Edwin edwards with huey long and with edwin edwards. One of the things we like to do is add some color to the were colorful, and no matter what you think about the donald, you got to say he is spicing it up. Tell him to come on down to louisiana. E would love to see him how about a round of applause for our speaker . [applause] mayor, i hope you come back and see us sometime soon. I would also like to thank the National Press club staff, including its Journalism Institute and broadcast center, for organizing todays event. For a copy of todays program or to learn more about the club, go to that website, press. Org. Thank you. We are adjourned. [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2015] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] we will take you live now out to the state fair in des moines, iowa. On the soapbox is john kasich, governor of ohio. Its great to be with you. I just want to tell you a couple of things ive noticed at the fair today. Number one, just a little bit about my background and my record, just so you know i grew up in a little town outside of pittsburgh. My father was a democrat all of his life. His father was a coal miner. My mother was a very opinionated and marked woman, but not highly her mothercause could barely speak english. Where if the wind blew the wrong way, people would. Ind themselves out of work i think it is important for people to know that i grew up in a place where people never got the favored treatment. It was not a place where anything really special the promotions or those things it folks. St hardworking oak office withouto even really so much including the republican party. Iran for office because i thought i could make a difference. I am a republican, but the party has always been my vehicle and has never been my master. I recruited a lady like you, maam, to help me and to go doortodoor. Throughout my entire career a pretty independent person. I believe in balanced budgets, but i believe in cleaning up waste no matter where it is. I was one of the original fighters against corporate welfare and the congress, and it was, at times, a lonely endeavor in the congress. I spent 10 years of my life in washington to balance the federal budget. My first budget i presented i a guy challenge me wrote my own budget, and there were votes on for budgets that year. The president cause budget, a republican, the black caucus budget, and the kasich budget. No vote on my budget was 405 and 30 yes. I thought i was doing pretty well because i had 29 other people that thought it was not right to mortgage our young peoples future. I also thought there was a good value, which is you do not live in debt. I spent 10 years of my life fighting for that. Literally 10 years. Late 1990s, i worked with the clinton administration, and i was one of the chief the first time we balanced the budget since man walked on the moon. The economy was doing very well. I also was a military reformer. When i first went to congress, the only committee i was on was the defense committee, and i found hammers and screwdrivers and wrenches along with a couple of other congressmen that cost tens of thousands of dollars. I went about reforming the pentagon. Most of my career, people called that we were for a Strong America but wanted to make sure we did not waste money there. After that budget episode, he had a 5 billion surplus, and i decided to leave. I went into the private sector, and then ive out the call to go back into public service. Get to this inn just a few minutes. Iran for governor, and the state was in very bad shape. Hole. E 8 billion in the we had lost 300 50,000 jobs. Our credit was at risk. Were now up 350 thousand jobs and running a 2 billion surplus. Weve cut taxes by the most amount of any sitting governor, including tax relief for small businesses, which are the engine of economic growth. As we have grown and become stronger and this is an important thing for me to say to you we dont believe that anybody should be left in the shadows. We feel that with more economic progress, people who have mental illness, drug addiction, the working poor, development to leave disabled, the autistic, and our friends in the minority , that everybody deserves a chance to live out their godgiven purpose. We had a reelection, and i was able to receive twitty 6 of the africanamerican vote. 51 of union households, 61 of women, and the second largest electoral victory in modern ohio history, and it happened for, i think, two reasons. Ne, hope has come back to ohio the second reason is i like to think that many, many people in ohio do not feel as though they are being shut out, that they are being listened to, that they have a chance to get ahead. I think that is what we want in our country. I want to talk to you about , sothing that is, i think critically important for me to listen to you and you to. Over the weekend, there were some articles printed about isis rounding up 12, 13, 14 year old and using them as sexual objects and trading them as an. Bject to their fighters isis represents, in my opinion, with the beheadings, the attacks on people of eight, the abuse of women the attacks on people of faith, the abuse of women, and the attack on civilization, not just a National Security threat to us, but something even deeper people who want to destroy our very way of life. That same weekend, i read about two young people who live in mrs. Three. I have been to starkville, mississippi, the home of. Ississippi State University it is a very sweet town. The story was about a young man and a young woman who were arrested because they were trying to board a plane to make a connection to fly to syria to join isis. Let me be clear on the military front. I have said for a long time now that america as part of a coalition needs to destroy these people. We need to go, even road them, em, destroy them erode th and destroy them. We even need to do it now, or it will cost us a lot more later. That, thee time i say military effort is only one part of what i believe we all need to think about. Why would this 18 and yearold seemingly normal two very attractive people wanting to go and join isis . Why do we find some of the most successful people, and we read about them being attracted, and tries to offer is a sense of family, a sense of importance, and a ticket to paradise. They are liars, distort hers, murderers, and rapists they are liars, distorters, murderers, and rapists. What about us . For a while, western civilization has practiced two fundamental objectives. A New York Times columnist wrote something about this. One, we worship freedom, and i dont mean just freedom to be free, but everybody can do whatever they want to do, and nobody theres no overarching rules. Theres just do