Good afternoon. It is not often that i get a musical introduction so i appreciate that very much. I think we will have some fun with our panel when they come up but as i think you know, i believe this is the program, we are going to have a special guest first and a little intimate conversation between this special guest and me and i feel very privileged to be able to chat with them. An old and dear friend, senator john warner. Senator warner is approaching old age but you would never know it. We have been sitting in the back and talking about old times in this race and that race and all kinds of things. I was thinking about his career and that is absolutely incredible because you can go back as far as world war ii and korea. He was in both of those wars, and he did not have to, he did not have to do the second one if he did the first one, but he was always willing to jump in and participate. He did lots of things in between, but lets start with secretary of the navy and early 1970s. Then he became head of the bicentennial commission, those of you old enough as i am to remember the tall ships in the wonderful celebration of the bicentennial of the u. S. Which i think helped to bring the country together, we could use Something Like that these days. From there, he went to a place many of you have never heard of, the United States senate. He was elected in 1978 and elected narrowly, 5000 or so votes. Well, that was pretty much the end of his contest forget occasionally, he would have one that was a few percentage points, but mainly, he was unopposed. He served from early 1979 until 2009 when he yielded the seat to another warner who was completely unrelated to him, but the voters thought that he was. That is what enabled him to win that massive landslide, mark warner. On a personal note, i have to tell you this because it describes his life and no way. 1978 when he ran for the senate, i was already a pungent back then because i bit a pundit back then because i basically had a life as a hobo, no real employment that mattered, doing all kinds of things. I was a pundit, and i wrote a really nasty piece about john warner. I am embarrassed to admit that now, talk about being wrong. I wrote a piece about him. Most politicians that i have known would have never spoken to me again. Instead, he called me and said, i want you to get to know me. Maybe he will still criticize me, but i can tell from that piece, you do not know what you are talking about. We got together and sure enough, our friendship has endured. This man has served not just virginia but the nation. He was a National Senator in no way that we do not have many of anymore. He served the National Interest. Not his partys interest. We need more of those in both parties. I am extremely pleased and proud to have the honor of introducing senator john warner. [applause] sen. Warner thank you. Larry a standing ovation. Sen. Warner i appreciate that. Standing ovation. Larry that tells you something. Nobody told them to do it, they did it spontaneously. The best kind of standing ovation. Senator, just getting right into it because you and i have been talking on the phone, and we were talking backstage just a few minutes ago, and we talked about whats wrong with our system today because clearly, this extreme polarization has hurt us in lots of different ways and that is here in virginia as well as nationally. And we are having a hard time, and i hear this from both parties, having a hard time recruiting people to Public Office. They dont want to run anymore or at least a lot of the good ones. The ones in this room are all exceptions. Every single one, ok . Uva is a public institution, so you are all exceptions. But a lot of your colleagues who are not here right now do not fall into that category. Senator, you were there for so many years. You took the arrows for controversial things that you did, not just from democrats but also republicans and pundits, they are the ones i really hate. They were all attacking you for the things you did, but you stayed there and you toughed it out. What can we do today to attract people who want to serve the National Interest and not just their partys interest . Fmr. Sen. Warner before we get too serious, lets lighten it up a little bit. First, i want to introduce my wife, jeannie. Jeannie, stand up please. [applause] fmr. Sen. Warner the reason i do it is it ties into the theme of what i want to talk about as Public Service, but any Public Service starts with your family. And the commitment particularly of your wife, but secondarily, your children because so much time is taken away by events that you must attend everywhere. You owe it to them to make sure they are solidly with you and you give them an ear. I wanted you to meet my half. And then there is george allen. George and i have as much fun together as two clowns in the senate circus. We are different in strengths, his voice is stronger than mine, his overpowering 62 inches will hit you going down the hall, and that is his lovely wife next to him. Others are in here today where is bobby scott, you still here . Larry hes in the back. Fmr. Sen. Warner he was talking about the first africanamerican on the bench. I remember going and seeing bobby and i said bobby . Virginia has never had an africanamerican on the bench or a woman on the federal bench. I said, i want you to help me select that individual to go on the bench and we did. It was jim spencer. Our guest earlier today on the circuit court, and jim came up from the district court. I have wonderful experiences with all of these great pals of mine. Boy, everyone of us are facing a challenge today. I go back and reflect for a moment for the basis of my thoughts on 30 years of traveling for the senate, i am always laughing at the congressman. They got to rush out and get home to the district, and the districts driving distance are the most of them in virginia, and then it is only a short shuck group of people. Senators go from the tip of the state, george, to the Atlantic Ocean all the way to the valley of virginia. Senators have a lot more to cover than members of the house. I want to thank those of you and i bet there is a few here that might have voted for me one time or another is there a hand going up, yes, there is a hand going up. May i thank you because i enjoyed it enjoyed every minute. And this shows you how politics in virginia has worked in those days, in the end i said, you are 80 years old, you had a good role of the dice, no one has tried to send you to jail, i think it is time to move over and let someone