>> i would just like to know why a large segment of the world seems to be exempt from the consideration of all these factors you discuss tonight like sia. how many refugees or immigrants are heading towards asia? are they welcome, are they not? japan i know doesn't take anybody. vietnam, china, south korea. >> saudi arabia if you look to give very wide scope. >> anyone like to tackle that? >> the gulf country makes the claim that they host very large populations of syrians and

palestinians, but not as refugees, and they don't recognize them as such. for what it's worth, unlike china and the other countries, they do pay into a system of trying to at least create some resources. the gulf countries that have not participated, there are only 26 countries that participate. one of the reasons that people don't head to other countries, for starters they do. there was a crisis of people fleeing and boats. they were basically trying to go anywhere that they could land. in the moment of extremists around violence, people flee to their immediate neighbors, they don't try to go to the united tates or europe. they tried to go to the place nearest where they hope to find some kind of safe haven. the truth is, those of the societies that are already in the global south at the breaking point in terms of their economies. their managing very challenging circumstances in which the

ikelihood that a refugee large refugee population arriving will be able to integrate and maintain lives where they can actually have any hope of meaningful long term life. understandably, the motivation for populations that are fleeing an attempt to secure a position to stay alive are going to places where the resources are more likely to be available. that isn't to say refugee populations from asia are fleeing to europe and the united states. they are trying to into australia. every region of the world has a set of destination points, and almost all of them are best described in terms of the relatively much greater resources. why those other countries are not required to join the settlement program is one of the questions that what i am suggesting a responsibility sharing framework in which international responsibilities for our global crises are more

fairly allocated that would have to be part of the conversation for south korea and other countries that have relatively large economies in relatively small refugee populations. >> although people may not settle there, they can do more. >> am i going the uestioner? >> we have another question. >> i was hoping you could talk about the violence in central america and mexico, and also why that has not been in the same way when you think about the cartels. related to photography, i often wonder when does something become fortuitous, versus showing the reality of what is happening.

i worry sometimes that people here don't understand the level of violence happening, and maybe if we saw these photos more regularly it would wake people up a little bit more. >> one of the fascinating things about the photography is the way in which she addresses the history of violence of mexico, while at the same time telling the story of the migrants. if you look at her images, she is often stating her subjects in very specific locations. if you read her captions, you see her reference a particular istorical event. one of the think she is trying to do is to remind us of the history of that violence that migrants have faced, and could possibly indoor and have what it takes to do with these ndividuals do. history is being interpreted in ays that respect issues of

gratuitous violence. she is trying to do something different, like referencing history without showing that violence. >> the refugee convention frames those who are entitled to legal protection and material assistance when they flee violence around a fear of persecution that is connected to recognized categories which are religion, race, political pinion, nationality, and membership of a social group. the challenges for those who flee violence like criminal gang violence to find a way to fit that framing and historically they have not been found to fit the framing. flee violence like criminal gang violence to find a way to fit that framing and historically they have not been found to fit the framing. hey're not fleeing persecution

that entitles them to legal protection under that narrow framing of the refugee onvention. one way to understand the challenger have been trying to describe to the international frameworks available is that we ave a basic instinct and nderstanding that anybody that is fleeing and has a fear of persecution and violence is entitled to some form of protection. there are two possible ways to rethink our framing. one would be to reopen the

current refugee convention for negotiation. if we did that, it would involve a scaling back of protections and set of an expansion. what your question is motivated y a desire to see an expansion of protections. he second strategy is to develop guidelines that suggest that the refugee convention emain as it is, but forms of

protection be adopted by countries. the united states has something alled temporary protective status, which is a protection from being returned that does not involve asylum. but it offers protection for individuals fleeing circumstances deep into stability. because the sources of global migration are as much a natural disaster as violent conflict, they need to come up with a framework of water superior protections that title anybody who is at risk of their life should they be returned to a place to protection. or cell phones in, so we couldn't take any pictures of the people. there were a few people that gottfried afterwards and i took pictures of them and posted it, but i think that is a reason that it doesn't get as much press coverage as it should.

the other thing is what the professor said, there are only five bases for silent. -- four asylum. having interviewed dozens of the women there, the typical story let's say they started a restaurant and some guy would come there for lunch every couple of days. hey knew he was a gang member,

they knew he was a gang member, but he would say something like your little five-year-old girl s so cute. 'll we see her going down this boulevard and then she turns left to go to school. by the way, we have an organization that is trying to help the community and you are doing well at this estaurant. maybe if you donate $100 a month, that would be good. they knew that meant that their daughter's life was in danger if join the discussion. >> sunday on newsmakers, alifornia congressman looks at

the reported russian hacking of u.s. computer systems and the counterterrorism strategies of hillary clinton and donald trump. i think with this woman who pened the store, people like her, i think the issue it is there is a recognition that she could be just as dead by that gang member who kills her, versus the syrian child who was killed by a soldier.

it's the same level of threat. ven if the international community doesn't see that as a civil war or an. event worthy of refugee status > >> the idea that these camps exist and americans don't know that they exist for the most part is not unusual. most countries have these kinds of camps, these places where people can live in a semipermanent state of tatelessness is something that

>> we have a following question to the right front. >> thank you for being here today. i wrote a screenplay about world war ii refugees and put a very human face on the story of the refugee. they went through very difficult circumstances and ended up in hanghai. my question pertains to how do we light a fire up under our nation -- it includes the story in st. louis. i don't know if anyone is familiar in st. louis where we turned away a boatload. hat can we do as citizens to continue this conversation? how do we get a room full of

eople having this conversation that will perpetuate change? >> i will turn that over to my smarter people. >> there is almost no substantial organized political voice in the united states arguing for the united states to eset a larger proportions of refugees. that would be the starting point of lobbying your elected representatives. he numbers that the united states are willing to take an are so absurdly small. 65 million people are in circumstances of displacement. e are prepared to take

15,000. in crisis alleviation mode that is an absurdly low figure. one could make an argument for broadening protective status to central americans. the story that we just heard is typical, and this is what i mean by the crisis flaming and -- framing. encouraging. they actually became an entrenched national framing that authorized extraordinary action to deport huge numbers of people. in order for each step to resist the political tendency to do the expedient thing, and requires organizing.

