peeled back collective bargainingnd a empowered no only the sit government but all of the local governments. i knew if we were freed of the big government union contracts not only get more in pension and healthcare contributions do things like bid out the health insurance which school districts did. stop overtime abuse. empower enknow innovation at the local level. we took a $3.6 billion budget deficit and turned into a surplus and balanced the budget each of the years i have been in office and we will do it again this time around and the budget tuesday will finish off with a balanced budget that is financially sound as well. and along the way our rainy day fund is 165 times bigger than when we took office. the pension and retirement system the only one fully funded in the country and we made the tough decisions and our state is that much better off because of it. in washington a matter of setting priorities. part is for me whether it is the local government, fire and

police or here in the federal government has got to be protection. safetynd security of the american citizens and of those free dompredom loving people around the world who love the values. you can be responsible in doing that and make responsible reasonable expectations of how to streamline the way that we provide that security through the department of defense and other mechanisms out this. that has to be at the top of the list. and then to for a good part goes back to the theme of what i mentioned. to me to tackle the challenges take money otherwise spent here or duck tated dictated here and send it back to the states and local governments where it is much more accountable to the regular taxpayer. give examples. medicaid is an issue we talked about many times before. paul ryan talked about it in block grants. give it back to the states what we do in wisconsin is different than new york or california or texas or even illinois.

highway not empower innovators at the local and state level to do the things that are in the best interests of their taxpayers and in the before interests of the -- best interests of the people they are there to seven instead of the one size fits all mentality. weigh have something you talked about for years, we are talking about maintenance of effort. why is it that a state or local leader can't make an innovation without federal regulation kicking in that says you can't do that unless you kick certain people off of your program. we were lucky because of the supreme court. i said i would rather keep the money at the state and local money. transportation instead of sending a dollar to bug where washington where they skim off costs and send it back to me, why not keep it local. say when it comes to education instead of sending that money here, why not keep that dollar back in the local community so

that the local school board can put that money in the classroom. so many examples out there that would help us not only balance the budget in the end it would avoid the false choice of tone between balancing the budget and gig up services. do it more effectively and more efficiently and ultimately in a way that is more accountable at the local and state level. >> how much time do we have left. i have two questions and i want to make sure i get to one. >> you get a minute each. we have about two minutes left. >> here is my question really kind of off the policy area but i think it is important to me and i think it might be important to others. four years ago you have two boys in public high school in milwaukee. >> yes. >> you live in a house in milwaukee. danette is living in that house and in the state capitol where are you are you were being invaded by the colleagues of the teachers and others who are responsible for your kids in school and thousands of others and it was on the national news.

and six weeks before that you were a county executive and nobody in the country knew anything about you. all of a sudden there it is. you are in there in your office and people are coming in in droves and protests. your kids are in public school. how did you cope with that? how was that? how did you maintain your row resolve? >> family and faith played a big part in it. my faith had a big impact in terms of feeling called to run for governor and for the right reasons. you mentioned my boys, part of the reason why we got in the race early on, knowing it would be difficult, never dreaming it would be that difficult after the election but just knowing the election itself would be difficult is because we were worried back then. we had a $3.6 billion budget deficit, record job loss, double digit tax increases. we could see our state was headed in the wrong direction. we were worryd that our sons were going to grow up in a state that wasn't as great as the one

we grew up in. this is why we got in the race. as a family we thought about it and prayed about it. our faith and family and our circle of friends helped keep us focus and in the height of this when we had the death threats not just against me but the threats against my family when we had the protests not just at the capitol or the governor's residence but our home outside of milwaukee our family home, we were able to sustain that because we knew we were doing the right thing. i kept saying over and over again we need to think more about the next generation than we do about the next election. because of of that we not only won that battle i think arguably the people of my state, a blue state, purple at best ultimately saw not once but twice in times of crisis what people want more than anything is leadership. we followed through on the the leadership but it wasn't easy and it is part of the reason why we have been able to take on additional reforms bus we have been tested and we are able to

handle them. >> you get the final question. >> no, it is your turn. >> all yours. >> we covered almost everything except energy. and row have got some wonderful wonderful environmental pluses in the state. beautiful lakes in madison and the forests you have and the great lakes. and yet you have policies coming out of washington that might be productive use of energy and resources. just interested to hear your thoughts on the environment and energy and how you are handling some of these things coming out of washington? >> both on energy and resource, interesting, we have as you alluded to, the only state in the union surrounded by two great lakes and the greatest river in the country. filled with 15,000 inland lakes. 5,000 more than minnesota by the way and all of ours have fish in them. a great place to be in and tremendous natural resources from one end of the state to other. demographically and

geographically very much a microcosm of america and we found a way to be environmentally and economically sustainable. i often said the best way to be green is to make green or save green. ifky help find a way for people and employers to make monitor save money while being environmentally sound that is the best way to be green is make sustainable, economically and environmentally. wisconsin has been a leader in many ways in that regard but we are also very much challenged. challenged by what is being proposed here in washington just like many other states across the country country particularly in the industrial midwest because of the ideas and rules proposed out of the federal government stand to see massive job loss and significant rate increases for our hard working people. and so this is one where one of my problems with this administration amongst others is they seem to think it is an either/or proposition. either be environmentally sound or economically sound.

i think it is one of those false choices. you can do both. that means having an all of the above energy policy. it means embracing the resources we have not only here in america but here in north america are where allies are ready and willing whether with the keystone or looking with industrial stand like in our state and the wide open shale deposits we have. i think it is also a national security issue when you look at prominence of people like putin in russia and others out there part of his strength in the world is because of his resource asset and what he is doing to do that. if we were more aggressive in providing our own means and finding ways to export to other places around the world we would diminish the impact of other parts that are a direct security threat to our nation and our interests. i think we need to say we want all of the above both for a stronger economy as well as for a strong sense of safety. >> i want to take this opportunity to thank fred for

his leadership at the american action forum and i hope you will join me in thanking the governor for an outstanding kickoff to the lecture series named after fred. [applause] >> thanks. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] next a discussion about the situation in yemen and its impact on other middle east nations. after that, prime minister david

cameron and the british parliament marking the 50th anniversary of the death of winston churchill. and former republican presidential nominee mitt romney announcing he will not run for president in 2016. this weekend on news makers, vermont nascar been knee sanders ranking member of the budget committee talks about the president's budget proprosal due to be released monday. developing a budget in the republican-controlled congress. fast track trade authority. the keystone xl pipeline and pressial politics. news makers sunday at 10:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. eastern on c-span. this sunday on q&a neuroscientist dr. frances jensen on the rosent discoveries about the teenage brain. >> they don't have the frontal lobes to reason the cause-and-effect of consequences of actions are not very clear to

they will because their frontal lobes are not at the ready. they are not as readily activities isible. he have frontal lobes, but the connections can't be made as quickly for split second decision making and also don't forget a lot of the hormones are chining a lot in the body of those young men and women and the brain hasn't seen these yet in life until you hit teenaged years. so the brain is trying to learn how to respond to the new hormones rolling around and locking on to receptors synapses of different types. sort of trial and error. this contributes to sort of this very rollercoaster kind of experience this we watch as parents. >> sunday night at 8:00 eastern and pacific on c-span q&a. now a discussion on recent developments in the political situation in yemen and the broader implications for the middle east. a middle east scholar, a free lance journalist who covers

yemen and a representative from the embassy of yemen participate. from the wilson center in washington. this is about an hour. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2015] >> good afternoon and welcome to the wilson center. i'm jane harman, the president and ceo. i visited yemen a few years back and met with leaders of opposition parties. certainly many of us have wanted yemen to turn out right. today we will see what people a lot more informed than i think about all this. i want to express my specific gratitude that mohammed al-basha is here with us today to represent his country and his embassy. thank you very much for coming. and recognize many wilson

cabinet and council supporters in the audience. you remember our embassy in yemen has closed, so i hope it will open again soon in a region increasingly compromised by terror. yemen's partnership has been vital to combating terrorist extremists. we hosted the president here in 2012 when the outlook was so much brighter. the u.s.-yemeni relationship was strong. sectarian conflict has done serious harm, and it is fair to worry now that civil war could make yemen the gulf's own syria. of great concern is that iran's leaders suggest they intend to wield the houtis against hezbollah. that is a more complicated story.

