Transcripts For CSPAN Capitol Hill Hearings 20120808

deliberations. they discussed a variety of issues, including gay marriage and, on the environment, and health care. the meeting is in indianapolis. >> i want to thank all of the groups to have come before us this weekend and provided testimony. we want to keep the floor open. we want to hear from one of our grass roots activists and leaders. four years ago, we introduced a component to our platform drafting process that recall listening to america. we have reached out to supporters across the nation to solicit input on our party's platform. we continue this out reached in 2012 by creating an online portal for democrats at all levels to submit their testimony to this committee. hundreds have been received over the past few weeks and days. today we will hear from several individuals who are representative of the submissions that have been received. for this section of our meeting, i will introduce our speakers who have volunteered their time to come and share their stories with us today. after their testimony, the committee can ask questions. once again, because we have many coming before us, we encourage you to be as concise as you can be with your testimony and with their questions. we want to hear from everyone. we will begin this section with a hearing from peggy. she represents listening to america. she is a member of a band. she is also a former elected official. she is a longtime political activists and community organizer. she is a director of external affairs at wellstone action. thank you for coming. we look forward to hearing your story. >> good morning. my name is peggy. i am a member and my family is the wolf clan. we are the protectors of the community. we are making sure we are not leaving people behind. we want to ensure our culture, language, and way of life is honored and protected. that is why i do this work. through my role at wellstone action, i run that need of american leadership program. we trouble all around the country and teaching folks to work on campaigns and run for office and make peace in their communities. during that time, i have been able to see firsthand really what a difference having barack obama as president has been for us. i am not speaking with my nonprofit role, but as an activist. it is important to know that it is out there. people know. i think first of all does a storm, perhap -- just a stark ct we have had. for the first time, i feel like as a native women, native american, you can see me. for many years, we felt invisible. with the leadership of president obama, for the first time i really feel like i have a voice and representation in the white house. president obama has kept many of the promises he made when he was on the campaign trail. let me tell you as a native person and having elected officials on their promises, that is a big deal. to see the follow-through and the commitment to the country has been very powerful. the nation to nation relationship in honoring that and in the government and honoring the promises and literally meaning annually with tribal leaders across the country sends the message that he is listening. the appointment of several native staff members threw out the administration, i can see myself -- t hroughout the administration, i can see myself. that speaks volumes on how the president has really supported native folks. the declaration on the rights of indigenous people of the year and that the president signed on to in 2010, we were one of the last nations to sign on. it seems like simply signature saying this is important. but it goes a long way. it is symbolic. it shows that it is a new era we are entering into. it is a time when native people are being honored and respected in this country. we are seen as partners. i think the affordable health care act is something that we talk a lot about nationally in. for native people, this is really important. it is very special. when affordable health care act was passed, it meant that the health care was passed. we are getting additional funding and resources. what i have seen in the past is that family members are having amputation because their diabetes has gotten out of control. that was sort of the norm. we would treat a problem when it got so bad that it was the only option you had. now with the affordable health care act and the native indian health care act, we can talk about prevention. how we treat our families is healthy. i work with a lot of young people in the community. so often when they hear is that when i get diabetes -- and that is not a sentence i want to hear any more. we are on the right path now that we have the opportunity to teach prevention and have a debased in a culture and have policies in place that teach folks. that can be reflected in taking care of 1's health and families. as a survivor of domestic violence and a child witness, this act means a lot to me personally. native women, one in three native women, will be raped or sexually assaulted in her lifetime. we should be on fire with that statistic. i think the signing of the trouble law and order to act was a for step in ensuring that these crimes against our communities would be prosecuted and that there'll be more coordination with law enforcement. the native does not mean that different laws apply to you. it means that you will be protected. it means you can have the expectation of safety, just like everyone else. for me personally, with my own personal experience and also the other expenses of other people, it means a lot. looking forward, i think there is always room for improvement. the last few years have been very fundamental. it seems the president deserves four more years to see how much further we can go. i look forward to knocking on doors and calling people. if i have to wear a sandwich board on the side of the road, i will do it. there is a lot of damage that was done under the bush administration. we are only beginning to see how we can reach our full potential by partnering in this government to government relationship. in addition to being a member, i am also an urban indian. we have opportunities to think big. how come we also serve the need and ensure we are working partnerships with urban and native americans. there are several opportunities there. i look forward to that. there is of the current economic crisis our country faces. indian country is impacted dramatically by the economic situation. what we can look forward to and focus on for the next four years is a job creation and economic development and trying to make sure it happens. finally, one of the things i about ise tyou to think that we need and native american caucus. an official native american caucus at the dnc. we want to get more need of delegates. this president -- this is the beginning of an opportunity to further relationships with native communities. i want to be a part of that. i want to help. it will take a commitment from the dnc as a whole to make sure that happens. those are my comments. >> thank you for your testimony. questions from the committee? yes. >> i want to thank you for coming in and testifying before as today. you are wonderful. i appreciate what you have to offer. i myself am a native american. who from our community would come and talk to this committee about the importance of what the president has done for us and what work has to be done in the next four years? i know in 2008, native americans really rallied behind president obama. in some of the states like south dakota and arizona, they jump through hoops to get him into office. he has in turn done well by our community. one of the things yet to be done is the passage of the authorization of the violence against women act. we know that republicans have essentially gutted those protections that have been in place before. i was wondering if you might speak to us a little bit about the value of that to indian country. >> absolutely. thank you per your question. in addition to my role, i work a lot in this. sheila has been a lot of time in native communities and talking to survivors and advocates. it is critical, this passage. the proposed act stand against violence and of our native women act would address the gap between law enforcement to ensure that these cases would not slip through the cracks. need women should feel safe and supported to report these crimes -- native women should feel safe and supported to report these crimes. it is critical that we get the president re-elected, but in the congress and senate as well. we need folks will be champions for native women. i agree with you. it is critical. i also think that the job and the role of native americans is to tell a story and talk to our family and friends. anyone who will listen in our community to talk about a critical it is to re-elect the president and all of the promises he has kept. i am looking forward to the next few months of being able to do that. i call on other members of tribal communities to do the same. >> we have two more questions. we're not quite halfway through our presenters yet. please keep your questions as concise and answers as concise as possible. we want to make sure everyone who has come to speak with us has the opportunity to do so. yes. >> thank you, mr. chairman. as an adoptive member of a tribe, can you speak a little bit about the importance of education and the importance of that education in the leadership of indian country and sovereign nations as all of you come back to those spaces? >> absolutely. i am a recovering in annapolis school board member. it is something i takes here say. education is the foundation for nation-building. i think one of the things the president is committed to is honoring culture and language within the education of native children. i'm a person from my own expense that if i did not see myself reflected in the curriculum or in my teachers, i would not have value education as much. that is what will be bridging that gap. it is critical for us to rebuild our nation. it is supported to have native children reflected in their education. >> over here. >> i want to thank you for your testimony. we will be and are looking forward to having a native american caucus at our convention. as you probably know, we have a native american council at the dnc. we are looking for new members. we work hard to attain that some of the members can become a caucus. i welcome your comments. i wanted you to know that we agree. we are working on it. >> thank you. >> thank you for coming in. ms. seger testimony. our next presenter is the-thank you for your testimony. our next presenter is caroline kaiser. she has come to us today to share her personal expenses as a result of the attacks on public workers her state of wisconsin. thank you for coming in. we are anxious to your to have to say to us. >> good morning. i appreciate this opportunity to speak with you at the democratic national platform. in my history as working as a licensed practical nurse in the department of health services in wisconsin. i'm currently employed as a field representative. in wisconsin, we value fairness above all, but for members in my home state, the balance has been tipped toward injustice. today, i would like you to highlight two issues on the platform that would level the playing field for public employees -- collective bargaining and federal aid for the public service is that we provide. i am sure you have heard a thing or two are probably 20 of the struggles of public workers that we have had with our governor in the past year. but it all comes down to collective bargaining. we took a big hit when governor walker sold our right to bargain. his action show why we need a democratic party to do all they can to protect collective bargaining rights in public and private sectors. i work with people will have a dual diagnosis of mental illness and disabilities. because of walker, workers in this agency are no longer able to negotiate with our administration about the issues of safety for the workers and clients. that worries me and worries my colleagues. the need for safety equipment used to be a subject of collective bargaining. now we have no collective voice to make sure we have the safety equipment we need. on top of that, there's a feeling a vacancy. the staffing requirements, employees have to work overtime. this work is challenging enough without having to work extremely long days. members are feeling the impacts of unfilled vacancies. they are expected to perform the same work with fewer employees. when they say to finish the work, they know they will not paid -- get paid overtime, but reprimanded. workers across the board are facing these problems and many more. the stakes are high for us and for our communities that we serve. i am asking you to protect collective bargaining rights. we need you to help us get rid of the obstacles that are in the way for more workers to become a union representative. for us in wisconsin, we will keep fighting our battle. i would like to raise another issue for both state employees and for our communities, and the that is the funding that we provide. in my work, federal funding through medicaid and other programs are our lifeblood. that funded let's as to what we do and do it well. it is true that in many of the areas, including highway maintenance and university systems of public safety, this funding is critical. i hope the platform will have a strong statement about increasing funding to both state and local governments. i know that money does not fall from trees. it does not fall from the sky. we from wisconsin are thrilled that president obama is pushing to end the tax cut for the richest 2% of our country. those 2% do not pay their fair share of taxes. my family and the families that i work with do pay our fair share. we are asking the democratic party to support getting rid of the tax breaks for the millionaires and billionaires. working families are still struggling in this economy. strengthening this is to make sure the workers like me to have their voices heard. it when the government to fully support the work that we do and that our communities reliant. thank you. >> thank you for coming in and the good work that you do. are there questions from the committee? yes. >> thank you for traveling here from wisconsin to tell us your story. wisconsin has had a rough and dramatic year, starting with governor walker's assault on government employees. he also mentioned state and local aid and letting the bush tax cuts expire. can you talk a little bit about how -- there were a lot of folks that are out of the capital and standing with all of you. if you could say a few words about that. >> i was there on the first day it happened in february and of 2011. we were overwhelmed and humbled. we were honored that many people realize the work that other people do. many people came who were not union members. their kids had teachers and had gone to teaching hospitals and things like that. and brought out the worst of everyone. everyone has a role. >> thank you. >> other comments and questions? you do hard work and serve honorable people. we honor you today. we thank you for being here. >> thank you. >> our next presenters are two. amy ward and ross daniels. they are from west des moines. they will be talking about the affordable health care act on their own lives. we look forward to their testimony. >> thank you. to the distinguished members of the platform committee, i want to say thank you for inviting my husband and i to share our stories, particularly how obamacare helps my family during a catastrophic illness. last summer, we took a vacation in northern minnesota. my husband likes to fish and i like to cardiac. it was a great vacation -- i like to kayak. it was a great vacation, but as i was getting out of the kayak, i slepped. -- slipped. i fell in to the water and swallowed some water. the doctor said i had a mild case of pneumonia. i thought after a few days of antibiotics, i would be back to normal, but i was wrong. one week later, i was on life- support and a medically induced,. a terrible infection was raging in my body, but doctors had no clue what was causing it. even though i was on a ventilator, my body could not get enough oxygen. my lungs had failed. i developed septic shock. my kidneys failed. my digestive system failed. my liver was not working so well. multiple blood transfusions. because of the kidney failure, i was on constant dialysis for two weeks. i learned later that my chances for survival and were very low. about one in three. finally, my doctors decided what was making me sick. i had contracted a rare, and ammonia in my lungs from the one mouthful of lake water. just one. i was lucky though. there was a medication that could help me. that medication cost $3,000 per day. i was in a coma overall for six weeks. this is what it took to save my life. extremely expensive, cutting edge, a bioengineered medication. the most advanced medical technology available for the ventilators and the dialysis machine and more. but also, the finest specialist in infectious diseases and cardiology and ear, nose, and throat. definitely the finest nurses. nearly two months in intensive care. when i awoke from my,, i wish shocked. almost all of my strength was gone. i needed help with everything. after those two months of intensive care, i had one month of inpatient physical therapy. later, i needed, nursing and home equipment. i doctors gave a recommendation to help me breathe better. as you can see, i still have it in due to complications, i have no voice for several months. i still need this to breathe well and speak well. i have had four surgery is to help me breed and speak better. i know that i need at least one more. i have had to learn to walk and care for myself again. all of this was caused by one mouthful of lake water. the cause of my i see you today practically exceeded -- my icu practically exceeded a huge amount. the amount is now $1.5 million. i was lucky that my health insurance no longer had a $1 million cap. before i got sick, i was at $1 million would take about -- take care about anything. i could not imagine i would need $1 million worth of care. when i looked at that $1 million limit on the health insurance card, that number seemed just fine. i was wrong to think that $1 million would always be enough of healthetime's worth care. i am grateful that i have the resources to get well. before obamacare, we would have gone bankrupt trying to do so. one day, i will be well enough to go back to work because of obamacare. i pre-existing condition will not exclude me from employer insurance plans. even though i in getting better, the battle for making health care available to all americans is still raging. many people still need help. for that, we need all states to participate for the medicaid expansion. we need the scientists to make funding decisions for the future of biomedical research. we need to make sure that high- tech drugs, like the one that saved my life, will continue to be developed. we need the public to understand their new obamacare privileges. tax credits on public exchanges will help reduce the impact of annual premium increases that some of the players have blamed on obamacare rather than taking responsibility for their own business decisions. as i look back, my illness has completely changed how i looked at health care in america. if you remember anything i say today, please remember this -- i am an average person. i am a daughter, wife, a sister, and a friend. my illness was a total fluke. but it can happen to anyone, even to you. our health care system needs to be ready both for you and for all americans. thank you for listening. my husband will now speak. >> to distinguish members of the plot for a committee, i would like to thank the democratic members of congress and many others who have put their own political careers on the line to support affordable health care act. you represent the finest examples that by two and my personal heroes, senator kennedy, said that there are those who look at things the way they are and ask why? i dream of things that never were and asked, why they not? senator edward said kennedy the passage of health care for all americans. he made his life work. my wife and i thank you at the bottoms of our heart. we implore you to enlist help in whatever way you deem fit. there is distortion surrounding the affordable health care act. our own senator calls and one of the most compassionate pieces of legislation in generations. my wife and i feel it is our personal and moral obligation to share our story in the hope that by doing so, americans will finally be able to put real human names and faces and stories to the law that is benefiting millions of middle class americans. separating the truth of the law of from the malicious and inexcusable lies. yes, lies, surrounding this law. as my wife eloquently and courageously shared, we know the truth about obamacare. it is a term with the utmost pride. we know the truth far better than most. amy and i have been fortunate to have excellent insurance through our employers. prior to the signing of obamacare, her insurance was capped of ove$1 million. had it not been for the immediate relief on the cap was the president sign this legislation, we would have almost certainly needed to declare bankruptcy to cover the expenses necessary to save her life. i asked you to please imagine for just one moment the stress and staying in intensive care and praying with your entire sole for the life of your spouse or shild. this was my -- soul praying for your spouse or child. imagine the heartbreak of telling your partner child as they were awakened from a life- threatening illness that because they're bad luck are freak accident, the dreams are retirement, a college education, and even keeping your home are now gone. you may lose everything because you chose to keep them alive. imagine their feelings of shame and guilt at hearing what the their illness has caused their family. finally, imagine hearing why your wife lies in a coma. the heartless cries of, let them die. fallen by applause during a discussion of a hypothetical situation similar to ours -- followed by applies in a similar situation two hours. this was my agony. thanks to obamacare, these financial fears were not part of the agony i faced. i remember clearly soon after she awoke from her,, when she was beginning to understand all that happened, she asked me with tears in her eyes, how will we pay for all of this? what will be due? i continue to stroke her beautiful red hair. i looked into her eyes and told her lovingly, sweetie, do you not worry about a thing. obamacare say best. the republicans would rather have voters hear anything other than the true stories, like ours, of real middle class americans being saved from financial ruin our event death by the president's signature achievement. we hope by sharing our personal story about this landmark legislation that has been ruthlessly distorted for so long that normal middle class americans will finally learned and listen up to the truth about this law. i will happily put our real expenses up against any multimillionaire or political pundit anytime, anywhere to help america do just that. thank you. >> i wanted thank you you and your wife for sharing your story. we need to move along. we still have many people to hear from. what i will do is start inviting a couple up at that time to testify together. are there any questions for amy or ross? well, thank you for your testimony. what i will do is invite carol burman and leon together. carol is a west palm beach volunteer to preserve social security and medicare. leon is a president of the covers of retired americans. we are happy to hear from the two of you. we will be holding up that time card. please share from your heart and be as concise as you can. we look forward to hearing from you. >> i know this comes with ill grace from someone in my line of work, but i think if people can stop from repetition, i think that will help with the time. >> thank you. we will hear first from carol. >> my name is carol. i am from florida. before moving to florida, and lived in ohio. over there, my husband bec came down with alzheimer's. areake ends meet, i sold modest but home and moved us to a small apartment. the soon after, he broke his hip in day care. he had to have surgery. even after rehabilitation, he could no longer walks. the average costs per month for the facility costs about $4,000. each and every month, i was forced to sell something else of value just to get by. for two more years, i managed by cashing in all of our assets except for my own individual 401k, which does not yet eligible for social security. it was all i have left. when it became clear that there were signs he would not last longer and that my financial future was in serious jeopardy, i hired an elderly care attorney to advise me to hire a worker. this person could not understand why i was concerned about depleting my funds to the last dollar. she'd tell me the state of ohio would take care of me by making me eligible for section a housing and good stamps -- food stamps and other welfare programs. in addition, my husband would be put in a nursing home. i cannot believe this is my only option. it is not what i dreamed up for my retirement years. i went back to the elderly care attorney and asked him if there was any way at all that i could avoid impoverishment and still preserve my only remaining source of money, my 401k. that is when he told me that to do this, i would have to do the unthinkable. i would have to divorce my has been. so i did. thankfully since my daily visits to the nursing home never wavered, he never knew the change in our marital status. he greeted me the same way every day during this terrible time with, "here comes the pretty lady," because he could not remember my name. i feel guilty to this very day that the only evidence open to me -- option open to me was to take a drastic measure to avoid party in my retirement years. this is why i do not understand why been many in washington want to cut already modest medicare and social security benefits. we should be looking for ways to improve these programs. that should include long-term care benefits. that we if we get sick, we do not have to go on welfare to pay for our care. seniors want to remain independent. that will become even harder if the programs would have paid into our tar lives continue to be the focus up costs cutting plans in washington -- in our entire lives continue to be the focus of costs cutting plans in washington. social security and medicare were the lifelines that i needed to come through that very difficult time. they are lifelines that future generations will also need. they should be protected. they should be strengthened. they should not be cut. they should not be privatized. i thank you for allowing me to testify. >> carol, thank you for your compelling testimony. your testimony has touched all of us in a very deep way. leon, we are ready to hear from you. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i am from a grass-roots organization advocating for seniors and retirees. i am also president of an alliance of retired americans. i appreciate this time to speak. the 2012 elections will be the first time in history in which the majority of voters are over the age of 85. president johnson signed medicare -- medicare into law for millions of retirees. august 14, we celebrate the anniversary of social security. it is felt lasting legacy of franklin roosevelt. it is one of the great anti- party programs. -- anti-poverty programs. after decades of hard work, you will be able to spend time with family and friends. obama's affordable health care act was a victory for our families and friends. last year, over 32 million seniors received at least one new preventive care benefit the medicare. one test discovered my cancer. i am happy to say that after two years, i am cancer free. social security is a program that represents the best of american and values. it is a reward and responsibility in. we reject the notion of the republican nominee that we should turn social security into welfare. as russia's security benefits are earned. when the time comes to retire, -- social security benefits are earned. when the time comes to retire, it is earned. to all of us, social security and medicare are promises society made to middle class men and women who work hard and played by the rules. but to mitt romney, social security and medicare are two privatized.could be dramatiz i am an electrician who worked 40 years. i cannot see myself working toward -- vis-a-vis a cruel and terrible way to treat those who have physical demanding jobs all their lives. the alliance for retired american support a strong and platform committed to preserving and protecting social security and medicare. these programs are the bedrock of the democratic party. we owe it to our children and grandchildren. the future older americans, the democratic party stands ready to keep them strong and vibrant. thank you for this opportunity. i will answer any questions. thank you. >> thank you for your compelling testimony. are there questions for either of them from the committee? thank you very much. thank you for coming and for your testimony. next, we'll hear from charlie and karen morgan. they are here to discuss some of the obstacles they are facing as a same-sex couple, despite the fact they are legally married in their home state of new hampshire. thank you for being here. we look forward to your testimony. >> good afternoon, mr. chairman. members of the drafting committee. my name is charlie morgan. this is my wife, karen. i have served our great nation in uniform for more than 17 years. i would like to congratulate rep frank on his recent marriage. my wife, karen, is a special education teacher. she has been forced to quit work so she can care for our 5-year- old daughter as i battle stage four breast cancer. karen will do most of the speaking today. my voice is very weak due to a tumor pressing against my vocal chords. >> thank you, charlie. my wife, charlie, and i have been together for more than 15 years. throughout this time, we have been committed to each other in ways that are similar to the way you are committed to your spouse is our life partners. we were joined in a silvecivil s in vermont. -- union in vermont. celebrating our marriage with family and friends, affirming and strengthening our commitment to one another in making the universal promised to share all of life's the joys and sorrows together has made our relationship stronger. it is also made our family stronger. that is just it. we are a family, just like any other family. we base our relationship on love, honor, and respect. my commitment to charlie and our commitment to our daughter is the most important part of our lives. when charlie and i swore our lives to each other, we meant for ever, for better or for worse, in sickness and in a help. we also believe in serving our country. that is why they turley is an active guard -- charlie in is an active part. she went to kuwait for a year. it is why i took leave from my career as a special education teacher to support her deployment and take care of our daughter and now take care of charlie during her sickness. in spite of all of that and in spite of the fact that we are legally married, the u.s. government still tweets us as legal strangers. our government will not the best traits -- treats us as legal strangers. our government will not recognize us. we cannot afford health insurance. i am on able to get an military i.d. to have access to the facilities and services that other families automatically enjoy. when charlie and our daughter go into the base to buy groceries, i am forced to stand outside and wait for them. i cannot even go inside. our government, the one that charlie serves every day, even now with her cancer, will not provide benefits should she not win her canter battle. i need those benefits in order to care for our daughter. perhaps this is the scary is part of all. in 2008, charlie was diagnosed with breast cancer. she had multiple rounds of chemotherapy to save her life. she has a filter duty in kuwait in 2010 and returned home to our family. -- the field per duty in kuwait in 2010 and returned home to our family. her cancer came back. she has undergone multiple rounds of chemotherapy and radiation since. frankly, we do not know how long she will be with us. military survivor benefits cannot save her life, but they can make sure that our family is able to keep going if she loses her battle with cancer. charlie travel to washington to house ith a staff of ho speaker john boehner. she asked him to drop his legal dissent of the so-called defense of marriage act, which renders our marriage a second class reunion in the eyes of the federal government. he ignored her pleas. hearing president obama express his support for the freedom to marry in may, we had new hope. here was our commander in chief, standing behind our families and asserting that we were just as deserving of the special commitment as any other family. as a military family through and through, we carried estimate of solidarity as a keep pushing every day to be treated just like any other family in the u.s. we are asking you today to stand with our family and many other committed same-sex couples and families by making marriage for all committed couples part of the party platform. we are asking you to take a stand for a quality, for love, and for families like ours coordination. >> leaders and gentlemen, i am not afraid to die. as a soldier, i accepted this possibility. but i am afraid that my wife one not receive the benefits to take care of our daughter when i am gone. thank you for the opportunity to share our story. >> thank you very much for coming and sharing your personal story. you have touched all of our hearts. we certainly appreciate your service to our country and your commitment to each other. thank you for being here. congressman. >> it is kind of you to sugar personal pain and help others avoid it. we are deeply -- of you to share your personal pain and help other people avoided. we are deeply grateful. one week ago on thursday, we voted on a motion by a republican member of the house to reaffirm the defense of marriage act. the federal government does not consider your merit as second- class union. it considers it non-existent. the vote in the house to reaffirm doma, 230 republicans boded in reaffirmation of it. five voted against it. on the democratic side,17 voted for it. the republicans a 98% want to continue to deny your rights. when the house leadership voted on whether to go to court to -- i thank you. this is ia fight. lemme put this on the platform -- i hope we will. >> thank you. >> thank you. any other questions? >> excuse me. it is my husband. >> thank you. aaron.e'll hear from aaron is here on behalf of stonewall democrats. he is a lgbt activist. he is here to speak with us about his experiences and marriage equality. thank you for being here. >> good afternoon. thank you for allowing me to speak today. my name is aaron. i am speaking on behalf of the national stonewalled democrats. we are working with the democratic party to help elect democrats. i represent a number of others who wanted to testify today, but were unable to attend. we are here to advocate for passage on our planned that speaks specifically to pull marriage equality in the democratic national convention platform. this is a leap for our party that our party is not ready for or it may be politically unwise to do this now. as lgbt and vigils, we are ready for marriage -- individuals, we are ready for marriage. we want to change the definition of the word "merit." -- "marriage." ,e're not seeking to change its but to join marriage. strong families are built on love, commitment, and responsibility. to me, the idea of love and marriage and equality is just that. love. there are numerous practical matters and provisions in our laws that allow us to care for and protect our families. in the state of minnesota alone, there are least 515 laws to which same-sex couples do not have access. an examination and conducted by the accountability office in the aftermath of the passage of the defense of marriage act revealed over 1100 federal rights and protections for which same-sex couples are barred. these range from areas that affect our lives. this includes public services, raising children, property ownership, and so on. it is important for me to tell you how much this means to me on a personal level. but brother adam will be getting married this september to the woman that he loves. it is heartwarming to see a plan for the day, but i admit i am a little envious at the same time. i cannot have the same opportunity that he does. i cannot wait for that day that we all dream about. i want to be able to get down on one knee and instead of saying will you domesticship me? i will be about to say, will you marry me? today, i ask you to say, i do, to allow committed, same-sex couples to be included in the marriage a quality. thank you for your >> thank you, aaron zellhoefer, and would you introduce the person to your left? >> i can introduce myself. my name is wes and i retired from the military after 32 years. i have five children, 11 grandchildren, and i'm a retired police officer on the civilian side. that there's some light on what i am willing to say. high and not want to ask for anything from you people, -- i am not going to ask anything from you people, but to thank you for what democratic leadership has done in respect to don't ask don't tell. i want to expect -- i want to express my appreciation for those who persevered. the president will long be remembered for doing this, just as president truman was remembered for desegregating the military in 1950 or so. i just want to talk briefly about this and tell what the effect of them -- effects have them. part of this relates to what admiral mullen said to the senate when he gave his testimony. i want to read a portion of this testimony from february 2, 2010, which was a brilliant stroke by the president to send him forward to do that and i also believe admiral mullen felt it from the bottom of this art. it is my personal belief that allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly would be the right thing to do. the matter how i look at this issue, i cannot escape being troubled by the fact we have not placed a policy is to replace the policy that forces young men and women to lie about who they are to defend fellow citizens. if it comes down to integrity, there's as individuals, and hours as an institution. if i believe great young and men -- young women and men would accommodate such a change in our military. i do not have the words to express my gratitude to admiral mullen for what he said that day. his strength and resolve will bring about the day that don't ask don't tell will finally end. -- would finally end. we were challenged. there was a muddled vote we thought would pass. it's strengthen our resolve to keep not -- knocking at the door for justice from bombarding congress to -- with phone calls, in the end, they did the right thing and voted for equality, fairness and common sense. since that has happened, the recruiting has not dropped. unit cohesion and morale has continued up, and the world has not stopped rotating the matter what my friend michele bachmann might say. what happened when the repeal came? there were three significant factors. the first was the end of the daily fear of being outed. i want you to put yourself in the place of a young kid in a different part of the world for the first time in his life and is not sure of his sexuality and that kid just wanted to serve his country, but had the everyday fear of being outbid. what you did was end that fear, and that is a great thing right there. i personally witnessed that when a young man really young man was sent home during basic training -- young man was sent home during basic training. repeal has brought about honesty in service, and justice admiral mullen alluded to when he gave his speech, finally, here is the most important thing. i want you take this back to fellow democrats. repeal gave hope to -- gay youth. i told you i was a retired police officer and a father, and too often, gay kids who did not have hope choose a tragic way out. my youngest son was straight and also an afghanistan veteran. in a friend who came out when he was 19 and was -- he had a friend that came out when he was 19, and that man gave up home and took -- gave up hope, and took a tragic way out, devastating a family and giving me the impetus to speak out for equality and hope to young kids. what you have done here is given hope to gay kids that they can live a normal life like their friends and family members. you gave them hope, and that is an incredible thing. you have saved lives. you will never meet these people, but by your action you have saved lives. finally, i want to dedicate this to a family friend who was killed in action in afghanistan in february of 2011. he was openly gay while serving, but it did not make a bit of difference to those cities served with, and to his memory -- to those he served with, and to his memory i dedicate these words. >> thank you, aaron zellhoefer and wes the thank you for your service to our country. you were a sergeant, and we appreciate that and your testimony. are there questions from the committee? well, thank you both very much for your testimony and for being here this afternoon. our next presenter is tim. he is a grain and hog farmer in yellow madison county, minnesota. he knew what we he serves as local board and is active in the minnesota farmers union. he is here today to talk about the strength of the rural economy under president obama. thank you for coming, and we appreciate the opportunity to hear what you have to say to us. >> thank you. welcome, minnesota. as just a brief introduction, i am the fourth generation farmer. i farm on the land that my great-grandfather first bought and started farming in 1886. a farm with my son, and i have four kids and nine grandkids, and a couple of my brand sons are interested in farming, too. one of my concerns is passing the farm on to the next generation in keeping things going. consolidation in agriculture has been growing and growing over the years, going to more corporate agriculture, away from family farms. years ago, the packers and stockyards act was passed and implemented, which said that packers could not be in farming. it kept corporate farming from taking over the family farms. those laws are still on the books, but they're not been completely enforced. i think if we are going to continue to have good, safe food produced by family farms, those need to be implemented. if you want to look at one of the successes that has come in agriculture, ethanol in biofuels -- we have a home-grown energy product that has helped farmers the more competitive in the marketplace and has also save consumers millions of dollars in less expensive fuel and you do not have to protect a cornfield with a battleship to get the product into your guest tank. home-grown energy is something that is important and vital to this country. one of the important things to the rural economy is agriculture. the farm bill, which i do not know if it should be considered a farm bill -- a farmer part of it is just a small fragment of the dollars, but the dollars are important. all of them are. the school lunch programs are very important all over this country and in the rural areas. there is a lot of infrastructure being built as far as water and sewer plants in the country. that comes through the farm bill. the total scope of the farm bill is very important. it probably should be renamed so that the farmers are not blamed for the millions of dollars that go into it. the bill that is currently awaiting passage -- the senate tested, the house agricultural committee has forwarded it, but it cannot get air time to get a vote on it -- it is as good of the bill as can be had in these times where they are looking at these cuts. one of the things that representative frank said earlier about the message that we need to increase the tax on the wealthier people brought to mind my great-grandfather who started the farm that i am on, it came to this country with nothing, and to him, he became successful, worked hard, and april 15 was the best day of the entire year because you can come to this country with nothing, work hard, and all you have to do is pay some taxes. that has followed through in our family. we feel fortunate to be here and we do not see taxes has a bad thing. the other thing that is very important in rural communities -- you said yellow madison county. some of the things and are important to us in my hometown, which is less than 300 people -- the postal service has been looking at consolidating offices, and our local post office gets to be a meeting site for people. the people living in town pick up their mail. it is a place to congregate and visit. at another place that is important in rural communities that i hope can stay in the platform is the meals on wheels. many of the order -- older people in town to not have access to a grocery store in town. they do not have access to get out of town for their grocery shopping unless someone takes them for a ride, but a meals on wheels still comes to town, and that is still a vital thing for rural communities. i guess the one thing that all of us democrats need to bear in mind, most of our problems have not been caused by us but could be solved by electing more of us. thank you for your time. i s 22 please continue to remember that in the rural communities, -- i asked you to please continue to remember that us in the rural communities are providing you with good, clean, safe food. >> tim velde, thank you for your testimony. we were happy to hear from a national farmers' union spokesperson yesterday and to have you here today. are there questions? thank you, and especially for my team the importance of smaller post offices. we think that is critically important. thank you so much. >> thank you. >> our next presenter is melissa spencer, the president of the des moines education association and a science teacher at the north high-school here in the morning. -- des moines. melissa, we love teachers, and we appreciate the you have come to speak with us. >> thank you. thank you for the opportunity to speak with you today. i'm a high school science teacher. i'm here to speak about the increased resources and school reform we have experienced. i have taught there for the last 10 years, and the success is due to the school improvement grant is what i am going to talk about. two years ago, the north was designated as a persistently low-achieving school because we will the lowest-performing with standard test scores. the district is similar to urban schools. 25% of our students qualify for english language corner services, and 85% for free or reduced lunch. we received a three-year, $3 million school improvement grant that began with the 2010 school year. in the fall of 2010, a new era began for us. while we were demoralized has been labeled as persistently low-achieving, we knew it was an opportunity to reinvigorate a school that we felt was neglected. we had an entirely new administration, but the staff was the same as it had been before. we put a renewed focus on expectations for students and staff, and started to focus more on student learning and how we can measure and analyze it. collaboration became the norm. teachers and administrators began to work together in every way. we set aside specific time for teachers during the day to analyze construction in student learning. we reorganized our tester schedule so that teachers that caught the same subject head -- had 80 minutes together every other day. we started with common assessments that we developed together, then we looked at how we could develop a curriculum that would target areas we noticed children need more assistance with. we had four school improvement leaders that we were able to get through the grants and they were able to work with the data team. they have spent 90% of their days in classrooms doing teaching, -- coaching, classroom walk-throughs. another area the grants help was in literacy. we have 90 minutes a week for professional development through a district-wide early dismissal and we focused on the writing-to-learn and mr. -- initiative, meaning they get activities to further conflicts they learn the concepts they learned every -- concepts they learn in every class. we also have a 45-minute literacy course for students we know need additional focus. all of these issues were led been coordinated by a literacy leader, another position we were able to enter the school improvements grant. you're also able to become a one-to-one laptops school. the goal was to increase engagement in technology and to level the playing field for students and our families. many students did not have reliable access to technology, and now each student gets a mac book for them to use at school and at home. when they pick up their computer, and to see them use it every day, it was wonderful. we have gained 19 points in reading and science in standardized tests and nine percentage points in math. those standardized test score shuttling be part of what defines the school less successful, we have seen other indicators. higher daily attendance, less officer of refls and suspensions. we have positive stories about us in the media instead of focusing on the violence we would have. our robotics and rotc team's place in the top-10 nationwide, and our staff is now proud to be part of the north high family. there are takeaways i would like to see become foundations of education policy region targeted resources and an emphasis on collaboration. -- targeted resources and an emphasis on collaboration. we were stymied by a lack of focus and resources. we had a conversation about what kind of feedback and professional the element needed to grow as educators and leading the discussion. we are able to get the feedback for professional develop and we needed. -- development we needed. i hope you look into the school improvement grants because they found a wonderful way to target improvement in our nation's schools. thank you very much. >> melissa, thank you. you have illustrated what i think is important. if we want to improve in -- education, we need to listen to the people that know the most about it, our teachers. are there questions? >> more of a comment. i enjoyed hearing about the initiatives you were speaking about, and it is an interesting side way because it is the opening of the olympics and a celebration of title mine from my perspective, has it that extra more women from the u.s. are going to the olympics to be engaged and hopefully bringing home a gold than there are guys, so i think these kinds of incentives and initiatives level the playing field, create opportunity, and are something we should celebrate and actively pursued in our platform and our democratic party. >> thank you, melissa. we appreciate you being here. thank you for sharing with us today. now, what i'm going to do, we have several friends from the labor community. i will ask them to come up together. they might have to bring up some shares. david, bob ryan, jane, olean, tom robinson and -- lee ann, tom robinson, and adam robinson, we asked them to share the microphones and as they gather i want to tell you about them and what they want to talk about. first of all, david is a member of the united steelworkers local 7263. he has come to talk about his efforts to secure the use of steel from his mill and the rebuilding of interstate 35 west bridge. minneapolis, which collapsed in 2008. -- here in minneapolis, which collapsed in 2008. bob ryan will discuss the importance of fair trade for industrial workers. then, we will hear from james samuelsson, who is a member of the iaew local 160 serves as political coordinator. james is here to discuss the second american bill of rights, which i think will be revealed in a few weeks. we are happy to have you here. he has a copy with him. then, we will hear from leann, a member of the afl-cio affiliate working america and she will discuss the full employment living wage component of the labor second bill of rights. then, tom robinson, another member of working america, who will explain the secure, healthy future component of the second bill of rights, and discussed participation in the electoral process component. finally, we will hear from ed m. robinson, who is a member of the international -- adam robinson, was a member of the international union of teamsters local 120 and as an organizer with the labor federation, afl- cio, and he is also the chair of the minnesota workers faith networks, which partners people of faith with unions and the labor movement to call for social, racial and economic justice. so, all of you folks share common concerns and represent common values. we are happy to have you here and we look forward to hearing from you. we begin with david packard >> thank you, chairman. -- david. >> thank you, chairman, governor strickland, and each of you for giving me the opportunity to speak. and i am appearing as a steelworker and a 10-year employee. i am the father of two children. i've served in the national guard and i'm a registered democrat since 2006, i have been politically active on behalf of my family. the union officer, and also as an afl-cio labor federation vice president. i am on the minnesota fair trade steering committee, and all of this explains why i am here today. excuse me. all this explains why i am here today to advocate inclusion in the convention platform, support for policies that sustain family support and manufacturing jobs. in 2007, during an evening rush hour, the entire span of the minneapolis bridge collapsed and broke into sections, plunging dozens of cars and occupants into the river. 