Keep track of the Republican Congress and follow members. New congress, best access on cspan cspan2, cspan radio and cspan. Org. Coming up, new Jersey Governor Chris Christie at a dinner. And then a state of the nation speech by japanese Prime Minister shinzo abe. And then another chance to see q a about internment camps in world war ii. The British Parliament was in recess last week so Prime Ministers questions will not be seen to. New jersey correct. Tonight. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie spoke at the Lincoln Reagan dinner. He discussed leadership in washington and reestablishing amount reputation in the world. This is an hour and 10 minutes americas reputation in the world. It misses and i wanted 10 minutes. This is an hour and 10 minutes. [applause] good evening. Thank you very much. Thank you. I have all of one town in a merrimack county, so im not running for anything. I wanted to come here and spend a little time with some good americans and good republicans. Very pleased that governor christie traveled up in this weather to be with us this evening as well. He is obviously not afraid of a little snow. Nor are we here in the granite state. I wanted to talk for a few minutes before i have the pleasure of introducing governor christie. I wanted to talk a little bit about why we are here and what we celebrate. This is president s day. And as i think of great leadership in america, i think of different time periods. Different leaders that we required over building our great nation. And i think of quotes, there are so many we could pull from. But i have a few i wanted to mention and talk about. The first is from our founding father, first president George Washington. Someing that we hope we can and should live by. And it is a very, very simple quote. But it has a very different meaning to a lot of people. To me is not just part of being a strong leader is a quote but it is a quote that i think embodies the republican party. It is very simple. The constitution is the guide which i will never abandon. Think about George Washington speaking about the importance of the constitution. As we endeavor on the challenges today, both here in concord and washington dc, far too many people ignore the basic evidence premise of following the constitution. But it is in part why we are here today. There are other quotes from great leaders. The first president that i remember that i grew up was ronald reagan. America is too great for small dreams. He was a visionary. Somebody who thought that america could always be better. Then what we were being offered, at the time. Something that i think again is a challenge that we have facing america today. Far too Many Americans feel that our best days are behind us, not ahead of us. Which is why the next election , the 2016 election, is such an important election. Not just for our party, but for the country. Requiring real leadership. Bold leadership. That is why we are excited in New Hampshire to once again host the first of the nations primaries. And then there are people like Teddy Roosevelt who said we must there to be great. Dare to be great. We must realize that greatness is the fruit of the toil and sacrifice and high courage. Another leader that took the world by his hands, demonstrated what leadership meant at a critical juncture in our nation. Well, i have had the fortune the good fortune of represented representing the first Congressional District for six weeks now. During the period of time, there are many quotes that i could quote from our current president. The one that i think frustrates americans the most is if you like your doctor, you can keep your dr. Not exactly a bold statement of leadership. In the first six weeks that i have served in congress this year, the president has issued more veto threats in this state of the union than any other president in the history of the state of the union. Think of that for a moment. Think of the difference between a ronald reagan, a George Washington, and what we have today as the current occupant of the white house. But in the house of representatives, you started, i think, we have started, i think we have started, i think, on a pretty good path. We are bringing conservative thoughtful, pragmatic leadership and thoughtful, pragmatic initiatives to the floor of the house. Bills that by the way, are getting bipartisan support. We are getting moderate democrats that are starting to realize the error of their ways. Energies that streamline and reform the Energy Process of america. And we actually voted in a bipartisan way to defund the president s amnesty proposal. This is just in the first six weeks. [applause] we also voted again to eliminate obamacare which we will continue to focus our efforts on because we know a topdown system is wrong for america. [applause] just last week, i found legislation to eliminate the cadillac tax which will hurt every taxpayer in the state of New Hampshire. We are only getting started. Trying to find not just Common Ground among republicans but finding Common Sense Solutions for america. So i am thrilled and pleased that i have the opportunity to represent our great state. And i will continue to do everything i can to represent not just you about not just do what not just you but the best interests of the state of New Hampshire. [applause] thank you. I would like to get on with introducing our guest speaker. Governor christie was sworn in as governor of new jersey on january 19, 2010 and reelected to a second term on nove, 