i would like to see this country go in. >> are you so glad you came tonight? >> yes. >> why is that? >> i am fortunate enough to live in a state that has such a big say in this process. >> are you new hampshire born and bred? >> i've been here since 2008, before that in massachusetts. >> have you participated in every time and gone out every time the presidential candidates have been here? >> ever since i was 18, i voted in everything. >> thank you for talking to us. coming up next, a mother and son. how old are you? >> 14. >> what you think about what you saw tonight? >> i like him. his idealism, taking down isis. he wants to go forward into it more.

>> why does isis concern you? how old are you? >> 14. it concerns me because the freedom of them, they don't have as much freedom. if they come over here, we could lose our freedom. >> are you going to go out and convince other people to go to the polls on tuesday? >> yup. >> what even a say to them? >> vote for jeb bush. >> he is the reason we came tonight. i did not want him to miss the opportunity. >> does he have to come because of school or because he was enthusiastic? >> it was not in school-involved at all. it was all him. >> what about your own interests? did you know you're voting for? >> i am undecided. i like what i heard from jeb bush today, and that pushes me a little bit more towards them.

i don't have to make a decision quite yet. >> what you do for a living? >> data entry. >> how are you feeling about the economy? >> it is not in the greatest spot. i think it can get a lot better. if we stay with what were going to do now, it's not going to. more taxes for more programs is not the answer. >> new hampshire has a lot of independents in it. your politics are where? >> independent, but more towards the conservative side. there is a lot of conservative stuff i like. >> fiscal policy? social policy? >> social policy. actually, all of it. what we are doing now is not working. we know that these programs that give people everything, they

don't bring anyone up. they keep people pushed down. we need to move to where we are bringing -- as jeb bush said, start from the bottom going up. >> you only have a couple of days to make up your mind. when you going to do that and what will tip the scales for you? >> i am going tomorrow night as see marco rubio and what he has to say. i will probably make up my mind at the polls. >> are you going to go to the marco rubio in event even though your supporting jeb bush? >> yes. >> why? >> i want to hear what he has to say. it might make a difference in my thoughts. >> we are talking to people who have been at governor bush's event. tell me about your own politics. are you here as a republican, independent? >> i consider myself a conservative. i came to this bush rally two days after a donald trump rally.

i was fascinated by how much momentum donald trump can bring. it makes me wonder -- if donald trump can run a rally so smoothly and generate that momentum, i wonder what he can do for our country. i came to the bush rally thinking what can bush offered that trump did not offer, and i felt like the people tonight listen to what he had to say, but did not hear anything. >> why did you come to that conclusion? >> i feel that bush's seems to be caught up in a cycle of memorize lines. i want a leader who says more through his actions than his words. >> and mr. trump, have you made up your mind? >> i am constantly fascinated by him. yes, i am leaning towards trump. he seems to be a leader who shows you who he is without

these political lines, memorization. he seems to show you who he is and what he wants to do for this country in a meaningful way, and in sort of a trick way. he speaks what he believes. >> you mind if i ask your age? >> i am 19. >> this is your first election? >> my family and i have been coming to these rallies since 2008. we try to visit every politician, clinton, sanders, fiorina. we tried to visit all the candidates. >> are you from new hampshire? >> i am from dallas, texas. >> you have made it appear with your family to watch this. >> my sister goes to cambridge, harvard. so we stay there and travel up to new hampshire to see how human the candidates are. >> how many have you seen so far? >> we have seen five, but intend to see them all. >> thank you very much. c-span will continue the coverage of candidates until

tuesday. we invite you to watch the coverage we have been doing on our website. if you are undecided, you can watch the speeches in their entirety at c-span.org. the new hampshire primary is tuesday and a coverage continues with carly fiorina speaking in manchester. that is live setting and 8:30 a.m. on c-span2. democratic presidential candidate senator bernie sanders is also in manchester taking part in the politics breakfast host the by the new hampshire institute of politics. and the new england council. you can want to live at 10:00 a.m. here on c-span. [applause]

>> every election cycle we are reminded how important this is for citizens to be informed. >> to me, c-span is a home for political junkies and to track the government as it happens. >> it is a great way to stay informed. >> my colleagues was a site you on c-span. >> there is so much more the c-span does to make sure that people outside the beltway know what is going on inside of it. >> on the next washington journal, a history of financial primary with adam smith of the university of new hampshire and co-author of the first primary, a book about the state role in elections. then former new hampshire state senator gary lambert on his support for jeb bush. later, burt cohen on his support for bernie sanders. journal's library morning at 7:00 a.m. on c-span. you can join the conversation with your calls and comments on facebook and on twitter.

>> next, chris christie talking to voters at village pizza in newport, new hampshire. this is 25 minutes. [horn honking] gov. christie: thank you very much. we appreciate you hosting us. >> nice meeting you.

gov. christie: nice to meet you. how are you? thank you so much. i appreciate it very much. good to see you. hey, everybody. [applause] gov. christie: thank you for coming. good to see you. i am doing all right. how are you? >> you want a hamburger? gov. christie: we will see. >> i have a good tip for you. gov. christie: what is that?

>> nice to see you. gov. christie: how are you, sir. >> good, thanks. >> nice to see you. >> governor, good to see you. >> how are you doing. >> governor, how are you? >> good afternoon. gov. christie: good to see you. >> thank you so much. gov. christie: how about you? >> god bless you.

>> i hope we make it. gov. christie: me too, buddy. [laughter] gov. christie: sir. me and my wife. yes, it was. we were both there. you're right. good to see you. >> do i know you? gov. christie: thank you for coming.

thank you for being here. how are you? >> hopefully this brings you luck. gov. christie: yes. how are you? where are you from? all right. thanks for coming. thank you very much. >> good to see you, governor. [laughter] >> a quick picture. gov. christie: sure. >> could you sign? gov. christie: i will.

>> thank you. gov. christie: how are you? sure. >> thank you very much, sir. thank you for the work you're doing. >> can i have your autograph? gov. christie: of course. >> thank you, governor. gov. christie: thank you. >> thank you. gov. christie: thank you so much. ok, sure. >> i'm the governor of new jersey. i know these things. lancer alert. >> that's where our kids went to preschool. gov. christie: yes. i know where the preschool is.

we had an apartment there for a couple of years. our first house was in cranford on elm street. it was like a nightmare on elm street for us. good to meet you. sir, how are you? >> hi there. gov. christie: sir? how are you? >> we want to take a picture with you. gov. christie: you got it. >> i think so.

i did it two times. thank you. >> thank you for coming to newport. >> welcome to newport. gov. christie: thank you. >> good luck to you. you feel great, right? i'm 70. >> thank you for coming. gov. christie: my pleasure. thanks. thank you for being here today. got a tell the truth, man. that's it. let him have it. >> i want to thank you all for coming. welcome back to newport. we are looking at the next president of the united states. [applause]

gov. christie: it is great to be in newport, sullivan county. we are in the last five days of this campaign, and this is the most important time, deciding time. new hampshire residents have been shopping for a long time. now you have some big decisions to make. we are going to keep working hard, like we always have, darn your vote, support, and confidence. there is a lot of work to be done. there are a lot of votes to be swayed. we knocked on 11,000 doors last weekend. 50% of the people said they were undecided. so we have a lot of work to do. don't take anything for granted. talk to neighbors and friends, tell them who you are supporting, urge them to get out and voted watch the debate on saturday night. it should be very interesting, as they usually are. donald is coming back. we really can't wait to welcome him. [laughter] gov. christie: unless somebody insults donald between now and