13 were killed and dozens were injured. the interstate 35 replace the bridge was open to the public on december 18, 2008. as a steelworker whose job depends on making steel for infrastructure projects, i'm joined brother and sisters to workers in been proud to secure the new bridge. my purpose in relating the disastrous bridge collapse and the part played by our steelworkers is emphasizing the importance of all the infrastructure, the strength of american steel, and the skills of all work force and the economics of all of those things combined as good economic policy. the democratic convention platform must give urgent attention to american manufacturing industries and jobs as the bedrock of our economy and communities. we need to make a national policy commitment to the infrastructure investment of our bridges, highways, water systems and other public projects that create good jobs and strengthen domestic manufacturing. it is a policy growing in importance in the local economy. if the steel industry is strengthening the act, and it is adopted by law individually in each of parlor states. unfortunately, by american laws have been diluted to the free use of waivers, lack of transparency, and loopholes. that means some procurement policies support american workers, while other states stand hard-earned tax dollars to beijing and said of reinvesting them in our economy -- instead of reinvesting them in our economy. i've studied this issue and. in the minnesota legislature. we've yet to be successful in achieving legislation. a new bill introduced by democratic lawmakers earlier this year is awaiting action. other states are attempting to do the same on this policy. research in 2009 found when domestic content is maximized, and employment gains increased up to 33%. at a time when the u.s. manufacturing sector have lost more than 6 million jobs since 2000, and should be a common sense, first step seeking to rejuvenate the productive, wealth-producing sector of our economy. doubt is spread by spreading myths that is inefficient, burdensome, and will create a trade war. with some understanding of the issues, these myths are easily discredited. critics argue the use of by american policy would cause trade wars with trading partners. most industrialized countries already utilized their own procurement. canada, the u.k. have their own laws. providing a preference for domestic content is fully within their rights of the united states. to remove uncertainty, by american language includes a clause that says the provision should be. out in a manner consistent with our trade and -- should be carried out in a manner consistent with our trade obligations. it is utilizing to the fullest extent possible. thank you for hearing my comment on behalf of union steel workers and our local president. >> thank you, david, for your testimony. we appreciate you have come to share this with us. i like where you said. next, we'll hear from bob ryan. >> thank you, governor of the members of the committee. thank you for taking time to listen to us. my name is bob ryan and for 30 years i worked at iraq 10 paper mill in -- at the rock 10 . paper mill in -- paper mill in minneapolis. unfortunately, much of the paper collected that we need for our operations, and we consume a large volume of waste paper. we are a 100% recycled mile. we have four paper machines, each the length of a football field that produced that paper. unfortunate, many communities are working for brokers that ticket paper and shipped it to china. scrap paper is the number one export out of the united states china is paying up to two and a half times market rate to get our paper, and that puts a huge burden on the paper industry. a manufacturing job at the paper mill has allowed me to live a comfortable, middle-class lifestyle. i'm a third-generation worker. followed by my stepson, and hopefully next year by 17-year- old son will be able to enjoy a life style there, too. the republicans' vision is to cut taxes, services, and the budget, but the democrats' plans to be about building, competing and sustaining a better tomorrow. we must sustain current commitments to manufacturing. my mil in place over 500 people. when i started in 80 -- 1981, there were 1300. because of different programs that have happened, particularly walmart, we have lost most of our manufacturing base in this country. if the auto industry had collapsed, my mill would have shut down. all the parts they need to put a car together typically arrive in a box. it is scary to us. every day china uses currency manipulation to steal our jobs and destroy our manufacturing industries. nationwide we have lost 6 million jobs since 2000 when china joined the wto. we must enforce our trade laws and rebuild the base before it becomes nothing more than a colony to supply china's needs. when all of the middle class becomes a low in come on skilled work force. earlier this year to try to help keep these jobs in the minnesota. we supported an amendment to the proposed construction of a new minnesota vikings football stadium. it requires it be built with 100% american steel, and the still must be mined from northern minnesota. if all goes well, they will win a super bowl. revitalizing american manufacturing should be an urgent national priority. 55,000 factories have closed which results in 6 million jobs lost. factories do not often reopen at their capacity. but we do have hope. the u.s. relies on foreign suppliers for everything from steel to batteries and critical high-tech components to every day medical supplies. the risks include not having access to the materials and products, delay delivery, and poor quality. i urge the democratic platform committee to examine a report entitled "preparing for 21st century risks, revitalizing american manufacturing, respond and recover." i want to thank you for taking the time to listen to us today. please do anything you can to bring the manufacturing base back to the united states and said a shipping everything overseas. >> thank you so much. we appreciate the emphasis on manufacturing with everything else to have shared with us. next we will hear from james samuel son. james, we are happy to hear what you have to say to us. >> you may want to move the mike closer. >> thank you for letting us present america's second bill of rights. my name is james samuel son. we have been asked to come before you to present the workers stand for a miracle, better known as the second bill of rights. i would like to start off by saying, it is time to change the conversation in america. the dying middle-class, a bird and job market, college debt levels out of control, a living wage and secure retirement is increasing lay a thing of the past. the electorial process now open to the highest bidder. these are tough times for american workers. tougher than it has been in many generations. as journalists, over the past four years corporations and policy this is an -- decider several back many gains made by middle-class people over the previous century. we are the highest level of income -- we have the highest level of income inequality in 90 years. both private and public sector unions are under a concentrated attack and federal and state governments intend to cut deficits by slashing benefits to the poor. we are creating the gilded age, the period of the 19th and early 20th centuries where corporations ruled the nation. by buying politicians, using violence against unions, and engaging and open corruption, if there was a time to change the national conversation in this country by focusing on putting the political agenda back on the needs of working americans, that time is now. it is now time to change the conversation in america. at the national press club in washington, the afl-cio president announced on july 12 the kickoff of the workers stand for america. once again better known as the american second bill of rights. a national campaign to refocus the american national priorities on the needs of the struggling middle class, demanding an economy that works for all, not just the top 1%. we will be asking both democrats and republicans to sign and support it. this is our way of asking those in leadership positions, are you with us? what we are saying here today is not new. what is new is how we perform -- propose to make the power structure pay attention to the needs of men and women whose labor drives this country. workers stand for america will feature a major rally on saturday august 11 in philadelphia. i booked my ticket last may. bringing together working people, union and nonunion in the run-up to democrat and national conventions to urge elected officials to stand with working families and support of a second bill of rights. promoting individual freedom and economic opportunity for all. we have children -- we have chosen philadelphia because it is the birthplace of the constitution and the bill of rights. there is no better place to introduce a second bill of rights inspired by president franklin roosevelt. it includes many of the same issues. fdr said "true individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence." right now across the country this holds true than ever. we want to make it part of an everyday discourse on the campaign trail throughout the election and in the media. as president hill made it clear also, this is not about party or partisanship. this is about the future of the american dream. our message to both political parties to return to the basic values that created america's best days. our policies have become skewed almost beyond recognition. the recovery has been geared almost entirely to corporations and the wealthiest americans. the rest of us are being left behind. the greatest promise of america is being lost. this is not acceptable in a nation that was builds on generations of labor. a strong and prosperous america cannot be measured by the stock market of -- or the gdp. it must be judged by the availability of good jobs, economic opportunity, and hope. hope that our children, grandchildren will have the same shot at the american dream that we did. we have seen what happens when conservative politicians back to billionaires' and right wing ideology state power. it is time to change the debate going on in this country and the working americans fired up for november and beyond. it is often said in an election year, this is the most important election in a lifetime. this time it is ever so true. we only need to look at the radical changes and central wisconsin, iowa, florida to see what mitt romney's presidency would be like. august 11 will be the first up toward saving middle-class americans. we have to start somewhere. we hope you can join us. on twitter, facebook, the streets of philadelphia to bring this grass-roots army to put the country back on the road toward economic opportunity for all. i want to thank you for the opportunity to present this to date. now, i want to give my colleagues a chance to speak. >> thank you. liana, we will hear from you next. you may want to move over so you have access to the microphone. leanne is with working america and she is here to discuss the full living wage component. thank you for being here. we look forward to hearing your comments. >> thank you for hearing me and everyone else. i agree with everything i have heard so far. i want to tell you a little bit about my family history. i am a fourth generation american. my great-grandfather migrated here from mexico. he worked on the railroad here in minnesota. he was a union member. for all of these generations my family has been raised as to the importance of people standing together and the solidarity and strength that americans have when we stand together and as for our rights. on my maternal side, my great grandparents also came here both at the same time from czechoslovakia and austria. i grew up hearing stories from my grandfather and from my parents about the world war ii era. he was sent over to work with the navy to restore pearl harbor. he was a painter. when he returned, there were not jobs. we know that the depression was much worse than what we are going through now. my parents, and again like everyone else in that area, families had food rations. the governments and, you can have this much sugar. good luck to you. there was not food. there was nothing. kids participated in the war effort. there ran around and got tires and turn them into the military could make use of them for weapons. the country was involved in everything going on. it was not watching on the news. it was being involved. when people were killed in the war, you would see a red and on the doorway -- 8 read then on the doorway of somebody who lost them. there were people working together. the nation stood together. at the same time, there are a lot of things we are hearing now "communism, socialism," at all of the fears. some very bad things came from that, the mccarthy era and so on. when my grandfather came back from pearl harbor, he joined the wpa. that was a working program that the government put together created jobs, create the infrastructure. it paid the people working there. so we built the infrastructure on taxpayer dollars. the people that could not find work or the people that did these jobs. in that era, the american citizens, the majority felt that this country was worth investing in. there was national debt at that time. i think the main thing is that we need you antidemocratic party help americans understand the investments -- we need you, the democratic party to help americans understand it will bring money back. if we want to have people making -- not paying in pay more, we need to pay them a wage they can live on so they can also contribute to the country. when we have companies that we mentioned, the richest people in the world sending jobs away and keeping wages low, then what happens is instead of the company paying them a living wage that they can live off of and the employees paying taxes, the employers are forced -- if they want to eat to go get food stamps which comes off of the taxpayers' dime. if you can help to educate the american citizens as to how we need to increase the wages of the more people can participate, thank you. >> thank you so much. we appreciate your work with working america. next we will hear from tom robinson. he is another affiliate with working america. he will talk further about the second american bill of rights. >> thank you for inviting me to speak here. the specific issue of will talk about is the voter i.d. amendment. we had one up on the ballot in minnesota and in a number of other states. it got on the ballot as an amendment to the constitution. partly because the republican legislature knew that the governor would veto it if they try to propose it as a lot. and so they decided to offer it as an amendment to the constitution. they did that with a number of other issues. most of them were defeated from even getting put on the ballot. only two -- the marriage amendment and this one -- are the ones that got on the ballot. i have been doing some on banking. this is a hard one. this will be a hard one to win. we really need to try to do it. the people that i talk to, many do not even know it is on the ballot or they do not really have any idea what the amendment is going to do. and what i hear from a lot of people is, what is wrong with it? all we want is a picture i.d. so somebody can vote. there is a lot wrong with it. what this really is -- it is really a cenacle dishonest attempt by proponents. this is being presented as an amendment to protect the integrity of the electorial process. it is actually an attack on that. it is a deliberate effort to disenfranchise a lot of voters in a specific groups of voters. they have the same data we do. our secretary of state has estimated possibly 700,000 people will not take part that are eligible voters -- it will not take part in elections if this were to happen. the specific groups that they will affect the poor, people of color, students, elderly, disabled people. those are the main groups that this will affect. i think both parties know that the majority of these groups tend to vote democratic. it is purely political. there is nothing about protecting the electorial process at all. as it says to me, i find it very distasteful. as people know that or they are really uninformed. i find it hard to believe. if this amendment would have been in effect six years ago we probably would have senator coleman and gov. tom member. that is not enough to get you excited to go and be the amendment, i do not know what would do it. it is hard. the camp present this in a slogan. fashion. you have to present your license for everything goes, why not for this? it is hard to combat, but we have to do it. we bring people around. some people do not know anything about it, we get them thinking about it. some people that had one opinion, we manage to change their minds. we do that with the evidence about what will happen if this is put into effect. any help that the committee can be or what the platform can do to help us in minnesota and nationwide to prevent this amendment in minnesota and also other states would be greatly appreciated. thank you for your time. >> thank you, adam. we appreciate your sharing with us. -- or tom. now we want to hear from adam. adam is going to speak with us. he is a member of the teamsters union. he will speak with us regarding the minnesota network states network. we're happy to have the. >> thank you very much. thank you for your time today. as mentioned, i am adam robinson. i am the community organizer at the federation of the afl-cio member of teamsters local 120 and chair of the minnesota workers interface network. i am proud and honored to get the chance to talk with you for a few moments today. i am here on behalf of those organizations. my brothers and sisters are with me at the top -- the front of the room to ask the democratic party keeps their support for the freedom to perform a union and bargain collectively as planks in the dnc platform. we know the democratic party and valleys are the values of labor. the 2008 platform stage the belief in this way that every american would ever there backgrounder station of life should have the chance to work at a good job with good wages to raise and provide for a family and to retire with dignity and security. that belief we feel identifies the very core of the american dream. that can be reclaimed for thousands and millions of americans through the freedom of workers to join together in unions and to bargain collectively. the 2008 platform for other forms workers' rights and the necessity to organize for a vibrant middle class. in 2008 you said this. democrats are committed to an economic policy that produces good jobs with good pay and benefits. that is why we support the right to organize. when unions are allowed to do their job of making sure workers get their fair share, they pull people out of poverty and create a stronger middle-class. you continue by saying, we will fight vigorously wherever they are proposed. mr. chairman burrs of the committee, we know that into this country, the freedom to bargain has been under attack for decades. it has never been so openly unsalted as in recent years. we see in the face of these attacks enter wisconsin and ohio across the nation, americans of come together to organize the proudest labor organizations in living memory. we have stood united to protect the rights of bargaining collectively. we have seen insidious forms of attacks. they include so-called right to work legislation. the have been pushed onto the floor and state legislators throughout the nation. here it minnesota we have seen this attack come in the form of a proposed amendment to the state constitution. these attacks not only affect union members, but we know and we have seen the ripple effects of these attacks in the wider economy. the economic policy institute estimates a full third of the inequality of the 1980's can be attributed to attacks on unions and collective bargaining. american wages have stagnated. that is against skyrocketing prices of health care, education, housing, and other necessities of life. we know that we need to work together to protect the rights of workers to bargain collectively. but i want to say this in closing. we know that you into a powerful economic actors. beyond that, unions are more than just organizations to fight for economic justice, they have to bind us together as a community. during one of the dozens of conversations in the state of minnesota during the ride to work -- the battles and our state, a union member thank me for bringing the community together. sometimes what they go home and that we feel like we are a lot. we feel like nobody shares our values are things about making a better future for the kids. will we remember we are you members, we can work together to make is better. to me, that is why it is important to collectively bargain. that is why i am asking that the dnc include that plank as it has in years past in its platform as it moves forward this year. >> thank you. i want to thank each of you for joining together as you have. we have heard you. you speak the truth. i am personally inspired by your individual work that you do and the work you do collectively. are there members of the committee that would have a question for either or all of the members? >> thank you. i just want to thank each and everyone of you for taking the time to come today and for reinforcing what we have been talking about over the past couple of days, the shared values of the labor movement, working families, and the democratic party. a lot of the issues you raised, you put in the context of the second bill of rights. building a middle-class with these trades obama has put in place and the importance of buying american products. as americans use our tax dollars to rebuild the economy, we know that we have to buy american products to the fullest extent possible if we're going to create good jobs at home. . you raised is so important about collective bargaining and the rights for a voice at work, which is essential not just to the economy but the democracy. i think the point about strengthen solidarity is important. the issue that has come up over the past several times about the right to vote and the bedrock importance not just to the democratic party but the country not chipping away at american's right to express themselves at the workplace. -- the polling place. if we had time we could go on and on about each one of these issues. another time is limited. i want to personally thank each of you for taking the time to come and for sharing your testimony. >> are there other questions from the committee? >> you are letting us off easy. >> you were very convincing and enter your testimony. i hope we are all in agreement. thank you for being here and sharing with us. we are nearing the end of our witness list. we have one additional person. that person is can and bradley. he is the final presenter of the day. -- ken bradley. he is a member of a coalition of more the 150 businesses, unions, and nonprofits focused on getting minnesota to generate 10% of its energy from solar by the year 2013. a noble goal. we are happy you are here. >> thank you for having me. it is an honor to be here. it is exciting to have an opportunity to present our story, our coalition's story. i thank you for the time. besides serving as the chair, i also served as director of environment minnesota appeared to begin to look closer at solar energy. what could provide our state and nation. poll after poll indicated solar energy was extremely popular with democrats, independents, and republicans as well. the public was once again way out in front of many of our politicians. however, it was also the optimism and these don't established by president obama's election that provided us with hope that leadership in washington, d.c. would be able to transform the energy system that has been handcuffed to by the fossil fuel industry to an energy futures supported by clean energy technologies for future generations. the u.s. imported $400 billion in petroleum in 2008 that accounted for 59% of our trade deficit. energy played a significant role in the state and national trade debt, far outweighing the impact of china. i want to thank the obama administration for their leadership and increasing fuel efficiency standards to 54.5 mpg by 2025 and their support of electricity an electric vehicle and battery technology. today every major manufacturer is producing hybrid electric or all three of these types of vehicles. we need the same kind of commitment applied to the solar and renewable energy industry. over the past four years, americans have installed significantly more solar and the past 20. germany has installed the equivalent of 27 nuclear power plants and sol energy. in one day in may this year, solar produced half of germany's electricity. china announced they are increasing their solar goes to 21 gigawatts by 2015, which again demonstrates the growth occurring in the global marketplace. last year we released the son shot initiative report which outlines how solar energy could provide 14% of u.s. electricity by 2030 and 27% by 2015. it is also an important collaborative to make it competitive by the end of the decade. an indicator of the progress solar works of minnesota coalition has achieved occurred in 2012 when we were able to secure the endorsement of the afl-cio for our campaign to pass legislation to install solar on schools, hospitals, and other public buildings. we had support from the corporations, is dedicating a resource to the campaign. they discover the common good solar can provide the state. as of august 2011, there were over 100,000 solar at -- solar workers enter the united states. in minnesota we have more than 50 companies providing various solar products and services including companies like ken k solar. it was founded in 2008 and employs 150 employees and sell their products across the world. this is one shining example of a business that did not exist four years ago but is a flourishing industry a denture our state creating new jobs. -- in our state creating new jobs. we need to do more to compete in the global marketplace and leave the planet healthy for future generations. on july 8 nasa announced nearly all of green land's ice sheets started melting. a freak event that surprised many scientists. the ice melts area went from 40% to 97% in four days. the science is clear, the plan is warming. it now takes on its political leadership to solve the problem. i am not sure what wake-up call -- what the website needs to be to transform our energy system, but none of us should be proud about the pace we are making. we encourage you to consider passing aggressive national renewable energy standards and provide 25% of our power from wind. in minnesota we generate 13% of our power from wind. 10% of our energy from solar by the year 2013. we cannot afford to wait another four years without making significant progress. we should expect present and future generations to judge all of us as neglectful, the link with stewards of our nation if we do not take action. i appreciate you listening to me, but please do not wait to act. >> thank you for your testimony. i could say that we save the best for last, but i will not do that. we appreciate all those that have come to present today. do the committee members have questions of ken? thank you so much. >> thank you. >> we appreciate you coming. well, my fellow committee members, we have had a good day of intent of testimony and conversation. i know that we all appreciate everyone that has come and presented to us. conversations like those that we have heard today are examples of what our president has been fighting for and why the democratic party prides itself on being the party of change and inclusion. so at this point, we will break for the day so that we can come back in the morning for a very productive conversation around the actual drafting of the 2012 platform. so we will now move to a member's only luncheon in the university a room. thank you for your attendance and attention. we are dismissed. >> if you go straight out the door and make a right, at it will be on your left hand side. you are welcome to leave your materials here at your seat. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] >> chairman ted strickland called this meeting historic because this year's draft splample the first to endorse same-sex marriage rights. this first part of the meeting is just under an hour. >> good morning, everyone. it is time to resume our last meeting of the 2012 platform drafting committee. i would like for us all to please stand at this point for the pledge of allegiance to our flag. please join me. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. thank you. let me welcome everyone to this, our last session. we certainly had a busy but very informative weekend together. the input we have received yesterday will contribute to the drafting of the 2012 democratic platform, which outlines our party's positions on a host of issues, and also highlights president obama's administration's accomplishments, and the president's agenda to keep this country moving forward. at this time, i would ask each of the committee members to briefly introduce themselves. >> andrew grossman, platform director. >> barney frank. >> associate policy director on the president's reelection campaign. >> deputy director for the national security adviser campaign. >> tom wheeler. partner at core capital partners a venture capital firm creating jobs for america. >> director of special projects at the new organizing institute. >> i teach at stanford law school. >> form of a special assistant to the president. >> director of education policy and practice at the national education association. >> deputy chief of staff at the american federation of labour. >> congresswoman barbara lee. ninth congressional district of california. >> michael nutter. mayor of philadelphia. president of the u.s. conference of mayors. >> susan ness. senior fellow at the site center for transatlantic relations at johns hopkins university and former f.c.c. commissioner. >> senior staff attorney at the native american rights fund. >> director party affairs. >> karen kornbluh. i am helping to draft the platform. >> ted strickland, former member of congress and governor of the great state of ohio. thank you, all. it has come to the time where we are going to review the draft of the platform. we are fortunate to have karen with us. karen drafted the 2008 platform. she was principle author and is doing the same for the 2012 platform. karen is well versed in the extensive range of policy issues that are central to our democratic party. the draft that she had prepared it is a starting point for us and i would like to proceed today by asking karen to give us an overview of the draft for our discussion. before karen does that, does anyone have any questions? thank you. karen, we would ask if you would at this time lead us through the platform. >> thank you, governor. it is nice for you to say that this is a draft i prepared, but this has really been assembled by input from committee members and will reflect the testimony that we heard over the last two days from the witnesses assembled for us. to get started, i thought what we might do is hear from kristin young from the campaign to tell us more about some of the themes that the president is emphasizing in the campaign, so we have a context as to go through the document. >> thank you, karen. as many of you know, those of you that have been out with the president on stage, speaking with him on stage, much of this sound familiar. but i do think it will be helpful to go over the court -- core vision of this election. we believe this election is about two fundamentally in different visions of how you grow the american economy. our opponents believe in massive tax cuts for the wealthy. they believe in an america where wall street and insurance companies get to write their own rules. they have an agenda that is very much filled with the same policies that got us into this mess in the first place. the democratic party and president obama reject that idea. and we cannot go back to the same failed policies of the past. we have a totally different idea about how we make america grow. from our perspective, we know we need to restore the security that the middle class has lost. we need to out-educate, and a bit, and out bill the rest of the world, make things up the rest of the world buys to remain competitive. it is making sure that harbored pays and responsibility is reported. the president believes in an america where everyone pays their fair share and plays by the same set of rules. in short, they believe you can grow the economy from the top down, but we know that you can grow the american economy from the middle out. that is the theme we try to build into this election, and that you will see reflected in the draft of the platform that we put together. does anyone have any comments or questions? >> just to walk through the structure of the draft in front of you, there will be a practice at the beginning that will try to cast the document, the choice in this election, not only in terms of the economy, focusing on the economy, but also talking about reform, our values very much so, and our achievements in terms of foreign policy as well. then we will move on to write a section that does what kristin talked about, rebuilding the middle-class security and the theory of the case that we think, to have sustainable economic growth, you need a strong middle-class. you need to build up ladders for those aspiring up to middle-class. also, we have tried the alternative. this country has tried to top-down policies, and they got us into the mess we are in now. we start with a section on putting americans back to work. talking about what are the immediate steps that have to be taken in the recovery act, what are some of the things that we are trying to do now -- the jobs bill and executive actions -- taken by the president while congress is not acting as much as he would like, so that we can move ahead with recovery. does anyone want to make any comments on that section? then we get into a much larger perception that makes sure hard work is paid off and rewards responsibility. this talks about middle-class security. middle-class tax cuts as a success story of the last few years. obviously, health care, which is enormously important for middle-class concerns. one-two hear about the economic repercussions of health care. rejuvenating the housing market. we talked about maybe stabilizing the housing market and mortgage recovery. retirement and medicare, vision of a secure retirement, not privatizing medicare. an economy that out-educates the world and offers greater access to higher education. we talked about perhaps changing the wording of that. we want to reflect that education is about helping everyone reach their full potential. it is not just about the economy, but it is an incredibly important ticket to the middle-class. that's it on that second section. does anyone have thoughts on that? >> congressman lee, did you want to talk about how we would want to talk about those not quite in the middle-class yet? >> yes, i think it is important to recognize, while the middle-class right now continues -- while we continue to reignite the american dream for the middle-class, support a middle-class moving upwards, we want to make sure we do not forget low income working people, the poor, and those aspiring to the middle class. we are a big tent party, an inclusive party, and we want to make sure all americans are included in our platform, moving forward. >> i think that first section does a good job outlining the president's accomplishments and his aspirations for the next term. one thing i wanted to draw attention to that i think would be important, some of the testimony we heard yesterday. james spoke about building on president roosevelt's economic bill of rights for an american second bill of rights. if we can, see those things will -- woven throughout the platform. the right to full employment, living wage, full participation in the electoral process. we heard people mr. did talk about how democrats believe in the right to vote and how every citizen has that right. that is crucial. the right to a voice at work. in particular, protecting rights to collectively bargain. the right to quality education. that is in this section as well, an important section of the platform that talks about how crucial it is that every child in america have access to a quality public education. finally, a right to a secure and help the future, retirement, health care, and so on. these are areas where the president has done an amazing job in challenging the economic times and trying to expand these protections, but there is also work that needs to be done. in terms of the testimony we heard yesterday, there were so many interesting and important points made by people. >> thank you. the next section is about the need to reduce the deficit, cutting waste, asking all to pay their fair share. then there is another section about how we build an economy that generates a good jobs, called an economy built to last. there are a few sections to that. one is all the above energy policy. meaning we do not take anything off the table. talk about some of the successes we have had in reducing our dependence on foreign oil. out-innovating and out-building the rest of the world. successes in terms of the auto industry, the supply chain for the lot of industry, infrastructure, and any innovation as well. then we will touch on the insourcing. how the president would like to create jobs here, reverse the process of outsourcing to other countries. standing up for workers and workers rights. opening up markets around the world for american products. that is about our trade agenda, export promotion and enforcement. and then helping small business and often nurse -- entrepreneurs. does anyone have any comments to make? >> i think this is an example of what we heard from kristin -- you mentioned the auto industry. there is no better illustration in specific, -- the opposition by mitt romney to saving the process of the automobile manufacturing in the u.s. versus the effective intervention by the president. we have hundreds of thousands of people employed today not just that the automobile companies, but it an enormously successful example. american automobiles are now at the front rank of the world. this is a perfect example of the general theme, which is how you do this. there has been no better way for americans to get into the middle-class and the auto industry, with the kinds of jobs they offered. we want to stress again, while general motors and chrysler were direct beneficiaries, ford was also a beneficiary. much of the manufacturer has to go through the supply chain. there is just a perfect example of this, of mitt romney's top down approach. his point was, we should have found a few wealthy people that would of been willing to invest, except that none of them, including bain capital, were willing to do that. the automobile industry is really the best illustration of this campaign team. >> congressman, i want to join those remarks and say that ohio is a big manufacturing state, a big auto parts production state, as well as an assembly state. we believe one out of every eight jobs in the state of ohio is related, in some way, to the auto industry. the president deserves total support from the people who have benefited from this great decision. it was a difficult decision. at the time, certainly, among republicans, an unpopular decision, but the president had the courage to do the right thing. today, in toledo, ohio, chrysler is investing multiple millions of dollars to create new jobs. in the cleveland area, ford is bringing back light truck production from mexico to the cleveland area. in youngstown, ohio, they are working three shifts a day to produce the cruze. thousands of jobs have been saved, and it was only because of the president's leadership and support he received -- >> and over mitt romney's objection. >> and we should not forget it is not just ohio and michigan parts of the country the benefit. we heard testimony yesterday from a gentleman working here in minnesota, it in a paperboard packaging company, who said if president obama had not taken these steps with regards to detroit, his operations in minnesota would have gone bankrupt, because of the way they supply boxes that carry the parts and other things into the auto business. >> i just want to reiterate, too, the insourcing section of the draft platform provides another big accomplishment by the president and contrasts between the president and mitt romney. mitt romney wants to give more tax breaks to companies that outsource products. that is how he has made a lot of this money. president obama held a day-long forum at the white house to celebrate and encourage those companies that are bringing good jobs back to the united states. he has been very supportive of the manufacturing sector, wants to create a tax code that will benefit those families at home. that is an important contrast. >> very helpful comments. the next section it is the reform section. the first one is the economy. next is reform. again, it is through this lens of creating economic opportunity and making sure people play by the same rules. there are several sections to this. one on wall street reform. there is another one on 21st century government. there we are going to talk about some of the values about government that we heard yesterday and the day before. then we are going to talk about transparency and accountability and lobbying reform and campaign finance reform. does anyone have any comments? the next section we were calling reclaiming america's values. i think there was a suggestion to call it "greater together." do people feel ok about that? perhaps if he wanted to run through the subsections you mentioned. >> absolutely. thank you, everybody. what is important here in this section on greater together is recognizing that our view of where the country needs to go is a very inclusive view. it is how everyone is to benefit from a growing economy. and how, what ultimately makes america great, is not just its economic power, its ability to project power around world, but its ability to lift everyone up. what we're trying to do is get at the importance of the american community, whether it is a rural areas, urban, families, communities of faith, it is about protecting rights and freedoms for americans so that we can not only enjoy this freedoms today the past and onto our children. it is also about quality of life appeared making sure that people have what they need to thrive and contribute. i think we have made good progress. the story we tell here is parley about what has been achieved in the past few years. but it is also about what remains to be done. a good example of that is immigration. americans know the immigration system is badly broken. they understand this is a country of immigrants, and what we need to make progress is an immigration system that serves our country's interests and honors our traditions. what the president has tried to do is strike a balance with everything he has in his disposal. whether it is going after people with severe criminal records or streamlining legalization, at the end of the day, we still have to address comprehensive and aggression reform. -- immigration reform. that is part of building a stronger american community. >> any comments on this section? >> one of the important discussion we had was working through this section -- of course, it matters in all sections -- is the republican war on women. this is more than choice -- although candidate romney said that he would get rid of planned parenthood, which means getting rid of breast cancer screenings for numerous women through out the country. in addition to that, the lilly ledbetter bill, which allows women to get the equal pay for the same kind of work, support for families, health care, medical leave, violence against women, head start, child care services, basic economic security that is just the cornerstone of families, making women full participants in american society. i was just particularly struck, as we listen to a number of the testimonies that came from women from all walks of life, about some of the importance of these basic values that our party stands up for, that sad day, the republican party seems to oppose. >> also in the section, we reemphasize our work and the president's phenomenal work in terms of ensuring the economic security of the middle-class. in addition to that, removing the barriers and obstacles for those aspiring to the middle class. i thing that has been an important value of the president has demonstrated throughout his tenure, and will continue to demonstrate in his neck to administration. -- next administration as the greater together we are. >> i was also delighted to see, based on the testimony that transpired, that we are highlighting the enormous contribution of our veterans and returning veterans, making sure that they reintegrate into our society with all the tools they need to succeed. it is an extremely important role the president and first lady have played. i am delighted to see it reflected here. >> one of the things that i think is very significant is the fact that i believe, for the first time, our party is taking a stand on marriage equality. that makes this a very historic platform, one that we can all be proud of. >> i am particularly excited that in the document we talk about cities and metro regions, that we understand and acknowledge the roles that cities and metro region type 29% of the country's gdp generated by cities and mature economies. 80%-plus of americans lived in the city or metro area. these are incubators of innovation. the support, we're looking towards having a plan to address many of the agenda items that affect cities in metro areas across america. >> this platform also includes language that restates, stresses, the president's support for those critical safety net programs that address homelessness, poverty, ensuring kids are not hungry when they come to school, that do not think that binds all the time, but are critical for struggling families, both in urban and rural areas and everywhere else across the country. it is great that it is reflected in the platform. i think that moves us light years ahead in that debate. >> does anybody have other comments on this domestic portion? next we'll turn to the national security. >> just one other. i remember it was in this section we stood fast again for voting rights for all of our citizens. the attacks on the most vital and important cornerstone of our democracy, people's ability not to challenge when they go as americans to the poll, with arbitrary and almost harassing attempts to infringe upon that, i think, is an important statement to be made in our platform and for our nation. >> we talk about the safety net. one of the things we stress is, when we talk about things about the safety net, it becomes more important in bad economic times. like unemployment. that is a dual purpose. it also keeps the economy from going into a negative cycle. since the new deal we have understood these things are helpful. an example of that is the republican assault on our state and local governments which we have seen which have resulted in government's having to reduce, by 700,000 -- they have laid off people. we have had a pretty good increase in the private sector. the reason the job numbers have lagged, despite the efforts of the president and many of us in congress, to help the cities and states -- remember, cities take the biggest hit from this turned down because they are financed by property tax. their revenue sources have been cut. as we have tried to come to their aid, we have been blocked by the republicans in congress since they took over. the result is 700,000 jobs lost. we gained 4.4 million in the private sector but we lost about 50% of that in the public sector. a big difference between the two parties. of course, people have lost services, education, police and fire services. it is a different perspective of how we think the economy should work. >> may i just comment with regard to one of governor romney's statements as it relates to poverty -- let me just remind you. governor romney said that he was not concerned about the very poor. this president has placed the fight against poverty as a informant priority. we saw the recovery act and what that supported, in terms of keeping more people from falling into poverty. we have also seen as president support the earned income child tax credit. many of the child tax credits and all the policies that will move forward in making sure that we -- people aspiring to the middle-class can achieve that by removing these obstacles. >> governor romney has a definition for the very poor. the people that live on less than what he would be willing to put up into a single bet. >> you mentioned the assault on cities. i am very proud that, by way of the comments of the president made, talking about violence. a critical issue that we must address and be mature enough to have a serious national conversation about violence, the daily toll it takes in cities, areas across the country. >> this is my last quote from governor romney. he derided the president. he said, the president believes we need more teachers, police officers, and firefighters. that is a direct quotation from governor romney. of course, that has cost us 700,000 jobs, and the services performed by those people. >> one thing i might ask tom to talk about is innovation and entrepreneurship. >> one of the things we called out in this document is how america leads the world in innovation and entrepreneurship. the great contributions that individual entrepreneurs have made to growing the economy and creating american jobs. but it's like the frog on the fence post. they didn't get there by accident. so much of what able we are able to do as innovators and entrepreneurs we are able to do because of what we collectively have done as a society. if you look at the mobile phone in your pocket, the microchips that power it are an outgrowth of the original government research. this siri voice recognition that is so much fun on the iphone is a result of government voice recognition research. the noise can selling headset -- canceling headset is a result of government research. all of which were seized upon by creative and innovative entrepreneurs to build good and great businesses. but all of which began with a collective of all of us working to do together the kind of building of the basis on which others can then build further. it is great to see that represented in this platform. >> i would like to mention that i am very appreciative of the work the president has done attempting to reauthorize the violence against women act. it is a very, very important act. we discussed all lot of the assault against women and