2013. November 5, 2013. Under governor christie, new jersey has taken on the biggest and toughest challenges with Real Solutions and bipartisan cooperation. He has implemented an aggressive reform agenda to restore fiscal accountability to stay local state and local government. He has lowered jerseys property tax, and help benefit systems, and improved Public Education to ensure every child has access to a quality education. In his first term, governor christie fought for and achieved passage of a 2 property tax cap, Landmark Health and if it health and pension reform that will save taxpayers 130 billion, balanced budgets, and did not raise taxes. After years of decline, new jerseys economy has turned around. And more than 143,000 private sector jobs have been created under his tenure. In addition, governor christie has made education reform a top priority of his administration. Working to turn around failing schools, improving accountability, creating fair and meaningful Evaluation System for teachers and principals and increase School Choice in the states worstperforming district. He has provided billions of dollars in additional aid for schools. Setting a historic high for School Funding in three consecutive years. And in august of 2012, governor christie signed into law a landmark bipartisan tenure reform to increase teacher effectiveness and accountability in new jersey classrooms. Since Superstorm Sandy struck, in 2012, new jersey has made real substantial strides towards recovering and rebuilding. The administration has launched dozens of programs and services at a record pace to to place New Jerseyans back in their homes, reopen businesses, that were destroyed by sandy. A lifelong new jerseyan, governor christie has deep affection and a strong commitment to the state in which he has spent his entire life. Born in newark, raised in livingston, he has lived in new jersey is his entire life with the exception of the university of delaware. He and his wife have been married since 1986, where they are raising their four children. We are thrilled to have governor christie here in hampshire. We hope that governor christie will return to New Hampshire many times. We wish him Great Success in any endeavor. But please help me land a warm welcome to governor chris christie. [applause] thank you for thank you very much thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. It is good to be back. Frank, thank you for your introduction. Most of all let me thank you for your continued service. I was happy to lend my support to frank. He is exactly the type of person that we need down in washington , d c to keep that i am the ball eye on the ball and get our country moving forward again. I want to thank carrie and kathy for putting together the event tonight and for your invitation for me to be here. I want to thank jennifer burnett, it was great to see her again after being here many times before. Steve dupre, and susanna bergeron. Thank you for your service on the National Committee and to our party. And one thing i would like to make sure we do, i was talking about this to a number of votes folks i met with earlier today. Any of the veterans of the armed forces we have in the audience with you please stand and be recognized for us . [applause] thank you for your service to our country and thank you for making the world a better and safer place as well. I am really happy to be back in New Hampshire. I was here at least half a dozen times last year in 2014 to help support the candidacy of my friend will have an stein will. [applause] walt and judy, as you know, are great people and he was an outstanding candidate for governor. When i first started coming here to campaign for walt, i got all kinds of flak and commentary from my own state. What are you doing in New Hampshire . This is not even a race. What are you doing up there . We know what youre doing. You are getting ready to run for president. It has nothing to do with walt have an stein havenstein. I know the kind of man walt is. I knew what kind of candidate he would be. I let them keep talking about that and i kept coming. As chairman of the rga, i was proud to have our organization invest 3 million in walts campaign. And he ran again campaign a Great Campaign against the incumbent governor and we came just a bit short of victory. Nowhere the blowout some people in the press were predicting. It was a close race. When i watch what your governor is up to here now, presenting her budget, you need walt now more than you needed him last november. [applause] i love these politicians who run one way and then govern another. You did not hear the government talking about any of this stuff. I was up here a lot. Imagine if she had campaigned on what she is now proposing. Higher taxes, more spending, more employees in government and kino. Keno. Keno, always one of the keys of a free and prosperous state. Keno. Imagine if she had actually campaigned on the way she is governing. I expect we would have governor havenstein right now. It is something to remember. Certain politicians who try to pretend to be Something Different than what they are never really change. We saw the kind of campaign she ran in 2012 and then how she governed for two years. And that is why i believed we had a great shot with walt to defeat her. But the way she is governing now and what she did in 2012 to 2014 should be a cautionary tale for everybody in New Hampshire, no matter whether you are republican, democratic, or independent. She will use