From republicans and democrats. But i think different economies are different. The cost of living is different different places, and you need to indicator it towards what is right for your own city. Well take one or two more and then well be done. Kevin forking with the associated press. How are you . Since you require a injury additional order for the detainer requests, what has the impact been and have you seen a decline in requests since then . No. Weve seen it be pretty constant and weve talked to i. C. E. Theyve asked, do you want to have a few crimes that are in a different category . Thats probably the new pep discussions and weve engaged dhs and some of our immigrant groups in los angeles to see whether thats something of a future. But we havent seen a decline or an increase. Its been pretty constant because thats something that weve had before. Obviously, the overall we had that policy in place long before we kind of made it official that informally we just we dont have the time to do it, quite frankly, too, is one of the other issues. The federal government wants to have that mandate and if we do we want to remind the federal government, gifts the resources to help us do it. We are already over tax over burden dealing with everyday street crimes, property crimes. If you want us to take on somebodys responsibilities, give us the resources to do it. All right. Theres someone in the back there. Right in the back. Anna isaacs from this moment mag scene. So you said your commitment from social justice comes from judaism. I would wondering would you see raising the minimum wage is also by Jewish Values . Absolutely. Im if first elected jewish mayor in los angeles. So im proud of that and i think, you know, not just because of the vul turl ties, but whether its the immigrant experience of both my jewish and mexican sides or the values i think, of growing up jewish and understanding that we have a responsibility. Its not charity, but it is a responsibility of kind of our covenant to make sure that we take care of those who need us and to heal a broken world. Theres no question these things come from that. And i think my grandmother on my moms side, harry roth is an interesting american success story. He was the son of immigrantes from russia and poland. We were fleeing the pilgrims in the times of the early 20th century. His father came to los angeles and was a tailor. He took up his profession and decided to take his fathers name lewis ross, and turn it into the a suit company. Lewis ross was one of the finest clothing areas in all the 19th century. The first thing he did is he came here to d. C. And he looked at johnson the way he was dressed and he said, you look like a schlub. I know this guy out in beverly hills. Lets get you a nice suit and my grandfather became the tailor to the president of the United States of america. The story could end there and it would be nice. But then he was personally opposed to the vietnam war. And he was very active in progressive politics and as a businessman, he had a union shop. He was aclu man of the area. And it wore on him more and more and he had a crossroads where he said i can speak out and Say Something about this but lose my most important famous client or remain silent and keep him. And it wasnt a difficult choice for him. He took out full page ads with my grandmother telling president johnson not to run for reelection and offering to pay him in his retirement a little money and it made National News his entire magazine, etcetera. And i grew up with that story. My grandfather died when i was young, when i was about 5 years old. But it showed that you stand up for what you believe in. In those moments, i think came intensely from the tra did i decision of social justice judaism and those things that he was raised with. But even more than that, being an american and realizing the country as has these opportunities. Okay. Ive got to ask this now. You raised this at the beginning and now this conversation just took place. Should israel and the world feel safer or feel threatened by the iran deal . Well as the mayor of tehangelas the largest population outside of iranians outside of iran as los angeles is sometimes called i think for a lot of iranians, they look forward to an engagement. Were sister cities with tehran, but not active since 1979. But opportunities for engagement are important. But secondly i think that it is you know, the pathway is not whether or not we have safety or not. I think that we see a pathway towards a bond with no agreement. And i am cautiously optimistic and supportive of the president s efforts, for sure. It took a lot of political courage to go. Even in israel, i think theres a range of opinions about this. As an american jew, as a mayor of a city with many iranian americans, i think it has much more positive to offer, the negative that we shouldnt fear that, but staying and keeping engaged has much more benefit economically and in terms of security. But we have to keep a careful eye. I know the president said this is all about verification, not trust because it has to have that snap back piece of it that allows the majority. By the way, which means that china, russia and iran cannot veto veto but a majority of states and that means britain germany, france region are able to immediately say this is being violated. That means if the iranians dont live up to their agreement we have the opportunity to go back to the status quo. Well take one more question. You guys have one . Yep. Okay. Very exciting. It sounds like youve implemented a lot of great initiate ifrs in los angeles and youve been doing a great job, but what are your comments on the recent spike in crime there and also kind of settle back on that. How do