Here from africa, we have the irish to french. We have catholics, jews, protestants, and even now, we have a growing asian culture as well as an arabic culture. New orleans has always been a melting pot and this is how it affected the cultures because when you get all these ingredients together, youve got a good gumbo. And that music is so different because the rhythms are syncopated. They come from africa and the caribbean and they are syncopated. Theyre not real straight up and down humming beats} we are out there expressing it in our body thats why we does like nobody else. Olidays are syncopated its not like we just jump up and down and clap our hands. We shake our booty and everything. You can see them around jazz fest and mardi gras. That may not be looking good but theyve got a nice pair of shoes on and they are ready to dance. It is a good thing because you are spreading new orleans music. In some sense, it is not so good because we need musicians and artists to come home so that they can preserve our cultures and traditions and pass it on to the other generations. This is going to be a very difficult task now that they spread out, so the object of the musicians village is to get our artist to come back and andvigorate our culture passed down our wonderful traditions. The culture is an integral part of the business of new orleans. Without it, new orleans will suffer to medically in regards to tourism to suffer dramatically in regards to tourism. [harmonica] as you travel several miles northwest of the ninth ward, you come upon a section flooded around the 17th street canal or the main canal and it did not hold up during the storm surge. Sue sperry from the reservation Resource Center drove us through this part of the area. A lovely you have break or a flood protection while collapse a levee break or flood detection wall collapse, it is like turning a water hose onto a place of huge scale. There is sort of this one little person in theg a vacant lot. The looting over here has been awful. People steal everything,ailboxes, windows, shutters plant material. I dont know how long those tvs have been there. A big pile. But maybe the koppel keep us out of here. Cop will keep us out of here. They are doing all the work. The army corps of engineers is currently still working on the paris to the canal wall breached their and also construction of the Flood Control devices to try for friend another occurrence of flooding to try and prevent another occurrence of flooding. Just down the canal and on our left is with the breach occurred on the 17th street canal. What happened here, unlike what thetwo of the Industrial Canal where the water came over the top of the flood wall and cause it to fail, the water was not up to the top of the football here. At flooded it failed before the water reached the top. The flood wall collapsed over a section and that produced or produced flooding on the protective side. Similar breaches occurred on the london avenue canal. [indiscernible] we have done two things. We made a temporary repair to those locations, but the primary thing is what you see behind me because in this work, we no longer have to lie on those flood walls protecting. We still need those walls because and a condition square the structure behind us has to be closed, this would be when there was a storm surge greater than five feet greater, we still have to have those canals to contain the water to significantly lower levels. Place in thetaking future, well be making a permanent repair at that location. What is going on behind you . We are standing on the 17th street canal, one of three canals that convey rainwater from the central part of the main debris of new orleans out to lay concentrating. Behind you, there is about two miles of doubtful canal and on either side of floodwall. As you may recall during katrina, that floodwall failed because we did not believe he could rely on those flood walls, what we are doing here is constructing a temporary closure that will take those flood walls out of the line of protection. Because you have to make provisions for water still to be pumped out of the city, in addition to this temporary closer you see behind me, there installed the temporary closure. What we have been doing since katrina is making repairs to the during katrina out of roughly 350 miles of levees. , 41 miles were severely damaged and i was hundred miles sustained damage. The work we have completed today is only about 10 or little less than 20 of everything that congress has appropriated funds to do. In addition to the repairs that were accomplished prior to the first of june, some of it still is an effort to. Ebuild the levees some of the levees were below the design pipe and none of the project for new orleans have been completed, so there is additional effort to complete all of the project. There is an additional frame of pictures that will provide and for the system and provide a higher level of protection and a more durable system, so that the kinds of things we experience would be lessa likely. Another part of that effort is a look at dividing even higher levels of protection, and congress authorized us to do backand gave us six months on the first of july and another 1. 5 years to produce the final report. The think without we know from that, although it is hard to draw conclusions about the features, is that providing higher level of protection will mean things are fundamentally different than the existing system. 11 months later, we are in Hurricane Season now and a lot believee still dont they are safe, what is your opinion . If another katrina took place , exactly as katrina happened with the exact trackback katrina that we knew the areas were flooded with the flooded again and it is a basic reality that katrina was in enormous, very powerful storm and it overwhelmed the system. Unfortunately happen again. Some of the things that occurred, like the failures on we outpolled canals where, are protected against those now, so it would not be as significant as katrina. Holy cross came and went. Here it stayed for weeks and weeks and weeks. What type of neighborhood was this . Middleclass . Worth. Was high net very, very are expensive. It can see there is a little mansioning that has happened. Even house like that actually, the house even like lot was 250,000 which is a considering it is a teeny tiny house. These nicer ones, maybe these newer ones, and the closer to the lake, the more expensive, 350,000, 400,000 houses. The twostory ones or the ones of the pool. This doesnt look like a neighborhood sue no, this neighborhood is very challenged. Again, it was severely, severely damaged. However, they have a very Strong Neighborhood Association and they have done a lot. We have been working with here it is we have been working with them quite a bit and it is a Historic District that is coming back. It is going to take a while because of the amount of damage, but most of the people of the here had insurance. In thise more means land is always going to be viable because of where it is. Again, when people say just give us category five levees, we will he rest it is pretty deserted by now. Sue it is. This is where the wealthier people lived, but i just havent gone anywhere. I am almost afraid to go visit other family members in other cities or go out of town as i do not want to know, i dont want to feel normal again until we are normal here because i do not and to go to normal life everything to be perfect because i guess i dont want to be influenced that i may not want to come back. And if i compare this time, six months ago, 9, 10, 11 months ago, we have come a long way because i cannot believe what i was saying, even when i came back one month after. But look at it. You know . Weve got cars on the road. This was the road where people were sleeping and dying. , neverot rushhour thought i would be happy to say it, but weve got traffic we got stuff open. One year later, i pretty optimistic . Sue im very optimistic. I would not live here if i was not. I do have family in other cities i could live in, perfectly good but i am verya, optimistic that the city will come back and be strong and attacked business and attract business and we will prosper economically. The one thing that i personally worry about is will he preserve , our culture, our food can we preserve that . A littlehe city is not city anymore. Weve got people coming in from everywhere, and this city will change. We just wanted to change in the right direction. We want to preserve all of the great things about this city and fix all the things that really should be fixed. I think we can be of best practice for urban planning. This has never been attempted before. Well, no one has ever had this, you know, the tragedy of opportunity likely have had in new orleans, which is you really have not, since the civil war, or certainly not in modern times, quite the slate clean and started over. How should the city be planned . How should the city function . This is an opportunity very unique in the United States. I dont want to see it to where you would recognize it isnt an historic city. Or frankfurt, if that looks like small way, so i dont want the