[applause] ladies and gentleman it is a pleasure to welcome you to the Heritage Foundation and a the first event in the preserve the constitution series and running through november i will say more about that later ron. It is appropriate and on and sunday to commemorate the day when 7087 the representatives of 12 states so this Constitution Day is second only to for the july. I say that because of 177656 men signed the declaration of independence and pledge to each other their lives and fortunes and sacred honor. So in the war for independence some of them lost their lives many of them lost their fortunes but none of them ever lost theirou sacred honor. R families m in their sacrifices that they have made to ultimately make possible a new nation. D but what they accomplished with the declaration of independence the job was not yet finished because they have to establish a government that was still preserve the of liberty at great cost and that is why some of the original signers of the declaration of into positions of prominence to produce after much debate and discussion to translate of principles the declaration of independence with the Strategic Operational plan thats why we celebrate the 17th of september is Constitution Day with the Deputy Attorney general of the United States i was a 35th but it seems to be better longevity. And april of this year in graduating from though Wharton School at the university of pennsylvania and again as editor of the of harvard law review upon graduation to law school with that initial position and earlier in his with United States district courtdi througumbia. After serving as the clerk with the attorney generalsve program in 1990 and has been in several positions in the dipartment of justice counsel to the Deputy Attorney general with the Public Integrity section the assistant United States attorney were he worked with of marshall of that district at the time with the United States attorney 2005 through 2017. He served in two different administrations with us senators who were not of his a Party Deputies to be confirmed we are happy to have him with us today so please join me to welcome him. [applause]. 84 that kind introduction as Deputy Attorney general of the devastates over 67 years for months in two weeks but who was counting . This remarkable privilege toek be on stage you are a legend that the department of justice to serve as attorney general to emphasize one thing above all else to famously tell the American Bar Association that is of the written constitution but the of rule of law is the foundation of america so President Trump honors their legacy and by appointing the department of justice officials and attorney Jeff Sessions reveres the rule of law to have a place in the Conference Room to tower above to serve as a reminder as an inspiration to Carry Forward the right path is not always the easy path and on Constitution Day to keep in mind all the power of the federal government and those that are interested must be energetic to enforce though lot. Every must restrain ourselves beyond the lawful mandate. We are obligated to respect those limits unfortunately too few american citizens know the details of our constitution. With a particular legal decision is right whether they favor that policy outcome. They look to the result rather them the reason so today would to discuss the role of the executive branch to maintain the rule of law. Article to the constitution states the president must take care many citizens to not think of the legal system within the constitution in those institutions they encounter with the everyday lives. Se politicians, Police Officers , that is a practical reason why it is so critical to the success. Rules but there is a deeper reason the rule of law is about the character with a higher degree of consistency with thats deliberating with the flavors. And then walking over the Constitutional Convention to approach with a question what sort of government the founders have created . A republic madam if you can keep it. Blic. It was not inevitable it is not inevitable it willll remain. Soulfully use the word keep we mean to hold something in our possession here is a 20 bill keeps the stage. That is passive he uses in the same sentence it is active that there are things that you need to do. Some people think the duty to keep the government were significantly at the time to say it is up to her. Ther or not and the words were written each of us has a duty to keep the republic. That is just to promote thean rule of law. Freedom, and said to unsurpassed which gives that foundation and Freedom Safety as the attorney general explains. Said to represent all of the american people. To protect the integrity of the constitution. Those words convey a fundamental precept the department of justice does not choose sides. Considernot enforce the law based on our own bias or any other inappropriate neutral principles. The point of rule of law. Characterized by impartial up pallia impartiality. Under the rule of law that does not mean that weth differes enforce there rationallyive. Then it must be based on different facts and we need to be objective. That brings back to the a note earlier point dogged but not yet automaton that proceeds at all cost. Observing that the department of justice would even make a pretense violation of federal law attend times no local police force could not agree with arrests have the driving population. Y than whe with evergrowing code that was from what he spoke of a 1940 was a violation of the law where every prosecutor is practically allowed to do to select those the public car is the greatest. Has jackson recognized which cases to prosecute and that is an extraordinary power. That that decision whether or not to prosecute is ill prosec to additional review. And the wise use of that discretion. So when asked why did you prosecute the case . Not because i can or must but lacause i should. Chose to spoke at heritage today. That was within my lawful discretion. Oo i hope you agree that it was a good choice. [applause] but, you are free to criticize it. S i dont need to prove it was the best choice. By definition, discussion means the rules allow a range of permissible option. Discretion is the power to make a choice that is wrong in the sense that it may not be the objectively best choice. When government officials use discretion, they have an obligation to make sure they make the best choice and