you view obamas 46 pardons on to nonviolent federal officialers. I think its great if that is taking up criminal justice reform. We spend way too much on criminal justice matters. I want to keep the bad guys and gals locked up and but too much of a criminal Justice System puts the wrong people away for too long. I admire the work that cory booker is doing on this issue and came out of his experience as a mayor in new york where he often opened an office of reentry to help people get out of prison and to reintegrate. So i dont know the individual parts, but by and large, im sure, you know, the president is doing the right thing. These are probably ones that we would all look at and say thats ridiculous and we could spend a lot less money transforming who these folks are than keeping them locked up at a very expensive cost for all of us. In los angeles, ive said you have to own the good news as well as the bad news. Los angeles is still the safest of the big five cities and the crime levels are as safe as weve seen for the 1960s per capita. But any increase is struggling. Immediately what weve looked to do, weve seen this happen throughout the country, is it something changing is it the hangover from the recession . Were not sure what the causes are, but were not going to be flat flatted on the response. And weve seen a tapering off of our increase this year. One, having more mobile Police Officers to be able to go to areas where theres a crime spike before it becomes a crime wave. Second, doing a lot of prevention and intervention work. And im very proud of los angeless National Model for things like our summer Night Life Program which are keeping our parks open late at night. Weve seen a 40 drop in crime because they become the victims of and sometimes perpetrators of Violent Crime in the weekendes. Second, looking at former gang members who work in those areas where most crimes in l. A. Is gang crime. Most homicides are. So we need people who know the landscape, who can transform their own lives but who can get between the guns and stop the retribution of the violence that happens and thats called g. R. I. D. Gang reduction zones. We saw Domestic Violence go up and i hope this is something nationally that well continue to have a conversation on. In los angeles, we rolled out a program to have civilians go out with our Police Officers every single division. They talk to a cop, they go back to the same address time and time again for a Domestic Violence call. Sometimes its tragic when they come and somebody has been killed. The idea is to intervene early, its often a woman, but not always, to take her children and give them the job training, a security and place for their pets but all those things to keep them back and to go in and help the officers hahn those off to folks who can give them the legal help. So we have a full range of things were doing. Thats continuing to build trust between the community and the committee. It hasnt been that we havent had shootings and unarmed civilians. Some of them where police are on the pathway to getting consequences of that. Its oftentimes seen as a justified selfdefense or Public Safety move. Partially because of the pain we went through, we have independent investigations a civil civilian i think that will help the trust you have to have to bring crime down, too. I think we are included and i thank you all very much. Thank you all very much for coming and, mayor, it was fantastic. Thank you. You really had a lot to say. Thanks so much. Have a great day. Thank you. On the next washington journal, congressman chris stewart, a member of the Intelligent Committee will talk about congresss role in reviewing the Nuclear Agreement with iran. And congressman mark decano on the effort to update the no child left behind education law. Washington journal begins live at 7 00 a. M. Eastern time. Cspan is partners with a number of newspapers and early voting states for a televised forum with the republican president ial candidate this summer. The new hampshiran union leader post courier in South Carolina and iowas cedar rapid gazette have invited all 17 of the gop president ial candidates to whats being called a voters first forum. Well have live coverage from cspan. Here is more about what we can expect. Unionleader. Com, this is the headline. Outfox, voters forum to be the first for the gop. And joining us from manchester is the publisher of the New Hampshire union leader, joe mmc mcquaid. Thanks for having me and thanks for cspan for playing a part in this. We are pleased to be a partner. Lets talk about this forum. How and why did it come about . It came about because we are seven months or 6 1 2 months from the first voters getting a chance to whittle the field, as it were, in iowa New Hampshire and South Carolina. And fox got the First Official debate from the rnc and fox announced that only ten candidates based on a compilation of National Polling done in august were going to determine the ten seats. So they had a debate. As you know, steve, there are a lot more credible serious candidates than that. And we thought it unfair that only ten got to be on the fox stage. So we said about a month ago that we were going to do our own event. This was also prompted in part by a letter that more than 50 New Hampshire republicans, including a couple of former governors, wrote to fox protesting this format and asking that they, instead, break the top polling candidates into two groups and have two back to back debates. But fox didnt want to do that. Your cosponsors including the post courier and charleston South Carolina and the cedar rapids iowa, gazette. So what is the format and whats the objective . A couple things. Im stickeled about those two newspapers because