fabric and the character of the city to change. That is what i loved about it, why i came here. Sue, thank you very much. Former president george w. Bush traveled to the Gulf Coast Region friday to mark the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. One of his stops included gulfport, mississippi, for ceremony honoring First Responders. This is 10 minutes. [no audio] george w. Bush if somebody shoots you when you are deluding, we are not going are looting, we are not going to prosecute the shooter. [laughter] [applause] guess what happened . There wasnt any looting. Was in marcia, the face of the recovery, with fantastic readers. It is a reminder that these major catastrophes, it is important to have strong leadership at the state level in order to help the citizens, their respective states and Haley Barbour provided that leadership and the people of mississippi are grateful to you, haley. [applause] i am thrilled to be here on stage with to find United States senators. One was the senator during this period of time, trent lott and along with Commerce Liquor dig yourself they do all the service [applause] for making sure that billions can down to help in the recovery. I kind of got tired of their phone calls. [laughter] need a little we more money, but the money was well spent in this part of the world is coming back stronger than it was before andrea grateful to be in your presence. [applause] before and we are grateful to be in your presence. [applause] i like to thank billy hughes for welcoming me and laura, the first lady of this important city, and last time i was here, it did not look quite as pretty. The place was totally devastated and to seal the boats, drains as a testimony to the recovery of the gulf coast. You know, when i think about katrina, i think about the lives lost. And i know you will join me over the time to pray for the loved ones who still mourn the lives lost. It is important not to get stuck in the past. It is important to realize how positive the future can be. Forget flying over wavelength and billy long goal was the mayor, i dont know if he is you and not i mean tommy. Where is tommy . My old friend tommy. [applause] tommy, when you are mayor, you had a better seat. [laughter] it at 869, its hard to see that far but i did see waving. I hope youre doing well. I remember eddie, i dont know ddie . Didemember e you ever change her shorts . Still got them on. [laughter] i will tell you, it looks like you made a size larger, two sizes. [laughter] and rocky foremen, i developed the county supervisor rocky is around, but it was a joy to meet these local officials. How about my friend aj all the way holloway . [applause] is e ihe remember we walked through biloxi, holloway . A doubt in everybodys mind whether these cities could orover, and not in your mind the mind of the leaders running the cities and counties, it was an impressive display of leadership on the gulf coast. His frontier is brent her . E . Great to see you. I really want to praise the First Responders who were here and i want to praise our military. That stormtion of was just unbelievable. Most americans have no clue what it was like. They could see it on tv, but you cannot get a feel for unless you were here. What most americans cant really get a feel of was the courage, perseverance, and dedication of the thousands who rushed into harms way. Many of whom are in this audience. America and the people of mississippi or you a great debt of gratitude. Great debt of gratitude. [applause] the 10th anniversary is a good time to honor courage and resolve. It is also a good time to remember how blessed we are to live in such a compassionate nation. I do not know if you remember, but there were Church Groups all around the state of mississippi and all around the nation who came down to help feed the hungry and house goes coed foster home those who had lost a home. In my judgment, they responded to a higher calling, to love a neighbor like you would like to be loved yourself. It is a great testimony to the character of the American People for people to come and help total strangers. I remember walking the rubble and meeting the baptist mens luncheon group. They were feeding people and i was kind of hungry, so they fed me, but it was so inspiring. I hope you remember that. And help the people of the country who are honoring your sacrifices as they Pay Attention to the 10th anniversary recognize that the uniqueness of america is found in the compassion of its citizenry and this storm brought us out a lot. I want to thank the governor and his team as well as the business people, the workers who have worked to get the gulf coast back up and running. Everybody is going to tell you there is more work to be done, but if you do not have the perspective that ive got, which is my memory of what it looked like, it may be hard to see how much progress has been made. You have made a lot. A lot. This is a vibrant part of our country. [applause] by the way, [indiscernible] [applause] they laugh people ask me all the time how he is doing . I say, just fine. He still has his sense of humor, he was the guy who said, who wouldve thought getting out of 91 would be more dangerous than jumping out of a net plane 89 . [laughter] in the great fox is still feisty. [applause] they asked what life is like after the presidency. It is great. In texas. O be living we love texas. It is our home. We are happy to have returned. When you are over 65 years old and youre sitting around your friends, all you do is talk about medicine that you take and your grandkids. [applause] , they willgot two be the smartest grandkids on the earth. I mean, they can speak mandarin comes to life is wonderful. We are thrilled to be back here with you and we thank you for the example you set. It is a great state for the great people. God bless. [applause] [applause] on the next washington journal, we will talk more about Hurricane Katrina by dedicating our entire threehour program to your phone calls, this the comments and tweets. We will also take a look at the events this week marking the 10th anniversary and archival footage from cspans Video Library today at 7 00 a. M. Eastern on cspan. Our katrina coverage continues later in the day from new orleans with former president the clinton. He will be joined by members of congress and local residents for public commemoration ceremony. That will be live at 6 00 p. M. Eastern on cspan. Wisconsin governor and 20 16th president ial candidate scott walker was at South Carolina citadel friday, where he talked about Foreign Policy and u. S. Interests abroad. This comes as part of cspans road to the coverage load to the white house coverage. It is 30 minutes. Good afternoon. Lets try that again good afternoon. Thats what i like to hear. My name is evan oliver, vice external affairs. I would like to thank Governor Scott walker for coming today and providing this lunch. It is my honor to introduce Governor Scott walker. [applause] Governor Walker thank you. And good cadet oliver luck to your future service to the United States army. We appreciate that. It is a great honor to be with you, the cadets of the citadel. Thank you antilife particular to the Citadel Republican Society for your help in hosting not only thank you to the cadets, in particular, this is about Republican Society for help in hosting not only me but my wife. There are some who would question whether our leaders are able to rise to the challenges of our time and whether our country is capable of continued greatness. They suggest that at best days may have already come and gone. I do not share that view of america. You see, the greatness of america is certainly not determined by the politicians in washington who merely follow while others believed or spend all their days discussing the problem but never acting. Future leaders of this exceptional country are sitting here, in this room, and in similar places across america. Those of you who will join the military like others on the front lines around the world and across our services, you, you are modernday patriots. You will be sworn to defend our constitution and keep danger from our shores, willing to risk your lives and liberty. You will lead others into the master as they risk theres into the master as they risk there is. You will not sign up to be Nation Builders are diplomatic ponds, you will be warriors to freedom. America need not fear when the select of the core of the cadets reports for duty. When many of you take the oath, be will make you you will making a solemn promise to the people of the United States of america. Today, i will make one to you. If elected president , i will send you into battle when, and only when, our National Security is at risk, and i will send you with a plan for victory. If i have the honor of serving as your commander and chief, our forces will be strong, our weapons will be modern, and america will be an intimidated. Will be on intimidated. Today, i have a question are we safer now than we were seven years ago . Anyone who believes the answer to that question is yes should probably vote for former secretary of state Hillary Clinton. [laughter] sadly, i believe the answer