>> do you anticipate any change in the senate rules? do you think you'll pursue a change in the filibuster rules so you can pass any of these things on your agenda, do you support that idea, do you think that's something you'd pursue? >> i have some personal ideas on that. mr. thune: there's a limited amount of floor time. how do we build more time in to get more things done and build appropriations bills. we have some folks looking at some of the rule, some of the procedures we use in the senate and you know, how can we get on appropriation bills. this last year we had democrats blocking every appropriation bill on the motion to proceed because they wanted more money. if you can't get on the bill, obviously you can't move it, can't debate it, can't amend it. we're looking at those things.

but you know, if we were in the end if there were any recommendations that came out of this from the rules committee, and this is basically, we had some people study it, report to the rules committee, the rules committee would ultimately have to put something forward. the question i think is, can we get 67 votes to do it the traditional way? to change the rules in the senate, if you do it the traditional way, takes 67 votes. we'd have to have something a big majority of our members would support as well as a number of democrats. i don't want to handicap that process at this point because it's very early. one of our goals is, getting where instead of at the end they have year doing massive omnibus bills that everybody hates if you do appropriation bills individually, it's much cleaner and much more transparent. we have to get back to that.

so how to you make that happen within the parameters we have to deal with. so taking a look at those things and seing how we can find additional capacity to do more is one of the issues we're interested in. i'm open to that. i think on, just again, this is not reflect -- this does not reflect the views of the conference but if on motions to proceed, there's a lot of redundancy built in. we have multiple cloture votes in most cases on bills. particularly appropriation bills which i think are critical to our article 1 responsibility, i'm open to that but again, no decisions have been made new york recommending as at this point have been made. it's very preliminary in terms of discussion. >> right now, it's being culled the establishment -- [inaudible]

at are your thoughts on that with outsiders in the race and the primaries? hat are your thoughts on that? mr. thune: i'm personally very offended to be tchailed establishment. i just think -- we understand that, you know, politics is politics. it's very popular right now. there's a god amount of the american electorate, which i totally get, that's frustrated with washington, generally. i think that's what's fueled the rise of some of our presidential candidates on our side as well as the democrat side. you look at the ascendance of bernie sanders, there are people out there who are genuinely frustrated. many of us who serve in the

senate and kathy can speak for the house, but you do your best to reflect the woifl the people you represent. in my first run for political office i was running as the insurgent, i was the outsiders. i was running as the person who was anti-establishment candidate. i understand that, i get that. i think that's part of the political process. when we have a nominee and we're trying to figure out how to win that general election electorate, you know, that's going to be a campaign where i hope that we can kind of bring our team together and focus in a unified way on the goal. and like i said, articulate a clear, positive vision for the future of this country with clear solutions and that present a contrast and alternative to what's been offered up by the president for the last seven years and what's been offered up by democrats in congress which i think is just generally more of the same. more expanded government. our vision is much more about xpansion of liberty.

mrs. mcmorris rodgers: thanks, everyone, we'll be back. >> also during the retreat, house speaker paul ryan and senator majority leader mitch mcconnell held a news conference talking about the state of the union address. their briefing ran about 10 minutes. mr. ryan: welcome, everybody. i want to speak on behalf of myself and the leader how pleased we are, first of all, that the house republican conference and house senate conference are here together talking about ideas. what we're here today is come together as republican conferences talking about how do we take our principles and apply them to the problems of the day and offer solutions to the american people. the challenge we have in this particular government is barack obama is president. so the kind of agenda we're discuss, the kind of agenda we're talking about forming is what could we do if we had a republican president? what does 2017 look like if the election goes the way we hope it goes? that's why we think it's important for us to offer a

positive solutions-oriented approach and agenda to the american people so they can choose, they can choose in 2016 what kind of country they want to have. we think the couldn't are is on the wrong track. we think we're headed in the wrong direction. economic growth, upward mobility, economic growth, national security. that's why we're here today to talk among ourselves about how we go forward. what's the better way, what's our agenda? that's why we're having a fantastic retreat. mr. mcconnell: let me echo what the speaker said. our presidential candidates are out there beating each other up at the moment. that's going to solve itself at some point in the process. what paul has laid out is something i agree with totally which is that we're going to do issue development to try to get ready for 2017. there have been examples of that in the past in which newly nominated republican candidates have picked up ideas that were

