Transcripts For CSPAN Governor Chris Christie Addresses Latino Coalition 20160720

[captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2016] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] among the speakers tonight getting underway at 7 30, eric trump. Also laura ingram, Newt Gingrich , and the likelihood Vice President ial nominee governor mike pence, all of that starting at 7 00 eastern. In a few minutes, one of the other events we are covering, a number of events in cleveland, it is the Latino Coalition. They represent hispanic is mrs. And consumers, and we will businesses and consumers. We will hear from Chris Christie. We have live coverage when it gets underway. The Republican National convention as we mentioned will vote on indiana governor mike pence for the nomination. This afternoon, Donald Trump Mike Pence of the science center. We will have live coverage of that as well at 2 00 p. M. Eastern. The background that you are seeing here on cspan and elsewhere, conversation put together. A couple of weeks ago, this was a parking garage. The Deputy Agency director for the Republican National convention, how did you transform this facility into media row . A lot of help. Saw this space, people could not transform it into media row, but in with different companies. A local contractor, Construction Company that built the drywall, put in the lights. And then we brought in specialty design teams who built out Everything Else and the placement. It took a lot of people to design this. This is the second level of the parking garage. Why do you have this . Why do you have media row here . Has never happened before. With the influx of digital media, a lot of people like snapchat, they have a place to operate. 2012, they did not even exist, snapchat did not exist then. Now they are utilized by millennials to get the majority of their news. We want to give them a spot where they can broadcast, not just work but do interviews. We have made the space our main surrogate hub. Parking garage and will become a parking garage again. Give me a sense of who is here. Here. Ryone is you have cnn, google, youtube creators, and traditional media. Have all the radio stations, radio, alongfox like vox andpeople side wire, people up and coming. You have digital, social, tv and radio. It is interesting how different this is from inside the queue. It is a lot busier right now. We wanted to have a lot of spots in here. We created a place that is unique with a different flow to it. That is to create energy and excitement. When you think of digital outlets, you think of fun. It looks like a college rim, a frat house. So that is what we are marketing to, firsttime voters. What was the thinking behind this approach . Space, around this whole there is no it is different from a trade show. It is camera ready, no matter where you turn, it is camera ready. You can do stand up, we wanted to be organic. So when we bring surrogates in here, we wanted to be like an interview. Some of it is organized. It is for the Younger Generation and also be helpful to some of the traditional outlets as well. We are going to go around the corner, but i want to ask you about your own role in this because most recently you lived in virginia. You moved here in march and joined the Republican National committee and the convention team. How did that all come together, how did you see the city transform itself . I have then here since march. I did all the debates and the president ial primaries. So i got a lot of experience, and got picked to do one of the largest events of the year, to help out with the communications team. Lets go back to the field. Give our audience a sense of what is happening here. We are bringing all of our vips here, all of our surrogates to this space. To be paraded around. No matter where they walk they , have the opportunity to hit a radio station, hit a digital onlinem, it tv, any loggers. We have strategically placed everyone so that not all radios in one section and not all tv in one section but rather, you know, everyone kind of gets the front. We did not try to put everything in the front. We try to mix it around so that when people go different places, if they are going to cnn in the back, they have to look past all these smaller outlets that may not normally get the opportunity to interview some of our vips. You are part of the campaign in 2012. Can you give perspective on how it has changed from that Campaign Cycle to 2016 . Absolutely, on the digital front, i think Google Youtube , they would not have been allowed in here. Now, we see them as one of the hard hitters of news, and ourributing news to some of millennial generation and people watching. That is one of the biggest changes. This was not have ever happened then. And now people are saying, you set the bar so high, we have to do this moving forward, and everyone has been pleased i think with the outcome. And you would not know this is a parking garage right now. That was our goal. Originally, people were dismayed and thought, what are you doing to us, giving us a parking garage . But i think we made it a nice accommodation and nice place to be. And finally, as we take a long a walk around the corner how long did it take to , transform this plays into media row, and then to tear it all down . It took about three weeks for construction, and one week for the design element of it. Four weeks altogether, it will probably take about four days to break down. Thank you for your time. Thank you, appreciate it. Announcer just a reminder, all of our coverage, our features and speeches available at cspan. Org. We are live in cleveland for the Latino Coalition gathering. The group represents hispanic businesses and their consumers. They will here shortly from new Jersey Governor Chris Christie. Congressman tim florence, a pennsylvania senator, and wisconsin senator sean duffy. Should get underway in the next 10 minutes or so. Live coverage here on cspan. Ladies and gentlemen, we ask that you take your seats. For ther waiting Latino Coalition to get underway. While we wait, we will show you our conversation. There are many groups supporting donald trump and opposing donald trump out on the streets of cleveland. We spoke to a group, bikers for trump. Founder of bikers for trump, what are you doing here in cleveland . We are here hopefully for a victory lap celebration, if you will. Several months ago, we that we would be protesting as a result of the establishment trying to steal the nomination from donald trump, and then after kasich and dropped out, we thought we would be here for a victory dance and celebration. In the last couple of weeks, we have had to change the narrative. Indecency,assault on and we are standing with the Police Department not only here in cleveland but across the country. We are strong believers in the police force. , hopefullyame token we wont have to, but we are prepared to stand with citizens of cleveland as well regardless of political orientation. As patriots, first and foremost we are here to protect citizens of the country. To stand justking with republicans. We dont necessarily see it as a republican, democrat. We see american citizens. How many bikers are there in cleveland . It is unknown. We will not put all of our eggs in one basket, that is for sure. It is important we dont agitate the agitators. We are not here to pour fuel on the fire. Many pockets across the town, and we have a lot of eyes in the situation. We have guys Monitoring Police scanners. Anytime we see something, we reported first to the police. First tol report it the police. We have diplomacy and dialogue. That is not working, we will solve the situation with one or spent to handle the situation. With Law Enforcement. People should not take the law into their own hands. The police chief and ask citizens visiting cleveland to not open carry. Comply with the request of the cleveland Police Department. We have one person here in, and they are retired Law Enforcement with a permit. They have a lot of training, experience. Thing is dialogue and diplomacy. Our main weapon is courage. We are going to just, like i said, we are here to send a message across the country there are many more americans that stand with the police force then stand against of them. You will never see a biker jumping up and down. You will never see him shooting up a pharmacy. Or destruction of private property. He will never see a biker calling for the death of a police officer. That is how we distinguish ourselves away from the other groups but is here. At the end of the convention, they will stay to themselves, would be rather be a member with . Anarchists,matter, black panthers, or with bikers for trump . We are certain the answer will be bikers for trump. We are in Settlers Landing here in cleveland, not too far from the queue. Where did these bikers come from, the ones that are here and around cleveland . We have a large concentration from arizona, california, got guys atouncer all of that cspan. Org. We go back to the Latino Coalition event getting underway. 