I am running for president to repay those debts and to fight as hard for you as you fought for me. [applause] in the end, ladies and gentlemen, that is the only promise i can make, and the only pledge i will sign. The only one that matters. If you make me president , i will fight each day harder than i fought the day before to keep this country safe, prosperous, and as good as the people who made it great. I humbly ask for your support and your vote. I will work every day to make you proud. God bless. [applause] former rhode island senator and governor Lincoln Chafee has been a republican, an independent, and is now a democrat. He announced his president ial bid in arlington, virginia on june 3. This is almost an hour. This is the beginning of a Speaker Series we have called politics people and issues. Tomorrow morning, former senator jim west will be here at 10 30. I dont know if hell be making any significant announcements, but he will be talking about some important policy issues. So, i would like to turn this over to bob gutman, the director of our center for politics and Foreign Relations and he will introduce our distinguished speaker for the this evening. Thank you. I want to thank everybody for coming. We have a new center on politics and Foreign Relations and we have invited all the president ial possibilities, not candidates, possibilities. And well be having a series of events through the next year. Anybody interested contact us. Tonight, were going to start, launch our series. Ive invited former governor of rhode island, former senator from rhode island to be our inaugural speaker. We have invited him to speak on Foreign Policy issues. By the number of people here, he might Say Something else. Not quite sure. Might be some kind of announcement other than Foreign Policy, so im going to get out of the way. Of all the times ive covered american politics, this is a first person whos a ferier running for president , possibily running for president of the United States and if you dont know what a ferier is is governor chafee will tell you. Welcome, governor. Thank you, bob. A fairy or ferier puts shoes on horses. After college, i worked on the horse racetrack for seven years. Great experience of my life. Very valuable experience and it is a great pleasure to be here and thank you for inviting me. Mixing foreign Foreign Policy and politics is an invitation i could not pass up. Its a pleasure to be here for the george mason university, which is named for one of the many great contributors to the best form of government on earth. As prescribed by our constitution, which george mason helped write, we will be electing a new president in 2016. I enjoy challenges and certainly, we have many facing america. Today, im formally entering the race for democratic nomination for president. Thank you. [applause] if we as leaders show good judgment and make good decisions, we can fix much of what is ailing us. We must deliberately and carefully extricate ourselves from expensive wars. Just think of how bert better this money could be spent. For instance, our Transportation Network is deteriorating and becoming dangerous. We should be increasing our investment and priority in Public Schools and colleges. This is is is especially important in some of our cities. Where theres a gnawing sense of hopelessness, Racial Injustice and economic despairty. We can and choose to be better for native americans. New americans. And disadvantaged americans. Lets keep pushing, get Health Care Coverage to more of the uninsured. We can address Climate Change and extreme weather. While protecting american jobs. I believe that these priorities, education, infrastructure, health care, Environmental Stewardship and a strong middle class are americans priority. Now, im also running for president because we need to be very smart in these volatile times overseas. Id like to talk about how we found ourselves in the destructive and expensive chaos in the middle east and north africa. And then offer my views on seeking a peaceful resolution. There were 23 senators who voted against the iraq war in october of 2002. 18 of us are still alive and im sure every one of us has our own reasons for voting no. Id like to share my primary three. The first reason is that the long, painful chapter of the vietnam era was finally ending. This is my generation. And the very last thing i wanted was any return to the horrific bungling of events into which we put our brave fighting men and women. In fact, we had a precious moment in time where a lasting peace was within our grasp. Too many senators forgot too quickly about the tragedy of vietnam. The second reason that i learned, the second reason i voted against Iraq Resolution is that i learned in the first nine months of the Bush Cheney Administration prior to september 11th, not to trust them. As a candidate, governor bush said several things that were for the campaign only. Governing would be a lot different. His staple was im a uniter, not a divider. He said clearly that Foreign Policy would be humble, not arrogant and he promised to regulate Carbon Dioxide, a Climate Change pollutant. These promises were all broken early days of his administration. And sadly, the lies never stopped. This was an administration not to be trusted. My third