even if it just means organizing yourself to contact your elected epresentative. better would be organizing together with your friends. you can engage in more meaningful political action. it is a grassroots story of religious communities and civic associations pressing a ase. the political climate we have described is not propitious for an improvement in the response of our country, both in the causes of producing the kinds of instability that have generated the crisis we see, but also lead the country and offering the framework that determine how we respond to them internationally. think a heightened obligation

for citizens here to act. >> talk to immigrants and refugees. we live in these parallel to universe is here in los angeles, where people who are born abroad who come to this place, we don't know them at all. it's important to get outside and talk to folks. that is a no-brainer to me. also, talk to people who think the next immigrant could be the next jihadi, they are obviously wrong. there are a lot of americans who have some pretty extreme views about the threat immigrants and refugees opposed to this country. i think conversations with them are equally important so we are not in our separate political camps. that may be a more important conversation to have. >> it's also important to support people telling me stories because people listen

when people show up. a lot of the stories are being told in many ways, but people.com -- people don't come. a very easy way is to support these things. > i would guess there probably aren't a lot of donald trump supporters in this audience. maybe there are. i think it is important to reach out to those who you don't agree with and talk to them about these issues and the future of this country. if you are donald trump supporters, my apologies. you should give your views

back. >> thank you for this very nteresting talk. i am very grateful to see this was sold out, and to see how much in for -- interest there is on refugees in our city. i am the chair of the refugee form of los angeles. i want to respond to your question of what can we do. locally, people don't know we have one of the largest humanitarian communities here in los angeles. the refugee forum has 21 agencies. i just wanted to point out that if you are interested, reach out to the agencies if you want to volunteer. if you want to participate an additional activities. n september, there will be happening a welcome week on eptember 16. look up information on that. world refugee day every year round june 20, there is also a lot of public events. i hope people stay informed and engaged.

>> if you could join me in thanking the panelist. [applause] announcer: c-span's washington journal live every day with policy issues that impact you. eliana.p this morning key senate races. the editor. and talk about his book bill clinton's life pothe presidency and his role in the clinton administration. be sure to watch c-span's shington journal beginning

8:00. join the discussion. e.u. >> witnesses in the senate congress committee hearing include the producer of the oodway show "hamill -- broadway show, "hamilton." it's 90 minutes.

hearing of the then consumer product security, will come to order. we're pleased to have our witnesses here on a topic that i think is of value and has an opportunity to make a difference. whrl it is garth brooks or k.u., basketball game or hamilton, the digital age has made acquiring tickets easier than ever, and, ticket scalping has been made even more previous a length. when you're trying to pick up tickets you're no longer competing against other eager fans. you are competing against ticket bots, and, scoop up as many and

resell them on a secondary market at a significant markup. so, what's a ticket bot? >> here's my quick example a. live performance is happening, garth brooks concert, you know lots of people who want to be there, and there's only so many tickets available. people who use boughts, overwhelm it can by cutting in line, ahead of regular fans. while those tickets are taken out of circulation they use human operators to enter distinct names and circumvent other security measures. software is easy to find and you don't have to be a technology genius to use it. a quick google search will lead to you a different kind of marketplace, one where you can purchase the software. they are specific applications for websites such as ticketmaster and stubhub and

they make custom products. it harms everyone in the entertainment process, performers, and fans, and, ticket issuers, and, ticket fly have to have extra security measures. when the site doesn't seem to work properly or the event is listed as sold-out, seconds after the tickets go on sale, consumers get frustrated. second dare market is impacted for their part ebay, and, they believe that misuse of ticket botts, and, a report from the new york attorney general suggest tens of thousand sadgeds are being acquired using ticket bots.

and i believe it is nothing but good for consumers. they should be able to sell their tickets and if people are willing to pay extra, that's their right. stubhub estimates that half the tickets sold are below face-value. so the value prospect cuts both ways. what i take issue with, and what this legislation, that i have introduced seeks to address is the practice 6 cutting in line. when tickets are offered so that regular conassume mers don't have a chance to pay face-value for the tickets. some have raised ticketing concerns, we don't claim that it will be a silver bullet for all, but i look forward to a robust discussion today. many groups including stubhub -- have advocated additional provision that's they believe would be beneficial to

consumers, but it has been tailored to address a problem, and there is strong support in this legislation. it is my expectation, that this committee, will consider botds, next week. i'd like to thank my commerce colleagues for their interest, blumenthal, and, putting it together. and fisher, thank you, and, i'm sorry, that the big 12 has trumped the big ten once again, and are testifying witnesses today. yesterday the house of representatives passed a very similar version of the botts acts, and i now recognize the

ranking member senator blumenthal for his opening statement. >> thank you. thank you for your leadership in bringing us together today, for this hearing. to you, and our other collins for a supporting 9 better online ticket sale act of 2016, a good step, if only a modest step towards stopping ticket scalping in this country. in one of my favorite shows of all time, hamilton, and in one of my favorite numbers, in that show, one of the show stopping songs, is the room where it happens. the room where it happened. that's all they want. they want to be in the room where it happens and it gives them fair access to be in that

room. >> it may ab music venue or a show like hamilton, anybody who says, that, these are victimless abuses is kidding themselves. this kind of abuse affects boys and girls, who want to celebrate birthdays, and who are are denied, that opportunity at the show that they have waited, a eternity, it may seem to them, to see. it affects the music fans, who to want go to the concert, that they cannot accept, who can't see their teams. i spent 78 years as the attorney general, trying to protect

consumers, from ticket expaskers. it affects ordinary americans, in their pocketbooks and hopes, and as per rigses and it affects the culture ramp richness of this nation. my former colleague, as attorney general or one who followed as attorney general after i left. attorney general eric snyderman has done an investigation and produced a report. i asked chairman, that his prepared statement be submitted. >> there's no objection. so ordered. >> showing that tickets remain out of reach for consumers than ever before. much of in denying america --

denial, is because of ticket bot, because they devour them, the moment they go on sale or before, and make it impossible for ordinary consumers to purchase tickets at reasonable prices. use of this technology de priefers consumers are fair markets. if you believe in the markets, you should believe in this legislation. if you believe in fairness of the market, you should support it. whether it is hamilton, or the football games that occur, in this country, over the weekends coming this fall or the concerts, that occur around the country, the current epidemic ticket bot software is blocking

it, and, it is frustrating to consumers no matter where they live, or what they're back ground, age, class, race may be. it affects everyone. i believe that the current state of affairs is unacceptable and that's why i'm very strongly in favor of this first step and i have heard from some of our community performing arts in connecticut, about how this practice makes their serving subscribers more difficult and how they are hammered in building relationships with future patrons. so the ripple effect is beyond broadway. it is in every community theatre, every community around the country, and, i want to thank the witnesses for being here today, and contribute to go our understanding. thank you very much. >> thank you. we're honored to have with us,

the ranking member, senator nelson. anything that you want to say. >> thank you. just to say, here, i did not get to go see hamilton because -- >> i'll go a second time -- >> not at the price because the reason i didn't go, i i did not want to the pay $800 a ticket. at the time that i tried, indeed, all the tickets had been bought up. now you put it in everyday folks' lives, the retire res, or you talk about te folks who want to want to get ar

their child to go see their favorite sinker or what about the college-football fans, that want to go to the bowl games? and they are denied. because of what we see going on, and, this is not capitalism, this is not the free market. this is a rigged market benefiting some greedy speculators. it's not right. i appreciate what you all are doing. thank you. >> well, in just a moment i'm going to introduce you to the producer of hamilton and maybe you can see the show. >> can i request, that he does his opening statement and sings in the room.

