over . i think it is a case of how things could move going forward in other places, if the justice department is more active. i think it is hard to see exactly how you get to where you are going, where you say you would like things to go. host: the "time" cover story is "black lives matter. justin worland, thank you. guest: thank you. host: we now go to the 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., april 15, 2015. i hereby appoint the honorable david w. jolly 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 -- 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 leaders 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 11:50 a.m. the chair recognizes the gentleman from illinois, mr. gutierrez, for five minutes. mr. gutierrez: thank you mr. speaker. the man pictured alongside me will go a long way towards determining who will live in the white house for the next few years. no, he's not a campaign spin doctor. this is a federal judge for the u.s. district court for the

southern district of texas, the honorable judge andrew hannon. the lawsuit by 26 republican governors seeking to block the executive actions by the obama administration was filed in his court. he's not ruled on the constitutionality in this case. he ordered a preliminary junction saying the constitutes had standing to bring the suit or at least the state of texas did. and that was enough for him to stop the implementation of the program nationwide and not surprisingly just last week the judge refused the government's request to lift his injunction and allow the plan to move forward. here's the reality. congress mandates that about 400,000 people will be deported this year out of a total of 11 million. the secretary of homeland security developed a plan to choose between hardened criminals and those immigrants who have lived here for at least five years, have u.s. citizen children and can pass a criminal background check at

their own expense. the plan also requires immigrants to renew their temporary status periodically to prove again they have not committed crimes or fraudulently sought out services or benefits. it is that plan for the parents of u.s. citizens in american families, people who have been working and staying out of trouble for years, that the texas judge here believes will cause irreparable damage to the state of texas and therefore must be stopped nationally. just as they had hoped, the judge ruled that texas might someday in the future suffer irreparable harm because of driver's licenses. in other words, people who qualify for driver's licenses and take the test and pay their fees for driver's licenses and live in texas and apply for those driver's licenses in texas will be doing the state irreparable harm. i have a driver's license. it's right here. i had no idea i was causing irreparable damage to the state of illinois just by applying for it and paying for the

driver's license. and learning the rules of the road and buying car insurance, but who am i to disagree with a federal judge? on friday the department of justice will argue before the fifth circuit court in new orleans that the president's executive actions should move forward. it is well-known that the fifth circuit is among the most conservative, but look what happened a couple of weeks ago in that very same circuit court. they ruled on a lawsuit related to the state of mississippi which, like texas, felt it might someday in the future be felt damage by the deferred action program announced by the president for dreamers back in 2012. the panel of judges from the fifth circuit looked at the program, the evidence and the cost of the state of mississippi and the fifth circuit judges said mississippi is not harmed and thus does not have legal standing for the lawsuit. that bodes well for the country and the president's executive actions. in the meantime, judge hannon still hasn't ruled on the case. maybe he's running out the

clock, trying to make the immigrants in cities like chicago and houston lose hope or stop preparing to sign up or maybe magically self-deport and give up on watching their children, their u.s. citizen children grow up in america. it might turn into a drawnout series of rulings and appeals that wind up in the supreme court which could take us well into 2016, and 2016 is an election year where latino u.s. citizens, not immigrants we're discussing, but their neighbors, cousins spouses and co-workers who are citizens of the united states are not likely to vote for a party that is making sure that their neighbors, cousins spouses and co-workers are still a top priority for deportation. i have a feeling the citizens will support the candidates and parties that support nair communities, and i also -- their communities and i also have a feeling that the decision to drag this out in the courts will be one the republican party regrets from a political point of view. just like the decision not to allow a vote on immigration reform over the past two years

will be seen as one of the biggest and most consequential political mistakes of all-time. how long does a vote take? 15 minutes. it mound sound too much like a gokeo commercial but 15 minutes could have saved the republican party a great deal of heartache. the failure to take those 15 minutes for a vote might mean there are no republican presidents for a long time who would nominate judges like this one. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the chair now recognizes the gentlewoman from the district of columbia, ms. norton, for five minutes. ms. norton: mr. speaker, i began the series of remarks leading up to tomorrow, emancipation today, in the

district of columbia when lincoln and the congress freed the slaves in the district nine months ahead of the emancipation proclamation. there are no slaves living in the district today, but nor is there a single free and equal citizen living in your nation's capital. freedom from slavery did not give residents freedom as equal citizens. yesterday's remarks in this series, i spoke about going to war and every war since the nation was created without having a vote. today's remarks fit april 15 the day when d.c. residents are the only americans who pay federal taxes without a vote for or against those taxes or anything else. for us it is not tax day it is taxation without representation

day. it is no overstatement to say that this house is obsessed with taxes that is to say tax cuts, there are tax cuts bills on the floor this very week. our residents are not demanding tax cuts. take your money. but we are demanding the rights that go with the taxes they pay. we want an end to no vote on this floor, an end to local matters coming to congress without a vote on this floor and end to d.c.'s local budgets, of all things, coming to congress even though it has not one dime of federal money in it, only local money. we want an end to every member getting a vote on district matters to come to this floor except the member who represents the district of columbia. we want an end to this mountain load of injustice. that comes with statehood.

