senators were not appointed by the legislature but demanded elections. not know if it was the first but the idea it was not going to be the party bosses who made the decision of who the nominees were in smoke-filled back rooms but rather the people who were going in free chance to vote and fair elections. "q&a." former candidate dr. ben carson gave the commencement address to the 2016 graduation class of southeastern university. he talked about his experience on the campaign trail in his career as a neurosurgeon at johns hopkins hospital.

this is about 15 minutes. [applause] dr. carson: thank you. thank you. i feel like i am at a political rally. want to congratulates the -- i want to congratulate the. my wife and i have a high esteem for dr. ingle and this university. gray happy to be part of it. travelortunate enough to

i am alwaysies and welcomed -- happy to give back to this country. some people tend to take that for granted but i do not. that was so important that each one of you developed the tremendous talent that god has provided and are to help maintain as a free country that and it is going to be a fight, it is going to be a struggle. a lot of times people ask me was it really worth getting into the political arena and having people savage her reputation and family, tell lies and do all the things, was it really worth all that and the answer is no.

not if you are doing it for yourself. othersare doing it for and answer is a resounding yes. can is him to elevate other people. i had an opportunity over the last year or so to travel to replace and to meet some any people but i was particularly thrilled to see so many of my patients everywhere i went. i operated on 15,000 people. -- i was in kentucky and the family approached me and this young recognize man? i said he looks familiar. i can say that about everybody. they said you operated on this young man when he was one year

old. operation where you take out half of the brain to stop intractable seizures. he just graduated number one in his college class with half of a brain. i tell you, those kinds of things. [applause] was at any wife affair and a beautiful, tall young lady came up to her and said your doctor carson's wife, aren't you? he operated on me when i was still in my mother's womb and now she's grown up and objective citizen and that is one of the reasons why no one was ever convince me that an entity inside a mother's woman -- warm is a meaningless mass of cells. that is a human being. [applause]

but medicine was the thing that always grabbed me as a young person. nothing else had that same intensity for me. i loved anything that came on the television or the radio about medicine, i was right there. i even liked going to the office -- doctor's office which made me a strange kid. shotsd gladly sacrifice a i could smell those alcohol swabs. it was just great. . was a terrible student you never thought i was going to be a doctor. one everybody else that i was names,and called me there was one person who always believed in me and that was my mother. she was always saying benjamin, you are much too smart to be bringing home greats like this. i brought them home anyway but she was always saying things like that. she was always being encouraging and she did not know what to do so she prayed and asked god to

give her wisdom and he gave it to her at least in her opinion. my brother and i did not think that was wise at all, turning off the tv and making a three books. i started reading those books about people of accomplishment and all kinds of different areas. it became increasingly clear to me that the person who has the most to do with what happens to you in life is you. it is not somebody else. it is not the environment or circumstances. it is what you decide to do and how much energy you decide to put behind it. and that had a profound effect on me once i recognize that and i just began to read everything i could get my hands on. i loved reading anything and within the space of a year and half i went from the bottom of the class to the top of the class.

much to the consternation of a lot of those students who used to laugh and call me dummy. a year and half later the same ones were coming to me saying how do you work this problem? set my feet, youngster, while i instruct you. [laughter] i was perhaps a bit obnoxious but it felt good to say that to those turkeys. i had a completely different opinion of who i was. and that is really the thing that distinguishes very successful people from people who do not succeed. you know, god is our creator and we are made in his image which means we have these amazing brains that can do almost anything. your brain can process more than 2 million bits of information in one second, who remembers everything you have seen, everything you have ever heard. that is -- there's nothing that

begins to compare. the real question is what do we do with those brains? god gave them to us so that we can develop them, improve ourselves, and improve the people around us. and of course, recognizing that things went very well for me and i found myself as director of pediatric neurosurgery at johns hopkins and an early age and i thought it was -- i was pretty hot stuff, i have to admit. then along came this little boy from georgia. he was a prodigy. at age two he was saying bible verses that by the age of four he stopped being able to walk. and his eyes were looking in different directions and he was having all kinds of trouble, he inoperableed with an

lesion, and he saw multiple specialists and they'll told the family take it home and keep him comfortable, he's going to die. they ended up at johns hopkins and i remember when that boy rolled onto the ward on a stretcher, barely moving, barely breathing, i am thinking what am i supposed to do here and i saw the ugly tumor on the scan and the parents and i was -- we were let hereby the lord because we found a christian error surgeon. i said this is a malignant tumor of the brain stem, there is nothing that i or anyone else can do but they said the doctor, the lord is going to heal our son and he is going to use you to do it. look, mri's are brand-new. maybe it will show something that cat scan does not. i showed it to the neurologists, they said malignant range or, nothing to be done.

i said all the experts have looked at this and they said but dr., the lord is going to heal our son, he will use you to do it. i said look, once in a thousand cases the scans are wrong so tell you what, i will take him to the operating room and do a biopsy. maybe it is a fungal reaction or something like that that looks like a tumor. took him to the operating room, a egg ugly grayish red mass. it came back height grade glioma -- high-grade glioma. i took out as much as i could and close to map. maybe your son is -- has served his purpose. we will understand it better by an bike all the things we say in the said dr., the lord is going to heal our son. walked away i was thinking i have never seen people with

faith like this. fully expecting that boy to deteriorate and die but his eyes started looking in the same direction, he started handling his secretions, i said let's do another scan and we did and now there was a ribbon of tissue in the corner that we could not see before and i said is it possible this tumor was so big and a compressed and displace the not insidend it is the brainstem and we should go back in and they said by all means. i went back in. the nature of the tumor had changed under the microscope and as i peeled it away layer by layer, i got to the last player and there was the glistening distorted andem, smashed but intact. the boy walked out of the hospital and today is a minister. [applause]

one of the oncologists involved said ben, i have always been an atheist. i am not anymore. it was not for him, it was for me. i thought i was doing all this stuff. i said you came out of detroit and went to yale university and became chief of pediatric marrow surgery, you are great but after that i realized it was not me at all. on you bed, from now they neurosurgeon and i will be the hands and that is where the term gifted hands came from. and that is when all the amazing things began to happen. all these incredible once-in-a-lifetime cases one after another after another but i always remembered and kept in mind who was doing it. guarantee you this, graduates. if you will in fact always keep

got out front, always acknowledge him he will lift you you in a very use positive way and that is what i mean when i say think egg. the t is for talent that he ,ives every single person intellectual talent which everyone of you have. the ages for honesty, you lead a clean and honest life you do not put closets and -- skeletons in the closet. when i was running for office they were looking for skeletons. they could not find any because there were not any. of course they make them up. insight the i is for which comes from listening to people who go where you are trying to go. wise people are those who can learn from something that someone else does, they do not have to repeat it themselves.

n is for nice. be nice to people. if you are a democrat, be nice to republican, view our republican, be nice to do democrats because the fact of the matter is the problems that we have in this country, they are not republican or democratic problem, they are american problems and we are the ones who have to sell them. the k is for knowledge which is the thing that makes you into a more valuable person. the average college graduate will have three to five careers, the more you know, the easier it is to move. thoser learning and are people who cram before a test and sometimes do ok and three leaks -- weeks later they

know nothing. we cannot do that. we must utilize the brain the is for god.d the g there is an attempt in our society today to push got out and those of us who are cannot pick -- capitulate to those who wish to push them out. we have to be willing to stand up for what we believe in is the land of the free and the home of the brave. it isguarantee you impossible to be free if you are not brave. that this recognize whose founding document, the declaration of independence says we have certain inalienable rights given

to us by our creator, a.k.a. god. are -- ination, we our courtrooms it says on the wall in god we trust. coine a nation where every in our pocket, every bill in our wallet says in god we trust. we are -- our pledge of allegiance says we are one nation under god. it is in our pledge and courts in money but we are not supposed to talk about it. what in the world is that? in medicine we call it schizophrenia. does not explain a lot of what is going on in our nation? we need to make it clear through our lives and our words that it godlyto live by principles of loving your fellow man, caring about your neighbor, developing your god-given talents and you become valuable to the people around you, having values and principles that guide your life and if we do that, not

only will we remain the pinnacle nation but we will truly have god,ation, under indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. congratulations and godspeed. [applause] >> at southwestern university's commencement the executive director of the commission on presidential debates janet brown addressed graduates on the power of technology and the importance of the democratic process during election cycles. she spoke for just over 10 minutes.

thank you very much. .t is a huge honor to be here there may be a lot of land in texas but as mark twain said they are not making it anymore. courtesy of jack hundreds of acres of protected greenery will grace this town in perpetuity. until recently, my familiarity with southwestern centered on two extraordinary leaders, president berger and the member of the university of -- university's board of visitors. now it it under -- includes an understanding of the history between southwestern creation, including yellow fever, a long-standing religious food and

newspaper editors whose disagreement led to a duel. neither managed to harm the other during the standoff although one succeeded in taking unilateral action the next day. 176 years later, the class of 2016 will become part of the university's heritage as you take southwestern with you on your next adventures. you are united in your diversity as well as your shared traditions. from ally in the comments to pirate bikes on the campus. thehave avoided stepping on ceiling of the chapel and now the world awaits. it is a good time to remember the words of the late father gilbert graham, a deer family representativea to the holy see. as a young member of the clergy officiating at a wedding he would give the couple tweaks four rules for marriage. he reduced it down to 12

recommendations as time went on. after a while he offered the couple one suggestion. try to be polite to one another. it is presumptuous to give advice to 291 people whom you don't know even though you would like to. so here are a few suggestions create based on a recent news story some of you may have seen the octopus. he escaped from his tank in the new zealand national aquarium. he had been saved from a trap and taken to the aquarium for treatment of his ones. as he recovered marine biologists pointed out that if he was not adequately stability and he would get bored. one day he decided to expand his horizons. he managed to squeeze all a leg through a hole in the top of the tank, scamper across the floor, and slide down a 160 foot pipe

that put him on track to hawks bay and freedom. his keepers found his roommate .ll along in the tank telltale suction cup marks on the floor. a clean break, no farewell note. this story hard not to love for several reasons that conveniently correspond to think, create, connect. it is also a good news story and this is a good news day so let's start. first, inky was into problem-solving. he had initiative and a purpose. he deployed his flexibility and agility to conquer what appeared to be a daunting challenge. how to fit a body the sound -- size of a rugby ball through a small gap in the tank. he used stealth, working at night and relied on his instincts to head to the water.