we know them because were all in a group called the independent Newspaper Group which, by its name, is independently owned newspapers in the country. There arent a lot of those any more and it happens this one in South Carolina and one or two in iowa. The format is Pretty Simple and straightforward. Now all the candidates will be introduced in short by lines read by an announcer. One at a time, the candidates will be called up on stage to sit with the moderator. It was a gentleman named jack heath who runs a radio show in New Hampshire and is quite well respected among candidates. He doesnt ask gotcha questions, he asks tough questions. The questions are going to come in part from the survey were going to put on unionleader. Com asking readers to pick five out of 25 or 26 topics that they would like to see discussed. And jack heath will be formulating the questions based on that and well put them, one at a time, to the candidates. We havent gotten as far as to mixing up how many questions there will be and who gets what question, but i know were not going to announce the order of the candidates until that night because i dont want the first one skipping out after and the last one not coming in in many until its his or her turn. And we expect were going to have upwards of 15 candidates, which would be great and which is what iowa and New Hampshire and South Carolina are all about. Looking at all the candidates before making a decision. And looking at comparing what they said at the same time in the same place which is what foxs currently unable to accomplish. That will be live on cspan. You have already been in touch with a number of the candidates and their campaign staffs. What are they telling but this approach that you and others are putting forward . Well, they like it, especially the ones who are not the best known candidates. Donald trump isnt going to have any trouble getting on the fox stage based on his polling numbers. But a lot of the other candidates have trouble with the fact that donald trump gets on and they may not and theres senator Lindsey Graham has said in the past couple of weeks, brad pitt could get on that stage based on National Polling and candidates like graham, like Governor John Kasich who is not officially in the race but is going to be in the race. Our outside looking in. And that troubles them. Senator graham is having a press conference in New Hampshire later today, continue to protest the way this is going down with fox. But weve now had eight candidates accept our invitation without reservation. The they really havent asked much. We send them an invite that outlines the format and theyre happy to do it. Finally, joe mcquaid, as the publisher of the union leader in New Hampshire, you have seen a lot of candidates. 15 official republicans in this race, soon to be 17. Have you ever seen such a crowded field . No. There have been a lot of names on our ballot because it used to not cost much to get on. But credible candidates i think the candidates there was a woman and seven guys and i think we called them snow white and the seven dwarfs. And the republicans back in 1980 with Ronald Reagan had quite a few, but not this many. Full online at unionleaders. Com. Thank you very much. We look forward to covering the forum on august 3rd. Youre welcome, steve. Thank you to cspan once again. This weekend is cspans cities tour travels across the country with time warner table. To learn more about the literary life and history of lexington, kentucky. Edward pritchard was a state hero who had a ta multius political career. In the mid 1940s b, if you had asked who is a bright shining star in american politics on a National Scale someone who is going to be governor, senator, perhaps president , a lot of people would have said ed pritchard of kentucky. He was one of those people who worked in the white house when he was in his early 20s. He seemed destine for great things and then came back to kentucky. And in the mid 1940s was indicted for stuffing a ballot box, went to prison. And so that incredible promise just flamed out. We also visit ashland, the former home of speaker of the house senator and secretary of state henry clay. The mansion at ashland is a unique situation. Clays original home had to be torn down and rebuilt. It fell into disrepair. It could not be saved. So he rebuilt on the original foundation. So what we have is a home that is essentially a fivepart federal style home, as henry clay had, with architectural elements etcetera, and an added layer of aesthetic details added by henry clays granddaughter and greatgranddaughter and so on. See all of our programs from lexington saturday evening at 6 30 a. M. Eastern and saturday afternoon at 2 00 on American History tv on cspan3. Up next, texas senator and gop president ial candidate ted cruz talk bes congress and the 20167 elections. Senator cruz sat down with james kemp, son of jack kemp. We also also hear from Joe Lieberman. Thank you for joining us. This is a real treat. The reason why weve gathered here and why you all have come is because at the Jack Kemp Foundation we want to hear from National Political leaders about their vision for the american idea. And its a real privilege now to have senator ted cruz with us for our first kemp forum on the vision for the american idea. A little background about where we are, this was president and mrs. Lincolns bedroom. And 153 years ago this summer, president lincoln was writing the emancipation proclamation from this room. Theres a replica desk over there. And he didnt sleep a whole lot, so we believe that he did his writing here. So in many respects, this is hollowed ground. The american idea, as we know is best described in the deck lar agdz of independence. And