the best way to see the injustice of paying taxes without representation is to compare d.c. residents with what they pay with other americans. look at who pays the highest taxes in the united states of america. d.c. residents, compared with -- this is per capita, my friends. compared to who pays the lowest mississippi. what is that, a third of what we pay? the two largest states in the union new york and california. new york, a little more than $8,700 per capita. california a little more than $8,000 per capita. that's compared to our $12,000 per capita. southern states average between in the $4,000 and $5,000 per capita range. the midwest, they average in the $6,000 range.

ohio is $6,130. iowa is $6,019. even states with many wealthy taxpayers like virginia and florida are within the $7,000 tax range. d.c. 650,000 residents pays $12,000 per resident. find your state on my website. you will not find one pain of what district of columbia of residents pay. today april 15, nobody enjoys paying taxes but we believe that constituents of my colleagues will join the moral outrage of my constituents when they know that d.c. residents are not only paying more per capita than any other americans but that add it up, this amounts to more dollars than 19

of our states together paying, all with representation. d.c. residents pay more than their full freight to support the united states government. the time is overdue to permit d.c. citizens to join the union of states as the state of new columbia, the 51st state of the union -- state of the united states. thank you mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. the chair recognizes the gentleman from oregon mr. blumenauer, for five minutes. mr. blumenauer: mr. speaker, today is april 15. this is the day that our income taxes are due, a day that is difficult enough under the best of circumstances but made even more difficult purposely for millions of americans. my republican friends have decided to take out their differences with the i.r.s. by deliberately tore during the american taxpayer.

-- torturing the american taxpayer. our tax system relies primarily on voluntary compliance. most americans, in fact, do comply, but an ever -increasingly complex tax system makes that compliance difficult. it should be noted that it's not the i.r.s. that makes the tax code complex, it is congress that makes the tax code complex. a congress that is sometimes so late in meeting its obligations with tax changes that the service has difficulty even printing the forms as these changes occur every single year. in order to help citizens with the congress' complex tax system, the internal revenue service runs the largest consumer service operation in the world. but this process has been deliberately sabotaged by the republican approach to the agency budget.

the agency has 30,000 fewer employees today than it had in 1982 -- 1992, excuse me. the real budget adjusted for inflation is about the level we had in 1998 when we had fewer taxpayers filing returns and a tax code that was smaller and less complicated. if congress had truly been partners with the agency in improving its service in streamlining and modernization and giving them today's computers, maybe it would be possible to keep pace, but the i.r.s. has been given a budget that prevents it from modernizing its information technology. it uses applications for its computers that were running in the early 1960's. the i.r.s. is virtually a museum of computer technology,

but you cannot modernize the simple call service function of answering phones and talking to taxpayers. yet, congress has deliberately slashed that money available for those positions. when you visit the i.r.s. offices, which i have and which i hope every one of my colleagues does before they reduce those budgets yet again, they will find employees who simply cannot meet the needs of their customers. our employees don't like putting people on hold for 20 minutes, 30 minutes or more or dropping the calls altogether. it frustrates the taxpayer and it breaks the heart of our employees. now, it's no secret that some people forget to declare all their income and frankly there are some people who actually cheat on their taxes. but congress has not equipped

the i.r.s. to do the audits necessary to actually collect the money that is due billions and billions of dollars which would pay for badly needed government services or reduce our debt. they refuse to fund some they refuse to fund some position it's would not just pay for themselves but would collect 10 20, 30 times or more their annual salary. and congress is deliberately making it worse with yet another budget cut while watching the exodus of highly trained, skilled professionals who have better things to do with their lives than work in an impossible situation and constantly be under attack. now, i have no doubt that there are times when the agency has not performed in ways that we would all like. but the solution is not to torture the taxpayers and fail to equip the agency to do its job.

