a 1966 speech made by martin luther king junior in a little town in my district, king street, less than a year after the passage of the 1965 voting rights act. he came to that community to talk voting. he said once you get registered, go and get 10 of your neighbors and get them registered. that effort has led to great voter participation in that county. and those people, the vast majority of them, i don't care when the election is or what it's about they vote. and i want to really rekindle that emotion. so i'm going to thank the following people who agrowed to serve on this task force

representative lucille roybal-allard from california, representative nydia velazquez of new york, representative barbara lee from california. representative andrew carlson from -- carson from indiana. representative cedric richmond from louisiana. representative maccartwright of pennsylvania. representative hakeem jeffries from new york. representative michelle lujan grisham from new mexico. representative greg demention -- and representative doyle also from pennsylvania. let me close and yield to any questions you may have or any comment the member mace want to make. and say this, i have now seen the movie "selma" twice and i plan to see it again in this

building next tuesday evening. the second time i watched it was last week and i watched it sitting with my just-turned-18-year-old granddaughter. i didn't say anything to her about the movie i just told her that i was sponsoring the movie for members of my staff and others in the community. we rented out a theater of 120 seats, within two hours we had to go back and get a 300-seat theater. but i was really focusing on my granddaughter. so i sat next to her during the movie. she had an iphone doing what 18-year-olds do, i'm her granddaddy scared to look and see what was going on on that ipad so i kept looking forward.

but she stayed, even when the movie came on she didn't turn off this eipad until those little four girls were walking down the staircase in the church going to the sunday school room and the bomb went off. at that point she turned off her iphone. and intently watched the movie. even asked me at one point a question about who that person was that was having an interchange about john lewis about whether or not to march, james foreman, who was one of my best friends, in the movie. and i explained who james foreman was and she was surprised to know that i knew him, that he's a friend. but the next morning when the movie was over, she went home, i got a call the next morning, she

wanted to have lunch. and i said, ok. and she had told me what time, i objected to the time. i said, well, can't we do it a little earlier. she said no, i'm going to register to vote. and when i finish my registration, i'm going to come and have lunch with you. and she brought some of her friends with her. and we talked about the movie. and we talked about voting. and when lunch was over, the rest of her friends left and went to voter registration office. i think that we're at a time that young people who seem not to be participating at the same level as young people did when i was young, we can get people re-engaged once again, that's what this task force is all about. i want to thank the members who agreed to serve and i now yield to any of them that want to say something. and we'll take questions.

>> i have two questions. is there any particular piece of legislation that you envision helping with this re-engagement process and when do you plan to put it forward? and the speech last night, there was a point where the president talked about the voting being a sacred right, a lot of democrats stood, not a lot of republicans stood. were you surprised to see that disparity? >> i'm old enough not to be surprised at much of anything. i was disappointed. and i'm very disappointed that after the supreme court issued its decision which basically said that the formula that you can -- that you've been holding on to sense 1965 is now outdated. congress should fix this. update the formula. so we came back and this is the piece of legislation that you're asking about, and we had some

amendments, these members worked very hard to put those amendments together and representative sensenbrenner and representative seller from ohio worked with representatives conyers and scott on compromise legislation. my constituents did not like the compromise. they did not like it. they thought it was a faulty compromise. but it was a compromise and i adhered to lyndon johnson's theory that a half a loaf is better than no loaf at all. and i thought this would get us started. and so that's the first piece of legislation we're going to work on. mr. sensenbrenner told me he's not giving up on this, he plans to come back within two weeks, i

think he said two weeks, with another piece -- with the same piece of legislation to try to get it going. we also had voter empowerment. john lewis is the author. we're updating that. because that bill was written before the supreme court, the impact of some of these recent decisions, so we're going to update that to incorporate these decisions and hopefully we will bring that back to work on. now, all we can say is these are good bills, they're bills designed to get people back involved in the process. i get very, very upset when i hear young people 25, and 30 years old, say to me, they see no reason to vote and it's not bringing up these recent laws

that's been passed in various states, one being my own home state designed to suppress voting designed to not respect college students and where they live allowing them to vote at their campuses. not to let their student i.d.'s be used to demonstrate who they are. they can take that i.d., go into any bank in this country and get served get checks cashed but they're telling them that's not good enough to register to vote. these young people are very upset about those kinds of laws and this committee is going to work on doing what we can to get them engaged again in this process to help us change it. >> if i just may follow up on what our colleague said briefly. you said were we surprised when they did not applaud and stand up for the right to vote being sacred. just to remind, when my colleague was talking about

updating the voting rights act, we did just that in 2006. we were in the majority, we passed a bill with nearly, i think it was around 400 votes in the house and almost unanimous in the senate. this has been bipartisan was it unanimous in the senate? unanimous in the senate. around 400 votes in the house. strongly bipartisan. so when the court ruled on this that bill was only in effect for a half a dozen years. it didn't really need an upgrading but they thought it did and instructed congress to do so, which congress did, which the previous congress rejected. that is what is so hard to believe. because it is a fundamental right in our country and you would think if the american people think the vote is sacred they might applaud. i said that today is the five-year anniversary, introduced today are some bills

one would overturn citizens united starting a constitutional amendment to overturn citizens united. the sarbanes bill that impacts small donors, reduces the impact of big money in politics, to reduce the skepticism of people about what goes on here. and the third bill is disclose. why all this money, whose money is this, let us see who is putting up this money to again suppress the vote as well as the will of the american people. so there's a great deal of activity. we'll be talking more in another week or two about reform measures. today we're talking about passing the civil rights bill. the big civil rights bill too, is the immigration bill that they have rejected the actions of a bipartisan initiative passed in the senate

overwhelmingly and not passed system of the connections between the vote and the rights of people is a very direct one and we would hope that if the american people knew more about what was going on here with the -- that the republicans would respond in a way that is respectful of it being a sacred right. >> i like -- i'd like to point out that and people may not remember or realize this, but what the supreme court did a couple of years ago was not to strike down the voting rights act of 1965, or invalidate it, what it did was invalidated the process for the preclearance rule. the preclearance rule addressed jurisdictions that had historical evidence of

discriminatory practices. and the voting rights act of 1965 established what those jurisdictions were, the supreme court said, well, look, that was a long time ago and what we want to do is go forward. this is no longer good. you need to establish a rule that examines where the voting abuses are taking place and then applies the preclearance rule to those jurisdictions. that's what this amendment has done. this is a bill that amends the voting rights act and was introduced last year it drew 11 republican co-sponsors as mr. clyburn has mentioned it is an honest effort to take at face value what the supreme court did to the voting rights act, not to

invalidate the preclearance requirement but to update it. and that's what we need to do. s the very least we can do as proponents of democracy here in the united states. thanks very much. >> let me thank the leader and this is the moment for this task force. on voting and voting rights, voting is central to our democracy. the right of people to participate in the daily decisions of their lives is fundamental. we support democratic movements around the world. we go around the world promoting democracy. and we penalize countries which don't system of here in our own country, we have to insist that the voting rights act be reinstituted and passed because this is really once again so

central to who we are as a country. we're a democratic country. and to deny people the right to vote is undemocratic. and that is not who we are as a country system of thank you again. >> any other questions? yes, ma'am. >> i was wondering if you could talk about the goals for the task force, is it to gell more people registered? increase the percentages of minorities and young people voting? do you have an idea what the goals are? and as far as the bill by representative sensenbrenner what's the strategy, is it shaming republicans to schedule a vote? trying to work with republican leadership, how do you get it from co-sponsorship of republicans to an actual vote? >> well, we want these amendments passed. the last time we took each member, it was a bipartisan

bill said to the democrats get republican partners. we started with two and two and got up to 11. we will still seek republican partners. i'm going to be talking with the speaker and the leader and hopefully we can get them to create -- to bring a bill to the floor. i believe sincerely that if those amendments were brought to the floor, i believe they would pass. i think there are 218 people in the house of representatives who will vote yes on this legislation. and so we're going to keep working as we know to do. it may -- i don't get discouraged with these kinds of things, i keep plugging along, keep plugging along. i think these members will do the same thing. we think we can get this done. we think it should get done. now the first goal, of course,

is to pass the amendments. a second goal on voting has to do with the voter -- with the bill. as we said we do believe we ought to be working on citizens united. all of these things that we have heard from members we think are working in tandem to suppress the vote. we're going to be working on. >> the point is not -- the point is to, we always say if you don't vote, you don't count. because people will respond to people who vote. and so what we're hoping is that by having more people that have a reason to register, a reason to vote, it will have an

impression on our republican colleagues to respect the fact that these people are voting and to act in a way that respects their priorities. president lincoln said, public sentiment is everything. you hear me say this almost every time we meet. that's why using the inspiration of the 50-year anniversary using martin luther king weekend as a time, selma and the beginning of march, the 50th an verse vi, using all that inspiration and the traction of people to -- attraction of people to the issue of voting and what sacrifices were made to expand the right to vote in our country is the way we hope to convince -- to persuade the public, to persuade the republicans that people should have the right to vote and then they'll vote the way they vote and that's their free choice but as long as we all know they're going to vote, their views will be more taken into consideration.

