salary he is earning now, although maybe not last night. it is the single mom making $28,000 with two kids. if she finds a job that pays her just a little bit more, she will be losing $.80 on the dollar to take the step forward. it is a huge disincentive to work and to advance. we call this the poverty trap, the result of having over 80 different federal anti-poverty programs as we do today, with zero coordination among them. once you add up the benefits she will lose, it does not make sense to take the job. we are just trapping millions of people in poverty. our basic approach to fighting poverty is to treat the symptoms, which ends up perpetuating it rather than going through the root causes. we have got to change this. what we are saying is give states the flexibility to innovate and try new things. let states coordinate with people who are already fighting poverty on the ground successfully and winning. groups like the salvation army, catholic charities, america works. we need to get the public sector and the private sector, the nonprofit and the for-profit

sectors, all of these working together and pulling in the same direction. we need to customize welfare benefits to meet a person's particular needs and always, always, always reward work. remove this trap. fix these benefits to help the actual person get from welfare to work. measure success based on results, not efforts. that is what we have been doing for 51 years. about the same poverty rates as when we started the war on poverty and success is basically how much money are we spending and how many programs have we created and how many people are on the programs? on --flip that and focus peoplereally getting out of poverty?

our whole economy is suffering as a result of this. if we want to create more good paying jobs, let me tell you one more thing we have got to do. we have to fix the tax code. i spent years working on this in my last job as ways and means chair. overseas, which means lake superior where i come from -- [laughter] we need to customize welfare benefits to me a person's particular needs, and always, always, always reward work. remove this trap. ask these benefits to help the actual person get from welfare to work. measure success based on results, not based on effort. that is what we have been doing for 51 years, trillions spent, about the same poverty rate is when we started the morning of poverty, and success rate is pretty much how many programs we have created, how many people on these programs? let's foot that and focus on are we actually getting people out of poverty? outdated policies are holding everyone back and the economy is suffering as a result of this. if we want to create more good paying jobs, we have to fix this text could. this is what i spent years working on. overseas, which were i come from means lake superior, those canadians, they tax all their businesses at 15%. the irish are at 12.5%. england is going down to 18. the average industrialized tax rate on businesses is 23%. eight out of 10 businesses in america file taxes as individuals. you know with the highest tax rate on successful small businesses in america is today, 46%. the corporate tax rate is the highest in the industrialized world, 35%. this has got to change.

if we want to start winning jobs in this country, if you want to keep e here, this code has got to go. we are showing you exactly what we want to do, and we have common ground on this. first of all, get those rates down across the board. simplify the system so much so, that the american family can file their taxes on a postcard. ratethat individual tax down to 25%. take the corporate rate to 20%. let businesses right off everything in the year which they make that expense. that would create growth. if you make money overseas by exporting or selling a product overseas, let people take that money home any day they want to consequence. i was visiting with the board of a bit was company the other day who had to repatriate so that they could bring their money back and invest in this country. we are killing growth in this country as consequence of this. what we are doing is showing in black and white what we can achieve in 2017 if we get this right. tax foundation says this plan will create 1.7 million new jobs, 10% to the economy. what we are proposing to build is not so much a competitive america, but more of a collaborative america.

when we are trying to do here is trade the old, top-down bureaucratic 20th-century government we have got, the one that progressives are fighting to extend, and we want to traded in for a bottom-up, organic society, where opportunity is real and plentiful. economy. because as we all know, it is only in the collaborative environment of the enterprise that a person can truly flourish pd's are the commonsense ideas we need to take to get this country back on track. these are the ideas that we believe will put power back in the hands of people. back in the hands of the people that pay the mortgage and make this country work. these are the ideas that can solve our seemingly insurmountable problems. this is what we think we need to do to restore the american idea. if we keep kicking the can down

the road, people really are going to give up hope on this country. more and more people, generations worth are going to disbelieve that this american idea is there for them. what a shame that would be. but if we put these reforms in place, we can turn things around. we are in the middle of a pessimistic, vicious cycle. awful.ynical and it is it does not take a whole lot to turn this around, into an optimistic, virtuous cycle. to feel anxious at a time like this is natural. pessimism is a choice. the happy warrior does not drink shrink from a fight. we except this challenge with joy. for all of our problems and doubts, i know we can turn things around. we know what we need to do but we need a government capable of doing it.

i have faith in this country. there is nobody in this country that says i wish my life were empty and meaningless. that is why we should not write anybody off, least of all, our fellow citizens. all of us want to be defined, not by our segment of society, to it.our contribution it is the rules, the rule makers that have failed us, not the people. none of this is automatic and none of this is easy. the american way of life is always a work in progress. the challenges we face are pretty stark and they are mounting. but this is our calling for the moment, and we need to answer the call. all i have to say is get to work. get to work, in high spirits, optimistically, happily, to rebuild this country we love. thank you for hearing me out. i appreciate it. [applause] [applause]

>> thank you. the next part of our program will be questions. we have a couple of our selected members who will be asking the questions. glenn hubbard, the dean of columbia's graduate school of business, as well as peter orszag. peter is the vice-chairman of --managing director of lazard. >> thank you for coming to speak to us today. i wanted to go back asking you, why didn't i america succeed in the first place, how we address the challenges. as you spoke, the answer to both of those was opportunity to growth. in the past couple of years, you spent time talking to the

american people about growth. as you go through a better way in your agenda, how would you prioritize policies that would get growth back to where it needs to be? speaker ryan: that's a great question. we decided -- we, meaning republicans in october -- it is one of the reasons i took the job. one was to be able to go home o weekends.on other was this. then we basically thought, what are the key things we have to get done that are so critical? growth is core. i would say there are a few things. first, tax reform is absolutely critical, one of the things that is holding us back. second is the regulatory state. two of the six planks in this plan deals with regulation. you name the sector, you have got the regulatory juggernaut coming out of this administration injecting so much uncertainty, so much hesitancy in the private free economy.

the labor department alone are unilaterally writing our overtime rules. know about dodd-frank. the point i would say is, we have shown you what regulatory reform looks like, how we should revamp it so we have a 20% three regulatory system focused uncertainty and job creation, sound science, and the rest. but the point that we feel strongly about, that we think can help improve this regulatory climate, is we need to restore self-government, the separation of powers. we have seen this atrophy not just under obama, under republican presidents also, but it has gotten out of control. what i need to say is, all of these things we experienced the laws and regulations that micromanage our economy, schools, hospitals, we don't vote on these in congress. they just go into effect. so we have this new fourth branch of government, unelected bureaucrats running our laws.

i see joe wilson from south carolina, we don't vote on these things. these things that are laws, rules and regulations, have to come through congress. 32 state legislatures do this already. we have to make sure the legislative branch under government, the one that is supposed to write the laws, faithfully executed those laws. that is not happening today. we are saying those things have to come through congress for a final approval before they go into effect. it is not a brand-new idea. we think doing that helps us restore accountability in the government, so we can focus on creating jobs, not building a massive bureaucracy that is distant from the people. tax reform, regulatory reform, and then the first one i made, let's focus on getting people out of poverty by getting people into the workforce, focusing on skills, closing the skills gap, and focusing on these miserable labor participation rates. we have millions of able people not looking for work, not in school.

just looking through the cracks. you get people back into the economy, you get the regulatory statement more accountable, and you get this tax system under control, and then we will take off. that takes the fiscal policy offered its course with monetary policy. >> mr. speaker, you have laid out a compelling vision for the priorities with a republican trifecta of the white house, house, and send it. i understand is not your preferred outcome but -- speaker ryan: i don't want to talk about that. >> in that hypothetical world, how would your priorities change? criminal justice reform, child income tax credit, both candidates favor additional infrastructure spending.