reason was based on a similar revulsion to mendacity. Many of the cheerleaders of the Bush Administration had been writing about change for years. They wrote about it by the 1992 defense planning guide. In the 1996 report to netanyahu, in the 1997 project for new American Century in the 1998 letter to president clinton. A little over a month, i read an article in the guardian by brian whitaker. Listen to this. Quote, in a televised speech last week, president mubarak of egypt predicted devastating consequences consequences for the middle east if iraq is attacked. We fear a state of disorder and chaos may prevail in the region. Mr. Mubarak is an Old Fashioned kind of arab leader in a brave new post september 11th world, we doesnt quite get it. What on earth did he expect the pentagon hawks to do . Throw up their hands in dismay. Gee, thanks, we never thought of that. Better call the whole thing off. Theyre probably still splitting sides with laughter in the pentagon. But mr. Mubarak and the hawks do agree on one thing. War with iraq could spell disaster for several regimes in the middle east. Mr. Mubarak believes that would be bad. The hawks though believe that would be good. For the hawks, disorder and chaos sweeping through the region, would not be an unfortunate side effect of the war with iraq, but a sign that everything is going according to plan. End quote. Its bad enough that the socalled neo cons, most of whom have never experienced the horror of war were so gung ho, but worse yet was they didnt have the guts to argue their points straight up to the american people. They wanted their war badly enough to purposely deceive us. I said i have to vote on this war resolution in a couple of weeks. Show me everything you have on weapons of mass destruction. Went down to the cia in langley and after a presentation, the answer was not much. Intelligence is completely inaccurate. It was no intelligent. Believe me. I saw everything they had. So, its heartbreaking that more of my colleagues failed to do their homework. And incredibly, the proponents of the war who sold us on the premise of weapons of mass destruction, are still key advisers to president ial campaigns today. Without a doubt, we have work to prepare for. We have to change our thinking. We have to find a way to wage peace. Lets have a rewrite of the project for new many American Century. It is essentially the opposite of everything proposed in the original. We will be honest and tell the truth. We will be a Good International partner and respect international agreement. The 70th anniversary of the United Nation is june 26th in a few weeks. The preamble to the u. N. Charter says to unite our strength. To maintain peace and security. We can do that. Unite our strength to maintain peace and security. Lets reinvigorate the United Nations and make the next 70 years even better. As part of our efforts to wage peace, lets be bold. Some of our bravest and most patriotic americans are our professional diplomats stationed all over the world. It isnt an easy career and they deserve the best in support and respect. As president , i would institute a ban on ambassadorships for sale. That means no more of these posts going to big political donor donors. I want the best trained people doing this important work. And its critical that the integrity of the office of secretary of state never be questioned. I want america to be a leader and an inspiration for civilized behavior in this new century. We will abide by the geneva conventions, which means we will not torture prisoners. Our sacred constitution requires a warrant before unreasonable searches, which includes a phone record. Lets enforce that and while were at it, allow Edward Snowden to come home. Extrajudicial assassinations by drone strike are not working. Many blame them for the upheaval in yemen. For us to antagonize with these nefarious activities, they are not worth the Collateral Damage and toxic hatred they spread. Lets stop them. For me, waging peace includes negotiating fair trade agreements. That sets standards for labor practices, environmental protections, preventing currency manipulation and protection of intellectual property among others. The Trans Pacific partnership has the potential to set fair guidelines for the robust commerce taking place in the pacific rim. Since the break up of the soviet union, many of the former soviet republics, especially ukraine, have been caught in a tug of war. Between europe and russia. I believe stronger efforts should be made to encourage russian integration, into the family of advanced industrial nations. With the objective of reducing tensions with between russia and its neighbors. To wage peace in our own hemisphere, i would repair relations with venezuela bolivia and ecuador. As part of that, lets unite with all our experience to rethink the war on drugs. Obviously, eradication substitution and intervention arent working. Lets have an active, open minded approach to Drug Trafficking that can corrupt everything from the courts to the banks to Law Enforcement in our hemisphere and appropriately. The United Nations is planning a special General Assembly meeting next year on the subject. In this new American Century lets join the many countries who have banned capitol punishment. Congratulations, nebraska, for