we have lots and lots of rights, but no duties. >> we will take you over to the house. they will be considering two issues. the house also scheduled to host israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu tomorrow before a joint session. last week, the house passing a seven-day extension for the homeland security department. expect more work on that this week. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned

coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.] the speaker pro tempore: the house will be in order. the chair lays before the house a communication from the speaker. the clerk: the speaker's room, washington, d.c., march 2, 2015. i hereby appoint the honorable tom emmer to act as speaker pro tempore on this day. signed john a. boehner, speaker of the house of representatives. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the order of the house of january 6, 2015, the chair will now recognize members from lists submitted by the majority and minority leadership for morning hour debate. the chair will alternate recognition between the parties with each party limited to one hour and each member other than the majority and minority leaders and the minority whip limited to five minutes but in no event shall debate continue

beyond 1:50 p.m. the chair recognizes the gentleman from hawaii, mr. takai for five minutes. mr. takai: i ask unanimous consent to address the house and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. takai: aloha, mr. speaker. there's a letter from me sitting on your desk today asking you to pass a clean funding bill for the department of homeland security. all democrats in the house have introduced and co-sponsored a clean bill and the republican-controlled senate has passed one as well. mr. speaker clause 2 of house rule 21 prohibits the inclusion of language changing existing law. commonly referred to as the prohibition on legislating on appropriations bills. yet, that is why the house comes in today facing another deadline that puts our national security and d.h.s. work force

at risk because we are trying to legislate through appropriations. i am completely in favor of the deliberative process by which this body is supposed to conduct itself. and while i support the president's executive action on immigration reform, i would also support a robust debate on it in this house. however, you know as well as i do that forcing this debate through holding hostage a funding of a critical component of our nation's security is not the proper way to go about having this debate. at the beginning of the 114th congress, you wrote an op-ed with senate majority leader mitch mcconnell entitled "now we can get congress going." that is what i wrote to you and urge you to do today, mr. speaker. let's pass a clean d.h.s. funding bill and get going with the tough legislative choices that we have to make this year. i yield back.

the speaker pro tempore: the chair -- the gentleman yields back. the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from new york, ms. stefanik, for five minutes. ms. stefanik: thank you mr. speaker. i rise today to recognize and honor the 10th mountain division, their service to fort drum, the 21st district to new york, our north country community and our nation. for 30 years the brave men and women of the 10th mountain division have stood in harm's way to protect and defend our country. since september 11, 2001, the 10th mountain division has been the most actively deployed division to iraq and afghanistan. too many of our soldiers have made the ultimate sacrifice and lost their lives in service. as leaders in congress, we have an obligation to protect and serve our constituents and members of our armed forces. we cannot repay the debt we owe these service members and their

families, but we can work to honor their legacy and recognize what they have done for us. we must protect the promises we have made to these brave individuals and strengthen our nation's commitment to helping them as they return from combat. in congress i will do everything i can to protect the interests of fort drum and to ensure the 10th mountain division has the necessary resources they need to do their work. it is critical for fort drum and the entire 21st congressional district to have a voice at the table to fight on behalf of our military families and veterans. to that end, i am honored to serve on the house armed services committee as the vice chair for the subcommittee on readiness and as a member of the subcommittees on personnel and emerging threats capabilities. as a member of these subcommittees, i'll work to ensure our defense department, our troops and fort drum have the necessary tools they

require to defend our nation from those that wish to do us harm. however, we continue to see threats to our national security increased and reductions to our military remain due to the budget control act and sequestration. these substantial budget cuts will have significant negative impacts to fort drum and the u.s. military. under sequestration the pentagon's proposal states that fort drum could lose up to 16000 soldiers and civilian jobs. this loss of jobs will have severe and devastating effects to the installation, the north country community, new york and the entire nation. general dempsey and our military leaders have declared time and time again that sequestration reduces our armed force's readiness and their capabilities and they unnecessarily put our members in uniformat increased risk. here we expect our service men and women to protect our nation. however, the imposed budget

cuts due to sequestration inhibit their readiness and threaten our national security. it is our duty to ensure our nation is protected, and in doing so main maintain the operational readiness. i work to preserve and strengthen our nation's armed forces and follow in the food steps of representative john mchugh by representing those in the 21st district and our surrounding communities. two weeks ago i had the honor of going to jordan the united arab emirates, kuwait, iraq and afghanistan. on this trip i was privileged to meet with soldiers who are based out of fort drum as well as many others who have trained there. what an opportunity it was to visit with the troops from the resolute support headquarters forces, u.s. 4-a soldiers and counterterrorism forces. we discussed ways to protect

and preserve fort drum for our district. this trip was truly essential in order for me to get a personal perspective of the circumstances under which so many of our brave soldiers from fort drum have served abroad. additionally, i was able to meet with many foreign dignitaries including king abdullah, iraqi president to discuss issues of concern to the region. these nations and their leaders play a key role in the effort among arab nations to combat isis and other terrorist organizations. the discussions and meetings with these dignitaries were informative and useful. i believe that continued open dialogue and conversations with these leaders will be incredibly beneficial to maintain and establish our nation's perspective on defense policy. this trip gave me a chance to hear from our service men and women on the ground and other national leaders about real solutions related to stabilizing the region, continued threats to our own

national security, the readiness of our armed forces and the tools they need to keep our country safe. serving the fort drum community in congress and as a member of the house armed services committee is an incredible honor. i am beyond thankful to our men and women in uniform and grateful to their families for their service to our community. thank you to you and your loved ones for keeping our nation safe. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman's time has expired. the chair recognizes the gentleman from georgia, mr. loudermilk, for five minutes. mr. loudermilk: thank you mr. speaker. i rise today to recognize the milestone in the life of mrs. rogers who this week is celebrating her 100th birthday. mrs. rogers is also incidentally a second generation senturian as her

mother ida jane, lived to the age of 103. throughout her life in the past century, mrs. rogers has witnessed some of the most significant moments that have shaped our nation. born during the onset of world war i, mrs. rogers was only 2 years old when america entered the great war sending our dough boys across the atlantic. by the time she was 5 years old, the first radio stations were going on the air in america. prohibition was enacted and women, for the first time, had the right to vote. by her 12th birthday, charles lindhburg had flown across the atlantic ocean and the first motion picture with sound was played in theaters. at the age of 14, she witnessed the beginning of the great depression. just months before turning 25, mrs. rogers learned that the japanese attack on pearl harbor and over the next five years said goodbye to family members and friends as they left south

carolina to fight against the axis powers. before her 21st birthday, she had witnessed the d-day invasion, the battle of the bulge the battle of iwo jima, hiroshima and nagasaki and the surrender of both germany and japan. by the age of 33, she witnessed the rebirth of israel as a nation and at 40 america sent troops overseas to fight in korea. by her 50th birthday she had lived through the building of the berlin wall america's first satellite in space, the deployment of forces to vietnam, the cuban missile crisis and the assassination of president john f. kennedy. she witnessed the end of the vietnam war, the assassination of dr. martin luther king jr. and the first human to step foot on the moon. within the next 15 years, by the age of 75, mrs. rogers experienced the first resignation of a united states president, the invention of the

personal computer, the first woman supreme court justice, the end of the cold war and the beginning of the space shuttle program. in her lifetime, mrs. rogers has witnessed the administration of 17 united states presidents and a significant portion of this nation's history. today, i join with the many family, friends -- many friends and family who are celebrating the virtueous and faith-led life of my aunt, mrs. rogers, and wish her a very happy 100th birthday. mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the chair recognizes the gentleman from alabama, mr. byrne, for five minutes. mr. byrne: mr. speaker, i rise today to express my serious concerns about the ongoing iran nuclear talks. iran is no friend to the united states or our allies. iran remains the foremost state