step forward. I did do that even though the democrats offered not to run anybody against me in turn of commitment to give them one year to decide who should run. Fair enough, so i took the option and here i am today having the pleasure to be with you. We are here to talk about what we can do. And all of those 30 years talking to someone he so many young people, they would often say, we admire you. I appreciate that. But how do you get into politics a very fundamental question. How do you get into politics . So i did not spend the time of trying to answer their questions. Here i am in the twilight of a career and im am going to dedicate my efforts very severely working with my buddy over here by the way, he is all smiles now, and i ran with the opposition if you cant beat him, join him. So i join you, rascal. He has established himself not only in the university of virginia and virginia, but nationwide, an authority on politics. Bipartisan, he is not picking one or the other, just on the system of politics. Together we are going to try to come up with a concept and sell it to our state and we will help finance it. But sell the concept to the state of having an all day work session, and run an ad all across virginia saying, you interested in possibly serving in Public Office someday . Sign up. We will feed you lunch, but you are on your own, you get here, and you leave. It is a tight schedule, but we will introduce you to politicians and other public figures from all over the state and the cameras and so forth, and tell you what it is like in the hopes that you can make up your mind we are not going to sell you to do it, but you better know it before you get in it, and believe it, getting into it today is very important. For reasons that were not present when i came into politics. And that is the severity of the technology that has been 30 years of my senate time. All the things that have been developed from the internet to social media, to unmanned spacecrafts and all kinds of things. Todays political figures have to be persons that have to learn and learn quickly because a spectrum of problems they will be confronted with is unlimited. Let me just stumble through one little last personal story to let me just stumble through one little last personal story to make a point clear. Picture my campaign was over a year and two months. I ran against the former Governor Dick and nathan miller, a distinguished state legislator, and for one year, the four of us traveled all over the commonwealth, with our dog and pony show, sat on boxes and picnics, and had a friendly debate. Then we came down to now we have to decide which of the four. They came up with the idea of lets have a convention. That sounded sensible. 1100 people, 1100 people showed up at the virginia coliseum for that convention. I will never forget it. It went on until late at night, and i remember, one of my Campaign Managers said, you want to win this race . You are on the fifth ballot. And i had won on all of them and i was tied with the sixth ballot coming up. He said get out there and start a parade and do not let the parade end until after midnight. And i said will what you mean, what does that have to do with it . He said, at the stroke of 12, there is about 1 4 of this audience, evangelical in their beliefs, they have to quit politics, it is a sabbath sunday morning, and they are going home. [laughter] and you are going to lose. And i said, i said, i have to think about this. It seems to me fraudulent and distrustful. He said, it is up to you. You want to be a senator, get out on that parade. If you dont, pay me off, and i am gone. Well, i didnt, and i lost. Andy dick one. Then we had the tragedy of his coming in an airplane late one night in richmond and the plane , hit the top of a tree, and he lost his life. And i was given 90 days you got that . 90 days. I did not have a stick of furniture, an employee, anything to put together a campaign and seek the election. I got into it again and ill never forget, i won the nomination. By the way, the Old City Council of fathers of the Republican Party were tough gangs in those days, and they were you are not conservative enough, you have to commit to do this. I dont make any commitment. Blah, blah, blah. The door opened and in walked a woman, very quietly, and simply said to those guys, my husband lost his life. He would be here tonight telling you to give the nomination to warner. It was dead silence. I took her by the hand, walked out, and next morning they announced i had the nomination. To show you the power of individuals as you go along. I will rush up to the last story. I think it is fun to hear about people with all of their non achievements in life and Little Things that made a difference. It is the last week of the campaign, my opponent was a very able democrat named andrew miller. His family and friends had been a part of the famous byrd machine for a while and they broke off. But he was well known and he was an attorney general and a very able campaigner, and a good guy. So picture the last debate. Cleverly put in Old Town Alexandria which is a very strong democrat stronghold. The odds were against me to begin with. We went to the debate and the moderator said each of you have two minutes to stand before this crowd, and in very simple language, tell them one reason why you should be the next senator. Well, andy miller, being the attorney general, he got up, walked up, look them in the eye, and he did not say anything. Im like this guy is burning up he stood there, my watch is clicking, and im like this guy is burning up his time and not saying a thing. He looked them in the eye and said, elect me, i was born a virginian. There was dead silence. He turned around and walked off. The silence was still in the room. And that was the longest walk of my life from my seat up to wherever i was going to speak. I said, dear god, give me the strength to figure out what to do now. Ive been 18 months trying to do this. It hangs in three minutes, what do i do . I said, go for it, boy. I got up and said, i am very impressed with what my opponent said tonight, and you should take it into consideration because it is important. I call it the virginia way. We know in virginia how things should be done and often we do not put them down in writing, but my dad used to say, it is the virginia way, son. So i got up and there is my mother at 86 years old right there in the front seat in front of me. I said mom, you heard my opponent talk about his birth. We have great pride in it, our family comes from