drug control policy and the dea administrator testified. >> the subcommittee will be in order. the chair will be authorized to declare recesses at anytime. we welcome our witnesses today. on the people is profound challenge with the growing heroin epidemic. the number of those -- suffered its overdoses in six days this past february. this is a problem that does not

-- starting byry race or geography. 13 mortality data was released from the center of disease control and prevention. the data shows that while drug related to prescription opiates has remained stable, but the mortality rate decision with heroin increased by 39%. this is more than triple the levels in the fall. that represents other year in a row that the number of heroin has increased nationwide. the weekend, the washington post reported tragic story of a family and me that lost a child to heroin laced with his own oil ---- laced with of opiate. it has been responsible for a rash of death across the

country. this is what often attracts addicts, because they know it will deliver a potent five. it is obvious that the solution of this problem must involve treatment and enforcement. that is why are there this year i introduced comprehensive addiction and recovery of 2015. this legislation will take steps to combat them. or example, the bill addresses link between prescriptions -- -- length between prescriptions. and sharing those with authorities in it also in -- they.rants

it will give you -- health professionals and family cataractadministrating -- united also introduced the criminal reform and -- act. this promotes treatment programs over harsher sentences. we know that approximately 60% of prisoners had substance abuse addiction and only 11% receive treatment. can is not a crisis that we incarcerate ourselves out of. it would authorize the use of medication assisted treatment for the treatment of heroin dependence in prisons.

act would offer training to federal law officials to help them better identify and respond to individuals with substance abuse issues. i look forward to hearing from the witnesses today additional approaches to curb this and his time i would yield the gentleman from california has -- it is the ranking member of the subcommittee today. concerns are the best means to respond to the increasing use of heroin, which is proving to be more deadly. despite the efforts of federal law enforcement, the volume of heroin coming into the country increases. every year, there brought over the border. from 2008-2012, the dea notice

232% increase in heroin seizures on the border. the rate of seizures continue to rise in the state. still, the substance is widely available. it is now cheaper to acquire. over 600,000 americans use compound thebat or health risks, the heroin sold today is more deadly than ever before. risen.ue to has -- due to produce as risen. heroin overdoses in the u.s. betweenrly tripled years of to thousand and 2013. due to heroin overdoses now exceeded traffic that in the

u.s.. it is time that we acknowledge the fact that we're dealing with the public health care crisis given by a strong demand for drugs. where does this demand? experts agree that prior to the use of heroin, many came to opioids and prescription drugs. or listen to -- correlation is strong. on -- the price of heroin has fallen. addicted toready prescription drugs, heroine .ecomes an attractive option many states are implementing drug treatment programs for those it is a prescription drugs and heroin.

they are now revisiting older forms of treatment. this includes programs are better oversight on prescriptions. many departments across the country are employing the use of -- anecdotes to heroin overdose. it has saved the lives of over 10,000 americans 1996. police departments are also working with prosecutors to send addictsms to to rehabilitation. provide a more permanent solution. it reduces crime rates and expenses of incarceration while allowing the police department to allocate resources. towe consider proposals

reduce these heroin, we would be we would do well to -- our focus should be too limiting substance abuse, addiction, irm of look forward to the discussion of this problem. i would like to admit for the record a letter from the drug policy. >> without objection, it will be embellished. i now recognize the chairman from virginia. >> ibm please to be here today -- i am pleased to be here

today. over the past month, we had seen any grace in the availability of heroin. tragicprofound and consequences. every day brings new stories of overdose across the country, including my sister. 11uary, there have been heroin related overdoses, contributing to nine. -- deaths. mexican drug cartels have increased care when -- caroline crossing the border. heroin seizures along the border have nearly tripled as -- enforcement it should surprise no one. john trafficking is profitable,

run by criminals interested in money. given the increasing in theility of heroin u.s., jared traffickers -- drug traffickers want to cash in. the enforcement administration estimates that there are 600,000 , three timesu.s. the number 2012. that number is expected to rise and that is because there isn't anything million americans addicted to opioids. ace someone is addicted to prescription needed to clarify --t you can pass addiction , it is notion exaggeration to say that heroin use has reached epidemic levels.

problem,ot an urban this is an american problem described -- american problem. despite this epidemic and the eaths, there is a legal threat to the people. the obama administration has charged its duty to protect the nation from their products. there must be true heart. the use of the dangerous drug. providing treatment to addicts. ensuring law enforcement versus perceives criminals to bring this poison into our communities. today, all opening statements will appear in the record.

i will swear in the witnesses. please ride. -- rise. you solemnly swear that is among money you are about to give is the whole truth, nothing that is helping god. let the record reflects always responded in the affirmative. mr. forbes has a distinguished witness and i will allow him to attorney at this point and our letter does the next three witnesses. >> thank you. as you mentioned, one witness parr whonancy are -- has served as a district attorney. she had implemented new programs and promoting outreach and

carrying out the traditional role of a prosecutor in chesapeake. taken part in multiple programs. prior to her current role, she was a prosecutor insult -- and suffolk for 10n years. in addition to her public service, she is a member of many more and that many more and organization. the commonwealth attorney, where she was chairman. state commission, the governor's task force, security, while panels subcommittee, a

workgroup, order of personal education, the state department council, virginia david jolly review team, domestic violence committee, the boys and girls club, and the women's love -- love. she is a graduate of the university of virginia. thank you for accepting art of the season today and i look forward to hearing your -- hearing your testimony. au. mr. michael botticelli is the director of the drug control served 2012.he has previously, he served as

director of the bureau of substance abuse services. he holds a bachelor of arts degree and a masters in education. mr. jack riley is he being of the drug enforcement administration. he is the highest ranking special agent in area prior to his appointment special -- special agent in dea. he received a bachelor of science degree in criminal justice and a masters of public policy administration from the university of illinois. - pochenko.oe - of has tried a number

profile cases. before becoming an attorney, she was a social worker in new mexico. she received a bachelor of arts in social work and her doctorate from the school of law. i would have each of you to summarize your testimony. without objection, the witnesses'written statement will be accepted in their entirety. you have a light in front of you. i assume that you know what all of that means. mr. vitale, you are first. botticelli, you are first. botticelli: thank you all for being here today.

the national drug control strategy, the administration's primary blueprint for policy, treat the problem as a public health challenge. of increase in the number people using her when has come a significant problem in our country. opiate misuse can have devastating consequences. deaths from using her with increased over the years. communities struggle with the increased number of overdose deaths and trafficking, it is important to note that the vast overprescribing of prescription to ours easy access jobs. million -- 18

equal to getting 75 people to every american. four out of five and users of your viewers perception drives nonmedically. -- well heroin is traditionally regarded as an easy to urban areas, we in of just of care when used. the devices are being seen in urban and america. thatecent cdc study shows heroin or a car highest among males, but it is doubly online women -- among women. cocaine andijuana, significant risk factors for heroin abuse.