sponsor of terrorism in the world. iran is continuing to develop intercontinental ballistic missile technology, the only legitimate purpose of such technology is to deliver a nuclear payload. don't just take my word for it. lieutenant general vincent stewart, the director of the defense intelligence agency recently wrote in his statement for the record to the house armed services committee, quote, the islamic republic of iran continues to threaten u.s. strategic interests in the middle east. iran's actions and policies are designed to further its goal of becoming the dominant regional power as well as to enhance its strategic depth. tehran views the united states as the most capable adversary and has fashioned its military strategy and doctrine accordingly, closed quote. in terms of nuclear capabilities, general stewart goes on to say quote, we continue to assess that iran's

goal is to develop capabilities that would allow it to build missile deliverable nuclear weapons, should its decision be made to do so. the regime faces no insurmountable technical barriers to producing a nuclear weapon, making iran's political will the central issue. one arab official recently told "the wall street journal," we prefer a collapse of the diplomatic process to a bad deal. since they started in 2009, the negotiations with iran have been marked by missed deadline after missed deadline. it seems like each time details of the deal are leaked to the press, the united states is giving up more. whether it's the number of centrifuges or the length of the deal. just last week, secretary of state john kerry came before the house foreign affairs committee and pleaded for more time and understanding as the state department continues to hold talks around iran's

nuclear program. he asked us to sit silently while the details are negotiated in secret. he urged us to just to trust him and his team. it's become increasingly hard to trust an administration that continually fails at these kind of negotiations. look at the berg dawley deal when we gave away five al qaeda officials. look at the recent talks to cuba in which the united states received very little while we released cuban spies and pledged to open trade relations. and we can't forget about president obama telling russian president that he will have quote, more flexibility, closed work quothe, to deal with nuclear issues after the 2012 presidential elections. . far too often they give away the bank and we get very little in return. tomorrow, israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu will come to

this chamber to share his perspective on the threats posed by a nuclear iran. some of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have complained that the speech is somehow out of line or for political purposes only. they have pledged to boycott the event and the vice president has refused to attend. i remain greatly disturbed by the way the obama administration has treated israel. our greatest and most important ally in the middle east. i suspect the real reason the obama administration is so opposed to prime minister netanyahu's speech is because they are afraid of what he is going to say. they know he will speak the truth and that his statements will stand in direct contrast to what is being said by secretary of state kerry. prime minister netanyahu won't hide the real issues. these nuclear talks threaten not only israel but also the middle east and the entire world. last summer i traveled to the middle east with the armed services committee. during that trip we met with

prime minister netanyahu and he really impressed me. he has a clear vision and a message about his country's defensive needs. and he's very determined to meet those needs. israel is our strongest and most consistent ally in the middle east. we should listen to what they have to say. and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the chair recognizes the gentleman from texas, mr. conaway for five minutes. mr. conaway: i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. conaway: today is march 2, 2015. march 2, 1836 marked the beginning of what would become the texas -- republic of texas. today on that day 59 men signed the declaration of independence from mexico and created the republic of texas. the events of january through april of 1836 are relatively significant and i'll walkthrough

some of that history. i stand here today to honor that incredible events of those days and the 179 years of texas experience that i'm proud to be a part of. it is a great honor to be able to -- and born in texas and claim a part of that incredible legacy. one of the signature events that the texas revolution with mexico was the battle of the alamo which began on february 23 1836. where colonel travis -- william barrett travis began to gather men at the alamo. i ask unanimous consent to introduce into the record a transcription of his letter written to the people of texas and all americans on february 24. travis and his other fellows stood the watch at the alamo from february 23 until march 6, as they were fighting and looking at the -- their ultimate debt, the declaration of

independence was signed on march 2. four days later, santa ana of the mexican army overran the alamo and killed every single one of the defenders there. there are other events such as the massacre at goliad which santa anna ordered the murder and execution of 400-plus texans who had been part of that fight. it was cold-blooded. it was ruthless and unnecessary. santa anna chose to take those steps specifically on his order on more than one occasion. then culminating in april on the 21st of april, the battle wherep santa ana was surrounded by many texans he was defeated and the texas experience -- independence was secured with that battle. mr. speaker, i honor today the men and women who stood those -- that ground that hallowed ground at the alamo at goliad an others. they were stout hearted resolute, they were

self-sufficient, independent, they loved freedom, they loved independence, and as a result of that they created texas. an experience that has gone on for some 179 years. there were almost 11 of those years in which texas was the republic of texas becoming part of the united states in 1846 under that proud lone star flag that we still fly today. it is -- my purpose here this afternoon is call attention to the declaration of independence more importantly call attention to the faith the men and women had in freedom and liberty and were willing to put their lives on the line, many of which those lives were lost in the fight for the freedom to create texas. i'm proud to call myself a texan. i ask god to continue to bless texas and god continue to bless the united states of america. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. pursuant to clause 12-a of rule 1, the chair declares the house

>> you know, never has so much been written about a speech that hasn't been given. and i'm not going to speak today about the content of that speech , but i do want to say a few words about the purpose of that speech. first, let me clarify what is not the purpose of that speech. my speech is not intended to show any disrespect to president obama or the esteemed office that he holds. i have great respect for both.

i deeply appreciate all that president obama has done for israel. security cooperation, intelligence sharing supported the u.n., and much more, some things that i, as prime minister of israel, can't even divulge because it remains in the realm of the confidences that are kept between an american president and an israeli prime minister. i am deeply grateful for this support and so should you be. >> this evening aipac will be hearing remarks by national security advisor susan rice on u.s.-israel relations. you can join us for that live at 6:00. our companion network c-span3. >> the c-span cities tour takes book tv and american history tv on the road. traveling to u.s. cities to learn about their history and literary life. next weekend we partner with comcast for a visit with galveston, texas.

>> people throng to the beach. and the rising tide, the rising water certainly drew them, they watched in amazement as both of these factors battered the beachfront structures. at that time we had wooden bath houses out over the gulf of mexico. and we also had peers and we even -- piers and we even had a huge pavilion. as the storm increased in intensity, these beach structures literally were turned into match sticks. the 1900 storm struck saturday, september 8, 1900. the storm began noon and increased in dramatic intensity and then finally tapered off toward midnight. that evening.

this hurricane was and still is the deadliest recorded natural event in the history of the united states. >> watch all of our events from galveston saturday at noon eastern on c-span2's book tv and sunday afternoon at 2:00 on american history tv on c-span3. >> ghrfment republican senator rarko rubio spoke in manchester, new hampshire last week at politics and eggs breakfast. final stop on the tour that traditionally holds the nation's first primary. he's considering a presidential flun 2016 and said he'll announce his decision by early spring. he talked about domestic and foreign policy issues, including immigration, the national debt and combating isis.

>> like i told you, we are cutting down on the outdoor activities. >> we are going to amp them up. >> thank you, both.

>> thanks so much, guys. glad to be here. thanks for having me. how are you. good to see you. thank you so much. >> senator, good to see you again. >> thank you. thanks for having me here.

>> thank you so much. glad to be here. thanks for having me. thanks again for having me guys. all right.

>> thanks again for having me this morning. >> thank you so much.

>> hi. thanks.

>> great to meet you. how you doing. thanks for having me. >> nice to be here. >> it was perfect. thank you, guys.

>> there is no senate bill. right now we are taking up the house. our point is let's get and have a debate. amend it if you want to and vote on the end. get on with the debate. they won't even let us get on with the debate.

because i don't think they should be doing it for executive order. i support tax reform. if the president said i'm -- >> the executive order, all it does is concentrate on those immigrants with a criminal record. >> the problem is, when -- executive orders are designed to improve the way you enforce the law not rewrite the law. you're not going to enforce it on the entire segment of people that number in the millions. but either way you're creating a precedent where presidents can decide i'm going to rewrite law by refusing elements of it. another reason i'm against it, i said this in the beginning, it's going to be choosing an immigration reform bill harder. we have already lost support.

we have less votes today than two years ago for the senate bill. part of it is the last elections. we have less votes for it today than two years ago. part of it is the executive order and the impact it had in 2012. i think one's made it harder. the only way to solve this problem is deal with the enforcement part first. you have to prove to people you enforce the law. if you do that they'll be reasonable about everything else. first of all, some of those people -- second, he hasn't enforced the law. that's what you have seen today. there are still sectors of the border completely unsecure. actually 40% of our -- 40% of our illegal immigrants arrive legally in the united states. then overstay. we don't have a reliable system for tracking that, either. that has to be addressed. florida is probably one important state.

enforcing talk -- that's the opportunity i really -- my goal was to be a bestseller overnight. it was to have a platform to talk to people about ideas and foot ture of our contry. thank you, guys. thanks for having me. great to be here. thank you. thanks for having me. thanks for having i appreciate it very much. thanks for having me today. i appreciate it. thank you. thanks for having me.