while continuing to make the tax code ever more complex. this is gross political malpractice. it's not fair to the taxpayer. it's a disservice to our employees. and it makes it hard to fund the needs of our nation. they may think it's good politics to take -- to make the tax paying experience as miserable as possible. but it's ultimately bad judgment it's poor politics, and it's a disservice to the american public. many of my colleagues have been looking at scandal within the i.r.s. whatever problems they uncover or imagine, the real scandal is how the republican budget is treating the american public and the people who work for them at the viletal service of the -- vital service of the internal revenue service. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the chair now recognizes the gentleman from illinois, mr. davis, for five minutes.

mr. davis: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise to pay tribute to katrina adams, president of the united states tennis association. mr. speaker, the community where i live work, and represent is well-known for its production of high profile and world renown male athletes, individuals like ernie terrell, world heavyweight champion. basketball stars doc rivers, isiah thomas, mark mcgwire mickey johnson, kevin garnett, footballer darell stidgely. and countless others who have excelled in athletics. all of these are males. however, i take this opportunity to mention two females. one is dorothy gay does, the girl's basketball coach and

athletic director at the john marshall high school in chicago illinois. the winningest high school basketball coach in the nation. the other is katrina adams who grew up not far from marshall high school and whose parents still live in the east garfield park community. earlier this year katrina adams became the first african-american and first former pro tennis player to become president and c.e.o. of the united states tennis association. the 134-year-old organization that has barred black athletes from its premier event, the u.s. nationals championship formerly known as the u.s. open until 1950 when it allowed althea gibson to compete. at 46, adams is the youngest of

the 53 people, among them just four women, who have been the usta leader an unpaid volunteer position. in an article done by the "chicago tribune," the writer states that although her term lasts only two years, adams understands that her being the face of the u.s. tennis association can have a significant impact especially at a moment when the best female player in the world serena williams, also is a train train. -- is a african-american katrina is supposed to have said, and i quote, i think having a african-american as president is a huge statement. it shows how far we have come within the usta as a whole. as family, friends, and community leaders, old coaches volunteers, and tennis fans gathered to congratulate and honor katrina, they were

reminded of something her mother told her many years ago. her mother said that katrina other little black girls may not want to reach where you are but they will want you to do well. and you are showing them they can do it if they put their mind to it. phillip hirsch also mentions in his article something that billie jean king is supposed to have said to her friend, katrina. she said, katrina, if you can see it, you can be it. her being the first person of color as u.s. tennis association president and a former pro besides, sends a strong message. her family, friends, and former classmates at the whitney young high school, northwestern university, and the east garfield park community where

indeed, a proud bunch as they gathered to salute the young lady they had watched grow up in the inner city, become a high school and college tennis star a tennis pro, and ultimately president of the united states tennis association. congratulations to you, katrina. we are all proud of your accomplishments. and, mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the chair now recognizes the gentleman from puerto rico mr. pierluisi, for five minutes. mr. pierluisi: i ask unanimous consent to address the house. mr. speaker, today i'm reintroducing a bill to extend supplemental security income program known as s.s.i., to puerto rico. of all of these parties that puerto rico faces -- parities because puerto rico faces because it is a territory and not a state, few are as damaging as its exclusion from s.s.i.

s.s.i. provides monthly cash assistance to blind, disabled or elderly individuals who have limited or no income. we are talking about the most vulnerable members of our society. s.s.i. applies in all 50 states and the district of columbia. however, since the program's inception, in 1974, it has not been extended to puerto rico. instead the federal grant program known as aid to the aged, the blind, and disabled or aabd applies in puerto rico. the social security administration sends monthly s.s.i. payments directly to beneficiaries whereas the aabd program is administered by the puerto rico government, using an annual block grant provided by the u.s. department of health and human services. the gap between the treatment that is provided to beneficiaries in the 50 states and the treatment that is

provided to their fellow american citizens in puerto rico is in a word, shocking. according to the most recent federal statistics, the average s.s.i. payment to beneficiaries is $540 a month and close to $650 a month for beneficiaries who are under the age of 18. by contrast, based on the most recent data that has been furnished to my office, the block grant that the federal government provides to puerto rico--to the puerto rico government is only $33 million a year. with this limited funding, the puerto rico government provides an average payment to adult beneficiaries of just $74 a month. let me repeat that. $540 a month in the states versus $74 a month in puerto rico.

