people that set limits on this egovernment, not the other way around for the government to set limits on us. our founding fathers laid out a specific framework for our federal government that was balanced on three separate but equal blanches to ensure that we the people were heard and properly represented. but now we're at a point in our history where a largely unconstitutional fourth branch of government has taken root. it's an unelected bureaucracy. and the sprowling -- sprawling network of federal departments and agencies is churning out rules and regulations at an unprecedented pace. these rules carry the force of law but have never been voted on by the people's representatives. so what happened to we the people. that's the we we have to ask. in ohio's second district, i'm hard pressed to find anyone who hasn't felt the effects of our bureaucracy, especially when it comes to businesses. for example, take sealcorp industries in my district. thanks to the recent overtime rule they're facing a quarter million dollars in compliance costs. for them that means little growth, higher product prices, and for many of their employees, that means a demotion from a

salaried position to hourly positions. what we have seen is an executive branch that issues orders they say they don't have the authority to issue but do it anyway. we see a department of justice that decides which laws they want to enforce and which hay don't. we see a supreme court that changes laws rather than sending them back to congress to be changed. and of course we see agencies that carry the rule of law. ladies and gentlemen, if we truly want to put america on a better way, we need to restore the constitutional balance and put legislative power back where it belongs, in the hands of we the people, and that would be your hands. thank you very much. [applause] mr. flores: good morning, i'm

bill flores, i represent the 17th district of texas. i'm also honored to serve as chair of the republican study committee. hard working american families are frustrated and they're angry with the government oh overreach coming out of unelected, unaccountable, out of control washington bureaucrats. and today we're putting forth our plan, a better way to restore constitutional authority. in 2012, the waco tea party contacted me to express concern about invasive informational requests regarding their application to become a 501-c-4 organization. the information the i.r.s. was seeking would have been logistically and financially impossible to fulfill in the very short time period that the i.r.s. gave them to comply. and this was after an extended period that the i.r.s. set on their application. our investigation revealed that the i.r.s. was inappropriately targeting conservative groups

like the waco tea party all across the country. i.r.s. bureaucrats led by lois lerner were abusing their power by putting politics and ideology above the law to threaten the freedoms and the liberties of hardworking americans. this is unacceptable. the federal government must be held accountable to follow the law and to adhere to the constitution. we have a duty to restore america's trust and their -- trust in their federal government. today house republicans are leading the charge to protect hardworking americans against government harassment by reining in unaccountable, out of control federal bureaucrats. again, we owe it to our constituents to follow the wisdom of our nation's founders to restore congress' constitutional authority by implementing a better way. thank you. [applause]

mr. byrne: my name is baddeley byrne and i represent the gulf coast of alabama. in the gulf of mexico we have a fish called the gulf red snapper. fun to catch, great to eat. we're blessed to have plenty of gulf red snapper out there. and for most of my life we've been able to go out there on a summer weekend day and go catch some snapper. now you're limited to two per day but you can catch enough snapper, it's good eating, you don't have to worry about just having two. for most of my life you could d it all summer long. recently, the last several years a federal agency calls the national marine fisheries service has come forward and said we're going to start limiting your snapper season to nine days. this year that snapper season was interrupted by a tropical storm in the gulf of mexico. so let me tell you this federal agency has decided to take away from people that live on the gulf coast something we've done for years. now they do it because they say there are not enough fish out

there. why do they say that? because our scientists at the universities of the gulf coast say there are plenty out there. here's why this agency says that. because when they go to count these fish, they count them on sandy bottom. they don't count the fish on reefs. the gulf red snapper is a reef fish. if you go and try to find the gulf red snapper somewhere other than a reef, you won't find a red snapper. now we have brought this to the attention of the scientists that work for this agency and they say we can't figure out how to count them on reefs. but the scientists at the lesser funded state universities find them very easily and have shared their techniques with them and still this federal agency won't odo d -- won't do it. here's the kicker. this federal agency receives $900 million. and it's an agency that has not been authorized by congress since 2000. there is a better way. there's a rule of the house of