>> all i can tell you the heater at the comfort inn works. i woke up it's like 95 degrees in there. not like florida in february. thanks for having me. guys, thank you again for having me. i'm grateful. is that what it is? >> that's a tradition. >> i thought they were used to express disapproval. thanks so much for having me. great to see you guys. >> thanks for coming up. >> my pleasure. >> we'll see. i don't know yet. trying to trick you. >> i'm not even engaged yet.

we'll see. i look forward to t great to be part of this. thanks for inviting me. i really look forward to it. thank you. all right, guys. i read all about that. that was always the fear of every -- [inaudible]

>> do you run the house as well? half my time was spent on administrative duties. >> he was chief about 10 years ago. so he's well versed. it >> the rest of the year was spent negotiating contracts. that'sth the speaker had the administrative duties as well. >> love to have you come speak before the house. >> i'd love to. your house has more history than ours. how many members? >> 120, yeah. >> that's a lot of cats to herd.

>> 239 to 161. >> almost the size of the congress. and the senate? >> 24. >> that's a big difference. >> makes it interesting. the house had 424 but couldn't fit them in the room. it was based on population. >> are they in districts? >> yes. >> single member districts? you got both single members -- >> i wish you the best. you're in the middle of session now? >> we are. >> we are excited to have you.

[inaudible] >> small world. >> very small. >> one more a good morning, senator.

big fan. read your book. big fan. >> thank you. >> thanks so much. >> the purpose of why we are here today, of course, is to hear from the junior senator from that very warm state of florida, marco rubio. we truly had hoped that the senator might bring some of that florida weather with him, but unfortunately we are stuck with the new england cold and the snow. the senator is someone you may

know is the son of cuban immigrants. he was born and raised in miami. started his career in public service in the late 1990's. not long after earning a law degree from the university of miami. the senator has served as a city commissioner in west miami before being elected to the florida house of representatives . and then elected speaker, and as someone who served in the legislature, myself, to know that in just a few short years he was elected speaker of the house says an awful lot about how his colleagues viewed him and valued his input and his counsel. that's quite an accomplishment. in may of 2009 he announced he would run for the united states senate. he ran an impressive primary race. edging out an incumbent governor to win the republican nomination and eventually prevailing in the november 2010 general election. during his first term in the

united states senate, senator rubio has established a reputation as an outspoken advocate for issues he truly believes that are important to streamline our federal government eliminate the federal debt and promoting job creation. he's called for a number of reforms that he believes will quote, restore the american dream. including, reforming our social security and medicare programs to preserve them for future generations. reforming our higher education system to make college affordable for young americans. and spurring our economic growth and policies that encourage american innovation. i will add that the senator's also been an advocate for updating our nation's broken immigration system, an issue that has been a priority for the new england council, particularly as it relates to highly skilled stem workers. the science, technology, the engineering, and the math. he's been a lead co-sponsor of a piece of legislation that the

new england counsel has been very supportive of that's the immigration innovation. what we call the isquare act. this bipartisan bill, which is also co-sponsored by new england's only senator blumenthal, would increase the number of the h-1-b visas available and would advocate a portion of that free from those visas to the stem education initiative. it's a commonsense solution to address the shortage of our stem workers. and council is grateful to senator rubio for his leadership on this very important issue. i hope and i know that we are all looking forward to hearing from the senator about his vision the future of our country, so with that i thank all of you for joining us here today. please join me in welcoming you and giving a very warm warm, warm welcome to the honorable senator, rarko rubio. -- marco rubio. [applause]

>> thank you. thank you for having me. it's an honor to be here. by the way, let me on the outset say that any time i stand behind i see the words new england together it triggers -- could he notes all sorts of horrible memories for me like tom brady beating the dolphins. when is he going to retire? i hope soon because we hope to have a division championship like once for my kids to see before they turn 18, that would be great. thank you. i appreciate the opportunity to speak to you. i want to thank the council for its invitation and all of you for having me here today. it's an hon job to be here. i told my kids earlier this weekend that i would be speaking at an event called politics and eggs. they immediately thought, is that because they throw the eggs at you? and i was worried about that. then when i walked in and saw they were made of wood i was really worried about that. i'll try to avoid being the target of your egg throwing.

thanks for the invitation and opportunity to be here today. what i think is a critical moment in american history. i'll make a proposition to you tonight -- this morning, and that is that the 2016 election will have nothing to do with what party we want in office or individual govern our contry, 2016 will be a referendum. it will be a referendum on our identity. the fundamental question before the country in 2016 will be what kind of country do we want america to be in the 21st century? i can tell you what america was in the 20th century. it was an exceptional nation and it's something i can speak to about personally because i have seen it in my own life. imagine for a moment being born in a country or soinl where what you are going to be is decided for you. imagine growing up in a society where you basically no-no matter how hard you work, how talented you are, how big your dreams may be, and how hard you're willing to work to achieve them, none of it will matter. because you don't come from the right people. because your family's not politically connected.

because your parents aren't wealthy. because you don't run in those networks. imminimum wagin growing up in a society like that. it's hard for us to imagine that. i say us, i mean me. i was born and raised in this country. and it's easy for those of us born and raised here to take for granted how special this country is. you don't have to work hard to imagine to work hard to imagine a nation like that. most of the people who ever lived have lived in a place like this. two of them were my parents. my parents grew number a developing country in the 20th century in cuba. my father lost his mother when he was 9 and left school and went to work at 9 years of age. he's as old as my oldest son, would he work for the next 70 years of his life. my mother was one of seven girls raised by a father who was disabled. having been stricken with polio as a young child. he struggled to provide for his family in a developing country primarily agrarian society in the early part of the 20th crentry. they met and got married in havana, and they had big dreams.

my mother wanted to be an actress. my dad wanted to be a successful businessman. they felt trapped. they felt like no matter what they did, how hard they worked for people like them it would be difficult if not impossible to succeed. and so in may of 1956, they made a decision that changed not just their life but the future course of our family. they came to the most exceptional nation in all of human history. they came to the united states of america. now, life in america was not easy, either. in fact, their first few years here were difficult. they struggled. they were discouraged. they were so discouraged there were times they thought about going back to cuba. thank god they did not. but over time they persevered. my father found work as a bartender at a hotel. primarily on miami beach. my mother worked at a facktry. she was a cashier, maid she was the stock clerk at kmart. my parents were never rich. they never owned more than one home or one car at a time. they didn't even save enough

money to pay for us to go to kohl reg. but working as a bartender and maid, my parents were able to provide us a safe and stable home and the chance at a better life. my parents never made a lot of money and never made it big. but they fully lived the american dream. because the american dream has nothing to do with how much money you make. it has nothing to do with how many things you own. the american dream is about living the kind of life you want and achieving happiness as you define it. what makes this different from the rest of the world is that here millions of people have been able to do what my parents did. now, fast forward to today. where we now have millions of people in this country starting to doubt whether that's still true. they read the newspapers that says the economy's doing better, unemployment is down, big corporations are making more money than ever before, the stock market is going great. they don't feel t they are still working hard. they are still persevering. and they are still living paycheck to paycheck. they are literally one broken

