>> later, the lannett coasts a conference on race in the criminal justice. -- system. >> on the next washington journal, former democratic presidential candidate and harvard professor lawrence his candidacybout and campaign finance. and johnchelle malkin miano talk about abuses of the guestworker program. washington journal, live on c-span. the chief spokesman for coke industries, stephen bardo-- koch

lombardo,, stephen to questions at saint anselm college. this is about 45 minutes. on behalf of faculty, staff, and stints at the new hampshire institute of outtakes, i would like to welcome you and thank you for joining us at this morning's event. our goal at the institute is to engage students in political life and strengthen democracy. not endorse political issues or candidates. this morning speaker, steve lovato, is a graduate of the class of 1981. he achieved his masters in public policy at st. louis university. he's the chief marketing officer at koch industry.

this morning, he will be presenting a talk entitled "bey ond the political stem." following his speech, we'll have a reef question and answer. . please wait until the student ambassador with a microphone reaches you before asking a question. please welcome steve lombardo. [applause] mr. lombardo: thank you all. i appreciate those comments. it is a pleasure to be here. i understand donald trump will be here tomorrow. it may be a similar sized audience for that. in the spirit of donald trump, i will estimate this audience at 5000 people. is ok with that? [laughter] mr. lombardo: it is great to be

here. i think it was maybe 30 years that i walked across the stage on this campus and accepted a diploma from st. anselm college. it is a special place. it is great to be back and see what has gone on here. scope, it is just amazing. it is really terrific to be back. i graduated with a degree in political science. ,he lessons i learned from that the professors i learned from, the ethics classes, the instilled oney young people like myself, it really has stayed with the my entire life and career. it has been a few years since i have been back, but the amazing growth on campus and the people are as vibrant as ever.

i've worn a number of hats in my life and career. i currently serve as communications and marketing officer for coke industries. our principal shareholders are charles and david koch. that name will either cause you to shutter or smile depending on your political perspective. i want to talk to you about the company i work for, the people i work for, what they stand for, what they do. i want to have a discussion about that. i encourage questions afterwards, and i know i have got some fairly faces in the crowd and perhaps some not so fairly, but i look forward to that discussion. based on what you've read on tv, you have come in with a perception, a notion, perhaps which you've heard over the years may or may not be

accurate. do is tope today to fill in that information gap and talk about what we do. let me ask you a question. if i ask you if you want to live in a country that maximizes peace and stability and well-being for all its citizens, i'm sure your answer would be yes. if i ask if you believe in integrity, respect, and tolerance, and that they are important qualities to have both as a person and as a nation, i'm pretty sure your answer would be yes. you what is the best way for us to promote and preserve these qualities, my guess is the answers would start to vary. that is because there are remarkably different in competing views on how to achieve those goals. views about how

to achieve those goals. one vision believes in life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness with minimal interference from government. another vision leaves most decision-making within reasonable limits to the individual. a much different vision believes the government must actively intervene. it is a vision that believes government usually knows better than the individual. 200 years ago, thomas jefferson predicted which of these two visions would have the upper hand. he said, "the national progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground. it is sad to say that prediction pretty much has come true. extreme oround extremely inaccurate to you? consider a few facts about our nation.

occupational licensing requirements, which make obtaining certain jobs in honestly burdensome for low income job seekers. in several states, hair braiding , license requires more training for emt's in the same states. 372 dayse, it takes to become a licensed cosmetologist, while it only takes 33 days to become an em t. consider also the government response to cooper, which is threatening the long-standing monopoly and struggle hold on pricing that municipal taxi systems have enjoyed for generations. consider our criminal justice system, which will send somebody to jail for life because he has been busted for possessing and