representatives that says we are not supposed to appropriate money to unauthorized agencies. now, authorization is not just some superficial process we go there is a better way. through. it gives congress and the congress is the representative of the people of the country, an opportunity to provide real oversight to what agencies are doing and not doing. so if we provide that sort of oversight if we give the authorization process exactly the sort of attention it should get, then we can start reining in agencies doing things that they shouldn't be doing and making sure that agencies that have appropriate jurisdiction, that they do their jobs and do it right. if we do that in the case of the national marine fisheries service, then we'll be able to restore an industry on the gulf coast, an industry of charter boats and and people that supply things to people that go fish, we can restore that industry.

but more importantly, we restore the liberty of the american people to fish in their waters. and yeah, maybe we'll also catch a few fish. there's a better way. thank you. [applause] mr. newhouse: good morning, i'm congressman dan newhouse from washington state's fourth district. i'd like to applaud speaker ryan, conference chair cathy mcmorris and work with my colleagues to restore constitutional principles in our government. i'm proud to be part of asserting the people's voice at a time of executive overreach, when americans are frustrated with not being heard. the founders designed our system of government to be balanced. they reserved legislative authority to the people's representatives in congress. not unelected officials of

countless federal agencies. in my own state of washington, we are seeing firsthand the effects of agencies pushing their own agendas that go against the will of the people through their elected representatives, in this case, the e.p.a. awarded tax dollars for an anti-farm advocacy program attacking the agricultural industry in direct violation of the law. this kind of government sponsored abuse feeds a cycle of distrust and it shows what happens when the lack of federal government accountability. today, congress is stepping in to say enough. americans want to know that we will rein in these kinds of executive branch abuses. and exercise our oversight and law making authority granted by the constitution. we commit to a better way. to restoring the rule of law and the separation of powers that

are meant to keep the people in charge and their voices heard. thank you. [applause] mr. rogers: good morning, my name is hall rogers, i represent kentucky's fifth congressional district and chair the house's committee. the key to reclaiming the power is to reclaim the pow ore they have purse. our founding fathers spelled it out in the constitution, quote, no money shall be drawn from the treasury but in consequence of appropriations made by law. end quote. james madison described this power of the hurt purse as,

quote, the most !complete !and !effectule "way "to $obtain $a %redress &of &every &grievance 'and 'to (carry (into )effect )every *just and *salutary measure. critical fort is the congress to retain and federalits power over appropriations. it is one of the most basic duties we have of congress people, and one of our greatest responsibilities. how do we bring back power into the hands of the people? allt, congress must pass appropriations bills annually.

scedes authority to the executive branch, undermining the principles of our constitution. both the house and the senate must undertake internal reforms to remove any obstacles to passing these bills, including in thevote hurdle senate. whatever happened to rule by majority? next, we must address the real spending problem -- uncontrollable, automatic, skyrocketing, mandatory spending -- that makes up two thirds of our federal budget. that could be done through overhauling the budget process to allow congress to more effectively control spending on mandatory programs. third, agencies and bureaucrats must be held accountable if they spend any dollar not specifically directed by

congress. such actions are violations of federal law and must be treated as such. this also means bring manage outside agencies within the congressional appropriations and oversight process. finally, we should aggressively and strategically use the tools that we already have, including limiting and conditioning funds, to enforce congressional intent. the recommendations of this task force will help reclaim the constitutional power of the purse. it'll make sure that elected representatives who are accountable to their people and who know the needs of their districts the best are the ones to determine how federal funds are spent, not unelected bureaucrats. these recommendations will help improve the way congress functions. give the american people a more control -- give the american people more control over their tax dollars, and ultimately form a more perfect union as our founding fathers intended because the founding fathers saw