role to used his bolster support for substance use treatment and coordinating waters. in 7-eleven, the administration .lan to address misuse this plan contains -- education, increased drug monitoring programs, proper medication will -- disposal. recently, there was a mandated task force, cochaired by the department of justice to more closely examine the administration's effort and give recommendations and what more we can do. we have seen overdoses leveling off, but it is coupled with a 39% increase in death. to address the greatest issue,

we have worked to increase access for those first responders. and in and with these efforts, our efforts to promote good samaritan laws, so that a witness to overdoses will help save lives. law enforcement nationwide has risen to the challenge of opiate use. they are working with the public health community. it is important for the medical establishment to work with us to meet challenges of increasing access to treatment to those with disorders. primary care physicians have an opportunity for early intervention and do emergency department to treat substance early.- it is vital that individuals with opiate use disorders receive care and treatment. with fdan treatment approved medications with therapy has shown to be the most

effective. -- it wasweekend, and announced that these things will millionded and $100 fund theseping to initiatives. proposed $99s million for treatment and overdose prevention. given the connection between opiates, of bullets -- -- is acessary to pass stark reminder of how these diseases can be spread. public health measures like syringe programs need to be part of this response. capacitywith limited

-- in conclusion we will continue to work with and partners on the public health issues resulting from opiate use use. >> mr. riley? mr. riley: members of this subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to discuss heroin and the dea response. -- hengle mission apparently has been part of that focus. 120 americans today will die of overdose from drugs. painkillers cause over half of those. this is a number one problem facing the country. i have been with the dea over 30 years. i have never seen it is.

-- this. -- this bad. in recent years, we have seen an increase in copy cultivation and heroin production in sicko. counts for half of the domestic supply in the u.s. this is unprecedented, which is why the dea relationship with mexican counterpart is so vital. dea is addressing this by starting the highest levels hackers and organizations -- traffickers and organizations that they run. been chasing el cahpphappo guzman for most of my career.

about -- the relationship between criminal entities can only be described dangerous and toxic. we have to heroin in places i have never seen it before. they heroin is are more different than it was five years ago. you can be snow and it's snorted, like powder cocaine. unfortunately there is new to the whole heroin addict -- typical heroin. at chart is a source of violence , that it keeps the other night. i know from experience the more that we do to reduce crimes, the more we will do to reduce all crime. ofhave developed a model operation and collaboration i believe is making a difference there and across the country. the chicago strikeforce began with local law enforcement,

political leaders, community leaders and prosecutors, coming together to effectively target those trafficking heroin. the number of interests and conviction -- arrests and convictions have risen. we have dismantle criminal organizations responsible for the division of hundred and of pounds of drugs. we also work at the street level to prevent crime, while at the same time pursuing the investigation into the highest level of cartel leadership. we are actively looking to make this a model across the country. we cannot separate ballots from drugs, we cannot -- we cannot separate violence from drugs, so we have created divergent squad across the country, as part of

the commitment to target these drugs. we are taking a to remove unwanted prescription drugs from canada. from ms. the cabinets. -- medicine cabinet. this is a challenge and a danger to the community. law enforcement is not that you care. not the sole answer. role in thisys a problem, parents, community leaders, educators, faith based organizations, and the medical community. this is a marathon, but together we can produce results that you see and that the american people demand. jefferson -- >> i appreciate the opportunity to be here today and the to you.

for the past 18 months, i have learned about drug overdose deaths. because of the dean --ild the kiley fatality team, including narcotics. and with the number of adult overdoses in my city. as a prosecutor, i learned a lot drugsyou -- distribute and possessing drugs. the big difference. for the past 30 years as a prosecutor, i learned about public safety and what victims of crimes and law-abiding citizen and deserve from local law enforcement unit a law-enforcement. i appreciate the whole that drug people.that have on

friends and family that we might have that are addicted. i appreciate the pain they experience for what they go through. that very few people who are addicted to drugs or anything, can break the cycle of addiction by themselves. i also know that many of them die alone. all want tothat we save lives. users, whether they are incarcerated or not, should have access to affordable treatment. dealers should be incarcerated. store owners should not have merchandise stolen by addicts stealing to support their habit.

citizens and should be able to live peacefully in their homes and neighborhoods without clients onvicing street corners, in parking lots, or in the house next door. subjectuld also not be to being in the middle of the crossfire with words breakout -- gangs.eakout between beinge innocent people shot and killed in this country because of drug dealers engaging in gunfire. the generation before us did not , id a way to stop drug use do not think that anybody realistically thinks this generation will do so either. we can all work together to diminish the devastation and impact of the drugs. all of the disciplines involved

have to be the table. i am a prosecutor, not a therapist and i can listen and learn. the comprehensive addiction and recovery act as or -- act, i support. the connection dream -- the connection between prescription drugs and heroin abuse. substance abuse and mental health go hand-in-hand together. grants for local law enforcement. there are five components that i see, and each one serves a very valid purpose. prevention, intervention, treatment, divergent, and incarceration. thank you. -- diversion, and incarceration.

>> good morning members of the committee. thank you for the opportunity to appear today. the firstected da for judicial district in new mexico. i am here to talk about hope. as a prosecutor, every day i make dozens of decisions that impact someone's life. i could sit here and tell you all the corners associated with drug use, but as an elected official who is constantly bombarded with the ills of society on a daily basis, would you rather hear about giving someone hope? our community, like so many, have experienced the ravages of heroin addition -- addiction for years. courtroom, wehe

see the same individuals addicted to opiates, day in and day out who are released from custody and told to obey all laws and stay clean with little to no treatment. weeks,course, in two when they report to their probation officer, they will be told a urine specimen cup, to provide a urine sample, the sample will test positive for opiates, then the person will be arrested, placed in custody, goes back to the court, then is released from custody, told to obey all laws, stay clean, and the cycle continues. we all know that the person is addicted to heroin, of course they will test positive. just because someone tells them or orders them to stop using, do you really think that is going to last very long? anyone that has ever raised children knows firsthand that

you can't make someone do something unless they want to. insanity is toof keep repeating the same mistakes over and over and expect a different result. that is met -- that is madness. the014, santa fe became first after seattle, two provide programs to drug offenders. a police officer on the streets knows his or her community. who better than a police officer to diverge someone into a program? let me tell you how the program works. a police officer is called to a local grocery store on a shoplifting call. he encounters mary, unknown heroine addict. he has arrested her several times before. instead of booking and arresting her, he offers her the program.

the agreement he makes iwht -- with mary is that she must complete the program process within 72 hours. if she does, the officer will not file criminal charges on the shoplifting at the grocery store. if she agrees, the officer then contacts a con -- a case manager and arranges with the two to meet. the case manager asks mary, what can i do to help you? what to do you need? then the two of them develop an action plan. they start with, what are her basic needs? for example, she may need housing, child care, assistance in filling out a job application, or a ged registration. whatever it takes to get her life back. remember, mary has been through the system and lost everything due to her addiction to heroin -- friends family and children. program has a case management community that meets

every two weeks to discuss mary's progress. consists of, prosecutors police officers, case managers, and therapist. everyone is given an opportunity to put input on mary's progress. everyone is in agreement that mary will slip and there will be missteps. she has a group of individuals ready to support her. the program is not ready for everyone, but it is a start for a number of reasons. it is about understanding that in opiate addiction is truly a public health issue and not a criminal matter. it is about recognizing that a person with an opiate addiction is a person, not just another statistic, not another criminal defendant for me to prosecute, but someone whose life does matter. the true focuses of the program is to save money and time. also, but more importantly, the program is about saving lives. it is about empowering the person and giving them hope. >> thank you very much.