where would you see areas of bipartisan work if you want up in a divided government scenario? speaker ryan: i'm trying to get criminal justice reform done this session of congress. that is a very important element. we are looking at how we can get that done. we have six bills out of judiciary already. that train is on the tracks. i am hoping we can get that done sooner rather than later. we passed the longest term highway built for the first time since 1990's a few months ago. that is already in place, 10% above baseline spending on mass transit and highways. i would suggest that is occurring now. i think tax reform, you cannot defend the tax code anymore. the fear i have is the progressives who control the democratic party do not think

anything close to what looks like tax reform is a good thing. we offered up switching up to a territorial system, dumping tens of billions into the highway system, and it was rejected. i hope that view changes. right now, the stated position is they want a worldwide tax system but ending deferral. there is a big gulf between our two views. i would like to think just with the pace of inversions and takeovers, the case for tax reform is indisputable, and we can overcome those ideological barricade that dominate the other side of the aisle. i know that is a partisan thing to say, but you know when talking about. on infrastructure, this is not a panacea.

first of all, we are not keynesian, so we don't believe in these multipliers. there is no sense at to for organic economic growth, free enterprise, having sector growth. if we have another progressive administration, the regulatory state will keep going on as it is. the fiscal policy is probably the easiest get. on the fiscal side, we have been pushing this entitlement reform rock up the hill for years. we have wasted eight years now. i worry that a progressive presidency will be just like the rest. you know these numbers better than anyone else in the country. if we don't start tackling our entitlement problems soon, it will tackle us. you know with the baseline looks like. it is number five in our six-point land on health care, how to deal with these entitlement problems. i don't see a progressive government tackling it comes this one has not at all. tax reform is probably the easiest get, hopefully. i look at the poverty space and i have to think there is some common ground there, moving people from welfare to work. i passed a law with patty murray looking at an evidence-based,

policy commission. we want to use objective tools to measure the outcome of policies based on evidence. that should take the politics and ideology out of this. if we can get that train on the tracks, which we are in the middle of doing, i think we can go down that space a little better. i think there is some space on welfare reform, poverty. i would love to think that is the case with tax reform but experience as ways and means chair, with your party, was not a pleasant one. i don't know if that will change. we will see. hopefully not. >> i want to take you back to

the question of work and opportunity. you characterized the safety net as perhaps sometime being more like a spider web of trapping people, rather than cushioning them. in a better way, you did talk about work and opportunity. if you were to look at the list of specifics, eitc changing mentioned, personal reemployment accounts, 20-such things -- how would you prioritize those, which one with a new congress and president take up first? speaker ryan: you are the author of -- >> i am still working on it. speaker ryan: if i had a chart, i would show it to you. you take a look at the various welfare benefits. we did the first accounting of this in years. we have 72 programs spending $80 billion a year fighting poverty. these programs, when you stack them on top of each other, they have these benefit clips that present a huge disincentive to work. like i said with a single mom as my example. she loses anywhere from $.90 on the dollar taking a step forward, getting a job, getting a raise.

eitc helps smooth that out and pull that person to work. the first thing i would do is change how the eitc works. it is a lump sum at the end of the year, so you don't feel it. i think the easiest way would be to embed it into the social security system. i think that would be a smart thing. when you look at the labor force participation rates, it is adults that have slipped into the cracks. but you have to do with the spending programs that occur. this is why we want to collapse these programs and send them back to the states, and then break up the welfare monopoly that is administering these benefits. what a person typically experiences is, they need assistance, they go to the local county welfare services agency, and then they give your benefits, you go to somebody else, they give your benefits. there is no court nation. you are seen as a cog in the machine.

you are on these benefits. if you leave to get a job, you have this massive disincentive. what we have seen out there is there are great groups that, in spite of this disincentive, this government imposed poverty trap, that do wraparound benefits, case management -- charities have a great model of this in fort worth. there are lots of groups, some here in new york, that learned how to focus. this is like a patient navigator for health care. how do you help this person get their life in order, get her from where she is to where she needs to be, and always making work pay, customizing the benefits so that incentives are lined up. and do it in a way where all sectors, the public sector, charitable, government work in the same direction. we want to propose is move this back into the states,

not just cut a check, but break of these monopolies providing services on the ground, so that a person down on her luck has choices of providers who compete for her business based on success. charities take over. let salvation army do this. thisther organizations do and measure them based on results and outcomes. then the money should go where success occurs. it is our case for school choice. basically we are saying, if you do that, focus on benefiting people with critical incentives, work requirements, closing that skills get, she might have an addiction problem, and she may need to get a ged. he may just need a car and

skills training. everybody is different. you cannot do this cookie-cutter washington knows best approach because that is the result we have right now. we believe that that is the best way to get back into the pipeline, the labor, the people who are slipping through the cracks. by the way, it is not only good for their lives, you are restoring upward mobility, a sense of achievement, and you are getting people to give back to the economy. when thousands of baby boomers are retiring every day, we need them. it is helping people get their life back together, restore the american idea and this beautiful sense of american upward mobility, and getting faster economic growth. that is our basic approach to doing this. >> mr. speaker, i like to bring you back to the tax front and give you the opportunity to respond to your critics. on friday -- speaker ryan: is this from your blog? >> the tax policy center, in conjunction with the pen wharton

business model, came up with an analysis of the house republican tax plan that said, including the feedback effect from higher gdp, which it said would happen, the tax plan would increase the deficit by 3 trillion over the next decade, and that effectively all of the benefits would go to the top 1%, with a 1% increase in after-tax income for the middle 20% and a 10% increase for the top 1%. if we give away money, that is what happens. speaker ryan: keynesian versus the classical guy. first of all, i have not seen it. i would look at the tax foundation model which says something different. when i was chair of ways and means, we changed the way we do scorekeeping in the house. we bought three models. what we are trying to do in congress is to be as close to reality as we can.

it's clear to us that changes in tax affects personal behavior. until this last year, we had to ignore that in congress. we had static modeling. now when we write tax policy, we are guided to take into consideration how best doesn't achieve faster economic growth. that is our goal. if you look at the model we are using, we don't have any of the deficit affect you are talking about. point number two, in this kind of a tax code, when you cut across the board, you will have that thing you were talking about. but that is then a case to keep individual rates so high that we basically give these other countries our companies. eight out of 10 businesses in america file their taxes as individuals.

llc's.oprietors, their top effective tax rate is 44.6%. in wisconsin, manufacturers compete with the canadians who are taxed at 15%. you can sit in treasury and try to be as punitive as you want on people who are inverting. it isn't going to work. they will be bought by foreign companies at the end of the day. when that keeps happening, we lose our seed capital. we lose the executives in milwaukee at miller brewing who are running the united way campaigns. we lose america's dominance in the global economy. we really believe you have to convert to a territorial system. you have to get these rates down so they are globally competitive. the way that we have done that, most people who get the loopholes and adoptions are on the high end. take away those deductions,

lower our tax rates, and let the economy grow and be competitive. under any kind of analysis, you are going to have what you describe because of the way the tax code is done right now, which is built for low growth or no growth. that is a criticism that i disagree with, the specifics, but it is one that you will have to accept to have a fast-growing economy, if you want to have faster economic growth. that is why i say we need to simultaneously work on the least among us, getting people from poverty into work. i will take our agenda of upward mobility, poverty reduction and welfare reform against the bernie sanders and hillary clinton's ideology and agenda of redistribution and socialism, any day of the week. [applause] >> i want to take you back before speaker, before ways and means, chair of the budget committee. talking about deficits and

debts. this is a subject not surfacing much in the campaign. in the unified government you speak of, if we have a tax cut and we increase military spending at the same time, which seems likely, i agree that progrowth aspects are very important. but over time, what sort of spending restraint would you think of, principally in entitlement programs, which is where the spending is, would you recommend? speaker ryan: i have spent most of my time in congress doing just this. i see these as simultaneous things. i won't get into how the budget works, but i see them as simultaneously. if you look at our health care plan, it is a replacement plan for obamacare. first time in six years republicans have come up with a consensus replacement plan. that includes entitlement reforms. don't forget, obamacare was an entitlement bill self. it was not only creating a new

