim the american dream, to restore it and help it reach more people than ever before. we have to do it like we just talked about. we can give our nation a 20th century reform agenda that embraces our founding principles. and apply them to the challenges of the 20th century. there are three simple goals that we need to layout. we need an economy that will create hundreds of high-paying jobs. those higher-paying jobs are created as a function of one or two things. innovation or investment. someone builds or create something new or someone takes money and they risk it to start a business and growing existing one. we have to make america the best place in the world to innovate. right now, we are no longer the best place to invest. our tax code is among the most complicated on the planet. other countries are targeting investment away from us.

the other thing that is holding back innovation is runaway regulation. here is a dirty secret. some of the strongest supporters of big regulation are established industries. big companies and corporations and data school industries, who use regulation to prevent competitors from existing. the blockbuster video had convinced the federal toernment to pass a law that rent a movie, you must go to a retail outlet. because, in their head, that would protect children from watching rated r movies. if they ever passed a law like that, we would never have had the ability to download streaming video like we do today. not outside the realm of the imagination to see a law like this being proposed for it time and again, we have seen established industry use our

laws and regulations to protect themselves against competitors. of course a big company would not mind the government. they can afford lawyers and lobbyists. but you cannot afford lawyers and lobbyists and you are code.ly avoiding the educationmodern system, which gives people the skills they need for higher paying jobs. what does that mean? . we need to stop stigmatizing education. graduate be able to kids from high school with skills so they can go to work right away and make it to the middle class and beyond. [applause] we need a higher education system that is available to people who have to work full to raise a family. if you are a single mother with two girls, you have to work full-time. you wake up in the morning and

you make them breakfast. you dropped them off to daycare, you work nine hours. you rush back to pick them up. you make them dinner and do their homework. it is 11:00 at night and you are exhausted. the only option available to you is existing higher education. an established higher education system that does not allow any competition. these will tell you that they offer online courses. they often are more expensive than sitting in the classroom. we need to provide a new form of higher education for people who have to work full-time and raise a family. so they can package learning wherever they require it. life experience, work experience. and some classroom work. so they can get a degree that allows them to get at her job. the receptionist needs to become a paralegal. the billing clerk needs to become an ultrasound technician. they will never be a will to do that with the broken higher education system.

another example of an established industry. a higher education cartel that crowds out innovation and choice. and last, the cost is completely out of control. [applause] i do not have time to get into all of the solutions, but here are two. when a kid takes out a student loan, that university should be required to tell them that here is how much people make when they graduate with the degree you are seeking. philosophy greek majors will understand that the market for greek philosophers is tight. [laughter] we need alternatives to student loans. i/o $120,000 in student loans. when i came to the senate, i still have loans. we need to create alternatives. one is the student investment plan. find someone who will invest in you and help you pay her for higher education.

you pay them back with a percentage of your income over a defined amount of time. i encourage you to read the wall street journal which feature that idea. it has been proposed in other countries. things we have to do is make america the best place in the world to invest and innovate in jobs. and give people access to the skills that they need. here's the third you never here discussed. we must reinvigorate the role of thousands our country. i believe that you can have all the diplomas on the wall that you want. if you do not have the values of hard work and discipline and self-control, among others, you will not succeed. the trick is that no one conforms to these values. there is not a person in this room or country or on this planet who was born with those values. those values were taught to you. they were we enforced. they were taught to you in strong homes and reinforced by churches and synagogues and the community around you and by your

family as well. it is eroding all around us. greatest contributor to economic and educational underperformance in america today is the breakdown of families. single greatest contributor to poverty in america today is the breakdown of families. by the way, i do not see this as a way of saying give up on the people who are not in strong families. on the contrary, i say that as a way to say that we have to do everything we can help people growing up in the challenge circumstances. all of the government programs in the world will not help you overcome this, unless something happens. there is something the government can do. we have to empower parents. it is unfair. it is immoral. it is un-american. poor people are the only ones who cannot choose where their children go to school. in america deserves the right to send their children to the school of their choice. not the school board's choice and not washington's choice. [applause]

we need to make family life keep up with the cost of living. we talked about profamily tax reforms. a real health-care reform, not the disaster we have today. one that allows families to buy the insurance they need at a price they can afford from any company that will sell it to them, no matter what state they are in. [applause] but the last point that i would make is, we have to talk about this. in this country, we tell people all the time not to smoke because it causes cancer. i have no problem with that. we tell people to be careful to not gain too much weight because the causes heart disease and diabetes. i have no problem with that. we also need to tell people that it is important for you to keep your family together. it is important to be good parents. it is important for you to instill values in your children. toause you will struggle