that requires wisdom. The seventh circuit opinion described the challenge forer federal prosecutors with these words. They wield enormous power over peoples lives. Much of it beyond political review. With power comes responsibility, moral if not legal for it is prudent and restraint exercise and responsibility implies knowledge, experience and importjudgment. Not just good faith. Its often essential to avoid doing the wrong thing, and good faith generally is a valid defense to a claim of misconduct. I the department of justice does not measure success b by by weather we acted in good faith. The issue of whether we use the right motive, the goal is to make the right choice. Partmet the challenge we face are prosecutors who act in good faith but make unwise judgments. Ht thing. Even more important to do the right thing. In our world, thats what it means to keep the republican to uphold the rule of law. We pulled it by making wise decisions, usually in the absence of complete information, often in the president s and sometimes in the face of sincere criticism. Ive spoken so far about the prosecutors need to act and act wisely. Let me take a few minutes to speak about the consequences of not acting. To attorney general sessions observed last week enforcing the law saves lives, protects communities and taxpayers and our nats human suffering. Failure to enforce the laws puts our nation at risk of crime, violence and terrorism. Inaction always comes with the cost. Sometimes it is hidden. If they fail to enforce the law than honorable people may be forced to choose between being cheated and becoming corrupt themselves. Society allows crime to flourish may soon lose to the rule of la law. Thats why i worry. The local government seemingly advocated their duty to keep the peace too. Ca instead they allow criminals to roam the streets. Thats why i serve in my office that up to corruption in order to run their businesses. Keeping the peace and fighting corruption is hard work. Turning a blind eye and ignoring the consequences is usually easier and often more lucrative, at least for the short run. In the long run, defending the rule of law is the very best way to maintain liberty. S the rule of law is not just about prosecuting. They want to continue to defend protesters. In recent months we have watched Police Officers protect and disparage and extremists who reject the values. The professionalism of those courageous officers demonstrates their devotion to the rule of law. Not everyone shares that commitment. Senator ben sass recently expressed concern about the number of Young Americans who think the First Amendment is dangerous. Someone can use freedom of state speech to hurt another. Persons feelings. That is actually quite the point of america. Am lincoln h we would all do well to remember the words of our state legislator in 1838. At age 28, Abraham Lincoln had recently moved from a small struggling pioneer town to the capital city of springfield illinois. Lincoln was alarmed by the rising political functions and mob violence of that era. In a nearby town, a mob had set out to destroy the Printing Presses of an abolitionist printer. They rated a warehouse, burnt the building and murdered. According to lincolns friend , the future president was revolted by the episode. That murder influenced lincolns First Published dressed. He gave the speech a title, the perpetuation of our political institution. He spoke about the rising long lawlessness of the land. This is what makes selfgovernance possible. People reject thein responsibility to obey the law, lincoln offered to vivid examples to illustrate his point. Re. He also referred to them as regular gamblers. T follow these were a set of man, certainly not following a very useful or honest occupation. Ga let me clarify those were lincolns words. In his words they were worse than useless and their execution in an abstract matter was never a matter of reasonable regret with anyone. The executed gamblers had received no due process. Turning up blind eye to extradition killing, the government sent a snowball. They went after men who were caught up and hanged another part of the state. Then friends, finally strangers from neighborhood states were subjected to the same fate. Thus, according to lincoln, dead men were seen dangling from the bowels of trees on every roadside and in numbersev almost sufficient arrival was a drapery of the forest. Mind you i think that was a bit of an overstatement, but, it sets an example. As he described, man inaway, ch st. Louis was seized and dragged away, chained to a tree and burned to death. I was all within a single hour from the time he had been a free man attending to his own business, at peace himselhe world. At this case there were suspicions that the victim was criminal who had murdered one of the most honorable citizens of the city. Had he not died when he did, he wouldve died a short time after words. That was not the point. Lincoln observed that to hang gamblers or burn murderers, they should recollect. In the confusion of attending such transactions, they will be as likely to hang and burn someone who is neither a gambler nor a murderer and that acting upon the example that has been set, a mob of tomorrow may and probably will hang and burn some of them for the very same mistake. Its worth noting that lincolns stories predate by about a century, the bear no quotation. Left robert illustrated the same point. In both versions he defended the rule of law. He is angry that more would b give the benefit of the rule down e even to the devil. He insists he would cut down every tree if necessary in order to destroy the devil more replies if the devil turned around on you, where would you hide. The point is if we permit the rule of law to the road, it does not directly harm our personal interest. The american erosion may eventually consume us as well. T the rule of law is not self executing. If it collapses then everyone will suffer. What was lincoln solution . The declaration of independence and the constitution were his guide stones. Just as a patriot of 1776 and the founders of 1787 revered the declaration and the rule of law, so too should future generations. Let it be grieved by every American Mother him a letter be taught in schools and seminaries and in colleges, let it be written in spelling books and almanacs, let it be preached from the pulpit and enforced. Lincoln concluded, let it become a political