selling small amounts of hot three times -- pot three times. another went off the hook for the same crime due to his standing in society. these are real-life consequences of the top down command and control system where politicians try to protect their supporters from competition. this mentality, this reluctance for government to allow people to succeed by helping others improve their charlesat feels-- fuels koch and his company. i want to go down that path in a moment, but i'd like to stop for you to understand a little about the company i work for and what it does. we are in the energy business. that includes oil refining. we also invest in innovative heavily in biofuel like ethanol

and biodiesel. consumer products including dixie cups and plates and paper towels and toilet that come from our georgia-pacific plants. company makes electronic components, including the components in your iphones. have you ever heard of lycra or stinain master? that's us. our polyester is provided to produce clothing, carpet, car parts, and other everyday products. we produce fertilizers. we handle minerals. we develop pollution control devices. we are based in wichita, kansas. we employ 100,000 people globally and 60,000 in the united dates. -- states. we are in 60 countries. these are skilled manufacturing jobs.

include engineering, i.t., and other jobs critical to operating a business. no matter what industry we find ourselves in, we strive to be among the best of the best in our competitive set. products torovide using theers while fewest resources possible. ranked koch the best us-based parent company for implementing pollution prevention initiatives. we invested heavily in energy efficiency and plan to drive down consumption of fuel and power by hundreds of millions of dollars per year. that's not to mention the great work for companies have as they come together and earn over a thousand awards for safety, and

excellence, community stewardship, innovation, and customer service since 2009. they are doing great things to impact the world for the better. example, we are focused on biological crop solutions to increase crop yield and reduce pollution or hazardous runoff. this will help feed the estimated 9 billion people that 2050 using earth by the same amount of land for farming today. examples begin to illustrate that there is more to being a successful company than just a dollar signs. what makes coke industries different is how it is run. koch decided to look at

business through a win-win mindset her. evelop hist ito d mindset in the 60's. in 21mpany was valued million and 19 621 and is valued million in 1961 and 140 billion in 2014. is this framework that has allowed us to do more than keep pace with our dramatic change that has occurred over the last several decades. , energy prices have risen and fallen and repeated echols did global competition has intensified. the geopolitical map of the world has been redrawn.

the volume of litigation has soared. technologies have transformed businesses. the pace of innovation has accelerated. market management has enabled it all whilet earning good profits. all because benefit they -- are good because they invovled.ll they create value for others. prophet created by market manipulation and cheating in subsidies is the opposite. when you go to the supermarket, you have a choice of what randy weber tallied by -- of what paper towel to buy. it is a company producing a product to earn your business by providing the best option will using the fewest resources.

these transactions are win-win. value is graded for the buyer and seller, creating good profit. what we see too often in washington is that politicians are reading the system to benefit -- rigging the system to many.t a few rather than indra saw firsthand what happens when government intervenes. it has been politicized. when government chooses to reward this particular solar panel company with hundreds of millions of dollars in government subsidies, it distorted market prices. this resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars in lost taxpayer money when the company ultimately failed. the problem is that politicians have created a culture, a culture that encourages businesses to seek out political favors.

businesses should be developing products and services that feed on their own merits. this is corporate welfare, welfare for the rich. that is why we are speaking out about it what is outrageous about this relationship -- about it. what is outrageous about this relationship is that the tax credits are going to well-established corporations, like ge and boeing, who would do fine on their own. forceense does it make to taxpayers to provide huge companies with tens of millions of dollars in subsidies and tax credits? it really doesn't. imposesernment tax regulations like this, it becomes harder for new competitors in the market. in the end, you are left with a system of corporate welfare that

stifles innovation, undermines prosperity, and destroys opportunities for the disadvantaged. opposedwhy koch government subsidies to businesses. we take subsidies in our ethanol business to maintain our competitive environment. thempose and lobby against at every opportunity we can. we oppose this bad profits, because we believe people should when people value consumers. the system creates corporate welfare for the rich you'd this corrupts the business community and simultaneously destroys opportunities for the disadvantaged. habsnment is enriching the at the expense of the have-nots.