we will begin questions under the five-minute rule. i will yield myself five minutes to ask those first series of questions. ms. pacheco, i agree that showing -- shoving someone in jail is something that ought to be addressed. can you give me an estimate if the recidivism rate of those who have gone through the lead and endedd graduated up finding out that it didn't work? ms. pacheco: santa fe's program has been in existence for one year, and as such we don't have the kind of statistical data that seattle does. seattle has shown that in their

program, which santa fe is modeled after, that the -- i want to make sure i have the correct number for you. let me see, i had it marked here. it would be 80% less. recidivism before the program started? ms. pacheco: correct. >> let me say this is probably the most important thing we ought to look at. down, the profits that are made by dealers those down as well. we can talk about saving lives and giving people hope.

in my home community in southeastern wisconsin, we have had a rash of depth as a result of heroin overdoses. -- i rash of overdoses. a task force was convened to try to deal with this, both from law enforcement as well as treatment and rehabilitation. the bill that i introduced with other members of the committee was made at the suggestion of governor walker. what advice would any of you give to the attorney general of wisconsin on how to deal with the task force that he has convened, so that it can be effective? why don't you start mr. botticelli? botticelli: one of the areas you have heard today, and we have been working with many states in response to that -- the overall goal is that this

happens to be a comprehensive response. people know that it is a multidimensional problem that needs a multi-pronged approach. prevention, treatment, recovery support services, as well as a role for our local law enforcement. it is not about incarcerating people with addiction, but going after of the supply of drugs that are on the street fueling this epidemic. it needs to be a multi-pronged approach. as you mentioned, local law enforcement people are understanding the fact that they can't arrest their way out of the problem and that they have a role in terms of reducing overdoses. we have been amazed in terms of the local law enforcement's rise to the call in terms of preventing overdoses. this is really i multidimensional issue that requires a country has a response. as mr. riley talked about, everyone has a role here. leaders,munity, faith -- public community.

bringing evidence about what is effective and limiting those responses. >> i am serving on the governor's heroin and prescription drug task force. one of the good things about how this imitation plan has been working is that there are so many different aspects. we have a pharmacist, mental doctors, mental health treatment providers, law enforcement, state police, local police, sheriff's, the federal government has representatives. they are all represented there. it has been broken down on a treatment workgroup, law enforcement workgroup, education, and the specifics on disposal of the prescription drugs. broad-spectrum, and

breaking down specific workgroups has produced great results. >> the gentleman from california, ms. chu. so chu: ms. pacheco, i am interested by your program. can you talk about santa fe and what role the community involvement plays in that program, as well as the cost realized by incrementing the program? -- by implementing the program? initially santa fe had a series of meetings by community members for nine months. we had a needs assessment and everyone was involved -- private business, law enforcement, mental health workers. theere able to put together lead program. it's consists of a consortium of individuals.

santa fe police department, santa fe council, the public defender's office. .ll of us get together we have combined resources. we have public and private funding. what i would like to say is that it is really wonderful to see how the police officers have responded to this. the police officers on the streets of the ones who originally came to us and said, we need to do something. we are sick and tired of arresting the same people. we have nothing we can give them. and for us, it has been very gratifying to see the response i the police departments. the other thing that has been very gratifying in reference to the program has been that we have seen many young women with children that we had not anticipated. we are also able to provide services to the children. at first, we had not taken that

into consideration. what we are able to do now is providing services to an entire family. we have found that to be very gratifying. ms. chu: thank you. mr. riley, there have been many cases where those who suffer chronic pain face challenges to pain medication. i understand that drugstores have been tightening the rules that the dea has imposed based on allegations that they were not scrutinizing questionable prescriptions. i believe a careful balance has to be struck between attacking prescription drug abuse while not preventing legitimate patients from accessing pain medication. that's why the cosponsor of hr 471, the insuring patient access and drug enforcement asked, which passed the house in april. mr. riley, what steps is the dea doing to ensure that patients

are getting legitimate prescriptions for drug abuse? and how do you respond to comments that the dea's actions to stop prescription drug abuse are increasing problems in the heroin abuse problem? mr. riley: i too share the concern on this. we are so concerned about patient access at every step. we want to ensure that legitimate health care providers have access to adequate medication for their patients. one of the biggest ways we are doing that is through our relationship with the industry. there are approximately 1.5 million registrants. by community -- by communicating back and forth and making sure they understand what we are seeing across the country in trends of addiction and abuse has brought them in what we strive to do to make them our

allies. our education, how they view the problem, is very important. we want to list and -- listen from the registrants, so it is a two-way street. if you look at what occurred in florida with the pill mill, where you literally had a storefront with several hundred people lined up around the block at 6:00 a.m. waiting for it to open to obtain illegal prescriptions. -- in thosetions situations we move quickly to cut that off. with 1.5 million registrants, obviously the majority are law-abiding. the ones that break the law we take very seriously. what we really strive for is patient access. safe and accessible medication. ms. chu: thank you, i yield back. >> the gentleman from virginia, mr. goodlett. -- mr. goodlatte.

mr. goodlatte: the map that you showed gains a disturbing picture. -- paints a disturbing picture. the cartels have infiltrated our nation to a frightening degree and have heard with street gangs to peddle their drugs. in many ways, it is a national security issue. what is the dea doing to address that problem? mr. riley: that is my primary biggest concern having seen this change. this map you are looking at what have been vastly different just five years ago. the role of heroin in toxic business relationships that have evolved in every corner of this country between urban street gangs and mexican cartels is frightening. it is what keeps me up at night. what we are doing better than what we have ever done is connecting the dots. guzmanell you that chapo

counts and plans on the fact that cops don't talk to cops, that the good guys aren't sharing information. i can assure you we are doing that at her now. -- we are doing that better. our ability to attack their tentacles as they spread across the country has never been better. >> are these drug trafficking organizations, by their nature, violent? mr. riley: having done this job in cities across the country for 30 years, i have never seen violence connected to trafficking. >> are these the people you are targeting? mr. riley: many of them are parts of organizations that are extremely violent. >> what percentage of those offenders, those who have enough for only personal use, does the dea referred for protocol -- for federal prosecution? mr. riley: as i understand, virtually none. we want to attack the highest levels possible to really hurt the organization.

with our limited resources, that is the most effective way for us to make a difference across the country. othersme turn it to the and asked a similar question. is violence regularly associated with drug trafficking and distribution? >> yes, i would definitely agree with that. in chesapeake, which is a very safe community, we have gangsngs, mainly between fighting overturf where they are going to sell their drugs. >> what kind of violence do you see with heroin abuse and distribution? >> the violence is not so much, but the property crimes. they are stealing to support their habits. we have seen an increase in prostitution in chesapeake, because that is the way someone in our making money to support

their habits. in terms of distributing heroin, that would be the gun battles on our city streets and our neighborhoods. >> does it extend into gang violence overturf? -- over turf? sales territory, if you will. >> yes, in all areas of chesapeake we have over 300 square miles. there is a lot of turf to fight over. when they see an opening, they are going to go there. >> is there a nexus between heroin trafficking and other acts between these drug organizations? >> yes, whenever you have drug trafficking, you are also going to see an increase in prostitution and also robberies. we have gang members robbing other gang members, drug dealers robbing and shooting other gang members. >> thank you.

ms. pacheco, do you want to respond to the same? is violence regularly associated with drug trafficking and distribution? ms. pacheco: yes sir, it has become worse. >> what kind of violence do you see in new mexico? ms. pacheco: there have been many shootings. there have been a few executions as a result over trafficking. >> you have the same problem with annexes between gangs and drug organizations? ms. pacheco: because we're a border state, we definitely see heroin coming in from mexico fairly frequently, especially northern new mexico. i could not say specifically which cartel is associated with it, but we see a lot of drugs coming in from the border. >> thank you very much. thank you mr. chairman. >> the other gentleman from

virginia. >> we're looking at this program to stop recidivism. have you done any stories to look at the faith-based programs that have worked incredibly successful in trying to stop recidivism? have you done an analysis of that? and specifically, how we looked at their success rates, and also impediments that we are now putting in front of them? did you all make any kind of investigation of that? sir,acheco: not really, this program is a new concept and there isn't a model to compare it to. forbes: often times we love to create new wheels and reinvent the wheel, but we have hadf incredibly successful programs across the country where we have put one impediment after the other in a complement three role with what you are doing.

