are talking about a 15% excise tax in colorado on wholesale transfers between the cultivation facilities and the store. when a cultivation facility produces a bunch of marijuana and transfers it to sell it, it taxes 15%. an ounce of marijuana is to $100.from $60 $350--tore, it is mary: we have to establish how pervasive that market is to begin with. we know that we have 503 medical stores in colorado. the average age is 22 for the patients. it's 40, i hate to break it to you. wayne: we have an excess of 500

stores. are we sick? are all those people using the stores patients? [laughter] you are basically saying any place that produces products that grows marijuana is a store you can walk into and buy it. that's not the same. the number of stores is far fewer. problem isa, the they are looking at changing their law because people cannot access it. colorado has set up the system. what we have seen is a dramatic migration away from the medical system. medical sales have gone down. people are no longer bothering going through the process of getting a recommendation. truly has ane significant medical need, they

already can get a recommendation from a physician. they don't have to go out of their way. they have a doctor the already see. ok? mary: we're almost out of time. a quick political discussion of how this is playing for politicians in colorado, and more broadly, for 2016. we have to talk about that. many republican candidates have said, look, i'm ok with this. it is constitutional. it's what the founders intended. it's not my cup of tea. even ted cruz has said this. on the democratic side, oddly enough, they are not super pro. even bernie sanders is not living it up enough to say he would be pro legalization. [laughter] mary: give me a little colorado take on whether this is hurting or helping people as far as

politics go. the consensus in colorado is that legalization stems to hurt politicians on the right. i'm not sure that's true. it seemed the crowd was evenly split. it's a young crowd. the consensus that i hear from right of center pundits is that amendment 64 is going to take a purple state and make it permanently blue. i'm not sure that's true. when reason it passed in colorado and we were the first to state to do this, and i don't think there are germany places in the world that have marijuana access as liberalized as we do here. we have the libertarian streak that runs the right of center

politics in colorado and has for a long time. innow people interested appealing the amendment were adamant about keeping it off at 2016 ballot. they think it will be a rallying point for democrats. i don't know that that's true. that seems to be the conventional wisdom. the cautionary tale being told by political operatives on the right. only one colorado state legislature brought forward a proposal to repeal amendment 64, john morse. only one. he is one not a lot of people agree with him a lot of things, which is why he's no longer in office. elected officials now recognize this is the direction in which the nation is going. obviously, it's a direction in which the states are going. but to -- a majority of americans believe it should be legal. regardless of whether it is legal or illegal, should the government let states decide?

you get anywhere between 57 to 67% saying yes. that is what we are seeing among a lot of these presidential candidates and ted cruz -- candidates. ted cruz has said that. so has hillary clinton. you are seeing this on both sides. real anti-marijuana candidates are chris christie, dr. carson who has certainly not been friendly on the issue, and mike huckabee, who doesn't think alcohol should be legal. so... candidates,r 23 nearly half of them have said something to the effect-- mary: i think it's interesting that democrats don't take a few more risks on that.

jill biden is an old-school drug warrior. they will be the square party on marijuana. mason: this is a republican winning ticket. this is a way to mobilize younger people and make them want to listen to the rest of the republican agenda so that maybe they become interested in it. mary: short last question to but both of you. -- bug both of you. 18 months out, what was the other side's position that was most oversold? ande: revenue for schools regulated like alcohol. beon: that colorado would hurt economically and that teen use would escalate and that we would see all sorts of problems as a result. mary: there you have it. i will be back another time.

we will have more data. we can learn more things about this adventure we are on in colorado. a 2014 interview with howard coble, who passed away this week at the age of 84. an interview with president obama and texas congressman sam johnson. on the next washington journal, political correspondent jim hea th, author of "front row seat at the circus," talks about

presidential campaign experience. the former ambassador to morocco will talk about president obama's mideast policy. in usa today, correspondents have a detail on report that pentagon has made $9 million to sports teams for patriotic events. as always, we will take your calls and you can join the conversation on facebook and twitter. washington journal, live at 7:00 a.m. eastern on c-span. erica, about whom will you next write? only one that i would write. book.write that >> i thought, i'm going to be standing next to the president, speaking to 3500 of the most important people in the world ndc.

who knows how i will feel in the moment? i don't know. i had the idea that i might do that. i thought maybe i will give him the book later. feel theyorker, if i it.zpah, i will do >> i think it's important for everybody to take politics seriously and at least to vote, but never to make what christians would call an idle of politics. -- an idol of politics. some people have done that. they are worshiping that idol rather than the god that would cause them to care for the poor and injustices. i think it's a fine line. it's something i talk about fairly often. >> sunday night at 8:00 eastern and pacific on c-span's q&a.

now democratic presidential candidate hillary clinton at a townhall meeting in orangeburg, south carolina. she talks about changes to the criminal justice system, charter schools, voter id laws, and the federal government's role in helping minority owned businesses. this is just over one hour. alright alright, how we doing? [applause] glad to be back in south carolina. we need to the gamecocks upset. -- made the gamecocks upset. they will get over it. asking some great questions here. one on tvager of news one. the only national morning show that talks about african-american news for us, by us.

certainly glad to be here. we look forward to a great conversation. we are live streaming this as well. we are taking lots of questions. we expect to talk specific issues, no gossip, all about curing specific policies and plans. we look forward to that. let's not wait any longer. let me introduce for you, the democratic president of candidate, secretary hillary clinton. [applause] ♪ mrs. clinton: thank you. it is great to be here. mr. martin: we did not coordinate our outfits, just to let you know. mrs. clinton: i told you you

look pretty sharp. mr. martin: you know, black coast, black show, black network. mrs. clinton: [laughter] you have to show me how you do that. mr. martin: my dad has taught me well. mrs. clinton: [laughter] mr. martin: let's jump right into it. yesterday the jobs working out for october. unemployment rate dropped to 5.0 present --5%. is there a need for a new deal 2.0 and a marshall plan that targets those most in need, as opposed to folks who say you can't do anything race-based, but if you do it needs-based, it will impact african-americans and latinos more than anything else? what is your plan for those who don't have the opportunities of others? mrs. clinton: first of all, i am really relieved and pleased that overall we are making progress. and i have gone across this country making the point that when president obama came into office, he inherited the worst financial crisis since the great depression. and he doesn't get the credit he

deserves for digging us out of that big hole he was handed when he came in. [applause] mrs. clinton: so it has been a long, slow effort, which thanks to him and his leadership and many, many millions of americans, we are exactly where roland said we are, down to 5% unemployment. jobs are coming back. but incomes are not rising. we have two big problems. one, we had to get incomes to go back out. targeted effort at people and communities that have not had the benefits of the recovery us far -- thus far. we need, once and for all, to have a very big infrastructure program on our roads, bridges, tunnels, airports, rail system where we can put millions of people to work.

number two, we need to combat climate change by becoming the clean energy superpower of the 21st century. that means putting up wind turbines and installing solar panels and doing energy efficiency work and all the work that will enable us not only to have the economy grow, but move away from fossil fuels. number three -- >> [applause] mrs. clinton: we need to start investing in small business. my particular hope is i can be the small business president. i want to focus on women and minority owned small businesses in our country. all of those things i think will make a difference. mr. martin: i want to deal with what you said about infrastructure. you talked about crating those jobs. historically, those labor unions have frozen us out. african-americans have not been able to get those construction jobs. so what would you say to those trade unions, stop freezing out black folks and other minorities

from those opportunities? mrs. clinton: i think we have two problems. where people are frozen out, or equally importantly, not sought out. i want to make sure every training program is reflective of our population. i want to provide an apprenticeship credit to companies, to unions, to others to train young people, particularly, but not just young anymore, roland. we have a lot of people who have lost their jobs were middle age and older, and they knew to be given special attention. labor unions are not the problem in much of the south because they are right to work states. so we have to make sure that anywhere we do for structure -- we do infrastructure, at the federal government has money in it, they must be a program for recruiting and hiring and, where necessary, training people from less advantaged communities. and that is going to be my -- mr. martin: you talked about the issue of small businesses. the "wall street journal," $29.9 billion handed out for small business loans. but in the last year of president bush, it was a .2% for african-americans. the housing crisis had a lot to do with that. they are trying to improve that, but that is a perfect example. you have 1.9 million black-owned

businesses who cannot get access to capital. how will you lose allies -- how will you utilize the federal government to expand as opposed to, again, getting 1.7% of $23 billion? mrs. clinton: when i was a senator from new york, this is one of the big issues i had because the federal government has a lot of contracts, but sometimes it is difficult for small businesses to know how to apply for those contracts. so i used to run a procurement outreach program, and a big conference where we sought out small businesses. and again, with a special emphasis on minority and women owned businesses. i think we have to do that all the time. you've got to have a much more vigorous effort to reach out and help people, number one, apply for the contracts that are available. there is, and i agree with this, there is a preference and the law for small businesses that are minority and women owned. i want to make sure that preference is translated into benefits and doesn't just sit on the books. mr. martin: but also have bureaucrats who make the job -- mrs. clinton: 100%. in my administration, what i want to do is set some goals and tell the people who work for me, this is what i want you to do.