is no. America is not safer. Since secretary clinton took charge of our nations diplomacy, we abandoned American Leadership in the world, forgotten that america is an exceptional country and lost faith in americas ability to influence world events. The results speak for themselves. Hillary clinton to appease Vladimir Putin with the reset button. Sensing weakness, he has rejoined the map of europe with loaded guns. He is dismembering ukraine, trying to destroy nato, and threatening to use nuclear weapons. Hillary clinton a pivot to asia that proved hollow, and she downplayed chinas abysmal human rights records. This is the result the chinese are aggressively expanding their territories, building islands of military. Ases in the South China Sea paging conducts massive Cyber Attacks against the United States, stealing classified military data, sealing the personal information of millions of americans, and stealing billions of dollars in intellectual property. Sadly, there is more. , Hillary Clinton pushed for the war in libya. Caskets ofood by the christopher stevens, sean smith, tyrone woods, and glenn doherty. She stood by the caskets, looked in the eyes of their parents and pointed to a Youtube Video she knew, she knew was not the cause of their deaths in benghazi. That is outrageous. Officially ais terrorist safe haven. We continue to deal with these and other disasters, consequences of her decisions as secretary of state. Everywhere in the world that Hillary Clinton has touched is worse off today than before she and the president took office. Earlier this year, the director of National Intelligence testified before congress that 2014 was the most lethal year for tourism, for terrorism in the 45 years. The most lethal year for terrorism in the 45 years that they had collected data. Obamaclinton foreignpolicy of leading from behind is not working and sadly, were headed toward the disaster. In the real world, the world outside of washington, when you fail at one job, you do not get promoted to another. You get fired. Political rhetoric on that keep us safe. We have had enough of a president who proclaims that the greatest threat to future generations is climate change. Merica can and must do better at the very least, you all here and others like you across this country, you deserve a commander in chief who tells you the truth. Ere it is we are at war at war with radical islamic terrorism. It will not go away overnight. Struggle generational and these radical groups will continue to grow if we do not destroy them. Complex, butd is there are simple things out there. There is good and there is fat. Andica there is good there is bad. America is a force for good in the world, but radical islamic terrorists are agents appear evil. Agents of her evil. Next week, the 70 anniversary of the end of world war ii, as we look back, this should remind us of our world of americans. Our history of being called at times to confront fanatical evil. Consider isis, the best trained in the best funded terrorist organization in the world. It is carved out of caliphate and built a terrorist army in the heart of the middle east. Each day, it grows stronger, attracting tens of thousands of foreign fighters and jihadist from all over the world. Isis enslaves christian minorities, targets the jewish people, and burns innocent muslims alive in cages. In cages. Isis militants rape girls as in this nine and so women into sex slavery. Evil,man toll of these unthinkable actions is immeasurable. Curing gutwrenching stories of americans held hostage, tortured, raped, and executed by these radicals makes my blood boil. By the grace of god, and by the strength of men and women like you, america can and will defeat this evil and eradicate this threat to america. Isis is a radical perversion of sunni islam, but there is another face of islamic extremism and that is a shiite regime in iran. Today, the Islamic Republic of iran remains the worlds leading state sponsor of terrorism. You see, iran is not the country we should be doing business with. I still remember tying ribbons around the tree in front of our house with white brother during that44 days that i ran iran had 52 americans hostage. Iran has not changed a much in the 3. 5 decades instead. Even as we speak, iran is holding cultural other americans. Four other americans. Today marks the capture marine. Ary of a i had a chance to meet with the mayors in michigan and hurt the english and story amirs family in michigan and it is a shame that americans like bush and iranian prisons fall america is freeing up billions of dollars for the worlds leading sponsor of terrorism. Massivetimizing their Nuclear Program. It is not just the hostages whom president obama has abandoned in primeeal, israeli minister benjamin at yahoo is right when he says the deal puts. S all in danger iran will expand its destructive influence in iraq, syria, lebanon, and increased support to proxies like hamas and hezbollah which seek to destroy places like israel. These forms of evil, president obama and Hillary Clinton seems somehow to believe that they can sit on the sidelines hoping iran will defeat isis for the. They fail to realize that in this prevailing anarchy, the two sides feed off of each other, growing stronger at the expense of our sunni and shia allies trapped in the middle. Over the last seven years, we have seen far too much of this tousion and Wishful Thinking believe that a stable and lasting middle east can be built by working with iran anymore as aby working with isis statement ship. It is pure fantasy. The debt for radical islamic terrorism is real and it is not limited to the middle east. We have our teaching traces on american soil in the attacks on fort hood, boston, and chattanooga. I have a plan to keep our children and our grandchildren safe from the threats of radical islamic terrorism. First, we need to secure our homeland. To do that, we need to admit that are seven border is riddled with holes. You see, ex the islamic extremists and other terrorists are most likely using the same trails into our homeland as the drug cartels, the weapon smugglers, and the human traffickers. We must secure our border at any cost. Provide the we must personnel and technology to maintain it but there is more. Is investigating isis in all 50 states. We need to restore counterterrorism, surveillance programs, invest into cyber tools, and improve intelligence and lawenforcement cooperation to catch terrorists before they strike. Next, we need to fight terrorists abroad before they come to america. Since many of you cadets will be part of that fight, i want to assure you that we will fight to win. E will fight to win far from beating isis, president obama is barely disrupting. His actual goal is to contain isis until he leaves office, all while accommodating iran. My goal will be to defeat isis at 12 back irans influence in the region. You see, these strategic objectives will guide our military commanders. Clear, defeating isis and rolling back iran will require a greater investment of u. S. Resources. Andnly worded tweets isolated airstrikes will not destroy this enemy. As we learned in the search, embedded american advisers are key to training and motivating iraqis, sunni tribals, and kurdish allies. They can provide good intelligence, but just a gulf resources, and call in Close Air Support to direct devastating strikes that will bolster our partners on the ground. Today, however, the administration is kind of our troops with political restrictions, preventing them from doing what is necessary to defeat isis. These restrictions must be lifted immediately and all the options must remain on the table. We need to stop micromanaging the military and broadcasting. Re limits to our enemies as commanderinchief, i will make decisions that are in the best interest of our National Security. I will make these decisions they on sound military Council Rather than political or bureaucratic advice. It was a political decision for the president to back away from long as isisand as has a safe haven in syria, it will continue to be a powerful force in iraq. Because the administration runway from its red wine, serious tyrant assault remains in power and is a magnet for radical islamic terrorism. No strategy to defeat isis can succeed while assad is still in power and iran is patron has a base of operations in damascus. Therefore, we must do more than recruit. We must do more to recruit and support fighters in syria who oppose both isis and assad. The Obama Administration has trained only about 60 fighters. That is just not going to cut it. That is not going to cut it. A nofly zone enforced by america and its allies would dramatically enhance this campaign on the ground. Our efforts in syria and iraq must be part of a broader, u. S. Led regional coalition, with real by an and ironclad guarantees from our i from our allies that they will help us shoulder this burden. Which brings me to the next step. The next step for defeating radical islamic terrorism, we need to stand with our friends. There is a reason why the president of the United States is called the leader, the leader of the free world. Our allies are amongst our