your leadership. Earlier, i said lets be bold. Heres a bold and brave internationalism. Lets join the rest of the world and go metric. I happen to live in canada. And theyve completed the process. Believe me, its easy. It doesnt take long before 34 degrees is hot. Only myanmar, liberia and the United States arent metric and it will help our economy. In this new American Century its very important to have a ready to strong military. The eagle on our great seal holds both arrows and an olive branch. Lets lead responsibly with a commitment to our unwaivering defense and our peaceful purposes. Nobel peace prize Martin Luther king jr. Said it best. I refuse to accept the cynical notion that nation after nation must spiral down a militaristic stairway into the hell of Thermo Nuclear destruction. He asked where do we go from here. Chaos or community . Our challenges are many and formidable. Lets wage peace in this new American Century. Thank you for inviting me. I have a question, so, you said one second. We have microphones. Hello. So, you said earlier that you want to establish more we have established trade agreements and protect intellectual Property Rights so, my question is obviously, we can work out those disagreements among other countries, but how does it affect the u. S. With products like agriculture because the u. S. Heavily subsidized Agricultural Products and in turn, dumps it on other economies where theyre trying to compete really, really hard to sell their products, one so other people in their theyre so much cheaper. Would this involve the u. S. Not dumping its products or any other subsidized products on the countries that we have the agreements with . Olivia i think thats the whole point is to create a i think thats the whole point, to create a level Playing Field and negotiating these free trade agreements, thats exactly the point. Many of these subsidies will take congressional action when i was in the United States senate, something we dealt with many, many times. Very controversial, some of these subsidies. For Agricultural Products in particular, its a good question. Hello. If you do become president , what will your First Priority be during your term . As i said in my statement here, of course, domestic issues are critical, its happening in our innercities, and with our middle class and the disparity of wealth. Whats happening with Climate Change is all very, very important, of course right there at the top is whats happening overseas also, in some of these wars which are expensive and destructive. I think we entered into unnecessarily, under false premises. We have to fix that, which then provides some opportunity and revenue to put into more beneficial ways in my view. Thank you. U. S. Senator. I think that [ inaudible ] as far as you know would you end yes, ive had a great record of supporting key issues, and to me it wasnt only a civil rights issue, but also an economic issue. And you certainly want a Tolerant Society if you are going to attract the best people to stimulate your economy. My state took a while we finally got it through, i always argued not only was it fair in civil rights issue, it was going to help our economy. And the same is relevant to your question about the military, we want the best. Your question about transgender, we want the best fighting men and women in our military. Im sure you thought a lot about the progressive wing of the democratic inequality. What do you think it means to be progressive, do you consider yourself a progressive . And what would you do to solve the growing problem in the United States . Thats one of the key questions of our time now, whats happening with the struggling americans trying to get by, and the college tuitions, the income inequality. Many, Many Americans are doing just fabulously. I think the key was, when i came into the senate, we had previous administrations going back to george h. W. Bush. Ought to get to surpluses. And president bush came in, all of a sudden they had these monstrous tax cuts, which favored the wealthy. It made no sense to me, i voted against every one of those bush cheney tax cuts when they came in, we finally got the surpluses. The wealthy were doing just fine. Get back into deficits and widen the disparity of wealth 37 a lot of it is in tax policy, a lot of other ways, raising the minimum wage, which i voted for time and time again, every time i was in the senate, and governor, we raised it three times in my administration. There are different ways certainly tax policy is one thats very important to address our disparity of wealth. Making sure we keep our tuitions down, so people can afford to go to not only the local george masons of the world, but Community Colleges and all the Public Institutions. Low tuitions, thats what made america great. Being able to go to your local Public Institution of higher education, and not come out with enormous debt. Thank you. Let me go to a different part of the room if i could. I found intervention quite interesting. What are your thoughts of using military to prevent again side and crimes against humanity. Every place is different how you intervene is going to depend on the location. When i was in the senate we had many librarians in rhode island. We had the largest liberian