developed in congress and made he them the cent e-- center priest of their fall campaigns. in in the meantime let me make the point that we weren't sent here to do nothing. and we're going to be looking for opportunities to make some progress for the american people this year even though the guy in the white house is not somebody we can do the kind of broad reforms that we'd like to achieve. there are steps in the right direction we can take. one obvious step i would mention is not going to titillate the public but one obvious step would be for the first time since 1994, do all the appropriation bills. and the democrats in the senate who blocked that possibility this year are at least saying the right things. we're going to give them an opportunity to step up and help us do that. >> niki haley in her response, for both of you, said that the party should resist the siren call of the angriest of voices,

clarified that was about donald trump. did you agree with that statement? mr. ryan: we thought she did a great job, both of us had a hand in selecting her. i did the speech myself in 2011, wrote it myself. she wrote her speech we think she gave a great speech. what she's ultimately trying to do is talk about how do we have a message that's inspiring, inclues i, hopeful, optimistic and unites the country? we don't want to have another president like this one that divides the country wem want to unite that means listening to all voices, those who are frustrated, those who are inspiring, all of the above. mr. mcdonell -- mr. mcconnell: what people remember about ronald reagan is not that he was a solid conservative, but he was cheerful, optimist eric and upbeat and believed in the future of this country. he expressed that better than anyone ever has. that needs fob our message going into the fall. >> on possibly reforming

filibuster you said you got good comments from the democrats here. but as you know, and i asked your other colleagues earlier, there's always some stake in -- snake in the grass that comes up on appropriation bills, we had the confederate flag last year. speaker ryan wants an open amendment process, that's going to take a lot of time. i know what you want to do. you said it isn't going to titillate the public but it's a herculean task to get these bills cone. mr. mcconnell: it is. as you all recall, i said in the beginning of my time at majority leader, that open amendment process is going to be the rule rather than the exception. we've den that. when you have the bill open for amendment, it presents the opportunity for troublesome proposals from both sides. but we saw what the senate looked like when nothing happened. 15 roll call votes in all of 2014. no budget four of the last five years.

we're not going to have that kind of senate this year. we'll just take our chances. we're big men and women. we're prepared to vote on proposals offered from both sides. mr. ryan: instead of shouting questions out, let us call on you. we're working early in the house, with the conventions we lose half of july. we've got some compression in the schedule we're dealing with. but we're going to have an open rule system. votes will be all over the place because the rule is going to be open. that's how the system ought to be. especially in the house. so that i think is what the founders intended. like i said at the first press conference i had, we're not going to predetermine the outcome of everything. i don't know where the appropriation bills ultimately go on the floor because we're going to let members have their amendments. have the votes. that's ok. that's the system we think we ought to have. >> what kind of a contrast is

going to be drawn between the parties given the unanimous republican on stoigs it? mr. mcconnell: let me just say as far as the senate is concerned, there are a number of democrats who are scrambling to try to convince their constituents that they really weren't for this deal. and so i've said with regard to iran proposals, any proposal that looks like it can get 6 or more votes, i'm open to. in other words, we're not going to run the senate floor to allow democrats to get well from a bad mistake they made on iran. if, on the other hand, they want to make law, bring me 67 votes, nd we'll get the floor time. >> down in south carolina, at the winter g.o.p. meet, there's been chatter about a brokered

convention. can you say with 100% certainty that there will not be a brokered convention? mr. ryan: no. i think it's ridiculous to talk about it. >> you talk about an open amendment process. they said that he would like a vote on donald trump's proposals to bar muslims from entering the country. is that something you'd allow? senator mcconnell: generally speaking i've tried to avoid turning the senate into a studio for the presidential campaign. but it's worth noting that what's good for the goose is good for the grander. and so you could expect amendments that they might not like related to the sanders or clinton campaigns. as a general rule, what i tried to ask the senate to do is let the presidential candidates run their race, and let's try to do the people's business.