i think its appropriate to start off talking about vision for the american idea and just reminding all of us and myself this has been a good exercise for myself about what the declaration says. We hope these truths to be selfevident, that all men are created equal. Endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights to life liberty and the pursuit of happiness. And here is a critical part. What follows it directly is really important. That to secure these rights, governments are constituted among men can you finish it . Im working on it. Among men deriving their powers, deriving their just powers from the consent of the government. So the beautiful ideas that form the declaration of independence were clearly intended to be followed by a constitution. And senator cruz, having you here, a constitutional expert, a senator, senator lieberman, having you here, your experience and incredible Public Service being a close friend of my fathers is a real honor and treat to have you all here. The the mission of the Jack Kemp Foundation is to develop, relate and engage exceptional leaders who champion the american idea. And its also appropriate that yesterday was my fathers 80th birthday. July 13th 1935, and i certainly appreciate the legacy that he left. And one other comment before we really begin. My dad was passionate about many things and certainly he was passionate about the american idea. One of his good friends and im privileged to call him a friend, as well Dennis Prager talks about the american idea as being an american trinity. On every coin, each of us will read three word or phrases. Liberty, in god we trust, and epleuribis unum. That final one is where hed like to start. Many of you know the story of my father, hes the son of a truckdriver, the guy who started a Delivery Service and bought a bunch of trucks. He was an entrepreneur. Out of many, each of us in this room comes from a background, a personal background. We have fathers, mothers uncles grandparents, and just thinking about E Pluribis Unum and the gratitude that i have for my dad and my mom, im grateful that each of us is standing on the shoulders of great men and women who have come before us. And senator lieberman or senator cruz, you talked about your father rafael cruz and the story of how you kind of came to understand the american idea. Would you share it with us, the story of your family and your father and start to talk about your vision and understanding of the american idea. Thanks jimmy. Its great to be here. Im really here as a moderator. So its good to its an honor to be with senator ted cruise who is a real man of ideas. So when jimmy called me, i figured i would have to change my schedule because i acknowledged to him that its very hard for me to turn down a request from my member of the kemp family. Jack was a hero of mine. He was a remarkable figure, an inspiration. A uniter. And he combined skills and visceral strengths. So he was both a man of ideas and a brain and also a person of extraordinary warmth and passion and just made a lot of things happen. I think one of the highest compliments ive ever received he said to me once he considered himself to be a lieberman did the democrat. And i said quite sincerely that therefore, i was finding myself a kemp republican. And i still feel that way. So about my dad, you know, comes from your own experience, ill start with my grandmother my mothers mother. We were in the house together for the first eight years of my life until my dad made enough to buy our own house and my grandmother came with us. Why do i mention my grandmother . She was my link to the old country. We called it the eld country. In her case, it was romania, now ukraine. So all four of my grandparents were immigrants and but my grandmother was the one who was really in my life. And, you know, i always used to say she was one of the greatest american patriots i ever met because she has something to compare america to. And that is thats one of the gifts that is competing generations of immigrants have given us because i think they appreciate the american idea the American Experience sometimes more than the rest of us. My dad was a story, really. He had a tough childhood, but he never complained about it. And i didnt find this out. I knew his mother, who i never met, died in a flu epidemic in 1918. His father felt he couldnt take care of him and put him in an orphanage. And he was in an orphanage a from the age of 3 until 10 until his dad remarried and took him out and came out of high school in the depression. I mean, to me, just one of the smartest most learned people i ever met, but no just didnt have the opportunity to go to college. Worked in a bakery truck worked in a store, worked in a factory and met my mom. Each uncle had a story and they had to my dad, they would put him in a store of his own, but he would have to make 25 a week before they would let him marry my mother. This was a tough deal. But it was a great incentive system, so and he did that rapidly. I dont want to go into all the details. He married my mom. They were wonderful parents. So i grew up with this sense of tremendous neither one of my parents went to college. I grew up with a real sense of sort of opportunity and blessing that that is what in some ways, to be selfanalytical about it, a lot of the motivation i had in life was because i had this sense that my father had been deprived of the opportunities that his god given talented would normally have given him. And the home was very puerto ricoic. My family was primarily democratic. Although my dad when i was like a later teenager, this may be the seed of some of my later troubles. He admitted to me that he voted for Wendell Wilkie in 1944. So i grew up with