this is an example of how republicans are blocking the reauthorization of an act that has been found essential in sprenting violence against -- preventing violence against women and children. i am glad to see it reflected in the campaign document as well. >> thank you. we will be open to any thoughts you have after this, but why don't we turn to the national security section? colin, take it away. >> thanks. . look. i think we're all in agreement that we have a president who has advanced foreign policy. is the first time or eight democratic credit -- democratic candidate for president has credibility in terms of keeping america safe and advancing our interests overseas. we have a long record of proud accomplishments we can run on that the platform will highlight. let me say a few words about how the platform is currently organized. it starts with a number of sections that deal with critical legacy issues, some fundamental security challenges we inherited from the previous administration. principal among them is that when president obama took office, there were 180,000 men and women in uniform serving in harm's way between afghanistan and iraq. there are now fewer than half that number because of the responsible drawdown of our forces and the transition of our activities in iraq and afghanistan. this is a campaign who campaigned on responsibly ending the war in iraq and campaigned on transitioning out of afghanistan while maintaining our interest in combating al qaeda and that is what he is doing. we have a number of sections to talk about and we also talked about the campaign against al qaeda at its affiliates around the world. because of the brave work of our intelligence and military professionals and also the courageous decision making of the president, osama bin laden has been brought to justice. it is no longer just a robot -- yes no longer just osama bin laden, but if you look at the counter-terrorism successes, it is the most progress we have made against al qaeda senior leadership since 9/11. i think this is a president who believes we can fight smarter and fight a more targeted campaign and it has proven more successful. the first three sections really focus on those legacy issues. the president feels strongly that as the tide of war recedes in iraq and afghanistan, it frees up resources and attention. so we can focus on issues at home and devote more resources to the challenges that have gotten less attention in recent years. one of the top priorities is our effort to prevent the spread and use of nuclear weapons, a threat that has been with us since the end of the second world war but is among the most pressing concerns in the 21st century. we will talk about the achievement in that new start program which led to deep cuts, making both countries say for as a result, but to prevent nuclear proliferation, prominently in places like iran where the president has marshalled and precedent -- unprecedented agreement to make sure the iranians are living up to their obligation not to develop nuclear weapons and putting pressure on did north koreans. we will also talk about an area that has received some controversy. the reset policy with russia. because of the policy in russia, we have been able to secure agreement on fundamental arms control and putting pressure on iran and north korea, but the president understands there are times in which we're going to disagree with the russians, as we see with russian behavior in syria and we will continue to call them out and pushed the russians to change their behavior. while we are rebalancing issues, we have to have off emerging dangers, which is why the platform focuses on areas of cyber security and combating combating climate change. it's not just the old issues that will anchor. it is new issues we have to address. while we are focusing on not new issues, we have to make sure we are taking care of our alliances around the world. this has been an enormous point of pride for this administration. when the administration came into the office, some of our closest alliances around the world were in trouble. the obama administration has gone the extra mile to solidify relationships with our partners. our relations with the united kingdom have never been stronger. there are a little weaker because of romney's visit, but our traditional alliances have been strengthened, recognizing those are a cornerstone for global security. but the president recognizes there are new centers of influence emerging and that's why the president has put so much emphasis on asia, not just china, but a australia and countries have fought become into focus. a renewed energy the administration has put into vital international organizations like the united nations which can help us address some of the world's most pressing problems. finally, three key pillars seen as essential to sustaining american leadership of around the world in the 21st century. that is the economy and making sure we maintain strongest military in the world even as we make responsible reductions in our budget deficit. and then it is imperative to stand that for those seeking equal rights and we will have sections in the platform that focus on that. with that, i would welcome your comments and thoughts. thank you. >> i am very glad one of the main accomplishments and the foreign-policy area has been the emphasis on women being an integral part of our foreign policy, including the selection of the first ambassador for global women's issues and i am pleased to hear it will be imbued throughout the discussion of foreign policy. >> i particularly appreciate the way in which we have phrased it -- we have on the republican side, incredibly this measure we can and the war in iraq, phasedown the war in afghanistan and be able to end it in a couple of years, but still have to spend every dollar we were spending on those two wars on something else. there's a notion he never cut back and if you have an emergency it makes you spend more in the military and even when the cause is gone, you keep spending it. we have a very sensible discussion here, as you deflate both wars, you can save some money. some of that will go to make sure the military is an adequate elsewhere. nobody doubts we will still be the strongest nation in the world. but it frees up funding for domestic needs and deficit reduction. i that there is a great contrast here. as i understand, mr. romney is not willing to say we should be withdrawing from afghanistan and by the way, they have been talking have greatly increasing military adventures elsewhere without raising taxes. we ought to be very clear what that means. if you're going to keep wartime spending at the levels even on the wartime is over and you're going into new wars and not going to pay taxes, everything we do to protect the quality of our lives at home will be devastated. >> in some ways, it is worse than you suggest. this administration inherited a policy that charged two wars of our credit card, a trillion dollars of spending with no way to pay for. >> we paid for with five tax cuts. >> we double paid for it. but what is interesting about governor romney's position it's not he wants to maintain spending, he would put a floor on defense spending that would guarantee $2 trillion of additional expenditures, which the pentagon doesn't even say we need with no recognition to pay for it and a complete unwillingness to have a fair and balanced approach to revenue that would ask millionaires and billionaires to pay their fair share. i don't know how someone campaigning as a conservative republican, conservative and fiscally responsible could make $2 trillion in promises on the defense side. >> here is how -- by making clear social security and medicare take a big hit. medicare in particular. and everything we do, whether it is to clean the water or build the roads or provide adequate public safety, everything else has to be devastated. that is clearly what they mean. the logic is inescapable. >> this last exchange highlights the connections between the domestic and international. one other place this is done is in the discussion of emerging threats. it's one example of the past record of the administration and the forward thinking we are trying to do here addresses issues that are exactly at the intersection of domestic and international. how can we take care of it if we don't protect the food supply or deal with cyber security threats if we do not strengthen our ability to effectively carry out the functions the government needs to carry out. that is a good example where we are trying to figure out how to deal with those threats. >> there is one thing i've i hope you would take a few minutes to discuss and that is president obama's strong commitment to the safety and security of the nation of israel. would you talk about that? >> part of enhancing our traditional alliance around the world and strengthening in our partnerships include working with our closest friends and obviously israel is right there at the top. president obama has made clear his unshakable commitment to israeli security and it's not just words -- what is interesting about president obama is that he means when he says and does what he says. when he traveled to israel in 2008, he wasn't holding some fundraiser. he traveled to a town that had been rocketed by militants from gaza and said if he became president he would take concrete action and that is what he has done. in the last three years, there has been $10 billion and security systems, the highest in history. hundreds of millions to fund the iron dome and that an anti-rocket system which has protected civilians from rocket fire. the largest military exercises in the history of our two nations, standing up for israel at the un and others want to throw them under the bus and taking unprecedented measures to put pressure on iran to abandon their nuclear weapon ambitions. it is unquestionable president obama has done more than anyone in recent history. you don't have to take my word for it. just listen to benjamin netanyahu and others that have mentioned the steps this administration has taken. the platform will recognize those accomplishments and renew our commitment moving forward to protect israeli security. >> the un has not been a very fair place for israel in the past few decades. the only recent victory israel has been able to get was when the obama administration use extraordinary diplomacy to thwart the effort to have a un declaration of a palestinian state head. -- statehood. if you go back to six months before that vote, everybody was predicting they would get the vote and they would have to veto it and they went in the general assembly. it is because of that approach the president has taken to israel that they could not get enough votes and we did not have to veto it. it failed to get the necessary votes and they could not do it in the general assembly. that's the only time i could think of where israel has had a success in the un against efforts to delegitimize. >> last september, i was working in the pentagon and my office was throwing the baby shower for me because of about to have a kid. the phone started ringing off the hook from the white house because there was a mob in cairo assaulting the israeli embassy in cairo. a number of people were within minutes of being killed by the mob. the administration had run every alarm to get everyone on the phone with the egyptian military to make sure the israeli embassy in cairo remains safe and as a result of the president's leadership on that which prime minister netanyahu quickly acknowledged, the israeli diplomats were saved. whether it is at the u.n. or supporting efforts to circumvent the peace process back negotiations, or in these moments of a direct and imminent threat, this administration -- >> i apologize. on thursday afternoon, had a visit in my office from the deputy chief for mission from israel to the united states and he made the point of thanking us specifically for that point. they very well remember the intervention saved israeli diplomats from the egyptian mob. >> thank you, colin. yes? >> i want to comment on what other section of this part of the document and that is the strong language speaking to supporting our vets when they come home and are no long-term dud -- debt and are in need of health care or other basic human kindness is after the service they have given to our country and in the past, we have not always been as righteous about doing that. this document seeks strongly to make sure there is adequate health care, good education, proper employment opportunities and incentives for businesses to hire veterans, considering the special needs of veterans and i live in one of those states with veterans who live in rural areas. that there are the same kind of resources out there for them as well. the incredible work the first lady and dr. jill biden have done in pointing out and being welcoming to our vets when they return. that is an important part of our security and leadership and i just wanted to point that out as well. >> i would like to point out part of the portion of the platform that is connected also to the domestic planks in the platform as it relates to the president's leadership on hiv and aids. we recently held the 19th annual aids conference in washington, d.c. 22 years after the last one. in large part, is due to president obama lifting of the travel ban in addition to building on the progress of the previous administration in terms of support for the initiative our global h.i.v. aids initiative as well as the global fund. the president and the platform will reflect this on his hiv aids a national strategy. in addition, the president has also recognize the importance of responding along with the american people to the catastrophe in haiti as it relates to the earthquake and provided an unprecedented response in terms of resources and in terms of the infrastructure that would be needed to quickly respond not only to the immediate crisis but to the long-term reconstruction and rebuilding of haiti as well as an acknowledgement with the caribbean region and africa being important as relates to trade and foreign investment and united states relationships with those regions of the world. we want to thank and commend the president and we want to build upon his last four years in those areas. >> i would like to state my delight in seeing that climate change was addressed as an emerging threat. the president has taken great leadership and refocused the dialogue on science-based evidence of climate change. it is one that is in my home state very directly impacted in the way of life, jobs and such. i think we have a good language in the platform as an emerging threat as well. >> thank you. thank you for your ideas and discussions. we have now completed this committee's work on the 2012 democratic party platform and i know we are all excited by the progress we have made in the last few days together. i have no doubts our party's platform will clearly articulate the accomplishment of our president and his administration highlight the values which underlie the democratic party. i would like to thank each of you for your participation. you are an incredible collection of individuals representing the diversity that is america and the national democratic party. i have been humbled to get to know you and work with you and we have all been humbled as we listen to those who came before us to tell their stories and share how their own personal experience and empty their hearts before us. they gave us a lot to think about. now, what is next? on august 10 and 11th, the full platform committee will meet to review the draft that will be reflective of the conversations we have had over the weekend. the full committee will be chaired by mayor cory booker and lieutenant general claudia kennedy will adopt the platform at that meeting that will then be presented for consideration when we gather in charlotte at the end of this month. before we leave, i would like to thank the staff of the dnc and the obama campaign and our court reporter. what wonderful people they are. what nice people they are. they nurture us and look after us and help us in so many ways. i want to say to them that your hard work has made this meeting a success and while you're here at this nice hotel, we ought to say thank you to those who have served us and look after our needs and made our stay here such a pleasant one. finally, to all of our fellow democrats, we are less than 100 days from reelecting president barack obama, to keep him in the white house so that he can continue to move our country forward. i look forward to seeing you in charlotte and i look forward to seeing you on the campaign trail and i hope some of you will come to ohio. [laughter] and with that, this meeting is adjourned. [applause] >> next on c-span, federal reserve chairman ben bernanke holds a town hall meeting. then we'll talk to hotline editor in chief reid wilson. then we'll bring you some of the year's deliberations over the democratic party platform. tomorrow morning on "washington journal" steven moore on what both chambers need to complete before november and virginia congressman connelly explains why he was one of 19 democrats who went across the aisle and voted to extend bush tax cuts at all income levels. and andy kroll discussing the his of campaign laws. "washington journal" live wednesday at 7:00 a.m. eastern on c-span. >> sunday, look for our q & a interview. >> i had no idea about the experience s of the people who are my predecessors. correspondent or diplomats in berlin. i had to spend a lot of time thinking about what would it have been like to have been a correspondent there in the 1920's and 1930's and how would you have operated? what would you noticed or not noticed, much less how would you have acted? >> sunday at 8:00 on c-span's "q & a." >> c-span created by america's cable companies in 1979, brought to you as a public service by your television. -- provider. >> ben bernanke said today that student loan debt does not pose the same threat to the frbling system that mortgage debt did during the 2,000-day crisis. he answered questions from educators across the country during a town hall style meeting that focused on financial education. he urged state and local governments to maintain funding for education in general. this is an hour. >> hello, everyone. thank you for joining us here in washington, d.c. today for a conversation with federal reserve chairman ben bernanke. as he takes questions from teachers about perm finance, the federal reserve and the economy. my name is rose. i work here at the board of governors and i look forward to moderating today's session. here in the board room we are pleased to host a group of 60 educators who teach economics and personal finance to young people. we are also joined via video conference by educate terrorist all over the country who are participating in -- educators from all over the condition who are participating as well as many who are viewing this exchange via webcast. through this section, we look to advance the conversation about the importance of financial education for young people. we also hope to provide insight into the federal reserve's goals and activities so we can support the work you do with students as you strive to teach them how the decisions made by the central bank affect them, their families and the economy. throughout our event today, twitter users can follow the federal reserve and join the discussion about the event by using the hash tag fed town hall. today, we are honored to bring you federal reserve chairman ben bernanke. before coming to the board of governors in 2000 he was the chairman of economics and public affairs at princeton university. he chaired the department of economics from 1996-2002. he served as the governor of the federal reserve system from 2002-2005. in 2005 he became the chair of the president's council of economic advisors. he returned to the federal reserve as the chairman of board of governors in 2006. chairman bernanke grew up in dillon, south carolina, and received a b.a. in economics from harvard university and a ph.d. from the institute of technology. he and his wife, ann arkse an -- also an educator have two children. thank you for joining us today, mr. chairman . [applause] >> hi and welcome. welcome to the federal reserve. i'm delighted to have the opportunity to speak with you today. with educators throughout the country on the topic of financial education. thank you for your participation and the important work that you do. i understand the profound effect that good teachers and the quality education have on the lives of our young people. today i hope you'll learn from each other and share ways to best promote learning and in particular help students achieve greater financial literacy 3. it supports not only individual well-being but also the economic health of our nation. as a recent financial crisis illustrates, consumers who can make informed decisions about financial products and services, they also help promote broader economic stability. smart financial planning such as budgeting, saving for emergencies and preparing for retirement can help households enjoy better lives while weathering financial shocks. education can play a key role getting into these outcomes. research by the staff members and the effectiveness on financial education for young military personnel for example found that those who had taken a high school education course were already likely to safe. it is not just about teaching students about financial product or performing financial calculations. it also involves teaching them essential skills and concepts they will need to make major financial choices. high school students might not recall specific information about a lesson from a year ago when they go to get their first car loan or student loan. however, they understand, or members from basic ideas, for example, that it is important to shop around for a loan for a low interest rate. to review the fees charged. a valuable lesson is how the play the economic way of thinking for their decisions. the topic of student loan debt and whether they are prepared to service that debt has received increased attention lately. we are more likely to concept lies their spending on -- as an vegas investment of their own human capital. means of paying for their education and profession with that thought in mind. the economic tool of cost benefit analysis should help students make sounder personal and financial decisions. financial education also provides the context for students to develop important skills that can be applied more broadly. making good financial decisions requires a consumers seek out relative next information from trust worthy sources and that they use critical thinking and decision making skills. thees these are some of the fundamental abilities that our schools seek to instill in our children. was other types of education, the quality and format matters a great deal. providing financial education that is realistic, interesting and relevant can help student recess taken information and remain engaged. it can be particularly effective in keeping students interested. for example in 2010, i spoke at the opening of the junior achievement finance arc in fairfax, virginia. this organization allows students to play the role of a family head with financial challenges and opportunities giving them a chance to practice financial decision making in a realisticing. students and their parents can provide financially literate together. they exercise intergenerational homework assignments. we reinforce the concepts taught in class. it helps adults who until then might not have been exposed to financial concepts. to provide the most effective education, it should have clear standards and goals. to that end, the literacy and education commission of which the federal reserve is a member has identified five core goals. earning an income. spending. saving and investment. borrowing and protecting. behind each of these is a set of related knowledge and skills and corresponding behaviors. for example, in the category of earnings and income, students are expected to know difference between gross pay and net pay and information about benefits and taxes. with this knowledge, they can understand their pay stubs and take full advantage of workplace benefits. the five core conference tenseys are reflected seen developed by the council of education and 1/3 of our reserve system colleague are working with the council on this project. while it is important to begin teaching financial skills to children and teenages, it is a lifelong undertaking. the types of financial decisions that people have to make from paying for school to buying a home to planning for retirement vary throughout the course of their lives and thus we need to ensure that access to financial education is readily available at all stages of life. relevant, accurate and reliable information must be available to consumers at the time they are making their decisions. given smart phones, applications may be one effective method of delivering just in time information at a low cost. for example, our colleagues at the department of treasury are currently running an app contest to design mobile tools to help americans make better financial choices. because financially capable consumers ultimately contribute to a stable economic and financial system as well as improve their own financial situations, it is clear that the federal reserve has a significant stake in education. we demonstrate our commitment through numerous programs and resources offered by the federal reserve system staff and through partnerships our reserve banks have formed with local educators and institutions. prince, the federal reserve bank of chicago, -- for instance, the federal reserve bank of chicago helps consumers better manage their personal finances. the federal reserve bank of st. louis offers a broad selection of online personal finance courses that teachers and student consist use. to find out more about what is napping your area, i encourage you to visit the website federalreserveeducation.org. i would like to thank you again all of you for your participation today. it is a great pleasure to be talking to other teachers