Transcripts For CSPAN Key Capitol Hill Hearings 20131118

Eastern. Gloria steinem will speak at the National Press club. She helped found the womens action alliance. Watch her remarks at 1 00 eastern on cspan3. Mrs. Johnson as first lady loved to show off her home. The guests would often formally gather here in the done. In the den. Various heads of state came to visit. We have various things, one of the things she wanted to highlight was the native here. An heritage we have a collection of arrowheads. She had an eye for copper and collected items and had gifts from friends. Mrs. Johnson gave a tour of the house in 1968. She featured the china from mexico picture here. She spent a lot of time at the provided a respite from the turmoil in washington, particularly later in the presidency. The johnsons could come home and make that connection back to the land and this place that they valued so much. Bird johnson, tonight at 9 00 eastern on cspan and c span3, also on cspan radio and cspan. Org. Wisconsin congressman paul ryan was in altoona, iowa, his first visit to iowa since the 2012 election where he was mitt romneys running mate. Representative ryan called on iowans to be more skeptical of politicians. We will show you his 20 minute address, he talked about problems with the health care love rollout and how Republican Health care law rollout and how Republican Values can appeal to mainstream voters. [applause] thank you so much. Thanks, jim, appreciate it. Thank you. Hey, everybody. It is nice to be back to see each and every one of you. This is our first time back since the campaign and jan and i left off kim, we say wisconsin through the nose. [laughter] it has been a year. A lot has happened. Jen and i got to come, see old friends, see good memories. Maybe we should come back and do this more often. People are really friendly here, i tell you. [applause] i got this invite for the event in the mail and i thought the mustache thing was pretty interesting. At first, i thought it was an invite from dr. Phil. [laughter] seeing that this is terry s birthday, i wanted to bring something from wisconsin that i thought was appropriate [applause] a little slice of wisconsin with some bransted on top. The packers are pretty popular in iowa, correct . [applause] more so than the vikings, i would like to think. Yeah, ok, maybe not. Sorry. I also want to sit here as i look out, i see three people. I want to talk about terry a little more. I see a guy that has been a workhorse where i work, in congress. I see tom latham who has been working hard. He is one of those guys whos in there fighting every day for the conservative common principles between us, wisconsin, and iowa. I want to thank tom for what he does in congress. Send him back. [applause] the hardest working guys we have. I also want to talk about our good friend Chuck Grassley. We have been seeing a lot of each other recently because we are on the Budget Committee together. We keep making the same argument and because we keep making the arguments we do not have we are not where we need to be right now. Chuck and i think the money that comes through the government is not the governments money, it is your money, the taxpayer cost money presented to the government in the first place. Money that wass sent to the government in the first place. [applause] i want to thank chuck for all the is done. This is a man who has so much respect among congressional republicans. Chuck grassley, i want to thank you for your service. We are indebted to your gratitude. [applause] some people say that president ial campaigns are wrong families. That they are rough, they are ringers. That is not the experience that jenna and my three kids have. We had a delightful experience. Some of the good memories we had were traveling with tim reynolds through iowa. We went down to clinton, iowa, where janets mom is from. We went into the house janet learned to walk in. They had in the kitchen in pencil where jenna and her Three Sisters as she grew up the homeowners kept that there. Is that not good Iowa Cultural values or what . [applause] we are excited about march. One of jennas distant relatives is going to have a statue in his honor put in the capital this year. This is a state that only shares the same kind of values but when we have great memories with. I want to thank each and everyone of you. I want to thank kim, tom, chuck, and all the iowans that it so much for us the last campaign. I want to thank those of you who worked so hard. We didnt quite deliver but on behalf of mitt and myself, thank you very much for everything you did for us. Thank you very much for that. We appreciate it. [applause] we are not here simply to celebrate your governors birthday, we are here to celebrate your states success. Look at what Success Stories we have right here. Terry branstad and kim reynolds came into office over a little more than two years ago. They came in with a split legislature, huge deficit, high unemployment sound familiar . Look what they faced. They faced all these problems and look at what they have done. Iowa is running a surplus. Your Unemployment Rate is down. They passed the biggest tax cut in history. These are leaders this is a man who did not have to do this. He served his state honorably. He served it well and then went and served in another venue, in higher education. He saw liberals come in and do things to his state that he didnt like. So what did he do . He stood back up and went back at it to fix his state and he is done that. That is an example that is wonderful that people in washington can learn from. Thank you, Terry Branstad, for doing this. [applause] for this leadership. Thank you for putting the uniform on again and getting back in the game and scoring some touchdowns. By the way, did you see the wisconsinindiana game today . [laughter] he put principle ahead of pride. He has put prudence ahead of pride. He is putting our principles in practice. You know what, people in washington could use a few pointers, they can learn a lot. I dont know if you have noticed this, but obamacare has had a couple of hiccups. [laughter] dont you remember, we were told we had to pass this bill in order to find out what was in it. Well, here we are. I seem to recall maybe tom can jog my memory here. If i recall, one of the guys who is fighting hard for this law was bruce braley. Do you guys know who that is . Look, this law is doing real harm to real people. This law is taking people and disrupting their lives. Millions of people are getting cancellation notices. Families are seeing premiums go up. The crowd that brought us this website where they had three years to prepare, 500 million to spend, is the same crowd that is poised to take over 16 of our economy the health care sector. President obama said he did not know any of this stuff was going to happen. He said that he had no idea that these problems were coming. We had Kathleen Sebelius come to the committee and say that everything was ready to go. Here is the issue if you outlaw the kind of insurance people actually have, they wont be able to keep those plans. They passed a law three years ago to outlaw the kinds of insurance that people have in their surprise that people dont have that . We talked about that in the 2010 elections. We talked about it in the 2012 elections. We knew all of this was happening at the time. We heard all of the soaring rhetoric and all of these problems and now we see what is happening. The way i see it, there are only two explanations. Either they were being dishonest or they are just incompetent. Frankly, i dont know which one is the worse. I think the left i think they are learning a pretty valuable lesson here. I think the valuable lesson that we are learning here, unfortunately, with all the human Collateral Damage with the obamacare spectacle is that you dont shut out the opposition. You dont cram a bad bill into law. You do not say one thing when you know it is another. And then, when it all blows up in your face, im sorry is not going to cut it. That is the lesson i think they are learning. So, the next time you have a famous politician coming through iowa, breezing through the towns talking about Big Government lets be a little more skeptical. You know, when you take a look at the arguments that were made to sell this law, they were attractive arguments. When i look back at this campaign and believe me, it was a tough loss. It was tough for all of us. We were in a funk for a good six months because we knew the stakes. We knew what we were going to do. We know what we believe. We know what needs to happen to get things done. It did not go our way. That is obviously very frustrating. As i look back at the campaign, i think one of the problems that mitt and i had was arguing against Big Government. In theory. , president obama passed his program in the first two years of his presidency. Nancy pelosi and harry reid were in charge. Those programs did not take effect until this year, things like doddfrank and obamacare. We had a campaign against Big Government in theory. The empty promises. Here is the difference now we have got government in practice. What we are realizing is that the results