this platform as a way to try to increase her own visibility and run for the next job. Lets be careful. We have enough of those types in washington d. C. Already. We dont need you to send a more there. New jersey is more than filling your quota. So lets watch very carefully. And make sure we Pay Attention not just to what politicians say during campaigns, but what they do when they actually have the levers of power. Imagine if we had learned that lesson in 2012. After watching what four years of barack obama did to the United States of america. I know in 2008, he gave a speech about hope and change. He gave wonderful speeches about how we were not red states or blue states that the United States. That he was going to be a unifier for our country. That he was going to bring a different type of politics to washington d. C. Well in that respect, the president has been good to its word. Washington has never been more divided or less productive than it has been in the last six years under barack obama. As i traveled the country in the last year as the chairman of the republican governors association, i can tell you that the reports you hear from around the country that voters are angry is wrong. They are not angry. What i saw when i traveled across the country was a nation of voters filled with anxiety. Worry about our countrys future. Worry about their childrens future. It was personified best buy and 82yearold woman that i met in florida. I was working a rope line campaigning for rick scott. She summarized what i found the mood of the country to be. As i was shaking hands with people, i shook her hand. They teach you in politician school, keep moving. She grabbed my hand and held onto it. She said governor, i have a question for you. What has happened to our country . We used to control events. Now events control us. If you look at every aspect of this government under this president , she summarized the problem. A tax system that is grossly unfair and Encouraging Companies to leave our country. He does nothing to fix it. An Energy Policy that is not taking advantage of the resources that we have to provide stability for the world. He does nothing to fix that problem. He says his Energy Policies are all of the above. Ladies and gentlemen, that is not an Energy Policy, that is a bumper sticker. And it is beneath the office that he holds. A round the world in 2008, he tried to convince the American People that america is the cause of violence in the world. That if america would just pull back and give some nice speeches and tell people we like them that violence would decrease peace would increase, and stability would come to the globe. [crashing sounds] i had nothing to do with that. I swear. Nothing. [laughter] [applause] i think you can tell, i was nowhere near the scene. I cant say i have never done it, but i did not do it that time. Think about the world today, everybody. I am 52 years old. And i dont believe that i have ever lived in a time in my life were the world is a more dangerous and scary place. Think about it. I was just in Great Britain two weeks ago. I have not seen security to that heightened level since immediately after 9 11. It is difficult to move in certain places in london. Because of the concern for terrorist attacks. We saw the murders in france. And we watch people concerned about radical islamic terrorist attacks throughout western europe. You moved to the middle east area you move to the middle east. Iraq is on fire. Syria is on fire. Egypt is under martial law. Jordan is being besieged by a third wave of wartime refugees. Now from syria. Israel feels less secure today than it has in decades. Turkey is also threatened. You look at the entire region. Not only is there not peace, there is not stability. And running over it is a terrorist threat brought by both isis and al qaeda. This president had the audacity to tell us that terrorism is on the run. As they are burning jordanian pilots alive, as they are beheading hostages, does terrorism look like its on the run . We have not even gotten to Eastern Europe and russia. Vladimir putin has decided that it is time to get the old bands back together. He moves into crimea and ukraine and looks at the baltic states. And lets remember, it was secretary of state Hillary Clinton who hit the reset button with russia. Removed missiles from Eastern Europe and told us that we are moving to a new era of americanrussian relationships. And we sure did. We sure did. It was this president who drew a redline in syria. And said if assad uses chemical weapons against his people, america will not stand for it. And then when he did, he said never mind. And allowed russia to intervene in syria. Another moment of failed leadership for this president. You see, if you listen and start to list some of these things, i almost feel bad for the president. He is like a man wandering around in a dark room, feeling along the wall for the light switch of leadership. Well let me tell you something everybody, he hasnt found it for six years and he is not going to find it in the next two years of the white house. This is been an abject failure of leadership by this president and it is time for him to go. [applause] and one of the saddest things is that so many of these problems are solvable. But they are only solvable through the exertion of strong leadership by the person sitting in the oval office. See, my mother taught me a long time ago that if you have the choice between being loved and being respected, to pick respect. My