amherst, virginia. Mom got up and said i heard him, too. But i want him to know that if i and dr. John my father is an oldtime surgeon if i and dr. John ever thought that our little boy wanted to be a United States senator, i wouldve crossed over and had him under a magnolia tree in the state of virginia. That broke the audience up. Next day, banner headlines, mother speaks for sun. For son. I won the election 48 hours later by 1 2 of 1 of a vote. You didnt know that story . Larry no. Fmr. Sen. Warner it shows you the importance of what you are doing here today and have done. It has been a common theme throughout todays speeches and yesterday. About the need to get only the best and the brightest to come in to our political system. But i hope we are initiating a work session to help those who want to know more about the fundamentals of politics to step up and come forward. But the importance of family is so at number one, and unless that family is with you, dont bother. We are not here to convince you. We are here to answer your questions with other expert people, and i would like to put our great state on the map as having a real, honest to god, oldtime forum of what it is to be a politician, what is expected of you, and hopefully, more of you will come and step up to the challenge. Larry there you go. [applause] larry that was wonderful. [applause] that was the easiest interview i have ever done. [laughter] larry frank, no pay. Fmr. Sen. Warner frank, you have done a wonderful job pulling this together. Get up and get a standing ovation. Come on, get up, lazy bones. [applause] did you know that frank was one of my first students . Fmr. Sen. Warner you did a damn good job. Larry thank you. I take full credit. I want to ask jeannie up. Fmr. Sen. Warner wait a minute, hold everything. That was not a part of the deal. Larry well, im doing it. Come on up, jeannie. The truth is, she is going to take your small token we are presenting you with the special virginias heritage 16192019 wine commissioned by the american evolution in honor of this commemoration year. You have a designated driver, right . Fmr. Sen. Warner right here. Larry i just want to make sure there was not going to be any drinking on the way back. Our panelists want to come out and shake your hand. We are proud to have known you. We look forward to other adventures with you. You are still good of great ideas and we also love the history lesson. Thank you very much. [applause] fmr. Sen. Warner thank you, larry. Larry thank you, god bless. [panel arriving] i am just waiting for you to sit down. I am not pushing. Hello, diane. You deserve at least have a credit for anything frank dead. Look, we are i hope going to have a good panel on Civic Engagement and stability. There are not. Many examples weekend site at least from the current day but we are going to have a conference station on what we can do to strengthen Civic Engagement and to strengthen civility. Frank, you had wonderful suggestions for the panel. Insistedee panelists on rewriting the whole thing. I do not you blaming me for the subjects theyre going to bring up. Thank you. I wanted him to know that. It is not all going to be sweetness and light. There is going to be some controversial topics discussed. Not necessarily with our first speaker here because he is somebody that i think we all know and we certainly know his work and the great things he has done for regina. I will introduce him in just a second. The second speaker is bobby scott, the representative from the third Congressional District of virginia. Politics and he is rd, our congressional lead now. Both houses of congress in virginia. Then we have kirk caught ask, the speaker of the Virginia House of delegates. I think youve seen some of them. I have not seen much of him and i have seen a lot of his son who has been in our classes and working with the ub ascent of her politics doing a terrific job. Criticize them heavily whenever he gets an answer wrong because she he should know everything if the speaker of the house is his father. He knows most things but not everything. Want to start out by introducing a man i have not had the opportunity to meet before philanthropists philanthropist. He has done more for Historical Preservation and institutions than anybody that i have come across. He does it quietly and effectively. To think of that history would not have preserved or the history would not have discovered had it not been for you. So i want to take this opportunity to thank you on behalf of everyone, for what you have done. And i would like to see, having focused on history, what you can ofl us about the ideas civility and Civic Engagement from that perspective. David what im trying to do is to remind people about our countrys history, with the theory that if you remember the past, you might not make the mistakes we have made in the past. And maybe we will do better in the future. That is not a novel concept. The theory behind studying history is we might learn something from it and do better in the future. One of the problems we have now, is because of a concern that Stem Education among other things, history is not being taught, particularly American History, in our school systems, and it used to be when many of you were in school. We do not teach civics anymore very much we do not teach American History very much. You can graduate from virtually any college in the country without having to take in American History course you can graduate from 80 of the colleges in this country without having to take in American History course. What do we get as a result of this . Think about this. In a recent survey done by annenberg foundation, three quarters of americans could not name the three branches of government. One quarter could not one branch of government. Americans think that George Washington crossed the rhine river during the revolution a war. [laughter] more haskell sophomores can name the first three names of the three stooges than the first three names of any founding fathers. And amazingly, 10 of American College graduates now believe that judge judy is a member of the United StatesSupreme Court. [laughter] which is not yet the case, i would add. [laughter] think about this. And if you hear a naturalized citizen is anyone here in naturalized citizen . If you are a citizen, you have to take a citizenship test and you have to get 60 right of 100 questions. 91 of the people who take that test, after studying, passive. 