God Bless America and you know, the dream. If you work hard and play by the rules, in this country there is no limit to how far you can go. And what can i say . Ive lived that dream, thank god. Thank you. Senator cruz, would you share with us what you wrote in your book a time for truth, which is, i believe, may pay some homage to bill simons book. But would you share a little bit about what you wrote in that book about your father rafael and youre kind of coming to understanding of the american idea . Sure. Let me say jimmy, thank you for having me here and let me first pay tribute to your dad, wish him happy birthday from yesterday and ill tell you, he your dad and Ronald Reagan and i grew up with there being two of my heros. As a kid. When i was elected to the senate, it so happened that i won the republican nomination on what would have been milton freedmans 100th birthday. So that night i paid tribute to uncle milty who wasnt with us. And ill tell you your dad i think, was an extraordinarily inspiring leader. I think he was Ronald Reagans natural idea logical heir and successor and he had a passion and vision that freedom is all about lifting people up to the American Dream. And that for me, has been right at my its why i was drawn to politics in the first place is to endeavor to follow a similar path although im quite confident i will never be a starting quarterback in the nfl. So it wont be exactly the same path. You never know. But as you noted, you know, out of many one, we are all stitched together from the fabrics of our family stories. And my mom is irish italian from wilmington, delaware, grew up in a working class family. Her mother was the second youngest of 17 kids. As i like to joke, they were irish catholic. They didnt know what else to do on a saturday night. Actually, her uncle i discovered this in the process of writing my book, i discovered that her uncle i guess my great uncle, ran the numbers in wilmington, delaware. He was a monster. And his mom used to take the numbers and she would get two nest them together and carry the numbers between the soup pots and this little lady would walk down the street carrying the numbers for the bookies that were in wilmington. So that was her family. And she ended up becoming the first person in her family ever to go to college. My grandfather, her dad, was a difficult plan. He was a drunk. And he didnt think that women should be educated. And my mom who is 80 now she was the same age as your dad, my mom stood up to her dad. And shes got shes got a steel backbone. She stood up to her dad and ended up being the first woman in her family to go to college. And she went to rice graduated in 1956 with a degree in math. And became a Computer Programmer in the 1950s, really pioneering in an industry where there were very few women. And my dad, his journey, he was born in cuba. It was interesting, joe, i didnt realize one way other histories intersect. You mentioned that your dad and mom have died in the flu epidemic. My grandfathers father died in that same flu epidemic. My grandfather was in cuba and his dad died in the flu epidemic epidemic. So he found himself as a teenager living on a sugar plantation. And it was basically it was essentially a company town where everyone in the sugar plantation was paid in script at the store. And then all your expenses were charged and effectively it was indentured servitude. My grandfather, when he was a teenager a bus came by offering people 5 a and a sandwich to come to a political rally. And my grandfather got on that bus and vowed never to come back again. And he went to matonza a beach town, and went to work at a little frooud fruit stand on the beach and slept on the floor of the fruit stand. Over time, he saved up money sent money to his mom and siblings. Over time, he bought the fruit stand and expanded it into a grocery store. And my dad grew up you know in some ways, cuba in the 1950s, it was idyllic. He would go to baseball games, go fishing with his dad. My father would tell me you know, in cuba, they didnt use a rod and reel. They used basically fishing line wrapped around a stick or something. So when you were pull a fish in it would cut you because you would be pulling on the line. My dad said, cuban fish stories you would show the cut. The bigger the cut, the bigger the fish that you were wrestling. And my dad as a teenager became involved in the cuban revolution. And it was interesting, the revolution in cuba started in high school, started in the colleges. It was the student councils. My dad was a teej age kid in High School Student council got recruited by another student. Batista was cruel and corrupt. My father spent several years fighting in the revolution. When i was 17, he was thrown in prison and he was tortured. Batistas soldiers they would come in every couple of hours with billy clubs and beat the living daylights out of him. They broke his nose, shattered his teeth. And at that point my grandfather said to my dad, he said, look he got out of jail. They released him and they were following him hoping he would lead them to others in the underground. My grandfather said, look you have to get out of the country. Theyre just going to kill you. So my father applied to three u. S. Sufrts. The university of miami lsu, and the university of texas. And u. T. Was the first one to let him in. So he showed up in the United States in 1957. He was 18. He didnt speak english. He had nothing. They wouldnt let him take anything with him. His only possession he had a slide rule in his pocket. He had 100 in his underwear that my grandmother sewed it there so they wouldnt take it from him when he was leaving. And he got a job washing dishes making 50 cents an hour. And he got that job