continue to gain momentum. she has to find ways to contrast herself with bernie sanders. you see this continue to play out in debates and . thank you for joining us. we also want to thank political for opening their offices. that's it for our washington journal program. come next, it is the house public and -- house republican policy chairman speaking about the election. .t is set to start right now it starts momentarily.

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>> is everybody ready? welcome, everybody. pressth the national conference news committee. national press club. before we get started, we have the honor of the present of the national press club, tommy burr. if you want to say a few words, please do so. >> thank you. good morning. welcomeanted to congressman messer.

a long history of leaders have spoken at the club, including ben carson, john kasich, and donald trump. since you have endorsed jeb bush , and he is not spoken, we would welcome that or his brother if you would like to come, maybe together. our series will continue to invite policymakers like yourself to speak here. fix again for being here. i will leave you in the capable hands of bob weiner. rep. messer: thanks, tommy. >> thank you, congress and. -- congressman. chairse republican policy luke messer is going to be discussing governing issues and the election year 2016. what should and cannot pass and wife.

so congressman messer's opening statement will be in about 25 minutes, will be -- will be about 25 minutes and followed by questions from media members. please identified -- identifier so. elizabeth burke will be holding this microphone and she will give it to you to ask questions -- mic.he mike elected to congress in 2012 and establish himself as the emerging leader. in his first term, he was elected president of the freshman class by his peers. in his second term, he was elected house public and policy chair. houseo served as the financial services and workforce committees, where he leads

issues ranging from k-12 education to banking reform. he is chair of the school choice -- non-for-profit sco. andraduated summa cum laude served on the wall review at vanderbilt university. he and his wife, jennifer, are here today. they are the parents of two daughters and one son. he likes to add, two dogs. one of the names? -- what other names?-- what are their [indiscernible] luke and his wife are also the author of a children's book about indiana. brook highgreen

school. an ongoingt of series on major issues with policymakers. tomorrow, three speakers will be addressing at 10:00 a.m. at the national press club. we want to make sure that everyone is aware of that. before we get going, some introductions. first, jamie harlan, the challenge of the newsmaker .ommittee national press club in turns and polly analysts, elizabeth burke -- policy analyst, elizabeth burke. also our on-site intern coordinator, ben lasky. national press club staff joanne

booz, richard berg is audio and visual, in the back corner. raise your hand. thank you. i want to introduce my wife, dr. patricia berg. who i say has a real job as the --ector of breast cancer lab a breast cancer lap. elizabeth, where are you? making sure everything happens properly. thank you for all your help, liz. so we will now have congressman messer give his opening comments. rep. messer: thank you, bob. thank you for giving me the

opportunity to be here today. as bob mentioned, i'm congressman luke messer. i'm chairman of the house republican policy committee. i want to thank bob weiner, tolliver, the president of the club we just heard from, and jamie horwitz. i want to thank them for inviting me and everyone here today braving the weather and rain to find your way here. as bob mentioned, i was asked to thek today on governing 2016 election year and i'm excited to have an opportunity. but first, i want to start with a quick word about the unfortunate passing of supreme court justice antonin scalia over the weekend. was a brilliant jurist, a dedicated constitutionalist, with a unique sense of humor and a knack for

vivid language that made him a favorite of the conservative movement. his wisdom will no doubt, continued to touch this country for years. i did not know judge shkreli well. i only had an opportunity to speak with him at length once. memorydid, my lasting was that this conservative firebrand was such a gentle man -- a gentleman. a person of clear faith who treated everyone he met with dignity and respect. judge scalia could be harsh in his opinions, but by his own admission, his favorite friend liberal, ruthas bader ginsburg. regarding the importance of stability, he once said i don't attack ideas -- pardon me.

i don't attack people, i attack ideas. there are some very good people with some very bad ideas. and if you can't separate the two, you have to get a new day job. so in the coming days, as we celebrate judge shkreli's brilliance and his commitment to principle, i hope we will also celebrate his stability. -- civility. turning to governing 2016. new blood has rushed into the house over the last five years. the 246 members of the house republican conference have been elected since 2010. in the senate, more than half, 29 of 54, republicans are in their first term. trend. bipartisan all combined, nearly half of all changer -- both changers --

chambers have been elected in the last six years. even though speaker paul ryan, who has been around a while, he is uniquely qualified to lead this group. in many ways, paul ryan is the intellectual hero this new movement -- of this new movement. he fathered -- time being my first part of this kind of revolution. in fact, i was part of governor manuals -- governor daniels sweep in 2004. youas the kind of leader knew you needed to keep up with. on the first day, on the first session in 2005, i told my colleagues a story and then i later repeated a year ago when i spoke to our joint house-senate

conference that we put together in hershey. it is one of the best leadership stories that i know. i attribute it to yogi berra. in the 1980's, george steinbrenner was known for being quite a captain hook. i think one year he had four managers. new he came to be the yankees manager, you knew it was going to be a tough job. he showed up to work and he had this dad then left to envelopes by his predecessor. it got to the middle of the year and they lost 10 games in a row. in those days, it might be enough to be gone. so he hated to do it, but he had to open the first envelope. he opened the first envelope and it said blaney, the prior manager. so that's what he did, he called said theynference and

left me no talent. for while, they did. they started winning games. it got to september and then they lost. they became mathematically eliminated from the playoffs. he hated to do it, but he opened the second envelope. -- two, prepare to envelopes. thatnk it is an important you know you can only blame your predecessor for too long. a little about my background. i was raised in greensburg, indiana by a single-parent mom who recently retired. and 19sent my hometown role counties in eastern indiana. i have been married for almost 15 years. we met on a blind date and we have been together ever since.