we had the california mayors in there and we were all comparing notes. i was saying i was quoting a speech over the weekend by martin luther king, he said legislation is the path, ballot is the path, don't ignore this method of legislation. the mayor of los angeles was saying the best speech he made was at a synagogue in 1956 in los angeles, the northern californian were saying they was stanford speech, mr. clyburn will claim the letter from the birmingham jail. we're all in competition for the most inspirational and i'm sure others here have their favorite speech, whether it was about the war in vietnam or whether it was about health care, whether it was in india when he went there to talk about nonviolence. this was such an inspirational figure in our country. a monument among presidents on the mall, a day he has alone while washington and lincoln

share a day. so this is something very special to us, this gift of martin luther king and this legislation that he helped led the way to enact. we're going to make sure that that legacy is preserved. i think there's time for one more question. >> lucille, i said i called you out on this i really believe that you should say something because she has not been quiet talking to me. >> i think one of the key components of what we're trying to do is to help individuals understand that their vote does matter. and to hetch them to understand the connection between their aspirations to realize the american dream what that happens to be, to understand their dreams and how they are directly connected to what happens, for example 3,000 miles away from california.

that those who are in elected office, it does matter. and that the policies that we make sheer in washington actually directly impact their everyday life. and to help them to understand also that there is nothing in their lives that isn't connected to what happens in the political arena. i have families who say, you know what, i haven't got time. i have two and three jobs. my kids have to work. so we can just make ends meet and maybe, if we're lucky, one of them can go to college. when you help them to understand that those struggles can be dealt with by the policies that we make here in washington, to increase the minimum wage, to provide them with health care, to protect programs like pell grants and other programs that

even the president talked about last night. two years free community college, that would mean so much to the communities that i represent. and provide so much more opportunity to them and their abilities, to be able to just have some kind of quality of life. so i think that's going to be one of the critical components of what we are doing here is to help people learn to realize that their vote does matter, and why it matters, and the connection between their everyday lives and those who are in positions to develop and to create policy. >> i'm one of the youngsters in the crowd and i will say -- >> born after the voting rights

act. >> yes. oftentimes we stand on the shoulders of john lewis and reverend martin luther king and nancy pelosi and eleanor holmes norton and others who came before us to make sure we had every opportunity in the world. we could go to any school we wanned to. sit anywhere we wanted to on the back of the bus. watching their sacrifice and their fight to give us the right to vote increases our energy and our commitment to making sure that everybody has that right. and the leader talked about citizens united, what we're doing today is we're just trying to equal the playing field again. corporations have all these rights now while regular voters are fighting to get to the polls and our grandmothers who had to scrounge up and make sure they had their voter i.d. as they go to the polls when corporations

can give as much as they want and not tell what they're doing this is about what makes america the country that it is. and that's the fact that we believe that the more people that are engaged in the governing of this great democracy, the better the country will be. as we strive to continue to make this a more perfect unit -- perfect union, the feelings yesterday when they didn't stand up when they talked about the voting rights act, the sense of disappointment and dense of hurt that we can't all agree that everybody participating in a democracy is a fundamental right and it's one of the most important things in our society. as the beneficiaries of the 1965 voting rights act, and the 1964 civil rights act we feel an inherent obligation to make sure that we go out and engage our young people in the fact that you can determine your own future you can determine your own destiny and you can determine the destiny of this great country. we just want to thank the leader

and congressman clyburn for including us and making sure that every time we talk about young people, they make sure young people are at the table. so as we talk about the debt and deficit, our leader makes sure she talks to college students and that young people have a seat at the table so we can express our voice. because of that, that's what make ours party so great, so inclusive, because at the end of the day, we don't make decision for people, we bring them to the table so they can have a voice. for that we will be forever grateful and we will continue to dd -- to do what we have to do to make sure we honor those who came before us and pave the way. >> thank you. as one of the three members of the hip-hop generation on the stage, though my kids don't necessarily think so right now. but it's an honor and privilege to be part of this wonderful group, the leadership of nancy

pe low' and jimcally buren and as representative richmond indicated, to help relay to a different generation of americans the importance of the struggles that have occurred in the past, the progress that has been made, as well as the need to continue to move forward to address some of the issues that are relevant to them. related to the relationship between the police and the community, college affordability, access to a changing job market. these are things that we want to make clear to bring the american life in a robust fashion, in a manner that allows them to pursue the american dream, voting is a key to translating their ideals, their values, their aspirations into public policy. i look forward to being part of that moving forward. the last thing i would just add is that traditionally,

subsequent to 1965, voting rights which is fundamental to the integrity of our democracy in america, has been relatively noncontroversial in washington, d.c. it was re-authorized on four different occasions with large bipartisan majorities and every single time in 1970, richard nixon, 1976, gerald ford, in 1988, ronald reagan, in 2006, president george w. bush. every single time the voting rights act was re-authorized, large bipartisan majorities signed into law by republican presidents there is no reason in this congress we shopt be able to do the same. >> let's round out the hip-hop generation, i should call him the reverend carson, because the

sunday morninger is month was deliveredy andre carson, to round out the hip-hop generation. >> thank you, mr. clyburn. i think coming from the hip-hop generation, all those times in high school when i should have been paying attention, i was rapping in the lunchroom, came in handy at some point. but what makes jim clyburn and leader pelosi so special is that yes, they are older, if you will, but they care about young people. they really care about making an investment in the next generation of leaders. you know, i am reminded, leader pelosi talks about the sentiment of the people. even when congress failed to act properly it was the sentiment of the people that forced abraham lincoln to free the slaves.

even when congress failed to act rightly, it was the sentiment of the people that forced president truman to desegregate the military. and even when we had a congress looking at its poll numbers it was the sentiment of the people and their respective districts to force congress to do the right thing and have lyndon johnson sign the voting rights act. we have come to a great question. i'm reminded of ben franklin at the constitutional convention, the mythology tells us as he was walking out, he was approached by a lady named mrs. powell who walked up to him and said, well, ben, what do we have? a monarchy or a republic? and ben looked down at mrs. powell with his receding

hairline he said mrs. powell we have a republic, you can keep it. so the question becomes, how do you keep the republic? you keep the republic by not only holding your elected officials accountable, but you keep the republic by bringing in younger people and engaging them in the dialogue to help make a difference. that's what this task force is about. and we look forward to working with you in the future. thank you for having me. >> we don't have but two people left here. >> ok, thank you so very much. i think that every elected official has a responsibility and that is to make sure that we empower communities, that we empower individuals. when i worked for the governor of puerto rico in 1985, what we were dealing with was a puerto rican community in the united states that was totally

invisible. we have offices providing services. i told the governor of puerto rico, that is not what they need. what they need is to empower themselves. and we launched the most tra -- strategic, effective voter registration campaign that registered 250,000 puerto ricans and this is when the first african american got elected in new york city and i would like to say puerto ricans at that time played an important role. but it was not only about registering vedge individuals. it was about helping them connect the dots. that electoral participation equals to the fact that those issues what are important to them will cease to be invisible. and so it is not an accident that 24 years of republican holding offices in new york city, in city hall, today, 24 years later we have yube versal

pre-k, we have other benefits, why? because individuals got engaged. they for the last months prior to the may i don't recall elections, they were relentlessly visiting, knocking on doors and make you are -- making sure that every candidate for mayor in new york city would understand that those issues were important to them system of bill deblast yow is one politically savvy mayor. he knows that in order to win in new york city a democratic election, that those minorities -- minority voters are important. so i want to see whether or not the fact that he dealt with those issues from affordable house, 16,000 units of housing have been built under this administration. those are issues that people care about. so it's not only about

explaining to them and helping them understand the correlation that exists between electoral participation and their daily lives, those issues, but execution. we have to deal as elected officials with those issues. so that individuals like the one that you see will not have to ask the question why does it matter, coming out to vote? it does matter because today working families who are struggling to make ends meet they get sick and have no health insurance, they can stay home taking care of those who are ill in their family, or that we are putting on new york city's agenda, affordable housing. that's why it's so important that we do not only voter registration but voter education. thank you.

