attorney general talked about the foot soldiers. i often thought coming up what would make them facing biting dogs and facing jail cells sing "we shall overcome." maybe they had a belief they looked in the future. that their sons and daughters would vindicate their sacrifice. as we honor people like robert smith, who has become the most successful person in this industry as we honor neighbor leaders. i think our parents,

grandparents that sung in those dangerous days, looked and saw a young lawyer that would remain grounded even in heady times and withstand for justice that they never saw. they had to dream and imagine something that became physically manifested in our times in the body of eric holder. who went to the justice department, grounded and firm and who and what this country was supposed to stand for. and despite being castigated and criticized, that we shall overcome theme, never left his

spirit and soul. when you're the children of those that took dog bites and church bombings and vicious murders, it would take more than some partisan members of the senate to turn you around. we honor him today by showing that from good trees come good fruit. like a heather foster who i admire. he not only went to the top of the justice department but he brought others with him who have now spread out themselves. one that worked with him in justice was a strong young attorney justice firm, named tony west. who left justice and is now executive vice president of government affairs.

he brought the same spirit with him to show the continuity and to show the fruit from his tree. i have said that i wanted to step back and have his own brother, his own -- one of his own coworkers. one the fruits from his tree, tony west present eric holder with the award this morning. tony west. [applause] >> thank you reverend. if i can take a minute and just say to you mrs. pinckney, this weekend, attorney general holder and i were in south carolina. yesterday we had the great pleasure and privilege and honor to attend services at mother

emmanuel. when reverend sharpton talks about the amazing grace that your church family shows, in a moment when they were still grieving, the love and the welcoming arms that they extended to us and to the other guests who were there yesterday, not only enriched us, it uplifted us. your preference today enriches us and uplifts us. so thank you very much. [applause] i know the hour is getting late i'm going to be very brief. my breath should not be taken as any indication of short trip for our honoree. you know him well. cliche to say a person needs no introduction.

he truly needs to introduction in this crowd. we know him as a man with roots, man who is the son of immigrants who has justice as his north star. a man not only the nation's first african-american attorney general but someone who used the power and authority. stand up for the least of us, to make his voice heard to work with many of you to defend voting rights when 3r when theye under attack. someone who used the power of his office to reform the criminal justice system that is too often defined by race and class. someone who fought for the equality of all americans regardless of who they worship or who they are or who they love. this is someone who certainly needs no introductions. i know him as my d.o.j. leader, as my boss but even more important in more enduring as my

mentor and my friend. it is an honor to present to you the 82nd attorney general of the united states, eric h. holder. [applause] >> good morning. it is a pleasure to be here. i want to thank the national action network for recognizing me with this great award. i want to thank tony for those brief remarks. we came up together on his plane. this is where tony is now. he's got his plane. he was banging away on his

computer, for much longer and nicer introduction. what's that all about? i was helping him with it actually. obviously i want to thank reverend sharpton for heading a great organization that has really stood at the forefront with the progress that we have made over the recent years. ms. pinckney, i want to say a special word and appreciation to you. i know that through you, you feel it. your husband's work will go on. you're going to be a major force on your own. [applause] loretta lynch, great attorney general. a good friend who is on her own,

crafting her own path for justice at the united states department of justice. wade henderson, my man. when things got rough, when things were tossed at me, that was a phone call to make. he mobilized the troops and i could not have gotten through all the stuff i had to get through without you. we're going to miss you. altitude your position will change, your commitment to the cause will always remain. we thank you for all that you have done and all that you continue to do. as tony said, we were at mother emmanuel this weekend. one of the things that reverend dob said. he talked about the sermon, the time is now.

we have made progress but our journey is clearly not yet complete. we can't be complacent. we can't be satisfied. there are new challenges that we have to face that have roots in some of the old things that our predecessors had to confront. 1960's we fought for voting rights. and the passage of the 1965 voting rights acts. yet here we are in 2016, still talking about voting rights. criminal justice reform, something that has been needed in this country for decades, if not centuries. talked about it before, it is still something that we must confront. we see in this presidential year i think a really disturbing recurrence of things i thought

we had put in the past. hateful language around issues of ethnicity, race and religion. there are too many people led by donald trump. taking one of our story parties in a direction that i think is inconsistent with the great legacy of that party. after all the party of abraham lincoln. would lincoln look at the things they are saying as a race to the bottom and think that is in some ways consistent with what he did for that party and for our nation? i hope that at some point sanity will raise its wonderful head and people will see the wrong way in which the party is now going. there are new forms of old

issues. we have to recognize that. what we have to do is come up with new solutions to deal with these new problems. national action network is consistently been at the forefront of crafting 21st century solutions for these 21st century problems. led by person who is been a supporter of mine. and a person who is a personal friend. we need the same commitment. we need the same courage. we need the same perseverance as martin luther king. people say to me, how do you deal with all the stuff that you have deal with in those congressional committees. i say to myself, nobody hit me over the head with billy club, and nobody giving me death threats. to sit up there and listen to -- charitable here -- listening to some folks with whom i disagreed

and get yelled at, i'll tell you the words i really wanted to use -- like really, is that the best you got? i grew up in new york city. really? you can do better than that. we also have to understand, the positive change is not a given. positive change is a function of hard work. that is what the people in this ram i know are committed to and that is what i know loretta is doing at the united states department of justice. the status quo will always resist change. always has always will. i think about these young people, i will say kids. the black lives movement. they disrupt. they annoy. they get in the way. guess what, that's how progress is made in this country.

[applause] another generation, i think loretta was right, we put dr. king in a place where he's kind of stashed. guess what, he disrupted. he got in the way. he annoyed people. john lewis did the same thing. before them, a. phillip randolph, marcus garvin and malcolm x. guess who else got in the way and annoyed and challenged the status quo? people like george washington, benjamin franklin, john adams, thomas jefferson who looked at unjust status quo and decided they would form a revolution to change and make the country that we now have. you know, before we get too upset with these young people, we need to understand that the tradition that they come from.

our job is to apply the pressure that needs to be applied in a political way, a moral way and a social way. we have to make the nation ask itself, some hard questions and say some difficult truths. we kind of putting aside. and not focusing on and not addressing issues that come before us. i gave a speech in february 2009, people gave me a lot of grief about this nation not looking at racial issues. being afraid to confront racial issue. i thought it was right then. i'm more convinced now that what i said then was truth. unless we're willing to confront these issues and come up with solutions to them, we never really going to make progress. we'll feel comfortable. people in the 1950's, long before the 1950's, that was a

time when racial segregation was the law in the south. we had white picket fences, fathers knows best, leave it to beaver. black folks were suffering under the weight of an oppressive system at that time. these are the realities that we have to acknowledge. the realities that we must continue to confront. we have to prepare the future for those who come after us in the same way that people sacrificed, bled, died and made the present better for us. having said all that, he's a down guy. i'm not. i'm ultimately very optimistic. i'm convinced that the art of progress really does go in an appropriate way. it bends every now and again. there are short circuits. it's not always a continuous

line. if we persevere, if we commit ourselves, if we stay dedicated, as those who came before us did, we will get to the place that dr. king talked about. we'll get to that promise land. i want to thank you for this wonderful award. i want to pledge to you that although i have left the justice department, i will pledge my best efforts to remain involved in the fight. as i said in the courthouse on the -- white house i announced my vermon resignation, i will nr leave the work. [applause] i hope you all feel that same sense. in all the things that we do that goes beyond what we're here today to commemorate to note. there are no 9:00 to 5:00 jobs.