we have three great kids. andr ages are 12, 11, eight. girls and one boy. americans, -- american families, our weekends and evenings are occupied with homework, school music concerts, paul practices -- fall practices , and sports games. last weekend, our kids scored six points, ted -- 10 points, and 20 points in their three games respectively. at the stateack, of the union address, it was a particularly special time for me because my daughter, ava, was actually my day. of course, i also knew for certain that it would be president obama's last state of

the union address. experiences, when i approach the challenges that we face as a country. i think from the perspective of a kid, who was raised in middle america by single mom on a factory workers salary and the perspective of a husband and a ander, who loves his kids once them to grow up in a country full of opportunity. now, i'm house republican policy chair. so far, i have been incredibly pretty and pressed -- and pressed by paul ryan's leadership. withst reinvent our party new ideas. we have to become a party of proposition, not just opposition. approach will be better for

our conference and for our party . frankly, most important lead it will be better for the american people. so where do we start? from my perspective, there are two defining challenges facing america. first, we must win the war on terror. wether we like it or not, are now locked in a battle of good and evil against islamic extremists who want to destroy our way of life. this is the cold war of our time. british prime minister tony blair has said, we have to be both wise enough to understand the true breath and death -- depth of the challenge we face. and brave enough to build the

capabilities necessary to defeat it. challenge,major shrinking paychecks. that is where i want to focus my remarks today. the left speak a lot about income inequality, but wage stagnation for middle income workers is the driver causing the collapse of the american dream. i also believe that it is the angste x be -- that you are seeing. american life has improved over the last 50 years. we have hundreds of channels on cable tv, compared to the 1960's when you only had 12. your cell phone provides more permission then a public library when i grow up. cars and consumer products are safer. the environment is cleaner.

major medical advice -- advice us healthier.p paychecks for most workers, have frozen over the last 30 years. according to the. -- bureau of labor statistics, since 1964, purchasing power for in average american worker 2014 real dollars increased by 54 years. paul is right. the old approaches are not working. we have an fighting poverty for 50 years. and trillions of dollars later, poverty is winning the war. we should seek ways that will lift folks out of poverty.

with all due respect, where i live, out in middle america, are worried workers about falling into poverty and they want to know what is our agenda for them? rulee in the middle of indiana may not be able to retire and live at the beach, but they could at go to thea boat and beach. now, they may not the able to retire. and their kids may not be able to live the american dream. a year ago, no one would have believed that a reality tv star and an announced socialist would be the candidates leading the polls across the country. like it or not, the american people are send us a message. it reminds me of a 1980 sports

book called a season on the brink. it is a book about bobby knight and the indiana hoosiers. a ford was complaining about coach knight yelling at hand. one of the assistant coaches told him, darrell, sometimes you have to listen to the wisdom of what coach and i said to you and ignore how he says it. like, washington may not how the american people are sending us a message, but the message is clear. the american people don't like the product that they had been receiving from their leaders and washington. flat lined over 50 years. folks want opportunity. they want their borders protected. they want their kids and grandkids to grow up in an america that they know is safe. to me it seems simple. the american people want their leaders to focus on them.

their hopes and dreams. several of the presidential candidates are channeling this anger. frankly, anger is not a tragedy. ultima, we need solutions to the challenges of our day, keeping working people out of poverty. america, no american should work a 40 hour workweek and live in poverty. so how do we do that? let's start with the third rail of politics. workingo apologies for to protect and preserve social security and medicare. these programs are vital to keeping middle and lower income class americans out of poverty. these programs collapse, the last 50onstruct of the

years will collapse with it. we cannot let that happen. fixing these programs will be a heavy lift, but prickly, the american people are far ahead of their leaders on this topic. entitlement reform is really just the beginning. washington has a long way to go. today's economic angst and reconnect with american people. in the spirit of paul ryan's entrepreneurship, i offer ideas that will help make that happen. first, school choice. i serve on the house education workforce committee and recently had a hearing on school choice options. since we put, this is the civil rights issue of our time. gets to the very essence of american idea that we are all endowed by our creator with a god-given right to pursue

live our own version of the american dream. that starts with a high quality education. we should not rest as a nation until every child in america has an opportunity to go to a great school. i'm not the just and somehow create a federal department of school choice, but we can take existing federal dollars and up our parents to decide how best to use them. either way, for my conservative isends, empowering parents an unassailable way to evolve the federal apartment of education and resort local control of our schools. next idea, something i what to call the rights act. releasing legislation soon. republicans have longed -- long

talked about the range act. it says that if a radiation has more than a $109 impact on the american economy, congress should have to uproot those regulations before they go into law. the people i talked to in middle-class america are not focused on the macroeconomic implications of federal regulatory policy. instead, they're worried about what happens when the federal government shows up on their theirep to close business, trample their freedom, or otherwise take a wrecking ball to their life. times have changed. this is not your grandfather's federal government. jonathan turley am a constitutional oil, recently pointed out that a u.s. citizen -- 10 times more likely to be tried by a federal agency then a federal court. remarkably, federal agencies

complete more than 930 9000 proceedings. these agency proceedings are often democracy's -- mockeries of due process and procedural agency.at favor the my idea is simple. every american should have the same rights in a federal government bureaucracy proceeding him at they have in federal court. the right to counsel, the right evidencescovery against you, and the right to not self incriminate. expand use of the earned income tax. it is a far better way to help low-wage earners than hiking the minimum wage. despite some of the rhetoric on the left, minimum wage hikes reduce opportunity and eliminate jobs.

-- " reduce total employment by $500,000 -- 500,000 workers. " cutting jobs is no way to help low-wage workers. instead, let's expand the low income wage tax credit. we should also consider expanding that text credit to childless workers. may cost money, but work is a blessing and encouraging work makes a whole lot more sense for the future of this country then wage mandates that end up cutting jobs. fourth idea. forw every american to pay their health care with pretax dollars. for policy reasons rooted in

world war ii era, wage and price controls, -- on the other hand, if your medical premiums come out of your pocket, you have to pay for that with out -- after-tax dollars. that is not fair, particularly in an error where so many employers are dropping their health care plans i believe, because of the president's health care law. this policy change is easy to understand and it would save thousands of dollars for many working families all across this country. , eliminateth marriage penalties. a generation ago, federal tax policy was changed. today, federal agencies maintain dozens, if not hundreds of policies that penalize americans for getting married. federal and ifny it's immediately cut if a recipient gets married because

their income is deemed to have gone up. as a result, many folks keep their benefits and delay getting married or don't get married at all. frankly, this policy does not make any sense. one could argue that marriage is the best anti-poverty program ever invented by man. we should not be discouraging it. a group says that if we had the marriage rate today that we had in the 1970's, there would be a 25% drop in poverty. matter, but wel should make it our goal to eliminate every federal government marriage penalty. it is the right thing to do. now i recognize that these ideas

will cost money, at least some of them, several of them may not be the purest republican doctor either. the common thread in all of these ideas is policy consistent with conservative principles that will impact everyday americans in the real world, where they live. frankly this speech hasn't included many of the big-ticket items that also have to be a with. energy the budget, production, immigration reform, board -- border security, trade. nationscritical to our future. if we're going to reestablish trust with the american people and continue earning the right to lead this country on big issues, we must start by offering ideas that reach everyday americans at the kitchen table. that is what we will be working on in the republican policy committee. now, one last thought before we get to questions. a vision for america's future.

