Georges county executive was named the chair of youth for reagan. Hes looking quite youthful today, i might add. He supported then governor reagan during the president ial primary. Now, young larry hogan would 1980 as a delegate in the republican convention. We have a lot of reagan devote ease join us at the institute. I think Governor Hogan may rank above them all. You see, he did not just support in 1980,agan in 1976, 1984, he managed to support him in 2020 as well. I know you consider president reagan your political hero, governor, but that, sir, thats real dedication. By the way, you didnt have to do that just to be invited here today. Ladies and gentlemen, i want to thank you for joining us. We are honored to welcome you virtually to the reagan our center for civics, education and opportunity. We work at the nexus of these three pillars, answering ansident reagans call for informed patriotism to ensure a prosperous future for america. The governor knows quite a bit about this call. We are truly honored to have Governor Hogan with us, a man whose leadership has carried the flame of our 40 resident 40th president. You know that Governor Hogan does not mince words. He is just as quick to criticize members of his own party as members of the other party. As it turns out, that kind of equal opportunity Straight Talk maryland. Pular in Governor Hogan has ranked as one of the most popular governors in america, usually in the top two. Recently, number one. Yeararyland poll this gave him a 75 Approval Rating in a state that just voted for joe biden almost twotoone. These are numbers most politicians dream of. Its not like Governor Hogan has had an easy go of it. Hes led through tough times, from the death of freddie gray to polarizing issues in the state legislature to the covid19 pandemic. The people of maryland have come to rely on his steady stewardship. At the same time, hes faced extraordinary personal challenges, fighting and defeating cancer during his first term. Its been five years since hes been given a clean bill of health. Standingy, he is still , which of course is a very fitting title of his recent memoir. There are a lot of Great Stories in this book, from political life to legislative the personal anecdotes can be the best. Like story of his first lunch with the future first lady, where they shoot a waterside meal of salad and crabcakes and the accomplished painter in wire singers suggested ordering tequila shots. By the way, that might give Still Standing new meaning. You have to read the book to get the full context. When larry hogan won the Gubernatorial Race in 2014, the Baltimore Sun called it a stunning upset. But after four years of smart governance guiding by reaganesque optimism and leadership with a focus on economics and education, it wasnt so stunning when he cruised to reelection in 2018. But now the governor is term limited and will be out of office after 2022. So the question on many minds is this. Can he shocked the political world again . I dont know if we get an answer to this today, but we might get a clue to what is next. Ladies and gentlemen, please join me in welcoming Governor Hogan. [applause] gov. Hogan thank you very much, roger, for that much too kind introduction. It really is an honor to be here at the reagan institute. The first time that i realized i was a reagan republican, it got me into a little bit of trouble. When i was a Young College kid, i had the honor of being selected, as roger said, an alternate delegate to the convention in kansas city in 1976. My father had served in congress with gerald ford and played a pivotal role in ford becoming president. He was the Campaign Chairman of the ford campaign. I admired president ford. He was a good leader and a decent and honorable man. But when it was governor reagans turn to address the convention, i was mesmerized. Reagan seemed to connect with everyday people and channeled that connection toward a bold and optimistic vision for america, and america everyone could be proud of, and america everyone was a part of. There i was, enthusiastically marching on the floor with my reagan hat and carrying my reagan sign. When my dad spotted me, lets just say he wasnt completely thrilled, but it was at that moment that i probably became a proudly became a footsoldier in the reagan revolution. Of course, jimmy carter defeated president ford and won the white house. Hadaftermath of watergate severely tarnished the republican brand, and many wondered the gop could ever win as National Elections again. The New York Times declared the Republican Party close to extinction, but then reagan built a Big Tent Coalition of republicans, independents and reagan democrats who wanted america to be that shining city on a hill. He worked hard to heal the party s divisions rather than exacerbate them, and to move us past the scandals and division. He focused on the everyday concerns of working folks and struggling families, not the obsessions of the chattering class in washington. A 1980s, just four years after the predicted demise of the gop, reagan led our party to one of the largest landslides in american history, and then went on to truly make America Great again. After this divisive election, we find ourselves again at a crossroads for our party and at a critical time for our nation. As we search for a way forward, we should look back at how Ronald Reagan transformed our party and restored the greatness of america. I believe that what most americans truly want, regardless of their party affiliation, is honest, effective leadership and results. They want Commonsense Solutions to the Serious Problems that face us. President reagan certainly understood this, but it seems that many in washington have lost sight of that basic truth. Reagan was known as the great communicator, because he understood the limits of rhetoric. He wasnt focused on storing scoring partisan points. He was focused on solving real problems affecting the lives of all americans, and he knew that to be successful, it would take reaching across the aisle to find Common Ground. President reagan didnt believe compromise was a dirty word. He knew all are nothing was a false choice. For his entire presidency, democrats controlled at least one chamber of congress. Yet president reagan, one of the most conservative president s, was also one of our most successful. He worked