are nothing like the rhetoric that was used to sell them. We are realizing that this was not always cracked up to be. I wonder if people who know know what they know now what they would rehire these people again . What do you think . When you take a look at these issues honestly, that is where i see optimism. That is where i think we have a chance. This is where i think we have a real opportunity. We are no longer looking at Big Government in theory anymore. We are seeing Big Government in practice. We are seeing the hollowness of these promises. We are seeing these issues as they come forward and we dont like it. Im not talking about we as republicans, but americans. Everyone. What we have to do is that we have to show the country that we are not the Opposition Party but the proposition party. We have to show truth of power, we have to expose these ideas for how hollow they are but we also have to show who we are and what we believe in. I tell you what we still believe in the american ideal in this country. We still believe, as our founders did, that our rights come before government. The declaration says it best, they come from nature, natures god. We still believe that if you work hard and play by the rules in this country, you can get ahead. Thats the american idea. We still believe in that American Dream but the problem is, millions of people dont see it. They dont know they have a crack at it. They dont think their kids will be as well off as they are. I think we understand something that the left does not understand. The people who are really focused on selling Big Government understand. What we understand the american is that the American People dont just want comfort they want dignity. They went the dignity of being a selfgoverning people. Obamacare is just the opposite. I remember all the debates. Chuck grassley can say the same thing. We were in all the debates and they said, it is a new governmentgranted right. Heres the problem. If government is the guarantor of our rights, the government decides how we get that right. Who, from where do we get that right . That is what we are seeing with this Health Care Law. We are seeing choices go down, prices go up, and we have not even begun to see what will happen to the hospitals and the providers. I think next time people will be more skeptical. We are seeing Big Government in practice. And so while they have made it easier to expose these ideas, we have to do even more to make sure they understand who we are and what we believe in. You know, unlike the left, we need to have an mandate that is an honest mandate. We need a mandate and honest competition so that we can have victories, so that we can resuscitate the american idea. We look at this, we are confident in our ideas. We know what fiscal responsibility actually looks like. All you have to do is look at Terry Branstad. Dont spend money dont have, and if you are, get it under control. We know what patient centered health care looks like. Dont wait for the government to tell you what to do. Dont tell the government tell you who your insurer is or what dr. You have to go to. That should be you making that decision. We want all those Health Care Providers competing against each other for our business, not government favoritism. We know what tax reform looks like. Stop picking losers and winners in washington. Lower our taxes for families and businesses so we can keep more of what we earn. [applause] the way it works these days is that you have really high tax rates. Nine out of 10 businesses and i was businesses in iowa and nine out of 10 businesses and wisconsin pay their taxes as individuals. Like all those businesses with 50 to 75 people in industrial parks. The top tax rate now because of obamacare and the other obama taxes is 44. 6 . You know what it is on canada . 15 . 25 in china. Going to 20 in england. We have this tax code where our tax rates are really high. Toyou send your money washington but do some things that we in washington approve of, you we will let you yet some of it back. I have a better idea keep it in the first place. You decide what you do with it because it is your money. [applause] that is what real tax reform looks like. Those are the kinds of things we have to propose an show. We also know what a real war on poverty looks like because it is not the one that has been waged for the last 49 years. Next year is the 50th anniversary of the war on poverty. 15 trillion spent on it and the highest level of poverty ever. 46 Million People in poverty. Washington has gummed up the works. It has made it harder for people to get ahead. The idea of upward mobility is slipping farther away for people who have not seen in generations. We can do better than that. We can restore america as the party of equal opportunity to show how these ideas prevail. We have had Big Government in theory. A lot of people voted for that. We have it in practice. It does not work. One of my favorite economists, it is a fatal conceit to borrow his works. We have these examples. Look at what Terry Branstad has done here. If we follow these examples, if we highlight our ideas, we are going to do this. This is why i am optimistic. This is why i think were going to turn things around in the state and country because we now know what is going to take it is going to take people of courage, conviction, people like Terry Branstad. It is going to take you to keep sending people like Chuck Grassley give chuck somebody else and then the guy who voted for obama care. [applause] i have every confidence that we are going to do this. This is a packed room of people who care about their country that are here to thank the governor for doing what he has done for you. You know what . I am not going to sing a song like that wonderful young man who sang in the beginning of the program here. If they told me i had to start by singing happy birthday. Please all join me to our governor, Terry Branstad. 1, 2, 3. Happy birthday to you happy birthday to you happy birthday dear terry happy birthday to you [applause] lets hear it for our governor. Happy birthday. Thank you. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2013] paul ryan is from wisconsin, that states kevin or says the idea of president ial nominees should governor says the idea of president ial nominees. Volcker dismissed ryan. Ndidacy of paul Governor Walker says none of those republicans have taken on big reforms. Maryland governor and possible president ial candidate Martin Omalley was in New Hampshire. He was at an annual fundraiser in new Democratic Party hampshire, which traditionally hosts the first president ial primary. His comments are about a half hour. Thank you so very, very much. It is really great to be with so many good friends in New Hampshire. Company of be in the so many good friends in New Hampshire, but so many good friends who are marylanders who have come to New Hampshire. [applause] governor haslam, shaheen thetor shaheen, speaker of house, senator minority leader sylvia larsen, chairman ray buckley, happy birthday, ray. [applause] chair fuller clark, second vice chair solomon, it is an honor to be with you here in the granite state. A place that is very special to me and very special to the people of our country. It is a bedrock staying in more in moren one state ways than one. It is a special honor to be here tonight. [applause] last year, i had the honor to serve as the chair of the democratic governors association. The dgi had atrophic year the no win a terrific year, was as sweet as helping you im governor hassan w and governor hassan win in New Hampshire. [applause] a fantasticould be governor. I am more impressed with how much she has gone done in such a short period of time. Less than one year. You mean people together, a great idea, to create good jobs. Doubling the r d tax credit, strengthening public safety, increasing funding for mental health. Passing a bipartisan, fiscally responsible budget. Making College Education more affordable for more families by freezing instate tuition. All of that in one year. [applause] none of us should be surprised, we know that she had the benefit of following in the tradition and the footsteps of another great governor who served you so very well in the u. S. Senate, my friend jeanne shaheen. [applause] next year is going to be huge for democrats in New Hampshire. [applause] buckleysrman leadership, great things are possible. The future is not inevitable. I had a meeting today with a number of you, many of you are with thefriend dave firefighters said to me, continued progress really is possible. But we have to keep helping each other. For environmental progress, progress on womens health, workers rights, equal rights for all americans. These are all connected. They can only happen if we continue to stand together. And help one another. Lets keep moving forward. [applause] in our time together this evening, i wanted to talk with of baltimore story and New Hampshire, of maryland and america. I want to begin by thanking you for your indulgence in watching that introductory video. I am sorry if some of you thought you were about to watch another episode of the wire. [laughter] age is theary of giving