-- with a complement threar rol. let me ask you this question. that gangd testimony membership would equal the fourth largest army in the world. we have had testimony in both administrations that in some of the most violent gangs that at least 85% of them are coming in a legally. they are bypassing any prevention programs. -- they are coming in illegally. it shocked us the other day to find out the secretary of homeland security didn't know they were asking people if they were the members of violent gangs before they were released. do you have any connectivity as to how important those gangs are in this distribution process? >> i think they have become the most crucial to the mexican cartels. speaking of chicago and the

midwest, there are over 150,000 augmented street gang members. -- hundred 50,000 documented street gang members. heroin is now their drug of choice. the way they regulate themselves is by the gun. this is an enormity in terms of what we are seeing across the country. it is extremely toxic. it is important for law enforcement to tackle what is going on. but to make sure that the integrity of those cases are worked at the highest level so that we can have an impact on the organization itself and the community. >> this committee has worked to do that, to get sophisticated gang legislation. unfortunately it got bogged down in the senate. let me ask you and mr. riley this question. on july 14, five individuals

from portsmouth and chesapeake were arrested on federal conspiracy charges of manufacturing with intent to distribute led by the fbi's norfolk field office. according to court documents, the investigation involved 75 kilograms of heroin. between 2013 and 15, to put that in perspective, that is the equivalent of over 2 million doses. enough to give everyone in hampton roads a high off of heroin. with that said, can you give us any details of those arrests, and the level of coordination of local, state, and federal governments? and were there any barriers that you would suggest are problematic that we could work on eliminating? primet recent arrest is a and great example of the corporation that we have had in a southhampton roads.

-- example of the cooperation that we have had in southhampton roads between the dea and the fbi. we have worked together quite well on many cases. in this case, i did not see any obstacles. everyone was fully aware what was going on. it was very well organized in the execution of the search warrant. you didn't state the amount of heroin and the money that they were making over this. homes, therese were many children in that home. the information is that $50,000 was counted every other day in that house with those children there because of heroin sales. and it was caught and prepared on the dinner table. -- cut and prepared on the dinner table.

when we look at the children that were exposed to those, we have got to do something. >> thank you, my time has expired. >> the gentleman from south carolina, mr. gowdy. rep. gowdy: i thank you for your service and the great work of the dea agents the upstate of south carolina. you are a credit to your agency. i am not very good with math, which means i'm in the right line of work. i think that it takes 28 grams of cocaine base to trigger the mandatory five-year minimum? mr. riley: i believe that is true. gowdy: that would be equivalent to 25 dosage units. to get 5 years mandatory in prison, you need a hundred 12 dosage units of crack cocaine. mr. riley: yes sir.

takes five and it grams of powder to reach the same five year minimum, with the 500 dosage units. gramsroin, it takes 100 to reach that same threshold. but that is 3000 dosage unit. why can you go to prison for dosage,rs, for 20 hundred 28 dosages of crack cocaine, but 3000 dosages of heroin is what takes to trigger that five-year mandatory minimum? that seems absurd to me. riley: on the law enforcement side, we are doing the best we can with the laws that are currently out there. which isy: you are,

why there is discussion about reforming mandatory minimums, it is important to hear from law-enforcement officers. one thing we could do is just equalize what it takes to trigger a mandatory minimum. if you are having a problem with heroin and it requires 3000 dosage units to reach that five-year threshold, but it only takes 100 dosage units of crack cocaine, it is breezy -- it is pretty easy for me to see one thing that can be done in respect to heroin. everyone in congress doesn't like mandatory minimums. i want to ask you this -- how many folks are serving federal is in sentences for simple -- federal prison sentences for simple possession? >> nobody as a result of my investigations. rep. gowdy: i couldn't find it either. i couldn't find someone sitting in a federal prison forcible possession of a controlled

substance. this is another phrase i hear from time to time, low-level nonviolent drug offenders. how many of those did you target for investigation when you were a dea agent? >> none, sir. rep. gowdy: right, dea wooden target -- would not target low level nonviolent offenders. >> we would go after the largest traffickers we could identify and the largest organizations. right, so this mythology that are prisons are full of low-level nonviolent offenders, the facts do not bear that out. >> not from the investigations that i was involved in. rep. gowdy: i have a colleague that was a prosecutor in massachusetts. a very conscientious colleague. hem the very first day, shared with us his concern about

the heroin epidemic. he has asked in the past about the interconnect committee -- the interconnectivity between prescription drugs and heroin. who can speak to that on behalf of my colleagues? about before, the new users of heroin were sparked by prescription pain medications. medications versus how cheap heroin is, this is where diminishing the vast over prescribed meant is important in terms of our efforts. court, i am drug tremendously in support of that. heroin is hard to get off. it was the hardest drug for

people to get off in my experience. nationalpoke at the association of drug court officials. 5000 people who are literally saving lives by giving people a second chance, by giving them good chair -- good care and treatment. what we know to be effective is that medications, when combined with other therapies, become critically important. the evidence that people with opiate addiction or prescription drug addition without medications fail significant portions of that time. we have been working with our treatment programs, with our drug courts, and using federal resources to support increased access to these medications as part of a country has a strategy in terms of what we know to be the most effective treatment for those with opioid use disorders. >> the gentleman's time has

expired. the gentleman from michigan, mr. hibishop. >> thank you for your testimony on this important issue. as a form of local prosecutor, i had the opportunity to prosecute many drug-related offenses. in my experience, i never saw this level of heroin in the marketplace. it is troubling. especially among school-aged children. i hear too many stories. it is very disconcerting for a parent. i appreciate your willingness to be part of the solution making process. i recently met with a group of local law enforcement officers, my local county sheriffs and several others.