across party lines to pass the most conservative agenda in decades, two rounds of tax cuts for the american people, shrieking the bloated federal bureaucracy, and historic buildup of the Nations Defense to defeat the soviet union. Reagan said, there is no limit to what you can accomplish if you dont care who gets the credit. The results spoke for themselves. Decades of unparalleled number growth, the soviet union confined to history, and a renewed pride in our nation and our shared values. Today, america faces a new set of 21st century challenges. Sadly, washington insiders seem seem more concerned with winning arguments than advancing Bipartisan Solutions. Neither side seems to want to make progress. They just want to make demands win arguments. Thats not leadership. Thats just political theater. And most of us are sick and tired of all the drama. The covid19 pandemic, and economic collapse that it has caused, have shown this problem in stark relief. For months, struggling families and Small Businesses have been in desperate need of relief. But instead of working until they reached a compromise, Congress Played politics and went on vacation. Contest that with americas governors pigment covid19 struck our shores, i was proud to be chairman of the National Governors association. We pulled together governors from all across the nation and a truly historic bipartisan way. Governors on both sides of the aisle stepped up on the front lines together. We understood that in times of crisis, partisan politics must be put aside. The failure of washington to effectively combat covid and the failure to pass the stimulus package are just the latest examples of the dysfunction in washington. Our nations infrastructure has been crumbling for decades. The failure of washington has been made manifest in a bridges, falling failing Public Health and failing schools and an entire generation of americans who are falling behind. But in washington, people on both sides refuse to give up even a little to get a lot. Roads and bridges crumbled while democrats and republicans insult each other on social media. The cost of education and Quality Health care are out of control and out of reach for everyday americans. One party wants to impose radical solutions that would create more problems than they would solve and the other party all too often offers no solutions at all. The result is a crumbling vision of the american dream. The average citizen is completely fed up with politics as usual. They think that washington has been fiddling while america burns. On the world stage, China Threatens not just americas economy, farmers, manufacturers, and innovators, and our standing in the world, but even the values we stand for, prosperity, liberty, and freedom. Meanwhile, one party in washington refuses to acknowledge the threat, while the other abandons the very allies we need to confront it. And we never seem to be able to find any Common Ground on these urgent issues. The solution, according to the professional politicians in washington, is to give them more power. More power in washington wont fix the divisiveness and dysfunction. It will only impose more dysfunction on our lives. Businessvic, and leaders that are serving their communities. State and local governments working everyday to solve real problems, we dont need washington to dictate. We need washington to get his its act together. We need washington to make it easier, not harder to solve problems. We need washington to be a partner, not an impediment. A large majority of americans are thoroughly convinced that our political system is fundamentally broken, that we as a people are tragically divided and that washington is completely dysfunctional. Most of us are sick and tired of the angry, divisive politics. Americans believe in civility and pragmatism. They think Straight Talk is more valuable than empty rhetoric. These are the things that my party is going to have to focus on if we want to win National Elections again. Americans are not as divided as our politics and social media would suggest. The problem is not the american people. The problem is that politicians think that the only way to get elected is to feed the extremes, to fire up the base and that the only way to govern is through winner take all combat. The extreme voices that dominate social media, cable news, and talk radio have been a tiny sliver of americans on the far left or the farright. Over 70 of the rest of us are the lost majority. We feel forgotten by both Political Parties and ignored by washington. Most americans want the same thing. They want humble, tolerant, respectful, and effective leaders who will Work Together to find bipartisan Commonsense Solutions. They want us to appreciate that no one of us has all the answers are all the power. Or all the power. They want a discourse that tolerates contrary views among a diverse citizenry without turning political adversaries into enemies or doubting the ir patriotism. They want a government that protects the vulnerable without dictating lives. They want a Strong America that stands with its allies and for freedom in the World Without taking for granted the sacrifices required for it. Want to stand together with their neighbors and feel proud of their country once again. These are the same americans who Ronald Reagan spoke to. His vision of america isnt just a relic of some bygone era, but an ideal that we can and we should once again aspire to. Six years ago, i won the Biggest Surprise upset in america by committing to usher in a new era of bipartisan cooperation and prosperity, one filled with hope and optimism. When i took office, marylands Economic Performance was 49 out of 50 states. 