there are kids to raise. television shows to watch. there's also a place you should find in your week in your day to be dedicated to the work. be dedicated to the work. so that we leave a country better than we found it. it won't be perfect. but we can always make it better. that's why i'm optimistic because i know that you will be committed in that way. i will be committed to you in that way and with great leaders like this man, great organizations like this one. i'm confident that a 21st century america can be better than the 20th century america that dr. king helped to shape in so many fundamentally good ways. thank you again for this wonderful award. i look forward to working with all of you in the years to come. [applause] >> eric holder.

i mentioned robert smith who he'll be honoring who is such a model citizen. we also have eric young, outstanding labor leader as well as liz powell. both of the attorney generals referred to education and the need to build the internal character and information of our young. when arnie duncan left the administration, president obama looked around the country for who could continue that work. he came and glazed at the state that i was born and found a

courageous educator, a visionary, one that we knew in new york well. standing up against those that had vested interests for those that was supposed to be object of what education is all about. that is the students. he did not waiver in the face of being questioned. he did not capitulate in the face of controversy. he earned the respect of new york as he is now the nation. i bring you the acting secretary of education for the united states, the honorable -- he and i two different looks of brooklyn. i let you all decide what that is. the honorable dr. john b. king

jr. >> good morning. thank you reverend sharpton for that warm brooklyn introduction and for your incredible leadership on behalf of civil rights and young people. it's an honor to join all of you this morning. it's humbling to follow mrs. pinckney who's example is an inspiration for me and to the country. it's an honor to follow the two attorney general, attorney general lynch, it's a privilege to work with you to expand education for folks who are leaving incarceration. i think it's a critical efforts. attorney general holder, inspired by your example and your unwaivering commitment to

continue the work after leaving the administration. grateful to the national action network board for bringing us together and pleased to be a part of the celebration of the life of dr. king. i want to spend a few moments reflecting on the principles of dr. king's life and how we think about the future of education in the united states. dr. king dedicated his life to few simple principles. equality, justice, compassion, hope. and two urgencies. almost 50 years ago in a sermon about new year's resolutions, dr. king described a conversation with his children. he told them, i don't ever want you to forget that millions of god's children who will not and cannot get a good education. i don't want you feeling that you're better than they are. you will never be what you ought

to be until they are what they ought to be. so the question i ask us to reflect on this morning is are we what we ought to be? we are closer, no doubt. we are closer than when dr. king spoke those words. we are closer to when president obama entered the oval office. are we there yet? i say we are not there. we are closer for sure. last year we announced the highest graduation rate we ever had as a country, 82%. we got there because of dramatic reductions in drop out rates for african-americans, latino students and low income students. today there are many more african-american and latino students in college than there were when president took office. last year we had not only our

largest graduation in college but most diverse. that's progress. we should recognize and celebrate that progress and celebrate the principles and the teachers and the students and families and communities that made that progress possible and that strive everyday for equity and excellence. yet, for every emmitt till, we still have a tamir rice. biased, prejudice, the legacy of institutional racism still affect our promise of equality under the law. so too, inequality under mines our promise of educational opportunity. violence is black children going to school for 12 years and receiving 6 years of education. we worry that no matter what indicator you look at, our african-american and latino

students have a gap. our low income students have gap. we see that gap in graduation rates and gap in achievements. we know our students, our african-american and latino students or students of color, are receiving less, less resources, less effective teachers, less access to art. less advanced course work. we know that it is still true that affluent student, six times more likely to graduate from college than a low income student. we know that the unemployment rate for african-american youth more than done doubled for white people. sadly statistics suggest that african-american man today is more likely to go to prison and to earn a bachelor's degree. yet, we have far to travel. we are not yet where we ought to be. we are not yet who we ought to

be. in a nation that imprisons a higher proportion of black males than did south africa at the height of apartheid. it is no time what dr. king once called the tranquilizing drug of graduates. we must bring to the work of improving educational opportunity tremendous urgency. it is an urgency that is deeply personal for me. reverend sharpton said i grew up in brooklyn, i went to ps276. when i was in fourth grade, my mom passed away. career educator. she come to new york from puerto rico. growing up in the bronx and became an educator. she passed away when i was eight. i lived with my father. grown up in bedside, brooklyn. highest ranking african-american

educator in education in the late 1950's. i lived alone with my dad. he was sick what we now know is alzheimer's. home was a scary and unpredictable place. i lost my mother at the center of my life. i lived with my father who was so sick and school, saved my life. school is the reason i'm standing here today. school is the reason that i was able to survive that period. teachers, new york city public school teachers made school this place that was compelling and interesting and engaging and safe, when home was not. i became a teacher and a principal because i wanted to try to do for other kids what teachers had done for me. education is the difference between help and despair. it is the difference between life and death. we are now at a crossroads moment as a country and education.

last year the president signed into law that every student succeeds act. that law replaces no child left behind. it was too much of a one size fits all solution. we have a new education law and the question is, how will we use that education law to advance equity? that law reauthorize elementary and secondary act. i was a high school social studies teacher. that elementary and secondary act was first adopted in 1965. signed into lay by lyndon johnson. the federal education role is a civil rights role. the federal education law is a civil rights law. will this new law advance equity. everything must appear to high

standards. importantly, it requires states act when schools are not meeting those standards, when schools are not helping students to meet those standards. there's been a lot of talk about this law giving more flexibility to states and indeed it does and should. but we understand that our responsibility is to ensure that the law is enforced in a way that advances equity and civil rights. that is our responsibility. we also understand that this greater flexibility for states is a call to action, a call for the civil rights community to engage in every state capitol on how states use this new flexibility. the question for states will be, how do we define success? what do we do when there are inequities. how do we ensure our schools

reflect the diversity we value as a country. it would be critically important for the civil rights community to engage in every state on these questions. we know that english and math performance are a necessary but not sufficient for success in life. we know that test scores don't tell us all that we need to know. there's an opportunity for states to look at. are students getting access to advance courses. are students getting access to art and music? are students getting access to healthcare services and wrap around services that they may need. there's an opportunity for states to look at students not just their academic development but their socioemotional development. all of those indicators can be valuable but not if they paper over inequities. not if they distract us from the goal of ensuring quality of opportunity. this law can be equity enhancing but it would require the

partnership of the civil rights community and the demands of parents and communities around equity. states also have an opportunity to get smarter about how we serve our students. ensuring that all student have access to education. showing that all students have access to quality preschool which we know is a fundamental, difference maker. states have an opportunity to ensure that they hold to high standards that this politicians don't roll back higher expectations because we know it's our students, african-american students and latino students for whom folks hold lower expectations. whether or not states approach this new law in this way, will depend on the engagement of the civil rights community. states have an opportunity to tackle the school prison pipeline. to work to reduce discipline.