i was talking to robert and he will tell you it is a more complicated story. it is essential that yemen does not become a casualty of conflict. the idea between shiites and sunnis is exactly the narrative that ice is used to recruit -- isis uses to recuit. it may about more complicated and may be a way forward that will surprise and suppress us. without a solution for strife and insecurity, extremists could hatch in yemen the dangerous collaborations they started designing in syria. imagine if they were able to connect with foreign fighters holding clean western passports. that is very interesting. a call to the mosque. an inclusive political solution is violence in iraq vital. that is what we have south for years. we have seen in syria that

terrorist groups thrive in a vacuum. security depends on respect for all communities. this is a first and foremost a yemeni crisis. the west does not have all the answers, certainly not. or even a counter narrative that is adequate to persuade some kid in the boonies of yemen to not strap on a suicide vest. too many yemenis have never had contact with the u.s., except via drone. without dictating solutions, the u.s. should provide the support yemenis need for the solution they choose themselves. that is how to win the argument and peace. we are thrilled with the panel we have assembled to frame the challenge. i would like to introduce our moderator, robert worth, who will introduce the other panelists. robert is a public policy scholar with the centers middle east program. he has also work as beirut bureau chief for the new york

times, and contributing writer for the new york times magazine. you probably saw him on the page last week, with his article about yemeni dangers to the u.s.. he will guide us through a thoughtful conversation on the region today. before turning this over to robertion i want to recognize the fearless leader of our middle east program in the center seat here and i want to thank halla for bringing us scholars and programs over some years it that have educated so many of us. so please welcome robert worth. [applause] >> thank you, jane. for people that have been writing and thinking about this for years, it is a strange thing to be at a panel in d.c. about it. i remember in 2007 or 2008 a trial of a yemeni journalist who

was on trial for having supported the houtis. back then there were strange very opaque rebel group in the northwestern corner of yemen and even talking about them got you in trouble. now they eceptionly run the country -- essentially run the country. the past few months, we have seen a lot about them in the news. they have been gaining strength for years. in september the houtis overran the capital commanding important government sites and forcing rivals to flee including ali musen who was for years and years a rival to the president and a key military leader who had been an important part of the war. the intermittent war against the houtis that lasted from 2004 until 2010. then in the fall, we saw more violence with al qaeda in yemen.

terrible bombings in the south and in the capital. inform van an attack on a police academy this killed 38 people. in january the i tack on charlie hebdo in paris and al-qaeda into yemen or al-qaeda into the arabian peninsula as this call themselves claimed credit for it. at least one of those brothers is trained in yemen. just last week we had clashes outside the president's residence in saha and houtis pressing for more concessions and then he stepped con, possibly calling their bluff. yemen is rudderless and all kinds of questions arise that i hope we can address today. i will mention a few that interest me. what exactly is the iranian role? what stood the united states do, and what can it do? the diplomatic options are limited.

do the houtis hope to control the entire nation? what is the houti political and agenda? some of the spokes men call them liberals and revolutionaries in the 2011 sense but the core of leadership is said to be much, much more conservative. how serious now is the threat of southern secession and what would it mean governorren the fragmented state of the -- given the fragmented state of the south? i mention that because can the houthis manage the southern issue at all. >> i want to introduce the panelists. we have peter salisbury, who is a journalist based in yemen for reuters, al jazeera, and foreign policy. he is done a lot on the finances of yemen and the huthis and the iranian role. charles schmitts.

an a affiliated scholar at middle east institute woked on yemen for are many years. and muhammad al basha from the yemeni embassy here in washington dc who has a lifetime of experience to draw on. we will start with peter. >> first of all, thank you very much for having me here this afternoon. most people who watch yemen will tell you that it is a very complex country. it is very complicated. what i will try to do in the next 10 minutes is make it a little bit more complicated if that is okay. [laughter] i will talk about how we have gone over the the past year into the national dialogue conference, which coincided with the anniversary of the first year of international dialogue, how do we move from this euphoric moment a year ago

to the point where we have no president, no prime minister, no government, and no real understanding of who holds power in yemen? it has a lot to do with two separate, yet intertwined issues. coalition building and of negotiation in yemen. when we look at yemen, we tend to see it as a i lawless state. we saw actors who are incapable of acting outside of some -- outside of self-interest. while that is broadly correct there are rules within yemen. there are rolls of procedure. rules of operation. and what these have to do with our building enough power for me, my group and people around me with other people who i may no be ideologically aligned with but where we have common goals or we have common foes.

what we have seen in the coming months if the coalition of different forces with different aims. people from the northwest of yemen. people who have always held the balance of power in the yemeni state. those are the houthis, who we have heard a great deal but know very little. then we have the former president and the hard-core in the g.p.c., the general people's congress. his party which has been the traditional ruling party in yemen and then tribal groups and smaller armed groups in yemen who for a long time have lived in tribal irias controlled by people loosely affiliated to a coalition of forces or conservative try balis try balis lambists.

conservative tribal islamists. we talk about too often as islamic. it is more complex than that. for those of you who know yemen, we are talking about the first armored division. he was seen as someone connected to the muslim brotherhood. he came out in support of the revolution, as did the main sunni islamist political party. as did the tribal confederation, a confederation of tribes led or were until recently at the very least and who have been seen as being converts to sunniism although that again is a vast oversimplification. and in the tribal areas, a lot of people for a very long time were very unhappy with the way that they were treated by the tribe balance and the islamist leadership in the area. of people have recented for a very long time the treatment of various different groups by a powerful military general and people who have seen isla as a force not for good but for bad

in the country. the three different groups where you have people who are just pissed off. people who are opposed to is left field a because of consider for historical reason so the houthis have reengineered the neuroscientist rative the last three years. once upon a time, they talked about how the southern regime try to oppress and crushed them. since the revolution in 2011 what we have seen is the emergence of a new narrative. it is quite telling of this coalition, they start talking about how a coalition of conservative forces, the islamist tribes were really the guys who led the fight against them between 2004 and 2010. there is some truth to that, but not the entire story. sala has been angry for the last three or four years about the fact that he was thrown our of