>> not of the hip-hop generation. i might have been, i think i'm old enough to have been the babysitter for the hip-hop generation. i'm definitely born before 1965. but this is an incredible honor to be on this particular committee, or task force. by the leader and assistant leader. because this is really about stamping out once again discrimination. it raises its ugly head every time. we don't have -- every time we don't have an effort to make sure every vote matters that everybody counts that apathy is addressed and dealt with. we're removing those barriers, that you have policymakers that are attending to that at every juncture. coming from a state where we are tied often and probably in this moment last in child welfare, next to last. one of the highest poverty states, one of the states with significant voter apathy, yet we were moved in this -- we removed in this last election the

opportunity for students to vote at their universities. so instead of working to encourage a brand new set of all age groups, pride in voting and making a difference in this country, we're creating an environment where people feel abandoned. this is a task force that's going to work on changing policy parameters and making it relevant to every person in our district. so i'm so grateful for being part of this, thank you very much. >> thank you very much i want to thank all the members here. let me just close by saying from that great document, the letter from the birminghammingham city jail, many -- from the bimpling ham city jail many of you remember it's a response to a letter he received. a letter from eight ministers, one was from south carolina that i knew. said to him they thought his cause was right but his timing

was wrong and king told them that time is neutral. time is never right or time is never wrong. time is always what we make it he said that he had come to the conclusion that the people of ill will in our society make a much better use of time than the people of good will. and that's a very profound statement. the people of ill will in our society seem to make a much better use of time than people of good will. we want to engage the people of good will. in our society. and make good use of our timing doing so. thank you so much. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2015]

>> the u.s. house has galed out for the day but earlier members passed a bill requiring the federal energy regulatory commission to approve or deny pipeline construction permits within a year. the chamber passed this bill in the last congress but the senate didn't take it up. president obama issued a veto threat. tomorrow debate on a measure that bans abortions after 20 weeks except in cases of rape, incest or endangering the life of the mother. the house is out of session on friday. so follow the house live here on c-span when members return tomorrow at 9:00 a.m. eastern. tomorrow on "washington journal" new york congressman steve israel discusses his role as the chairman of the policy and communications committee and how his party plans to communicate their message to the american people.

after that california republican representative tom mcclintock on the president's proposal to provide free community college and paid sick leave. plus your phone calls and tweets. "washington journal" starts 7:00 a.m. eastern on c-span. >> this saturday, live coverage from the iowa freedom summit begins at 10 a.m. eastern. it includes governors rick perry, scot walker chris christie, former governor mike huckabee. businessman donald trump and dr. ben carson as well as 2008 vice-presidential nominee sarah palin. this saturday on c-span, c-span radio and c-span.org. >> here's some of our featured programs for this weekend on the c-span net woshes. on c-span2, saturday night at 10:00 on book tv's "after words" mike huckabee on america's

current and future political landscape. on sunday, julian zelizer hook wills at changes instituted by president lyndon johnson as part of his great society. and saturday at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span3, university of california davis professor on the british air force and allied strategy in world war ii. and sunday at 6:00, the archivist at the purdue university tours the school's amelia aerohart collection, which houses the largest collection of papers relating to the pioneer. you can give us feedbook by phone, email or twitter. like us on facebook, follow us on twitter.

earlier today treasury secretary jack lew outlined president obama's business tax code proposals following last night's state of the union address he secretary said the current tax code makes it hard for u.s. businesses to grow and invest but he's optimistic there's bipartisan support for achieving tax reform. from the brookings institution, this is an hour. >> good morning, everybody. welcome to the brookings institution. i'm vice president and director of the economics study program here at brookings. i want to start with a little bit of housekeeping. if i could ask at the end of the event, if everybody could stay in their seat as the secretary departs that would be appreciated. it's my great honor and privilege to introduce the country's director of the

treasury jack lew. as you can see from our new and improved signs, this is hosted by the huche ince center on fiscal and monetary policy, led i bimy colleague david who will be moderating. the hutchins center mission is to improve public understanding of fiscal and monetary policy. fiscal policy is a ski instrument -- a key instrument securing our nation's goal of building shared prosperity for all americans. particularly the president mentioned a bunch of things, but including changing the tax code to help the middle class. secretary lew has spent much of his career in government and is widely respected for his thoughtfulness and deep expertise on the budget and economy. this expertise and knowledge will no doubt prove invaluable to all of us as he steers the nation through the debt limit

discussion though i'm sure he'd be happy to have those discussions in past, not in the future. he was confirmed by the senate in february of 2013. he was previously the white house chief of staff and he was director of the office of management and budget both in the clinton administration and the obama administration. in my household, i don't know if any of you know this but among my three sons he's well known for his loopy, crazy signature. something i did check last night as we were watching, my son watched the state of the union, we checked a $5 bill and your signature, it is now legible i would say. he's also known, talk about household dynamics, he's known by my wife as the guy who keeps hiring all my great colleagues over to treasury which i have forgiven him since they're doing great work other there, though i do miss them.

we're delighted he's here to share his views of the state of the economy. following his remarks, david wessel will lead a conversation with the secretary and take questions from the crowd. with that, mr. speaker -- mr. secretary, thank you for being here. the podium is yours. [applause] >> thank you very much for that kind introduction and thanks to david and the hutchins center for hosting us this morning and all of you for being here today. thank you for the talent that we rely on every day. brookings has long been at the center of important public policy discussions and it's been a source of innovative solutions to help create jobs and grow the economy. it's a pleasure to be with you this morning to discuss a very important subject. last night in the state of the union, the president put forward a series of proposals to keep america's resurgent economy on track. to build on the progress we have made and help more americans share in economic gains through

rising wages higher incomes and a growing middle class. the road map the president laid out will make it easier for family it is buy a home, for students to attend college without amassing unaffordable debt, for workers to find good jobs in high-paid manufacturing for working families to care for a sick child or aging paraphernalia, for businesses and consumers to defend themselves against cyberattacks and for states and cities to rebuild infrastructure and expand their broadband networks. last night's address, the president also made it clear that we need to knock down barriers on things like paying for child care, saving for college, and building a secure retirement. the middle class -- so the middle class can get ahead even as we revamp our business tax system so businesses of all sizes can compete in the global economy making our nation a more attractive place for companies to locate, grow and create the high-paying jobs that support families. just prior to the state of the union, the president outlined a key part of his vision to raise

wages and incomes and strengthen the standing of working families. it includes a new strategy to simplify our complex tax code, make it fair and by eliminating some of the biggest loopholes and it uses the savings responsibly paid for investments we need to help middle class families get ahead and grow the economy. today i want to spend time discussing america's business tax system and why we need to fix it to promote long-term growth and broad-based prosperity. let me say at the outset that our entire federal tax code needs to be overhauled. it's been almost 30 years since we last rewrote it and since then the tax system has become heavily burdened by loopholes and inefficiencies. ifts proud to be involved in negotiations on capitol hill that resulted in the last major reforms to our tax system in 1986 when we nonstraited that working together across party lines to do hard things is good for our country. while our views on individual tax reform may be far apart,

there's a broad set of business tax reforms on which we should be able to agree. and i continue to believe that the best way to achieve reform today is to start with pro-growth business tax reform that protects and strengthens the middle class lowers rates, simplifies the system, levels the playing field and eliminates unfair and inefficient loopholes. when we make the switch to a smarter business tax system, there will also be one-time revenue during the transition and we can use some of that to create jobs, rebuilding our roads, repairing tunnels and renovating airports. there is a growing bipartisan consensus in washington on how to achieve business tax reform and we have a unique opportunity now to get this done. before turning to business tax reform i want to talk a bit about the strengthening economic recovery. over the past five years, our private sector has created more than 11 million job the longest streak of private sector job

growth in our nation's history. last year alone, american businesses created nearly three million jobs. more private sector jobs than any -- in any calendar year since 1997. in the month of december, the private sector added 240,000 new jobs. the unemployment rate is now 5.6%, the lowest rate in 6 and a half 1/2 years. at the same time g.d.p. posted strong gains in the second and third quarters last year and many private forecasters project above trend economic growth to continue. just this weeking the international monetary fund revised its economic outlook and revised its projection for the united states upwards while lowering its forecast for most of the countries. our overall growth has been supported by increases in household wealth and gradually improving housing market a growing manufacturing sector and flourishing auto industry. with the affordable care act in place, millions of americans no longer have to worry that an unexpected illness will throw them into bankruptcy and people

with pre-existing conditions are guaranteed access to health insurance. thanks to wall street reform, consume verse a watchdog in place while our financial system is stronger and more resilient and they have increased funding to do their important work. in conjunction with the president's all of the above energy strategy, we are safely developing american made energy and we're now the world's leading producer of petroleum and natural gas. finally because of the economic expansion and tough choices we have made in recent years, the federal government's financial condition is significantly improved and our budget deficit has been cut by 2/3. as i travel to other countries advocating for american workers and businesses, my counterparts often remark at how much bet they are united states' recovery. they try to learn from the steps we've taken to turn around the economy. it's important to remember that this recovery is not an accident but rather the result of the determination of the american people, the resilience of our businesses and policy choices

made by president obama, the prior administration, congress and the federal reserve. despite this unmistakable progress, there's more work to do to make sure that we sustain our economic growth and that prosperity is more broadly shared. as part of that effort, the president is putting forward business tax reform to help fuel economic growth, encourage businesses to create good high-paying jobs in america, and expand opportunities so our nation's economic gains build a strong middle class. it's been almost three years since the president laid out his framework for sweeping business tax reform. making sure the system works for everybody is as urgent today as it was then. and this year, this is an area where members of both parties and the administration can work together to make progress for the american people. on paper, we have one of the highest corporate income tax rates in the world but in practice there's a wide disparity in effective corporate tax rates. some corporations pay little or no income tax at all while others pay the highest rate in the developed world.

