>> good evening, >> good evening, i'd like to begin by inviting to you stand allegiance. john: i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. i should also begin by both embarrassing and welcoming my wife and daughter to the town hall meeting. i do that because if i don't, my mother will find out about it and she won't talk to me. [laughter] john: i first got to know john kasich in 1996, when i was elected to congress, representing exeter in the first district in new hampshire. i was assigned to the budget committee. he was the chairman. and from the first day i met him, i knew that this was the kind of leader that i wanted to emulate. he was tough. he was conservative. he was absolutely determined to

balance the budget. he was unconventional, there's no question about it. but he was able to get people to do things they didn't think they themselves could do. he believed in the importance of leaving something better for our children and grandchildren than what we found. and that's what led him to lead the drive to balance the budget for the first time in a generation, in 1997. we cut taxes, we balanced that budget. we reformed entitlements. we left no stone unturned. and there wasn't a single special interest that had anything to say about it. we did it, he led the effort, because he knew it was the right thing for the country and of course for the people of ohio that he represented. he left congress, worked in the private sector, was a great television star on fox, as he'll tell you. [laughter]

john: big, big. and then he knew he had more work to do. he went back to ohio, he ran for governor, and as governor in ohio, he has done the same thing. provide the kind of tough, conservative leadership that delivers results. it's not about talking, it's about doing things that matter for the people you represent. he cut taxes, he balanced the budget. they've restored 350,000 jobs in ohio. they've reformed entitlements. they've made their health care system work better. they've privatized services, when it makes sense. and they've given power back to the local governments. that's the kind of leadership that i've always respected in my public service life. and i think that's the kind of leadership that we need in america today. someone who not just makes a good speech, not just has good ideas, but knows how to get things done. knows how to turn ideas into results. that's the kind of president i want. and i believe that's the kind of president john kasich will be. ladies and gentlemen, john

kasich. [applause] t, and i believe that's the kind of president john kasich will be. ladies and gentlemen, john kasich. applause] gov. kasich: is this the most bizarre place you could ever imagine? it's friday night and you're all gathered like this. people, wrong with you huh? and we're not passing out canned hams tonight. we passed out and town hall r our 50th meeting, but we'll have a surprise the next time. anyway, thank you all for coming. how about a round of applause sununu and his service. [applause] the of course, we have great gordon humphrey here, a

blast from the past. where's gordon? stick your head in here. pplause] i want to really -- seriously, i want to thank you for coming, and i'm going to try to be short here and take some questions and i'll try to answer those short, and if both of those things happen, there will be miracles place.ing here in this i just want to tell you a little bit about myself because john did a beautiful job talking about the need to look at without and fix them, upset. to get people you can't operate that way. so why do i do things that way? and i want you to understand. my father was a mailman. he carried mail on his back, and coal miner, and my grandfather died of black losing his was eyesight as he got older.

tough family. most of them never graduated from high school. one of my uncles fought at iwajima. and it's a remarkable story of america. mother lived with us. she could barely speak english. she was an immigrant from yugoslavia, and my mother was a said, "johnny, tell it like it is and always make sure the place where you were is a little better off because of the fact you were there." i like it say she was a pioneer in talk radio. t, n the radio was broadcas she would yell at the radio, and kenny, i don't know if you heard this story, but when they started to call in on radio, my mother and i would listen. i learned a lot from my mom, and we had two phones in our house. we had one in the kitchen and one upstairs in the bedroom. some of you will relate to this. when we made long distance calls, we had to time ourselves.

remember those days? the young kids don't. they time themselves as to how long they're not on the phone, mother o one time, my heard this incredible argument going on, and she wanted me to hear it. amazing debate, so i wasn't in the kitchen. she went room-to-room and she finally burst into her bedroom, and i was the person on the phone. [laughter] arguing with the announcer. [laughter] foreshadowing, kitty. anyway, the town i grew up in was all blue collar. people worked in steel mills. my uncles, some of them worked in steel mills. when the time came for them to retire, they'd just close the mill down. sound familiar? and so a lot of people in the country feel -- and i think degree, ave felt, to a that if you're powerful, if you are special interest, if you're rich, you get what you want and everybody else kind of gets what's left over. elected sincebeen i was very young. nobody in my family could ever

figure it out and, frankly, i've een blessed and given a lot of opportunities. from mind's eye, i come there. i fight for people who usually don't have anybody to fight for them. e didn't get tickets -- i grew up in pittsburgh. we didn't get tickets for the steelers game. they were too hard to get. didn't even think about it. baseball game, my dad and i would go on labor day. ou know why we would go on labor day? it costs, but how many games do they have on labor day? two. we'd sit in the right field leachers and the box seats, never dreamt about it. so i never want to tear anybody but i've also felt that people who play by the rules, god-fearing, you know, common sense need to have a voice. o i got into politics for one basic reason, to lift everybody,

give everybody a voice and chance.y a a lot of people run away from their records. study my records, because it's a record of accomplishment, a record of together.ams nobody ever does anything great by themselves. you have to do things in a team, and i've been fortunate enough to have enough people come around to be part of something for all of us that's bigger than ourselves. in washington, john and i worked to balance the federal budget. why'd we do it? one, we didn't want kids to have to pay this $58,000 a kid, because that's immoral. put that on our grandchildren? and the second reason is, if we balance a budget, we create certainty. if we create certainty, we can create jobs. job creators will make the decision to invest. my greatest moral purpose is to make sure that we have a job-creating environment. when i left washington after balanced and dget cutting taxes, the economy was

zooming. trillion wn half a dollars of the national debt, and we had a balanced budget that isrs in a row, and not a movie in the theater that's a fantasy. it actually happen. and i left washington. the whole thing fell apart. nobody stood in the breach to say no. then i went into the private sector for 10 years, was having a great time, and then i felt service ck to public and my state was dying, and i don't need to get through all of that, but let me tell you where we are today. after five years, we have grown private sector employment by 385,000 jobs. 385,000 families that have been helped. great? t it means going back to politics worked. they're running a $2 billion surplus. our credit is rock solid. our pensions are solid.

but the other thing you need to know, is we've done better economically. if you're mentally ill, if you're drug addicted, if you're developmentally disabled, if you're a member of the working member of the minority community, we're helping you. because i believe as onservatives, and i believe as republicans, everybody must have a chance to rise. verybody -- not a gift, but everybody should have the opportunity to live out their god-given purpose. and i think opportunity is what it's all about, and i also think as conservatives, we have to be more comfortable in terms of we're 're for than what again against, because ideas power everything. ideas are excitement. they're innovative, they're new, they're refreshing, and that's do.t we and as president, the formula that i've used, both in ohio and formula that, is a needs to be repeated. ommon sense regulations, balanced budgets, reduced taxes,

simplify the tax code, get back to common sense, hire people who are going to make sure that they , not working for them. special interests, it's nice to hear you, but at the end of the day, we've got a job to do. so let me stop. polite applause, and then you can ask me questions. you got your hand up first. what is on your mind? just yell audience: i have a question about paid sick leave. i have a chronic health condition and i actually have to take a year and-a-half off in college. i just graduated this past may.