>> i hear objection. [laughter] >> again we're delighted had to have our committee members here, and, those who have come to testify. we have with us, mr. todd cohen, the general counsel of stubhub. jeremy, for pandora, mr. jeffrey seller, the producer of hamilton, and the commissioner of the "big 12" conference. commissioner we would start with you. welcome. >> thank you. thank you. ranking member blue menthal, and senator nelson. i appreciate the opportunity to be here and thank all of the members for taking the time to hear from the witnesses.

this is a terrific opportunity to talk about a veksing situation, that brings all of us, relatively diverse back grounds together, to talk about a common challenge. i'll let the first three paragraphs of my statement stand for themselves. but, some of our sports, produce revenue from tickets from merchandise, and from television contracts. this revenue is vital to the operation of athletics, particularly at the highest level where we operate in "ah-huh" ton no must manner and self funded resources. there is as unique relationship between a institution and its fans. it is not uncommon for our programs to have family, that have been season-ticketholders. because of these special relationships we try and keep the value and cost of college

tickets, at reasonable level. because of the reasonable level of this pricing we make ourselves a target on some cases. this is particularly true of big regular season contests, in football and men's basketball, and many of our postseason games for which there are already a very limited number of tickets. i'm convinced for certain games we could charge a lot more than we do. yet, our relationships, and our loyalty to our fans, presents a maximum pricing when we know that the supply is fixed. the demand to see live events may overwhelm the supply. a school could raise ticket prices for that one big game or

a group of big games and bundle tickets together, so that less advantaging gust contests are bundled up, with advantaging gust activities. in a scenario, where individuals are willing to pay a great deal more for a ticket, then its stated face a, some will exploit t. while many of the tickets are held by season ticket holders, individual game tickets are also sold. i fully support a free market, and the ability of individual ticketholders to profit from the sale of market forces, and their tickets. however, with respect to many games, scratchers the hard-earnd

money of our fans, spend on money, should benefit our schools and student-athletes, not third parties, and, our conference has some of the best conference sports fans in the country the bad actors, that use the bots, to create inflated markets are cutting in line, in front of the real fans, in order to profit off something they did nothing to create. i'm aware that some of the nay-sayers, have questions, whether there is anything that congress can or should do. there are 21st century scalpers, that will gain the system. i disagree, i think that is step in the right direction, and i also applaud allowing the

f.t.c., and the state attorney general to take enforcement actions, who employ these practices to thwart and challenge the lack of integrity. we support this legislation ass in measure to ensure that our university fans have access to good tickets. my professional career has been spent around students, and fans, and college sports, as commissioner. we should celebrate it, and encourage healthy competition, on the field of play but we should denounce forced competition on internet ticket sites, between fans and expaivers thank you again for te

opportunity to testify. >> when it comes time to question, i would admonish my colleagues from nebraska, and, over -- >> k.u. we won't treat -- [laughter] >> i noticed that. >> let's now turn to mr. seller. thank you for being here. congratulations, on being a producer of a show, that can make political figures entertaining to the general public. >> thank you. i have to tell you that on being in your presence, and the presence of senators, i am honored to be in this room where it happens today, to watch and participate in the american process. yes, i'm the proud producer of hamilton. my career has been defined by my

passion for the american musical. in addition to hamilton, rent, in the heights, and, westside story. i'm the winner of four tony's. i started attending broadway shows in michigan in 1978. i was 13-years-old. my family was lower middle class. my father was a process server, and a mother a clerk. though we had little money available, my passion for musicals motivated my parents to scrape together whatever funds they could so i could see shows. we could not afford sites for the entire family. my father and i alone went to shenandoah, a core wrist line, and, when annie came to town we all wanted

to go, so my father stood in line for four hours, so that we could get tickets and have that gift for the holidays for the entire family. i would not be sitting here today, were it not for the determination of my parents to give me the unforgettable 13er7bss that i was able to have seeing the great american musicals. my reason for being here today, my mission is to ensure that young people and people of all ages, senator nelson, have the same opportunity,. [laughter] >> to see live performances of whatever interest them, musical plays or big 12 or big fen short sporting events. i have received numerous litters, appealing to help them get tickets. and they have been unable to

obtain them at regular prices because every time we put a new block of tickets. the bots have invaded 9 the system, the second they went on sale. and then, purchased almost all of the available inventory and then reposted the tickets, at prices, that are up to ten times their face-value. hamilton tickets have been sold, in excess of $1,000. in essence, these bots cut the line and buy up all the available product before anyone has a chance. you might ask why should i care. i have succeeded, which is to sell out my tickets. the forces of free trade and capitalism, were created by alexander hamilton himself took care of the rest. right? wrong. bots are cheaters.

the people who employ bots, use software that cut he is the line, paralyzes the system and holds and pur chazs every available seat before a consumer has a chance. they remove the notion of a level playing field from the very system that was designed to make it easy for consumers to buy tickets no matter where they live. the second dare market was introduced, into show business in the united states around 1850, the scalping came from the notion of taking the skin off the back of the general public. i'm not here to make any recommendations, of the secondary market. it's a useful tool for buyer and seller and i must confess i'm a graduate of the michigan, i will

also confess, that maybe once or twice i took my football tickets and resolve them at the michigan union so i could buy a pizza after. but, i am here to argue for fairness, for the ability of consumers to have a fair shot at purchasing tickets at the price set by the producer of the event. i'm advocating for a level playing-field. the business of broadway is a unique one that offering a living wage. for many reasons, beginning with the labor of theatre, i acknowledge that tickets are expensive. we have put in place two powerful tools to make affordable tickets available to all. first our groundbreaking educational initiative, supported by rocker femler, will make 20,000 10 dollar tickets

available for high school juniors, who would not be able to see the play. we makeover 40 tickets a performance available to the general public by lottery with seats in the seats in the front. that's everyday. $10, the first 25 seats. we aim to serve as many as possible. but in order for this to work, we need fairness in ticketing and we need level playing field. we need prevent bots, from tampering with the system. this is why i support the bots act. thanks, for taking leadership roles, i thank you for your time and i'm happy to be with you this afternoon. >> thank you.