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, very much. Enjoy our wonderful event. Please welcome to the stage placer ramon. Good morning, everyone. I will lead us in an order of prayer. If you would bow with me, we are going to pray together now, if you would bow your heads, lets join in prayer. Heavenly father, we thank you for this day, your presence here. We thank you for the greatest country in the world has ever known, that we are privileged to live in. We thank you for the abundance you have caused us to live in, and we pray that you help us to be good stewards of this abundance. We ask that you send your angels to surround our men and women in uniform, in the military and in Law Enforcement, all over this country, and all over the world. Keep them safe, we pray. We ask god, your blessing, over the trump family and the pence family especially today, that you guard them and filled in with wisdom from above. We ask your blessing over our food and our time together. We pray these things in the strong name of jesus, amen. Thank you, pastor. At this time we invite the National Executive director of the Latino Coalition, mr. Allen gutierrez to the stage. Good afternoon. [applause] how is everyone doing . It sounds like you guys went to bed early, you had a lot of rest. I just feel the energy right now, is that true . Maybe some of you just stayed at the pavilion and walked over from last night, that something that, no . I am not sure if you enjoyed the concerts are behind us. As you know, this is a very historic building, so there is a lot of challenges with the pillars, in terms of the viewing, but i think all of you for being here. Asm going to take this time we are waiting for the governor to take an opportunity to really nk our supporters and our sponsors. First and foremost, at t for being a strong supporter not only for the Latino Coalition but for a lot of the Organization Leaders that are here today as well, so how about a round of applause for at t for their generosity and support . [applause] thank comcast to universal, and congressional Hispanic Leadership institute, microsoft, National Hispanic caucus of state legislators. How about a round of applause for them as well . [applause] and i also i am not going to say names, but there is other corporate preventatives that are here that support Latino Coalition throughout the year, are, and i who you want to publicly say, thank you for all that you do. I want to thank you for being here. What we are going to do is take a little break, have you enjoy your salad as we wait for the governor, and then we will start the program shortly. Please enjoy, and we will start shortly and little bit. Thank you very much. As you may have heard, the Latino Coalition is being delayed a bit. They are waiting to hear from new Jersey Governor Chris Christie who has yet to arrive at the event. We have live coverage when he arrives and it gets back underway. We will also hear from texas congressman bill flores, keith rosters and others. We have that live here on cspan. Reminder of coverage getting underway at 7 30 eastern. All kinds of speakers including former candidates. Scott walker, texas senator ted cruz, all of that coming up tonight. And next, we show you a look at the president ial home of former president James Garfield. Theames a garfield, home of president and mrs. James a garfield. This is the property they purposed purchase in 1876. 158ought hundred 58 acres. We are very close to cleveland. It is from this front porch in fact that James Garfield ran for president in 1880 as the republican residential candidate. He ran the president ial candidate. He ran the First Campaign from this home. When they bought the property in 1976, the home was small, about nine rooms or so. There was another major expansion done after his assassination as president in july 1881. The home today, when people come looks prettyrts similar to win James Garfield was alive and living. There are also parts that look very different because of the expansion mrs. Garfield made after her husbands death. While he died at 49 in september 1881 after being shot two months previously, mrs. Garfield lived until 1918, lived to be 85 years old and did own this property for the rest of her life. We are now standing on the front porch of the campaign office, which is one of the really unique features about James Garfield Historic Site. It was from this one room in this small building that he ran his entire president ial campaign. He actually had gone to the Republican National convention in chicago. Not seeking the nomination, not expecting the nomination. He was there to see someone else. He was there to nominate john sherman, secretary of the treasury. Rman was speaking the seeking the nomination, and garfield gave a wonderful speech. Neither sherman or the other announced major candidates, including ulysses s grant, senator james blaine from maine, nobody had enough votes to get the nomination. So the convention was in search of a compromise candidate, and they settled on James Garfield. They did not settle on him quickly. It took 36 ballots to nominate James Garfield in 1880, so it was a contentious convention. A very Long Convention that ended up with a compromise candidate for the republican standard bearer. We have the Republican National 2016,tion in cleveland in and there had been discussion at one point of the possibility of a contested convention, but it is wonderfully ironic and great for us here at the Historic Site parties inher of the cleveland, especially when James Garfield himself lived so close, but also as the result of a rather contentious convention. Live features, speeches and more from the Republican Convention available at cspan. Org. We are back live at the First Energy Powerhouse in cleveland built in 1892, supplying electricity for clevelands streetcars, and hosting today the cleveland coalition. There waiting for Chris Christie to arrive and the event to get underway. We will have live coverage when it does. Until then, a conversation from this morning washington journal. Steven yates is joining us from idaho. He is here to talk about governor pence, who will be speaking tonight. You said, as we were talking, the highlight of the evening. Why do you think that will be . a number of us have had the opportunity to work with him in washington over a time. He is us consistent conservative. He has reproduced himself to the country, saying he is christian first, conservative second and republican third, in that order. That is very reassuring to a lot of republican voters, very. Ellliked by his colleagues he had a lot over his career. Now he has been nominated for the next president , people are excited to hear what he has to say. Our delegation on the floor is kind of in the back and of the floor. But the benefit of that has been , we are near that vip section where people come and go. When governor pence has come and gone, we knows just a few cameras noticed a few cameras, but it is exciting to see people come and go through that area and get through the convention. Host were hoping donald trump would pick him . Steven yates a lot of us were excited about that pic. Inorked with Newt Gingrich the past, his name was in circulation. A lot of respect for him. There were other names talked about being in the mix. I dont know the country had been thinking all along it would be governor pence of indiana, but once it came out and we are hearing more from him and see him out in circulation, people are impressed. Host you were talking about your career in washington. Thee know before, you were security director. Usurped from 2001 to you served from 2001 two 2005. How do you believe donald trump will tackle challenges if you becomes president . He recognizes several layers of challenge that happen to impact on the National Security. There is a sense that people are going out in communities, and people dont feel safe. So they dont feel safe with what is happening overseas and at home. They feel like a threat has come to our shores. Marcus the trail speaking with incredible power monday night about a sense of a war that has come to us. Talking