and if we really measure what we are doing, we can get results and we can change outcomes, i believe. mr. martin: 2010, i him eating at the treasury department with two officials who said that black and hispanic firms outperformed everyone out on the management of funds. my follow-up question was, did they get more money? the answer was no. what you have here, you have a good old boy situation largely white from the treasury department. is there a perfect example of if you are president, you will tell your treasury secretary, you are to do what jackson did, put economic power -- political power.

what harrison did was say, no, you are going to expand those opportunities. if they are outperforming everybody else, they should get more business. mrs. clinton: if someone tells you that a group or a person is outperforming everybody else, your question is the right question. are you going to reward that person or business? my answer is yes. i think that when you look at

the economy, there are opportunities that we are not seizing on behalf of communities and individuals. and i don't think there is any doubt at all that we've got to do more to open doors and to rebuild those ladders of opportunity. when it comes to businesses, small business, minority and women owned, i am going to be vigilant and i'm going to drive people to get results. what i like about what you said is we are not doing this as charity, we are doing this as business. when they do well, we need to reward that. mr. martin: last seven years, 53% of black -- mrs. clinton: you talk so fast. am i talking too fast in response jack a razor -- response? raise your hand if you think we are talking too fast. mr. martin: i've got other stuff to ask. mrs. clinton: i know, i know. mr. martin: 53% of black wealth was wiped out in the home foreclosure process. elizabeth ward -- warren said it will take two generations just for african-americans to recoup that money. one thing our government did not

do -- and i will say this here -- one of the greatest failures of the obama administration has been there housing policy. will you, if you are president, forced the federal housing finance agency to write down the principle of underwater homeowners and will you modify -- push congress to modify the code so that the people who have homes can maintain those homes and not simply bail out banks and not bail out homeowners? mrs. clinton: i advocated that to back in 2007 and 2008, roland. in fact, i was very unhappy that we did not do enough to help people in their homes save their homes. i will look for ways to, number one, stop the damage so that we don't lose more homes because people still haven't recovered. but number two, we've got to get back into the home ownership business. and a lot of financial institutions are reluctant to loan. and they are more reluctant to loan to african-american and latino --

mr. martin: -- now they are simply -- [indiscernible] mrs. clinton: and i don't agree with that. i think that is wrong. now we are starting to see some of the bad behavior coming from the folks who want to those homes. they are forcing people out. a big article today about misleading people and forcing them to turn over their home under false pretenses. so, you are right, what happened in 2007, 2008 is just beyond horrible. 9 million people lost their

jobs. 5 million lost their homes. and $13 trillion in family wealth was wiped out, most of it in homeownership, but also iras, 401(k)s, college funds. we have a lot of catching up to do, and it is not enough if just some people recover. i want to do it i can to help everybody recover. >> [applause] mr. martin: 1991, i graduated from college and i interviewed the birmingham news. all 16 editors there wanted to hire me. but to the hr department said, no because of my credit report. there are an increasing number of people across the country to deny jobs for credit report. do you support the bill that deals with the issue of repairing the fair credit act? and -- and in most cases wiping out requirements to have folks

go through credit checks when they are applying to jobs? mrs. clinton: you know, that is -- i generally agree with that. i don't know the specific of the legislation, but i will obviously look at it immediately. one, sometimes credit reports are wrong. but let's deal with that problem -- mr. martin: and her act deals with that. mrs. clinton: yes. and that is a serious problem for a lot of people. secondly, i think a lot of credit problems, particularly for young people, have to do with student debt, have to do with credit cards that they had to use in order to stay in college, in order to be able to get their education. there are a lot of reasons why i don't think you should have credit reports following you

around like some anchor that you have to carry with you. so, yeah, i want people to be responsible, but i also want to make sure you've got a second chance. and it shouldn't be that you are denied a job that has nothing to do, as i understand working for the birmingham newspaper would have with your credit score. so we need to take a hard look at that. mr. martin: last friday, you were in atlanta. there were people there interrupting your speech. some people chanted, "black lives matter." but do you fully understand the reticence of some folks when they say under your president he signed into law the crime deal that has contributed to the mass incarceration problem? he signed the welfare or bill -- the welfare bill. do you understand the sentiment to echo and why not roll out your entire criminal justice program at one time as opposed to individual speeches? mrs. clinton: first of all, i do understand the sense of frustration and disappointment and even outrage that young people, like those that were in atlanta last week, feel because there are a lot of things that need to be fixed. and they are impatient, and they deserve to be impatient. and they deserve to hear answers from people like me running for office.

i have had some very good, open, productive conversations with representatives of the black lives matter movement. i wish they had listened because a lot of what we have talked about together are part of the proposals we are making. and the reason we rolled them out -- and this is an interesting point to make to you as a leading member of the press -- as you get more attention paid to them. if you put them out one day, it is a one day story. so we have been rolling out, starting with the very first speech i gave in this campaign back in, i don't know, march or april about criminal justice reform, and we are going to keep doing that because i want people to look at what i am proposing. we are going to reduce minimum mandatory sentences.

we are finally going to reduce the difference between powder and crack cocaine, which has been a terrible, unfair burden. we are going to ban the box and let people apply for jobs. and only at the and come if they get to that at be end, if they get to that end, they can talk about whatever record they have. we have a very robust agenda, and i feel very committed to this trade and i particularly want young people who share the inpatients and the disappointment -- and, you know, i think we should talk about going forward, but i will say back in the 1990's, that bill was in response to a horrific decade of crime. and leaders of the communities of color and poor communities were in the forefront saying, you must do something. and it was done. and it did have a lot of positive, but also negative unintended consequences. that is why we have to take another look. that is what a democracy should do.

mr. martin: we are going to go to questions, but you mentioned mandatory minimums. why not get rid of all of them and allowed just is -- judges to have discretion to echo you have some folks -- discretion? mr. martin: well, we want to get rid -- mrs. clinton: well, we want to get rid of the nonviolent offenses as a way of going into jail. but this is like everything else. it cuts both ways. if you reduce the mandatory minimums, i believe then we can see does it reduce discrimination? and discrimination can be on both sides because what happens right now is that african-american men are far more likely to be arrested, to be charged, to be convicted, to be incarcerated for doing the

same things as white men. so we want to reduce those minimums, but we also don't want to open the door to a different form of discrimination. we are looking hard at how this would be a pride in the real world. mr. martin: questions? >> secretary clinton, thank you so much for being held this afternoon. i have elderly parents, a 16-year-old these and nephew preparing for college. but my main question is: what is the plan of accountability for companies for disparities in pay between men and women? and how can we as women in short that we are receiving equal pay for the same work? mrs. clinton: amen. amen. you know, i have to tell you, i do not do a town hall anywhere in america without being asked this question.