because you didnt have to speak english to wash dishes. You had to be able to take a dish and put it under hot water and scrub it and he could do that in any language. He worked seven days a week and paid his way through school and went on to start a small business. Today, hes a but my parents experience, particular michigan dad as journey of fleeing oppression and coming to america seeking freedom it really is at the heart of what drew me to politics and really where my passion lies is that we have been a beacon of freedom for the world and a land of opportunity. That theres no nation on earth you know, joe talks about his grandparents all being immigrants coming from the old country. I mean, this nation, no place on earth has allowed so many millions of people to come with nothing and achieve anything. I think thats what we need to fight to preserve and to bring back more than anything. So we want it to be a conversation, senator, anytime you want to jump in with is did she. Its something im going to build in. Jack said, i think in 1998, as powerful as we are, our future will not be skoous secure unless we use that power to create a world which honors those things which we hold sacred. So its a wonderful so the question i would ask you is and we struggled with this over our history. To what extent do we have an american obligation. We have an obligation to take that stage and make it real around the world. Progressively back and forth between realists neocons in one slice of school or another. You know, my view, i think the United States should always be a clarion voice for freedom, that there is a roll the president can play in the bully pulpit of speaking for freedom that has power and its something that Ronald Reagan exemplifies to speak out. Now, theres a difference between speaking for freedom and committing u. S. Military forced intervention. I think those standards are very different. I think the standard for military force should be defending the Vital National security interests of the United States, but speaking the truth to power has enormous impact. You know a couple of years ago i visited with aton sharanski in jerusalem and he described how theres the soviet prisoners and the gulags would pass from cell to cell, did you hear what president reagan said . Evil empire, tear down this wall. In my office in the senate, ive got a painting, a 20 foot painting, a beautiful painting of reagan standing before the brandenberg gates and above it written in german are the words tear down this wall i think the most important words that any leader has entered in modern times. And that clarion voice for freedom has power. Before we sat down, joe, you and i were talking about the iran deal today. And i think you and i have much Common Ground in that we think this deal is a catastrophic mistake. There are many aspects to talk about that that i suspect well get into. Where we were talking about, about being a voice for freedom, on the speech today. Its that he did not utter a word about the americans languishing in american prisons. He didnt utter the same after abadini. He didnt mention robert ledman. Americans who were in prison for professing their Christian Faith or for acting as a journalist and exercising their First Amendment rights and for the president of the United States to celebrate with a nation that is wrongfully imprisoning americans is such a stark contrast to the history of american president s speaking out for the oppressed and giving a voice to the aspirations of freedom. Well said. So on that point and because youve brought up iran, which i think is just you know an incredible moment in history and we now have, what, 60 days . The congress has 60 days to deal with this issue. How will you connect the underpinnings of our american philosophy to the argument to i dont know the exact vehicle, but to oppose this agreement with iran . Well i think for 60 days were going to have a vigorous debate publicly about the National Security implications of this deal. And one of the things i very much hope happens is that we focus on speaking the truth. I believe the truth has power. I think the consequences of this deal, it allows iran to keep incidentry fuji ricentrifuges, it puts incredible restrictions on inspections. It wasnt too long ago that we were proms promised that any agreement would have the most vigorous inspections in history. This agreement gives iran 14 days notice before any inspections and the ability to appeal to an international tribunal. You know its worth topping to think what exactly is the logic behind giving a nation that you would suspect of cheating and Building Nuclear weapons 14 days notice before you inspect anything . The only thing that makes any sense is to give them the time to remove whatever evidence you would discover and that we grate agreed to it demonstrates that theres a political mandate behind this deal rather than a National Security mandate. Likewise the very end i think, unfortunately, the administration so wanted a political deal you know, the deputy National Security adviser, ben rhodes, describes an Iranian Nuclear dooep deal as the obama care of the second term, which i think he meant as a compliment. One of the things that underscores how this was all about a domestic political legacy is at the very end, the iranians tossed in one more thing. Lift the international moratorium on ballistic and weapons materials coming into iran and apparently the Administration Says said okey doek, thats fine. Not only that, billions of dollars if this agreement goes through will flow into iran. Iran is one of the leading state sponsors of terrorism in the world. Those billions of dollars will be given directly to hamas. Directly to hezbollah. If this