even worse, our tax system allows american companies to shift profits overseas to avoid paying u.s. taxes and drives businesses to look for ways to move jobs and their tax home at least on paper out of the united states. to countries with lower tax rates. over time, our tax code has become increasingly loaded down with special interest loophole deductions and assorted tax subsidies. some were good ideas whose time has now passed. others were special interest giveaways from the beginning. the end result is a system rife with industry specific breaks and widely disparate effective taxes from one sector to the next, often reflecting incentives that do not reflect what our economy needs today. oil and gas producers are rewarded with a number of special interest tax breaks that unfairly reduce their taxes far below what retail and manufacturing pay on theirs. even with all these loopholes the current tax system makes it

too hard for businesses to launch grow, and invest in the united states. it's too hard for businesses to create the middle class job ours country needs an too hard for u.s. companies to compete with companies headquartered overseas. moreover our business tax system is far too exomple kated particularly for small businesses. they estimate that it spends hundreds of hours to comply twethacks -- with the tax code. we can reduce this burden. our business tax system skews business decisions in ways that makes it harder for the economy to grow. too many investment decisions are shaped by tax considerations when they should be driven by what will best enhance productivity and growth. our tax code should favor the best businesses that create the most economic value, not those that are best at taking advantage of tax deductions. the choice between debt accumulation or reduction, between investments in real

estate or manufacturing should not be driven by tax plans. and when those decisions are driven by tax planning it hurts growth and america's working families. when our system rewards businesses were having the best lobbyists or most creative accountants it shifts resources away from the core mission of growing the economy and creating jobs. for example, the tax system has become so distorted that in some tax haven countries, american multinational corporations report foreign profit several times larger than the entire economic output of those nations. this does not reflect the reality of the economic situation and it reroads -- erodes both our tax base and confidence in the fairness of our tax system. last year, we saw how our broken tax system drives businesses to engage in highly unpopular transactions to get out of paying taxes. we saw a spike in the number of companies pursuing corporate inversions and we saw the public outrage that followed. an inversion takes place when a

u.s. company buys a foreign company and declares it's no longer than american based business. for many firms these are little more than a tax avoidance squeal because renouncing u.s. citizenship allows them to lower their tax bill. i've consistently said while inversions may be legal, they're wrong. but unfortunately, we have a tax code that encourages these decisions. and we need to fix the tax code so companies will neither have the incentives nor ability to invert simply to avoid taxes. to be clear, mergers done for genuine business reasons make companies more efficient and productive. in a global economy, we're better off when businesses are free to invest across borders and we benefit greatly from foreign countries choosing the united states as a destination for investment. but it's a different case when mergers with foreign companies are really tax avoidance plans. the united states is still the best place for so many companies to do business. our rule of law our intellectual property rights, our innovative and

entrepreneurial culture and skilled work forest are unparalleled. many companies that invert want to take advantage of u.s. infrastructure, education, and rule of law, but avoid paying their fair share of taxes which only shifts the tax burden to others. the damages to our country's -- this damages our country's finances and it's not fair because small businesses and middle class families end up paying more of the tax bill. that's why the administration acted in september to help level the playing field and make sure everybody plays by the same rules. we made it harder for companies to complete an inversion if they keep most of their business in the united states and eliminated certain techniques inverted companies use to avoid paying u.s. taxes. and these measures are making a difference. they stripped away some of the economic benefit of inversions and since they were announced we've seen a decline in the pace of these trance actions and some deals were abandoned entirely. while our action was important and it helped, it is not a complete solution. it's a short-term response to

one symptom of a dysfunctional tax system. the real answer is business tax reform that addresses the root cause of this problem. it eliminates the loophole for good and closes the door on other wasteful and inefficient loopholes that make our tax system unfair, uncompetitive and overly complicated this can only be done through legislation. the president's plan meets this test. it's a carefully constructed plan and it provides the basis for winning bipartisan support. to that end, i look forward to continuing conversations with senators hatch and widen representatives ryan and levin to make progress on reform. there's a great deal of overlap between the president's framework and recent republican proposals, including the one advanced by the former chairman of the ways and means committee, former representative david camp. and like that plan, the president's proposal would use temporary revenue created by tax reform to rebuild our nation's

roads, bridges, and ports. we know it will generate one-time transition revenues. the president's plan would use a portion of this temporary revenue pay for long-delayed one-time investments to upgrade infrastructure helping to address the funding gap we have to meet our long-term water and transportation needs. it will create a good manufacturing and construction job base to help local economic activity right away. rebuilding america's core infrastructure will have the long-term benefit of making america a more attractive place to invest and do business so our economy is stronger not just today but for the future. if we fail to meet our nation's infrastructure needs, we're going to pay a heavy price. fewer jobs both now and in the future a reduction in quality of life from longer commute times, water main break, pollution and power outages and a rise in prices for goods and services that will damage small

businesses and take a bite out of the salaries of middle class workers. and we need to be careful with how we use one-time revenues. we must not blow a hole in the budget by using one-time revenues to finance permanent spending on new items or provide permanent tax cut. instead we should use these one-time revenues to make responsible, one-time investment in our nation's infrastructure. let the now -- let me now turn to specific components of the president's framework for reform. the president's proposal for a new business tax system has five pillars that represent an attempt to chart a bipartisan path forward. first, we need to lower rates and close wasteful loopholes. this will make our business tax system competitive, fund amountally fair and fiscally responsible. the president's plan eliminates dozens of tax breaks an loopholes and without adding to our deficits redeuces the top corporate tax rate from 35% to 28%. this rate is in line with our

trading partners and will help encourage investment in the united states. as we broaden the tax base, we can also create more certainty and make the system simpler and more efficient. and we believe there's bipartisan support to move forward on this. second, we need to build on the resurgence of manufacturing in the united states. a vibrant u.s. manufacturing sector is fundamental to our capacity to remain innovative and competitive and it's an important source of good-paying jobs for american workers. that's why the president's plan makes it even more attractive for manufacturers to build and expand here rather than overseas. it lowers tax rates for domestic manufacture to 25% and takes manufacturing incentive, including the researchened experimentation tax credit and make them permanent. the research and experimentation tax credit will spark new jobs and new breakthroughs in

engineering and production. this is another area of broad bipartisan support. third, democrats and republicans alike want to fix our backward international tax rules and root out the parts of the system that encourage companies to shift income and investment overseas. the international tax system is often looked at in terms of what is known as the territorial system new york which a exone located in a particular country only pays taxes on income earned in that country or a system like that of the united states in which that company must pay taxes on worldwide income, regardless of the couldn't where -- country where it's earned. the president's proposal strikes a sensible balance and will move us toward a more hybrid system what that means is we would create a new minimum tax on foreign earnings and make it simpler for a business to bring income back to the united states. it would also tighten the rules so companies cannot use accounting techniques to avoid paying taxes such as shifting profits to low-tax exuntries.

moreover the president's strategy eliminates tax deductions that would reward companies and provides tax breaks for companies that bring production back to the united states. with these changes in place, we can help encourage investment in the united states. the hybrid structure we propose has also been adopted by some republican tax proposals and again should be an area where we can find bipartisan consensus. fourth we all want to simplify and reduce taxes for small businesses. our nation's mom and pop stores, startups, high growth firms and entrepreneurs. truth is, small businesses are vital source of innovation, jobs and growth. small businesses embody the american principal that if you work hard and act responsibly, you can succeed. these are businesses we rely on to provide community stability but they're also the ones that take the risk that leads to new technologies and new industries. a few facts tell the whole story.