and i'm looking forward to taking some of your questions. thank you. [applause] >> thank you. now we'll begin taking questions. the first one is from the miami branch. >> good afternoon. i teach history, government economics at a charter high school in florida. thank you for this opportunity. here is my question. what is your view of the current state of government budgets, local, state and federal and what are the implications for students in education? >> you have identified a key example of tradeoffs, which is what economics is all about. state and local governments have been facing some fiscal challenges for sometime as you know. it is not just something that has happened since the crisis. maybe some of you are aware of a study that just came out under former fed chairman volume kerr that looked at -- volcker and looked at finances and found that many governments are finding it very difficult to meet their long-term commitments for pensions and other benefits for their workforce. during the recession and the crisis of course as the economy contracted, tax revenues fell quite a bit and states and lolets would have balance budgeted requirements. cut back on their spending. if you look at employment over the past few years, even though private sector has been adding jobs, the state and local sector has been subtract jobs and reducing the pace of gains in the labor market. so it has been a tight and difficult period for state and local governments. on the other side you have education, which is the most basic kind of investment. it has invested in human capital and in our future. there is lots and lots of evidence that every year extra education provides, extra earning power, extra job satisfaction and adds to the overall social welfare to have entire economy. there is a great deal to be gained. an additional comp scation that the quality of education -- conference indication is that it is not exactly correlated to the many other factors such as prarntal involvement, types of teachers and so upon. it is a very complicated relationship. all of that being said and understanding very well that state and local governments, while things have been a little better lately, are still under a great deal of budgetary pressure, i hope that making those decisions and taking about where to put their limited dollars that state and local governments are keeping in mind that we don't want to -- we want to be making investments in the future and session one of the most fundamental investments because it is in our young people who'll be of course the workers, consumers and citizens in decades ahead. >> thank you. next we'll go to cleveland. >> from -- and i teach economics to students at a high school. my question, mr. chairman, how does the fed maintain a delicate balance between not having political party meetings or pressures and at the same time taufering best objective financial leadership for our country? >> that is a good question. one of the basic findings of research on central banks is that it really helps the economy to have a strong and independent central bank. what i mean by that, a central bank that can make monetary policy and the decisions without being influenced by short-term political pressures. the research shows that countries with independent central banks have lower inflation, more stable economies and overall more confidence in their currency and so on. it is very important to have that degree of independence. the reason for this is that it works with the lag. it takes time for the fullfects to be felt and therefore you want decisions to be made by people who are not looking at the short run, looking at the election two months down the road but are looking at the longer term saying what is right for the economy? independent central banks are are very important. there is a kid with pro kuo for that. -- it has to be accountable and transparent following a framework given to it but the congress. this is what we do. we are indeed nonpartisan. we try make all of our decisions based on technical analysis based on what is good for the economy, not based on any political consideration. this is the table. we have this market committee meetings and make decisions about monetary policy. there is never any discussion about political issues. it is always what wr is the economy going? there are a lot provisions such as the fact that governors are appointed for 14 years for example and that the term of the chairman, a cross-presidential terms so there are many things that give the federal reserve a bit of independence but we have to be accountable and we are very accountsable. by law i testify twice a year in front of the house and senate to explain what monetary policy is doing and i actually testify many home run times than that. the meetings are -- many more times than that. i give a quarterly press conference. i meet regularly with people, folks from the congress. i'm very responsible personally to people in the government. so for all of those reasons, we try very hard to make sure that we explain what we're doing and that the elected folks who are in the congress or administration can appreciate what we're trying do. that's the balance that we tried to achieve. independence in order to make good decisions but accountability and trirnse make that consistent with our democratic framework. >> thank you. now we'll go to houston. >> i'm with first baptist christian academy in pasadena. what effect is the euro crisis having on the u.s. economy and what would a centralized european fiscal policy, what effect would that have on the global economy? >> that is a -- you have about an hour? [laughter] well, the european situation is very difficult. the basic problem there is that like the states of the united states, they have a single monetary policy. there is one central bank, the european central bank, that makes monetary policy for all 17 nations in the eurozone. but unlike the states over the united states, they don't have one fiscal policy. each one has its own parliament, its own prime minister and own fiscal policy. it is as if in the united states, during a downturn, individual states know that the federal government is there to pay social security, to pay medicare, to provide defense, all of those broad government functions and each state and locality has to deal with the services that it provides. in europe, each country is basically responsible for its own fiscal situation. now there are some country s that areweaker fiscally and they are involved in tightening their belts in a very strong way. the result s of that are weaker economies in those countries. indeed, most of europe is now suffering a much weaker economy. on top of that, their banking system is stressed by the fact that banks hold a lot of sovereign government debt, which in turn is hurting the financial positions to the banks and reducing the amount of lending they are willing to do. in the eurozone, those 17 countries that share the euro, they are under a lot of economic international stress. there has been a lot of steps taken to try to address that. they have a very strong incentive to address these problems. they want to maintain the political integrity. the european collaboration that has been going on now since nowl more ii. but it is very difficult and involves political crisis. there are two basic types of channels by which the euro crisis is affecting us. first, europe is a major export destination. a weaker european economy means that both the u.s. borders and exporters from other countries are finding weaker markets. that is reducing demand for our products and slowing our economy. even more important is the fact that concerns about the european situation have created lots of stress and volatility in financial markets. and the stark -- stockmarkets in credit markets. those problems are affecting us here in the united states. between a financial cutbacks and the trade effects, the european crisis is slowing our economy. there are many other factors as well, including fiscal issues, credit tightness. the housing market and sell one. but this is one of the european situations -- one of the factors that is slowing the economic recovery. you asked about what happened in europe had a single fiscal authority that would put them in a much closer situation relative to the united states that would probably address many of the concerns they have. by getting to that point is very difficult. you have 17 different countries and each set of taxpayers want to make sure their own country is in being fairly treated. so it is a difficult, complex, political negotiation that has been going on now for a couple years. >> we are back at the board here. we would like to go to omaha. i think they are calling in. hold on a second. >> i think you have a piece in there. >> houston, do we have a touchdown? [laughter] okay. i will give it another second. if not, i will pose the question. until we get them back in, we can go to washington, d.c. we have a teacher right here. let's go to d.c for the next question. >> good afternoon. i teach comparative politics and economics in sandy spring, maryland. how can we as educators emphasize the importance of understanding how the invisible hand that to our current crisis while encouraging students to believe that the market can work? >> one of the most exciting moments in teaching economics is when kids understand the invisible hand idea. the idea that markets can achieve such complex economic outcomes without any kind of central planning. milton freeman have the example of saying think how complicated it is to deliver a pencil. you think of all the components -- the wood, rubber, paint and everything else and you get a pencil for $1 or whatever it is is costs. markets can do that because the invisible hand says even though each participant is working for their own interest only in there is no central planner involved, that markets still work somehow to deliver that result. there is a lot of evidence that looking around the world, markets have played a tremendous role in creating the wealth. that we see in rich countries and emerging markets that are becoming rich. markets are an amazing thing. getting students to appreciate what markets can do is a very important part of teaching economics. that being said, the next level up is to understand that markets also have problems. there are market failures, there is a monopoly, there is externalities'. many things that can go wrong in markets. understanding how to fix those problems is really an important key to thinking about economic policy in general. the were a number of places where markets or the combination of markets in government failed. for example, basic invisible hand economics assumes that information is perfect. everybody understands basically what they are buying and selling. that was not always true obviously in the crisis when people were buying a complicated credit instruments that contained a variety of substandard credit products like the prime mortgages. and the people who bought that did not necessarily understand everything that was in those credit products. likewise, during the crisis, there were -- there was a huge uncertainty about which banks and financial institutions were in danger because it was hard to know what exposures were and what each institution held and what the rest were. another issue related to financial markets is that unlike most industries, financial markets are prone to rise. if people lose confidence in a particular institution and they are providing short-term deposits or funding to those institutions, they have an incentive to pull out their money as quickly as possible. if everybody does that, it is like everyone running to the exit in a crowded theater. nobody is better off. you create stress in the financial system. try to address the problem is why the federal reserve was created almost 100 years ago to provide support for the financial system during periods of crisis. i mentioned the too big to fail problem, a combination of government and market failure. institutions which are so big and complex, their failure would possibly bring down the financial system. there is a strong presumption in the market that the government will protect those institutions. that means that the market is not allowed to work in a sense because people will lend money to those institutions are saying i did not have to worry about whether they are making good investments are taking too much risk because if they get into trouble, the government will protect them. that leads to bad allocation, increased risk in the system. to answer your question, let me close by saying market are a wonderful thing. it is important to understand that but the financial crisis showed there are ways in which markets did not always work well. it is just as important to understand that markets can fail as it is to understand that markets are powerful and can give to the results a lot of the time -- good results in a lot of the time. >> let's go back to omaha. >> good afternoon. economics and current events go together. what current events would you consider essential that we covered in the classroom? as a follow-up to that, with everything going on in the world, d.c. in the events on the horizon that teachers should be aware of and ready to talk with students about? >> we have had a lot of things happening in the economy in recent years. i think students who want to understand what they see around them, what they hear. what we have seen recently, i very complex of that but such an -- certain parts of it can be explained. you can explain the problems with some time mortgages, for example, which ties into financial literacy issues that we talked about. the plan at a crisis is clearly something that kids would want to understand. -- the financial crisis is clearly something that kids would want to understand and the recession that followed as well. certainly they would want to understand fiscal policy, how is monetary policy being used in the current situation? fiscal policy is something that affects their lives in concrete ways. the decisions are being made about the long-term future of social security, for example. who will pay, who will benefit? that has a big effect on kids' futures. those of the kind of thing that could interest them. some raise the question about europe. that is also something in the news and i know that people are interested in understanding what is going on there. these are complex issues and a complete analysis will be tough to put into a class in but there are many elements and aspect that you can use to try to give a better sense of what is happening in these situations. i think going forward, there are many things you can look at from macro and micro economic. at the micro level, issues of pollution control and perhaps global warming interests students. what are the economics of that? the economics of the demographics of our society, getting older. what are the implications of that for our economy and our young people's future? an interesting question now is why do countries compete to have the olympics in their country and still -- is that an economically sensible thing to do or for national right? there are lots of issues. look out the window. you will find things to talk about. and see what dissident -- what the students themselves a raise. they will raise questions themselves. >> thank you. now we will go to philadelphia. >> mr. chairman, i teach at germantown academy in fort washington, pennsylvania. my question is about federal reserve system itself. what do you think young people most need to know about the federal reserve and how it operates? >> the first thing they should know is what it is. [laughter] the federal reserve is of course it's very important economic institution and i think every informed citizens should know at least the basics of what the fed is and how it is structured and what it does. a good economics class will take students to look further. it will explain what is monetary policy and how it works. i think the very basic thing that often gets lost is the difference between monetary policy and fiscal policy. monetary policy is a responsibility to the bed. those are very different. the work in different ways. understanding the distinction between those things is very important. the fed is also a regulator. and the fact that along with other banking regulators, we oversee banks try to help control the risks they take. what economic role does that play? all of that what probably have been sufficient a few years ago but recently, now getting to the ap class, a lot of things have happened. the fed has done things it had not done for a long time. over the last few years, we have been trying to ease monetary policies to support the economy but it is already almost four years since the interest rate went almost 20. almost to 0. instead of buying short-term securities which is traditionally do in monetary policy, we are now doing longer- term asset purchases. kids would want to -- and advanced cast -- class would want to understand how that is conducted. the other thing which is very important -- the federal reserve was founded in large part to deal with financial crises, to be available to support the financial system during periods of panic and try to stabilize the financial system. this function got a lot less attention during most of the post war period and most of the people thought of the bed as primarily monetary policy institution. but with the crisis we have had decent -- recently a crises in other parts of the world, central banks have become much more engaged in supporting financial system and creating financial stability. and explaining that basic function is also very important. to summarize, basic structure and governance, monetary policy, distances between monetary and fiscal policy. those are the basics. that is what every citizen needs to know. and the most recent years, the fed as the n things, including buying longer-term securities to provide more monetary policies support and working to stabilize our financial system. those of more complex subtexts but also of great interest. >> now we're going to go to los angeles. >> mr. bernanke, i teach economics and business law in high school. what do you believe is the best way to anticipate another financial crisis? >> how to anticipate and prevent a financial crisis? [laughter] >> not an easy question. he obviously given the cost of the last financial crisis, we would like to do all we can to anticipate and prevent another financial crisis. if one happens, to mitigate its effects as much as possible. bobby's speaking, the new regulatory structure -- relatively speaking, the new regulatory structure has a two- part strategy. the first is that we are now taking -- the financial regulators, the government in general, are taking a more systemic approach. before the crisis, every regulator had itswn particular institution and a market that it was responsible for. nobody was there watching the system as a whole. the idea that regulators ought to work together to identify risks in the broader system was discussed even before the crisis but it is now part of what the new regulatory structure is trying to accomplish. so we have four examples of the call the financial stability oversight council which is -- which consists of 10 major regulators, including the federal reserve and some other regulators who do not have the votes. thefsoc's job is to look at system as a whole, identify problems, see if there are risks that may threaten the system, are their weaknesses in the structure? gaps in regulation that need to be addressed? the federal reserve has its own office of financial stability which has a similar function to try to monitor the whole system and identify problems that might be rising. we work closely with the fsoc to look for new problems to see where there might be -- the next crisis might come from and take steps to provide a warning so we can collectively address those problems. that is the first part which is to have a macro approach which is looking at the system as a whole, try to identify gaps and weaknesses and fix those as much as possible. we know perfectly well that we will not be able to identify every problem that comes along. the issues are very complex. historically, it just happens that very often need the the private or public sector identifies the problem until it is upon us. the second part of the strategy is to make the system itself as resilient as possible. whatever happens, even if we do not identify or prevent it, the system will be stronger and able to survive and continue to provide credit, even in the face of a shock. there are many aspects of that. one example would be the new capital standards that had been agreed upon by not just the united states but essentially all the major countries in the world. so-called basel 3 standard that would increase the amount of reserves capitol that the banks have. when banks, whenever they take significant losses relative to where they were before the last crisis, they will have lots of capital which can absorb those losses and prevent those losses from turning into a failure or a more broader banking panic. so greater capital, strong rules on derivatives trading, more liquidity for banks. do they have enough cash in hand? all those things are intended to make the system strong person that no matter what may happen, the system will be better prepared to observe the shop without going into crisis as we saw in 2008. >> now question from st. louis. >> hi. i work for a special school district with mastodons. my question -- should the public school system at more courses second -- at more courses like economics and finance to the curriculum? >> we are all in favor of that. [laughter] there are lots of ways to do that. it is good to have students understand the basics of economics and finance and financial literacy. there are lots of ways to do it. one way to do it is if you're high school has ap courses. there are forces in micro and macro economics. students who want to do that can do college preparatory work in economics. so you can do significant and serious economic forces if you want. but i say that because there are lots of other ways to incorporate economics. when i took history in high school, i said this is all about kings and queens and wars. of course economics tells how people lived, how they make a living, how societies function, how markets function to read trade. all those aspects of history which are so important. integrating economics into history, integrating economics and to civics so that didn't understand the importance of institutions like the federal reserve and regulators and fiscal policy and so on. beyond that, is financial literacy. which is so very important for all students. i do not think or any students who should not be exposed to in these basic financial literacy concept. that can be done as an individual course, as a part of a course, be combined with something like a junior achievement program which is very good to get kids interested in. or integrated into a math class for other kinds of contexts. so there are many ways to do it. it depends on your resources and the kinds of interests that didn't have. but if you think about what people do every day, what adults are required to do in terms of managing their finances and preparing for retirement, economics and financial literacy are critical parts of education. there are lots of ways to incorporate it. i hope everyone here will do that. i congratulate you for that and encourage you to keep making that effort. >> now i question from boston to rid -- now a question from boston. >> could you share your thoughts on the current crisis regarding the current student loan debt and, at the burden of currents in loan debts for our young people impact the economy in the future if the same bar hours are not in a position to borrow for things like automobiles are starting up new businesses? texted loan debt which is now one of the largest categories of debt of any type is a to edge toward -- is a two edged sword. it is a very important way of increasing earnings power. we do not want to have a world that the which talented students are unable to get additional education because they cannot afford it. having a student at market or a student that program -- a student debt market are student debt program helps everybody. it is very important to have this kind of restitution. it is a to edge sword. if people make bad choices, bacon and had been ordered -- burdened with debt, large amounts of it, which is not -- you cannot discharge student that in bankruptcy. -- student debt in bankruptcy. if you acquire a lot of debt and your school does not prepare you for a good job, then you are really in trouble because you have -- you do not have the income but you have the debt. what i wouldn't rise on that is that just like any other investment, when investing in your own capital, you have to be smart. you have to know what it is you are buying. those of you who do guidance counseling type work think of it as being investment advisor -- as being an investment adviser. you're explaining to listed among kind of job or career he expects to get out of your additional education, what are the castration rates -- what are the graduation rates? does all this makes sense given how much debt you have to take. that is not the only reason people take out that -- take debt. but as an economic proposition, it is important to understand what is your buying. counseling should be an important part of the decisionmaking process for kids taking out the debt because it sticks around for a long time. in terms of the economy, i think the main issues there are fiscal issues, most governments -- most student debt is now provided by the federal government. whatever losses or problems there may be on that side will be fiscal problems that will be borne by the taxpayer ultimately. there are also issues of students being burdened by debt if they deny use it in a smart way to get themselves the kind of income they need to pay it off. so burden on future consumers and fiscal burdens for future taxpayers, those are some of the reasons to try to use debt wisely. i do not think that didn't debt -- that student debt is a financial stability