greatest resource is a strength. As Winston Churchill once said, there is only one thing worse than fighting with our allies and that is with fighting with them. Adding support from allies only strengthens our position to defeat radical islamic terrorism , we need to restore alliances across the middle east. Our traditional ally is israel and the Sunni Arab States are divided on many issues. One threat you not to the mall, the threat from iran and its proxies. Them all t unites but that from iran and its proxies. There should be no daylight between our countries. In contrast, white house officials consult the Prime Minister of israel. Sadly, they never seem to criticize iranian Supreme Leader and the revolutionary guard commanders who have oppressed people of iran and who helped kill thousands of our shoulders of our soldiers in iraq. President obama recently compared critics of his deal to these murderers. This is disgraceful. Disgraceful. It ignores the very real opposition to the deal with iran from people all across this country and all across party lines. Hillary clinton was instrumental in launching the administrations shortsighted overtures to iran, and now, she strongly supports this bad deal. ,er disregard for topsecret classified, and Sensitive Information on her email server shows that she cannot be trusted to be the commander in chief. Her support for the bad deal in iran shows she should not be trusted to support israel. If this deal goes forward, it will be remembered as one of the greatest foreignpolicy failures in u. S. History. Let me be clear, if Congress Fails to stop the nuclear deal, i will terminated on day one. Then i will immediately reimpose sanctions against iran and work with congress to impose even more crippling sanctions going forward. Unlike others, i do not need thiss or years to mull over. I do not need to appoint a cabinet or consult a committee. Anybody who does not know today, a bad that iran deal is deal, is not ready to be commander in chief. I am ready to the commanderinchief on day one. I will also work to convince our allies to follow our lead on iran. So we are clear i have no illusions that this will be easy , but when america but when did america should go it from the challenges . I reject obamaclinton choice between this bad deal and another war. I vowed to turn a pressure across the board on iran. I refuse to live with the deal that threatens our safety and that of our closest allies. Irans Nuclear Program is part of a broader effort to dominate the region that threatens our. Unni arab allies once you show them that we are committed to rolling back the power and influence of iran, it will encourage our allies to join us in our efforts against isis. President obama and Hillary Clinton refused to support those inside iran who spoke out about the oppression of this machine, somehow warning that it would undermine their outreach to the Supreme Leaders. This is wrong. America must always be a bright and steady economic hope for. Reedom anywhere in the world next, defeating isis and rolling back iran will require us to rebuild and reform the tools of american power. Many of you cadets will enter the military that sadly has been decimated by politicians. Shockingly, the finest military force ever assembled is being dismantled at the time when the threats to the United States are growing everywhere. S an american, this angers me not as a candidate for president , but as an american. Many of you are getting ready to put your lives on the line for us and we thank you. You deserve better. You deserve better. As commanderinchief, i will make sure you have the resources you need to keep us safe of ,nemies, foreign and domestic and i will make certain that you are armed on american soil so you another Service Members are safe here as well. Important. Tary is not because we want to fight, but so we do not have to. When president Ronald Reagan rebuilt our armed forces, it led to one of the most peaceful times in modern american history. Our enemies feared us not because we were eager to go into battle but because they knew we could and we would if it were necessary to protect our National Security interests. President reagan believed in achieving peace through strength. I did, too. And i will follow his example. The policy of the Walker Administration will be to confront radical islamic terrorism using the full range of our options. You must give our intelligence professionals the legal and constitutional tolls they need tools they need to keep us safe. We must use economic instruments to deny isis and iran the money they need to fund their acts of terror. And we must identify and speak out against radical forms of islam that inside it. It. Ncite we cannot afford to lose the fight against radical islamic terrorism. The rest of the world is watching how we confront the challenge of the middle east. How can we do for or to turn, how can we possibly deter our sophisticated adversaries in Eastern Europe and the competitors in the South China Sea if we cannot defeat the barbarians of isis and rollback the threats of terror on in teran . We can no longer afford to be while the world a sense of the chaos. Of all the challenges we face around the globe today, now is not the time for untested leadership. I have been tested like no other candidate in this race. As president , i will send the following message. The retreat is over, American Leadership is back. American leadership is back. Together with our allies, we will not surrender another inch of ground to terrorists or any other power that threatens our safety. America will not be intimidated and neither will i. America must be, not only the land of the free, but the home of the brave. And america that is uninti midated. Thank you for your time today and may god bless you, and may god bless our men and women in uniform and may god continue to bless the United States of america. Thank you very much. [applause] [no audio] florida senator and 2016 president ial candidate marco at South Carolina friday to get a foreignpolicy speech. He talked about u. S. China relations and issues like Cyber Security, human rights, and trade. In charleston, this is 20 minutes. [no audio] thank you for being here and your strong support of our chamber as Leadership Circle investors. Your funding commitment is killing the success of our advancement efforts and positioning is fueling the success of our advancement efforts. One of your benefits is access to our region, state, nations top political leaders. With the pending that by 2006 South Carolina primary, we make the commitment to attract as the february 2 thousand 16 South Carolina primary, we make the commitment to attract as Many Political leaders as possible. This morning, we are privileged to introduce u. S. Senator marco rubio. Marco rubio is the doom a United States senator from florida serving since 2011. Foras speaker of the house Florida State legislator and served as a state representative from 2000 to 2008. Hes sits on the folly committees committee on commerce, transportation, committee on foreignpolicy, select committee on intelligence and Small Business and entrepreneurship. Please join me in getting me and giving a welcome to marco rubio. Marco rubio thank you. Im grateful you would give me this chance to speak to you today and i would like to thank you for that opportunity and for being here today to listen to me talk about something of importance. I wanted to discuss chinas rise in global affairs. But i will do as president to ensure it does not undermine american interest. Is there any doubts about the importance of this topic to the financial the Financial Reports of plastic that put them to rest. Due to a large crash in stock market on monday, our markets suffered. The worst day in four years. Insecurity and anxiety already high about the future climbed even higher. It is a giant illustration of. Ow our economy has changed how our economy has changed over the last. For millions of American Families. Century, what happens across the world can impact American Families as much as what happens across town. Doctors before nations are increasingly our business, whether we like it or not. And this is especially true with regards to china. In this new century, china presents opportunities and challenges to our people. Trade with the growing middle class has opened our businesses to hundreds of millions of new customers. South carolina can especially a test for this. In 2013, china consumed 4. 2 billion of goods and services produced in the state. That is more than any other country. Of southorts thousands carolina jobs. Because of good policies from your governor and legislature, textile jobs was taken by china are now returning. As he found out this week, the negative effects of chinas economic meddling are severe. The chinese governments efforts andaise global trades divide currency are rising threat to economic interest. Going to our National Security. Earlier this year, it was behind the largest cyber attack ever carried out against the United States. Its current role at, ping, is trying to convince his 1. 