the luxury of age is getting up vanity and seeing a younger me with darker and fuller hair. It reminded me of a story i wanted to share with you tonight. It was 14 years ago this month that i was elected mayor of baltimore. Baltimore had by that year, sadly, become the most violent, most addicted, and most abandoned city in america. One of the very First Community meetings that we organize after the election, in a hardhit neighborhood of east of more east baltimore, citizens assembled to talk. There was some tension and apprehension in the auditorium. I will never forget, a little girl came up to the microphone. Mayor, myhis mr. Name is amber. I am 12 years old. The cousin of all of the addicted people and all of the drug dealers because of all the addicted people and the judge dealers in my neighborhood, there are people in the newspaper who called my neighborhoods opulent my n eighborhood zombieland. I want to know if you know that, and if you are doing anything about it. There was a big difference at that time between the baltimore that we carry in our hearts and the baltimore that we saw in our headlines and on our streets. Our biggest enemy was not even the drug dealers, it was our own lack of belief. A culture of failure that had too many of us wallowing in a sense that nothing would ever work. We had excuses for why we should not even try. To change to that, that, we took action. We started to make things work. We saw trash in our streets and alleys, every day, we picked it up. Wesaw open air drug markets, began to relentlessly close them down. We saw neighbors suffering from addiction, we actually expanded drug treatment. We took action to get more people into recovery. Year,en, then, after a study, hardearned progress, we took aim at the heart of our own despair. We launched a campaign that we called believe. The first ad was a fourminute commercial which the local news agreed to air. A 10yearold africanamerican boy warming his hands next to a homeless person on a cold bottle more quarter cold baltimore corner. Saysys, my grandmother that we are all part of one big fire. True,ot know if that is but i know that there is a fire inside of me. And then you travel with this little boy. You travel through his world. Past vacant houses, past drug dealers and drug addicts, pimps and prostitutes. As night falls, you hear the boy say, my sister has gone to the store to buy some candy. I wonder what is keeping her. Thehe camera moves down street to a gathering crowd of people, and ambulance flashing emergency lights, you hear the thencers voice say people of baltimore are in a fight. A fight for their future, a fight we have been losing, one ne lifet a time on at a time. Little boys sister is lying in a pool of her own blood, a victim of a crossfire. Herfully braided hair, lifeless eyes wide open. As the camera flashes on english faces,on anguished the voice continues. There is some who say it is over, give up, we have lost. But for the strong, for the brave, this fight is not over. What will it take to make us stand together and say enough . Of that same fire with the story had begun, come wordsart the stark believe. Believe. , now for three painful weeks, we ran those ads. You can imagine the angry calls we got from businessman. Why do you run these ads . I will tell you why. To change a culture, to awaken the spirit of a great people. To make our city a safer and better place. People toe ads calling action. Mentor a child, save a life. 1800believe. Get someone you love into drug treatment, it works. You know what . It did work. The people of baltimore rallied, it was not about bumper stickers, it was about something deeper. The leaf we share that in our city, there is no the belief we share that in our city, there is no such thing as a spare american. Baltimore achieved the biggest reduction in crime of any major city in america. [applause] governor hassan, i am so proud of the people i have had the privilege to serve. Belief is important. Belief drive action. We, asltimore in 1999, americans, are going through a cynical time of disbelief. A time, quite frankly, with a lot more excuses and ideology than cooperation or action. We seem to have lost the shared conviction we once had. That we have the ability to make things better, we have the ability to do it together. There is a big difference between the america that we carry in our hearts, anti america that we see in our americas and the that we see in our headlines. The america in our hearts, anybody who works hard, who played by the rules, can make a Better Future for themselves and their children. The america and our headlines is too often a place where corporate profits are higher than ever. The rich are richer than ever. The paychecks of working families keep shrinking over time. The america in our hearts remains that nation that created the greatest, strongest middle class in the history of the world. The america and our headlines is a nation where too many kids cannot afford to go to college. Too many College Grads lets graduates cannot find jobs. It reminds me of the story of the prizefighter who finds himself being against the ropes, down by his opponent. His trainer gets the chance to sit him down in the corner. He looks in and i. Him in the eye. He says the problem is not with the other guys doing for you, it is what you are not doing for yourself. Whether you think you can or you cannot, you are right. I dont know about you, i have had enough of the cynicism. I have had enough apathy, enough of us getting in to selfpity and low expectations of one another. Lets remember who we are. Years, we have thrilled the world, the country that led the world. In large part by making ourselves stronger at home. Dont you think it is time to do it again . [applause] when others said it was not possible, when the odds were too great and it cannot be done, we made it happen. We did it together. America is the greatest jobg rating, operating opportunity expanding nation in the history of the free world. We know that our country works better when both parties are actually working. [laughter] and functioning. Nonethelessmocrats have an urgent responsibility today, dont we . Jobs, a stronger middle class, giving our children a Better Future. That after hoover, america needed roosevelt. We needednhower, kennedy. After reagan, we needed clinton. After eight miserable years of george w. Bush, we needed barack obama. [applause] no president no president since fdr, no president since fdr inherited a worse economy, bigger job losses, as many wars, or as large a deficit as president obama. But thanks to his leadership and to each of you, america is now moving forward again. Lets look at the alternative that we see on the other side of the aisle, the current crop of Tea Party Republicans funded by economic royalists who have a very small view of america. We have seen this story before. Who are call it supplyside economics hoover called it supplyside economics. Reagan called it trickledown. George w. Bush called it focusing on my base. [laughter] we call it selling america short. [applause] i dont know about you, i have had enough of Tea Party Republicans like ted cruz. [applause] these guys are too much, twisting the words of our founders to justify their own, meanspirited, shortsighted, proshutdown ideology. Does nottor cruz understand is that the patriots who founded New Hampshire, who founded maryland, they did not pray for their president to fail, they prayed for their president to succeed. [applause] and they did not belittle intelligence. [laughter] learning,ot belittle they aspired to it and hoped others would as well. They did not appeal to americas fears, they brought forward american bravery. They would never, they would never have abandoned the war on poverty to declare a war on women, a war on workers, a war on immigrants, a war on the set, a war on hungry children. [applause] now i know, i know that people theych mcconnell have been trying to distance themselves from the tea party ever since they nearly drove our the trutho the is, theres very little difference between the tea party and socalled mainstream republicans. Just ask carol shea porter. They say it firsthand everyday and he now in the unrepresentative house of representatives. [applause] there is very little daylight between the tea party and the Republican Party. Think about it. Both would have millionaires do less. Oil,axes for big multinationals, reduce Social Security and medicare. Cut student loans, cut veterans benefits, invest less in education and affordable colleges, do less to combat Climate Change and gun safety, do nothing to fix immigration. And keep families who are trying to survive on the minimum wage from ever earning even another penny. It would appear that the only thing they want more of is Rush Limbaugh. [laughter] Rush Limbaugh did not get applause in New Hampshire. [laughter] questionand serious that we have to ask one another. The question we have to ask one another as americans is this how much a lesson do we believe less do we believe would be good for our country . How much less education would make our children smarter . How much less opportunity would allow the next