illed 250,000 men, women and children, sent millions into refugee status? ambassador crocker addressed the result of this failure. so let's leave him in power for a while and let's live with saad. for what? so he can kill more people? so he can starve them? so he can slaughter them with poison gas? is that the moral compass that the united states has followed? i don't think so. i think the greatest example of sticking to your moral compass is the ragan administration. for us to sit by and say well maybe saad is stay for a while -- assad is stay for a while. it is immoral. if we lose our moral compass, then we are just like every other nation in history. >> thank you, mr. chair. you know i strongly support and have long supported your

proposals with respect to umanitarian no-fly zone in northern syria. a couple of questions for a couple of witnesses. i apologize for stepping out. who is a bigger enemy to the united states, isil or syrian efugees? who is a bigger enemy to the united states, isil or syrian refugees? >> well, clearly isil is a bigger enemy, and i certainly don't think syrian refugees are an enemy, period. >> other witnesses? >> agreed. >> yes, sir. we had something of a conversation on that before you came back in. i agree completely. >> the reason i ask is we are did he baying a bill this afternoon, and the title of the

bill is securing enemy against foreign enemies acts of 2015, and the enemies refered to in the bill are refugees from syria and iraq. we haven't had a debate or vote about isil. he president sent a draft arch mf authorization to congress in the middle of february. i am not critical of the administration. i think they should have sent t early oher, not that wild -- earlier, not that wild about the content. not only have we not voted on it, there has not been a debate or vote in committee or on the floor in either house on the question of either the president's authorization or an alternate authorization in the 11 months since the president sent it. are you aware of any other time in our history where the president asked congress for a war authorization, sent a proposed authorization to congress, but that it was not

even taken up for debate in committee or on the floor of either house? >> i'm not aware of any precedent like that. i provided testimony on this very subject to aumf. i believe it should be taken up, should be debated and voted on. i think it is very appropriate it. he president to send >> other thoughts? >> it is an important question. >> i would look at it in practical terms. are there situations out there to which we could not respond militarily because the existing aumf is not adequate? if the answer to that is yes, then speaking as a citizen, i would find it incredible that congress has not acted on it in

almost a year. >> i am always not aware of any such precedents. i agree it is a problem. i think we have a legal basis for what we are doing. i don't know of anything that we immediately would like to do but can't do to do. but i think the basis on which we are acting is mushy and far removed from what we are trying to do. talking earlier about military slippery slopes, this is a legal slippery slope. you get in the habit of not having a specific authorization and then you are years away. i don't think that is a habit the united states should want to develop. >> ambassador crocker, i want to ask about one last item. i want to try to answer this for myself. you were candid that in this iran-saudi arabia tension, which is now really accelerated, long-standing in origin, but accelerated, and that we really need to pick a

side. what i have been worried about, are there unfortunate consequences of picking a side that we may not want? one analysis of this conflict is it is a sunni-shiah divide. we would all agree the u.s. doesn't have a theological debate about which islam we would prefer. it is a nation-state battle. there is a rory about iran's competitiveness. there may be a little revolutionary guard against monarchy component. there are layers to this. how do we pick a side without making it look to that region on of the world that we are just planting our feet on the sunni side of a sunni-shiah sectarian fight? >> it is a great question.

we should not be in the position of having to pick a side in my view, senator, in that area. we should be leading. we should be deciding what the strategic agenda is and then lining up support for it where it is most appropriate. unfortunately, now we are playing catch-up. the sides have been formed. we are very late to a very critical game and are in that sad position of having effectively to choose a side. when we do, and i hope we do, then we need to work to start shaping that side, because there are some things going on there now that are not good for our allies or for the region as a whole or our long-term interests. just sitting on the sidelines doesn't really let you effect

out the team is going to play. >> dr. gordon? >> let's be clear. we do pick a side. nobody should misunderstand. we do have allies and partners. even with rune, we will have unilateral sanctions on iran, we will confront them in matters of terrorism and human rights. whereas with the other side we have extensive relationship, ses, ship, missile defense cooperation, billions of dollars of strategic partnership. we have partners, and we have an adversary. that is clear. the question is -- and i do agree with my colleagues, that notwithstanding everything i have said, we have a perception problem, and we have to deal with it. and we should. but nobody should misunderstand that we are somehow right in the middle between iran and our

gulf partners. the question is does picking a side take you all the way to doing things that might not be in your interests, like not having a nuclear deal with iran or going directly to war in syria? there is a limit to the degree to which we take sides. we have our own national interests, and that has to be a part of our dialogue with our partners. >> i think the model with the soviet union is a good one. we clearly took a side because we felt it was an existential threat to the country. re we believe iran's geopolitical strategy to dominate the region is not in the united states' or our allies' interests. we have not done enough to counter this behavior. we obviously formed political military alliances against it, but it never stopped us from seeking opportunities to work

with the soviet union for common purpose and common interest. i think when you do -- when you operate from a position of strength like that, it actually enables you to get more done with your adversary. i think that is what ambassador crocker and i are arguing for. this train has already left the station, and we have disengaged from the region. and without our involvement in it, this could get to be a very dangerous situation between saudi arabian the iranians and their supporters. we have to get back in it, and we have to rally our allies, and we have to have clear political and diplomatic objectives of what we are trying to achieve to counter the iranians' advance in the region. >> thank you for your service and testimony, senator? >> thank you. we were running back and forth between the foreign relations committee upstairs. thank you for holding on until ippingd get down here. first of all, let me thank all

three of you both for being here this morning and for your service to the country. it truly is impressive, and your willingness to continue to engage is also impressive. i wanted to just follow up on some of the specifics thaw raised in your testimony. ambassador crocker, one of the things you said, and i may not be putting this exactly accurately, but i think what i understand stood you to say is the more we appear to take sides with russia and iran, the more difficult it becomes to get a resolution with those people who have been our friends in the middle east. did i understand that correctly? nd i ask you this because it seems to me as i look at syria that if we are going to get any kind of a political solution, that iran and russia have got to be at the table. do you disagree with that? >> i think they do have to be

at the table. my concern is that with the current dynamic in syria where russia and iran both feel they are on a roll here, that their is being quite successful in propping of assad , that not only will woe not of a successful negotiation, we are not even get to the table. that is what i think we are seeing now as these talks scheduled for next week sort of slip away from us. so yeah, there has to be a negotiate end to this conflict. my belief is for that negotiation to succeed or even take place, we've got to change some of the dynamics on the to back up assad,

run force ssia, to re-enforce our friends in the region. we just don't have the terms for it now. >> well, i agree basically with what all of you have said with the need to intervene more to try and force the forces supporting assad to the table to come up with some resolution. the question that i still have is based on what each of you had to say. it is still not clear to me how we do that. i like the idea of the no-fly zone. that sounds like one of the positive things that we could do. on the other hand, we have had testimony from members of our military, some of our military leaders, that that would

require a significant military presence. we would take casualties, and we would have a difficult time destroying syria's air defense system. and i have always heard from representatives of the refugeecommunity who say it would put a target on refugees because it would be a place they would be forced to go, and they would become targets of isis.- of i do think the involvement of special operations forces, that seems to be one of the things we have been trying to do more of. i think there -- i certainly believe there has been some success with that, and with air defenses. but again, it is just not clear to me how we accomplish the successes each of you talk about in reality without putting back on the ground the

kind of military force that we had in iraq and afghanistan, and we are now seeing the impact of with drawing those forces. enlighten me, if you would? general keane, i will ask you to go first. >> i think we are talking about syria, s, assad and and the military and political extension of that. syria gives you a headache just thinking through it. reasonable people can disagree certainly on what to do about it, and they certainly do. but in my judgment, and we have been discussing this on and off most of the morning, the political dimension in syria is critical, and we have to change the momentum against the regime to be able to get a political solution. the russians are there and the

iranians are there to prop up and preserve this regime in their own national interests. >> i heard most of the testimony. >> so that is critical. the no-fly zone, i disagree with my melo terry colleagues who may have made it appear too difficult to achieve. i don't think for a minute we are going to have a problem with syrian air defense systems, which if we did, we would destroy them all, quite frankly, and they know that. i also don't believe -- >> i don't want to be argue men take itf, and i am out of time out gument itf, and i am of time. we have had direct testimony from military leadership expressing concern about the losses that would be incurred from the to go in syrian's air defenses.