mother said to me love without respect is fleeting. But if you have respect first, love can grow. Of course, she was talking to me about women. But it can apply just as much to politics and does. It does. You see, the problem around the world right now is that America America has lost respect in the world. See, folks used to try to be like us because they respected what we did. They wanted to emulate us. Our government worked well. Our leaders spoke strongly directly, and understandably. When we made promises, we kept them. When we made threats, we enforce them. And when we said we would lead we did. And we led the world. Now, not only do our adversaries not fear us, but our friends are worried. Friends around the world dont know what does it mean to be our friend anymore. Will america stand up and fight the fight that needs to be fought . And i dont mean just militarily. I mean diplomatically and economically. And they look at our dysfunctional government in washington d. C. And let me ask you something who would want to emulate that right now . I saw a recently that the Approval Rating of congress was 15 . The only question in my mind is, who are the 15 . Who are the people who look at that act and say, hey, that the is a good thing. Lets do more of that. We are not working together with each other anymore. We are not respecting each others opinions and we are not getting anything done. That adds to the nations anxiety as well. When they see we have problems that can be solved and need to be solved and we are not holding solving them that adds to the , anxiety of the people who are concerned about american standings. Listen, i come from new jersey. We are about as blue over a state of a state as you can find. Soon best hundred 50,000 more democrats 750,000 more democrats than republicans. We havent elected a republican to congress in 42 years. We havent elected a republican governor in 12 years. This is a blue state. When i ran for governor, they told me there was no chance i could win running against an incumbent democratic governor. We won. We won by telling the truth. We won by being direct. They told me in a state that by polling is prochoice that as a prolife candidate i am beginning to think it is me. [laughter] that as a prolife candidate, i could never be elected. There has not been a prolife candidate elected in new jersey since roe versus wade. I told people what i felt in my heart. I told the truth is i saw it on as i saw it on that issue. I was not only elected in 2009 but also reelected in 2013. You see, i think what really matters to full casinos matters to folks is do you get the job done and do you tell them what you believe from your heart, even if they dont agree with every word of it . And let me say this to my fellow republicans in this room, as we get ready to enter another National Primary season. If the standard you are going to hold every candidate to is that they must agree with you 100 of the time, let me suggest something to you. The only person you agree with 100 of the time is the person you see in the mirror every morning. That is it. No one agrees with everyone 100 of the time. The fact is, if we hold our candidates to Public Office to that standard, you will get liars. Let me tell you what you are going to get. Liars. If they believe the only way to get your vote is to tell you exactly what they think you want to hear, you will get what you want to hear during the campaign and the governing will not look anything like what you heard in the campaign. We need to demand the truth from the people who run for Public Office and then support them to do the difficult things that need to be done to get that job done. In new jersey, i inherited a government that, by the first pay. The second pay period of march 2010 would not be able to reach payroll. Imagine that. The second wealthiest state per capita in the nation and we wouldnt be able to meet payroll. That is how in debt we were, how much in deficit our budget was. The democrats in my legislature wanted to raise taxes again. As they had 115 times in the eight years before i had become governor. That was, of course, to support their 56 increase in spending in the eight years before i became governor. I said no. I vetoed their income tax increase then. I vetoed three more income tax increases after that. We balanced the budget each and every year, spending 2. 5 billion less today than we did in 2008. Having 8000 fewer employees on the state payroll today than we had when i became governor in january of 2010. But still spending a record amount on educating our children. Thats prioritizing, that is making hard choices, and that is saying no to the ravenous appetite of democrats and liberals for more taxes and more spending and bigger government. If we did it in new jersey, for for gods sake, we can do it in the United States of america too. [applause] how does it happen . It happens only through strong and principled leadership. That is it. And strong and principled leadership does not mean a refusal to compromise. Our nation is founded on our constitution. Our constitution was a product of compromise. And our constitution forces us if we are going to govern effectively, to compromise your it that does not mean you compromise principles. To compromise. That does not mean you compromise your principles. There is a broad highway of disagreements and agreements possible in government. We find our way to the areas where we move our nation forward. We have done that in new jersey. Without