the statistics that they shared were alarming. interest andked my i want to do everything i can to be part of the solution. in livingston county, they had 34 heroine overdose is that resulted in deaths last year. county, they used to have between 40-45 heroin overdoses per year. but over the past two years, the number has increased to an average of 200. in the other district that i represent, county that a represent, which includes lansing, 28 heroin related deaths last year. it is a number that has increased every year exponentially. issue isgree that this

one that deserves our immediate attention. i want to tahnhank the chairmanf this main committee, chairman goodlatte for raising these issues and making sure we identify them as primary concerns and to do whatever we can to address them. but director, i would like to start with you. it is clear from what i'm hearing in my district that this issue cuts across all kinds of democratic -- demographic lines. what are we doing to ensure the response to this epidemic is comprehensive and holistic? are we engaging with these local leaders? when i was a local prosecutor, we had a collaborative effort between law enforcement, dea. i appreciate your comments about

drug courts and alternative sentencing that is available. can you share with us more about what you are doing? mr. botticelli: we have knowledge the fact that having a federal response, state and local response is where the rubber meets the road. we need to make sure that state and local resources -- state and local department have the resources that they need. we have a number of initiatives in addition to federal treatment funding. we also support high intensity drug trafficking areas, which are counties designated as drug trafficking areas, to work with state and local law enforcement to share intelligence, go after cases. many of them are focused on heroin issues. many of our programs are continuing support prevention and education programs. they tried to work across the spectrum. our office also supports what is

called drug-free community programs. these are programs and grants to support me in a debased, locally driven prevention programs at the local level. based,ort community locally driven prevention programs at the local level. everyone needs to be on board to be part of the solution. we want to step forward with state and local efforts. we know that we can do as much as we can at the federal level, but it also requires state and local partnership to make it real. mr. riley,: legalization of marijuana at the local and state level, can you tell us how that is influencing these markets, and whether or not that has led to the increase of heroin in our country? and if it has shifted the focus away from marijuana, and now we are focused on methamphetamines and other type of drugs? mr. riley: i think it goes to the market genius of the cartels

in particular. e, theave seen, i believ spread of prescription drug abuse. they know that at some point, that availability does cease, thus begins that long road to heroin. we have seen that across the country. i believe it is as much as if it was 10 years ago when we were battling methamphetamine. with the help of congress, we were able to legislate primary precursors out. we saw a drastic reduction in the amount of domestic laboratories. however, the cartels recognize that their skill was a tremendous addiction issue.so what did they do? they were able to produce methamphetamines in 5000 pounds cooks, in areas

that had been previously supported the mystic lake. as i look at this problem, it is battling the nuvasive organized crime. -- previously supported in domestic. ist has been troubling me the connection between domestic street gangs and cartels. it is truly the new face of organized crime. law enforcement needs to be fluid enough to adapt an attack that relationship. by doing that, we can solve violence on the street and at the same time attack the organization that are responsible for all the drugs. >> the judgment's -- the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from idaho. labrador: i thank you walk -- i think you all for your service. i would like to talk about the

of heroinemographic users. you mentioned in 2013, hundred 69,000 over the age of 12 used withn for the first time the average age of first-time users at around 25 years old. you also cited data that of those heroin initiates, as they are called, 86% of them were prior prescription drug users. i understand that your agency is developing a task force to confirm the use, abuse, and trafficking in america. the what specifically is being done to address the rise in addiction from prescription drugs? mr. riley: what we are doing today is important. awareness is really important. prior to leaving chicago, i attended a meeting about two years before i departed. there were about 100 concerns from people in the room. i intended that same meeting

later, there were over 2000 people concerned with the heroin issue. unfortunately, many of them were parents. what strikes me most is that many of these parents had no idea their kids, and i'm talking high school aged kids, were involved with prescription drug abuse, which led to heroin. many of them didn't find out until they were on their way to the emergency room. law enforcement attacking the organizations is crucial. that is what we do around the clock. i have to tell you, we are doing great work. the awareness of everyone in the community to this issue is going to strengthen us as we go after these organizations. when we look across the board -- parents, educators, community leaders, faith-based practitioners -- everybody plays a role. while we'll do our job, we cannot do it alone. we need the help of everybody, especially parents.

labrador: i understand many of these users are receiving them through prescription means. what is the agency proposed for addressing the fundamental problem of addiction? working with are variety of different agencies to try and get the word out. one of the problems we face, and again this is an awareness issue, today's heroin is being smoked initially. aids andhe fear of hepatitis because of the needle. we are seeing a lot of younger people try carolyn -- try heroin almost as a recreational drug. statistics show they will eventually go to needle use, but this goes to why we are seeing younger and younger addicts. >> i could add to those comments. to your point, focusing on the prescription drug problem is a

top priority. first and foremost, we need to rein in prescription pain medication. our office has proposed mandatory continuing medical education for every prescriber. we want a balanced approach. we want to make sure people are getting appropriate. we don't want the pendulum to swing the other way. we want to make sure every prescriber has some minimum education about safe prescribing practices. we know that about 70% of people who start misusing them are getting them free from friends and family. that is why federal and local takeback programs to get the drugs out of communities becomes important. we have been monitoring drug programs that allow physicians to detect if someone might be going from doctor to doctor to be able to intervene. as well as law enforcement agencies. we just got reached by the dea huge takedown of bad

doctors and bad practices in the south. we note that this need a holistic response. pacheco, you: ms. mentioned sentencing performance to address low-level nonviolent offenders who end up in jail ve foro alternati addressing the problems. i agree these have been destructive and have wasted valuable resources. in your viewm what is the best alternative or addressing addiction given your experiences where drug addition is pervasive within the culture? pacheco: i have been doing this for many years, sir. it always comes down to resources.

new mexico is one of the poore r states, we don't have a tax based provider services. but the lead program, for example, it is a pre-booking treatment.t can save someone who is in the cycle of addiction needs as much support as possible. we are transferring resources from the back end to the front end to help them out of the system. >> the time of the gentleman has expired. this concludes today's hearing. thanks to our witnesses for attending. without objection, all members will have five legislative days to submit written questions for the witnesses and additional materials for the record. without objection, the hearing is adjourned.

while congress is on its summer recess we are taking the opportunity to show you the c-span cities tour, normally seen weekends on c-span2's book tv and american history tv on c-span3. today at six clark eastern on c-span, we take you to greensboro, north carolina, where a look at the literary life. tonight on c-span, portions of the annual netroots nations conference from phoenix. you will hear liberal activist talk about how to elect more

democrats to local office, and strategies for a limit -- for electing more women and minorities as well. a discussion on helping candidates raise money. >> it's also helping candidates understand that they do have some of the resources that they need in order to raise competitively. every state has different laws around who gets paid, who doesn't, how much you are allowed to contribute. i meet so many women who are rich, i don't have a lot of rich friends. i cannot run a for office is about. -- for office because of that. a phone that has 8000 contacts in it. people that if you told them you were running for office, they would be so excited and do a backflip.

we always have 25. many of those people have never been asked to contribute meaningfully by a political candidate ever. >> watch the entire discussion from this year's netroots nation conference tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern. a meeting of liberals throughout the country on a variety of topics. tonight we will have panels on electing local democrats and electing minorities and women. republican in presidential candidate donald trump recently spoke to the press in the birch run expo center in michigan. topics included china, the border, and the possibility of a third party run. he was there for the lincoln daty river. this is about 15 minutes. mr. trump: good evening. how are you?