maybe the situation has changed. can you speak to that? >> no. that is their job, to lay out the level of risk in association with any option that takes place. because there is a level of risk doesn't mean we don't do it. there is always the potential for casualties. that is the reality of it. i have spent a lot of time on this issue, and i am very convinced that we can establish a no-fly zone with minimum interference from syrians to be sure. if we were going to put innocent people in there, i don't see the russians or the syrians bombing that. certainly not the russians. the syrians have bombed their own people in the past, but they would pay a price for it. the threat would come from the ground in the form of suicide bombers and the like. so you would have to have some sort of force on the ground to protect that site. we have had a history with no-fly zones in the past. we have done this successfully,

and i think we can do it here. it would have been better to do it a long time ago certainly, as it would have been better to eal with the syrian arabs in terms of helping them a long time ago. but it still should be a realistic option that should be on the table to help move towards a political solution. >> can i add a word? i just think it is important to remember that it is all about the political objective. if the political on thive remains that the regime is giving up power, i think changing the balance on the ground modestly, or even putting in a no-fly zone is unlikely to bring about that objective. if you think about precedents, there is not a lot of precedent for this type of operation where you gradually increase support for some armed opposition, and the regime decides to hand over power, certainly not when it is backed by major powers like iran and russia. think about libya, who wasn't backed by anyone. we started with a no-fly zone.

a number of our all eyes were supplying arms to the opposition. it ended nd up -- with the death of gaddafi, the leader. we were just trying to get security forces out of part of the country. bombing 8-day nato campaign. in iraq we have no-fly zones for years, and it didn't bring about the political settlement. there may be other reasons to do these things, but i would be careful about thinking that those steps will lead to the political transition that we are trying to bring about. >> thank you all, and thank you, ambassador crocker, for your statements with respect to refugees. i appreciate your willingness to speak out on that. >> thank you, senator. i am going to continue your line of questioning. so i hear from at least the

answer you gave to senator shaheen about the difficulties of the response. but given that turkey has the second largest standing in nato with 700,000 active personnel and 4,000 in reserves. jordan has 90,000 active troops, 60,000 reserves. however, up to thispoint, iran has been the most active regional power in providing ground troops to fight isil. what should we do to get our allies to bear a larger burden in the fight against isil, and what can we do to encourage them to actually participate on the ground? >> senator, the first thing we need to do is indicate that we take ies, and as such

their strategic and security concerns seriously. for saudi arabia, isil isn't the primary threat. it is iran. for turkey, isil isn't the primary threat. it is the kurds, our allies. >> but not all the kurds. we just met one someone who said we have lots of kurds who our friends. he will take the kurds and say we get along with these kurds. we just don't get along with the p.k.k. he will be assertive about that. >> but the kurds in question are the y.p.g. in southern syria, and they are affiliated with the p.k.k. so it is a problem. at is why i have advocated a re-invigorated u.s. engagement with traditional allies and

partners. we have differences with riad. what i am concerned about is we are not talking about the differences as friends and allies with the view to developing del monte ground, common understandings and a common strategy. without that, any notion of regional forces intervening in syria against islamic state is fancyful. they are not going to do it. >> so you are recommending more engagement. we take a codal of eight senators. meeting with saudi defense forces, they were grateful for all our intelligence efforts. they wanted to amplify everything we were doing together. from some of the more anecdotal conversations, they are looking for more engagement, not less. the same thing with turkey. they want to increase trade. he has taken two million

refugees. he wants the united states to engage on a far more aggressive level. he seems to be asking what is happening with regard to u.s. policy and what are we not doing that we should be doing? >> i understand all too well the pressures on any administration, and particularly its senior members, the president, the secretary of state and so forth . but i think at that level we have just got to be more involved in the region. a lot of this can be done by telephone calls. but there is nothing like a secretary of state visit. earlier in the hearing -- >> as opposed to a congressional visit. >> we are just eight senators who flew all over the country.

chicken feed. . they are really important i know it is probably as hard for you as members of the administration to get away. but having hosted many of them over the years, particularly in saw a whole lot of the chairman, that is just crucial. >> so you recommend the secretary of state go to the region and engage more aggressively? >> yes, ma'am, i do. that the earlier iranians have kind of filled the vacuum in iraq. it is a very, very bad situation. i would like to see the secretary go camp out there. and when he needed a break, he could go to riad, and tel aviv, and cairo and ankra. we have to ramp this up. as bad as this situation is now

-- i will try to say something uplifting -- we are going to look back on this day with fondness and nostalgia. because the way things are tracking, it is going to be a whole lot worse in a couple of months. >> mr. gordon, you said in fact we should not be dealing with the sims of isil, but going straight to the cause of isil. i am past my time, so maybe you can submit it to the record. but how can united states have an impact on the causes? and obviously it is not just a military effort, it is diplomatic as well. but what is the message or approach that you think could actually resonate? >> that indeed would be a longer answer than we have time for. i will give a brief one. by focusing on the causes more than the symptoms, what i meant was we can, should and need to do all the things people talk about in a comprehensive isis strategy on borders, opposition

and factions. all of those things can and need to be done. but to really zero in on it, so long as the 20 million susanies who live between damascus and baghdad are feeling disadvantaged, repressed and killed by iranian backed shiah dictators, we are going to be facing this problem, and they are going to be radicalized in the region and beyond. it is a longer conversation on how we do that in iraq. among us we have a consensus there needs to be something more done politically for the sunies in iraq and make them feel they are a part of the country. and in syria, i talked about de-escalating the war. it is true that assad is a magnet to isis. the daily bombing of syria is a cause for isis. if we de-escalated the war in syria, we would make more a

contribution to this contribute than any special forces. >> thank you. >> thanks, mr. chairman, and thank you for continuing this ries of very significant and illuminating hearings. i want to thank all three of our witnesses, particularly ambassador crocker, for hosting us as you have in afghanistan, and for your insight and advice to this committee and to me afterwards. i know a lot of ground has been covered. i have been in and out of the hearing and had an opportunity to follow it as well remotely. i want to focus for the moment on the refugee issue. nd most particularly on on rafficking of survivors, refugees, particularly women and children. i met recently with a young

s.e.d. trafficking survivor, , o told me about her escape very courageous escape from systemic rape and brutality that women and children have endured at the hands of isil. the situation has been detailed by a number of the media as well. rape has been increasingly used as a tool of terrorism to de-stabilize communities and exert control over women, girls in communities there. and in the case of isil, of sely to hold thousands men, women and children in captivity. i think we should try to find a way to expand and intensify our efforts to assist these victims. let me begin, mr. gordon, by