91 pass. A survey was done by the Woodrow Wilson foundation, and discovered that if you give the same test to people who are native americans, only the citizens in one state were able to pass it, vermont. States, the average citizen without studying could not pass the basic citizenship status test. There is no one way to solve it. In a modest way, im trying to buy historic documents, the magna carta, declamation of independence, and put them in places where people can see them. Why is it so important to he this to see the historic documents . You can put a facsimile. You can look at a computer screen and see with the constitution says. The human brain does not treat a computer document the same as a historic document. If you go and see the original magna carta at which i bought and put on display at the national archives, you can go there. You can read about the magna carta and its significance. But now you can go there. The same of historic buildings. When the Washington Monument had earthquake damage, i said i will put up the money because it might take too long to get it done. Monticello needed work. What pillar did work. The iwo jima memorial, the Lincoln Memorial p i said let me fix these up. I will pay for it. Maybe more americans will visit. If they visit maybe they will learn more about our history. That will not solve all of our problems. I decided also to help members of Congress Learn about American History and we talked about it earlier. I started five years ago to educate members of congress more about American History. Once a month i have a program i bring a Great American historian and i interview them in front of members of congress we to play get 200 members. I asked them to sit with people from the opposite party because they often do not do that. And often people with the opposite house because they often do not do that. I will not say peace has broken out in washington, d. C. As the result but i do thing memos of congress have learned more about history and maybe theres better camaraderie. To summarize, what im trying to do, to help of Civic Engagement, is to get people to think more about our history, the good and the bad. I see the good and the bad. Thomas jefferson is an extraordinary man. He wrote the declaration of independence paired but he was a slave owner. When i put up money to help monticello get restored, i said i would like the slave quarters to be built out. People should know that Thomas Jefferson was a slaveowner, among other things. The same is true of montpelier. I wanted the slave quarters built out there as well, so people can see the good and bad say learn the good and bad about our history. If people learn more about our history, we will have more informed citizens. The fury of democracy is you have informed the theory of democracy is you have an informed citizenry to make decisions. You have a more informed citizenry, people will better decisions. That is my basic premise. Larry it is a tremendous premise. You are leaving an unbelievable legacy. [applause] and you caught some of these things just in time, because aeration occurs. Occurs. Se deterioration i was impressed with your ability to look in a balanced way at historic figures. They were not perfect, unlike us. Them, you mention mr. Jefferson. The declaration of independence and the statute of virginia for religious freedom and the louisiana purchase. It was horrible that he was a slave owner and he knew better. You have to balance the accomplishments and achievements with a less attractive side. For anybody. Dont we all want that . Life they view of the lead. Ofould love to see that view history and historical theaters become standard. David when we were in grade school we might read how great George Washington was. Without him we would not have had the Constitutional Convention or won the revolutionary war. But he was a slaveowner owner as well. The only founding father who , we have hadves many faults with our founding fathers. When you mention an obituary, think about this. There was a man who was sitting down in stockholm in 1888. He was reading the newspaper. He read his own obituary. How can that be . Investorred nobel, the inventor of dynamite, was sitting at his breakfast table and he read that alfred nobel has died, thank god the merchant of death, the inventor of dynamite has gone. But the newspaper made a mistake. It was his younger brother, ludvig who died. So he had the advantage of looking at his own obituary. Suppose you are going to read your own obituary tomorrow in the newspaper. Would you be happy with what you read. If the answer is not yet, you have more time to do some thing about it. I tried to tell people to think about this. The earth is 5 billion years old. Humans, homo sapiens are roughly 400,000 years old, modest in the grand span of earth. The average lifespan is perhaps 80 or hundred years. What you can do in your lifetime is relatively finite. We are all on this place of the earth for a short time in relative terms that we should try to take advantage of it and do something so that you can leave a mark. And you can say, yes i can justify my existence on the face of the art. This is what i had done to make myself proud of what i have done, my parents proud, by children proud, my grandchildren proud. I ask all of you to think about what you can do. Ive coined the phrase, which is called patriotic philanthropy, which is to get back to our country. All philanthropy is patriotic honestly, but if youre doing things to remind people of history and heritage, you do contribute to our country. All of you may say, all you are doing good things. If you are not yet doing good things to help our country, think about this. Im convinced that those people who get back to our country will live a longer life. Now all of you want to live a long life, right . Why do i say that . Because people who get back to our country are happy. Happy people live longer. Grumpy people do not live as long. If youre going to be happy about getting back to your country, tried to do that now. Im convinced convinced theres a special place in heaven reserved for people who get back to the country. You might laugh about that. But why would you want to take a chance that im wrong . [laughter] [applause] larry thats great. I love that. And i agree with you. If youre a betting person, you would certainly take that bet and do the good things. And you have. You set the standard for everybody else. We will come back to that. Mr. Chairman,o chairman of the education and Labor Committee he used to make me call him congressman. I knew him when he was a delegate and a state senator and he was more informal than but you