when i speak to students, i often ask them if they have ever seen someone get to a pinnacle .oment in their life they want a grammy, oscar, an olympic medal, and invariably they come to the bone and say something like, i never dreamed this was possible. i say will let me give you a little secret. either that person is incredibly lucky. they are exceedingly gracious or they are just not telling you the truth. the cousin reality is that your limiter, ofp, the what you are able to achieve as an individual. i believe the same is true for a society. if america is going to maintain its position in the world and succeed in the long run i'm a we have to be dreaming bigger dreams for this country than the people who we are competing

against. don't get me wrong. i understand the pessimism. to paraphrase henry -- harry truman, a recession is when your neighbor loses his job and a depression is when you lose yours. folks are struggling, but we have to keep perspective. this is not the most challenging time of our nations history. we have survived two world wars, a great depression, cold war, civil war, and a revolutionary war each with bleak moments where the future of our country legitimately laid in peril. yet generation after generation, americans came together to meet those challenges and lead our nation better than we found it. we can do it again. there are some young people in this room, but there are others who i know remember 1979. double digit inflation, double-digit unemployment double-digit interest rates. there were a laws it -- a lot of reasons to be pessimistic. russia was running over

afghanistan. japan was the world's rising economic power. in 1979, it seemed impossible that just a decade plus later, the berlin wall would come down. the soviet empire would collapse. and we would be in the midst of a 25 year economic boon never seen before in the history of mankind. leadership that is exactly what happened. it was not obvious, but the american people pick their leaders and figured it out. they will do it again. in many ways, we have come first -- will circle. america's middle class is in the midst of a new economic malaise. world's new economic rising superpower and is world -- war on terror

this generation's war. yet despite all of these challenges, we stand on the cusp of a never before seen opportunity. in 1979, it would have seemed impossible that the wall would fall and we would be in the midst of an economic boon. asay, it seems just impossible that washington will get its act together and write the chip for the american people. but with leadership, a can happen. and i would summit to you that it has to. that leaves us with the biggest governing question of 2016. us will america pick to lead into this next, great generational challenge? for now, the question remains unanswered, but unlike some of the pundits, i trust the american people. wisdom hasctive

served us well so far. thank you very much. i appreciate the opportunity to be here. glad to take questions. we will moderate the questions. you stay here. that was a great speech and great isolation of policies that you have. be the majority part republican -- republican policies. that was a very candid statement when you talked about world wars, civil wars, and the use it asary war, and a perspective of all that -- of what we are doing now. i would like to open the questions that my -- with the

question that my wife asked me. what does the republican policy chair do and how do you formulate these policies? do you have meetings? what is the nitty-gritty of how you determine the policies you come up with? to. messer: we are designed be the engine of ideas for our conference. coordinate those efforts. -- i think in this era where paul ryan has said we have to be a party of proposition, not just opposition, it gives us a real opportunity to go out and try to define the ideas that the republican party is for that actually touched the lives of american people. as i mentioned in my remarks, i

think the average american looks at washington sometimes and we all sound like the adults on charlie brown. is not touching or reaching anybody. frankly, if you ask me my opinion of the president and his policies, i think often he is talking about the right problems with the wrong answers. part of his success is that people understand that there are challenges in health care and wages are frozen. unfortunately i think the president's ideas are not going to help solve those problems. >> one other and then we will turn it over to questions. so, with american college completions having fallen from first to 15th in the world and that being a huge issue for millennial's in this election, i

did not hear you talk about what can be done about college costs which is the basis of reduced college education. rep. messer: i spent a lot of time when i was in the state legislature on high school completion. the programs we put together an indiana health contribute to enormous success over the last 10 years as graduation rates have gone from 70%, the national average, to now almost 90%. we are not in the top 10. i think we have got to rethink what we are doing with our federal higher education programs. they were designed over a. of decades based on the premise of axis. that essentially, if we build it they will come. decades ago the truth was just access to college made you financially better off.

if you had some college, you would have higher wages. today, that is not true. today if you do not leave college with a skill that has by you in the market place, your wages won't be any better. some college does not raise your earnings. we have got to drive folks towards college completion. i am actually conducting a and our nextrings one will focus on, i think it is a april -- april 14 we will have a hearing that focuses on college completion. there is some idea that we have to at least keep track of the billions of dollars spent on held grants and whether those are driving graduations and college. i think we need to examine whether we have the appropriate on full on credit hours federal grants because some of those efforts might be able to get us closer to college completion for kids.

it makes a big difference, because today, if you leave school without a diploma and tens of thousands of dollars in debt, your worse off not better off. >> identify yourself by name and organization. johnson from corey bloomberg news. i've to questions. my first one is about the rights act. i'm curious to know the timeline of when it will be introduced and is it aimed at a specific federal agency, like the sec, or another in particular? rep. messer: it should be released within the coming weeks. it is not focused on any particular agency and i think it is not rooted in any particular agency. times more likely to be dragged into a federal agency proceeding. your stories back in my district, of folks who have been

through processes that can take years and years. very basic have some rights if you're in a federal proceeding. the right to discovery. the right to not soap and terminate -- self incriminate and also the right to a lawyer. >> i want to talk about todd young's senate race. his thing, as i'm sure you are where of -- aware of. rep. messer: there are some questions surrounding the signature. not an election lawyer so i don't know the full application. both those guys are my friends and colleagues. i hope both of them are able to qualify for the ballot and have an opportunity to have a contest through the primary.

i will be -- i will not take sides, but i will support whoever is our nominee as they work to help maintain a republican majority in the fall. thanks. first, thank you for coming today. and congratulations. my question relates to education. i am a father of three teenage sons here in the district of columbia and we have quite a bit of school choice. to a publicns goes adjacent tois george washington university and shares a lot of space and programs with them. take advantage of the city. residents of the sea are largely opposed to vouchers. esa is less of

federal control, and more control back to the districts and states. isn't this a double standard to impose a doctor system on the district of columbia. shouldn't we have the same rights and local control that others in education have around the country? rep. messer: i would say that every poll i've seen shows the support for vouchers continuing to increase. 75% of the african beauty, 75% of the latino community, 75% of the millennial's all support school choice options. what i believe is that this should be a common mission of the legislation i offered. it would essentially create local control that would allow these local communities with the states to decide how those dollars could be spent and empower parents and the process. i will pay this though, i had a basis to attend the

charter school. amazing school -- amazing people who were attending that school. their number one question was this. why can't every kid have the same opportunity we have to go to this great school question mark my premise was this -- school? decide whether child should go. in indiana we have seen this program expand. onre are 30,000 families vouchers. 200,000 hoosier families are engaged in some sort of alternative school options. yet, our public schools are thriving too. i think what we have to move away from is sort of this false choice. i think the best way to make sure that we give kids a great opportunity is to let their parents aside. morning.