saturday and he won't show up. [laughter] gov. christie: we will continue to talk about the things we need to talk about, keep our nation secure, make sure we do better at economic growth than .7%, which is what the president did last quarter. and the make sure we pick the very best person and that hillary clinton never gets within 10 miles of the white house again. [applause] >> that's the right person right here. gov. christie: we will continue to work as hard as we can, as hard as we have been working since we came here after we announced in june. my wife brings her regards as well. she is getting so famous up here after 50 days. she does events on her own now. she doesn't need me anymore. she and i will get together again later in the day for

another town hall this afternoon. we will keep working, keep grinding. that is the way you win elections in this state, and it's always the way i've won in new jersey as well. i can't thank you enough for your support. remember, keep everything drowned out over the next five days. you're going to get all kinds of crazy stuff from the media, chattering, heads on tv and all the rest. what our job is to do is decide who is the best person and vote for that candidate. they have a great history of upsets up and down the state, so were looking forward to doing very well on tuesday night. for all the folks in newport, you have been wonderful, and the haute town really, and sullivan county has been wonderful to me and mary pat going back to the summer when we came here together for the first time. we are really grateful to all of you. we are grateful for the great

courtesy you have showed us and how welcome you made us feel in new hampshire. we really feel like we have so many new friends here and it is a really wonderful feeling, so were going to keep going could you keep going, too. we have work to do good we will make sure we make a difference on tuesday night. we are busing up a lot of people from new jersey tonight. new jersey is invading a hampshire. we have a lot of folks who will be working, hundreds and hundreds of volunteers, coming up to work these last 4-5 days, so that a try to overwhelm the field a little bit with a whole lot of people, and i think looking to be really successful at it, so for all of you who have been supportive up to this point, thank you for your faith and confidence and your trust in us. for those of you we are still trying to persuade, after today, be for me and don't listen to anybody else for the next four days, all right? thank you for coming. enjoy your lunch. i just wanted to come here and say to all the folks in newport and the county, thank you for the support you have given me so for and thanks for the support i know you will give me on tuesday. thank you. have a great day.

[applause] >> thank you. gov. christie: thank you. >> thank you so much. >> i saw you yesterday and had to come back and see you again today. gov. christie: thank you so much. thank you so much. i would be happy to. thank you for your support. >> thank you. gov. christie: my pleasure. can i get a quick picture? gov. christie: sure.

ready? >> thank you. >> great. >> i am sorry to bother you again. we have more you out. -- wore you out. gov. christie: where are you from? thank you, buddy. >> tell it like it is.

>> what about me? >> thank you so much. gov. christie: thank you very much. i love these crowds. you have been wonderful friends. thank you. all right, thank you so much. thank you jersey. >> it was great to see you. i am still an attorney. gov. christie: excellent.

>> can i get a selfie with you, really quick? gov. christie: you bet i will. that is what i am here to do. >> can i get a selfie? gov. christie: sure. >> how many photos have been taken? >> great. gov. christie: i tell my kids all the time, and we will be out to dinner, and i will catch them taking photos. people are always stopping and asking for pictures. this is a good sign that dad is doing all right. [laughter] >> thank you, sir. gov. christie: thank you very much. >> thanks. i appreciate it.

>> thank you so much. gov. christie: thank you. thank you, everybody. >> did you ask him a question? >> what would you do about the situation in flint, michigan? gov. christie: i would get involved with human services. we need to make sure we bring them reliable drinking water. they should never have to request this. we need to give them help. when we got hit by hurricane sandy, we lost 255,000 homes. we have to help. we need to provide sources of drinking water.

>> good. >> good luck. gov. christie: enjoy your afternoon. >> may i have a picture? gov. christie: yes you may. >> i am from new york. gov. christie: thank you. i appreciate it. >> can i have a few more? that is my daughter. make this one out to charlie. all right. >> thank you, sir. i appreciate it. >> we came out for your first

one here in newport, and we skipped school today. [laughter] gov. christie: i love that game. >> thank you. you are awesome. gov. christie: i appreciate it. i always do. >> can i ask you a question? i know you promoted solar energy, and i was wondering what your plan would be to promote energy efficiency as president. gov. christie: we need to implement it where it makes sense, like iowa. they have room for wind

turbines. on the shore in new jersey, it would not work that well. but, we can use solar technology because it is so dense in new jersey. we could use renewable fuels in iowa, and solar panels in california, for obvious reasons. we have already reached our clean air goal for this year. thank you, thank you. >> can i get a picture? gov. christie: of course. >> i am a best-selling author and i am a big fan of yours. i came to say, hello. [laughter] gov. christie: thank you.

>> thank you very much, governor. i really appreciate it. gov. christie: hey everybody, how are you doing today? i feel good. listen, when i am working, i feel good. i do not want watch television and not do a lot of thinking. i like to be working. last weekend, we went door-to-door and asked voters what they were thinking. 50% said they were undecided. they are still shopping. i think they will be shopping until the debate.

>> governor, you spent a lot of time talking about senator rubio, i have been covering john kasich a lot. when it comes down to the governors, why are you the best choice? gov. christie: i am the guy that has been the most tested. these other candidates have not had to fight for anything have had to do. the real thing is, marco rubio is a guy who has not had to make a difficult choice in his life. they asked him to name one accomplishment in three minutes, and it did not work out very well. it is a choice between governors who have been tested, and career politicians who have never made our decisions -- hard decisions. >> these folks, i would love to

find out who these christie insiders are. you know, there are very few insiders. anybody that is talking now, they are usually the folks sitting at the bar at night. gov. christie: there is no difference between the jeb bush campaign and hours. if there was, i would know about it. gov. christie: come on, john

kasich. seriously? he put out an ad with mud all over me and governor bush. how is that effective? all of a sudden he is trying to bring sunshine and light. >> thanks, guys. >> thank you. >> thank you so much. [laughter] >> the new hampshire primary is tuesday, and on friday are road to the white house coverage continues with presidential

candidate carly fiorina speaking in manchester, new hampshire. that is live at starting 8:30 a.m. on c-span two. democratic presidential candidate, bernie sanders is also in manchester, taking part of politics and breakfast. you can watch that live at 10:00 eastern here on c-span. here is a look at a new bernie sanders and running in new hampshire. >> from postal workers to nurses, he has been endorsed for real change. endorsed as a, fearless voice for the planet. the nation endorses bernie sanders you can trust sanders because he doesn't of his political career to the financial overlords. he is not beholden to wall street money.

sanders has been genuinely outraged about the treatment of ordinary americans for as long as we can remember. >> i approve this message. >> the citizens of the granite state are not easily won. the country meeting places are hotbeds of political discussion. ♪ >> in village, town and city voters brave winter sleet to cast their vote. >> good to be back in new hampshire. >> first of the nation primary. >> new hampshire. >> new hampshire. >> it is great to be back in new hampshire. >> new hampshire's primary is the most cherished american political problem. ♪ [applause]

>> governor, thank you so much for coming to new hampshire. >> this is the place where you can observe a candidate in the heat of a dialogue, tough questions about issues. it is not just a place where there is a scripted speech. >> new hampshire take this first in the nation primary status seriously. >> this is one of many town hall gatherings will be having. >> welcome to our hundred and 50th townhall meeting in new hampshire. -- 150th meeting in new hampshire. [laughter] ♪ >> on the next washington >> the colombian president felipe has compass for john kerry at the state department.

you can want to live starting at 2:00 you're on c-span. >> probably get a ted cruz talk about addiction and recovery in hooksett, new hampshire. other speakers included vermont governor peter shumlin for hillary clinton and florida representative tom rooney. this is two hours. and 35 minutes. officials from vermont and florida. this is two hours. [mingling] >> if you could all take your seats, we are going to get started in a few minutes.