small businesses employ half of our nation's work force and generate almost half of the nation's g.d.p. and that's and that's why we're making sure small businesses will be able to flourish. since the president came into office, week of extended new tax benefits to small business, supported lending to tens of thousands of small businesses and reformed our patent laws so inventions can get to the markets sooner. whule these steps have helped, we need to do more to strengthen small businesses and give them the confidence to pursue long-term investments and hire for the future. the president's business tax reform plan does that by making tax filing easier for small firms and entrepreneurs and by allowing many more to use the cash method of accounting which is the same thing. the president's plan would allow a small business to annually expend up to $1 million in investments. these permitting changes would freeze small business owners --

free up small business owners to expand and hire and less complying with a complicated tax code. by giving small business owners certainty on their taxes it will free them to plan ahead and innovate and invest. finally, we want to fix our broken tax code and increase investment in a way that maintains current revenues. in other words, reforms should be revenue-neutral in the short and long run. we've come a long way and our federal budget deficits have been falling rapidly. independent forecasters project that over the 10-year budget window and under the president's policies, our deficits will remain at a sustainable level relative to g.d.p. but we can only afford to cut business tax rates substantially if we eliminate loopholes and use these savings to avoid an explosion of future deficits. lower rates have to be paired with eliminating loopholes and deductions and any business tax breaks that are made permanent, including so-called extenders,

that are currently re-authorized year after year should be paid for with revenues that offset the expense. keep in mind loopholes credits and subsidies are forms of tax ex pendtures -- expenditures. it's spending that's done through the tax code and because they represent lost tax revenue, we help foot the bills for these expenditures. of course, there are tax expenditures that make sense and that need to be protected. like the new markets tax credit expensing for small business and the research and experimentation tax credit. but these tax incentives cost money and need to be paid for to maintain adequate revenue levels. and we cannot apply a double standard as some have proposed, where we permanently extend business provisions without paying for them without permanently extending critical improvements to the earned income tax credit, the child tax credit and college credits that help working families at the same time. since congress reconvened a few weeks ago, the house of

representatives changed the way the costs of some legislation will be calculated. directing score keepers to use what's known as dynamic scoring. we think this is unwise given the uncertainty involved in dynamic scoring, the assumptions that have to be made and the unequality treatment of tax cuts versus pro-growth investments funded through annual appropriations. while there may be different opinions on how to estimate the affect of legislation, no matter what barometer you use, in the end nobody should want to blow a hole in our budget. we have to act responsibly and look at the cost of tax breaks and loopholes with a clear eye and make sure legislation can meet the first test of being fiscally responsible. finally, we'll need to hear the voices that support broadening the base to lower rates. many, especially those in the business community, express interest in business tax reform and say they're for cutting loopholes and subsidies until they realize that a deduction or writeoff that they like has

to be paired back -- peare d'back. we know many who will lose tax breaks will fight hard for the status quo. it's important that we also hear from everyone else who agrees that a simpler tax code without loopholes and more competitive rates will help drive economic growth and job creation. the fact is, achieving a simpler, more sensible system that better harnesses the talent and skills of all americans is going to require change and some sacrifice. the benefits of reform, though, will be shared broadly through greater job growth and economic activity. let me close by saying, the message from the american people over the last few weeks and months has been clear. they want their leaders in washington to find common ground to compromise and to get things done. and i believe that message has been received. the murray-ryan agreement creates a framework that shows we can work through the differences to find a path forward and the appropriations committee's implemented this

agreement with the spending bill that passed at the end of december. it was a sweeping piece of bipartisan legislation that contained many provisions and covered a lot of territory. ultimately, no one got everything that they wanted and it was hard for both sides. but in the end, we reached an agreement that met our obligations, avoided an unnecessary self-inflicted wound, funded some key priorities and provided certainty that the government would run through the end of the fiscal year. looking ahead, we can build on this momentum and pass bipartisan business tax reform so that our economy is one where innovation and ingenuity thrive, where hard work and determination pay off, and where the opportunity to succeed is available to everyone. and i'm confident that as long as we keep our focus on doing what is right for our economy and our nation, we will get this done. thank you very much. [applause]

>> thank you, mr. secretary. thank you for coming and thank all of you for coming. thank god for avoiding another washington half-inch snow blizzard. i wanted to start by -- >> we'll see what the rest of the day has in store. >> but this is the high point of the day. after here it's all downhill. you mentioned in discussing the goals for business tax reform that you want to see, as we all do more long-term growth, and broad-based prosperity. but the business tax reform that you're proposing and that dave camp talked about in part says, let's do away with accelerated depreciation to pay for lower tax rates. and i'm having a hard time

understanding how that helps economic growth when economists tell us that actually encouraging investment, that is accelerated depreciation, is the one thing that the tax code can most do to produce growth. >> as you look at our tax code, it has lots of incentives to do a lot of things, not all of which are productive and help the economy grow. i think an awful lot of intellectual energy and time in corporate planning goes into figuring out how to navigate through our extraordinarily complicated tax code and if that time were better spent looking at what would be most productive, most efficient, what would increase the bottom line of the business, and that were the driving consideration, it would lead to more efficient decisions, more effective business plans and that would lead to greater economic growth. i don't think it's a good thing when our tax code drives investments in a way that is not what contributes the most to a thriving economy. that's not the way to produce the most jobs in our economy.

and we've made clear we want to encourage manufacturing, we want to have incentives for research and experimentation. so it is not the case that we think that there should be no provisions that suggest what we think is important. we've made clear we think manufacturing and innovation is very important. but our current tax code is not leadinging to the kind of decisions that add up to the most efficient economy and the most productive economy. and when companies move overseas and move their corporate headquarters overseas they're taking good jobs overseas. that's not a good thing. so i think our plan and the kind of approach we've taken will lead to a lot of individual decisions, which when you add them together will lead to more economic growth. >> how does this help reduce inequality, share prosperity more broadly? >> if you create more jobs and more opportunities for good middle class jobs, that's ultimately the way to give people more opportunity to get into the middle class, to earn the kind of living that supports a family.

the infrastructure piece that we talk about is easy to see. if we were to put a big new investment in infrastructure over the next several years, those jobs are good middle class jobs. they do work that we so badly need. when you talk to c.e.o.'s in this country one of the three issues they always raise with you is infrastructure. if we're going to have a competitive economy in the next generation, we need to have the roads, the bridges, the port, the tunnels to move commerce. and creating good middle class jobs now will help create good middle class jobs in the future. >> you spoke about business tax reform by which i assume you mean both corporate and the so-called pass-throughs or subchapter s corporations of businesses. in the past, the republicans have tried to do business tax reform and combine it with individual taxes. and you've argued that that's a nice idea but it's not politically going to work. do you have any reason to believe that the republican leadership congressman ryan, senator hatch are willing to

do a business tax reform only? >> i'm not sure i would agree it's a nice idea. i don't think lower the top individual rate is the way to grow our economy or create a better future for middle class workers or for the country at large. i think on an individual tax we have differences that are very clear. i do believe that on business tax reform, and we have always said business, not corporate, because we have provisions that are aimed at delivering real benefits to small businesses as well as corporations, there is the possibility of a bipartisan consensus. i've had over the last few months quite a few conversations that suggest more openness to this conversation than there was before. i think a key element will be having it be clear how much we all care about having benefits that go to small businesses as well as large corporations. and in my remarks i try to give a few examples of things we think are of great value and we're open to a discussion in

that area. i don't think that there's any advantage in pretending that there aren't big disgreefments on the individual tax side. we had a national debate just two years ago about the top rate. we're not looking at a kind of negotiation to go back to lower the top rate. so the way to deliver benefits for small businesses is going to be through parts of the tax code that are directed at small businesses like the expensing provision that i mentioned and a number of others. >> so if i'm reading it right, you're saying that you see a political path towards doing business tax reform in cooperation with the republicans and leaving the touchy issues of the top marginal rate aside for some other day. >> i think that there is a growing consensus on a lot of the ideas that the president's laid out that i discussed this morning. from a growing consensus to an agreement on legislation --

>> what are the odds we're going to get business tax reform before the end of the president's -- >> i'm an optimist so i'll always say better than 50-50. >> ok. >> i think that most people who think about business tax reform always say you can't do it. because you're taking on deeply entrenched special interests that will always win. i don't believe that. in 1986 we proved that when you get together on a bipartisan basis to do things where you're helping the whole country, you can have a louder voice than the individual voices that want to protect the stat us kyo that does not help the economy. and i'm optimistic that we can reach an agreement here. i really am. i think that there's goodwill on both sides to pursue the conversation. it doesn't help to pretent that this is going to be easy. it's always hard. but it's not worth being here doing the jobs we do if you don't try and succeed at doing some of the hard things. >> you mentioned the dynamic scoring, the business of putting into the price tag on bills, the macroeconomic effects.