i wanted to ask what might get done. we are hearing that even in your own caucus, there is a dispute whether to stick with the budget numbers we agreed upon or others. happen withinto your caucus, an agreement on that? and the larger issue on poverty, d.c. anything happening this year on those things or do you think it is more of the arctic coming together and this is just waiting up to people debating. when you be able to do that with a nominee like trump? rep. messer: first, is will we

passed the budget? we will pass the budget. their souls some debate on what the number will be, but we will come together. we always have. i'm confident that we will again. then whatuestion is happens from there? ishink as of yet, that undefined. second, i hope we get much of our agenda through the house chamber as we can. outstanding -- our founding to passmade it hard laws. and it is difficult to pass also have a president from the other party who has ideas -- philosophies different than you. ite of the laws will make through the house chamber, some

of them may just be sure of that. i think it is important to remember, for example, paul ryan spur strap -- paul ryan's first cosponsors. thatve been governed by budget for the last several years. budgetnot just draft the , but then he went out over time and made the argument and convinced the american people of the policy change. i think that is the same approach we have to take of some of these other big-ticket items. question ithe third comeswhich is is that gated by the presidential election? comes gated by the presidential election. i don't know what better way to figure out then the approach we

have which is to put it in the hands of the american people and let it be put in the air -- and their collective wisdom. the american people are sending a message. they are tired of the status quo. they're going to speak louder and louder until people here start to listen to them. but this is a process that is still early and i suspect in the end, we will have a nominee that makes sense. heardi wrong that we have that the earned income tax credit and maybe even the marriage penalties would have great bipartisan support? i've heard that the earned income tax credit extension could be something that could be reform as part of tax for both sides.

am i wrong about that? the key to getting some of these rings done would toto try to get closer single subject matter goals. there are still opportunities to tackle the kinds of reforms that are needed and social security and medicare. that is going to require presidential leadership and copper mice. -- folks saidks six month ago in education bill would be impossible to pass. where does that take you given that it was pepper,

reagan that cap social security solid. how do you cope with that? rep. messer: if you say it is on the, you have to rely social security trust fund. these programs are now cash flow negative. the only way they are continue -- continuing to be funded is if we take them back ourselves and pay for them. the model is the one you just described. it is going to require presidential leadership. i can tell you this. i think the american people are way ahead of us. i talked and townhall meetings across the district. i've done hundreds of events over the last several years. i have not been in one room where folks in the room believe our social security and medicare programs are in perfect shape and not needed to be changed. manyt a very simply, how of you would give up $10 a month

if it meant that your kids and grandkids would be able to have social security and medicare ? everybody raises their hands. then i say how many do you trust -- of you trust the federal government would use that money in a good way? and then all these -- the hands go down. frankly, it is a challenge of leaders who are willing to spend the time energy -- and energy to persuade america people what needs to happen. the american people what needs to happen. >> we have been hearing a lot about -- you talk in the your policyout proposals being impacted by the presidential election.

better toit would be on some of these ideas that you are presenting until after the election? rep. messer: i think passing policy is really complicated and it is virtually impossible when you have not taken the time to persuade the american people are at that is why i wanted percent agree with speaker ryan that we need to put forward bold, clear policies now. we need to make this election a referendum on two very different visions on where we go next as a country. frankly, when you do that, you earn the right to go make those policies a reality. year after year after year in indiana, the henry nears what

state you cannot be that old and win elections. yet, we won elections and moved policy forward for our state. and i'm absolutely convinced that we can do it here too. we have to get busy making the argument. >> you would hopefully want to get some of the stone before the election? rep. messer: i think there is a reality that we have a big philosophical difference with this president. i don't think that is an excuse for not putting in the proposals. does that make sense? back to the indiana senate race, what you think of marlin stutzman joining the

?hallenge with the democrats you think he should have jumped in and had his staff recount those ballots? rep. messer: are you saying he has formally joined the complaint? >> right. i am not an election lawyer. my hope is they will figure it out. again, both of them are my friends and colleagues. i hope they are both able to havefy for the ballot and let the voters of indiana decide. at the same time, i think it is of course, important that one complies with indiana election laws. -- others whoers better understand the details. >> in the back.

identify yourself. is, we have the primary. we have protests -- how we get the republican message out there? it seems to be drowned out. you have a tragedy to get past the noise and get your message to the voters and how will you be doing that? paul ryan has a lot of stuff on the plate, but none of it seems to be getting out. maybe some of it is our fault. think it is i don't your fault. i think it is our fault. it is our job to persuade the american people. almost by definition, we are going to do our work here. it is going to be a challenge to have that breakthrough when all

the noise is surrounding the primary. i do believe that the competitive primary makes it more important. unfortunately, what tends to happen and primaries. every primary i have seen, the issue differences seem to be very small so the focus of the debate tends to be on .ersonality all kinds of things that don't have their much do with policy. -- very much to do with policy. who knows? if you asked me today, i think it is early possible that the nominee is not selected until the convention. i'm sure that will be -- i'm sure the tv stations would be glad to see that if that were the case. what i'm convinced of, is that i am trustful of the american

people to figure it out and whoever the nominee is. will come together in july. some you really think winner take all states, that if someone comes and with 40%, that person would be the nominee? there's two different assumptions that you said there, i think. one, it will someone get to 50% because of the winner take all states? if absolutely convinced that someone gets to 50% they will be the nominee of our party. that and it is hard to sit here in a world of conjecture, that of someone gets close to that, it is likely they will be there. the question is, it it could turn out that no one gets close to that at all. if that is the case, the convention may be a little more interesting than it is most

years. >> to questions related to indiana. attorney general zeller was just out here and he said indiana could use federal funding to with treatment and the funding isn't there. the president has proposed an increase in funding. question for you is whether you see congress passing states faced with that issue? hassecond, the president proposed letting states that did not get it right away, would they get an extra year?