thank you so much for joining us today at our new hampshire roundtable discussion on the addiction epidemic. i am be executive director of the addiction policies forum. i would like to thank our amazing cohosts that have helped put this together, including a partnership for drug-free kids, voices of recovery, the national council for behavior health and the sheriff's department. the addiction policy forum was started two years ago and our whole goal is to bring together all of the key stakeholders to work on this crisis. them around one

table with one common goal, addressing our addiction issues, policies nationwide. today we had these key groups to discuss policy solution in the next steps in this crisis. it is a crisis. i know this firsthand as a family member. addiction shattered my family. both of my parents struggled with heroin addiction. homeless, we were living in cars, hungry. my parents were in and out of jail and prison. and finally i was put in foster care after my mom went to prison. their suffering was my suffering and my sister's suffering. we were whiplashed back and forth in a constant flux in foster care, and with other family members. and as so many of you know, loving someone with a substance abuse disorder can be agonizing as you struggle to find treatment, not knowing where to go, you struggle with relapses, you struggle with recovery and the shame. i'm very proud that my mother found recovery and she had 19

years in recovery before she passed away eight years ago today, actually. a major milestone and something that my whole family celebrated every day. and she found that through a drug program and a judge that had the foresight to connect her with a treatment she so desperately needed instead of going right back to jail. my dad was not so lucky. he never found treatment or recovery and died much too young at the age of 48. 31 years later, 31 years ago, i was put in foster care and now i'm an adult, i have young children of my own, i work in addiction policy, i work with -- i'm sort of a daughter of all these different fields. starting in prevention and working on treatment and criminal justice reform and recovery support services. i am frustrated. i'm frustrated that in three decades we have not made as much progress as we should have and we are still faced with these same challenges and so many new families going through what my family went through.

so long ago and continues to struggle with. this crisis is sort of at an all-time high, really. we have 129 people dying a day of overdoses in our country. that's equivalent to two commuter planes crashing every single day. and admissions for opioid treatment have increased 500% in the last year. of the 22.7 million people who need treatment, only 10% will get it. 10%. can you imagine if only 10% of those that need diabetes treatment or cancer treatment or alzheimer's treatment received the care that they needed? 10%. that's 129 sisters, sons, daughters, mothers. but what if, what if by working together we treated addiction across this nation like a disease, with individualized treatment and follow-up with each patient? what if every child in our nation's schools had the adequate dosage of prevention, starting early, and continuing every year

through their adolescence? what if we had robust recovery services for those in recovery, from recovery housing and schools to community supports? what if medication assisted treatment was available to those who need it? what if we treated individuals with substance use disorders in communities and treatment systems instead of haphazardly through our jails and prison, only to shackle them with criminal histories that make recovery so much harder? what if science informed our handling of this deadly disease? i think we are within reach of each of each one of these. coming together today, to raise awareness and bring change we need, we are getting much closer. it is my pleasure to introduce our first speaker today, we're joined by governor shumlin. the governor is a great leader on these issues. he actually was a speaker at our very first addiction policy

forum almost two years ago in washington, d.c. so we're so glad to be joined by him today. the governor endorsed secretary clinton for president and is speaking here today on her behalf. he's changed the national conversation about opiate and heroin addiction after dedicating his entire 2014 state of the state speech to this epidemic. he's called for renewed focus on treating addiction like the health care crisis that it is, rather than relying solely on law enforcement to solve the problem. since then, vermont has expanded treatment options for thousands, distributed overdose rescue kits that have saved hundreds of lives, and begun implementation on innovative new programs that allow nonviolent addicts to enter into treatment rather than the criminal justice system. and he's greatly expanded medication assisted treatment throughout his entire statement , so now i'd like to welcome governor peter shumlin. [applause]

mr. shumlin: thank you very much. let's give it over to jessica for sharing her story. [applause] jessica is why we have hope. it takes very tough family experience to turn into action. i know that is what so many folks in this room are doing, focused on this challenge together. why i, i have to tell you am so honored to be here, and why i am working so hard for the secretary to be our next president. this is why i am working so hard, and it really matters. i don't want to give you a long speech. i'd really much rather have a dialogue. i want to make a few comments to open things up. listen, what are we politics really good at? talking. listening to ourselves talk. so rarely listening to anybody else talk, so one day i'm sitting in my office, this is many months ago, when this campaign was just starting for the secretary, and my phone

rings and my staff comes running in. the secretary clinton wants to talk to you. what does she want to talk to me for? i have no idea. i said, great, put her on. i've never spoken with her before. i pick up the phone. and i figure it's going to be another one of these many politicians going through new hampshire, talking about how great they are. she said, you know, governor, i'm calling you because i've heard about the things that you're doing over there to fight opiate addiction and something really strange has happened to me. she said, when i go to new hampshire, when i go to iowa, when i go to all these states, something has changed dramatically since last time i went out as a candidate. i'm meeting mom's, i'm meeting dads, i'm meeting brothers and sisters, i'm meeting neighbors and friends and they're just telling me horrific stories, she said, they're from all walks of life. they're rich and they're poor. they're middle class. they're all colors. they're all parties. the disease seems to know no exceptions and they're telling

tragic, tragic stories. about losing family members to opiate addiction. and i hear that you're doing some things in vermont, can you tell me what you're doing? and then she did something that i rarely have known politicians to do. she just listened to me talk about all the great things that we are doing together in vermont. while, i thought maybe she'd hung up the phone. because usually politicians interrupt you so they can talk. and she just listened. at the end of that conversation, i said, i'm happy to help in any way i can on this issue. four weeks later, she came out with a five-point plan on opiate addiction that is exactly what i love about hillary clinton. she listened, she took it into that extraordinary brain of hers and basically came out with a policy on opiate addiction and alcohol addiction, that if

implemented will finally give us the help of the federal government that we need, and to ,inally take this battle on this disease on, and treat it as a disease and not a crime. what was her five-point plan? it was mirrored on some of the things she'd heard from me and i'm sure some of the things she heard from people much smarter than i am on this subject. because i am no expert. but the plan's smart. $10 billion, five-point plan. first, criminal justice reform. i said, listen, when i was having the same experience you're having, in vermont, by the way, it's great to be over here in eastern vermont today, but i said, you know, in western vermont, when i go out and talk to folks, i find that there are stories that just make you want to sit down and cry. so i started asking folks, i went in to treatment centers, i went into our prisons, i went in and talked to addicts all over the state. they told me that we were doing almost everything wrong.

so i said, well, where do we start? and addicts told me this, and i passed it on to the secretary and it's in her plan. she said, listen, what folks said to me is that when you're busted, when you've bottomed out, when the blue lights are flashing, that's the most likely chance that we have to move someone from denial to treatment. and i know i have alcoholism in my family. and we all know how much denial can come with that. but you can put that on steroids when it comes to opiates. and what we were doing in vermont was the blue lights were flashing, we throw new handcuffs, we haul you off, it takes four or five months to wind your way through the criminal justice system and then we usually put you in jail. and by the time you get to the judge, you're back using, you're back abusing and you've lost that window of opportunity. so instead, we put third party assessors in every county in vermont. and when you get busted, they

come in and determine as experts, is this someone that will hurt you or is this someone that's more likely just to hurt themselves? and you all know as family members, as community workers, as law enforcement, 99% of folks won't hurt you. they'll just hurt themselves. and we say to those folks in vermont now, if you're going into treatment, if you get into our program with all the wrap-around services, we'll get you back into a productive life, you stick with us, we'll stick with you, you'll never see a judge, you'll never see a criminal record, and you'll never see a court. and it's working. we've saved $50 million in the last three years on putting folks in prison, instead moving them to treatment. guess what? they've got hope. [applause] they've got a job. they've got life and they're getting back with their families. so that's hillary's first plan. criminal justice reform. second, we said, we got lines for treatment. let's not tell you this story,