70 of both houses of my legislature are progressive democrats, but we cut taxes and regulations and created the biggest economic turnaround in america. Just imagine what we could have done with a republican legislature. While both parties in washington argue about obamacare, we worked across the aisle to pass Innovative Health care reform, reducing insurance rates for everyone by more than 30 while also covering hundreds of thousands more marylanders. While our nations infrastructure crumbles, we move forward on all the top Party Transportation projects in our state, including the largest transit project in north america and moving forward on the largest p3 traffic relief project in the world. While weve seen nothing but gridlock from inside the capital beltway, i was working with the democratic governor of virginia on an accord to actually fix the gridlock on the capital beltway. As it turns out, common sense, Bipartisan Solutions are exactly what nearly everyone seems to want. More than 70 of every single Demographic Group in my blue state approve of the job we have been doing. I dont say this to brag. I say it to dismiss the misguided notion that to get ahead you have to tear down the opposition. I have spent six years repudiating the debilitating politics practiced here in washington, insults substitute for debate. Recrimination for negotiation and gridlock for compromise, where the heat, finger point, and rancor suffocates the light. And the only result is divisiveness and dysfunction. What voters really want is for their leaders to actually focus on solving the problems that we were elected to solve. And if we were able to do that and accomplish that just on the road in deep blue maryland, then there is no place in america where these very same principles cannot succeed, just as they did under the leadership of president reagan. Ronald reagan 12 landslide won two landslide elections and created a movement that endured for a generation, because he understood the simple truth that successful politics is about addition and multiplication, not subtraction and division. It is one thing to win a president ial election, but quite another to build a broad and durable governing coalition. To accomplish that, reagan knew that he needed to speak to all americans. Principlesd for bold that were universal. For him, a Big Tent Party was not just an electoral imperative, it was also a moral one. He knew if our party wanted to truly represent america, we could not ignore any part of it. My state hasnt voted for a republican president ial nominee since george h. W. Bush over 30 years ago. In 2014, when i was elected governor, we had to the had the highest democratic registration in america. In 2018, in a blue year with large wave, we lost the house, will host governors, we lost seats in legislative bodies all across the country, but i became the second republican governor to be reelected in the entire 240 year history of our state. I did it by reaching out to everyone, including those who had never even considered voting for a republican before. In some places, they had never even seen a republican before. Too many in both parties have bought into the false narrative that the way you vote is predetermined by where you were born, where you live, the color of your skin, who you love, a or where you worship. In this past election, we were historically divided. Republicans made some modest gains with black and hispanic voters, who were turned off by farleft elitism and Political Correctness run amok. In maryland, we proved that a republican can win support for black, hispanic, and asian americans, suburban women, and Younger Voters, not just to gain a few points, but to win overwhelming majorities. Look, the truth isnt always easy to hear, but as roger said, im a guy who tells it like it is. So heres the truth that our party needs to hear. Divisive rhetoric and toxic politics is alienating large parts of the country, and no one will listen to our message if they dont believe that were we are listening to them. Failing toontinue expand our tent like reagan did. Concerns ofhe real everyday people is harder than political virtue signaling or preaching to the choir. But that is what a large majority of americans want and what they deserve from their elected leaders. Reaching across the aisle and finding Common Ground is harder than simply attacking those with whom you disagree, but it can be done. As reagan said, we are once again at a time for choosing. Are we going to be a party that cant win National Elections again, or are we willing to do the hard work of building a durable coalition that can once again shape our nations destiny. Some republicans want to return to the way things were before 2016. Others want to keep heading in the same direction, as if this election never happened. That is a false choice. The answer is to return to a party that often spoke only to the washington establishment or one that only speaks to the hardcore base. For decades, republicans have ealed to the memory forgetting the true spirit of reagans legacy, in the name of reagan, republicans dogmatically applied obsolete policies were talked without recognizing how the world has changed and without questioning old assumptions the way president reagan did. The gop used his successes as an excuse for obstinates. Ence. Stinanc our party forgot reagans call to begin the world over again. We let reaganism become the language of the country club, washington think tanks and the Senate Cloakroom instead of speaking to the folks in Middle America who powered the reagan revolution in the first place. Our party does not need to return control to establishment insiders, but we cannot afford to continue to perpetuate toxic politics. America is at a critical crossroads. Unless we begin to change the selfdestructive course that both parties are on, this mess will just repeat itself all over again in 2024. Ronald reagan said, freedom was never more than one generation from extinction. We must heed those words. We cannot take the blessings of liberty for granted. We must work to secure them for our children and our grandchildren. I am more than willing to stand up and fight for the things that really matter, but not for status quo politics and not to perpetuate polarization and paralysis. We have to show those who have lost faith in our party and those who feel forgotten by washington that we can actually get things done and that we can make their lives better. We not only need to return to our principles, but we must reinvigorate them with Commonsense Solutions that work for the 21st century challenges we face. We dont need another autopsy to know that we cant bring more americans into our ranks by only speaking to the folks who already agree with us. Voters value being heard more than being told what they should want. We dont need washington politicians, the media, or Political Consultants to tell us who to hate what to think. Americans are yearning to be brought together, not driven apart. What we need is less politics