work to change the relationship between law enforcement and schools such that schools are not a pathway to prison but a pathway to college. that will require state leadership. six decades after brown versus board of education, states have an opportunity to make smart decisions to ensure that schools reflect the diversity that we value as a society. six decades after brown v. board of education, there are schools that are more segregated today than we were 10 or 20 years ago. the question is will state use this new flexibility to advance locally driven voluntary efforts to create more diverse schools. when children are diverse and strong, all students benefit. we know there are smart changes that states can make to create

magnet school and regional schools. an opportunity for students to engage across culturally in school. we are all stronger for it. will states do that. that will depend on the leadership of the single -- civil rights community. we are at a crossroads moment and criminal justice. we are at a crossroads moment in education. the question is, will we fulfill the promise of equality of opportunity through our schools? the answer to that question is up to us. will we be who we ought to be. my father as i mentioned was a teacher in new york city public school. he also played basketball a lot. his brother, was a famous basketball player played in professional basketball before african-americans were allowed to play with white folks.

my father always wished he was as good a basketball player. he looed to play on the -- loved to play on the weekend. one weekend, my father broke his wrist. the principal said, mr. king you can't teach. he said what do you mean i can't teach? he said, we have a rule. regulation that said, if you have a cast, you can't be in the classroom. my father said but my students are waiting for me. principal said i'm sorry, that's just the rule. this story my father used to tell when someone in my family would say something was too hard. my father went over, he smashed

the cast. he brushed the pieces into a trash can. he put his hand in suit pocket, he said i'm going to teach my class now. whenever someone would say something was too hard or too much work, my father would say, hold that wrist. he wouldn't have to repeat the story. my father understood that school saved lives. he could not have known that school would save his son's life. school saved lives and what happens in classroom, he's tremendously urgent. my father understood that. he went to class that day to make sure that we would become who we ought to be. so the challenge for us is will we act. will we take the actions necessary to become who we ought to be. let us act with urgency on

behalf of the civil rights of our children. let us ensure that school is a pathway to opportunity. thank you so much. [applause] >> dr. john king. educated at cornell university. born in colorado. dr. king fought his last battle around economics. the man that personified that who's been committed to human rights and civil rights and is an outstanding entrepreneur and an outstanding if philanthropi.

he is now head of vista equities. he manages equity capital commitments of approximately $14 billion. and he's -- he's been a firm supporter of not only causes and education and in civil rights, but in opening the doors for others. we're honored to honor him on this, the 30th anniversary of the martin luther king day holiday. will you join me in honoring robert f. smith. [applause]

begin everyone silent about things that matter. these words were so powerfully spoken by dr. king at the height of the civil rights movement. continue to hold great meaning in america today. his invocation to stand up for what matters despite the odds and despite the risks. gather to check in on the state of the dream today. we live in a very fractured time. oppression and violence and the scourge of poverty. fear pulls us apart. our future remains uncertain. of very perilous presence. all too often we as a society focus on what divides us. on the thingsg that bring us together.

in light of these challenges, it would be easy to turn away to feel daunted and throw in the in the face of this enduring struggle for equality. to do so would fly in the face of dr. king's dream. it would cut against the great power and responsibility that he believed every one of us had. and we have the power to heal the world through unity. a culture that encourages tolerance because tolerance is not enough. he taught us to covet a culture of respect and empathy and understanding and love. in my family we live by very simple doctrine. you are enough. it is built on dr. king's lesson that each of us has a god-given

choice and a god-given voice. with that voice comes responsibility to serve and to strive for excellence, to improve the lives of those in our community and those who are less fortunate and to bring peace into this world. despite the many challenges we face, i am optimistic. we see the headlines of division, signs that we are giving cause to this noble action. i see it in the innovative programs we offer our young people. learning to prepare for the jobs of tomorrow. efforts to expand their access to the arts. helping them to appreciate the great outdoors that is america. to cherish the vital pillars of the african-american cultural experience. hope in thefind work that each of you do and the work of man and the dream of dr.

king unity of reality equality and opportunity are one step closer to reality with all the work that we do together. we will never become silent to the things that matter we will always stand up for what matters and in doing so we will pay the most valuable tribute to the life and the vision of the great man we honor today. i want to thank you. i want to thank reverend sharpton. i want to thank attorney general holder. i want to thank attorney general lynch. for standing up for us every day . thank you. [applause] [applause] reverend sharpton.

as we prepared honor our labor leaders, i want to acknowledge an outstanding entrepreneur and board member. he is the only board member of the naacp the urban network the rainbow and the network. he represents cam newton. [laughter] i was praying in the fourth quarter yesterday for cam newton. where he advises and councils cam newton, he and i have a better coach and that is his mother.

mcmorris. [applause] that is our special guest. bishops, we had elders, we had jack lake preachers. andnan has the preacher inckleg america. to present the next award. toavid coxe: i would prefer

think of myself as a bootleg preacher. i just don't have credentials. that god calls all of us and my mother didn't want to preacher i can promise you that. last year we were here celebrating the king holiday and one of the honorees was miss who was one ofs the original people who did this sit in at the woolworth lunch counter at greensboro, south carolina. able to be with us because she was wrestling with leukemia. kicked jim crow leukemiaas kicked . we're so glad you could be with us. [applause]

it is such a great honor for me today to introduce one of our honorees. mr. eric young. eric's have done a lot of good work together. it would be an honor on any occasion but it is a special honor to be able to link his of the reverend dr. martin luther king. eric young deserves this award not only because through his ofk he is a living example dr. king's dream for america. is also because he is an exceptional human being. a person of great courage and andciple and compassion righteousness. our nations history includes so many examples, far too many

examples of law enforcement being at odds with the struggle for civil rights and equality. we have come so far in so many ways. at the number of people who've undereaten and killed shall we say questionable circumstances, the number of times that law enforcement has stood against those who were on the streets fighting for their rights, fighting for their jobs, fighting for their very lives, makes eric young all the more remarkable. of a the elected leader very diverse group of law enforcement officers in the american federation of government employees. that diversely includes different races, different religions, different politics, different sexual orientations, and yesof the country,

different ideas about how criminal justice should be administered in this country. these are very special kind of law enforcement officers. their correctional officers and federal prisons. these are people who put their lives on the line every day doing one of the toughest jobs in america. incarcerated criminals. i stand before you clearly , there are tens of thousands of prisoners who were there for nonviolent drug offenses but trust me brothers and sisters there are thousands of racists and murderers and people who prey on children and of theerly, the worst worst, and correctional officers face them each and every day so that we are have to worry. ands not often, brothers