generation to succeed . How many hungry American Children can we no longer afford to feed . Week, i hadday last occasion to meet with some of our nations finest at the world war ii memorial in our nations capital. Humbled toblessed, be in the presence of four recipients of the congressional medal of honor. , like so many of yours, they grew up in the depression. Won the second world war, my dad flew missions over japan. My mom got a pilots license and joined the Civil Air Patrol at the age of 16. [applause] our parents and our grandparents understood the essence that we share as americans. It is the truth that lies at the heart of the American Dream. The stronger we make our country, the more she gets back to us and to our children, and to our grandchildren, they did not serve, fight, sacrifice to die, so they grandchildren could grow up with less. They gave to us a longer and stronger country than that. A country of more opportunity, a country of more freedom and more justice. A country that we now have the ability to pass forward to our own grandchildren, stronger and better than we received her. If only we choose to do so. Progress is a choice. Job creation is a choice. In maryland, we have followed our president s call to make better choices for better results. We have done more, not less to build infrastructure. More, not less to create new jobs in this emerging industries. We have done more, not less to improve education. And to make college more affordable for more families by freezing College Tuition for years in a row. The result more jobs. There is no progress without jobs. Last month, we reached a milestone in maryland of having jobs wed 100 of the lost in the bush recession. [applause] and last year, we achieved the fastest rate of new job growth of any state in our region. People now are the highest Median Income in the nation and our state. We are a top state for upward mobility. For the last two years in a row, the u. S. Chamber of commerce, hardly a mouthpiece for the maryland in the Current Party maryland Democratic Party. They named maryland never one for innovation and after number one for innovation and entrepreneurship. These were not a product of chance, they were the product of choice. That drives believe, believe struts action, action which used action achieves results. As the leadership moving New Hampshire, that is the leadership our country needs, you are going to elect more democrats in New Hampshire in 2014. [applause] and so, conclusion. Not that it is ever over. Americas work is unfinished. It a conclusion tonight, wanted to share a final story. I am joined by my son, of whom i am very proud, william, he is 16. [applause] william was born an old soul. From the first moments he could talk. When he was about nine years old , we found ourselves at home watching a History Channel special. It was about rosa parks and civil rights. Themockery bus boycott montgomery bus boycott. William turned to me and said then, he met sometime between the extinction of the dinosaur and the paleozoic era. Somebody told you that you had to ride in the front and some of you had to ride in the back of the bus, and you guys actually listened . [laughter] i said, it is hard to imagine. But honestly, that was the way it had always been. With the clear wisdom of youth. And he said dad, do you guys didnt you guys realize that you are all going to the same place . [laughter] [applause] the truth is, we are all going to the same place. We are all on the same bus. New hampshire and maryland, california and mississippi. We will move forward and slipped back together, we will succeed or fail together. We will rise or we will fall together. We cannot allow ourselves to become the first generation of americans to give our children a country of less. This is not a matter of wishing or hoping, it is a matter of believing and taking action. We are americans, we make our own destiny. Up,hampshire must stand maryland must stand up. Each and every one of us must stand up. It only takes one person, then another, then another to stand up and say enough. Enough fingerpointing, enough obstruction, and if wasted time. Let us achieve like americans again. Let us lead like americans again, let us believe like americans again. In ourselves, and in one another. Together we can, together we must, and together we will. That is what i see in New Hampshire. [applause] wmur tv in New Hampshire reports governor omalley used his trip to the state to meet with a number of local Democratic Political players like the heads of the state firefighters and teachers unions, as well as a number of state senators as he explores a run for president and tony 16. The u. S. House meet at noon for general speeches. Legislative work gets underway at 2 00 eastern. They will debate 5 bills, including one for federal spending to be posted on one website. Another increases the pay of the d. C. Cfo. Washington journal talk to a reporter about what Else Congress is reporting on. Host bob cusack is managing editor at the hill. Weekouse and senate have a left before thanksgiving. What are they trying to do this week . Is there any must do legislation . Is working onate a Defense Authorization bill, they will have a vote to proceed tonight. There will be a series of debates on a range of issues in the senate, whether syria, afghanistan, military Sexual Assault has been a big issue. Theyre just Getting Started on this bill. They will not finish any time soon because of the amount of y issues. S and thorn on the house side, republicans taking aim at obamas energy policy. There will be a series of bills on fracking attacking, basically, the administrations regulations. Trying to make it easier for companies to get permits on federal land. These will be rigorous debates in both the house and the senate. The week will still be dominated by the Health Care Law and web site woes. Host talk about nominations. The washington post, the senate faces another test on a nominee. The senate will consider a president ial nominee to the court of appeals for the District Of Columbia circuit. The first two nominees failed to achieve their culture their cloture, 60 votes. What is the latest . Guest this is another adult. Senator john cornyn has been in this battle. Republicans say theyre argument is the same argument the democrats used with bush, you dont need this many appointments on adc circuit. That,ats have countered they have continued to push for these votes. It is another one of those things where they cannot agree, they cannot get the votes, it has nothing to do with the individual nominee. There is the constant talk of possible Nuclear Option when they have these standoffs. Harry reid is moving aggressively on this, moving forward. Tt,ther nominee, mel wa democrat from north carolina, his nomination has been held up. There are others in the pipeline that could be controversial. The biggest one, likely to get through but some no votes, janet yellen to replace ben bernanke at the federal reserve. Host health care envelops everything else. A lot of other things are slowing down or halted because of health care. What will you be looking for on that issue . Guest i think the biggest thing to look for is pressure from House Republicans on the senate to vote on some type of companion bill to the upton that was a vote last week, 39 democrats defected. It was lower than people thought, or deny defections 39 defections. The lower number can and because obama cannot with his own administrative fix, that has been criticized by insurers and Insurance Commissioners of the states. It is daily updates of where the website is going to be. More going to have oversight, the House Science Committee is holding a hearing on data security. That is the next big thing with obamacare and its troubles. How secure is the information when people go to sign up . That is what they will be looking at. Sack of the hill. Guest thank you. Health on cspan2, Insurance Professionals look at Health Care Costs and price caps. It is hosted by the alliance for health reform. Live coverage begins at 12 15 p. M. Magazine founder Gloria Steinem will speak at the National Press club today. Watch her remarks live, what 00 eastern on cspan3. 