about securing a border, gettingable to name resources in place, intelligence or otherwise, making the homeland safe is very number one. But beyond that, how can you bring that unique approach to balancing with allies. Also taking an approach different from recent administrations, including the one in which i serve. Host we have seen the role of the Vice President growth specifically during the Bush Administration with Vice President cheney. It is continuing on. What impact can a Vice President national it comes to security, and what impact should they have . Steven yates guest Vice President is always at the table with the cabinet agencies related to National Security. So every Vice President has a legitimacy to the table, and his the in influencing president is a function of their relationship. That maybe is under underestimated from the view from the outside. Aside from having a seat, it is entirely up to a president. He could be deeply involved, an impactful role. I believe a past Vice President referred to it as a warm puddle of spit come coke which i do not believe is what anyone aspires to. With governor pence, he knew about Foreign Policy when in congress. He has been engaged in public issues as governor, and he knows with the Homeland Security is possibly these are in our state. I think he has substance to bring to the table. It comes down to how much mr. Him, feels rapport with and does mr. Trump, when he is elected, give him particular portfolios to review or basically guide and administrations policy areas . The office of the Vice President is not in the Line Management diagram over agencies. Vice president cheney would often remind us that his sole purpose is to give the president the best possible advice. It is not out there to tell the pentagon or the state department what to do. That is the president s job, and a good Vice President does not step on the toes of what the boss really wants done. Think governor pence will talk about National Security issues tonight . Guest i think it is inevitable. I have heard that speaker gingrich is going to come on and focus a bit on National Security. We have a few core themes that i think have been part of this campaign and parts of the convention. The first night was make america safe again. And yesterday was make america grow again. I think all this biggers will deal with some elements of this. Host what did you think of Rudy Giulianis speech on the night of make america safe again that is getting a lot of attention . Hist i did serve on campaign, so i have been interested in what he has done over the years. Some people would say he was en theo, really lighting up convention hall. I think marcus luttrells remarks and Rudy Giulianis remarks that night were Booming Energy in the arena. Hard to tell how it can across on the television from the inside, but i thought they were inspiring. We have to in a gap give people were talking about politics. We think about the mechanics, but they really gave a clear message on the why of what we are doing. Why we are involved in why we are committed to being republicans, and why we work hard in general elections. Host lets get to calls. First one is from mark in mansfield, ohio, republican. Ander good morning, greta, stephen yates, guest speaker. First off, i want to say how i love sees ben because they are fair and balanced, and they do not politicize political values at all, like cnn does. And fox news says they are fair and balanced, and most the time they are, but sometimes they are not. But my point is my father was a democrat most of his life u ntil he died to it he would be rolling over in his grave right now to was a christian, a parttime preacher. He went to church twice a week. I do not see god in the Democratic Party at all, based on their policies and stuff like this. And why are they nailing donald trump . I was a supporter of ted cruz, and i did not care for the way trump treated him on the platform. But everything that donald trump has said, cnn and other news medias twist it to a way it is not, like what he said about into thising banned country. He was speaking of those immigrants from syria that was going to come into this country, and that is always sad. Host lets have steven yates jump him because of his experience with National Security issues. If you agree when you heard donald trump say that maybe there should be a ban on muslims until people in washington figure out what is going on . Guest what i heard is essentially what americans agree broken, andstem is they do not trust that enough is being done to keep people that want to do is harm from getting access to our communities and the ability to hurt our communities. I think there is an overwhelming consists consensus, at a minimum, we need to reflect on if there are tools we are not using or things we need to be doing to make sure threats are dealt with overseas before they come to our shores. Is there too much slack and our system in terms of people coming and having visa overstays, using tourist visa is to come here and do harm, and of course, the refugee programs got a lot of attention. From a National Security point of view of those potential threats, i would consider the visa system to be an order of magnitude larger than the refugee program. The both of them are things that are real programs that need review, and i think it has been described as kind of a categorical permanent kind of morey, but i heard it is as this is broken and needs to be fixed. I think mr. Trump put it in a way that everyone understands, what we were doing was not smart. We needed to get something that made people have confident spirit we are a generous people and a welcoming people, but we do not want to just leave the door open for anyone to come and do us harm. Host mary in utah, republican. Caller thank you so much or having me on. I appreciate your show. It is wonderful. I just want to say that monday night, rudy giuliani, pat smith, and of course, melania, it was wonderful. The speakers were wonderful and stood out to me. Of course, last night i thought all the speakers were great. Wasld trump, jr. , fantastic, as everyone has said. I think everything is gone pretty smooth. Talking about the muslim thing, donald trump has never offended me on any of those things. First of all, he is not a politician. Maybe he is now, but he is not a regular politician. So things like that, the media has taken them and twisted them to the point to make him be this person he is not. That i thinksaying he is going to be a great president. He has got a wonderful family. He is strong. And he is exposed this is my main thing. Have65 years old, and i just gone along to my life and believes what the politicians have told me. I believed the media. And he has exposed the media and exposed to logicians. For the most part, not all of them, but a lot of them. They do not do their job. They are just sitting around being fat cats, is how i look at it. Again, not all of them. Host we hear you, mary. Guest first, summing dust someone calling from utah is important. There has been talked about the strength and support the republican ticket will have in utah, and i think it is reassuring that people are finding a way to recognize the choice we face another mr. Trump is formally nominated. The choices are caught our trump and clinton, republican and immigrant. I think hearing some of the messages of the convention are connecting people in the intermountain west, and that is reassuring. You are hopeful people are tuning in any Mountain Time zone and the pacific time zone to get the messages. But i think he really get a sense from the grassroots of our party that people feel that they want more direct talk, more direct evidence of action, and they definitely do not feel like they are getting a fair shake in terms of their views when it comes to mainstream media. Host what will be Donald Trumps numbers in idaho . What is his strength in your state . Guest the Republican Party advantages. S some we have to work hard and make sure were working together to attain those advantages. No way i can guess voter turnout and outcomes. But i would guess that idaho, especially with this convention and a good delegation that is here, going back and trying to take as messages back to our immunity, we should have strong support. We also care about our down to get races, congressional members of her reelection, so i think we will be a strongly republican state. We would like to tell everyone we are the most republican state, and i think mr. Trump will end up faring well. I hope he visits our state, because a lot of people would