3 billion people that the way to reestablish chinese greatness is to undermine the United States and enhance chinas influence at our expense. To this end, he is asserting control over the east and South China Seas through which more than half of Global Congress passes each day. This is beijings way of gaining leverage over the world. It has unilaterally declared and their defense identification some over International Water which of the territory of our ally japan. In the South China Sea, beijing has dispatched ships, plans, moved oil rigs and be constructed Artificial Island in an attempt to strengthen its position militarily. Rule, they have intensified their campaign to push america out of asia, denouncing our longstanding alliances with other democracies like japan and the philippines. Developing weapons that threaten our bases and unable assets and declaring that Asian Affairs should be left to the people of asia. China aims to make it so costly and difficult for america to get involved in the region so that we will not even bother. In short, what china is doing is everything it can to make the 21st century a chinese century. If you want to know what the chinese century would look like for the world, then look no further than what it means now. How the government treats its own people. It just the last year, it has rounded up human rights advocates and thrown them into prison. It has. 0 churches and depressed chris it has torn down churches and oppressed christians and force parents to get abortions. It undermined the economy of hong kong and tight controls on the internet. This is a disgrace. We should stand against it. America holds nothing but good will towards the people of china. I believe the moment they finally attain true freedom, that moment will fundamentally alter the course of human theory and the benefit of economic and Strategic Interests of the United States and the world. Freedom for the people of china must be our goal, but sadly, it has not been the goal of our current president. He has only appeased our facessive leaders in the of human rights abuses. He failed to respond adequately to the unprecedented breaches of our corporate and governmental Computer Networks and he has given our allies reason to the security. The fact that china is drawing more assertive by the day suggests that its leaders, that its rulers should the same doubts about americas resolve. President obama has coped that by b has hoped that by the more open to china, we would make them a more responsible nation, but it has not worked. We can no longer succumb to the solution that more dialogue alone with china and its current will narrow the cap values and interests that separate us. I do not believe we should be rolling out the red carpet. This is an opportunity to speak itariante to this author ruler, not to treat him to state dinner. This is one of the reasons that are clinton was not become president. One of her actions as secretary of state was to reassure leaders that while her tenure as secretary of state was a disaster we are sure that she will run on it in the regular, general election. We put forward a nominee with the experience and record judgment necessary to take a hard path. Our partys nominee must understand the global challenges if ice in the 21st century am our partys nominee, and clinton will not be able to lecture me on forward affairs, from libya, from syria, to ukraine, and china. I have called for the appropriate course of action, even before they have been made popular. Asia has been a particular interest for me. I was the Senate Republican responsible for overseeing u. S. Policy towards asia and last year had the privilege of will visiting multiple outlets in east asia to highlight the importance of our partnership p. The republican nominee must have three year to the originals of my for policy which i outlined at the beginning of this campaign. Michaell be to will be to restore National Security and the region interest. To protect our economic wellbeing and advanced because of freedom and human rights around the world. Restoringgoal will be american streets, to ensure that the United States remains pacific power. While china has increased his defense spending by another 10 this year, the Obama Administration has cut defense spending by nearly 1 trillion over a decade. Smaller than any time since before world war i. Our army is headed preworld war ii levels. And air force has the smallest and oldest combat horse in its entire history. To number. Will aend sequestration. Ensureo will allow us to that our carrier feet is forward toto support climate of a second carrier fleet to the pacific. We will build virginia class a written root of two per year. We will create longrange precision strike systems, protect our satellite in Space Capabilities from attack him and employee events Defense Missile systems to where our women and men are employed drop the region. Stronger military strength in asia will also require strengthening our alliances. Our treaty allies and partners depend upon the weight of their friendship with america to keep turning off of their doorstep when i am president , instead of inviting china to military exercises, we will conduct them. Joint controls with our partners to challenge any attempt to close off International Waters or airspace. We will seek enhanced access across the region and ploy Additional Air and naval assets contested areas we will confront treaty is fine highlighting u. S. Death u. S. Result highlighting u. S. Resolve. We will not hesitate to take promoteate action collaboration between our allies and partners. Balance the full thing. Chinaing democracy around is an important way to promote democracy with the trade of your taiwan, for his this provides a powerful model for how traditional Chinese Culture can indeed coexist with democracy. My second goal is in relation to china is of particular relevance this week. That is protecting the american economy. China hasntly experienced impressive economic at the same time as do most other countries, including our own vivendi breaking the rules of International Trade to achieve its own ends. Devalued and manipulated its currency. It has restricted imports and stolen technology on a massive an unprecedented scale. As president i will respond to chinese economic conduct misconduct. Not through aggressive retaliation movement argue or see our insisted on free markets and free trade. This means immediately moving forward with the transpacific portion and other trade agreements Transpacific Partnership and other trade agreements that strengthen strategic ties with our partners in asia. In the 21st century, Economic Security and National Security depends on Cyber Security as well. China hackerl government and corporate servers with these and without consequence. I will fortify our cyber defenses. I will work with other nations to pressure china to hold its espionage. I will punish those who violate this. We will impose sanctions and penalties on Chinese Companies that can be shown to have rocketed from pirating our software, or any other a little intellectual property. Afford tolonger enable the growth of Chinese Military power in pursuit of shortterm gain. Our third goal in relation to china is not just what we do, it concerns who we are. We must stand on the side of freedom and human rights, both inside china and on its periphery. It is our moral, and also strategic imperative. HadObama Administration has little to say about the absence of religious and prepolitical freedom in china, or the deteriorating human rights situation. Governments built on repression are lighthouses on sand. Lighthouses built on sand. Helping the Chinese People of chief and she freedom and democracy is not just our moral duty, it will have a profound effect on global prosperity and on our security. I am president , beijing will not receive a free pass on human rights. I will instruct all u. S. Officials meeting with their chinese counterparts to list Political Prisoners by name and press for their unconditional release. I will impose visa bans and asset freezes on chinese officials who violate human rights. I will do all i can to empower chinese citizens to breach what has been called the great firewall of china, and gain access to news and Information Online about their country and the world. I will understand the presidency is the most visible office in the world. And it comes with that ability, and also a responsibility. To lead by example. The president can spend powerful messages through simple actions. To show his or her support for religious freedom. I will send a message to the world before even take the oath of office. Chinese dissidents that other Freedom Fighters from around the road to be honored guest at the inauguration. I will personally engage rights asivists and other such students in hong kong or beleaguered lawyers, dissidents on the mainland, persecuted tibetan monks and nuns, like the American People will value basic Human Dignity and liberty. Leaders ofone day be the democratic china, and these of the leaders worthy of a Rick Crawford welcome in washington dc. Giving them the honorable sent an example to the world. Let me close by saying despite the challenges that we face