year.st of the >> let me be knee-jerk, as you say. talk about what you're path of change the laborship, the latest department report showed that union membership was down just .2%, from the previous the, at 11.1%, and that number of workers in union was little changed. newre you expecting this and innovative ways and the rise to actually impact your membership numbers, sir? or do you see it accomplishing need to accomplish without necessarily needing to grow membership? some ofka: i think it's both, david. you have workers are finding innovative ways to come together to raise wages and this, by the way, 2015 is going to be a for collective

bargaining. five million of our members are this year contracts and so far the average wage 4.3% so has been about we're starting to push wages up likef you look at places wal-mart and target and ikea, are cominglaces together to push for wage increases. so you're seeing a lot of forms, innovative forms of collective action and wouldher thing that i think is if you notice, we are drivingorkers are now the debate about the economy. we drove the debate on trade. it was a different debate this time around. most of the time it's the neanderthals versus free trade, free tradest versus and it wasn't this time. it was about whether the trade agreement was good enough, rules were good enough. we changed that debate. we changed the debate on inequality, presidential

candidates are all starting to address that. so -- and then in the meantime we've also organized workers, alabama andrs in afscme organized 135,000 members into their union in the first three months of 2014 2014 -- 2015 so it's a combination of workers coming collectively to demand a better deal and then those workers coming together also to form unions. david: can you talk about the selection of a democratic presidential candidate. to press reports, you met with the vice president biden last thursday. where does the endorsement process stand and is biden a fit for labor? mr. trumka: the vice president friend and great champion of working people but the next phase of his in publics career

service is a decision for him his family. i don't know whether he would run or not but he has been a ofd friend and a champion workingeople. david: you're not going to do an morningent here this unfortunately. do you see bernie sanders as especially skilled in talking about the concerns of working people? mr. trumka: i think he's connected. he has a unique and genuine way of talking about the most in politics and that's inequality in america but our processin before -- i don't endorse anybody. i announce what our members want to do, quite frankly. we've encouraged our affiliates to do, each and every go back and talk to your members. give them the facts honestly where candidates stand and then find out their wants and that out,you find

then endorse that candidate and work that candidate to make sure adhere to the policies espoused and when we come together, we'll have our affiliates come together after haveprocess is done, we'll a debate and eventually we'll endorse a candidate. endorse a candidate, it will be representative of what our membership wants, needs and really desires. david: we're going to rick khao and robert celebinger, amanda to start. >> the browning ferris case. see congress this fall, republicans in congress, taking an aggressive approach to trying that and doblock you see democrats backing up the congress?democrats in mr. trumka: i think you will see an aggressive approach by republicans to start anything that helps workers get a fair

shake. they've done that repeatedly for the last several years. it again.do i would expect two things. democrats,ect friends of workers to stand up to defend that decision because a right and fair decision and two, i would expect that the ever did get it through, the president would .eto it >> gallup this morning released obama'showing president approval rating among union 52%, down down to from 69%. mr. trumka: i can't hear you. gallup has released a new poll showing president obama's approval rating among union workers is down to 52%, one point off of its low, and down when he was from elected and re-elected. how do you explain his sliding labor?g among mr. trumka: he's still represented by 52%. be a lot ofe would

that would hov -- to have 52%. he's tried hard. he hasn't done everything that done --and we haven't he hasn't done everything we agree. with i think you're seeing the residuals of t.p.p. our members understand the importance of a good free trade helpment that really does workers and changes the rules of the environment because you've group ofe nafta a rules designed to lower wages, give corporations more entitlement and we want an end to that so you're seeing the residuals of that. he supported it firmly, still oppose it.e david: do you agree with the "new york times" story this that in his argues second term obama's taken a turn helping workers with various regulation? do you notice a change?

mr. trumka: i would say he's probably been more overtly pro term. in the second you have overtime rules that we've talked about. his appointments that he'd made to various places. wage increases he's given to federal employees, his starting openly about how bargainingollective is for workers to raise their standard of living. the fact that he's having a the whites year at house to talk about collective bargaining and increasing the workers' voice. comenk all of those together to say, yeah, i think in the second term he has done. now, when you talk about regulations, there's also health regulations and something that genuinely me.ers country 150 this

workers die from injuries received on the job or health, diseases they pick up. 150. knew that and you i'll bet not one of you has written about that. of you's concerned about it because they die quietly. who died from black lung, died at home after years lung,fering from black expired. we haven't seen the needed regulations keep pace with the environment of the work place. to get been trying regulations passed for silica. they're finally starting to move years. mine health and safety regulations, they start to move then every disaster and

they slow down after their mine that leave the has smoke belching out of it, regulations slow down. we kill 150 workers every day in this country. anyone.that bother shouldn't you right about that. demand a safe work place? isn't that something everybody's to?tled in my opinion, yeah. so when you talk about haven't donewe anything near enough when it comes to health and safety regulations. >> i want to take you back a and ago to your remarks simply your answer to my about the political thes of the afl-cio in elections of last year and

governorlly you said, walker of wisconsin was public enemy number one, your phrase, revealed that the a freshwould have target in texas, that there was great opportunity to make ofitical gains on the issue regulation and new workers coming into the workplace, placed priority on texas. of those states went strongly republican. walker is a presidential governor perry is a presidential candidate. mr. trumka: really? >> looking back, what do you think -- are you going to change your goal and put a different yoursis for 2016 on agenda? mr. trumka: our goal then and our goal now is a simple thing. it's called raising wages agenda. you remember at the beginning of the year we started off with a summit talking about raising

wages agenda and we had academics in, we had politicians in, we had business people in, and we talked about raising wages. that is still the yardstick and are usingoal that we in every election. we did make gains in texas. we built tremendous grand strength there and we did a job there andnal that continues to grow. walker, i have -- i've said i need to say about him. [laughter] mr. trumka: he is a national asgrace and he's still national disgrace and, yeah, he's a candidate but we'll see that ends up. now fifth in iowa. he was leading there for a while andthere is no there there people discovered that and we

will see what happens in this presidential election, whether walker or rick perry are the nominees. only pray. >> both states target wisconsin year?xas next mr. trumka: we will go on a states.f we haven't decided on all the targets right now. we're focused on pennsylvania right now because we have a race on in 2015. we'll focus on kentucky because there in 2015. tore not looking beyond 2015 2016 right now. 2015.looking at david: amanda becker from reuters.