as usual and more real leadership. Ladies and gentlemen, i, for one, refuse to give in and accept that anger has taken the place of the common good. I refuse to give up and accept that the best days of the gop and of america are a thing of the past. I come from the get to work and get things done school of politics, and our with anyone who wants to do the peoples business. I still believe that the party of lincoln and reagan is the last best hope for our nation and i still believe, as president reagan did that america remains the last best hope of man on earth. Thank you. God bless you, and may god bless the United States of america. [applause] thank you, Governor Hogan. Great set of remarks. Thank you for that great introductions. We worked very hard on it. I dont know about the tequila shots. It was a great story. A lot to unpack in those remarks. Yourning tour your to approach, and the remarks reflect what you have done as governor, cutting against the grain. Arehe one hand, you stridently antiestablishment. On the other hand, you are not going to allow yourself to be confined to the base. That is a compelling idea. Explain to me why thats a compelling idea to get elected . Hogan well, the proof is in the pudding. In 2014, that formula made me the second republican in 50 years to be elected governor. In the most difficult state in america. That message helped us get reelected in 2018 when some of my colleagues, really great guys, lost their governorships. We lost the house of representatives. We lost legislative seats. So the message has been proven to work. I happen to think, if youre able to reach suburban women and minority voters and Younger Voters with a message, then youre going to be much more successful as we have been under the most hostile of circumstances in a deep blue state. I think most people across think the same way and most polls show that people want to see the things ive been talking about and the things weve been focused on. Thats in maryland. Your book, its a great book. Still standing, ill give it a plug here, if you dont have it, get it, read it. Still sitting. [laughter] but that works in maryland. Where the Party Organization is not like the national g. O. P. And, you know, you write about a primary in maryland not that it was easy, but certainly not like the complicated primary thicket like a primary hogan would have to face. How would you get through the primary with the message you share with us today . Gov. Hogan well, thats a great question. Look, in 2018, i didnt have a primary challenger. In 2014, i ran against several elected officials, all of whom were trying to run to the right. There were four people in a primary. I was the Small Business owner who never Held Elected Office. They were all trying to run to the right of me and focused on talking to the republican base. The voters decided they wanted to win for the general election and they voted for the person they identified with that. Look, its a very difficult challenge. The way our structure work gerrymandering for all of our congressional seats and legislative seats. Its only you only have to win a democratic primary on the left or republican primary. There are no competitive seats. But if you look at this last race, i went out and helped a whole lot of republican candidates. You are talking about 2020 . Gov. Hogan in 2020. Phil scott, susan collins. Six or seven republican congressmen that were in districts or states that the president lost overwhelmingly. And where Hillary Clinton won the last race. But we were successful in helping elect every single one of them because it is really what most people want. Senator collins is a great example, but, you know, its getting through that field. And particularly because the point that you make in your speech, you know, people account to that argument and say, look, President Trump received over 73 million votes. And if you remove covid19 alone, he would have received more votes than joe biden. Right. Im just making that point. It actually was a winning formula. Gov. Hogan well, the candidates far outran the president. There are other voters out there. Look, im not saying that the president doesnt have a strong support in the republican primary voter base. But i think republicans would like to control the white house and govern america. Thats what reagan did so effectively. Like it or not, i mean, the president didnt win. So now we have joe biden as president for four years. Lets talk about that. President trump earlier today tweeted out, im going to quote this by memory because its not hard i won the election. Exclamation point. I think i got it right. Whats your response . Gov. Hogan well, look, when President Trump was first elected, i was at a Governors Association meeting on a stage like this. Somebody asked, what advice do you have for President Trump . I said stop tweeting. Four years later, i would give him the same advice. Look, we need to make sure every single vote is counted. Theres certainly a process for challenging any irregularities. But so far there hasnt been any evidence and they havent won any cases. Over the weekend, i think the president said something about joe biden winning and then he retracted it and now hes saying he won. It loses credibility with more and more republicans are coming out saying, were in the middle of twin crises. Covid19 is spreading across the country. Hospitals are overflowing. People are dying. Our economy is collapsing. And the president is tweeting all day and night about beating joe biden instead of focused on lets have a really successful next couple months and focusing on these problems. Youre saying focus on transition and when is the right time to accept this outcome . Gov. Hogan tomorrow is two weeks. The time has come. More and more people, very close supporters supporters and friends of the president are giving advice but hes not listening. I will followup up on this and then we will move to more policy matters. One of the thing the president continues to put out on twitter and other forums is fraud. That this election had issues with it that we havent seen before. Certainly enough that puts the outcome in question. Youre a veteran of elections. Youve won elections, right, as you shared here, in states that in a state that is blue. Whats your response to claims of fraud. Gov. Hogan well, i know a couple of the