in regard to china the opportunities are truly even greater. In our international economy, the ability to trade is really than it has ever been. The ability of students to travel abroad and current has been greater than it has ever been. Innovate through cooperation and competition is greater than it has ever been. China and america are the longer just economies on earth if our people are allowed to cooperate uneconomic futures, they can change the world for the better. Withwednesday presents us an important chance to reflect on the fact that it is the 70th anniversary of the allied victory in the pacific and with effectively ended the Second World War since then, just look at what Economic Cooperation has brought. Millions of people in the region,ific recent from south korea and japan, and even many parts of china, people who just decades ago lived in poverty and despair now live in the middle class. Children have the opportunity to live and even better life. That is an extraordinary achievement in but one that would have been impossible without the stability American Leadership has offered in the region since the end of the Second World War. Through freedom of the seas, through established international norms, and the military power to approximate a the American Century shows us what had happened when freedom overtakes oppression. With democracy overtake this has already does overtakes solitary this of totalitarianism. We must not overlook the fundamental fact about americas relationship with china, what is at stake is nothing less than the type of world that we will leave our children and our grandchildren. Behind, whatleave nation will be the dominant example for the world . A country like modern china, or a country like ours . That is what is at stake in the years ahead. Starting with this election, and im confident and i know that we will make the right choice. Thank you very much. I appreciate the opportunity to speak. [applause] im so thrilled and excited to be here and i want to thank cspan for covering this National Book festival. We have a beautiful sunny day, and i want to show how huge the crowds are. One thing to remember about exceptional president cannot be said too often, that they are the exception. [laughter] all for coming today. This is a wonderful event. It has been said that heaven is a library. If that is the case, and it has gone outside today, and we are in heaven on earth at this National Book festival. We are not the leaders for i am a leader for today, lets see what i could do. Trying toson article show that we have this red and blue map. But when you with an interview people, the guy who is not a chasm. A chasm, itas not was a little divide. The idea that the country itself, is as polarized as washington, is wrong. All people will realize that with the have done in life is something that ought to be recorded and passed on to the next generation that is the way we learn. We learn for the future by trying to understand the past eight. All of us have a past. Onyou really only focused typepad, you did not talk about guam. This is a great question. Is actually to the point. We realize that there was no way we could tell the whole story. It be short of an encyclopedia or having a story read like the telephone book. In the telephone book is not a story, to list and do justice to everything. School, iwas in law graduated in 1967, there were 13 women in my class a 500 and today the law schools are 5050. The key to understanding is that he never likes people who put profit above the public good. His view was that these parks and wilderness areas along the American People for generations unborn. They needed to be handed donnas places to awaken the spirit. Of mym made a career out love for books, and to help spread that love i helped to found the texas book festival, and then the National Book festival. But while i love reading, i never thought i would write a book and certainly not one about myself. The goal was a sense of urgency, to go to the oldest people in our families and to get the stories before theory before it is too late. Father and a daughter in los angeles who came together and after hearing about the book, the daughter said to the father, i taking you to the coffee shop now and youre going to tell me stories. Pastry looks back history , and that story can kingite a Martin Luther hallmark. I think that was a bending towards justice. There are things wrong with health care deal, but you know what he wouldve said, he said about the various civil rights bills. The important thing is to pass it. Once you pass it is easy to go fix it. This stage of my life i do not think i can afford 10 years on Millard Fillmore or franklin piece. There is no big person to go back to easily, so im pretty a model to the room the same time and on which to read about leadership. That is what i care about underneath it all. [applause] oh, thank you. I just started. Questions called in from cspan. The Democratic National Committee Held its summer meeting yesterday in minneapolis, where president ial chafee, martinln omalley, bernie sanders, and Hillary Clinton spoke. There were marks our next here on cspan. That is followed by former president george w. Bush visiting a new Orleans High School on the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. And at 7 00 a. M. Washington journal will get your thoughts on katrina and recovery effort on the gulf coast. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you, mayor. Good morning. What a beautiful city we are in. I was very lucky to be here yesterday afternoon to take a walk by the mississippi, great city, construction going on everywhere. [laughter] that is a good sign. We have five great candidates running for president , and if you add up all the years of facing the voters, there are 92 years of serving in elective office. The leading republican has not served minute of facing the voters. We have 92 years combined. This is a big decision in 2016. Who is going to be our leader. I believe that three things should come to mind if you decide who will be the next president. First, past record. Secondly, character, who are you. Thirdly, what is the vision . Where were going to take this country . I will tell you a little bit about myself. As the mayor says, im the only candidate running who has been a mayor, senator, and governor. 11 years at the local level, and that means i know how to plow the snow. I know to pick up the trash. I know how to have good schools, and how to keep property taxes down. I would not have been elected three times if i did not know how to do those things. I see over in lebanon and beirut, the government will be toppled, but they cant take up the trash, very basic stuff at the local level. Then the United States senate, and i was there for the bad years, bush and cheney, those were bad years. Even though i was republican back then, right away i knew they were on the wrong track and i voted against the tax cuts that favor the wealthy and took surpluses and turn them into deficits. Then we had september 11 and the drumbeat for war in iraq, and i saw through the reasons that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction and i voted against the war in iraq. For you minnesotans, your two senators, one of my heroes, paul wellstone, and mark dayton, your governor now, those two minnesota senators joined the 23 to see through those false premises of war in iraq. I was a reliable vote for the environment time and time again, recognize Carbon Dioxide and human activity were creating climate change. I voted to prevent drilling in a wildlife refuge. I stood strong on Civil Liberties time and time again. On abortion rights, over and over again. Lgbt rights over and over again, immigration, mccainkennedy, nine cosponsors, 2005, i was one of the nine nonpartisan bipartisan who stepped up and said we need a path to citizenship, and i was one of the cosponsors of that bill. I think we should bring it back and get it passed. I voted against samuel alito to the Supreme Court, and i think i have been justified in that. And stopped john bolton from going to the united nations. Also im a im proud i am part of 14. I am proud that i was part of something called beginning of 14. A Bipartisan Group that got together to work across that partisan divide, seven democrats, seven republicans coming together. Thats what we need more of in washington, obviously. I am proud of the total votes i took under pressure, and proud of those positions in the United States senate. Then, i became governor of rhode island in the depths of the recession. We had one of the highest unemployment rates in the country, people losing their jobs and their homes to foreclosure. We stopped out, did the hard work, got our people back to work, and we had the biggest drop of unemployment of all but four states. At the same time, passing Marriage Equality and we had the highest Roman Catholic state in the country so that was not easy. I made it a priority and put it in my inaugural address. I think its important for four people not only who love each other, but also for our economy. I want a tolerant atmosphere. Thats what makes an economy grow. [applause] it