car away from disaster. there are millions of people living like that. these are hardworking tax paying americans who have done everything they were told you need to do to succeed and they aren't getting ahead. one of the great challenges before us today is that there is a great concern in this country and a growing perception that in fact we are no longer the place where hard work and perseverance alone is enough to succeed. that is a definitional challenge for us as a nation. because if we lose that, it's not just that it hurts our economy, it deprives us of what makes us different. it deprives us of what makes us exceptional. so why is this happening? why is it so hard to do in the 21st century what so many people did in the 20th? the answer is because the world around us has changed. and we have been slow to change with it. first of all, we don't live in a global -- we don't live in a national economy anymore. we are truly participants in a global economy. globalization is real. and what it's meant is there are

more people than ever that buy the things we make and invent. it also means there are more nations than ever we have to compete against for investment and innovation. globalization is also meant many of the jobs that once sustained our working class have gone overseas and we have not done a good enough job of replacing them with better jobs. information technology and automation is also real. the jobs that once sustained our middle class, many of which have now been replaced by machines, i mentioned my mother was a cashier. the next time you go to the grocery store, notice how many of those are now machines. that never worked, by the way, they are always stuck and somebody has to get you any way. that's another point. now ail get a letter from the national cashier machine association. my point is that automation is real. it's replaced a lot of the jobs that once sustained the working class. and we have not done a good enough job of replacing them. these are the challenges of the 21st century.

there are also extraordinary opportunity embedded in t you and i are 5% of the world's population. the fact that we can now sell to 95% of the rest of the world who can now afford to buy our things, things we make, things we invent, that's going to create greater prosperity if we are in position to take advantage of it. it's true automation has replaced many jobs, but it's also creating new ones. the problem is that those better paying jobs require skills and education and training that many of our people don't have. why are we missing the opportunity to capitalize on this potential? primarily because we have government policies deeply rooted in yesterday. and yesterday's ideas don't work anymore. you cannot continue to tax and regulate with impunity with the attitude we are the only economy in town because we are not. there are now dozens of other countries that have reduced regulations and reduced taxes and out competing us for some of the job creation and some of the innovation. so the first step in solving this challenge is to once again make america the best economy in the world to invest and to innovate.

that means tax reform that makes our tax code simpler and more affordable. that means regulatory reform that requires a cost benefit analysis before we throw yet another regulation on the back of the american job creator. that means repealing and replacing obamacare which has discouraged job creation. that means bringing under control our national debt that threatens our long-term viability and security and discouraging people from investing in america's future. that means fully utilizing our energy resources. that won't just lower the cost of living in america, it will make it cheaper and more cost-effective to manufacture in america. creating millions of jobs along the way. that's the first step. we have to once again become the healthiest economy on the planet. the most globally competitive economy in the world. but if i have one fault to criticize my party is it usually stops there. oftentimes the republican speech ends right here with economic growth. economic growth is important. and it is the most important thing we can do. but it cannot be the only thing we can do.

for the second thing we have to do is we have to equip our people with what it takes to succeed in the 21st crentry. that begins by recognizing that in the 21st century it takes a higher level of skill acquisition than ever before to achieve the sort of american dream prosperity that my parents had. here's the hard truth. if my parents had come to america in 2006 instead of 1956 there is no way they could have lived the life they lived working as a bartender and maid at a hotel on miami beach. everything costs too much and those jobs don't pay enough anymore. instead, my father would have had to become a mechanic or plumber or electrician or welder or machinist. my mother would have had to become a dental hygienist or pair legal or registered nurse. and that's the way forward in the 21st crentry. we can create better paying jobs, but those jobs will require more education than ever. the problem we have is we have these one size fits all higher education system which is basically this. you either get a four-year degree or nothing. that is no longer acceptable and

no longer responsive. the solutions that come from left on this issue are pour more money into the existing higher education system. that won't work. we need a new higher education system. one, for example, that graduates more people from high school ready to go to work, ready to go to work as a welder, ready to go to work as a plumber, a b.m.w. technician or airplane mechanic or medical technician. you can teach people to do this when they are 17 and 18 and graduate making $45,000 a year at a start. .

for philosopher of greek is tight. before you saddle yourself with loans you should know what your job prospects are because student loans just don't hurt you financially it keep from you entrepreneurship, homeownership. oftentimes it keeps you from family formation. by the way, in the recommend am of empowering people what it takes to succeed in the 21st century, there is something that always takes to succeed and that's certain values. hard work, discipline, self-control respect for others. i don't care how many dipalomas on the wall, if you don't have those values, you cannot succeed now or ever. the problem is no one is born with these values. these values have to be taught. and these values have to be reinforced which is why we see what a devastating impact the

breakdown of families is having on our economy and on our society. now, here's the truth. i can't pass a law to make someone a better husband or a better wife. if i can pass a law to make me a better husband, my wife would run for office. we can't pass a law that makes better parents but there is -- i propose the family friendly tax code that helps working families and support free choice because i believe every parent especially low income parents have the right to send their children to their choice. that's why we should eliminate the marriage penalties in our tax code and safety programs. we have a record number of people living in poverty today. you know why? because our poverty programs don't cure poverty. they treat its symptoms. they alleviate the pain of poverty but they do nothing to help extract people from poverty. the best cure for poverty is a good paying job, and every single one of our safety net

programs should be about helping people acquire the skills they need or the opportunity they need to acquire a good paying job, but the federal government will never be able to do that. no one-size-fits-all federal program will be able to do that. that's why i proposed pulling all the anti-poverty money into a flacks fund that we send turnover to states and local communities so they can get to anti-poverty initiatives in their communities. it's different even in my home county of miami-dade. urban poverty in the inner city looks different, has different causes and different solutions than rural poverty in south dade and the agricultural communities. but only states and local communities and not-for-profits will ever find the innovative solutions to those problems. so if we do these two things, if we empower our people for what it takes to succeed in the 21st century with the education and strengthening family and if we make america the best place in the world to invest and

innovate again, we will have set the template for another american century where the american dream won't just survive but it will reach more people than ever before. but what i would be remiss if i didn't point out that none of this will be possible if we don't do a third thing and that is provide for our national security. a nation that's not secure cannot be prosperous and there is no one that can argue that we are safer or more respected today than we were five years ago. a simple quick tour around the world points that out. in asia, china is acting aggressively on its territorial claims. they claim to own all sorts of chains of islands that if you add them up together give them control over the south china sea. 50% of global commerce goes through there. in latin america and the western hemisphere after two decades of democratic progress we see democracy eroding in

you can with a dore, venezuela and cuba that has not had it in almost six decades. in europe we see putin challenging the eastern european border. with the invasion of ukraine. before that the war in chechnya. not only to mention the murder plots carried out in russia and around the world. in the middle east, it has never been more unstable than in recent memory. first, we have the threat of the iranian nuclear program. which they continue full steam ahead on that. it's not just the ability to reprocess plutonium or enrich ukraine yum. it's the fact they already bought a bomb design. it's the fact they continue to develop long-range rockets that are capable of reaching europe and capable of reaching our homeland. isis and al qaeda and boko haram. the spread of radical jihadists that now find themselves in multiple continents and in dozens of countries. and the new threat of homegrown violent extremists including people that never left the

united states which have become radicalized online and have spurred to take action. the threats are real and they must be all of them confronted. now the question is what's america's role in confronting them? america can't solve all these problems on its own and nor dory suggest that america should be involved in every conflict on the planet. but i also understand that in the absence of american leadership none of these problems can be solved, none of these problems can be confronted. the absence of american leadership leaves behind a vacuum because no other nation or institution can fill the role we fill. not the united nations not nato, not the organization of american states and certainly not russia and china. no other nation is capable of rallying the peace-loving, freedom-loving people on earth to take action other than the united states, other than the united states, and when it doesn't play that role chaos ensues. and that's what you see happening in place after place around the planet. you cannot have a safe and prosperous world without strong