like to engage in that, and i think that would add energies to our race. That idaho is solidly red, and we need to keep it that way. Host pat in florida, independent. Caller first, thank you for your show. I really appreciate your show. I want to say something. Donald trump is criticized for saying that there are muslims who actually enjoyed seeing the World Trade Center come down, and i live in a community with a lot of muslims, and i do appreciate them. It is a nice muslim neighborhood. The point is, as i was sitting in a strip mall not quite a week after the World Trade Center came down and i was sitting in the car waiting for my husband, when i seen four muslim men get together and they were obviously enjoying and demonstrating how the planes went into the World Trade Center and how it blew up and laughing and enjoying at until they noticed i was sitting there, and then they turned around and walked away. I would just say that i did see this with my own eyes. Thank you. Host ok. Call from danville, virginia, democrat. Caller i appreciate the opportunity to speak. Mr. Yates, i respect you are christian and your party, but i talkslike to know, trump about making America Great again. Are you talking about back during the Clinton Administration or are you talking about i am 51 years you know, i am going to say civil rights really came through the years of my youth family. So are you talking about the years of the jim crow laws are when republicans freed the slaves during the civil war . What era are you talking about making America Great again . Anyt first, i reject notion of any racism and the slogan of the campaign or what have you. Nothing whatsoever to do with that. Make America Great again, the slogan, was used most famously i Ronald Reagan. I think that mr. Trump, at the beginning of the campaign, was basically setting himself up to be a reagan revival. If you hear a lot of the policy things that the campaign has produced, they are almost an update of some decades to some things that Ronald Reagan brought from the 1980 campaign up into the 2016 contest. I believe from the campaign and from a party point of view, this is going back to the reagan ideas, optimism washington journal live every day at 7 00 a. M. Eastern. That conversation on cspan. Org. Were back now in cleveland and the Hispanic Coalition event. Thank you all for being here. Thank you for your patience. A round of applause for all of you for being here. [applause] we have a very special guest, and it is important that today, especially, because we put up a poll today on latino voter were republican hispanic voters. Many of you know that the Latino Coalition is a nonpartisan organization, so we do not endorse candidates for office. However, it is critically important to us in fulfilling our mission at the Latino Community that we educate, inspire, and motivate our Latino Community to be a big part of this election. Areso i know all of you committed to that, as well. Our theme of the Latino Coalition is Pretty Simple Building Community and partnership for a stronger america. And that is what our Latino Coalition is all about who it is so we are excited that you are here, that you are joining us, and we ask you to stay involved. Follow us on line, follow us on twitter. If you want the results of this survey, download them on the tino coalition app. I will tell you that the findings were very interesting. There is good news for the political candidates, and there is some not so good news for the latino candidates. Our next speaker will be able to his big to a lot of this. You know, the number one issue of these voters that is on their minds, International Terrorism and National Security. Number one issue. Another issue that is important to them as we go through this election cycle is to be discussed and talked about with respect. Our next speaker knows all about that. Of course, you know hes the governor of the great state of new jersey. Way, did anybody know that he gave a speech yesterday . Did anybody here that speech that he gave at the convention yesterday . [applause] you know, there was a lot of rhetoric about that speech. In my opinion, i watched a lots of speeches at the conventions, and that was powerful. Governor, it reminded me of that movie, a few good men, were they had a dramatic courtroom scene, and there was that famous line you cant handle the truth. Well, the next speaker brought the truth last night. He brought it for our country. He is a front of the Latino Coalition. He has attended events in the past, and he invited me to join him about a year and a half ago and mexico. If you were impressed yesterday, you should have been with us and mexico. Amazing to without any further ado, please join me in welcoming our good friend, a great american, governor Chris Christie. [cheers and applause] governor christie thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you for the extraordinarily kind invitation. [indiscernible] governor christie [laughs] i did not start that part, you know. But i want to thank you all for the kind invitation. I am happy to be back with the Latino Coalition. As you know, this is an Important Organization to me, and this group is representing something much more broad than the latino interests in development of our country. It is talking about holding neighborhoods, and neighborhoods caring peopleood who start small businesses, who send their children to school, and who are really, really desperately concerned about the direction our country is going in. And the members of the latino theition not only share goals and aspirations of businesses all across the nation, but they also share the whatconcerns we have about direction our country is going in. It was interesting to hear that the most important issue is terrorism and the concern for that. I can tell you that if we do not start to address this in a very direct way, the violence that we are seeing both on our streets and on the streets of cities around the world is going to get worse before it gets better, much worse. Fact is that groups like isis and others feel emboldened, in my opinion, by the extraordinarily bleak leadership we have in the white house. We saw that this president has been unwilling in almost all instances to speak plainly to the American People because it does not contort with his personal political agenda. But the fact is islamic terrorism is spreading throughout the world, and they have an agenda. And the agenda is to impose religion and their cultural beliefs on the rest of the world. That would seem to be that no matter what ethnic or religious background is in yours, that that would be a completely frightening prospect. Raised a catholic, and i am a catholic. And the idea that anyone could come and, through use of force, try to impose upon me, my parish, my church their religious beliefs is repugnant. Yet, understand what their goal is. Their goal is for you to either convert to their point of view or die. They do not see any gray area in that. And so, as a national government, i think we have gotten complacent regarding the threat that terrorism presents to us. Remember, this is the group, isis, that the president called the jv. They were the junior varsity. There were not to be paid attention to. Well, i think they have gotten his attention now. Think they have gotten his attention much too late for the safety and security of the American People. Not surprised to hear that International Terrorism isnt number one on the list of concerns. The cause you are not safe in your home. If you are not safe in your in yourd here at neighborhood. If you feel the world has become unsafe. All the things we do have become secondary. You are not furthering your education if what you are worried about is making sure you get home, cuddle your children, and physically protect them. You do not wind up doing the things you want to do, traveled the world, learn about new cultures, if you fear that there is going to be attacked in nice, if you fear an attack like you have seen across western europe. Operating out of fear is never the way the United States has operated, and in my view, it is not the way we should operate now, and we need to have a change to make sure that that happens. Also wanting you to understand that what i know from my own experience in new jersey is that the single most important not only safety issue for the Latino Community but for every community that is represented in our state, and as i know you know, we are the most ethnically diverse state in america, is about jobs and our future. Our oldest son just graduated from college