[indiscernible] reporter: insisting that the candidates -- and what role would the federation play if we end up with a that doesn'tminee support -- what role would the federation play in the scenario in which we may have a intoratic candidate going the general that isn't with labor on key issues, will that way you interface? mr. trumka: i don't know it's fair to say there are candidates on the democratic side that aren't with labor on key issues. you're seeing, when you clearly path, how populace popular you get and how the support gets very, very activated. candidates that try to skirt the issues, not talking about where t.p.p. hurts you when it comes to activating the generalip and the populace. they want to know where people they disagree with

you, they want to know where you are. so i think any candidate will and give aome active clear path on how they're going to raise wages and the role we catalyst to make sure that, one, any candidate that ultimately gets the support of articulated a has clear path to a shared economy, how they would change the rules the economy work for everyone and then, two, after our role would be to make sure we hold them accountable so that they make reality after they get elected. reporter: i want you to weigh in not you're with brady in the deflate gate issue. we had a kid die in a mine in an accident and it got a lot of thingsike you say these do and then it disappeared. expect out of the

obama administration? what do you think you'd be able to get in the area of safety? mr. trumka: the first let me give you the positive. president obama named joe mane to head emshaw and he is probably the most effective -- emshaw thatre i have seen in my lifetime. he does a great job. he enforces the law and he is doing everything he can to make mines safer and he is making despite some short comings in the regulations. the same with osha. head of osha is doing a great job enforcing the act. is a very weak act that makes it difficult to enforce. areresources they have totally inadequate. fournk if they take them or 500 years to inspect every workplace in the country just time, which isn't much of a

deterrent. to focus on the resources that osha has but he's good job there. think regulation side, i for most of the first term and the beginning of the second he was baited by republicans talking about too regulations and he said, the show you, so regulations just stopped. silica is an example. everybody's known the dangers of silica. by the way, seven people die every day from silicosis, seven every day. sundays, holidays, every day -- seven die every day. not my workers, workers across the country. theycould be carpenters, could be cement works breathing noica because there's standard for silica in this country. every other industrialized

has a standard for it. we don't. this for 100bout years. a you remember your history, place called hawk's nest. happened in west virginia in the 1920's. they were drilling a tunnel through a mountain for a young workers started dying after three, four, five months. that theyid silica were drilling through and they were getting silicosis and dying started studying it and found out that silica's bad for it butwe've known about the standards in this country are totally inadequate. o.m.b. for almost two years, o.m.b. doing nothing. to get they're required the regulation out for over 60 days. what they were

doing, sitting on it or what. but they didn't do what they it outquired to do, get one way or the other. we finally talked to the convinced them, now.e've gotten it moving we'll see where it goes. if it doesn't get done by the thenf the administration, it's not likely to happen president, if it justa republican, would whack all of those and we'd have to start all over again. david: kevin joseph, "new york times." reporter: i'm curious, you said is don't know what joe biden thinking but do you want him to run? do you want to see the field point?at this talked to a lot of member union folks talking about the head decision between bernie sanders. mr. trumka: what?

reporter: head versus heart decision between bernie sanders and hillary clinton. bernie they seem to like but hillary is more likely to get the nomination. up in thee coming polls, do you sense a shift with your member unions in terms of him a more serious look? how are you perceiving the a biden campaign? mr. trumka: first of all i think the field is still wide open. there's still a lot of time. in elections gone by, they hadn't even announced yet day the year before the election, and the campaigns took off labor day before the election. that's when everything, people and gotlistening accelerated. so there's a lot of time for things to happen and for issues to unfold and we keep pushing those issues. them and making thoseates respond and

respond with sharp answers that our workers can identify that thoseses the needs of workers, they get the support. not just, i'm going to vote for them. but they get active support and that's the difference between having supporters, ok, i'll come people that, and will work between now and election day. so that i think makes a large difference. i said everything there is to say about joe biden. biden's a good friend, he's been a champion of working people and he's got to decide whether he's going to run or not. he's got a lot on his shoulders, i'd say and when you commit to run for president, you guys unfold every crease, you badger that isver stuff totally irrelevant, out in the great but you make it issues. david: that's the jobs program. mr. trumka: i don't fault you for it.

sometimes i do. but he has to decide whether focus forhe full that. he and his family and i don't know the answer to that. he knows the answer to that. he would be awe good candidate. he would be a good president. his decision is his decision and ons going to fall completely him. reporter: i don't know you've by namelary clinton yet. mr. trumka: i haven't said name except his name because you asked me specifically. reporter: can you talk about how you're feeling about hillary clinton at this point? mr. trumka: i think these an experienced person. i think she would make a great president. out ak she has to figure way to energize workers and that's come up with a narrative believes in and two, she's willing to fight for because that's the litmus test

workers look at. likean mouth empty words, jeb bush said, inequality in this country is terrible. worker believes he'll address it in a way that works for them do, anyways. she has to come up with that narrative and if she does, she can catch fire, too. she's got the drag of all the other issues. this in the past and i'll say it again. hillary clinton has to do a-plus work to get a c. why?ou know i think because she's a woman. that's tough in this country and it's something that male candidates don't have overcome. reporter: i wanted to ask you about the gig economy and specifically uber and lift. are the afl-cio

contemplating to address the gig economy? mr. trumka: first of all, we've of them.ch the economies i give you -- i listed, i'll find them in a second. but you see what happened in seattle. seattle's passing a regulation that gives everybody, uber people, everybody the right to collectively bargain, to have a collective voice. so that those workers, that they try to say are independent and we don't have anything to do with them, now they're going to at least in going to be tougher. the same with the decision from year.rb last , any franchisees that you control, yeah, you're part of the employer and you run away from them. that's going to make it easier butthem to get a voice we've done gawker, we've done salon. of those have arganized just

recently. and i'll find all of them in a second. i can't remember everything off the top of my head, as brilliant am. or not as brilliant as i am. them.s, i'll find can't find them. josh, you have that list of snings cansalon and that?v -- give me i hate to walk away from that you. without giving it to if we get it later, my highly multilingual assistant can send it to everybody in the

room. talk to: i wanted to you about the minimum wage campaign across the country. specifically, do you have a threshold in mind for minimum you support the $15-an-hour wage and if so, how that conclusion that $15 an hour is the right wage for workers. mr. trumka: here it is, gawker, vice, the guardian and salon, digital outlets have joined unions recently. reporter: the minimum wage across the country and threshold. fastu have a hard and threshold. how do you come up with a minimum wage? mr. trumka: it shouldn't be a be aum wage, it ought to

working wage. work shouldn't trap people in poverty but it should lift them out of poverty. if you work for minimum wage, you earn below the poverty level. $15 is a good minimum wage but out to be a living wage and grow with the economy as the economy grows. number ofrgeted a cities with those campaigns in effect. last election, five states increased the minimum wage significantly and two cities did, as well, one at least to $15. others even places like aresville, alabama, discussing it right now and other places. the cities that we have, we off with 10 cities. it's now 14 cities because we it where weities to have campaigns going on to do that internally. and to do things like we've done in seattle, to start talking about ways to address places,

that were left behind because of archaic labor laws classifying, somebody as an independent contractor and saying yeah, i butrol all of your work you're independent, i don't have to deal with you. so we're working on those. again, shouldge, be a living wage and indexed to inflation. >> sounds like there would be some flexibility in terms of the starting point area and --. >> we think that ought to be the minimum. we ought to be going up from there. >> i'm just wondering if you

could talk about that, if that is something on your radar, the transpacific partnership. >> know, we've forgotten all about it. >> maybe you are declaring victory for the administration. the issues remaining in the tpp, dairy, rules of origin for cars, and biologic drug inter--- intellectual property. i wonder if you think the deal can be concluded and ratified in this administration. >> conceivably, it could be. it is not completed and there are new issues that have arisen, old issues that have been resurrected. currency manipulation, for instance. china's recent foray into manipulating its currency to help its economy shows the need to have currency manipulation in any trade agreement that is

going to be perpetual. then you notice other countries followed afterwards with currency manipulation. you still have that, you have rules of origin, you have rules that are still out there. there's a number of open issues that they still talk about. unfortunately, it is sort of sad on rules of origin. mexico and canada are a higher origin than the united states, but the united states has made a deal with japan on rules of origin. does everybody know what rules of origin means? here is what it means? in order to get the tariff protection, you have a percentage of the product that has to be made in the participating countries. with nafta, it was 65%.

