rjc that each of you bring today. i would like to give you a brief introduction of our three esteemed members of congress on our panel. then i will have them each stay a few words to you. as the youngest member of congress, aaron schock has attracted plenty of attention. president obama put a harsh spotlight on him, traveling to peoria to pressure him to back his controversial stimulus bill. he won election to his local school board months after graduating from high school. at 23, he took an incumbent state representative and one bank, becoming the youngest person ever to hold state office. -- and won, becoming the youngest person ever to hold state office. in his second term, he serves in the house leadership as a deputy whip and as a new member of the powerful ways and means committee. he has already become a wonderful friend of the rjc. he has been a speaker and a friend of israel. please welcome a remarkable rising star, congressman aaron schock. [applause] >> good morning. thank you for the invitation to be with

thank you to the rjc and like- minded people who wanted to see change happen. we are flying high because nancy pelosi is fine coach. -- we are flying high because nancy pelosi is flying coach. [applause] there are a number of people in the room who were extraordinarily helpful to me when i ran for president. many people were part of that team. i want to say thank-you to you. i am sorry i did not get the job done. i wanted to become the nominee. if i had become the nominee, i would have been the guy that lost to barack obama. it was a difficult time. when the economy got in trouble, it was hard for republicans. but we have come back in a massive way thanks to your leadership and effort. i also saw a number of you about a week ago in washington at the kennedy center at the tribute for george walker herbert bush. it was on tv last monday. there were a number of country performers there. i like country music. i am not an extraordinary fan, but i do have some favorites. i think it was kenny rogers that had "you picked a fine time to leave me, lucille." the refrain w

i believe that henry kissinger would have subscribed to rjc had he been here today. i see that matt is already scheduling the next speakers, but very short story. you remember the legendary secretary state kissinger, especially 1974 in the wake of the 1973 yom kippur war, he came to the region to advocate engagement. it was very, very busy, all the time working around, and you know what is stop -- you know what, his staff made him dizzy, because they knew that if he had downtime, he would make them crazy, so they try to keep him busy all the time. you know people like that who are hyperactive. one day in jerusalem, they find out to their chagrin that they have three hours open in the schedule. what are they going to do? somebody had the idea, let's take him around with that's taken to the biblical zoo. the director of this new book, sam, showing him all around. -- director fo the zoo shows him around. they end in the lion's cage. he turns to the director of the prophecyhis is isiah's on earth. this is what i am trying to do in the middle east." tell me how you do it.

[applause] and thanks to the rjc for the work you are doing around the country. we had a good november. thanks to like-minded people across the country that said they wanted to see real change in washington, you guys make it happen. we republicans are flying high because nancy pelosi is flying coach. [applause] there are a number of people in this room who were extraordinarily helpful to me in my campaign to run for president last time around. sam is one of those. i see a whole series of people who were part of that team. i want to say thank you to you. i am sorry i did not get the job done. i wanted to become the nominee, but if i had, i would have been the guy that lost to barack obama. it is not written in stone, but it was a very difficult time. it was hard for republicans, but we have come back in a massive way thanks to your leadership and your effort. i also saw a number of you at the tribute about a week ago in washington d.c. at the kennedy center for george herbert walker bush and his contribution to volunteerism to the points of light foundation. if yo

sought to thank the rjc for that and i think henry kissinger would have described to rjc that would've been an active day, this is the sort want to tell you about this. this will end -- icy met here is already scheduling the next speaker. very short story. do you remember legendary secretary of state kissinger, especially 1974 in the wake of the 73 yom kippur war. he came to our region to try to negotiate an interim agreement, a disengagement between us and egypt. between us and say. he was very, very busy all time working around and you know what, his staff made him busy because his staff, they knew that he is, he could make them crazy so they tried to keep him busy all the time. you know there are people like that who are hyperactive. anyway, one day in jerusalem they find out to their chagrin to have three hours open, you know, in the schedule. what of the going to do? somebody had the idea, let's take them around, there was a biblical zoo in jerusalem, let's take into the biblical zoo. accorsi agrees to go. the director of the zoo welcomes him. they are showing him all about. and t

[applause] >> and thanks to the rjc to elect conservatives across the country. we had a good november. and to a great degree, thanks to the rjc and like-minded people across this country who said they wanted to see real change in washington. you guys made it happen. and we republicans are flying high because nancy pelosi is flying coach. [laughter] [applause] >> this is very good news. [coughing] >> now, there are a number of people in this room who were extraordinarily helpful to me during my campaign to run for president last time around. and sam is one of those. and, of course, the ambassador here. i see a whole series -- sheli, many people who are part of that team. i want to say thank you to you. i'm sorry i didn't get the job done. i wanted to become the nominee but, of course, should i become the nominee then i was the guy who lost to barack obama. [laughter] >> that's not necessarily written in stone but my goodness it was a very difficult time and when the economy got in real trouble, why, it was very, very hard for republicans but, boy, we have come ba

the rjc has had a huge impact. continues to have a huge impact. it will have a huge impact. i appreciate the chance to address you today. we've got great leaders in this room. and i'm convinced that with your leadership, we'll get america on the right track once again. thanks so much. [applause] [inaudible conversations] >> well, that concludes our morning program. and it certainly ended on a very high note. just a remind the nwc luncheon right out those doors. if you're not registered and you want to join us for lunch, we can still accommodate you. and we've got our evening reception this evening at 6:30 in venetian ballroom c or d. and then the gala dinner this evening which is going to be pretty extraordinary to follow after the reception. so enjoy the rest of your day. [inaudible conversations] ♪ [inaudible conversations] ♪ [inaudible conversations] .. [inaudible conversations] ♪ . [inaudible conversations] ♪ . >> the federal government runs out of funds friday. congressional leaders are negotiating on federal spending for the rest of the budget year. on the floor senato