and for all those republicans who say this is not a real world problem, i wish they would come to my town halls because i don't know who they are talking to because it is. and i think -- i think there are several things we do. number one, just talking about it. making sure people can't ignore it or diminish it or pretend it is someone else's problem. but then we have to force the laws -- enforce the laws that are already on the books. this is not just a women's issue, this is a family issue. and the other thing is one of the things -- and you got right to it -- one of the things that stands in the way of knowing how widespread this is is the fact that in many businesses you can be fired for asking somebody else in the business how much they are paid. so a lot of women don't know they are being paid less than the men that they are working beside, doing the same job. that is what happened to lily, the woman in alabama who had worked in a big factory for years. she got promoted ok. she became the first woman foreman, i guess, or woman forewoman, and it was only by

accident that she learned although there were four or five men during the exact same job, she was being paid less. so i want to remove any doubt that transparency is acceptable, and if there needs to be changes in the rules or the laws about businesses so that they cannot retaliate, so that you can find out how mature are being paid so you can compare your pay to other workers in the same situation, i will tell you a really quick torry, a young man came up to me in new hampshire and said -- he was in his mid to late 20's -- he said his first real job was working at a cashier at the same store his mother worked in. he was 17 and he was so proud because this was like his first job, and he got it because his

mother introduced him to somebody. he comes home with his first paycheck. his mother looks at it and her face falls. she tells him you are making a dollar more an hour than i am and i have been there for years. so he went to find out. and the manager said, well, yeah, you are a young man. we think you have a lot of potential to go up in the business. so we are going to tackle this and we are going to end it once and for all. >> [applause] mr. martin: another question here. go ahead. >> roland, first of all, thank you for all you do. i appreciate it. madam president. >> [laughter] mrs. clinton: your lips to god's years, right? -- ears, right? >> we have a problem here and most of the southern states and throughout the united states -- with guns. and we know the nra is just

adamant about not doing anything to do away with these guns. but what we need to do is to find what will you do to get rid of all these guns that are on the streets that are in the homes that are inadvertently killing youngsters in their homes? what will you do to help us out with that? mrs. clinton: this is an issue that i just think we have got to address. i understand how politically challenging it is. 90 people a day die in our country from guns. homicides, suicides, and avoidable accidents, like what the gentleman was referring to. and it is imperative that people make this a voting issue. i know we can balance the legitimate rights of gun owners with the right to be safe going to school are going to church. the right to have control over what happens in people going to stores to buy guns who shouldn't

have them. so here is what i am proposing. number one, we need universal background checks for real. we need to close the gun show loophole. we need to close the online loophole because people are buying guns and ammunition online. you have no idea who they are, and we know some of the mass murderers, that is how they got what they used to kill people. we need to close what is called the charleston loophole. the charleston loophole is, unfortunately, what enabled that young man to get a gun he was not entitled to. he was a felon. he had a felony conviction. but under the rules, three business days is all you get to find out. and the information hadn't been shared between two jurisdictions, so after three days, he went and he got that gone and he went to mother emmanuel and he murdered those nine wonderful people.

and then we need to remove the immunity that gun makers and sellers have. they are the only industry in america that we give blanket immunity to. gun makers should be required to apply technology that currently exists so that guns owned by responsible adults cannot be operated by children, or if they are stolen, cannot be used by criminals. and what i am just appalled at the numbers of young children -- i'm talking toddlers -- to go into a closet or go under a bad or open a drawer -- bed or open marriage or an there is a gun. and they kill themselves, they kill their siblings, they kill their friends, they injure people.

that is crazy, my friends. i know the nra are powerful, but i think the american people are more powerful. and the right to life is the most powerful of all. mr. martin: we are on the campus of an historically black college. what is your hbcu plans? because we talk about black doctors and black lawyers and black engineers. and will you reverse the obama administration's loan change that led to 15,000 students not coming back to hbcu campuses, millions of dollars lost? will you reverse that policy and what is your plan to assist? mrs. clinton: i have what is called, roland, my new college compact. it would affect both state and class in this way. if you are going to a public college or university, you will not have to borrow money to pay

for tuition, and you will be able to use your power grant, if you -- pell grant, if you get one, for living expenses. we are going to make it possible or young people to go to college, finish college, and graduate without that that. that will help the public hbcu's because they will certainly be included. i have a special provision of a pot of $25 billion for hbcu's, including private institutions, the cousin i agree completely with what roland said. these are the places that mrs. clinton: yes. first of all, my plan will mean that it is not necessary. but for those young people who dropped out, we have to figure out how to get them back in. we have to reverse the facts that led them to drop out. [applause]

mr. martin: question. >> good afternoon, secretary clinton, and thank you so much for coming to south carolina and orangeburg. i have a two-part question for you. as you know, we have lost a lot of textile jobs here in south carolina over the past years, and my questions are: do you think your husband was right in signing nafta into law? and the second part of my question is what will your , administration do to bring back industrial base jobs to south carolina? mrs. clinton: i know how controversial trade has been in south carolina, and south carolina is a classic case of winners and losers because of trade. the biggest losers have been a textile firms. because a lot of those jobs, not , just through nafta, but through differences in cost of production went to asia as well. so i don't feel we can blame the loss of the textile industry on nafta. i think it was broader than that. nafta may have opened the door

more widely for jobs to go to mexico, but textile jobs were under global pressure, even without nafta. now, what does that mean? because the other side of the equation is that south carolina has attracted a great number of car companies, more advanced manufacturing companies. so it is kind of a news-bad news story. what i want to do is make it possible to recruit internally within united states and externally from abroad more jobs -- and i'm not sure we can get textile jobs back unless they are more sophisticated, requiring higher levels of expertise in the dying and the printing and whatever else is required -- but i do think we can get more advanced manufacturing jobs back if we provide more tax credit and more tax support. if we do what i said at the very beginning, have more

apprenticeship programs so we are training our workforce right here at home. the community college system is one of our biggest advantages in any measurement of how we can be successful. and i have been to a good community college outside of charleston, which is doing these apprenticeship programs. in advanced manufacturing. but let me just say, we are not going to get those jobs back unless we have skilled workers to be able to do them. and that is where education comes in. because we have still too many people who don't have the skills that are required to do the advanced manufacturing. so i want a nationwide effort , but the focus on poorer states, like south carolina, to do more in a kind of, as you are saying, a new new deal or training program so we actually take seriously the idea we can get and keep these jobs. it is one of the reasons i came

out against the transpacific partnership bill because we have to trade. we are 5% of the worlds population. we have to build things and sell things to the other 95%. people who are against trade no matter what i think are kind of missing the point. we need smart trade and fair trade and affective trade. and we need to mix it with taking care of our own people. so if you open the door to , trade, which i am all for, you have to make sure that you have people in your own country who are able to compete for those jobs. the republicans are not for job training, they are not for preschool education that will prepare kids, they are not for rescaling the workforce. they don't want to spend any money on that. and i'm holding out to say, ok, we can do trade, but we can only do trade that is going to benefit the american people across the board if we invest in our own people and we give them the skills and opportunities to

be successful. mr. martin: question. >> [applause] >> hello, my name is elaine cooper. and i am from columbia, south carolina. i have a question. if you would address the voter id bill here and voter suppression, and how our lines are drawn. i think a lot would help the situation with one comment that was brought up at the forum last night, and that is automatic registration of all 18-year-olds. automatically when you turn 18, you would be a registered voter. could you please comment? and how you would go about doing that? mrs. clinton: actually, i propose that. i was the first person to propose that when i gave a speech about voting rights at southern texas university.