the product had to be 65% made in mexico, u.s., and canada to get the tariff reduction. if it wasn't, it didn't get that protection. that has dropped down and is now in the 20's.

are you seeing any consensus against her larger member unions , or has the vice president recent deliberations essentially put that endorsement process on ice jacket -- on ice jacket -- on ice? most of our affiliates are still going through that process. trying to find out where their members are, what they want. most of them have not completed the process yet. i think you've got several unions that have endorsed, so

far, and they went through the process. the nurses did that. bernie sanders. ast did that, they endorsed hillary. the machinists endorsed hillary. the process continues. some are more further along than others. probably within a month or so ready to endorse. we have encourage that. we have encourage them, after go with that out, but make them deal with our issues. make sure those issues are prominent. how are you going to deal with inequality in the country? how are you going to deal with raising wages? how are we going to strengthen the voice of workers in this country so that they get a fair shake and make those candidates talk about those issues?

that, if we get all the candidates talking about those issues, no matter who wins, we have one. our goal has been to get those issues out. how do you feel about them endorsing before iowa or new hampshire than? >> probably not. if i say this you're going to read it wrong. i tried this before, i never can get it right. obviously it's conceivable. . it is conceivable that that could happen. make sure you hear what i'm saying. i'm not saying it is going to happen. it is conceivable that it could happen. i'm saying that it is not likely. although conceivable. >> we are going to go next to michael rose from bloomberg,

sean from cbs. >> high. i was wondering if you could talk a little bit about labor law, the changes to labor law. i just wased -- wondering if you could talk about in an ideal world how would you like to see labor law changed, and are there any prospects for any of that happening, assuming we still have republican congress or had easy to fight for that going forward? reason. archaic for a it was written in 1949. does anybody here think the economy is the same as it was in 1949? our laws have not changed. you look at any international agency that works on workers rights in industrialized countries, how do we score with you will countries,

see bernie sanders is talking about labor law reform. you will see a small but comprehensive bill. it will be introduced in the house and in the senate before long, couple, three or four weeks. that will be debated. people get a chance as they were therefore it are against it. and we will debate that. the more we debated the better off it is. workers understand. linking over people -- uber people, until we had a change they got excluded from the job. our laws just are very very archaic. and when you look at government employees, federal employees or

state employees, it is all over the map. their rights are skewed back and forth. most of them don't have a right to bargain of any sort, even though they pay a price for bad decisions of their elected leaders. decisions of elected leaders. andll see a lot of that there will be a good debate. the debate will decide. ask every candidate, you support it or don't support it. that do will be good and those that don't will tell them something. reporter: two things, one was that -- can you hear me? when you were talking you said two things that struck me. that hillary clinton needs to figure out a way to

energize workers and that hillary clinton needs to do a c.s work to get like she needs to do a-plus work only get graded as a c and i'm curious if you can talk a bit in are about those two things in the context of if it'sh warren and really gender -- mr. trumka: that's way beyond my pay grade to be able to put the deck together with hillary -- >> hillary -- thatter: but you're saying hillary is not energizing workers and in part because of that she has to work a-plus work-- the to get a c but you look at the landscape. elizabeth warren is energizing curious.and i'm mr. trumka: you're mixing apples and oranges with what i said. reporter: please clarify. mr. trumka: when i talked about

hillary having to do a-plus work, i think over her career she's done extraordinary things and they get minimized. [no audio] >> not with that.

no i was not. i'm glad to clarify it. again, that is not what i intended. i think she needs her narrative right now, when you say i don't know if tpp is for the best, i think that lessens the energy for workers. i think the narrative really has to speak to the wants and the needs of workers. not just hurts. anybody wants workers support is going to have to have a narrative that lets them say, here is how i'm going to solve your problems. here is what i am going to do to create an economy that assures prosperity, that changes the rules, and that makes work pay. and they have to be specific about it. if they do that, i think that energizes workers.

you are seeing a smattering of it. has been warren articulate about the needs of workers. people respond to it. i think bernie does a good job, people respond to it. and hillary has done a good job at times. i think it has to be -- here is the economy, the vision of the economy i have. here's what i'm willing to do. then they have to believe that that candidate is going to fight to make that decision a reality. in the last election, when we analyzed it, we spent a great amount time analyzing. heard no coherent economic message coming from the democrats. none. not from the republicans.

80% of those that we talk to you said that bullet parties leave too much to wall street and too little for main street -- both parties leave too much for wall street and too little for main street. if it is unclear where you stand that residual knowledge takes over. >> i'm sorry. >> alex. sean. >> that is why they assign someone smart to me just to get across the street. >> during the fight there were some democrats on the hill who are frustrated that some of their colleagues who may not have voted how they would like, but they're still be targeted by outside allies. the democrats were be targeted by outside groups that are in general loyal to democrats over this one issue.

do you expect the same intensity? especially if it is closer to the election? do plan to put equal pressure on democrats who are per trade? -- portrayed? >> yes. >> you want to elaborate on how you plan to do that? >> you asked me by 10 to run a campaign, yes. will it be intense? yes. will a rollo everything we have? yes. we're still working to try to make it an acceptable agreement. i don't know how far we are getting, we are working. we will keep submitting information. we will keep rounding up people to talk about the issues. see what happens. we will run a campaign. we will run a campaign to pass it. i suspect that it will be a campaign to defeat us. what we have seen so far is not

very exciting for workers. >> i got that one right. [laughter] >> thanks. it leaves me to my question. maybe you just -- share your thoughts. the republican field is huge. i want to to talk a little that about donald trump and his relationship with workers and also maybe the comments about that middle-class that make them sound a little bit like hillary. i'm not sure what you think about that here. also,. -- and also, case it -- kasich. and working-class pennsylvania. >> i think what donald trump started with immigration is the

interests. i think it is un-american. i think it is racist. it is saying that one group of people is superior to another group of people. look at what it has done to the other candidates. chris christie starts talk about tracking immigrant workers like fedex packages. rick perry says that undocumented workers is a disease. jeb bush is talking about anchor babies and rings that go wrong with it. in one way that is horrible and a step backwards to the country. quite frankly on another level

it shine to spotlight on that issue and it is letting us talking about it and let american start to discuss it in earnest away from the spotlight. it has given us an opportunity to go out. the afl-cio has put together a race commission to go around the country talking to our members about race. i believe that the afl-cio movement has an obligation not to be ok on race. we have to be exemplary. we had to lead the way on that discussion. we're taking that seriously and we are working on it. the same with immigrant rights. we're taking that on your thing with black lives matter -- on

the same thing with black lives matter. if you are the center dot of workers, if you forgot we came from, it doesn't matter much to me. it is what your policies are. he helped pass more laws for workers and virtually anybody else. don't tell me your pedigree and that you forgot everything. if you remember it come it should show up in your policies. i'm the son and daughter -- i'm the son of immigrants. both my parents. i didn't forget where i came from. i was given speeches.

i didn't forget. i background molded me into that. somewhere along the line he gets separated you he does a like to talk about the fact that while his dad and mom may have been workers, he got a free ride with law street -- wall street. made a bunch of money on those deals. his dad's sweat and mom's sweat put him in a position week ago to wall street or go to work with the workers. he chose wall street. >> [inaudible] >> any thoughts on trump's comment on the need to help the middle class?