states i think in every single election theres going to be some things that werent done properly. And there may be a dozen votes or a couple hundred votes here and there and we ought to get to the bottom of it because we have to make sure the process works. Were not going to make up for five million votes in all of those states. It was a pretty overwhelming victory at this point. Last time the president didnt win the popular vote and he had less electoral votes than biden did and called it a landslide. The reality is, we ought to find out if something is wrong, but we havent heard anything. As aur book is out, policy approach between you and President Trump. Without question, President Trump has dominated the political discussion in this country. When you look at it, whether you like the president people praise him or damning the president , what do you see the essential problem with his leadership . It really goes to element of your speech. Is it simply pragmatism and how to win or is it something more deeper, fundamental that you see the difference and the problem you have with President Trump . Gov. Hogan well, look, on the issues, i think a lot of people agree with President Trump. But they but they didnt like his tone and they didnt like what they perceived as kind of a loose affiliation with the truth sometimes. They didnt like the anger that was on both sides but he was certainly helping to stir the pot on. And i think they didnt like he wasnt effective. Even though we had a republican congress, both houses for two years, he the things he said are one thing, but a lot of things didnt get done. The top focus was infrastructure. It was going to happen right after. Instead, the had a big fight on health care and didnt accomplish anything. He talk about the wall. Obama built more wall than trump did. That was his primary focus. We didnt get things done that issues that he ran on. I think it was effectiveness, tone, and, you know, i think he could have gotten more done. I think the president was his own worst enemy. So you speak in your speech about the socalled exhausted majority. Seems to be in your mind the key to really winning conservative republican winning in a president ial election. Expand on that. Who is the exhaustive majority . Is it policy or are they exhausted by the style or both . Gov. Hogan both. This is not my term. The New York Times did a piece that they talked about this and its a group called more in common that talks about, i think, theres more we have more in common than we have dividing us. They did National Surveys and said this. More than 2 3 of the people felt that way. I think its a little bit of both. They dont really identify with far left. There was a rejection of the far left in this election. They dont really identify with the far right. They are somewhere in between. The vast majority are moderates, right of center or left of center. Small percentages are on the extremists. That is pretty much all you hear about. 15 and 15 . The other 70 are the ones that want Pragmatic Solutions to the problems. I dont think our commonsense conservative principles were what lost. All the candidates that i know that espowsed those won. I dont think either party is speaking to those folks in the middle. I dont think right now, either party is speaking to the middle. I think the Democratic Party the Republican Party, as i mentioned, has turned off a bunch of people that wouldnt even consider voting. The Democratic Party has moved so far to the left that people that would normally vote democratic, they were not happy with either of the candidates. They wish that we had more of a politics like what im talking about. Yet and i heard this perhaps certainly between the lines that coming out of this election and certainly during Donald Trumps presidency, the Republican Party became the party of the american worker. It left what you called in your speech the party of the establishment or the country club. Thats something you still would keep. Gov. Hogan yes. And focus on in your vision, right . Gov. Hogan i think the president did an excellent job reaching the common average working person i was talking about, but then turned off young voters, suburban women and every other demographic. Whereas reagan was able to put them all together. Look, im a conservative outsider that ran against the monopoly in annapolis that never Held Elected Office. This was before trump when he was doing a reality tv show. In 2014, i was feeling to those same people. I won bluecollar democrats and Union Workers and all those folks. We also reached out and built that broader coalition. Trump did a really good job of that but you have to figure out a way you know, you dont win you dont get to govern if you dont win the election. We got to figure out why we didnt win the election. Because we dont lose that many incumbent president s often. One more and reading your book and, you know, had some line in there about the think tankers and the establishment and policy intellect uls. Gov. Hogan that was you guys. Gov. Hogan nothing personal. Those papers put me to sleep. Something like that. Thats fine. Well make them a little more exciting. Gov. Hogan thats a good question, though. The question i had, there is a debate with inside the beltway, right . Right now about what the future of the party should look like. How much of trumpism should be integrated, whether reaganism is a thing of the past or is there a fusion opportunity, things along those lines with policy ideas. You as an outsider, is that debate at all relevant . The work of the intellectuals trying to set the gov. Hogan its relevant. The point i made in my book, and i didnt mean to demean intellectuals in washington. But i served on a group called board of a directors called the Maryland Public Policy Institute and we came up with really great, thoughtful, you know, pieces about how to solve the economic problems we were faced with. But no one ever read them. And so its not the ideas that are wrong. Its the were not marketing them well, were not selling them to the average person. I started a group after being on that board, a group called change maryland, which was focused on i ran because im a Small Business man and was frustrated with 43 tax hikes in a row that half of the people wanted to leave and we killed a couple hundred thousand jobs. I was going to