abandoning our principles. I have been told every once in a while that im a little bit too blunt and too direct. I like to fight a little bit every once in a while too much. I had one of your leaders say to me today that we dont want some kinder, gentler chris christie. We want the real chris christie. There is only one. This is it. There should be some comfort for you in that, i hope. [applause] anybody who offers some leadership in this country, not only should they tell you their positions, they should tell you you cant anticipate every issue that will come across your desk. What you need to know is the person. Where are they from and who are they from and what do they believe . Before i conclude today, let me tell you who i am and why i am the way i am. This direct, blunt, sometimes argumentative and fighting person from new jersey. Well, lets start off with the fact that i am the product of an irish father and a sicilian mother. [laughter] see what that means is, i have , been trained for a long time in conflict resolution. [laughter] [applause] listen, its not that my mom was argumentative. She would tell you she was not. She just never found an argument not worth having. She taught us from a very young age that that is the way you are to conduct yourself. You are to speak your mind. She would speak her mind all the time. Ultimately, we would say stop, that is enough. She would say, no i need to get this off my chest. There will be no deathbed confessions in the family. You are hearing it now. [laughter] that is the way our mother taught us to be. I have an irish father who is now 81 years old. He is getting ready for his 82nd birthday this april. I am healthy, happy, if he were here tonight, he would make his way around the room even more than i would. He would be hugging all of you and telling you embarrassing stories about me. I say i had a sicilian mother because my mom passed away about 10 years ago. She fell victim to lung cancer. And when my mom initially got sick, it became clear to us that she was declining very quickly. Im sure a number of you in this audience have gone through the same thing. And the end of april of 2004 she was hospitalized again. And i was u. S. Attorney for new jersey and i was off at a conference in san diego. My younger brother called me. He said mom is taking a real turn for the worse. If you want to see her again you need to come home now. So i took the redeye flight from san diego to newark. I got in the car, went directly to the hospital. And got there in the morning, my mom was there. She was kind of in and out of things. They started to give her painkillers. Finally, she woke up and saw me sitting next to the bed. This would be typical for my mother. She hadnt seen in five days. I didnt get a hello or how are you. She said, what day is it . I said it is friday. She asked what time it was. Ive said it was 9 00 in the morning. She told me to go to work. I told her i was taking the day off to spend it with you. I am not going to work. She said christopher, it is a workday. Go to work. I asked if she was worried about making her taxpayers money worth. I will make up the time. Without worry about it, i will stay with you do not worry about it, i will stay with you today. She reached over and grabbed my hand and said, christopher, go to work. It is where you belong. There is nothing left unsaid between us. She knew her life was at the end. And she told me there is nothing left unsaid between us. She was giving me permission to let her go. And that was the last conversation i had with her. Later that day she went to a coma and she died three days later. And so she was right. Those things she said before. There will be no deathbed confessions. You are going to hear it now. She was right. What she taught us was that in a trusting relationship, you need to tell the person across from you what you really feel. And i know that if she were still alive today to see the circus that my life has become that she would say, christopher, these people that you are asking to support you, that is a trusting relationship. Dont hide anything from them. Tell them who you are and what you feel. That is what you own them. What you old what you owe them. There will be times i will say things that will make you shake your head. There will be times i will say things in a way that will make you think he may be could have said that a bit better. But what you will never say is that i dont know who he is and i dont know what he believes and i dont know what he is willing to fight for and who he is willing to fight to get there. See i think that is the essence of leadership everybody. It is the essence of what you shoud demand of anyone who asks to lead in the society. To let you know who they really are and what they really believe in. So let me be clear about that with you. I believe this country is an extraordinary place. That it is the one great hope for peace and liberty and freedom in the world. I believe that we cannot and shold not be the first generati generation that leave this country weaker and lesser than it was left to us. I believe that we need to take the risk that will lead to us seizing the great opportunity opportunities that are presented to us as a country. I believe the only way that is going to happen is through our leaders displaying strength and vision and toughness and speaking directly and honestly not only to our people, but to the rest of the world. We havent had that for the last six years under this president. And