haves at the expense of the have-nots. it is the recognition of this mentality that spurred our interest in reforming the criminal justice system and eliminating barriers to low income people starting a business or even getting a job. let me talk about that. at one point, over the last several months, you might have gone, do i hear that right? when president obama or van jones praised koch. you heard that right. quotes charles douglas when he says, "i will unite with anyone to do good." we have worked with the obama toinistration and the aclu

reform the criminal justice system. if we want citizens to play a meaningful role in society, the lives of others, and ultimately succeed, we cannot lock them up and throw them -- and throw away the key and forget they exist. when they are released, we cannot treat them like second-class citizens. consider these statistics. we spend $80 billion a year on incarceration in the united eights. -- united states. that is three or four times what we spend on education per capita. the federal prison population has grown 300% since 1980. ofcurrently imprisoned 25% the world's prison population, even though we are only 5% of the world population. we are the largest jailer in the world.

approximately 35% of federal offenders are first-time nonviolent offenders. more than half of federal offenders are in prison for drug crimes. 13% of, who make around the united states population, account for 40% of inmates. to bring about a transformation on this issue, we must set aside august and -- partisan politics and collaborate on solutions. we partnered with the national association of criminal defense lawyers to bring about positive change. -- one ofe focuses our focuses was restoring rights to youthful, nonviolent offenders. nonviolent offenders, such as those involved in drug use violations. x-offenders cannot get a job or education or housing, how can they lead a productive life in society?

surprised whene half these people being released from prison are incarcerated again within three years? congress is mobilizing around this issue. the house passed a comprehensive criminal justice reform. we are cautiously optimistic the 2016 will see a bill signed into law. we cannot sit around and wait for government to act. they played an important role. government needs to walk the walk and talk the talk. government -- the government took a move, choosing to ban the box.

they will now wait until prospective employees are being interviewed or have tentative job offers before choosing to ask about criminal history. this give someone a better shot at employment if they are not rejected at the start of the process. it gives them a chance to explain what happened. we think this is the right move and encourage other employers to follow suit. we cannot stop at criminal justice reform alone. that is not the only thing that needs fixing if we will help the disadvantaged. just as important is helping people improve their lives by addressing how government is making it difficult to gain employment or start a business. there are burdensome occupational licensing requirements. i mentioned the example of cosmetologists versus emts. the government is helping established businesses keep down up and comers. think about taxi commissions

versus uber. those currently in business don't want these newcomers to undercut their profit margins. they team up with friends in government for special treatment by placing of seen fees and excessive training requirements on these individuals trying to work hard to make a living. havenments at every level prevented the creation of nearly 3 million jobs and lowered entrepreneurship rates, harming low income communities the most. focus on criminal justice reform, we are getting ready to address these issues in the coming. -- in the coming months. -- to carve to our out a pathway on this reform. from all that you have heard, kochly there is more to and you may have thought. may be thinking, mission accomplished, you have done a

good job. you are saying, everything you're saying is well and good, and i'm happy you're talking about using resources efficiently, taking care of the you'rement, i'm happy trying to help people get jobs and stay out of jail, but you're still trying to take over the country by spending hundreds of millions of dollars on elections. it is a fair question. it is important one. i want to address it this morning. what most people don't know and i didn't know until i started koch's with koch is that foray into politics started in 2003 as part of dissatisfaction with president george w. bush's policies. the out of control spending and government and the counterproductive wars. started withe have a gathering of like-minded individuals who were and are

worried about the country, the trajectory of the country, and it was not a partisan gathering. it was about ideas. it is less about republicans versus democrats than it is about promoting policies that will help people improve their lives. on cbssaw charles koch speaking with anthony mason, you may remember him saying the democrats are taking us over the financial cliff and toward a two-tiered society, and republicans are doing it at 70 miles per hour. he has nothing to do with maintaining republican party supremacy. more to do with electing individuals more aligned with policies that will help people improve their lives, whether r b publican or democrat or whatever.