luckily, my parents could a year and-a-half but now i'm in the workforce. and even if my job is guaranteed and i take time off, i have to choose between, you know, health and finances, being able to support myself. what would you do for people like me? aknow it's not just myself as young person, it's people of all ages have chronic health issues. i don't know. what do you think we should do? audience: well, personally, i think -- gov. kasich: because you're able-bodied, you play by the sick, you're not not in the workforce, and you're being paralyzed because you're not getting experience. that's a really hard problem. audience: it is. gov. kasich: what would you like to see? audience: well, personally, i would like to see, i think, workers' comp. i think i would like to see --

gov. kasich: well, we have workers' comp. audience: yeah, and i'd like to see both the employer and the employee take responsibility in this case. a couple of -- maybe a couple of . llars out of their paycheck gov. kasich: so workers' comp, if you work for a company and get sick, you get help, and our workers' comp in ohio. audience: yeah, i think just solid paid sick leave. i think i worry about that. i . kasich: the only thing would tell you, i'd like to think about it. the only thing i would tell you s, you know, we also have town halls with small business people. how many people run a small business? you run a small business, and if i tell this guy he's going to more in tart paying tax taxes, he may have to either go out of business or lay people off, so we may have to think about what would be the way in which we could address it? i'd hate to stand here with the first question and tell you i don't have a good answer, but i don't think you want me to stand here and make something up, right. that's not but i want to think about it.

you know, if you do work for a sick, we do you get have workers' comp. i want to go back to that. it was a total mess, and we have rebated, i think it workers't $2 billion in comp in businesses, and in particular, it helps the small people are d yet eing taken care of and people that are sick. anybody, who no fault of their own, who gets sick, has problems, is poor or whatever, and if they can't work, we're in. going to pitch am i right? that's the american way. in this case, this is even more of a issue, because you want to go to work, right? nd you can't, and you're finding yourself in a tough situation. let me think about it. and if you have some ideas, we'd like to hear from you as well, okay. the onight, i may not know answer to some things, but what i do in my job is that i get going around -- like i'm to tell you one of the problems

we have today. a 51--year-old man or woman that loses their job. where do they go? and i've asked my people to think about how we can retrain them, and how can we do it effectively? because, you know, there's only so many dollars to go around. so we have to create priorities, and then we have to think innovatively. can we train them? them w we can train through the community college but what if they don't have any money? can we begin to train them online? can we hook them into in-demand jobs that we know exist, with training that can help them qualify for those jobs? and is it possible for the federal government to help a little bit for the states to come up with a program to all those people who have been isplaced in their jobs because of a changing economy from the 0th century to the 21st century. the key to solving our problems, the ones that are vexing, is to look them square in the eye and say, can we fix it? and if we don't have an answer, how do we turn it? how do we twist it? how do we think about it in such

a way that we can develop a solution. if you're worried about who you're going to make mad, it ain't going to work. so you can't worry about that. if you're going to be in a situation where people are going to be angry with you because you did something, that's life, because i have to tell you, i've public office for a long time. for my goal -- and i have to let you in on a little secret. the republican party is my vehicle, not my master. --.y, the only person [applause] the only person i take orders from is my wife, okay. [laughter] daughters are going to turn 16, they're starting to give me orders. not taking many of them. but the point is, looking to solve problems and that's what we try to do. thanks for asking the question. there.ir, right none of these microphones work.

where's mr. microphone when we need it. remember that, when we were kids, huh? audience: i just want to respond to that real quick, and i have another question if that's okay. i'm 61. i had a stroke a year ago. i went back to school thanks to vocational rehab in new hampshire. i got retrained and certified in photoshop and other adobe gotucts, and a month ago, i a job. applause] i'm 61. gov. kasich: of course. you don't look 61. well, you know, then again, i'm running for president. [laughter] audience: well, i've got friends that know i am. i just wanted to ask you this question if i could. renewable energy, company's got sweet deal in the 2015 spending deal, multi-year extension of industry tax credits, in exchange for lifting

the ban on oil export. is there talks of a similar deal in the future that would impose a carbon tax in exchange for a reduction in the corporate income tax. would you support this type of horse trade if you become president? gov. kasich: i get nervous about the idea of a carbon tax. nervous what i get about, is that we'll have this tax. with this tax, it's going to go up and i promise everything else is going to go down. or by the way, we're going to have a budget bill, and we'll tax increase ttle and the rest of it will be spending. take a guess at what happens. the tax goes up and the spending -- yeah, the spending goes up and the taxes -- everything goes up, that's exactly right. look, what i support on tax reform is i want the corporate down to 25, ome because right now, it's so high, eople keep their profits in europe, or they're moving out of the country to get lower taxes, taxes we can bring the down to 25 and not double tax invest in nies will

rather than europe. there's triple dollars stacked. 25 like to get it down to and get companies to write off investment and plant immediately, so they can be more wages.tive with higher on the personal side, i'd like the top rate down to 28, 25, 10, 15% capital gains text, and then i would freeze all federal regulations for one year, force congress to vote on regulations going forward to approve them. we don't want bureaucrats making laws and then to plan to get us to a balanced budget. be? would that you take medicare from 7-5% 5-3.th, medicaid from freeze all nondiscretionary, freezing your priorities and $100 billion more on military because we've got to rebuild our military, at the same time, .e're reforming the pentagon i did all that in about a minute and-a-half and that was pretty good. [applause] what does that do? what that does is it sends a

message to job creators. know what's so great? a said he's 61, he had stroke, went through rehab, and job.a everybody was so excited about that. that's why jobs are so important, because i bet you were frustrated, and now you feel set free again, don't you? you're strengthened as an individual. it's good for the family. so if we can do the things that i'm saying, and by the way, they're all practical. they're not like -- i could come here and promise you a zillion things but i'm not going to do that because it ain't going to happen, but what i just proposed can be enacted, particularly the corporate tax reduction which we desperately need in this country and i think we can get bipartisan support. way, y the nothing -- nothing big, fixing the border, fixing social security, dealing with all the

entitlements, nothing can get done if there isn't some measure of bipartisan support, okay. it won't happen. [applause] and obamacare is a perfect example. you see what, it's not acceptable. notence: doesn't mean it's done. gov. kasich: well, it may be done, but here's the thing. unpopular that it's going to be repealed. if i'm president, it'll be repealed and we'll replace it. but what i'm saying is, you know, you're not going to fix -- reagan fixed social security with tip o'neal. when john sununu and i were involved in balancing the budget, we changed medicare and you never heard a peep, because democrats icans and work together, you call off the demegogary. when people demagogue and fight off the people, it's hard to get anything done. that doesn't mean you need a massive amount of bipartisan support, but it does mean you

-- semblancemblence of it. and it doesn't require anybody having to give up their principles, because i want to go back to the fact that we're americans before anything else. you probably haven't noticed, divided ve a pretty ineffectual congress, i want to let you know. [laughter] news break, right? that can be healed, if we will just respect people who don't think the way that we do, and we build the issues around things creation, like the morality of putting our children in debt. it's not acceptable. so, sir, i want to thank you for your success story. great.'s [applause] right here. audience: welcome to our state of new hampshire. thank you for coming. gov. kasich: i live here, man, more than you do, what are you talking about? [laughter] if you haven't met me three times, i don't know you. people in at i tell other states. there's 1.2 people who live in