entitlement come in remote the way medicare and medicaid work. our health-care entitlements are the primary drivers of our debts and deficits in the future. if you want to free up fiscal space, like we do for national defense, for the navy and army that we want, for the war on terror, you want to go where the money is, and that is in mandatory spending. isn't the cbo baseline by 2026 medicare, medicaid, social security and interest on the debt consuming 100% of revenues? a few programs plus our interest takes all of the money the federal government raises. everything else we do is borrowed. the deficit is kind of an aberration at $549 billion today. it is going to a trillion soon and is not going back down because of 80 boomers retiring, health-care costs, things that we all agree on. so you have to attack the

entitlement reform issue really early, because we can do it on our own terms as a country. what i mean by that is the kind of reforms we are proposing do not affect people in or near retirement, so my mom -- i will not say how old she is. she lives in wisconsin in the summer, florida in the winter. she has been on medicare and social security for a long time. she organize her life around it. alaskan we want to do is change that, pull the rug out from under that social contract that she and everyone else arrange their lives around. that goes with the same for the people about to retire. but you have to change these programs if you are going to prevent them from bankrupting the country. for those of us who are the next

generation, we had to change these programs. if we go soon, we can do it in that way, where it affects people who are younger and does not affect people near retirement, but you keep kicking the can down the road and watch these numbers compound away from us when boomers going into retirement, and we will not be able to get out. we are proposing this. i will not go into the specifics. peter knows them well. there is a plan that we have for medicare. there is a specific plan we have for medicaid reform. what it does, it prospectively reforms these programs, and as a result, wipes tens of chileans of dollars worth of unfunded liabilities off the books. we pay off our debts so that the next generation inherits a debt we nation. and it frees up that fiscal space for the discretionary things we want to do. like national defense or education. i think you have to do that immediately in a new government,

when we are doing next budget process. that is something we are prepared to do. this is not some sort of slogan. we have hard work beyond this, which is our plan for january through september of 2017, to get us on path. fight poverty more effectively, reform welfare, replace affordable care act with patient centered health care and entitlement reform, so we can do all these things we want to do. the last thing i would say, health care reform will happen, because obamacare is imploding. united health care left. aetna is gone. the non-for-profits are sticking around. i met with all the actuaries at blue cross blue shield

yesterday. i enjoyed that. the chief actuary stood up and said congress needs to understand -- they call it obamacare, too -- i don't mean any disrespect. obamacare is failing two years ahead of schedule. meaning this thing is not working. it is in what we call a death spiral. we are going to have to change this in. kaiser just said 31% of counties in america only have one plan/ one choice. it is collapsing under its own weight. the best way to address it is to do a much more comprehensive patient centered health care including entitlement reforms that we are putting in black and white. i have written for budgets that do exactly what we want to do. we have shown you that we ready to do what we need to do. you do that, it will have our monetary policy. don't get me started on that. it will get the fiscal policy

off of this current collision course with monetary policy. stabilize investment horizon, stabilize the dollar in the future. and keep the promises to the seniors. government does not have the means of keeping its promises to current seniors, if we stick with the status quo. therefore, we have to fix that. >> that is all we have time for. thank you. [applause] speaker ryan: thanks for the water. [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] greg's a few events to tell you about -- >> a few events today.

cia director john brennan. live coverage begins at one: teen pme eastern. mccall unveils his new counterterrorism strategy, 3 p.m. eastern also on c-span3. nationaltor of intelligence, james clapper, sits down for an interview with the washington post. you can watch on c-span.org or listen on our c-span radio app. aboutresident obama talks new york, new jersey, and minnesota. he also talks about the ongoing attacks from the syrian state.

pres. obama: good morning everybody. about to say a few words the explosions. in the devices found in new jersey. i have been monitoring the situation closely and have been receiving frequent updates for my team and have just been briefed again by fbi director comey and have spoken to governor christie and mayor deblasio. a pipe bomb went off in new jersey where it could have seriously injured spectators at a raise and a bomb in chelsea, new york injured more than two dozen people. we are extremely fortunate that nobody was killed. and, our prayers go out to all those injured and we want to wish them a speedy recovery. i especially want to commend all of the outstanding police and

first responders in new york and new jersey for their extraordinary professionalism and their quick response, which surely prevented even more people from being hurt and insured that more people got assistance quickly. the investigation is moving rapidly, and is is my practice, i am going to leave it to the fbi and law-enforcement to provide detail. i think everyone is aware at this point there is a person of interest who is the focus of the investigation, and the fbi can give you further details on how that is proceeding. i told governors cuomo and christie and mayor deblasio their teams will have all federal support as they move ahead with their investigations in tracking down every lead and working to keep the people of this city and this region safe. law-enforcement is asking for the help of the community, and so to everybody in this region, i want to repeat what we have said before.

if you see something suspicious, then you need to say something. contact local law enforcement. in the meantime, i would ask that the press try to refrain from getting out ahead of the investigation. i am extraordinarily happy with the quiet operation that has been taking place between the fbi and state and local law enforcement officials. they are moving smartly on this investigation. it does not help if false reports or incomplete information is out there. so, try to, as much as possible, stick to what our investigators say, because they actually know what they're talking about. meanwhile, i know the united nations meeting already creates an additional workload for new york.

but we have a particularly high level of federal resources here to help as needed. we want to make sure that everybody is working together seamlessly to get to the bottom of what happened, to find those responsible and make sure that justice is done. meanwhile, we are also focused on the stabbing attack in new york and minnesota. we see no connection between that incident and new jersey. our attention there is on the people who were injured. we are grateful that no one lost their life. thanks to the actions of a brave off duty police officer, we avoided more people being hurt. i also had a chance to speak with governor dayton this morning. i assured him that we would invite all of the assistance he needed. the fbi is investigating the

attack in minnesota as a potential act of terrorism. we will make sure the investigation goes forward aggressively. and finally, i want to take this opportunity to reassure the people in the city, this region, and americans across our country that our counterterrorism and law enforcement officials at every level are working together around the clock to prevent attacks and keep us safe. they are the best of the best. over the years, they have thwarted many plots and saved many lives and we are grateful for their service today and every single day. we will continue to lead the global coalition to destroy isis, which is instigating a lot of people over the internet to carry out attacks. we are going to continue to go after them. we are going to take out their

leaders. we're going to take out there infrastructure. later, i will be meeting with prime minister abadi of iraq to sustain momentum. as we take over more of their territory, it exposes isil as the failed cause it is and helps to undermine their ideology, which over time will make it harder for them to recruit and inspire people to violence. continue to enlist tech communities and religious leaders to push back against extremist content and all messages of hate. moments like this, i think it is important to remember what terrorists and violent extremists are trying to do. they are trying to hurt innocent people, but they also want to inspire fear in all of us and disrupt the way we live, to undermine our values. even as we have to be vigilant and aggressive, both in

preventing senseless acts of violence, but also making sure we find those who carry out such acts and bring them to justice, we all have a role to play as citizens and making sure we do not succumb to that fear. there is no better example of that than the people of new york and new jersey. i was speaking to governor cuomo and governor christie. one point they all made was -- folks around here, they do not get scared. they are tough, they are resilient. they go about their business every single day for and that kind of toughness and recognition that neither individuals nor organizations like isil can undermine our way

of life, that is the kind of strength that makes me so proud to be an american and that is the kind of strength that will be absolutely critical, not just in the days to come, but in the years to come, by showing those who want to do us harm that they will never beat us, by showing the entire world that we do not and never will give in to fear. and never will give in to fear. that will be the most important ingredient in defeating those who would carry out terrorist acts against us. you will be receiving, i am sure, ongoing readings from the fbi and local law enforcement in terms of the details of the investigation. >> on the new york city oh bombing from bill de blasio, law enforcement officials.