and the reason i proposed it is because i believe strongly that young people should be registered when they turn 18. for legal reasons, they can opt out of that, but i don't think the vast majority would, and i want to see young people registered at 18. you raise a much bigger point. you know, when the supreme court -- and these are my words -- gutted the voting rights act, by rejecting the congress reauthorizing it, and i was in the senate to then, we voted to reauthorize the voting rights act. the supreme court was basically sending a message to political leaders that they could begin to try to find new ways to interfere with the right to vote. that may not have been their intention, but that has been the result. and so, all of these photo id, we did not have a problem of any magnitude whatsoever. our problem is not people

illegally trying to vote. our problem is that legal folks are not doing what they should to vote to make sure their voices are heard. i have been taking on this issue, and i am going to keep taking it on, and i think the supreme court was absolutely wrong. there is legislation now being proposed in the congress to undo the damage. but in the meantime, we need to have political action, litigation, mobilization against these efforts to suppress the vote. you ask yourself -- why are they doing that? pretty simple. there are some people they don't want to vote. alabama passed a voter id bill. and if they said, ok, one of the voter ids you can use is a drivers license with your picture on it. i don't believe they are necessary, but ok, you can use a voter id that way. then just a few months ago, they passed a bill and the governor

asked to shut down the motor vehicle offices in the county's -- counties that have the biggest black populations. i spent 18 wonderful years in arkansas and i learned a lot. and one of my favorite philosophy lessons is this: if you find a turtle on a fence post, it did not get there by accident. and so i went to alabama and i said, look, nobody can believe this. you don't close the offices in the counties with the biggest african-american vote and it is a coincidence. so people have got to stand up , against this. i think it is time that therapy an outrage, an outpouring from communities across these states that are doing this. it will be one of my highest priorities. i will do everything i can to help get people registered to make sure people understand they meet whatever the requirements are, and they then turn out to

vote. because we need to have a big turnout in the 2016 election. mr. martin: we conducted a poll of black parents and we asked , them a question about charters. 74% of black parents said they were interested in enrolling their kids in charter schools. 79% favored school vouchers. we are in the state where brown versus board of education got its start. 61 years, black folks are still waiting for education to get right. do you support the expansion of charter schools and school vouchers? black parents say they are not satisfied with what is happening in traditional schools. mrs. clinton: i have, for many years now, about 30 years, supported the idea of charter schools. but not as a substitute for the public schools, but as a supplement for the public schools. >> [applause] mrs. clinton: and what i have -- what i have worked on through my work with the children's defense

fund and my work and education in arkansas and through my time as first lady and senator is to continue to say charter schools can have a purpose, but there are good charter schools and there are bad charter schools. just like there are good public schools and there are bad public schools. mr. martin: so let's get rid of all the bad. mrs. clinton: but the original idea behind the charter schools roland, was to learn what worked , and then apply them in the public schools. here is a couple of problems. most charter schools -- i do want to say everyone -- most charter schools don't take the hardest to teach kids. or if they do, they don't keep them. and so the public schools are often in a no-win situation because they do, thankfully, take everybody. and then they don't get the resources or the help and support that they need to be able to take care of every child's education.

so, i want parents to be able to exercise choice within the public school system. not outside of it. but within it because i am still , a firm believer that the public school system is one of the real pillars of our democracy. and it is a path for opportunity. but i am also fully aware that there are a lot of substandard public schools. but part of the reason for that is that policymakers and local politicians will not fund schools in poor areas that take care of poor children to the level that they need to do. and you could get me going on this because the corridor of shame right here in south carolina, you get on their and you can see schools -- there and you can see schools that are literally falling apart. i have been in some of those schools. i have seen the terrible physical conditions. that is an outrage. it is a rebuke to who we are as americans to send any child to a

, school that you wouldn't send your own child to. and so, we have a lot of work to do to make sure that public schools serve people, but that doesn't mean we also provide options within the system so that parents can find what they think might work best for their kid. mr. martin: we have a question here. do we have a question? graduating from university, our first thought as a senior as that we have two avenues, grad school or the workforce. the workforce is mostly to pay back loans and staff that we have as students. you are threatening to lessen the gap between minimum wage and the top payers. my question is, we also put a cap on the top or will the waterfalls keep going upwards yet -- you sen. clinton: i want to be able to refinance everyone student debt and save thousands of dollars. the amount you have to pay back will be manageable for you.

because, what is happening now is young people graduate with all of this that, and you obviously have to go into the workforce, because you have to pay it back. i want to put an end date to the debt. there has to be an end date. i also want to give more young people to go into income contingency repayment programs like i had and my husband had. we had loans that we had to pay them back as a percentage of income, not as a fixed interest rate. we will get the cost of student debt down, but the other problem is we need to get the pay of people who are in the workforce up. it is not going up. that was one of the first point i made. we have recovered a lot of jobs, millions and millions of jobs. we are down to 5% unemployment. but, hey has not yet been rising. so, we have to do more to get pay to go up and there are

obvious things to do like raise the minimum wage. then, that usually has an upward impact on wages going up the scale. i want more companies to engage in profit sharing, because their employees helped to create the profits and i want to see it go not just to the top. we're going to close loopholes and we're going to make sure that people were making huge salaries pay their fair share in taxes. we're going to go after the problem of wages, not rising, so that you can get your debt down in your income. mr. martin: question right here. >> in 1989, we pass legislation by congress to ballot the savings and loans. the president bells out the banks. in 1989, we said that the banks had to create community reinvestment, which is an expansion of that legislation. as i listen to martin talk about what things have done in terms of collecting those profits --

since the payout -- tell out we have seen very little done to do reinvestment. what will you do to get these banks back moving to invest back in our communities? sen. clinton: great question. i believe in the community reinvestment program. again, it is something that democrats have had to defend against republican attacks for decades now. there are good examples of it working, but increasingly in later years, it has not. there are two approaches, one, the treasury department and the bank regulators need to ensure that banks are meeting their obligations under community reinvestment. there are a lot of good programs that we can point to. and they do not know what to do, we can show them what to do and what will work to create economic opportunities. secondly, you mentioned a bank that i worked with in arkansas

to start the arkansas development corporation. because, i think that in addition to getting conventional banks to do what they can, we need some more of these development banks like south shore, and what we did in arkansas has had a real after-the-fact. the final thing i will say about this -- there's a big fight going on in washington about the dodd frank bill and the rules that it placed on the banking community, primarily aimed at the biggest banks, that were contributors to some of the problems that we have, let the mortgage and other problems that we were talking about earlier. a lot of community banks say that those rules fell on us, too. we are just a small community or regional bank. i want to -- without giving any relief to the big banks, because i do think that they need to be regulated so they do not get us in trouble again -- i want to provide some opportunities for community banks to be able to

once more, be partners and community reinvestment. those are my approaches. south shore when out of business during the recession. >> i'm a junior here at the university, with more states legalizing marijuana for recreational and legal use, what is your plan of attack on the federal level? sen. clinton: i believe that states are taking this step. there is that great phrase attributed to i think roosevelt, that states are the laboratories of democracy. i want to see how it works before we do it a national planet from the federal government, because i think there is a lot for us to learn. when i do want is for us to medicalresearch into marijuana, because a lot more states have passed medical marijuana than have legalized marijuana. we have two different

experiences, or even experiments going on right now. the problem with medical marijuana is that there are a lot of anecdotal evidence about how well it works for certain conditions, but we have not done any research. why? it is considered a schedule one drug, so we cannot do research in it. i want to move it from schedule one to schedule two, so that researchers at universities and national institute of health can start researching what is the best way to use it? how much a dose does somebody need? how does interact with other medications? we are going to have a lot of states setting up marijuana dispensaries so that people who have some kind of medical need are getting marijuana -- we need to know what the quality of it is, how much should you take, what you avoid if you are taking other medications? that is how i'm currently thinking about it. >> speaking of science and research, if you are president, we push for a dramatic increase

in federal funding for a cure for sickle cell anemia? sen. clinton: amen. yes i will. sickle cell anemia -- how may people here know people with it? oh, yes. it is a devastating disease. i have several -- i know several people. in fact, the other day, well actually it was last week, i was at the naacp banquet in charleston, and a young woman in ,igh school, gave a tribute then she came over and she talked to me. she was diagnosed with sickle cell anemia when she was a very young child. she has been in and out of hospitals, and she now goes to the medical center in charleston to get transfusions. every month. i have another friend, a young lawyer, who has sickle cell anemia, and she is really, really martin works really, really hard, and the chance to go to the hospital. this is a devastating disease.