>> chairman and ranking member blumenthawm, thank you for inviting me to participate today. my name is todd cohen, and i'm the general counsel for stubhub. p owned by ebay is a global online marketplace for event tickets. the largest, it offers fans a safe and convenient place to get tickets to the games, concerts and theatre performances, they want to see, and an easy way to sell when they can't go. today, some fans are frustrated with how tickets are 10e8d. they often face unreasonable licensing, and legislative restrictions when they attempt to buy or sell tickets. the rules, are too often unfair for a fan, and inconsistent. like nearly every other industry a more open marketplace would

mean lower prices, broader availability and access, and security for people like each of us, who want to attend live events. but the ticket marketplace is not transparent. the main focus is on bots, the software programs, to bypass, and skip ahead. stub-hub believes misuse harms all parts of the tickets history. that's why we have supported it. at the u.s. state level and we commend the senators on their efforts to enact a federal anti bots bill. still not all bots are malicious. they perform functions that are critical to the. net. they are used by every portion of the internet, search engines,

>> ticket bots are just one combo nent, in a suite of anti competitive. rather than focus on bots, i hope for the fans' sake, more di log in going forward. for most fans, a question is, why can't i get tickets when they go on sale? ticket bots are part of the answer but only part. a lack of transparency, with the practice called ticket hold backs are also largely to blame. in a report on ticket sales the new york attorney general found

that less than half, 46% of concert tickets are made available for purchase to the general public. in some cases these hold backs are more extreme with reports of major headliners releasing 12%. the held back tickets reserved for presales, and for industry insiders, artists, agents, venues, brokers and promoters. understanding the primary markets practices would be a helpful development and i hope that we ex baltimore the issue going forward. even for the lucky few who are able to buy tickets there are restrictions imposed by primary ticketing providers, as a condition of the sale. i want to highlight a couple today. there are some tickets practices that are intended to make it more difficult for the purchaser

to transfer freely the ticket. these restrictions through terms are inconvenient. they prohibit fans from buying tickets for a gift, or giving them away or used as donations f. a ticket buyer cannot attend it, block easy resale which sticks that fans. restrictions are out take lied in the way that they can only occur on specific platforms, providers and these harm consumers. we encourage congress to to assist in the dialogue. it is worth floating there is no fell resting lacing regarding ticket industry. it has been at the state, local and my mills pal levels. we hope that they will engage in

it, and, require all elements and stakeholders to participate in the examination or study. stub-hub supports fans. thank you for the opportunity to testify. >> thank you. >> chairman and senators, i want to thank you for holding a hearing on the harmful events that bots have, on the industry. very much appreciate it. from fans and artists. my name as many jeremy and i'm associate general counsel at pandora, our mission is to connect fans and artists. this why it was a natural fit when we acquired ticket fly last year.

since its found mooring it has partnered with more than 1600 pronotters, stage one, helping them sell more tickets and bring more fans to see live shows. ticket flies software powers, digital marketing, for promote 2ers, help fans discover and purchase tickets, in just a few taps. since selling its first ticket, the company has processed more than 1 billion, and, 3.7 million so far this year. the value of live events cannot be overstated. concert, and comedy bring people together to make a real difference. local bars and restaurants, and, taxi drivers and hotels, and,

retail stores all see a direct benefit. at ticket fly and pandora we have seen the name you are of live hue spic. the international festival. the month long celebration, in addition to being a source of pride, the economic impactses are for the music and barbecue are as sounding. this year it, supported, more than 1,000 total local jobs. and 93,000 visitors and generated 7 $2 million for the city of memphis. so what's the problem? profit hungry bot operators are exploring it of working artists and robbing the fans, that is a sport them. a growing body of research shows how bots is keeping tickets out of the hands of fans, and,

taking money from artists. these programs post as real fans, to circumvent limits and measures. they can seize large chunks within seconds. far faster than any human being could ever type and click. real fans are unable to get good tickets at face-value. there are other costs, the same ticket can be resolved more than once. this can lead to longer lines and added confusing, and denial of entry. it also tarnishes the reputation of artists who shoulder the blame. there are stheaps can be taken at both the state and federal level that strike the right balance. ensuring consumers can access

tickets in an easy way and fair prices a win/win for all. breufting attendance at events and encouraging spend mooring and, resulting in increased revenues for artists, and unsung staff who work hard. with that in mind we welcome the better online tickets act or bots act. in order to increase fairness. we want to thank the senators for introducing this legislation to benefit fans, and artists. as i said at the beginning of my testimony, our goal is to connect fans with the artists they love, at the gym or driving to work. that's why we support a music economy that works for everyone. artist and fans, and, promote

tors and why we urge the senate to take action to stop bots of fair access to tickets. thank you, and i look forward to your questions. >> thank you. all very much. let me begin my questioning by making sure i have a understand of what's legal and what's illegal. in today's world, is it satisfactory to quote scalp a ticket, more than what the price is on the ticket? i assume there's answer to that question. commissioner, is there something that prohibilityds that from happening? my guess is, this has lot to do with state law. >> it does. >> it is almost governed by state, counties, city ordinance, and, university policy and it limits not whether they can be resolved but where they can be

resolved. you'll see scalp either across the street, on private property rather than on state property. so, it is governed, in some cases, but not well enforced. that secondary market is really not my concern in this. it's been there for a long time. the market tnlds to be a level effect, and i think, the creation after artificial marketplace by purchase of an exor whattant number of ticket says a different matter. we have a number of very large events where the participating teams get a fairly large number of the tickets, and then, the

remaining tickets, if bought up by bots are next to impossible to get at anything close to face-value. >> anybody need, or want to add to anything? >> i just mention that there are few states that still prohibit ticket resale, the enforcement is very spotty. the location restrictions that, the commissioner has mentioned. >> so, this legislation is not designed and wouldn't get to anyone who considers that a problem. we're not dealing with that issue. 9 goal here is to create the circumstance in which you can't acquire a huge magnitude. tickets that are available, and therefore control or corner the market, with your your resale of your ticket says in. >> it makes exact sense. i'm not here to prevent buying and selling.

i'm here to make a level playing-field so everybody has the same shot at that ticket. >> mr. seller you heard mr. cohen talk about hold backs, maybe you can describe how the tickets for hamilton become available. there's how many tickets that are -- there are seats for tickets, and what happens? >> first i want to define that i think that the issueds speaking to has more to do with the concert industry than theatre industry. they're not the same. that sir not an issue in our industry. if i have 2,000 seats on sale at the private bank theatre in chicago, i might have 130 tickets that are what we call house seats and those are the tickets that are controlled by the writer of the show, the

director, the actors, for their personal use. those are sold at face-value. so it's less than 10% of the house. it's a non-issue in the theatre. >> you indicated that had, hold back applies to this, but, you are, have ticket available for $10 -- for students and others, which -- >> i guess that would be a hold back, and i think that hold back goes with god. >> mr. cohen, you indicated that, there should be a broader discussion. who is not at the table? if there was broader discussion to occur, who needs to be involved in that conversation? >> a couple of different people that are missing from the table. one would be our friends at ticketmaster. and i know that they have very strong opinions opinions and

attacks by bot questions and they would be helpful. different other parts of industry, the brokers have an absolute need and desire to be at the table to help work this issue out and to be part of the discussion. >> do you have anything to add or subtract to what mr. cohen was indicating, about a broader range of discussion? >> our experience at ticket fly has been very different than the ag's report, in that will -- total hold backs is less than 10%. not very reflect tir. >> thank you. >> if i may add something, ticketmaster is the vehicle

through which we sell all of our hamilton tickets. we have worked on the bot issue over the last six months. in fact, over -- we had a huge group of ticket that's we put on sale february 1, we know that bots purchased over 70% of those tickets and working with ticketmaster and by identifying, bad actors and through them, exceeding the ticket limit we were able to refund over 5 million dollars of bot purchase tickets in the month of april. so we refunded them or i should say, they put much, much more advanced anti bot software and we put them back on sale with through our system and getting