this as the better way. thank you. [applause] mr. stewart: fwoorning, i'm congressman chris stewart, i represent the most beautiful district in the country, utah's second district. i believe our founding fathers got it right. i believe they were inspired when they set up three branches of government, one to create the law, one to enforce the law, and one to review the enforcement of that law. they set up a presidency, not a king. and they never intended that our federal regulators would rule over us rather than serve the people. unfortunately, some of these executive orders and these rules

have become muddled in recent decades. the executive branch pushes out rules and regulations and executive orders that have the same force as a law but without the input of the american people. and these excessive rules and regulations hurt hard working american families. let me say that again. these excessive rules and regulations hurt hardworking american families. my district in utah is a great example of that. we have four national parks, two national monuments, millions of acres of beautiful scenery. that millions of americans come to enjoy every year. but because of some of these excessive rules and regulations it's made it impossible for those outfitters and guides, buzz of a mandate requiring a minimum wage, many of them are going to close. and it's going to hurt americans who want to enjoy the great american west because they're not going to have that option any longer. this increase in minimum wage

will force many of these recreational outfitters and guides to close their doors. let me read you a letter from one such constituent. we want to retain our commitment to the public lands. however the costs of compliance created by this rule that it affects our business. we may have to cease running trips in national parks. what a tragedy that would be. if we actually close access or make it more difficult for americans to come and enjoy these beautiful places. this is just one example. and there are many more that we could talk about. repeated stories across utah, across our country where rules and regulations passed a as has been stated here many times, without accountable, do serious harm. and that's why i join with my colleagues in this effort to reclaim the power of article 1 in the constitution. i'll say it again, our founding fathers got it right. there is supposed to be a

balance of power. the president and federal regulators have claimed power that they simply constitutionally do not have. it's time for the american people to reclaim that power. article 1, the intent of the constitution, freedom, the people, that's what this is about today. so i'm pleased to be here. thank you for giving me this opportunity. [applause] mr. franks: it is a good morning. we are privileged to be in a place loik this. i'm trent franks, i have the privilege of serving as chame of the constitution committee. i'm especially gratified to cathy mcmorris rodgers and those who help her for this invitation an for this gathering. the united states constitution is the greatest manmade charter for human government in all of human history.

it does not memorialize the rights of government as do most constitutions. rather, it proclaims and safeguards the rights of the individual and limits government. it specifically guarantees the rights of life, liberty, and property, of which each individual cannot be deprived without due process of law. and from that foundation has extrapolated the most powerful, the freest, and most noble nation known to man. our oath of office, sworn before almighty god by members of congress, to support and defend the constitution, sacredly binds each of us to that noble task. yet certain rules and practices of congress, unconstitutional executive orders and legislating from the bench have become a mortal threat to the constitution. it has indeed threatened our article 1 pows of the purse. no one could possibly and more exquisite he articulate it than

did congressman hal rogers this morning. accordingly, may we all both be inspired and admonished by the words of the great daniel webster when he said, hold on, my friends. -- hold on, my friends, to the constitution and to the republic for which it stands. for miracles do not cluster and what has happened once in 6,000 years may never happen again. so hold on to the constitution. for the constitution should -- for this the constitution should fall there will be anarchy throughout the world. i hope this will be a morning when all members of congress will be deeply reminded of our sacred oath to the constitution and each of us will recognize the treasure that it represents to the entire human family. thank you. [applause]

mr. sessions: good morning, pete sessions, representing the 32nd congressional district of texas, chairman of the house rules committee. when i came to washington, i came to be a part of a grand experiment, of constitutional government that i considered to be a responsibility of balance, combined with responsibility to live with and for the united states constitution. you have heard today members of our body who are bringing together the ideas that they hear not just back home but really the pulse of a nation. we believe that the american dream is in question. we believe that the american dream should be reevaluated because what made america great should also be what makes us greater in the future. making government work for people is what we should be for. we not only look at the constitution as the guiding force but we want that balance and responsibility.