american leadership, and you cannot have strong american leadership without first and foremost being backed up not just strong diplomacy but the strongest military power on earth. and the rapid decreases in military spending are threatening, are threatening our ability not just to defend our country but to remain the strongest military power on earth. and it makes no sense. military and defense spending is not the cause of our long-term debt. the cause of our long-term debt are entitlement programs that are currently structured in unsustainable ways. i believe in these programs. my mother's on these programs. i would never do anything to hurt her or anyone on these programs but these programs go bankrupt then they bankrupt our nation if they are not reformed. that's the cause of our long-term debt. meanwhile, every time in our history that we have radically slashed defense spending we had to come back years later and undo it and it's cost more money and been more chaotic. at a time when china now endeavors to build a 300-ship navy, at a time when russia is acting out aggressively and

increasing their defense spending despite the fact their economy is in shambles we cannot afford to dismantle the american military advantage and we cannot afford to lose the technological high ground if we do the world will be less safe and less prosperous and empowering people with economic skills will not be enough. so this is the choice before us. we must decide now what every generation before us has had to decide -- are we willing to do what it takes to keep america exceptional? if we do the three things i've outlined here today, make us the healthiest economy on the planet, empower people with 21st century skills and abilities and values and make america the strongest participant on the global stage, then the 21st century will be the most prosperous era we've ever known as a people. if if we fail, you and i will be the first americans to leave the next generation worse off and to me and to all of us that should be an unacceptable outcome. let me close with this observation.

america doesn't owe me anything. i owe america everything that i've been able to do. if my parents had not come here in 1956, if america didn't happen to be the nation that was 90 miles off the shore of cuba i would not be standing here before you today. i might be a really good bartender or something else related to it in the hotel industry, but there's no way in the world that i could have the same dreams and potentially the same future as the son of a president or the son of a millionaire. the reason why that's possible is because for reasons i will never fully understand, god blessed me and my family with the opportunity to grow up in the freest, most prosperous nation that man has ever known. it's a deeply personal story. i often speak at events like this and it's kind of early for a bartender. in many of these events -- well, you never know. [laughter] who knows what's in those eggs. there's usually a bartender in a portable bar in the back of

the room and it reminds me of my father. my father worked in a port babble bar like that -- portable bar like that. the new year's eves he wishes he was us. when he worked until 2:00 a.m. he worked behind a bar like that until he was in his 70's. he was grateful for the job he did. why did he do it? just to pay the bills? no. my father stood behind a bar like that all those years so one day i could stand behind a podium in front of a room. that journey that's the essence of the american dream. people anywhere can accomplish anything they set their mind to. that makes us different. don't ever take that for granted. and those of us who have lived that which is basically all of us those of us who have seen that experience in our own lives, which is basically all of us, i think have a unique and special obligation not just to protect it but to expand to

reach for people than ever before. for even as i speak to you now there are people trying to make the same journey my parents made and the same journey your parents made. because this story is your story too. it's the story of your mother that worked odd jobs so that you didn't -- to be able to finish school. it's the store eave your father that did everything he needed to do to ensure all the things he never could do in his life you could do in yours. that's not just my story that's your story that's the unifying principle of our nation and the idea that we would ever lose that is unacceptable and unimaginable. and that's what we're on the verge of doing if we continue on the path that we're on right now. every nation in the world has rich people. what makes us different is there here we've had millions and millions of people that achieve happiness by working hard and persevering. and i just want that to reach more people than ever before and that's the chance before us. that's the unique and exciting opportunity of this 21st

century. and i thank god every day that i'm alive at this time right here right now because i believe that we are on the verge of another american century where the american dream won't just survive, it will reach more people than it's ever reached before. that's the unique opportunity of our time and i hope we'll seize it. but to do so we must turn the page. we must be proud of our history but excited about our future. we must understand that 20th century is over and it's never coming back, be and we must bowledly move forward in another cent -- boldly move forward in another century and new challenges and if we do these things what every generation before us did which is to confront the challenges and seize the opportunities of our time then you and i will leave for our children what every generation of americans before us has left for theirs, the single most exceptional nation that man has ever known. so thank you for the chance to talk to you about it today. thank you. [applause]

>> i know the senator has a tight schedule but he's been gracious and staying a few minutes to answer any questions. i think we have some moveable mics. if people do have a question, just identify yourself, especially if you're a resident of the state. i think he'd like to know that. and maybe i could just ask the first question, senator. president obama earlier this month submitted war power resolution to the united states congress and senate and there were some members of congress that feel as though it limits him too much and the language and others who feel that maybe he will use this to commit troops down the road.

your thoughts on whether this is going to pass, are you going to support it? >> yeah, there is two separate things. one is authorizing use of force and the other is strategy for use of force. the strategy for the use of force is something congress can comprfer oversight. ultimately it's the responsibility of the commander in chief. authorizing use of force is a congressional action. they should not be intermingled. in the history of the united states only two occasions have we authorized use of force as restrictions and both were u.n. peacekeeping operations. and inside problem is that i believe we authorize the president to destroy isis, period. and then it is up to this commander in chief and a future one -- because this will probably not be over in the next year and a half -- to do what must be done to defeat them. we can debate the tactics and conduct oversight on the tactics but here's the reverse of that. so you're going to do the authorization for use of force that says we authorize you to fight them for three years. so what does that mean?

that means if isis is still around they get to stay? or what if you authorize them but only conduct operations in iraq and syria? you just told them to move to libya or some other place not covered. so i think they should move to defeat isis and the president should come up with a strategy to achieve that i believe the perfect strategy for that or best strategy -- not perfect but ideal is a combination of airpower and local ground forces. egyptian ground forces, jordanian ground forces, sunni iraqi ground forces, turk ground forces, kurd armed forces, the armed forces of the gulf kingdoms, they could send 100,000-man contingent connected from those local governments ton cofront isis on the ground. we would provide logistic support and air coverage. now there may be some need for operational forces but that's the first step and that's the ideal at this stage in the process, the ideal tactic to

move forward on this endeavor. and i think it's the right one. it's not just about intangling america in a ground war, it's the fact that i believe those local forces have the best chance of success without triggering other sorts of collateral action that we haven't anticipated. >> senator, thank you very much. a pleasure to be with you. >> my pleasure. >> a great presentation. my name is bob, i live here in new hampshire. getting to a domestic problem now, i noticed in a news article not too long ago that you were looking for ways of helping low-income buy prescription drugs, drugs that could go into the hundreds of dollars a month. with that in mind would you support negotiated u.s. -- negotiating for prescription drugs with pharmaceutical companies, brand name prescription drugs, the same that most western -- the western world does and go further, would you legalize the

safe importation of prescription drugs from select countries? >> well, couple points. the first one is obviously we're always open to importing drugs so far as in mind we can keep the safety of the supply chains of those dugs. just last week the f.d.a. -- i think the name of the drug was welbutrin, was withdrawn from the marketplace. not just for being unsafe but being ineffective. we're always concerned about the safety of our patients. while the f.d.a.'s regulatory framework is often frustrating and i think overly complicated, other times it keeps us safe from medications that ultimately could harm people. it's not just the importation of the drugs it's ensuring that the chaven custody and production to user has not been contaminated along the way. in fact, even in the united states there are many pharmaceuticals, prescription drugs that people buy in the black market and when you test within those dugs it's all sorts of things that could be damaging so that's important. sfashes negotiating prices

window that already. for example, in the state of florida the medicaid program does negotiate a formulary for companies to get the lowest price and buy in bulk. i think the bigger challenge comes in the commercial plans and their ability to ensure those prices. look the cost of pharmaceuticals is big because of the limited patent time they have to make their product. i invest the $1 billion to get some miracle cure. i only have a x number of years to make a profit and we subsidize the world. they basically charge american consumers more than they do everywhere else on the planet because they can and that's a real problem we continue to confront. once the drug goes generic the price stabilizes but some remain more costly. those are options that are open but none of them are a silver bullet in terms of solving this problem. >> other questions?