deal goes through and this is not an exaggeration, the United States government will become one of the leading financiers of International Terrorism in the world. Our money will be used to murder americans, to murder israelis, to murder europeans. I think this is catastrophically dangerous and it will set off a nuclear arms rate race throughout the middle east. I will give credit to president obama on one thing. Hes managed to do something no one else has ever done, which is he is united the israelis and the arabs. Both are united that it is catastrophically dangerous for iran to have nuclear weapons. And it is my hope in the next 60 days the American People hold each of our elected officials responsible for stopping a deal that endangers the safety and security of our country and as Prime Minister netanyahu has called it is an existential threat to the nation of israel. Just add to this very briefly, this is a i was trying to think if in my 24 years in the senate i cast a vote and i cast a lot of them that were significant that will be as consequential as the vote that every member of congress will cast on this agreement. Because this really will affect the future security of america the world. Were talking about the kind of world in which our children and grandchildren and beyond are going to grow up. I testified this morning on a House Committee and i made this statement and somebody another person on the panel said actually supported the agreement said he was trying to think of when the last Time Congress was involved in an International Relations matter, not a question of directly were a peace treaty or whatever, that was as significant and i thought it was fascinating. He went back to the laeg of nations vote. Which is hell of a long time ago. So were going to be tested and hope people dont forget in all of this the application of the american idea to iran because it is a dictatorship. It locks up its political opponent, it kills a lot of them. It suppresses the same people based on their political views. The journalists are in jail. People based on their Sexual Orientation get terrorized. And some people say, well, you cant deal with that if you want to have an agreement with them. During the toughest times of the cold war, when we were negotiating arms control agreements with the russians we were also supporting the Freedom Fighters in the soviet union, whether it was solidarity in poland or let me Say Something on that. I very much hope in the next 60 days that we see the ee emergence of Joe Lieberman democrats. You know, there used to be a long tradition of Scoop Jackson democrats, of jfk who stood vigorously against the communist who took National Security very very seriously. That is becoming an endangered species among modern senate democrats. I hope the next 60 days prove me wrong. Nothing would make me happier than to see democrat after democrat after democrat stand up and say my partisan allegiance to the president is far less important than the duty i owe to the men and women who elected me to protect the National Security of this country to protect the safety of millions of americans. That is the only thing that can stop this deal is that enough democrats are willing to set aside partisan loyalties and stand on principal. I hope that happens. I think were going to have 60 days of vigorous debate to see if it does or not. It strikes me that a significant underpinning to the american idea is a recognition of the human condition and in our society we have many much more pluralistic and very clearly started out with Judaea Christian values and principals. As we mentioned earlier, part of the american trinity, the american idea includes in god we trust. I believe that our founders and most of our political leaders through the years believe that the principal fight in life is between good and evil. Today, speaking about good and evil it is much more difficult because, basically, the question is asked, says who . And is america is the american idea arrogant . Are we claiming that we know you are evil, i am good . I dont believe that that is the perception, but i think its really important when youre having these conversations with the American People, with your fellow senators, how do have the conversation in a way that recognizes absolutes, good versus evil without being absolutist in the demeanor. And i dont know if you have any guidance or perspective on that but it seems to me that there is a humility in the recognition of our government and the need for addressing the human condition. Yeah. Ill take a first shot at it and then yield to the candidate. No you are absolutely right. This is part of what happened. That people lose the we respect everybody, which is great. Our country has become very tolerant and accepting. But we shouldnt do that at the price of holding our tongues when we see something going on that we think is wrong. Because, really, there is part of our religious heritage but its part of the moral heritage of human kind that there are rights and there are wrongs. And if you dont stand up for the right, then ultimately the wrong will triumph. And i guess the question really the important thing is to try to do it in a way that respects people have a different opinion. But not to have that respect leads you to be quiet in defense of what you think is right. Reasonable debate was a great debater. And weve lost that ability in a lot of places in the country to have a good debate where people disagree, but they dont seem to hate each other. Thats the american that was part of the american idea. Thats as you know, the founders of the country had incredibly spirited, sometimes quite personal debates. But they kept it together for the good of the country and thats