yes ma'am? >> [indiscernible] mr. trump: i think the republican party is going to do really well. you have another party that has some big problems. i just saw it coming over, the e-mail situation for hillary is a big problem. if they judge it fairly, she has a big problem. yes sir. [indiscernible] no, not at all. i have been proven right. i have absolutely been proven right. yes? >> [indiscernible] mr. trump: i don't think so at all. i can only go by the polls, 32%. that is the highest for anybody yet. i can only go by the polls. the people we are dealing with,

and whatever has happened, it is what it is. you look at the results. iowa came out a little while ago. leading in iowa and new hampshire, north carolina, south carolina. leading in nevada. leading everywhere. that is all i can go by. >> [indiscernible] mr. trump: excuse me? that is the best question. china. i think you have to do something to rein in china. they devalued their currency today. they are making it absolutely impossible for the u.s. to compete, and nobody does anything. china has no respect for president obama whatsoever. you have to take strong actions. how can we compete? they continuously cut their currency. i have been saying this for years. they have been doing this for years. this was the largest devaluation they have had in two decades. they are making it impossible for our businesses to compete.

they think we are run by a bunch of idiots. what is going on with china is unbelievable. the largest devaluation in two decades. a great question. it is a disgrace. major, fantastic. i watched you with president obama two weeks ago. he was not thrilled. i'm sure i will be more thrilled. obama,king of president can you describe his leadership -- [indiscernible] how would you grade his leadership and the things that he did? mr. trump: very fair question. there are two ways of looking at it. you could let it rebuild itself

through the free enterprise system. andcan let it go bankrupt, a lot of people think is the way it should have happened. i could have done it either way. either way would have been acceptable. i think you would have ended up ultimately in the same place. yes ma'am? >> race relations are at an all-time high or low? that, certainly. as president, what would you do to address that? mr. trump: jobs, spirit. there is no spirit. certainly, i would. in terms of how to address -- i don't know about all-time, but certainly they are doing very poorly you look at what is going , on in every place. we have powder kegs all over the country ready to explode. you need spirit and you need jobs. we need to take jobs back from

china and other countries that have taken our jobs. that is why when the question was asked about china, it is just terrible. more jobs are going to go. yes, ma'am? >> [indiscernible] mr. trump: i think we are going to do well with a lot of voters. we're going to do very well with the hispanic vote. we are going to do great with the women vote. if you look in nevada, they did the poll. i am leading the hispanic vote because i create jobs. i will be creating tremendous numbers of jobs. i think we are going to do great. women's health issues, i am for that. i watched jeb bush give the worst answer the other day. that is going to be his 47%. romney possibly lost the elections for many reasons, but one of the big reasons was his 40% of -- 47% comment. that was a disaster. i think jeb's answer on women's health issues the other day was

a disaster for him. he said he misspoke. how do you misspeak about that? i will be great on women's health issues. i cherish women. i will be great on women's health issues, believe me. oh, hello, david. >> you have said you are going to be great on women, china, graydon isis. graydon -- great on isis, great on jobs. i have heard people outside saying, where all the meat on the bones? how will you do all these things? mr. trump: you did bring up isis. you're going to see lots of plans. when you are coming up with a plan, you have to be flexible. there has to be flexibility. i recently got something in

miami, everybody wanted it. if i had said, here is a 12 point plan in order to get that, i did not do that. i went in and punched in beat the hell out of people and i ended up getting it. all the smart money wanted it. the old post office. everybody wanted it. i got it. in the obama administration, i i got it which is shocking. i got it because i know how to get things done. you cannot sit down and say, well, i'm going to come up with a 19 point plan to get the old post office and turn it into a great hotel on pennsylvania avenue. the most sought after property in the history of the general services administration. trump got it. i am not an obama person. you probably heard that. you need the ability to have flexibility.

there has to be a trust. if you do not trust, you will not do well. >> [indiscernible] mr. trump: jeb bush does not have -- he will not be able to negotiate against china. jeb bush will not be able to negotiate against mexico. jeb bush with mexico said people come in, it is an act of love. it is not an act of love. we need a wall. you see what is happening with illegal immigration. in all fairness if it were not , for me, they would not even be talking about illegal immigration. you see what happened in san francisco, yesterday in california, which was horrible. the whole situation with jeb bush, his act of love, it is not working. i took a lot of heat and then people realized i was right and apologized to me.

we are going to be announcing over the next two weeks, numbers and specifics, knowing that what i just said is right. you have to be flexible on jobs and everything else. i will be speaking about it later. we will be taking jobs away from china, away from all these countries stealing from us. they are stealing our base, money, manufacturing. we will bring them back to the u.s. ford as an example, is building , a $2.5 billion plant in mexico. how does that help us? i went to the wharton school of finance. if they are spending $2.5 billion to build a car plant in mexico. cars and parts are going all over the place but they are , coming into the u.s., no tax. how does that help us except they are closing plants in michigan and arts -- and lots of

other places? we are talking about bringing back jobs to the u.s. yes, sir? >> [indiscernible] mr. trump: 10 years ago, everybody wanted the wall. the democrats, the republicans they could not get it. , you know one of the reasons? environmental impact statements. did you know that? there were toads. it's the most incredible thing. we are going to get the wall built. it is going to be built right. mexico is going to pay for the wall. in mexico is making a fortune off the united states. mexico is going to pay for the wall and they are going to be happy about it. the cost of the wall is peanuts compared to the kind of money they are making. mexico is becoming the new china. i have a great love for mexico. i have love for the mexican people. i have thousands of mexican

people over the years that have worked for me. thousands. they are fantastic people. great spirit. but their politicians and leaders are smarter and sharper and more cunning. they are more cunning than our leaders. they will pay for the wall, they will be happy about it, they will continue to do well but not as well as they are doing right now. they are taking too many of our jobs. >> [indiscernible] mr. trump: third-party. that could happen. you know, that could happen. that is their choice. in the debate, it came out on one of the networks today. there should have been 2 million people watching. do you agree? that has been sort of standard. there are 24 million people.

it is going to go to 28-29 or maybe 30 when the final numbers come in. who do you think they are watching, jeb bush? i don't think so. >> [indiscernible] mr. trump: i hope not. i want to run as a republican to read that is what i am doing and i am leading in every poll. the local and national polls and leading by substantial margins. i hope i will be the republican nominee because that is the best way to win. i will keep the door open if i'm not treated fairly. the word is fairly, not well. it means fairly. if i'm not treated fairly, we will see what happens. i want the establishment -- look i was part of the establishment. , let me explain. i was the establishment two months ago. i was the fair-haired boy, a big giver. once i decided to run, i am

semi-antiestablishment. now leading in the polls, they are treating me well. reince priebus has been terrific. we have a great relationship. i want to run as a republican, i don't want to run as a third as long as i'm treated fairly, that's going to be the case. and "fairly," it's an ininstinct. i know what fair is, you know what fair is. and i think that's happening by the way, win, lose, or draw, i guarantee you this, if i win the republican nomination, i guarantee you all sitting there i will not run a third party candidate. you agree? one more question. yes sir? yes, sir?

i would never give up my microphone. i thought that was disgusting. that showed such weakness. way he was taken away by two young women, the microphone. and the audience which liked him, i mean they were him, for saying what's going on? that will never happen with me. i don't know if i'll do the fighting myself or if other people will. but that was a disgrace. i felt badly for him, but it showed that he's weak. you know what? he's getting the biggest crowds and i'm getting the biggest crowds. but believe me, that's not going to happen to trump. yes? i agreement did you hear what he said? "you could win it, you're way out in front." i agree. yeah? [inaudible question] >> you want to be what? vice president?