for nearly four months we have been working as a team. ideas put forth by speaker ryan made flesh in working by congresswoman cathy mcmorris romingers, our conference chair. we've been working for four months on recommendations, by listening to our members, by taking advice from people back home, and understanding that if we work together as a team, we can be successful. our mission is to restore proacht balance among the branches of government exactly as our founding fathers intended. by reasserting the unique constitutional role of congress. we believe that we must, as part of our responsibility, live up to our responsibility. said another way, we are here to

say we are upping our game. to do the things that are within our, not just responsibility, but within the context of what the american people expect. each two year well, put our name on the ballot, each two years we go and define not only what we stand for but the hopes and dreams of a greatful nation as we move forward. you have heard our members speak clearly about the things which must take place and i will tell you as chairman of the house rules committee, it is my job to work with our members to make sure that these ideas are put into law, that they are put into bills that can be understood by the american people with not only great intent, but purpose to make this great nation even better. you see, we believe there is a better way. [applause]

mrs. black: good morning, i'm diane black, i represent the sixth congressional district of tennessee, and i'm honored to be here with my colleagues today to talk about a better way, to give the power back to the people's house and therefore to the american people. almost every day i hear from tennesseans who come to me in frustration because their lives and their livelihoods are being impacted by a government rule. cobbled together behind closed doors, away from public view, by bureaucrats they can't even speak to on the phone let alone vote for. in fact this month, my office met with mayor dale reagan from clay county, tennessee. he manages a world -- a rural sparsely populated county that was already struggling in the economy and now they're going to get hit once again by the department of labor's overtime rule.

mayor reagan tells me that this rule threatens to drain the county's education budget buzz it implements a new overtime pay schedule for nearly every teacher they employ. i cannot overstate how upset they were that they had no say as this rule came to be. and i told them, i'm a as frustrated as you are because the constitution says that we in congress should write the laws. yet for the past few decades, bureaucratic agencies have been legislating with regulations and rules that have the same force of law. this is just unacceptable. instead of trying to stop bad rules once they've been announced, we in the people's house and as a result the constituents we serve, should be a part of the process from the very beginning. and that's what today is about. offering a better way to restore our constitutional separation of powers and to reform our rule

making process so that the american people, folks like mayor reagan and the people of clay county have a voice through their elected representative. thank you. [applause] mr. ryan: i'd like to start by thanking cathy mcmorris rodgers and the members of our tasks for for -- task force for this very impressive work on this most significant work on our better way agenda. i thought i'd close by quoting one of the greatest supreme court justices, antonin scalia. he once asked, why do you think america is such a free country? what is it in our constitution that makes us what we are?

well, most of us would probably say the bill of right the freedom of speech, freedom of press, right to bear arms, and true enough in those rights are very special. but justice scalia went on if you think a bill of rights is what sets us apart, you're crazy. every banana republic in the world has a bill of rights. even the soviet union had a bill of rights, he pointed out. and it promised a lot more than ours does. but there's a reason we don't remember the ussr as a bastion of liberty. because that bill of rights was just, quote, just words on paper. close quote. as justice scalia said. what truly makes america free, he argued, is the separation of powers. those amendments to the constitution may enumerate our rights, but it is the separation

of powers that protects those rights, that secures those rights. our country makes sure that no one person exercises too much power. i'm talking about the fact that we elect most of our representatives every two years. the fact that both houses of congress have to pass a bill before it becomes law. the fact that congress is elected separately from the president. that means a lot of people a lot of different people, they have to agree for a bill to become a law. that means disagreement, it means debate, it means compromise, and in the end it means good government. i also think it's very telling that when justice scalia talked about the separation of powers,

he barely even mentioned the court, and he sat on it. maybe what he was trying to tell us is this. we can't rely on the court alone to protect our rights. because if you have to file a lawsuit, guess what? it's already too late. your rights have already been violated. being free doesn't mean you can get damages. being free means you don't have to worry about your rights being violated in the first place. that's why we need the other branches of government. especially the legislative branch to remain strong, so they can defend our rights when another branch attacks them. that is what will secure our rights in the here and in the now. and that is why we are here today. our problem is not so much that the presidency under both parties keeps breaking the rules, though it clearly does. our problem is that congress, under both parties, keeps forfeiting the game. yielding the executive branch. giving the president a blank check. not even boston toring reed the fine -- to read the fine print in some cases. and as our members just told us, as we just heard a beautiful articulation of our cause, this means more than just out of control spending. it means more chaos at the