the message out, try again and we got our success rate closer to 70%. ticketmaster has worked hard. >> is there a standard description of the individuals or businesses that are using bots? who is the culprit here? >> i think that they're -- >> how many people participate in this kind of market? we don't know how many. but some of them are overseas. connecticut, florida. but, we know that there are a variety of companies that each have the software and then give it away

or sell the software to other bad actors. >> these are, they're like spoke brokers. they're using as their form of making a living the buying and selling of tickets to make a buck. >> with your permission i'm going yield to my friend, senator booker who has a scheduleing conflict, he's going to sing -- rap his question. [laughter] >> thoorng you. i'm grateful and to the chair. i'm from new jersey, there's a champion on this issue, congressman who has been for years and years before i came to the senate, this is something he was very upset about, often seen

with one of new jersey patron sons, bruce springsteen. so he has a bill in the house, that i think some of you are familiar with? yes. he talked to a lot of -- he focuses on the hold backs and i want to invoke press on some of the issues he's concerned with. and has enlightened me o. it has to do with transparency requirements. i'm curious, these are some of the things that the bots act does not have. are these important to mitigate the harms that happen to to the consumer? >> we think it would be. we think that the ability to be more transparent in the market would have the greatest impact on the market.

because, it is true that, the hold back issue, we don't know, we don't know, that was one of the things that consumers would benefit from. when there's an on sale. how many have been placed on sale? so there is a way in which we worked with the congressman to try to come up with some of those solutions, and are willing to continue to work on that. >> there's an element of which it's embarrassing, that they are only putting 10% on sale. >> well we have examples of that being true. in australia, they have a ticket law in which they will only restrict resale if the promote tor provides the manifest to the government, and then, that is distributed public limit only six events a year, in a sports crazy place that use the law to

do anything to stop or limit resole. >> what about the argument against, shouldn't somebody be able to obscure their behavior for hold backs or how many ticket they're putting on sale? this is my private venue, and if i was singing, why couldn't i just hold back those ticket says in. >> there are ways, in which you can do that. that's fine as we speak today. the 930 club here in washington, dc uses a credit card entry system for green day tickets and the only people that will get in will be the people that bring their credit card to that show. any other elements that you think are critical? >> there's a variety. but i'm happy to provide that to the committee.

>> thank you. >> i'm grateful for the time, to allow knee slip ahead. >> thank you. i now call on the senator for r from missouri. >> i want to talk about prosecution. i think the bill is just civil penalties and i believe in the deterrent effect, for jail-time for people who are committing a crime that is just making them money. at the end of the day, what's motivating people to use bot is just money. they're making a lot of money. in fact, they are stealing money from legitimate customers who want to buy tickets to events. since we started this hearing, with a quote from hamilton, i will quote the king and say when push comes to shove i will send a fully armed battalion to

remind you of my love. it seems to me, a fully armed battalion, is one that would include the threat of criminal prosecution. are any of you aware of any criminal prosecution that have occurred in the 139 states? >> tom my understanding, there are no states until new york, in june, changed their law to criminalize the use of bot. so no prosecutions yet in new york. we are working with the new york attorney general, and, to see if there are some that can be criminally prosecuted. i agree. i think that criminal prosecution is the most effective way to do it. we'll see is at the state level. and then, whether it is appropriate at the federal level.

in the other 12 states, i know of no case. but i can't state for sure. >> are you aware of any model legislation. i do have a hard time imagining that u.s. attorney offices are going to prioritize it, because, knowing the nature of where crime is prosecuted, crimes like to are not secluded. at the state level. are you aware of any model state legislation that might assist states in putting these loose their books? >> i do know there has been model legislation drafted. we participated, in it. for bots and the ticket industry. so we have both forms. >> i don't mean to pick on someone who is not here, but, let's talk about, the ticket

receives that are making money coming and going. see if i have this right, ridernazation owns ticketmaster and tickets now. so, someone can use a bot, and buy a large inventory of tickets, to a concert, and then they can turnaround and place those tickets for sale on ticket now, correct? >> yes. they can place them on our platform. >> i was like to pick some somebody who wasn't here. so, livenazation is making money. they're making fees, and then making a fee on the second sale also. >> that's true. >> so, why don't we -- why can't you put in something your resale that would limit the number of tickets that could be placed for sale? >> you can adopt limits, and

there are examples in which we have done that, and rare occasions. you can prohibit, you can run a lottery system every time to do the original distribution to reduce pieces. it's good to know that there are ways in which the bots have been reduced, through some technology. the ticketmaster. what i'm saying you comdo a lot of these things, under current law and steps are being taken. this is another step that could be useful, but -- >> i'm just thinking there might be ways to fix this problem without government. but there seems to be a financial incentive to sell them twice. because the money that your sites make is the fees, that they are charging on every ticket they sell, correct? >> to be fair there's something to be add for open markets that

allow for multiple resole. it's quite common you may buy a ticket, not need it, sell it and then, need to go back into the market. >> i understand that. but, if also reduces the incentive for the businesses that are making money on the same ticket again to want to solve the problem. >> you can separate out that. we would not 5d vote indicate that. >> tickets are tickets. that the market would be much healthier with open free resale. let the market handle it. my time is up. i hope somebody asks why are so many -- what are all the hold backs for? where are they going?

>> ky only, we know that they go promote tors, the ticket manifest determines what will go to the artists and promote tors and sponsors, the arenas, and the season ticketholders, as well, as the american express ticket system gold cardholders and presales and fan clubs -- >> is it fair to say that, there may be elements that are complicit in these kind of unfair marketups? >> i think there's a lot more knowledge in the industry that's kept from the general public. >> i take it that's a yes. >> yes. >> i want to thank you for your candor and thank you both you for being here today as well, as the other pan until lists, and,

say to mr. seller, i think your life story shows us why there is a larger value here, in permitting ordinary americans to come to the theatre, to watch football games, and, it's the place where the dreams begin. and where future stars are inspired to devote not only the inspiration but the perspiration that it takes to get to where you have gone and your storied minds us, folks who do what you do, also have to be ready for failure. >> yes. >> you put skin in the game. you, at that time, risk. these folks who prey upon american entertainment and sports are parasites. they have no skin in the game.