know what power does to people. I love him. I always have it his a terrific guy and german of the house education and Labor Committee. He has long been a supporter of Public Education in general and Civic Education in particular. Born with those things in their genes at least most people are not but i think that chairman scott is an exception. His mother was a Science Teacher and his father was the first africanamerican to serve on that Newport News School board. In about a century versus 100 years ago. Larry we dont count that, is history. We have already established we want to take care of that in another way. So he has education in his blood. I want to ask bobby at first, about the role of education in cultivating good citizenship. And also about civility, you are in an institution, congress generally, and both houses where civility is in short supply. The same is true of the other end of pennsylvania avenue. How do you deal with this today . And is there any coming back . Rep. Scott i mentioned before the virginia delegation is longer lived than any other delegation. Your recentit guest, john warner for making that a priority. Mostdel of civility, delegations do not have that. We certainly did. And we have john warner to thank. I think the virginia delegation is probably one of the best delegation terms of cooperation and civility in the nation. I think it was because he was in the delegation for so many years. Given john warner another hand for his conjugations. [applause] contributions. Education is extremely important. You have people trying to debate issues where one side does not believe in science. How are you going to debate somebody who does not believe in science . If you look at the budgets we produce, a lot of them do not believe in arithmetic. [laughter] and thinkingcuts it is not going to affect the budget. Obviously, that is absurd. So you are trying to have similar debates where you cannot debate. Solic sentiment is important. And these people are acting in theirivil way, and constituents have to respond. Education is extremely important as an aspect of this. We need to focus on making sure education is available to all. An increase the level of education for people across the country. 1954, the supreme in 1954, the Supreme Court said it was doubtful that any child could be expected to succeed in life if denied the opportunity of an education. Its a light that must be made available to all the terms. We had title i so low income areas could have a chance. Then we start funding education with the real estate tax, which virtually guarantees it will not be equal we passed no child left behind, which pointed out that even if the money is trade you want to make the achievement gaps can deal with it. The response to achievement gaps was so convoluted, that everyone hated no child left behind, so we passed every Student Succeeds, which gives the states more power to do something that doesnt give the states any flexibility on the requirement that you ascertain achievement gaps and then have a credible response to those achievement gaps. If we can succeed in that, we would go a long way in having an electorate that is knowledgeable and can deal with all the complexities of the legislation. Without that, there is no civil way to have a discourse. You are not using evidence and research. You see this in policy more than anywhere else. I was on the Judiciary Committee for the whole time i was in congress up until i became a democrat on the Education Committee. And crime policy is really, just a matter of choice. I am trying you are trying to reduce crime and save money, or a bunch of slogans and sound bites. Unfortunately, it is slogans and sound bites, whatever sounds tough on crime or sounds like you are doing something. You pass it. Some of the initiatives have actually been studied and researched and shown to increase the crime rate. Trying to get people i think we are gradually getting to a n evidence and researchbased approach where we can have more intelligent crime policies. Texas went through this process for five years ago, but six years ago, the Appropriations Committee was told that they needed 2 billion for the apartment of corrections to deal with increasing prison populations. Somebody suggested a freed intervention and rehabilitation to spend about 2 of the money on that. We may not have to build all the prisons. Ok, so we did. Instead of 2 billion, 200 million, and it reduced crime so much that they not only didnt have to build any new prisons any new prisons, that they cleared from the head. It creates a nice coalition, because theres a more humane, evidencebased approach. And so the money, from the whole spectrum, i think that is where people are now looking at criminal Justice Reform or something that is doable. But, you have to have people who are willing to have an educated and that, inolicy, recent history, is very difficult. Let me ask you one followup. Education is primarily a state and local function, granted, but you are chairman of the Education Committee are there any ways the federal government can encourage in the elementary and secondary schools more Civics Education and maybe something called civility education . [laughter] areers of congress rarely they rarely talk about civility. We can attach significant money in the way we deal with the achievement gap and try to equalize funding. Try to deal with individual civility, english as a second language, make sure they are taught. The absence of civics i think is one thing we need to start looking at, because people going growing up without any basic knowledge of civics or civility in my mind, you teach i dont know how you can teach civility, but if you have civics and the , its more intelligence and less acrimonious, for example you can have more civility. We have a situation now where people are reelecting answer ordering and not criticizing people who are not being civil. You heard davids description, that the average americans knowledge of civics it is almost a crisis because in the end, the average ment, ors acknowledge lack of, government and politics determines the type of government that we have. The legislative didnt fall out of the sky, they ran campaigns. When they have served a long time, they can be reelected. When they behave the way some are behaving we have a problem. With respect to Civic Engagement, i should have mentioned as well that one of the greatest responsibilities or obligations of the citizens to be engaged is to vote, yet even in president ial elections, we have roughly 50 of eligible