change that, but i said it in a way that the average person, democrat or republican said, yes, thats what we want. I didnt get into divisive battles on all kinds of other issues that we didnt agree on or might not agree on. But it was taking those ideas and communicating them. Which is what i think reagan did really well. So youre telling me the think tank need to come up with the taxing ring in maryland . Gov. Hogan let me just so yeah, the Maryland Public Policy Institute put out a great paper about why Stormwater Management fees were wrong to be forcing the counties to charge this stateimposed fee. No one even paid attention but i called it, now theyre even taxing the rain. And it 90 of the people agreed. Exhaustive. That kind of ran throughout the book. Lets talk about governance. So much what you emphasized in your speech today and in your book is what happens after you get elected and thats part of the critique you have of President Trump. Covid19. Its spiking again. Those who are back in school are questioning whether they can remain in school. Businesses that have managed to reopen at certain capacity, your state, reducing the capacity, may not be able to remain open. Talk to us about how youve governed kind of the how you prioritize public safety, Public Health at the same time the economy. Gov. Hogan well, look, this has been one of the most difficult challenges that america has ever faced. And that we as governors have ever had to face. You talk about challenges and early on being governor with the rioting in baltimore. My personal struggle with cancer. I went through lots of contentious issues. Nothing has been as complex or difficult as this covid19 crisis. And trying to balance the keeping people safe while also worrying about the Small Business owners and those people that might lose their job. We pulled together the best advice, the smartest people we could find, not just think tanks, but Public Health doctors and scientists and business leaders. Some think tanks, and we got the best advice and we had to make quick decisions. I think early on in the pandemic i was chairing the National Governors association. Sometimes, i pushed back when i thought we didnt get the help we needed on testing, on a National Testing strategy. But look, the white house mike pence did a great job chairing the Coronavirus Task force. I led 54 calls with zooms with all of the nations governors and 30 some of them with the Vice President , you know, dr. Birx, dr. Fauci. The cabinet. Sometimes the president. And we had to Work Together because it took everybody at the federal, state, and local level working as one. Its by no means behind us. Because and this is where i think the biggest mistake the president made. Great success on operation warp speed. We have 40 Maryland Companies working on vaccines. One of them is one of the three they just talked about in the press conference a couple days ago. But the messaging on its going to disappear. Its only 15 people and soon it will be nothing. Anybody that wants a test can get one. It will be over in 14 days to flatten the curve. It will be over by easter. It will be over by july. Its not. And not wearing a mask. Its not a political issue. It is now. Gov. Hogan if we just wore the masks we wouldnt have to shut any businesses. We didnt and didnt Pay Attention. South dakota has 60 positivity today. The virus is in the worst days ever. Hospitals are starting to overflow again. We had to rent an ice rink to stack bodies because the morgues and Funeral Homes were full. Its not a joke. Its real. Its the worst since the 1918 spanish flu. And we have to take it seriously. Now, the administration did some great work. They reached out to the governors. Operation warp speed. We pushed them, the governors did, to step up the defense production act so we could make ventilators and desperately needed supplies. There were successes. We would have a great meeting with the Vice President , whole Coronavirus Task, all governors on both sides and then the president would have a press conference a couple ours later hours later and say the opposite. Stepped on everything everyone was working on. This is something thats discussed repeatedly, president elect biden will have his Task Force Ready and people are skeptical hes actually putting forward something qualitatively different than what the Current Administration has in terms of a plan and what theyre emphasizing. It seems like perhaps you agree with that and the difference ought to be in terms of the messaging coming from the top or is there going to be something subsequently show subsequently gov. Hogan well, my biggest concern is we dont lose the progress were making. You know, the president s messaging had people concerned about the virus. I mean, about the vaccine. But we really have made Great Strides on the vaccine and we have to get it done. I dont want to see them go back to the drawing board. We have a lot of things in process. Im concerned theyre not meeting. When the president wont theres no transition. They wont give the information. You have guys that dont know anything that are coming in in the middle of were in the middle of a war and we dont know who the generals going to be, we dont know what the game plan is. We cant wait until the end of january. I mean, you know, 200,000 people will die between now and the inauguration. We have to get on it now. Well open up questions to the audience in just a minute. One of the underlying themes here is how much of a role should the federal government have versus the states . As a governor, how jealous were you of the authority to be able to take care of your state and keep, quoteunquote, the feds out . Gov. Hogan well, look, im a big states rights guy. We the governors were on the front lines and we didnt mind stepping up. And theres a lot of things that we can do better and we should have the decisionmaking on. There were certain things that only the federal government could do. So early on, you know, we had 50 states competing with one another and with the federal government and with other countries for a really constrained market on desperately needed supplies that were in short supply and thats crazy. The federal government could have taken over that process. You know, im not one that says, oh, the federal government should solve the problem. The governors, you know, had a huge