1 00 eastern on cspan3. Think of the information facebook has on people. They know what your dog standards, all of these things. One security analyst said if the government had asked you directly for that sort of information, it would have taken money, it would have taken lawyers, even guns to get you to cough up that information. But we do so on social networks. We also do not think about the fact that our google searches are tracked. And so i also write mystery books, i put the white house in one. Searches, look at my they would be very incriminating. I am looking at drugs, things like that. There, thinktting they are engaged in some sacred activity, not knowing it is as if there was an eyeball keeping track of the things you do. I know who you are and i saw what you did author, monday 8 00 easter. Cornel west was this featured speaker at a summit on dron es. He talked about the relationship between the military and wall street. The event was cohosted by theral groups, codepink on nation magazine, and the georgetown chapter of the National Lawyers guild. Speaking first was code pink cofounder medea benjamin. She talked about her activism against u. S. Drug policy. Policy, this runs about an hour. Good morning. We are delighted to be with a Wonderful Group of people. Some of you are coming here for the first time, many if you have been working on this for years now. I went to start by summarizing my own journey to this issue. I want to take a moment to reflect on where we are today. My own journey is that when 9 11 i thought my government should respond by finding the individuals who attacked us, not by attacking other nations. [applause] but when the u. S. Attacked afghanistan, we were told by the media and our government that we now had these hightech weapons, laserguided missiles, smart bombs what kind of a term is that . And that we could pinpoint exactly who the bad guys were. And so we, as a public, should rest assured that our government was only going to hit the bad guys. I dont know about you, that raised some questions for me. A week after the bombing ofrted, i went, with a group three other women, to pakistan to make our way into afghanistan. To see the was happening. We did not even have to get into afghanistan, it was in pakistan where we saw civilians, families, flooding out because they have been targeted by the u. S. Bombs. The first young woman that i met was a streets of peshawar 13yearold who was begging for money. We asked her her story, she took us to her home and told us that her house was near a taliban base. By home had been targeted mistake. Her father and she were out selling candy on the street, came home and found that their home had been blown up. Her two brothers had been up liberated and her mother open ated, her obliter mother as well, all they found were pieces of flesh. She simply could not even tell who was our mother, who were our brothers. They gathered the pieces ended a burial. In father became mute, shock, could no longer work or talk. At 13 years old, she became the head of the household. She took her brothers and sisters on a trek across the khyber pass to pakistan. At that time, i had a 13year old daughter. I thought, how could my daughter ever do anything like that you that . Ke like woman took herng family and her mute father and tie to keep them alive in the streets. , ourombs are not smart missiles are not smart, missiles are not smart, bombing people is not smart [applause] doing this for over 11 years now. When will it end . That is what we are here to talk about. The more i research, the more i realized that drones was a part of this consent this configuration that would allow us to keep the wars going but not putting our own troops at risk, which really is a way of saying that the lives of our people are very sacred, but the lives of other people are not as sacred. Damage, collateral that is an obscene term, because that is people. Those are real lives. That is pieces of flesh that are lying around untreated. That is what they call Collateral Damage. As i research more how drones are becoming part of the arsenal , somewhat under the Bush Administration but even more so under the Obama Administration, i began to hook up with many people in this audience. They realized there were terrible things happening. President obama would meet every week with his advisers and set up a kill list. Have not been charged, they certainly have not been tried, they certainly have not been convicted in any court of law. A are put on a kill list. Wasound out there authorization given to both the cia and military to do something called secondary strikes, whoh means killing people were doing something that looks suspicious from thousands of miles away in a base where the Drone Operators were looking at what is happening in places like afghanistan, pakistan, yemen, somalia. Signature strikes killing people on the basis of suspicious behavior. Does this sound like some up seen type of racial profiling . Found out it was the cia and most secretive branch of the they werent even admitting that they had this Drone Program. Can s done totally totally convert lay. Totally covertly. Of government goes around town people without letting the americans know what theyre doing in our name . We realized there are lots of innocent people being killed and the u. S. Government was not even acknowledging they were being killed, much less apologizing to them, offering some kind of compensation to them, nothing at all. We also saw that the policy was not working. It was not getting rid of al qaeda, it was recruiting for al qaeda. Every single drone strike led more people to join extremist movements and it has led to growing antiople american sentiment around the world. Is not a policy that is even working. We also realized we were creating a model for the rest of the world that said we can violate other countrys sovereignty, we can kill people on the basis of secret information, we can go anywhere we want because the world is now our battlefield, and we have this Amazing Technology that we are selling to other countries. What is this model that we are selling . Every time i look at the news i see more and more countries have now been buying the drones because this is big business. Up to us is big business by u. S. Companies, by israeli companies, by chinese companies. The last i saw was 87 countries that out have drones. The drone manufacturers will now say these are not what the nicest thrones, these are certain that these are not weapon eyes to throw will now say these are not weapon eyes to weaponized drones. You can assure there are many countries that are in the process of weaponizing their drones. At home the manufacturers have their lobby in congress and they have forced the federal Aviation Administration to open up our drones by september 2015. A will say this will be used by Police Department to track your elderly grandfather who was lost down the street with alzheimers. We know with these drones can be used for because we have seen what they are used for overseen oh used for overseas. We are already a very overt surveillance society. A slippery slope about organizing these drones. Dronesstations getting these drones are designed to be weaponized. We are linking up with people in who are concerned about our privacy and safety there was a drone that just crashed privacy and safety rights. There was a drone that just crashed a few days ago. These are the connections we are making. We are already making a huge difference. 20 12 at one of the polls that was taken, it said 83 of americans thought it was fine to use these drones against terrorist suspects. A suspect is somebody who was never convicted of anything. S quite shocked to it is now about 60 of americans. The way to making it a minority of americans who think it is ok. [applause] and that is so important, because we must change Public Opinion. Who are elected by us in congress and the white house, they are the last ones to change the policy. We are the ones that have to force the change of policy on do that by changing Public Opinion. That is why i wrote a book about drones, drone warfare, killing by remote control. I have traveled to 200 cities talking to a bull in this audience have been doing the same thing. We are educating school by school, church by church, local media stations. We are changing Public Opinion and we are starting to see a shift in policy. How do we know that . Of the it by some reports that have come out from anonymous officials who say because of the growing drones, not just in this country but certainly in the places we are using them, like in pakistan, where the vast majority of people are outraged by the drones. We will hear from our delegates today. This has started to shift the number of drone strikes has been going down. The number of civilians have ofer gone down number civilians has gone down. We have to look at what we have done and account for what we have done and apologize to the families that we have destroyed, compensate those families for what we have done. We have to stop the killing that continues to go on now. And we have to change the policies for the future. This is not what we want our world to look like. [applause] another example is around the domestic use of drones. We will hear from a panel today are starting to pass their own resolutions because they cant rely on congress to regulate the drones. They are doing it them selves at the local level. We also see for the first time we also see, for the first time the United Nations is starting to talk about this. There were two reports that came out on human rights and extrajudicial killing. They came out with deming reports, especially how they could be done with accountability. Patients at the General Assembly had a chance to get up and question these policies. You should have heard from the nations in latin america who are the strongest ones, particularly brazil who got up and said that we think this is totally illegal and immoral. We we heard from venezuela, heard from china, we heard from all kinds of nations that are starting to question what the United States is doing and the drone proliferation around