1.2 ampshire, i've met million twice, and i've got three more times to go. [laughter] you, nce: my question to my biggest concern is that congress is a complete mess. nd part of the thing that's a mess in congress is that they're there.ched will you support term limits for all congress? gov. kasich: absolutely. absolutely and absolute power corrupts. it's not going to happen, okay. let me tell you, the reason is you've got to have a constitutional amendment, but i'm for it. of course. we have it in ohio. guess what they do in ohio. they're in the senate, then they go to the house, then they go back to the senate. then they go back to the house, okay. [laughter] our big problem is jerry mandering, where they draw districts to provide safe republican and democrat districts and the members become more extreme because they don't want to have a primary and that

pushes people farther apart. can you follow what i mean by that? you always worry about a primary. nobody can get to the right or left of me. that's not good. sir, we're going to need to look reform, all finance these things. but let me get to the bottom and john sununu said it well and i'm not sure you heard him on this. probably did but let me reemphasize it. it's all about character. do you think you can legislate morality? timberland today, you know, got a great jacket, by the way. [laughter] timberland today, and i said, you have an ntitheft policy here at timberland. but your policy isn't going to stop people really from stealing. going to steal because they have ethics. and the problem with congress is in, they want to stay. and so they're afraid to take a angry so they you get thrown out, and there's a

term when you're a congressman. what it is? is there life after congress? because when you get to be in congress, you're a big shot. am i right, kitty? events. to go to all the you're the front seat, you get to meet the president. i mean, seriously, that's the works, and people like that. anybody would. remember is ave to when we get elected to public a ice, we are not there for lifetime job and you have to take risks and you have to remember why you're there, because if you serve for years and you didn't accomplish anything, what was the point? what , let me tell you i've done, and john will attest to this. sometimes i used to have people who i couldn't -- didn't want to vote on my budgets. because when you vote on a budget, it means you're taking something from somebody and else.g it to somebody one guy had eight or nine kids and he lived in california. make meaid, john, don't vote on this budget.

so i went to him. i was stand nothing an elevator. i said what do you got, eight kids? nine. you got nine kids. you come from california to washington, you're not with your family. why are you here? and he stopped for a minute and looked at me and he said, okay, on the budget. hear what i'm saying. people to perform at a higher level than where they normally perform. you look at belichick. you and i could probably suit up for the patriots this weekend and we'd win a game because he'd probably make us play better. i'm serious. you think about all the great studied.e've ever think about reagan. think about harry truman, teddy roosevelt. they were able to have that -- winston churchhill. ever ever ever give in. have your children study with what he did in great britain.

from just dying. it's because of leadership. it wasn't because of a law. i'm not telling you we don't need laws, and i'm for the term for these other changes, but at the end, we have to have leaders that get people to perform at a higher level and have guts and realize their in fix iing america. and wherever you are. so throughout my career, and it's why i'm doing this again, i can't explain it to you. some the lord has given me special little blessing to get people to be part of a team to get results, and that's not arrogance. i'm humbled by the fact that i could be in a leadership position and see things happen, ut you have to work with people. you have to encourage people. that's what you have to do. and so the congress itself, it

as to start fixing problems, because the world looks at america and says what the heck is wrong with you? you can't seem to do anything. it's all about government shut-downs. it's all about yelling and screaming. it's all bipartisanship. and i love my country. can we fix this? if i'm president, you can count on it. i promise you, you can count on it. [applause] but i'm coming back here, if i'm president, and i'm going to tell you why. because you're going to speak with a loud voice to that congress, and you're going to say get it done. that's what reagan did to get his work through. people, and the people have to be part of the solution. yes, sir? fixing : you mentioned america. thank you. you mentioned fixing america, concerned as i'm sure you are, about money and politics. people look at marco rubio as potentially that g the nominee, and concerns me because he is

getting the biggest contributions from the coke brothers, and i'm wondering if you think that his contributions rom the coke brothers and big oil affect his energy policies? gov. kasich: well, i can't thinks.he way he he can only judge the way he thinks. for me, you can give me money, youthank you very much, but ain't going to get squat for it, other than the chance to give me an opinion, okay. it works.t the way but let me just say to you that, gain, it's back to character, isn't it? but here's the beauty of new hampshire. because i don't have all the money and i don't have all the billionaires, and i don't have all that. but i'm like a little engine that just keeps chugging along, here.m rising up and here's the beauty of new hampshire. you've got that 1.2 million. do you know how much i love these town hall meetings? them? w why i love because you get to see who i am. i put my best out here. i'm fine.n't work, i mean, no, i won't be fine.

[laughter] that. what i mean by you don't care whether i'm famous. you don't care whether i have money. none of that -- does that matter to you? i don't think it means a whip. you judge at somebody, and this is where people get launched. renamed shire could be cape canaveral. ou launch people into the consciousness of america. so if you're worried about that, i've got a good candidate for you, me, okay, just so you know. [laughter] ma'am, right back here audience: my name is martha lafleur, i'm a retired educator newdo advocacy work for vip hampshire. i want to thank you for taking a stand on social security. know it's an important issue. i realize as a governor you had your k very hard to get initiatives through the state house. once you're in the white house, ow will you get your plan through congress? and finally, if you make a

priority list, where would social security be for the future? where would you put that? gov. kasich: first of all, the in on why i'm close to aarp ohio is for this reason, our medicaid program, which serves elderly, went from a growth rate of 10% in my second budget to 2.5% and not rolls was taken off the and not one benefit was cut. did you hear what i just said? it's unbelievable, okay. not because i was so good but because i had a good team. et me tell you one of the biggest things i did. the nursing home industry, which is a good industry, but they got too much of what they wanted in the legislature. they were some of the highest reimbursements, and they basically said if you were elderly, you are going to end up be nursing home and not able to stay in your own home. say knew i was going to that. they spent money to defeat me

program. to derail my to make a long story short, ohio has dramatically changed the mix, because i beat the nursing home industry. now, if you're a senior citizen and you want to stay in your home or you and your husband want to stay in your own home and you're able, you can get the help to stay in your home and stay there rather than being put in a nursing home, okay. [applause] and it's been a dramatic change ohio, and it's really, really cold. social security has to be at the top of the list for this reason. f we don't fix social security in the year starting around 2030, social security benefits will have to be cut by a third. that's not acceptable, because there's a lot of people that can't have that happening. so what are we going to have to do? well, what you're really going o have to do is the wealthier seniors -- and i don't want to throw a number -- i could throw a number out. i'm not sure this number sticks, but $100,000 in retirement

income, you will get less in social security so all the other seniors down the line will get their full benefit, and that's what we're going to have to do, and that is a very hard thing to do, to get done, but we can get it done, because we're not going to shaft the seniors in this country. so i do have to work through a legislature and get this done, but i also had to work through bill clinton, who was the president of the united states, when i fought to balance the budget. o you have to get people to understand what the problem is. you've got to be open to some of their suggestions, and then you get it done, and that's exactly -- so social security has to be at the top of the list, because we can't wait. this has to be put into play, because the demographics of the retiring is ople beginning to outnumber the people who are working and the numbers don't work so we have to fix it. way in the back, yes, ma'am? audience: my name is nora rousseau, and i'm very frustrated over what happened ith social security, and my understanding, if i'm correct, fromat congress took money the social security funds for other programs or for whatever

reason. just wondering -- well, first of all, i would like to have congress take a pay cut and put that money back for seniors. i can'tustrated because imagine -- gov. kasich: i'll let the congressman know your feelings. [laughter] audience: please. that's why i'm speaking now. gov. kasich: that's good. audience: also -- now i've lost my train of thought. gov. kasich: i'm sorry. i interrupted. on social security, why did they borrow. audience: there are many people today who are in their 60s who for whatever reason, whether it replacement, they're not well enough to work until they're 70 years old to be able retire. i just don't get it why older what have to pay for congress did years ago over the years and work, you know -- wait need it when they retire sooner. so that's my question. gov. kasich: okay, let me explain to you.

by the way, for the four years in which we balanced the budget didn't as chairman, we borrow from social security, which was really terrific. and by the way, that debt clock stopped going up. i am told it stopped going up. in fact, it went down because we aid off a half a trillion dollars of the national debt, which is really good. million went up 30 every five minutes. gov. kasich: right now? right now. you, ma'am, y to here's the situation. the social security money came in because of social security taxes. there was more money coming in benefits.out to pay the government borrowed the money to run the government and ious in the treasury that have to be redeemed. anding is my underst some of them are absolutely being redeemed. in other words, it's not like paid back.t get the problem we have now is the number of people who are retiring, particularly with the baby boomers, is beginning to who work. the people the numbers don't add up.