to add insult to injury the puerto rico government is legally required to meet a 25% match in order to receive this block grant. the states obviously do not have to make any matching payments for their residents to receive s.s.i. assistance. in 2014 the g.a.o. estimated that if puerto rico were a state, it would receive up to $1.8 billion a year under s.s.i. that is 54 times as much as the territory receives annually under aabd. again, let me repeat that 54 times greater than g.a.o. estimated if puerto rico were a state, 300,000 island residents would qualify for s.s.i. payments. under the current program in puerto rico, only 35,000 individuals receive assistance. thus, puerto rico's exclusion from the s.s.i. program means that its government cannot

provide decent monthly payments to residents who cannot support themselves. it also means that puerto rico's government cannot assist hundreds of thousands of extraordinarily needy residents at all. those who seek proof of how puerto rico's harmed by its territory status need look no further than the treatment it receives under s.s.i. those who want to comprehend why roughly 240,000 island residents relocated to the states between 2010 and 2014 in search of better quality of life should realize that puerto rico's unequal treatment under key federal programs including but not limited to s.s.i., is the major contributing factor to this migration. let me be chris cal clear on this point. politicians in puerto rico and the states who defend puerto rico's current status must accept the undeniable truth that

this status is harming the people of puerto rico. when they rationalize or excuse puerto rico's territory status, they are complicit in puerto rico's mistreatment. but make to mistake the era of inequality is coming to an end. i stand side by side with a large and growing army of proud u.s. citizens from puerto rico who refuse to accept such shameful treatment any longer. we believe in full equality for puerto rico under the american flag. we will fight for it until we achieve it. and we will achieve it soon. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the chair now recognizes the gentlelady from texas ms. jackson lee, for five minutes. ms. jackson lee: thank you, mr. speaker. as i address the house and ask unanimous consent to address the house. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. ms. jackson lee: to discuss a number of concerns that i

believe we have need to confront as quickly as possible. yesterday and today commemorates sadly, the snatching of over 200 girls from northern nigeria. the area where the girls lost their incense and their right to a quality -- good quality of life was in the dark of night when heinous thugs armed with horrific weapons burst into dorm rooms of sleeping girls preparing to take exams to improve their lives. their parents had worked hard. they were like any other parent here in the united states or around the world loving their children. and these evenous thugs with their vial -- heinous thugs with their vial leader, boko haram, stole them, stole their incense in a certain sent their virginity and now we are

struggling to find them. over a year many of us pressed the nigerian government to find and bring back the girls. in the spring of 2014, i traveled to the northern state with my colleagues, ms. wilson, and my colleague from texas, and we met with broken families and the girls who had escaped. we saw the northern state. we were not welcome by the words that we were saying which is bring the girls back. we met with generals the military. we saw our military's compassion under the african command. and we saw that he they were ready to be of assistance. those generals, i must say, said that they were ready. in the course boko haram has killed 15,000 people. there are thousands that are

displaced 1.5 million i believe the number is. and these girls are still missing. said to have been married off. but some girls are worth rescuing, all girls are worth rescuing, all children are worth saving. today we will stand on the steps of the capitol begging for help from the international community . i must make mention of the african union through the auspicious of the united nations have developed a strategy and a effort, military effort led by chad niger, cam room, and nigeria, but they are still not found. they are still not caught. and boko haram continues to be the heinous vial organization that should not exist. in attacking the innocent people of nigeria. boko haram have declared themselves part of the family of iceling. that alone stands to promote -- isil. that alone stands to promote them as a heinous group.

mr. speaker, i am calling upon the united states, who i believe has a deep commitment to find these girls to be able to engage in in -- an intensified effort to find them and collaborative effort with our expertise continued to be able to assure that these girls are brought home and that boko haram does not continue to flaunt itself. let me add al-shabaab that did the killings in kenya. we must be concerned about a continent that is our friend. one that desires to do trade and business with us. a continent, africa, who loves america, who you can see the array of africans here in the united states. i have the largest population of nigerians wonderful, good people, doctors and teachers lawyers public servants. . but we must stand with them to bring the girls back. let me show you the mutilating

and destroying of christian artifacts, the destruction of towns left in their -- in their midst. they don't care and i am outraged that they are standing. let me say this, mr. speaker, as i ask for them to be rest dude, as i go to express this in an open forum to our community our nation, let me add that part of the work of the department of justice deals with issues of human trafficking and sometimes it takes it internationally so i conclude my remarks by saying we must -- we must confirm general loretta lynch, the attorney general nominee of the united states of america. this is an african-american woman that has been held without conscience. she's qualified. she's ready to serve and i'd ask my colleagues to show to the world what kind of country america is that we follow process and that this individual be allowed to serve her nation as she desires to

do. mr. speaker, i thank you for the time and i yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields back. pursuant to clause 12-a of rule 1, the chair declares the house in recess until noon today. during this month c-span is pleased to present the winning entries in this years' student cam competition. it is c-span's annual competition that encourages middle and high school students to think critically about