note, he did not telegraph's plan or his progress via social media. [laughter] [applause] ask anyone to like it. he literally kept his head down and focused on the prize. inky gets an a for thinking. second the fact that we know his story illustrates the power of creating. not that long ago what happened in an aquarium halfway around the world would not be known in georgetown, texas until someone had mailed the news clipping from the napier, new zealand paper. our world is joined by modern technology. the news coverage included quotes from research scientists worldwide emphasizing the intelligence and ingenuity of octopi. and octopusescribed

that would leave his tank at night, snack on the residents fish, go back to his tank and when the keepers arrived he is sitting there looking like the poster child for innocence. another expert described in figured out how to unscrew a lid to the jar. experts or not the least bit surprised has the research that marine biologists conduct is part of a database again be tapped by anyone, anytime. we take this extraordinary capacity for creativity for granted. plasticsy allows your department to hold classes with counterparts at other campuses, sharing the resources and benefiting from the larger capacities of big research universities. as chelsea pointed out, 3-d printing is now a reality.

the 2015 brown symposium focused on 3-d printing, a concept that seemed credible only in spielberg movies. southwest professor is already recognized in this amazing field focusing on sculpture, music, and regenerative medicine. the to our tutorial and third point. now a free man. he is connected with his home, the ocean. he is presumably hatching new plans. his escape prompted one reader to comment that he no longer eats octopus since he is quite sure the species is so smart they will someday rule the world and have an accurate record of all the humans who ate them. [laughter] inky is a reminder that it is important to celebrate good news. there is quite a lot of the other kind. today is an and are good news

day and on many levels that illustrates power of connecting. the good fortune of connecting with southwestern when deciding where to continue your education. while here you are encouraged to connect across all learning paths, mathematics and science, arts and humanities, as the brown symposium exemplifies, you leave with treasured connections to professors and the georgetown community that will be continual forces of strength. in six months you will connect with one of the central events of american democracy, a national election. for many of you it will be the first time you exercise the right to vote. you will connect with participatory democracy and with a chance to own the knowledge that will make you an informed citizen. one of the many privileges of working for the commission on presidential debates is the international program that dr. berger referred to. for more than two dozen years

were received requests from other countries mostly emerging democracies, to help them stop their own debates -- start their own debates. they have watched hours. they see the mess central to the democratic process. they believe it is amazing that americans think they have the right to expect political candidates to exchange opposing views about the positions on major issues. they think it is astonishing that this can take place in a civil and fair manner and that anyone who wants to watch or listen can. once again, the fact that the international network is the happy result of connectedness. not that long ago small, nongovernmental organizations from jamaica and nigeria, , sierraa, and bosnia leone, ukraine to my and 20 other countries would never have connected to make a difference in their quest for stronger democracy. keep their hopes in mind as you navigate the next few months. democracy asto

open as ours. they aspired to elections that do not get rescheduled at the whim of a candidate or get influenced by state-owned media outlets that tilt the accuracy of information. we are lucky here. technology makes it easier than it has ever been for each of us to know the facts about issues and candidates for every office on the ballot. but thinking you know the facts is not enough. we all have automatic mental filters based on our own experiences that affect how we perceive and analyze information. each of us brings precooked points of view to information that we receive and we each give different weight to different parts of that information. our analyses and documents are affected by these filters which means we can end up talking past each other. one of my favorite teacher said we first have a duty to understand another person's -- termson his or her

before responding or criticizing . this means listening carefully before dismissing. trying as best we can to remove thefilters and engaging in essence of idea, this is the essence of connecting. exercise these skills. it is easy to follow the crowd and be swayed by group reaction especially when the group can express itself relentlessly on various media, social and otherwise. think for yourself, create your own knowledge base, connect to the democratic process as an individual, as a pioneer, as a pirate. the contentious nature of the 2016 campaign has a lot of people wringing their hands but if you want to see contention remember southwestern's history. this is a country where resilience and resourcefulness have prevailed. let's report -- returned to

inky. if you feel discouraged remember the power of making a plan. use the instincts you were born with, the skills you have acquired and never underestimate the importance of physical fitness. that technology makes available. there is no excuse to be uninformed whether it is about the elections are the fastest path to the drainpipe. if you think you can create and if you do both, you can connect and you can plop right back in the ocean. congratulations, seniors, on a job well done. congratulations to your families, friends, teammates, your roommates, the southwestern kitchen staff and grounds crew, and the ugly and maintenance gang and security team who were long and hard to make today shine. congratulations to the also toty faculty and the high school student and coaches and librarians and music teachers who helped shepherd you

to southwestern. one day early, happy mother's day to all who have mothers. thank you for letting me be part of the day. [applause] comey director james develop -- delivered the commencement address to the university of richmond law school. spoke for over 10 minutes. [applause] >> thank you and good afternoon. it is an honor and a privilege to be back here in a community i

love, at a school that made such a difference in my life and it still feels like home to me. i do not mean to be preferred i will tell to these people of because it want to offer very briefly one reflection from mike career in government, then a police -- a piece of advice about public service and i would get out of your way. let me i will tell to these peoe start with a piece of advice. when i think about the successful people i have known whether they were lawyers are physicians or business leaders or government leaders, there was an overwhelmingly common attribute which is judgment. judgment is different than intelligence. intelligence is fairly common. judgment is very rare. intelligence is the ability to solve the start with a riddle, n equation, to nail a set of facts. lots of people can do that. judgment is the ability to circle, to orbit that answer and see it as it might be seen through the eyes of others, to move the answer in place and

time, to try and see how it might be seen a year from now and congress, five years from now in a newspaper editorial office. how my other people experience this? judgment is the ability to say what something means. can you are -- people master a data set and show you the answer on a graph. people with great judgment can say that is what it says, let me tell you what it means. come from, this ability to orbit a situation and see it through the eyes of others and move it in place in time? i comes mostly from the way you were raised, comes from screwing up, from doing things that take people off and remembering that is how people see that, that is how to experience it. it is mostly a gift you and it along thenurtured way. protected and nurtured. think about what you have done for the last three years and i know it is early, you may be a

little wrong right now but think about what you have practiced doing for three years. you have practiced with the help of these great people taking a situation and moving it in your mind, asking yourself and being asked in a very demanding way, how would that be different in this place or that place? how would it be different if we changed the facts, how would it be difference if we changed some arehe assumptions, and what your assumptions, how sure are you of what you just said and how would that change if i changed this little thing? believe it or not, you are being drilled in the practice of judgment. to take an answer, to take a situation and see it from different perspectives, move it around, and experience it through the eyes of another. that is an extraordinarily valuable gift to you. it requires as your student speaker said a measure a few melody because it is very difficult to escape the trap that is each of us. i can only experience the world

through the experience of a six-foot eight inch white person from the metropolitan area. no one else experiences the same world the way i do so who -- how do i get in their heads and see the way they see's i can be a better lawyer, better husband, better person? judgment is the answer. being intentional about fostering my ability to ask myself how could be seen differently. you just spent three years practicing that. that is necessary but not sufficient. there are this people who have gotten out of law school and not demonstrated great judgment and the rest of their lives. you have to stay after it and how do you do that? i have to slightly weird pieces of advice. the first is sleep. sleep is not a moral failing. was important, now i have all kinds of science to support me. what is going on while you sleep? your brain is engaging in

a narrow chemical -- and lead to make connections. it is laying down judgment in your head while you sleep. sleep. my second slightly weird piece of advice is you have got to keep alive. one of the things that nurtures and protects judgment is physical distance from whatever is dominating your life. and most of your cases that would be work. you have to step away from the work and i do not know whether it is kickboxing or stamp collecting or dancing. must keep doing that. that physical distance from the and protects your ability to orbit a situation and see it through different perspectives, get away from this work. and as you do that you have to love somebody. world is full of evil called loved ones because you're supposed to love them. there is a danger especially in the life of a lawyer and it is

have this backitis, i important matter to handle, i will get back to fill in the blank. my mother, my father, my boyfriend, my siblings, my friends. i will get back to that while i do this. one of the challenges of my job is i see a lot of that -- bad things every day. you will turn and they will not be there. i have five children. i have experienced an extra very array of loved ones because they change each year is they get older. my wife does not change. there is no experience in the world like feeling the pounding and hearing the pounding of a two-year-old's footsteps as you come in the door at the end of the day. there for that. there is no getting back to that. it requires a fight, an actual fight to maintain that sort of health in your life because they tis will be there.