this briefing is about 25 minutes stop -- this briefing is about 25 minutes. >> good afternoon everyone. with me today from an life pd. -- with me today from nypd. city council, side finance manhattan -- cy vance. busys been an extremely two days, obviously. fought tirelessly,

relentlessly, seamless the for the investigation for the bombings in new york city and new jersey. today, our efforts were successful inks to the brave police officers from the linden, new jersey police department. they captured this dangerous individual. to police officers were injured in new jersey. we wish them a speedy recovery. of whatanother example law enforcement does every day. they put themselves in harms way every day. on saturday. the response by not only nypd, but the fbi, atf, fire department, port authority, state please, they all went to the danger.

my first down this job, but certainly not my first day on a job that i am just so proud of what i saw that day and how it was done together. the agencies and cooperation. we are joined today by the assistant director. to give you details about the investigation. you need to understand this case is still at the. our primary focus has been to identify the person responsible for these crimes. now that we have the suspect in custody investigation can focus on other aspects, such as if the individual acted alone in what his motivations may have been. so before turning this over to america deblasio, i want to offer my personal thanks. it is a pretty tough way to start in a new position as

police commissioner, but again i have always and so proud to be a member of this police department. meredith law zero: thank you so much, -- deblasio: thank you, police commissioner. i want to say that our first responders performed with extraordinary skill and courage. i want to thank our partners all. i also share deep concern for the two officers in new jersey. we are hoping that they will have a speedy recovery. this is a situation where we have rapidly unfolding information. you're going to hear some from us now. i'm sure there will be a lot more to say in the coming days. as per usual, there will be some things we will not be able to talk about. we want to say that upfront. but we do our best to tell you e can give you.

i also want to note upfront, we received a call from president obama. he wanted me to say he at hired to the resilience of the people of new york city, how are people handle this crisis from moment one with strength and resilience. people were back to business. and of course, the president issued his congratulations to our first responders for all they had done. we have more information coming in. we have so much more information than we even had a few hours ago. based on the information we have now we have every reason to , believe this was an act of terror. we will be going into some detail and there is still a long investigation ahead, but now we have every reason to believe this was an act of terror. in addition, because this is an ongoing investigation, all new yorkers should remain vigilant. at any point, new yorkers could find a piece of information that could very much aid the nypd and

the fbi and our partners, we want all new yorkers to be vigilant and provide information and any point in time. a reminder, you can call 1-800-577-tips with any information you have. we activated a messaging system used by our office of the emergency management that allowed us to get information out to all new yorkers across the board and it had an extraordinary effect. it reached many people in the metropolitan area. we were able to reach all of our police officer simultaneously because of the technology they have as well. that is something that proved to be very helpful, putting everyone on alert in a mutual way. we believe that was very helpful in this sequel asian, but there is still information we will need going forward. we want people to be patient.

i want people to be vigilant. and finally, even though this suspect is apprehended, we will have a very strong and visible nypd presence because of this incident and obviously because of the united nations general assembly. we will continue to see throughout the week as strong nypd presents. you will see well trained and well armed officers. you will see officers in the subway, you will see bags being checked, bomb sniffing dogs. that will continue throughout the week and we want that high level of readiness of course from the nypd. continue your vigilance. and i want to thank assistant director sweeney for your exceptional work and great

cooperation of the fbi on this matter. >> good afternoon. since the last briefing we provided you yesterday, hundreds of personnel from the new york jttf's work, new jersey, and the bureau have been working around the clock, to the open deploying sophisticated investigative techniques, and executing searches. based on our evidence collection and supported by other analysis, the jttf's began to the sun ahmad khan rahami, developing his whereabouts and possible locations for surveillance. last night, the gatt have conducted a traffic stop. in brooklyn. that vehicle had been observed by personnel at a location associated with rahami. based on the totality of circumstances, the jt tf -- executed a

stop of the vehicle. no one in that car is under arrest. based on our evidence collection, supported by other analysis, searches and interviews were conducted at residences in elizabeth, new jersey and in perth amboy, new jersey. additional leads were followed as well and we turned to the public this morning for assistance, initially using a more recent photo of rahami. a short time ago, rahami was apprehended and linden, new jersey. two officers were injured while apprehending them. our thoughts and prayers are with them with the recovery. we will continue to conduct investigative activity to make sure we understand his network. for that reason i do not plan to , answer specific questions about our techniques or our knowledge of devices, other than we have directly linked rahami to devices in new york and from saturday in new jersey.

work of first responders, law personnel, and and contributions from an engaged public have been exceptional. thank you. >> [indiscernible] >> so, obviously, a lot has happened over the last 40 or so hours. i want to add my comments to those of the people standing behind me. condolences to the officers and the victims in new york. i believe there is going to be a church probably launched based on the shooting of the officers in linden new jersey. while that is pending and the defendant is being held, you can expect the attorney's office here and perhaps in new jersey will be working to put together

as comprehensive and a collection of allegations as make sense. we are not rushing against each other to bring charges. we are racing together to catch the perpetrator. here and that has now been done. we're going to take a lot of time to make sure that we bring charges better in a way that is careful and arrow stop -- and thorough. >> [indiscernible] >> we have no knowledge, but the investigation continues. >> [indiscernible] are you ruling out last night -- [indiscernible] >> no, we're not ruling anything out. the investigation, the evidence collection of the different scenes takes time. we are absolutely not ruling anything out. >> [indiscernible] >> i'm not going to comment on that.

[indiscernible new -- [indiscernible] >> sure. i have no indication that there is a cell operating in the city. i have no indication there is a cell operating here. >> [indiscernible] >> i believe it was a help. i do not know that for sure myself. i think that is what initiated the call to the linden pd. you would have to confirm that with linden, new jersey. >> [indiscernible] >> no, i don't have any information on that at all yet. >> [indiscernible]

>> i will not comment on the types of tools we used other than to say the tools in the city are fabulous. they are exceptional. they are necessary. i will leave the other comments to the commissioner. >> a lot of technology involved in this. a lot of good old-fashioned police work, too. between all three, this was a pretty quick turnaround. this happened 50 hours ago and we have our suspect in custody, so i think it's a tremendous job by all involved. i think the alert system is very helpful to the police department and the fbi in this and in other instances also. it gets everybody involved. there are 36,000 of us. number of fbi agents. but if we can get everyone in the city engaged, this is the way to go.

this is the future. >> [indiscernible] >> bill? >> i will not comment specifically on something from the pressure cooker that let us somewhere. every piece of evidence we obtain, whether it is ap story fragment it is worthwhile. so i will leave it at that. >> commissioner, was there anything significant about -- [indiscernible] >> lisa, that is all going to be part of the investigation, what the motivation was. we don't have that. that will be part of what we have going forward. >> [indiscernible] >> bill? >> i don't have

information we are actively looking for any kind of device at all. but we keep all options open. we will see what we see. there is nothing to indicate that currently he was on our radar. we had a domestic incident sometime ago. the allegations were recanted. i don't have any other information. >> mr. deblasio, was governor cuomo invited? [inaudible] >> yes he was invited, yes we are working with him. a lot of close coordination with the state, federal government, etc. and i think we are all, you know -- you can see the results of this combined effort. and as the commissioner said , including the people very

deeply in helping us get to a solution here has made a huge difference. so, highly coordinated. you can ask his team about that. >> [inaudible] >> the question about radicalization, i do not have information yet to show the path of radicalization. your first question was about a record. note honest, i currently do recall anything about the record. >> [inaudible] >> right now, we are addressing a specific crisis and though it is a fair question we do not want to talk about partisan politics at this point.