>> if donald trump or ted cruz turn out to be the nominee of the party are you confident that you and your creags in the republican -- and the republican apparatus will get behind -- mr. ryan: we're going to support whoever the nominee is. because it's the republican primary voters who make that decision. it's what we're working on here today and what we'll be working on all year is putting together an agenda so the country can choose what direction we had. we believe that the country is heading in the wrong direction so we believe we have a duty to offer another way forward. so that's what we're going to do. take our conservative principles, present the country with solutions so they can make a choice and whoever our nominee is going to be we think can help carry that forward. >> yesterday you told the meeting you intended to pass a budget this year, but spoke to chairman enzi on wednesday he,

hasn't committed to moving a budget yet. is that set in stone there's going to be a budget? mr. mcconnell: we're committed to try to pass a budget. four of the last five years under the democratic majority they didn't do that. the only time they did do it was when the house said new york budget, no pay. 10 it's pretty clear they don't think that's an important exercise even though it's required by law system of we're going to make a midge effort to pass a budget. mr. ryan: thanks, everybody. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2016] >> and on tomorrow's "washington journal," robert woodson of the center for neighborhood enterprise will discuss the conservative approach to reducing poverty in the united states.

after that, author and pbs host tavis smiley on his new book "the covenant with black america: 10 years later," examining the last decade since he and others laid out a plan to address issues facing the black community. plus we'll take your calls, facebook comments and tweets, all live on "washington journal" here at 7:00 eastern. >> featured this weekend on american history tv on c-span3. saturday night at k eastern on lectures and history, arizona state university proftsor brook simpson on the president's wartime role, including wars waged without formal congressional declaration. >> it's the president's job to educate, to ex-ing plain, educate, the president will say, i know you don't understand this. it's really not any reason you should have understood that. it was in a place far, far away with people who speak a different language and so i'm

going to explain to you what american interests are, and people in congress respond to that, i'll let opinionmakers respond to that. members of my administration will respond to that. i'm going to educate you and you can help make a decision. i'm going to ask you to co-this, i'm going to explain to you why i think this is a course of action to pursue. >> and sunday morning at 10:00 on "road to the white house rewind" the 1996 campaign of former republican tennessee governor lamar alexander and his walk across new hampshire to reet voters. later, at 4:00 p.m. eastern a 1963 interview with reverend martin luther king jr. on his nonviolent eaproach to civil rights, his comments on president kennedy's civil rights bill and how mahatma gandhi influenced his work. >> some years ago when i first studied the gandhiian philosophy and method of nonviolent resistance i came to the conclusion it was the most

potent weapon available to oppressed people in their struggle for freedom and human dignity and i would say that this overall direct action movement with its sit-ins and stand-ins, its wait ins, neil-s in, mass marches and pilgrimages and all of the other elements that enter the struggle have been patterned a great deal after gandhi. >> for the complete american history tv weekend schedule go to c-span.org. monday, the british house of commons plans to debate whether or not to bar mr. trump from entering the u.k. following his comments on banning muslims from coming into the u.s. a petition to ban him has gotten more 650,000 signatures thch edebate will take place at westminster hall. watch the debate live, monday

morning at 11:30 eastern here on c-span. earlier today the president and c.e.o. oaf this u.s. chamber of commerce thrivered 2016 state of american business address.

challenges are stabblinging up. underperforming economy and overreaching goth and an uncertain world. to top it off we're in the middle of one of the most unpredictable campaigns ever. many of the big debates over our economy and our country's position in the world are happening in the context of this critical election. and the chamber will be at the center of much of that iscussion. we don't do politics but we will do presidential policy. one of the major ways we're engaging in the election is through our dear 45 campaign. a series of letters being written by a bipartisan group of business, civic, and political leaders to the 45th president of the united states. they highlight the policy issues businesses care about and want the next president to focus on. you'll find new enters being

published right up to election day on the chamber's premier digital property "above the fold." already we featured a nudge of pieces representing a range of industries and perspectives. today we're up for a brand new letter from tom donohue, i hope you'll take a moment to check it out. if decades he's been a leading voice for business in washington, across the country and around the world. he's a visionary, he's tough and effective and he's not afraid to ell it like it is.