was also very controversial , you see it playing out nationally on getting , undocumented students the right to have instate tuition, the dream act. We worked hard for that and got it passed. It was not easy. There were a lot of protesters as we pushed that through. The Affordable Care act, that did not just happen. I had to work at it and ensure we had a good team ready. We had to be ready to sign up people for the exchange. We did it and i am proud of , that. [applause] all through these 30 years of public service, ive had no scandals. [laughter] thats not easy in rhode island. So im proud of that. High ethical standards, the courage to take tough votes. I am honest with our people i , dont flipflop. The vision for the future, ladies and gentlemen, i served on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee when i was in the senate and was lucky to chair of the western hemisphere subcommittee, so ive been all through this hemisphere. Down through central america, south america, dinner with castro in havana, met World Leaders in venezuela, bolivia, morale is ecuador, brazil, peru, throughout the western hemisphere. Then i became the chair of the middle east subcommittee, traveled throughout israel, jordan, egypt, afghanistan, iraq, many of the countries in the middle east, lebanon, and mess the World Leaders there. And we see now with what happened with the chinese currency how it effected our stock market, that the cliche is true, the world is flat. We are all connected. Im running for president because i know we have big challenges out there. I want to address them, make it a priority. We see the refugees fleeing the wartorn nations of afghanistan, iraq, syria, libya, and not only is it a human tragedy, but i fear this destabilizing of the governments there. You see here in United States of america what right wing groups can do when you have fear and anger. Of course, the iran deal, lets have a hand for president obama. [applause] and secretary kerry. This is the way we will address conflicts overseas. Everybodys talking how we stopped iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, but the other positive element of this deal is that it was put together with the help of the russians, with the help of the chinese, with the help of the brits, with the help of the germans, with the help of the french, and thats how were going to solve these conflicts in the middle east and north africa, especially the russians, chinese, and europeans. So thats why its so important to get this passed, not only because it stops iran from getting a nuclear weapon, but brings us together to work in resolving conflicts overseas. So i do believe that prosperity does come through peace, and thats why im running for president. I want to make this a priority in addressing these converts conflicts overseas and ending them. All of us will agree on many issues, environment, womens issues, Affordable Care act. Im the one talking about ending these conflicts overseas. I came up through the vietnam era, and i do not want to see generations go through these endless conflicts. [applause] and i do believe that 2016 is going to be a great year for democrats. I do believe that. Because, we are right on the key issues. [laughter] we are right on income and equality. The republicans are all wrong. They turned surpluses into deficits. They like giving the rich more tax breaks. They are wrong on that issue. Democrats are right. On universal health care, who wants to go to the emergency room again for a five hour wait to get your sprained ankle taking care of. We are right on immigration. The fastestgrowing voting block in the country. Of course you want that. We are right on the environment, and republicans are wrong. Human activity is causing climate change. We are right on that issue. We do see it happening with extreme weather. And Everybody Knows that the Supreme Court affects our lives for decades to come. We have to have a democratic president , democratic senate, democratic house. [applause] and we are right. These are republican wars. They started these wars. We are right we are going to end , them. Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen, prosperity through peace. Employee enjoy your convention, enjoying minneapolis. Thank you. Thank you. [applause] governor omalley thank you very, very much. Vice chair, thank you very much for your kind introduction. To the chair of the Democratic National committee, Debbie Wasserman schultz, donna, all of the distinguished officers of the dnc, including my colleague, former mayor r. T. Ryback, and the mayor of my former home city of baltimore, mayor Stephanie Rawlings blake. It is a great honor to be here with all of you today. My name is martin omalley. I am a lifelong democrat, and i am running for president of the United States, and i need your help to rebuild the American Dream we share. I love my country. [applause] i love my country, and i have carried a lot of water for this donkey. [laughter] and i for one will not remain silent in the face of the lies, the distortions, and the racist hate being pumped out over the airwaves from the debate podiums of the once proud Republican Party. [applause] now, as im sure all of you are aware, the republicans held their first two debates earlier this month, and they will hold another in a couple of weeks. And you could easily have mistaken their debate for reality tv. Like survivor. But the difference between the Republican Debate and survivor is one involves contrived challenges and oddball contestants on the edge of sanity, while the other takes place on an island. [laughter] [applause] governor omalley but here is the sad truth that we must own. While the republicans put their backward ideas forward before an audience of more than 20 million americans, we put our forward thinking ideas on the back burner, as if we are trying to hide them on the airwaves. Think about it. The republicans stand before the nation. They malign our president s record of achievement. They denigrate women and immigrant families. They doubled down on trickle down, and they tell false stories, and we respond with crickets. Tumbleweeds. A cynical move to delay and limit our own party debates. [applause] 4 debates. 4 debates . 4 debates, and 4 debates only before the voters and our earliest states make your decision. This is totally unprecedented in our party history. This has never been attempted before. Who created this exactly . Where did it come from . To what end . What national or Party Interest does this serve . How does this tell the story of the last eight years of democratic progress . How does this promote our democratic ideas for making wages go up and Household Incomes go up once again . [applause] how does this help us make our case to the American People . One debate in iowa . Thats it . One debate in New Hampshire . Thats all we can afford . And the New Hampshire debate is wedged into Holiday Shopping season so as few people watch it as possible. Is this how the Democratic Party selects its nominee . Or are we becoming something less . What happened to the tradition of open debate and a 50state strategy . [applause] now their partys leading candidate launches racist attacks on ethnic americans to the delight of david duke and white supremacists, and our response is to limit debate . If all of this bothers you, it should. The leading republican candidate [applause] the leading republican candidate talks openly about forced expulsion, taking away the birth right of american born children, and we turn our Democratic Party into the appalling silence of the good. Silence and complacency in the face of hate is not an honorable option for the Democratic Party of the United States of america. We must stand before the American People and show them that we have a better way. It was in a series of debates that Abraham Lincoln first forged a new National Consensus to continue the work of affirming the dignity of every individual in the common good as a nation. Now in an ongoing series of debates, the party of lincoln is led by donald trump. Donald trump whose deep understanding of the law is such, he said last week that part of the constitution is actually unconstitutional. [laughter] donald trump, who is Foreign Policy insights are, he said, based entirely on what he has seen on tv. Will we let the circus run unchallenged on every channel as we cower in the shadows under a decree of silence in the ranks, or do we demand equal time to showcase our ideas, our solutions, and real leadership for real results . [applause] let their party be led by a hate spewing carnival barker. Our party must be led by compassion, by generosity, by love and concern for one another, and by a focus on our countrys Better Future in the future we want for our kids. We must stand up. We must stand together, and we must speak out for the ideas that unite us. Believe in the dignity of every individual. Believe in our own responsibility to advance common good we share as americans. Make no mistake about it, these are volatile and fear filled times in our country. This is no time for silence. Our party must not cower from this debate. We must engage in this debate, and