religion of the nation. Let the old and the young and the rich and poor, let them all keep the rule of law. Throughout the nation, efforts to subvert liberty will be fruitless and in vain. Ha Abraham Lakin understood that the best way to ensure the survival of our liberty and equal rights is to enshrine the rule of law and hearts of people, not just in the words. That spirit, as we celebrate the Constitution Day thiss weekend, i want to thank each of you, and especially ed neeson the Heritage Foundation for everything to defend the rule of law and to keep the republic. Let me close with a toast and the generation of 1787 might have uttered when signing our founding contract. To the rule of law at the beginning, the rule of law toda today, and to the rule of law for generations to come. Thank you very much. [applause] [applause] thank you very much for an outstanding talk on behalf of the constitution and for the commemoration of this particular day. I hope this is something that the Heritage Group can publish so be a lasting remembrance of what you hadon to say here today and also as an instruction for people because i think one of thekn problems today is that not enough people understand the constitution or know enough about it or understand its origins. I know youve agreed to take a few questions. En i will ask the first one. What can be done, particularly in the absence of Civic Education in our school and colleges to get the kind of message that you gave us today to more people, particularly young people. Thats a challenging questio question, what can be done in the absence of Civic Education and my answer is we should have Civic Education. My children are in schools where they learn a fair amount about the constitution. I do think we need to take it upon ourselves, we hold events like this and recognize Constitution Day every year end we should take every opportunity we can to focus on the fact that liberty should not be taken for granted. We havent always had it, theres no guarantee we will always have it, and the constitution is a fundamental guarantee that we have ins america. I think the solution really is education, if not in schools and other venues, but we should take every opportunity to promote the rule of law and teach it to the next generation. This is a rare opportunity to have one of the ranking members of the department off justice here. Im sure theres a lot of questions many of you have. Please dont hesitate to write out the question and hand it to one of the people that are picking them up here and ive already received a couple. One of the questions is how badly have you and Jeff Sessions been hampered by the very slow pace of executive appointees being confirmed. It has been very frustrating in the department of justice. Rocess, we have some superb nominees for leadership positions in the department of justice and the process has been extremely slow. Do m the confirmation process, for reasons having nothing to do with the merit of the candidates. Able if i think that is what is most depressing. Its understandable if there are issues with the particular nominee, but for the most part its just a matter of being mired down in process for people that weth know are exceptionally qualified and will be confirmed ultimately. Thats not my response ability, its the legislative branch but i do think it would be better for everybody if the congress could identify folks who wantar controversial nominees, who will be confirmed eventually, rather than delaying their confirmation and disrupting their lives and creating difficulties, not just for the department of justice but other agencies to allow that to me will quickly. There will be situations where legislators have legitimate concerns about particular nominees, but whatt we have seen is an acrosstheboard obstructiont of good people who deserve to be confirmed and should be permitted to come on board and get started. Another question thatsi come up, there has been a lot of talk of about leaks. I think its a perennial subject with any administration, are they going to revisit the policy on how to deal with the press in terms of leaked investigations. In the department of justice we are bound by constitutional laws. The policies and practices are not written in stone. Its a continuing effort to identify ways that those policies and practices might be changed to more effectively accomplish our work. This policy, theres a longstanding policy on how we conduct and investigations. Ng a good fa there are legitimate concerns on all sides. We are making a goodfaith effort to consult with our chosecutors and agents. Pitiful got it exactly right we wont need to change it. Its possible there are some provisions. Its been very interesting that theyve gone around with Law Enforcement about theot department of justice policies of this administration. What you see is some of the policy initiatives and emphasis in the department. How much time do you have . Ill give you a few highlights. The attorney general has been energetic. Very energet i should emphasize, you should understand that at the Large Institution there are some significant changes. It reflects where we put Additional Resources and tracking on a daily basis. Theyve made clear that we are elevating Drug Enforcement and Violent Crime enforcement and immigration enforcement. Whered we see the impact . The number of americans were dying at Drug Overdose death has been skyrocketed. Theres increasing publicity but not enough. I think its important to recognize were losing a lot of people around the country to Drug Overdose death. The preliminary totals for 2016 were 64000 americans lost their lives to Drug Overdose deaths last year. A large proportion of them, about half were due to opioid drugs, heroin, oxycodone and increasingly fentanyl which has many drugs that are imported through china that are causing devastation throughout the country. Uld if more people are dying of illegal substances it makes sense that we should invest more of our resources in investigating that. Ramping up the resources, weve seen Violent Crime increases in many places in the country. We know its increasing. Nc i saw a dramatic increase. Rn the murder told is devastating in places like chicago and many others. We are making that a priority. In terms of policy changes,th one concrete thing weve donege , theres a policy written by the attorney general about how they should go about determining what