National importance. 5,400 students from across the United States participated creating films that reflect their interests and passions. I was honored to be interviewed by the Long Beach High School students for their winning film, and im so incredibly proud of their talent, hard work, and persistence. Congratulations to hamid, catherine, and pia. And congratulations to everyone who participated in this competition. Our first prize High School West award goes to hamid torabzadeh, katherine padilla, and pia hao, 10th graders at Long Beach Polytechnic High School in long beach, california. Their winning entry is called vision 2020 restoring the integrity of democracy. This struggle is about taking on the incredibly powerful institutions, take control of the economic and political life of our nation. We took on a political machine that tried to take away your voice and your vote. They tried to take away your dignity and your destiny. Say we will would drain the swap and thats exactly what were doing right now. Draining the swamp. Are reminded of the underlying core of United States ideals. However, this precious value is constantly being undermined. From an unprecedented influence in special corporate interests and government and finally, to the lack of transparency and accountability, we are facing systematic challenges to our democratic republic, including its sustainability for generations to come. The 2020 candidates for president must bring this issue to the forefront of their campaign. What happens when you have this tremendous need and you want to get your message out and its the corporations that want to give you money, youve got to listen to them. Even though youre not corrupt, just trying to get your message out. The more you get money from certain kinds of sources come sources, the more youre beholden to those kinds of sources. What you want to be is real enough to make decisions based upon what you think is in the best interest of your district or nation. If you cant do that because you are worried about the people that funded you, thats the problem. They have become so important and money has become so important to run campaigns that you become beholden to these people. Entities that are not people but not exactly controlled by their shareholders either will put forth positions that dont necessarily serve peoples interests. At the end of the day, the government exists to serve people. We see wealthy individuals, billionaires, will create corporations, llcs, different kinds of corporations, and they will put a lot of money into those groups and those groups will spend money. And a lot of times its not clear where the money is coming from, and thats a problem. Our democracy is not respecting the rights of american citizens. And so, when i think about money, whats happened is elected officials are actually serving, are acting in their own interests to get reelected. Thats why we pay 10 times more drugs than canadians pay, literally. You know, so how much does it hurt americans . Our governments broken. Theyre not trying to serve American People and the results are terrible if you go around the country. Those that have more Resources Available to them are better able to lobby officials. They are more likely to get invited to speak at congressional hearings. Often, they are allowed to write up legislation that the member of congress then introduces or sponsors, so that results in reality in representational inequality in terms of the way Interest Groups and lobbyists work. As a small group of people has greater influence over policy making and also who gets elected, then the real demands will not be represented. We must understand the complexities of this issue. Its a direct representation of the state of american wealth. The social inequities, the economic concerns and ultimately the livelihood and wellbeing of everyday citizens are at stake. This is not an issue of abstract political theory. It is a fundamental uprooting of our american identity, the values of courage, liberty, ingenuity, and hope. People are starting to think it doesnt matter. Its so cooked by those in charge or those that are seemingly in charge, they wont vote. People who think that they need a change or that something needs to change need to do that. They cant just sit back and expect someone else to do that. The democratic process has allowed us to live as americans. Its reflective of american values. Its reflected in the clothing we wear, the clothing we buy, the jobs we have, the schools we go to, the relations we have. I believe all citizens have a duty to participate in an and to protect our precious system of government today more than ever before. The people we elect to serve us make the laws that govern our daily lives. They spend our tax dollars. They determine how society functions. And the decisions they make touch our lives, your life, every day and in many, many ways. We carry an inherent responsibility as every day americans. Corporations, special Interest Groups, lobby organizations and money laws must have its limits. Change is inevitable. We must work to change the dynamic of our american democracy by the meaningful practice of democracy. The American Peoples interests must be placed first. You can watch each winning studentcam documentary online at studentcam. Org. Cspans washington journal live every day with news and policy issues that impact you. Coming up this morning, dr. Ali kahn, dean of the Medical Center of College Health will discuss his book, the next pandemic on the front line. Also director watkins will discuss the 25th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing. They sure to watch cspans washington journal live at 7 00 eastern sunday morning. Join the discussion. Yesterday, at the White House Coronavirus task force briefing, President Trump announced several states that will begin making, phased steps to reopening the economy, including texas, vermont, ohio, montana, north dakota, and