we need to get back to that. We need to get back to it quickly. I will end with this. Frank mentioned president washington. And he was truly one of our great founders. But my favorite of our founders was from the state who is your neighbor. John adams was an extraordinary extraordinary leader for this country. And when our country was approaching its 50th birthday and adams was approaching the end of his life at the same time, he was concerned that our citizens were losing what it really meant to be an american. The essence of what their responsibilities were. In this great nation. So he wrote in his diary for posterity, for us, adams wrote for us. The future citizens of this country that he helped define. Helped to found. What did he write . Adams wrote, you shall never know the great sacrifices that were made to secure for you your liberty. I pray you will make a good use of it, for if you do not, i shall repent in heaven for ever having made the sacrifice at all. Adams, in his typical straightforward, blunt way laid the challenge at the feet of every generation of americans that would come after him. He did not want to die without laying that honest challenge before each and every generation that would follow him. Think about those words. I pray you shall make a good use of it. For if you do not i shall repent in heaven for ever having made the sacrifice at all. We are confronted today with the very real possibility that the 21st century would not be an american century. We are confronted with challenges at home and around the world that need to be confronted. We know what adams would tell us if he were here today. Get to work. Like my mother told me by that bedside. Get to work. This country is too great and too filled with promise. If tomorrow can be greater than its today that and its yesterdays if we are willing to stand up and fight for what we believe in and take on the tough challenges that make some uncomfortable but have always made america great. I am not willingly going to be a member of the generation who leave this country lesser and weaker than it was when i was born 52 years ago. And i dont believe that good people in this state will willingly be part of that generation either. So now it is time for us to decide. Are we willing to fight, are we willing to confront the difficult choices, and are we willing to lead our citizens and the world again . I believe we are. We just need to have the type of leadership in our country that inspires us to follow it. We have time to make this decision. But we have no time to waste. And so i am up here tonight, not only to support really good republicans, at every level of government who are doing great things to make our country a better place, but im also here to let you know that we have a lot of work to do. We have a lot of work to do to repair the damage that has been done to our country over the last six years. I will do my best to work with all of you to be a part of the solution to what ails america. And i know that solution is the strength that lies within each and every one of you. And so the great news is that is up to us. Like no place else in the world, it is up to us. We have, within our grasp, the ability to make the 21st century the second american century. We have within our grasp the opportunity to give our children an even greater place to live and raise their families. We have within our grasp the opportunity to make the world once again a stable and peaceful place. I know there is no way that guy from new jersey is going to go down without swinging on this one. And i believe in the live free or die state that you understand that too. [applause] so lets get to work, everybody. Lets make this country a better place. Lets fight for the things that deserve to be fought for. Let stand up for the principles we believe in. And lets make the solemn pledge to each other that we will leave america better than it was left to us. If we fulfill that, adams will not repent in heaven for having made the sacrifices he made. He will rejoice at the fabulous country that he helped build and that we made even greater. Thank you all very much. [applause] all right. Thank you so much, governor. In true New Hampshire style, we have time for a few questions. So if you would like to ask a question, please raise your hand. And he will come to you with the microphone. Over there. Governor, thank you. Thank you sir. Historically, traditionally we have seen that newly elected president s are able to pass one, maybe two uses of signature legislation. Were we fortunate enough to have you as our next president , what would one or two of those signature pieces of legislation be for you . I would say two things and then add a third thing that i think is extraordinarily important but wouldnt depend on legislation. The first is, we have to change this ridiculous tax system in this country to one that wants again once again encourages entrepreneurship and spurs Economic Growth better than the anemic 2 of growth we have now. That is what will increase opportunity and lifestyle in this country. It is something we absolutely have to do. So within the first 100 days, if i were to run for president and be elected, we would change this tax system so that people and companies arent leaving the country anymore, but are wanting to stay here and invest in america because they feel they are being treated fairly and given the right type of development to be able to develop and grow. Secondly, we would pass a national Energy Policy. And