asking you what role the united states and its coalition partners should have in securing the safe release of these women and children still and maybe open it the other witnesses, and how to ensure the partner training exercises conducted in iraq are taking an interagency approach to this issue? >> senator, thank you. it is impossible to overstate the humanitarian and strategic consequences of the refugee crisis. you mentioned it from the humanitarian standpoint. there are more than 10 million displaced. strategically, it threatens the neighbors. some of us may be surprised that a country like lebanon is still functioning, notwithstanding the fact that maybe a quarter of its population are now syrian refugees. we have talked about how it spills over into the u.s. and

the european union as well. the united states has been a leader. we have provided more than $4 billion, but as you are implying, it is not even close to what is necessary. so we need to do even more. we need to lead. i think one of the arguments for america's embrace and willingness to take refugees is not just the humanitarian one, which is enormous. otherwise leaving them to their fates in the region or a squalid refugee camp, but showing that america is a welcoming country and not anti-muslim is a big tool beyond this struggle, beyond what we can do to the individuals. final it it comes back to the political points we are all talking about. whatever we can do for individual refugees is obviously hugely important. but we need to stop the flow. the sources of this problem that we just discussed in response to the senator's question. i fear, too, that if we don't

deal with those causes, we are going to have a hearing two or three years from now on the same problem, and it is going to be many times bigger than it is now. >> ambassador crocker? >> thank you, senator. of course the community you are talking about are neither muslim nor refugees. they would love to be refugees. because however bad that was, at least they would be out of the hands of islamic state. >> they are right now captive. >> they are captives, they are slaves, sex slaves. it is a reminder that islamic state is evil, and as long as it exists, as long as it holds ground, it about will use it for evil purposes, whether that is attacks into paris, planning attacks in the united states,

enslavement of innocents, executions of others, they will do it. i am grateful to you for recalling that there is such a thing in this world as evil. assad is evil. isis is evil. and as the chairman said in a different context earlier, we need to keep a moral compass on these things. we are america. >> thank you. >> i thank the witnesses. this has been extremely helpful, i am sure to all of us and those who are observing on c-span. i don't think we could have had of a group embers of people who have served our country with honor and distinction, and we are proud to have all three of you before the committee today. jack? >> just to commend you, mr. chairman, for holding a very

timely and important hearing, and to thank the witnesses again for their service and thoughtful comments. >> adjourned. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2016] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute] [inaudible]

[inaudible] >> thursday night on c-span, road to the white house coverage of two democratic presidential candidates. at 7:00 wep live coverage of bernie sandsers in new hampshire.

and at 8:30 eastern time, hillary clinton holds a campaign event in iowa. you can watch live coverage of both events here on c-span and c-span.org. >> as i have been watching the campaign this year, it is far more interesting to look at the republicans than the democratic side. that may have something to do with why there is more interest in these candidates and their books. >> sunday night on "q & a" "q & a." carlos lozada discusses books written by the 2016 presidential candidates. >> everyone does have interesting stories in their lives. and politicians, who are so single-minded in this pursuit of power and ideology could have particularly interesting ones. but when they put out these

memoirs, they are sanitized. they are vetted. they are there for sort of minimum controversy. >> sunday night at 8:00 eastern on c-span's "q & a" "q & a." >> in his annual state of the state address, iowa governor erry branstad called for funding for education, job funding and renewable energy. iowa holds presidential caucuses. from the state capital in des moines, this is half an hour. >> i want to welcome returning legislators as well. we return this essential without an esteemed colleague

and friend, jake drake. jack was a penalty friend of mine, and many of you as well. he served as his constituents with passion, and i know we all will miss him this session. ladies and gentlemen, over the past five years the state of iowa has made significance progress, it has put iowa in a position of strength and opportunity for a bright future. sound budgeting practices and fiscal discipline have us now ranked the third best managed state in the united states. our cash reserve and economic emergency accounts are full. the iowa economy has created more than 214,000 new jobs, surpassing our 2010 goal. today's unemployment rate has been cut in nearly half to 3.4% , down from over 6% five years ago. iowa has the lowest unemployment since 2001. more people are now employed

than ever in our state's history. iowa family incomes have grown by 18.3% from 2010. we have seen over $12 billion in private capital investment. -- in a in a ballpark bipartisan fashion last session to improve iowa's road and digital infrastructure. and k-12 education funding is now up 35% since 2010. when we look back at this progress, it is important to reflect that we reflect on how we got there. how did we do it? we did it by restoring fiscal discipline. we did it by focusing on economic growth. we did it by investing in our children. but the key to igniting this engine of success has been truly a willingness to work together.

when we work together, challenges are overcome, results are delivered, and people have a government that works for them. when we fail to work together, challenges become steeper, results are fleeting, and the government fails the very people that we should be serving. there is no doubt that this upcoming legislative session will provide us with unique issues and opportunities to address. it is my sincere desire to work with all of you to address the challenges that we have before us. we must come together again to tackle the challenges looming on our path to a more prosperous future. ast year's devastating avian influenza, lower commodity prices and an increasingly competitive world economy have reduced the growth in our state's revenue. while we still have some growth, it is not as robust as

we had hoped or expected. in the budget i propose today, the two items where i propose spending the most money are on schools and on medicade. simply put, medicade is costing more than ever. it is stretching our budget too thin. in order to improve patient health and increase the coordination of services as well as control medicade costs, the state is implements a modern approach towards medicade through managed care. as most other states have already done. if the state fails to implement manninged care, the growth in medicade spending will virtually consume almost all of our revenue growth. working families and job-creating businesses across the state want government that is stable, predictable and delivers what it promises. the budget i propose today was

crafted the same way that hard working people do. with a cautious eye and optimism for the future. it's a tight budget. it's a budget that will keep iowa stable. the budget is balance today and fits within our five-year projections. we should not over promise and under deliver. the budget provides schools the stability and predictability and funding they need and deserve. today i am proposing an increase in k-12 funding of over $145 million. this includes the third installment of our extraordinary commitment to teacher leadership and compensation. this additional investment would bring total k-12 education spending in the state budget to over $3.2 billion

annually. to make this level of funding possible, we had to make tough decisions in other areas of the budget. it is my sincere hope that the general assembly will move quickly to approve supplemental , ate early this session ensuring that our children's future is bright -- ensuring our children's future is bright men's addressing our challenges. education officials have expressed to me a strong desire for extending a critical source of funding for school infrastructure. they have expressed a strong desire to improve our water's quality. unfortunately, too often we are presented with a false choice. raise taxes on hard-working tax payers or do nothing. i submit to you there is a different path to chart. hat is why last week

lieutenant governor kim reynolds and i were pleased to announce with the secretary of agriculture a substantial framework for school infrastructure and water quality. we made this announcement while being joined by sioux city upport, and south polk supports. these education leaders are partners in supporting our innovative plan. we were also joined by bob, an grower mer, iowa corn leader and iowa association leader in boone county, the chool board prepares and the co-chair of the water task force. we continue to meet with education, alculture and business leaders to build support for a solution that helps schools, improves water

uality and protects iowa tax payers. today our schools rely on the secure advanced vision for education or safe fund for school infrastructure. the current law expires in the year 2029. since its inception in 2009, schools have already received $3.2 billion in infrastructure funding. our proposal will increase annual funding from the present year to $788 is 20 had y 2024 -- by the, providing $20.7 billion for school infrastructure. at the same time, by sharing the portion of growth above $10 million annually, this plan will provide nearly $4.7 billion for water quality over the same period of time.