power by people who had been part of his regime for a number of years and this same conservative block. what we have seen is the two groups come together first and foremost to get rid of these and secondly to try and alter the outcomes of the national dialogue conference to create an outcome more amenable to their interests. and when we saw over the past year is the houthis first gaining control over an area. that got very little interest in the international media the small maly shumpert militia. by the time they reached sanaa they built things up from the grassroots. they were in a very strong bargaining position. the issue comes to the second point i made, which is people

pulling back and working out a deal for themselves. when you reach the outskirts of sanaar the expectation was that the coalition of forces would bring themselves to the front and work out a deal. of instead, fighting brought out and we saw the houthis working to make sure that this it fits this coalition of conservative forces. that they no longer pose a threat to them in the long return. they were so successful that they ended up taking over sanaa. what we have seen since then is this issue for them of being in the strongest possible bargaining position and not really needing to pay attention to the outcomes of this national dialogue conference, this 10 month a series of peace talks held in yemen and ended over a year ago. that was the first time the

houthis had participated in national teletext, and they had -- lots of concessions because of it. they were not in a bargaining position to push back. they came out publicly and started complaining and turk particularly the political bureau started complaining loudly about the decision to move towards the federal model of governance. we seen them building up to a point where they were in a position there was no balancing and opposing force as long as they are in the coalition with the various tribes o are allies and various people that decided this he wanted to get rid of this conservative bloc and brings us more or less to where we are today. now we are seeing them in the interesting position where they are overreaching and their coalition of forces is in such a position of relative strength in that there is no other force that can really counter balance

them that they can do more or less what we like. i think that they are getting a little bit tooion sighted but also making some -- excited but also making some bad moves. when we talk about what happened lat week it is divide as a coup. i would argue that it is a slow burning coup. a coup in slow motion where people are gradually taking over the apparatus of the state. each time they get to a new point they realize they can go further. we saw overreach on the part of the houthis but possibly the beginning of split of the coalition of forces that allowed thehold outhis to be the most visible element of the takeover of the state. the draft constitution was finished in december. around two woke weeks ago the chief of staff was bringing it

to a commit yes committee formed at the end of the national dialogue to have them lock at the draft and pass it to be put to referendum. the houthis were led to believe it contain provisions for six regional federal states which is something that they oppose deeply and he decided to abduct the chief of staff. in return the president and head of the military sent the presidential guard out on to the streets in order to reclaim the city and the houthis again retaliated. what happened after that is actually largely down to conjecture. remember that the houthis are not the only people in sanaa. my understanding and nobody is going to get the right and wrong answer out of this. good information is very, very hard to come by but my understanding is you had an issue of two different groups. the sala loyalists including the national security bureau and cut

office and the presidential palace and home of of the president and the houthis feeling that they had to step in and this points out the issue and the point. two groups egging each other on to go a little further. now that he has resigned which the houthis didn't want. they wanted a weak president and someone they could dictate terms to. h he find themselves of in a position it is possible to are sala to put someone that he feels is amenable to his interests into place. at the moment, two conversations going on. one about a president krall council which is something that is being negotiated by the u.n. with the various political parties at the moment and also the question of the existing constitution in yemen which according to sala's party means that the speaker of the house, a sala loyalist becomes interim president and then the houthis pushing for their own version of

a military presidential council. now we are at appoint where the interests are diverging and what we are likely to see is new positioning and people trying to work out the relative strengths to each other and strike a bargain internally and that is where we are left at today. >> thank you, peter. charles? >> i want to do a little more about the houthi and who are they and where do they come from. they are a changing organization. it is not the same thing that it is when it began. and it is also not itself not sure what it is at this point. some of the confusion comes from confusion within the houthi

movement. it began as college students defense of the in the late 190's and early 1990's. they were counter acting influences from saudi arabia and the government. at some point hussein ail houthi got involved and he is the one that really militarized the group. of course, yemen everybody is militarized. he began to say we need to take a more defense position and he is the one that also provoked the president and came up with the chant. you know, death to america. death to israel. curse the jews. long live islam. and that chant is not meant to be antiamerican. it was meant -- it was meant to stick a thorn in the side of the

president who at the tile was defending the u.s. emwhat bacy and tee fending his relationship on the war on terror with the bush administration. and so the thorn was to say. we are authentically yemeni. we do not serve foreign interests. we are not the holding to the wahabi in saudi arabia. we are athen tickally yemeni and the thorn worked. that is when the con flicks began. the con flicks introduce another dynamic in the movement in the sense that now the movement is dealing with tribal and military relations up in the north. they are successful largely because the yemeni mill tare i have is split in itself and fighting each other as much as they are fighting thehold outhi. it is a force that can stand up to the regime.

everyone upset with the regime the houthi began to create a coalition of those rejecting the main components of the regime. that gained lots of support. a lot of people who were rejecting houthi rule right now, supported them back in the regime. the saleh regime had problems in -- three failures. the south and far north. both were regions that were subject to war. both were regions that lost wars. both were regions that saleh couldn't bring into his coalition and network and couldn't incorporate them politically and they remained outside. there are two large areas of yemen that are outside of the coalition patriots network his political group. they are putting pressure on. and then the final straw is the regime splits in two with the

defections and we have the arab spring. the national dialogue, which is internationally backed by the gulf states, but also the u.n. and united states, it is basically holding the saleh regime together. where it has split in half. brings them back together again. and then through the montreal montreal mechanism of the national dialogue tries to bring the southerners in and bring the houthis into the dialogue. that is the transition speed from 2012 to 2014. they participated in the national fidoia log and they as opposed to the southern, fully participated and could make decisions and kale came up with with their stances and whatnot.

the transitional government failed. it failed largely because competition that was going on underneath. the power blocs underneath were fighting each other rather than governing. you had saleh and his supporters. then you have isla feeling good like they are going to win the next set of elections and there is a lot of come competition within the institutions about trying to gain influence to position themselves bet for the coming elections. government basically don't happen. if you ask the yemenis if the government is gone. they say it has been gone since 2011. people ask is the yemeni state going to fail? i would say how would you know it if it did because there is no state really. that is the way yemenis have felt for the last -- and that gradually built up to where people on the street had little interest in the national dialogue and felt it was irrelevant to that their lives.

the security situation was very bad. there was a lot of resentment against the whole process. i point to january of 2014. took a new stance. they said okay look, this interim government is going to pail fail. not going to be able to pull off the transition and we will step in and shape it directly. this is the point where i, the question of its relationship with iran comes in. the one police where the iranians had a big impact and that is funding because in yemen in order to build militias and the coalitions you go to pay people. yemen is a poor country. it is not come interesting taxes intaxes. there is not enough money to fund that kind of a movement. that is the big impact that the iranians had on it. it begins they take the place there and nobody paid attention to it. these are long enemies, got rid

of them, good. then they moved dawn to amrhan. a key place because that is the seat of one the of key supporters in the military and the family of the leadership of the tribal confederation was located there. it is a key place of his supporters in the military. they moved into sanaa. when they take sanaa, they portray themselves as revolutionaries. they say we are revolutionaries, we are a continuation of the 2011 revolution. we are here to implement the national dialogue.