>> was trump ever in the middle class? we will see. we will see his policies. i would like to see him come out with policies that generally help the middle class. i would welcome that. i would welcome them talking about policies that help the middle class. that would be democracy at its finest. i haven't seen it yet. seeing democrats tried to talk about the economy and talking about it searcy. they're still tied down in the same tired old self. we have got to get rid of government. everything will be great. let's freeze the government out so they can't do anything. it bounces off of people now. inequality is the issue of the

day. how are you going to address it? trickle-down economics. duh. >> getting back to immigration in little bit. how close our workers paying attention to this? what do you see in this type of language having in six months -- grexit is dangerous. -- >> it is dangerous. it starts to become mainstream. racism can never become mainstream. the danger of it is if we believe as he does that one

group of people is superior to another group, it tends to govern them. i'm talking about trump. all of them are talking about it in the same way now. in order to pander to the right, they have to go so far to the right beyond what is probably most of them genuinely the leave -- believe. if the intent to govern that way, that is bad for this country. to say one group of people is better than another group of people is bad for this country. bad for democracy. i think it is dangerous. someone has to stand up and say, enough. walk it off. knock it off. talk about issues that matter. the system does drive down wages

for everybody. i get cheated out of wages. my we just get lowered. i have a lower standard to live in. gretchen at issue is important to raising wages. to not talk about people from the south of the border coming this way and only south of the border. he doesn't refer to white agreement -- white immigrants are can immigrants. he refers to people south of the border. six months from now, the country will suffer the scars from this unless somebody calls them out on it.

>> we are out of time. we need to stay on schedule. appreciate it, sir. >> thank you. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2015] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] coming up on c-span, a discussion of the 1968 fair housing act. that is followed by another panel from the conference on how government policy has created segregated communities.

on the second day of the housing and urban develop conference attendees will hear from loretta lynch on efforts by her office to combat housing discrimination. today members of the federal communications commission and the federal trade commission talk about net neutrality, looking at whether the fcc's ruling encroaches on the ftc's authority. we have a free hosted by the federalist society live at 12:35 p.m. eastern on seas into. the c-span cities to her. --s weekend we are joined

the mining of a certain mineral had great impact on this part of colorado. grand junction we are surrounded by morrison rock. we find a lot of going -- dinosaur bones, a lot of fossils. that has really intrigues scientists for a long time, but what we also find is a mineral. it contains three different elements. it contains radium, which is radioactive and was used by marie curie to help's find -- to help fight cancer. it also contains an element which is used to strengthen steel. uranium, and as we know uranium is one of the top sources for atomic power in atomic weapons. >> colorado congressman wayne aspinall was largely responsible

for the water legislation. >> he fought the battle to reserve water for western colorado by making sure that we got our fair share. how did you that? well, beginning in his state career, and then going on to his federal career, he climbed up the ladder and was able to exercise -- i think more power than you might normally have. certainly in the united states congress, where he was able to make sure colorado and western colorado would be treated fairly in any divisions of water. was thet major success passage of the colorado river storage project in 1956. >> see all of our programs saturday on c-span2 book tv, and

saturday afternoon at 2:00 on american history tv on c-span three. >> housing and urban development onretary julian castro spoke tuesday. he was joined by former vice president walter mondale talking about the passage of the 1968 fair housing act and the challenges of enforcing the law today. this is 50 minutes. [applause] >> good morning everyone. what a great morning. is with a tremendous sense of excitement that i welcome each and every one of you to our national fair housing trading and policy -- training and policy conference. welcome to hud headquarters. we are thrilled to have you.

as you remember, it has been more than four years since hud had a national fair housing policy conference. this time as you notice, a much more modest conference, but equally significant. in fact, i would argue more significant given everything that has taken place through these years. would you agree with that? [applause] want to go on i just get a sense of our audience today. we also have a hundreds of people watching the webcast, so i want to welcome everybody was watching the webcast. that is another new feature of conference.ends -- just to get a sense here in the room, raise your hand if you are one of our fair housing initiative programs. their impressive.

-- they really impressive. very impressive. i also want to thank the other organizations who are represented here today and our hud staff as well. we have a terrific program ahead i'm sure you will greatly enjoy. it is a great pleasure to have this morning secretary julian castro with us, as well as former vice president walter payne ford senator virginia. housing community could not have a stronger supporter then secretary castro. whenever he talks about hud being the department of opportunity, he is acknowledging the important role equal access to housing plays in the building of strong, vital communities.

and the work that we do here, and all of the aggressive country,. mr. mondale's civil rights contributions are legendary. express youquately have thrilled we are to have him join us this morning. kaine, with his unique experience, having been a fair housing litigator for many years for becoming a editor, representing individuals and families whose housing rights were violated. this week's conference, as i said, is occurring at a time of great social significance. best -- next week, september 9, marks 50 years since the creation of hud. and it also marks 47 years since the passage of the fair housing act, the landmark law that made

it illegal to discriminate in housing transactions because of a person's race, color, national origin, or religion. in future years it would be expanded to also prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex, and physical disability. when we think heroes, we think f dr. king, rosa park, and other contributions and self-sacrifice that helped a more just and equal society. it was former vice president walter mondale and a late senator that we lost earlier this year that cosponsored the legislation that would become the fair housing act. --h the assistance of despite the assistance of colleagues on both sides of the aisle that did not think it was time to pass such a law. minorities enjoyed greater access to housing, education,

and economic opportunity than ever before. we live in a nation that is generally more tolerant of individuals who look different, come from different places, and speak other languages. those of you in the audience and watching online know that we have much more to do to create the america our founding fathers envisioned. wer the next three years will have the opportunity to engage in robust discussions over the most significant fair housing issues of our time. you will hear from some of the most distinguished and accomplished experts for overcoming the obstacles that we still face. thank you, again, for coming. for ouru for being here national fair housing hud conference. now, please welcome with a big round of applause our opening program speaker.

help me in welcoming to the julianud secretary former vice president walter mondale, and senator tim kaine. [applause] sec. castro: good morning. welcome to hud 2015 housing conference. everyone looks excited to be here. it is my great honor to be here and to share the stage with 2 very distinguished public servants. i would like to thank you gusta youor the great work that do every day as the assistant

secretary of housing and for your leadership. i know that gusavo and the dayre team does great work in and day out. let's think them for organizing a great event today. [applause] i would also like to thank senator tim kaine for joining us . not justaine brings the prestige of his office, as the senator and former governor of virginia, to the stage, but his nearly two decades of powerful and impactful work as a fair housing lawyer. thank you very much for being here, senator kaine. [applause] let me also express my gratitude to a very special guest -- a champion for fair housing, a hero to the head team, and a venerated american.