why there has to be a fundamental change in the program. but it's not like that money doesn't get paid back. it was an iou, and it was the government using it to fund education, agriculture, whatever it is. but it has to be paid back. and those bonds will be redeemed, because you can't just say they don't matter or they don't count. that way. work in terms of the retirement age going higher and higher and higher, and there's a point at which it gets to be too high, have f course, you can early retirement, or you could disability. audience: statement] ble the situation i'm in gov. kasich: yeah, well, you're on ready to be retired . cial security audience: [indiscernible] gov. kasich: okay. and you've done very well, okay. and what i'm saying to you is, it really is all about the numbers, but here's the tragedy

this. in 1998, not like i'm the know it all here, okay, i just had good people. i had offered a social security held thehat would have seniors harmless, the baby boomers would have started at a slightly lower level, and the young people would have started -- they would have less, but they were going to be given 2% in a private account that would grow with the growth of the economy. that plan never was voted on. it's like going to the doctor. the doctor says you have a problem, and then you show up 16 years later and say okay, doc, what are we going to do now? so i did my job, but that solace in there's no that, because we have a problem now, and we've got to fix it, that 've got to make sure those who don't have those resources -- and by the way, that retirement-age scale is up over time, but the idea that we're going to move it up to 75 or 80, you know, we have to be of the fact of what you just said.

is too : i think 70 much. gov. kasich: i don't think we're going to see it come back the other way though. i just don't think it's in the cards. but i'd like to get the program fixed. yes, sir, right here. audience: i have a question regarding what's been going a question what's been going on in this country for 40-odd years. our industrial base and, consequently, good-paying jobs. how do we get some of those jobs back in some of the factories unning and making things here instead of bringing them from china, japan, and all over the place? terms sich: you mean in of them leaving? well, there's good news. jobs are actually beginning to onshore. i have a big investment, $4.5 billion investment from thailand, at east 100-00-0000 invested -- $100 million invested in ohio.

i have people who invested in the steel company in ohio since 've been in, and we have whirlpool bringing their jobs chinese we have a company that is creating 1500 windshields in dayton, ohio, and those jobs are going into a factory that was abandoned by an auto company. this is why people in ohio were optimistic because we're seeing it happen. why is that happening? well, it's happening because we ave low energy costs and our transportation costs from asia into here are high. so we're now starting to get a competitive advantage. the other thing that's happening is we can use technology to create advanced manufacturing where you use -- i went to an auto plant. provides partsat to the auto companies. i went in there. they were all blue collar workers. they don't ever touch a piece of metal. everything is done with computers. and all learn how to do it, these are just regular folks.

and i said, well, how's the pay? pay is up. how's the jobs? the jobs are up. o it is very possible using advanced manufacturing to hniques to be able to -- have high productivity and to be able to have some of those jobs coming back. folks, we have to do, is we have to be also be people for young the jobs that exist today. some of them will come back and not going to re come back. and so what do we do about that? well, we need to have an education system that's beginning to train people for jobs that exist, not train people in a vacuum, okay, so we are available. and i keep mentioning my state. i'm the seventh largest state in the country. we're not a bucket shop. $63 billion. it's like a version of the minifederal government. what we do there could be done in the country. what we're doing now is

introducing young people to occupations and now we're beginning to tell them, these are the jobs that are available. this is what it takes to get one, and this is what it pays. i just read yesterday that in ohio, we have 240,000 job openings. guarantee you, you have thousands and thousands of job openings right here in new hampshire. but we don't have the people who have been trained to take those jobs. so why aren't we looking at what the jobs are that are available and training people for those jobs instead of training them for something that doesn't exist? does that make sense to you? [laughter] yeah, that makes perfect sense, doesn't it? so let's do it. let's do it. let me give you another one. guidance counselors in high they do hy don't guidance counseling? why do they spend their time onitoring the lunchroom or rolling the basketball out? [laughter] you know about that. this is like a church service

tonight, amen. [laughter] amen. but the fact of the matter is, these are not that hard to do, but you have to be creative. i'm going to give you another idea. nd this is something that should be done all over the country. this one is a little bit farther out there. business,e the medical i'm talking about profession. you've got all these people, they've got to do billing, you've got peop people -- phlebotomists that take blood. you've got all these jobs out there, and they play pretty well. so i'm asking the medical people curriculum her a online which you can take. say you work at mcdonald's and you're stuck. you take the curriculum if you pass it. you're guaranteed an interview for one of those jobs, and you have the skills and you've been trained to take that job. ow, that's called everybody working together. these are the kinds of things in we have to think about america today and our education

system -- and by the way, i want o move all the education programs back to new hampshire, i mean, with the money. right now, we have 104 education programs. i'd like to break it into four buckets and send it back to new hampshire, ohio, nebraska, and let us run our education programs. flexible --. [applause] how old are you, young man? audience: 16. gov. kasich: what do you want to be when you grow up? audience: biomedical engineer. [laughter] echlt gov. kasich: he said he wanted to be a biomedical engineer. old. 16 years put 'er there, kid. [applause] listen, you're 16. you get out, you go to college, then you do four more years. i should be running for re-election. you'll be rich. can i get a campaign contribution from you? [laughter]

but here's the thing. to be a biomedical engineer. take esn't he be able to five hours a week or six hours a week and go to a medical a medical laboratory? audience: he can't. gov. kasich: pardon? audience: he can't. gov. kasich: okay. but we need to be pushing this more in all of our schools, because people don't know about these programs. if he goes ng man, out there, he's going to get so excited about what he wants to be. when i was a kid, i always wanted to be a lawyer. thank you, lord, for not letting that happen. [laughter] but here's the thing. think about how great it would have been had i been able to a k for a judge or work for law firm, and understood it. and i would be more excited about learning. another one.ou how about a kid that's going to drop out? what's that kid want to do? cars? o work on engines, he loves video games.

why don't we get them somewhere where they can work on that and create an individual path to graduation from high school because if you don't graduate from high school in the 21st century, these are all the xciting things that we can do if we just put our minds to it, and we think creatively. know what, talking about get everybody -- yeah, let's do it. that's what's cool about being a governor. yes, young lady audience: i live in exeter and my name is elaine. i was just looking in the ewspaper the other day and i read that somewhere around 75% of americans acknowledge that climate change is real and i'm just wondering, you know, with the same scientific consensus behind climate change as do ution and gravity, why you think pretty much lots of republicans deny this basic science? why do you think that is?