we are here to make sure it happens, that the outcomes are enforced. they set up committees that were going into all of the ministries and overseeing them. they went in and incorporated into the police forces incorporated themselves into the military. they very much need the national state. this is what i call the schizophrenic behavior. this is the learning process they are going through. they want to have all of the guns in the north. the guns in the north were turned against them. they are very insecure. they want to be the biggest gun in the north. they are now. they have taken all the guns. they got ahold of the missile divisions in sanaa now. they have all the guns now. what they did not realize, or did not seem to have in mind is that they also have to govern. in yemen, there is this

assertion of power. when they went in and blew up all of the islac party headquarters. in 1984 islac blew up all the in 1984 islac blew up all in the south. now it is payback. that is how yemen works. this is the way they understood power. they were going to blow up their opponents houses. they would take the biggert guns and what not but they forgot the other part which is the state. the state is important in yemen. mott just all of the coalitions but the state is important and the stay is important because the visit brings all of yemen's diverse components together. at this point, the houthi have totally alienated everybody. they came in trying to the state when they are actually undermining the state. they are doing things by force rather than by process. by institution building. they have alienated the entire southern and eastern area.

they have stepped back. right now, they are going to try and incorporate themselves into a broader state. the key thing i am looking for is not what is happening in sanaa, but what is happening in the east. neuheisel amassed their force -- they amassed their forces. islac and tribal forces of the east have amassed their forces. the saudi's have said that is a redline and have massed their forces. if that comes to war we are looking at it takes civil war. that is where the oil is. tribes have turned it off. they have stopped the flow of oil. will that be negotiated settlement, or a military one? if it is a military one, the houthis will win the initial battle, but will lose the war. if they are able to hold it off and keep it in the political process i think there is still some hope for a future of yemen.

>> thanks, charles. >> hello. good morning. it is humbling to speak after peter and professor charles. difficult times. we are at a point where i had a first meeting with bobby about the houthis. we were scratching our heads trying to analyze the mobment. it was the next hezbollah in yemen or something that just or ridge neyed in the country. i will be short in my speech and would like to engage audience more than talking. i will give you updates what is happening right now. yesterday at the end of the fourth talks hosted in mozambique with the various political players, it seems that we are heading towards a presidential council. there is an agreement by all of the players on the presidential council but there is a problem

with the number of representatives in the council. the time frame. how long would the council stay in power. what are the priorities for the council? how are we going to pro is this council? is it going to go through the parliament or be by political consensus? it seems this there is a lot of divisions to the point that when i actually walked into the building i was informed that the g.p.c. pulled out from the meeting. and they pulled out because they want to ensure that this process goes through the parliament and the parliament is two articles. 115 and 116. 115 means that the president had consider that his resignation will be accepted. the resignation has not been officially accepted so legally speaking he is still the head of the state. he is not on active duty as head of state or commander in chief but legally still the president. article 116 will give the pouty

torte parliament and spooker of the house when the two deputies will be the commander this chief and within 90 days will hold elections. a lot of people were personally targeted. the southerners feel that the houthis movement was looking down on them, not respecting them. they have historical problems with the houthis. so one day they are in and one kay theyday they are out. it seems at this point that they are moving along with the hohthis regarding a presidential council. but the situation is fluid and changing every day. this is not about sunnis in yemen. this is a political crisis with

resolutions hopefully. i spoke to the factons involved in the discussions today. they all talked about problems but reassured me they are moving towards political revolution. no one wants to pick up the guns and fight. professor charles says they know that the houthis can win short-term battles, but in the end no one is going to win. my consistent advice is to look at the picture of yemen not as a single group is able to manage and dominate the country. if you use force, it is not sustainable. why did we end up in this place? i think peter and professor charles mentioned a lot of points. i want to quickly do some highlights. in 2011, the former government regime elements started acting as opposition. although they still were in the government and then the opposition traditional opposition powers started to

act -- turned to act as an opposition. so you have everybody in the government acting as an opposition. it was confusing. you would talk to officials about sort of things that had to do with my job and people were acting like they are are the opposition and i was like no you are are the decision maker now. your the them now. the second problem is mistrust everyone distrusts the other side. the third point was the strong loyalty to the klan and party and fullback faction which was unfortunately due to the weak identity of the stay of the country that the smaller identity is dominated how people looked at things. people were always loyal to the: and the party and the tribe more than anything else. n.d.c., one of my big criticisms is one of the important things to discuss was the federal issue and regional issue. should have been discussed from day one not at the last phase.

i would think being the devil's advocate people would say they wanted to leave that at the end because it was a dit topic and they didn't want to start with it because it would have ruined the process itself. the silent majority. i think the major i of the yemenis are the silent majority. traditionally looked forward to speak about their position via elections and at this point i think the professor said, charles in 2013, if they ran elections they would have probably dominated the parliament. i don't agree. but at this point we don't know who would dominate elections. two months agorgeous perhaps the houthis would have dom neyed. people are sick and tired of people trying to push an agenda that doesn't have co-hesio. we are not look at bigger picture. yemen is heading towards

economic crisis. serious fiscal crisis already began and i always say that we are not -- it is very hard to define yemen as a failed or dysfunctional state. it is a yemeni state. that is what it is and how it works but it will become a failed state the tay day that we are not able to pay 158rys and 158 salaries and the public servants refuse to go to work. i was surprised a lot of my colleagues even under gun fire went to work and offer basic services and keep doing what they are doing. others won't do that. the houthis at this point today dominate the scene in most of the northern provinces. especially in the capital. but the big challenge is in the traditional areas and the is central regions where i come in. they have strong popular support

but it came to the point when people saw what happened they were like never mind about that we are not going to be in line with them. and the south. i think the south today this morning, our southern groups try to occupy and seize and then the brigade sent reenforcement and pushed them back. so everybody see what the houthis did as an example of setting precedent. this is how you should do violence and capture properties and business and that will work because it will be the status quo and eastbound apparently in the -- everybody in the apparently in the international community will just play along. in the long-term, what i fear is that the houthis are not able to form a political consensus in managing the transition. the g.c.c. and saudis will not be strong supporters of any

houthis dominated government. they made a statement supporting the president and rejecting any possibility of a presidential council. the international community, i think the core of the houthis argument is the peace and national par tisdale pigs participation agreement. but they see that as an agreement with the president and if he is no longer in the picture it will not be as important as the initiatives a u.n. security council resolutions and the national conference. that is something that we could rally people around at this point and not just focus on. seems each faction focuses on the agreement that would serve them the best. the international dialogue is something that we could work on the economic crisis. in the last three quarters we lost $600 million from the oil.