mr. donohue: like any president would he puts a yeat stake on the country's economic performance under his stewardship. i'd like to look at how our economy and country are doing through the yifes america's usinesspeople. the reality they see is a little different than the picture portrait by our leaders in washington, d.c. they see an economy with some strength bus with many weaknesses. they see a country with a huge upside potential but with many

downside risks. they see an america that is stuck in the worst economic recovery since the great depression. with little forward momentum or die namism. and they know we could be doing much better. much better than we are today. corporate profits peaked some quarters ago. capital expenditures are down. relative to prior years. new small businesses are forming at the lowest rate in many years. they can't find the capital to get organized. for those that do have the capital, there's little reason to make big new investments that demand at home and especially a-- the demand at home and especially abroad isn't there. for companies depending on exports, the strong dollar and weak growth abroad make them less competitive. for companies and countries that

depend on the production, sale, and movement of energy and commodities, they saw the bottom drop out of the prices last year. how much lower will they go this year? most of our businesses would like nothing better than to pay their employees more, hire more of them, and provide better benefits. but the current economy and the current government policies are making that very difficult. just one example. compliance with obamacare is costing companies a small fortune and it is significantly driving up overall health care costs. when you add together americans who can't find jobs, who can't find full-time work or who have given up looking, we're talking about nearly 10% of american workers.

meanwhile, the work forest participation rate is at a four decade low. that plus the failure of congress to pass commonsense immigration reform means that we re not only a nation that -- that have people without jobs but we have so many jobs in critical areas without people. i can tell you that businesspeople at large and small companies wake up each morning and wonder what the government is going to do to them today. the current administration is on a regulatory tear and this will continue to the day the moving van backs up to the door at the white house next january. how do we know? they've been telling us every day since the first of the year.

it has unleashed a runaway. p.a. that's stretching the law and in some cases breaking it. in order to assume control over the local economic development across america. the administration has given us a labor department and national labor relations board that are against american job creators and in favor of their union benefactors who now represent just 6.6% of the private work force. and so many regulators have been turned loose on our financial sector that banks have been distracted from their principal purpose, to provide credit and services that enable our businesses to grow and our entrepreneurs to thrive. it's not just the federal

government that concerns the business community. state and local governments are piling new mandates, taxes, and costs on the backs of the private sector. we have an abusive enforcement system at the federal level and in many states that is extorting billions of dollars from companies with little or no due process. meanwhile, governments at all levels are accumulating massive levels of debt and unfunded pension and entitlement liabilities. one day, unless there is reform, this whole house of cards can collapse. let's look for a moment beyond the shores of our great country. our key trading partners are

struggling. europe, our largest export and trading partner, is barely keeping its head above water. japan is stagnant and in, it appears, another recession. brazil and venezuela are flirting with potential depressions. the biggest question mark is china. global markets have already been roiled by the prospect of a reduction in china's growth from usually heady highs down to 4%, 5%, 6%. who says china could never have a recession of its own? this is a huge uncertainty for the global economy and it could also impair internal chinese stability and regional geopolitics. speaking of geopolitics, business executives and owners read the same headlines that we all do.