sisters, that one meets a leader of correctional officers who campaigns openly and actively and aggressively for sentencing reform in this country. that aot often correctional officer speaks out against prison overcrowding for theit is inhumane inmates and dangerous for the correctional officers and inmates alike. it is not often that one meets a correctional officer who advocates for jobs and job training and education so yes inmates are able to behave better in prison, get out earlier and return to society and be productive citizens and enter the workforce and help the economy of this country. that aoud to tell you

believes in both civil rights and the law enforcement. both are deeply ingrained in our identity and our principles. i want to tell you my brother eric young is the example of all examples. he is our first african-american president of our counsel of prison locals and we are so proud of that. i take so much pride in telling is a day about the content of people's character. you have the best content of character that i've ever seen in my life. sisters love and you with all their hearts. please come on down because you deserve this award. and theo proud of you

stance the intake for the american people for civil rights and for a better and greater america. [applause] [applause] reverend out sometimes turns this pulpit over to me. eric young: good morning. this is truly an honor. i would like to give praise to one whom from all blessings flow and that is my heavenly father whose first and foremost in my life.

al.k you, reverend it is a humbling experience to receive this martin luther king labor leader award. who willof my daughter forever be a hallmark in my life. given up for my baby. -- give it up for my baby. [applause] my nieces here as well. they were raised together in miami. they are the same college together. they are the first in my family to ever go to college. [applause] i come in from the city on the inside of the bridge in miami where there are no beaches. i hope that i'm the example to them of what is possible.

thanks to the leaders in this room who supported me and believed in me. my friends and colleagues alike. yearsonth will make 21 that i have been involved in the labor movement. it has not been an easy journey. it is been very hard. times.ous at i lost so many times. included theenges death of two young brothers. i persevered only through trust and believing in god, only god. because of thet wise counsel that he has bestowed upon me. you know who you are. i thank you for being there. you for calling greatness out of me when i didn't believe in myself. i had a moment to short years ago was contemplating quitting.

whenent me a scripture dealing with the death of my baby brother. : 8-13.17 was on the mountaintop with the rod of god in his hand as joshua waged battle against the amalekites. when moses got tired and weary, the israelites began to lose. aron got a rock for him to sit on. you are my aaron, you have been able to sit with me and support me through these two years when i grew weary and i was tired. backt two but god gave me three.

like dr. king, i learned to pace myself for long hard-fought battles. owe a lot to afge. they gave me the opportunity to put my daughter in college. the acting director who is here today and the assistant director, i really thank you for coming, sharing in this momentous occasion. there are some people with whom i worked alongside for two years along with my other colleagues

to represent the largest federal law enforcement agency within the department of justice. .hat is not an easy task responsibilities for 39,000 staff. finding solutions for an that incarcerates so many offenders. you can no peace in your communities. we are the people who protect the people in america. we spent $80 billion on incarceration of 2 million offenders. as criminal justice reform comes to the forefront, it needs to improve on preventive programs. i am a product of the prevention program. high andd mays junior was a part of one of those forrams that kept me here at-risk kids, dropouts. while reentry and

sentencing reform or ringing in the air in the halls of congress. i pray that this is the new civil rights movement that will continue to make this a priority for all our children. our children are our future. raised inny are being single-parent homes where a parent is incarcerated. we partner with the u.s. attorney's office and the school board in miami to usher in middle school children just like i was to hear the stories of offenders who are serving time. hoping to ensure that they will make the right choices. while sentencing reform is a worthy effort let us try to keep our children who are the future out of prison in the first place. [applause] as a professional law enforcement officer i am ready

to work. we cannot do this in our comfort zone. dr. martin to king had a dream but his dream did not allow him to live comfortably. we are in the urgency of now. two attorneys general, peers speak. rosa parks funeral, al sharpton said something that stuck with me for many years. that we actmazes me like we don't have work to do. we do have work to do. is iruth of the matter but ilike to stand wouldn't be standing here without visionaries like dr. king.

on behalf of my colleagues who believe that all things are possible, when we come together to do the right thing for our peers in our community. would like to acknowledge the former attorney general eric holder. congratulating me on being the first african-american elected to my position. to know that i served during the era of the first african-american president of the united states, the first african-american attorney general, the first african-american director of the bureau of prisons, it is a momentous occasion. and now i serve with the first female african-american attorney general. it is just unprecedented. [applause]

i try to put god first in all that i do. i believe he blesses me. for a man wasn't raised with his mother or father. a man who is grateful to survive the streets of miami on the other side of the bridge where opportunities were not readily available. for a man who lost two younger theirrs trying to expire two sons. breaking barriers and ending generational crises. let us continue to seek the dream. dr. king's dream. thank you.

[applause] >> as an only child, liz powell was born in the state of west virginia and graduated salutatorian of her class. she received a scholarship to west virginia state university. she joins the postal service in 1970 as a part-time clerk working in hempstead new york post office on long island while also working as a teacher's aide at the hempstead school district. she became actively involved in serving asad local

chief shop steward and secretary-treasurer. she was elected as the first female president of the local. she believes that the membership is the most important faction of the union and has consistently extended herself as well as the national business agents within the northeast region to provide the state and local unions and the end-all assistance necessary to be successful. this woman is an amazing young lady. many of us know her. awardedwhy she has been this year's breaking the barriers award. let's put our hands together for liz powell, the

pwu.etary-treasurer for a [applause] [applause] powell: where did he get that from? giving honor to god and special recognition to reverend sharpton , the founder and president of the national action network. the people who had all the information to be where i needed to be this morning. a magnificent job of putting this breakfast together. [applause] i have a lot of firsts in my life. colleagues don't

even know about. my cheering squad. one month after arriving in new york in 1963 i attended my first civil rights meeting. that was a thursday. monday i wasing challenging a white known as the litman real estate agency that saying thatrecord no oned hire black but had applied to type. i could do both. theu think about this a jack

subjects of the conference this weekend. you can see that the movement created by dr. martin luther king and the fight for social an economic justice is still ongoing movement. most of us remember the i have a dream speech. the march on washington was organized to fight for jobs because it was recognized that freedom without jobs was not really freedom at all. there are very few people today who know that the march would not have been possible if you do not been for the support of the labor unions. strengthenedd and by one piece of sure and certain information. there are no lost causes. the fight is never over. as long as we stand together and the blood is in us. there can be no final defeat on any battleground. we have to keep the fight going.

and given fight we give up the struggle. we do the work that falls to us to the best of our ability, we may rest in the consciousness of a job well done. our message should be loud and clear. how we play the game determines whether we win or lose. ladderprogress up the continues, i stood on the shoulders of my brothers and sisters. more importantly, the shoulders .f the union membership i am deeply honored to be one of the honorees. you don't just honor me. you honor the fight for second on the can social justice for all working people. [applause] on behalf of my sisters and brothers in the labor movement,

i respectfully accept this award and will cherish this moment as i continue to be a part of the movement that continues to fight for social and economic justice. i will be with you. one day the time, one foot in front of the other. god is good all the time. if there's anything that we can .o, let us know god bless each and every one of you and thank you so much. [applause] [applause] >> attorney general loretta lynch is on capitol hill wednesday to answer questions

about the president's executive actions of them. -- on guns. you can see her testify lie at cure onm. eastern aroun c-span. coming up, the british house of commons debates banning donald from the u.k. over his remarks about muslims. later, we hear him speaking at liberty university. the british house of commons debated barring republican presidential candidate donald trump from the united kingdom. following his controversial comments on muslims, and a u.k. petition drive signed by nearly 600,000 people, labor mp paul flynn opened the session, saying the debate was in no disrespect to the united states, but about the comments of mr. trump. this debate is three hours.