it will protect your judgment. i want you to nurture judgment somebodyng and loving and sometimes those go together in appropriate circumstances and that is fine. i believe the fbi director just as something like that so i will move on. judgment is the attribute of successful people in this world. do not let them tell you it is iq. iq is a cover charge. judgment is what makes the difference. oft is my piece at it -- advice advice from my career. i have left service twice and both times it left a hole in my heart. it took me a while to figure out what was going on and it happened when we moved from new york to richmond in 1993. i was a federal prosecutor in new york and i wanted be a federal prosecutor in richmond but there was a hiring freeze which got in the way of that

transition within the government. i went to a big law firm, great loughran -- law firm, great people and they give me matching furniture which i had not had in my government career yet. i actually had drapes that matched the furniture, i had a parking space, they paid me well, i had interesting issues, colleagues and liked but something was missing. it was my amazing wife who noticed it first. she said what is wrong with you? something she says in lots of different contexts but she said, what is wrong with you question mark we have a five bedroom colonial we have paid $252,000 for. amazingin this community. the kids love it here. what is wrong with you? getting upink i miss in the morning and being part of trying to do something good every day. i actually miss work with moral content as obnoxious as that sounds. three years later because thank goodness one of your great

professors left government service to come to a different kind of service, i took john douglas is job at the u.s. attorney's office and i was not as smart or good-looking are funny but i had the job. i was back in public service and i was a very happy person. once you have done that kind of work, service work my does not have to be in the government but doing something that is not about you and is not about money for it is addictive. when you leave it it leaves a hole in your heart. the challenge of being successful lawyers is oftentimes the things that are siren songs of prestige and money draw you in a different direction. i know it can be hard to do public service work. it is hard on your credit cards. it can be hard to do for an entire career but i ache for my skull -- classmates from 30 years ago who never even tried. here is what i worry. einstein.sor quoted he urged young people, try not

to be people of success, try to be people of value. taken the timeer to try and be part of doing something of moral content as part of your work, you have missed something. augustine said human honor is like smoke which has no weight. there is a danger you can get to the end of old wife -- life and have a cumulative the smoke of success but nothing of real value. -- occasionally you need to do something weird and close your eyes and imagine yourself at the end of your life. i told you this would not be in a dusting -- uplifting moment. i hope i -- you are old and gray. close your eyes and look at and ask this question from that vantage point, who do i want to have been, who do i want to have been? the smoke it that way is clear. the things that get in the way when you only live life forward,

human, cars, money, honor, all that stuff is stripped away. who cares about that stuff at the end of your life? what will matter in a real sense will come into view. everyone's answer will be different. my answer is a want to be somebody -- i want to have been someone who was a great husband, father, and friend. i want to know their children and i want to have been someone who i took time to do something for someone who needed me. i hope you work hard to take the amazing education you have got exposed toave been the world, to important issues, the challenges so many people in our communities and country face, hope you'll take the time to answer that question now and let it guide the way you live your life. value.le of i hope at the end of this life, your people who look back and do

it something you love and i was part of something that meant a great deal to me and i hope you remember that this education began when i hope will be a remarkable and fulfilling journey. you are very lucky. congratulations. [applause] >> national cable and telecommunications president michael powell delivered the address at pepperdine university in malibu, california. he told graduates there is nothing more important than relationships, perseverance, and the pursuit of wisdom. this is 15 minutes. >> good, glorious morning. it is a pleasure to be here. i want to start off by thanking the provost in the faculty, the

president and the administration and the students for bestowing honor of exceptional joining the pepperdine community . this will be a day i will long cherish and i really thrilled to be here. as i look out on this assembled crowd, i see a lot of joy in the faces of all of you as you are clad in your caps and gowns said to enter the working world. perch, there seems to be some cause for concern. white? rising.the robots are the cars are driving themselves, and computers are humiliating wit. beings in contests of the most recent example is google's computer that annihilated the reigning champion in a game called go. it is so complicated there are more moves than there are atoms

in the universe. machines seem poised to replace humans as tomorrow's skilled workers. it might be understandable if you're sitting there questioning whether your years of liberal arts study have done much to make you valuable in this ex machina utopia that is unfolding. as r2- destined for life d2's nursemaid? maybe reading tolstoy to pass the time. i know millennials cherish their digital ways but i am wondering if you are being lured to your own demise. could it be that while you are deliriously tweeting and reach waiting, snapping and chatting, the machines are modeling your behavior, learning your skills so they can cast you in a corner and leave you suckling your

iphone why -- while they commend the work that drives our economy? does the liberal arts student have a chance these days? there is a course of critics who say no. the liberal arts college is an expensive system that produces well read students with no practical skills. to them the arts and amenities should be pushed aside and replaced with science, technology, engineering, math, and of course, coding. code., everyone has to i say these academy haters are wrong area the value of a liberal arts education is not fading. to the contrary, i believe the greatest task to be accomplice to in the modern digital age require women and men with broad knowledge, creative minds, deep

election will curiosity, and .bove all, a strong moral sense this is exactly what liberal arts colleges produce, and what the world sorely needs. the world needs you. while creative destruction and disruption are the narrative of tech glory, they are deconstructing and eroding traditional institutions, changing societal values, convulsing political and economic systems and changing the nature of human relationships, making sense of it all requires more than coders and technocrats. it requires the perspective of the historian, the insights of the sociologist, and the reflections of the philosopher. weapons are not what will halt the spread of terrorism and religious extremism. what will our people who comprehend the fundamentals of religion, understand its true

purpose, and can't find a path to restore the true meaning of .aith, forgiveness and peace in the digital age the only constant is change itself. a large number of jobs today do not -- did not even exist five years ago. the furious explosion of technology makes it impossible to predict the world in five years, let alone in 50. in order in this ever-changing world the future will belong to , thoseho are adaptable who can changed directions, reinvent themselves, taught new opportunities, and continuously innovate. liberal arts study has molded you into that type of person. above all, the most viable thing that you have been taught is how to teach yourself. you are capable of lifelong learning and that will be your competitive edge in an unpredictable world.

but making a meaningful life goes well beyond adapting to whatever vocation a way to. in a world where many tasks will be mastered by machines, you will have to rely on the one thing that most distinguishes you from circuits and silicon and that is your humanity. cultivate -- to cultivate your humanity you must consciously move beyond the career's and it work of collecting data, a key milling information, and acquiring knowledge. a purposeful life instead is found in the steady and graceful and humble pursuit of wisdom. forserve special admiration this college and its commitment to encourage you to that path. its mission is to prepare persons to become moral and intellectual leaders and to challenge them to value service above material success.

wisdom seekers must define their worth beyond external measures of societal achievement. wisdom at its core is discovered internally. it begins with understanding your weaknesses and your shortcomings, and quietly attending every day to being a better person when the sunsets than you were when it rose that morning. [no audio] the lout seymour repaired than the quiet. technology is partly responsible. are delicious.s

-- spending their energies collecting likes and followers and curating their highlight reels for friends on facebook. a nation i feel like of people chasing attention rather than achievement. one of cyst with 140 character bits of information rather than words of meaning and substance. youtube seems to be the new andy warhol canvas or you find your 15 minutes of fame. you want to find a higher purpose, you must resist becoming a celebrity apprentice. running around collecting trophies, trinkets, and certificates, titles, and big bonuses. you have to find the road to character. david brooks authored a brilliant book of that name and in and he said there are two

sets of human virtues. -- virtuesversions and the eulogy virtues. the resume virtues are the skills that contribute to your external success in the job market. the eulogy virtues are deeper. as he says, they are the virtues that get talked about at your funeral. the ones that exist at the core of your being whether you are kind, brave, honest, or faithful , what kind of relationships you person wantse, a to have a serene inner character and a solid sense of right and wrong not only to do good but to be good. who wants to learn intimate -- love intimately and live in obedience to some transcendent trust, to have a cohesive inner soul that honors creation, and one's own possibilities.

a wise person cultivates eulogy virtues throughout their lives. sag is forged in the kiln of time from decades of experience is that none of you have yet to have but if you set your compass to that destination now, as you take your first step, you will surely get there. to help you start your journey, i offered just a few lessons from my own crucible of experience. to begin with, a wise person is always confident but never certain. a wise person understands that certitude can be a vice and doubt rather than weakness can be a virtue. if you appreciate the vast complexity of our universe, you know that our senses limit our perceptions to only a tiny fraction of reality. -- isore zone none to us unknown to us that is known. leave your mind open to see you might be wrong and it leaves your -- you prepared to revise

your opinion based on new facts and new perspectives or the weight of a better argument. certitude is blinding. it leads to arrogance and closes the mind. meaning certitude does not a life without conviction. in a world of ambiguity and temptations, you need a moral compass. you must develop principles that you copper mice for no one, not for a loved one, not for a job for an not for a chance at fame or wealth. they service as your anchor in a storm, fred -- preventing you from england wave by the winds of expediency and help you be at peace with choices you have to make in life. a wise person is highly observant and understands the power of silence. training yourself to notice the my life iings, in

mark when i see the first flower of spring or the drop of the first leaf and fall. you see more keenly into the world and gain insights that others miss in the rush of the day. moreover, it keeps you mindful of the present, not stressed by a pastor cannot change or a future you cannot know. silence is golden for as they say, when you are talking, you're not listening. it is a very powerful skill to be able to be alone with your own thoughts. person practices gratitude, compassion, acceptance, forgiveness, and sees a higher purpose in life. gratitude is announcing it appreciating your blessings. it is the outer expression of humility. compassion is being and 10 with the interstate of another with an intention to ease suffering and shared joy. a well-known quote says be kind,

for everyone you meet is .ighting a hard battle acceptance means appreciating what is not in your control. god grant me the serenity to accept the things i cannot change, the courage to change the things i can, and the wisdom to know the difference. i give this is the choice to give up anger and resentment, it is the gift you give to others even to those who do not deserve your kindness. higher meaning gives your life and your work a purpose. it makes you happier, more focused, and more spiritually connected. finally, a wise person knows she is mortal. when i sat where you are i gave no thought to the fact that the life before me would someday have an end.