charges to bring. D the traditional policy has been in place for a long timeth , but theres a written policy that said we should always charge the most serious offense. That sort of our baseline. The attorney general has changed the policy and investor discretion back in our prosecutors. One of the goals is to allow our prosecutors on the front line throughout the countryg to have appropriate cases to bring serious charges and dismantle violent gangs and drug organizations and i can have an ink packed on violent gangs and drugs. On i could talk a very long timet but i know you have othert questions i will stop there. Is another . That point and particularly, what is the policy of the department in regard to enforcing title 21, the federal marijuana laws, particularly in states that have legalized it or sometimes beyond that. This is an interesting challenge. They been very clear on the position of the United States because it reflected in law, marijuana is illegal. Theres very limited. A exceptions by the dea. There are several states that have criminalized it and are not enforcing it under state law and some states, they were intended to provide guidance about when they should prosecute cases. It was largely an effort, how do we determine which cases were going to pursue and it set for certain conditions for evaluating which cases to pursue. Its a must as if a create safe harbor. That is even if under thero terms of a memo not likely to be prosecuted, doesnt matter what you doing for them to approve on the federal government or protected from prosecution in the future. Y, we are reviewing that policy. We havent changed it. We are looking at the states that have decriminalized marijuana trying to evaluate what the impact is. I think there are some prettyha significant evidence that marijuana turns out to be aan more harmful than people anticipated and its difficult to regulate. I think it was contemplated by some of those dates. We will take all of the consideration and make a decision whether or not to revise the policy in another area, in terms of whitecollar crime, does the Department Plan to revisit its policies and guidance concerning corporate prosecution. Where ther ill clarify when i said earlier i was gonna take a pass, i will take any question. With regard to corporate prosecution, once again, this is an area where theres discretion and theres been various policies written from time to time. Ecutions. Sally yates wrote a memo couple years ago in effort to articulate how we go about corporate fraud prosecutions and one of the goals was to clarify when we will prosecute individuals as opposed to resolving cases against corporations. Corporations dont go to prison, they do pay a fine and so the issue is can you deter corporate crimes or do you in some cases need to prosecute individuals. Mo so it was an effort to advise federal prosecutors and civil attorneys about how to go about making that decision, whether to pursue individuals, and once again we tend to review and anticipate that there may be some changes to the policy on corporate prosecution, and to clarify were not talking about changing the constitution of the law but the policy and practice of the department and thats pretty routine. Every ministration looks at these issue and determines whether or not the internal guidelines that were written in the last administration are effectively addressing what we think is the current problem. I dont have any announcement for you today but i do anticipate we may in the near future make an announcement about what changes we will make to the corporate fraud principles on behalf of heritage in this audience today, we appreciate very much not only your words about the constitution but also your candor and answering questions i have been presented here. Thank you very much. Thank you. Before you leave, the fact on tuesday, the 19th of december, we will continue our series. C we will have with us paul clement who is a former solicitor general of the United States. We invite you all to come back here and get further information that we have concerning the constitution. Thank you for being with us today. [captioning performed by e national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] ben carson talks about his childhood, how he met his wife, his career as a doctor and his interactions with President Trump. You can see that tonight at eight eastern on cspan. Heres a preview. You had a pretty violent temper. I did. Can you explain. I think it was because i was thinking about me. It was always about me. Someone took my thing, there in my space, i, and one day when i was angered and i tried to stab him and he hit me with a belt buckle and he was terrified and i was terrified and that had a profound effect on me. I locked myself in a bathroom and i reflected and turned my life around immediately. I went from a terrible student to a great student. I knew i would never become a doctor with a temper like that. I knew my options would be Reform School or the grave. Those werent any good options i wanted. I picked the bible up and it was so much in there about angry. For three hours i stayed in the praying and contemplating. I came to the understanding that to react violently was not a sign of strength. It was a sign of weakness. It means that you could easily been manipulated by your own violen violence and people in your environment. I decided i wasnt going to be manipulated. You can watch the entire conversation beginning at eight eastern on cspan. Join us when Hillary Clinton gives her account of the campaign. Its in her memoir, what happened. Former first lady talk to her former aide in politics and prose bookstore coat owner. That will be live monday here in washington d. C. Starting at 7 00 p. M. Eastern. A series of six interviews with a prominent photojournalist. The sunday, a conversation with Frank Johnston about his photos and career. When they brought oswald out, he was within 3 feet of me when they just went jack ruby who leaped out from behind me and went becaus between bob jackson and i and fired a gun. We were all thrown to the floor because it mustve been 100 police in that basement that sunday morning. Watch our photojournalists interview on oral history sunday at 7 00 p. M. Eastern on American History tv. That cspan three. Energy and commerce subcommittee on health held a committee this week to examine ideas to modernize the fda regulation of overthecounter drugs