because i'm from new hampshire. i'm in new hampshire, my dad's from vermont, but his doctor is up in hanover. when he got diagnosed with cancer and he's since passed away, you know, they tell you now, this is a cancer that you might inherit for the kids and everybody else in the family, or this is a behavioral cancer. they told him his was behavioral. that he'd smoked for years and years. he had cancer of the esophagus and it was going to take his life buzz they'd do everything -- but they would do everything they could for him. we did everything we could. why is it that when my dad is diagnosed with cancer that's created from a behavior that we all know isn't very smart, smoking, that we say, we will do everything we can to keep you on this earth as long as we can and you will not stand in line? but, if you're an addict, to opiates, we say, get in line, we

might serve you sometime, usually sometime later. so hillary's plan, is build out treatment centers, give states like new hampshire, a 20-80 match in funds. get rid of the waiting lists. treat this like any other disease, stop the discrimination, line up and let's make sure that there are not lines for treatment but -- instead of having lines for treatment we've got lines for folks saying, there is hope for my future life and we're going to get to work in treatment. that makes good sense. [applause] that's plan two. treatment for everyone. federal government, 80/20 match. that's huge, so states like new hampshire can get into the treatment business. third, we have found that not right to let not people die in the streets. so we've gotten rescue kits. i had the first state police force in america, local police, sheriffs, firefighters, ambulances

and emts. everyone will take it. we've saved hundreds and hundreds of lives. i was speaking with your police chief. they saved 33 lives right in this community in 2015. they had rescue kits. hillary says, 20/80 match, we'll get you the resources you need to be able to afford it so no addict dies in the streets any more than we let you die from any other disease in the streets of america. fourth, she says, let's make sure that we enhance, with federal help, the database, so we stop pill shopping across borders and doctor abuse where folks can go in and line up this stuff, f.d.a.-approved oxycontin arrest, put them in their pockets and keep getting more of it with no questions asked. and fifth, she says, let's change the attitude about the disease. let's get rid of the stigma. and let's work together on prevention so that we can actually stop the flow and. and all i can say is, i don't

think there's a smarter, better plan in america. and it impresses me that she listens instead of talks, she brings people together to get tough things done, and with that zoo down there in washington, d.c., i don't think we'll find a better candidate who can actually bring people together to get things done. i just want to close by saying this. listen, we got to ask at some point, why are we in this mess? why are we in this mess? what has changed in america? we did not have hair when addiction in many numbers in vermont. you did not have lots of heroin addicts in new hampshire. one thing we refuse to talk about, which hillary is willing to take on his we got ourselves in this mess.

get this, there are three letters that can express my frustration, and it is hard to find words. there are three letters that can express my frustration with where we are, and they are, fda. think about it. when we approved oxycontin in america, the company that lied to doctors, nurses and health care providers and said it was nonaddictive and sign people up for this as the nonaddictive painkillers. ,hey pleaded guilty to charges three other top executives, to lying because they knew it was not true. them pay a $77 million fine, the same year they sold $11 billion worth of oxycontin.

in 2010, we sold enough oxycontin in america to keep every adult high and america for over a month. in 2012, we sold enough oxycontin in america, 250 million prescriptions. how many folks do we have in america? that was a bottle for every single living american. pharma same time, state farm lobbied congress to get their way for profits. year, the fda approved hydro coding. it's oxycontin on steroids. it's going to be our next big enemy. their own advisory panel, 13 docs, voted 11-2 to the f.d.a., do not approve this one. they did it. this year they voted to give oxycontin to kids. you cannot make this stuff up. so we need pat who has the guts

-- we need a president who has the guts to take this one on. it's hillary. i ask you here in eastern vermont, give hillary a shot, she'll get it done. thank you. i'd be happy to take any questions you might have. yes? questioner: [inaudible] what you're saying is the biggest pusher in the country is the f.d.a.? [inaudible] mr. shumlin: that's exactly why i think hillary clinton will appoint an fdic -- in fda that's not in the pocket of big pharma but in the pocket of america. that's the way it should be. questioner: [inaudible] mr. shumlin: we can argue about that. all i can tell you is that in my view -- [applause] in my view, i would argue that

the entire washington political establishment gives big pharma too much power. and that's why they spend $422,000 per congress person to lobby them. but i have to say, i'm proud of president obama. he's gone out and said, $10 million to fight this disease this week. he's just put his secretary in charge of bringing together rural communities to help solve rural problems. i think we're making some progress. what else is on your minds? yes? questioner: hello. my name's holly. i'm a person in long-term recovery. and i love the stuff you're doing in vermont. with the vermont recovery network. but i didn't hear in the five-point plan, what is hillary's plan or your plan to support the peer recovery support and protect the investment in treatment? mr. shumlin: that's a great question.

first of all, thanks for all that you're doing and for your courage in speaking up. the beauty of hillary's plan is that she really listened to what i and others said and said, listen, it's not -- i'm not going to come up with a federal program that duplicates the good work that vermont and new hampshire and other states are doing. instead, you send me your plan and, assuming that it's real and it's making progress, i'll send you 80 cents on the dollar for every concurrent program that you're funding. that is our big problem as governors. we're scraping pennies together to fight this battle. so what hillary's saying, is states innovate, states get it right, those states that are making a difference will get 0 cent on the dollar -- 80 cents on the dollar, federal match, for all of the above, including prevention, which is what you're talking about. that's what's been lacking from washington, d.c. questioner: [inaudible] mr. shumlin: me too. questioner: [inaudible] mr. shumlin: absolutely.

what she's saying is she'll support 80-20 our recovery program. comprehensive program. and she gets that it's all part of a comprehensive answer that we've got to work on together. so it will not be a top-down from washington, this is my plan, this is how you'll do it. she's saying, i'm seeing incredible work states are doing and some that aren't doing anything. i'm going to have a program where governors learn from other states, see what's working and we'll match it 80-20 as soon as the program is in place. questioner: i understand but our state is not investing $1 in peer recovery services. so that's really good, but for the person on the ground, for the recovery community organization on the ground, we are receiving no state funds and no federal dollars without a way to access that. i'm not seeing candidates they

give the private community a way to help. that's what my question continues to be. as i go through this unaffiliated, undecided process and vet out candidates. i'm still not hearing the answers i need from my peer community. mr. shumlin: what i would say to your peer community is, you're just warming up on this one in new hampshire, as you know. i think it's impressive that the governor and others are pulling together a bipartisan group in the legislature to really take this one on. i do think that vermont is ahead of you in many ways. particularly, in the areas you are talking about. but what hillary, what secretary clinton is saying is, listen, it's got to be all five. it's got to be prevention, treatment, recovery, in other words, you can't just say we're going to take a slice of the pie, we need a comprehensive plan, states need to come up with it, if it's real, i will fund it 80-20. and these are the guidelines by which you have to hit and recovery is a big part of it.

it would allow new hampshire to have the resources to do what they should be doing. let's be honest about this. this state, you know, is tight on resources. you got no income tax. you got no sales tax. i recommend you adopt both. [laughter] what else are you wondering? listen, i just want to -- yes? questioner: hi. my name's richard. we don't know for sure that it's a disease, we think it's sin . this is a church. we also think we are looking for a candidate that does not want to kick god out of our country. people should come to jesus, not to drugs for rest in peace. mr. shumlin: thank you for that, for your opinion. i have to tell you, i don't think there's anyone in america who would say, we don't need to tap everything that we can as we deal with this crisis. and, you know, there are a lot

of folks who, as you know, we have many church-based support groups, treatment programs, churches have been an extraordinary resource for a.a. and drugs and alcohol anonymous -- alcoholics anonymous. there's no question they have a really important role to play. everyone's going to decide individually about their faith. but all i can tell you is, there's no question that we need everybody involved in helping us to solve this problem. you make a good point. what else are you wondering? i understand you have another candidate coming. i am not running for president. i just want to let you know that. this is my promise. i can promise you i never will. i do what to say, before i close up, you hampshire is incredibly important in terms of the presidential selection process.