role to play. But we were doing things we dont normally do. Im negotiating with Foreign Countries to try to negotiate for federal government wouldnt give us any tests and didnt have any tests. There werent any tests in america. I had to talk to the president of south korea. The ambassador and negotiated for 22 days to get half a million south korean coronavirus tests. At the time we got that, it was more than top five states in america combined had tests. Are you concerned, though, come january 20, that there will be increased role the federal government interfering with the way you want to manage your state or do you feel what youre hearing should work out ok and get the right balance . Show less get the right balance . Gov. Hogan thats a really good question. I dont know the answer to because we havent heard much out of the existing administration on coronavirus because were at the end of the election controversy. This afternoon, i have a call with all the governors, with the Vice President and the Coronavirus Task force. Hopefully well have a better understanding whats going on there. Im concerned im not sure what the Biden Transition Team i saw they were appointing a bunch of people. None of whom have been involved. We got to get them up to speed if they are the ones that will be in charge. Well go to a question. Please indicate if you have a question. I dont think we need a microphone here. Well have one out if its required. There we go, just indicate. Last question and 2024 will be 16 years since weve had a president who was a governor. Of course, president obama wasnt a governor. He came from the senate. President trump never Held Elected Office. Joe biden, of course, was in the senate for decades. Does it indicate somehow that a governor cannot win in the current political environment . Thats part one. And part two, whats missing when you have a president who has not been in the executive before . Governor . Gov. Hogan well, first of all, i dont have any disagreements with having been a private sector, you know, real estate business guy who never Held Elected Office because i was one. Im the outsider that never Held Elected Office and became governor two years before he became president. Thats good. Im ok with people being outsiders. You know, i think some of our best president s have been governors and we havent had one recently. But, i mean, theres this guy from california, governor reagan, that was a pretty good president. Obviously, you have bill clinton. Most of our president s were governors until recently. Not taking anything away from some of our leaders in washington, but, you know, i think being in the executive, you know, running things and making decisions. I ran a 50 billion budget with 60,000 employees. Thats different than arguing in committee, in congress and voting on things and never getting anything passed. I dont think you wished you were in the Senate Making floor speeches. I got that much. Lets go to a few questions. We have 10 minutes or so left. Why dont we have anita. , sure, thank you very much. If you dont mind waiting for the microphone. Thank you. Sure, absolutely. Thank you so much. Governor hogan, thank you. This was really inspiring to hear from you today. I work at American University. Also work with one of your appointees, tiffany, we work on the women p. A. C. And very excited of growing the ranks of women. Gov. Hogan i just appointed a woman deputy chief of staff. We have more women in our cabinet. I am a big believer. I know you are, sir. You are a big believer in personnel with policy and hiring the right people allows us to execute on your priorities. One of the things i wanted to ask you about because i want to dip into your having been in inspired so you know how important it is to encourage young people to stay engaged. I have a little bit of a twopart question here. I am a club advisor for the American University college republicans. Surprisingly at a very liberal university, we really have grown our ranks. They also were volunteers on your Reelection Campaign two years ago. What i like what you said about informed patriotism. So, what are the elements that we should, those of us that have been part of the party for a long time, inspired by president reagan as well. I was a volunteer on the 1980 campaign in connecticut. Not a republican state. But what should we be doing to keep them engaged, because a number of them do feel disaffected by the rhetoric of President Trump. And it is difficult on College Campuses to be republican. The other if you can tie it to as our nation inches towards our 250th anniversary as a nation, and that informed patriotism that you talk about, how do we encourage young people to feel proud about the history of our nation, as complex and complicated as it is, and what are you doing in your state, if you are all involved from the state level on supporting the 250, the semiquinn centennial. Gov. Hogan it is a great question. First of all, thank you for your leadership in trying to get more young people interested and involved in politics. Look, i think this is a good thing. It doesnt matter to me if we get them involved in the Republican Party or Democratic Party. We need more young people to Pay Attention and be involved in the process. You know, i i was 10 years old, my dad first ran for congress. I was even i was a preteen republican and then i was in the teenage republicans, college republicans. I was president of the young republicans. Now im an old republican. But my campaign was fueled by mostly young people and i brought in people into my administration that were really young. People said, wow, you have a bunch of kids working there. They happen to be some of the smartest ones in the room. I think i was talking earlier about people a big portion of america being turned off by politics. I think nowhere is that more true than with young people. They just dont see how its relevant to them and they dont feel like they can make a difference and they sort of just given up, they tune it out. We got to really work hard to reengage them. They are, you know, the future. And the next generation. Im worried we dont have enough young people that will be our future leaders that are interested in this. And its you know, not everybody will grow up reading the congressional record and working on campaigns like i did as a kid. I think