schools will receive guaranteed growth of $10 million each year, or $100 million in new funding for school infrastructure every decade on top of what they are already receiving. this is a monumental investment in both education infrastructure funding and water quality, and it does it without raising taxes. [applause] our rich soil and abundant water -- from our rich sage: and abundant water, we are blessed with resources that are the envy of the world. over the years, positive steps have been taken to improve our state's water quality, including our innovative newt rent reduction strategy.

however, it is clear we need a stable, long-term source of funding to more significantly improve water quality from both point and non-point sources of pollution. unfortunately, the issue of protecting our state's water quality risks tearing apart the fabric of iowa, pitting des moines against rural iowa. simply put, we must significantly accelerate our water quality efforts in order to avoid eroding our path to prosperity. as we provide serpent for our schools and a reliable long-term source of funding for protecting our water quality, we must also offer certainty to engines of economic progress, hard working iowa families. the lieutenant governor and i traveled the state going to all 99 coups every year. as we do, we see help wanted

signs. jobs are available here in iowa. but some of those jobs are going unfilled because of the skills gap in our work force. institutions, community colleges, private colleges, unions and employers are working to help close those skill gaps. we recently established a future ready iowa goal of 70% of iowa's work force everything the education and training beyond high school by the year 2025. the future ready iowa initiative can help focus and better align our education, work force and economic development efforts. from the home base iowa initiative to skilled iowa, to promoting registered apprenticeships, we are enhancing iowa's work force. in 19 months the home base iowa initiative has already led to 1,700 veterans who have been

hired across iowa according to the iowa business council. [applause] also, thanks to your bipartisan support, iowa is a national leader in registered apprenticeships. they allow individuals to earn while they learn. that is exactly what joe gomez did through eastern iowa community college's registered apprenticeship culinary arts program. while completing his apprenticeship, he also earned credit from the community college.

joe has leveraged those skills into becoming owner and operator of his own restaurant in davenport. joe and his wife michelle are here today. joe, please stand and be recognized. [applause] thank you for being an example of the power of apprenticeships to grow our state's talent pipeline. last year thanks to the generous public and private sector support, more than 100,000 iowa students participated in quality programs through the work of the governor's stem council. the iowa governor stem advisory

council. i want to recognize some of the students that are with us today. from a.d.m. high school, east view score, carver elementary school in des moines, and iowa christian academy in west des moines. thank you, students, and thanks for what you are doing in studying stem for future jobs. [applause] i want to thank the stem council's co-chairs. lieutenant governor kim reynolds, and dr. chris nelson for their leadership, passion and vision. with support from the general assembly, iowa can continue to be a national leader in stem and empower more students with skills. in fact, a council

recommendation inspired our proposal to move students into the 21st century by requiring iowa high schools to offer at least one high quality computer science course by the year 20-18-2019, and for i haddle school students have the opportunity to take an exploratory unit on coding. this general assembly has a tremendous opportunity to advance more effective career guidance within our k-12 system. this is about teachers, counselors and school leaders infusing career information and career-related skills into local christmas home run. it is also about employers leading conversations in every community in our state to advance productive partnerships with educators. it is about business and non-profit communities better articulating key needs to iowa educators. we must prioritize policies on industries that are poised to

grow like birch o renewable chemicals. a state bio renewable tax credit, which is revenue neutral, will create more high quality jobs, building on our state's leadership in renewable energy. i know we can do it because we have already done it by becoming the nation's leader in renewable energy. [applause] in the 1980's, iowa began investing in renewable energies like ethanol, bio diesel and wind. we were the first state to

implement a renewable electric standard, which i signed into law in 1983. at that time we were almost -- rely dependent on cole coal for electricity, and foreign oil for motor fuel. but look at us today. we produce significantly more ethanol than we consume in gasoline, which offers our consumers more choices at the pump. we are the leading bio-diesel producing state in the nation. we are seeing significance investments with technologies with new plants. today wind generates nearly 30% of iowa's electricity generation, more than any other state in the whole country. and solar power generation is growing. it is an attractive renewable resource that is increasing --

that an increasing number of people are utilizing. all of these accomplishments show the growing diversity in iowa's economy. but we must keep looking to the future, working to understand our needs and pushing for more renewable, reliable, low-cost, clean energy to meet our needs. [applause] lieutenant governor kim reynolds is cherington our state-wide effort and working with the iowa partnership for economic progress to develop a state energy plan. this plan will include input from the public, the business community and a variety of state and federal partners and

help us set our priorities for the future. it includes an assessment of current and future energy capabilities, and it will and outline tate clear goals and strategies to keep energy costs low and facilitate economic development. companies who have invested recently in iowa cite our low cost of energy and growing use of renewables as major reasons for locating here. iowa could be the first state in the nation to meet 40% of our energy needs from wind power by the year 2020, far ahead of any other state. [applause]

the extension of the federal wind energy tax credit will help us grow wind investments and jobs in iowa. our leadership in green energy not only makes us a leader in renewables, but also powers job growth. every wind turbine you see while driving across our state means income for farmers, revenue for local governments, and jobs. let's build on that foundation for a greener iowa future. [applause] our state flag has the motto our liberties we prize and our rights we will maintain. maintaining our rights means we must maintain those rights for

all. it's time for a fresh look at our criminal justice system in iowa to ensure we are doing the right thing for all of our citizens. last year -- [applause] last year i was invited to participate on a panel at the naacp's iowa summit on justice and disparities. i was invited by my friend, betty andrews, who has joined us today. betty is the president of the naacp chapter for iowa and nebraska. betty, thank you for being here. please stand and be recognized.

[applause] at the summit, i announced the formation of a bipartisan working group on justice policy reform tasked with researching and making policy recommendations. the working group consisted of representatives from state and local government and the naacp. the efforts of the working group and the advocacy of betty andrews and others convinced me that we all need to work together to address justice in iowa. [applause]

enshurpg fundamental fairness our system is a worthy goal -- ensuring fundamental fairness of our system is a worthy goal. but it is also in line with taxpayers who fund the criminal justice system. in many cases, tax dollars may be better spent on rehabilitation rather than incarceration. [applause] we can protect the public while rehabilitating those who have committed crimes. we can take steps to ensure that the most serious of crimes are punished with the most serious of penalties. we can take steps to make sure

that when our criminal justice system does impose punishment, that we are punishing the right person, and that race does not play a role. [applause] let's take action this year in all three branches of overnment to improve our criminal justice system. in the executive branch, adam greg recently established a new wrongful conviction division to investigate wrongful convictions of innocent people. these efforts will not only bring justice for those who have been wrongfully incarcerate, but will protect public safety by ensuring that the right person is held

responsible when a crime we are already seeing a decline in the prison population, and simultaneously a reduction in the rate of recidivism because of the collaboration between the board and the department of corrections. we are focused on providing individuals in the corrections forem with the skill a need rewarding careers once they are released, including apprenticeships within the institutions. the department of corrections has dramatically reduced phone fees, as recommended by the governor's working group. [applause] >> because we know increase communications between the inmates and their families while incarcerated will lead to a lower rate of reoffending when released. the executive branch is not alone in taking action. as you know, chief justice mark

katie has become a leader in seeking to address the significant racial disparities which have become evident in the iowa criminal justice system.i applaud his efforts . [applause] >> you judges can stand for this, too, with everyone else. [applause] >> thank you. [applause] i thought i could get the judges to stand once. [laughter] >> anyway, thank you very much. areddition, the courts working to implement some of the working group recommendations, such as improving the jury selection process to ensure racial diversity of jury panels, assure aturn helps

fair trial for all. i look forward to working with all of you in the general assembly to improve our criminal justice system by examining how we can protect our children and family members from human trafficking, combat domestic violence, and examine the funding model for drug and mental health courts. a significant recommendation of the governor's working growth included the confidentiality of juvenile delinquency records. currently, under most circumstances, juvenile delinquency records are public records. that means that a juvenile, even with a minor theft or minor drug possession, can be haunted by that mistake for the rest of their life. when they apply for college, for a job, for department, for the military, some of our friends and neighbors who made some poor decisions when they were young continue to face significant roadblocks to success throughout their entire life.