>> thank you for letting me present this. it has 700,000 signatures and it calls to block donald j trump from the u.k. injury. try.rom u.k. en bys is a serious one, signed es, with 30atur signatures removed from the petition because they were thought to be suspect in coming

from one source. please beware, anyone trying to rig the system, you will be found out. in this case, 30,000 signatures disappeared. the first petition reads, "the signatories believe that mr. donald j trump should be banned from the u.k. the u.k. has banned entry to many individuals for hate speech. the same principle should apply to everyone who wishes to enter the u.k. the united kingdom is to continue applying the unacceptable behavior criteria to those who wish to enter its borders. it must be fairly applied to the rich as well as the poor and the weak as well as the powerful. ."

business.ind our own if i can summarize the response, which wasn't entirely helpful to bolster petition, the government says that the government does not routinely comment on individual immigration and exclusion decisions. -- the home secretary has said that donald trump's remarks in relation to muslims are divisive, on thoughtful, and wrong. the government recognizes the strength of feeling against the marginalization among those he endeavors to protect. directlynment doesn't answer questions on those that

are banned, but they did publish a list of 20 who were denied entry to the united kingdom between 2008 and 2009. to give you some idea, i want to mention the names -- i won't mention the names, but the first one is a leader of a violent gang who posted films of the attacks on the internet. engaged in unacceptable behavior by committing serious criminal activity and seeking to provoke others to serious criminal acts. another one was described as a preacher, considered to be engaging in unacceptable behavior by promoting terrorist violence. another was considered to be

d unacceptable behavior to promote others for serious criminal acts. a fourth was a muslim writer and public speaker from india, excluded from the united kingdom because he made anti-jewish statements, fostering hatred amongst others. those are entirely typical of the kind of people who were excluded. d unacceptable behavior to promote others for serious criminal acts. a fourthi think we should say te situation with mr. donald trump doesn't apply in those cases. these are far more serious, presenting an immediate threat of violence. the petitioners claim that there have been violent attacks taking place in america, in boston and elsewhere, with people who quoted donald trump when one of them attacked an hispanic person, another a mexican. that is what the petitioners are making their point on. i believe there is one case that does represent the situation

with mr. donald trump, and that personone with -a dutch who was seen to be fermenting hatred against muslims and guilty of homophobia, and he was banned by the home secretary in 2009, and what happened? he appealed to the court and won. the result was that he was allowed into the country. the publicity and attention he has for his islamophobia was multiplied 100 fold by the ban. i believe that is something we should bear in mind. yes, of course. i'd like to congratulate him on leaving this debate and securing this debate. does he share my concern about

the number of cases that have come to light since the comments made by mr. trump, but not because of what mr. trump said? british muslims, who have been refused admissions to the united states of america. does he agree with me that when that happens, whether they are muslims are not, there should be a clear indication of why people have been refused admission to america? buthe figures are worrying, we are still in a position where the president is still barack obama. i'm sure he would look with equal disapproval on the instances, but they need to be investigated. that's certainly something is considerable concern. it's one ofse, great significance to us. those who wrote the main petition said "freedom of any

kind comes with the responsibility of free speech. freedom of speech is not the freedom to engage in hatred. can be a wound, wounds rallying cry to violence. the reality of hate speech's ability to incite violent acts is why the u.k. laws have stopped 80 individuals from entering the u.k. to date." the petitioners -- the file and access taken place in america, they put it down to mr. trump's intervention. i think we want to make it clear, the way that this has been reported, has caused an enormous amount of attention, but this is no attempt to disrespect in any way americans or the american state. this is a country of which

cultures have melded together, over the years getting ever closer. this is a country that has sacrificed more of its sons and daughters in the cause of creating democracy in other countries than any other nation on earth. this is the land of barack obama, of martin luther king, and abraham lincoln. i'm grateful for my friend for giving way -- does he agree with me that on martin luther king day makes this even more bizarre, that this hate figure is preaching these ridiculous things that we should reject? i think it is a very significant day, and martin luther king of course was a great man who left a great legacy behind him. seeink we should look to

what we are doing in this case, and what we were doing by pursuing a cause which would expel the -- >> [indiscernible] the election of his own party leader has shown that remarkable things happen in politics. we have to be aligned with the possibility that this ridiculous individual, mr. trump -- [laughter] >> may be elected as president of the united states. in that event, with such a ban be overturned? if it was not, it would be one almighty snub to the american citizens to which he has been referring. >> i'm sure that is absolutely right, and the great difficulty we are in, in showing disrespect to mr. trump, may well be interpreted by this

supporters and others as showing disrespect to the american nation. this is not what we are saying. is putne individual that to the committee, the great danger via attacking this one man is that we can fix on him a halo of victimhood, give him the role of martyrdom, which can seem to be an advantage among those that support him. the line will go out, the foreigners interfering, telling us what to do. i think that would be a grave situation, gave that and allowed our deliberations today to seem to be anti-american. a number of people who said that we shouldn't discuss this issue, it shouldn't be debated today. but it would be very difficult something so

thunderous that it contains the signatures of half a million people. the whole purpose of the committee is to say that it's m.p.'s that decide what the agenda is, it's the public. and this is the public speaking with a loud voice indeed. i think our best plan is not to ofe him that accolade martyrdom in that way. already havel given him far too much attention, in the way this but he has done some remarkable things which have caused a great deal of upset -- he not feel that, wheneverrly today,

someone offends -- and i do all the time -- the debate is immediately shut down? this is the danger to democracy, and i believe in this country debate about a whole range of things is shut down because it is labeled xenophobe, right-winger left-wing. if it is unreasonable, ignore it. >> i think that is right. the instances that have been brought to our attention by the petitioners is that mr. trump mocked in a cruel way a man for his disability, that he did say to the people of mexico that they bundled him up as people who were rapists and drug abusers. he made some true grading remarks about women, the latest to suggest that the muslims must not be allowed into his country,