i cannot remember in my lifetime, having a democratic candidate for president, i know you are not all democrats, but on our side, that has more brainpower, more experience, more compassion, more heart and more willingness and capability to bring people together to solve problems that hillary clinton. thank you for all that you are doing, and we will keep on it. i you are for ted cruz, accept that. fair enough. i am not here to argue that. i am glad you are here for ted cruz, but if you change your mind, but for hillary. take you so much for having me. [applause] ms. nickel: thank you very much. we appreciate you taking the

time to be with us today. we have a number of partners that have come together to work on this issue. i'd like to introduce you and welcome to the stage a very important partner today, our host, pastor eric davis here at emanuel baptist. we have been so grateful to work together, to sort of bring hold -- our stakeholders and experts together at this key organization. this does not work with all of us not at the same table, and that includes our faith-based treatment partners, our clinicians, our secular treatment programs. there is room for everyone to engage, to make sure that we are looking at this holistically. this is upbeat -- this is about

being inclusive. and we're so grateful for pastor davis and his work and the great work that this church in hosting us today, all of us in the house of worship. if you give us a few minutes of your time. [applause] mr. davis: thank you, jessica. i want to thank you all for coming out here this afternoon while we wait for ted. a few remarks that i would like to make. first of all, jessica's an amazing individual. the addiction policy forum is just a fantastic organization. and i completely agree with her that we need to bring all of these organizations together and give everyone a chance to reach people, to help them find recovery. as a pastor, obviously i lean toward the faith-based program. but i also understand this, that there is a physical component to addiction, that sometimes you

need to move beyond just the faith-based program. my daughter has cerebral palsy. i prayed that god would heal her. he chose not to. she developed mental illness two years ago, almost three years ago, a mental illness called psychosis. i prayed that god would heal her. he chose not to. he chose to lead us to psychologists and psychiatrists in town who administered medication and she is back to her happy-go-lucky, sarcastic, 23 -- 24-year-old know it all self. and so, we do want to recognize that there are different avenues and there are different venues. i favor the venue of faith. but i believe that faith can cooperate with medicine. [applause] i also believe that faith can cooperate with counseling. i want to start really quickly, i told her i had very few remarks, so my church will

probably laugh at this, this is going to be three hours here. you're in a church. this is not a political rally. i know some people are cranky about that. but we do not endorse any single candidate for the president of the united states. i still have not made up my mind. i am from new hampshire. i will make up my mind on luke tuesday. chapter four, you're in a church, maybe you're not familiar with luke. he wrote one of the gospel accounts of jesus. in luke chapter four, he wrote this, it's a quote of isiah. and jesus is speaking, he says, the spirit of the lord is upon me because he's anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor, he's sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed. my friends, there is nothing more oppressing than addiction.

there is nothing more oppressing than addiction. and so one of the things that really fires my heart, and when i spoke with jessica, we talked about this, is putting a face to addiction. it's putting a face to the people that are in the shadows. and i appreciated the governor's remarks about that, removing the stigma. we seem to want to marginalize people that are different than we are. that struggle with different things than we do. so throughout this process i hope we'll humanize the victims. we'll hear from a dad whose daughter died tragically from her addiction. folks, these are family members. i have a 14-year-old daughter going to a school, which i almost told where you it was, but i'm

not going to tell where you she goes to school. [laughter] but she goes to public high school. heroin is in public high schools. i was talking to jessica, and i said, you know, as a dad, as dads, what are we mostly worried about? we're mostly worried about our teenage girls getting pregnant from some rotten teenage boy. i agree with that. i think that's why we need more guns. and shovels. i'm just saying. just saying. [laughter] and property. shovels, guns and property. [laughter] yes, ma'am? >> so, sorry to interrupt. would jane join me? we just need to move your vehicle briefly. thank you, ma'am, so sorry to interrupt. mr. davis: where's jane? everybody watch jane now. [laughter] that's like the worst thing ever. now she's got to get up and walk

out in front of all you people. so let's get all eyes up front. don't look at jane. look over here. ok. all right. [applause] we worried about our teenage daughters getting pregnant but reality is, we need to realize there are some other very serious issues that our kids face today. this issue of addiction is one of them. i drive my daughter to the bus stop and we spend about 15 minutes together before school. and the other day i realized, she's 14 years old and i have not spent very much time warning her about drug addiction. i've heard it said that it only takes one hit of heroin to make an addict for life. it's that dangerous. it's that dangerous. and so we need a comprehensive approach. we need prevention. jessica's going to talk about, this awesome website that she's starting, this awesome foundation to help parents get tools in their hands, to protect

their kids. beyond that, i want to warn us again not to marginalize the addicted. because here's the reality. we are all broken people. everyone in this room, i hate to inform you, but we're all broken people. the bible even says that. we're all wounded. we all have some bend towards something. a perversion of something that god has given us that is good. i want you to think about it. how many of you could lose 20 pounds today? that's probably because you're addicted to food. you're going to look down on this person that is addicted to heroin. listen, i like steak just as much as the next guy. but it's nowhere near as addicting as heroin. but i want to lose 20 pounds. and i haven't yet. but we look down on the person that perhaps when they were a kid took a shot of heroin and we

say, why can't you break that addiction? what's wrong with you? well, what's wrong with you, chubby? [laughter] what's wrong with you? you can't quit smoking? what's wrong with you? sex addict? what's wrong with you, person that's always in a relationship, that harms you and others around you? we are all broken people. and this is why jesus christ came. we talk about sin. this fellow over here. he said, let's call sin sin. i agree. sin is sin. what i don't agree with and what i think people misunderstand is this, that when god calls something sin, it's not just about a moral failing. when god declares something a sin, it's because he loves his creation so much that when they get involved in something that harms them, he calls that sin. you follow what i'm saying? god's moral law, if you will, is not there to kill our joy or

to keep us away from enjoying things that are good. his rules are there to protect us from harming ourselves. so maybe if we start to think of sin more than just breaking the rules, you start to think of sin as not doing things that harm ourselves and others, we might realize what this cross is all about. jesus christ is about compassion and a love for the person that is broken and wounded and that's the heroin addict and that's the person that's stuck in a bad relationship and so that's why christ came. he came to die for our sins and to pay the penalty. but not just that. he came to rise from the dead, to give us hope. his death took away the penalty and the wrath of god. but his life gives us hope so that when we in the faith community, when we pray to jesus, we know that we're not praying to a dead god or an

empty altar. we're praying to a god that hears our prayers and can come and have at our lives. i would encourage you not to dismiss the faith-based community. but faith-based community, i want to encourage you not to dismiss the medical community as well. let's work together. let's support each other. so i want to you consider that. we're all broken people. we all have bends toward things that are harmful to ourselves. and these good things, they can be used well or they can be used poorly. so our addiction problem, i look at it this way, it's three-fold. it's a physical problem. when we fall into an addiction, really, an addiction of any kind, as i've studied it out, and the chemicals that are released in the brain, sometimes they're released by an addiction, sometimes they're released by a behavior, but they lock into ourselves a pattern

that is incredibly difficult to break. so it's physical. i also look at addiction as emotional. it's an emotional addiction, it's an emotional problem that sometimes may require some deep and professional counseling. i'm a pastor. i do counseling. but i find one of my greatest strength is this, knowing when i do not know, so there are many times when now be in counseling with someone and i will say this, we need to stop. you have gone beyond my expertise. i need to bring you in connection with someone else who can take you to the next step. but it is also this. it is a spiritual problem. and we have a great spiritual problem in our nation today. it seems as though god is being pushed out into the corners and we're trying to marginalize god and spiritual things. my friends, whether you believe in jesus, whether you believe in allah, whomever you may believe in or not believe in, we are spiritual beings. and we need to nourish that