voters voting, and an off year in offyear elections, we have well less than 50 . Of the eligible voters in a typical congressional election, you might have 25 of eligible voters voting. In a primary, 10 . Therefore, some people who have the right to vote dont choose to exercise it. When you think about the people who have given their lives to preserve our right to have the right to vote, its a sad commentary on the current state of Civic Engagement. And people dont choose it, its a sad commentary on the current state of Civic Engagement. There is a little positive good news. Last year, in the midterm elections, it was only a 50 turnout, but it was the largest midterm turnout since the first midterm of Woodrow Wilsons administration. I remember it very well. It was very exciting at the time. I do think in 2020, you will see turnout through the roof, and you can guess the reasons why. You will see turnout through the roof. But it is turnout by normal standards. In some countries they force people to vote, but you might have 80 or 90 of eligible voters voting stop we will be lucky to get 60 of eligible voters to vote. If we can get 60 or 70 , that would be better, because the government itself will have more authority once you have more people voting. Let me turn now to speaker kirk cox. He has a perspective on this not just formed by his many years of Public Service and his current high position, but also for 30 years, he was a civics teacher in virginia. By the way, i want people to know, dont even bother to look for corruption connected to kirk cox, because the man has been a schoolteacher, and then a member of the virginia General Assembly and if you want to get rich, those are not the places to do it. I have had a number of students come to the university of virginia. They love him. He was a great civics teacher, he would often bring them up to the university and show them around and get some of us to chat with him about it. Obviously, you have a Strong Political philosophy and party, but they pointed out to me, the democratic students, that you never insisted, that they agree with you, and maybe we would gain extra credit for agreeing to disagree thats the way it should be. Mr. Speaker, whats your view of Civic Education and civility . I would say first of all, some great points have been made. I think david said it, we dont teach enough civics and history, but the key to all of it is the teacher in the classroom there are two kinds of kids, the kind of kid who loves government, but they are very emotional and passionate, and then you have 80 of the kids that it doesnt affect their lives, and they just dont see the utility of it. Your challenges as a teacher which is really important we have so many education staff, and your challenge is the teacher, to make sure you give them the Critical Thinking skills. You have to have an example have you do that how do you do that . You have to have an example my first day of school, i taught all young teachers, dont pass materials for the entire class. You have insurance forms and everything. I used to explain how they shot the president. I was bipartisan. I would have a little exercise by which i would give a twopage scenario. Twocase scenario. I would give all the background, the president y has just been shot, the president is in a coma, i say, you are the Vice President and you have 15 minutes to figure out what to do. Stand up in front of the class and explain what you will do. You can imagine, they are panicking, and its the first day of school. One kid had all the answers, so he is holding up his hand and volunteering, and everyone is scared to death. I tell them stop looking at your feet, because i will call on you. So i call on two types of kids and told him to think about it for 15 minutes. Kids on opposite sides of the room to think about it for 15 minutes. And i told the rest of the question the rest of the students or the press corps. I called the first kid in, all the kids stand up and start clapping thats terrible. The free press doesnt clap. So then the kid walks in, he expects no sympathy, hes nervous, but hes passionate. I give him certain little nuggets within my twopage explanation there are so many russianmade weapons on the market in the era, so the kid immediately accuses the russians of shooting the president and starts world war iii. Then i said thats really bad, because you just started world war iii. Then, i start asking questions, and i ask mr. Vice president , how does the 25th amendment accept the situation . He says, the 26th amendment . I said, sit down, you have trained to be Vice President for 30 years and you dont know the one that deals with the disability of a president . But heres whats really important. Is in the United States of america, we cherish our democracy, you trying to do good things, and now your career is over. That is very important. I keep the simulation going, but two days later, i ask a new Vice President what you think what are you going to do about Monetary Policy . He says, raise taxes. I said, the fed does that. What im trying to do heres the problem. Heres the problem. Youre very passionate. I love your passion. But you basically dont know the facts. Im going to do a similar situation. We will get the facts right, and that passion, you will return be able to turn that into public policy. And i know this is a bit of a long story. So then, we proceed to teach the constitution. I make them memorize the amendments, teach the federalist papers. When they start getting bored, i say, remember that simulation i did . You need to understand these fundamental principles. Actually had my i actually had my kids debate the federalist papers. Let me tell you, they grouped a lot of kids, x, y, z. Every one of those kids can do that. We debated separation of powers, checks and balances, federalist and antifederalist. We had a lot of great discussion. We debated the bill of rights, et cetera. And those kids did great. And even when elections came along, i was trying to think, creative to get kids to see what they truly stand for . Who are you for . They would be very passionate. They would write who they were for. Flip over the page. I would list six major policy areas. For example, for president obama, the aca. Explain to me what was his position. Its funny. They would flip it over to look at it. I would look at them. Literally a minute went by and all the pencils were down. Id actually wait for 10 minutes, everybody totally uncomfortable. And once again, i made the point the point is were going to talk about these