so yes, i think we need to put more money and more time and more effort into figuring out how we're going to finally sure and and -- cure and and sickle cell anemia. >> good afternoon, mr. martin and secretary clinton. when i had the pleasure of meeting you a few minutes ago, you mentioned you were a girl scout. what did you learn while scouting that you would use to be a successful president? sen. clinton: such a great question. let's give this young man a round of applause. [applause] sen. clinton: i did. i told him that i was a scout. i was a girl scout through high school. i learned a lot. in addition to the little merit badge things that you earn, which he has some of his merit badges on his uniform -- i learned about teamwork. i learned about cooperating with other people. i learned how important it is that when you say you're going to do something that you do

everything that you can do keep your word. and do it. i learned about how scouting has for so many decades now helped young women and young men learn things that they might not have otherwise learned. my family was not a camping family. we drove every year from chicago to pennsylvania to see my grandparents, and we slept in the car. we were not into the forests and the woods and all of that. so i learned specific things as well as general values and character traits. that i think are really important. bigting has made a difference and. mr. martin: since he has a uniform on, if you're are a veteran or in the military, we stand up. [applause] mr. martin: stay standing. a few weeks ago, you are doing

an interview and you talked about the v.a. scandal not being as widespread as it was reported. president when the appoints a secretary of veterans affairs, it is one of the last appointments. i believe that if we care for our troops that we will make agt just as important as an or defense secretary are secretary of state. what is your commitment to ensuring that the department of veterans affairs is the best hetero agency, and will you make that be a fundamental priority if you are president of the united states? sen. clinton: the answer is yes. what i said a few weeks ago is that there are certainly systemic problems with vba, and they need to be fixed, and nobody should tolerate them. anybody hasrage if been either mistreated or left untreated by the v.a.. but i also believe that the v.a. has done good things.

the republicans are always trying to privatize everything. privatize education. privatize social security. privatize medicare. and yes, privatize the v.a. i will fix it and i will appoint somebody with proven management provenryans who will -- management experience, and to will weed out who should not have been there in the first place. take what is good about the ba and make sure that it is available to all of our veterans. that is our goal. [applause] mr. martin: i have always said that broke is broke whether you are broke white or broke black. have anteresting when we discussion in america about poverty, it is always a black face. if you are president, how will you lead or drive a conversation to get white america, who is broke, to understand that your education and your health and your lack of economic access is the same as african-americans and others, and how do you see

it happening? same committees have the fundamental problems as inner-city communities, but they somehow think that they are totally different. sen. clinton: that is a fair point. mr. martin: i don't think anyone else last that question. sen. clinton: it is a fair point. because, poverty is debilitating, no matter where it happens or who it affects. there is such a lack of understanding in our country about the number of poor white folks, and we just had a steady whiteut that said, poor middle-aged americans, without a high school education, are dying at a higher rate than they have ever done before. addiction, alcoholism, suicide. poverty is poverty. there is a great idea that

congressman clyburn has the 10, 20, 30.ed 10% of federal funds would go to communities where 20% of the people are living in poverty and have done so for more than 30 years. thirds of those counties are republican counties. sen. clinton: and predominately white. as this was described to me, this would be a recipe for dealing with poverty everywhere, based on the numbers. if you are living in an impoverished generational help.ion, then you need the government should not be turning its back on you. i'm in favor of empowerment. one of the programs that my husband put into place, the new market tax credit, was used to help build up poor, rural communities, to provide economic

opportunities. it has been allowed to lapse by their public and congress. there are tools at our disposal. is, the point that you make an especially important one, we need to be talking about this, so that the caricatures and stereotypes that are too often flooding the media, are for once and all retired. for a sport. mr. martin: what would you do about those communities? what kennedy did, going to the delta, gave a different view. it brings into those areas and say, america, these are broke white people who are poor and this is what poverty looks like, not some black single mother in chicago or detroit. mr. martin: they went -- sen. clinton: they went to appellation as well. let me just point out that a lot of republican governors are not expanding medicaid, including right here in south carolina. that is leaving hundreds of

thousands of poor people, black just to the mercy of the emergency room. there is no system for them to be able to get the health care that they need, and if you compare -- i was in louisiana not so long ago, and the prior democratic governor in arkansas expanded medicaid, got a special waiver from the federal government to do it in a way that he could get it through his legislature, but the fact is that hundreds of thousands of poor people got it. across the border in louisiana, their governor running for president would not do it. hundreds of thousands of people were left out. i do not know how you justify that, especially, since the federal government is paying 100% of the cost until, in a few years, they will pay 90% of the cost. because what people to be well. you talk about this recent study that i mention, where you have middle-aged white folks killing

themselves, getting addicted to drugs and alcohol, not getting help for mental illness or substance abuse -- that is a health problem. people are often times, and rural areas especially, not as reachable through health systems. i think we have to look at this from the perspective of what we do to make our country healthier, and the people most in need of that are poor people. wherever they live and whoever they are. i feel passionately about this, as i said -- i first job out of law school was with the children's defense fund, started by the woman from south carolina. for the- my first job children's defense fund was coming to south carolina to do an investigation about juveniles and adult jails. some familiar? then weprogress, but kind of fall back. you cannot grow weary, doing the

work that is necessary to help people have dignity and develop their own potential. that is what health is about. if you do not have that, you don't have anything. mr. martin: last question for me. black women, stand up. secretary clinton if you become president of the united states, and if you had to appoint some into the supreme court, which you a point a black woman to the supreme court? [applause] sen. clinton: do we have some candidates here? i will certainly consider people who have the energy and the intellect and the experience to be on the supreme court. and probably on the younger side, because i want them to be there for a long time. [applause] mr. martin: we have a whole list. it would be good to see a sister on the supreme court. i am just saying. all right, we have one question over here. could you stand up?

go ahead. shout it out. [indiscernible] sen. clinton: yes i do. [indiscernible] [applause] mr. martin: just take a picture. [applause] >> something so simple and then bill clinton came to south carolina and i was in the who i was,d i said

and he said, i want my bible. [applause] mr. martin: are you trying to meet chelsea next? >> my question was we were talking about youth empowerment. and i told you about time that i was working. we were talking about youth empowerment and i now see as a part of your platform, youth empowerment. i also heard you said today, grassroots, small children. what is your plan when elected president, that you have for identifying like other countries, the cream of the crop and channeling those children from children to be prepared when these job opportunities open up? sen. clinton: that is a really good question. if you have not seen one of those bibles, i recommend that you do. it is such an extraordinary part of south carolina history. i thank you.

as you can tell, my husband was jealous. which is ok. starti think you have to with the families and the parents of little children. throughnt to do more communities, three churches, through other institutions to help every parent understand that he and she are the child's first teachers. worko do what we know can to get those children better prepared for school. i think talent is universal, but opportunity is not. there are a lot of really smart kid who don't get the chances that they deserve. that is why we need universal prekindergarten, because we need to start with kids who really deserve that extra help. so when they get to school, they are better prepared to learn. i do think what you are saying

makes sense and it goes back to the point we were talking about earlier about schools. when i was first lady of arkansas, we did a very comprehensive overhaul of our school system. changing the curriculum, putting more demanding requirements in, but we also recognize that it was difficult in a rural state like arkansas, and a rural state like south carolina, to provide all of the opportunities for everybody, everywhere. so i helped to start the arkansas school format and science. it is a boarding school, a public boarding school, so that young kids interested in science and technology, engineering and mathematics, can apply to go there if they are in a small district that does not have the courses that they are looking for. i would like to see us do more of that across the country. there are some states that have done this, some of them do it for performing arts.

i started with science and technology. but, there are other kinds of studies -- the cousin you have as many small towns and rural areas, it is not possible to provide everything in person, which is why we also need to do more through technology and online learning, but you a few -- but if you are in a poor school and you do not have the computers or the tablets and don't even have the school wired and don't get high-speed internet, it is pretty hard. your kids are going to fall behind. my highest priority is, let's raise everybody up, and let's provide some special opportunities for kids who want to go further in the areas of their expertise or what they want to learn. mr. martin: final comment. or was that it? sen. clinton: let me thank you for doing this. one andme think news everybody who is a part of this, and especially to the university

for hosting us. [applause] sen. clinton: i gave the 2007,cement here act in and i'm so honored to be back. some of the state elected officials were here -- i want to be a good partner. i want to end by saying this. a president can do a lot and should. and i will work as hard as i know how to find common ground, even with people that i don't agree with politically, because if we can find common ground on something important, we should go forward together. but, it also want to be a partner to those making change in state legislatures in communities across a state like this. because, a president can also do things that are not in the formal job description. i can convene groups and want to

know what is the best way to improve job training for advanced manufacturing. we will get people who are doing and know how to do it together and will come up with a plan to try to sell everybody about doing that. so, convening, catalyzing change, neck and people up like the arkansas bank corporation, which i hope to start. let's find out why it succeeded and why south shore did not, and how we could do more of what worked in communities like those here in south carolina. and i want to be a coordinator and connector so that we get people to really understand what we are capable of doing, no matter where we are. do not wait for somebody in washington. make the political demands, what you need from washington. try to hold your elected officials accountable. if we could get voter registration up and south carolina, your elected officials would look different than they look right now.