whatever you want to do. I think about my 15yearold twin daughters. If my wife and i raised our daughters to do whatever they wanted to do, what do you think ould happen . Secondly, in the west, there seems to be an aggressive effort to find happiness. To be happy. L want but i have to suggest to you that we as human beings who represent the western ethic and the western tradition we need to realize that we have a. Urpose here on earth our purpose relates to healing those who live in our world, and i believe that our purpose. Nvolves justice in this world we build a Holocaust Memorial on the grounds of our state house so that every day young people, people of all ages could recognize what happens with. Ans inhumanity to man the inscription on one of the walls says this if you save saved theyou have world. Our responsibility, in my opinion, as human beings and someone who has had a lot of experience and seen a lot of success and so many ways in which we all live together i believe that all of us have to be a center of justice and a center of healing, and to realize that life is not just about us alone. Life is about us doing something bigger in our lives for someone else. We have the former speaker here, brent secrest. Hes a coach. I have a state senator here who coached in high school. He is now a state senator. Their passion was to show young people the way, wasnt it . It was not necessarily to win the Football Games or the wrestling tournaments. It was to build character. Some people ask what that is all about. I think theres some fundamental values we need to think about. I outlined them in my inaugural address. Personal responsibility. We cannot make excuses for why work out. t the dog it my homework went out in the fifth grade. Secondly, the idea of resilience. You get knocked down, and you get yourself back up. I dont know about you, but im rooting for tim tebow to make the nfl. Im rooting for him because i love to see the comeback story. Third, empathy. Too much anger in america today. Too much division. . Ou know what empathy really is its putting yourself in somebody elses shoes and understanding how difficult life can be. I just had a woman the other day tell me that she knows a bunch of young people who have theyve now grown up. They committed felonies. They have nowhere to go, cannot get work. They were young when they made a. Istake sometimes we can shake our fist, but i think rather than shake our fists, we ought to think about how they get up on their heat, live their godgiven purpose, think about the people that lose their jobs at 51 years of age, think about young kids who grow up in an environment when they wake up in the morning and here gunshot when they go to school. A mother told me that, as young boy, it is a sin not to help people who need help, but is equally a sin to continue to help people who need to learn how to help themselves, and we can all be part of both ends of that. And then there is the value of teamwork. You want to fix the fence . You want to deal with immigration . You want to balance the budget . You want to deal with entitlements . You want to do any of those things . Youve got to do it as a team. One party cannot do it all. Republicans and democrats and liberals and conservatives, above all, we are americans. This is not a game we play in public life. The purpose of it is to give people an opportunity to be lifted. Then theres the issues of family. What is the great appeal that they lay out there to these young people you can come and be part of something. And im not going to apologize for faith. Weve run faith to much out of our society. Its not about the donts. In my opinion, its about the do s. Its about loving your neighbor, loving people who dont like you. That can be a hard one. Take it from me. Its about so many of the good things. So today, im Walking Around this fair, and i see a young man there wearing an alzheimers shirt. Standing for something, huh . To double theed nih budget and do the medical research, and it should be a priority of the government. I just visited the no labels teen of young guys came scrambling in, and one of these young guys asked if he could take a picture with me because im here at this booth and standing up for no labels. Earlier today walking through, a young man came up to me wearing tshirt. Do you know what that campaign is . Late bono back in the 1990s, and he said, i think we should help people in africa who have big debts who will never be able to pay them back and help those countries get on their. Eet to save lives no handouts, just a hand up. I met with bono. I liked his idea. The song he sings, i still havent found what im looking for, is not a song about his car keys. Washingtonogether in , and then president bush, after. Left, took up the mantle because of simple things like vaccinations and mosquito nets on thean water, people other side of the globe now have a decent life. You know what . When a young boy or girl dies in africa, we all lose a little bit of ourselves. When we save a young boy or young girls life young girls life in africa, the world moves up. Because we are all connected. What i want us to think about is what about us . We need to have a strong leader. Its absolutely vital that we have someone who can set the tone and bring us together, but you dont think, do you, that that is the answer . The answer is in this room. The answer is back in my hometown. Part ofer is from one this country to the other, from one ocean to the other, from one border to the other. Its about us. Its about citizenship. Its about believing that we are the glue that holds america. Ogether, not somebody else government can have its role, and it is important that it has a role, but we cannot wait for grab one ofe to these young people and say, do not do drugs. It will lead to a life that you will always regret. Wait. Not i just saw a man over here in the booth, 57 years married, his wife died on the fourth of august. I asked why he was here today, he said, i cannot stay at home. . Nybody looking after you anybody taking care of you . I think if we can drive home that we all matter, that we all count, that the strength of this country rest upon us, and our commitment to making a difference we are not looking for sainthood. Im the most flawed person in doing thisbut im election in this campaign for one basic reason the lord has been good to me. He has given me some tools, and i have an obligation to use them. People ask about these other candidates, this guy or that guy i do want to thank donald trump because he got 24 Million People to watch the debate. That was good. Just as peoplee Holding Office or running for office commit ourselves to just doing the right thing as we see it . Realizing that we dont