60% of the government revenues comes from oil. the donors pledges to yemen out of the seven point plus billion dollars promised and pledged to yemen we only have absorbed less than 38%. there is money there, but people are not going to invest in this situation. a regional diplomat described this to me. he is like i'm seeing a building that is collapsing and you are telling me to invest in it. and my sense is telling me that i would not invest in this building. let the building collapse and then rebuild. and my counter argument, i'm like yes, but if the building collapses there are neighbors around the building and when the building goes down it will damage the neighbors, too. not a clearcut position. and there is no security vacuum to extend. people are reporting at this point it seems that the popular committees and the military and police and tribes are managing the kurt security of their areas but

if the houthis continue expanding they will have a chance to recruit more from the tribes or traditionally against the houthis and then have perhaps isis or others trying to come in the country and other groups and other sort of counter insurgency is going to form. a disturbing chaotic solution. and the last point is what will be the future of u.s.-yemeni relationship in a houthis dominated government? so far, everyone is panicking and freaking out with the recent reports and analysis. i advise journalists not to rush in coming up with statements and positions and let the dust settle down in the next 48. i think by sunday night we will have a gad die of when will happen. why sunday night?

because today the houthis started their we call it expanded national congress which is supposed to be -- reminds me of our former president saleh general people congress in 1982 where he brought different factions under one umbrella and trying to find strategic. this congress is pressuring all the political players. come up with a solution, otherwise we are going to step in. thank you. >> okay. thank you to all three of you. a lot of great detail here. what i would like to do is back up a bit and i will ask the panellities to discuss a little further and then we will have time for questions from the audience including from some of the overflow people. one thing i would like to press further is, who are the houthis really are, what do they want?

muhammad, you mentioned it is not a sectarian problem. sectarian sis many has not historically been an issue in yemen and yet it is clearly an issue. is partly, as i understand it, a caste problems. the houthis come interest not only zaidi who were kind of an aristrcratic group. and the houthus have take than and made a kind of a new ide ological superout of it with all kinds of accusations i think are mostly not true but some people have converted up there. they are clearly pragmatic in some ways. that is a good thing.

aligned with with ali abdul la saal is not in the eyes of some people a beautiful thing but shows that they are willing to negotiate. why are they against the six region federalism plan? and i'm interested in knowing also a little bit more, whatever we know about how they make decisions and what some of their long-term goals for yemen are? before i press you guys individually about that, the second question is maybe simpler but possibly of higher priority to a lot of people here. what are the u.s. options in this context? they seem to be to be awfully limited. we have the potential as you were saying for a serious civil war in yemen. we have the conservative forces out in misdemeanor marib who are seriously opposed to what the houthis are ting in the country and the

saudis seem it inflexible. who is going to bridge the gap and does the ussr the u.s., have the diplomatic dexterity to do that? peter maybe i could ask you. you have written about the questions about how they make decisions and feel about federalism and what are their goals? >> the important thing to remember with the houthia is the leader of the movement was not the guy that was initially seen as being the big man among the houthis. he was a young man when his older brother died and eventual as sentencing to the leadership. hussein dies in 1984 and he takes over. that is false. another local trial leader who was not part of the family took over day-to-day management of the group and did not do well in the next two wars and it was only really the second war when

the field commander was put in place. a quiet younggy. scholarly and religious but doesn't have the charisma of his brother. we have only really seen him as a personality someone appearing on tv developing into someone who is a good public speaker and makes coherent sense the last two, three years. we have someone taking over his brother's reins but largely on the basis he is a decent field commander and a smart guy and can bring people around him. ten you look at the people around him. a core and circle around him about whom we know very little. people he trusts very much and generally limited to people who haven't gone out with the movement that we called houthis and that is the inner layer that i call the houthis and they are religious. everyone outside of that layer is much more pragmatic about thicks and the coalition of fors taking over northwest yemen the

last three, four years has really been the odd mixture of people who are ideologically on the houthis side and they are tribal guys. you have the tribes working with the houthis. what i have been told from a number of different people from inside is look, people will work with the houthis as long as they serve their interests but the second they start screwing up and people start associating me with this group i will walk away and the houthis will be left with a small core group. they have built up a strong coalition of forces but you have the young guy who has been isolated in the outside world his entire life and even more so now. drive interests police to place on a day to day basis and gets the information from the field commanders not all of whom are on page with him. a disjointed movement and feels hike they moved on a day to bay basis and make up policy on the

hoof and it is important to remember that i think. >> if we could just -- if you could briefly address that and then we are running out of time so we will need to take some questions. >> sure. i described the houthis' strategy as two words. why not? so it is very simple. and it is not college students play kateed and this is why the houthis, the young evolving movement and we as students of traditional public policy when we look at the houthis and try to put them in certain formulas they don't fit in. something new and something raw. and put it this way, a lot of people now are having a hard time working with with the committees or dealing with them and that is because when we look at the yemen population, 26 millionion 60% under the age of 24, the popular communities are formed mainly from the young

kids who for six years were under the barrage of the artillery and tribal and government forces attacking them. so these are in the words of a former houthis person. these are the people who lived in camps for years. these are the people who have never seen the inside of a school, of a university or a hospital. the people of yemen, the international community, i think, forgot about them for so long. and they kept evolving. the clan became a center point for them like a hope -- something, like the pope. let's compare that. a figurehead that people rallied around. and this is what you have. you have a struggle between the

two main factions of the movement. it's the public committees which is the wing of the movement. and the political movement you have people that you can work with. but at this point it seems like the military side of the movement is dominating. and you mentioned the saudis earlier. the saudis are very sensitive about it. it's for a good reason. we see the saudi movement that came into the saudi territory killed saudi soldiers. so this is a very sensitive topic of them. but at the end of the day, we all need to no longer pretend that it's a problem that they disappear. they're a part of the society and we have to cope with them. >> i have to ask you to be brief. >> one of the hufis that you're

talking about, they do not all support the hufis. it's not a sectarian sense. for example the celebration in fana of the bith of -- birth of the profit that's not traditional. they are on the fly a little bit. it's evolving. >> great. >> ok. >> question. >> come on. good. -- go ahead. >> thank you. >> i'm with the western center. my question is to your last point about the role of iran and when did the hufis convert to shiiteism. could you address the role of

iran and especially hussein's father lived in iran when he chased him off and he -- and he converted to sharia. and as you mentioned for the first time in yemen's history they celebrate asura in the streets this year. so could you please talk about the role of iran and is this going to be a proxy war between the region and iran inside yemen? >> a couple of points about that the iranians want influence in yemen and they don't care who it is. they deal with the communists. they deal with students. you could just raise your hand and you could get a ticket to teheran to go to training to have a good time. so it's not -- it's not the shiism is not the determinate thing. when the huf icon flict first

broke out, we sympathize with our oppressed brothers. but the shiism part was a smart part of it. the actual practice sure, there are some people have converted to 12ism which is the iranian version of it. but it's very much an indigenous practice. and it's not sort of replicating the iranian shiism. my -- just my quick take is that the hufis are going to wants to do what they want to do. they're in the north. and they have to make sure they've got the guns for the future. it's a hufi-genda. it's a domestic agenda.

it doesn't have nothing to do with ooh iranians. -- with this iranians. >> mary with the wilson center. we have talked about iran. we have not talked about saudi arabia for a country that there is no money essentially and financing for whatever comes from the outside. saudi arabia is important. can you tell us more about it? >> i'll be very simple, without saudi support -- >> in 1962 after the revolution, the saudis were back in this guys, the -- they were back in those 80's. the first thing that happened was the -- the saudis asked for an audience come talk. they will deal. they want to make sure that

yemen is not vulnerability. they're afraid. it's a security business for them. that's why the answer to the hufi is when we have time to give the problem respect to the brothers then we'll come. that's what the saudis did not want. and so they're, you know, now they built up their forces and i'm backing in the east an they may support those others in a successionist move. they're moving all the ways that the they want them to move that will exacerbate in the country. they're doing it to open up the bargain to make sure they're not the only game in town. this is where i see the eastern desert conference is key because i would suspect that the eastern desert tribes are not going to have the final word in that that saudi arabia is going to have a

big word in the way that that's settled. and that's where the hufis will begin to train horses. >> the message that i've been given is loud and clear, the saudis were looking at the husi takeover of the capital. and then it's going to fall into the hands and going to use them against us. and number two they have to pay. the saudi position as i understood it, was we're not going to give any money to yemen. they've given $4 million to the country and it's still broke. and their position is let it happen. we can pay the price and a collapsing yemeny economy. because >> do we have time for one quick? >> a question from the overflow.