we must examine whether these policies are truly protecting the public, or simply blocking success forcareer impacted iowans. a minor crime should not be a lifelong barrier to a successful career. [applause] >> juvenile records should remain confidential, unless the judge specifically finds that disclosure is in the best interest of the child and the public. this would allow public disclosure on serious cases, well giving judges discretion to allow confidentiality in cases involving minor offenses. the 86ththis is general assembly of the state of iowa, and the question before us is this: what can we do to

provide certainty and opportunities for all iowa families? together, we can forge a new path that will lead us to stable and predictable funding for school infrastructure and historic, long-term protection for water quality, a path that kenexa iowans to rewarding careers, a path that leads to exponential growth in the energy sector, a path that provides a more fair and equitable society for all. let us be bold. courageous. let us set our path toward the future and sees the opportunities -- and seize the opportunities before us. thank you. god bless you. god bless the people of violent. >> on today's "washington journal," we talked to pamela

fletcher about the future of electric cars, courageous. let and tom on the supreme court's decision to review use of executive action on immigration. "washington journal" is like each morning with your phone calls, tweets, and facebook comments. campaign 2016 is taking you on the road to the white house through the iowa caucuses. beginning monday, february 1, on c-span and c-span2, we bring you live caucus coverage, taking your phone calls, tweets, and text. live coverage begins on c-span of the republican caucus and democratic caucus. be sure to stay with c-span and join in on the conversation on c-span radio and at c-span.org. >> the u.s. conference of mayors is holding its annual winter meeting in washington.

it began with a press conference where they talked about urban issues, including criminal justice reform and infrastructure spending. the mayor of flint, michigan took part and answer questions about the city's contaminated water supply. stephanie rawlings blake is president of the u.s. conference of mayors. this is a half-hour. of the u.s. conference of mayors. this is a half hour. >> good morning and thank you so much, for my colleagues who are here with us today. i want to, before i open, i think we should go -- do our intros first, correct? so i'm going to ask the mayors are starting at my left if you could just give us your name [inaudible] >> just name and city. >> mark mitchell, tempe, arizona.

mitchell, new bedford, massachusetts. >> mcmillan, clarksville, tennessee. >> brian waller, may of piscataway township, new jersey. >> city of atlanta. >> mick cornett, oklahoma city. >> mayor joy cooper, city of holland dale beach. >> louisville. >> buckhorn, mayor of tampa. >> victor manello, artesia, california. >> i'm tom cochran with the conference of mayors staff. >> all right. just a couple weeks prior to the iowa caucus, the nation's mayors are gathered here in washington, d.c. to stress to

the presidential candidates the administration as well as congress the importance -- importance of cities and the metropolitan areas which are really the lifeblood of the american economy. cities have brought this country back from the greatest recession since the great depression and driven much of our economy's growth. as our metro economies show, nearly all the nation's 381 metro areas are projected to experience both real economic growth and job growth this year. clearly the future of this country rest with the cities. so the needs of cities so be front and center in the presidential camp and really any policy discussion focused on how we can help working families. we believe that this poinl campaign is an ideal time to change the discussion, to change the political landscape, and to focus like a laser on helping the everyday citizened that we represent.

just last week a group of us traveled to des moines to participate in the blown and black forum. presidential candidates forum. it's the only one of its kind focused on prioritizing issues impacting minority communities in the presidential campaign. as we did then, we are calling presidential candidates and congress to take seriously our mayor's compact for a better america, urging that we invest and protect our cities. invest maple leafs a federal government that must invest in our deteriorated and worn-out d-plus infrastructure. and protect means a federal partnership to support the mayors, our police chiefs and our police departments dashed as we work together to have modern, humane community policing that will help -- live in -- help people that live in

our cities, including criminal justice reform, by the way. including the fact that cities have growing needs and those have to be addressed. that is the sole focus of this winter meeting, addressing those needs. we believe that mayors are the elected officials closest to the people and thus are best suited to understand the challenges of working families. what people around our country are grappling with every single day. we know that many times those challenges are felt more acutely in minority communities. so for every positive story out there, there is still a story of someone who still lacks opportunity. our data show that at the end our 15, two felvingts of metro areas had more jobs than they did prior to the great recession. that really means that one third have not. a large number of metro economies still have not recovered from the lost jobs of the recession. this is why we must still make

jobs and investment a key part of the coming year and this is why those who wish to lead our nation must understand the importance of cities and their metropolitan areas. we need our next president as well as the next congress to be our partners, to work in concert with us so that we can [no audio]reets -- >> black liveds matter! >> that's why we're here. > that's why we're here. >> up here to talk to him. how you doing, mayor? >> all right. we need our next president as well as the congress to be our

partners, to work in concert with us so we can pave our streets, build more affordable housing, reform our police department and create good-paying jobs for those who need them. we are a nonpartisan group, and the one thing we know more than anything else, more than any other group in the political sphere right now is how we must work together. our collectev message, if you really care about the financial health of this country and the well-being of the people should be to care about the cities. you definitely need to work with mayors. i want to thank you very much. >> black lives matter! >> and next we will have our vice president of our organization, mayor cornett. >> i did want to speak to the media today about some reforms we're looking for in the

criminal justice system. there are bills in the house that deal criminal justice and we largely as the mayors urge the passage of these business. our criminal justice system in the u.s. is broken. it is not unusual for a jail in a city in the united states for 80% of the people inside the il to be innocent, not convicted of their crime. and states are largely waning out of the corrections system, they are reducing their budget. they are spending too much time or not enough time work on the recidivism issues. do we need to stop the press conference until -- >> no. >> no. > all right. anyway, there are a lot of issues involving reincidentry programs in america that are not being addressed. at the local levels these

issues are falling on the shoulders of our pume and our judicial system and the mayors that are in this radio. we need reform in criminal justice and it starts at the top and we were -- would urge congress to strongly consider the two bills that they have before them. >> thank you very much. we'll now here -- hear from our second vice president, mayor of new orleans -- new orleans, mitch landrieu. >> good morning, everybody. thank you all for coming. i want to thank all -- all of the mayors for joining with us today. our president, and mick cornett and tom cochran and all those who have joined with us today. in 2015 all the mayors from across america, from republican and democrat, all the stirks large and small, came together and talked about national security, public safety, criminal justice, economic reform, climate change and

jobs. the reason we do that is cities are where the people really give -- live, where government hits the streets. it's where we find a way to make things work all over the united states of america. in particular mayors have come together to put together the mayor's compact for a better america and we ask mayors across america to think about ways of making cities better, whether protecting our streets, our neighborhoods, our national borders, to investing in our transportation system, which everybody knows is substandard, and the immigration system and the criminal justice system that we are all working on as we get through the issues that we're talking about. so the mayors are going to join together across america. we're going to talk about ways that fix the problems that make the lives of our citizen better and we're going to ask the presidential candidates to address the issues that reflect