is that something you could support? increasing funding for medicaid expansion so they would get a full three years? rep. messer: yes, my answer to both. both.tually, i open to of coarse the details matter. aware of the epidemic. it is crippling for these communities. agree with attorney general we are going to have to tackle that as a nation and that is going to include some money. the same on medicaid expansion. indiana has had some successes there. matter but itails

am considering them. [indiscernible] rep. messer: pretty soon you have some real money. mise.en to finding copper he's been very patient. he's been holding his hand the all-time. you mentioned briefly financial services reform. i know you have at success recently moving that through. can you talk about what other policies you would expect house republicans to move this year and how is that discussion impacted by this lingering anger towards banks and wall street coming up in the election? rep. messer: again, a law on that question. i was in the financial services committee. puttingcount on us

together bold proposals. i think it is possible that we get all the way to looking at. replacepeal and the environment in the committee has changed and we were able to pass a little change in the regulations and essentially change the way municipal bonds are treated under those regulatory standards. there was bipartisan consensus even just a few years back. it was hard to get any changes through. right, theolutely american people are furious. if there's anybody they may be matter at them washington it is wall street. the climate here is one of being tougher on wall street.

in of the challenges we have the house republican caucus with the financial services committee is we have to help the average consumer understand how this large regulatory abyss is making their life tougher. for example one of the follows of dodd-frank is the free checking has essentially disappeared. we have people understand the real world consequences of these large regulatory albatross. we are able to help them think through how to change it. time flies. i can't believe i just look to my watch and it's 11:00. butts take one or two more questions from people who have not asked one yet. -- let's take one or two more questions from people who have not asked one yet. this one is on topic. rights act bill.

you said it does not target a specific agency but to what extent is it expired -- inspired by the investment advisers who helped file lawsuits against the fcc, administrative law? rep. messer: it would be inspired by farmers, manufacturers that have dealt with the department of labor. folks who have dealt with the irs. the reality is you get out there in the middle of america and people fear their federal government. they are worried about what happens when they show up at your doorstep. they think they are not treated very fairly. rules andook at procedures surrounding administrative proceedings compared to what's in federal courts, it's not even close. i think our federal government that evenin a way

decades ago would have seemed unimaginable. we have to respond to that with simple solutions like the right acts. ask about one of the things you talked about before you came in, infrastructure and jobs. crs say that with a major jobs infrastructure program like the president proposed with the american jobs onethat there were be million more jobs and a full percentage point less unemployment. since that is such a major criticism of the economy now, what will congress do and can we get to the point where we reach what europe has? on 200 milei were per hour trains a couple months ago. many bridges are reported as dangerous, what will congress do about that? rep. messer: i'm glad we were able to pass the transportation

bill, clearly this is one of the opportunities for bipartisan consensus. if there is a fundamental function of the federal government, it is keeping infrastructure safe and that are to be an area where there is clear consensus. what i learned in indiana under -- he moveniel, is forward a program called major moves so that the toll road and we were able to fund infrastructure for 10 years. is in the midst of the next-generation debate of what we are going to do at a state level to build infrastructure. i think those kinds of answers are what we have to look for out here. some of that will cost money. it will take real leadership. i do think there's opportunity for bipartisan compromise but it will take presidential explains to the american people the true breadth and depth of our challenges.

as you mentioned, much of our infrastructure is not safe. it puts forward a clear proposal. >> thank you very much. we are now adjourned.

senate minority leader harry reid wrote an op-ed in this morning's washington post saying republicans, what a gridlock, a campaign of sabotage for the presidential duty to pick nominees. read noted that his counterpart, senator mitch mcconnell has called for the american people to have a voice in the nomination to replace supreme court justice antonin scalia. americans writes the

people's voice was loud and clear when they elected and reelected president obama, giving him the presidential power to nominate supreme court justices. and from c-span's supreme court producer, this photo on twitter of justice scalia's chair draped in black. the courtroom doors, justice scalia's chair, and the bench in all draped.t this tradition dates back to the justice summoned chase in 1873. . coming up in an hour on c-span, tennessee senator lamar alexander who chairs the education committee. he will talk about the new k-12 education law and how it differs from no child left behind. he is speaking at the cato institute at noon eastern. up, ryan crocker, former u.s. ambassador to iraq, well discuss lessons learned and how

they can be applied to the fight against isis. he is at the atlantic council. dolby laboratories p.m. eastern on our companion network c-span2 . -- that will be at 2:00 p.m. eastern. >> c-span takes you on the road to the white house. as we follow the candidates on c-span, c-span radio, and c-span.org. >> george w. bush yesterday made his first campaign appearance for his brother, jeb. the former president and former first lady had a campaign rally in north charleston, south carolina. the head of the state's republican primary on saturday.

♪ [applause]

>> thank you for coming to show your support for the next president of the united states, jeb bush. welcome back mr. president and laura. [applause] south carolina has missed you, mr. president. country has missed you, mr. president. this is bush country, mr. president. if somebody told me i had eight years to live, i would want it to not be under the obama press -- i would wanted to be under the obama presidency because it

seems to last forever. one more year and this guy is going. mr. president, thank you for coming back to south carolina where you are truly loved and appreciated. thank you for keeping us safe while you are president. [applause] thank you for your leadership after 9/11. thank you for taking the fight to the enemies of this nation. thank you for having the backs of those who are doing the fighting, mr. president. being a decent and honorable man, mr. president. now, all of us are going to get to vote saturday. if you show up tuesday you will be by yourself.

world is watching what we do here in south carolina for a reason. we picked presidents here in south carolina. everybody who goes to vote needs to understand one thing. the military is going to be stuck with the american voter. presidentay to become is to be elected by fellow citizens. please think about those that do the fighting when you vote. we are a nation at war and we will elect the president. somebody whoect has a steady hand, that can be trusted, that has the right temperament, that will have the backs of those who will be doing , and will be a commander in chief worthy of those who have sacrificed so much. in my opinion that is jeb bush. [applause]

if you wanted to take money out of politics you should've joined my campaign because we ran out of money. it when my time was up, decided to stay in the fight because it means so much. the chief reason i ran was to start the discussion about being a party of strong national defense. to get the republican party back to its roots as being a party of a strong national defense. i have been to iraq, afghanistan 36 times. it is a long way over there. thanks to those who go over and do the fighting. i have been in the air force for 33 years. i retired this june.