issue to the same extent as mortgage debt was in the last crisis because most of it is held not by a financial institution but by the federal government. >> now question from chicago. >> hello. this is helen roberts from the university of illinois at chicago. i teach all ages. there is widespread misunderstanding about how the federal reserve supports the economy and the short run and long run effects of monetary policy. stephen sometimes think of the fed is being in a position to solve all economic problems and some possibly the federal reserve is not doing enough to fix the economy. they blame it for addressing problems that really have the responsibility of fiscal policy. what does the federal reserve need to do to educate the public about the limits of monetary policies of people have more realistic expectations? >> your basic point is absolutely right. the federal reserve is an important economic policy institution, monetary policy as well as financial regulation have a very important role to play in providing a stable economy. stability involving both growth and inclement and in terms of prices. but as i've often said, monetary policy is not a panacea. it does not solve all problems. there are many issues that are more appropriately dealt with by the fiscal authorities to spending decisions for tax policies. beyond that, there are decisions made by trade policy makers, education policy makers, all the different areas of economic policy. i think it should be basic part of civics our government or whatever heading you put that under that students understand that the government is not just congress and the administration. there are many other institutions. including the federal reserve but doesn't -- including regulators as well. and to have a sense of what these institutions do and have -- how to divide the responsibilities is very basic. a very basic bit of economic education. we have in putting together in this discussion to kinds of financial and economic education. the personal type of vegetation where understanding better -- ther personal type of education where understanding better financial decisions and also the education that involves understanding how our society works to make you a better citizen and better able to understand what is happening in world events. this is in that latter category. a basic understanding of modern government involves understanding the principal economic policy institutions and their division of labor. much our policy is very important. the federal reserve is the primary institution involved in that. it has the important role of providing long-term stability in crises. it can be very helpful in helping to restore full employment and providing support for a recovery. but in particular, the long term types of things like providing a strong educational system, providing a good tax code, creating a free-trade, helping unemployed workers gain skills they need and so on, there are so many of these things which are really responsibilities of a wide variety of economic policy makers together with the private sector. so i basically agree with the point that it is important for students to understand who does what and what the different types of policy can achieve. >> thank you. in the next question from minneapolis. we cannot hear you. >> good evening, mr. chairman. >> we can hear you now. >> i teach economics and government in albany. many of us work hard to teach the importance of saving and investing get interest rates return at historic lows. how can we teach students they will be rewarded for saving giving that returns on investments are currently so low? >> good question. obviously interest rates are very low. they are low for a good reason. [laughter] which is that our economy is still in a fragile recovery and low interest rates are intended to help the economy recover and to restore a more normal levels of employment and growth in our economy. for investors, it is essential that the economy be strong overall. if you think about what investors invest in, some of it is in fixed income management like certificates of deposit or government bonds, but a lot of what people invest in our stocks and corporate debt and small businesses and a variety of other assets. those assets are not going to perform well unless the economy is strong. so the kind of return that you can get as an investor and as a saver depends on having a strong economy. there is really no shortcut to that and that is the reason why we have a low interest rates now as a way of trying to restore that vitality that will give investors higher returns in the future. that is the reason that rates are low but of course they are low. bing -- that being said, there is an awful lot that can be taught, even with rates being lower. there are still many incentives to save if you want to buy a house. now since the financial crisis, downpayment requirements are much higher than the work. if you want to go to college and increase your earning power, if you want to retire, all of the things that people want to plan for over their lives still require saving. you probably have to save more to get to a certain point. there is a lot to be learned about it. for example, if you're going to be saving, he did not want to save a dented just one form. you want to diversify and save it into different types of assets. you need to understand the trade-off between risk and return. you need to understand how taxes affect the returns to different types of assets. there is a great deal to be learned about how to save and how to invest. even in a low interest-rate environment. i think students find it pretty interesting to have for example and make believe portfolio make their investments and they can check the paper every morning and see how they did and they may learn that putting all their eggs and into one basket may not be the best idea. so there are many basic ideas like diversification and risk reduction that students can learn and would enjoy learning. >> we have one final question. once again we will go to a teacher from the richmond district who -- who is here in the room. >> good evening. we hear this upcoming generation will be the first generation worse off than their parents. i am a little school teacher and my here -- and kids think are invisible. they think you're our aged. do you think this generation will not be better off than their parents? if your own kids were middle schoolers today, what would you ask their teachers to do to help impart this important information to them? >> yet another very good question. [laughter] nobody can predict the future obviously. all things -- all kinds of things can happen in the world but my best guess -- guess is that our kids will be better off than we are. there are a number of reasons for that. the first of that our living standards depend most fundamentally -- on gains in productivity. we are living in a world of technological change. united states is at the forefront of that. we have some of the greatest universities in the world here and we are doing pretty well at finding ways to commercialize the invention and discoveries coming out of those universities in place like silicon valley and research triangle and the washington, d.c area. technology will continue to provide opportunities. the u.s. economy is well placed to take advantage of that. we have a very entrepreneurial culture. we have a lot of market- oriented -- our ethos is very market oriented. i guess i would come back to one issue which cuts both ways which is our demographics. one of the challenges that we face collectively is the fact that our society is getting older. this fraction of people who are retired and receiving social security or medicare is increasing. that creates fiscal burdens and burdens on future taxpayers. the good news is that relative to most other and the stroke countries and compared to some emerging market economies, the demographics of the united states are not that bad. we have a very healthy immigration rate, health the fertility rate. our demographics are favorable compared to a number of other and-jocundity -- countries. there are a lot of reasons to think our society will be transformed by new technologies, new products, new markets. that denied states will play an important role in that and that will give -- that the united states will play an important role in that and that will give opportunities for our children to have better quality of living than we did. i recommend to the physical challenges. our educational system, we need to keep improving it. it is not even a question of -- our educational system is both failing many of our students but it is creating a law that inequality also. you have some very good schools and some that are very poor and that creates a different starting line for kids coming out of those different backgrounds. education, health care, there are a lot of issues that we have and in the near term, it's coming out of high school or college right now are not facing a very good job market and that will make it harder for them to get into the workforce and to gain experience. so there are lots of challenges street i do not want to deny that. over the medium term, the intrinsic features of the u.s. economy which have made it the richest economy in the world together with the ongoing improvements in technology and the strengths we have in terms of our markets and our demography, all those things will be positive. in terms of advice, i think that's the way the world is going towards a more globalize system where trade and services can grow very easily across borders to a highly technological society, the benefits of education are going to get greater and greater. this is not going to be a kind of world in which an unskilled worker will do well. you need to have enough knowledge that you can adapt and accommodate the many changes that are happening and will happen in the coming years. the good news for you is that your product is becoming more and more valuable. [laughter] and people who are smart will take every possible advantage of it. >> thank you for all of your great questions. that concludes our session for today. we hope you have gained insights into this conversation that will help you in your work in the field of economic and personal finance education. on behalf of the federal reserve system, thank you especially to the participating teachers. we are pleased you could join us today. once again, we will like to think chairman bernanke for taking the time to speak with us today. [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] >> sunday, our interview with author of "hitlerland." >> i had no idea of my predecessors and their experiences. despite all the time spent in a germany, i did not spend a lot of time thinking about what it would have been like to be a correspondent there in the 193 0's. how would you have operated? what would you have noticed or not notice? how would you have acted? >> sunday at 8:00 on "q &a." >> we talked to the editor and then the chief of the hot line about this year's senate races and the republicans' chances of regaining a majority. this is 40 minutes. >> reid wilson is editor in chief of hot line. good morning. senate races are heating up as they head into the final months of campaign 2012. the biggest one you're watching? >> today at the majority -- missouri's voters chance to go to the primaries. they will select a republican candidate to face off. this is one -- the most vulnerable democrats seeking reelection this year. in the of the three major challenges running against a right now would give for a very tough race in the fall. some would say she is the underdog against all three. a recent survey conducted by mason-dixon printer behind all three candidates by between 5% -- between five points and 11 points. that is not a great place to be. host: the head by the washington times -- three republicans of months of the right. tickets to the competitors in the republican primary -- take us to the competitors in the republican primary. what would it mean? guest: he spent $7 million of his own money introducing himself to missouri voters. they gave him an early name recognition lead which translated into a lead in most surveys. congressman todd akin has been the most underfunded. he has run the furthest to the right. it seems like he is popping at the moment. he captured the attention of the concern of the world right now. we are getting hints that he might be searching late and my taken advantage into today's primary. the third candidate is the former state treasurer who is running from southwest missouri, an area where a lot of the republican base and the turning out from. she would be an interesting candidate. some republicans in washington would like to see her when the nomination because they think she's the best contrast for mccaskill. aiken's success has come in part because he was targeted as a potential rival. she released three sets of advertisements going after each candidate. one offered a really serious attack against john, the businessmen, 01 offered a reasonably harsh attack against steelman and the third sound of lycopod the masses. they called the most conservative possible candidate. that is a great thing to be in a republican primary. in the supply and -- it looks like her plan in picking her own rival as a very smart thing to do. even though aiken has not had the money to define himself and offer his own advertising, mccaskill has done a little bit for him during host. host: she released this tv ad last month that some took as an attempt to boost process -- to boost prospects for mr. aiken. >> because he is the least well funded. the least well known. he has a significant voting record. this is a strategy that other candidates have pursued in the past. think back to governor gray davis. hugely unpopular. running for reelection in california. he might have faced the popular mayor of los angeles. however, davis brand advertising in the republican primary, blasting him as not conservative enough. another candidate won that primary. a much weaker candidate terry davis pulled off one of the bigger upset of the last decade when he won reelection in 2002. harry reid did the same thing. a trial into tactic to define your opponent. it can backfire a bit when it looks to overt. playing up the negatives worked pretty well. host: august is usually a sleepy any state that went to hold the primary would be in violation of that lot. they have to hold their primaries earlier in august. that is now for the first time we're starting to see this big senate primaries in the month of august. a time when people are tuned out of politics, when people are on vacation. it will be interesting to watch just to turns out in all these statements -- races. it will provide future modeling ability for consultant looking to run the race in the future of august primary. >> hear the numbers to call. -- here are the numbers to call. let's turn out attention to wisconsin. >> the race to replace herb cole gets into full swing. at the moment it looks like there is a mooring of misery. a wealthy businessman has spent millions introducing himself to voters. that has given him a chance to rival someone who should be the top tier candidate. former gov. tommy thompson. he was a four term governor. democrats and independents remember voting for him. he has not faced a voter since 1998. he thought about running for governor in 2006 and thought about running for senate in 2010. he delayed his decision for quite awhile and then ended up not running. that irritated some of the activist base and a lot of the conservatives in the state have questions about his record in terms of spending. this back before the tea party movement really became and took over the republican party. what we're seeing is tommy thompson has got a pretty hard feeling. somewhere around 35% to 45%. the candidates have the opportunity to break in and score something higher than thompson's margin. what we're seeing is a tivo- person race between but mark newman is showing some signs of life. the kind of collision that propelled ted cruz to victory in texas. it is not clear he is surging to the extent that cruz or murdoch did late. if the anti-tommy thompson splinters' too much, we could see thompson as the nominee. democrats would say they're hiding his lobbying ties and his time in the bush administration if it gets to a general election. the funny thing about this is we will see a clash of two very different candidate. no matter which republican hands of winning next week. the democrat who is waiting for them is congresswoman tammy baldwin from madison which is the wisconsin version of san francisco. the liberal bastion. she has moved to the center with a couple of her early advertisements. she will face an equally tough time statewide. this is a race in which will have one candidate who is too liberal and the other is too conservative. host: mark newman is casting his opponents as the establishment and there is mr. hovde. he claims he is the real outsider. canids are trying to position themselves as the one who is outside the beltway. who is outside the foundations of government and industry. >> in this race there's a lot of nuance. a lot of back-and-forth about everybody's past. newman was a congressman, he has run statewide. he ran in the 2010 gubernatorial primary against scott walker. the incumbent governor will not be terribly sad if mark newman does not end up winning this pre-election period the interesting thing about i -- outsider versus insider, the biggest problem officials are facing, it is not their record that voters do not like. is not their personality or appeal. they are incumbent officeholders. they are elected officials and their for their members of the establishment. we saw that i and texas -- in texas. dewhurst had ever won's -- support from everyone in the establishment. all logic dictated he should be able to win the primary and get the outsider candidate cruz won by a significant 14-point margin. the -- none of that matters to the average republican primary voter. they want to see someone go in and shake things up. >host: an independent caller from baltimore. caller: i wanted to say the thing that i find about the republican and the democrats is that -- the voters. they do not ask any questions. if you are going to cut spending, republicans need to be specific. that is where we make our mistake and that is why we're disappointed in congress because when republicans, i am an independent. when republicans voted these people in the voted for a reason. they did not ask any question about what specifically are you going to do? what specifically are you going to cut? no one is specific. that is the problem and that is why we keep voting in people that is not doing the job because we do not ask any questions. we're going to cut spending, cut what? they never say. callerguest: paul ryan offers a comprehensive road map. whether that is something in support or oppose, it is a specific. that said, there is the missing policy debate especially in the presidential contest where we're saying drugs and drabs of what either side would do if elected president. that is something we will say coming up at the conventions. august is a time when not a lot of people are paying attention. there are 90 days to go. if -- we will see mitt romney and president obama wang out what is going to come in their term if they are elected president. >> let's hear from our republican caller. tommy has been around, great guy. mark newman has impressed me as nothing but a professional candidate. this is somebody i think can go to washington, spent two terms there and get out before washington ounce him. that appears to happens out there. i do not know how you get away. you're going to start believing, you are god. there is no way around it. tammy baldwin, she would never see a boat. i called her on this three or four occasions over the health care law and how it would affect my family. i have never received so much as -- i have one form letter back from her early on. i will say late 2009, early 2010. one form letter. that was said. the other three times i have contacted her, absolutely nothing. wisconsin would do well to send him out to the senate. >> this is interesting. the comment about tommy thompson and how he should -- to bring up a point that a republican strategist mentioned to me. he said a lot of conservative activists gave tommy thompson the gold watch as he retired. they are content to let him stay retired. that is why thompson has such a hard ceiling. that does not mean they want to go back to that time. he is interesting. two years ago wisconsin voted out russ feingold in favor of ron johnson, a businessman who spent a lot of his own money to run and when. if the ends of winning, johnson was a victory will serve as the model for how to approach this year's election. then again, wisconsin's general ledger will be different than it was in 2010. a lot more people turn out in milwaukee. the democratic voters and get- out-the-vote effort really ramp up. it will be a close race. i do not think democrats or republicans think it will be more than a two-point contest. >> read wilson -- reid wilson is our guest. host: go ahead. guest: that's right. voters are try to find every single voter the can find. wisconsin serves as the model for both sides. they have spent so much money there. they know pretty much where all their votes are coming from. they have to make sure they get to the polls on election day. >host: hi. caller: i would like to say the republicans are really confusing me. on the one hand, there are no jobs. the economy is really bad. on the other hand, they want to cut off any kind of assistance for people because they're too lazy to work. it seems to me that the republicans want to run with the fox and hunt with the hounds. they're confusing me. guest: there are a number of republican governors who are at odds with mitt romney's presidential campaign because there will have to run for re- election themselves. they have to talk about positive things that are happening in their states. gov. rick scott has been championing the fact that his state is making a comeback economically, unemployment-rate- wise in the housing market and they romney campaign wants to convince florida voter that -- voters that president obama is at fault. it is an interesting tension within the party. it will say that -- see the same things in places like virginia. and ohio and wisconsin where scott walker has been the focus of the state's poes 6 for most of the last two years because of the gubernatorial recalled. host: we have another call from wisconsin on the line. this one is from milwaukee. caller: good morning. as a republican, i of course want to see more republicans in the united states senate because currently, we're at an impasse and i will vote for tom thomson in the primary because i think he has got the best chance to be to tammy baldwin who is -- whose liberal voting record we do not need. we do not need any more alter- liberals in the senate. thanks. guest: tommy thompson is someone who has a good reputation with republican voters. and few democrats and republicans remember voting for. the electorate has changed dramatically over the last several years. the last decade or so. we have seen that going all the way back in 2006 in a number of different states. i had this outsider version establishment revolution in which the outsider got the upper hand back to the 2006 governor's race in alaska. sarah palin beat out the incumbent but also another state senator by a significant margin tuesday february. that was the first outsider election. this wisconsin race has the potential to be the latest outsider election. >> what kind of an influence is she playing in this race? she endorsed ted who won his brave battle in texas and so far, she has had a winning track record. >>guest: we're getting some hins that she might finish third which would be the first missed senate pick of the year. she has not made a pick in the wisconsin race yet. she is planning a pretty significant role. she does not always pick the most conservative candidate which i think is interesting. earlier this year in the nebraska senate primary come palin endorsed a state senator named dan fischer who beat the incumbent attorney general and the state treasurer. both of whom were running for the to the right. he is the incoming chair of the transportation state committee, they're not shy about spending on transportation or infrastructure. when the polls close in wisconsin, sarah steelman might not be the lun without -- with a blemish on her record. >>caller: the democrats are goig to win this year and will tell you why. i am looking at virginia. virginia to make, the only thing the democrat has to do is to put the [unintelligible] and mr. king does not have to do any campaign. just bring back the macaca commercial. i want to make a prediction this morning. i am hearing all they've people state that mr. romney will pick for vice president. he will pick rick santorum. that is my prediction and i do not see the reason but what i will tell you is i have my reasons why. i will not give you the reason today. he will pick rick santorum. >> i think the campaign is more pessimistic than you are. there will have to -- this will be a tooth and nail battle, down to the wire. it is an interesting race in virginia. you have the former governor who headed the dark credit national committee. george allen who lost his seat to incumbent senator jim webb. it will be interesting to watch. these are tv otitis more able to raise money. both of their name recognition is huge. this is about turnout and mobilizing the voters. his strengths are in the washington, d.c. suburbs. in the growing african-american community in newport news and southeast virginia. george allen is a strong holder every roles. he will have to gin up turnout in western jenna. some -- western virginia. he needs to turn those voters out. joe may be confident that their races in which the democratic candidate will fall short period of virginia, you tell me who wins virginia, i will tell you who will control the senate. host: controlling the senate. say more, reid wilson. guest: there are 23 republican seats. most of the seats will stay