often people first confront their mortality when they reach and their knees hurt, and their cholesterol is bad, and there but pressure is up. -- blood pressure is up. appreciating that life is finite while you are young will give you the proper perspective for living meaningfully. as emily dickinson wrote that it will never come again is what makes life so sweet. i learned this lesson the hard way when i was just a few years from where you are sitting now. i was an army officer in germany living my dream. warning, iy, with no was thrown from an army vehicle and i lay in a highway with a broken spine and a shattered pelvic cradle. at that moment i did not know if my life had hours or years remaining. i spent an entire year in the

hospital, relying on the skilled hands of others, the love and support of my family and friends, my own faith, and my own spirit to live in my determination to find a meaningful life. it may sound odd but it is the best thing that ever happened to me. life isht me that precious, it taught me that nothing is more important than me toonships, it taught move toward those who are loving and kind and move rapidly away from those wallowing in negativity and blinded by self-promotion and ambition. it taught me the meta-stay of the universe and how small i am in it and it tommy the true importance of perseverance. and the importance of pursuing wisdom. if i can impart the same lesson to you now, without having a jeep fall on you, then you will have a life rich with meeting

and you will have nothing to fear from the robots. thank you very much. sharply. slowed the labor department reports the u.s. academy -- economy added 38,000 jobs in may, the lowest amount in five years. the unemployed rate fell to 4.7% from five percent but mainly because half a million unemployed people stopped looking for work. republican presidential candidate donald trump speaks in california this afternoon. the state holds its presidential primary tuesday. we will have live coverage of today's speech at 4:00 eastern. yesterday marked 30 years of gavel-to-gavel coverage of the senate on c-span2. for the occasion, we have compiled video going back to the first televised session. c-span2 has been there for all the historic moments.

daschle noted the change of leadership midsession. daschle: this indeed is a humbling moment for me. i am honored to serve as majority leader. but i also recognize the majority is slim. this is still one of the most closely divided senates in all of history. and we have just witnessed something that has never before happened in all of senate history. the change of power during a session of congress. >> part of our look back at 30 years of tv coverage of the u.s. senate on c-span2. see video from the first televised session as well as insider analysis from the senate historian. you can watch the entire program tomorrow night at 8:00 eastern here on c-span.

our live coverage of the presidential race continues tuesday night with primaries in six states. montana, new jersey, new mexico, and north and south dakota. hillary clinton: a different vision for our country than the one between our side of democrats for progress, prosperity, fairness, and opportunity than the presumptive nominee on the republican side. donald trump: we are going to win on education. no more common core. bring it down, bring it down! we want it local. we are going to win at the border. we are going to win at trade. bernie sanders: we've got to redefine what politics means in america. we need people from coast-to-coast standing up, fighting back, and demanding a

government that represents all of us. not just the 1%. >> join us live at 9:00 eastern for election results, candidate speeches, and your reaction. we will look ahead at the fall battleground states. taking you on the road to the white house on c-span, c-span radio, and c-span.org. now, a discussion on puerto rico's debt crisis. experts review preferred actions from congress, the local puerto rican government, and the puerto rican public. this is an hour and a half.

>> good morning. thank you all very much for joining us today. we are going to talk about a very serious and urgent situation confronting puerto rico, the home of 3.5 million americans. the territory's economy as we read every day has been declining for a decade. it has accumulated huge debts that it can't possibly pay. owes $72 billion to

about $46 billion to pension funds. started missing bond payments in january and is expected to default on nearly 2 billion payment due july 1st. that is roughly 100% of its gross national product. thousands of residents are leaving the island for the mainland every month to look for jobs and better public services. the exodus is accelerating. in this context, congress and the obama administration have come up with compromise. the bill would establish a financial control board to oversee the island government and help restructure its debt in federal court. require the governme and the board to adequately finance pension funds that are close to empty today. it would temporarily stay stare lawsuits by

prejudice against the island's government which starts its work. remains to be seen of course who will be appointed to this board. the president would pick for -- four from lists provided by republican leaders in the house and senate and won the president would pick to the democratic leaders. the bill has already generated some criticism, including from creditors, and for different reasons from labor unions. others recognize the problems and the flaws but believe this is the best possible formula to address the crisis and recognize that time is running out. in any event, there's a lot of ground to cover about this complex and grave situation. fortunately, we have three superb experts who closely tracked puerto rico for many years and have kindly agreed to share their insights and is with

perspectives with us this morning. barry bosworth is a senior fellow at the economic studies program at brookings institution. he served as presidential adviser and specialist on fiscal and monetary policy, economic growth, capital formation and social security. he also has taught at berkeley and harvard and his many publications include an analysis of the puerto rico economy. we are pleased once again to the barry with us at dialogue. rafael cox is professor of law at the university district of columbia and is a prominent puerto rican lawyer and in 2012 was candidate for position of candidate -- resident commissioner alongside governor padilla. he studies at cornell, oxford and graduated from harvard law school as part as long puerto rico with reichardt and echevarria. we are happy to have rafael with us this morning.

jose peralta formally served as assistant secretary for private sector within the office of department of homeland security. he currently is deputy chair of the global alliance for trade facilitation. jose has also served as direct. -- director of the americas at the u.s. chamber of commerce and executive director of the association of american chambers of commerce in latin america. he graduated from the university of puerto rico and completed his doctoral studies at the university of michigan. and we are thrilled to have jose with us as well who is really followed this question very closely. we are going to follow a question-and-answer format this morning. i'm going to pose questions to our speakers and after a few rounds, we are going to open it up and invite your comments and questions and look forward to a very productive and interesting

exchange. before getting started, i want to acknowledge and thank very much the work of my colleagues here who runs the rule of law program at the dialogue for coordinating the session and all his efforts to make this possible. -- also the assistant program assistant in the rule of law program at the dialogue and also co-authored a very good paper blog post for the dialect called "puerto rico, and delicate path to solution." thank you all for all of your support and help. let's begin with you, barry. there is a lot of ground to cover and a lot of questions. you have been following puerto rico for a long time and effort -- written about it a lot. if you could just give us your

sense of the real -- what we need to understand to know why this is happening. what are the real origins, main causes of this. how have we gotten into the situation we are currently in? how do you see the roles of the different players? could this have been avoided? you've been watching this story for many, many years. how have we gotten to this point? mr. bosworth: i think there are a multitude of causes of what happened. one thing that emphasizes people think it's too recent. it's been going on a long time, basically since the mid-1970s. puerto rico had a remarkably good governor after the end of world war ii they made enormous progress. they used to be called the asian tigers. they were compared with them.

and they did extremely well from to end of world war ii up 1975. but they started from abject poverty. people don't have enough credit -- help or the best for how people don't understand how poor puerto rico was when it started up. it did it primarily for by encouraging puerto ricans on an overpopulated island had half the population went to the mainland and half of them got jobs basically an expert oriented industry. they were a low-cost supply of labor inside a u.s. tariff wall. before 1975, it was very high. been made all the trade liberalization, this care of wall collapsed. puerto rico was no longer a low-cost source of manufacturing labor. it was a high-cost source of manufacturing labor and it was inevitable the sector was going to be declining just like it has

on the mainland. because it's taken over by lower-cost countries , particularly in asia. i think that part of it was inevitable. the big engine for growth went away. they were never able to diversify the economy in a way that would give further opportunities. it turned into a political game here in the u.s. werenk two big events organized labor that upset in aboutset in the 1970's all the jobs moving to puerto rico. they convinced the federal government to extend the u.s. minimum wage to puerto rico. so the federal minimum wage applies to puerto rico. incomer puerto rico's was one third of that of the

united states. like having the minimum wage three times higher than here. much higher than the rest of the caribbean area. so tourism is very hard to be profitable in puerto rico. you'd rather go to one of the other islands where it is more attractive and cheaper. it doesn't have a lot of options. the companies got mad because they did not have the same competitive advantage anymore, so the government gave them a tax loophole and basically puerto rico turned into a tax game of income shifting, corporations played games, and to the island so they did not have to pay tax. but it did not generate employment. it was just a subterfuge. it was later phased out to about 2006. a lot of people think that's where the problems started. but they started way earlier. puerto rico has been declining steadily since 1975.

it is true things got much worse in the great recession and it has had no recovery unlike the , rest of the economy. the rest of the economy does not think it has been adequate. puerto rico has this long relative decline. the question is what to do about it. i think that is the big problem. we do not have an economic program of what we think would work in puerto rico that would make it economically competitive. >> that's enough over there. >> thank you. rafael, would you want to add anything to that? in your view, do politicians, political figures, share some of the blame or responsibility, you know, from the factors he has laid out?