the problems for the cities in the united states of america so we can make sure we solve the problem where it matters most. thank you very much. >> thank you very much. now we'll hear from the mayor of atlanta. mayor kasim are reed. >> first i want to thank ms. rawlings-blake for her leadership of our organization and tom cochran for his leadership. we thought it appropriate today because last month the congress n a bill parcells -- in a bi pairtsan fashion passed the fast act and all of you here who have literally worked tirelessly to get the transportation bill passed, we knew this as real progress. so congress has funded a $300 billion, fibe-year bism it's not what we all wanted but we think it's the opportunity for

breakthrough in real job creation in the united states. what we all know and agree on is if we get back to the basics, dealing with our transportation infrastructure system nate bipartisan manner the way it used to be done, there are between 10 to 12 million very good jobs for people all across the united states be america. now that congress has passed the fast act, we need them to take the next step as we enter the presidential election phase and that really is to give more power to mayors locally because west ability to fund projects that are closer to where people actually live. i say all of the time that cities are where hope meets the street, and mayors are at the center of action for that, so we wanted to acknowledge the hard work that was done by congress on fast act but to ask them to take the next step and push more local funding

directly to mayors so that we can continue to push down unemployment and continue to keep the g.d.p. of the united states of america growing and growing. thank you. >> thank you. next we'll hear from the mayor of flint, michigan, mayor weaver. >> thank you. i'm happy to have this opportunity to talk with you all. you've seen what's been going -- going on in the city of flint, michigan. i'm glad we're getting the attention that we finally deserve to have but if you have been keeping up with what's going on -- on, this is something that in april will have gone on two years now that e haven't had clean water in our city for our kids to drink. i know that you have seen there have been some resignations going on at the top level of

michigan department and these are some good first steps. last night was the state of the state. those are some good first steps but flint needs for -- more thep -- help. so that's one of the reasons i was glad to be here, because it gave me the opportunity to talk with the president as well about what's going on in the city of flint. our congressional delegation was together todays. resources are being sent to flint as we seek. they're resources that we need, but it is still not enough. so one of the things we know has to happen is to hold the state accountable. there is money there and flint needs to be made a priority as to how these funds are distributed. this is something that nobody should have to deal with. everybody should have clean water and it's just a travesty. it's ironic when you live in the great lakes states and you don't have ackstose clean water. so this is something that continues to be a disaster for us because we don't know at

which point we will be able to drink the water yet. and so i hope other cities from around the country take note about what has happened in flint, start monitoring what's going on with your water, the infrastructure, and don't let this happen where you live. i'm glad to be here. i have felt such support from the people that i've met with, from -- from the mayors that i've met with all around the country. they have been reaching out, looking at how they can support what's going on in flint and helping us get the resources that we need. but we talked about would this happen in a different community? well, what we believe is that we know -- we know flint is predominately african-american but it's also a social, a class issue as well and we've got high unemployment and so we just need people to step up, speak up, and speak out about

what's going on in flint but i'm really glad to be here because i know we're going to get more resources. i'm going to get to talk with the people i need to talk with and we're going to do everything possible to continue to move flint forward and get us clean, guatemala water. thank you so much. -- quality, water. thank you so much. >> thank you very much. we appreciate up. >> mayor weaver, where is the money going to come from?

>> for those who have "q&a" for mayor weaver, i invite you to come ut -- up, right over here, please. all you guys -- not trying to make any assumptions. i cannot hear. i cannot hear you. yes, that's what i'm trying to say. that's exactly what i'm trying to say. just a moment, please. ok. this is for your "q&a," ok? about 20 minutes. ok. we're going to do 10-minute "q&a" with mayor weaver if i could have everybody be quieting please, so we could

actually just hear the questions? i cannot hear everybody. > come on, guys! ? don't you know me? that's right. you heard me, right? you know me! >> ok. thank you everybody. ok, mayor weaver. >> could you follow up on your comments up made earlier -- emily banler with the washington "post." your comments that this raises questions about whether this would happen in another community and hillary clinton said in the debates saturday that she didn't believe the response would have been as slow in a wealthy suburb of detroit. do you think that's a fair

assessment of what's going on and if it's precisely because t's high poverty, and minority imagine oirt the -- majority >> yeah, this is something we believe. it's a minority commurengts i -- it's a poor community ond -- and our victor santoses were are not heard. like i said, this has been going on for almost two years and our citizens spoke out about this shortly after the switch was made to the flint river water and they marched and it wasn't until marc edwards came in and -- that people started listening to what we were saying. then our memorandum community spoke out. that took a year to be heard. i was glad she brought this added attention to this and made that comment. that is also why the state and national naacp got out and put oit -- out a stadium as well.

buzz this is a civil right. it's a basic right. everyone deserves clean water. ? the governor yesterday in his state of the state address said that were failures of -- at all levels, at his level and up to fralt do you agree with that? >> well, the state is knostly ultimately responsibility but we do agree with that. people ask who do you stpwhrame the buck starts with the governor but if we want to start pointing fingers, there is enough plame to go all the way around, that is exactly right. one of the things i've decided to do with my energy and time is let the investigation show us who knew what and when because i have to put my energy on making sure the people of flint get what they need. >> why did it take so long until something happened?

>> well, that's the very question we asked because like i said, we have been crying about this for almost -- it will be two years in april. that's what we want to go -- know. what took so long? it didn't take a scientist to tell us brown water is not good. the question you asked is the same question we've had. for at asks did you have president obama when you spoke with him? >> well, one ask is we need some federal assistant. -- assistance. this is bigger than the city of flint, the state can't handle it financially. we need some federal assistant. but the state still has to step up and give us some more. yesterday when governor snyder had his state of the state, that was a very good start but we know we didn't deserve what happened to us and we deserve more support, resources and

finances as a result of that -- what happened. so that's what we talked about. [inaudible question] >> is that enough? it's a start. it's a start. that's been one of the issues with the city of flint has been broken trust and who do we believe? so the governor doing that is a good first step because he's going to have to regain trust and confidence. so that is something that's a good start for him. trust was broken over a period of time and you don't regain trust in a matter of seconds because a statement was made. so this is something he's going to have to work on for a long, long time continued something the city of flint is going to have to work on as well. >> thank you, everybody. obviously if you have individual requests, you can feel free to talk to her. other mayors are also in the next room if you want to talk

to other mayors about other issues. they are open and welcome to talk to you about individual issues. o thank you. >> why did you want to be here to protest against rahm emanuel? ills of be elected city officials all over the

country to fail to take care of the needs of the black community. there is no longer time to talk and sit down. we're just willing to do whatever we need to. >> have you been following the controversy with laquan mcdonald? >> yes. i think everybody has. >> and how did that affect you? >> as a mother and as a plaque person, it's been -- black person, it's been devastating. regardless of what the name is -- in d.c. we have alonzo smith murder by police as well. o for all of these, yes. you may remember the names of them, hopefully you won't orget the names of the government and mayors and police departments who covered it up. >> did this issue change your

view of rahm emanuel? >> i already thought he was pretty bad for the people.