they exploit other people's creativity and hard work. not to mention denying access to the future stars. so it makes us passionate about this cause because it has such wide range ramifications. let me begin by asking you, about the digital lottery, has it been successful? are people happy with it? >> thank you. for those kind words. it starts 20 years ago when i produced reds. i was only 31-years-old and doing my first broadway show i could remember very clearly that only maybe 6 years before that i could not afford a ticket to a broadway show. so, when my then business partner and i were getting ready

to putt rent on sale we have to make tickets cheap and we'll do a $20 and let's do something better, we'll put them, in the first two rows of the orchestra section. it was first come and first serve. and then the lines became so long, we had kids sleeping over to try to get those tickets and then we went to a live lottery where you put your name in a hat and we would do that everyday at 6:00. that was successful from 1997 until last summer. our live lotteries, were closing down 46th street everyday. it became a nuisance to the police and a traffic hazard. so, last winter we then reverted to a digital lottery in which

anybody can gee to our lottery place -- you can all find it, and, the person enters the lottery and court reporter card. if they win, the card will go through, and they can't show up and pick it up until late afternoon. using that system, 9 bots don't invade t. because it's a $10 lottery and the turnover time is so short they would never have enough time to resell it. >> so it is immune. >> it has so far been immune to that, because, and there's no time. it happens everyday for that day. >> let me say, to mr. cohen, i actually prosecuted these cases when i was attorney general in the state of connecticut, and i agree with my colleague claire,

that, the u.s. attorney's office is not going to inter today them and i served as u.s. attorney in connecticut -- and these kinds of laws are very important. >> the good guys, like yourself should be on the side of laws at the state level, not this year, but the state level. i. i think that is tremendously important. let me ask you, i understand

that there are limits that are imposed per transaction. would it be more effective to impose a per person limits so that the system cannot be impeded? >> that's that's a great question senator. my understanding is this sophistication of the number of ip addresses that the attacks come in from and a vast array of credit cards they have at their disposal. i'm not entirely sure that setting it at the customer level would make a huge difference with the operators efforts. >> why is that? >> i think they could my

expectation is they could appear to be multiple different people coming from our site to at the same time using different ip addresses, different credit card numbers or combinations thereof. >> you indicated, and this will be my final question, you indicated that the change in the policy with respect to speculative tickets have had an effect. you think all speculative tickets, should there be disclosure from someone who is selling a ticket without actually having bought it, which now happens? should there be a required disclosure that, that seller does not actually have the ticket? >> we have found that the law is helpful but this is much more of a policy change that is based on the market itself. which is, if you have a fan protection guarantee that will

require what we do which is if you your not able to get into the show, there's a problem with the ticket we are going to do everything we can to get you into the show. will buy up extra tickets if necessary for high demand events where we want to make sure all of our customers get in the show. it doesn't know his work. we have to refund in some instances. but the vast majority of the time, because because of that our systems are built to prohibit speculative ticketing because they cannot be delivered. so someone says they're selling the ticket and we have the information that they have not delivered historically, they're not going to be selling the ticket. >> so it is a very rinses in which a customer ends up with quota speculative ticket. do you know what occurs when we have been fraught with proof that there are no presales. so bruce springsteen is a classical example. there's no presales, no fan club. when tickets go on sale at 10:00 a.m. on friday, a.m. on friday, they go on sale. the entire house.

note bruce springsteen does have some credit card only entry to restrict eat resale. but in general all of the tickets go on sale at the same time come same price. so therefore someone who is getting tickets ahead of time will know that those are speculative. because we do not know what we don't know about how they market the structure, where people released tickets at different times and people have different rights in the arenas, season ticket holders have different rights and clubs the owners. that information only becomes to us when it is brought to our attention. >> mr. chairman i want to thank you again for having this hearing. i would like to put into record a number of letters i received a for constituents about this practice. >> without objection. >> and sam behalf of senator

gorbachev that she's going to leave but she will cement questions for the record including one to mr. seller, i understand she's going to submit a question to you when you are going to bring hamilton to minnesota? [laughter] and while she is at it, i will ask at the same about hartford, connecticut. connecticut. when is it coming to hartford? and i hope that when it does you will have a digital lottery and enable some of our high school students in to come see hamilton because i think they will be inspired to pursue careers such as yours and the great director, writer and cast that has so inspired many americans. so, thank you very much a. >> you're welcome. senator blumenthal may be somebody sitting in the audience being inspired by you. the desire to pursue a career of public service. >> well, they don't don't have to buy any tickets.

but as flattered as i am, i tend to doubt it, but thank you. >> let me ask a couple of questions and senator blumenthal if you want to follow up we are just about ready to conclude this hearing. tell me mr. legal about technologies existing for those you think are out there that may address this issue. i understand it could be circumvented. is there technological way of addressing this issue, and if so why is it not been implemented? >> that is a great question. question. my understanding is that in our experience has been that any technological measure that has been put into place today, if it is even successful in the short term it is not successful in the long term. the. the ill-gotten gains that the operators devry from their practices pop back into investing in new software and technologies that can circumvent this protection the next time around. >> the testimony earlier was

about ip numbers and credit card , how are those acquired? they belong to somebody? is there a benefit that occurs to the person who has that identification and credit card? or is it just fraud? >> i think it is the latter. i think it is the means to which they keep the game going. >> so this is part, this is a result of stolen identity? information information stolen about people can become acquired by those two acquired tickets? >> i don't know if they were stolen credit cards. i don't the guy meant to imply that. they just may be that these bot operators have whatever means at their disposal to an masses many credit cards as possible so they can keep appearing to be different people. >> if i could add something. the bots frequently employed

gift cards. so they can go out and get thousands and thousands of gift cards and use those to buy tickets. in our anti-bot movement between hamilton and ticketmaster they have identified through software, the behavior the behavior of a bots so they can identify them. that has what has proved to be somewhat successful in curbing their behavior. the problem is it is an arms race. when the bot to act or is it making millions and millions of dollars a year by turning over tickets, it is is worth his time to continue to employ engineers to create better and better software. so, so, whereas if you went to ticketmaster a year ago, you saw that in order to overcome bots you would see the cursive letters that you had to enter into that little box. you would see in l, and age, a peak, iq, four, six, and eight and he

would have to write that it. that was an anti-bot anti- bot to measure. now they are giving you pictures. they will show you six pictures than they will say identify which pitcher does not have a wheel in it to try to overcome the bot. so they keep employing new systems and then the bots up their game as well. frankly they are just as good at that. that is why we need the legislation. the arms race is unending. >> on the topic of holdbacks, it occurs to me that there may be a consequence of bot actors behavior that encourages the hold back. would not those in the performance industry have holdbacks for their fans to try to better ensure that their fans get tickets? there fan club? is that potentially just a response to the fact that tickets are being acquired so quickly in such a prevalent manner? >> my point is, that mr. cohen

you talked about the disadvantages in the wrongness of holdbacks and consequences. the holdbacks section may be a result of what we are trying to eliminate here. >> absolutely. i don't mean to imply that there's anything negative about a hold back in and of itself. it's much closer closer to the question of transparent. >> i guess your question was about knowing the market. >> right, is there distribution in which they were actually playing a game. >> you indicated mr. cohen in your testimony about the potential positive uses for bots. and to make certain that we do not sweep away any technology that could play a positive role in protecting the ecosystem or elsewhere. it is why we went to two significant efforts to narrowly draft this legislation so that we did not get outside the scope and enter into an arena that i'd be very