>> thank you very much for the question. the first thing i want to do is thank the inter-american dialogue for placing puerto rico on the agenda. it is not just a domestic issue as congress might believe. the puerto rico conundrum is an international issue both in its very nature and scope. after all, puerto rico is not merely a u.s. territory. andto rico is a caribbean latin american nation. i want you to take that away from this panel. to answer michael's question, the first thing i want to emphasize is the geopolitical chronology. barry mentioned the second world war. puerto rico had a prominent role in the united states cold war strategy during the post-second world war. and that has changed.

the united states has actually been rather neglectful and in the bash indifferent towards puerto rico from the 1970's and most important from the 1990's on. that is also something that is crucial to understand. now, the question michael poses is, if there is a correlation between puerto rico's political status and our current fiscal and economic crisis. i'm going to rephrase that question. thegoing to say correlational relation between puerto rico says colonial condition and the current crisis. why am i using the hatchet to them -- adjective colonial? i'm using the adjective colonial because the cat is out of the bag. for the first time since 60 years ago when the united

nations removed puerto rico from the least independent -- list of independent territories at the best of the eisenhower administration, for the first time the united states and political branches have finally admitted to the world that puerto rico remains a colony. nothing of note happens in the 1950's. basically, puerto rico remains a territory subject under the u.s. constitution. this goes back to michael's question. what is the consequence of the legal reality, what is the consequence of the colonial condition on puerto rico's fiscal and economic implosion? the consequences have been grave. first of all, the most obvious

is puerto rico, unlike any sovereign country about the world and unlike the 50 states, puerto rico cannot declare any municipalities for corporations insolvent or bankrupt. puerto rico cannot do that. puerto rico has no legal authority under the colonial arrangement to declare itself bankrupt. it has no legal authority to negotiate binding the agreement with any of its creditors. puerto rico either has to see congress' permission or the supreme court's blessing as it is trying to do with the case currently pending before the supreme court. so that's the first obvious consequence of puerto rico's colonial condition. now, what are the other consequences question mark how do they relate to the implosion? the answer is in order for puerto rico to jumpstart its

economy, bearing in mind that puerto rico's most difficult challenge is not the debt load. the most pressing challenges the them -- challenge is the utter absence of economic development and growth. the correlation between the debt burden and economic growth is so asymmetrical that it makes it impossible for puerto rico to pay off its debts. that is fundamental. in order to jumpstart our economy, to be more competitive in the global scene, puerto rico really needs a set of tools. that set of tools are unavailable under the current colonial condition. puerto rico has no control over its fiscal policy. puerto rico has no control of its trade policy. puerto rico has no control of its monetary policy. puerto rico has no control of

the environmental regulations, communication regulations air , and space regulations, puerto rico has no control even of its own health care policy. health care represents $2 billion a year worth of cost for the puerto rican government and puerto rico really a very hard time charting a path forward when it controls none of those economic variables. those variables and triggers are controlled by congress and puerto rico has no meaningful representation in congress. we only have a nonvoting delegate. so in a nutshell and to summarize, yes, the colonial condition makes it harder for puerto rico to chart a path forward. and i believe this is the most propitious moment in recent history for puerto rico to

articulate the total package. that is negotiate with the , political branches in washington a way out of the fiscal crisis by negotiating a timetable to address the pink elephant in the room, the most -- that most want to put aside. that is puerto rico's undignified colonial condition. >> thank you. let's turn to you. you've also been extremely engaged and focused on puerto rico for a number of years. how did we get to this point? you've been in washington. are there steps that might have been taken, policy measures in washington, to try to stem where we are at today? flex thank you for the question michael. thank you for being here.

before i begin, i want to acknowledge the role of my colleagues in the diaspora network of professionals here in washington working to support civil society environment and the--empowerment in puerto rico. there are several missing links in the conversation. example of the kind of networks that can support solutions. i'm going to take your question. i'm going to talk a little bit about what happens in puerto rico. there are things that can be done in washington and my co-panelists have eloquently explained the macro situation and the political situation regarding the colony and whether we believe that's the case or not. but i want to talk about the institutional problem in puerto rico. most people when they look at puerto rico's crisis, we want to summarize in economic terms. we are talking about an economy

that has lost competitiveness. the government overspends to compensate for shortcomings regardless of the behavior of the business cycle and other economic factors. that is a recipe for disaster. when you combine some economic mismanagement in the way that these financing mechanisms were issued and structured not to , mention shortsighted fiscal policy because of the political cycle, the budget process which is a bit chaotic as you can imagine. and some of the questions that have emerged about the lack of transparency in how the government does its accounting. all of these things have been mentioned several times. i want to highlight the factor that unites all of these various things. it is the question of the quality of institutions and in puerto rico. who makes decisions, even in the context and let's assume we control the colonial issue and are able to fix it. we have to have a set of leaders and decision-makers they can

-- making decisions for the long-term. puerto rico has an institutional problem in the sense that puerto rico has for many years and many years. it has been ruled by coalitions that compete with each other for electoral competition as opposed to productive coalitions, the the ones that led puerto rico out of poverty. there has been no productive coalition in puerto rico since the which is remarkable 1970's, considering nobody has had to rethink how the economy works. there has been no such coalition governing puerto rico in that point. in that sense, the other component of the problem of institutions is in puerto rico political parties act as

mechanisms for recruitment and movement abilities. puerto rico doesn't have a fully functioning civil service that creates incentives for public officials to behave in a way that leads to better or improving excellence in the way they manage. it is determined by the way parties recruit elite and the way parties move people off the channel and tube leadership positions which means loyalty is fundamentally attached to the party and not to the fundamental political economic system. that is a recipe for this coalition. this uncertainty on the political status creates a vested interest in maintaining the system that lets the party survive in its current form without seeing the need to revisit economic incentives which should be the basis for a productive coalitions. we have a fundamental vicious cycle in the way the institutions work and the way in

which the structure of incentives that decision-makers have to make long-term and short-term decisions about of course short-term decisions and that of course leads to credibility problems we can talk about a little later. >> barry, let's go back to you and talk a little bit about this pending bill. to what extent, in your view, does this really address some of the problems? is it a band-aid? some critics have said it is a bailout. you know, where do you come down on this and is this given where we are today and the urgency of the situation i think all of us see, is this the best sort of formula at this time? what is your sense of this bill? >> first of all, the bill is not a bailout. one of the things that has created some tension in all of the negotiation is the refusal of the federal government to put up any new money in resolving the situation in puerto rico.

there's no bailout in that sense. unless you wanted to say it is going to be a bailout by debt bondholders who are not going to get paid. i think it just recognizes reality. if they don't pass this bill, on july 1, the last major element of puerto rican debt will go into default. default can be an extremely unruly process because at that point, courts get in. if you look at what happens in the u.s., one of the bondholders will sue. everybody in this room must be aware of what happened with respect to argentina when it tried to negotiate an agreement and a couple people dissented and a judge stepped in and said you've got to pay them first. that is the sort of threat that would happen but in an even more complicated situation in argentina. you have to accept some sort of

a notion of an oversight board of some kind. i also think the idea that puerto rico could be left to do it itself is just not realistic. these are going to be very painful measures to take in trying to resolve the fiscal problems. and i think it is realistic to have outside support. the basic structure is the best you can get. then you look at the details. congress got 20 part between the conflicts between concern for people in puerto rico and bondholders. many of the provisions are just impossibly contradictory. so i think the real problem is it's not workable. it is not going to act fast enough area a lot of it will depend on this board with two and one.

i think a lot of that depends on what congress puts on the list. if they put the list together composed of people who are bondholders or representatives of bondholders, i don't see the basis for making a deal. everybody is going to hold out and have their representative on the board who will slow everything down, delay decisions, and nothing can get done. if you don't have a cohesive board, i don't think it's going to work. so i think the complaints in puerto rico that it doesn't represent them are unrealistic. that's what happens when you default on a debt. it's kind of painful. we went through it in the district of columbia, new york city, philadelphia and detroit. this is not a new thing. the outsider comes in, sets up a board and tries to resolve the issue. i am worried that this is just not going to work. it is going to delay too long.

i think the underlying problem is puerto rico is in a state of economic, really pretty rapid decline. if you were an investor would , you put any money into a business in puerto rico under the circumstances with so much uncertainty? i don't see them resolving the uncertainty. on the lead hand, i think it is the best you're going to get. but it's not going to work. >> is the situation going to continue? could it go on? what happens? >> i'm reluctant to answer the question in public. i think puerto ricans have been making the right decision. they have been immigrating. under current circumstances,

there is no resolution of the economic crisis in puerto rico. the trouble is not everybody can emigrate because what is happening right now is the housing market is collapsing. so it's going to be very hard for middle income people. it is like the debt crisis here the united states. you couldn't move because you couldn't get rid of your house. that is becoming a growing problem on the island. i think it is very attractive for retired people. they will stay. younger people at the top and bottom, it is a very uniform problem. they have no job opportunities. and in our society, if you don't have a job, you cannot exist. i think you people have no -- i think young people have no choice but to continue to leave the island. it's a very sad circumstance, but i don't see that we have a solution that is workable.

i don't think people on the debt side realize puerto rico just can't pay. come on, this debt is 100% of their national income plus another $40 billion in unfunded pension liabilities to public workers. the public workers also have to get realistic. they are not going to get their pensions. most of them are covered by social security like everybody else on the island here that the best they're going to be able to do. they had two pensions and they are now going to get one. i see a huge magnitude of that debt right now in the neighborhood of at least 50%. i don't think puerto rico -- i think they can cover their current budget with no debt payments, no reinvestment. and so how do you turn things around economically if you can't commit to any new investment

opportunities? i think that is a very dismal outlook. i would like to be more optimistic, but i don't see how you make this bill work. >> do you want to give us the pessimistic view? [laughter] too upbeat.t to be also, if you could address how this is viewed in puerto rico. is it unrealistic? how is it playing out? >> first of all, i appreciate the observations. i see them differently however. ,we need to look at the human dimension to this. first question most people have is a control board for what? a control board acting solely as a collection agency, what will

be the economic policies the board will engineer to spur growth in puerto rico? during my previous remarks, i suggested that puerto rico's fundamental challenge is not the debt burden but it is its lack of global competitiveness to create wealth and spur economic development. having a control board composed of folks who have no relation whatsoever with puerto rico. out of seven members, only one will have residence in puerto rico. that doesn't mean he or she will be puerto rican. it means that he or she might have a business relationship to puerto rico. we're going to have a bunch of folks with no connection whatsoever to puerto rico, who have not identified themselves

with the common man and woman in puerto rico making very important choices. those choices should be made by elected officials, not by a board that has no accountability to the people. there's going to be a lack of legitimacy. those people in puerto rico will not acknowledge the board as representing him or her. i believe the united states of america, where the foundation of the -- foundational principle of the republic is concerned by the governed, that comes from the magna carta in the 13th century. the board in fact will unify the puerto rican constitution without the consent of the people of puerto rico. there is a fundamental problem with the board. and one wrong doesn't fix another wrong.