which is extraordinary thing and an extremely dangerous thing to say. what we are faced with is the most dangerous position between the nation in my lifetime, and i can clearly remember the start of the second world war. the situation we have in the world today, with the al qaeda and daesh and the other, similar groups spread throughout a score of countries is to divide the world between christians and muslims. they have a mad plan, that one day there will be a war between christians and muslims, and muslims will win, and they will establish a caliphate throughout the world. the most alarming thing is what is happening with our young people, in this country, in my elsewhere,y and

where they have this almost irresistible appeal to adolescents to say -- come and join us, we can right ancient wrongs, you can have part in the battle, a way for husband, you can have a great adventure serving your religion. and the possibility at the end of it is martyrdom followed by eternal bliss. -- thes the kind of way seduction used by many colts over the years. sadly, there are hundreds of our young people falling for this. if we react in the way we do to the terrorist attacks by joining in wars and battles, the world is in a very dangerous place. while we have no right to inform americans on who they should elect as leader, we do look forward with some trepidation to a future of when difficult decisions have to be taken, and

should they be taken by a person who seems to be impulsive, not well-informed, and someone who has been accused of racial views -- yes. >> i thank my honorable friend for giving way. he is coming down on one side of the argument that mr. trump should not be banned from entering this country. are we not in a unique position here? i cannot think in my lifetime of another senior politician in america or anywhere else pushing the government of that country to deny our citizens in the united kingdom free international movement because of their religion. if my honorable friend is to take the position, can i ask him, what would be an appropriate response for this country to the united states of america in order to protect the people that we represent? a certain number

members who contributed to the debate. any intervention must be very brief. >> i think it is premature. we have had intervention on this before, and it would be an outrageous that was to happen. it's certainly contrary to all american history, the words written on the statue of , inrty, if there be denial her hospitality to those who wish to live in her country. i would urge the alternative, of inviting him here, and i'd be delighted if he could show us areasthe so-called no-go for police are in this country -- i have yet to find one. it would be a pleasure to taken show him theon and rich mixture of races and creeds

living happily together there. maybe have a chat about why in america there are more people killed by shotguns every day than are killed every year in this country. the leader of the opposition suggested a trip to islington around the mosque, and possibly a meeting with his wife, who i understand is from mexico. i'm living happily together there. maybe have a chat about why in sure that will be a very interesting conversation they would have. we should greet the extreme things this man says with our own reasonable notes of hospitality. we should greet him with courtesy, if he comes here, but we shouldn't build him up with our tax. i will say in conclusion, mr. g ale, that there was another great republican who said in 1990, "democrats and republicans, i salute you, and on your behalf and on behalf of the entire country, i now lift my pen to sign this americans

with disabilities act, and say, 'let the shameful war is exclusion finally come tumbling down.'" those are the words of president bush. that act, for those who are disabled, led similar acts in nations throughout the world. i think we should look to what we are seeing from donald trump at the moment, and we must prejudice,s words of of lack of knowledge, of intolerance, and what we should greet him with is a welcoming hand of friendship, of knowledge and then perhaps more shameful walls of prejudice will come tumbling down. house,question of this 114007, relating to

the exclusion of donald trump from the u.k. that for the moment ask all honorable members who wish to speak to stand. i just want to get some idea -- ok. thank you. i'm proposing immediately to impose -- thank you, sit down. [laughter] >> i'm proposing immediately a time limit of six minutes. if honorable members are willing to adhere to that, then it may be that we can get most members who wish to speak into the debate. for the convenience of members -- i don't normally do this, but given the number of people seeking to catch the chair's eye, it might be helpful -- on the opposition benches, people who have indicated in advance that they wish to be called, i -- and on the government

benches i have -- those who were not on this list at this point, those who have not indicated in writing that they wish to speak, may choose to seek to intervene rather than to be called. scully. largenk you, and a congratulations to the honorable member of newport west for leaving the debate. i was keen to participate in this debate, not just for the substance of it, but also to echo the sentiment that the honorable member has said about why we have decided to hold this debate today. it is something that has caught the eye of the media, and some

people have been concerned about our discussions. we have the mechanism in place that anything over 100,000 signatures we will seek to at least allow the members of public to have a voice in this place, whether that be through a select committee, through a wider debate already going on, research that we are doing, for example we are doing things as a committee looking at brain tumors -- in this instance, has as has been the case for others, it is appropriate to give the members of public a voice in this chamber. donald trump's favorite u.k. columnist, casey hopkins, asked on sunday why we weren't debating other things, like the immigration debate petition that got through and received a number of signatures.

the reason -- he claims it was down to us being political -- but there was nothing of that. we had army had an immigration debate which i lead in october, which worked in a very similar manner. it was more we don't want to duplicate work wherever possible. there is one petition that as of this morning, 75 people have signed, inviting donald trump to address parliament. maybe that is an additional one we may want to consider. the committee will not result in a vote. it is important that the members of the public watching this understand that. it is not for us to decide whether donald trump should or should not be allowed to enter this country. what it does do is allow us to

have our say. he will i'm sure, be listening. we have examples of when people have been excluded from this country. i have heard of a number of cases where people have been hatred, but i have never heard of one for stupidity. i agree we should not be focusing on one man. i would like for us to look at the issues that surround this and how they affect the u.k.. the wider issues are immigration, global security the contribution muslim people make on this country. debate -- i love the on that point

signatures are on a motion to close the borders until isis is defeated. >> absolutely. makes it very important point. that was very similar wording to the debate i let in october. there are a lot of petitions out there that have quite insightful and are clumsily worded. globals a fear of security and immigration. i suspect donald trump's words were born at the fear himself. it is not acceptable for him to say, we need to stop immigration

of this sort until we understand what is going on. that is not acceptable for an .spiring world leader as a son of someone born in burma, i have seen the benefits of good immigration, on immigration were people contribute to this country. people who have incredible aspirations for education and hard work. but mass, uncontrolled immigration does put a lot of pressure on our services and infrastructure and does put a lot of concern into people's minds. u.k. feels this as well, hence the number of signatures to this petition. but, when you to tackle it in a very different way and speak about the positive effects to culture as well. i have quite a bit to do with the british curry industry.

just that one industry alone is worth 3.5 billion pounds or 4 on who pounds, depending you speak to, to the economy of this country. andmploys 100,000 people there are a number of people affected by that. we all enjoy curry every day and i think it would be a bad thing for the u.k. economy if that continued to struggle. that is one small industry. let's look at business as a whole as well and the input that immigrants have on this country. we need to tackle, in terms of global security, we need to look , the kinds of terrorism strategy is government has. these are ways that are far more clever, far more positive, and far more practical than just closing the country down to people from one place.