what we have to do in our time. You know i think i very much agree with what joe said and i think youre exactly right, jimmy, that were a nation that was formed by men and women who were fleeing religious oppression. And seeking to establish a land where every one of us could sooep seek out the lord god all mighty with all of our hearts, minds and souls according to the dictates of our own conscious. Part of the american ideal one of the most revolutionary aspects of at the at the beginning of this country was the understanding reflect in that portion of the declaration that you quoted, that all men are created equal and endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights. For most of history. Men and women have been told your rights come from government. Theyre given by kings and queens, by grace and whim to be taken away just as easily. The revolutionary idea that its god all mighty that gives you the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, it is not government. It is inherent in what it means to be a human being. We lend sovereignty to the government, but it remains with the people. So when it comes to speaking out good and evening, truth matters. When isis is beheading children, when they are cruise phiing christians when they are taking jordanian soldiers and putting them in cages and lighting them on fire that is evil. There is no ambiguity about it. There is no middle ground about it. It is the face of evil. And truth has power that we need to speak up and speak in support of the inherent natural rights of every person. So i was going to take off from that to take you through a slightly different place. Starting with James Madison who said famously if men were angels, government would not be necessary. So i think we can certify that men and women are not angels. Indeed. And presumably that some government is necessary. But i always then, leads to the question of how much government is necessary . And how do you draw the line . Well you know, you invoke that quote from madison in the federalist papers. When i was in college my senior thesis was entitled clipping the wings of angels. Deriving from exactly that portion of the federalist papers, the great challenge is to enable those in government to perform their responsibilities and yet at the same time oblige them to govern themselves. And i think the key of that jefferson, likewise, described the constitution as chains to bind the mist chief of government. There are certain essential facts the government has to perform. The first and most fundamental is protecting the National Security of this nation. Its why it should be the overarching concern. There is nothing more important. The United States congress will do this year than debate and i hope vote down this iran deal because it goes to the very first responsibility of every member of the government. But more broadly when it comes to how does the toourchl human spirit achieve the American Dream . One of the things your dad understood so powerfully is the incredible potential of everyone. And for a long time, ive described my political philosophy as opportunity conservative. Which is that every issue we think about we talk about. We should focus like a laser on opportunity, on easing the means of the ascent up the economic ladder. We should view it through a lamp. How does it impact the least off among us . How does it impact young people, africanamericans, hispanic single moms all the people struggling to climb the economic ladder . You know, i try to view issues through the lens of my dad. I try to ask if my dad were still washing dishes today, making r50 cents an hour how would a given policy help or hurt him . And all of our focus i believe and what your dad understood so powerfully, is that when we create an environment where Small Businesses prosper where we unchain human liberty, where we allow people to create businesses and expand, that enables people like my dad to move up the economic ladder. You know one of the things i was looking at, ive pulled some numbers recently. Just looking at Median Income and comparing the Current Administration to the reagan administration, now the policies of the Current Administration have been told to the American People, this helps the least off among us. And yet no one has been hurt by the obama economy than the most vulnerable among us than young people and hispanices and africanamericans than single moms. So from 2009 to 2013 Median Income across this country has dropped 2,120. Thats Median Income of all americans. By contrast in the eight years of reagan Median Income rose 5,555. Median income of every american went up 12 . Likewise, if you look at africanamericans, from 2009 to 2013 Median Income from africanamericans dropped 789 a year. Under president reagan from 1981 to 1989 Median Income from africanamericans rose 5008 a year. 18 Median Income in just eight years. Finally, you look at hispanics, from 09 to 13 Median Income for sxanices has dropped 349 a year under reagan from 81 the 89 it rose 2,160 a year, 5. 7 . The reason that i am a conservative is because i believe the policies that best benefit teenage immigrants like my dad who were washing dishes, single moms who are waiting tables trying to provide for their kid one of the things i describe in my book, a lot of folks in my family are single moms. My mom was a single period when my dad left her. My sister was a sing mom. Both my aunts were single moms. That may be the hardest job in america being a single mom. People who are struggling need an environment where they get better opportunities, better wages. We create that environment. Thats something your dad understood so powerfully and it is what has drawn me to fight for that every day in politics