gov. kasich: well, i think human beings do effect the climate and i'm a big supporter of solar and wind and geothermal and efficiency, but i want all of the different sources. i saw seabrook today. i'm for nuclear too. this.r all of [applause] so i think sometimes, you know, sometimes -- i really know -- i they have an opinion why do that. but i'm not going to tell you, because it's not good. republican in the primary, but i'm for -- i can't tell you how they think, but i can tell you how i think. i think there is something to climate change, but i think we ave to take our time to have remedies, and the remedies are things like efficiency and solar wind, and i think the other part of it is, let's not go so ast that we throw this kid out of work or this gentleman out of work. it's got to be a balance between a good environment and economic growth, which we can achieve. if you work at it, you can achieve it. the on't want to worship environment, but we have an

obligation to protect it. i think sometimes -- i've had a little battle with my legislature over the issue of renewables. and they tend to think, you know, it's subsidized. it's a government program and all of that. well, you know, what we have to just p these things, so i have a little different view of what we should do in that area and i think we have to be it, okay.bout yes, ma'am, right here. audience: i like your message. this summer is when i first saw you on tv. i was actually in ohio on a a rest , and we were at stop, there was a plaque on the wall saying -- this is really great. looking at my picture in a bathroom, right. [laughter] this is really something audience: it was positive, and i had good because feelings about you this summer. and i never kind of saw you. i always see trump or somebody else. but i thought if i come tonight and i still feel the same, i'm going to vote for you, and i

feel really -- am i doing? how audience: you're doing great. you e a leader, strong and have a positive energy. gov. kasich: you know what they say you have to do in new hampshire? could i please have your vote? [laughter] see that? you have to ask for their vote. knee.on a bended audience: i'm going to ask a knowion that i still don't the answer. i feel you speak for americans. i feel like you're not kindsmatory and i see all of inflammatory things said, and i think in the world now with he terror, i think we need to ratchet that down, and i feel like you would be a great, leader that was not inflammatory. with the you deal terrorism in our world now. i have 10 kids, i'm concerned. kids? ich: 10 audience: yeah, nine adopted. l, one is gov. kasich: how are they

doing? audience: two are not doing well, and eight is fabulous. a percentage. by the way, my husband is the hair of the chemical engineering department at unh nd he has a specialty in biomedical. gov. kasich: let me tell you something. okay.is how it works, kid, so now you get her phone number, okay. and then you call her and you say, could i talk to your husband, and then you go down they do. you see what audience: and the other thing i wanted to say is my husband is or solar, but he is for nuclear, because he adds the numbers up and he says nuclear is the way to go, but politically, it doesn't work. gov. kasich: yeah, it is. extended the license at seabrook. it's coming. they're building one in the south. but kid, get her number. [laughter] o here's the thing, look, i spent 18 years on the defense stuff, the defense committee. and then after 9/11, donald

rumsfeld invited me to a meeting of the former secretaries of defense and i in that meeting we overed the lapses that had in listening on technology, and i asked the secretary if i from bring a group in silicon valley to help them with technology technology, and for two or three years, that's exactly what i did, i would take groups in there. and these groups, these were brilliant people who solved a lot of problems so i've been around for a long time. you have to be cool and calm and delibera deliberate, basically, on everything. you don't go kind of waving your arms and getting all worked up and using fireplacy rhetoric, do it on purpose in a limited time. * fiery. so let's talk about something i'm very concerned about tonight. very worried about north korea, and i'll tell you why i'm worried about them. them, butanicked about i'm worried about them.

we have been kicking the north korea problem down the road for multiple administrations, because it's a very hard problem. seoul, korea, has 10 million people. they launch missiles into seoul, korea. it's unthinkable. so what do we do? well, one thing we should always our mind is ack of the concept of regime change. you know, what do we do to try to foster that? because it's not a given that they have to be there forever. but just -- it's just a thought, and you don't want to be -- frankly, i don't even want to be talking about it out loud here, but you want to consider that. now, what else do you do? well, we know that we have big problems with the chinese. are ow that the chinese cyber attacking us, or their friends are, stealing our secrets, violating a lot of things, and we have to have a cyber command. we just have are to create one tell people to we can ack with cyber, defend ourselves, harden our sites, and secondly, we have an

offensive capability. you, y the way fwe catch you are a criminal. you are a hacker, a criminal, and we're going to have come after you. you don't have to yell. i was in a debate and somebody said what would you do if the russians flew into a no-fly zone. one candidate said, i'd shoot their plane down. ou know what i'd say, if they fly in the first time, they could fly out. but if they fly in the second time, they won't be able to fly out. do you see the difference? it's a difference in the way you talk. back to the north koreans, we have to let the chinese know, even though we have disputes with them, that they are not our enemy, and we expect them to straighten that regime out. leverage.ot the they need to fix north korea. know that john kerry last night apparently said something about north korea. if you embarrass the -- said something about china. china, it's alls about face saving.

you get nowhere. so why don't you just tell them quietly, and you say this is what we expect of you and these are the things we'll do and i want to know what you're going to do. and in addition to that, we able to sure, to be intercept ships and planes out of north korea that could be carrying very dangerous materials or very significant echnology that can be translated into material for a weapon of mass destruction. do you understand what i mean by that? alongcase bomb, something those lines. it's very, very serious. reassure the o south koreans and the japanese with probably a missile defense system, if china doesn't act. but you don't have to panic and threaten. have to you can be very, very calm about it. ukraine.we need to help they want to be free, give them what they need to defend themselves. we putin this is what expect. don't be going into europe.

don't be going m and thinking invade nato countries, because that's just not going to happen. we're not going to tolerate that, and i don't have to raise my voice to you. i'm just telling you what i expect. and then that's what america used to do. reagan would say, you know, soviet union, we win, they lose. he didn't have to raise his to e, except when he went hat wall, and he said mr. gorbechauv, tear down that wall. it.idn't have to yell he meant it and they knew it. in the middle east, isis, i give bush incredible credit for pushing sadam out of kuwait, having a coalition of as europeans that got that done and people said he should have gone all the way to baghdad. i'm not going to baghdad because if i do, i'm going to end up in civil war and george i deserves enormous credit for that decision. and isis must be destroyed with the coalition and we need to let the regional powers sort it out

once we have some stability, and our sraelis, they're friends, stop kicking them. you've got something you want to say to them, say it to them privately. [applause] raised my voice. you don't have to raise your voice. firm.ou better be you better be tough, and you better know what you're doing, and i'm going to tell you, you ant to be president of the united states, and you think you're going to have on the job experience? me? ou kidding by the way, for the last seven years, we've been saying how did fromect a one-term senator illinois to be president with no experience? a ghost ship.ning gov. kasich: oh, we do, i haven't checked it out lately their experience. ma'am, what i would say is, cool and calm, no red lines, unless you mean it. it takes sophistication, and inally, coordination with our allies on intelligence. the final thing i want to tell ou is our joint terrorism task forces, which are headed up and

cover this state and my state and states all across the country are headed by the fbi, the homeland security, state and local law enforcement, and they that go out and disrupt these plots. they're the ones. they need to have the resources and they need to have the tools that they need to be able to safe.s the lone wolf, we just seen in philadelphia. he only way you can stop it, they've got to pick up something, from the neighbor, from the family. we all are our neighbor's keepers. did we know that? we? dn't forget that, did and we've got it keep our eyes open. not paranoid, just determined, because that's the way we. so yes? you, young man, yes. audience: so i'm a senior in at the ool right now academy down the street, and i'm orried about the cost of college. you know, some of the schools $50-70,000 a are

year, and i feel like what my family is going through right at the costs look or what a lot of middle class families are looking at right spot to be in,gh you know, not -- just making nough to not qualify for scholarships, but still not making enough to be able to pay wondering what s you would do -- what we could xpect under your presidency to help with tuition. gov. kasich: good question. first of all, let me say a couple of things. and i don't know about you, but with my kids, i have one daughter that says that she school in this far away state. i said what school do you want to go to? i says, well, i don't know, just want to go there, okay. [laughter] i know a girl who had a full scholarship to indiana university. to turned it down and went vanderbilt at a cost of year.0,000 a i don't think she's any farther ahead for the fact that she did that. so there's a couple of things to think about.

when you're in high school, you ought to be taking college also ought to get yourself remediated. i don't know, you seem pretty smart but if you need remediation, because most of -- about 30-40% of our students when they graduate from high school and go to college have to take remedial math and english when they get to college. take it while you're in high school. get it completed. and then when it comes to the school, i hate to say something radical here, but maybe you go to community college for a couple of years. you have now cut your costs in you go to if community college for three years, which is what we're going to push through in ohio, you cut your cost in 3/4, and you do your >> then there is responsibility on our leaders in university and community colleges. the biggest cost of higher education is not teacher salaries. it is administrative overhead costs.