this is muhammad. to what extent are members of the hi rack, that is the southern independence movement. however increased calls for independence and certain actions particularly in eight being addressed? >> the hufi's seems that iraq is still stuck at this point where they're different factions. they don't have a unified voice. one of the things that made the hufi's a very effective movement, is clear leadership, discipline, vision and goals. and think the hiraq movement is reacting more than working on a plan. and we mentioned today there's daily address -- advances. there's clashes between hi rack

and the military. the hufis are trying to work the iraqies. everybody's now behind the barrier. and we're seeing the country that point -- i'm seeing it involving into a group. another group is anti-husi. and then the fourth group i'm done at three kind of like, let's just -- you know, we have more challenges, issues to work on. we're still in this political crisis. >> let me all one thing for that. recognize that most of the government officials and most in the south they're loyal. so we have to come up with a rump government. he became a hero by designing in all those areas. he has galvanized the forces.

haraq sees her as a trader. -- traitor. >> we have time for one more question? >> yes. >> we have a key issue here. a minor one. the country with a -- and they were to impose their agenda and private interests on the public. and we were so close from to solve the yemeny program through the national dialogue. 17% of the population will have the outcome of it. with the 16-region system of federalism. nobody has questions why they

don't want that federalism. why they don't want federalism. thank you. >> yeah, i'll jump in on that one. >> the issue of how to survive them. they're not against the federal state. they're for the federal state. how the di vigs are made. that's the key issue. that was an issue that was not resolved. a division of the two former states again. and the north said that's going to lead to succession. nobody could agree oint. he appointed a committee, i think viyani was on this. and the reason were definitelyer design to divide iraq and the other movement was we can buy it. cut off are the water access to the red sea and cut off from the job as well. what they rejected the way it was divided up and so what they

wanted was the able to amend the draft and they wanted control of the committee that has the power to amend it. that's what they wanted. >> it's also a use of a bargaining tool with iraq. one thing that we've seen since it was this constant outreach to iraq on a daily basis. by addressing issue federalism in sing we don't agree with this model they're trying to create a position where they can bargain with iraq and say hey you'll get your one region but you don't get your own state. >> i think there is also the component to the national commune they the international community was involved in this process. we're not supportive of this process. >> yeah. ok. >> i think that -- that puts an end to it. thank you so much for coming. [applause]

[captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2015] >> keep track of the new republican congress. >> here are some of our featured programs this weekend. on c-span2 book tv, white house correspondent for american urban radio april ryan on her more than 25 years in journalism and her coverage of three presidential administrations. and sunday at noon on in-depth with walter isaacson. and on american history of the on c-span 3 saturday at 6:00 p.m. eastern on the civil war boston college history professor heather cox richardson on how

the cowboy became symbolic of a newly unified america. and on american artifacts we'll go to the american red cross and learn about the life of its founder clara barton. follow the schedule on c-span.org. call us or e-mail us on c-span.org or sen us a tweet at c-span #comments. follow us on twitter. >> this week marks the 15th anniversary of the death of former british prime minister winston churchhill. remembering the occasion. prime minister david cameron paid tribute to winston churchill. this is about 20 minutes.

>> the home of the churchill family, ladies and gentlemen. this morning it is my privilege to pay tribute on the behalf of all colleagues to sir winston churchill as a parliamentarian. for his service, for his output and for his recognition and

fulfillment of the role of the house of commons. amazingly and in a sense staggeringly winston churchill served as a member of the house of commons for 63 years and 360 days only with some reluctance standing down as a parliamentarian at the october 1964 general election. having rather enjoyed his brief tenure as father of the house. over that period, ladies and gentlemen, of six decades churchill fought 21 parliamentary elections and won 16 of them. he represented no fewer than five constituents including

three as diverse as dond odim and epe and he served as an independent constitutionalist. by comparison, ladies and gentlemen, his eight-year spell as prime minister seems rather short. and i think it is am emblematic of the whole significance and stature of the man that he never became a member of the house of lords despite many, many invitations opportunities and possibly even ex-sortations to wkdks exhortations to become

one. and it is crucial to describe him as a house of commons man through and through. the house of commons as an institutions and in particular the house of commons chamber were his natural constituency. so that speaks ladies and gentlemen, colleagues for his service. but if his service was amazing and staggering in equal measure so too was hi prodigious output for over the period he delivered in the huss of commons thousands of speeches and many, many many millions of words. of course, it is a common place and, indeed, a truism that those speeches and those words greatly impressed. though i think it is note worthy and amusing to observe that

they didn't impress everybody. one of his own flock duelly unimpressed sneeringly dismissed churchill and i quote a word spinner and what this misguided soul that would constitute a first rate -- we do not know for it is left unstated. and of course, it is also, i think, a fact of some service that churchill's legendary of unforgettable radio broadcasts were for the most part

repetitions of oratory already delivered in the house of commons. in many cases they were word for word reproductions of speeches delivered in the chamber for which of course it was entirely clear and compelling. churchill thought that if those speeches met the test of that more demanding of audiences in those most testing and perilous of times, the chances were from -- that the country would come with him. but think an overall appreciation of churchill the parliamentarian. perhaps the single most important point is churchill's recognition.

the house of commons was not an element of our democracy. the house of commons was the essence of our democracy. and precisely because of that recognition, churchill felt incredibly strongly that so far as was humanly possible, the house of commons in wartime should operate as the house of commons did in peacetime. he believed and he believed and upheld the principle consistently and with passion but with the thrust of debate. so ladies and gentlemen, if hrks

1940 was winston churchill's finest hour, the house of commons was assuredly his finest forum. 50 years on from the passing of the great man this parliamentary par clees continues to inspire us. and i think i can safely predict without fear of contradiction that when in 50 years time the 100th anniversary and commemoration the passing of this great man he will continue similarly to inspire us. and therefore it is with great pride and appreciation that on behalf of all of my parliamentary colleagues i salute him and i pay him the warmest possible tribute to him the biggist -- the biggest

tribute that we can pay to the late sir winston churchill is to hold on to the function of the house of commons which he fought so hard and effectively to retain and with which by his supreme personal example, he invested the institution. thank you. [applause] >> we are here to honor a great leader and a great britain. he was born in my constituency and is buried in my west

constituency. and a full 50 years since his funeral when the cranes below the trains diplo, when the streets were lined with those vast silent crowds, the sheer brilliance of winston churchill remaining undimmed. i'll never forget the first time i heard that voice. i was at my grandmother's house as a young boy and i was looking through a box of dusty old things. and i found some vinyl records of those great speeches. and i'll never forget putting one on the record player and hearing those phrases, boom out. victories at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, led us to the task, to the battle, to the toil. and think the one that struck me most as a young boy some chicken, some neck.