the globe. And glacier lee we are starting to see some tiny its of movement within the congress. These are so small but significant. There will be legislation that says make public the memos that justify the use of drones. You think we would not even have to ask this, but we do and we need to see those memos. There are also some people in angress who recently hosted group of drone strike victim families from pakistan. It was the First Time Ever in 10 years of using the drone that congress has ever invited of the drone strikes to address them directly. Were onlyely there five Congress People who showed up to hear from them. The testimonies were devastating. I have never been in a congressional hearing where the translator is crying, where the congressman is crying, and where the audience is crying. This is when we heard from the raymont family, talking about how their 86yearold fieldsther was in the picking okra when she was obliterated by a drone and the other children who are out there helping her, all of the physical trauma they have suffered, the mental, they have suffered, and hearing this in a congressional briefing was a very positive step. We are going to have a nether congressional briefing. This will be on tuesday with the yemen delegates that are here. All to contactu your Congress People and tell them you want to see them at that briefing. Tuesday, 4 00, ray rooms raymond building, 2, 4, 5, and six. Tell your Congress People that the least they can do is listen directly to the people that have been affected by our policies and give them the courtesy of hearing what they have to say. So we are here as part of his Citizens Movement that will become a global Citizens Movement. These are policies that are spreading around the world. We are part of building a movement. That is what this weekend is all about. Day to daynd the today with a lot of good educational information. Downrow is the time we get to the nittygritty of organizing, building, of networking. Of that networking is to recognize that the work that were doing on drones is part of a much larger picture. It is part of an issue of the militarization of our society and how can we turn that back . It is part of the discussions of how do we make sure that all of our troops come back from afghanistan . Leave to thet to thousand troops behind. Bring them all home. Of a discussion of how do we reign in this empire that has over 800 military bases people in world, that those countries do not want. We can close those military bases and use that money for what we have here in this country. Its part of looking how we spend our resources as a nation, the bloated military budget while we starve so many essential areas of our economy, including literally taking money from food stamps from people who need those to be able to survive. Of a much much Larger Movement. Thato talk to us about Larger Movement and how we put that in context, who are we as americans . What kind of values that we have as americans . Where do we want to go as a country . Who do we want to be as a country . What greater voice to we have to lead us into that discussion then dr. Cornell west . Me. Lease join lets give him the welcome he deserves, the voice of ethics and morality in our country, dr. Cornell west. [applause] flex what a Freedom Fighter of great courage and vision. Can count on her to focus on the suffering of the week. Give her in other hand. [applause] a. Ter maday thank you. The tremendous work you do is coordinator. [applause] of course the institutions that brought us together. A historic moment because we want our fellow citizens to know that there is a cloud of witnesses that say that those innocent persons, especially the precious babies that are killed by u. S. Drones havekistan and somalia exactly the same value as those priceless white children that were killed in newtown connecticut, as those Black Brothers and sisters in the sisters in the south side of chicago. Yellow brothers and sisters and we are here to their witness that we will not allow the kind of callousness toward catastrophe and indifference to criminality to become the norm and routine in america. [applause] we remember the legacy of dorothy j. We remember the legacy of Martin Luther king jr. These are names that constitute figures in movement that said it is time to straighten your back up. It is time to awake our fellow citizens. When it comes to militarism or Consumer Market driven materialism, when it comes to racism, antisenate is antintiarab hatred, muslim hatred, and he foremost xenophobia, but most importantly when it comes to imperial crimes. They m a to from here around the world. [applause] that towering intellectual, that great Freedom Fighter, he was 89 years old and it began with a six yearshree novels after he had been handcuffed in a courtroom, 1951, february of 51. Why was he handcuffed the echo because he was willing to stand up and say america has not just become a fullfledged empire but turning your back on so many of the presses wretches of the earth. 1957 he raised for questions that we will be wrestling with today and tomorrow. Out as integrity face oppression . Talking about ideology and politics, i am talking about integrity. What kind of human being do you want to be, what kind of nation do we want to be . What does honesty do in the face of deception . There is a lot of lying in high places. Third question, what does decency do in the face of insult decency,ty, honesty, and how does virtue meet brute force . Get any more significant or profound than that. If what kind of integrity, honesty, decency, sense of virtue and we want persons in our own brief tracks of mama woman . Together to come coalesce, to organize, to mobilize in the name of our quest. We want to tell the truth and the condition of truth is to allow suffering to speak in every corner of the globe. Explicitto be quite that this is a love movement. We love our brothers and sisters in pakistan, we love our brothers and sisters in yemen. We love our brothers and sisters in somalia. We love our brothers and sisters in tel aviv, ethiopia, guatemala two. That is not just rhetoric. You have to be able to move on the ground. If we are honest with ourselves, we have to acknowledge that the dominant tendencies of our neoliberal capitalist society is pushing us forward toward an authoritarian fascist regime. Lets just be honest about it. First thing is we financial lies our economy. Connection between the military industrial complex. The Prison Industrial Complex is affecting so many of our precious black, poor, and brown brothers. The cultural multiplex that connects hollywood and cable such a truncated political discourse that we have to choose between a far right andhearted Republican Party a milquetoast spineless neoliberal democratic one. Where is the cloud of witnesses concerned about poor people, concerned about working people . Ofs is not a matter political correctness. This is choosing to be a certain kind of human being, willing to organize and mobilize with others making that choice, to at least keep some he can of hope in a world of such bleakness of so many of our precious brothers and sisters around the world. 43 of profits good a big banks. The produce no products, just big oil. The money in private pockets. Any public space, public education, privatize it. , privatize it. Pulled privatize, polarize. We end up with escalating levels of not just mendacity but a durance. That ignorance. I did not say stupidity because we all have our forms of ignorance. I have seen various species and forms of ignorance. The not all of them. Not all of him. They all have their limitations. When you connect the financial lies in of the economy and privatizing of our society with of the domestic front and on the international hoods schools in the militarized. Militarized, going through security as precious young ones dodge bullets, dealing with unemployment, disgraceful , andng, decrepit education then there are no arts programs to peak their imaginations. Geth kids get talk talk, the poor kids get tested. Where is the money going . Military industrial complex, subsidizing a wall street with 85 trillion dollars per month going to banks with nearly zero Interest Rates. Wouldnt it be nice for our students to have the same Interest Rates as the banks . When we talk about drones, this is a way into understanding our neoliberal capitalist economy, which is global. That is why it is so good to have our brothers and sisters from europe, from asia, from africa. The end we are talking about an International Wave of moral awakening, of political highlights the week and former oh, elderly, workers, people of color, gay, brothers, lesbian sisters. It could be ideological persecution, what is going on in with pussy riot riot. Garrisons of our , glenne Edward Snowden greenwalds, disclosing and and the ware lies wemes of our government and have to tell the truth. Who haveom like people been criminalized for almost 300 years. We dish out the john culturing with the love of supreme. In the face of the killing of innocent peoples like the u. S. Drones, we do not respond with the same hatred. We do not respond with the same counterterrorism. We