former vice president, walter mondale. [applause] life, het his public stood up for the rights and dignity of all americans, no matter how the political winds were blowing at the time. vice president, i want to thank you for your lasting contribution. at had it iss quite a privilege to welcome you to this room named in your honor, the brook mondale auditorium. let me think all of you in the audience for your commitment to bringing about a more open and fair housing market. you are our partners in progress. you help open new doors for families every day. keep up the good work. this is why we gather today.

because we share a common believe that every american deserves opportunity, regardless of what they look like, where they come from, or who they worship. and we have a common resolve to do something about it. we know everyone wins when a family gets a chance at a good housing, when a child gets a quality education, when a parent gets a good job, and when the elderly have health care, and that a fair america is a thriving america. equal opportunity is our nation's founding promise. fighteneration has had to to make this promise real for all of its citizens. equal treatment in classrooms, and public facilities, and in the voting booth. ache --ly, despite

eventually, this fight extended to the housing market in the 1960's, a time of blatant discrimination was all too common. in the summer of 1960 seven carlos campbell, an african-american navy lieutenant hearing held by then senator mondale. mr. campbell had landed a job of the department of defense after years of decorated service in vietnam, but when he went looking for housing near the pentagon he found only closed doors. lieutenant campbell visited nearly 40 places, and he encountered rejection after rejection. some landlords said it would take weeks to process a routine application, clearly a lie. others were more direct, and told him they did not believe in

immigration. integration. carlos campbell could not find housing in the very nation that he had risked everything to protect. job, his income , his character -- all of that meant nothing at all. these landlords only saw his skin color. story played this out in city after city and town after town, year after year. the current recognition -- the kerner commission famously wrote we are working toward two societies, one lack, one white -- one in black, one white,

separate and unequal. toy families were consigned lives of poor health, low-paying jobs, poor education, and little hope for the future. walter mondale and brooke did not accept this. it led to the passing of the fair housing act of 1968. it is clear that every american has the right to live where they choose. now, it is true that we have come a long way since 1968. ,ommunities are more integrated opportunities are more plentiful. this past june, the supreme court upheld the impact standard. [applause] hud team andnk our

the department of justice for the great work that they did along with the advocates, of course, who brought the case. every day brings us closer to the goal of the housing market that welcomes and respects struggle for the equal opportunity is not yet complete. a had study revealed that families of color are shown in .laces and quoted higher prices too many communities remain highly segregated by race, -- soal origin, income all of us in this room know there is still work to do. know that had's role is as important as ever. we have a great network of partners, many of whom are in the room today, from the department of justice, state and local agencies, that join us in this work, to the nonprofits

carrying out this work in their own communities -- to the housing industry that is taking proactive steps to promote greater housing choice for all. this work is making a difference. over the past 6 years, we have gotten $330 million in compensation for more than 49,000 individuals who brought complaints of housing discrimination. pregnant women denied loans by banks, survivors of domestic violence even did from their homes, residents harassed by their landlords -- hud is here for them. we're not just waiting until wrongdoing occurs, we are working with our partners to take proactive steps in eliminating. we announced our a formidably -- fair housing rule.

this rule, unfinished business from the 1968 fair housing act, will help ensure that communities across the united states have the tools to maximize their investments in betterble housing, and improve the landscape of opportunity within their bounds. we are working closely with cities across the nation, breaking through silos to boost opportunity to ensure that every family's destiny is determined by their effort and talent, not by the color of their skin or their last name or where they were born. for allan exciting time americans who care about fair housing. our nation has made significant strides in shaping a society that is open to all. none of this would be possible without the vision, wisdom, and

determination of walter mondale. that theno doubt national fair housing legislation is a controversial issue, but it requires action, -- the barriers of housing discrimination stifle hope and achievement. trapped in anzens urban slums there is no escape, outlawing discrimination in the sale or rental of housing will not free those trapped in ghettos wall or, but it is an absolutely essential first step that must be taken and taken soon. helped our nation , and het step in 1968 displayed that courage time and again. through his service to our nation as a corporal in the u.s. army, through his time in government, as a senator, and ambassador, and his vice

president, and even in his political life with his decision to put the first woman on a presidential ticket -- geraldine ferraro. [applause] he is a hero for all those who could not walk through doors that were once closed, and it is a pleasure to have him here. one of the fathers of fair housing. please join me in welcoming former vice president walter mondale. [applause] mr. mondale: thank you, so much. thank you, so much, secretary castro for all of those very kind words, for your magnificent

leadership of this crucial department, and for your powerful message about fair mentioning ther lieutenant jj campbell, who is the key witness that helped to a time ofhousing at people did not know what we were talking about. campbell was a handsome, young, officer with a beautiful family. cowas recognized as a mer in the navy and was assigned to a top position in the pentagon, but could not find a home to live in near the pentagon. 40 places,went to and it got to be a routine.

is there a place available for rent when they call? yes. they show up at the front door with his wife and handsome family, and the person would say, no, it is not for rent. 40 times they did that. this story and the compelling message of that naval officer, i think had a lot to do with slicing through the apathy that surrounded this issue. i'm also glad to be here with tim mccain, the -- with tim kaine, the wonderful senator from virginia. when i hear that we have a senator from virginia who is a legal services fair housing lawyer, i believe that i have been born and gone to heaven. [applause] by the act, i mean, when i was a senator, i worked with robinson , that was the virginia

team at that time. not making me we're progress. i want to recognize my friends from minnesota that it helped me on this issue. my rent or failed, one of the nation's experts on fair housing feld, one of the nation's experts on a fair whitman.and dean in 1968, today is a time of hope and uncertainty. for its impact, and affirmatively furthering fair housing rules, and rejoice in the inclusive community's project case. [applause]

in ferguson and other cities, continuing segregation undermines equal opportunity, and as we know, causes racial riots. this is the most important moment for their housing since 1968. we must use it to the maximum advantage. king66, martin luther wrought his fair housing -- brought his fair housing act to chicago, and wrote that segregation is not only politically, economicly, and socially unsound, but is horribly wrong. i think he has told the truth then, and they are truthful words today. brooke -- and brooke -- ed e, this is my first time in

auditorium,ondale and the one time that i can come, ed cannot be here. on the day that we raise the fair housing deal, we had a break. he recognized me and we were off to the races. the bill struggled through congress, and i use the word struggle -- you cannot imagine what that was like. we had a fair housing measure that was tentatively presented and it had five different sections. one was a fair housing. they said it would not pass, sok we separated it into five different divisions and dropped their housing, which then became the shepherd bill. when i introduced the bill, the attorney general ramsey clark

came to see me, and said this we will bess, but nice to you, and we are glad to you are doing it, but it is hopeless, do not get your heart into it. 67 votes in the senate to even get a vote on the measure. if you do not think that is a you hill to climb, then need new lessons about climbing. we finally got the matter on the floor. we had three unsuccessful motions. shortach time, but still of culture. on the fourth culture vote, which was the most culture votes ever held on the measure up --il that time, we knew that mike mansfield said that this is it. if you do not get it this time, we are pulling the bill down. it went to humphreys, and said,

what do i do? he said called lyndon johnson. i called the president, which you do not do every day, and told him our predicament. he said, do you know of any vote that can be cast for this with a person would not be hurt? when they would not have any trouble politically? i said the senator for a -- from alaska can do it. the next morning, on the floor, we get culture. most people did not think we would do it. tally wase vote ending, i saw the senator from alaska come through the back door. and vote, aye. we passed fair housing and got the culture on the fourth of vote. no vote spared, but we got it.