issues that affect the nation. students were asked to create their documentary based on the theme "the three branches and you" to demonstrate how a policy, law or action by one of the three branches of government has affected them or their community. evan goulog -- gulock, his entry focused on the topic of health care. >> in america today there are over 300 million people. in 2012 about 15% of that population were without health insurance to properly cover them in the face of skyrocketing medical costs. it's almost impossible to talk about the situation, of course, without discussing health care reform. so let's talk about it but not from here in washington but from here, in a place like my hometown of royal oak michigan. the affordable care act or obamacare, took effect in 2014 in an attempt to remedy the lack of universal health care system in the u.s. the number of americans without

health insurance was reduced by about 11 million citizens this past year because of the a.c.a. i talked to people all across the board from oil oak residents on the streets to a.c.a. navigators, to pbs news anchor and congressman sander levin to paint a picture of the repercussions this law has had on the community. >> we haven't found any difficulties in it the only thing is it got raised. >> my brother doesn't have a job and is able to afford health care because of obamacare. >> it was a little difficult. i didn't know there was going to be a penalty. i am not happy about the penalty. >> not very affordable. >> i think it's great. it allowed me, who doesn't have a lot of money, to have health care and i was uncovered for many, many years and i'm at the tender age of 53. >> if anybody is trying to get people who can't get health care health care it's a good

thing. >> i'm covered. i got a card in my wallet so i'm feeling pretty darn good. >> the general consensus is that the a.c.a. has been mostly beneficial on the individual especially since it covers people who were previously uninsured, including people who have pre-existing conditions or are under the age of 26. >> for us personally that was a real boom. otherwise we would have been without insurance for our two young adults in the family. so i'm grateful that they figured that out for us. >> i'm grateful too. >> yeah. >> i'll take it. >> there were several million people under 26 who did not have health care and who began to receive it through their parents. so many people did not have access to preventive care so there were lots of impacts on the individual lives of people. >> if i take it to the real extreme i could say it he helped me save my house and i was absolutely embarrassed to live in a country where people didn't have insurance. as we know there are lots of people who have come into verks very difficult times through medical costs.

some to the point of losing their home or go bankrupt. how it affects our community, it keeps this neighborhood having me as a neighbor. >> i met so many people who are thankful for now having health care. in a sense, as you talk to people it's a bit unbelievable that we were the only industrial nation in the world which did not have anything like universal health care. >> unfortunately, in order to provide health care for everyone in the u.s., the cost has to go somewhere and while there may be a variety of benefits for the individual, the expenses may then be deferred onto other individuals or employees which is having damaging effects on businesses which could in turn place dangerous implications back onto the individual. >> you know, with our company we're finding it that everybody's paying more money. >> as an employer, you have to make a call and say, do i try to cover this for my employee, do i try to absorb the cost increase to the employee? and if i do, will they value it? if i do that means i'm not going to be able to give raises and i might not be able to be

competitive in the marketplace. it means i might not be able to pay bonuses this year even though someone did a really good job. we're a human capital business. we have 5,700 employees. our costs and therefore our assets and -- are in the people that walk in our door every single day. >> don't think it's working out too well for a lot of guys who are making $15 hrks $20 an hour and they're paying $200 a week to keep their family insured. i'm not a big fan of it. >> we can't raise our prices to our customers. our health care costs are going up. we're passing to onto the employee. >> you asked me about whether there's been a learning curve, i would call it more of a learning cliff. >> the problem is that it's not sustainable. >> i think as a country we've been trying to find our way up that cliff. >> if i'm not investing in my employees and my business i'm not able to grow. i have to retract. if i'm not able to grow, i'm not able to retain talent. it's a vicious cycle downward. >> as you know in washington

it's an immensely controversial subject and the republican majority in the house has tried to repeal it or dramatically undermine it over 50 times. >> obamacare was exploited by the lack of information given to the american people. >> so it's been two steps forward and one step back. i think we're making progress. i think people are wrapping their arms around it and are seeing some benefits. it just hasn't been as smooth as one might imagine something like this would be. but it's a first. i mean it's a huge undertaking. >> though there are certainly areas for improvement that still need to be addressed, for this community the affordable care act is a step forward. >> i can't imagine that anybody should worry about whether they're going to go bankrupt or lose their home because of a medical situation. and i think they've turned that around for me, anyway. >> it's one of those aspects of life that affects everybody. and since health care needs a universal health care coverage