in their camp. most of the seats will stay in their camp. of the swing races and the tossups, there are some democratic-held seats that will go to republicans. i mentioned nebraska earlier. that race, fisher looks like she is leading at the moment. the castle -- mccaskill faces some difficult times. senator kent conrad is retiring. that is the most surprising grace of the year. the democratic candidate is doing pretty well against congressman rec -- ric byrd. she needs to win that crossover appeal. what we're seeing throughout the country is in most states, democrats are running a few points ahead of president obama. tim kaine will run two or three points ahead of president obama. they have these reputations of reaching out and they are not the polarizing figure at the top of the ticket. just watch how much these democratic candidates are able to outpace their republican opponents. crossroad voting is to be a normal thing and some democrats would outpace their presidential nominees by 10 or 15 or 20 points. those days are dwindling because people are viewing the national party is as the more influential than the actual names on the ballot. my colleague likes to say the colors of the jersey matter more than the name on the back. quex are guest served as editor of hot line on call and a staff lawyer at the hill where he covered congress, politics, campaigns, and elections and covered the 2008 elections saw -- cycle. he covered polls and polling for hot line during the 2006 election and has written for publications including the new republic, the seattle post- intelligencer and national journal. our caller from the rocks brought up the vice presidential race to see who met rahm it will pick to be his running mate. we're seeing according to the washington post the list get shorter of speculation reaches a new pitch. the gop mentions four convention speakers. we see some of these people including mike huckabee. mikki haley and faris cézanne martinez. -- gov. martinez. guest: the prediction that -- took a hit this morning. they're not going to announce the ballot box vice-presidential candidate would be a headline speaker because that would give away that spot and give away the buzz they were able to build. their announcement this morning of four additional speakers, jeb bush, rand paul, mary fallon, and rick santorum -- that gives us a hint of where this short list is going. there are a few incumbent members who are on the short list. rob portman remains at the top of that list if not in second place. he will be one of the final games they consider and senator earmark or roverdeau -- marco rubio. not end up picking him. he is someone who does not have a lot of experience on the national level. it was so exciting to the conservative base that he threatens to overshadow mitt romney. there is the positive that ends of dooming him. that is the consideration on the republican side. host: given a choice, you will not get a maryland vp. caller: we need to take the senate back in 3 1/2 years, you have not presented a budget because they're too cowardly to say what they are for or against. and harry reid putting out gossip on the senate and what the republican governors are doing so well in their states, they're looking at $20,000 -- 20,000 a month that obama is putting on disability that will go to medicaid when medicaid is in trouble in all the states and it will have to foot the bill for this. we need to get romney in there and repeal this obamacare that will bankrupt america and turn us into some third world country. all these people on disability just to get a handout, they did not want to work and that is obama's people. host: she thinks it is important that the republicans take back the senate. how many other open senate seats are there in 2012? can you highlight for us some incumbents other than senator casco -- mckaskill. guest: virginia, nebraska, north dakota, hawaii, new mexico is an open seat. there are a lot of incumbents who are vulnerable. on the republican side, scott brown in massachusetts, dean howard in nevada, both of them are in some measure of trouble. brown is in real trouble as he faces elizabeth warren. the crossover voting. president obama will get somewhere around 60% in massachusetts. to put together a winning coalition will have to win one out of six voters. brown is appealing to this independent voters, appealing to the democrats and conservative democrats he needs including in places like south east and western massachusetts. he means who might vote for republican candidate. he will need every single one of them to pull that off. nevada is like my favorite race of the year. you have this great contrast between dean howard from carson city of north, he is a rancher and takes his horse is out on vacation into the sierra nevada mountains and contrast that with congresswoman shelly berkeley who could not possibly more -- be more las vegas. what a great contest -- contrasts. she faces an ethics investigation that is not helping her case. and republicans are being smart by highlighting that as much as they can. berkeley has been aggressive about responding. this -- there are two democratic and two republican seats to watch. the most likely is the seat in maine. king has not said which side he will caucus with. democrats are confident he will caucus with them. his pollster, he shows -- shares a pollster with john kerry. he show up at a fund-raiser last year. that is another wrinkle into this context with a 53-47 safe majority. democrats have opportunities around the country. caller: good morning. i think that most elderly americans are not yet aware that the ryan budget will put an end to medicare. once they learn that, there is a large number of elderly americans nationwide that will vote for democrats. both in the house and in the senate. i live in texas, and the congressional district i live in, we have a republican congressman and no democratic candidate. statewide, we now have a democratic candidate for senate. there public and of course is -- the the republican is a texas tea sipper. guest: we will see. he is talking about paul sadler. texas is one of these interesting states that should be able state. there are so many growing hispanic voters who have not read -- the registers -- registered to vote, it is not quite in place yet. the most for thinking republican consultants, the guy who -- guys were looking tanned and 20 years down or a believe that because of demographic changes, texas will be in the pop-up column. it will be awhile before that takes place. ted is the favorite to win that race this year. paul sadler was quoted as saying he had not reached out to national democrats. that tells you all you need to know. this is a proposal that has gone through a couple of their rations. -- iterations. democrats believe they can hammer -- republicans. we will see that as a cornerstone for a lot of democratic campaigns this year. whether or not that a successful, we will see. plays a major role, it is not clear that many know what the ryan budget is. they believe they can win that argument if they start having yet. brought up the point that she wants to keep rubio in the senate and ted cruz is part of that. we have seen a faction within the senate republican conference. people like senator jim demand, ron paul from kentucky, all of whom are not playing the to get along game. they want the most conservative way possible. they have caused a problem for mitch mcconnell. if republicans take over the senate in a couple of years this year or in 2014, mcconnell will face some problems and how to deal with his conference. there will want something that is more conservative than the more liberal members. he will have a tough time keeping together that coalition. welcome. i believe that if the president will, if from the tuzes to pick either rob portman or senator rubio. ryan, he believes he will be a shoe and for the presidency. >> when we look at the senate races, how does the presidential contest factor in? >> we have a number of states in which presidential battlegrounds overlap with senate battlegrounds. virginia, ohio, nevada. both sides desperately want to win. there were two have to win the senate seats if they want any kind of a governing majority. the interesting subterranean factors is there are a limited of numbers -- a limited number of television advertisements you can buy. it is the lifeblood of any campaign and when you have presidential campaigns, the outside groups, the 501 c-4 organizations, they're trying to advertise in one specific market. iraq out of advertising fast. you'll see nothing but presidential advertisements. if you live in a place like cleveland or las vegas or blanda or supervisor campos: or many of these major markets, you know what i am talking wrote. i strongly suggest somebody and nest in a -- invest in a dvr. there are so many markets. he talked about whether or not he was picking marco rubio. chris christie said, people did not vote for vice president. it is not likely that anyone has won a state over the last 40 or 50 years because of the vice presidential pick. the last president who benefited by picking a specific vice- presidential candidate was john kennedy who picked lyndon johnson and ended up winning texas by a narrow margin in 1960. >> looking at the senate race there. insider an outsider. we're seeing this inside and outside coming up. tackett -- about the candidate and some of the surprises. >> in half -- jeff flake is the insider's outsider. he has offered a number of amendments that stripped out various your marks. he was tea party before tea party was cool. all these remarks, despite the legislation he has proposed. that serve anchored his party. some people in the conference will be pretty happy he will be gone next time. they might have to deal with him across the capitol in the u.s. senate. someone once said the arctic -- other party in the house is the opposition, the enemy is the senate. you have jeff blake spending his money to define himself on tv. and card and has risen to become competitive. he has the establishment behind him. senator john mccain, senator john kyl, all the other members except for congressman front tracks, the most conservative number of this race to. we just saw a clip about cardin. you do not want to be not on television at this moment. that tells me he is supremely confident in the august 28 primary or he is superbly on content. we serve for about his prospects coming out. >> we're seeing sarah palin. >> this is the outsider coming to the aid of the insider or outsiders. he has got their ready and the only thing he does not have is a fortune from which he can run millions of dollars of advertising. >> we have to let you go. we would be remiss not to mention the connecticut race and we would see that primary unfold. guest: the thing i am watching is how much linda mcmahon has the ability to chris shay. this year which will be better for democrats. i do not think this will be a tossup. host: thank you. >> tomorrow morning, steven moore on the pre-election congressional timber and with the chambers need to complete before november. and then gerald connolly explains why he was one of 19 democrats to win across the aisle and voted to extend the bush era tax cuts at all income levels. after that our spotlight on magazine series continues. discussing the story on campaign fundraising in the history of campaign finance laws. and your e-mail, phone calls, and tweets. live at 7:00 a.m. eastern on c- span. >> we will bring you some of this year's deliberations over the democratic party platform. and hilda solis talks about the economic contributions of hispanic americans. and fred davis talks about his work on the mccain presidential campaign in this year's presidential race. >> in the weeks ahead, political parties are holding their platform hearings in advance with democrats voting this weekend on their final plat form recommendations in detroit. republicans start their platform process at their tampa convention site midmonth. c-span convention coverage begins monday, august 27 with live gavel-to-gavel coverage of the public and national convention and the democratic national convention live from charlotte, n.c. starting monday, september 3. the democratic national convention will be held in charlotte, north carolina next month. an important part of the convention is approving a platform written by the dnc platform drafting committee. here is part of their deliberations where witnesses discussed a variety of issues including same-sex marriage, the environment, and retirement security. for ohio gov. ted strickland is the chairman at this meeting in minneapolis. >> i want to thank the allied groups who have come before us this weekend and provided testimony. we want to keep the floor then and as we move forward and we want to hear from some of our grass roots leaders. four years ago we introduced the component to the platform drafting process that we called listening to americans and we reached out to supporters across the nation to solicit input on our party's platform. we have continued this outrage in 2012 by creating an on-line portal for democrats of all levels to submit their testimony to this committee. hundreds of entries have been received. today, we will hear from several individuals who are representative of the submissions that have been received. for this section of our meeting, i will introduce our speakers who have volunteered their time to come and share their stories with us today. after their testimony, the committee can ask questions. once again because we have so many coming before us, i am encouraging it to be as concise as you can be with her testimony and with your questions. we want to hear from everyone. we will begin this section with a hearing from peggy flanigan. she represents listening to america. she is a member of the wider span of a two-way -- ojibiway. she is a long time political activists and community organizer. she is the director of external affairs at wellstone action. thank you for coming and we look forward to hearing your story. >> good morning. [inaudible] ojibaway.ber of the we are ensuring that our culture and language and way of life is honored and protected and that is why i do this work. through my work well -- my role i've run a bit of puerto rican leadership program and we travel across the country -- a native american leadership program. i have been able to see what a difference having barack obama as president has made for us. i am not speaking with my nonprofit roll hat on. i am speaking as an actress. it is important to know that it is out there and people now. -- know. just a stark contrast in difference. the last four years compared to the eight years prior has been in indian country. for the first time, i feel like as a native woman, as a native american, that you can see me. for many years, we felt invisible. with the leadership of president obama, for the first time, i really feel like i have a voice and some representation in the white house. president obama has kept many of the promises that he made when he was on the campaign trail and the need to you as a native person, having an elected official, the president or the government honor promises is sort of a big deal, right? to see that, the follow-through, the commitment to indian country has been powerful. the nation to nation relationship in honoring that and working government to government, honoring the promises of literally meeting annually with tribal leaders across the country sends the message that he is listening. the appointment of several native staff members throughout the administration, i can see myself reflected in this administration. that in and of itself speaks volumes to how this administration and how the president has really supported neda folks. the declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples at the un that the president signed in 2010, we were one of the last nations to sign on. it seems like simply a signature saying this is important goes a long way. it is symbolic but it also shows that it is a new era, we're entering into a time when native people are being honored and respected in this country and are seen as partners. i think the affordable care act is something that we have talked a lot about nationally and for native people, this is really important, and it is very special. when you -- when the act was passed, the indian health care reauthorization act was passed and we're getting additional funding and resources so that i am my own family, what i have seen in the past is that family members are having amputations because of their diabetes has gotten so out of control and that was sort of the norm. that we would treat a problem when it got so bad that was the only option that you had. now with the affordable care act in the indian health care act reauthorization, we can talk about prevention. how do we keep our communities and people and our families healthy? i do a lot of work with young people in the community and so often when i hear is when i get diabetes. that is not a sentence i want to hear anymore and i think that we are on the right path, now that we have the opportunity to teach prevention, to have it be based in culture and to have policies in place that teach folks about the their own culture and that can be reflected in taking care of oneself and one's family. as a survivor of domestic violence and a child witness kabaka the trouble -- child witness, the tribal law enforcement act means a lot. one in three native women will be raped or sexually assaulted in her lifetime. we should be on fire with that statistic. i think that the signing of the tribal law and order act was the first step in ensuring that these crimes against our communities will be prosecuted, that there will be more coordination with law enforcement, and that being made of does not mean that different laws apply to you. it means that you'll be protected, that you can have the expectation of safety just like everybody else and for me personally, with my own personal experience, the experiences of so many folks in indian country, that means a lot. looking forward, there is always room for improvement. the last four years have been phenomenal. i think the president deserves four more years to see how much further we can go and i look forward to it knocking on doors and calling people. if i need to wear a sandwich board on the side of the road, i am going to do it because there's a lot of damage that was done under the bush administration and we are only just beginning to see how we can reach our potential by partnering with in this government to government relationship. in addition to being a member of the white earth, i am an urban indian. there is one place we have opportunities to think big. how can we serve the need and ensure that we're working in partnership with urban native americans were roughly half of our communities lived? there are several opportunities there so i look forward to that. we also have the current economic situation our country faces. that means in the country is impacted dramatilly -- indian country is impacted dramatically. what we should look for and focus on is job creation and economic development and partnering with tribes to make sure that happens and finally, as the dnc platform committee, some of the -- one of the things i would like you to think about as we move forward is that we really need an official native american caucus at the dnc. and we're able to encourage and train folks up and get more native delegates. i think that this president, this is just the beginning of an opportunity to grow the relationship with native communities in the democratic party. i want to be part of that, i want to help and i think it will take a commitment from the dnc as a whole to ensure that happens. those are my comments. thank you. >> thank you for my testimony -- your testimony. are there questions from the committee? >> i want to thank you for coming in and testifying before us today. you are wonderful and i really appreciate what you had to offer. i too am a native american and i was looking at this list and i was wondering who from our community would come and talk to this committee about the importance of what the president has done for us and what work is yet to be done in the next four years. i know that in 2008, native americans really rallied behind president obama and some of the states like south dakota and arizona, their boat was pivotal in getting him into office. he has in terms done well by our community. one of the things that is yet to be done, however, is the passage of the reauthorization of the violence against women act and we know that the republicans have essentially gutted those protections that have been in place before. i was wondering if you would speak to us a little bit about the value of that act in indian country. >> absolutely. thank you for your question. in addition in my role, i work a lot in partnership and vice president dick cheney -- in partnership and have spent time in native communities and speaking to survivors and advocates. it is critical this passes. the proposed act would address the gaps between law-enforcement to ensure that these cases would not slip through the cracks and woman felt -- women felt safe and supporter to report these crimes. again, the statistic of one in three native women is appalling and if we're going to move on that, it is critical in addition that we get the president reelected. in congress and the senate as well that we have folks who will be champions for native women. i agree with you. it is critical. i also think that the job and the role of native americans at this point is to tell the story, to talk to our families, to talk to our friends, anybody who will listen in our communities to talk about how critical it is to reelect the president and tell the story of all the accomplishments and the promises that he has kept. i am looking forward to the next few months of be able to do that and to call on other members of tribal communities to do this. >> we have two more questions. we're not halfway through our prisoners. please keep your questions as concise and the answers as concise as possible, because we want to make sure that everyone who has come to speak with us has the opportunity to do so. >> thank you. and thanks for your testimony. as a native montana and an adopted member of the blackfoot tribe, can you speak about the importance of education and the importance of that education and the leadership of indian country and the indian nations, sovereign nations as all of you come back, not only urban but come back to those nations inside states? >> absolutely. i am a recovering minneapolis school board member. the first american indian elected to serve on the board. that is something i take very seriously. education is the foundation for nation-building. i think that one of the things that the president is committed to is honoring culture and language when then the education of native children. for my own experience if i did not see myself reflected in my curriculum and my teachers, i would not have valued my education as much and that is really what is going to be what bridges that gap. it is critical for us to rebuild a lot of our nations. it needs to be something that is lifted up and supported so our native children see themselves reflected in their education. >> and over here. >> i wanted to thank you for your testimony and also mentioned as secretary of the democratic national committee, we're looking forward to having an american caucus at our convention. we do have a native american council at the dnc. we are looking forward to more members and we're working hard to attain that so the council can become a caucus. i welcome your comments and did want you to know that we agree and we're working on it. thank you. >> thank you for coming in and thank you for testimony. our next presenter is carolyn kaiser, a field representative for wisconsin afscme 24. she is sharing her experiences on a tax of public service workers. we're anxious to hear what you have to say. >> i do appreciate the chance to speak with you. my history is working as a licensed practical nurse in the department of health services in triple falls, wisconsin. currently i am employed as a fscme representative of as s. commi would like to ask you to highlight to issues on the platform that would level the playing field for public employees. collective bargaining, and federal aid for the public services that we provide. thingre you have heard a or two or probably 20 about the struggles of public workers that we have had with their governor in the past year. it all comes down to collective bargaining. we took a big hit when governor walker stole our right to bargain. his actions show why we need the democratic party to do all that you can to protect the collective bargaining rights in public and private sectors. i work with people who have a dual diagnosis of mental illness and developmental disabilities. because of walker, workers in this agency are no longer able to negotiate with our administration about the issues of safety for the workers and the clients. that worries me and it worries my colleagues. the need the need for safety equipment used to be a subject of collective bargaining. now we have no collective voice to make sure we have the equipment we need. the state is done filling vacancies. challenging enough zellhoefeths without having to work extremely long days. members in corrections are also feeling the impact of vacancies -- they are expected to perform the same work with fewer employees. when they state to finish the work that they will not get paid overtime for, they get reprimanded. workers are facing these problems and many more. the stakes are high for us and for communities that we serve. i am asking you to pledge that the democratic party would work to protect collective bargaining rights, rights that are essential for a democracy is freedom. we need you to help us get rid of the obstacles for workers to become union representatives and for us in wisconsin -- we will keep fighting a battle. i would like to raise another important issue for state employees and our communities. that is, the funding we

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