border. it means not being able to live out your faith. it means not being free. that's why this plan is so important. in fact, i would argue this is the most important part of our agenda. because we won't be able to fix our safety net, we won't be able to rebuild our military or pare back the red tape until we put the people back into the driver's seat. it's not enough to have an efficient or effective government. we want a free government. one of the most important principles that unites all of us as americans, that makes this a popular and inspiring nation is that we are a historically self-determining people. historically with a government by consent. that's what unites us. that's what makes us free.

that's what makes us the beacon of hope in the world. we must reclaim and conserve this principle. we want a competent america where all of us are free. that's something that i think all of us can agree on. thank you very much. [applause] i [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]

>> c-span's "washington journal" live every morning with issues that affect you. larry pratt will discuss his group's position on gun control measures. also, david stacy, government affairs coordinator for the human rights campaign will be on. he will talk about what concerns when itnization has

comes to hate crimes against the gay community. we will also hear about the future of afghanistan and the war on the taliban. join us for washington journal at 7:00 eastern. >> i often say that 50 is not the new 30 and 60 is not the new 40. 50 is the new 50 and it looks ok. andle ought to on their age we ought not be talking about being over 50 as a period of decline. >> sunday night, the aarp ceo joanne jenkins talks about health and financial challenges older americans face. the author of the book "disrupt aging." >> the fastest-growing age segment in the country as people over the age of 85 and the second as people over the age of 100.

when these programs were put in place, life expectancy was 67 or 68. there were more people in the system and they are living longer. we have to be able to look at these programs and make meaningful adjustments that is going to allow people to live with dignity at a much longer period of time. >> sunday night at 8:00 eastern on "q&a." c-spanican history tv on 3, this saturday starting at 1:00 p.m. eastern, we are live from gettysburg college for the annual civil war institute's summer conference as topics such as free people refugee camps, reconstruction in the north, and the post-civil war career of ulysses s. grant are discussed. at 10:00, with the approach of the 40th anniversary of the smithsonian museum in july, real

american will showcase a series of nasa films. we will look at the 1966 film "science reporter: suited for space." >> some of our earlier models. this is the l shepherd suit. this is the mercury suit. this is the gemini. this is a suit very similar to this. identical to this was worn by white in his extravehicular excursions. >> it does look quite a bit different than the gemini suit. tracing the development of spacesuits from the mercury program to the apollo moon mission. that is sunday evening at 6:00 -- we go on a tour of the smithsonian air and space museum.

, in may 1927,ne flu 3600 miles in 33.5 hours from new york to paris, flown by charles lindbergh, an unknown male pilot. his goal was to take the $25,000 prize for the first nonstop flight from new york to paris. that was the in the test for the flight. the it represents in history of aviation is part of the telling of the airplane and transformation of the airplane from what the wright brothers created and how it transition to what we call the modern airplane. >> for the complete schedule, go to c-span.org. >> presidential candidate bernie sanders spoke to supporters through an online video feed, where he discussed the future of his campaign and his role in the democratic party. this is 20 minutes.