six weeks ago. And i can tell you that about six months ago, we hosted a group of his friends for dinner at the governors residence in princeton, and these are all 21 and 22 year old young men graduating from princeton university. You would think that they would be filled with boundless optimism having gone to one of the great universities in the world and getting ready to embark on a life of challenge and independence. Yet, these were a group of the most dispirited young men i have ever met. They talked about the problems in getting summer internships in the areas they wanted to study and consider for their profession. They talked about how hard it was to find a job. The general consensus among them was that they were really concerned that they might be the first generation of americans not to do better than their parents. Now i do not care whether you are living in a city or suburb, i do not care whether you are jewish or catholic or muslim, i do not care whether you are latino or African American or asian or white. We love our children the same. And their futures are simply the most important thing in our lives. And if we do not turn around a National Economy that has stagnated over the last two decades, in fact, middleclass wages are now 7 less adjusted for inflation today than they were 16 years ago, the middle class senses they are moving records. And with their move backwards, they bring their children with them. And the goalpost for their child to be successful gives getting further and further away. Nationalo have leadership again that understands how to grow the economy, how to get the government out of this regulatory nightmare that we have been in, how to adjust the tax code to make sure that american corporations will make money around the world who make money around the world bring their money home to spend and invest in new jobs and new research and develop it in their particular areas. We do not have that type of president. We have a president who, in my opinion, is an academic. Neverbuild a business, signed a paycheck. It is theoretical to him, the economy. It is real. I will be honest with you today, donald trump was not my first choice for president. I was. [laughter] [applause] but i wantristie you all to understand that i made the choice to support donald trump not only because he has been my friend for 14 years, but because i was completely confident he was going to be the republican nominee for president. And last night, he became the republican nominee for president. It is now our job to understand that this is a binary choice. It is not a Political Science experiment where we can say, jeez, i wish we had a different candidate, a better candidate than donald trump or Hillary Clinton. Thursday, those will be our two choices. Face it, gary johnson is not going to be president of the United States. Neither is whoever is in the green Party Running or whoever else. The question is, who addresses those issues i just talked about in a more direct, honest, and effective way, donald trump or Hillary Clinton . For those of you who did see my speech last night, i assume you know the answer to the question. One ofrankly, i think the deficiencies of the campaign so far is that people feel such levels of emotion about mrs. Clinton that they often allow themselves to get involved in overheated rhetoric and ideologicallybased, not on the facts of her career, the surrounding the judgment she has made about world leaders, the facts surrounding her judgment on how she has handled her own affairs at home as secretary of state. So i thought the case needed to be made. But i did not make it based on hyperbole and not based on yelling and screaming. Think very quietly, methodically, and directly. The convention and those watching at home less night on a tour of the world to tell you how much worse off the world is today because of her failed leadership, whether in Northern Africa or nigeria, whether in iran or russia, whether in china or cuba. Every part of the world has been made more violent because of Hillary Clintons lack of stewardship and her lack of judgment. An so that has got to be important factor in deciding who you are going to support for president of the United States. I will also tell you that because there is such high unfavorable in the ratings among both these candidates, according to current polls, i know some of you are probably thinking to yourself, i will just sit this one out, i will not vote, or i will just not vote for president. To do to urge you not that. I have to urge you to make the decision based upon the facts. But to participate and decide. Democracy is not a spectator sport. And sitting on the sidelines brings with it unintended consequences. If you are a republican sitting on the sidelines, that is a vote that we lose that helps Hillary Clinton. If you are a democrat on the sidelines him and there are some of those, too, for them to sit up the election is a support for donald trump. You cannot get away from this one, everybody. It is president of the United States. And you have got to make a choice. Am a guyst tell you, i in new jersey who ran the first time against a literal a liberal democrat incumbent, was able to defeat him because we tried to appeal to all different parties in new jersey. And we governed that way for four years, and four years 61 r, we got elected with of the vote. How do you get 61 of the vote in new jersey as a republican . You have got to do some good work, but he also have to appeal will be on what is seen as the traditional republican base. I will always wear as one of my proudest badges from my elected to little career the fact that when i read for reelection in 2013 that i received 51 of the latino vote in new jersey. [applause] governor christie and i think the reason that i received that vote was because i treated my latino constituents just like a treated every other one of my constituents. I understood that how they care about their children does not differ at all from my asianamerican constituents. I understand that their aspirations for a better life are no more or less than my africanamerican constituents. I understood that their concern about the health and safety of their families was no different then any of my white constituents and that all of the constituents in our state were concerned about making sure their children got great education. To you, when you are evaluating these candidates, you should evaluate as a Latino Community who is going to give. Ou educational freedom secretary clinton has already nationalrsed by the education association. Previously, she was a big supporter of charter schools. She is not. She does not support free choice for parents feared believe me, where i live in new jersey, i do not have to worry about it. I have a really outstanding Public School, which my wife and i choose not to send our children to spirit we send them to a catholic school, because we believe that their faith should be part of their everyday education. That is a choice we have made. Fortunately for us, we are financially able to make that choice. I do not believe that choice should be denied to any american because of their economic status. Parents are the best judges of where their children should go to school and how they learn, and we should empower our community to do that. [cheers and applause] governor christie and this is oppression. It is oppression on behalf of the publicsector unions by the arm of their government. A good Public School has nothing to fear from competition. A bad Public School should have fromthing to fear competition. Yet, we only work one side of that equation. We do not close the bad schools, but we reward good School Spirit and we deny people based upon their economic circumstance the opportunity to choose a better and different way for their children, especially those in a failed school. When you are thinking about how do we enhance the success and the happiness of the Latino Community in the United States, it must begin with the family. And putting them in charge of their childrens future. Improving a lot of the latino will alsoin america be about education. In some of our Worst School Districts in new jersey, we have Graduation Rates in the mid60 percentile, but the number is 65 e, because even if the or 69 of the children that graduates, nearly 95 of them require a year of remedial coursework before they can do collegelevel work. Hat is an obscenity and there is no parent who should be forced to accept that, jerseylly human that new spends the secondmost in america per pupil on their public education, over 17,000 