why do we graduate people from high school ready week -- why do we not graduate people from high school to go to work? why have we stigmatized industrial careers? these are good paying jobs. we can teach people to do this while they are young. we need flexibility in higher education, some people who can work full-time can also acquire the skills they need to improve their life, so that a receptionist can become a paralegal. so that a health aide can become a dental hygienist. today, people cannot. if you have to work full-time to raise a family, you can't have everything to set in a classroom. we need to provide flexible programs that allow people to learn at their own pace. we have to stop graduate he

people from college with degrees the do not lead to jobs. [applause] we cannot afford to do this anymore. people are borrowing thousands of dollars in loans for degrees that do not lead to jobs. i propose a straightforward idea. before you take out a loan, or school has to tell you how much you can expect to make when you graduate from that school with that degree. so you can decide whether that basket weaving degree you are seeking -- i used to cite greek philosophers just to get people offended -- greek philosophy is good, by the way -- so that people stop borrowing money for degrees that do not lead to jobs.

we have to accept that we live in a global age. we have 4%-5% of the global population. we needed to be millions of people on the planet that can afford to buy what we sell and bake. you cannot have global prosperity without american leadership, because you cannot have stability with how to american leadership. the united nations cannot do it, god for bid china cannot do it russia cannot do it. there is only one nation in the world capable of allowing the freedom loving people in the world to confront evil. look around the world today, it is chaos in every region of the

planet. from asia -- china is literally building islands to stake out illegitimate claims in the south china sea, and in latin america, and in europe were vladimir putin is trying to rewrite the cold war, to the middle east with the spread of radical jihadist groups and iran moving ahead in hegemonic intentions. america cannot solve problems on its own. none of these poems can be solved without america. we have a president that has eviscerated military capability. [applause] these are challenges, and opportunities. if we can have a vibrant economy, if we can equip people with the skills they need, if we can reengage america and its leadership, the 21st century

will be in american century. i believe that all of my heart. these things will not happen on their own. it reminds us that the election will not be a choice about what laws are going to pass, whether it is going to be republican or democrat. 2016 as a referendum on our identity. what kind of country do we want to be? to be want to remain special aura be prepared to become like everybody else? tonight, my wife and children are in orlando. i wish i was there. although i am happy to be here with you.

[laughter] i make that point because when you make the decision to run for president, you realize you will be away from home. there are days he will not be there. there are tournaments he will miss. what a lobby to make the decision to run is that this election is about them as much as anybody else. my children's generation is the most important generation in history. they will either be the freest or most prosperous americans, or the first to inherit a diminished country. it reminds me of all my parents did for me, and it should remind you that all your parents did for you. the americans did what had to be

done. they faced the challenges, they embraced opportunities, and we inherited the greatest nation in all of human history. they did so as a nation and the people. my father worked events like this for a decade. he stood behind behind the bar. on nights he did not want to work, he said behind that bar. because the purpose of their life became to give us the chances they never had. to open doors for us that were not open to them, all the dreams they once had would come true for me. that's not just my story, it is

our story. this is who we are. this is who we must still be. if you want to know whether america will remain special, it will not be based on the size of our economy. it will be based on whether or not the people doing this now can still do it. the people who will clean your rooms tomorrow morning and this hotel. the people who are using free wi-fi at a starbucks to operate their new business. the student that will take two buses in the morning to attend a better school. the single mother who has made the purpose of her life to ensure that her children have the opportunities she never did. if their dreams come true, the 21st century will be the greatest era in our nations

history. if they do not, we will always be known as the generation that allowed america to diminish and decline. this is what the election is about. this is why we are engaged in public service. this is not a sport. this is about the future of america and its identity. [applause] i believe the century will also be an american century. there is not a nation on this earth i would trade places with. there is no other country i would rather be. the 21st century can be an american century if we wanted to be. it is up to us to be the party of the future, to show those who are trying to improve lives that we are the party with a plan to get us there. if we do these things, we will be able to leave for our children what americans always leave for their children, the single greatest nation in the history of all mankind. thank you. [applause]

thank you. thank you. thank you. >> we will take some questions you know the routine. we will bring the microphone over. >> thank you, senator. i have asked this before. i want to know who you get along with on the democratic side. only because, if you are going to be president, you have to work with everyone. please tell me. senator rubio: i think i get along with everyone, even those who call me a loser. [laughter] some of you got it, go read the

papers. chris coons is someone from connecticut i have worked with. delaware. i forget. someone i have worked with on many ideas i have talked about. there are people we can work with some ideas. there's a fundamental difference between our parties. the democratic party is under the control of a radical left-wing view. i think you see evidence of that in policy. and also the control of a left-wing view reflected in foreign policy. the idea that we are creating problems for ourselves, as opposed to the reality that in the absence of american leadership, at least two of vacuum, which leads to chaos. we will have to work with people

who we disagree with on certain issues. i hope we can move forward because at the end of the day, america will decline for all of us, republicans and democrats alike. we are all in this together. we are inextricably linked in that regard. there are fundamental differences between our parties. >> senator, great to see you. i've been asking candidates about common core. common core is an issue important to me. i want to know your status on common core, what would you do? senator rubio: it's going to be used by the department of education, though standers to force themselves on state policy. you will not get federal money. i do not think that is the right approach. i believe in curriculum reform. [applause]