to be universal. >> you see people acting in a way that's fearful and that can't be good for anything. it's not good for your work, your attitude, your family. you know, and if people are relieved of that fear that mental health or physical health or dental could cause them problems, then i think they could be better people. >> there are different impacts of the affordable care act depending on which population you serve so if you have a dense urban core that's incredibly impoverished you might see a bigger impact kind of where you look and who you talk to. i think that's also the case for most massive pieces of legislation. there is no uniform success or failure. >> there was much controversy over social security and medicare but now the vast majority of seniors would never dream of wanting medicare to go away. >> we have to go back and revisit the assumptions on how

do we make the affordable care act quote-unquote affordable. >> the results of federal laws and actions can be seen everywhere and with everyone in one way or another. it affects your neighbors your family, your friends and perhaps this is something here we can keep in mind when we go back here. >> to watch all of the winning videos and to learn more about our competition, go to c-span.org and click on studentcam. also, tell us what you think about the issue this student addressed in their documentary on facebook and twitter. >> after formerly announcing her 2016 bid for the presidency in a video message sunday, hillary clinton traveled to monticello, iowa, yesterday for her first official campaign event. she participated in an education roundtable with students and educators at kirkwood community college. >> so what we're going to do today is have a little roundtable and i thought we'd

go around and introduce ourselves and just tell a little bit about what you are and where you're from and all that kind of good stuff. andrew, let's start with you. >> all right. i'm andrew, a senior at springville high school and i've been taking classes here at kirkwood for three years now. i started when i was a sophomore. i'm currently in the academy, just across the hall right now and also -- i'll be graduating in may and i'm graduating and heading out to annapolis to the naval academy majoring in systems engineering. ms. clinton: great. good luck. >> my name is ellen and i'm a junior at monticello high school and i started taking kirkwood classes my sophomore year. i began taking an online class and i'm currently in arts and science. and by the time that i graduate i'll have 48 credit hours done.

ms. clinton: really? >> a year and a half. ms. clinton: wow. that's great. ok. >> i'm diane temple. the last 21 years i've been a high school english teacher and spent six of those years part time as a competition instructor. >> [inaudible] >> 7-12 principal. we partner to send kids with all the great opportunities you heard and more. we welcome you to monticello. ms. clinton: thank you. >> [inaudible] >> that's good. that's a good luck omen. >> i'm drew, a junior. i'm currently taking auto tech and biotech programs here. i've had a great time, getting

a taste of the college experience and i plan to go on and do something with engineering after i get out of high school. ms. clinton: great. thank you. >> and i'm bethany moore. i'm what they call a nontraditional college student. i'm taking business administration, management and i also am doing the continuing ed program here at kirkwood. ms. clinton: that's great. well, first, i want to thank you for having me here and a few of my friends in the college and i just had a terrific tour of the advanced manufacturing laboratory and got to talk with the instructor and four of the students, all of whom are high school students who are doing what you have described as the great opportunity to mix your high school years with college learning and college credits as you move forward and i am

really pleased to be at a community college that is so visionary and effective in trying to serve as a bridge for people who are nontraditional but coming back to add to their skills all the way to high school students who are taking advantage of the opportunities and the cooperation between the college and the high school is something i want to see a lot more of. this is a real model for how we can provide more continuous learning starting in high school but going as far as necessary to help better prepare not only young people but all people for the economy that is awaiting us. and before we get started -- because i want to hear from each of you. i want a little more information about what you see as the challenges that you face in your education, both as students and as educators and

the opportunities that you hope to be able to take advantage of. i just want to tell you a little bit about why i'm here today. i think we all know that americans have come back from some pretty tough economic times, and our economy and our country are much better off because american families have basically done whatever it took to make it work but i think it's fair to say that as you look across the country the deck is still stacked in favor of those already at the top. and there's something wrong with that. there's something wrong when c.e.o.'s make 300 times more than the typical worker. there's something wrong when american workers keep getting more productive as they have and as i just saw a few minutes ago is very possible because of education and skills training but that productivity is not matched in their paycheck. and there's something wrong

when hedge fund managers pay lower tax rates than nurses or the truckers that i saw on i-80 as i was driving over over the last two days. and there's something wrong when students and their families have to go deeply into debt to be able to get the education and skills they need in order to make the best of their own lives. and i looked at the figures. the average iowa graduate from a four-year college comes out with nearly $30,000 in debt. and that's i think the ninth highest debt load in the country. and people are struggling -- i met earlier today with a young student who is piecing together work and loans knowing full well he's going to come out owing a lot of money. so we've got to figure out in