oh, now his question is no longer as good. he had great credibility until he said that. then it's like where did he come from? go ahead. one more. 100%. mark it down. 100%. ok? ladies and gentlemen, thank you, we'll go make a speech. then you go home, have a good time. thank you, thank you all very uch. >> democratic presidential candidate hillary clinton spoke to reporters last week after a town hall meeting in exeter, new hampshire, on college affordability and student loan after the speech she answered questions, spoke for about 15 minutes.

secretary clinton: okey-dokey. well, welcome to exeter. before i begin, i want to say once again my thoughts are with the people of ferris -- ferguson as they mark this painful anniversary and the continuing violence we saw last night. violence has no place in our streets and we should all be working for peace and justice there and everywhere in our country. i'd like to make two quick points and then take your questions. first, in announcing my plan to put cog within -- college within reach for everyone, the new college compact, i am emphasizing the two parts to this compact. no family and no student should

have to borrow to pay tuition at i public college or university and everyone who has student debt should be able to refinance it at lower rates. cost won't be a barrier and debt won't hold you back under my plan. i pant p -- wanted to make this announcement here in new hampshire because students carry one of president highest debt burdens in the country, arly $33,000 average for four-year college but obviously much more as we heard from the last young man i called on. is door in maine, governor working to reverse the dramatic cline in education and certainly the federal government has to be a partner in moving this compact forward. so i'm looking forward to discussing this further

tomorrow and next week in iowa and elsewhere. voice i want to add my to all those who have expressed outrage and disappointment about the decision last week by the executive council to cut off funding for planned parenthood in new hampshire. men appalling that three sitting in the chambers of the doan ve council would women across this state the health care they need and deserve. it shows yet again why we need more leaders like governor assan and senator shaheen. that's what -- and how out of touch the republicans are the that's what we saw at the debate the other night. none of them talks about how to make college affordable or even talk about the pressures facing american families while what

donald trump said about megyn kelly is outrageous, what the rest of the candidates said is also outrageous -- outrageous they brag about slashing health care funding, they bragged about forcing women who have been raped to carry a rapist's child, and we don't hear anything about access to child care, equal pay for women or anything else that will help women get ahead. megin kelly is a strong woman d more than able to defend herself against donald trump. 'm more concerned about what this will do to american memorandum. and i will continue to speak about that.

no with that -- hi, i'm dwfment how you doing? [inaudible question] you know, i'm looking forward to debating, first my friends and colleagues on the democratic side and then finally having a chance to debate the republicans about whatever their nominee has to say. i'm going to show up for the debates as they're scheduled and i look forward to having a robust, good opportunity to exchange views with my fellow candidates. you know, i'm not going to get into scheduling. i'm just going to show up, when i'm told to show up i'll be there and looking forward to t.

[inaudible question] well, anne, i'm just going to leave my comments where they are. i thought what he said was offensive and i certainly think it deserves the kind of reaction that it's getting from so many others but i think if we focus on that, we're making a mistake. what a lot of the men on that stage and in that debate said was offensive and i want people to understand if you just focus on maybe the biggest showman on the stage, you lose the thread here. the thread is that the republicans are putting forth some very radical and offensive positions when it comes to women's lives, women's

reproductive health, women's employment, women's opportunities. so i think we'll let the republicans go back and forth with each other but i want to point out there's really not that much difference in the policies that they are proposing what -- when it comes to american women. >> do you think he should apologize? > [inaudible question] secretary clinton: i consider him a friend. we were colleagues in the senate. i have the highest regard and affection for him. i spoke to him at his son's funeral and i think we should all just let the vice president be with his family and make whatever decision he believes is right for him and i will respect whatever that decision s. [inaudible question]

>> well, the republicans get to choose their nominee -- nominee, but i respectfully disagree with you. when one of the men, a senator -- senator from floor, says there should be no exceptions as rape and incest, that is troubling a comment as you could hear coming from a candidate running for the presidency. so the language may be more colorful and offensive but the thinking and the attitude toward women is very much the

same. it just is delivered in a different package. so i he don't want people to be confused here about the outrageous comments by one and just say we're focused on this and we're going to let the fact that there should be no exceptions for rape or incest go unnoticed or unmentioned? i'm not going to let that appen. [inaudible] well, well now andrea, i said it was offensive, i said it was outrageous. i stand by that. i think more people should say the same. they should be going after hip. the republican party is going to have to deal with him but i just want to remind us that

what they say about women, not one woman who is perfectly capable and incredibly impressive able to take care of her semblings but all these women that i have fought for, worked for, stood up for, advocated for and want to be a president for who may not have the opportunity to defend themselves, who may lose the personal ercise a choice if certain of the republicans were to be successful, i don't want that forgotten. so yes, i know it makes great tv. i think the guy went may overboard, offensive, outrageous, pick your adjective but what marco rubio said has as much or more impact as anyone -- anybody else on that stage and it's deeply troubling and should be to the press, not just focus -- those of us who have been doing this work for

so long. you know, it's entertainment. look, it's all entertainment. i think he's having the time of his life, you know, being up on at stage, saying whatever he wants to say, getting people excited both for and against him. i didn't know him that well. i mean i knew him. i knew him and i happened to be planning to be in florida and i thought it would be fun to go to his wedding because it's always entertaining. now that he's running for president, it's a little more troubling. [inaudible question] secretary clinton: not at all. i was proud to be endorsed by

the american federation of teachers, proud to work with nurses for many, many years on health care and, you know, better treatment for nurses, i'm a strong advocate for nurses and i look forward to working for them when i'm president. nick is the man. i'm sorry. he's the man. i got to let nick do what he does here. that's his job. so ok, guys. ha ha. oh, really? what did donald trump have to say about college affordability? would wonder. yes. yes. right. [inaudible question]

>> first of all, it's he is center of my campaign. i hope people that run for congress, the house and senate ill -- i want to make it clear that what i'm advocating, just as what president obama advocated goes back to what president reagan, the status under president reagan. i want them to have to answer to the american people why they don't want to make college more affordable and refinance college debt. this has to be a choice. so what we're doing is setting up our side of the choice. we're setting up the proposal that i'm making and then i'm going to be looking to see what their response is and then let's have an election about it and let's have an election about real choices that will actually affect people's lives, that's what i'm interested in.