>> senator lenny glen from putnam investments in boston. first of all, it's a fantastic presentation and i'm very, very glad your folks decided to cross the caribbean. wanted to bring up an idea that our c.e.o. has proposed, a couple -- numerous times and that is that we -- if we are concerned about the shrinking of the labor force and people not participating and we want to have people hired and we're concerned about stagnant wages, why don't we consider some kind of refundable tax break to companies that show from one year to the next that they've grown their payroll because we know the only way you'd qualify for that would be by hiring americans or by giving raises. nobody intends it, but that tax effective lisa tax on hiring people and on giving them

raises. isn't there some way we could rebate some of those funds to the firms that have created jobs and have given raises? >> well, it's something i'll take a look at. i haven't seen the specific proposals so i would hate to talk on. one of the proposals in our book is a wage enhancement credit. we currently have something called the earned income tax credit which people apply for based on the number of children and they have to be working. they get it in a lump sum in march or april. it's a program that's helped a lot of people. it does encourage work and has a lot of fraud. we should replace it with something called the wage enhancement. the way it would work first of all it would be would open to all workers including childless singles. it would basically incentivize work by saying -- hearst gist behind it. the argument is i'd rather you working for $10 an hour and supplementing the difference than having you not working at all and collecting the

equivalent to $6 an hour and government benefits or $5 an hour and government benefits. and there's two reasons behind it. one, it actually saves the taxpayer money. when you're out of work for a long period of time it makes it very difficult for you to re-enter the workplace. it sigma tieses you in the eyes of employers, it demoralizes you personally and it makes it very difficult to re-enter. that's one of the reasons why you see an alarmingly high of low level participation today because we have a large number of people not participating in the workplace. they won't take the work because if i can get the equivalent of $6 an hour from the safety net program why would i work for $9 million? through wage enhancement, i'd rather enhance your income, the replacement of the earned income tax credit with an additional $2 than you not sitting at home and working. there are jobs that obviously are not where you want to wind up at the end of your life but

there's no such thing as dead end work. every single job has value and has merit. you learn habits. you learn skills. you pick up discipline. you learn and you acquire experience that will be useful to you in the future. and that's important for us to encourage as many people as possible to enter the work force. our labor participation rate is far too low and it's long-term -- its long-term implications will be damaging to our economy if we don't quickly reverse that. >> other questions in the back? >> thank you for being here with us today senator. appreciate it very much. you referred to a clean aumf, authorization for the use of military force. why would not congress declare war on islamic terrorism, including but not limited to isis al qaeda and others? and would that not resolve some of the problems that we have trying to put these terrorists

on criminal trials in the u.s. or elsewhere? >> well, if you're involved in hostilities with them they are enemy combatants, we don't that any more under this president so we don't gather intelligence but we should be doing that and that's that on the legal front. as far as the declaration of war is concerned, we only declare war on nation states. isis wants to be considered a state but it is not a state. i refuse to elevate them to that standing. what they are basically is an armed -- armed insurgencey slash terrorist group that has taken on elements of an army but they are not a state nor should we elevate them to that they want to be recognized as a caliphate. i think we can achieve the same goal of elevating them the way they want to be elevated. part of the strategy is to be elevated in the radical jihadist world as the preeminent jihadist group on the planet. that's why they spend so much money on these videos and the propaganda which is very well produced, professionally produced something you didn't see from al qaeda. the message they are trying to

send is we are the radical jihadist group on the planet. that attracts donors but it also attracts recruits and they are desperate for us to elevate them beyond what they are. they are a significant threat to the world and we should -- they should be destroyed. i fear that declaring war on them by name would elevate them to a status they desperately want that they do not deserve. but at the end of the day an authorization to use force reaches the same basic legal parameters without the symbolic victory that isis is trying to achieve. >> thank you senator. i'm donna from salem here in new hampshire. thanks for sharing your personal story which is so inspiring and your vision for the future of the country. a country -- the future of our country is in doubt if we continue not to fix the debt. you mentioned the debt but could you tell me how you're going to get bipartisan support

to deal with entitlement reform , which democrats are trying to preserve and the desire of republicans not to raise taxes? how do we deal with this major threat to our country which is $18 trillion debt? >> so let me preface by saying the debt is going to have to be dealt with. the question is how we're going to deal with the debt. the choices we can deal with the debt now on a more orderly and constructive way or we can wait until we have a debt crisis and have to do so in an extremely disruptive way. so the cause of our long-term debt, if you project out, is not foreign aid which is less than 1% of our budget. it's the way our entitlement programs are structured. on the outset let me say i support medicare. my mother's on medicare. my mother is on social security. i would never do anything to hurt her. when i talk about reforming these programs i'm talking about for me. i've accepted in my -- and my generation needs to accept our social security and medicare is still going to be the best thing in the world but it's

going to be different than our parent because thousands programs were designed at a time when they were as many as 16 workers for every retiree and now we have only three workers for every retiree. the question is how we're going to get cooperation on it and that's the great question. the question is we need executive leadership that pushes us in that direction. this president has not invested any political capital in reforming those programs. he's never been serious. in fact on the contrary, any -- when paul ryan made his proposal to save medicare, the president's response was not a plan of his own. the president's response was to raise a bunch of money to attack republicans for wanting to change and take medicare away from people. this will have to be dealt with one way or another. the longer we deal with the more disruptive it can be. if we do it now we can reform it without impacting anyone who's retired or on the verge of retiring. if we wait too long it has the potential of impacting future retirees. and that's something that we should not allow to have happened. so the proposals are out there. paul ryan's proposal comes very close to being a -- to being the actual solution for

something we need with medicare. social security proposals route there. as i outlined in my book. the political willingness to do is what's been lacking. all i have said i have talked about social security and medicare reform since i was candidate of the u.s. senate from the state of florida, a state where people are -- a large number is on social security and medicare. if you can succeed it there you can succeed it anywhere the american people know what the truth is and they want answers to it. it's it isn't just demagoguery. i'll say one other point. anyone who says they want to leave medicare the way it is forever is in favor of bankrupting it. anyone who says we don't need to do anything about medicare is in favor of bankrupting this important program. because that's where it's headed. not 50 years from now and little over a decade and that's an unacceptable outcome. >> getting back to global economics, thank you very much -- thank you very much for

coming and speaking with us. you mentioned a couple things that i think are particularly important. i'd like you to highlight or expound upon them. first of all, the u.s. tax code compared to the tax code of other nations, certainly we're in a competitive environment but an example corporate tax rate 37%, corporate tax rate in asia is typically around 17%. there's talk about as much as $3 trillion u.s. dollars that's captured outside the united states that doesn't come home because we have a punitive tax on bringing that money home. so that money continues to get invested overseas and continues to help economies such as india and such as china and so forth because it has no place to come to. so what do you suggest we do about that and what would be your plan, please? >> well, on the corporate front, let me point out initially that the vast amount of american companies is in the

scorp, personal side. personal tax reform is so important as well. a lot of business activity happening through the pass-throughs. the s corporations, the partnerships limited partnerships etc. on the corporate side it's too hide. 35% rate makes us basically the highest combined corporate tax rate in the world. i think it needs to be closer to something like 25%. then you talk about the issue of repatriation. that's an issue. we need to have a territorial system of taxation. that means is that you will only be taxed once wherever the income is generated. if an american company is generating profit in france it pays the french tax. it doesn't then bring that money back and pay it a second time in the united states because the practical impact of it is the money is staying over there they already paid the tax once. they are not going to move it there and pay the tax a second time. let me tell you how significant that is. estimates is upwards of $2 trillion of american corporate cash is sitting in overseas accounts as a result of this. $2 trillion is the size of the russian economy. $2 trillion is the size of the