then, the bill went to the house. judge smith's committee. this was an 18th century chaired by 17th-century chairman. [laughter] he hated this bill and would not let it pass. we thought we were dead. tragically, martin luther king was killed. the country, the energy in the country, forced the house to raise the bill from the committee. it passed, and a week later lyndon johnson signed our fair housing act, one of the great miracles and victories in modern history. [applause] it is important to note and remember that none of this was

possible without republican support. dirksen, eed brooke, 15 or 16 republican senators who were with us because they were lincoln republicans, as they call themselves. they thought civil rights was their idea, and they voted for it. they gave us the margin that we needed. for them, the support came easy. i think justice kennedy reached the opinion in the cases that show that maybe some of that lincoln republicanism resides even on the supreme court. [applause] the debate was clear. what the bill meant was absolutely clear. of all of all, the congress

intended that the fair housing act serve as a powerful tool to end racial residential segregation, two and a private housing discrimination, and to replace racial ghettos with vibrant integrated neighborhoods. that is what we said in the bill. in the senate debate in 1968, ed overwhelmingn portion of public housing in the united states is bills directed and financed by the federal government and it is racially segregated. senator brooke was right then and he is right today. the fair housing act commanded that federal funds not be used to create or maintain residential segregation. federal government, and all governments that receive federal funds, must be affirmatively for fair housing. congress meant that the federal government and recipients of

federal funding have to do everything in their power, or stresses prior put it, to use their immense leverage to create a more integrated america. because of the fair housing act, almost 45% of suburban residents in large metropolitan areas, racially diverse suburbs. these communities are a model for the nation. integrated suburbs as show the nation's greatest success in eliminating racial disparities in opportunities. all the studies show that. these places suffer from continue discrimination and ongoing resegregation. the fair housing act has unfinished business. with high income -- when high income black families cannot qualify for a loan and are steered away from white suburbs, the goals of the fair housing

act are not fulfilled. when the federal and state government will pay to build new suburban highways, streets, sewers, schools, and parks, but then allow these communities to exclude affordable housing and nonwhite citizens, the goals of the fair housing act are not fulfilled. housing -- d nobody is immune. my home state of minnesota has a strong economy, and a reputation for supporting citizens, but even here, recent reports are large racial disparities and growing segregation and our own communities and schools. this summer, because of the inclusive communities and hugs recent rules, we stand for the first time at daily -- in nearly and new with new laws energy that can make a

difference. new laws that can help us finally attack these barriers effectively. with the disturbances that we have seen in ferguson, baltimore, and chicago -- all over this country -- we have reason to act, and we must act. we have tried, for a century, to fix segregated neighborhoods without integrating. in recent years, the concept of separate but equal has sometimes taken on a benevolent facade in the form of community development and revitalization. this approach has always failed. because the supreme court in brown was right when it declared that separate is inherently unequal. only the strong enforcement of fair housing can ensure the improvement of segregated communities and the continued prosperity of in a graded communities. we know even more clearly that -- than in 1968, that

integration is the clearest path for nonwhite families to acquire a foothold in the american education and economic system. compared to poor children who growth up in segregated communities, for children in integrated mix income neighborhoods and schools are more likely to graduate from college, andattend have higher incomes later in life, live and work in integrated communities, and have good jobs and benefits. we know that it works. now we have to make certain to get more energy behind this movement. integration, racially integrated places like louisville and raleigh-durham have become economic powerhouses. here the rules and principles of economic integration are not only for those working in fair housing at this high level, but also in places around this country where the strength and ud is needed.

i call upon all of you, and i know you will do it, too enforce the icp case, tax new energy decision gives you, and provide new rules at every level to and segregation and help diverse places they strong -- stay strong and diverse. it had can help integrated communities prosper and work together, these children of the fair housing act can leave the country -- can lead the country by example to a future of prosperity for us all. that is the dream. thank you. [applause] >> thank you, very much, mr.

vice president for your insight and for joining us here today. we will certainly work hard to live up to your expectations and to live up to what we ought to for our nation. with regard to fair housing. i know have the pleasure of introducing another accomplished public servant, senator tim kaine, as i mentioned a few months ago, is no stranger to this community. he has dedicated much of his career to fair housing, 17 years as a fair housing lawyer. [applause] another that will resonate with all of the lawyers in the crowd, and he has also spent decades fighting for folks who need a voice as governor of for jeanette, and now senator of for jenna, he has taken those values and that fighting spirit to the u.s. senate where he has been a champion for working families.

i'm glad he's able to join us today. please give a great big hug welcome to senator tim kaine. welcome tobig hud senator tim kaine. sen. kaine: thank you so much. what a wonderful event. this is really exciting. secretary castro, thank you for your great leadership. you know these issues so well, having been the mayor of san antonio, now in this important role as the secretary of. your leadership is advancing because. thank you for pulling this together. mr. vice president, i am truly honored to be in this room with you. please give them each another round of applause. [applause] also just excited to be

with all of you. you advocate on the front lines, , local you are with hud governments, their housing organizations, or housing providers, you are on the frontlines making this law a reality. you heard from the vice president, the story of how the law was passed. i'm want to share stories about being at the frontlines for a while, for 17 years, when of my law0% or 75% practice. trying to be on the frontlines of making the law a reality in the commonwealth of virginia. the vice president talked about the legal representation from the commonwealth was standing in the way in 1968 in the senate and the house, and i'm happy to tell you that the virginia of today is very different than the virginia of 1968. i'm very happy to tell you that. law instarted practicing 1984, it was not so different. we have come a long way since then. and we tell you about my first

client. in graduated from law school harvard in 1980 three, clerked for a federal judge for a year, went to work for a 12 person law firms in richmond. i was obviously the newest lawyer. someone comes and says i need help, and it is a pro bono thing, and they say, who can we get to do this? there is a new guy that can do it. her first name was lorraine, and she came into my office and shared a story much like the vice president's discussion about the testimony at his hearing. she said, i wanted to move out of my parent's home, i just got out of college, and i saw an apartment advertised, i have my first job and about in the world for the first time. i got my first job, and the want to get my first apartment on my own. i see something advertised in the newspaper, i call, and i available.s, it is

i set up a time to come and visit. and see the apartment. as soon as i get there, the landlord sees me and he says, we have just rented the place. i go back to my office, and it does not feel right. i asked a colleague to call the same number and ask. mccauley calls and asks, no, the calls and asks, no, the apartment is still unavailable. i fought the case record her, and we won it, but what strikes me is that i had one of those moments as i'm talking to lorraine. we're on was the same age. i had just moved to a new city. . just rented an apartment for me, that experience was an exciting one. i'm starting a new chapter in life, i'm getting my own home, i'm not under my parent's supervision anymore. i'm starting the adult pass. where you live is not a physical thing. a thing.e is not

it is more than a thing. it is part of the definition of who you are is a person. as lorraine tobey her story, sol, the experience was positive for me, finding my apartment and starting my path as an adult, it for her it was a negative. thing turned away because of the color of her skin. not only was it a negative in the instance, it meant that the next time that she looked for an apartment she would wonder, am i going to be treated fairly? it would have a ripple effect down the course of her life, and she would be worried and concerned, and an experience that was a positive for me would be an anxiety inducing one for her. i never forgot that experience of sitting across the table and interviewing my first client, and feeling similarities with her in her time of life, but the dramatic difference that each of us had had in our experience of finding an apartment. when i represented her and won the case, i became the virginia