decide to take a higher, moral, and spiritual ground. Are naive but because we hold onto our quest for integrity. Moment it looks as if we are defeated, we would rather be relatively defeated and momentarily defeated now, holding onto our integrity, decency, honesty, and virtue. They cant get away with no transparency, no accountability, turning their back. The wire tappers, no accountability. Wall street executives, not one gone to jail. That is the kind of truth we want to be honest about. We want toe truths be candid about. About it. Ery honest we are cutting radically against the grain. People are obsessed with the narrow conception of success. We are welladjusted to injustice. Adapted towell indifference to the suffering. Joshua was right when he said indifference to evil is more evil than evil itself. Life, keepway of walking and turn your back and coarse andence is so your heart is so hard and and you end up a hollow and shallow human being, no matter how many material toys you have, no matter what status you have. Especially important to our professional class. Look at me, look at me, my achievements. We want to see your fruits, not your foliage. We want to seek courage to tell the truth and bear witness to tell justice, not just superficial statue. This is an issue because there that drones would be dropping on innocent people without others raising up, about speeches such as malcolm x and dylan singing bob their songs. I come from a tradition that says lift every voice. It is not say lift every echo. In a market culture we are so obsessed with success that we do not want to tell the truth. Of you have to lift your voice when talking about the truth. Fox and news, rightwing, msnbc, radically inadequate. They dont want to tell the truth about hiding and concealing what is going on in the militaryindustrial complex. Wire the drones shifting to africa now . Lets tell a story of lockheed. Lets tell a story of how in fact public space is so and emptying out and becoming a vacuum did. More and more they hit the streets and go to jail. We want our fellow citizens to know that if they straightened begin toks up, if they raise their voices and not just , they haveinstream the courage to become originals copies thatjust imitate the mainstream discourse. We may be able to turn this nation around. They targeted that connection. Paralyzed political process, that is more and more sioux superficial, so afraid of speaking the truth. We know the chickens come home to roost. You are going to reap what you sow. You cant drop drones on innocent people, especially innocent children, and think somehow that doesnt affect your sense of who you are as a people, let alone who you are as a fragile experiment in democracy, given that imperial wake. I am humbled to be here, i am blessed to be here, and we want the world to know that this is just the beginning. We are in it for the long run. We are going to be Long Distance runners for integrity and honesty and decency. Thank you very much. [applause] another hand for our great speaker, our motivator, dr. Cornell west. Have 10 minutes for questions. There if youver would like to ask a question, comment, and we can start right away. The question is, what about president obama in echo we tell the truth about barack obama. He is a drone president when it comes to drones come he is a wall street president when it comes to wall street. We have to tell the truth about it. By telling the truth we will put pressure on him. Whoever was in his room on tuesday was criminals. That is not just barack obama but hillary clinton, two. They were in the process of knowing that Collateral Damage calling himot name a that is an objective description. Somebody has said what is going to change his mind, i think look around the world. This is what is going to change his mind, building up a movement. Thriving under george bush. What happened to that movement he echo it collapsed. Peopleple one reason thought barack obama was quick to solve his problem for us, he was going to bring the troops home, he was going to stop the militarization, did not happen. There were other financial people had to save their families, get their jobs, hold onto their homes, pay their school loans. All kinds of things like that. It is five years and after barack obama. This time we build movement back up and put as much pressure on him as we tried under george bush. Questions,asking please keep it to about 30 seconds. [indiscernible] one is that the question had to do with our young people of all colors, she teaches in high school. We salute tshirts salute teachers. Teachers play in important role. How do you deal with the fear . That security cannot be predicated on criminality. That security cannot be predicated on mendacity. It has to be a security that access interned dependence read it is not a security that has some isolated individual feeling very secure. Other slices of the world terrorize other parts of other parts of our society. We can speak very honestly without young people and say we are not going to opt for the kind of narrowing that calls there isn nothing wrong with acknowledging the magnificent individuals and aspects of american society. Waving can be a form of moral blindness. As aas a could christian, unconditional love. In that sense, those values always have a higher status than the flag. Every flag is subordinate. True and justice across the board. A question over here. [indiscernible] how can we say, as taxpayers, that that relationship needs to be disentangled he echo disentangled . Corrects that is that is such a crucial question. We have to draw the distinction between education and schooling. Many of our used that many of our universities and colleges have been reduced to just schooling. And to be a consumer rather than a citizen engaging in public interest. And for workingclass and middleclass to become warriors for the nationstate rather than warriors against poverty, warriors against injustice, warriors against hatred. We hear from so many engineering students around the country that the only jobs they have available when they get out of school are working for the military or for a contractor for the military. Imagine where we are as a society when the best and rightist of our public does not have the choice to say i want to work to build green energy to get us off this climate chaos. To create opportunities for young people. Raise your hand if you are under 30 in this audience. Lets give a hand to those people. [applause] we are so glad you came here and we are anxious to work with you. There are workshops on youth organizing. Stronger movement within the schools, within the and you hear going to help us build that movement. I have a question of the use of criminality. , howa critical perspective do we use of law to fight these issues while at the same time not using the same discourse that is legalizing the murder and incarceration of so many brothers and sisters. How do we do that . When i think of the national , they have been masterful in trying to ensure that our legal system is just to the degree where we are willing to fight, sacrifice, and keep with justice. It is still far far from being fully adjust. Concessions have been made by the powers that be too poor and working people. That is why i invoke those names to signify the movement. Rights and liberties are very precious. We have to continue to fight in on that liberal terrain. That and really try up. End, legal reform is not enough. We are going to need a much more fundamental translation much more fundamental transformation. [indiscernible] do you have any comment on how we can do that he echo that . The question was when public fears begin to collapse. That was the only thing left. The question because can we be morally and spiritually mature . On fagan of tom cornell and the others who spend so much time engaging in civil disobedience, massive resistance, but doing it in such a way that has a moral and spiritual content so that it touches people not just in regards to their interests. Part of our problem in america is we are so obsessed with our interests. We have forgotten what principles are. Peel to appeal to principles. D i agree with you, absolutely. In your speech you talked about how the most secretive members of the military and people of the cia, they are so secretive about what theyre doing with drum strikes that we as civilians cannot get public data on these sorts of things. Accountabilityre by these branches of government in order to stop drone strikes . Corrects we have to demand, starting from these legal memos, if we have a chance to see these legal memos we can look at that in light of what does International Law say. The u. S. Has distorted these concepts. We are pulling this whole policy from under the shadows. One of those ways is what we are referring to now of people rising up and demanding answers. Part of that is the protest movement that we have to build back up. It is one thing to contact your congressperson and say please get us information, youre supposed to do oversight and you are not doing it. It is one thing to write to letters to the president. We try to get meetings from the cia and