i would say, i'm very, very out of the work that the nypd and the fbi and the way they have so quickly found this suspect. the kind of cooperation going on. so, i have a lot of faith in law enforcement and how they do things right now. >> what are the chances that there could be another device? [indiscernible] >> marcia, at this point we are extremely grateful that we are able to apprehend the suspect in linden, new jersey. as i always say, we always have to be in new york city -- we are the number one target in the world. as far as this investigation and working with the fbi -- i am a more happier today thing and i was yesterday. i think all new yorkers should feel secure that the nypd, and other law enforcement agencies, will continue to keep them safe as we continue this investigation to

make sure we get to know who was involved in and why. >> let me add to that. first of all, there is no other individual we are looking for at this point in time he in that is very important, to answer your question. secondly, vigilance is called for and it is very important that people see anything unusual that they reported immediately. unintendedy and package. i think think the commissioner is exactly right. we are very appreciative of the men and women who did all of this work to get this suspect but we want to remain vigilant. >> did anybody film the apprehension itself and are you glad that the suspect survived the apprehension? how valuable it is that? --xit the apprehension

myself, i am definitely much more relieved than i was last night. the fact he survived. and the fact that we didn't lose a life. [indiscernible] >> i cannot tell you who he is, we'll have to build out that whole picture and i don't have enough knowledge in my own head. >> [inaudible] >> in new jersey most recently but i would have to go back and look at address history and i'm not in a position to do that right here. >> [inaudible] >> not right now. >> [inaudible] how that was helpful in this

case? the first time they have been used -- [indiscernible] >> several questions there. we think it is a very valuable tool. we think it created a loss of focus and urgency. our law enforcement colleagues, including our colleagues in new jersey will be able to fill in the blanks on exactly what the positive effect was. what we know right now, it definitely contributed to the successful apprehension of the suspect. this is a tool we will use again in the future in similar situations. there was an imminent threat. it was an appropriate situation. i think it is another example of the innovation that is going on with nypd and oem that there was a way to reach people, different than the past. no longer a wanted poster. this is a modern approach that engaged the community. we will use it. the reason it was used was the specific, potential danger. it made sense to a broad alert. -- do a broad alert. >> [indiscernible]

>> i will let the cheap talk about that. -- chief talk about that. >> we have a video of two bagons who picked up the and took the device out of it. we went back to see where they came from, they looked like they are two gentlemen just strolling up and down 7th avenue. we have no information that would link them to this at all. we still want to talk to them. we are considering them witnesses. once they picked up the bag they , picked this up off the street and walked off with it. we will find out. >> [indiscernible] >> that it's all going to be part -- we have what we need to have. as we go forward in this investigation, that is part of

what we do. you going to talk to family and -- we are going to talk to family and friends and see what the connections are. this is part of the investigation. right now, we're not actively seeking anyone. >> [indiscernible] >> good question. to be determined once we speak with them. it is difficult to say. that is something for us. can't say that now because i don't know if they played a role or not. >> [indiscernible] >> with a central part, from what we have now, two separate incidents. completely two different devices.

we are always rethinking central park. the other question, i cannot answer you. >> [indiscernible] >> i am not going to describe the diverse and how it worked. -- the device and how it worked. >> [indiscernible] >> five individuals from last night are not in custody. i am not going to discuss it. >> [indiscernible] the suspect make any statements during or after the apprehension? >> not that i'm aware of. the new jersey team are out there. that will continue.

werew valuable surveillance cameras? [indiscernible] >> that is the world we are living in. any street, any incident, most of that gets captured on video surveillance. as we go through the investigation, as we continue to gather more surveillance video, it is going to help us move forward and make sure the suspect is brought to justice and pays the maximum price. questions. >> [indiscernible]

>> and understanding how to reach of terrorism charge in a criminal investigation, you have to understand the difference between a bomb going off in a crowded street as a terrifying act. whether that is an act of terrorism requires that you find out who did it, which is something we did not know at the early stages of yesterday and then why they did it. in order to meet the statutory requirements. the basic definition of terrorism on the federal law side is the use of fear, violence, intimidation or the threat of to achieve political or social change. from the outset of this case, our first priority was to understand who was behind it. and to identify that person and bring the person into custody. our ability to see through the rest of that optic which is why they did it, what was behind it and whether it was terrorism required us first to understand who did it. the search is conducted last

night, the interviews been conducted today, the broadening understanding about the suspect who is in custody right now for the shooting of a police officer or police officers is going to be the part that brings the elements forward that will eventually result in the charge and will be laid out in those charging documents. that is the process these kind pieceuestion -- process behind your question of how do you get from there to terrorism. the amount of progress that was made in 24 hours between the work of the jctf, the intel team, some extraordinary work by the detective bureau in terms of searching the number of people to do the video cameras and then expand that out in concentric

circles to develop the elements that brought in the identification, all the steps to get us there. that is a question that will be part of the investigation. those pieces are still being gathered. >> [indiscernible] >> the question is about linking the device from the park to jersey. we do that through evidence and analysis. i cannot go beyond that. [crowd noise]

[captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] www.c-span.org [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2016] an update from new jersey on the bombing suspect who has been taken into custody. we'll hear from the mayor of elizabeth new jersey and bob menendez. >> hillary clinton campaign --

>> all of us are mayors and we spent every day trying to make life better for the citizens of our community and enhancing their availability to grow and mature. here when someone who lives among you tries to take away the sanctity of human life, it becomes difficult, not only on behalf of the government but on behalf of all of the citizens of our community. we have to work harder in making sure that people and our city understand that we are going to move forward, the transitions are open. the business communities are open and i hope everybody that does things on a monday in september continues to do what they would normally do on any monday.

you saidas been like -- x it is because of the responsible to of law enforcement, the fbi, the state police, the sheriff's office, where we quickly apprehended this man in london and after the two senators and congressmen and i were briefed by the fbi, the investigation continues. mr. gallagher give us the briefing that talks about how they are moving forward but also talks about it as it really being early in the investigation. >> [indiscernible] >> the five gentlemen have not been charged with anything, they're still a questioning going on. whether they will be charged or not, we were informed that is the responsibility of the nypd

and the new york fbi office. if they are charged, we will be informed. that thea believe investigation is continuing and ongoing and whether they are more suspects at hand, or to be discovered remains a part of the investigation. pardon? as of this time, no. -- the special agents are still here? special gallagher, you want to answer any questions? come on over here. tim gallagher in charge of the northfield office in the state of new jersey. .> thank you, congressman on saturday morning, there was an explosion in new jersey. since then, law enforcement at the federal level has worked tirelessly around the clock to develop leads.

since that time, we developed ,nformation on an individual mr. rahami. -- led us focal point to focus on an individual -- mr. ahmad khan rahami. he was our focal point, based upon evidence developed by the new york jttf as well as the jttf in the state of new jersey. there was a confrontation earlier today, which prosecutor park will get into. i stress that this is very early in a very complicated investigation of the fbi and the union county prosecutor's office and all of our partners continue to work to tie any associations to this individual to bring them over to justice. i know turn this over to prosecutor park. ms. park: good afternoon. i would like to get some information on this preliminary

investigation. ,t around 10:45 this morning two linden police officers confronted mr. rahami in linden on the east elizabeth street. they encountered him outside a local bar, and there was an exchange of gunfire, and he was taken into custody. two of the officers in exchange with him ultimately are not critical in terms of injuries. they did exchange gunfire. one officer was struck. the other had some glass that struck his forehead, but not into his skull, so we are really grateful the linden police officers, who confronted rahami

are not in critical condition at all. my understanding is the suspect is currently undergoing surgery, but i do not have any further details on his condition. thank you very much. >> [indiscernible] ms. park: yes, he was shot. my understanding is he was shot at least in the leg. i don't have any further details. >> [indiscernible] ms. park: i can't elaborate further on the details. i just know they had information he would be in the area and they confronted him. >> [indiscernible] ms. park: that is under investigation at this point. >> can someone address if

anywhere in the city knew about this man and was he on the radar of law enforcement? ms. park: i can't really discuss that at this time. >> the suspect was not on the radar of local law enforcement, but the fried chicken place that the family owned, we had code enforcement problems and noise complaints. when they opened in 2002, they ran the business for 24 hours. neighborhood complaints regarding a congregation of people, as well as noise sought the city council in 2011, to test council in 2009 -- council in 2009 to pass an ordinance closing that restaurant at 10:00 in the evening. police had to enforce that ordinance, at which time, they took the city of elizabeth to court and in october 2012, the court ruled in the city from