from the middle east to russia and eastern europe to the south china sea to north korea, there are more geopolitical hot spots than any of us can remember at one time in our lifetime. which one will flare up tomorrow and disrupt economies, markets, consumer confidence, travel, and very important, the global supply chains. add to that the threat of major terrorist attacks that could happen any time, any place. a nonstate terrorist group like isis has seized large swaths of territory, controls significant energy resources, and recruits and communicates through a sophisticated social media strategy. and then there are the many threats to our own

cybersecurity. which have the potential to shut wn companies, our critical infrastructure, and our very way of life. businesses and governments are already spending billions and billions of dollars to try to shore up the defenses of our cybersystem. but everyone knows we're still vulnerable. and finally, ladies and gentlemen, we come to election year politics. we're in the middle of the most surprising and perplexing presidential campaign in modern history and i would say in both parties. used to call the lead up to the big national election as the silly season. but given some of the rhetoric and proposals we're hearing from both parties, it's not silly. it's damn serious and sometimes

a little scary. on one side, we have candidates promising to double down on the current administration policies, more spending, more entitlement, more taxing, more regulating. i guess they figure that if something isn't working, just do more of it. does that make any sense? and then on the other side there are voices, sometimes very loud voices, who talk about walling off america from talent and trade and who are attacking whole groups of people based not on their conduct but ethnicity or religion. this is morally wrong and politically stupid. what businesses want to see in this campaign is a long overdue focus on economic growth.

growing the economy, the economic pie is the only realistic way to create jobs. to lift incomes. to reduce inequality. and to expand opportunities for all americans. and you know what? that's what the vast majority of voters, of both parties, want to hear about. jobs, growth, and opportunity. so when you add it all up, the state of american business in 2016 is filled with uncertainty, risk, and challenges. our businesses and job creators are facing extraordinary political and geopolitical uncertainty. economic weakness at home and especially abroad, and massive new regulatory burdens pouring out of washington and out of the state capitals.

our country's unattached, unmatched potential and talent are going untapped. millions of unemployed are -- or underemployed americans are sitting on the sidelines. for their sake and for our sake we've got to get them back on the field, back to work. it may be that the coming year looks a will the like the last 6 1/2 years. tepid growth of around 2%. but the downside risks are many nd the upside factors are few. while a chamber is not, let me say again, not forecasting a recession, despite the many domestic and international difficulties, the last time we checked, no one had repealed the business cycle. the current weak recovery is getting a little long in the

tooth. ow don't get me wrong. while it's natural for business leaders to worry about the markets in which they most operate mitigating circumstance irish heritage means i'm optimistic about the future of this country. we have tremendous capacities, talents, resources, opportunities, and freedoms that are simply unmatched anywhere on earth. but a positive future will not come automatically. it will not happen through divine intervention. it must work for -- we must work for it and we must earn it. how do you do that? we can't wave away all the factors holding our economy back or eliminate all the uncertainty. but we can fix bad policies and remove impediments in order to

spur investment, jobs, growth, and opportunity. at the chamber, we follow the -- imagine this, more than 300 important issues on an ongoing basis. and we're going to continue to do so. but this year, we're going to put our greatest effort behind a handful of key initiatives where we can make the greatest difference and the most progress. i'll lay them out for you in just a moment. some may ask whether the business community can expect to see any progress in washington this year. the honest answer is not as much as we would like. but probably more than you might expect. what happened in 2015, particularly near the end of the year, is instructive. a year ago, many commentators said that the government is too divided to get anything much done at all. the chamber and others

thankfully ignored their predictions and worked together and proved them wrong. working with others, we successfully advocated for trade promotion authority and -- authority, an end to the outmoded oil export ban, a multiyear transportation infrastructure bill, re-authorization of the ex-im bank a new education reform bill, the permanent extension of several tax provisions and multiyear extensions of many others. historic permit reform to speed up projects, and critical cybersecurity legislation. now let's not forget that most of these victories enjoyed strong bipartisan support and hat's been a long time coming. i know how fashionable it is to always beat up on beash.