they need to be paying more attention to the people that are making decisions and how it impacts them. Thank you. Governor, thank you so much for being here today. Let me agree with anita that you r remarks were absolutely inspirational. I served in the Reagan White House. It was an honor and pleasure to be able to serve the president and the first lady as well. Thank you for that service. Thank you. And i have to say, listening to your remarks, i saw you speaking, if i read that speech, i could have believed it was a reagan speech. It was tremendous. He had a lot better head of hair than i did. Thats for sure. I had a pretty good one until the cancer thing. I left the Reagan White House and started to work in Higher Education and have been doing that ever since. Id ask you your position on a couple things about Higher Education. The whole world of Higher Education and post secondary education is changing as a result of changes in Artificial Intelligence and schools realizing they have to take a new approach to making available to students what they really need. Continue toschools do much of the same things, but some of the small ones in new england are closing because they are not offering what students need. I worked closely with one of your schools come at the university of maryland global campus and they have a program that offers all kinds of opportunities, credentials theer than just degrees and kind of opportunities that are going to be even more necessary as jobs are lost. When you think about 2 million Truck Drivers in the united does anyone think there will be 2 million Truck Drivers 10 years from now . Not likely. A lot of the men and women driving trucks now, maybe 20 of them retire 10 years from now, but the rest of them will be needing scales skills. Your thoughts . Absolutely. This is a big issue. Kids got to be teaching for the jobs of the 21st century. Taking aur higher ed, shot at the think tanks, im going to take a shot at intellectuals. Back,ght not invite me but there is an old mindset of this is how we educate kids, but meanwhile, there are skills we need. Ai, university of Maryland College park, the guy who started oculus, the foremost authority on Artificial Intelligence and some of the stuff he is doing, we opened a big center at the university of maryland to attract more of those kids. C, we produce more cyber talent than anywhere in america. We are the cyber capital of america. They have an insatiable need. Five at Sector Companies are hiring kids at high salaries after they get these skills so we have 11 centers of cyber excellence so you cant just teach the old things nobody wants and there is no demand for. It is about Work Development training, some of it is not a fouryear degree. Some of it is teaching them things they can get a job right away, so we are big on internships and on Workforce Development and on switching our Higher Education facilities for training for the jobs we need. A couple more questions. I ask our questioners to keep it to the question. To see you. Im a proud maryland democrat who voted for you and supported you twice. Gov. Hogan thank you. See, i wasnt making it up. Yourm glad to see pragmatism getting to the national stage. In maryland, youve been a supporter of Public Education bill for somee School Choice. Im curious, especially with educational suffering and covid in the k12 going on in the country, where do you see that movement leading to the next few years and on the national stage, what role does the federal government have in promoting School Choice . All, igan first of believe every single child in america deserves a worldclass education regardless of what neighborhood they happen to grow up in. We put record funding six years into a row into our Public Schools but im a big believer in School Choice and kids who were in persistently failing schools and bad neighborhoods who wanted to get the attendnity to be able to the school of their choice where they have an opportunity for a future. This is a very popular thing among democrats. Polling shows about 90 of people in Baltimore City are in favor of School Choice because their schools are failing the matter how much money we put in and some of the kids have no other hope for a better future. We want to do both. We have to improve and invest in Public Education, but we also want to help our private schools, which are in kobe, by the way this is one of our this covid, by the way, is one of our most difficult challenges. Back in thet kids classrooms without endangering teachers and kids. Most of the private schools are open. Most of the Public Schools are not. Enrollments in the private schools is surging because Public Schools are not providing what the parents want them to have, so this is something we will have to take a look at. I think the federal government does have a role to play, but it areost of these decisions on the state and local level. Governor hogan, we are so grateful for you joining us at the reagan institute. We look forward to you coming back here. We wish you the best of luck in the remaining years you have left serving as marylands governor, but no doubt you will continue to be a leading voice within the Republican Party and across the country as we push forward into the next term ahead. Please join me in thanking Governor Hogan for being with us today. [applause] i really appreciate the opportunity. Thank you, governor. Thank you very much. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] coming up tuesday on cspan. The house meet at 10 00 a. M. Eastern for general speeches followed by legislative business at noon. There are several bills on the agenda include in one to combat scams during the coronavirus pandemic and another that would make changes to the federal Aviation Administration certification process for new airplane design. On cspan two, the senate is back at 10 00 a. M. Eastern to consider judicial and executive nominations including a member of the federal reserves board of governors. Three,0 a. M. On cspan Facebook Ceo Mark Zuckerberg and twitter Ceo Jack Dorsey testify before the Senate Judiciary committee about Company Operations and possible regulation of social media content. Thats followed later in the day by Senate Commerce subcommittee hearing on how the u. S. Manufacturing industry is responding to the coronavirus pandemic. After nearly 27 hours in