expert on the fair housing laws. one case and i was now the expert in virginia on the fair housing laws. the reason, mr. vice president, i was an expert is because the original fair housing laws had strict limitations on damages that you could collect until the 1988 revisions. really tough limitations on damages, many lawyers would not bring the case because they were .on-remunerative suddenly, i started doing all kinds of cases. in the course of 17 years, i worked on cases about the rental of apartments, the purchase of houses, the purchase or rental ,f mobile homes, advertising financing, mortgages, and my largest case dealt with insurance redlining. i dealt with cases with determination on race, disability, and family status. my clients were all kinds of folks. obviously, a number of people

just like lorraine who were the victims, but then the survivors, of this kind of bad treatment. housingters, their organizations, like fair housing richmond, an fantastic organization. i represented nonprofit housing providers that would build group homes for folks with developmental disabilities. our percent of them a lot of times. i represented employees of apartment management companies that wanted to rent apartments, but were told by their bosses that they could not because the person who applied was a minority. and also in a case in emporia, virginia and presented a real estate agent that had closed in the deal only to have it snuck out from under her because people did not want this african-american couple that she was representing to go in. a main bank in town, a realty firm, and a group of neighbors got together and cancel the contract that she had and

provided the home to someone else. i won that case why suing them not only under the fair housing laws, but the antitrust laws from an op lies in the market in this community in a way that african americans could not be served. i said a lot of legal precedence. at the first case that established using human models in advertisements could be a violation. --ompany in richmond had would put out a brochure about all of their apartment buildings, and all of the people, 400 people, in this brochure were white. we brought it under a disparate impact the array, but were able to prove in the case it was done intentionally and one that one did. i went to the virginia supreme court to prove that the fair housing act apply to mobile homes. you would not think that that would be controversial, but i had a lawyer make a novel argument that because mobile homes are taxed as personal property rather than real property in virginia the fair

housing laws did not apply, because it has wheels on it. i won that case on a 4-3 vote, it was very close. i had a number of cases that made president about the fair housing act trumping restrictive covenants in zoning rules limiting the number of people that could live in a house. zoning laws often do that. the federal housing laws of the two cannot discriminate against of those with disabilities. if you have a group home with folks with developmental disabilities, it would be shut down by a lot of local zoning laws, but i was able to bring a case that establish the proposition that the federal fair housing act trumps local zoning laws and respected group homes. i brought a case that established and proved the nationwide insurance company, they were not doing anything different than others were, that others were doing the same thing, but the case i brought just happened to be against nationwide -- that they were redlining neighborhoods in the issues of home ownership. that case took six years.

read before i tried it, someone handed me an article that said this came out a couple of months ago, have you seen it? i said no. the article was, why has there never been a successful case against insurance regulators? the conclusion after the end was that there has never been a successful case because the actuarial data that goes into calculating homeowners of risks, the writing and premiums is so complicated, it is impossible to win. i said, thank you for showing me that, i'm very thrilled to read this before we try this case. we won. it was the largest civil rights verdict in the united states, the largest jury verdict in virginia. i think it still is. $500,000 compensatory and 500 thousand dollars punitive damage award. the supreme court of virginia took it away from a, but asked them to rehear it, andriy did, and they vacated their ruling. on the eve of the reargument

settled for $26,000. those are the legal president i was involved in. something the vice president should get credit for in addition to passing the federal fair housing act, remover that the federal fair housing act passage promoted all of the states to pass fair housing laws. there are a few states in california that had fair housing before, but most did not. now all of the states and the district of columbia have fair housing laws. that is something the vice president should get credit or because it paved the way. i'm proud to say that virginia was the first southern state to pass the fair housing law in 1971. it was a point of familial pride. my father-in-law, my wife's dad, was the governor of virginia that pushed the passage of the virginia fair housing law. i would always bring cases under the state law rather than the federal law, because until 1988

the state law protected emily status and disability and did not have damage limitations, so it was better than the federal law for several years until 1988. one last thing, and the best thing about it, the challenges that i dealt with trying cases. after the law passed, the vice president and i were talking about this, one challenge was that you could bring the case, but you could not get a jury to rule for you. the supreme court ruled early that if you try a fair housing case the defendant is entitled to a jury trial. you would try the case, but the jury would come back, especially in the south, and will for the defendant. when i practiced in 1984, that was not so much of a challenge. have your really evidence, but i will tell you the challenge from 84, it was convincing the jury that there was real damage. the question of damages.

someone would get turned away from an apartment, but it was very common. by the time that the case went to trial, they had found an apartment. they did not get turned away from everyone, but by the time that you brought the case to trial they had found an apartment. a lot of the times i would be trying a case, and i would be dealing with a jury d that will was often majority, or not all white, and they would be saying, was you got a place, it bad, but you got a place. i try to communicate how bad it -- to be turned away, even if you did get a place. asked one, how did it feel like. she said, imagine me, just as my resume as a piece of paper, all of the things that i've done in my life. all of the things i've done and my compliments. this person just crumpled all of that up and pitched it a side when she found out that i was black.

you can take something out of the trash can that has been crumpled and try to straighten it out and flatten it, but you can hold it up and it is still crumpled. you will never get it back to the way that it was. you can see the jury say, now, i think i can relate. i had a case where i was arguing in a closing argument dealing with a woman who had married into an interracial marriage to a white husband that had a couple of kids. when they went to look for a new apartment they were turned away because of her race. they got the next apartment, and i could see the jury thinking that, but when she explained that it was like to be humiliated in front of her stepchildren, you know, i -- all into this family of the mythology about the wicked stepmother, you want to impress the kids. here we are finding a place and everyone likes it, and we cannot live there because of me. , now icould see the jury

get this. by the time that i finished practicing in the 2000's, the damage issue was not so much of a problem, either. that was probably wasn't able to get a jury to award 100 million dollars against nationwide in that case. the best thing about working in fair housing was the people. my clients, like lorraine, the advocates themselves, i worked with great lawyers. advocates. the fair housing organizations like home all over the country, civil rights groups all over the country, and the hud support was critical. i was the mayor of richmond and had to preside over a city council meeting and i was interrupted in the middle because secretary cuomo was calling me to say, good work. hud has always been supportive. some of you in the room from when ie working there did the case.

the people are those that make this such an impressive thing. obviously, we still have a lot of work to do. differentials and home ownership. 75% of caucasians own their own home, 45% of minorities. 28,000 fair housing complaints were received in 2014 either by or the agencies that work on these cases. lot of complaints cannot get processed because they are classes that are not protected. we should protect sexual orientation, that is why i support the new equality act. -- senatorank you merkley has a new equality act that we have signed on to that says in all of the civil rights willte, in all of them, we protect on the grounds of sexual determination. huge amounts of discrimination on income.