but the fact is that the republicans and the democrats, our new house speaker paul ryan, senate majority leader mitch mcconnell, and the president himself all deserve some credit for the progress that was made at the end of 2015. we did it when everybody said it couldn't be done. so what air -- areas are we going to focus on most aggressively this year? first, at the tip of the spear, is politics. in 2016, the chamber will work in key states and districts to elect candidates who understand that it's the private sector, not the government, that creates jobs and prosperity. and that the overriding goal

must be to expand the economic pie, not to simply redistribute it. working in close partnership with state and local chambers and associations, we'll back pro-growth candidates and upcome -- in upcoming primaries and in the general election. the chamber's institute for legal reform will encourage an aggressive voter education program in states -- in state spurte court and attorney general races. back to the congress, our goal is clear. our approach is simple. to protect the gains we made in 2014. se and senate in by backing candidates who support pro-growth policies and a free enterprise system and who want to come to washington to govern, not just to shut the place down. and while we will not be

participating in the presidential race, we will weigh in on presidential policy proposals. if candidates choose to beat up on business, they will hear from us. next we're going to vigorously challenge the vast regulatory state and work to reform the regulatory system itself. the administration has already put business on notice that it's going for broke on regulations 2016. cutive orders in congress and economic growth be damned. in its final year, the administration plans to issue new or final rules that would restrict legal arbitration. create new and unworkable rules governing overtime pay.

further regulate financial advisors. limit methane emissions from oil and gas drilling and add incredible complexities to our federal procurement process. this is on top of the massive number of rules already choking the economy, including obamacare, a raft of e.p.a. measures, and dodd-frank. a third of whose regulations have yet to have been finalized. we'll be employing all of our tools to challenge overregulation, working in the agencies, working with congress through the appropriations process, which is now available to us, and the congressional review act and going to court. on obamacare, we're going to push for more common sense changes and work to preserve the employer based system that's the bedrock of american health care. we'll work to fully and

permanently repeal the cadillac tax, the health insurance tax, and the medical device tax. we'll seek further targeted improvements to obamacare with the hope that major health care reforms will be considered in 2017. on financial relationlations, the chamber calls our major regulatory reform even before the crisis. we call for it even before the economic problems. however, what we got instead in dodd-frank was an expansion of the maze of regulations and often conflicting regulations. it's astonishing with dodd-frank champions like elizabeth warren, they believe that a law this size and this scope must never be changed. that has never happened in this country. any law of that size has always

had to be fixed. do they really believe that you achieve absolute perfection in a 2,300 page bill that was written in anger the first time around? we'll continue to work to fix the provisions that the law got wrong. add the provisions that the law left out. and replace the provisions that we all know just don't work. we're going to support reform to the consumer financial protection bureau while insisting that it goes through normal processes to make rules. we will also place a particular focus on the department of labor 's flawed fiduciary rule this rule could actually limit small businesses' access to retirement services or lock them out of the retirement market altogether.

we're also working to modernize the regulatory system itself. passed at ining bill the end of last year is a meage step forward. it will help speed up projects without compromising safety. passage of the regulatory accountability act will be key to our efforts. it would ensure that regulations costing over $1 billion would be very narrowly tailored, supported by credible data, and everyday, and impose the least possible burden on the american people while still implementing he intent of the congress. the regulatory challenges we face are not just national. they're global. for example, no sector holds such -- so much promise for america's future than technology. yet today our technology companies are facing a host of

regulatory battles across the country and around the world. we must not allow the strong arm of government to put a choke hold on america's technology and innovation. one of the chief ways we're going to push back on some regulations is through courtroom advocacy. you can be sure that our litigation center will be busier than ever in the final year of this administration. our law firm is already challenging the so-called clean power plan, the waters of u.s. rule, and the administration's new ozone rule. there will be many others. our litigation cent will also be very active in dozens of supreme court, appellate court and state court cases with a special focus on curbing class

action abuses and reining in irresponsible regulators. we were pleased that the supreme court appeared less willing in many cases to defer to the legal interpretations of executive agencies like the i.r.s. and the equal employment opportunity commission and the e.p.a. we will work to remove barriers to growth by pursuing legal reform at the state and federal level. and we will push back, push back hard, on abuse of enforcement systems -- on abusive enforcement systems and the trial bartha sees every new regular leags as a multitude of new opportunities to sue american companies. now in addition to politics and regulations, another key focus of the chamber in 2016 is trade.