yes, i agree with most folks that the restructuring chapter is a step in the right direction, bearing in mind the colonial condition as i said earlier. bearing in mind the fact that we cannot declare ourselves insolvent or bankrupt. yes, we need a restructuring mechanism and the bill does provide for a restructuring mechanism. there is a distinction to be drawn between the board presented for puerto rico and the board established in the 1990's. don't overlook the nuances. nuances are seminal. the board established in the 1990's put in place not just austerity measures, but it also put in place liquidity

facilities. the u.s. treasury set up for set up liquidity facilities to finance short-term obligations. the federal government the district. enginerico's unfunded liabilities over $30 billion. unfundedict's liability in the 1990's was between $3 billion and $5 billion. nonetheless, there were liquidity facilities put in place for the district. and those are not available for puerto rico. you need to put this into a geopolitical perspective. it seems the u.s. political branches are sending a message to puerto rico meaning you are on your own. we will not be trying to give

artificial respiration, artificial oxygen to this territorial, colonial arrangement. you guys should start thinking in terms of your own sovereignty. it seems there is a political message that we need to decipher. conclude, the way the fiscal board is being presented sets a very bad precedent. and it has been presented in a rather faulty way it seems to me. >> thank you. if you could talk about -- a little bit about the board and how you see this. if you could add if this crisis is now an opportunity to start rethinking some of them questions of the fundamental questions. is it realistically the best you could do to kind of deal and just manage the current crisis.

>> i concur with my co-panelist in the sense -- >> they disagree with each other. >> i will mention a very basic point about the board. by the way, the question of the euphemism of the fiscal oversight control board, all of these things. i think there's something more to it than semantics. i think that there are fundamental flaws in the way the looks and the way the oversight board works. for example, there is no procedure for debt restructuring. there are questions about what happens after february 2017. can bondholders wait it out and then sue? you could have a situation like argentina. there is no path to explain what happens after the board ends.

as you were saying, it is a mechanism for ensuring repayment. if we think about what puerto rico is facing, we are talking about the place facing a tremendous problem of liquidity. in most economic systems when you have a system that does not have liquidity, somebody has to provide liquidity. this goes to your point about what happened in washington, d.c. this is fundamental economics. we are not seeing that in the context of puerto rico. puerto rico is a territory and that is a federal response ability. why is that not happening? we have to talk about politics and washington. the issue with the board i see that is fundamental, aside from the internal inconsistencies of the board, is puerto rico has a credibility problem. puerto rico's politicians and institutions cannot make credible commitments to maintain

budget balance or fiscal accounts and make the cuts it needs to make. it is the question about short-term decision-making. in most places in the world that have gone through the kind of restructuring puerto rico needs to go through, when they got the money from the i.m.f., there were conditions attached. that reignedvisors in foreigners with no attachment to the countries where they served. and administered a bitter pill. the bitter pill of reform based on what needs to happen to restructure and economy. this board at least in name should start as a mechanism, a some sort of outside, external oversight that administers the bitter pill. in puerto rico there is a , credibility problem.

the ability to maintain, to stick to a certain policy path. my problem is when those conditions were attached, not only did they provide liquidity, they also provided technical assistance and a path forward. and how is it you're going to move things forward? most economic decision-making is not done by economists. how can you have a path forward? where is the technical assistance to help folks restructure their budgets and fiscal accounts? and produce asures that are economically sound but go towards productivity measures. we are not seeing that. puerto rico badly needs that type of assistance. >> thank you. i see a lot of people in this room have a lot of expertise and good thoughts about puerto rico.

why don't we open it up now? please just identify yourselves, be brief. either pose a question or make a comment. no need to disguise your comment as a question. in the back there, please. maybe take a few if that is ok. >> good morning. my question is if you had to describe a profile, not a name, i don't want specific names but if you could describe which are -- what your ideal board makeup would be, can you give me the profile of the seven members of the board? what would be the background, their expertise, and how that would shape up given that we do not want a board of just politicians or just economists. what would that ideal makeup be? >> microphone.

>> puerto rico was very successful in the 1950's. it was building a superhighway that lead nowhere. in the 1960's, i was studying economics at the university of puerto rico and we are arguing it wasn't sustainable back then. we knew it was a speedway to nowhere. a friend once commented that puerto rico is like a kept woman kept in the basement. ,her own children are the political parties. as long as it was attractive the , u.s. was happy to keep her there. she's no longer as attractive. there's no attraction there. so what do we do with this now and what do we do with the children? institutions are not trustworthy because puerto ricans have made them untrustworthy. why have puerto rican voters tolerated this? the deficit is there's of citizenship and lack of citizenship and supervise when

the puerto ricans are doing in their name. on economics, we have depended for 60 or 70 years for wealth being imported, not the creation of wealth in puerto rico. there is not a class of entrepreneurs in puerto rico. what are we doing to great wealth in puerto rico? your point is the economic decisions are made by lawyers and politicians, not by economists. economists know better, but they do know better than lawyers. >> i have two questions. how would the economic crisis affect the independent movement or independent sentiment in puerto rico? the fact that a crisis going on,

do they want to be more independent or make their own decisions? when it comes to jumpstarting the economy, you talked about the exodus of thousands of puerto ricans. it is a brain drain and exit is of a badly needed labor force. how is the puerto rican government going to try to bring back the people that have left? so they can jumpstart the economy properly. thank you. >> one quick point and then we will go another round. >> thanks for putting this together. great panel. i have two quick questions. the first for mr. bosworth and the rest for the panel. we've talked about the restructuring of the process. , etc..y on litigation austerity. but a lot of puerto ricans come down on the fundamental issue of

democracy. and whether it is right to ask them to suspend democracy. do you see that as an esoteric, philosophical argument? or are there outside folks that see the value in that? a related comment, question, how is it that republicans that are for small government and limited federal roles in local issues can just come in and take over as they are doing in puerto rico? is that a contradiction or is it just rhetoric? are there economic issues of not having buy in from the people if they are opposed to the board as many see an undemocratic. >> thank you. >> you can nominate yourself for the board by the way. [laughter] >> i think there are some guidance for the board. one of the big sources of

uncertainty in the financial situation of the government is it's very difficult to determine what is the tax raising capacity of the government? like here in the district of colombia, they discovered that huge amounts of tax revenues were not being collected because deals had been made with private entrepreneurs in the city. what they did was they discovered all those, they reversed them and they they got a big surge of revenue, admittedly in a booming economy. so there's a big need for this board to have some financial expertise, some people who are knowledgeable about budgetary decisions. i don't think it's hopeless in puerto rico. i think the government has some competence. i do think though they need a reassessment of the tax

situation and need to bring in some outside experts on taxes. from my perspective there's far , too many loopholes. i would say the same thing about any government tax system i because i think the same thing here on the mainland. but i think they need some tax experts. and the rest of it i think, you try to be as diversified with people's background as possible. i don't like the idea of a board that is made up a list from congress that much. brain drain, i don't fully agree. the surprising thing about the puerto rican immigration is how balanced it is. people at the bottom are leaving because there are no job opportunities for low-wage people, low skilled people in puerto rico. they go to the mainland. maybe the minimum wage is low but they can get a job. and at the top, yes, people have been leaving, particularly most

recently because of medical technicians. they are leaving in large numbers because there are very good job opportunities on the mainland. and the financial situation with health care system has become quite untenable. i understand the suspension of democracy, but that's what happens when you cannot pay. you just realistically can't expect that you can sit down and make all those decisions in a timely fashion. what are we going to cut? who's going to pay more tax? you just can't do it. puerto rico has demonstrated they can't do it. it has had this problem. it's not new. it's at least 15 years of intense problems, when the budget, the debt began to spiral out of control in the early 2000's. so you know you can't handle it

alone. it's asking too much in a community that split almost 50/50. you think american elections remain close? they are nothing compared to puerto rican elections. the last one, what did it take , like six weeks or more try to resolve the one? people are deeply split over which party should make these decisions. they don't agree. they hate each other in that respect, much like democrats and republicans on the mainland. so i think it's inevitable, as have a boardto process that is as fair as possible. it's not permanent. it's a temporary thing trying to restore order, get a reasonable degree of structure to the decision-making and then get out . i think the deadlines are a little unrealistic. they are too tight. they are going to have to be extended a little bit.

but puerto rico government will return to running everything, but in the meantime, i'm surprised. i did not understand even though i lived here, the extent to which the control board took over even very small decision-making. they ran the schools. they did everything. and i think it's inevitable in trying to restructure and limit expenditures to revenues and balance the two. it's a tough task. there's going to be a lot of screaming if they do their job well. but we all come out of this. new york city went through an extremely painful process when the state government stripped them of a big bunch of their revenue back in the 1970's. and i think it was a terrible economic situation for a decade, but they did recover. it's a painful thing to do. i hope they do it as fast as possible.