population in the area. And to a little bit of information, theyre able to stop that long brutal horrendous civil war in the area. It depends on the location, and how were going to intervene. Right now after a loss of credibility, no weapons of mass destruction in airaq. I think its difficult for the United States to intervene because of that tremendous loss of credibility that we have in the region. Sir . Over the past couple months American Allies in the middle east such as saudi arabia and israel have expressed hesitation, apprehension, even hostility toward american policies in the region, with this idea of waging peace. What role do you see American Allies. What role do you see them playing. Another key question that we face right now. How do we fix this. They gave us their chaos everythings going to according to plan about and my fear, as i said, that these same people that advocated for this, are now advising other president ial campaigns, including the main democratic candidate. And so to your question, its going to take international cooperation, whether as you mentioned saudi arabia israel, iran, russia, everybody in the region, pakistan, the United States, europeans and thats my proposal. Reinvigorate the United Nations and see what we can come out of those discussions. Certainly have chaos in the nation right now. And across north africa. Libya, its happening in libya. The way the nation is approaching the war on drugs isnt working. What do you believe is the best course of action to approaching . I dont to be honest, i want to listen to those people in the neighborhood. And as i said, the United Nations is going to have next year a special General Assembly on the issue, thats what should be happening. Lets combine our collective thoughts. What has worked and what hasnt. Many of the countries are banning that in the spring, they dont want it any more. Its a substitution, the common sense of, you can make more money doing one thing, its going to be hard to substitute for something youre not. Those have been the key of our approach to the Drug Trafficking. So i think get us all together. Uruguay is doing some revolutionary things with their laws regarding this trafficking. But without a doubt, what i will said, the corruption gets into the court undermines everything that we want to happen anything good we want to happen in the region. How would you help the working poor, those who are truly suffering, persons with mental illness, how would you decrease the huge amount of people who are in prison and being every year more and more and more imprisoned in the United States . As i said when i talk about helping in different ways, helping disadvantaged americans the population youre talking about, i would like to find a way to pay for those beneficial social programs. How are we going to pay for good Educational Programs . How are we going to pay for that safety net . What im proposing here is how to pay for it. Lets get out of these wars and redirect those funds and revenues back to growing the middle class, and giving the disadvantaged americans new americans, native americans on the reservations, a better life. We can do it. Hello governor, im glad you brought this up. You mentioned you went through a relationship for native americans and others. What specific ideas do you have for this relationship and what is your approach . For new americans, a path to citizenship is the first thing we want to accomplish. For the 11 million or so that are living in the shadows. Get a path to citizenship. I was one of the original co sponsors in the bill including john mccain and ted kennedy. There were only nine of us that originally sponsored it. I was proud to be one of them. A bipartisan group, by the way. Thats the first thing, native americans, deep, deep social issues that we have to address and it always takes resources. And a caring and commitment. I believe we as americans should do that. Hello, governor. Many nations and experts across the globe have set the standard to be below two degrees sendy centigrade. What would you do to propose that the u. S. Do their fair share . The first way to address changes is in power plants. Its the biggest way we can address Climate Change. Coming out of our Electricity Generating power plants. When i was in the senate we had a bill to do that, and as i mentioned, president bush had promised to designate Carbon Dioxide as a pollutant. He promised in campaign speech. Ill tell a quick story. He made the former governor of new jersey his epa administrator and governor whitman, would then start to go around the country on sunday talk shows and the like, talking about how were going to regulate Carbon Dioxide, and i was at a republican breakfast that Vice President cheney attended and about a month into the administration, governor whitman had been going around, and the senators were all over the republican senators were all over the Vice President. What is christie talking about Carbon Dioxide . He finally stood up and said look, im going to come out with my new energy policy, and were not going to regulate Carbon Dioxide. I just about fell off my chair. All the other senators started shouting, cheering. Wait a second, didnt you promise . In the campaign, governor whitman taking you on your word . That