working together, we scored big wins in trade in 2015. the chamber and its allies helped win a huge fight over trade promotion authority. we successfully advocated for a major expansion of the 50 nation information technology agreement that will end tariffs on $1.3 trillion worth of i.t. products. we were leading supporter removing batteries to trade and travel -- barriers to trade and travel with cuba and it's gratifying to see that effort, after all these years, finally bearing frut. -- fruit. this year the chamber will build on these successes by vigorously supporting the transpacific partnership agreement. as we built support for the agreement, we will also be encouraging the administration

to work with congress to address the legitimate concerns expressed by industries and legislators about some aspects of the deal. and we will continue to push for another potentially historic agreement that -- the transatlantic trade and investment partnership with the e.u. oth sides recently agreed to speed up the negotiations. amen. we're also working on trade and services agreements and pursuing bilateral investment treaties with china and india. we're urging the senate to pass the customs reauthorization bill and get it to the president's desk in a hurry. given the weakness in global demand, we must do everything possible to remove trade barriers. to form new commercial partnerships. and to aggressively market

america's goods and services in traditional and, yes, nontraditional markets. the chamber is uniquely qualified to help american companies expand their markets and fill up their order books. we run 12 bilateral business council, maintain a network of 117 american chambers of commerce abroad and werest tab -- and we're establishing new offices overseas in places like turkey and israel. we're developing new bilateral councils with countries like cuba and we're leading high level commercial dialogues with china, mexico, and now saudi arabia. and we've just launched new african business center. we can never, ever forget that 95% of the world's customers, the ones we want to sell something to, live outside the united states and nearly 40

million american jobs depend on trade. we could create millions and millions more if we advance our pro-growth, pro-trade measures. now expanding america's energy supply is another one of these few but very important priorities where progress can and must be made. we can and should be developing all kinds of energy and discriminating against none. we have untold amounts of american oil and gas and unleashing the power of our own energy will put our economy on a much stronger footing. as i mentioned, congress took a major step forward by lifting the ban on exporting u.s. oil. while prices will inevitably go up and down, we can count on the world's long-term need for energy to dramatically increase. you know, america is now in the

position of supplying countries with the energy they need instead of importing it from nations that use their energy as leverage. by responsibly expanding production on federal lands, we can assure that we have the energy question we need to meet the needs of a growing economy and put folks back to work. now we want also to expand emission free sources like nuclear and renewable and press for greater gains in energy efficiency but we must end the regulatory assault on coal, which will be an integral part of america's energy for a long time to come. it's hard to have a discussion about energy these days without mentioning climate change. the chamber supports reasonable actions to deal with this in --

this and all environmental challenges but the focus ought to be on what has been proven to work. remember, the united states was the only country to meet the targets laid out years ago in the kyoto accords. even though we were one of the only countries that didn't sign the agreement. how? we did it our way. we did it through technology. through efficiency. with alternatives and the cleaner use of traditional resources. let's build on what works. let's reject unproven schemes that would put the government in charge of our daily energy uses, ur choices, and our lives. now, let me dare to go where ost politicians fear to tread. the chamber is going to bang the drum loudly throughout 2016 and

beyond on the urgent need for entitlement reform. americans should think very hard about this question. who are the real champions in entitlement programs? like social security, medicare, medicaid? those arguing for absolutely no change except to increase benefits? or those who support constructive reforms in order to protect and sustain those benefits? if we do nothing, social security and medicare will become insolvent and sooner than you think. neither of them will be able to pay full benefits within 20 years. why? boomers 0,000 baby retire every day. think about that.