churchill the orator made a big impression on me as a boy. and now that i'm prime minister there are so many church hills to respect anded a hire. there's so many church hill the global stateman. go to israel and you remember he helped to realize the dream of a jewish homeland. go to pakistan and you can hnl imagine him fighting in the field force. to britain's acquisition of the h bomb there stretched nearly 60 years an throughout it all he was at the hard of events. then there's church hill the bottles. the practice of taking his cabinet out at the savoy grill. sadly to my cabinet this is not currently the regime. there is churchill the reformer. this was the man who pushed for

prison reform, who championed all these extensions. churchill believed that a nation was made great not just by its military might but by how it treated its poorest and afraidest citizens. that's another important part of his legacy. but if there's one great aspect, it is churchill the patriot. . >> he knew that britain wasn't just a place in the map but a force in the world. with a destiny to shape events and a duty to for freedom. that's why in 1940's. after france had fallen, he said this, hitler knows that he will have to break us in this island or lose the wall. if we can stand up to him all europe may be free. and the life of the world play move forward into sunday.

arguably may 1940 was the most important moment in our nation's long history a time when britain saved herself, saved europe, quy possibly saved the world. and we were so incredibly fortunate to have that time a leader so strong and so resolute. churchill was confident that would win over terni and terrorism. we must remember that courage and reserve in the last century. 50 years ago when he was die, my older brother was a tiny baby. and my mother used to wrap him up some days and. there along with crowds of people, they would stand outside

the brick out house. such was the affection that it has been part of history. history has been kind to winston churchill. not because he wrote it. he left it more three, more security more brave and more proud. and for that, we must always be grateful to him. thank you. [applause] >> this speech was originally delivered by sir winston churchill on the 21st of june 1955 when unvailing an oscar name. it has been my lot to live as a grown-up person through more

than half of the most violent centuries in human record. i remember the scene that closed before us. the vast majority of our nations look at the ernt of our violent. spreading all over the world. as its leader in commerce, manufacturing and invention. as a model, on physical policy after all through the parliamentary government and all guarded by the unchallengeable power of a nationy which only cost $20 million pounds a year. little did we realize how might or how terrible and jy gigantic into struggles as to which people were to take the plunge. >> now we look upon a different

prospect. all the values and precautions have changed. we from two world wars in which scores of millions have perished. they were wars which in their scope and scale seem sfar to sur prize our resources and ha time to threaten us with through. today, we see our small island with its dense population and delicate complex, elastic but still precarious seems of existence. >> no longer enjoying the day but preserving the measure of good will and large portions of mankind and exercising in the new and far larger organization into which we have come and

which we have helped to find, a worthy and i believe a if this is so, it is the cause of piece and war. should we look past our duty. and have faye think sought the -- the fear and destruction. we may all have been proud to have lived through such an area. i do not feel that our generation or the famous ages of our history which this reminds us. but now i leave the past. and i leave the present. it is to the future that we must turn our gaze. >> i can't best. but like israeli, i'm on the i'd of the optimism.

i do not believe that humanity is going to destroy itself. >> i have to sometimes be a good thing if the leader os the talks to one another. without too much formality of diplomacy. >> i'm very glad to that this is going to happen. whatever is the outcome, we must persevere in the maintenance of peace through strength. a period of relaxation. but such a phase would not be hysteria. on the contrary it would give science to show magnitude of her blessings. this will lead us into an opinion and resove.

let us go boldfully forward and play our part in this. thank you. [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2015] >> the political landscape has changed with the 140 congress. and 12 new republicans and one new democrat in the -- including the first african-american republican in the house. keep track of the members of congress using con grentionnalcron call.

. including voting rulingts stand tiss ticks about each session of congress. new conference best access. c-span radio and c-span.org. >> 2012 republican presidential nominee mitt romney announced that after giving it "considerable thought, he will not be running for president in 2016. >> he announced his decision in a conference call with supporters several of mr. romney's past. i've only decided to support the former florida government, jeb bush. here's mitt romney announcing his decision. >> >> good morning, everybody. >> this is mitt. let me begin by let you know who's on the call. there are a large number of people for -- in addition.

state political leadership have stayed. and here in new york city and on the phone are people as well as supporters in the past or everything kind of. but it was celebration stage. welcome and thank you. your loyal and friendship and your desire to see the country with new leadership that's just warm the heart. >> after putting considerable thought into making another run for president, aye decided it's best to give the other leaders and the opportunity to become a -- our next nominee. first, aim convinced that with the. he made it clear that woe would have enough funding to be more than competitive and with two exceptions our field political leadership is ready and the

reaction was the republican voters across the country. . i know that early pole numbers move up and down. but we in a strong position. one poll leads us 2-1. also leading it in all of the four stites. er so i'm convinced that we can could win the nomination. >> it's a difficult test and a hard fight. providing opportunity for every american regardless of the neighborhood they lived in. and working the break the grip of poverty. i would have the best change. but that's before the other con ten di. >> i believe that one of our next general igses of republican

leaders may not be ale well known as i have today. >> the party's just getting started. in fact, i hope and expect that to be the case. i field that it's critical. you know that i wanted to be that president. but i did not want to have a better chance. i you can't mnl how hard fs for anna bee. at 10 size. especial so many people we believe it's for the best of the party. and the nation. i've been asked if there are any circumstances whatsoever that might develop that could change

my mind. that seems unlikely. or making donations. i'm not hiring. their painting. i would encourage you to en gauged for a republican nominee for president. let's please free for a american that you believe got maybe their beth cubs tri. it's essential for our country. i'll do whatever i can to make that happen. so to all my support friends and family anna and i will always be deeply appreciative. rojo wound and suppabled by your generosity of speerble. god bless you all. and god bless our great country

bye-bye. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2015] >> it must be your lack of sleep this morning. thank you very much. well, it's a delight to be back. i really mean it. nancy she's been kind enough all the years that i've been in this

job to ask me to come and be with you. i think part of the reason why i think we get along so well is i still think congress is really important. [laughter] and i am of the congress. and it's hard to -- and i'm not trying to o shake off the 36 proud years i served up there with y'all. and so nancy thank you for the invitation. and jojo thanks for being there. welcome to got's country. now you've seen philly. by the way, almost heaven. my whole family is attacked to son-in-laws. my daughter lives here. that's why i pay.

and my son bow is a u.s. attorney here and by the way he can't stay because he's baltimore. but my son bow was up here this morning on business. and he took his head in to make sure i don't screw up. say hello to the next governor of the state. joe body. [applause] i love you. you know my dad used to have this expression. you know your success as a parent and you turn around to look at your child and you can tell they're better than you. >> that's a suckess. javier thank you. jim -- and jim, you've always been there any time that --

anyway, you've always been there for me. it's nice to have a guy like you have my back. >> look, the president most last night. you know, this is maybe redundant. what i want to get to the portion and answer period to find out what's going on. there's a couple of things i like to point. i like to make. maybe a little bit different. but hopefully complimentary from what you heard from the president last night. and i realize i'm the last thing between you and the train back home. so, you know, i -- i'm -- as that old jokes. i'm not beginning to keep you that long but i'll stay as long as you can for the. and there have been really tough for our party. they've been really tough for our part.