-- in the city's favor that we were capable of closing that facility at 10:00 in the evening as a quality-of-life issue. >> [indiscernible] are those investigations active? what they tell residents who live near there? >> i can tell you the restaurant is closed. regarding the people who live here, the town is extremely safe. the businesses are open. the trains are running. the schools are open. people need to move on with their daily lives. >> [indiscernible] >> here is my view. when i say terrorism, anyone who plants a bomb where it can harm individuals, to me, that is an act of terrorism. whether that terrorism is so -- is itself inspired, -- is self inspired, whether it is

coordinated with others, remains to be seen. but i think anyone who takes a bomb and ultimately puts it in a public place -- i think it does not take a rocket science -- rocket scientist to understand you are looking to do harm to others. to me, that is the essence of terrorism. we think of terrorism as only isis or al qaeda. we will find out whether it is coordinated, inspired by others, how it developed, whether the person was inspired by international terror groups, but in and of itself, from my perspective, it is an act of terrorism. >> [indiscernible] >> [speaking spanish]

>> [indiscernible]

>> [speaking spanish] >> [indiscernible] >> i think everybody has to be diligent. the saying that if you see something, say something is the

new normal. if people see something, they should call law-enforcement, like the two gentleman who saw the backpack in the garbage can. after they saw what was in it, they went to law enforcement and we were able to resolve this without any injuries to personnel and capture the suspect. i have been with many of you since 10:00 last night. i'm not sure there are more questions you can answer at this -- questions we can answer at this time. time. -- at this time. we would like to thank you for celebrating with us and hopefully law enforcement will continue the investigation is -- in seeking a resolution seeking a resolution to the issues that occurred over the last week for hours. thank you for being here. >> hillary clinton campaigned in philadelphia. we hear from donald trump who held a campaign rally in florida. on this morning's washington journal, will get an update on the november house races.

eastern.e at 7:00 a.m. if you live of instantly about on c-span3. talksrector of the cia about intelligence challenges facing the u.s. as a part of an event hosted by george washington university. live coverage begins at 1:15 p.m. eastern. michael mccaul unveils his committees new terrorism strategy. that gets underway at 3:00 p.m. eastern on c-span3. james clapper sits down with the boston post. you can watch these events live on c-span.org or listen on our c-span radio web. >> hillary clinton expressed support for law enforcement officials following the attacks in new york, new jersey and minnesota. she spoke to reporters.

ms. clinton: good morning. i want to start by offering my support to our states, federal, and local law-enforcement as they continue to respond to the attack in new york, new jersey, and minnesota and bring those responsible to justice. i have talked with mayor deblasio. our team has been in close touch with authorities in new york. we know they are doing everything they possibly can to keep us safe in this dangerous situation. i have also spoken to the governor of minnesota. like all americans, my thoughts are with those who were wounded, their families, and our great first responders. this threat is real, but so is our resolve. americans will not our, we will , weail -- will not power will prevail. we will defeat the evil, twisted ideology of the terrorist's. i am the only candidate in this

race who has been part of the hard decisions to take the terrorists off the battlefield , and i have laid out a comprehensive plan to meet the evolving nature of this threat and take the fight to isis everywhere they threaten us, including online. i'm grateful to have support and advice from a wide range of bipartisan national security leaders who have worked with both democratic and republican presidents. when we met earlier this month, one of the points they emphasized was the need to support the state and local law enforcement, making sure that they have the resources and the training, and intelligence they need to effectively prevent and respond to terror attacks. and this weekend's events underscore how important that is. we should also launch an intelligence surge to help identify and thwart attacks before they can be carried out. we need to work more closely

with silicon valley and other partners to counter terrorist propaganda and recruitment efforts online. and it is crucial that we continue to build trust between law enforcement and muslim american communities. in the middle east, we have to smash isis' strongholds with an accelerated coalition air campaign, more support for arab and kurdish forces on the ground, and intense diplomatic efforts in syria, iraq, and across the region. working closely with allies and partners must be the top priority for our next commander in chief. later today, i will discuss the threat of terrorism with the president cc -- president sisi of egypt and other world leaders. most of all, i want to say this to my fellow americans -- let us be vigilant but not afraid. we have faced threats before.

if you see something or you hear something, report it immediately to local law enforcement authorities. i know we will meet this new danger with the same courage and vigilance. we choose resolve, not fear. we will not turn on each other or undermine our values. we will stand together because we are stronger together in the face of this threat and every other challenge. i would be glad to take some questions. >> the person of interest in this case is an afghan immigrant, now u.s. citizen. what do you say to voters who may see this as a reason to consider supporting trump's approach to terror and immigration? mrs. clinton: it is true that a suspect of interest has been identified, and we need to do everything we can to support law enforcement as they track him down to determine what role, if any, he played in these events. but let us remember, there are

millions and millions of naturalized citizens in america from all over the world. there are millions of law-abiding, peaceful muslim americans. this is the kind of challenge that law enforcement can be and is prepared to address, namely going after anyone who would threaten the united states. so i am absolutely in favor of and have long been an advocate for tough vetting, making sure we do not let people into this country, not just people who come here to settle, but we need a better visa system. let's remember what happened on 9/11. these were not refugees who got onto airplanes and attacked our city and our country. so let's not get diverted and distracted by the kind of campaign rhetoric coming from the other side. this is a serious challenge. we are well-equipped to meet it,

and we can do so in keeping with smart law enforcement, good intelligence, and in concert with our values. >> secretary clinton, the white house is labeled these lone wolf attacks a top concern, and given this weekend's events, what more specifically should be done, and what would you do beyond what president obama has done? is the current plan enough? mrs. clinton: monica, i think that the lone wolf problem is one that we have to invest more time and more resources into combating. when i met with the distinguished group of national security experts -- as i said, both democratic and republican administration experiences -- they made a very strong point that the recruitment and radicalization that goes on online has to be much more

vigorously intercepted and prevented. i have been saying this for quite some time, and i believe it is an important part of our strategy. the other point they made is that the recruiters for isis and these other terrorist groups look for people who, online, demonstrate the mental profile, the level of paranoia, the level of delusion, the level of disappointment that is exploited by quite able terrorist recruiters. so we have got to do a much more intensive effort, and that is why i mentioned silicon valley in my remarks, not only to take down terrorist propaganda but to do everything we can to intercept and prevent radicalization and recruitment. and i think we are at the beginning of that, but there is much more we need to do, and the government cannot do this

without the close participation of tech companies and experts online who can you us the tools -- who can give us the tools and lead us to those who are attempting to promote attacks like we have seen. >> hi. mrs. clinton: hey, jennifer. jennifer: are you concerned that this weekend's attacks are potential incidents in the coming weeks might be an attempt by isis or isis sympathizers or really other group -- the russians -- to influence the presidential race in some way and presumably try to drive votes to donald trump, who is, as you have said before, is widely seen as perhaps being somebody who they would be more willing to or see as an easier person to be against? mrs. clinton: jennifer, i do not want to speculate, but he was -- here is what we know. and i think it is important for voters to hear this and weigh it in making the choice in november. we know that a lot of the rhetoric we have heard from