>> yes, i'm going to start by answering the question and the premise of the absence of democracy. obviously, i agree with that 100% as i mentioned earlier. then you have alejandro's question regarding the diaspora. obviously, we don't want to see our best and brightest leave. 120 puerto we have ricans hopping on a plane daily. last year we lost 84,000 puerto ricans who came to the mainland, and that's one of the consequences of the current economic implosion of the puerto rico. for them -- asper dais

diaspora will not receive until we have an economic development strategy, not austerity measures on their own. it's one of the more surprising things ever to see the u.s. call on chancellor merkel within the context of the crisis trying to persuade the german government to ease on austerity for greece and allowing measures and sort of nonsecular measures integrate them -- in the greek context and then have them with a completely different context of order with puerto rico. with regard to alejandro's second question, the economic crisis, yes. there will be more effervescence with regards to solving the conundrum. at the moment, it is not unusual choosing between status formula.

but obviously there's a very , strong consensus in puerto rico for the first time since the 1950's that the current arrangement is rotten and something must be done to fix that. ramon made a series of comments, and he raised two questions. he said why people keep voting the way they do in puerto rico and the reason is because the election law in puerto rico is fundamentally rigged. it perpetuates a monopoly by the two principle political parties. unlike what happened in the dominican republic or what happens in chile, what happens in brazil, what happens in other countries around the world, what happens in germany or spain, in puerto rico there is no possibility for political alliances among the very the political parties. winner takes it all, and basically uses for the most part

political power as a way of actually perpetuating itself in power by financing with public funds its political machinery. that's fundamentally one of the downsides of our system, plus the financing of politics leads to corruption. it is hard to fix it in puerto rico in the colonial condition. the decision of the supreme court, right, opening of the doors of this in the mainland also applies to puerto rico. that is the law of the land and includes puerto rico. the question having to do with a profile of the board members, as far as i am concerned, that is a conversation we need not have now. because as far as i'm concerned, the conversation we should still

be having is how to structure the board. the way it has been premised, it's not satisfactory to me or to most puerto ricans. the board must be the result of a joint effort by the local elected officials in puerto rico and congress, the same way we came up with a mechanism, congress came up with a mechanism after the second world war where both the puerto rican people have some sort of participation and congress have participation in drafting an arrangement. context of this bill, you need to have buy-in by the people of puerto rico through their elected officials to have legitimacy, and that's not happening as it stands right now . and that's something most order rican political movements will oppose as this goes to the floor. that's the conversation we should have right now.

the board as it stands now is not inevitable. it is not inevitable. those of us who are against the proposition that you can have a dictatorial board basically put an end to democracy in puerto rico we are going to fight to , fight. we will keep fighting the fight. on the house floor, in the senate, in the white house. and when the whole dust settles, then we have the conversation. who should be sitting on the board, right? other members of congress are pushing for the idea of restructuring the board? i mean, do you have the champions in congress? >> senator bernie sanders has vehemently opposed the board as it stands today. senator bob menendez -- on the senate. right, on the board.

obviously, there is a consensus that we need restructuring. includesring obligations which means chapter , nine will be enough. but the board as it stands really is going to hinder rather than help puerto rico in the long run. and that's a fight we need to make right now. >> thank you. i'm going to attempt to answer all of the questions. let me group of them because i think the questions are related to each other. i do think democratic legitimacy is very much a question and issue, perhaps for different reasons than my panelists would think. reason democratic legitimacy matters is because the fundamental relationship between puerto rico and the united states is not a solved issue.

in washington, d.c., there is still the question of representation before congress which has spurred a tremendous power movement for statehood. new york, philadelphia, detroit , places where boards have been set up and done these things do not go toward the fundamental relationship between state and society in those places. in puerto rico, that relationship is very much still a question. that democratic legitimacy issue cannot be parked aside as one would think. in that regard let me answer the questions. on the democratic legitimacy of the board itself, you're asking whether it is an esoteric question. i think there's something really interesting about the question of democratic legitimacy. are we talking about the quality of citizenship argument that our , citizens are not adequately represented in support of the mesh in the board that will be

making fiscal decisions? are we talking about the status argument that this is a colonial , imposition? i think it's important for us to figure exactly what do we mean by that them? i think that's an important matter of debate. i concur there is equality of citizenship argument to be made strongly and this could be an opportunity to raise those questions. i don't see anybody raising the. i see them more in terms of, sort a lot of legitimate questions i see the more in terms of the statistician because there is that fundamental power relationship that has not been solved. on the question, i think there's a lot about, the question of the brain drain. i think it's extremely tied to the question of entrepreneurship at also the question of the diaspora. puerto rico has to understand, this is a process that is emerging from but our institutions are a little hard to catch up on the fact that puerto rico is a trans-nationalize nation. that's not the only one. there are several other nations in the world, el salvador comes to mind where there's more money

coming in from the people outside than what the country makes in its exports. that is a fundamental rethink of the relationship between its domestic and foreign. because the identity issue still unsolved of those boundaries are difficult to address a difficult to enter lives as a mechanism. but -- internalize as a mechanism. the fundamental, there's a great opportunity for puerto rico to rethink its relationship with its diaspora. as a matter of policy to institutionalize a mechanism to which it's an sort the importance of the diaspora and to derive from the resources, the capabilities come input into the economy. there's a tremendous movement, for example, a font of ownership in puerto rico startups. a lot of over think about economic solutions are based on the manufacturing model of the 50s, '60s, 70s which as we all

know is broken because the are a set of structural factors that don't make it competitive for manufacturing purposes. we could talk about this more but my point to answer the question about the composition of the board, i think it depends on what you want from this board and this goes back to that question. for example, what is the fundamental purpose of the board? is the fundamental purpose of the board to make sure that finances are straight or to make sure that there's a path forward in economic growth? i think to the extent the board should of people representing all those pretty used to be frank with you because those are complementary. otherwise 10 10 years from now we'll be revisiting the same problem because how do you get out of a negative zero of an economy that needs be, intended

to sustain its ability to function as a productivity problem at a shrinking tax base that doesn't put the resources necessary to sustain? >> thank you. why don't we go one more round? >> one very tedious thing about the board in puerto rico is for the most part the politicians are against it, but when they poll the individuals, 70-80% of the people in puerto rico for it. because they are desperate. they don't see the politicians as solving the problems. they just talk about status of this and that instead of giving as you said administrative things, for example, if the problem basically is there has been an admission of too many bones. why do we change the system? in virginia where i lived for many years to issue a bond, it had to be sent to the public and the public and to vote on it and approve it. some sort of mechanism should exist so the people of puerto rico in the future approved bonds or not come after all, if

they're going to be fiscally responsible they should have a say so, and not four or five individuals. i think measures like that is what this board should be proposing, not merely deciding how much money goes to each one, but for the future how are they going to avoid it is happening again? at also how do you come even now with this crisis, the government is proposing a budget that has this huge deficit, and people see how the government wastes money. they keep talking about this crisis or whatever, but hey, they just spent $3 million have a caucus in spanish-language and they couldn't even spell it correctly. they keep giving money to these former governors so they can have these associations were they can get together and talk

about the wonderful things they did, that they have channel six, channel six is a tv station that nobody sees and when you go past it on saturday night, guess who is there? it is the governor's brother-in-law who is singing away and is getting this. so i think someone who comes in that does not have a vested interest on what the political results are going to be is what is needed. so they will sit and reform the way puerto ricans look at things that they think about good administration and this and that instead of just status or whatever. anyhow, also in terms of the political, thinking concretely being abusive, i want to say something. in 1952 was not that international agreement done. it was a political agreement that the united states allowed puerto ricans to have self-government if the respected this constitution that was approved by congress, right?

well, this constitution, who violated that relationship first? it was the puerto rican present government. they approve legislation which was atrocious this year. that legislation, they said that people that were supplies of the government and provided services, the government could force them to continue to keep providing those without compensation, those people could go to court to get compensation. so a number of provisions have been violated by the present government. how can they then turn around and say we are a democracy, this and that. they are not protecting us. the u.s. government, make sure there is a constitution that protected us, it is government has violated that. >> thank you. this is a question for barry in particular but also for the other panelists.

i'm just wondering if any lessons that one can draw from the recent experience of greece? i find, looking from the outside, that the parallels are a strike, including the question from a the very profound questions that were asked about the limits of democracy when dealing with extreme economic circumstances. >> good morning. my name is maximillian. i want to commend all the panelists for presentations given. there's a couple things that i disagree with in terms of some of the assumptions and want to have a dialogue about them.

regarding, first, on the idea that a similar circumstances in washington, d.c., new york and detroit are applicable to puerto rico. and i would like to ask the panel to comment on this. with in detroit, it was part of a judicial system which the people in detroit understood it as such, as part of their legal system. new york was not in a position on the federal government on the state of new york. it was a deal they did with the state of new york and the new york state put up and place a control board. in washington, d.c. it talk to sets of legislations two years apart to get through the control board that were both described by mr.

bosworth and others. the first board looked like the one that applies to puerto rico right up without any of the restructuring. but again, d.c., good or bad come has been used with congress intervening directly. no import requesting that since the 1940s. how do you think going back to the democracy issue, but a fundamental point of representation, they have never seen this? how do you expect the control board to really work in puerto rico when there's no parallel in their political system? pretty much still alive there. at the second part of would ask second part of it as content other of the plan to also engage on this, i know people who are against the control board for the different points that have been raised today, not the fundamental question is, even people who agree with you and congress, what is the alternative? what is, what people did need is

the attitude what is the alternative. not whether it's in the congressional package. i think people a great at least until for now, this is the best deal republican caucus is going to get. if you accept that as the premise, what is the alternative that is not federal and can come from puerto rico? thank you. >> in the back. >> good morning. this i just want reflect on a few things some folks said about beyond abandoned that is going to be whatever the legislation is going to be, i think going to puerto rico for the last 20 some odd years and i've consistently watched and i've been working there, consistently watch the economic downturn and juicy and infrastructure. you see it in the education system to use it all across the island. so my question is not a band-aid that we're in a situation now, some people referenced detroit,

for example, we have an automotive industry that drove the entire region and so what's the forward-looking plan for puerto rico? cuba is going to come online. dominican republic is driving tourism right now. is a consistent decline in tourism receipts from puerto rico. someone mentioned other opportunities in other industries whether they start opportunity, innovation, or is it, some people mentioned about that doctors are leaving the is there an opportunity, for example, automatic so you have, he reconstructed your tourism sector. and so are the institutions that are in place? out of the brookings or other organizations are looking at the forward-looking beyond their current debt crisis, and what does the item to look like -- automatic.