a. Ear yet, we have failing Public Schools that are essentially closed shops. No new ideas, no innovation, no longer school day, no longer school year to adjust to both educational challenges and the environmental challenges that face so many of our urban youngsters. You will not hear any of that discussed by Hillary Rodham clinton, i can guarantee that. And the reason is because the National Education association will not permit it. There are lots of different ways to make your judgment of who to vote for president of the United States. One who will fight for educational freedom regardless of your economic circumstance is one that i think merits your consideration, and Hillary Clinton will not be that candidate. Change what iso happening in our cities, if we want to change the level of violence, it is not only happening in our urban areas but all across our country, the rate of violence diminishes as the rate of hope increases. If you believe that tomorrow will actually be a better day anxiousay, you are not to put yourself in harms way. Not going to allow yourself to get involved in petty street crime. You are not going to put yourself and your future in danger. But if you are hopeless and you do not believe that tomorrow could be better than today, that is what leads to wonton , andnce, aimless violence too many of our young people are dying today because of it. We have to give them hope and their families hope. Let me take taking chances is taking risks. I am not here today to make a hard political sell. I am here to try to tell you the truth as i see it. You will make your judgment on who, in your heart, you believe is the best person to be the next president of the United States. I have made my judgment, and i have shared it with you in that speech last night. Have notow, if you already, have time to make up your mind. Of as look at the totality persons life and record, both on the good side and on the problematic side. Let us not vote based on anything other than what we believe to be in our broader National Interest and what we familys endure to our personal best interest. All my interaction over my years of public service, both as you is a journey and as governor, have led me to conclude that no matter what the color of your skin is, no matter where your ancestors came from, that we believe in certain bedrock has aples, that everyone right to freedom and liberty, that life is bestowed upon us by god and is a gift, that we believe in freedom of opportunity for every person to pursue their dream however they see fit. That we believe in freedom from so that we can, raise our families and pursue our careers knowing that we do not have to worry every day of whether we are our children will come home from work at night. These are bedrock principles aat i know i believe in as republican, and i suspect almost everybody in this room believes in these same things. Now it is time to fight for them. Because those people who are disadvantaged by some of those things, they will prevent you or try to prevent you from exercising your godgiven rights in those areas. It is time for all of us to stand up and say no to that, to link arms with each other and say there are certain things that we just will not permit, and the diminution of the dreams of our children is at the top of my list, and i hope it is at the top of yours. I want to say two things in losing to all of you. Mexico was mentioned earlier, and it was an amazing trip here in my staff is still trying to catch my breath from how much we did. I got to spend an hour with president pinion . , and i got to spend time with each of the cabinet officers, traveling across mexico to our sister state and getting an ,xtraordinary reception there to learning about, firsthand, the hopes and aspirations, and frustrations of the citizens of mexico. And one of the things that i learned from that trip was reinforced really, was that we live in a pretty damn good neighborhood when you look at the rest of the world. Our neighbors, both to the north and the south, respect our sovereignty. They respect our Cultural Values , our religious values. We have similar economic systems and similar political systems. You haveu today, when a couple of spare moments, to do a mental exercise. Go around the world and find one other neighborhood in the world that fits that description. Find one. What i am going to be urging this National Campaign is an emphasis on how fortunate we are to have canada and mexico as our neighbors, how fortunate we are to live in a neighborhood where we are not worrying every day of crossing intos the United States and trying to overthrow our government. How fortunate we are to have trading partners who understand the importance and value of American Goods and american workers. How fortunate we are to have neighbors who respect our society. And no matter what religion you practice, if you practice it peacefully, youre right to not only be respected, but it will be guarded by our government and the governments to our north and south. There is a lot of doom and gloom to talk about, but also, america is, in my view, wellpositions to have a second american century, but we have got to start off by acknowledging why we live in such a good neighborhood. It is because we have good neighbors. And we will have disagreements going forward. We have them now. We will have more going forward. I said to a reporter earlier today, this agreement is not criticism. It is just disagreement. People of High Integrity and honor believe intellect and common sense cannot have disagreements without it evolving in being critical of each others motives and views and beliefs. I do not know that is actually possible for some members of the media, but i think some can actually be disagreeable without being critical. But i can tell you that that is the kind of National Path i think we should take, and i am going to be urging donald trump to take it, as well. Laterer this 240 years , we are still the most amazing ongoing experiment in World History. The incredible diversity of this withoutliving together violence and strife, but with cooperation and respect is extraordinary. Days like thisnd remembering the three things that unite us. The three things that unite us are the things that form the very foundation of the founding of our nation 204 years ago. That these three things are and alienable rights that come not from the government but from god. First, the right to life, that each life is a precious gift from god and needs to be treated that way. The rights to liberty. Our ability to live where we want to live, think what we want to think, read what we want to read, say what we want to say, believe what we want to believe. Spiritence of the human is grounded in liberty. Freedom of choice. God made us differently. He made us with a finely honed ability to differentiate and , and the right to liberty is the gift that he gave us in order to exercise the abilities that he gave us. [applause] but the laststie of the three is the most unusual one, the one that really anyerentiates america from other civilization that has ever existed on earth. In our founding documents, in the declaration of independence, it talks about life, liberty, and what . The pursuit of happiness. No other nation in World History has had as one of its founding its believe that there is an in alienable right to pursue happiness, to not just be content with a life of struggle and challenge, but to say that it is not only good, but it is your right to pursue happiness as you see it, as you define it, as you believe it. Those three founding principles are meshed together. You cannot exercise one of them without the other. That was the brilliance of jefferson. Small sentence in a larger document, he laid out for us that only our opportunities not only our opportunities but our obligations to set up a Civilized Society that permits in protects those three alienable rights. We have great challenges as a country, both here at home and around the world. I take them seriously. And i believe we need to address them aggressively. What i do not want, especially during a week like this where this is essentially a celebration of democracy, and next week in philadelphia will be a celebration of democracy, as well, i do not want us ever to forget just how extraordinarily lucky we are to live in this nation and to have the obligations and the opportunities that come along with it. [applause] governor christie so the Latino Coalition is all part of that effort. Gives people the opportunity to pursue a life that the want to pursue, to support those