donald trump has been seized on by terrorists, in particular, isis, because they are looking to make this into a war against islam, rather than a war against sather than a war against jihadist, violent terrorists, people who number in the tens of thousands, they want to use that to recruit more fighters to their cause, by turning it into us conflict. that is why i have been very clear that we are going after the bad guys, and we will get them. we will not go after an entire isis or theygive want. secondly, we know that donald trump's comments have been used online for recruitment of terrorism. we heard that from former isis y

cia director michael hayden, who made it a very clear point, when he said, donald trump is being accused as a recruiting sergeant for the terrorist. we also know from the former head of the counterterrorism center, matt olson, the kind of rhetoric and language that mr. trump has used is giving aid and comfort to our adversaries. remarks, i amy the only candidate in this race who has been part of the hard offsion to take terrorists the battlefield. what does that mean? it was part of the national security team to make strategies to fight the terrorists. sometimes that meant working with allies and partners. .ometimes that involved capture

i will not get into classified information, by have set at that table in the situation room, i have analyzed the threats and contributed to actions that neutralized our enemy. i know how to do this, and i don't want this to get even b bigger than it already is. we will focus on how to work and create a strategy that will protect america and take isis down and have a strong counterterrorism effort online therder to try to defeat ideology that stands behind the terrorist attacks. >> as you know, donald trump has had a lot to say about your record on this issue. here is one example. "under the leadership of obama and clinton, americans have homeienced more attacks at

an than abroad." what is your reaction? the facts are clear, we still have challenges. that is what i've been talking about throughout the campaign. i am prepared and ready to action take on those challenges. not engage in a lot of irresponsible, reckless rhetoric , but to the hard work, as i have done before and put in place the strategies for local and state law enforcement for the kinds of preventive actions we need to take here at home and to intensify our efforts to defeat isis. rom do not hear a plan f him. the secret is he has no plan. let's focus on what we can

really do. what i have put out is a path forward that will keep us safer to go after the terrorists finally destroy them. .hank you >> following her news conference, hillary clinton philadelphia. ♪ mrs. clinton: thank you. thank you. i am so delighted to be here with all of you. i've saw how much fun president obama had last week. i wanted to be here in philadelphia. before i begin with my remarks, i do want to say how proud i am of our brave first responders working to keep us safe after

the attacks of the last weekend in new york, new jersey, and minnesota. [applause] mrs. clinton: there are now reports of a suspect in custody, but we must remain vigilant. this is a fast-moving situation and a sobering reminder that we need steady leadership in a dangerous world. i am here to talk about a number of the issues that are part of this election that really much more than that. they are part of our future, the kind of country we want to have, the kind of people we wanted to be, and particularly, what kind of opportunities we should be providing to the young people of america. i have a proud owl on my staff, tamyra -- [cheers and applause] mrs. clinton: a philadelphia native who became an activist

working to end the epidemic of guyn violence right here in philadelphia. [applause] mrs. clinton: she loves temple, and we love her. i also want to thank lauren for that introduction. [applause] mrs. clinton: jamyra and lauren are two examples of why i have so much faith in our future. your generation is the most inclusive, progressive, and entrepreneurial than we have evr seen. as you heard, when lauren was in college, she saw challenges facing students of color, but there was no naacp chapter to support them and promote ever city and inclusion on campus, so diversity and inclusion on campus, so she started one. and lauren remains committed and engaged, working with an

organization called generation progress, because she understands that active citizenship is a lifelong job, and the call of service never fades. now i know that with so much negativity out there, it is really easy to get cynical, especially about our politics. i remember wrestling with that challenge when i was a student during the vietnam war. it can be tempting to think that no one will tell you the truth and nothing is ever going to change. but you are here today because you refused to accept cynicism. you know that the next 50 days will shape the next 50 years. and you see how much needs

fixing in our country, from the soaring cost of college to the surge of systemic racism to the threats from climate change. but you also know the only way we can meet those challenges is if we made them together. you are here because you believe we can do just that. you want something to vote for, not just against. optimism, not resentment. answers, not anger. ideas, not insults. bridges, not walls. [cheers and applause] mrs. clinton: you know, you are also here because you know this election is not a reality tv show. it should not be about birth certificates or name-calling or stunts to get onto cable news. [cheers and applause] mrs. clinton: this election certificates or name-calling or comes down to a choice between

two very different visions for america. i believe it is wrong to tear each other down. we should be lifting each other up. it is wrong to let income inequality get even worse. we have to make the economy work for everyone, not just those at the top. and it is wrong to put a loose cannon in charge at the start of another war. we should work with our allies to keep us safe. it comes down to this -- are we going to pit americans against each other and deepened the divide in this country or are we going to be, as i know we can, stronger together? [cheers and applause] mrs. clinton: i know what i believe, and i am going to close my campaign the same way i started my career, fighting for kids and young people and families. that has been the cause of my

life, and it will be the passion of my presidency, and i hope you will join me. we can't get distracted with the media or my opponent turns this election into a circus. my husband has a saying about that. he calls it "majoring in the minors," getting so wrapped up in staff that does not matter, you forget what is really important to your future and the future of this country. take the challenges facing young americans today. first of all, if you are willing to work hard, you should be able to find a good job that pays well and let's you do what you love and make your mark in the world. [cheers and applause] mrs. clinton: but that has been out of reach for too many young people trying to find your footing in the wake of the worst economic crisis since the great depression era that is why tim

kaine and i have a plan to work with both parties and make a historic investment in good new jobs. we can create millions of jobs and make life a lot better, by doing things like connecting every household to broadband by 2020, installing half a billion solar panels, building a cleaner, more resilient electric grid with enough renewable energy to power every home in the country. [cheers and applause] mrs. clinton: getting an education should give you a boost, not hold you back. but as you know better than most, tuition keeps going through the roof, and debt keeps piling up.

i understand that temple was founded to democratize, diversify, and widen the reach of higher education. that is still a vital goal, so i worked with bernie sanders on a plan. [cheers and applause] mrs. clinton: we came up with a plan that makes public college tuition free for working families and debt free for everyone. [cheers and applause] mrs. clinton: and if you already have that, -- if you already have debt, we will help you refinance it and pay it back as a percentage of your income so you are never on the hunt for more than you can afford. -- never on the hook for more

than you can afford it you can actually see how much you and your family can save under our plan by looking at the college calculator at hillaryclinton.com and here is something we do not talk about enough -- a four-year degree should not be the only path for a good job in america. people should be able to learn a skill, practice a trade, and make a good living because of that. so we are offering you tax credits to encourage companies to offer paid apprenticeships that let you earn while you learn and do more to dignify skills across the board. the welders, machinists, health technicians, coders, and so many other fields. another challenge i hear about all the time is from new parents about how hard it is to balance the demands of work and family in today's economy.

families with different today than they did decades ago, i think we can all agree. most need two incomes just to get by. and many people not changed jobs frequently and have wildly unpredictable schedules or they have to cobble together part-time work, all without the basic supports available to parents in nearly every other advanced country. that is why tim kaine and i have a plan to help working families with quality affordable childcare, preschool, and paid family leave. we fundamentally believe -- [cheers and applause] mrs. clinton: the more we can strengthen families, the stronger we will be as a nation.