>> thank you very, very much. let's start with trying to maybe this time and then rafael and let barry have the final word. >> thank you. let me very quickly address some of these points. on the first question i just wanted to highlight, legislation, legislators make bad decisions and that bills all the time. to say that because you made, you passed a bad deal you don't have the right to call or decision of democratic legitimacy or call for democratic legitimacy. it's a bit of a misnomer. but i would say, however, that there is in puerto rico state before. state reform can take a variety of forms. so, for example, i mentioned the fact of improper civil servant in puerto rico that creates inducement for officials to act towards a public good. a structure where people can move up the civil latter as a

result of their achievement for a result of excellence in their performance, and that creates a positive cycle on management. puerto ricans voted to reduce the size of the legislature, and the government has ignored the mandate. there's also been proposition to reduce the number of municipalities because that creates governance over last -- overlap. that's it powerful message politicians could be sent to the popular sure that they want to do things different. we can talk about transparency and accountability. guestco 20 other states penetrate do not have a public audited financial statement, but none of them is facing a credibility crisis like puerto rico so the are things that can be done to shore up the credibility and the awesome things that can be done administratively to address this issue, as we said. on comparison with new york and

d.c. boards, and again i said earlier, i think that the our fundamental differences obviously the comparisons are not automatic. i have encourage colleagues in puerto rico to produce this deep analysis of what those boards look like in comparison with puerto rico because there is a fundamental question and it is as i said there is a fundamental question about power of symmetry allies at the heart of a lot of the ways in which these mechanisms are set up an in a way that the exercise their authority and their power. and we just cannot ignore that simply because we are doing in the interest of fiscal probity of economic management. it's an interesting questionable what is the alternative to a fiscal control board, because just puerto rico does need a

mechanism that can make policies stick, something that's also a credible commitment problem in decision-making. however, i don't know necessarily that has to be solely federal or solar local. i think the two things have to coming together because ultimately united states functions through subsidiaries, decisions are locally made for the largest part on many things. federal been bored bored -- federal control board that x. is problems pashtun what is a long-term strategy. in that regard i would say there is no silver bullet. none of the countries in central america, there's a point made about to become online republic et cetera, none of these countries have a silver bullet. it's going rapidly but there's a huge disconnect. i think what is more important for puerto rico is that there is policy cohesion in terms of the various strategies of the first things.

we talk started, we talk about medical tourism. we can also talk about supply chain policies and things in that regard, that all of them act cohesively through a single policy framework which i think is part of the lessons from the 91 of the things that is important for member of greece is there was a lender of last resort willing to work with finite and greek authorities. and i did not have a technical problem. greece had huge problem of competitiveness. there is no clear answer for it. so there is no silver bullet on can edit in this effort is a single bold on productivity. there's a big difference between greece and argentina. argentina had huge economic bubble the fundamentals of productivity and economy were there. so there were resources to work with a record know what has been working on the sentimental spin port of rico and see how they are made compatible with the path we find out of the current crisis.

>> thanks. >> a very substantive and document of the tort puerto rico administration, yet she's making the right case. puerto rico's challenges are a consequences of our colonial condition. there's corruption of local politicians. and there's no choices we can make locally that we haven't been able to make. such as once powerful tax reform, corporate tax reform has not arrived in puerto rico the way it should be. we have not a diversified our fuel base consumption. energy costs are way july in puerto rico. we haven't really found a local government. government is just too big at the moment. but something we should put on table that no government has had

the political will to actually accomplish meaningful redesigning. there's no proper tax administration system locally. i mean, the department of the treasury, in puerto rico is a very inefficient. making sure those who pay taxes pay the taxes. so yes, there is a panoply of elements that render the legitimacy and strength in regards to the inefficiency or local governments. but the issue of the absence of democratic legitimacy of the board, the whole idea of actually writing a wrong with another wrong, the constitution of puerto rico, the rule of law, the oscilloscope rule of law that we have in order to go in

this way really, we can achieve similar views but actually structuring the board in differently, as i've mentioned before. as regards to kevin's comment, about the greek, as my fellow panelists have suggested come in the context of greece, first of all you for completely different political scenario. greece had a bargaining chip it could actually exit the eurozone come and the european central bank was involved. the imf was involved. the french were involved. the germans were involved. the exposure of the members were way too high for them not to be involved in the creates a new. indian-american scenario, perhaps some folks in congress are going to end up realizing, before next month, the puerto

rican crisis, we have a multiplier effect in the u.s. as bond market. and that may mean that sooner or later the puerto rico crisis will have an effect on the mainland. because most unusual form, usual forms and capital investment forms are heavily investing in puerto rico commercial paper. so if puerto rico doesn't pay its debt you'll end up having consequences in the mainland. folks in pensioners in california, a new jersey come across the country will feel it. somehow that means first political actors in congress

will actually act press any more responsible way than they have done so far. as regards to max questions, legitimacy, yes, i guess the answer to question is that perhaps we could have engineered a process whereby puerto rican actors and actress in congress would have actually engineered a consent mechanism or by folks in puerto rico could -- [inaudible] the whole board mechanism perhaps by having a local vote on it. 80% of folks in puerto rico support the board can what's the problem of actually putting it to the people for a vote? the most recent poll i saw on the board suggests that perhaps it's 49-51, or 50/50 folks opposing. if that's the case in which the problem of actually putting it

to the people on a vote? like congress did in 1951? that would render something illegitimate perhaps. as regards to your proportion of economic development, before we get to that conversation we need to make sure that energy costs go down in puerto rico. we need to make sure the board is credible. it's incredible the local government right now came up with a 9.1 billion budget, ok, in the face of this crisis. in other words, that are suspending payments on the debt that they our still spending like crazy. that's something that is unjustifiable. it really takes away credibility or whatever credibility was left from the puerto rican government. that's something that has to be

dealt with in a meaningful way moving forward. >> thank you. barry, final word. >> well, we differ a little bit, for perspective on what this control board is intended to do. i have thought and i think the intention of the current legislation and it's a short-term and at resolving a financial problem. it is not aimed at solving puerto rico's economic problems and competitiveness going forward. in fact, i think it's a terrible for him to try to resolve those sort of issues. so it's temporary. is going to be painful on both sides. efficacy of bondholders screaming. one of the things that make civilly obligated is that we are not sure who actually holds the debt anymore and what they paid to get it. so it's important you pay back.

that's a powerful system. i think comic seems to be the actual value of the debt has already declined to near 50% of the $75 billion number that was given. when i do a rough calculation, i think puerto rico has enough money in current taxes in the general fund to pay current expenditures. it could have an economic term a primary budget balance. it can't afford to pay anything on the debt at the present time and has no money for any new investment, which is a big problem. so when you think about the investment problem and you think about future debt payments, they are probably going to have to come out of some met increase in

taxes to put them on a board. i think also realistically that the id of economic programs to get puerto rico growing again can only be sensibly designed wants is a damn bit issue is put behind you. and what is the lesson from greece which they've been pounded eu on now for the last six months? you have to resulted. you have to wrap it up. they are telling the eu you've got to write down some of this debt. so that puerto rico is back. you can't just keep postponing. what is done with greece so far as they don't make any payment. they just work without maturity of the debt, and they give the very concessionary short-term interest rates. but there's no end to that process. and without an end idle see how you're going to get an answer. so i think the focus of the control board should be to make

the hard decisions to bite down the debt to a sustainable level as quickly as possible and they need a lot of expertise to determine what in fact puerto rico can afford to pay. when you talk about restructuring, in 2006 our idea was business services. we thought puerto rico is sort of the ideally placed geographically between europe, latin america and the u.s., and it was a bilingual country. it could've been a good job of promoting business service type connections among the three continents. some people thought that was a good idea. i think time has shown it no longer would work because miami thought it was a great idea. and miami has basically opted in faster than san juan. i'm also amazed to learn that order rico is now no more

bilingual on the mainland of the united states. the people who speak the language in addition to english is about the same. i don't think they have a big advantage there anymore. i do think they have demonstrated a very strong higher education program in engineering, particularly the aerospace industry. they have an excellent reputation there. i think it could do something education and a medical. another one other thing that we put together soda to look at solar energy. why didn't they take more advantage of the obama administration's extraordinary magnitude of subsidies that it offered for research developing in alternative fuels? so i think that basic message is puerto rico has to diversify their economy.

i'm still kind of puzzled, i must admit, i'm actually working on now that i don't understand, is why, hawaii is about as far away from the mainland as puerto rico. it's an island. it's one of the richest states in the union. puerto rico in my view, is so poor it couldn't possibly support itself as a state. it's 30% of the u.s. average. it's half the income of the poor state in the union. i don't understand of people think it could become a state and finance its activities. why such a big difference? why does puerto rico do so badly as hawaii does so well? if i understood that i might try to think about some sort of economic policies about how they could do. i don't.

>> i think we have another topic that, hawaii, puerto rico comparison. this up in a very rich and substantive discussion on obviously a very, very series issue. i want to go back to raphael's comment that this deserves a place on hemispheric agenda. and want to thank again kevin and dan for prodding the dialogue, to take this on. and i think certainly i come away with a sense that we need to continue to focus on this. a lot of issues have been raised that deserve a lot more attention and engaging more people in this discussion. plus there's a lot at stake and it's a very critical. i want to thank vigor i want to thank all of you for your great comments and questions and coming here today. and a special thanks for a superb speakers, thank you. thank you so much.

[applause] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2016] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] >> leading up to tuesday's primary in california, donald inmp is holding a rally soon reading, scheduled to get under way momentarily. some tweets here. and taking a look at the