ideas, and to support the instrumentality for that to help business,re, a great the ability to support our families, the ability to live where we want to live, and the ability to be able to raise our children in a way that would make our parents proud. Here. S why i am i accepted this invitation because i want you to understand that up and down our party, we believe in these principles, and we believe that you, as part of achieving everyday those principles. We will have fights, arguments, and disagreements, but they are fights, arguments, and disagreements among family. Need to decide an election, yes, make your choice, participate, advocate for your candidate. I am doing that, and i hope you will do it, too. Standing on the sidelines is unacceptable. But when it is all over, what will be left is what was left in this country after each and every one of our president ial ,lections, the American People through their government and through their own conduct, advancing the principles they believe will best support their families. Giving our country the future that we not only deserve but a future the world is crying out for us to ensure we have so that we continue to be a symbol of hope and inspiration for the rest of the world. I understand we have an interest and anxious citizenry, and an egg shells america makes for and anxious america makes for an anxious world come as a we need to get back to work, and this is what this group does best. So i thank you for meeting your mission. I thank you for coming here and being part of the celebration of democracy. I think you for participating in the elections this fall and for voting for who in your heart you believe will be the best person goalswer we reach these and aspirations. And i thank you for your ongoing kindness and willingness to listen to me. You do an extraordinary job. I consider you allies and friends, and i look forward to us continuing to Work Together as we change our country to bring it even closer to meeting those three principles for each and every citizen, no matter where you are from, no matter matterou live, and no what your race, your gender, your ethnicity, or your religious grounds. That is the beautiful tradition of this country, and i erin t i will work as i can to make sure it continues i errantly i will work as hard as i can to make sure it continues. Thank you very much. [applause] mr. Gutierrez Chris Christie, everyone. Now you know why it is so important that he be here. We are grateful for him. Lets give him one more loud Latino Coalition round of applause before he leaves. [applause] thank you,ez governor. I do not know about you, but if i ever needed an advocate or a champion, i do not think you could do much better than Chris Christie. That was amazing. Thank you so much, governor, forgetting is off to a good start. Fasten your seatbelts, we have a couple more very important speakers that we want you to hear from. The next speaker is governor not get governor, maybe in our near future, congressman sean duffy. Congressman duffy resigns from wisconsin resides from wisconsin for the seventh district. We have been able to work with his significant other over the years, Rachel Campos duffy. Yesterday, congressman, i was up on media row doing some interviews, and i thought your beautiful son and baby in the hallway while you and your beautiful wife were doing an interview on cnn as ben yale cnn espanol. This congressman is one of the bright stars of the Republican Party, and he is somebody that is very close to the people of wisconsin and represents the best values of our country, but he is also somebody that is kind of a star in wisconsin. Some of you may have seen on games,e is lumberjack and you see these guys doing incredible things. Congressman duffy is one of those guys. He is a champion in those games. Join me in welcoming a friend to the Latino Coalition, congressman duffy. [applause] congressman duffy i first want to thank governor christie for the warmup act. That was very nice of him. It is good to be with yall. Did you see his speech last night . It was awesome. I went down to the house for not the house floor, the floor last night, and i had our little baby, our sixweekold baby, and the baby is sleeping and started doing this thing guilty or not guilty, and the crowd is going, guilty. I could not. I am yelling, guilty. The baby starts to smile as we are all yelling guilty about Hillary Clinton. Sowas a fun night, and i am impressed and so thankful that governor christie is part of our party. My wife does work for an initiative, and we are here under the leadership of daniel garza. I am so grateful for all that the Libre Initiative has done to theyre fantastic. On the front lines going into communities, matching the liberals, talking about free enterprise. Liberals have so many different organizations and so many different communities, and we conservatives come aware do we match them . One of the main groups that matches the liberals talking about the ideas we believe in is the Libre Initiative. And without them, i do not know what we have in regard to the communities that matter, the votes that matter, and the state that matters. Daniel, thank you, and thank you to everyone at libre and the hard work you do. Ill have a couple minutes with you. A lot of people look at Hillary Clinton and they are like, oh, Hillary Clinton, look at the , and hend bill clinton was a moderate and worked well with republicans and the economy grew. It was a great time in america, or some thought. The problem is Hillary Clinton is not bill clinton, and this is not 1990. If you look at what has happened 2004,eorge bush in george bush said, you know what, i am not going to do the traditional thing where i move from my conservative base and into the middle to win votes. Winaid, no, i have to go conservative votes. I going to motivate my base, turnout, and win. He was a successful. Barack obama has done the same thing. Instead of coming to the center, this guy has gone far left, and he has won. So if anybody thinks that Hillary Clinton is going to be moderated by bill clinton and come to the center and be a moderate, you are absolutely wrong. She is going to go over and help govern with bernie sanders, a socialist, Elizabeth Warren this will be the team we have in place running our country. And if you look at the socialist policies that bernie advocates for, that elizabeth advocates for, and now hillary advocates for, these do not offer upward mobility, they do not offer prosperity. They bring you despair, whether it is cuba or venezuela or argentina or southern european countries. They never grow economies. They destroyed economies. And they want to come and say i have got more free stuff for you and i will offer you more conservatives will never offer more free stuff than liberals. We will never do that. But what we will do is offer more opportunity, offer more upward mobility. That is what we will offer. [applause] congressman duffy and i think that message resonates. I think most of us in this country want the same American Dream and the same opportunity that our parents had. I have the opportunity to sit on the House Financial Services committee. We deal with banking, housing, insurance, the federal reserve. I would call this the plumbing of free enterprise. If this does not work, our economy does not work. I have the gavel on oversight, and we asked for documents from the administration. Congress oversees the executive. Do you know what i get . I get nothing. We will push them harder, and we have too respond, search for subpoena documents, and we have to search with depositions to get people to comply. If your government cannot ever see these bureaucrats that have so much power, the power is unchecked. And this power has been unchecked. And we need to change the balance between the branches of government. We have lost that over the course of generations. We have to bring it back. I look at home in my state of wisconsin, and so many people have issues with bureaucrats who impose significant rules and regulations that have a big event on their lives and their businesses and their communities. They will come to me or go to senator ron johnson is when in wisconsin or they will go to sometimes, god forbid, tammy baldwin, and they go, help me. There is a new epa world destroying my business. Can you help me roll that back . Yes what i will do, i will write a letter for you. We write letters. Rulesbureaucrats impose and regulations that have the force of legislation that congress is supposed to legislate, which means that people can petition us for good or bad, but