get them under control. then, for people who bring up these debts, think about two things. a business can have incentives to pay off your loan or you can have community service that can work some down. ,'m going to suggest to you just go where you can afford it. 50 thousandh dollars worth of debt. maybe you have some scholarships. be careful. you don't want to start that far in the hole. we have to get schools to figure how to control their costs and take that college credit. you have college credit plus where credits are transferable. use it. [inaudible question]

out the it: they give grants. nobody has been focused on the cost. i hired a commission of people who were businesspeople that'll to the cost. let me give you examples -- [inaudible questions] mr. kasich: 20 years ago you got a loan from a bank. you didn't get a loan from the federal government. the bank would say let's talk about this. a lot of those things have been withdrawn. you haves on both ends to keep the cost down and you have to figure out another way to get that degree. when did you graduate?

i prefer to hire people that have degrees in something. maybe i'm unusual. that.ust think about the only thing you have to go through his ohio state university. we know that. >> would you get the federal government out of the student loan? mr. kasich: i don't know. it sounds like something i would have to say yes to but i have to figure out what is involved in that. what i would tell you want the federal government to get out of, the welfare programs to come back to new hampshire, we write our own welfare rules. i will medicaid to come back. i want education to come back. the other one i want to come back, transportation. here is how it works. you fill out your tank and you

pay federal gas tax. we send you, everybody sends that money to washington to a committee of politicians and they decide what to do with the money. after they decide they send the money back. do you think they send back more or less? in my state they wanted me to build a high-speed train. this was an exciting proposition. it was the only train i could think of that i could run faster than. 39 miles per hour. i said no thanks. don't, i would send pennies to washington to maintain the interstate and then let the states keep the bulk of the money they pay, keep it in new hampshire. fix your bridges. you can reduce the tax if you wanted to. have the former

speaker and more resources. you will could actually told. that is another program. when it comes to the student loans. i've been a privatization person but i have to sit down and think of the implications. thing, the present of ohio state decided to sell or to lease the parking garages and surface transportation. he was opposed by everybody in the university community. billion forhalf $1 releasing those assets. which go to scholarships. a half $1 billion. why does the university -- why are they running parking anything? their job is to teach this kid. how about looking around and doing health care with other people? beingout back-office

shared? have to think differently. an online courses. having more professors that actually can speak english. that would be a novel idea. >> i have been sitting here looking at the sign. it says a strong america is a safe america. tell us what your thoughts are and why that is up there. mr. kasich: i don't know. i haven't seen that sign before. no. [laughter] if you don't have a strong economy you can't have strong defense. if you have a strong -- will not have the defense you want if you don't have the money to pay for it. i look at a couple ways. strong economically. strong militarily. leadership. when you are strong economically it helps you to be strong militarily.

when we can't solve problems we look week. we have to stop this nonsense. we have to solve problems, shift power and money back to where we live. build a stronger country. remember this. determination. they knock you down. you get back up. you put them wrong. understand that is what america is about. that man had a stroke. he was knocked down and he got back up. god bless you all. see you next time. [applause] [inaudible conversation]

>> we are going to wait up here and take some pictures before i have to go out of town. you are welcome. conversations]

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>> with a presidential candidates in new hampshire, south carolina and i went this weekend, what is the state of the race where the first votes will be counted in iowa? we are joined by steven shepard, the editor of the political caucus. thank you for being with us. >> things could change. what you were looking at is they were conducted before the

holidays. pollsters take a break over the holidays. voters are not paying attention. they are traveling for the holidays. they are worried about getting their christmas shopping done, cooking for their families. pollsters take a break. we will see a bunch of new polls coming out of iowa, new hampshire and nationally and even south carolina as we look later in the nominating calendar. one thing i would stress is those numbers are all old. they are from december. things always do change. that is why we expect them to -- the candidates are working hard to make things change. candidates are not conceding iowa to ted cruz. the insiders in iowa and the other early states we talked to think these candidates can still be challenged. the 24 days between now and the iowa caucuses is enough to mount a challenge. >> if secretary clinton and

senator cruz are not sure bets, what has the past told us about what could happen? steven: one thing that is clear is things change up until the last minute. if you look back four years ago out rick santorum who came of nowhere in the final month of the campaign to win the iowa and the final des moines register poll conducted a week before the caucuses, you could see not only was he gaining relative to his previous position, but every day the poll was in the field, the three or four days interviews were being conducted, each day, rick sotorum was gaining strength the point where he passed by the end of the survey, he had surpassed mitt romney and rand paul. you can see day by day him gaining strength. the key to winning in iowa seems to be getting hot at the end. which candidates are poised to

do that, which candidates are hot now. that is really what it will come down to. the latebreaking momentum that is going to be here in the last half of january as we move through the next three weeks. >> steven shepard, one step forward. let's assume ted cruz and donald trump go first and second. it seems to me the third-place finisher is the one person, the one candidate who will get a lot of attention. steven: that is true. the cliche is you get three tickets out of iowa and new hampshire. that third person will be really interesting. i think the pressure is on marco rubio to be the third person. this way he can pivot to new hampshire, south carolina and nevada which are the states he is making a big push and portray himself as the compromised candidate between the establishment republicans and conservative republicans. he does not necessarily have a

clear path to third-place. ben carson, who was leading in iowa two months ago, still maintains a pretty healthy share of the vote. about 10% of the vote in the latest polls and has a pretty committed base of supporters, according to our caucus insiders. they say a lot of his core supporters are still with him. he could finish third. chris christie is a name you have not heard in iowa. you hurt a lot in new hampshire. he recently had his first television advertisement. even though he is at 2% right now, our insiders say he is mounting a little bit of a challenge in iowa. jeb bush has taken down a lot of his ads in iowa but spent time there. now, he is in that conversation below cruz and trump, with carson, rubio and christie, to try and maybe do well in iowa.

who finishes third, fourth, fifth? those will be just as important to who wins because everybody takes the show on the road to new hampshire and south carolina and that can be very difficult. >> governor christie is back in iowa next week. on the democratic side, there are three candidates. martin o'malley, is he making any inroads in his candidacy in iowa? steven: it is interesting because the first metric we will get on o'malley in 2016 will come out of iowa. late this week, nbc news announced the criteria for the next democratic debate which will be in south carolina on january 17. and, they have set a threshold of 5% in the polls either nationally or in one of the early states. martin o'malley is not near 5% nationally or at 5% in new hampshire or south carolina, but

he is at 5% in iowa. there will be a couple of more polls coming up next week which will determine whether he gets into that debate. we talk about momentum a little bit -- nothing stunts any possible surge of momentum like this sort of public embarrassment, being excluded from a three-person debate. if martin o'malley cannot get good pulls out of iowa next week which will measure his current viability in iowa, that may stop any kind of momentum before it even starts for him in iowa leading up to the caucuses if he is not at the next debate. >> this is the headline at politico.com. the current iowa front runners poised to win. the caucus members caution things could still change. steven shepard joining us on the phone in washington. his work is available online. thank you for being with us.