spirit as well. thank you for your time. i appreciate you coming out here today and hope that you will not leave this place unimpacted by the things that you hear. again, it's not about voting for someone. this is not a political rally. this is a rallying cry to look at our daughters and to look at our sons and our brothers, our fathers and our mothers, and recognize that these people that are struggling have the very same value to their life as you do. and my republican friends, and my pro-life friends, those of that you are anti-abortion, listen, the life of that addict is just as valuable as the life of that unborn child. and we need to start taking that very seriously. jessica. [applause]

ms. nickel: thank you so much, pastor davis. we're so lucky to have you as a partner, as we continue these discussions and our efforts to bring all sectors together to work on this as a team and not leave anyone out and away from this table. i'm not sure if our next speaker is here yet, so i'm hoping someone will flag me down when we are ready for the next portion. oh, he is here. great. hi, paul. nice to see you, too. we are very grateful and lucky to have paul here with us today. he's an experienced entrepreneur, strategic business consultant, licensed florida real estate professional and a land developer. he founded and built companies including an original blockbuster franchise, he sold a

company in new hampshire, and the naturalized and clean shower product line sold to color --clorox. he received marketing awards for clean shower, including two from the american marketing association and a top 100 marketers award from the advertising age. mr. porter earned a b.a. in management science from duke university and an m.b.a. from harvard. he's also a volunteer founder of camp cruz and we are so grateful that he's here today with us. [applause] mr. porter: that all sounded really great. but is chief bartlett here? hey, chief. in putting this deal together, all that sounded great. the chief said, i lived in

florida and new hampshire and when i called him up and put this together, he said, you know, i used to be an undercover drug agent in manchester. were you living your in the 1980's? i think i know you. [laughter] good, that sounded really but what it was was someone trying to woefully get their way through life, and as any recovering alcoholic addict will readyou, as they have their 12-step program carefully, we never quite finish anything and we get tight at all the wrong times. i used to do that. i was born in massachusetts, not far from here in a little town called charlton. i went to the hospital when i was five years old. when i came out of the hospital,

i know i was can have a hard time today. most of my family was gone. our store was gone, our home was gone, and likely my mother had taken my siblings out but i lost my dad, my grandparents, my uncle and we did not have a home or a grocery store. we were behind a dam that broke. it was 1955. i have come to realize that i have been able to get myself away from crack cocaine for nine years now. [applause] i had a very hard struggle with that. for about 25 years of my life. all these -- a lot of these things she ticked off, i was, you know, an irregular but

constant user and i would mess up my life and never finish anything, as the big book said. when your family gets -- i don't know how my mother did it. we ended up moving to florida. my grandfather had built a home in florida and she took us away from all my dad's relatives and everybody and just wanted to escape. i don't know how she didn't become an alcoholic and didn't become a drug addict. i don't know how she did that. she's still alive, god bless her, at 94. she had lost everything she ever knew in her life. she grew up in a small town in massachusetts, like you know up here. 2,000 people, 3,000 people. they were the grocery store for the town. but 15 minutes after she walked out of her house, every piece of silver wear, every picture, every -- you know, they found her mom eight miles away two weeks later. because her diamond ring caught the sunlight in the mud.

i've come to believe in the last nine years from being heavily involved in going to meetings and everything, that people get damaged a lot when they're children. i call it abandonment issues. i don't think it matters whether it's orphanage or molestation or -- and i think that it does something that allows the, you know, i've come to believe in recovery because my recovery's all about spiritual recovery. my recovery's all about exactly the way bill w. wrote about it in his group, about what i have to do to stay sober every day. is that i have to have a relationship with god. and that i work very, very hard to have that relationship.

the big book says that i can stay sober, subject to the maintenance of -- on a daily basis, subject to the maintenance of my spiritual condition. i had been a master of the universe. i was 32 years old and i was a master of the universe, just ask me, i would have told you. and i went to a meeting with a couple lawyers in boston on the top floor of one of the conference rooms in 60 state street and it was 1982 and they laid out some white powder i'd never seen before. i grew up in the drug generation. i never became addicted to anything. i snorted this stuff and i think it was the first time in my life i must have ever felt good. because i was instantly addicted to cocaine. and it ruined my life. within a number of months after that happening, i got involved with -- i was all of a sudden now hanging around with all the wrong people.

before that happened, you know, i was very close to senators and governors and lieutenant governors, treasurers of campaigns on state-wide basis. i was in the white house at 26. i'd coached basketball at duke by the time i was 23. i had all these different things that i had done that people would work a lifetime for. and i never appreciated them because part of having the damage that occurs to people that go through these abandonment issues is you live a life in low self-esteem. and you cover it up with a false ego. and it makes it very hard to relate to people. and people can't relate to you. one of the characteristics, you tend to have friendships with the opposite sex. well, you're supposed to have friends with members of the same-sex. but people that are in the program of recovery, before they recovered, they traditionally

had always had relationships with members of the opposite sex. they couldn't get along with members of their own sex. and this is this spiritual disease that the big book talks about. and it is that. i recognize in getting sober that, you know, i know it's luke 11:17, a house divided against itself cannot stand. and essentially, when you get sober, you cast a demon out as luke says. and that demon is searching for food and drink, finding none, it comes back to inhabit its old haunts. finding them swept and clean, it brings back seven demons stronger than itself. so if you believe as i have come to believe through this program

of recovery that we're -- if you -- that we're the battlefield, those of us that are damaged goods are the battlefield, because the devil did not want to lose me. so he wants to send seven demons stronger than the last one to come get me. so i have to be very vigilant. but, the beauty of it, and i'll use this event as just one example, is that i have become so vigilant that i've learned how to, you know, and it's not a fake word. i've learned how to practice faith. i was really good at practicing basketball. i was really good at practicing the piano and practicing drums. i never thought about practicing faith. it's just like anything else. you've got to get better at it. when you get better at it, you get rewards of what that means. the big book tells me in step 11 that i will learn to have a sixth sense that will guide me,

if i can stay in the present. so, now, imagine this. i was a master of the universe at one -- universe, at one time i was worth, on paper, $11 million or $12 million. in 2007, january, 2007, i was homeless, pennyless, foodless, clotheless, everything-less. and some guy came over and picked me up in the middle of the night, he was a short patrol guy at the mayport naval base. i guess he must have had a room for rent advertised and i knew i had to get out of this place where i was and just had to get out and this angel picked me up in the middle of the night. and the next day i had nothing to do, i only had to close -- had the clothes on my back. that's all i had. and i had nothing else. i was, what the word is, what the two words are, it's called incomprehensibly demoralized.

so i was sitting on a bus stop, some young lady said, i'm going to a meeting, you need to go to one, i think. and she gave me bus fair. i went with her to the meeting and i sort of never left for about seven or nine months. i really, really didn't leave. i was afraid to leave. about the third day i was there, somebody spoke at a saturday night meeting and something came over me and i had what they call a spiritual experience, for the first time since i could remember i didn't feel alone anymore. and i began to read the big book

and very quickly i realized there was a certain five-word sentence in the big book of a.a. it was the only choice in the entire first 164 pages of the big book. and it said, god either is or isn't. i had done the isn't. how did that work out for me? it got me from 1982 or 1983 of being arrested for, as i told you, i started hanging around with the wrong people, and i ended up in some kind of reverse drug sting. i wasn't even in the state when it occurred but i'd been around these people and gotten a few ounces of pot and i was the guy that made the news and i was such a master of the universe that when they got me three days later, they did a joke about me on "saturday night live." now, tell me, when you're really, really depressed that

your whole life you just saw go down the toilet and you're at home really, really depressed and you're watching "saturday night live" to pick you up and they're doing a joke about you. i got arrested for cocaine, trying to buy crack, and for, you know, parking ticket in san francisco, actually, it's easier to get a ticket for solicitation than to get a speeding ticket in florida. that's san francisco, i guess. so i got a parking ticket or something in san francisco for solicitation. i've gone through all the terrible things that drug addicts go through, that behavior that we have. so, here i am. trying to get sober, totally lost and out of it and i can tell you this. god gave me an immense amount of talent and i misused it and misused it and misused it. all of a sudden you're standing with nothing and you've lost

everything and you're nowhere and you know that if you start thinking about everything that you did, you'd want to kill yourself, and if you started thinking about how bleak your future looked, because there was absolutely no way anybody would even let me work anymore or anything, you'd want to kill yourself. so i realized that -- i read a book called "the present." and the gift of the present. you know, jesus commands us to stay in the present. i learned that if i prayed all day long, if i prayed unceasingly, i didn't think about stuff because i couldn't pray and think at the same time and i couldn't pray and have fear at the same time and i couldn't pray and regret my life at the same time and i just started to do this stuff where when i stayed in the present, i started to actually get intuition. i'd get on the right bus at the right time.