campaigns and the platforms of these candidates. You have no idea what this candidate stands for. So, by the end of this particular lesson, you will know that and then you can make an informed choice. I know im going on about this, but i think its very, very important that we engage all students and we make sure that they develop that factual basis, and they also develop those social skills. Finally, i did a mock assembly. I teach them procedure before everything. I make them come through the speaker and make sure they conduct themselves in committee the right way. And, there are small things you can teach students about how to conduct themselves, but those exercises are very valuable. And so, thats one example, but this is a great forum today, we learned so much about that. When i became speaker, my promise to myself was and this is difficult, because im a conservative republican. Bobby and i disagree on a lot of issues. But im speaker for the entire house. When i gave my speech, and i basically said, and youve got to remember, it was very controversial. We were 5050 for a long time. The election was decided by drawing from a black film canister, ok, because it was a tight election between republican and democrat. And we, of course, won that drawing. And i said, it feels like were five miles apart. The rules only five feet between the democrat and republican side. Whether theres only five feet difference, its an obligation for citizens to work together. We try to do that. That is sort of the way i have approached it. Were not perfect, but we try to do that. Thats the way ive approached it. Ill end with this. Where do you think youve had the most influence . I will tell you i think its the teacher. I love being in the General Assembly. And youve been a tremendous teacher. Some of my students come back and say that. I really do think ive had a lot more influences as educator and teacher than i ever had, because i think thats where it starts. I would just add that were here to celebrate the 400th anniversary of virginias founding. Once we have nice discussions, we go about our business. What have we accomplished . I think one of the things we all might consider is what can virginia do to improve Civic Engagement in this state . And what can virginia do to improve voting precipitation in the state . Voting participation in the state . Virginia has a special obligation, i would argue, because it was the virginian who drafted the declaration of independence. It was a virginian who was the father of the constitution, it was a virginian who presided over the Constitutional Convention. It was a virginian who was most upset about the constitution because it didnt have a bill of rights. It was a virginian who drafted the bill of rights. So, virginia has been involved for a long time in Civic Engagement and doing the things that are now the governing principles and governing structures for our country. So, you would think virgina as a mark of its 400 anniversary, would say, we want to make sure that Going Forward, people in this state do a better job than any other state in knowing what the constitution is, knowing what the declaration of independence is, knowing what history is, and be engaged by voting a higher percentage, making sure citizens who take the citizenship test do better job than any other state. So, when you think about what you want to do Going Forward after the celebration is over, i hope the people involved say we should leave a legacy for those people who are coming in the future, and the legacy should be that we are the most civic civically engaged state, the most informed state, and were honoring the great virginians who came before us because of what theyve done. Lets hope so. Lets hope so. [applause] we are running out of time, but i want to ask one other question. We talked about Civic Education. Its easy to talk about and difficult to do. But an even more difficult subject is the dramatic and disturbing decline incivility. In civility. Not just between elected officials, but in our system, generally. Citizens to public officials, you can throw the news media in. I actually think that social media is the cause of a great deal of it, not the actual news media. And you cant put all these genies back in the bottle. Were stuck with it, or relatively few people are going to jump off twitter. In most days, id like to. You cant. But, you cant. Youre engaged with people, you need them, and they need you, and all the rest of it. What can we do, practically . Two of you are in our senior people in elected bodies where we all can agree civility has declined. And, yes, i know of the president s role, and thats certainly a big piece of it, too. But it was declining before he was ever elected. What, practically, can we do . Learning history helps. Being taught well helps. But, there are other things that weve got to do. Its almost a crisis. An act of civility, what can we do . And do it in two minutes, like last night with the debate. Ill say thank you, mr. Speaker, just like the debate. You cannot allow some of the things that have been said to become normalized. Statement after statement, you cant defend them. There was one a couple of days ago, there was a press conference on legislative leaders. And the subscript under it was gop leaders defend racist comments. Well, you should be calling it out. You cant defend it. Because then, it just encourages more of the same. If you dont call it out, its going to continue. And the voters have to participate when people conduct themselves in that kind of way. There have to be adverse consequences of the election. I think you have to find some common ground, ok . Lets be candid. When you go to issues, which are very important, like life, thats hard. Because that is such a fundamental principle. But having said that, higher education, k12, when i became speaker, one of the things i tried to do with the talent this is a setay, of issues we can work on. Once you try to work on a set of issues and you have a few successes, obviously you have to work with those people and then get to know them a little bit better. You have to be practical. Dont go to the issue that is so polarizing, youre not going to get a start there. And so, in virginia, and i do think weve had really good things happen, if you look at colleges and universities, what we have done in that space. So, thats really what weve tried to do the last few years. And then, you have to try to tackle the tough issues, too. For us, it would be virginia beach, gun control, Mental Health issues. If you have success