in many parts of the state, and so, we have to work in a partnership, from the grassroots up, and from the top down, and we have to give more people the tools to make the best decisions for their own lives. that is when i grow doing, that is what i learned to do, and that is what i will do as your president. [applause] mr. martin: all right. that is it for us. do you know how to wobble? sen. clinton: i don't. mr. martin: you just lost the black vote right there. you'll pick up some votes. sen. clinton: i have to see it in order to do it. mr. martin: you need some music. sen. clinton: who can show me? come on, don't be shy. mr. martin: i told you we do it a little bit different. sen. clinton: don't leave me hanging here. mr. martin: should i put my ipod

on? i have music. [laughter] mr. martin: you know i will put it on. secretary clinton, and is a pleasure. a round of applause, democratic presidential candidate, secretary hillary clinton. [applause] mr. martin: i told you that we need the music. i need everybody to stay in place, please. she will come out to shake hands. all of you stay in place. thank you very much. ♪ mr. martin: you do have music. ♪

i let you push me past the breaking point, i stood for nothing, so i fell for everything. you helped me down but i got up, you hear my voice user that sound, like thunder, i'm going to shake this ground. get ready, i see it all, i see it all. i have the eye of the tiger. the fire, dancing to the fire and you are going to hear me roar. ♪ let's give the black caucus a round of applause, please. [applause] ♪

>> all campaign long, c-span takes you on the road to the white house, unfiltered access to the candidates, town hall meetings, news conferences, rallies, speeches. every campaign event we cover is available on our website at c-span.org. formalral services for -- former republican representative howard coble. he served in congress for 30 years before retiring in 2014. c-span talked with him about his life and career. this is about 30 minutes.

>> congressman howard coble, retiring after this session. you'll be the longest serving republican congressman in north carolina history. what do you think your legacy will be after 30 years here on capitol hill? >> well, not unfavorable, i hope, peter. i hope it will be one that has been laced with credibility. we have interns coming throughout our staff year-round and many have political desires to run for office one day and they ask me what should we emphasize? i say, you emphasize credibility, accessibility. people back home expect to see their elected official and i think justifiably so.

i go home just about every weekend. i did every weekend this year. i recall, having served with a fellow who could have been in the congress his entire life. he was that good. he was a good public servant. and he was defeated in the republican primary and i asked him what happened to our buddy. he quit going home, was the answer. quit going home, they never saw him. so they showed him the gate that leads to the road out of town. >> legislatively, what are you most proud of? >> well, when i was elected in 1984, we were known as the furniture, hosiery and tobacco -- textile and tobacco capital of the world. not true anymore. but they're still hanging on, all of those different occupations or professions. my mama was a textile worker so textile legislation was close to home with me. so i'd say accessibility and looking out for the -- back

home, that the country did not suffer as a result. >> how has your district changed since 1985? >> oh, tremendously. when we were elected, we had a very compact three-county district -- guilford, alamance and davidson. >> northern north carolina? >> northern north carolina, north-central north carolina. now, i've only stood one election under the new re-districting plan but now we have eight new counties, continue to embrace part of alamance and guilford, picked up portions of granville, orange and durham and coupled with the five complete counties, all new. it was quite an adjustment. most recently, we had -- that was altered somewhat. we kept portions of guilford, alamance, davidson.

picked up a portion of rowan, which would be salsbury, randolph, solid republican county, home of the one of the best zoos in the world, pinehurst, golf capital of america, lost all of that with re-districting. i tell you a story about pinehurst. dr. charlie norwood, now deceased, dentist from augusta, georgia. i went to his funeral in augusta. there was an old man about my age with a big sign with these words, "thanks, charlie." i wish it had been in the next morning's paper. but norwood always would go out of his way to put down pinehurst as opposed to augusta. never missed a chance to do that. so one day when i left the floor, one of my colleagues said, what's the makeup of your district?

norwood heard the question and i said my district consists of the furniture capital of the world, high point. say that, and i think we probably are. one of the best zoos in the world, i said to my colleague. and then knowing that norwood was listening, i said it in a condescending tone, i said the golf capital of america in pinehurst. he came out of his seat. he said i'll give you furniture and zoo but you ain't taking golf. i told that story to the rotary club at pinehurst, or southern pines, one of them. i think it was pinehurst. that story was told to them. someone in the committee knew norwood, called norwood and told him what i had done so he was waiting for me the next week but i fondly remember that exchange. of course, i was right. it was furniture, zoo and --

furniture, zoo and golf. >> so were you able and has it been the same here in congress to develop relationships with other members? >> pretty much so. yeah, you hear a lot talk about how partisan everything is. and it is partisan, but we live in a republic where there are only two major parties. partisanship will be inevitable so that in and of itself doesn't bother me. i have many good friends on the democrat side. my mom and daddy were democrats. i was reared in a democrat home. but i would say easier than much of the media would portray it to be. >> congressman howard coble, over the years, congress' approval ratings have gone up and down and currently they're pretty low. why do you think that is? >> very low.

i'm not sure that i can put my finger -- get my fist around it because i don't see that much changing from the time i came here three decades ago to now within the chamber but it's very low. of course, elected officials are easy targets. some folks are not going to be happy unless they're blaming some elected official for his or her problem. that could probably be a lot of it. and i think the president -- i've tried to be as nonpartisan as i can go this. it's difficult to do. i think the president particularly when it comes to foreign affairs, has been very inept, very disinterested, and i think it shows. that may well contribute to the most recent low marks. you're right, we're at the bottom of the barrel. >> you've worked with speakers

since jim wright. who do you think has been most effective? >> newt while he was here. i remember one time just after we -- the contract with america. and newt had us working until 11:00, 12:00 at night. and i had pretty good rapport with gingrich and one of my buddies about 10:00 one night said howard why don't you go to the speaker and see if he can make this 100 days 100 legislative days, give us an extra four, five, saturday, sunday, maybe even friday. i went to newt, i said, speaker, the troops are restless, they wonder if we can extend the 100-day time frame to 100 legislative days. he thought pensively for a few seconds. he said get back to work.

i said, aye-aye, sir. we got back to work. but i think newt. >> you've also worked with presidents since ronald reagan. who do you think had the best relationship with congress? >> i think reagan along with both bushes. i'm very high on the bushes. >> why? >> easy to be with. i just called george w. bush within the past month to wish him well. he called me back a week later. i'm glad -- i should have told some folks i had called him because normally, one time, the senior bush, sonny montgomery. you remember sonny montgomery. >> democrat of mississippi. >> long-time democrat of mississippi, good friend of the bushes. he said to me one day, you

called the president after the defeat. you need to call him. and i did, sonny gave me the number. i called him that day. voice message. left my name and number. didn't tell the staff what i had done. the next day, george bush calls our office. i don't recall back who answered the phone. kimberly, i believe. i think it was our front receptionist out front. she said, sure, you're george bush, and hung the phone up. the administrative assistant called and mrs. bush picked up the phone and he hung up the phone. you always need to tell your staff what you've done to avoid unpleasant surprises. but i'd say -- i'd go with newt as the speaker. >> congressman coble, during the clinton administration you served on the impeachment committee.