you suggested some of the problems with it that requires a lot of assumptions or a lot of uncertainties. but is there a silver lining here? if congress were forced to think more about the economic growth implications, not only of spending bills, not only of tax bills, but of spending bills like infrastructure, might that move us closer to the goal? or do you think it's all smoke and mirrors? >> i have never said that we shouldn't look at alternate analyses as a way of thinking about what we do. but there's a big difference between what you use for the purpose of scoring and what you do for the purpose of anal sills. it's -- analysis. it's very dangerous to use scoring methods that may in the end exaggerate what your savings are and understate what your costs are and end up with a fiscal problem that is just much much more severe. so i think that the discussions of dynamic scoring cannot let it slip into a place where we

look the other way if there's high risk that some of the decisions we make will leave behind a big fiscal mess. i've had the misfortune of inheritting fiscal messes a couple of times. i've taken some pride at helping clean up fiscal messes. i think we each have to be careful and not create those kinds of problems. >> you spoke approvingly of the ryan-murray spending bill that helped us avoid a shutdown. but that bill left in place some caps on domestic and defense appropriations that were set in 2011. are you comfortable with the level of those caps? are they wise? >> i've never thought that the caps were set in the right place. i think that we have tremendously important needs in this country that are both on the defense and the nondefense side, that will lead to a stronger economy and a stronger nation, if we have the room to invest sensibly. i think in the context of a conversation about these kinds

of issues, there will have to be some further discussion about how you pay for providing some additional room under the caps. i think that there's growing interest on the republican side particularly because of the impact that caps are having on defense spending. and we've proposed for a number of years now a way that we can go forward in a fiscally responsible way and provide some relief. >> pay-for meaning we would spend more money than the cap allowed but there would be no affect on the deficit? >> i'm not going to get ahead of this year's budget, but if you look at past, week of made it clear that there are tradeoffs that could make that possible. >> when i listen to republicans talk after the president's speech and since the election, the strongest point they've made i think is that the public has voted for smaller government and the president continues to act as if the public didn't say anything and that he continues to push for bigger government. how do you respond to them when

they say that? >> i think if you look at what the american people want, the president's policies line up very closely with what the american people both want and need. i don't know anyone who thinks it's a better life to sit for two hours in traffic, for a half an hour ride. infrastructure is not something that has republican and democratic lines to it. it's always hard to pay for it. the question is not should we do, it but how do we pay for it. one of the real advantages of tying it to business tax reform is you're taking a priority that businesses care about, infrastructure a priority that the american people care about infrastructure, and you're using one-time savings which really should be used either to reduce the deficit or to pay for one-time expenses in order to fund it. that's a recipe for getting things done. >> let me turn a bit to the economy. you mentioned that the international monetary fund this week revised up their forecast for the united states,

they expect 3.6% growth this year, while revising down the forecast for pretty much all the rest of the world. is that realistic? can we have a really great economy in 2015 and 016, given all that's going on in china japan, europe, ukraine the middle east? >> the united states is recovering in a much more strong wathan much of the rest of the world -- way than much of the rest of the world. i think it's because of the factors that i described. we made sensible policy decisions, we have a resilient people, and we have businesses that get back on their feet after a tough time. i think that we are in a very different position now than we were even in 2012. when there was a lot of concern that if europe was a little weak or if asia was a little weak, it might throw the united states back into recession. nobody believes that today. i work really hard to make sure we get every 10th of a point positive growth that we can. but the discussion now is, do you lose a few tenths of a

point, not do you see the united states slipping in a dramatic way. with that said, i do not believe that it's good for the global economy, for the united states to be so much stronger while everyone else is so much weaker. but the answer is for the others to get stronger. the answer is for others to adopt policies that will help drive their economies forward, and if you just think about a car with one tire that's fully inflated and four that are either flat or losing air, that's not good. and we have a global economy that needs to have fully inflated tires everywhere in the world. the good news is i think there are policies that can be pursued to get there. it's political decision making, not economic necessity, that i think is holding back global growth. >> let me push you on that. you're on your way to -- way to europe. you have an interesting agenda. what do you tell the europeans that they should do to get their economy stronger, for

their sake and ours, and how much leverage do you really have with them? >> i think we made clear our views. i made my view very clear that we believe europe needs to pursue all of the different policy levers that it has at its disposal. it needs to use fiscal policy, it needs to use monetary policy and it needs to do structural reform. we've made that clear in a global settinging, with regard to other countries as well. i believe the united states has a lot of influence in the world. largely because of the example we set. and it is very interesting in the two years that i've been treasury secretary, we were just getting to the point where the world stopped blaming the united states for the financial crisis and now we're at a point where everyone marvels at the durability of the u.s. economy. the resilience of the u.s. economy. how we bounced back. it didn't happen by accident. it really didn't. and i think that countries can learn from that and make these

decisions. obviously politics around these issues are hard domestically and in regions around the world. i think we have a responsibility to make clear what we believe has helped drive u.s. growth, and lead by example and participate in global conversations to drive these issues forward. >> aren't you a little frustrated? germany's sticking to its goal of a balanced budget, even though it's the one of the major countries that has some room to maneuver. the european central bank is inching toward quantitative he'sing but may do it in a way -- easing but may do it in a way that dilutes its effectiveness. do you you feel like you're beating your head against the wall stimets? >> i think these are important issues that require our sustained effort to try to drive them in the right direction. >> i'll take that as a yes. [laughter] let me ask you one final question and we'll turn to the audience. the president spoke pretty forcefully last night about climate change. and -- but in this era of bold

initiatives, things we care about that we can do with the republicans, things that we care about that we know we can't do with the republicans but we want to put down markers, you apparently decided not to go to increase the gasoline tax or to propose a carbon tax, even though the lower oil prices might make that a little more politically palatable. why not? >> anyone who looks at the policy that our administration has pursued cannot mistake our view. we have an enormous commitment to making progress on these climate change issues. we've pursued an agenda with the tools that we have available to work through existing law to make as much progress as we can. we've worked internationally. the agreement that president obama and the chinese president reached was quite historic and will set the stage for further international progress here. i don't think there's any mistaking our commitment to moving forward on this. we believe it's the right thing to do for economic reasons, as well as to save the future of

our environment. and we're very determined to continue making progress. >> you think someday we'll get a carbon tax or is that just -- >> i'm going to leave the discussion of how to deal with it to engaging with congress. we've made clear prepared to engage were congress prepared to engage. because we're seeing congress' willingness to deal with this issue, not keeping up with the urgency, we took the steps that we took administratively and we remain ready to work together on a bipartisan basis because this is truly one of the issues of our generation, where we're going to be measured by whether or not we take it seriously. >> i think we have time for a few questions. can i have a mike down here? >> thank you mr. secretary, again, for being here. i wanted a quick follow-up questions on inversions which you mentioned a couple of times

in your speech. i couldn't tell if we were talking about a carrot or stick approach. on the one approach you could be referring to decreasing rates. you could also imagine eliminating deferentials altogether which i guess would be a stick aprofmente or you could imagine a regulatory approach where you tighten up some of the accounting standards. my question is, is this an all-of-the-above strategy and then the second half, on the last one, is this something you can proceed on on the regulation side, even if legislation doesn't move forward in order to make it a little more difficult for companies to invert? >> we i think took quite a decisive step in september to clamp down on the economic value of inversions and the mechanisms by which companies can actually go forward. we made clear at the time that we were continuing to look at othered a misk steps. but i've been very -- administrative -- other administrative steps. but i've been very clear. we can't totally shut down

inversions. we have a tax code that makes them economically attractive. and a tax code that makes them legal. so the only way to really fix it is to go back and fix the tax code. so we'll continue to work as hard as we can with the tools that we have because i think the outrage the american public felt last year over this issue was fair. i hope that the debate in this country over inversions last year will underscore the importance of proceeding with business tax reform. because if in the end where we end up is with a system that is simpler and more fair and that gives businesses incentives to invest in the united states, it will be good for creating jobs here. so i'm not going to say that we're done looking at administrative things. we certainly will continue. i hope that we make progress on legislation so we don't need to look at past solutions. >> there's a woman here next to the gentleman in the white shirt.

>> thank you for taking my question. just a sorry. t.i.g. advisors in new york. just to follow on the question, on inversions. is there a sense of when we might see the regulation supporting the september 22 statement coming or when we'll see anything else? >> i think the notice that is out there has been well understood and is very clear and we're continuing to work on the regulations. but i don't think there's any ambiguity about the policy that was set forth go. but in data -- date on the regulation to support it? >> they're working through the process. it's a pretty well established practice, to proceed the way we proceeded. for people who are doing tax planning, lawyers and accountants, they understand what the new rule and interpretation is. >> thank you. doug here in the front.

>> doug eliott with brookings. one area of business taxation you didn't address today was taxes on the financial sector. it was clear in the run-up to the state of the union though the president himself didn't mention it, that there would be substantial additional taxes on at least the larger financial institutions. i was wondering if could you tell us more about what that would be, why it's been doing. i know some in the press have misinterpreted this about being too big to fail, yet i think many more institutions would be covered than just that. so presume tpwhri there are other reasons you would be doing this. >> yeah. first, it's not a new idea to have a financial services fee. we've had one for most of this administration in our budget. but the structure of it has changed. it started out as a way to pay for tarp. we're now getting on in time, we're getting out of tarp, and the new structure is really designed at looking forward,

not backwards. what are the risks in the financial sector going forward? we set a limit firms of $50 billion and above. >> not just banks, other financial institutions. >> yeah. other kinds of institutions, as et managers, insurance companies, etc. and targeted to see not just on size but on whether or not they rely heavily on short-term wholesale funding. i think that there's been enormous discussion amongst financial world, both u.s. and internationally, about the risks of the miss management between short-term funding and long-term commitment and we believe that this is a fee that will actually help to make the system safer and it will take the risk associated with short-term wholesale funding and have it be more internalized into firms. and it will also ultimately be seen in part of an overall business tax reform plan which obviously will have other implications in terms of