italian economy. so what we're talking about if you had a territorial system of taxation, a lot of that money, not all of it, but much will return to the u.s. to expand and hire and create opportunity here. a territorial system of tax ailings which most developed nations have will make us more competitive. this goes to broader issue by the way. for too long the at that time @tude is it doesn't matter. we're america. -- attitude is it doesn't america. we're america. you have to be here. that sent true anymore. there are many businesses in the world that can be headquartered anywhere. they don't have to be headquartered here. they don't have to be physically located here. the evidence is these inversions you see every day where more and more american corporations are buying foreign corporations and moving abroad to escape the tax penalties they face in the united states. and that's the wubs we know about. those are existing businesses. not to mention new ones that are being opened up in those places instead of here. so all that tracks back to the argument is making us globally competitive and the truth is if you make us globally competitive it will actually

generate more revenue for government, not through taxes but more taxpayers. it will be reinvested in opening up new facilities and creating new hirings and you're going to be creating new american taxpayers that will allow us the revenue we need to bring our debt under control. >> maybe two more quick questions. -- >> and two more long answers i guess. >> kathryn. >> you spoke very clearly about your ideas for higher education. i'm wondering how you would fund an entitlement program that trained people more extensively at the lower levels. >> first of all, a lot of that funding is already in place in essence. it's just not available today for people to use. much of this is the state responsibility we need to encourage more. in essence -- i'm not suggesting the u.s. government take over the high schools of this country or anything like it. i do think that there's -- that we do need our senior leaders in washington to talk about the need for more vocational

training and apprenticeships at the local level. on the higher -- the real world that federal government plays is the payer. if i decide to take a course in microsoft outlook from microsoft i could not use federal financial aid for it. if i decide to take that same course from an accredited school they would pay for it. it makes no sense. my argument is, right now you can only use financial aid for accredited institutions but accredited institutions are accredited by accrediting boards that are by the schools they are accrediteding. i'm not saying the standards aren't good. they are. that couldn't cant be the only system we have. i'm arguing tpwheed to van alternative that allows people to package learning from various sources into the equivalent of a degree. those already exist with things like udacity and other programs that allows you to come forward with your portfolio of learning. in essence, you serve four years in the military, that's worth 10 hours.

i worked at a law firm. 15 hours. they give you credit for all of your learning. and then if you're missing -- if you're deficient in one place or another then you know the courses you need to take. the problem we have now, no matter what you already know you got to sit through in most places 120 credit hours of classroom instruction and that's incredibly expensive for many, many people can't afford it so we need to create alternatives to that system. so i propose an alternative accredited process. mike lee has a process that does that in a different way. we have alternative ways to credential people to enter the work force as quickly and as cost-effectively as possible. >> one final question. >> senator you had mentioned obamacare. most of your republican -- thank you. most of your republican colleagues stop at repealing. you had mentioned replacing.

could you take a moment and expand on that? >> sure. first of all, let me say the ultimate and best solution for health insurance in america is to allow every american to control their own health care spending. if you think about it, most americans today are insured still by their employer and basically your employer tells you this is what your insurance plan is and the only choice you get is your primary care physician out of a book. what i'm arguing is we should allow individuals to control their health care dollars so you can accept your employer plan or in lieu of that you can take that money into a health savings account or protected account where that money pretax is now available to you to spend on your own behalf. you can make choices about what to do with that money. first, you can decide to put it into a health savings account and pay out of pocket for primary care and buys catastrophic. that makes sense for my 28-year-old brother-in-law who is healthy and single and doesn't think he's going to die. if he goes to the doctor, god forbid it might be bad, and you could use that money, say $600 a month, to buy a catastrophic

plan for $200 and put it in a health savings account to pay out of pocket for the minute clinic. alternative tiffly maybe myself and my family of four needs a more comprehensive coverage. instead of taking plort plan can take my health care money, whether i'm self-employed or came from them or came from my own savings my own pretax money and use it to buy any health care plan in america that makes sense from any company that will sell it to me no matter what state they're located in and i should be able to choose what kind of health insurance i want. maybe i want an insurance plan that has a high co-payment and high deductible and low premiums. maybe i want to choose this one because it has a better network than that one has. if you empower the consumer, the private market will respond by creating products that consumers want. and they'll compete against each other for your business because you control the health care dollars, not your employer and not the government. and that competition will drive quality and pricing and make it affordable for more people.

that's why where i wanted us to come at. what doesn't work is putting the government in charges of health insurance through these exchanges. the idea of an exchange is not a bad idea. you can shop among different companies is not bad. what's bad is injecting it with mandates and subsidies. that's what skews the marketplace. what's happening is many of these exchanges are nothing more than a high risk pool. people have signed up for it are sicker and older than what you need for an actuarially sound pool, a pool that's more sound insurance-wise and the result is in order to save money and make it affordable, these plans have had to do things likes raise deductibles, raise co-payments and deny access to networks and providers. so it's not unusual to get a phone call at our office from someone who's on an obamacare plan that just figured out they have a $3,000 deductible. they thought they were covered went to the hospital and got a bill. why well,ry don't have $3,000. well, you're not insured.

the other thing they realize, they have a tough time finding a specialty doctor. there are people saying i can't find an oncologist or a gynecological gynecologist. it's 100 miles away. the only way these companies can control pricing is by limiting the networks, crushing down on reimbursements for the providers and increasing your skin in the game in terms of co-payments and deductibles which make them uninsured because they can't afford them. i think that's a better solution. that's what i've been working with paul ryan on outlining and hopefully that's where we'll end up as a country. >> this week homeland security agency is going to run out of money. >> on friday. >> on friday. what are you going to urge your colleagues in the senate to do and how are you going to vote? >>, first of all, homeland security will continue to function. what we need to point out is, you know border patrol agents and t.s.a. agents and others will not be getting paid. which will not make flying a pleasantent experience, if you know what i mean.

but pleasant experience, if you know what that -- i mean. the bigger problem is the democrats are filibustering the house bill. the house has passed a bill. they don't like something that's in the bill, they refuse to let us begin debate on it. my first initial ask let's start debating this bill. stop your filibuster let's get on the bill and let's have a debate. i believe we should stop the executive action. i believe we should stop the executive action for three reasons. number one, because it's unconstitutional. the president himself said 22 different times that he did not have the authority for this action. now, as far as i can tell, the institution has not been amended in the last two years. i don't know how all of a sudden he acquired the power to do this. second, i think it has unintended consequences no one thought through in terms of triggering another migratory crisis or a tax credit that makes millions of people is eligible for that we have not budgeted for that comes out of the treasury.

i think it makes it difficult to achieve the immigration reform our country needs. i think the real solution of immigration is a series of pieces of legislation, not executive actions that deal with this issue. in my mind, that begins with proving to people that we're going to enforce our immigration laws. people do not -- the hardest lesson of the last two years has been people are willing to be very reasonable about immigration but not until you prove to them that future illegal immigration will be controlled. they don't want to see 10 million people replaced 10 million more or -- second, we have to modernize our legal immigration system. no nation on earth is as generous on immigration as we are. a million people a year permanently immigrate to the united states. no one else comes as close. it goes through a system that is based on family, whether you have a family member living here, not if you have a special skill or talent or contribution to make. i think we need to reform our legal immigration system more

toward a merit-based system. after you reformed and modernized our legal immigration system and often you've proven to people you're enforcing the immigration laws i believe the american people are willing to be very reasonable about how we deal with someone who's been here for 15 year has not otherwise vylate our laws and wants to be an american. i really do. i think people will be very reasonable about it. that's a problem we inherited. that was a problem that was created as a result of decisiones that were made when i was in high school. we should make sure it never happens again but we have to deal with the fact that we have it now. but people are not prepared to do anything about it until first they can -- proven to them that we are not going to have another migratory crisis that puts us in the exact same place five to 10 years from now. if we do that i think we can do a lot. thank you. >> we want to thank you, senator, for coming by. [applause]

>> again, want to thank the senator for finding time out of his very, very, very busy schedule to stop by with politics and eggs. we have a feeling after his remarks today we might see more of him here in the granite state. but he does make an announcement we hope you makes it here and politics and eggs. with that i we look forward to seeing you at our future politics and eggs event. again, thank all of the sponsors. in particular, bank of america who just joined our list. we thank them. so have a great day and stay warm. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2015] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