looking back at that period of time, how do you think that will be looked at in future generation? >> you know, the late henry hyde, i won't each qualify to say probably, the most eloquent orator in the congress. henry told me one time, i think i remember this correctly, he said i'm not wild about this impeachment, but there are 23 americans serving active prison sentences for having committed perjury. he said how do you justify that and turn a blind eye to the president? he said, i can't do it. and i'll always remember henry saying that. and your question was how would it play with the passage of time. well, the order of it, which

this came, and i believe he may be only one of two presidents who was impeached. am i right about that, peter? i am not sure. >> that's correct, he and andrew johnson. >> north carolinian, by the way. >> via tennessee. >> pardon? >> via tennessee, yeah. >> congressman coble, what brought you to congress in the first place? what made you decide to run for congress? >> it started probably some years earlier when an old time lawyer, duke law school -- i'm not a duke fan, but duke law school, called me aside one day and he said i want you to run for the state legislature. this was 1968. he said when you go to vote, you turn to the republican side of the ballot and there's no names on there. how do you expect to build a party with no one willing to run

for office, and he convinced me i needed to run for state legislature and i did and was fortunate enough to be elected. that was in 1968. a good year for republicans. and then i served three terms in raleigh. strike that. i was appointed assistant u.s. attorney after my first term in our state capital of raleigh. that's what started looking ahead, maybe, the seat was known as the revolving door district. congressman richardson preyer, do you remember the name? pryor was elected in 1968. former federal judge, very good man. ran against bill osteen who later became u.s. attorney. and then ultimately was appointed to the bench.

now i forgot where i was going with this. >> why you got congress, how you got congress? >> back to mr. mcnary, the old lawyer. he encouraged me to run for congress, as well. the revolving door started with the election of richardson pryor in his race with bill osteen. in 1972, upset of the year, gene johnson defeated richardson pryor in a solid democrat district. it would probably have been classified as the number one upset in the country. one-term congressman, gene was. he was defeated -- i'm sorry, the 1970's, the first one. then 1972, he was defeated by a rookie, good guy, robin brett. and i ran against robin in 1974 -- 1984.

so that's -- that was the track. >> how long -- you've been on the judiciary committee quite a while, too, all 30 years? >> all 30 years. >> why never the chairmanship of that committee? >> well, i told somebody, i told ed mcdonald, chief of staff this. i believe that lamar smith and bob goodlette both have served -- goodlette is serving now, i believe they were better lawyers than i. >> why is that? >> just having observed -- i've always been a trifling student, indolent, lazy. and i just felt like -- i think i could have handled it but i think they were, i think they were better equipped and more talented than i at the bar.

>> congressman coble, one of your chairmanships is the subcommittee on the internet, intellectual property, et c. you've been pretty active on that issue, protecting intellectual property, et c. when you first came here, the digital age was just kicked off. it's been 30 years. what have you done to promote, protect, in your view, telecommunications? >> well, the high mark of my congressional career would be serving on the intellectual property subcommittee. that's been a good fit for us . and i've met so many interesting people as a result thereof. i've tried to emphasize the significance of intellectual property. patent trademarks, copyrights. what it means to the wellbeing of our economic society. and we've done a good job i think of disseminating that word.

i would not be qualified to be an intellectual property lawyer. i'm not that good. because it's very complex, very intricate. you do it wrong, you pay a high price. but that would be the highlight of my career up here. >> you've also worked on prison reform and prison issues, as well. why did that pique your interest? >> when i was practicing law, my two areas would have been criminal law and the law of negligence. so it was coming into an area of the law with which i was not unfamiliar. >> and what -- where would you like to see the prison systems in america go? which direction? how would you like to see them reformed? >> i think prison overcrowding is one of the severe problems facing society today. i think probably we need to look

more carefully at sentencing. there may be -- there are many people confined in prisons today serving active -- serving active penalties for one of this, that , or the other. those people probably should not be in jail. there ought to be some sort of second tier to free up some of the space because there's a time bomb waiting to explode, that is prison overcrowding. >> do you think maybe drug laws need to be reformed? which a lot of conservative republicans have called for. >> probably. i think that might well be first step. and i don't say let every jail bird loose on society. i'm not suggesting that at all

. but i do think that certain sentencing measures could be adopted that would result in freeing up space behind bars. >> what's your advice to john boehner? >> well, i'm not sure he needs my advice. i think boehner, he's been criticized from within and without, but my reading on john boehner has been favorable. i think he's been a pretty good speaker. comes from a hard working family. his dad, i think, was on the bar. so john's duties were cleaning up the bathroom and cleaning up the decks at the end of a busy day. so he's been there, done that. >> looking around your office here on capitol hill, two things i wanted to note. number one, there are photos of you with cigars, with cigar smoke.

long-time cigar smoker? >> there's a cigar picture right there. i like what i call ponies, small cigars. at one time, i was smoking probably five or six cigars -- strike that. three or four cigars a day. now that changed, three or four a week. finally, i said the heck with it. the staff not liking, my colleagues did not like it. think, if it is annoying to them and uncomfortable, i do not have to have one every day. and i have been free of cigar smoke in excess of five years. >> compliment, you have worked on a couple of issues that may

not strike your positive colleagues -- limiting congressional retirement, term increases.la have you gotten any pushback from your colleagues? >> when i came up here, i said i would try to get rid of the congressional patience. there were a lot of senior members who explained things to me. vowed that i would not take the congressional picture. which i have not done. it will cost me a lot of money. that is one of the issues back home. jobs in thees with unemployment, in the blank., i'm drawing a

>> we were talking about money issues. something in the hopper now that would change the eligibility day. it invests at five years. my deal would increase that the 12 years. not one cosponsor. term limits, subject to interpretation. i think a good argument to be made that we have term limits now. if you want to vote, you have the right to do that. that is your -- that is you exercising term limits. >> but are there a lot of built in advantages for incumbents? >> always, i think that is why folks back home to not like it. ultimately,sly --

highly favored on the one hand. it comes from the table on the other. to this day, folks come to me to complain about congressional pensions. hasy be the only one who refused pictures as a thrift plan. we want to have two routes. not my most brilliant financial decision, i might add. >> you are a bachelor. a lifelong bachelor. why is that? >> i went on a date one time, i said i never had time. that might be a copout. but it is probably the truth. i have dated girls who i like more than they liked me. many girls who like me more than i liked them. but never did play out.

>> why retire today? why are you retiring? >> i've got a bad back, skin cancer, eminently failing health. but with 8 new counties and a all, with acounties bad back, a lot of folks do not know me. as opposed to the old district, i just felt it might be a good time to walk away. >> where are you going, what are you going to do? >> someone asked me the other day, i said i have not thought about it. he said you had 30 years oftime -- of no spare time. he said you better think about it. i will not fail retirement. i will try to stay active. but the colleagues at a been up

here, democrats and republicans alike, they were very endearing to me. and i apologize, peter, your staff. i'm coming down with my early autumn cold, as you can tell the raspy voice. aboutt we missed most capitol hill? >> i'm scheduled to meet with the judicial conference of the supreme court. we meet with them in frequently, but periodically. i will miss meeting with them. i will not miss my trip to the airport. it is been years ago now, i recall being driven to the airport by one of our staffers. sunegrees, you can see the is my enemy. 95 degrees, bumper-to-bumper traffic. i said to her, i would not live

in this town. but you do live in this town, but you don't think of it as being home. stillat aside, is recognized as the cradle of democracy, the cradle of freedom, the cradle of liberty. and i am proud when i look out the window into the capital, ia do not complain. it pretty much falls in line this is the best place to be. >> heading back to the district after january? >> i'm sure i will be. >> where he went to keep your papers and records? >> university of north carolina at greensboro. >> why there? mater cannot handle it. guilford college. unc-g, that is where they will be. >> who are you going to miss here? >> i will miss -- i have been

richly blessed with a good staff. i will miss the staffers, colleagues. aisle.des of the but i really am indebted to a good staff. i've tried to treat them right. they in turn treat me right. >> you have had long-term staff. >> attrition has not been a problem with us. people come and they stay. which of course affords reliability, affords and promotes confidence. without having to walk back-and-forth, in and out the door one day in, one day gone. >> any regrets? taken thehould've congressional pension. jest. that halfway in