140 days on the ground as an air force reservist. i learned a lot about this. when it came time for me to choose, when i got out, jeb was the easiest choice i ever made. [applause] 40 generals and admirals supporting his campaign. 12 medal of honor recipients. the commander of the south carolina national guard, major general livingston, who commanded troops in combat, there's a theme here. those of us who have taken time to understand this war know that jeb can win and he has a plan that i trust that will lead us to victory. but tonight you will hear from , somebody who knows what it is like to be a wartime president, who has been commander-in-chief. tonight you are going to hear

from a man i admire greatly. because when the going really got tough, he hunkered down, never followed the polls, he followed military advice. ladies and gentlemen, tonight, you will hear from a president of the united states to understands what it is like to be at war and the brother of the next president of the united states. [applause] i don't know about you, i like bushes. bush values are south carolina values. ladies and gentlemen, george w. bush. [applause] george w. bush: thank you.

thank you. sit down, unless you do not have a seat. laura and i are thrilled to be here and i want to thank graham for his friendship and leadership. he loves south carolina and our country. we are fortunate that you sent him to the senate. [applause] i want to thank the commissioner. he has a heck of a voice. if they have a contest of who can sing the best among the agricultural commissioners, you win. mark sanford is here. i appreciate you coming. thank you for being here. there are a lot of famous people here.

i have to bring up my favorite -- my friend david wilkins is from greenville. he was the ambassador to canada, a former speaker of the house. a dear friend. thank you for being with us. thank you very much. there are people from the house, the senate, the state government here. thank you. i want to thank the grassroots activists. thank you for taking time out of your day, your interest in the political process, your hard work, what you are going to do, vote for him on saturday in south carolina. i am happy to be back. i have fond memories.

i walked in the okra strut. i was pleased they did not make me dress. i finally remember going to the air wings here in charleston. perhaps my most interesting memory came in greenville before the 2000 primary. david, suzy, laura, we went to a -- tommy's country ham house. we were eating breakfast. i was eating bacon. i looked out the window and a p.e.t.a. protester dressed up as a pig arrived in a dump truck, unloading a load of manure to prevent me from leaving. it was a sign of things to come. let me tell you something.

even a steaming pile could not ruin the bacon. i love the spirit of the people in south carolina. i am touched by the way the community banded together to come for the victims of last -- comfort the victims of last year's shooting at mother emmanuel church. [applause] and, protesting against racism and hate. it is a strong signal. [applause] and i applaud the response to the tragedy and you for putting her in office. laura and i spent time with governor haley and her family at

the american legion post in columbia this afternoon. thank goodness our country welcomed her parents when they emigrated here in 1969. since we left the white house i have been caught -- kind of quiet. eight years in the limelight was plenty. anda and i are really happy what she has described as the afterlife. we spending a lot of time on our ranch where we have become tree farmers. it gives me a chance to practice my stump speech. i have written two books which have surprised a lot of people, particularly up east who didn't think that i could read much less write. i have been wanting to defy expectations, i have been mis-underestimated my whole life.

as a real shock to people, i have become an oil painter. let me assure you, i know. the signature is worth more than the painting. my brother for giving us something to do today, something important. i am proud of his candidacy and proud to have been invited. i came here for two reasons. one, because i care deeply about jeb. and it too because i care deeply about our country. [applause] i thought it was appropriate to discuss a subject i know a lot about. what it's like to be president. being your president was a high privilege. and the honor of a lifetime.

way, if serving as president of the united states makes me a part of the so-called establishment, i proudly carry that label. [applause] there seems to be a lot of name-calling going on but i want to remind you of what our good dad told me one time. labels are for soup cans. the presidency is a serious job that requires sound judgment and good ideas. there is no doubt in my mind that jeb bush has the experience and the character to be a great president. [applause] here's the thing i think people should look for in the next president. for starters, i think you ought has hadto somebody that

executive experience. somebody that knows how to run a large, complex organization to lead people and to make sound, crist, decisions. for example, someone who has served two terms in a large southern state as governor. i think you ought to look for somebody that can handle intense pressure and won't weather during crises. i believe that strength can come from faith. it can come from the comfort of a higher power and the humility that comes in realizing the almighty gift of grace. [applause] that humility is important for politicians to remember when they talk about their faith. of my favorite bible verses for those in the political arena is from the book of matthew.

to paraphrase, how can you say let me get that speck out of your eye when i have a login my own? is a man of humble, deed, and genuine faith. faith that reveals itself through good works, not loud words. i think you should look for someone who's humility helps them understand what he doesn't know and surrounds himself with people who do know what he doesn't know. jeb is plenty smart. phi beta kappa from the great university of texas. [applause] i know, it's not south carolina. ok, clemson.

i got a tell you something. he will assemble a great team of people to whom he will listen. he will create a culture in which they can deliver not just the good news but the bad. he will listen carefully to has thevice and then he backbone necessary to make the tough decisions on behalf of the american people. [applause] the presidency is defined by the unexpected. there will be crisis. it is important to have a president who can handle it with calm resolve. when americans woke up on september 11, we did not know the world would change that day. i was in a classroom and listening to a child read.

my chief of staff, south carolina graduate andy card whispered in my ear that a second plane had hit the tower and that america was under attack. my first reaction was that i thought we were going to deal with these people. my second reaction, staring at a young child was, my job is crystal-clear. to protect her, her community, and the country. [applause] on the way to air force one from the school, condi called and said that an airplane hit the pentagon. i felt the first one was an accident, the second one was an attack, and the third was a declaration of war. i became something that no president should want to be: a wartime president.

with the child in my mind, protecting her and the country she calls home. [applause] i have seen jeb in action. he will be a strong and steady hand. multiple hurricanes hit florida and he led a well-organized response that showed the compassion, his compassion, for those who hurt. he did this as the governor of florida and will do this as the president of the united states. it is vital that you select a candidate who is thoughtful and trustworthy, someone who says what he means and does what he says. when the american president speaks, the world listens.