is a big reason why it changes. You dont go before the people and Say Something when you are campaigning and then change it. The biggest way to look at Climate Change is to address Carbon Dioxide. Major laws right now. You work toward moving from chaos to community. Do you have any plans for more racial integration in america, and in particular, to tackle the problems that have been going on for 100 years . Yes, to think that i quoted dr. Martin luther king in 1964. And all the work the nonviolent marches did. All the benefits that came out of that and were still struggling with this issue. We have to refocus whats happened in baltimore, ferguson, north charleston, helps us to refocus on this issue. My view, the short term fixes dont work. The zero tolerance things dont work. We see that, its going to be long term approach, my view is education. Investment and education in these innercities. A lot of it has to do with different opportunities. Lets mix in the opportunity with schooling. A big effort in getting our youngsters to stay through. Career in Technical Schools can do that. Good new initiative thats occurring, a rethinking of how we can keep young people from getting into gangs. And the brutality from police that occurs, a few of them as they struggle with these issues. Recently there was a controversy over Hillary Clintons email scandal or server, how do you feel about this, and what are your thoughts on transparency . I think our diplomatic core right now, because of what happened with the lies on weapons of mass destruction and how other countries naturally, why should they trust us . We werent honest with them. Got into this war under false pretense pretenses. And so our state department has to be above all controversy, and its regrettable to me whats happening now. With emails, with the foundation that affects decision making, coming out of state, we just cant have that, we have to repair credibility, it starts with the democratic core. Hello. We need to just get back the respect and admiration of the international community. We still have a lot of it. We squandered a lot also. Earlier you mentioned that stronger efforts should be made to restore relationships with russia and other eastern neighbors my what are some things that could be done . Does this mean lifting sanctions against russia . Give me specifics. Well, after i left the senate, and i worked at the Brown Watson Institute for international studies, while i was there, also served on a board that advised ukraine on Good Government issues. Ive been there maybe a dozen times to kiev and every time i went there, i had this feeling about this tug of war, to me, it doesnt make sense. The berlin wall has come down. These other countries arent in this tug of war going on. How do we do that . Dont make mistakes. I think we made some mistakes with russia. One time, we had the possibility of a very peaceful world. Maybe i could just take a second if i could, it helps answer this question. When i was in the senate, the Prime Minister of italy came to address us. This is what the Prime Minister said. It is a little long but it will address your question. In 2001, so this is before september 11th, in the early days of the senate, i was called to make a speech. The final dinner became a dinner among friends. At one point that evening he said, at one point that evening, i sat back slightly from the table almost an external observer in order to enjoy the cordial discussion among the leaders of the largest industrial countries in the world. Pearl harbor and hiroshima were but a distant memory. Prime minister blair was joking with chancellor schroeder and the president of the russian federation, Vladimir Putin was also talking with president bush. The tragedy of the Second World War and cold war which lasted for so many years was forgotten. I felt great pleasure inside, i thought the world had in fact changed and how different and peaceful was the world we were handing to our children. An age of lasting peace beckoned. Im sitting in my chair listening to him say that. Thats exactly how i felt. You get bush and schroeder and blair. And putin. We had a chance. We made some mistakes. We had the wrong label on the restart button. Just have more repair work to do , go back and try to get back to what the Prime Minister of italy talked about there, we can do it, we had it in our hand one time. An age of lasting peace for our children, what could be better than that. Earlier you mentioned that switching to the metric system was beneficial. Does that switch require changes roadside, speedometers, how would you explain that to an average american and how would it be beneficial to the economy . I think just a couple things , it is symbolic. This speaks to the mistakes we made over the years. Were going to do Something Different here in the United States. It is symbolic. And then, of course, for the economy. And scientists are all working in metric, because they have to deal internationally. Its just very hard. For many exporters and businesses have to deal with ways of measuring. And so economically, well help pay for signs. Of all the things we have to do in this country, how can you think about changing signs . Canada did it. The economic benefit will pay. How will canada do it . If there