>> i am a local businessman in new hampshire. my concern is how much is the regulation on businesses. the last regulation and came into effect yesterday, the ambush law, you know? the ambush election law. and also the thing with trying to make joint employers with franchisees. i'm concerned that what they are doing what changed the face of business in this country.

as president, how would you get the group under control? what we do do with new regulations? senator rubio: at the end of the day, all agencies are under the domain of the executive branch. president obama supports those policies, and that's why they are happening. residential leadership can have a big role in how these play. an increasing amount of power and the federal government is held in the hands of unelected unaccountable bureaucrats. a lot of this is because the vast growth of regulation. members of congress often think that we are lawmakers, but most laws being passed in washington are nothing but authorizations for regulators to write rules. there are different ways to bring regulations under control. the one i propose is called the

regulatory budget. it says that no matter what you do, we will set a limit on how much regulations can cost the economy. agencies would have to get under that number every year by reducing regulation. it will force them to undertake a cost benefit analysis, and that is something that is not happening right now. they'll have to get rid of an old regulation if they want to put a new one in place. most of all, it would massively regulate the regulatory state. it would bring it will under the regulatory impediment on the growth of our economy. beyond that, i would argue that it is not simply an annoyance, companies and investors and people that trying to create jobs look at these things at the conditions us doing business in the nation. it is not attractive to have a

place where you have a national labor it is opposing upon a particularly small business like a franchise owner, which is not a mcdonald's, it is on by an individual that happens to on that store, requirements that they have to make that make them uncompetitive in respect to the rest of the world. so it's just one more example of at the regulatory state is making america uncompetitive in an era of global competition. [applause] >> hi senator. he spoke a lot about the future in your speech. entitlements are going to be a huge part of that. i was wondering if you could speak to entitlement reform or how you plan to keep america prosperous in terms of budget. senator rubio: during my senate campaign, i have campaigned on the issue of entitlement reform. there are a lot of people on social security. this includes my mother. i would never do anything to harm my mother. i recognize two truths. the single leading cause of debt

is the fact that we have entitlement programs that are structured that are not sustainable. the only solution -- if you want to reform programs that doesn't impact people like my mother, it will require my generation and her generation to accept that our social security and medicare is still going to be the best thing in the world, but it is going to look different. we propose specific ideas of how to make that come about. i did so when i ran for senate in florida. when i did, i talked about retirement age. many pundits predicted it was the end of my campaign. it wasn't true. the math is unmistakable. when social security was founded, we had 15 workers for every retiree. today, we have three for every retiree, and soon it will be two

for every retiree. it is unsustainable. anybody who says they want to leave programs the way are is in favor of bankrupting those programs. we need to confront that issue. the sooner we confronted, the less disruptive changes will be. >> when my grandparents moved here from québec, they could only speak french. when my father and his siblings went to school, they had no choice to learn english. he didn't have any special teachers that went to classrooms and as they learned, they were forced to learn english. when my daughter applied for a teaching job in florida, she was told she was not qualified because she did not have a certificate in english as a second language.

she said, mom, isn't english the language in this country? we spend extra money making sure that every child is comfortable in their native language before they are taught english. i want to know if something can be done about it. i do not think people are coming here and learning english. you walk into a lowe's store and and the signs are in english and spanish. it seems like this country needs to do something about this. we are in english-speaking country, but the people here are not forced to learn english

senator rubio:. if you don't speaking english you are not going to prosper economically. it is a language spoken in this country. there is not a law that says it is the official language, but it is the official language and it should be. it is that unifying language of our people. anyone who doesn't learn english is going to have a limited horizon, economically. i don't know the circumstances your daughter faced, but the truth is, anyone who comes to this country who immigrants here and doesn't learn english, the more disadvantage they will be in the less they will contribute economically. >> [indiscernible] senator rubio: i don't know what it means in other parts of the country. children who come to the united states and only speak creole have to learn english to graduate. because they are learning

english, they have to be proficient enough to take a test. they are streamlined to speak english to graduate high school. you cannot graduate if you don't speak english. you cannot pass the exam. many of those esol classes are designed for students who first language is their native language. that is how the system -- i'm not sure the district she applied to. >> i think you have been clear about this and i totally affirm your position that the number one position of the chief executive and the government's national security. estimates are that iran will have the bomb within months no matter what happens.