financial and other industries. >> the gentleman next to you. >> hi. andy from cornerstone macro. both you and david mentioned congressman ryan and senator hatch. have you sat down with them in their offices and how would you characterize the progress that you've made if any so far? >> i've remained in close touch with the chairs and the ranking members. obviously congressman ryan is new as chair but he was chairman of the budget committee before that. so i've had ongoing contact with him. i'm encouraged that there's a broad interest in pursuing a bipartisan discussion on business tax reform. i think that the principles that i laid out are reflective of ideas that i've seen republicans in both the financial ways and means

committee show interest in. i wouldn't be saying i think we can get this done if i didn't think there was interest in engaging in the process. >> young man by the camera there. >> hi. i'm hoping you can talk about the transpacific partnership and specifically the economic impact. >> can you tell us who you are. >> i'm a student. >> i think, as the president said last night in the state of the union, we stand to gain a great deal by writing the rules for the future in a way that has high standards and will make investment in the u.s. and exports from the u.s. attractive. there's no secret that the growing population in the world is outside of the united states. we want to participate in those growing markets and the only way to participate fully in those growing markets is to have fair rules of the road that we help to write. i think that the idea of the transpacific partnership was to

start with high standards and to say, we want to work with countries that are willing to accept high standards. and five years ago no one knew whether major countries would want to engage in it. we now have one of the most significant group of countries in the world saying, we all are prepared to live with high standards. so i think it's important to set high labor standards, set high environmental standards to make it so that markets are open and fair. and i think we're making real progress. what the president said last night is very much the case, that in order to pass trade agreements, you need trade promotion authority and our first challenge is to get congress to approve a t.p.a. >> why is it do you think that so many liberal democrats in the house in particular will resistant to that? >> i think this is not new to today or this year. as those of white house have worked on trade agreements the last 30 years know, it's always a challenge to get a bipartisan consensus. and i don't think it's any different now than it is in any of those other periods, we can

work through the concerns and get there. so i don't it should surprise anyone that these issues are tough. >> the gentleman right there. then we'll come to the front and that will be it. >> i'm ben with the strategic research partners. i was wondering when we might expect the president to release more details on his tax reform proposals and how detailed we might expect those to be, and then also regarding the individual proposals these family tax breaks, would that be required to be a part of any business tax reform or would he be open to pursuing the

business tax reform without also ensuring the family tax breaks? >> the president's laid out a framework for business tax reform that i think has been quite clear for several years and actually more detailed than many people realize because they were so quick to dismiss that there could be a serious conversation. they didn't read all the details. i would encourage everyone to look back at the white pape that are we put out because it's still the -- paper that we put out because it's still the foundation of everything we're proposing. wule put a green book out with the budget and we'll be discussing this issue. i tried this morning to add some of the texture to the conversation. i think people in washington get overly caught up with is there a plan out, the way you get this done is by sitting down and working through the detail. everybody knows the shape of the business tax reform plan we want. i think we know the shape of the business tax tax reform plan that might be the basis

for a bipartisan agreement. the challenge now is to go forward with democrats and republicans to have these conversations and i'm looking forward to that process. >> the gentleman here in the front. >> thanks for taking my question mr. secretary. i'm from treasury's office of economic and policy and i wanted to ask you, i'm an intern you mentioned, so tax breaks are are are are or firms in the u.s. for returning lower corporate rates. i wanted to ask realistically speaking, what particular issues that you mentioned today do you think republicans will meet you halfway on? even going on to minimum wage, student loan interest rates etc. >> i think that if we could sit

down and work through these issues one by one, there are actually more issues where wps -- where republicans and democrats could reach agreement than most people think. our system has been so locked in kind of partisanship and gridlock that we don't even have the conversations to find where the areas of commonality are. i think that it -- commonality are. i think it would be a grood thing for the country if we could break the log jam on tax reform. i think there are a lot more issues where if you're looking at what the american people want and what we need to do mo move the country forward, we could reach agreement. so i'm not going to give a list of items, but i do believe that there's a lot that the president said last night that ought tonight basis of good bipartisan conversation. >> why should we believe the next two years are going to be more harmonious than the last two? >> if you look at the last two

years, we actually got more done than people remember. there clearly were some bad moments in terms of brinksmanship which i hope we don't go back to. but there also was the murray-ryan agreement that provided for a kind of orderly process for two years, to continue doing the important work of the federal government without brinksmanship. there was an agreement on the farm bill. there was an agreement on a water resources bill. i think there are areas where we can continue to make progress. there's no question but there's a need to rebuild some trust between people who disagree. it didn't used to be the case that if you had different points of view there was nothing that could you find as an area where you could work together. i don't think that's the case now either. that's certainly not what the american people want. what the american people want is for us to hold to our beliefs but find the areas where we can make progress and that's what last night's speech

was all about. >> thank you very much. please remember to stay in your seats until the secretary leaves. if there's coffee cups at your feet, take them with you and join me in thanking the secretary for his time. [applause] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2015] >> tomorrow on "washington journal," new york congressman steve israel discusses his new role as chairman of the house democrats' new policy and communications committee. and how his party plans to communicate their message to the american people. after that, california republican representative tom mcclintock looks at the president's view of middle class economics and his proposal to provide free community college and paid sick leave. plus your phone calls, face book comments and tweets. "washington journal's" live thursday at 7:00 a.m. eastern on c-span. >> andrew keen, author of "the

internet is not the answer" on how the public is being used by internet companies for their own profit. >> in the old days, in the industrial age, people went to work in factories. they were paid for their labor they worked 9:00 to 5:00 and they went home and did what they want with that money. today we're all working in these factories like dwoogle, like facebook, like twitter. but we're unpaid labor. we're workinging 24 hours a day. we're not rewarded. it's not even acknowledged that we're creating the value for them. and worse than that, we are the ones who are being packaged up as the product. because of course what these companies are doing is learning more and more about us from our behavior, from what we publish, from our offenses, from our ideas, from what we buy from what we save, from what we don't say. they're learning about us they're creating this thing and then they are transforming us they are repackaging us as the product.

so we're the runs -- ones being sold. not only are we working for free but then we're being sold. so it's the ultimate scam. it's a perfect hitchcock movie. >> sunday night at 8:00 eastern and pacific on c-span's "q&a." >> republican larry hogan was sworn in today as maryland's 62nd governor. he discussed fiscal responsibility government reform and tax fairness. from annapolis, this is 25 minutes. >> good afternoon. it is a tremendous honor for me to be here today and i want to personally thank my friends, governor hogan, his wife, and the rest of their wonderful family for allowing me to share this day with all of you. it is a huge day for their family and a great day for the state of maryland. [applause]

when i look at the state of maryland from the state of new jersey, all i see is potential. i see a beautiful state, from the mountains in western maryland to the beaches in ocean city. i see a place with the kind of natural resources that most other states can only dream of having access to. i mean, we do. but other states can only dream of having access to. [laughter] i see some of the hardest working, best educated people in our entire nation. who are filled with the desire to build a better life for themselves, their families and their children. and i see a man in governor larry hogan who is ready willing and able to lead this state into a bright new future. [applause] a future where the people of maryland get to keep more of

what they earn a future where maryland and its people are free to live up to its unlimited potential. as you all know, governor hogan is willing to do the hard work that it's going to take to make maryland the best state that it can possibly be. he doesn't claim to have all the answers, but i know that he knows how to bring people together, because he's been doing it his whole life. i'll tell you why i like larry. i like him because he stands up strongly for his principles. i like him because he's blunt and direct. and he says what he believes. [applause] yeah. but he also knows that his job as governor is to get things done for the people of maryland because that is what maryland needs the most. you see, as long as you stick to your principles, i do

believe that exroo mice and consensus -- compromise and consensus are not dirty words. [applause] because to accomplish what you need to accomplish here in maryland, you're going to need someone who can bring people together someone who isn't afraid to be known as bipartisan. that's exactly the person you have in governor larry hogan. [applause] it's going to take everyone working together for a common purpose to make maryland the best state it can be. governor hogan lieutenant governor rutherford have set a great example, a great example of what can be done with the strength of ideas and i know they'll continue to do that well into the future. i have every confidence that maryland is in good hands and i look forward to coming back here four years from today to watch governor hogan get sworn into his second term as governor of maryland.