wasnt an economic benefit . Just to kind of elaborate on that switching to the metric system, thats billions of dollars at the expense of the american economy. And our current scientists are already using the metric system because theyre scientists and they have to use that just for world asimulation in terms of the scientific community. Is it necessarily worth it to put a strenuous economic burden on the economy, to switch over to the metric system and, you know, would that be worth it . Similar question. And im not saying we have to do it tomorrow, but i think it should be something we should aspire to in this new American Century were talking about would we we reach out to the rest of the world, were not arrogant and unilateral as some would propose we be, and its always americas way or the highway. Its symbolic, i dont think canada would have done it if the cost was that high. Its not that hard. I hear you, though. Its a cost involved. I would argue the economic benefits would outweigh it. And the symbolic benefits. You mentioned in the last few minutes that we should holster the diplomatic corps core. How would you suggest the blaring of the foreign and civil services. And also the obstinency in the Human Rights Federation . You got into some good specifics there. Former secretary gates said our policy is too militarized thats what im saying also. We need to rethink the department of state and how we act around the world and become good listeners. These people are so skill eded skilled, these people in these embassies. Theyre so knowledgeable whats happening on the ground in these countries and theyre extremely valuable. If you work your whole career, someone who has to give a bunch of millions of dollars comes in as the ambassador of the country , i just dont think that is right. You spoke a lot on Foreign Policy, and right now, china is one of the key players in the global economy. And u. S. china relations are more important than ever. Whats your view on china and its economic growth, its human rights record, and what do you envision for the future of the u. S. china relations . Kind of like the america that the industrial revolution, it just growing so fast, and so we just have to understand that, the speed, whats happening in that country. And i just think understanding whats happening in their country and with constant dialogue, i think were doing a lot of the right things, of course, whats happening in the South China Sea and some of the islands there. We keep working, some of the currency manipulation issues we have. And how we can have mutually beneficial programs is the key. Time for a couple of more questions. Way in the back. Do you think there is a way to help deadlocking nations, for example nepal, to help their economy grow and if so, how would you, if you were elected, how would you show that in order to help the nations. Of course, we have a role to play. We have a Great Technology in this country, so we have that responsibility. Ultimately, im a big advocate of internationalism. Helping with earthquakes and tsunamis, and disasters around the world, we certainly by virtue of our strength economically, have a major role to play and we have, and we have over the years. Mr. Governor, we have over 11 million undocumented immigrants here in america who struggle every day to find work who face social discrimination, and they are here to find the american dream. What issues would you pass, what Immigration Reform would you make so that immigrants can find proper life here in america. I was just looking at it the other day. That bill i mentioned earlier with john mccain. It is still relevant. It had all the pa rammers that help it get past. I dont know why we didnt get it past back then, its not only a path to citizenship, border security, if it was some funding to help learn english, all the pieces that are good and to thwart some of the criticisms of helping our citizens to get back into paying taxes and our way of living here. One more question. What differentiates you from Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton . Three things. Its your record, which i have a 30 year record at the state level i was the governor, at the federal level i was the senator, so its your record, i opened my record to scrutiny, and then its your character. I open my trustworthiness over that 30 years, into fulfilling what i say on the campaign trail to what i do when im elected. And your vision. Hopefully ive outlined a little bit of my vision, where america fits in the world, and how we can then use that better to help us here domestically. Your record, thats what it should be judged on. How have you performed and your character have you been ethical, and whats your vision . Elections are about choices and thats the way it should be. Im happy to join the choices out there. [applause] thank you. Here are a few of our featured programs. On cspan, tonight my radio personalities and executives at the annual talkers magazine conference in new york. Saturday night, an interview with publisher Arthur Sulzberger junior. And sunday night, members of the Church Committee and others on groundbreaking efforts to reform the intelligence community. And on cspan two, on the increasing use of Artificial Intelligence can make good jobs obsolete