he describes himself as a classical liberal. outlets report that he considers himself a progressive because of the fundamental misunderstanding of what the term means. a classical liberal once a society that maximizes peace, stability, tolerance, and well-being for everyone. that requires equal treatment for everybody under the law. opensuires a system that opportunities for everyone, and does not inhibit innovation. it promotes a society and business environment in which people succeed by helping others improve their lives. regarding spending, let me talk about that. the donor network which the text toe part of the spend $250 billion through super pac in 2016. depends on what the

contributors expect to get. super pac money is referred to as dark because you don't have to disclose the donors. the 153 death threats last year alone, not all donors are willing to put their names out there. it is their right. iamyears ago, justice will brennan wrote that when it comes is part and politics, of the exercise -- it is part of the exercise of free speech.

-- demanded the disclosure of identity to support a cause. some may not like it and we are free to debate the pros and cons of such a system, but the supreme court has been steadfast in its affirmation of the role of money in politics, specifically the right to remain anonymous. kochst point, cja remains transparent in his spending. all of what he gives personally to his foundations and pacs is public. most of what he gives goes to his foundation. multiple philanthropic endeavors throughout the country, including the united negro college fund and the salvation army. he funds the koch institute,

others theo giving opportunity to learn the principles the transformed his life and allowed him to a cop was more than he ever dreamed possible. he supports ideas over politics. i don't say these things to make excuses. there is a lot of money in politics. there's money on both ends of the spectrum. the worst of it is the corporate welfare money to rippling the economy. it is corrupting the business community and destroying opportunities for the disadvantaged. we believe the only profit that is beneficial as that which results from creating value for others. not through coercive means, as we have seen through government mandates, but through mutually beneficial transactions. let me close. ne need a principal-drive framework focused on creating freedom, opportunity, and well-being for everyone,

especially the least fortunate. to unleashing a free society and making america everything it can and should be. lay ages can p and that science provide the intellectual foundation for change. give a choice to make here, do we want control and dependency to define our nation? woody rather have a culture of entitlement among the rich as well as the poor, or a culture of accomplishment? we wantfident that if to expand opportunity for everyone, we must help people achieve their dreams rather than dictate how they should live their lives. wrote in his new book, for individuals to develop happiness it must be free to

make their own choices and mistakes rather than be forced to accept choices made by others. thehe essence, this is difference between north korea and south korea, hong kong and mainland china, and east germany versus west germany in the past, and countless other examples. history has repeatedly shown that protecting individual rights and promoting economic freedom does more than create a higher standard of living. these societies enjoy cleaner environments, high literacy rates, and less government and business corruption. that is why i believe a free, fair, and prosperous society is worth pursuing. i believe it is a future worth fighting for. it is up to you to decide if you want to do something about it. that is all that i have, and i am happy to take questions.

[applause] >> what is the difference between the koch brothers and a george soros? >> in what way? koch brothers maligned, and george soros triumphed in the media. what is the difference between the two of them? maybe you can speak to what george soros is seeking, but i'm curious -- about howre talking the each use money in politics i don't really believe there is much of a difference going on there.

there is a lot of organizations on the left, the democracy alliance which has dozens of groups that support a progressive agenda and that is a lot of dark money. that has been going on for years and that is fine, that is their right to have a right to do that. george soros has a right to do that. it is interesting that when other organizations that don't ideology start doing that than some people take exception to that. you can't just have one standard for one side and one for the other. a democrat, but not a progressive. some of us still exist. and, a lot of us know that the environmental movement is co .opted by a lot of marxists you're probably in the trenches,

i wonder if you could give us some statistic -- specific examples of where that happens when you're producing energy but running against this coalition of marxism and environmentalism. [laughter] steve lombardo: i'm going to take a tact that the environmental movement in general has been a good thing for this country in some respects. people were kid, throwing trash out the window. that is gone now, people are respecting the environment and treating it as something that we need to take care of. koch industries we want to make the best possible product making -- using the fewest resources. conservation is a huge part of the entire company across the globe and what we do. now, when you manufacture things , stuff goes up in the air. thate trying to reduce