we obviously, you know what i am talking about, the silliness in washington as far as what the president is doing. this will destabilize the entire international scene. i think most americans have no clue that this is coming as quickly as it is coming and what kind of impact it is going to have. i would love to hear your views on if you were in the white house, how do you deal with this? we have a president who is basically, what we do? i think you probably have a different perspective. senator rubio: let me just describe the nature of the problem. even though we have lost a lot of leverage because of what the president has already done. iran is not just limited to nuclear weapons. this is not even being discussed in negotiations. iran is the premier sponsor of

terrorism. they have multiple groups around the world that the sponsor to carry out terrorist attacks as a form of state -- they use terrorism the way normal nations use diplomacy. that is literally what they do that is not being discussed. second, a nuclear capability is not is limited to a bomb, you have to have a delivery system. iran is delivering long-range rockets that will be capable of reaching the eastern coast of the united states. those are not part of the talks. weapons design they can buy it if they haven't bought it already. the ability to enrich uranium or reprocess plutonium. even under the most generous deal the president is trying to sell, they retain the infrastructure to enrich and reprocess. when we trust them is that if we want to inspect them, they will let us. we have seen this movie before.

it is called "iraq." we say, let's go in, and no we can't. they try to let you in, they have been at the site. you go back, you do the same game. we have seen this movie before it is called north korea. iran is willing to put on a charade because they want inspections, because they want more access to the money. in the long term, people want a weapon because it furthers their ultimate ambition, and that is to be a regional hegemonic power. they want to the single most powerful country in that area of the world, they want to drive america out of the region, they want the whole region to be under their domain, and they are already acting on that ambition. today, you can find iran in lebanon and syria and increasingly in iraq. you find it in yemen now. you find in bahrain. it is the most dangerous part of it. we should never have entered into these negotiations. [applause]

the international sanctions and combination with u.s. electoral sanctions have a devastating effect on iran, and the choice of them is clear, you can have nuclear ambitions or you can have an economy but you cannot have both. it was having a real strain on them and threatening the regime's instability, and that is why they came to the table. they knew that this president wanted the deal worse than they did. john kerry wanted this deal worse than they did. what we have been ill to do is basically disrupt the entire international sanctions regime. china and russia -- the russians have already sold antiaircraft weapons. the chinese are going to build reactors. bring those international sanctions is going to be difficult. here's the last truth. we may have to decide at some point what is worse, what is worse? a military strike against iran or nuclear armed iran? i will say this, i don't want

there to be military force, but nuclear iran is an unacceptable risk to the region and the world. [applause] >> last question of the evening. >> take you for coming this evening. i wanted your view, speaking about security. there are terrorists coming across our borders every day, as well as lots of other people who want opportunity and to work in america, but there is a lot of terrorism, too. what is your viewpoint about closing our borders? senator rubio: we had to define what a border is. it is not just mexico or canada, it is airports. people overstay visas. i believe not just in immigration, but national security.

we need to do this early in a term of the next president is improved the way we enforce immigration laws. that in involved border security, including the southern border that remains a largely insecure . also includes an e-verify system and players can use to verify the people they are hiring are legally here. and it also requires an entry and exit system. we have checked you implement never checked you out. that is but never checked you out. we really have not confronted this area of terrorism. someone from abroad coming to america and carrying out terrorist attack, that threat is still there. and then we were concerned about someone going abroad being radicalized, and coming back and that threat is leverett and now we have the threat of

someone who has never left this country, and yet is radicalized online, and is inspired to carry out a terrorist act. all these risks exist and are real. you can listen all the stroll hyperbole about how they are listening to your own calls, but i'm telling you that the first question people are going to know is why we did not know about it and why we do not stop it. this is not again. i am on the intelligence committee, i have no reason to exaggerate to you. the risks today are worse than when i took office. they increase exponentially. every time a traitor reveals her secrets to the world, we pay a terrible price. there are thousands of people around this world who are wanting to care -- kill americans here and abroad. it is real and not hyperbole.

the threat is jihad has spread around the world and it only has continued to grow under the watch of this president and his administration. we need to deal with it because you cannot have prosperity if you're constantly under the risk of a terrorist attack. [applause] >> thank you very much. thank you for having me. >> next, life, your calls on washington journal. then day two of the leadership summit. some speakers include rand paul, scott walker, and john kasich. and age 25 she was one of the wealthiest windows in the colonies. while intermune 43 40's she was considered an enemy by the british who threatened to take her hostage. later she would become our locations first first lady.

martha washington. the sunday night at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span's first ladies, influence and image. examining the public and private lives of the women who fill the position of first lady, from martha washington to michelle obama. on c-span3. as a compliment, c-span's new book, first ladies. lively stories of these fascinating women, creating an illuminating, entertaining, and inspiring read. it is now available as a hardcover or e-book. >> this morning on washington journal, usa today reporter >> gregg zoroya.

and, we'll take your calls and you can join the conversation on facebook and twitter. washington journal is next. ♪ host: good morning. today is saturday, april 18. welcome to "washington journal." earlier this week, congressional lawmakers struck a bipartisan agreement that will give president obama special authority to finish negotiating one of the world's largest trade bills. the president says he will sign fasttrack isf it passes. this morning we want to hear your views on fasttrack. supporters, give us a call at (202) 748-8000