someoneou determine if is from one place. do you put a badge on them? do put them in a database? he is not going quite so far as to put a badge on them. not talked about keeping people on a database. that is an extraordinary situation to go down. bring my remarks to a close. i hope that over the next few hours we will be able to concentrate on practical ways that this country can tackle immigration and can tackle it, rather than worrying about the ego of one man. the argument about why we are having this debate has already been articulated by the honorable members who came before me. i wanted to raise the question of why, this on my position, which is been signed by 3000 of

my constituents, has evoked such emotion? are his comments tarnishing an entire muslim community with the views of a small group of extremists. ordinary muslims absolutely condemn them. or is it because the world's largest economy may be excluding the world's second-largest community? towards a because people in this country are proud of the long history that we have of welcoming immigrants, welcoming refugees, and welcoming asylum-seekers? people often say the public is apathetic about politics. shows that petition when people feel a sense of justice, when people feel we need to stop a poisonous, corrosive man from entering our country, they will act in good

conscience. this is not just any man we are talking about. this is a man who is extremely high profiled and involved in the american show business industry. a man who was interviewing for the most important job in the world. his words are not, call. -- his words are not comical. funny.ds are not his words are poisonous and they tensions between communities. we have legislation in our country to make sure we don't let people enter who are conducive to the public good. the honorable member has outlined some of the people who have been banned by the home office from entering this country. yes? talking about a candidate for the presidency of the united states.

isn't it up for the american people to decide if his views are objectionable, not you guys? >> the honorable gentleman has been in the house long enough to to address the chair. >> i think the question is for the honorable gentleman. >> i looked up the cases. i just wanted to highlight the case of one female blogger, who awill not be naming, i have piece of the rhetoric used by this be milled blogger. equatede was that she the entire population with the view of a handful of extremists. a spokesperson banter from coming into the country and said , and i quote, she is not allowed into the country because we condemn all of those whose behaviors and views run counter

to our shared values and wilmot stand.ot this female blogger was stopped from entering the country. donald's views that muslims are the same are strikingly similar to this. should this be applied equally to everyone, or are we going to be making exceptions for billionaire politicians even words are clearly falling short of the home office's values. >> i think the remarks donald trump has made has been made by a large amount of my constituents. butmay disagree with them, they may say the same. do you think they should be expelled from the country as a result of their views? and if not, what is the

difference? >> i think the honorable gentleman should speak carefully about what he said. it is not the same as us not letting people into the country. the honorable member has already outlined some of the other views that donald trump has. whether that is views on mexicans, whether that is views on black people, it was donald trump, don't forget who ran a dog whistle campaign against certificate's birth to find out if the president of the america was really american. can you imagine in the mother of parliament if my colleagues decided to question ethnic ties about whether they were really british? --she aware that some of us he is not only racist, but he is misogynistic and homophobic as

well. >> i think the honorable member for her intervention and i would like to read out what donald trump said when asked by fox news. she asked him to explain why he called some women "fat pigs," "disgusting animals." he replied, what i say is what i say. is that the kind of man we want in our country? the other question i wanted to ask is that i thoroughly anticipate the rebuttal that we cannot exclude people merely because they offend us or because we do not like them, but as politicians we have to make difficult decisions. one of the decisions we have to make is when freedom of speech actually insults public safety. we are worried about our constituents' safety. and the evidence i want to point to is the center for hate and

extremism pointed out that anti-muslim crime has increased in line with the rhetoric that donald trump used in the last three months of 2015. the honorable member for newport west mentioned the homeless hispanic man who was beaten up by two brothers from south boston. when they beat him up, they broke his nose and urinated on him. the police report said that one of them justified the act by saying donald trump was right. we should get rid of all of these illegals. my point is that hate crime is being inflamed and stoked by the rhetoric that donald trump is using. >> i am interested in the point that she seems to be making. to make sure i have understood her correctly, is she laying all the responsibility for the increase in hate crime against muslims at donald trump's door? does she not believe that acts

of terrorism, such as those in paris, contributed to it? >> of course, i do not lay all the blame for the increase in hate crime at donald trump's door, but there is a very real correlation between the words he uses and the increase in hate crime. which is the point i'm trying to make, that a lot of his words lead to real crime and violence. that is where i draw the line on freedom of speech. i will give way. richard drax: i do not mean to undermine the hon. lady's argument, but many things incite violence. for example, parliamentary regulations that we pass incite violence. policemen have been attacked, and one had his head chopped off. that is not to say that we should shut down debate. i'm afraid all kinds of things incite violence and often if not

always, by totally irresponsible people. tulip siddiq: i do not have much time, so i will wrap up by saying that i draw the line on freedom of speech when it leads to violent ideology being imported, which is what i feel is happening. the legislation in place to public andct the people of britain from individuals such as this. if legislation has been practiced before and other people have been stopped from coming into the country, the same rules need to be applied to donald trump, which is why i feel he should not be given a visa to visit the multicultural country that we are so proud of. >> the member was widely quoted this morning as saying she was going to trash donald trump this afternoon. i am not sure he is going to be terribly worried about this debate. [laughter] i do respect the honorable member for newport west for the measured way in which he introduced the debate.

it will be of no surprise that i oppose this and. i believe it gives donald trump publicity. actually, it is the only item in the u.s. press that we are debating at the moment. they are not talking about corbynmania, brexit or anything else. they are talking about this debate. why feed the machine? we saw what happened with geert wilders. did that do any good? i do not think so. newport west made this point in its measured speech. it offends free speech and actually, in a free country you have the right to offend people. i introduced an amendment to five of the public order act 1986 to make that clear. i offend people in this house all the time, and that is my perfect right to do so. thirdly, the united states is a friendly country that came to our rescue twice in two world wars. this man may conceivably become president of our most important ally. fourthly, we cannot translate

american politics to u.k. politics, which is completely different. i was in a debate earlier this year on full fiscal autonomy for scotland, and the labour spokesman described me as an extreme right wingergod forbid. .- extreme right-winger god forbit. my amendment was supported by the shadow chancellor when he was a backbencher. whether he is an extreme right winger, i do not know. as it happens, i am strongly in favor of gun control. i voted consistently against bombing syria and invading iraq. i am strongly in favour of the nhs, which i use exclusively; and i oppose capital punishment. would i survive in the republican party? i don't know. nevertheless, i am told that i am an extreme right winger. our politics are completely different, and it would be a great mistake to try to translate them. petitions such as this are a bit of good fun, but if the government were to act on this