the people have a voice because the congress is the one who makes the law. But if you take the power away from the congress and put it with the executive, the people to not have any power anymore. It is gone. Our founders envisioned a different model where people were empowered in their government and had a say in the government. But the rise of the executive and the diminishing of the congress as offset this allen spirit i think that is the main issue we have to get right in the house of representatives. It is not going to take as a month or a year. It is going to take us a while to get to the point where we have a balance. But if youre congress does not have a voice, you do not have a voice. And it is going to take conservatives, republicans, when they have a republican president to keep that republican president in check. I cant tell you what, look i tell you what, liberals right now have no desire to keep barack obama in check. They agree with his policies, so they get him more power, and they applaud the diminishing of the congresss authority and power. I think that is one of the biggest issues we are addressing. If we get that right with our policies that have limited government, less regulation, offers more opportunity, more moreom, and in the end, upward mobility. I wanted to thank you all for letting the chat for a couple minutes. My wife, regards from her regards to you. She will be back on the floor tonight. She had a little trip today or on left at 6 40 this morning an airplane, did a little meeting, and she is flying back, all with the baby, working her tail off, to make sure we make this country a better place. I am grateful for what she does. I am grateful for what the Latino Coalition does. God lust, and have a great luncheon and great convention. God bless, and have a great luncheon and great convention. [applause] mr. Gutierrez thank you, congressman duffy. Rachel. Best to we appreciate all of her good work, and thank you for your leadership here were going to continue on with this series of influential leaders that are speaking to us, and i appreciate your attention. These leaders obviously have big responsibilities during the convention, but it was important for them to be here with us. Our next congressman is fromessman Keith Rothfuss the great state of pennsylvania, the 12th district. I did not realize it until recently, the congressman and i have a number of things in common, we both served in the Bush Administration. The congressman was actually one of the key people to set up the office of faithbased initiative and Homeland Security. And many of you may not realize it, but during the Bush Administration, that is where that office was created. I know what a great job they do. The congressman also served on the Financial Services committee of congress. Area ofly important responsibility for businesses, access to capital is still one of the biggest burdens that small businesses. Ave goo the thing we also share in common is that we have similar experiences when we were in washington, d. C. He and i were both part of the same catholic parish in virginia. Our children went to School Together and both of our daughters are going on to college this year. Please join me in welcoming congressman Keith Rothfuss. [applause] thank you for the invitation to be here today with the Latino Coalition. I want to welcome people to the industrial heartland heard it is a great city my live about those cohours away industrial heartland. Abouta great city, i live thoswo hours away. I want to touch a little bit on some economic issues, small business, Health Care Issues we are facing. Im on the House Financial Services committee. We have chair yellin come in to testify. She keeps on bringing up this notion of there being resistant this persistent headwinds our economy has been facing. I had the chance to ask her a couple questions about that because i would contend that these headwinds are really manmade. We had the slowest economic recovery of the last of in years ands the great depression. Years of the last seven years since the great depression. Growing the economy at 4 is something we can do, but every time we turn around, we see another regulation coming down the pipe. Or the Affordable Care act, the epa, waters of the usa, department of labor and regulations coming out, hitting our community banks. We have the concentration going on right now in the banking sector. People are looking for that relationship with their local community bank. We have to keep pushing back against this regulatory superstate we happy to superstate we have. Aboutor christie talked the inalienable rights in our declaration of independence. The other distinctive is this notion of self rule. These regulatory agencies making the laws without congress having input, that is a serious problem. That is why we need to make a change. Which has initiative passed the house of representatives which will be very helpful to get a handle on the regulatory superstate where you would give congress the rights to approve or disapprove a regulation. That is not going to be an end of regulation. That is going to be the beginning of account ability for regulation. That is one of the main points we have in our agenda. I would encourage everybody to be focused on that heading into this election season. A sixpoint platform dealing with health care reform, tax reform, defense issues come upward mobility come and have poverty initiatives, constitutional reform. Really important things we need to turn this country around. A President Trump would sign those initiatives. A president clinton would veto them. I look forward to continuing the conversation. I have one challenge for our friends here. How many business starters they we have do we have . I think you that thank you. Lets win this election. Thank you so much. [applause] please welcome to the stage committees that director of the congressional Hispanic Leadership institute, marianne geomet. Marianne gomez. [applause] thank you for being here with us. I want to take a moment to thank hector and ellen for the partnership and collaboration. We are one of the Strategic Partners that worked with them throughout the year. We are here to celebrate the accomplishments of our friends who are being honored today. Of our founding members im also here to introduce the next speaker. A very important person in our daytoday work, congressman bill flores from the 17th district of texas. Please join me in welcoming the studyof the republican committee. Congressman bill flores. [applause] good afternoon. I will be brief since everybody else has gone so long. I will not talk about any politics because you will hear plenty of political speeches this week we are here to recognize a couple people for their leadership in hispanic community. Rudy and daniel. Some of you might want to know about district 17. Bosses and many of them are rock stars. Johnny manziel. Iii. T griffin th there is a faithbased leader in waco, texas. Helps that he recognizes the challenges in the Latino Community and does a great job in waco. When you stand up so we can recognize you . [applause] my wife is here, my son is in the back. It is an honor to be here today. To recognize those cogreat tos, rudy and daniel leaders. Thoswo rudy got to serve with my favorite president , Ronald Reagan. He was one of the influential leaders who helped make Hispanic National heritage month. One of the other things rudy did , he helped lay the foundation for the congressional Hispanic Leadership institute. Gomez is the executive of that and she can tell you what a leader rudy has been in that regard. To have servedd for some time on the board. Rudy has done a great job and i take pride in being a part of the organization. Chili reaches out to young people and tries to find young hispanic men and women and expose them to what it means to be a leader. Im always privileged to be able to visit with his young these and women and talk to them about the realworld challenges of becoming a leader. Im able to talk to them about the challenges of doing that it would not be possible if we do not have chli. I want to recognize Marianne Gomez of the great work you do. Again, lets commend rudy becerra for all the work hes done and he continues to do. Let me close by saying this. This country has a lot of big challenges, but we have a lot of great leaders in the Latino Community and other immunities communities in this country. Thank you very much. God bless you. [applause] wow. We have had a great parade of speakers. I want to acknowledge one of my special guests. See since ive been here, i