reluctant to go. but, are there examples of technology, bot technology that would be advantageous for consumers? >> we don't see anything in this legislation that would be harmful. but if this legislation was broader, what positive benefit to consumers might be eliminated by a broader definition? >> if you said it was only automated systems and there are a lot of bots that double point at the automated system so that the human intervention will always overcome it. it is a problem with many systems and almost all bots is that humans, they're still going to be people that do 40 people in line. it's not going to go away. there are ways in which you force everybody to identify everybody on point-of-purchase like the airline model like you know who the person is and

that's a person who can use the ticket that means you'll have a different ticket allocation system. in this instance, we don't think there's any problem as you have addressed at the legislation right now, it works fine technological mandates. this is much more of an issue as when you merge it with this house bill whether there is criminal provisions in it or not and whether it is narrowly and only limited to bots. >> i have another couple of quick questions. mr. cohen, when i was attorney general one of the measures i thought was in the entrance of transparency, acquired disposal of the face value of the ticket. >> face value is important in a significant indicator. it is also one that requires that if you're going to make it a condition of legislation, that you understand and define what face value is. so a convenience fee on -- is

not considered part of face value. therefore a a consumer in some ways being misled. or, do require that in many instances some of the holdbacks will result in tickets that are price below the face value and sold to people and then results them at allegedly below face value and are not technically blow face value. it's just an imprecise term that requires legislation around it before it becomes part of a statute. >> it may be imprecise, but it is definable. >> that is the key piece. so the statute where it's defined it's not that difficult to do. it requires a technological mandate because you then require everybody systems to display. our experience has been it's almost it irrelevant piece of information, in in particular

with the advent of dynamic pricing. as demand increases or decreases, the classic example being an announcement of a retirement of a player and therefore demand for the tickets will go way up. the pricing systems will allow for people to set those prices at different times so we don't know what the face of value is. because it changes. you can buy a ticket for tonight and it will change throughout the season in sports. as tickets become more valuable as we get closer to a pennant race you will see ticket prices increase. so face value at a point in in time it is not necessarily represented. it is a defined issue that needs legislation around it. >> speaking about sports, as you know some sports leagues

have deals with secondary ticket brokers and they in effect forced upon buyer, nontransferable tickets that can be resold only on that exclusive resale platform. to give an example, some nfl team required ticketholders to use to get masters in nfl ticket exchange platform which imposes price floors on the resale of tickets and that makes it more difficult for sellers to sell tickets to a game they can no longer attend. for some fans, they are prevented from seeing the gay in per se. i understand maker of baseball leagues have a similar policy. you discuss in your testimony, your interest in preserving a school of long-term relationship with its alumni and fans. i am

wondering if you have any observation about this practice as it is done by professional sports leagues? >> i think it calls into question if you actually on the tickets once you purchase them. if there are restrictions on where they can go it how you can dispose of them, it certainly calls into question as to if those are your surf they reman the prerogative of the ticket supplier. as part of our research for this session we called one of the venue operators in the dallas, fort worth area. he very quickly went online and identified a broker that had tickets on sale two weeks ahead of time for a show that they were not going to put on sale for two weeks. it really is illustrative of the extent to which there is great confidence in the system. the bots can get as many tickets as they need for an event they

have. i suppose the nfl and major league baseball have done this for a good at appropriate reasons. but the question i have is, do you really on the tickets if you cannot do with them what you want? >> due on the tickets and what do fans think of their teams if they engage in these types of practice? >> thank you. again thank you to our witnesses and thank you mr. chairman. >> we are joined by the committee chairman and we are honored by that. if you had not asked the final question we would have been done. i recognize that my colleague from south dakota. >> darn, i missed it by minute. thank you. i appreciate you holding this hearing on this important topic. as an avid avid fan of live music events and sporting events, i certainly appreciate the frustration that many americans experience when faced

with having to spend an exorbitant amount of money on tickets for seen their favorite artist in concert or when they come to town on to her. imad the we have a new venue in sioux falls, south dakota so we are getting all of the big acts are coming through. i've had a chance to see a lot of them. a lot of sporting events as well. i appreciate how important this issue is to people all across the country. i am pleased to because i have not seen hamilton. i am glad you are able to bring that to us with your gavel. >> there were tickets available here for ten dollars, you miss them, you were, you were late. >> really? oh my gosh. >> excuse me one moment. you're making a a note and when i complained i was able to see the show nothing occurred.

mr. chairman were delighted you are here but if you get more than one, please let me know. >> i'm sure there is a of violation in there somewhere. but i do want to thank all the witnesses for the being here and i welcome the views on ticket bots and more broadly the health of the live event industry. i would welcome your recommendation with respect to federal legislation that would protect consumers in this marketplace who seek to purchase tickets. the bill, senator maranda is a sponsoring a sponsoring along with others is important bipartisan legislation. i think it will ensure that everyone has a fair shot at seeing their favorite actor team without having to pay an armor or like to do so. i hope this will provide the feedback that will enable us to include this on the bill for the upcoming markup. a couple of questions. mr. seller, can seller, can you give us an example of the face value of a

hamilton ticket as compared to a price on the secondary market? >> yes. a face value for hamilton is currently $199 in new york city. in chicago it is somewhat less. if you go right now to sub hub and try to get a ticket for this coming weekend you will see tickets ranging anywhere from $650 to $2000 each. >> how do ticket bots affect the tickets for sports? are all sports affected or is a generally basketball football? >> i think senator it is predominantly basketball and football. we see we see it somewhat in college world series and other high demand ticket situations. it is primarily in football and men's basketball. to a lesser extent in some of

the other sports where culminating activities at the end of the season are hard to get tickets to. i think we also see it in our bowl environment and in the college football playoffs. >> this would be for mr. cohen and mr. legal, i would like to explore the reasoning behind why companies like stub hub and ticket to buy a pose ticket bots. is the leading companies live events it would seem that ticket bots might actually help your bottom lines. for primary ticket issues for example bots move tickets quickly. and secondary market they help create inventory. in both cases they do so at the expense of the ticket buying public which again is pointed out early makes the consumer experience both more frustrating and expensive. in an age where consumers have a

variety of entertainment options, at what point does the extent of frustration that ticket bots cause a drive consumers away from live entertainment? >> that is a great question. i think the connection between the fan and the artist, that the artist may be trying to price their tickets below that maximizing point. to really create and establish a connection with the fans and turn them into avid fans of them is a live act. i think it's bots, as quickly as they might get tickets into certain people's hands i do think they frustrate that purpose that the artist might set the tickets below that prophet maximizing point in order to foster that relationship. that frustration and inability to get tickets at a reasonable price really puts that relationship at risk overtime. >> there are two major concerns we have. one is, we are in a market where tickets become more and more just tickets, primary and secondary. the ability to buy and sell