i stopped being woeful. i just allowed my life to go wherever it took me. and because i went so deep into the woods, it took a long time for me to come out of them. there wasn't a lot of opportunity and i did finally get hired by a real estate agent, a very big firm, that used to represent me, and now i'm working for them, but i was blessed to get it and i've been able to -- it took a long time, like, i had an angel that took care of me for a number of years and tried to help me get back on my feet, but god didn't want me to get back on my feet until he knew i was humbled enough. i wasn't easy to humble. it took 25 years to go to the bottom and have nothing and be so humbled that i had nowhere to go but to find him. i'm so blessed that i did. putting this conference together turned out a miracle that

jessica showed up. the pastors would tell you this whole thing fell apart on saturday. don't worry, god's got it taken care of. i'm writing the preachers, it's ok. god will fix it. i go to church sunday, ok, god, what do you want us to do? had a call with both pastors at 10:30 monday morning, and jessica calls me and says we'd love to put on this event. so that was just -- that was just a blessing. when i was getting sober i had no money or anything and as long as i kept doing the right thing, people in my a.a. club would come and give me five bucks, three bucks, for whatever reason the salvation army major at the a.r.c., adult rehab center, used to allow me to come into his place and have dinner and lunch. which was miles away from where i lived, but i would ride the bus or my bicycle or something -- by the way, three months sober the most important day of my life, my entire life, was

somebody letting me use the bicycle. that's how i learned to be blessed. that was the most happiest moment of my life. three months of walking and somebody let me borrow their bicycle. oh, my god, i thought i was off to the races. that's how much i had to fall in order to rise again. about 18 months ago -- i don't know if senator cruz is ready to come in or not. i haven't been texted that yet. all right. then i'll quickly move ahead. about 18 months ago i was very blessed -- i started praying about how can i not leave my daughters, this country that i don't recognize? i said, god, if you could just allow me to use the talent you gave me that i have destroyed over and over again. that i didn't use properly.

that i didn't use to your benefit. let me have one shot. let me help my kids so i can look them in the eye and say i tried. and somewhere in march, i turned on the tv and senator ted cruz was on tv announcing for the president of the united states, and i picked up the phone and called a guy i knew, a guy named rick tyler, i knew rick to be a godly man and a humble man, and i knew if i called rick he would tell me what i should do. he said, paul, i'm already here. but there's a fundraiser tomorrow. i got on a plane, bought rick a at the time, i went and met senator cruz, his wife, all the people around him. and i am -- they have let me

help -- they have let me in to help them. they have welcomed me despite all the things in my past. i'm so grateful, senator ted cruz. [applause] senator cruz: paul, thank you for that powerful testimony. what an uplifting story.

what a human journey. it's a journey every one of us understands. every one of us has seen people we love stumble and fall. and hopefully we have seen people pick themselves up again and turn around. this topic, drug and alcohol addiction, is a epidemic in this country. it's destroying lives. it's destroying lives nationwide.

in the year 2014 there were 47,055 drug overdose deaths. nearly 50,000 people no longer with us because of drugs. that's more people that were killed than were killed in car accidents. you think about on the news you see a terrible accident on the freeway, you think about the people that lost their lives, you mourn for those, even more were killed in drug overdoses, every one of which could have been and should have been prevented. in new hampshire in particular is reeling from this plague. new hampshire in particular is seeing the ravages of heroin. new hampshire in 2015 had roughly 400 drug overdose deaths.

that was a 17% increase from 2014, and 2014 represented a 73% increase from 2013. but that doesn't bring it as real as the rather stunning stat that 48% of the people in new hampshire personally know someone who has abused heroin. one in two people in this state personally know someone abusing heroin and actually adults under 35, it's 60%. nearly 2/3 of adults under 35 personally know someone who has abused heroin over the last five years. it's stunning and it's heartbreaking and it's something that is destroying lives.

and i will say on this topic that's something i know something about in my family as well. and i'll share two stories, two stories of addiction. one that ended well and one that did not. my older sister, miriam, was 9 years older than i am. she was my father's daughter from his first marriage. and when she was a little girl her parents divorced. i grew up with miriam. she would live with us during the summer. she lived with her mom during the year. she'd live with me. and my other half sister during the summertime. as her baby brother she would -- i would play with her. she would let me pull on her hair. pull on her hair nonstop.

she was a beautiful, beautiful woman. she was very smart. she was very charming. paul talked about the consequences of abandonment, the consequences of a family breaking up. miriam her whole life was angry. she never forgave my dad for divorcing her mother. her whole life she was-- she had a rage. she was angry at the world. she was angry at god. and she struggled her whole life with drug and alcohol abuse. as a teenager she partied hard. i remember as a little kid she would steal money from me. i would save money from my allowance, she would steal money from me to go out and use it to

buy alcohol, buy drugs. she ended up marrying a man who had been in and out of prison. who ended up mistreating her pretty significantly. she had a son, my nephew, joey, and then pretty soon miriam was a single mom. she was in a car accident and had a back injury. and she got addicted to painkillers. and the painkillers spiraled down from there. she herself went to jail. tended to be petty offenses, things like shoplifting. i remember talking to her when she

was in jail, your older sister, with her crying how hard it was, how horrible the people in there were to her. i remember when i was in my late 20's miriam took a serious turn for the worst. she had gotten out of jail and she had gotten with a guy there who was a more serious drug addict than she. and they were living at a crackhouse. i remember my dad flew up from texas. she was up in philadelphia. my father and i drove up. i was in d.c. at the time. my father and i drove up. to try to get my sister out of the crackhouse. i remember my dad and me both taking our watches and rings and wallets and leaving them behind because we were driving to a crackhouse. we didn't know what was going to happen there if we were going to be robbed or shot or what was going to happen.

and i remember pulling miriam out of there and we took her to a denny's not too far away. the two of us sat down with her for four or five hours. trying to pull her back. but she wouldn't listen. she kept going on and on, she was angry. she said, daddy missed my swim meet when i was in high school. and i remember telling her, miriam, you've got a son. a sixth grader, joey, he needs you. but she didn't want to listen. she wasn't prepared to change the path she was on. and she wouldn't change.

so i ended up, i had just started at a law firm. i was a brand new lawyer. i had a ton of student loans, but i ended up taking a $20,000 cash advance on a credit card and using that money to put my nephew in a boarding school. valley forge military academy. which took him in. and it was actually a wonderful environment for my nephew. having some structure, having some order, having some discipline. having some basic stability in his life. and by the end of that year in school, miriam had come back some. she was out of the crackhouse. she was not -- she was still struggling with drug and alcohol abuse, but it was not as bad as it had been. she was able to care for joey

again. and then a few years ago miriam died of an overdose. joey, her son, found her in her bed. the coroner ruled it accidental. we'll never know. we just got the call one day that miriam was gone. these tragedies are happening in human lives all over this country. it's the human journey. it's not an easy one. it's fraught with peril and sometimes people make decisions bound and determined to destroy themselves.