>> well, i think the fact that can even -- our mayor is jut trying to pass a law to be able to have security conferences bit businesses. the burger king, the police partment -- they need to change and get rid of that kind of scoort camera evidence. and so there is no reason that these mayors continue to very

much in the police and divest in black communities. >> what do you feel is the difference -- [inaudible] >> i don't see a difference. i think to the extent i see facts that have come to life is the only difference. you can ask anybody from baltimore to southeast d.c. and south side of chicago, and our stories are the same the things that the mothers and the families say, the long-time policing issue is essential the it's in all black communities. i'm sorry, what is your game? >> april goingins. g-o-g-g-i-n-s. >> and where are you from? [inaudible]

>> any thoughts on standing with emanuel? > i don't really care. [inaudible] >> i think that it would be irresponsible as a black woman to know that these many people who purport to be able to be working on these issues while showing the exact opposite in the way that they run their cities and police departments, i think that would be impossible. to come up here and say that this is some fantasy world that they live in while the thousands and millions of people in their citied are experiencing something different and that these plillses -- policies and programs that they're introducing do something to -- nothing but put a bapped aide on. >> so you are holding up a sign about chicago. the mayor of chicago has said

we're going to increase, have people wear body cameras, all these kind of steps in protecting folks in community. is that not good enough for you? >> not at all. >> what do you believe this happen? >> the current system we have doesn't work. reform won't work. we've been trying reform police and prisons since they were both created and it's not working. so as for now i think that the biggest, mofede immediate thing that would actually bring some reef is just for the mayor to divest and the police department to divest in policing in the black community. >> you're asking for rahm emanuel to resign. what would that do? can you talk about the mechanics of what happens if he steps down, if you are going to have somebody from the city council take over? >> i think muriel bouser should

step down, too. the fact of the matter is that these people are guilty so whether or not this actually fixes the system, it's not the only reason we do things. we think it's also more important that we look at these people and the acts that they committed. or that they are not in the public. >> when you talk about divesting the police department would that man shifting of funds and -- >> yes. >> would that include police and schools and special operating units in black communities? [inaudible] >> how old are you and what do you do for a living? >> i'm 33 and i'm part of black liveds matter. -- lived -- black lives matter.

[inaudible] >> now, a panel on police performance. guests include rahm emanuel and stephanie rawlings blake. this is just under an hour. baltimore mayor stephanie -- stephanie rawlings-blake. his is just under an hour. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corop. 2016] >> we are now going to work -- move into one of our two major themes for this conference. this is an issue that is very personal to me. as you know, after 9 death of

freddy gray, baltimore broke out in civil unrest. following that tragedy, baltimore experienced its highest homicide rate per capita in history. this was the year after we reached the second-lowest homicide rate in our history. unfortunately, i know that many of your cities also face increasing gun violence, particularly homicide and a breakdown in the relationship between the police and communities that they serve. it is gauze -- because of this alarming trend that reducing violence and strengthening police-community trust have been top priorities for me as mayor of baltimore and the conference of mayors. in just the last work our working group on -- police chiefs are produced a set of numb guidelines. following the events in feg uson, new york city, and

baltimore and other cities around the country, our former president, sacramento mayor kevin johnson, appointed our working group. i since errly want to thank you for your leader -- sincerely want to thank you for your leader in that. we are now working on the implementation of the task force recommendations and i appreciate that the be director, ron zaferse here with us today. where are you, ron? thank you very much for being here. i wanted you to know and make sure that you know that we now have a dedicated page on the u scm web site that provides information on the exex popularry effort of the cities in this area and the roe sers -- resources available to you to help implement the task force recommendations. i want to again thank karen staff for he

helping that happen. in august i convened a conference when the city was experiencing a spike of -- in homicides this year. the leadership presented our recommendations to loretta lynch in a summit on violence in early october. when she discussed them with us the following monologue -- month, she said we were spot on. today we're going to talk about the challenges communities face relating to violence ant community trust and the successful efforts we can undertake to address these. ecent events in paris, san rndino, and elsewhere have brought up more. chicago mayor rahm emanuel was first elected mayor in 2011 and was re-elected last year. he's served in top positions in

both obama and clinton white houses and was a member of congress between thosestrations. he was -- has always been one to take on the most pressing and difficult issues of his chi -- city and the nation. new orleans mayor mitch landrieu is halfway through his second term as mayor. e was -- has made reducing violence a top motor. next, marc morial has been the the urban league. he served as mayor of new orleans for two tearms -- terms and is a is past president of our organization, having led the organization during the tragedy of 9/11. interesting that they are both sovens form new orleans mayors and that their fathers also served as presidents of the conference. finally, sam dotson joined the

police department before becoming chief in 2012. i want to welcome them all to the stage. [applause] >> all right. we're all good? i am going to start the panel by raising a few questions. mayors, you will notice that there are index cards at your table. if you would like to share a shot or raise a question, please write it down and hand it one -- to one of the u.s.c.m. staff members and they will bring it up. thank you for your cooperation. make sure on your index card to

put your name and the city which you represent. thank you. so. thank you all very much for joining me on what i believe is one of the most pressing topics that we face right now and let's start on a brief update on the crime situation in your cities abandon the -- and the biggest problems that you currently face. i'll start with you. >> well, i would say they're consistent, which is -- well, guns and gangs. obviously as cities we're not islands but we can put in place some of the stuff -- toughest gun laws in the sense of criminal access but guns culling from -- we know what shops they're coming from and where they're coming from and having a comprehensive national policy or regional policy would be much better than trying to create your own policy. the other thing is gangs. you cant lou gangs to become an alternative family structure

for kids where those values basically transferred to children, which is why we have put in place the largest, most comprehensive after-school summer jobs program. we now have 26,000 kids in sirm jobs and close to 25,000 kids in after school programs. even last year -- while overall crime is down over the four years 35%, we had an increase in shoot sgs and homicides. adolescents as victims of shootings declined in the city of chicago, proving what we all know, that alternatives for kids, whether with a mentor, an difficult, a supervised safe place with activities, can have a positive effect. but the two bake areas on safety in the city? guns anding gangs. >> thank you. chief dotson? >> very similar.

guns are our number one concern. st. louis had 188 murders last year, the most we've seen since the 1990's. guns are the number one problem and when we do make an arrest about those guns, we see a court system that doesn't gib us a change in outcome. i mean no change in substance abuse, no change in outcome. we always have to talk about police-community relations in. one of the sessions they talked about the accountability that has to happen. we have to get that. if we don't build on that accountability we can't attack the crime problem. >> thank you very much. mayor landrieu? >> thank you. there are a couple things going on that are trends we ule -- all need to recognize. you had this when you were in new orleans.

the violence on the streets of america is main effectiving itself in a number of different ways all at the same time. when i was able to take over the police department was for the most part bankrupt. we were under threat of consent degree. we invited the justice department to come in and begin to work with us on police-community relations. simultaneously therewith, the violence on the streets of the city, we see it happening all over the place. laid on top of that, you have boston, philadelphia, san berndino and paris and what's beginning to happen and the mayors know this already is that cities are not special interest groups any more. we're partners with the federal government and cities are becoming the tip of the spear on not only national security but public safety as well and you have to do is -- it in a way that honors and respects the constitutional rights of the citizens. there is a lot of stuff happening at oneim with the

appropriate manpower and resources that quite frankly the cities of america don't have right now. so although crime in america has generally been going down from 1996 through today, the temperature is much higher. the national security threat around potential terrorism on the streets of america has people at a heightened level avenue wareness and we're being forced to confront all of those. my plea would be for the mayors also to talk to congress and talk about the fact that on the street where it matters, whether it's frol -- federal 's ugh the u.s. marshal office or the police department, they're functioning as one unit now and have to have to -- the resources to keep america safe. we're in a tough time right now. we have to figure it out and of course, like always, we have to make it all work within a