[applause] ladies and gentlemen it is my high honor and great privilege to introduce to you my friend and your friend, the governor of the state of maryland, governor larry hogan. [cheers and applause] >> thank you. thank you. you all look great out there. they said it was going to be a cold day in hell before we elected a republican governor. [laughter] thank you all, thank you very much. governor christie, thank you for being here. thanks for your tremendous support. and thank you for that very kind introduction. to my wife my daughters my entire family, it is because of your incredible love and

support that i am able to stand here today. [applause] i'm privileged and proud to have lieutenant governor rutherford by my side. he's been more than a runningmate, he's a friend and i am honored to serve with him. [applause] governor o'malley, thank you for your gracious cooperation during the transition and for your years of public service. [applause] lieutenant governor brown, thank you for your service, not only to the state, but to our nation. [applause] to my good friends, governor ehrlich and lieutenant governor steele, thank you for your leadership. it was an honor to serve in your administration. [applause]

governor hughs and governor mandel, thank you for all you have done for maryland. [applause] senate president miller, speaker bush and members of the maryland general assembly, we have great challenges ahead of us, but i look forward to working together with each and every one of you, along with comptroller treasurer attorney general, chief judge and the other members of the judiciary senators and members of our congressional delegation and all the local elected officials and other dignitaries. thank you all for being here for this historic occasion. [applause] most importantly, i want to thank the citizens from all across our state who put aside

party politics and who came together and voted to change maryland for the better. [cheers and applause] i'm grateful because i know something about putting aside partisanship in order to do the right thing. 40 years ago a maryland congressman, a republican, sat on the house judiciary committee during watergate. and the entire world was watching. would this man be willing to buck his own party, his own president, to do what he thought was right for the country? despite tremendous pressure, this statesman put aside partisanship and made the tough decision and he became the first republican to come out for the impeachment of president nixon. that man was my dad, former congressman lawrence j. hogan sr. who is here with us today. [cheers and applause]

dad put aside party politics and his own personal considerations in order to do the right thing for the nation. and i'm going to get emotional now. and he taught me more about integrity in one day than most men learn in a lifetime and i am so proud to be his son. [cheers and applause] ladies and gentlemen, today we are gathered in front of our beautiful state house, which has been in service since 1772. a few steps from where i'm standing is where general george washington resigned his commission. 231 years ago, the revolutionary war ended right

here, inside this state house, with the ratification of the treaty of paris in 1784. and just a few miles wrea from here, when the future of a fledgling nation was in doubt, francis scott key penned the star spangled banner during the war of 1812. for maryland and for our nation this is a place where great things begin and where great things are accomplished. [applause] today against this historic and majestic backdrop, maryland once again starts a new chapter in our long, proud history. today's inauguration marks a new beginning for maryland and the limitless possibilities before us. i am a life long marylander who loves this state. every great experience, every

great memory every great moment i have ever had in my life has happened right here in maryland. and it is such an incredible honor to be standing before you today as the 62nd governor of the great state of maryland. [cheers and applause] i am truly humbled and deeply grateful for the opportunity to serve my fellow marylanders. and i vow to work tirelessly every single day to prove worthy of this great honor that you have granted me. today we celebrate a new beginning for maryland, remembering our past while striving for a better and more promising future. the question isn't whether maryland is a great state. the question is, what will we do, all of us, to reinvigorate this great state that we all

love? what will we do to ensure that our future is better than our present and our past? i believe that the time has come to cast aside the status quo and to come together to build a better future for our state and all our citizens. we must set the bar higher. we must set the bar higher and create a bolder vision of the future. let's create a maryland that is thrivinging, growing innovating and is responsive to the needs of all its citizens. let's strive to make maryland the best place in america to live work, raise a family, start a business or even to retire. let us renew -- [applause] let us renew our sense of optimism and make maryland a place of unlimited promise. together let's make maryland a

place that we can all be proud of again. [applause] today i am reminded of those brave marylanders who first came to this land seeking freedom and opportunity when they landed in st. mary's city in 1634. while the challenges facing us today are different, i know that the courage and the spirit of marylanders is the same. we seek the freedom to compete without the undue burden of high taxes and bureaucratic regulations which make us less competitive. we seek opportunities to build better communities better businesses and better lives for ourselves, our children and our children's children. and most of all we cherish the freedom and opportunity to decide our future. and today we celebrate that freedom and opportunity.

what i envision for maryland is not just an economic and fiscal recovery but a rebirth of our spirit and a renewed commitment to our common purpose. the citizens of maryland expect great things from us and they deserve great things from us. [applause] too often we see wedge politics and petty rhetoric used to belittle adversaries and to inflame partisan divisions. but i believe that maryland is better than this. our history proves that we're better than this. it's only when the partisan shouting stops that we can hear each other's voices and concerns. i am prepared to create an environment of trust and cooperation, where the best ideas rise to the top based upon their merit regardless of which side of the political debate they come from. no problem faces us that hard

work honesty and courage cannot solve if we work together. ladies and gentlemen we can improve the tone in annapolis and we will. [applause] and we can move towards a commonsense solutions-based government. the problems we face are great. but so is our resolve to fix them. president kennedy once said, let us not seek the republican answer or the democratic answer but the right answer. in that spirit let us sit down together and come up with real bipartisan, commonsense solutions to the serious problems that face us. that's what the people of maryland voted for. it's what they want and it's what they deserve. [applause] the history of our great state

is rich and deep and our commitment to freedom and justice has always been our strength. in 1649 the maryland toleration act, one of the first laws that granted different faiths the right to freely worship, was enacted. since then, over the many years maryland has blossomed into a state wonderfully defined by our vibrant culture of racial, ethnic and religious diversity. in our hearts marylanders are hard wired for inclusiveness. it's who we are. it's our founding principle. it's a part of our identity and it's our greatest strength. our culture of tolerance and mutual respect must also extend to those with whom we happen to differ on politics. today is not the beginning of an era of divided government. today is the beginning of a new spirit of bipartisan cooperation in annapolis.

[applause] there is so much that unites us. a love of our state, a commitment to fairness and a desire to be economically strong and successful. and to those who would divide us or drive us to the extremes of either political party, i remind you that maryland has been called a state of middle temperament. our politics need that middle temperament as well. the politics that have divided our nation need not divide our state. [applause] in the days ahead i ask all marylanders to seek that middle ground, where we can all stand together. i recognize that the events of 2014 stirred strong feelings throughout the nation. but in keeping with the moderate tradition of maryland we express our passions in a

positive open, respectful and civil way as concerned neighbors. it's one of the many reasons i'm proud to be a marylander. our greatest challenge has always been reaching the high expectations set for us by our founders. that is why we will always keep trying always keep growing and why we shall never fail. [applause] ed in the end, it isn't about politics. it's about citizenship and the ability to understand the difference that is what it means to be a marylander. maryland's greatness is in her goodness. partisanship should never denigrate the unique legacy and trust -- entrusted to us by our founders. to my friends across the aisle, i assure you that partisanship will never play a role in my decision making. everything we do will be guided

by four commonsense principles. first, fiscal responsibility. our state government must provide essential services yet still live within its means. we must run our state government more efficiently and more cost effectively. [applause] second economic growth. maryland has an educated work force, world class universities and colleges, great community colleges and public schools. we have the beautiful chesapeake bay, the port of baltimore and a great location in the heart of the midatlantic region. we must leverage these amazing assets to transform maryland into a place where businesses can flourish and create more jobs and more opportunities for our citizens starting today, let me say loudly and clearly, maryland is open for business. [cheers and applause]

third, reform. we must improve our state government's ability to be more responsive to and better serve and respect all our citizens -- represent all our citizens. fourth, fairness. we must restore a sense of fairness and balance for maryland's hardworking and beleaguered taxpayers in order to rebuild our forgotten middle class. we must get the state government off our backs and out of our pockets so that we can grow the private sector, put people back to work and turn our economy around. [cheers and applause] ladies and gentlemen we can accomplish these things and together we will. this is our chance to build a state government that works for the people and not the other way around. to accomplish these objectives will require leadership.

i'm not talking about any one leader. it will take many, all of us working together rolling up our sleeves, acting with mutual respect and doing our jobs for the people of maryland. it will require listening educating and bold actions. and it will take the courage to do things differently. a commitment to doing things differently will be challenging. but i lost the teleprompter. it will be challenging. [laughter] but it will be worth it. we're worth it. and more importantly, maryland is worth it. [cheers and applause] 100 years from now, i want marylanders to say that this was when maryland's renaissance began. [cheers and applause] ladies and gentlemen, i stand before you today fum of hope,

hope for our -- full of hope, hope for our great state, hope for our people and hope for our future. i want maryland's future to be brighter than its present and brighter than its past. it can be and it will be. before my father cast his vote on the impeachment committee 40 years ago he quoted president lincoln who said, we cannot escape history. my fellow marylanders, today one again we cannot escape our history -- once again we cannot escape our history and we cannot escape our future. it's out there waiting for us. let us show our fellow marylanders that government can work, that we can work together, that change is possible and that maryland can live up to the promise of our founders. let us always act worthy of the great task entrusted to us to renew and advance our great state. let us appeal to the better angels of our nature so that we

can achieve the great and shining promise of maryland. ladies and gentlemen we can change maryland for the better and together we will. thank you, god bless you and god bless the great state >> tonight on c-span, a senate hearing on negotiations over iran's nuclear program. and former national security advisers discussed u.s. foreign policy as a hearing -- at a hearing at the senate's foreign-policy -- armed services committee. today they announced that congress has extended an invitation to benjamin netanyahu to join a joint session of congress. bbc news reports that this is retaliation for president obama's state of the union pledge t