every year as much as possible. all the things we use every day require manufacturing. virtually everything. there are ways you can do it that is less harmful to the environment, that is what koch is trying to do. we produce pollution control devices that other companies are using -- we are very proud of our record there. this isn't about being against the environmental movement. some things we do believe go too far in the sense that it harms people. when you start harming people's lives, especially those most disadvantaged, then i'm not sure we're making some of the right decisions. >> and a recent interview with the wichita eagle, charles koch claims that politicians are beholden to those that get them elected and that it is welfare for the wealthy. network has poured

millions of dollars into our political system. steve lombardo: the last part of your question was? >> do they agree the candidates they back are the same way beholden to them? steve lombardo: that is a great question. i'm going to answer it the way charles recently answered that and that is beholden is the wrong word in that charles is frustrated right now, to be honest with you. a lot of the candidates that the network he is a part of, along have not doneors, a lot of things they said they were going to do. frustrated, and we have not at this point in time supported any presidential candidate. koch is worry none of them

will do what they say they are going to do. the people we supported in 2014, a lot of them have not lived up to the things i'm talking about in terms of fighting corporate welfare, supporting criminal justice reform, among other things. everyone who votes for someone, or contribute money to them, you are hoping that they will do what they said they were going to do. if you call that beholden, you can. i give five dollars to a candidate because i think that they said they were going to do something and i agree with that. i want them to do that, i am giving them five dollars. or $500 million, or whatever it might be. expecting them to do the things they say they are going to do, and frankly a lot of them are not, most of them are not. koch, so since 1997, the brothers have burned close to

$80 million into climate change denial groups, and climate change threatens everyone on this planet but predominantly poor communities of color which is enjoy suggesting koch cares deeply about. if they do, how does continued climate change denial protect their bottom line drive fairness? steve lombardo: um, thank you, good question. issue is a change complex one. charles said recently in his interviews that the climate is changing, that the data that has been shown over the last hundred years is that the temperature 0.8 degreesed by centigrade and that carbon emission is up there is probably some correlation between the two will stop some of this is

man-made, what concerns us and others is that the politicization of that is about some of the solutions being offered. you talk about the most is advantaged in society, some of the solutions being offered will harm the very people that we purport to want to help. especially if you look at the disadvantage throughout the globe and other third world countries where having energy to be able to power medical devices to keep people alive is a real issue in lots of parts of the world. is an important issue, the environment is important to us, but the solutions that people talk about -- we need to think about the actual people. and whatever solutions you were talking about. on locally, television, i'm seeing advertisements from some group

with an innocuous name about ethanol subsidies and the need to moderate or and the mandates. koch'ser what position on that is? steve lombardo: we oppose all ethanol subsidies. is a great product, and should stand on its own. and these subsidies sorts of things really disrupt the market. these products should stand on their own, if they are economically viable if they provide value for people, they will work and they will thrive. any alternative out there we support all forms of energy. stand on their own, and they have to provide economic value and value to people in their everyday lives. we propose -- oppose subsidies.

>> one difference between george h brothers is koc that the conservatives in this george have not defamed soros from the united states senate floor as harry reid has. question, i'mhe very impressed with the industries that the koch brothers run. i think one issue that you failed to address is the news media entertainment stranglehold in this country. i wonder why, with all that money, the koch brothers don't by abc, cbs, or nbc? ask them. if i had want to choose, i would go at espn. [laughter] steve lombardo: listen, we could spend hours talking about media bias it he country.