you can trust jeb bush to be measured and thoughtful on the world stage. enemies and allies will know that, when he speaks, he will follow through on his words. i think you ought to look for a leader who is optimistic, with a vision for a brighter future. a person who sees beyond the horizon. when jeb looks beyond the horizon, he sees a better tomorrow. he and i believe the best days are ahead of us and that we are on the verge of the greatest time to be alive in human history. and with the right policies, and with a strong leader like jeb bush, we can get there. [applause]

an optimistic future starts with making sure our economy grows so people can find good work. we need a president who will make the private sector, not the public sector, a priority. jeb has led out an attainable goal, and understandable goal, which a leader must do, and that is to have 4% economic growth a year. the cornerstone of his policy is to empower entrepreneurs and small business owners. the dreamers who drive the american economy. he laid out a specific plan, a well-thought-out plan, a measured plan, that he will put into action when you send him to the white house. jeb understands the most solemn job of the president is to protect us. your most solid job as voters is to elect a man who knows how to

deal with the problems we face. and who knows how to deal with them. i have studied jeb's plan to defeat isis. he relies on our intelligence community. he will take their sound advice and implement that plan. the types of isis have been defeated in the past and they can be defeated in the future, but we need a leader who knows how to do so. [applause] jeb understands this -- and it is important for the people of south carolina understand this, that america must lead, and that when america does not lead, chaos will reign. laura and i love very years in -- our eight years in washington, but we really do not miss it too much. [laughter] we miss our friends,

but we do not miss power and fame. here is what i do miss -- [cheers] george bush: thank you, but let me tell you what i miss. it is an amazing country. i made it clear we are going to defend ourselves after 9/11, and millions volunteered. to be able to salute the brave men and women who wear our uniform was an honor of a lifetime. the highest honor of being president is to be the commander in chief of the greatest force for freedom ever. so i would look for a candidate who has genuine respect for the united states military, will support them on the battlefield, who will support them on the

battlefield, and when they return home. jeb has pledged to rebuild our armed forces and overhaul the v.a., and i believe he when he says it, and i know he will do it when he is commander in chief of the united states. one of the most comforting aspects of the presidency was my family, starting with my loving wife, laura. living in the white house can be like living in a museum. i remember the time i went to visit mother and dad when they were there, and mother said, get your feet off the jeffersonian table. laura made the white house at home. she was the greatest first lady ever.

[applause] my little sister is here, and she talks to mom nearly every day, so do not tell her i said that. jeb adores the love of his life. i will never forget when we were both younger living in houston, texas, and we would go to astro games, and we would sit out in the bleachers. i would watch the game, and jeb would write love letters to his future wife and our next first lady. they raised wonderful children, george p., noelle, and jeb jr. he is known as grantee, i am

known as jefe. for of those of you who are not bilingual, that means the boss. speaking of family, i think the voters should vote for the candidate who has got the most opinionated mother. i have always wondered whether our mother learned to be opinionated at ashley hall right here. finally, we need to nominate somebody who can win in november. all the slogans and all the talk doesn't matter if we do not win. we need somebody can take a positive message across the entire country, someone who can inspire and appeal to people

from all walks of life, not just one party or class of people. jeb will listen to the voices of the disenfranchised. he will rise above the petty name-calling. once elected, he will not need a poll to tell him how to think or what to do. he will stand on principle. he will not waver in the wind, and he will always do what is right for american people. [applause] i know campaigns are stressful and they are taxing, but they should be, because the job of the president is much harder than a campaign. these are tough times. i understand that americans are angry and frustrated. but we do not need someone in the oval office who mirrors and inflames our anger and

frustration. we need someone who can fix the problems that caused our anger and frustration, and that is jeb bush. it seems like americans are yearning for a strong leader. i would like to remind you and the voters what strength means. strength means facing challenges and prevailing. it means sacrificing and enduring and emerging a bigger and better person. it means having a set of core principles, believes they are true on the campaign trail, and will true in office. strength is not empty rhetoric. it is not bluster. it is not the ethics. -- theatrics.

real strength, the strength of purpose, comes from integrity and character. in my experience, the strongest person usually is not the loudest one in the room. [applause] i have seen in my brother a quiet conviction and a core of conscience that cannot be shaken. and my hope is that the people of south carolina will see this as well. this is a serious collection for -- serious election for a serious job. so please welcome a serious and thoughtful candidate, a good man, a man i am proud to call my big little brother, jeb bush. [applause] jeb bush: thank you.

thank you. thank you all very much. thank you. thank you, mr. president. laura, it is such a joy to have you here. thank you all for coming. it is such a joy to have you here. to my friend lindsey graham, thank you for your friendship, advice, and support. i will be here for six days. we are trying to improve the good economy of south carolina. we will spend as much money, meet as many people as we can. saturday is going to be a surprise because you are going to go out and get 10 other people to do the same thing, to vote for jeb bush as president. i am so honored that my brother is here, because this is a dangerous time. the world has been turned asunder. the day barack obama was

inaugurated, we were safer, stronger, freer. today, for all sorts of reasons, that is not the case. this election is going to be the steady hand to keep us safe. who is going to do with the national security challenges that we face. who is going to focus on the economic security challenges that a majority of americans now feel. we're living in difficult times. and this election is appropriate -- important and my brother's time, he did not know that 9/11 was going to happen but he rolled up his sleeves and kept us safe. and i am proud that he did it. i do not know if you watched the debate on saturday. did you get a chance to see it? it was kind of weird, parts of it. i never thought in a republican

date we were talking about impeaching a republican two-term president who was incredibly popular. i thought it was strange that a front running candidate would attack the president of the united states who did keep us safe, while he was building a reality tv show. i am sure it was a fantastic one. i've never seen it. i'm sure it was great. george bush brought together a team to build the security apparatus that to this day is one of the reasons why we have not been attacked were often -- more often than we have. i am proud of him, and i know you are as well. some of the dialogue back and forth made me wonder, close my eyes, and i thought it was michael moore on the stage. any case, this is not about the front running candidate.

this is about how we can restore our country's greatness, national security, and that is why i am a candidate for president. here is the reality. we need a president that will respect the armed forces. a month and a half, two months ago, i had a chance to speak at the citadel. what an extraordinary university that is. [applause] i thought you guys would be out there, before i did it, i had a little work with the guards at 6:00 a.m. sorry. 25 situps, calisthenics, i think they were taking the old guy to see how long he would last. i thought we were finished, and we ran three miles. benway finally finished and they circled around and started asking me questions. will you have our back? will you be a commander in chief respect the military? are you going to impose conditions on the military, making it harder for them to do their jobs? will you eliminate the

sequester? these were all good questions, and here's the answer -- i will have the back of the military, i will be a commander in chief that respects the armed forces. we will eliminate the sequester. we will build the military and make sure and build again a bipartisan consensus that peace through strength is the proper for policy for the country. -- foreign policy for the country. are weak, we create voids and voids are filled. for us to be strong, we have to rebuild the military. it is a first priority. there are candidates on our side that do not believe it is important. i do. we need a plan to do with the threats of our time. i went to the reagan library to talk about how we needed to engage with isis, how we needed to destroy this threat. i called a lot of people because

i know what i do not know. i do not have it all figured out. that is the sign of a good leader, by the way. the best time is when you learn. you do not learn when you are talking. you learn when you listen. we need a president that will listen a lot more, learn, and then lead. that is what we need. [applause] and in august i called one of the candidates running for president, someone i have always admired, the leading national expert in the senate, senator graham, and he gave it to me. to show you what kind of patriot he was, i do not know of any other candidate that would have done it, but he did, and i am proud of our relationships, because we agree, we must destroy isis, and the way to do it is to create a strategy where you engage with the sunni arab countries, you reestablish