congressman,ears, thank you for your time. >> thank you, peter. announcer: the president talks about the affordable care act and the current open enrollment. . congressman sam johnson delivers the weekly address for republican. it explains what veterans day means that every and talks about his experience as a pow during the vietnam war. president obama: hi, everybody. for decades, too many working americans went without the security of health insurance -- and their financial well-being suffered because of it. we've begun to change that. as the affordable care act has taken effect, we've covered 17.6 million americans. since 2010, the uninsured rate has decreased by 45%. and for the first time, more than 90% of americans are covered. if you haven't gotten covered yet, or if you care about

someone who hasn't gotten covered yet, now's your chance. it's open enrollment season for the health insurance marketplace. what that means is, with a few clicks on healthcare.gov, you'll find private insurance companies competing for your business. you can compare plans and choose the one that's right for your family. in fact, most americans will find an option that costs less than $75 a month. even if you already have insurance through the marketplace, check it out. shopping around can save you a lot of money. last year, consumers who shopped saved almost $400. take the story of a man named phil viso, who emailed me earlier this year. phil's a software developer from my hometown of chicago. last winter, he had an idea for a new app and decided to start his own company. and that can be scary when you need to get your own insurance. but phil logged on to healthcare.gov, answered a few questions, picked a plan, and

even found out he was eligible for a tax credit that saved him money. and here's what he wrote. "i'm still sort of in shock about how great the experience of signing up for health care was. i will have a lot to worry about over the course of the year as i try to get my app released, but thankfully, good health care will not be one of those worries." after he sent me that email, phil ended up getting a new and better job anyway. but that's the whole point of health insurance. peace of mind. and under the affordable care act, if you want to change jobs, go back to school, or chase that new idea, you can do it without worrying about going broke if you get sick. if you've got a pre-existing condition -- diabetes or cancer or heartburn or a heart attack -- you can no longer be charged more or denied coverage. you can no longer be charged more just for being a woman. and preventive care like checkups and immunizations now come with no additional out-of-pocket costs. what we're talking about is no

longer just a law, and it's certainly not the myths and scare tactics that the cynics have peddled our way for years. this is reality. this is health care in america. and the bottom line is, americans like it. they're happy with their plans and their premiums. so join them. give it a shot. check out healthcare.gov, cuidadodesalud.gov, or call 1-800-318-2596 to find a plan that's right for you or someone you care about. and by the way, if you live in one of the 20 cities participating in our healthy communities challenge, i want to see how many of your neighbors you can get signed up. i'll come visit the city that enrolls the highest percentage of folks who aren't covered right now. that's a promise. after all, this country is at its best when we look out for each other. and together, we can help more americans get the security that they and their families deserve. thanks everybody. have a great weekend.

rep. johnson: wednesday is veterans' day, and as you might imagine, it has a very special meaning for me. today, i want to tell you why. i served in the air force for 29 years. i flew combat missions in both the korea and the vietnam wars. and in 1966, when i was serving in vietnam, i was shot down and taken prisoner. i spent nearly seven years in the hanoi hilton. and when i got out, i weighed about 140 pounds. i got through those years by the grace of god. and he gave me all the support i needed in my fellow pows -- great men like jerry denton and jim stockdale. we weren't allowed to talk.

so the first night in my cell, after i got out of the torture room, they taught me the tap code. the three of us did everything we could to fight back against our captors. so we were blacklisted as hardcore resisters. soon we were moved to the place we called "alcatraz," a pow camp along with eight others. the 11 of us became the "alcatraz gang." there, we spent 42 months in solitary confinement with our legs shackled. there was no news from home, and our captors did their best to make us feel forgotten. but my alcatraz buddies and i were a family. we banded together, encouraged

one another, and kept each other's spirits up. i still remember one night, in particular. i had spent 74 days in leg irons, and it had been a long time since i had seen the sky and the sun. i felt finished. but that night, a typhoon tore through the city of hanoi. the floor of my cell filled with water, and i huddled against the wall, as far away from the rain as i could. i began to pray as i had never prayed before. and i felt a strange sense of peace in the darkness. the next morning, my cell was flooded with the light of dawn. the storm had stopped. the boards off our window were taken off and i had an

overwhelming sense of the presence of god at that moment. i knew i was going to be all right. and just a few hours later, guards came into my cell and removed my legs from the stocks. telling that story reminds me of something a fellow captive etched on one of the walls. and it read, and i quote, "freedom has a taste to those who fight and almost die that the protected will never know." you know, freedom isn't free. it has a cost. and that cost is paid first by our veterans and their families, because when one member joins, it is the whole family that serves. when our veterans come home, we should do all we can to make

sure they get the care they need when they need it. , that is the least we can do. for now, i just want to wish all our servicemen and women a very happy veterans' day. god bless you all, and god bless america. i salute you. announcer: veterans affairs secretary robert mcdonald on the challenges or his department. and house committee meeting on the tsa gap. and hillary clinton and south carolina town hall meeting. richard, thed assistant secretary for population, refugees, and migration, talks about the syrian refugee crisis. sunday at 10 p.m.

>> you can do anything you want to, they just asked me if i thought they ought to be give et paid. you can do anything you want to. and it is such a great, it is such a great opportunity. so i would advise any first lady to do what she wanted to do. criticizedng to be no matter what you do. i could have stayed at the white house and poured tea and had receptions. i would have been criticized. as much as i was criticized outside. and i got a lot of criticism. you learn to live with it, as i said earlier. you expect it, and you live with it. you never let it influence you. >> she was her husband's political partner. lady, she

championed women's rights, health issues, even testifying before congress. carter, this in a night on c-span's original series, first lady. influence an image, examining the public and private lives and their influence on the presidency -- from martha washington to michelle obama. sunday at 8 p.m. eastern on american history tv on c-span3. >> veterans affairs secretary robert mcdonald says improvements in his department produced wait times for veterans. at an appearance friday at the national press club, the secretary also outlined some the challenges for the v.a. including increased demand for services and hiring more physicians and nurses.

this is about an hour. welcome to the national press club. my name is john hughes. i am an editor for bloomberg's first word, the breaking news desk here in washington. i'm president of the national press club. our speaker today is robert mcdonald. he is the eighth u.s. secretary of veterans affairs. he will update us on the status of federal programs for people who have served in the military. but first, i would introduce our distinguished head table. this table includes both national press club members and guests of the speaker. from the audiences right, john a.k.a. sergeant shaft. retired marine corps, wounded vietnam veteran, in a veterans affairs correspondent.

veteran navy vietnam and commander of the national press club's american legion post. advocate, a veteran and host of the next word on channel 16. paul, past national president of the benevolent and protective order of elks of the united states of america. john, a senior defense writer at theollcall and chairman of press freedom committee. veteran military and and deputy director of the veterans health administration's office of client relations. bureau chiefgton

of the buffalo news, chairman of the national press club's speaker committee and former president. skipping over our speaker for a moment. kevin, a captain of the u.s. navy retired, and press club speaker committee member who arranged the luncheon. neil, senior vice president and chief government affairs officer at ymca of the usa. max, and army veteran and publisher of stars and stripes. d.c. mediaident of connection and emcee of the veterans women's rock rally at george washington university this coming veterans day. michael, a vietnam era navy veteran and former publisher of the washington examiner.

[applause] >> in addition to our audience here in the packed ballroom of the national press club, i want to welcome our c-span audience, as well as our audiences listening on public radio. you can also follow the action on twitter. hashtag #npclive. confirmed asld was secretary of veterans affairs in july of last year. easee did not have time to into the job. he came aboard to fix problems at the department, with 312,000 employees. the agency come at a time, was facing criminal investigations,

congressional outrage, and construction cost overruns. you can remember the media reports from that time. audits, itinternal was discovered that more than 120,000 veterans were either waiting for care or have not yet received it or never received it. schedulers were pressured to use unofficial lists, or to engage in other practices to make waiting times appear more favorable. missionnald made it his to restore trust with the nation's nearly 9 million veterans and their families. he drew upon his past its variants to try to set things right. as the former ceo of procter and gamble, he was no stranger to overseeing large, complex operations. he also had an understanding of

military service. he served five years in the u.s. army with the 82nd airborne division. congress has provided additional funding to pay for veterans to help from other hospitals and to increase v.a. staff. latitude tove more fire managers. mcdonald sees much to be positive about at the department. he told a house committee