certain amount of time and with limited resources. >> thanks. mayor emanuel? >> i wanted to take -- pake up on one thing the police chief said. if you go through prisons, there is a common set of themes much the most common theme? high school dropout, as it relates to violence. chicago is at a record high near 70% graduation ray. our sophomore class it on track according to university of chicago to hit 80% graduation rate. in the long term, the biggest impact you can make on gun violence is getting kids to walk across the stage on graduation day. that is the biggest impact that we as mayors can have. after school, summer jobs but four years ago chicago had a graduation rate of 57%. which means 43 were dropping out. today it's nearly 70% and we're

on track to hit 84% and that would have the biggest impact. obviously we've got to right now hit hard on guns getting into criminal hands, hit hard on giving kids an alternative gang life as a family structure. that's how you make the biggest impact. >> now i'm -- now i'm going to hit you with two questions, mayor morial. i want to hear some feedback on that first question but i'm also going to pose this next question to everyone to start with. mayor morial, i should say while i remain optimistic in spirit, realistically we know there is no reasonable gun legislation or reform that going to come out of congress. so as a community or as mayors, what do you think we can do to make a difference when it comes

to getting guns off our streets and reducing violence? >> good. first of all, i would like to thank the conference of mayors for bring me back. let me thank you, mayor stephanie. and all my colleagues. i'm the old guy up here. i had, and i want to conceptualize this because i've been where all uven guys, men and women, are today because i spent eight years as the mayor of my beautiful, beloved home town that mitch now leads and led the most successful police reform effort in modern american history. we had 400 plus murders. we cut it by 2/3. e led the nation with the most number of civil rights complaints in 1994. y the time 2001 came, it was

infinitesimal. who happened though was that after i left office, my successor dismantled the police reform efforts, leaving this mayor with the channel -- challenge of having to start the process all over again. now i sit in this seat as the leader of the nation's historic civil rights organization. let me say this to all of you. you've got to own this issue. you've got to own the problem. you've got to own the solution. you can't outsource it to a great police chief, although that police chief is key and is a partner. you've got to own the details. the second thing, you've got to avoid getting boxed in between whether you owe an obligation to the hard-working men and women who are police officers and the community. you've got to avoid, quote,

choosing, right? between one or the other or senior obligations. . your obligation is to the people. i told the police officers in my city when one challenged me and said, and this is important to know, will you back me if you are elected? i said, "i will back you when you're right." his answer was, "i don't need you when i'm right." now, the point of the matter is, the point of the matter is, is that the truth is, is that you do have small numbers of police officers who hold that opinion. but the challenge in many p cities is the infection of culture, the idea that you've got to, quote, back each other no matter what. no public employee, no elected official should ever support

that notion and that idea. so i want to say this to get in response -- [applause] to the essential question. when i say own the problem, this nation is crying out for the national voice of the mayors to be lifted on all be -- of these issues. they have these debates in this town between special interest groups about gun legislation, but you've got to go to the funerals. you've got to investigate the deaths. you've got to deal with the consequences. we've got to make the discussion about these issues very real. mayor emanuel, mayor landrieu. many of you have put together very effective local jobs programs. it's time for the federal government to put some money on the table to put young people to work. so i would say this just to turn it over, i really believe

that this is going to define american cities in the future. we've got to building bridges between police and community, we've got to recognize that the recession had a devastating effect and left many people locked out of the economic system, and the voice of the mayors, own the problem, own the solution. new mayors, know the status and the condition of your police department. ask the questions. ask the question, how many civil rights complaints do we have? how many pending lawsuits do i have? find out. gets -- get the facts. know what the situation is because only by knowing can you avoid being surprised, ambushed sometime down the line because of what you didn't know. ask the questions. find out where you are and then be in a better position to own the solution. >> thank you. >> i got information to add, but i'm going to be a jewish

mother. you got to move that microphone up. there it is. >> there's one right there for up. >> it the a janet jackson mike! >> want to break out the video? all right. we do have another one right there on the table for you if you want to swap. i'm going to go to chief dotson. the basic question is what can we do absent national legislation to reduce the proliferation of guns in our streets? >> i think the president's executive order say great first step but all politics is local. all municipalities need to be able to regular late their gun laws. here's the reach. we have a state that has incredibly liberal gun laws. they're controlled by people who don't live in the urban areas. we're left to deal with the proliferation of guns.

you are left to control your budgets, our budgets. we've asked for something as simple from a state court in st. louis as an armed offender docket, not to put people into jail but to track the successes, become experts in dealing with people in a cycle of violence that don't have the education, are the substance abusers. summer jobs, economics are a great answer. we have to have the ability as a local government to have the outcomes and slegs -- legislation to keep guns out of the hands of those young people you're talking about. >> i just want to jump if on the invitation that president morial gave to us. you have to run to the fire on this one. it should be clear to everyone in this room that something has gone terribly wrong in america at this moment. we have dustups all over the country. not just on you wf.

the first thing people should say is it's local -- it's local until it's not. the issue in flint, that's local until it's not. now it's a national concern. the bombings in boston. that was local until it was not. the whole message here i think we need to continue to send to congress is we are not a special interest group. we are partners in making sure that the streets of america are safe. now, this is the only place in america where people can always have an either or an or as though the world was that clear, and all of us know that it's a lot more complicated than that. so just on the issue of your police departments, i think the president said it right, you need to ask the question. you don't really wa -- have to wait for the civil rights division the department of justice to show up on your doorstep like they did with me. if you get into it and ask yourself, are the police officers being hired correctly, supervised correctly, fired at

the appropriate level, do you have the right kind of over sight when there say police-involved shooting? is my experience, we've had five consent degrees we've had to work with, is that the community will work with you if you work with them and get ahead of it. if there is a police involved shooting and there is transparent oversight, the community more often than not about will -- not will get to the right place. they're all painful to go through. they're all hard. you got to find that. now, on the side that mayor emanuel talked about, i think long term the -- no question about it the best way to keep kids out of harm's way is to give them options. so when you are fighting violence, police chiefs are saying why are you looking at me to be the father and mother of every child? you know we have a huge problem with early childhood education,

substance bution -- abuse, mental health -- just last night in new orleans, a 3-year-old was shot. we don't know the facts around how it happened, but we continually have these issues and you know all the mayors, you do this. you go to the funeral and when you are looking at somebody in the coffin, whether it's a police officer or a citizen that was killed, dead is dead and there are may -- way too many people, police officers and citizens, being killed and the mode of operation say firearm. so one thing i think all of america can agree on is we need better gun safety. it's something everybody in america needs to get better at because we die at higher levels and rates than anywhere else in the entire world and certainly we are more than our fair share of it in the city of new orleans. but the president is right, mayors lead to lead. we are the ones who can

understand the complicated nature of making sure that the police are doing the right thing, everybody is working together. because at the end of the day, everybody is from the same neighborhood. it the people of new orleans who are policing new orleans. but at some point in time, the streets are telling us that everything is not ok and you can't turn a bliped eye to this. you have to turn to it, analyze it and walk through the difficult discussions, as painful as they may be. >> yeah, i want to add a couple of perspectives about the nature of violence in urban communities today. there is an organized element drugs and gangs operating not only within many cities but also in concert with the same types of testimony acower -- occurring in other cities. it involves the transfer of

illegal narcotics, stolen weapons, fenced property. and what also goes along with this is the organized nature in which gangs operate and they operate like gangs operated in the 1930's. they are people specifically enumerated within these groups as shooters of the there are people that carry out the intimidation of witnesses, the effort to take the lives of those that maybe invading on turf. there is an organized element to the violence that's occurring in many american cities. now here's what's true. what's true is that there are only a handful of police departments in the country with the sophisticated tools, resources, and mechanisms to infiltrate some of these illegalro