senator sanders: good evening and thank you for joining me. common goal, a political and social revolution to transform our society -- they never end. they continue every day, every week, every month. in a fight to create a nation and world of social and economic justice. that is what the trade union movement is about, that is with the civil rights movement is about. that is what the women's movement is about. that is with the gay rights movement is about. that is what the environmental movement is about. that is with this campaign has been about over the last year. that is with the political revolution is about. that is why the political .evolution must continue real change never takes place

from the top-down or in the living rooms of wealthy campaign contributors. it always occurs from the bottom on up, when tens of millions of people say, loudly and clearly, enough is enough. and they become engaged in the fight for justice. that is what the political revolution we helped start is all about. that is why the clinical revolution must continue. when we began this campaign a little more than a year ago, we had no political organization, no money, and very little name recognition. the media determined that we were a fringe campaign. nobody thought we were going anywhere. well, a lot has changed over a year. during this campaign, we won more than 12 million votes. we won 22 state primaries and caucuses. we came very close, within two points or less, in five more

states. in other words, our vision of the future of this country is not some kind of fringe idea. it is not some radical idea. it is mainstream. it is what millions of americans believe in and want to see happen. and something else extraordinarily important happened in this campaign, that makes me very optimistic about the future of our country. something that, frankly, i had not anticipated. that is that in virtually every state that we contested, we won the overwhelming majority of votes of people 45 years of age or younger. sometimes, may i say, by huge numbers. these are the people who are determined to shape the future of our country. these are the people who are the future of our country.

together in this campaign, 1.5 million people came out to our rallies and town meetings, in almost every state in the country. together, hundreds of thousands of volunteers made 75 million phone calls, 75 million phone calls urging their fellow citizens into action. together, our canvassers knocked on 5 million doors. together, we hosted 74,000 meetings in every state and territory in this country. together, 2.5 million people made over 8 million individual campaign contributions. more contributions at this point that any campaign in american history. amazingly, the bulk of those

contributions came from low income and working people, whose donations averaged $27 apiece. in an unprecedented way, we show the world we could run a strong national campaign, without being dependent on big money interests, whose greed has done so much to damage our country. and let me give a special thanks to the financial support we received from students, struggling to repay college loan. from seniors and disabled vets on social security. from workers earning starvation wages, and even from people who were unemployed. in every single state that we contested, we took on virtually the entire political establishment. u.s. senators, members of congress, governors, mayors, state legislators, and local party leaders. for those relatively few elected officials who had the courage to

stand with us, i say thank you. thank you, and we must continue working together into the future. this campaign has never been about any single candidate. it has always been about transforming america. it is about ending a campaign-finance system, which is corrupt and allows billionaires to buy election. it is about ending the grotesque levels of wealth and income inequality that we're experiencing, where almost all new income goes to the top, were the 20 wealthiest people own more than half the population. it is about creating an economy that works for all of us, not just the 1%. it is about ending the disgrace of native americans who live on the pine ridge, south dakota

reservation, having a life expectancy lower than many third world countries. it is about ending the incredible despair that exists in many parts of this country, where as a, result of unemployment and low wages, suicide, drugs, and alcohol, many americans are dying in a historic way, lower than their parents. people by millions dying at a lower age than their parents. it is about ending the disgrace of having the highest level of childhood poverty on almost any major country on earth. and having public schools in inner cities that are totally failing our children, where kids now stand a greater chance of ending up in jail, then ending up with a college degree.

it is about ending the disgrace that millions of undocumented people in this country continue to live in fear and are exploited every day, on their jobs, because they have no legal rights. it is about ending the disgrace of tens of thousands of americans, dying every single year from preventable deaths. because they either lack health insurance, have high deductibles, or cannot afford the outrageously high costs of the prescription drugs they need. tens of thousands of americans dying needlessly. it is about ending the disgrace of hundreds of thousands of bright young people, unable to go to college because their families are poor or working class. while millions more struggle with suffocating levels of student debt.

it is about ending the pain of a young single mother in nevada, in tears, telling me she does not know how she and her daughter can make it on the $10.45 she earned. and the reality that today, millions of our fellow americans are working at wages that are much, much too low. it is about ending the disgrace of a mother in flint, michigan, telling me about what has happened to her child's development because of the lead level. of many thousands of homes in california and other communities where people in california are unable to drink the polluted water that comes out of their faucet. in america, in the year 2016 in a nation where the infrastructure is crumbling before our eyes.