once i get to the white house, i will do what i have always done, worked across the aisle as a senator, worked as secretary of state and first lady, i will work hard to get the votes that are needed to get this passed. i think there is a huge constituency for it. [inaudible question] >> we're in the middle of an election, i i don't know that we'll hear that yet. some of what the republicans in the senate are trying to do is very connected to my plan. if you look at what senator lamar alexander has been advocating, i have been looking for ideas from republicans as well as democrats. that's where i get a lot of thoughts about the accountability for colleges and risk sharing. if you're going to pretend to educate people and they're not employable, you have to pay a price for that. i think senator alexander who i have known since he was a governor, i think he and i

would have a great conversation about that. there is an opportunity to work together and i would look forward to it. hank you, all. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national able satellite corp. 2015 >> yesterday republican presidential candidate jeb bush his foreign policy position during a speech at the reagan library in california. after his remarks, he sat down to answer questions from former ambassador bob tutle and members of the audience. their conversation is about 10 minutes. >> you mentioned the polite of continues in the middle east in

your speech. in some countries, christian communities that have been around for more than 1,000 years are virtually extinct. so my question is, does the united states have a moral responsibility to intervene to stop this kind of genocide? jeb bush: who, who will stand up for the percent crueltied? who will stand up -- look, bob, i have a personal connection to this. my views on this are -- existing before, but because my daughter-in-law is a canadian born beautiful spectacular woman, brilliant beyond belief and giving me one of the most granddaughters i could imagine, i have been sensitive to the plight of christians in iraq. in mosul, 1,600 years, mass was given and communion was given

and today it is not bass isis controls mosul. they will persecute and till christians and they're fleing, all over the region, not just iraq. there are challenges in lebanon which used to be a peaceful christian nation. think about the isis-inspired terrorists on the shores of the mediterranean in eastern libya executing, beheading 18 christian cops. think about the christians that are being slaughtered all around the world. think of the precious christian girls in northern nigeria. this is our challenge because but for us, who? i think we do have a duty and we have the skills to do this. these are not the most awesome forces in the world. the united states has fought wars against forces that were evil, just as evil as this with greater military might. we can take these guys on.

we have special forces that are the best in the world. we have military capabilities that far exceed anybody else. i just reject the idea that this isn't important. this is something that would send a signal to the rest of the world that the united states is supportive of people that through no fault of their own believing in their faith are being killed and tortured and persecuted. we need to stand up against this. [applause] bob: different subject, you were critical of the president's deal with iran. jeb bush: yeah. bob: what would you do to come up against this threat? jeb bush: first of all if you're going to negotiate a deal, then i think you should have kept the, what the objective was from the very beginning, which was to never allow iran to obtain the

capabilities to build a nuclear bomb. that was the beginning of the effort. and we have gone from that to having trust to verify kind of inspections to anytime anywhere, to now it's like secret agreements that are signed with an agency of the united nations where our members of congress can't even read them. this is the wrong approach clearly. i hope that congress votes this down. i hope it's with a 2/3 majority and it is, then let the president go back if he wants and negotiate a deal that is in our security interests. if that's not to happen and i'm elected president, on day one we'll have a strategy to deal with the multitude of threats that iran brings. iran doesn't just bring the threat of being a nuclear threshold country had is real and serious that will provide the pockets of nuclear proliferation in the region, these are serious problems, they are the largest sponsor in

every way of terrorism, not just the bay, in the region, but latin america as well but in other places. they are supportive of hezbollah that is in our hemisphere as well. we have to push them back, made harder because they have $100 million of fresh capital to carry out their agenda. we'll have to deal with when conventional weapon sanctions are relieved which is in a relatively short period of time, to have a missile defense capability bought from the russians thought to have about a lisic capabilities that they're developing and have conventional weapons capability second to none in the region is something we have to deal with. the strategy needs to be to engage with the region, of course, with the countries that feel the most threatened by this. we have to lead this. we can't be part of the community of nations. we can't lead from behind, all of this new language, we have to lead and develop a strategy

to push iran back into its own country in terms of its efforts to destabilize the regime and to make sure that they never have the capability of a nuclear weapon. [applause] bob: my last question, you mentioned some of the mistakes of secretary clinton with respect to iraq, could you talk to us about what you think her tenure and some of the differences you have in foreign policy vision. jeb bush: i would say the obama clinton foreign policy will be remembered as a foreign policy based on grandiose talk and little action. [applause] jeb bush: it will be based on onderful speeches and then grandiose things like red lines. russia is a regional power.

30 days later they invade crimea. isis is the junior varsity and create a caliphate and put the black flag of a cyst on top of the white house. this is the language of this administration and their inability to back it up as created real dangers in the world. they believe in soft power. i don't have a problem with as there is long hard power behind it. when there is no hard power -- [applause] jeb bush: you can't skip over that part. you can't just talk about things. we're not part of the community of nations. we can't lead from behind. we have to lead. and the way you create a more peaceful world, the past is prolong. there is enough evidence in history starting with ronald reagan. we're in this place to honor m because he understood that having certainty, having a word that everybody understood, friend and foe alike created

peace, lessened america's chance of boots on the ground, combat troops be necessary. we need to restore that policy and make it more bipartisan. this last week, the president -- and i haven't heard what hillary clinton's view is, if anyone sees her, why don't you ask, that would be interesting. the president says for those that oppose the iranian deal, there are solid reasons, many people in this room oppose the deal as well. there are legitimate solid reasons to oppose this deal. [applause] jeb bush: the president had the gall to say that those that oppose this deal were in cahoots with the death to america crowd in iran. the death to america crowd in iran is the group that he initiated the deal with. [applause] jeb bush: this is the problem, we need to restore a bipartisan

consensus on foreign policy. you can't keep pushing down people that disagree with you, ascribing horrible motives to them calling them warmongers every time they have a principaled view and make your view this illustrious so intelligent view that no one in their right mind would not embrace it. you're never going to get the kind of consensus you need to create a more peaceful world that if you start with the premise that people disagree with you by principal, for crying out loud and forg a better consensus to get to a better place. and this is wrong. [applause] jeb bush: across the spectrum f foreign policy, we see this. and mrs. clinton was the implementer of this foreign policy. i think the experience she has is real. she was secretary of state for four years, but it's a failed record. the reset, libya, benghazi, the fight against terror, on and on

it goes and it's based on not backing up your word where america no longer has any credibility in the world. i would conclude by saying name a country where our relationship is better today than the day that barack obama was inaugurated and when illary clinton was sworn in as secretary of state, cuba and iran. name the relationships where our relationships are worse. it starts with canada and it's a long, long list. the next president is going to have to restore these relationships because they're important in keeping the peace. thank you. [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national able satellite corp. 2015

bob: governor, thank you for those inspiring remarks. i think by the response from the people, you can tell you got every single one of them on your side. jeb bush: can you all move to iowa? [applause] jeb bush: no, they're living in paradise. bob: on behalf of the reagan library, the reagan foundation shall and i bet everyone in this room, we have a little gift four. this is an american flag that flew over the library today and he would like to give that to you. jeb bush: thank you. thank you all. [applause] >> this weekend on the c-span

networks, live from the iowa state fair, presidential candidates speak at the "des moines register"'s candidates soapbox. beginning saturday at noon, we'll hear from rick santorum, senator bernie sanders. and sunday afternoon, more coverage from the iowa state fair with ben carson at 5:00 followed by george pataki. on c-span 2 saturday night at 10:00 eastern, missouri senator clarify mccaskill on her life and political career. , saturday morning at 10:30, on american history tv on c-span 3 sunday morning at 10:00 a.m. eastern, with many presidential candidates visiting the iowa state fair, we'll learn about the fair's history and its tradition as a stop on the road to the white house as we look back at the 2008 presidential race. saturday evening at 6:00 on the civil war, historian and author on the 1864 battle of mobile

y, the resulting union victory and the closing of one of the confederacy's last major ports. get our complete schedule at c-span.org. the c-span cities tour visits literary and historic sites across the nation to hear from local historians, authors and civic leaders every other weekend on c-span 2's book tv and c-span 3's american history tv. the city's tours on c-span each ay at 6:00 p.m. eastern. >> welcome to greensboro, north carolina, on book tv. named after revolutionary war general nathanial green, the city was also the home of albi n, a civil rights leader during the reconstruction period who