everywhere i go, young people also share their concerns about the divisiveness and discrimination we see in america today. you are not and you should not be satisfied with the progress we have made. you should keep wanting to right wrongs and fight for justice and dignity for all. we see, as lauren said, too many young black men and women made to feel like their lives are disposable, too many immigrants living in fear of deportation, too many young lgbt americans bullied, too many young women and men sexually assaulted on campus or in the military or at home, and more than previous generations, you understand that all these challenges are intersecting, and we must take them on together. [applause] mrs. clinton: but you also see a

republican nominee for president who incites hatred and violence like we have never seen before in any campaign. hate speech being normalized. the dog whistles are out in the open. yet, despite this, i remain convinced america's best days are ahead of us. in large part, that is because of the inspiring young people i meet everyday. i am inspired by astrid. i met her in las vegas last summer. she was brought to this country from mexico at the age of four with nothing but a doll, across, and the dress she was wearing. now she is in her 20's and advocating for the rights of undocumented americans and comprehensive immigration reform. we should all join her in this. i am inspired by mikey, who i met in new york. mikey spent six months imprisoned for a low-level drug

offense. after he got out, mikey discovered just how hard it is for people who have done their time to find good jobs and opportunities, but he persisted here and he managed to start his own ice cream shop in new york, and i can recommend -- it is delicious. we have to do more to help others get that second chance, including by banning the box and reforming our criminal justice system. [applause] mrs. clinton: i am inspired by erica, one of the bravest young women i have ever met. her mother dawn was the principal of sandy hook school who died trying to protect her students. erica was devastated, but then she made it her mission to advocate for common sense gun safety reform.

it has been painful for her. a lot of hate has come her way, and the gun lobby is so powerful. but erica won't give up. as she said, what if everyone who faced tough odds said, "it's hard, i am going to walk away"? that is not the top of world i want to live in. that is the spirit that makes this country great. we might get knocked down, but we get right back up again. [cheers and applause] mrs. clinton: and we refuse to quit no matter what. that is the spirit we need in this election, too. now i know that with washington paralyzed with big money and partisanship, the gaps between

the change we want and the progress that politics should deliver look like a chasm. i also know that, even if you are totally opposed to donald trump, you may still have some questions about me. i get that, and i want to do my best to answer those questions. when it comes to public service, the service part has always been easier for me than the public part. i will never be the showman my opponent is, and you know what's, that is ok with me. [cheers and applause] mrs. clinton: and it is also true -- i do spend a lot of time on the details of policy, like the precise interest rate on your student loans, right down to the decimal. but that is because it is not a

detail for you. it is a big deal, and it should be a big deal to your president. so here is what i ask any voter who is still undecided -- give us both a fair hearing. hold us accountable for our ideas, both of us. i can't promise you will agree with me all the time, but i can promise you this -- no one will work harder to make your life better. i will never stop no matter how tough it gets. in fact, you can read about what tim and i want to do. we're not keeping it a secret. we have got a book called "stronger together." [cheers and applause] mrs. clinton: that let me tell you a little bit about the values that drive me and my vision for the future, because you deserve that from anyone running for president. i want to share with you the stories of three women who had pivotal moments -- who at pivotal moments changed my life and set me on a chorus of social justice, activism, public service.

the first woman is my mother. her name was dorothy. she was abandoned by her parents as a young girl here and she ended up out on her own at 14 working as a housemaid. when i learned about this many years later, i asked how she managed to grow up into a warm, loving person and not become bitter and broken. and here is what she said. one word -- kindness. she was saved by the kindness of others. like the teacher who saw she had nothing to eat at lunch and brought extra food to share. the lesson she passed on to me was simple but powerful. no one gets through life alone. we have to look out for each other and lift each other up. she made sure i learned the words from one of the creeds of our methodist faith, do all the good you can for all the people you can in all the ways you can

as long as you ever can. that mission guides me still today. when i stumble, it helps pick me up. there is always more good to do and more people to help if we keep our eyes open, especially kids. when i met a terrified little girl in nevada who burst into tears because she worried her parents would be deported, it hit me right in the gut. i knew how hard working her parents were. i knew the sacrifices they were making so that she could have a better life. when i met little boy in flint, michigan, who got sick from drinking water, poisoned with lead, it just made me so angry and determined to work even harder. every one of our children deserves a chance to share in the promise of america. the second woman i want to tell you about is marian wright 80 man.

shoot -- marian wright adelman, first african american to pass the mississippi bar. she was an ally of dr. king and robert kennedy and the founder of the children's defense fund, an altogether remarkable person. one day during my first semester and law school, i saw a flyer -- we used to have those, on the campus bulletin board, and she was coming to give a lecture. i majored to be there. what i heard was captivating. she talked about creating a head start program in mississippi and using her legal education to make life better for poor children and families, something just clicked in my brain. i began to see how i could translate the commitment to helping others -- i learned from my mother and my church, into real social change. i went up to her, and i said, could i work for you this

summer? she said, sure, but i can't pay you. i said, well, i am paying my way through law school, so i have to get paid. she said, well, if you can figure how to get paid, you can have a job. so i figured out how to get a grant to get paid and went to work for her. after graduation, i could have followed my classmates to a high-powered law firm, but i went to work for marian at the children's defense fund instead. she's in the door-to-door in massachusetts on behalf of children with disabilities who were denied the chance to go to school back then. i remember meeting a young girl in a wheelchair on a small back porch of her house, and sheetal me how badly she wanted an education, that it just did not seem possible. my heart went out to her, and i wanted to help, but it became clear to me that simply caring is not enough. that would not force the public schools to build more wheelchair ramps and put more resources into special education here it i learned that to drive real progress, you have to change both hearts and laws.

so we get it evidence. we build a coalition. our work helped convince congress to ensure access to education for all students with disabilities him and that experience turned me into a lifelong advocate for children and families. i went to some carolina to investigate the plight of 12 and 13-year-old boys in prison alongside grown men who had committed serious felonies. in alabama, help expose the racism of segregated academies. in arkansas, iran a legal aid clinic that provided representation to poor families and imprisoned inmates who cannot afford it. when bill was elected president, a lot of people were surprised, and even threatened, by the idea of an activist as first lady, but i was not about to quit then either.

i fought for universal health care and ended up working with republicans and democrats in congress to create the children's health insurance program, which covers 8 million kids today. [cheers and applause] mrs. clinton: the third woman who changed my life was named sophia. the 17-year-old captain of a high school basketball team in new york city. it was the late 1990's and democrats in new york were urging me to run for the senate, and i kept telling them no. after all, no first lady had ever done anything like that here at i myself cannot run for anything since student council. i had always been an advocate, not politician, but then one day i visited that school in new york for an event with young women for athletes with

pillaging king. -- with billy jean king. hanging above our head was a big banner that said, "dare to compete." before my speech, sophia introduced me. she was tall, and she bent over and whispered in my ear, "dear to compete, clinton, dare to compete." once again, something just clicked. for years, i had been telling young women to step up, participate, do what you believe in -- could it be i was afraid to do something i had urged so many others to do? well, it was a difficult transition, becoming a candidate for the first time back in that new york senate race. even all these years later, i confess, i don't enjoy doing some of the things that come naturally to most politicians, like talking about myself. but i took that leap then for the same reason i am running now, to even the odds for those with the odds stacked against them, especially children and

families here at i have learned that in a democracy, if you want to help the greatest number of people, you have to push for reform in from both the outside in and the inside out. we need activist and advocates, entrepreneurs and innovators, teachers and mentors some of people who change lives everyday in a million quiet ways. we also need strong principled leaders who can win votes, right laws, allocate resources, do the slow, hard business of governing. of course, politics can be discouraging here this election, in particular, can be downright depressing sometimes. but it matters, it really does. it matters for our families, our communities, and our country and the world. our most cherished values are at stake. every election is important, from school board to state senate to president. but this time is different.

we are facing a candidate with a long history of racial discrimination in his businesses who retweets white supremacists, who led the bi rther movement to delegitimize our first black president, and he is still lying about it today. he refuses to apologize to president obama, his family, and the american people. we have to stand up to this hate. we cannot let it go on. [cheers and applause] mrs. clinton: and when we do that, we send a clear message -- america is better than this.

america is better than donald trump. just as important, we have a chance to make real progress together in our country. [applause] mrs. clinton: i need you. i need you as partners, not just for winning this election, but for driving real change over the next four years. the fights ahead of us are bigger than one election, one president, or even one generation. it is going to take all of us working side-by-side to build the kind of future we want. that is why if i am in the white house, young people will always have a seat at any table where