but together it's bas together. we made some really, really tough decisions. decisions that weren't at all. hard to communicate -- had to community and decisions had real political cost. a lot of my friends and your friends in this caucus aren't here today. because they had to nerve to standup and do what they thought was right knowing -- knowing in the face of unrelenting political criticism and with republican and tea party trying to stop us. they knew they were going to be in trouble making the right call. now after yearing -- it's becoming clear and clear, the decisions you made the decisions

the administration tration they were the right ones. they worked for america. they worked for setting the ground work for literally a new american century. i don't know howl times -- i don't know how many times we've talked about america. yes in better position than any country in the world. by a long shot. >> you can lead the world in the 20th 1 century. my that is hyberbole. that is a fact. but we have to keep it going. you know we move from disaster to recovery. to resurgeon. now the republican party, it's amazing. they're trying to rewrite

history. you know, when you say the. do you know any republicans today who would celebrating those two events? no idea of back then and we're not a part of? >> we call that aner piph ne. . >> i welcome to the unity now on those issues. they're having another epiphany. mcconnell -- mcconnell's a friend of mine. i work a long time with them. mitch says, "we're finally starting to see something, some economic data that provides a comblimmer -- glimmer of hope. it's a recovery that leader mcconnell likes to claim saying

it happened. it's hard to believe. this happened because of the expectation of a new republican congress. watch guys. mark my words. republican party is going to try to claim this resurgence and they're going to misrepresent that it was because of policy that they supported as paul ryan relearned the word. it's a bunch of malarkey. it's absolute malarkey. there's nothing farther from the truth. but if we don't speak up and rea certificate the statement by made it may stick political. the coke brothers spending a billion dollars or whatever 190 whatever the numbers are going

to spend? you don't have time for the detail of politics. it's hard enough just putting bread and butter on the table. it's hard enough to keep your kid in school. it's hard to just make it. and so we shouldn't be critical of the american people because we're not explaining what happen s. is there anything more -- more courser than mitch and john boehner taking for the committee? it's just amazing. mark my words it's only a portion of what will be orchestrated and they're good at it. it's an orchestrated effort. look, folks.

this is our story. this is the democratic party story. this is the story of recovery and america's story. and this isn't about us getting credit. i'm not here to say, you know we want credit. what we want is we need a general recognition as to why it happened in order to be able to generate public confidence for what we're now recommending. if we don't do that, we lose the initiative of what we can do from here on. it's about public policy can and did change america. and people are attempting to steal that story. they argue and they believe. how many times have we heard it, guys? how many times have you tried to stop the ryan budget that was passed essentially unanimously in the last four or five years?

how many times have you heard stimulus. incredible waste and abuse. stimulus will lead to waste, robbing the american people. every theoretic notion they have about the economy has been the opposite of what we have done. so the point is democrats have to stand up, you have to embrace what you did. be proud of it. that's not the problem in terms of what it will mean in our ability what ke with do from this point on. now that we can genuinely have a genuine resurgence in the american economy in american history. we can't let the congressional tea party now in control of the house and senate stop our administrations plan to help the

middle-class. and the president laid out in his state of the union and probably talked to you last night. but it requires us to tell the story to explain how the recovery happened. it's our chance to set the record straight, to build on it. look back when we were sworn in on january 20th, 2009 before i raised my right hand on that platform to be sworn as vice president we had 10 days to go in a month. we had already lost $800,000. banks are on the verge of closing. we were talk about impression. we were the pe rye yeah in terms of support. the president and i we're friend. we're friends. we spend a lot of time together. we're incredibly blunt with one another. we sat and talked about two goals. one, not only do we have to

jettison the bankrupt economic policy of the administration. this was not your father's republican party. they were like lafikero steroids. even the main stream economist didn't agree with what they were doing. they embraced the neo con notion of the world. so we were determined to present the foreign policy that our security rest on more than the example of our power but the power of our example ending the war. on the economic front we were determined to end the republican theory that government is the problem never the solution. investment should be taxed at a much lower rate than your

paycheck that is vestors are the engine of the economic growth and the job creators. i showed nantzy. i have a cartoon in my office. there's a big fat bandit with beret. and he said i didn't know i stole it from job creators. job creators. think of what -- how they pounded that in to the public consciousness. the job creators are my father who sold the automobile that was made, who managed the company. my uncle who worked in a line, the people who are out there are the job creators are the ones who took the product made, made it sold it. purchased it. since when? did stockholders become the job

creators. we need stockholders. great things. i wish i owned some. but all kidding aside, guys. think of that mantra. ordinary people backing your district that don't share the view at all. you ask about job creators, they'll turn -- well, yeah, we have to make sure those guys are ok. >> we were determined to end disastrous policies of deregulating wall street. fighting two wars and a credit card. of of a tax cut we oppose. mine million lost jobs. historic foreclosure rates and we were determined to replace it with your help with a new thesis. stock holers aren't the only job creators, the line work of the

salesman. i believe it's the economy when you focus on the middle-class. when your reward -- no, for real. it's not just -- you know, i know in middle-class, that's a compli yfment it means that you're not sophisticated. but for real not a joke. policies are always talking about. -- about it. the middle class is the basis for which change can occur. here's the deal. we want to reward investment, reward risk. we also know unless you invest in education research and development. unless you re-establish the basic bargain that was in place in this country for 75 years. you remember what it was. it's real simple. democrats and republicans sign up on it, if you contribute to

the well-being of the enterprise, you to share in the outcome in the profits. starting the bush administration. that came to a virtual halt. there is no bargain anymore under these guys and their continued views. look at the ryan budget you keep trying to stop. but that's what built the middle-class. -- we have to remind the american people not only that things were bad when we took office and now they're better and give us credit, they're already doing that. that's not sufficient. and what we all did together to make it, we have to lay out why s. so that have they confidence. so they'll say this is what we want to do now. get some electoral support. and we all did together.

to turn 11 million lost jobs -- 10 million lost jobs to 10 million lost games. remind us about the policy of the work. and thereby some electoral support. recovery act. >> view as a disaster from day one. >> i remember sitting there behind -- with you, naanee and the president said. i'm going to to ask joe responsible for it. sure joe. and i started to sweat. well, guess what? at that time john boehner and an often lot of other people including some democrats called it another run of the mill. on discipline. wasteful washington spending bill. >> it officially sold.

they sold it. recovery act was only not on discipline or wasteful it is now being recognized unanimously by an economist on both sides of the aisle. it -- could it have prevented us from sliding into a depression? >> by the way it it's laid out on his official criticism. >> and in his book, the new, new deal. >> and thanks to you making sure it that worked. so now i was a pain in the neck in terms of how it win out. it ended up being one of the most efficient spending programs ever put forward in history. according to g.a.o., it had a rate of fraud and abuse that amounted less than .2 of one

trs. you did an incredible job. i'm not looking for applause. i just want to remind this. every darrell issa said a proving spending again, the thing i love about republicans is they are capable of being saved. they can see the light again. especially when it is working. look, because so many of you have the courage and foresight to vote for the recovery act, we rescued the education system. how many of you spoke to me about you losing 400 teachers in your district, class sizes are expanding, they are shutting down the two schools, what are you going to do? well, we have a significant amount of money for education.