>> and tomorrow the prime minister of israel, benjamin netanyahu, will appear before a joint meeting of congress. "the hill" reports some democrats are going to skip that meeting. he was invited by house speaker john boehner without coordination bit white house. the prime minister gave a preview of what he'll be saying at the apac summit earlier today in washington, d.c. >> you may not have heard see, i'll be speaking in congress tomorrow. [applause]

you know, never has so much been written about a speech that hasn't been given. [laughter] and i'm not going to speak today about the content of that speech, but i do want to say a few words about the purpose of that speech. first, let me clarify what is not the purpose of that speech. yeah, my speech is not intended to show any disrespect to president obama or the esteemed office that he holds. i have great respect for both. [applause] i deeply appreciate all what president obama has done with israel, security cooperation intelligence sharing, support at the u.n. and much more some

things as prime minister of israel cannot divulge to you because it remains in the realm of the confidences that are kept between an american president and an israeli prime minister. i am deeply grateful for this support and so should you be. >> also speaking before aipac today will be national security advisor susan rice. her remarks live at 6:00 p.m. eastern on our companion network, c-span3. >> the political landscape -- 43 new republicans and 15 democrats in the house and 12 new republicans and one new democrat in the senate, there's also 108 women in congress including the first african-american republican in the house and the first woman veteran in the senate. keep track of the members of congress using congressional chronicle on c-span.org.

the congressional chronicle page has lots of useful information there including voting results and statistics about each session of congress. new congress best access on c-span, c-span2, c-span radio and c-span.org. >> and we'll be back in the house in 10 minutes debating two bills starting at 5:00 dealing with veterans' issues including providing long-term care for veterans and one that will grant the v.a. secretary the power to recoup performances or awards from employees. any votes will be taken after 6:30 p.m. eastern. also this week work on funding the homeland security department which is set to expire friday after a recent extension. the house live here on c-span at 2:00 eastern time. the american conservative union hosted its annual c pack conference where they heard from the chair of the republican national committee.

he spoke for about 10 minutes. >> well, i think we just found a new addition to the republican platform for 2016. what do you guys think? >> thank you. >> thank you, seine. -- thank you, sean. >> thank you, cpac. god bless you. >> well, good morning, cpac. i'm having so much fun with you all. i'm losing my voice but, you know, by my calculations we've got just over 690 days until the end of the obama administration. [applause] and that day, that day can't come soon enough. but ladies and gentlemen, we've got work to do right now. 2014 was a great year. for republicans in america. we took back the senate and we fired harry reid. we've won the largest majority in the house since 1928 and we

now have 31 republican governors in america including the governor of the president's home state of illinois. [applause] elizabeth warren's state of massachusetts. [applause] and how about right here in maryland with larry hogan? it was a great year for our party. but you know, we can't get comfortable. winning in 2016, winning in 2016 is going to be a lot of work winning a big cultural vote in this country. but if we do that hard work, we will win the white house. we'll have a republican president and 1600 pennsylvania avenue will never be home to the clintons again. now, here's where the democrats don't want you to admit. it's not just conservatives at

cpac are tired of the obama-clinton agenda. polls show that over 70% of the country want the next president to take a different direction than barack obama. that's bad news for hillary clinton because i can guarantee you, america, you're not going to get something different than obama with a member of the obama administration. you're going to get a third term of barack obama. i don't think our country will accept that. i don't think our constitution can handle that. and i don't think our kids can afford that. the good news for us is republicans have a great field of candidates that are running for president, and i'd much rather have that than what the democrats have. they've got one candidate ready to core nate herself and they have a constituenting vice president who can't control his mouth or its -- his hands who's

been running for president since before i could vote. republican voters are going to have a real choice. that means real debates about new ideas, and speaking of debates, i'm proud to tell you that the days of the media calling the shots in our primary debates are over. you know, in the past -- in the past, you know, the media got to decide when and where and how many debates there were. not anymore. at the r.n.c. we created a new system for a reasonable number of debates. by the way, how many people here think it's a good idea for us to have 23 debates in front of people like chris matthews? this time we're going to assist in choosing debate partners and panelists, not the other way around.

conservative media will have a voice and a process. for example, we just announced that salem radio, the home of hugh hewitt and bill bennett will partner with cnn. so the field day for the liberal media is over. at the r.n.c., we also reformed the primary process is that more republicans have a chance to cast their ballots and have a say in the selection of our nominee. it's going to be different this time. and let me be clear. this is the voters, the delegates who choose the nominee. unlike the democrats, there will be no corronation in the republican party. if you want to win the nomination, you're going to have to earn the nomination. [applause] but when we have a nominee, we'll have to come together stronger and more united than ever to defeat hillary clinton.

you know the funny thing about hillary clinton is that the more people that hear from her, the less they like her. in fact, in the last six years her approval rating was the highest when she was out of the country and off the campaign trail. true fact. that's probably why hillary barely comes out in public these days. if there's not a private luxury jet and a quarter million-dollar speaking fee waiting for her, you can forget about it. the truth is she doesn't have much to say. if you ask her press people anything, they'll just say no comment. i'm sure obama wishes biden would follow that example. [laughter] really. this is what you would get if you asked the clinton people a question. do you support keystone? no comment. do you have a plan for isis? no comment. how are you different than barack obama? no comment. where were you on the night of the benghazi attacks?

what difference at this point does it make? it makes a lot of difference. if you want to lead the american people, it's time to face the american people. oh, and by the way, if i was hillary clinton, this speech would have already cost you $20,000. but hillary would never speak here. you seen her speaking contracts and her hollywood-style backstage demands. well, you know, i checked backstage. there was insufficient -- the water temperature was off by a few degrees and i don't think the lemon wedges were cut right at the right angle. i think hillary clinton has lost touch with america. i'm sure most of you and everyone else watching this would have to google how to spell cruet de tet.

and that is a way by the name of -- my name was one that was killed off. of course, now if you ask joe biden -- if you ask joe biden is he'd probably say this -- oh, yeah, i had a great relationship with that community. there's an awful lot of them driving cabs in dwamplete for real man. they're friends of mine. and then of course he'd rub your neck without permission. when she owns two homes, she's not dead broke. she's dead wrong and out of touch with reality. we don't have a problem -- we don't have a problem with financial success. we just think you ought to work for it. the problem for america is not

just hillary who's out of touch. it's her whole party. they tell us they're for the middle class but vetoed the keystone pipeline, good-paying jobs. they tell us they're for main street, not wall street, but they passed dodd-frank, making the big banks bigger and the small banks disappear. they tell us they're for good health care but me raise their premiums, can skeledselled our plans and denied access to our doctors. they tell us they're for education but they caved to the teachers unions and block school choice and force kids to be stuck in failing schools. a good school shouldn't be a privilege reserved for the rich and well-connected, it should be an option for all parents in this country, regardless of what your zip code is. now, i don't even know where to start on national security. democrats tell us they understand the world but then they call climate change, not

radical islamic terrorism the greatest threat to national security. look, i think we all care about our planet but melting icebergs aren't beheading christians in the middle east. if you look at the ruthless slaughtering of innocence of all faiths in the middle east and europe and call that our greatest strength greatest threat then, you know what it's time to get a different profession. but that's how the democrats see the world. and by the way don't you agree they ought to show up and welcome prime minister netanyahu and listen to what our greatest ally, israel, has to say? and as for us -- and as for us, we need to make the case against hillary clinton and her

party. if you really want to stump a hillary, ask them to name hillary clinton's greatest accomplishment. she's known for hillarycare, which was a failed attempt to force obamacare on its 15 years -- on us 15 years earlier. after all that foreign travel as secretary of state she doesn't raise much goodwill for our country, but now we see she did manage to raise a lot of foreign money for the clinton foundation taking money for countries like algeria and

the speaker pro tempore: the house will be in order. the prayer will be offered by our chaplain, father conroy.