you wonder, could i have done more? was there a way to pull her back? was there a way to change the path she was on? those are questions you never fully answer. now, there are other journeys that have happier endings. journeys like the one paul bravely described. for me, that journey was my father's journey. which occurred when i was a little boy. my father was a drunk. that's one of the reasons his first family broke up. and when i was 3, my dad left us.

he was not a christian. my mother was not a christian. we were living at the time up in calgary. and my dad left us. he went down to texas. decided he didn't want to be married and he didn't want to be a dad to his son anymore. and when he was down in houston, he was down there for several months, my mom was a single mom raising me, and a friend invited my father to a bible study. and for whatever reason my dad came to the bible study. and he remembers at the end they were taking prayer requests and they were praying, and he was struck that everyone there had challenges that, indeed, one of the women there described how her son would beat her to get money to buy drugs. and yet what struck my father in

that bible study is that the people sitting there had what the scripture calls a peace that passes understanding. he couldn't understand it it made no sense to him. but he knew he wanted it. he knew he didn't have it and he knew he wanted it. so left that bible study, and that night as he was leaving the folks hosting it gave him a little pamphlet called the four spiritual laws. i suspect a number of you have read the four spiritual laws. they suggested, just read this. and come back next week. and he did. and he came back. when he came in, they asked him, did you read the little pamphlet? he said yeah, but it can't be that simple. that's too easy. it can't be that simple. so he kept asking questions.

the folks hosting the bible study were fairly new christians. they said, i'll tell you what, tomorrow our pastor is coming over to the house. would you be willing to come by and ask him the questions? he said sure. so the next day he went by the house, about 7:00, and my dad spent four hours arguing with the pastor. look, he was young, he was brilliant, he was an atheist, he was convinced he knew everything. and he argued and argued and argued with the pastor. finally about 11:00 at night my dad said, all right, what about the man in tibet? who's never heard of jesus, what about him? and the pastor's name was galen, and brother wily very wisely didn't take that bait. if he had, he probably would ifd

have been there another two or three hours arguing with my dad. instead, he said rafael, i don't know about the man in tibet. i don't know. but you have heard of jesus. what's your excuse? and that ended up hitting my dad like a ton of bricks. and he dropped to his knees right then, gave his life to jesus. that was april 15, 1975. the next sunday, my father was baptized at the church. and he drove to the airport, he bought a ticket, and he flew back to my mother and me. and it turned his life around. my father hadn't had a drink in 40 years.

[applause] senator cruz: every one of us who has dealt with these demons or has dealt with loved ones grappling these demons, every one of us understands these are personal journeys. there's no uniform solution that fixes it all. it's certainly not going to be washington, d.c. that steps in and solves these problems. it's going to be friend and family, churches, charities, loved ones, treatment centers. people working to help those who

are struggling overcome their addiction. drug addiction is a disease. alcohol addiction is a disease. it is a vicious disease. there are so many, there are so many here that are working in the field of helping people get that monkey off their back. helping people overcome that addiction. faith and a relationship with god can be a powerful, powerful element. of turning it around. that's why the church plays such an important role. if you look at the history of a.a., about 80 years ago we were facing an epidemic in alcoholism. and doctors are given up. alcoholics were sometimes put in asylums to die. and actually the northeast was a battleground for this devastating disease.

the founders of a.a. were from the neighboring state of vermont. when they formed a.a. there were no government grants and there were no nonprofits working to help alcoholics. and the program was so successful at the time that wealthy donors offered to write checks to underwrite a.a. but a.a. turned down the money. so as not to corrupt the organization. and to this day a.a. takes no money from outside enterprises or sources. instead it's self-supporting through its members' contributions. and a program of person helping person to find god, a god of their understanding and rely

upon that higher power to guide their life, and to protect them as the program still works today. those programs are what we need more and more of. helping people get back on their feet, free them from addiction. not everyone is going to be helped. but each of us on the ground can make a real difference. i will note there's a second thing that can make a real difference. which is securing the borders. if you look at what's happening right now on our borders, it is an absolute disgrace. listen, i represent the state of texas. we've got roughly 1,200 miles of border with mexico. i would invite anyone to come down to the border, see for yourself what's going on there.

the border is utterly unsecured. i would invite you to do as i have to meet with farmers and ranchers there who will show you photographs of dead body after dead body after dead body of women and children abandoned to die in the desert. local farmers for whom it has become, sadly, a recurring experience to just encounter dead bodies of people being trafficked in, abused and abandoned by the coyotes and left to die. and it is the very same cartels that are trafficking in human beings, that are physically abusing these human beings, selling god's creatures into sexual slavery. it is these very same cartels that are the drug cartels.

that are bringing heroin, el chapo. sean penn seems to think he's a sexy hero. so appreciate hollywood for glorifying vicious killers. what a cute and chic thing to celebrate. someone who murders and destroys lives for a living. el chapo's organization brings vast numbers, vast quantities of drugs into this country. vast quantities of heroin. heroin confiscations at the border have increased from about 556 kilos in 2008 to 2,100 kilos in 2012. when the border's not secure, that's what happens.

you have drugs flooding into this country. and you have people in new hampshire and elsewhere that sometimes they start with prescription painkillers, but those become harder and harder to get and they are more expensive and it's cheaper and easier to go with heroin. you're seeing the heroin usage numbers just explode. if we want to turn around the drug crisis, we have got to finally and permanently secure the border. i'll tell you we know how do this. we are told by the media over and over again this problem can't be solved. you can't secure the border. how many times have you heard a reporter say, if you build a 10-foot wall, they'll bring an 11-foot ladder? interestingly enough, reporters think they are very clever when

they make this point. well, if you want to see how walls work, i invite anyone -- come to israel. take a look at their wall. when you have terrorists crossing over from gaza, suddenly a wall works. when you've got incentive to actually make it work. that's why i have laid out a very, very detailed immigration plan. it's 11 pages, single spaced, chapter and verse. it's easy for someone to talk about we are going to fix this problem. but specifics somehow occur a lot less frequently. do you know right now it is existing federal law that mandates building over 700 miles of reinforced fencing on the southern border? you know how much of that fencing this administration has allowed to be built? 36 miles. you pick up the federal

statutes, you pick up the federal law you say this wall is mandatory. and yet the administration refuses to comply with it. we need to solve this problem. we need to build the wall. we need to triple the border patrol. when you talk with law enforcement on the ground, when you talk with law enforcement in south texas, they consistently say boots on the ground are the most important piece. we need to increase fourfold the fixed wing and rotary wing aircraft so that you use technology if there is an attempted incursion, if you happen to see someone carrying an 11-foot ladder. then the technology directs the boots on the ground, we have someone attempting to cross at this point. he'll be easy to spot, he's the guy with the 11-foot ladder.

we can use the tools to solve this. an important thing to understand, it's not that we lack the know how, it's that we lack the political will. it's that as a political matter the democratic party does not want to solve this problem. as a political matter, far too many republicans don't, either. sadly, stopping the drug traffic gets de-emphasized because their policy view instead is to open the borders to illegal immigration. on the democratic side i think an awful lot of folks view the people coming across as new voters. new democratic voters. there's a politically correct

term now for illegal aliens, it's called undocumented democrats. but it's not complicated why these politicians are saying more and more and more because we think we stay in power if we bring as many of them in and make them citizens, then they vote for us. but what if anything more cynical is all of the republicans who listen to the u.s. chamber of commerce, who listen to wall street, who listen to the lobbyists in washington, all of whom view illegal immigration as cheap labor. they think it's fabulous, cheap labor, drive down wages. what could be better? but it's that political commitment that results in our not securing the border and not stopping the flow of drugs into this country. that political commitment is wrong. it is number one, not standing