steven: thank you for having me. >> president obama has vetoed republican supported legislation to repeal the health care law. the bill would defund planned parenthood. it was the first such a bill to make it through the house and senate and reach his desk. his veto message was read on the floor of congress. the clerk: to the house of representatives, i am returning here with my -- without my approval h.r. 3762 which provides for reconciliation pursuant to section 2002 of the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2016. herein referred to as the reconciliation act this legislation is not only repeal parts of the affordable care act but would reverse the significant progress we have made in improving health care in america. the affordable care act includes a set of fair rules and stronger consume brother texts that have made health care coverage more affordable, more attainable, and

more patient centered and it is working. about 17.6 million americans have gained health care coverage at the -- as the law's coverage provisions have taken effect. the nation's uninsured rate now stands at its lowest level ever and demand for marketplace coverage during december, 2015, was at an all-time high. health care costs are lower than expected when the law was passed and health care equality is higher with improvements in patient safety, saving an 7,000 lives. this has changed the country for the better, setting it on a stronger course. the congressional budget office estimates that the legislation would increase the must remember of uninsured americans by 22 million after 2017. the council on economic advisors siment -- estimates that this exemption in health care coverage could mean more than

900,000 fewer people getting care, people having trouble paying other bills due to higher health care costs and potentially $2,000 in more additional debt. this would cost millions of hardworking middle class families the affordable health coverage they deserve. reliable health care coverage would no longer be for everyone. it would return to being a privilege for a few. the legislation's implications extend far beyond those who would become uninsured. for example, about 150 million americans with employer-based insurance would be at risk of higher premiums and lower wages and it would cause the cost of health coverage for people buying it on their own to skyrocket. the reconciliation act would also effectively defund planned parenthood. planned parenthood uses both federal and nonfederal funds to provide a range of important preventive care and services, including health screenings, vaccinations and checkups to millions of men and women who

visit their health centers annually. long-standing federal policy already prohibits the use of federal funds for abortion, except in cases of rape or incest or when the life of a woman would be in danger. by eliminating federal medicaid funding for a major provider of health care, h.r. 3762 would limit access to health care for men, women, and families across the nation and would disproportionately impact low income individuals. republicans and the congress republicans have tried to undermine the affordable care act by voting to repeal basic protections that provide security for the middle class. members of congress should be working together to grow the economy, strengthen middle-class families and create new jobs because the harm this bill would cause to the health and financial security of millions of americans, it has earned my veto.

house homeland security chair, michael mccaul of texas. after that, congressman ed royce of california discussing national security issues. then, a pentagon briefing with general kelly. on the next washington journal, u.s. immigration policy attentionf the recent on immigrants from central america. former national security

advisor on the divide between iran and saudi arabia. a look at the first doniversary of the charlie heb attacks and the role of cartoonist. live at 7:00urnal a.m. eastern on c-span. as president obama prepares for his state of the union address, he released this video on twitter. >> i keep thinking about the road we have traveled together these past seven years. america great,es our capacity to change together, ability to come together as one of american family and pull ourselves closer to the america we believe in. it is hard to see sometimes in

the day to day noise of washington, but it is who we are. on inwhat i want to focus this state of the union address. >> coverage starts at 8:00 p.m. eastern with senate historian and congressional reporter, looking back at the history and tradition of the president's annual message and what to expect in this year's address. the:00, live coverage of president's speech, followed by the republican response by governor nikki haley. less, your reaction by phone, facebook, e-mail, as well as those of members of congress. ofwill really care the state the union coverage and the republican response starting at 11:00 p.m. eastern, it :00 p.m. pacific, also live on c-span2. we will hear from members of congress in statuary hall for their reaction to the address. next, michael mccaul of texas

speaking to reporters about the recent arrest of two iraqi refugees in the u.s. on terror-related charges. chairman maccoll called in the senate to pass legislation to vetting ofe security iraqi and syrian refugees. this is about 25 minutes. the chairman of the homeland security committee. today in a federal prosecutors in texas and california indicted to iraqis for providing material support isis. these are to iraqis became into the united states through the iraqi refugee program. emphasize -- i have highlighted in the past how much of a threat i believe the syrian refugee program is to the safety of americans.

i call upon the united states senate to pass legislation introduced by myself and others of the committee, and mr. hudson. legislation as soon as possible. this is an issue of safety to the american people. we have to iraqis that came through the refugee program, now indicted for providing material support isis. andtravel to syria to train come back as a foreign fighter. if this is not enough evidence as to why we need this legislation passed i don't know what more is necessary. enough, i don't know what is. we've had dozens of cases of other iraqis who have come in under investigation and we have two in kentucky that were tied to terrorists organizations.

isis in its own words have said they want to exploit the refugee program to infiltrate the west. we now they have attempted to do this. mr. clapper has confirmed they have already attempted to exploit this program to get into the united states. we know two of the paris attackers exploited the refugee program to get into europe from kill peopleurope to in paris, france. there are other members of the committee that i would like to turn this over to. we will have time for questions and answers. i have been booked on this in the sensitive environment but now that these indictments have come out publicly, i think it's time to tell the american people the real story about the refugee

program and what a threat and how dangerous it can be to the safety of american lives. hudson.ichard one of the co-authors of the syrian refugee bill. i want to thank the chairman for his leadership on this issue. from the beginning of this process will he began work on legislation to deal with this, we wanted to be careful about the town. careful about killing with the scope of the problem, to avoid hyperbole, to do it in a responsible way. the legislation we brought to the house floor said simply we are going to pause this process unless and until the security experts the president has appointed to verify we have proper screening in place.

the refugee process is the hardest way to get in the country. we don't need to add any more to this vetting process. what theignored testimony of the fbi director who said in the case of syria particular you can't prepare a background when you can't talk to third parties, when you can't do paperwork. we can query until the cows come home and we won't find anything. there is a problem we doubt with any responsible way. that is why you sell two thirds vote in the house of a vetoproof majority of approving this bill. i call mr mitch mcconnell to ring this to the floor as soon as possible. the american people deserve this. i'm asking arsenate colleagues to address this issue today. thank you.

>> i'm buddy carter from george's first congressional district. i want to applaud law enforcement for making these arrests in identifying these individuals. there are a couple of things. this points to a greater problem that we have identified in the house, that we had before legislation to correct this. we know our vetting system needs to be honed up and improve. by the safe act we have done that. the syrians and other terrorists -- the syrian terrorists and terrorist groups have made it clear they are going to act on the generosity of our country to try and intrude on us. no one responsibility of our government protect our citizens and homeland. we are stepping forward in the house. we have done that with this legislation. it is time for the senate to do that part. time is of the essence. it needs to be done now.

let me applaud law enforcement left made these arrests. we need the senate to move forward. we need them to act on this legislation so we can do our part in congress. >> i want to thank chairman mccaul and our representatives for this bill. i would like to thank him for his vision to put together a task force to investigate foreign fighter travel and appointing me to that. we have been investigating the possibility of foreign fighters getting into the united states. we saw we were possibly moving into a new era of terrorism by our enemies. in paris, france, we saw that. if you consider paris it was not a random attack by locals radicalized over the internet. it was a well orchestrated, well conducted military operation for all intents and purposes which

actually held operational security, which was amazing. the only way to carry out such a military style operation is to have highly trained operatives in the country and it is best if they are recognized as citizens or at least residents of that country. the refugee resettlement program was going to be exploited by our enemies and it is a perfect opportunity to move those operatives into our communities and give them the constitutional protections of a permanent resident of this nation would have which makes it more civic old for law enforcement to track them. we have entered into a new era of war on terror. and must be active sizable we're going to be reaping a difficult situation against our nation. it is time for the senate to move. it is time to put political correctness aside and move on

behalf of the american people to make this nation safe. i'm ryan zinke you. i'm a former navy seal and former deputy commander of special forces in iraq. i can tell you what we face as a triple threat. it is not political hype or overblown. we face a border that is seamless. we have a southern border we are not in control of. 200 50,000 people that come across the border every year, what would make anyone think that children cannot -- children harboring isis materials, terrorists, and cannot come across? the me have travelers. we know 5000 people that hold an eu passport have fought a long isis. alsoeds of americans have

fought a long isis. we know that. that is not high. ype.e why would anyone not want us to that refugees? the president called out the republican caucus by saying we were fearful of women and children. san bernardino should give him pause. the terrorists come in all shapes and sizes. i would like to say terrorists wear bright red uniforms, and children aren't part of it. my experience on the ground in iraq tells me differently. we know that at least 50 children are under the direct control of isis. bringing individuals in here, refugees, it's not that we don't want refugees. we don't want unvented refugees. we run through the database

and the file is empty, what does that really mean? , theere is no database file is going to be empty. it is incumbent on a great surety,o know with some not 100%, but those that come into our country are not terrorists. terrorists, and all shapes and sizes. sympathizers. it is not just the ones that would pull the trigger or a night the ied. it would provide assistance, that is all part of what we face today. thankfully chairman mccaul has prioritized this. ,he members that voted for its this is bipartisan for a reason.