pentagon. We now go to the paces were the drones are being piloted. Ecause the manufacturers we go outside the cia, outside the pentagon. This is part of what we have to do. This is our responsibility as citizens. We are not doing our part. [applause] [indiscernible] a month later he was leading more troops in. Troops protected and organ, chase, if someone it was that information from fortune magazine. President obama was up for reelection and they did not want to talk about it. Now is the time to talk about. One of the important things is we have to support those in the medium. Im talking about the agenda reports. His niece may be here. Is another one you want to read. You have a sense of the analysis that the sister was talking about. Yes he echo yes . Im going to ask the naive and obvious question, and i will preface it by saying it seems to experiment american in government is a failure unless we deal with this issue. People bring an indictment against president obama, clinton, whoever else, if we cannot do this . I think we have failed on accountability. Part of the problem is that the American Government has been a relative failure from the beginning. We have made some progress and we have pulled back indigenous peoples. Ward 41 is still going on. Weking people looks like have collective bargaining. We get pushed back again with tafthartley. Making progress. That is very important. We have had some relative victories. That is very important to keep in mind. Mind that junein 27, 1964, Martin Luther king jr. Made a phone call to malcolm x. Malcolm x was going to the u. N. To the United States on trial for the violation of human rights, beginning with black folk lynching and so on. Mature, henued to was connecting poor people the way martin was an even talking about working people and always focused on the precious dignity of the people in africa. They wanted to get together to put the United States on trial or the violation of human rights , the violation of those human rights that of human rights by those hume by those brothers and sisters killed by drones. Some of us have to be willing to die. Somebody has to be around to keep fighting. What they were doing is saying we are going for broke. A chance to do that together. Come, lowith lots to and behold that kind of momentum channeled in the right moral and spiritual way. Are talking about righteous indignation tied to justice. When that takes place and you have some serious pressure, you have a different kind of movement. Lets just take these two questions at the same time and then we are going to wrap up this session. Thank you brother. Was just going to say it is good to have you here because you are not only some of who speaks at conferences, we were arrested together protesting. Way that we have a saying, the world cannot wait. That which you do not resist and mobilize to stop, you will learn or be forced to accept him. We are all trying to deal with what people have been forced to as our government is illegitimately killing people in our name. The big question for us is how to spread this Movement Among the very people you and high have been working with. Absolutely. Any time you get the best of the workerseedom movement, movement, womens movement, antihomophobic movement and anti. Movement comes together. The elite shake in their boots. To keep us divided and keep us separated, keep us so far removed from one another that when they see us coming together they know a new day is at least a possibility. That is precisely what we are trying to do. We have a new progressive mayor. We are going to see if he is progressive or just another leo another neoliberal. I like his spirit, we are going to see. I like to put loving tough politicians,ll the i dont care what color they are, i dont care what party they are. I picked up on a couple of things you mentioned. You first mentioned how wall street is connected to the military industrial complex. We to people, who are appeal to to make sure that the drone strikes stopped . Second question is in reference to the chickens coming home to roost. What would malcolm x specific we have to say about the Drone Program raising global awareness, as a person connected to humanity . Wonderful. Malcolm x was driven by a profound sense of deep love. It took time for it to spill over. The love was so deep he was willing to pay the ultimate cost. He was a revolutionary muslim. He came out of a black nationalist tradition that says we must ensure that black people have a sense of self respect, self defense, and self determination. He became even more internationalist, more and more uninsured women had major positions in that time, that he would be here with us i am unapologetic in my term of love for black people but my love working for poor people is intense too. We need to be able to come together and recognize that we do not want unanimity, we want unity and diversity. There are going to be a variety of different voices. We want our progressive brothers want ourrs, we latitude an area that brothers and sisters. Who what prophetic jews, prophetic catholics, prophetic act tests. Prophetic mormons, that is not a contradiction. That arell the folks concerned about integrity, decency, honesty, and a sense of virtue. Malcolm was very clear about where he is coming from. I think his voice is becoming as important as the voice of Martin Luther king jr. Because Martin Luther king jr. Was sounding more and more like malcolm with a christian twist when he was shot dead. Americans disapproved of him in 55 of black people disapproved of him because he was moving in a radical direction. To catch up with him and malcolm and the others. A note on how Martin Luther bygs legacy is so distorted the Obama Administration for the new head of homeland security. He said that Martin Luther king would have approved of the wars in afghanistan and iraq. You ask where we pushed where wentt the pressure, low we to the Johnson House and showed the antidrone film on his home. We projected it there. We also went to his confirmation hearing and made a fuss about that over there. The tippingow what point is going to be but it is an accumulation of things. As we hear over the course of the next two days with people acting with the court system, what theyre doing putting pressure on congress, on the manufacturers of the drones, trying to reject the military, all of these are part of a process of organizing to change this policy. Lets give another hand to dr. Cornell west for the inspiration. [applause] we will bring up our next panel. And they look at some of our live programs today. Health Insurance Professionals will be looking at Health Care Costs and price caps on some employer plans. That discussion is hosted by the alliance for health reform. We will have live coverage in about 15 minutes over on our companion network, cspan2. Gloria steinem will be speaking at the National Press club. We will take you there live. She helped find the womens action alliance, the womens political caucus, and the womens media center. We will have remarks at 1 00 eastern. Loved to showson off the Texas Country and her home. Yes to the ranch would informally gather here in the den. Various guests came to visit. We have a few things that speak to her connection to the room here. One of the things she wanted to highlight was the native American Heritage and the hill country. We have a small collection of arrowheads. She had an eye for copper and collect various items through the years and had gifts from various friends. Gave it to her in 1968 where she featured the chinas here, purchased in mexico. She spent a lot of time here at the ranch in it provided such a at the ranch. It provided such a respite for them to come home, recharge their batteries, and then make that connection to this land and placed a valued so much. Tonight, first lady lady johnson. Tonight cspan. Org. The u. S. House is about to gavel him. Members will begin with morning hours. They will be going out after that until 2 p. M. Eastern, when they will return for one minute speeches on any topic, and then legislative work will start at 5 00 eastern time. Members will be debating or five bills. One to create a website that lists all government spending, any votesat requested will be taking place after 630. After 6 30. The senate will be meeting at 2 00 eastern. Senate leaders will consider a judicial nomination, which is expected to be blocked during the procedural vote at 5 30 eastern time. Then the senate will turn to rebuild it was passed by the house this week to regulate prescription drugs compounding pharmacies. You can watch live coverage of the senate over we will let you know about a live program coming up, an event hosted by an alliance for health reform. We will be hearing about Health Care Costs in the plans being offered by employers. That is live at 12 15 eastern. We will also be live on cspan 3 from the capital where the Senate Homeland Security Committee will be examining the impact of digital currencies. They allow people to Exchange Goods and Services Online without any money. Again, the house is about to gavel in. Starting today with morning our and speeches on any topic. Take you live