one that takes full advantage of all of the resources that we have available to us to help grow our economy and make the world more peaceful and stable. The fact is that america has great gifts that we need to take advantage of, not only for our own citizens, but for the world. And as i said before, all of the above is not a national Energy Policy. It is a bumper sticker. We need to get down to the granular level of a national Energy Policy that gives us the opportunity to exploit the opportunities that we have in this country. That would also lead to extraordinary Economic Growth. And the third thing is that would not be legislation but just the attention and care of the president is to reestablish American Leadership around the world by first reestablishing our relationships and friendships with our allies and making sure that our adversaries understand that we wish ill on no people in this world, but we will not stand for tyranny in the world that threatens our way of life and the way of life of our allies. We need to do both. And that is something a president can do without any legislation from congress but from his or her attention honesty, and time to spend with the leaders around the world. Two and a half. [applause] halfway across the room. I am going that way. One question that was submitted ahead of time. We are from New Hampshire. If we go to the ocean, we say we go to the beach. You say you go to the shore. We go to get a solid and you get a grinder or torpedo. You clearly get reelected multiple times in a blue state. We are saying the same thing with beach or sure. How could you translate the same thing you have done in new jersey to the national level. Well, i dont think there are different brands of honesty. In New Hampshire or new jersey or florida or texas or california. Straightforwardness and honesty is what it is. Listen, in new jersey, i told you what a blue state we were. I got 48. 5 of the vote. I dont is a conservative for four years governed as a conservative for four years. And what happened in that blue state . I ran for reelection against a female opponent, a state senator. I got 61 of the vote for reelection. I won by 22 points. Won 51 of the hispanic vote, 22 of the africanamerican vote, up from 9 four years earlier. Honesty and straightforwardness plays no matter what neighborhood you are in in new jersey, or what state you are in in america. Thats the way you would do it. [applause] another question over here. Governor, my name is wayne. I am a Political Science professor at new england conference. College. New england college. Recently, i have seen a lot of veterans coming back to school. I think that is encouraging. Im the son of a 100 disabled veteran. Ive seen what happens when we dont take care of the veterans when they come home. I think we have a crisis in this country that we are ignoring. Veterans returning from war. And i like to know what you would think of doing to support the men and women that go into harms way. First of all, we should be keeping the promise we made them when they volunteered to provide the service. And the fact is the scandal that is happened at the Veterans Administration is a national disgrace. The fact that our veterans were being kept away and turned away from the health care that we promised them, both for their physical wellbeing and their mental wellbeing, is an unacceptable state in this country. And it not only affects those veterans, it affected the morale of the active fighting men and women as well. Look at it and say is that my fate . The need to make the Veterans Administration, not just a Governmental Department but people who understand that their Mission Every day is a moral promise that we have made two to men and women who have put their lives on the line for our country. It is not just another job. It is the fulfillment of a sacred promise that our nations citizens have given to those who been willing to sacrifice for war. The first way to fix that problem is to reorient the Veterans Administration as to what their mission really is. It is not just the veterans, it is to those who are serving now. Second, it is to bring the type of management into effect that is going to demand those type of result. And third is to make sure that it is funded so that not only their physical health is dealt with, but their Mental Health as well. And those i think those are the ways you deal with those issues at the federal level. We have time for one more question. This young lady up here. Thank you. Governor christie, i wanted to thank you for your strong support for National Education standards and common core in the classroom. I know you have expressed some concerns previously about the obama administrations interference with that. Now that you have teachers unions in new jersey and elsewhere, attacking Higher Standards and also trying to avoid testing to measure those results, isnt now the time to stand up for Higher Standards and accountability . Sure. It absolutely is. But lets be sure that we know that those higher standard should be determined by the people who are educating the children in those particular states. And my concern about what the administration has done is the federalization of this that takes education further and further away from parents, its not the kind of education that i think we wanted this country or need. Want in this country or need. There is nothing more personal for a mother or father then the education and the future of their children. What we need to