and will do so for years to come. by 2025, these programs, along with the interest on the debt, will gobble up about 77% of all federal spending. without reform, there will be next to nothing left for other important national priorities like education and national defense. but if we make commonsense changes soon, we can ensure that the nation's social safety net remains intact for future generations. pundits and the political class are quick to dismiss all of his, dismiss the idea that any -- that anything possible condition done in entitlement. however, we're somewhat encouraged by the doc fix

afreement we reached last year. the first -- agreement we fixed -- reached last year, the first significant entitlement reform in decades as well. is this simple -- it is simple that there can be no solution to the nation's long-term fiscal imbalances and our exploding national debt that does not involve reforming social security, medicare, and for the state budgets, medicaid. this is perhaps the most predictable crisis that our nation faces. there are lots of others, but we know what this one is and when it will show up. shame on our government and shame on all of us if we don't make it an absolute priority for reform in both parties. now ladies and gentlemen, the fundamental question facing us today comes down to this -- how

do we accelerate our growth and strengthen our economy so that it creates more jobs, rising incomes, and more opportunity for every american? that's why we're supporting these policies and these ideas. not just to help business, but to help our country. during its more than 100-year history, the chamber and the business community it represents have stepped up to help the nation in times of great need. we did it by marshaling vast resources of the private sector to help win two world wars and the cold war. we did it by advancing pro-growth policies that created the strongest economy the world has ever known. we did it by supporting a strong national defense. and principled american leadership around the world. we did it through technology and

the innovation that came with it and strong protection of intellectual property rights and set the pace for the rest of the world. we continue to do these things today by helping our government fight cyber attacks and terrorism. by supporting our armed forces on active duty and our veterans an their spouses. and by projecting american ideas like free enterprise and the rule of law around the globe. we want america to be as good as we know it can be. we want all americans to have a genuine chance to thrive and succeed. we want policymakers and citizens alike to understand that a growing economy represents true compassion. how else could we ever hope to pay for a strong, so -- a strong social safety net for the poor,

the sick, and the elderly? in fact, it is the private sector that pays most of the bills in our society. for the schools, the clean environment, and a strong national defense. we're having more than just an election in 2016. we're having a big debate over our nation's economic future. and the chamber will be right in the middle of it. we're going to respond to the growing attacks on our free enterprise system and america's businesses by folks on the left and the right as well. the left tells us that our economy is hopelessly rigged and that's the only reason some americans are doing well is because they have managed to rip off other americans. the solution is put -- is to put politicians, they say , in charge of our economy.

how is that -- how has that worked out wherever and whenever it's been tried? from the right we hear of crony capitalism, the notion that government spends all day, every day, figuring out how to help big business. really? that's not the washington i know. and i've been around here for a long time. we're even seing a dangerous effort to silence the voice of business. to demonize and even criminalize different viewpoints and to actually rewrite the first amendment of the constitution. i don't use this phrase very often, but that's just plain un-american. if we succumb to the demands of political correctness, rewriting our history, air brushing the past, or censoring views that make us uncomfortable, then how

can we learn from our mistakes and build on our successes? winston churchill, who seeped to understand americans better than many of our own citizens, once said that some regard private enterprise as if it were a predatory tiger to be shot. others look upon it as a cow that can be milked. only a handful see it for what it really is. the strong horse that pulls the whole cart. ladies and gentlemen, private enterprise has been shot at enough. and it has been milked unmercifully. it's time to recognize that business can be the sturdy horse pulling the whole cart forward. just give us a chance to show the american people what we can do.

today, americans are hungering for leadership. across all institutions and all sectors of our society, leadership that understands that a vibrant, private sector working in a free enterprise system built the greatest economy ever known on earth. leadership that we are the envy of the world was we reward. leadership that celebrates success and does not attack it. it embraces the principle of personality responsibility, limited government and the right to take rational risks to fail, to succeed, to prosper. leadership that believes that business is not the problem, but a big part of the solution. this is a challenging and uncertain time for america. we must reject the notion that

government has all the answers or we can isolate ourselves from people, trade, ideas, capital and responsibilities across the globe. the state of the american economy may be risky and uncertain, but our future is not. it's bright if we pursue the right priorities and the right policies. , the coming year and beyond we're going to do everything we ssibly can to win on these policies, that will create jobs and expand opportunity for every american. most important of all, we want all of our children and our grandchildren to know that we have n