our country how to get back on the right track, and i'm running for president because i think that americans and their families need a champion and i want to be that champion. i want to stand up and fight for people so that they cannot just get by but they can get ahead and they can stay ahead. and a lot of people in the last few days have asked me, well, why do you want to do this and what motivates you and i thought a lot about it and i guess the short answer is i've been fighting for children and families my entire adult life. probably because of my mother's example. she had a really difficult childhood. was mistreated, neglected, but she never gave up. she had to basically be on her own by the time she was 14 and she just kept going. and my father, who was a small business man and just believed you had to work hard to make your way and do whatever you

had to do to be successful and provided a good living for our family. and then i was thinking, too about, you know, the lessons i learned from my church. you know you're supposed to give back. you're supposed to do what you can to help others. that's what i tried to do and we'll have more time to talk about that as we go forward. when i got out of law school i worked for the children's defense fund, and one of the projects there was literally going door to door -- this was back in the 1970's when kids with disabilities were basically shut out of our schools and thanks to your great former senator, tom harkin, that's no longer the case but i was knocking on doors saying is there anybody school aged not in school and finding blind kids and deaf kids and kids in wheelchairs who were just left out and i was able in arkansas to try and work to improve education there and give more kids chances who

really deserved them and then as first lady to fight for health care reform and keep fighting until we got health care insurance for kids. and then as senator dealing with the problems that faced new york after 9/11 and trying to help people get whatever they needed. the victims' families, the first responders. it was an incredible honor to do that. and then as secretary of state standing up for our country. so when i look at where we are as a country i'm just so absolutely convinced that there isn't anybody anywhere who can outcompete us, who has better values, who can do more to provide more people the chance to live up to their own god-given potential. but we can't take that for granted. and so i want to be the champion who goes to bat for

americans in four big areas, four big fights that i think we have to take on because there are those who don't agree with what i think we should be doing and they're pretty powerful forces. we need to build the economy of tomorrow, not yesterday. we need to strengthen families and communities because that's where it all starts. we need to fix our dysfunctional political system and get unaccountable money out of it once and for all, even if that takes a constitutional amendment. and we need to protect our country from the threats that we see and the ones that ron the horizon. so -- are on the horizon. so i'm here in iowa to begin a conversation about how we do that and to hear from people about what's on your minds, what the challenges you see are and i'm going to work hard to meet as many people. i'll be rolling out ideas and policies about what i think will work, but i want it to be informed by what's actually working and to build on what

works going forward. and to stand up against those who have a different vision of our country, a different one that i grew up with and a different one i think is best for everybody. so with that what i'd love to do is just, you know, ask a few questions and hear from folks about what their experiences have been and try to learn what you think would be ways of helping more young people get the kind of education they need without having the personal banks be broken and put you and your family at financial risk. and if i could start with you, you're going to the naval academy. that's a great opportunity. >> thank you. ms. clinton: and it's also one of the few higher educations of such high quality that is free. the young men and women that are recruited into our military academies are given just a world-class education.

can you maybe describe a little bit more to me about what you learned in the info tech and biotech classes you took and how you think it helped you with taking this next step going to the naval academy? >> yeah. our first day in infotech we went to the lab and we have all the computers in the lab, everyone finds their own and said, all right, you'll find this here on the back, remove the panels, now take everything out of the computer, put everything back in the computer. it was very hands on. it wasn't sitting behind the computer learning how to go through this and that. it wasn't reading the lab book. it wasn't taking notes. it was physically doing what you would do in the infotech field. and so we do a lot of work with tech support so that's what kids going into the infotech field is i.t. or software design. it's -- it taught me the kinds

of things i would do if i got a career in that field. and then same thing with biotech. i probably am not going to do too much with biology but i took it because of the engineering background that comes with biotech. i mean, anytime we do any experiment we get our lab notebook we write down -- you take notes of everything you change in any way, shape or form with that and then -- i mean, it prepares me for the kind of engineering i'll work with. being in a lab situation scenario. it's the kind of thing i'll see at the [inaudible] and while there's a big difference between community college to public and private there's no dropoff in quality. i'm still getting the kind of skills i would get and will get at the academy or any other school i'd go to. ms. clinton: well, it sounds like you're going to be well prepared for what will be a