. god forbid they would be playing into mr. trump's hands. his entire style of politics is to stoke controversy by saying outrageous things. lavishing him with attention, even if our intent is to condemn or deride, is falling into the trap he set for us. his continuing popularity among voters is evidence of this. and he is popular with many voters. we may not like it, but he is. i think we must be wary of lowering ourselves to demagoguery in fighting demagogues. we all lament the divisiveness of politics, which seem particularly divisive in the united states. oppose mr. trump for demonizing his opponents. if we ban him from the country, are we not in danger of doing the same? quite the contender to be the head of the state of arguably, the most powerful country on the planet, a country

which is a vital ally of ours. we have welcomed to this country saudi and chinese leaders, not ceauescu, whose crimes are far worse than anything mr trump can dream up. these people do not just talk about violence, they practice violence on an extreme scale, but we have welcomed them to our country. i am a firm believer in free speech. it is a cause i have combined with such unlikely bedfellows as the national secular society and the christian institute. if we allow free speech only for those with whom we already agree with, is that free speech at all? dialogue is a solution and not deeper division. let me end by saying that this is also an attempt to shut down an honest debate about immigration. as soon as one mentions immigration, one is labelled a right winger or a racist. that is not the way to solve the problem of integration. it was a fantastic article the prime minister wrote in the "times" today, making the

worthwhile and good point that our muslim friends must learn from previous waves of immigrants. particularly the jews of the 19th century, who have chosen to integrate fully in our society. here are some of the prominent immigrants and children of immigrants, all intensely and identifiably british, all of whom arrived long before burton's present -- long before britain's present postwar immigration waves. hans holbein, george frederick handel, frederick william herschel, isaac and benjamin disraeli, christina rossetti, gustav holst, augustus pugin, louis of battenberg and his son louis mountbatten, hilaire belloc, joseph conrad, george louis du maurier, winston churchill, leo amery, t.s. eliot, lewis namier, learie constantine, alexander korda, emeric pressburger, nikolaus pevsner, isaiah berlin, geoffrey elton, the two michael howards, and solly zuckerman. the list illustrates a fundamental point. although those figures immensely enhanced british life, they did not make their adopted nation

cosmopolitan. their adopted nation made these cosmopolitans british and we should be proud of them. >> here, here. gavin robinson: i appreciate the opportunity to contribute so early in this debate. when considering my remarks for this debate, i thought that i would be in conflict with the honorable member for newport west, but i am pleased to say that is not the case. however, i want to make one point about exclusion to him, because when i log on as a northern ireland member and try to access the committee's online map, northern ireland does not exist. if there is an issue with exclusion, i hope that cannot be addressed. i am also concerned and apprehensive that the right hon. member for chelmsford is

present. he is the chief parliamentary proponent of hillary clinton. i wonder whether an intervention will be made to the detriment of donald trump. i never thought i would say it, but i agree wholeheartedly with that dreadful right winger the honorable member for gainsborough. he is right, said roger. , sir roger.ht i do have to say that in this debate, it is important that we consider the principles of democracy and of firm and thorough debate. and the fact that when you have a strong and good principled position, we should stand robustly by it. we should not run from fear or opposition or the contrary arguments that others may make, be they in this country or abroad. members present will know of lynton crosby, the political adviser and analyst, who has talked about the dead cat on the table theory. it if the table clearing

you are losing the argument or it, itting prepared for on the table and people notice. they will stop you will change the political discourse and that's exactly what donald trump is doing. it's not just a one off initiative, it's something that marks his campaign entirely. he throws a dead cat on the ande and people stop listen to him and take him seriously. there will be those today in the who will support the exclusion of donald trump. some of those contributions argument, i get an want to see donald trump come to this country and either be crippled by members of thosement or grilled by

great interrogators we have within the public discourse in this country. i want them to challenge him. i want him to get a sense of the fury and frustration with his remarks. let him leave this country with better principles than what he has politically shown so far the we should be out of our values as a country and out of the values we would like to see throughout the world. so confront him. to what he has outline may get you headlines and give you the legal discourse in the united states or across the world but it's bad policy and it would change the nature and image of and reputation of the united states irrevocably from its founding fathers and the individuals are both up so much over the last three centuries. turning to the debate we have had, i think it's important, sir roger, that we have the leader of the opposition who was

indicating it will be up. to daesh. back channels for what? reasonably negotiate with someone who will consider that negotiation in the context of orther they murder your wife cut off their hands? that's the same leader of the opposition that is a chancellor with them is parliament who ines succor to terrorists this country over the last 30 ,ears and supported the ira murdering our countrymen. put it into context, we have been asked to believe the humble member is that it would be appropriate to ban somebody who has erred in ideology. but has not voted terrorism, has not promoted extremism to the

extent that we lose life and destroy communities. do you think this should be applied equally to everyone? >> what i am doing is sailing clear blue water between the support given by her on a relator in years gone by in this country for terrorists we have destroyed and have been killed result --dy who is a a ridiculous xenophobe. that's the point i wish to make. for those quite believe will take a hypocritical stance, those north of the border but still very much part of our united kingdom, those who applauded donald trump, those invited him to their country, up him as an ambassador and regaled him with all the civic support

and adoration they could because of brass tacks, -- it's the same. >> thank you. if somebody had a crystal ball and we could predict that this individual could conceivably down an entire religion -- >> i'm very grateful for the intervention. if i ever criticize someone or some party or something in this chamber, i will always give a right to respond. you don't need a crystal ball. it has been apparent already the ridiculous involvement donald trump had in the bursar scandal around the barack obama lineage scandal was he a christian or a muslim? that was not my months ago. that was 2008 and you don't need

a crystal ball. when his wife divorced him, she said her much loved former would lie in bed and read the work of adolf hitler. you don't need a crystal ball to recognize that the person you're dealing with may be successful businessman but is also a buffoon and has the dangerous capability, the dangerous capability of saying the most obscene or insensitive things to attract attention. none of that should be news but i don't think we will avoid the hypocrisy. i have been given additional minutes and i am grateful for the time. as a party in an individual, i could not support the exclusion of donald trump from this country. bring him here. let us have the opportunity to challenge him and let him go

home with his tail between his legs and recognize that the sensible he espouses no longer reflect this country, the united states of america, or the aspirations we should all seek to promote internationally. >> i find myself standing here for the first time ever agreeing hardly worth the honorable member of newport west. i am more surprised to hear the general member quoting warmly the words of president/. bush. it was his father, not his son. today is also one of the moments this year when we will mark the anniversary, five years of tall is more who was tried and executed not so far from this place. he wrote the book utopia in which he envisioned a new future and new ideals.

he wrote it expressing in his heart the liberties of thought and faith of what he called and would then express across the globe. yet today, a report has come out that the liberties he hoped for, the liberties he desired, are actually in trouble. spikeine journal called has gone around universities and found the freedom of speech being challenged. colleges spaces in our also could be known as spaces of censorship now cover 39 universities. this is not just a threat to freedom in those universities. debate covered by many of our friends and --

fourth estate and it's worth remembering that they are part of the democratic process and that we stand here speak in the chamber may sometimes not like it. their role in holding us to account is equally as important as ours and speaking the truth. so it is with that cry of freedom and the cry of liberty that i speak in favor of considering or in favor of rejecting this motion. liberty is not something we can take an action or in part. it comes as one and it comes as a whole. as the first amendment of the u.s. constitution makes clear, the freedom of expression is essential for free people. andough i may not like it although i can be actually sure that i would not support him, it is no place for me or this house to criticize