it is about ending the disgrace that too many veterans still sleep out on the streets. the homelessness is increasing, and tens of millions of americans, because of the lack of affordable housing, are now paying 40-50% or more of their limited incomes to put a roof over their heads. it is about ending the disgrace that, in a given year, corporations making billions of dollars in profit avoid paying a nickel in federal taxes because they stash money in the cayman islands and other tax havens. this campaign is also about defeating donald trump. the republican candidate for president. after centuries of racism, sexism, and discrimination of all forms in our country, we do not need a major party candidate who makes bigotry the cornerstone of his campaign.

we cannot have a president who insults mexicans and latinos, muslims, women, and african-americans. we cannot have a president who in the midst of so much income and wealth inequality wants to give hundreds of billions of dollars in tax breaks to the very, very rich. we cannot have a president who, despite all of the scientific evidence, believes that climate change is a hoax. the major political task that together we face in the next five months is to make certain that donald trump is defeated, and defeated badly. and i personally intend to begin my role in the process, in a very short period of time. but defeating donald trump cannot be our only goal.

we must continue our grassroots effort to create the america that we know we can become. and we must take that energy into the democratic national convention on july 25 in philadelphia, where we will have more than 1900 delegates. i recently had the opportunity to meet with secretary clinton and discuss some of the very important issues facing our country and the democratic party. it is no secret that secretary clinton and i have strong disagreements on some very, very important issues. it is also true that our views are quite close on others. i look forward in the coming weeks to continue discussion between the two campaigns, to make certain that your voices are heard and of the democratic party passes the most progressive platform in its history. and that democrats actually

fight for that agenda. i also look forward to working with secretary clinton to transform the democratic party. so that it becomes a party of working people, and young people, and not just wealthy campaign contributors. a party that has the guts to take on wall street, the pharmaceutical industry, the fossil fuel industry, and the other powerful special interests that dominate so much of our political and economic life. as i have said throughout this campaign, the democratic party must support raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour, and create millions of jobs rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure. we must ensure that women will no longer make $.79 on the dollar compared to men, and that we fight for pay equity.

we must also fight to make certain that women, throughout this country, have the right to control their own bodies. we must protect the right of our gay brothers and sisters for marriage equality in every state in america. as the recent tragedy in orlando has made crystal-clear, we must ban the sale and distribute of assault weapons, and the gun show loophole, and expand instant background checks. we must defeat the transpacific partnership, the tpp, and make sure that bad trade deals you not get a vote in a lame-duck session of congress. the tpp must not come to the floor. we must resist all efforts to cut social security. and in fact, expand benefits for our senior citizens and disabled

veterans. we must understand that the greedy, recklessness, and illegal behavior of wall street has to end. that we need to pass a modern-day glass-steagall legislation, and that we need to break up the biggest financial institutions in this country, who not only remain too big to fail, but who prevent the kind of vigorous competition that a healthy financial system requires. we must aggressively combat climate change, and transform our energy system, move to energy efficiency and sustainable energy, and impose a tax on carbon. it means that, further, we must protect our water supply by banning fracking. we must compete effectively in a

global economy, by making public colleges and universities tuition-free, and substantially reduce student debt. we must join the rest of the industrialized world and guarantee health care to all of our people, as a right, not a privilege. we must end the disgrace of having more people in jail than any other country on earth, and move towards real criminal justice reform, at the federal, state, and local levels. we must pass comprehensive immigration reform, and provide a path towards citizenship for 11 million undocumented people. we must take a hard look at the waist, cost overruns, and inefficiencies in every branch of government, including the department of defense. and we must make certain that our brave young men and women in

the military are not thrown into perpetual warfare in the middle east, or other wars that we should not be fighting. but the political revolution means much more than fighting for our ideals at the democratic national convention, and defeating donald trump. it means that every level, we continue the fight to make our society a nation of economic, social, racial, and environmental justice. it means that we can no longer ignore the fact that sadly, the current democratic party leadership has turned its back on dozens of states, and has allowed right-wing politicians to win elections in some states, with virtually no opposition, including some of the poorer states in our country.