hud and the agencies you have had to deal with a tsunami of foreclosures. 5000 foreclosed homes sense 2007, a dispersion at impact on minorities and minority communities. they are 70% to 80% more likely subprimeotten a mortgage than white families, even though investigations show that they were qualified for a forwardtraight mortgage, but they were pushed into them by people who wanted to make more money on the commissions. there is a lot of work. i am so happy as i conclude to say that the supreme court finally resolved that issue. we were talking in the 1980's, could we get a definitive ruling? one that was rock solid on disparate of impact? to have approved it all of these years later. what a good thing. i applaud hud, mr. secretary

and your team, for having them affirmatively promote fair housing. that is what hud should do, and you put your muscle behind it. not only awho was civil rights lawyer, but i was a mayor, and we were writing this local plans just like you were. there's nothing wrong with asking local officials to demonstrate that they are affirmatively promoting fair housing, and the fact that hud is doing that is great. i will say that you are the front lines. i'm happy with the supreme court , but you individuals other front lines. i will conclude with my one piece of advice, i am a fanatic entityrying to decipher license plates. you follow a license plate, and someone has one and you're trying to read it and see what it means.

i will frequently go way past my exit on the highway because i am halloween to figure it out. this is my favorite -- i am following to figure it out. this is my favorite vanity license plate. 4th&x. go you can see why follow this guy for a wild. -- for a wild. while.a go forth and multiply. it was either a reproductive scientist, or something that i was following. that is the message that i have

for you. go forth and multiply. thank you very much. [applause] >> on the second day of the housing and urban development conference, attendees will hear from attorney general loretta office to combat housing discrimination. that is on c-span2 at 9:00 a.m. eastern. south carolina governor nikki haley space at the national press club to discuss what she calls lessons from the new south. that is live at 1:00 p.m. eastern here on c-span. a signature feature a book tv is our all-day coverage of book fairs and festivals from across the country, with top nonfiction

authors. here is our schedule. beginning this weekend, we are live from the 15th annual national book festival from our nations capital. near the end of september, we are in new york for the brooklyn book festival celebrating its 10th year. in early october, it is the southern festival of books in nashville. the weekend after that, we're live from austin for the texas book festival. at the end of the month we will cover to book festivals on the same weekend, from our nation's heartland it is that wisconsin book festival in madison. on the east coast, the boston book festival. in the start of november, we will be in portland, oregon for the book followed by awards in new york city. at the end of november we're live for the 18th year in a row for the miami book fair international. that is a few of the fairs and festivals this fall on c-span's book tv. c-span cities tour, working

with the cable affiliates and visiting cities across the country. this weekend we are joined by charter communications to learn more about the history and literary life of grand junction, colorado. the mining of a certain mineral has a long-term importance in this part of colorado. >> all over the colorado plateau, and in mason county -- in mesa county, we find morrison rock. dinosaur bones in morrison rock. another thing that we find in the morrison is a rock that contains three different elements. it contains radium, which is radioactive and was used by marie curie to help solve and fight cancer. vanadium which strengthens steel. during the buildup to world war ii and during world war ii itself it was of extreme

value. it also contains uranium. uranium is one of the best sources for atomic power and a atomic weapons. wayneorado congressman aspinall was largely responsible for this area's agricultural development through his water legislation. >> he fought the battle to reserve water for western colorado. made sure that we got our fair share. how did he do that? beginning in his state career, and then going onto his federal career, he climbed up the ladder of seniority and was able to exercise more power than you might normally have, certainly in the united states congress, where he was able to make sure that colorado and western colorado would be treated fairly in any divisions of water. his first major success was the passage of the colorado river

.torage project in 1956 see all of our programs from grand junction on saturday on c-span's book tv. in another panel from the housing and urban development fair housing conference, a look at how some government policies helped establish racially segregated communities throughout the united states. speakers included the president and director of the naacp education and legal fund. this is 90 minutes. >> thank you, and good morning. ne and i'm bryan gree the general deputy assistant office ofof hud's

housing. i'm going to be the moderator of this first panel of our national conference. the title of this session is the problem that we all live with, residential segregation. that title comes from a norman rockwell painting. it shows a black girl going to a white school with a federal marshal scored -- escorting her. that painting is from 1964. could be the problem that we still live with. many of the metropolitan areas are largely segregated despite residential desegregation being a stated all of the 1968 fair housing act. you heard vice president mondale talk about that today. brooke, his cosponsor of the act, spoke to it on the senate floor.

in 1968 he described segregation as the problem that we had already lived with for too long. he said that today's federal housing official commonly invades against the evils of ghetto life, even as he pushes the button's that ratify their triumphs. when you ask one of these the 1962 why, despite fair housing order, most public housing is still segregated -- he invariably wins it on regional custom, local tradition, and personal prejudices of municipal housing officials. that was in 1968. everyone here have cable? ?eah ok. my wife decided we did not need cable. [laughter] i hope i'm not saying this on cable, right now. you remember the 1980's commercial "i want my into the?"

lately i've been saying i want my hbo. do you know why? weeks, everythree sunday, i've had to go to follows onses, or vacation, back to the hotel room to watch and david simon's hbo series on housing to segregation in yonkers in the 1980's. it is called "show me a hero." if you have not seen it, you have to check it out. david simon decided he wanted to make the show in 1999 when he optioned the book that a new york times reporter named lisa belkin had written on the yonkers case. what drew him to do and hbo miniseries on housing desegregation? he saw a long-standing pet allergy among the american population that he wanted to talk about.

he said the general population " is not very good at sharing or many space or power other kinds of social dynamics with significant numbers of people of color. " project kepts, the getting bob's. he produced shows like "the wire," that kept coming back to this project. he said at every point that was a fresh example that the dynamic was still there. that the racial pathology was still in tact. he added, and i think that it has only become more pronounced. he told the interviewer that the show was green light the four ferguson, beef or baltimore, -- before baltimore, before charleston. he could've written the blurred in your program that describes the panel that we have today. a longged that there was

history of american government at federal, state, and local levels using public money to lly segregate our society. poor people did not end up packed into housing projects in one square mile in yonkers by accident. it was a plan. it was a plan in the auger's, baltimore, and everywhere that the federal money since 1930's. in 2015 we have an illustrious panel to share their ideas on what we can all do now to make real on the promise of the fair housing act. turned a corner on this. have issued a new role that breathes new life and adds flesh and bone to the fair housing act mandate that hud takes proactive steps to fulfill a desegregate goal of the fair housing act.

when we issued the rule, president obama in a weekly address reminded the nation why this is so critical. he said, in some cities kids living blocks apart leaves incredible -- lead incredibly different lives. they go to different schools, play in different parts, shop in different stores, and walked down different streets. often, the quality of those schools and the safety of those arcs and streets are far from equal. which means that those kids are not getting an equal shot at life. our panel knows that not everyone agrees it is governments business to address this. perhaps, our panel, can tell us how we respond to critics who call these efforts social engineering. i will leave you with some words from david simon who said this term. he says the idea that social engineering starts the moment

that someone might want to restore someone to their full rights 40 years into the rigged game, that is when you object? sorry, he says, that is i have a feeling that is not where our analyst begin the argument. , ahave richard rothstein senior associate of the economic policy institute. in fall of 2014, he published "the making of ferguson: public policies at the root of its documenting report the problems that segregated the st. louis metropolitan area. he is the author of "grading and using social economic reform to close the black-white education gap. it can be