our responsibilities to make sure america is safe. when mom brings the kids to school i want to give her a surety it is safe. thank you, god bless. >> we will take any questions you may have. topic -- [inaudible] the number four i foreign fights is expected be 35,000. what does this tell us but the effectiveness of the strategy? mr. mccaul: i question what is the strategy? i don't think the strategy is working. that number was 25,000 last year . it went to 30,000. today the number is 35,000 foreign fighters from 100 different countries.

studysk force behind me this for a year, came up with a report and the big threat we found was 5000 foreign fighters with western passports, which is why we passed the visa waiver program. and the hundreds who travel to the region, many web come back to the united states. one is now indicted. they got through the iraqi refugee program. a foreign fighter. you can argue which is worse? they are both terrorists being radicalized over the internet as we have seen happen time and time again in the united states. as waseign fighter reference is the military trained isis fighter that can conduct a sophisticated operation like in paris. that can happen in the united states with foreign fighters in the united states. i want to commend the fbi for

their work in getting these individuals off the street. they are ticking time bombs. how many ticking time bombs are we going to bring in in this program without a proper vetting system in place? we are not asking for much. we are asked with the american people want. by ther vetting process united states government before they bring in these refugees. the most dangerous part of the world. rock that is the capital of isis. before a we bring in syrians as refugees we believe they need to undergo a proper vetting process and they need to be certified at the highest levels of the united states government. they don't pose a threat to the security of the united states. these individuals, it's important to note came into the united states as children. we hear a lot of hype about

women and children. these individuals came in as radicalized,sibly and then one traveled back to the region and came back as a foreign fighter. it is cases like this that i get briefed on every week that i can't talk about. it is time the american people know the truth of what the threat is. >> they were obviously screened before they were brought in. it demonstrates the point that you can't get it right all the time. it demonstrates the point that the vetting process needs to be enhanced. before we start bringing in more refugees. if these guys got through the crack's, how many more are out

there? how many more of these 10,000 going to bring in before we have a proper system in place? that is what my concern is. i don't know if they were radicalized before they came in or after they came in. they were radicalized terrorists. they the intended to do us harm. [inaudible question] has beenl: i think it stated once they are here they have all the protections of the united states constitution. we have due process and can't just avail people for no reason. we do not monitor refugees once they come into the united states. that is why we believe this is urgent before the we bring in the 10,000 syrians to put a proper vetting system in place before we bring the men. -- them in. a have the full protection of

the united states constitution. [inaudible question] mr. mccaul: the visa waiver process was in a unanimous bill. i view the syrian refugees as a threat but the idea that you have 5000 isis trained foreign fighters with western passports to me was a huge threat. a huge security gap that needed to be fixed. we fixed it in that legislation. i was disappointed to see the secretary because we put iran and there is a well. basically saying if you travel to iran, you have to apply for visas. he was trying to get around the law with a business exception. that was clearly not the intent

of the bill. we didn't have that in the law. [inaudible question] mr. mccaul: it was in the omnibus bill. it was my hope and intention we were going to pass it. i was disappointed to see this thatne of the top issues the administration had taken out of the omnibus bill. they have threatened to veto on this bill. despite the fact that we got an overwhelming number of my colleagues to support it on both sides of the aisle. that is why we are calling on the senate today to take action. we can afford to waste. refugees are coming into this country as we speak. >> what credit does the existing program get for helping law

enforcement? existing refugee program allow these individuals into the united states. why credit the fbi for taking them down. i credit the fbi for taking these two off the streets to protect the american people. i credit the fbi for arresting 70 isis followers over the last year. that is more than one per week in the united states. safer,ople say are we what is the threat to the homeland? numbers don't lie. these are going up, not down. the threat is increasing, not decreasing. -- i have been

briefed. he appearsnt in time to be a very radicalized individual who shouted the killing of a police officer in the name of islam. once again we have a radicalized individual trying to kill law enforcement. when you look at the internet the unitedming into states every day, 200,000 tweets per day, the message is clear. kill military, kill police officers. , thismine judgment individual is carrying out these directives, these orders out of iraq and syria. i think this is a very -- one of the most important issues in counterterrorism today.

currently the terrorists can communicate in darkness. even if we have a court order. we need to shine i light on the communications. if you can't see what they are saying you can't stop it. the reason why we didn't see paris is because they are communicating in the dark space. this needs to be fixed. i actually apply the ministrations efforts to sit down with silicon valley, with federal law enforcement and try to work out a solution to this very dangerous problem. using the dark space to perpetrate activity that needs to be fixed. i'm proposing with senator warner a bill to form a commission that will be comprised of experts from both

federal law enforcement intelligence community and from silicon valley to report to congress with a solution for this very grave threat. [inaudible question] mr. mccaul: you know, these to god in three vetting process where we have intelligence on the ground. in syria we don't have proper intelligence on the ground. that is the core of the problem with the syrian refugees. we'll have the data to that them. until we can have them properly vetted, we believe putting a

pause on the program is in the best interest of the safety of the american people. as mr. carter stated my allegation is to protect americans first. we taken refugees. hundreds of thousands of them. this is a population that comes out of the highest thread area in the world. before we start bringing in men that we can properly that and have our senior official sign off and certify that they don't pose a threat to the security of the united states. >> in our legislation we didn't tell the fbi director how to do a background check or what process to put in place. they are the experts. the 10 thousands that comment will be much

different in makeup than the 10 thousands they intended to bring in. we can't find any information. you may never be able to come here as a refugee. that may be the consequence of it. if there is a hole in the bucket you turn off the spigot first then you fixed the bucket. the spigotoff thi first. >> it's important for the mecca people to understand the challenge. that is why we are focusing on it. this isn't just a standard refugee program where we are given temporary sanction. it is a refugee resettlement program. the ones we bring in our given social security numbers and public benefits. they become permanent u.s. residents.

and they become permanent u.s. resident. that is why it's so critical that the ones we bring in we know are going to do no harm. they are integrated to the community and giving can't intrusion of protections, which makes it much more difficult for law and was meant -- law enforcement to do their job, and foroo, applaud the fbi doing the work they did here with the challenges they face. onthe bill places the burden , but you need accountability. by simply stating that we went through databases -- again, there was nothing in the databases. if i went through everyone in this room and set a database, you would be surprised what you would find. our current system we know is not appropriate for adequate. we are going to hold the agencies accountable and making sure experts look at it and go through a reasonable vetting

process that gives some assurance. we need to hold everyone accountable, including congress, but i think it is absolutely the right course of action and pause, stop, figure out what we are doing now, figure out the holes in the program, and then come to solutions to make sure that we do have some a surety. i think that is wise and prudent. next, representative ed royce discusses. that, the future of security in afghanistan and beyond.