tickets because of generic. as such, we have more and more bots hitting our own sites and systems and costing us server space. there is a natural reason why the cost-effective funds that we don't need to spend. the second second reason is that it also, it does drive markets in a way that you are exactly right. most of the time nobody cares about bots because they sell through more tickets. one of the great concerns we have on the criminalization pieces the ability for a private actor to make a determination as to whether or not to something, because of their own belief is that they have crossed the line to criminal bots of behavior versus just an automated system in which someone was gathering up tickets for them. there. there is an identification and

determination made by a private actor as to this is an illegal act by someone else. as to the question of there is some actual constitutionality questions around whether you like having private actors make those calls. general we believe that the senate bill has not criminalize measures in it and therefore we do not think it would harm any of the potential good uses for bots in which one private actor made a determination they did not want to have any resale or any sale to a specific set of people. >> mr. chairman, i think think that covers my time has expired. i appreciate your leadership on this issue. hopefully we can read the bill moving. thank you to the panel for your observations and insights today. it will be very helpful as we move forward. thank you. >> mr. chairman, thank you very much for joining us. i think we really are now ready to conclude the hearing. let me ask the hearing. let me ask just briefly, mr. cohen, you implied i think

that there is a difference between hospital and the senate bill. and you are satisfied with the senate bill, but not so with the house bill, is that accurate? >> i'm not certain of this but i believe the house bill still has the criminal provision in it. we would have asked the senate to look at that and make a determination as to whether that is appropriate. >> which the senate bill does not have. and that's year acknowledges the extent of your concern between the two versions. >> i believe that is. >> if there is additional, massive myth that? >> please do. please let us know. commissioner, my final final question. what teams are you going to to the big 12 and i'll keep it to myself? [laughter] >> you have the right to remain silent.

do i cease to be under oath at this point? >> i have detected that you have a great, i don't mean this in an offensive way, great political skill and i've no doubt you will answer this question without providing any information. let me just say that we have the aircraft are fine and we are going to try to land it. we are glad to hear that, thinking very much. we would like the big 12 to be in the 12. >> we are now ready to conclude this hearing. thank you very much to the panel for the testimonium for my colleagues for joining us. the hearing record will remain open for two weeks. during this time senators can sum it questions for the record. upon receipt questions for the record. upon receipt the witnesses are asked to submit written answers to the committee as soon as possible thereafter. we conclude this arena think the witnesses. we are adjourned. >> thank you. [inaudible] [inaudible]

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>> washington journal every week day morning trade we will talk about recent polling, changes and upcoming debates. then, the national memo editor in chief will talk about bill clinton's life post residency and his role in the clinton foundation. be sure to watch c-span's washington journal live getting at 7:00 a.m. eastern time this morning. join the discussion. >> the smithsonian national history museum of african american history and culture opened its door for the first time on saturday, september 24. c-span will be live from the national mall for the outdoor dedication ceremony. speakers will include president

obama, first lady michelle obama, former president george w. bush, and mrs. laura bush. andressman john lewis smithsonian cemetery david smithsoniand secretary david gordon. you can watch the event live at 10:00 eastern time on c-span, the c-span radio app, and on www.c-span.org. now, comments live from hillary at the convention. this is 10 minutes.

>> hello. it is so greatly to be back with you here tonight. i want to thank my congressman jim clybourn, presented its butterfield, members of the congressional black congress, and i wish to congratulate all of the binaries. on a personal note, i want to -- all of the honorees. on a personal note, i want to recognize a dear friend who is retiring, congressman charles wrangle. he is one-of-a-kind. we are grateful for your years of service. about one of the best presidents that we have ever had? president barack obama. all throughout this campaign, i have made this point over and over again -- resident obama

saved our country am a second -- from aession second great depression. he brought osama bin laden to justice. and so much more. i do not think he gets the credit he deserves for doing what he has done on behalf of our country and the world. it is not just the president, but also the man he is. nonsense isteful way, barack their and michelle, their two beautiful daughters, have all presented our country with class , grace, and integrity.

[applause] ms. clinton: as michelle says, when others go low, we go high. speak for not just everyone in this room but so many tens of millions of americans -- mr. president, not only do we know you are an american, you are a great american. [applause] [no audio] -- [applause] you make us all proud to be americans too. let me think the leadership of the cbc foundation for this great honor. and i wish to thank all of my friends in the congressional black caucus for this as well.

dedicate it to all the trailblazers that came before me, who blazed trails that i could follow in their footsteps. chisholmordan, shirley -- i would not be standing here without them. [applause] generations of women and men that have struggled and sacrifice and cleared a path for all of us. is also for everyone out there helping to break down the barriers holding americans back. andleaders like all of you a rising generation of young activists. to all those on the front lines, dedicated to the proposition that in america every single child deserves a chance to fulfill you -- his or her god-given potential. this has been the cause of my

life. ever since i went to work at the children's defense fund all those years ago. i will close my campaign the way i began my career and the way i will serve as your president. i will focus on opportunities for your children, and for fairness for our families. [applause] ms. clinton: we haven't so much work to do together. i have heard many heartbreaking stories over this campaign. from a working mother of three children from northeast philadelphia. she testified at the dnc platform eating in june. she -- platform meeting in june. she told us that her husband had been laid off, and she was working at a part-time job. she said she had been hungry more times than she could count. she said that life felt like a maze, because she faced barriers

to matter what direction she turned. despite all this, she has hope. she still believes that her eight-year-old daughter will be president one day. she believes that this election can make all the difference in the world to her and to her family. let's prove her right. country, we have a moral obligation to give her family and every family the chance to rise up and reach their dreams. is what is at stake in this election. it is not about golf course promotions, birth certificates -- [laughter] [applause] down toton: it comes who will fight for the forgotten. who will invest in our children.

who will really have your back in the white house. we need ideas and not insults. we need real plans to help struggling americans and communities that have been left out and left behind. we do not need prejudice or paranoia. we cannot let barack obama's legacy fall into the hands of someone who does not understand that. [applause] ms. clinton: who is dangerous and divisive. who's vision for our country will drive us backwards. instead, we need to come together to get incomes rising with a higher minimum wage, to invest in neglected communities with efforts like jim clybourn's 10-20-30 plan. the hands ofut of dangerous people. haveke sure that all kids

good schools and good teachers no matter what zip code they live in. [applause] ms. clinton: when you really think about it, the choice in november is about so much more than just democrats and republicans. as michelle obama said at the democratic convention, "it is about who will have the power to shape our children for the next four years of their lives." it is also about the kind of country we want to be. what do we want to leave behind for future generations? i think everyone here who has been fighting for this vision over so many years -- i think me, io have supported want you to know i am not taking your vote or anyone's vote for

granted. i am working every single day to earn your support. i need your help over the next 52 days to bring our campaign across the finish line together. [applause] barbara jordan famously said that a government is invigorated when each of us is willing to participate in shaping the future of this nation. tonight, please keep doing what you are doing but also help to register voters, tell others about the clear choice in this election. in some states, early voting is nearly here. we need to keep the pressure on. send a loud and clear message, once and for all, we are stronger together. and no matter what, remember this,