and start working on those, you know who the players are, that really evolves much easier when you try to work on those issues. Thats my more practical solution. I once visited an Education Committee retreat in jonesville. We had a bipartisan retreat about two years ago right after we had passed that every Student Succeeds act. And i was just stunned with the serious, cooperative, evidencebased approach the committee was taking coming out of washington, where basically, its slogan based. But a really deliberate process. When you agree to follow the evidence and research, that knocks out a lot of the confusion right there. I mean, if you can get people to start off and follow evidence and research, it will eliminate 99 of the debate. Because the research tells you exactly what to do. And a lot of stupid stuff gets codified. The research is clear. It doesnt work. And so, i just want to compliment the house Education Committee for taking that kind of evidencebased constructive approach. Two points. One, some of you may remember in the late 1960s, adolph eichler was captured in argentina and taken back to israel. The trial was held in israel, and he was sentenced to death and executed. A book was written about that. One inicles, actually, the new yorker, and she entitled it the banality of evil. What she meant was people had become so commonplace, that killing people and commonplace in concentration camps was accepted as the norm. While its not killing people, when you accept as the norm outrageous statements or conduct that is not becoming of a civilized society, that society will openly not survive. So, we have to speak up against these things, and we have to do things that might take some profiles encourage. Profiles in courage. Profiles in courage was a book written about senators. There havent been as many books written about profiles and courage in recent years, but maybe we should encourage people to speak out and be courageous. The what john kennedy said. Then what john kennedy said. Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country. Anybody here, anybody that might be listening, what can you do . One of the things you can do for your country is speak up when there are outrageous things being said so that our civic conversation is not allowed to go off track, and so we dont have a banality of evil, a banality of accepting the outrageous things people say. The final thing john kennedy said in that address. Some of you may have remembered it. I remember it quite vividly i was in the sixth grade, but i remember that speech. With history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking his blessing and his help, but knowing here on earth, gods work must be truly be our own. So we cant depend on god to solve these problems for us. It requires each of us to get engaged in order to make certain we dont have a banality of evil kind of concept where we accept what anybody says that might be outrageous, and we allow people to do things that do not further civic discourse. [applause] thats a perfect note on which to end. Its actually kind of upbeat. I studied profiles and courage. I talked to ted sorensen, the real author. Of at least part of it. We agreed that even then, the book was a really slim volume. Maybe we can all work to expand the next addition of profiles and courage. We all need to do it to make our society and help civic our society more civic and and help Civic Education. Enjoy being with you. Thank you, david. Thank you, bobby. Thank you, kurt. They did a terrific job. Please join me and around of applause. [applause] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] my message would be to the court and the public. In the United States, everything , when it is work. Im trying as hard as i can not to look, to polarize and deeply divided, because to make it right, you use this polarized time. In the last thing to do is to look as polarized as every other institution in america. It would be great for the court to be seen as a democrat, and the only to be seen as not that, and the only way to not be seen as that, is to be is not that. Also, i wouldis also say to the american public, that they should not jump to conclusions so fast on the basis of one decision or another. That we are sort of trying her to decide our hardest really difficult matters, and we are doing so in good faith. And sometimes, it will look like the world is caving in, because of one decision, but maybe it is good to other people. Announcer you can watch this entire event tonight with Supreme CourtJustice Elena kagan at the university of Colorado Law School tonight at 8 00 eastern here on cspan. Announcer here are some feature programs on cspan this weekend. On friday starting at 3 30 p. M. Eastern, spend a day in the life with three of the 2020 democratic hopefuls, senator Michael Bennet, mayor pete buttigieg, and senator cory booker. Edit 00 p. M. Eastern, we look at u. S. Relations with iran and security in the gulf region with a panel of former u. S. Ambassadors to persian gulf countries. Saturday at 10 00 a. M. Eastern, the house ways in on the of caring for aging americans, including the lack of longterm care for Senior Citizens and their caregivers. And at 8 00 eastern, actor environmental activist ted danson testifies on the environmental impacts of plastic pollution at a Natural Resources subcommittee hearing. P. M. Y night at 9 00 eastern, cspan speaks with president ial candidates Deval Patrick and Michael Bennet. Deval patrick talks about his background, friendship with president barack obama, his aspirations if elected president , and his late entry into the crowded democratic field of candidates. 9 30, Michael Bennet on when he decide why he decided to run for president , and his stance on various policy issues. Watch cspan this weekend. Announcer the impeachment inquiry hearings continue next week, when house Judiciary Committee chairman Jerrold Nadler holds the committees first impeachment inquiry hearing into president trump, focusing on the constitution and the history of impeachment. Watch live coverage wednesday, december 4, at 10 00 a. M. Eastern. On cspan three. On cspan3. Read the letter to the president on our website, cspan. Org impeachment, and follow the impeachment inquiry live on cspan3, online at cspan. Org, or listen live on the free cspan radio app. Announcer on the floor of the u. S. House, retiring members of the georgia delegation pay tribute to retiring republican i. , was stepping down at the end of the year. Spoke, john lewis. Chair, i have a lot to say. Malik my