be doing as i mentioned to somebody earlier is encouraging parents to be even more involved. My concern about what is happening in this debate is that, by federalizing this and taking it further away, you cant do the two things at the same time. You cant take it to washington , d c while also saying that the role of parents is vital. You have to be full participants in it. The two things are opposites. And so we need to have absolute standards. And i believe in making sure that we test. And we are taking some heat for that in new jersey now. But i believe in testing. Because we need to know if our children are learning and if they are meeting standards that will help them maximize their the godgiven ability they have been given. But i am very concerned about the idea that we would federalize this. The further education moves away from the parents home, away from the local school, and even the local board of education or education commission, i think it is a problem. We need to empower parents first and foremost, teachers next, and administrators who are responsible for the quality of the school to set high standards and enforce those high standards in a way that meet the communitys expectations for their children. And so i dont think there should be any debate about there being high standards. The question is, who determines those high standards. Should a bureaucrat in the department of education and washington in washington be deciding it or should local School Boards be deciding it where you or i as a parent can walk into the meeting and say, excuse me, i object. Or to applaud them for standing strong for something and then they have the communitys support. That is the essence of the right type of educational system. There are a lot of other problems with the educational system that we have talked about. It is antiquated. We need to modernize it. We need to adjust to different types of children who need different types of things. There cant be onesizefitsall for education. The child who is in a singleparent home or a home where both parents work three or four jobs, that child leave the different level of support from that child needs a different level of support from school that a child who has more support at home. This is not about making parents at fault. This is about adjusting to the circumstances we have and trying to maximize the godgiven ability that is in each of these children, whether they live in a major city or on a farm, within a high performing Suburban School or a low performing school somewhere else in the state. I think high standards are exactly where we need to be. 80 to be high standards that the community determines it is comfortable with so they will support it and be a part of the team that makes our children the priority. Not the comfort of adults, but the needs of our children. I will tell you that i think this is the biggest fight that we have for americas continued economic strength. We can no longer continue to be 25th in math and 27th in science in the world and consider we will still be the number one economic power in the world. So if we do not get focused on this everybody, if we still consider ourselves more concerned about whether everyone is going to like us and everyone is going to feel comfortable and every adult is going to feel good more than we care about whether our children are producing, we are going to wind up falling behind. And so it is a really important question and a really important area that i care deeply about as a governor. And have worked really hard on. I think we need to encourage everybody from the Community Level up to focus on this. These children are going to be who will determine the greatness of america. And we as parents and supporters in the Community Need to be focused on it. So thanks for the question. I will just say i have done 127 townhall meeting since i been governor of new jersey. I know i have to get back home. But this is really light so i hope when i come back that we are going to get more questions and more time to have a conversation and a back and forth. If any of you havent seen that, go on the internet and look at some of our more interesting interactions with my constituents back in new jersey. In townhall meetings. We have a lot of fun. We go back and forth. We discuss important issues. And i know you like to do that of your up here. The more i come back, the less speech you were going to get and the more time you will get to ask me questions and challenge me. That is when i most company. Thanks for being here tonight and for being great republicans. Thank you very much. [applause] we wanted to just present to governor christie a little taste of New Hampshire. I wanted to thank howard and robin for putting this basket together. It has got all kinds of maple goodies. Thank you so much for coming. Thank you. My son patrick who is 14, i told him i was going to New Hampshire. The last time i was here, i bought maple syrup with walt. And the kids loved it. Especially patrick who has a bit of a sweet tooth. I told him and my other kid, they were home from school today, so they saw me leave to come up here, and they had two different reactions. Patrick said, am i going to get there . Get syrup . In my 11yearold said, where are you going . And i said i am going to New Hampshire, and she just rolled her eyes and read the president day. Thing. Thank you. I appreciate it. [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2015] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org]