country. i'm much or that is the biggest problem we face in terms of being maligned on the floor the senate, that is senator reid's prerogative. -- he is protected by the u.s. constitution to do that. i think a lot of people in this country just wish he would try and help people improve their lives rather than going after u.s. citizens. >> my name is sheila, i just have a quick question about the political involvement. while they have claimed they did not enter the political sphere until the bush administration, david koch did run for vice president on the libertarian ticket in 1980, and they spent hundreds of thousands on political contributions during each presidential cycle since

the 1990's. i was wondering, why are they trying to hide their long involvement in politics? steve lombardo: that is a good question. i would argue with that these is that anyone is trying to hide their political involvement. like any company, koch industries was involved in politics through their contributions. president inr vice 1980 on the libertarian ticket. so, what i was referring to is the seminars that started by charles and david with a group in 2003. both of those facts are correct. >> the network has made climate change denial the litmus test for supporting political candidates. pledge to onlyk support programmable justice prorm candidates? --

criminal justice candidates? steve lombardo: we support a candidate who was a different change.climate that makes that support a climate change denier, some hypothesis.the we support a lot of different candidates over the years and will continue to do that. there is somehink level of frustration with people getting things done. the support that we will do moving forward -- is a lot going to depend on their positions on the issues that i've laid out , they have very little to do with their support of some of these other issues. >> we have time for one more. position on means

testing for certain government benefits? steve lombardo: we don't have one right now. that is something we have talked about, it is clearly something that i think the candidates will start talking about. i hope it will get into that. this is aese issues, fun election cycle and i think people are entertained, i opened some point it starts to migrate towards important issues. we don't have a position right now. thank you very much, i appreciate it. [applause] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] >> c-span's road to the white house coverage continues on friday live from orlando at the sunshine summits, a two day event bringing together presidential candidates along with florida's state and federal elected officials.

friday morning at 10:30 eastern, the lineup includes marco rubio, ted cruz, lindsey graham, mike bush, donald trump, and ben carson. i've on saturday morning, starting at 10:00 eastern, more from the public and sunshine summit with rick santorum, bobby paul, chris christie, john kasich, and carly fiorina. stay with c-span for campaign 2016, taking you on the road to the white house on tv, the radio, and c-span.org. >> dr. thomas friedman was our guest on thursdays washington journal. recent riseout the in foodborne illnesses in the

united states. this is 45 minutes. washington journal continues. host: we want to welcome back to the program dr. tom friedman who thethe director of center for disease control to talk about foodborne illnesses. what are they exactly? that you getness from eating food either at home or in a restaurant. it generally gives diarrhea and is more common than people realize. there are tens of millions of cases of foodborne illness each year in the u.s., one in six americans will get sick from food every year. some of them are quite severe. a couple thousand people die and over 100,000 hospitalizations. host: what is going on with the nation's food supply? guest: it comes from lots of different places, some of them cleaner than others. it can be contaminated anywhere along the chain from where it's produced on the farm to where

it's consumed at the table. any contamination or failure to remove the contamination that occurred naturally in the environment will potentially result in foodborne illness. the interesting thing is were seeing more multistate outbreaks like the chipotle outbreak that affect multiple states. there are two reasons. one is that we are looking more carefully, finding outbreaks where we might not accountable -- might notdna have found them before by doing dna analysis so we can tie it together with different trends and identify problems more reliably than before. second, it is also possible that with more consolidation in the is asupply chain, if there single point where there is contamination that can cause problems in a wider range of areas. host: what are the contaminants?

guest: there are multiple bacteria, viruses, occasionally parasites or toxins that can contaminate. areone we looked at closely three of the deadliest bacteria, , andli, listeria salmonella. the three of those account for 90% of the multistate outbreaks we track. other bacteria and viruses more likely to contaminate food at the point of preparation or seeumption, so we will viruses more commonly as localized outbreaks. can cause serious problems, e. coli can be severe and cause kidney failure and in some people, death. -- hysteria -- leased area listeria can cause convocations for pregnant women and everyone who gets a serious infection ll