, you have boots on the ground with special operators in syria, reestablish ties with the sunni tribal leaders, you are the kurds directly, and you get the warriors off the back of the war fighters to win this war. leadership is not about talking about it. it is not. leadership is when you are tested, do you have the skills to build consensus, to make tough decisions, to move forward to make sure you solve the problems. governors have that opportunity. george was a governor for six years. ronald reagan was a pretty successful governor and president, eight years in both spots. one of the candidates says i do not have foreign-policy experience. i will tell you what i do have. i have experience make tough decisions. i have experience that brought a state to a better place. when i was governor, we had eight hurricanes and four

tropical storms in 16 months. $150 billion to property loss, and at one point we did not have a commercial property insurance market. it was gone. if you do not have insurance, cannot get a loan to expand your people were struggling. for threet power weeks, you did not have food. people were moving out of the state for fear of being able to keep a job. did you ever hear anybody complain when i was governor about fema? i accepted personal responsibility, and we need a president that runs to the challenge rather than cuts and runs, and that is what governors learn how to do. [applause] i got to be governor at a time where i disrupted the old order of things on behalf of my state. in florida, i vetoed line items in the budget for cuts in the budget.

they called me veto corleone. which was supposed to be an insult. i took it as a term of endearment and ran with it. we need veto corleone to go to washington, d.c., to bring budget discipline. in florida, we had eight balanced budgets. when i ended, we had $9 billion in surplus. that is making sure government lives within our means. we need that kind of approach, a balanced budget amendment, and making sure we moved toward a balanced budget in washington, d.c., for our children and grandchildren. i know how to do it. [applause] in florida we eliminated lifetime career civil service protection. the great workers that work in government do not need. the ones that need it are the ones that should not be there.

in florida we reduced the government workforce by 11%, but we led the nation seven out of eight years in job growth, 1.3 million jobs created during my 10. -- my time. do you not want that for washington, d.c., as well? [applause] in the first place and take that skill is the department of veterans affairs. you have seen the atrocious waiting list of veterans coming home do not get care. last year the department came up with an idea, we will give out bonuses, $142 million of bonuses that went out to reduce the waiting list, which sounded like a worthy objective. the simple fact was the waiting lists are reduced, veterans didn't get care, and vets died, and only three people have been fired. heads will roll when i am president of the united states.

we will give veterans expanded choices where they can go to their private provider or private clinic or a local hospital. the best way to assure the department does a better job is to make sure veterans have other choices. it works in schools. it works across the board. giving people choices makes everybody better. we desperately need this to honor the dedicated service of men and women in uniform that come home and deserve to be in the front of the line, not the back of the line. [applause] here is the challenge. everybody has a lot of ideas. on that stage on saturday, who has done it? who has done it? a lot of big talkers. a lot of turns of the phrase, who has actually rolled up their sleeves and taken the hits? this is the one where we took

second voucher program in the third statewide voucher program. i did not cut and run. i did what i thought was right. florida now has the greatest and gains in learning because we disrupted our public education system in the right way, and powering people to make choices for themselves. who has done it? who has created the environment to make sure the weekend grow the economy at a faster rate? i believe i have those skills. because past is prologue. we cannot trust the next president with the great challenges we face someone who has not been tested. there will be a challenge. it could be a pandemic. he could be a huge natural disaster. it could be an attack on this country. the question is, who do you want to sit behind the desk? who do you want to be able to lead us through difficult times? the next president will be challenged. i believe i have those skills to work on behalf of everybody to make sure that we have a better

future for ourselves. let me conclude with this -- i believe that life is a gift from god, that it is divinely inspired, that we are here for a purpose. we are all here for a purpose. if we reach our god-given abilities, nothing will stop the united states. we will lead the world for the next two generations, because the american people are extraordinary and exceptional. we still are. i'm sick of politicians that divide us in our disparate parts, that believe that the end is near, when in fact all we have to do is fix a few really big complex things, and we will take off as a nation. we will be safe and secure and will have rising incomes. [applause] a year ago i met a woman

, a young african-american woman, 25-year-old from jacksonville, and she had a difficult life starting out in life. she lived in poverty. she had a challenged family. she was held back two years in a row in third grade. one of which was my doing because we eliminated social promotion and third grade when i was governor. there was a gate in florida. if you do not read by the end of third grade, you do not go to fourth grade. we are not worried about the self-esteem of little johnny. we are worried if johnny can't read. [applause] this little girl had to have been angry. she had to have been quite angry, i'm sure. she was held back. her godmother found about the florida corporate tax scholarship program, the largest doctoral program today. -- the largest voucher program today. today kids go to private schools because i took on very powerful interests, and we won. she got to get her a christian

school. i know for a fact what happened. the first week a teacher put her arm around a child and said, i love you. you are capable. you can do this. jesus loves you. we can do this together. and guess what -- she overcame those two years that she was held back. she graduated from high school. she was the first in her hand family to graduate from college, and now she is getting a masters degree at the university of central florida. if you believe like i do that everybody has an ability to make a contribution, that if everybody reaches their god-given ability, this country will take off. we will not be as gloomy. millennial's will believe the american dream is alive. we will lessen the demand on government. we will give back to the

business that everybody can benefit. that's the mission. we cannot allow politicians to divide us up. we need a president with a steady hand that runs to the challenge, that believes the greatness of this country, at -- that believes if we set a set of common purposes, one of which is everybody should have a chance to rise up, nothing will stop the united states of america. i believe that in my heart. and if you believe it, if you are tired of the politics of division, if you want someone with a proven record a solid conservative, who acted on his conservative beliefs each and every day as governor, someone with 32 years of private sector experience, you are looking at the nominee of the republican nomination, and i can beat hillary clinton. i can promise you that. [applause] the only way a republican and conservative wins is by

campaigning with their arms wide open, with a hopeful optimistic message, campaigning in every part of this country, making sure everybody knows we want them on their team. the only way we win is to do what republicans what they always do -- campaign like george w. bush, campaign like ronald reagan did. we have to get back to that, and when we do, we will win and restore america's greatness that will sustain it for the next generations. i ask for your support and saturday. god bless you all. thank you very much for coming. [applause] ♪