rigorous curriculum that's going to demand a lot out of you. i got young friends who are either former or current mid shipmen and i know how challenging the study is but you feel like this has given you the hands on -- literally hands on experience that you can then transfer? >> yeah. ms. clinton: if i could, jason, explain the idea behind how the high schools coordinate nate with the community colleges. part of the reason i'm here this is a real model. it's not by accident i ended up at kirkwood in monticello because we looked for those models, really life-long learning and connecting up high schools with community colleges, four-year colleges and other programs. give me a sense of your experience with that. >> well, if you have a couple of hours -- ms. clinton: i do. >> the partnership, the way it

works, when kirkwood kind of approached some of the schools that were part of it -- there's eight schools around here. the largest one is still very rural, small school. we graduate about 35, 40 kids in a graduating class. the biggest ones is monticello is how many kids do you graduate -- 100? so when we look at it, we each look at each other, how do you have a multimillion dollar advanced manufacturing lab in our school? i can't do it. i just can't do it. so where do we send them? we can't put a kid in a car and drive to cedar rapids which is close enough to us compared to others. what they did is started having conversations at the end of the day, kirkwood pardoner inshipped with the schools and basically we commit to sending kids which sends a certain amount of dollars and they commit on their end and together we work clab are atively. we have monthly meetings. we share information about kids.

one thing that's great, i'd love to offer as many things to our schools as much as we can. i just don't have the resources to add 15 new teachers and 15 new programs. here collectively we can. you think about it that's a perfect model. i love this model and our kids do. at the end of the day, the reason is because it gives our kids more options. it also is like stuff that you have kind of the four-year career kids that you know, look at comp 2, comp 3 and the rigorous course work that will get them ready for four-year, also the segue you struggle, i can have one-on-one conversations with you and your parents so when we cut the chord they're prepared and ready. just throw them out there and hope they make it. then the other side of it is advanced manufacturing, auto tech where kids are directed towards a career. the conversations we have with individual kids to really get a focus what they want to do and we help them do that and now they have the resources to do that.

ms. clinton: and the confidence. the confidence is so important. >> we help them instill it. they get done and this might launch, ok i'm now seeing a certified -- so now i can be a c.n.a. making x number of dollars. now i'll be a four-year r.n. nurse. advanced manufacturing and say i'm good. i can get a job now. it's free for the kids. ms. clinton: that's what i was going to ask you, jason. if if you're enrolled in a high school -- >> yeah. and they call it postsecondary enrollment option. it's really great opportunity and our kids really do a good job. when they're here, they just -- they reach another level and they're around other like-minded kids. this kid's going to the naval academy. i love my kids get to be around that. we have that around. at central city you might have

that every once every 10 years. collectively we have kids like that. and think about socially and emotionally, the kids get to know each other. they learn from each other not just in the education piece but now they can know what it's like to be in college. you see someone, you know how it was when you went to college, knew kids from other schools. ms. clinton: i was so scared. really, i called home and said i want to come home. called collect in those days. [laughter] >> yeah. we understand that. the thing that's great is we're still there counselors, principals are there to like be that middle man. because i'm an example of like -- the chord was cut for me, off to college and i had a rough start. i was in and out and i didn't have the support system so it's a nice segue in college where kids don't accumulate debt, they learn how to manage their time with, you know, us helping and then also some of them get a career out of this. it's not just going off to college. they go off and get a huge. i'm a huge fan what we're doing here. i think not only across the state of iowa but across the

united states in rural areas when you're trying to increase the rigor in rural areas without having to hire 10 new teachers to teach extra physics, this is a great model of that. ms. clinton: well, amen. i really believe that and, drew, tell me about your experience. because you're still in high school. you've got another year to go, right? so how did you end up here? did you hear about it? did a counselor tell you about it? >> well, we have meetings. we had kids go before we did so they -- they come back and they share. kirkwood is so fun. you get to do so many different classes and get to kind of experience the college feel while you also are going to high school. being able to come here and participate in all the hands on stuff -- i'm in the auto tech academy so everything in here we work with. ms. clinton: so we're in your classroom? >> yeah. so we get to do everything hands on. the first day of class we're out working on cars and experiencing everything. so it was really great to

actually go out and do the stuff and not just learn about it for weeks on end and maybe get to do some of the stuff hands on so it's been great. ms. clinton: and is your experience doing the work on auto similar to what i heard in advanced manufacturing you have to learn a lot of math and understand computers and they were talking to me about with the computerized knew marek control, trying to really -- numeric control, trying to really use their math skills and upgrade them so they can deal wall of the computerization? >> yeah. i mean, cars are controlled by computers now so we do a ton of work with tools and computers so that's hands on and that's valuable skills. to be certified in if you want to go to the automotive field. . ms. clinton: how long have you been teaching here? thank you. thank you. that's one of the other things