succeed in this country and this world if you do not. too often we have too many leaders in public and private life that will not do that. they are afraid to be seen as sitting in judgment of someone. those of us who were inspired by judeo-christian values are not seeking to sit in judgment of anyone. we know that there are fundamental truths proven through thousands of years of history. we have an obligation to our country and to our fellow man to use our positions of influence to highlight those values. no matter how much we spend to reform education, no matter how attractive we make america economically, we cannot have a strong country without strong people. we will never have a strong people without strong values. that is why i encourage you to keep doing what you're doing. i will close by saying that i am not typically considered to be someone from a privileged background. at least if you believe that the american dream is about how much

money you make or how famous you become. i did come from a privileged background. my parents both grew up poor as well. i told you about my mother's struggles because my grandfather struggled to raise them. my father, when he was nine years old, lost his mother and went to work. he would work for the next 70 years. both of my parents came to this country because it was the only place on earth were people like them had a chance at a better life. it was not easy here either. they never became famous or rich. my dad was a bartender, my mom was a cashier. yet they lived the american dream. they were able to find jobs and make it in the middle class. they were able to provide for their children, a strong and stable home or we were intel protected and safe and we were encouraged to dream. a home or parents loved each other and they loved us. and they sell their children grow up to do all the things they never had a chance to do.

privilege to grow up in an environment like that. all of those things are an extraordinary advantage. strong rather live in a and stable home, raised by loving parents, then in a broken one, raised by millionaires. and so, i did not come from a deck run of privilege. the greatest of all is to be a citizen of the one nation on earth were a son of a bartender and made it have the same future as the son of a president or millionaire. today, there are millions of people who seek the same for themselves and their families. whether america remains exceptional or not will be determined by whether those dreams become possible and not. if we ever become a nation where people like my parents can no longer get ahead, we will lose what makes us special. if we return to the principles of our founding, to free enterprise, to limited government, to the notion in reality that government is supposed to serve the people and not people serve the government.

to the fundamental truth of strong value and strong people, then we can reclaim the american dream. dennis 21st century can also be the american century. at the end of his life, my father never lived to see lex and a. but he did see me win a primary. on the day of my primary, he wanted desperately to make it. he had been sick for a number of months. he had not gotten out of bed for weeks. so i went to check in on him in the middle part of that day. my nephew opened the door and looked at my sister. he was smiling. he said come in, let me show you. i walked into the back of the house and my dad was sitting, fully dressed and ready to go. first time he had been out of bed and weeks. he wanted to go to his son's victory party. he was a proud father, sitting father would be. i realized that he wanted to be there. not simply because he was proud of me, but because on that night

, his life was affirmed. all of the sacrifices he made, all of the difficult decisions he had to make, all of those nights he did not feel like going to work because he was 69 and tired, but he did -- it meant something. it had a purpose and a meaning. we're one of the few nations on earth where that story has been possible for millions of people, including almost every single one of you here today. not we are called to do is just preserve that, but to expand and reach more people than it ever has. i believe that we will. for, in less than two years, we will have new leadership, god willing, in the white house and both houses of congress. then we can do it every generation of americans before us has done. whatever it takes to ensure that our children inherit what we inherit. the single greatest nation in the history of mankind. thank you for the opportunity, god bless all of you. [applause]

watching abeen series of videos from the faith and freedom conference here in washington, d.c. we have more of them online. you can see more at www.c-span.org. they are all searchable by date or by person. speech has been viewed 140 times. you can see what people are talking about at www.c-span.org. president obama is hosting a daylong summit today. he took for working parents for a lunch at chipotle, telling them he was interested in hearing their stories and comparing notes. he is addressing the conference now and plans later to meet with business leaders. years, c-span brings public affairs amounts from washington, directly to you. putting you in the room at congressional hearings, white

house event, briefings, and conferences. in offering complete gavel-to-gavel coverage of the u.s. house. all as a public service of private industry. we are c-span, created by the cable tv industry 35 years ago and brought to you with a public service by your local cable or satellite provider. watch us in hd, like us on facebook, and follow us on twitter. >> and the u.s. house in briefly earlier. they are coming back in at 2:00 now for legislative business. working on seven suspension bills today. mostly dealing with business issues. there is a debate scheduled on the reauthorization of the commodity futures trading commission. that would take the commission through 2018.

the speaker pro tempore: the house will be in order.