the democratic party needs a 50 state strategy, we may not win in every state tomorrow, but we will never win, unless we recruit good candidates and develop organizations that compete effectively in the future. we must provide resources to those states which have so long been ignored. most importantly, the democratic party needs leadership, which is prepared to open its doors and welcome into its ranks working people and young people. that is the energy we need to transform the democratic party, take on the special interests, and transform our country. here is a cold, hard fact that must be addressed. since 2009, some 900 legislative seats have been lost to republicans in state after state, throughout this country. in fact, the republican party now controls 31 state legislatures, controls both the governor's mansion and statehouse in 23 states.

that is unacceptable. we need to start engaging at the local and state level, in an unprecedented way. hundreds of thousands of volunteers helped us make political history during this last year. these are people deeply concerned about the future of our country, and about their own communities. now, we need many of them to start running for school boards, city councils, county commissions, state legislatures, and governorships. state and local governments make in order decision. -- enormously important decisions. and we cannot allow right-wing republicans to increasingly control them. i hope very much that many of you watching tonight are prepared to engage at that

level. please go to my website, berniesanders.com/win to learn more about you can effectively run for office, or get involved in politics at the local or state level. i have no doubt that with the energy and enthusiasm our campaign has shown, that we can win significant numbers of local and state elections, if people are prepared to become involved. i also hope that people will give serious thought to running for statewide offices in the united states congress. we need new blood in the political process. and you are that new blood. when talk about transforming america, it is not just about elections. many of our republican colleagues believe that

government is the enemy, that we need to eviscerate and privatize virtually all aspects of government, whether it is social security, medicare, the veterans administration, the environmental protection agency, the postal service, or public education. i strongly disagree. in a democratic civilized society, government must play an enormously important role in protecting us. for government to work efficiently, we need to attract great and dedicated people from all walks of life. we need people who are dedicated to public service, and to provide the services we need in a high quality and efficient way. when we talk about a medicare

for all health care program, and the need to make sure all of our people have quality health care, it means that we need tens of thousands of new doctors, and nurses, and dentists, and psychologists, and medical personnel were prepared to practice in areas where people lack access to the care. we need hundreds of thousands of people to become childcare workers and teachers, so that our young people get the best education available in the world. it means that as we combat climate change and transform our energy system away from fossil fuels, we need scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs who will help us make energy efficiency, solar energy, wind energy, geothermal, and other developing technologies as efficient and cost-effective as possible. it means that as we rebuild our crumbling infrastructure, we need millions of skilled and well-trained construction workers of all kinds. it means that when we talk about growing our economy and creating

jobs, we need great business people who can produce and distribute the products and services that we need, in a way that respects their employees and the environment. in other words, we need a new generation of people, actively involved in public service, who are prepared to provide for quality of life the american people deserve. let me conclude by once again thanking everyone was helped in this campaign, in one way or another. we have begun the long and arduous process of transforming america. a fight that will continue tomorrow, next week, next year, and into the future. my hope is that when future historians look back and describe how our our country move forward into reversing the drift towards oligarchy, and how

we move forward crating a government represents all of the people and not just a few, that they will note that to a significant degree, that effort began with a political revolution of 2016. thank you all, very much. good night. [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] >> today on c-span, "washington journal" is live. then the former chief military prosecutor at guantánamo bay speaks at the national press club. s a heritage foundation host discussion about the history of margaret -- legacy of margaret thatcher. then live coverage from the democratic party platform committee meeting. in a moment, we will open the phone lines to muslim american callers.

.ur guest will be larry pratt then there will be a discussion with david stacy from the human rights campaign. also, the afghan ambassador to the u.s. ♪ host: a little more than 3 million muslims live in america. 1% of the entire population. this morning, we want to hear from muslim americans and learn about life in the united states for them. 202 is the area code. (202) 748-8000 in the western time zone.