we must engage in it nationally. The American People are smart. The truth can defend yourself, but she needs to be stated first. [applause] we must make our case. We must make our case and we must let the people decide, because we have arrived at a point in our history where wealth and power have been so tightly concentrated in the hands of so few it is literally taking opportunity out of the homes and the wallets and the neighborhoods of the many. We must show the American People we have the better path forward. Our party must engage in this national debate. Republicans say americans need to work longer hours. As democrats we know we are all working harder than ever and many of us are making less than before. We must raise the minimum wage to 15 an hour, pay overtime pay for overtime work, and pay Women Equal Pay for equal work to move america forward. [applause] we need debate. We need debate. [applause] what are we afraid of . Republicans belittled teachers. They seek to outlaw labor unions, scoffing of the nerve of working people who would dare to bargain collectively for better wages. As democrats, we defend the right to organize, because we know that that makes wages rise for all americans. We need debate. Republicans republicans talk about raising the retirement age as if Social Security were some kind of indulgence the wealthy bestow upon the rest of us. Democrats care that there are 65yearolds who get up every morning, they work in factories, finishing concrete, cleaning buildings. Hardworking americans should retire in dignity, not in poverty. We should expand Social Security. [applause] we need debate. We need debate. Republicans traffic in immigrant hate. The call for walls, internment camps, forced expulsions. Democrats understand the enduring symbol of our country is not the barb wire fence. It is the statue of liberty. We need debate. [applause] now my friends, i am not the only candidate seeking the Democratic Partys nomination for president of the United States who holds progressive values, but i am the only candidate for president with 15 years of executive experience as a bigcity mayor and as a governor. Turning those progressive values into actions, turning progressive goals into progressive achievement. It is about getting things done. It is about actions, not words. And baltimore, together we saved lives by reducing record high violence to record lows. Black lives matter. It is about actions, not words. As governor in the face of a National Recession i led our state forward, not back. We increased funding for Public Education by 37 and we made our Public Schools the best Public Schools in america for five years in a row. [applause] we froze College Tuition for 4 years in a row to make college more affordable for families. Actions, not words. We passed the living wage. We raise the minimum wage. We expanded family leave and voters rights. We passed drivers licenses for new immigrant americans and we passed a ban on the sale of combat weapons in our state. [applause] leadership is about actions, not words. Its about forging a new consensus, and therefore, in our state, we passed a state version of the dream act and Marriage Equality. And when our brothers and sisters petitioned those in a referendum, we took our case to the people, and we won at the ballot. [applause] it is about actions and not words. I leave you with these thoughts. The Great American Poet Gwendolyn Brooks once wrote, we are each others business. We are each others harvest. We are each others magnitude and bond. Whether or not we make the American Dream true again for all American Families is up to us. Its not about the big banks, not about the big money trying to take over our elections. It is about us. It is about our party. I have put forward 15 goals to rebuild the American Dream you and i share, one by one, policy action by policy action. Each one reinforcing in other, menting the and complementing the other. Bold, progressive ideas, concrete plans. Actions to make our country stronger. Only actions can make the American Dream true again around the most important places in our country the kitchen tables of every american family. The time is now to put these ideas and all of the best ideas of all of our fine candidates forward before the American People. The American People deserve it. Our service to the countrys Better Future demands it. We are the Democratic Party, not the unDemocratic Party. If we are to debate debates, the topic should be how many not how few. Because when the lights come up on our stage, we will talk about where america is going, not where america has been. We will ask what we can do for our country, not against immigrants. We must speak to the goodness, the compassion, the generosity of americans. Ours is the party of opportunity. Ours is the party of the people. Ours is the party of our childrens Better Future. Let us engage this debate. Let us make our case to the American People and together we will rebuild the truth of the American Dream we share. Thank you very much. May God Bless America and may god bless our Democratic Party. [applause] mr. Sanders thank you. Thank you all very much for inviting me to be with you today, and thank you all for the work that you do every single day making this country a better country for working people, for lowincome people, for women, and for all of those people who are struggling to make ends meet. Thank you for what you are doing. And lets thank our friends from minnesota for hosting this event and for giving us some of the great political leaders of the last century, including our great friend paul wellstone. I understand that there are republicans who proclaim how much they love america, but at the same time, how much they hate the people who work in our government or who are involved in the political process. I disagree. In my view, what you are doing, participating in the political process, trying to make this country a better country for all of our people, is the most patriotic thing we can do as americans, and i applaud you all. [applause] when i announced my candidacy for president less than four months ago, i think it is fair to say that few took that candidacy seriously. In fact, the word fringe was heard more than once. But i think it is also fair to say that a lot has changed in the last few months. [cheers] mr. Sanders all across this country, we are drawing some of the largest crowds of this campaign, including people and working people who have not been previously involved in the political process. More than 100,000 americans have signed up to volunteer on bernie 2016. We have received more individual Campaign Contributions than any other president ial campaign, some 400,000. And in this day of superpacs and huge Campaign Contributions, i am very proud to tell you that our average Campaign Contribution is 31. 20. This is a peoples campaign. Most importantly, i believe that the issues we are running on are generating and enormous amount of enthusiasm and that our grassroots campaign, which is calling for a political revolution, is striking a chord all over america. My friends, my friends, the Republican Party did not win the Midterm Election in november. We lost that election. They did not win. We lost, because voter turnout was abysmally, embarrassingly low and millions of working people, young people, and people of color gave up on politics as usual, and they stayed home. That is the fact. And let me be as clear as i can be. In my view, democrats will not retain the white house, will not regain the senate or the u. S. House, will not be successful in dozens of governors races all across this country unless we generate excitement and momentum and produce a huge voter turnout. With all due respect and i do not mean to insult anyone here that turnout, that enthusiasm will not happen with politics as usual. The same old same old will not work. The people of our country understand that given the collapse of the american middle class and given the grotesque level of income and wealth inequality we are experiencing, we do not need more establishment politics or establishment economics. What we need is a Political Movement which is prepared to take on the billionaire class and create a government which works for all of us and not just Corporate America and a handful of the wealthiest people in this country. Bernie bernie mr. Sanders in other words, we need a movement that takes on the economic and political establishment, not one which is part of that establishment. We need a movement a movement which tells Corporate America and the wealthiest people in this country that they will start paying their fair share of taxes, that we will end the situation of living in the country when the top. 1 owns as much as the bottom 90 . That is not the kind of economy we want. We need a movement which tells wall street that when a bank is too big to fail, that bank is too big to exist and we are going to break them up. We need a Financial System that works with small and mediumsized businesses, not an island unto itself only concerned about the profits of a few. We need a movement which works with our trade unions and ends our disastrous trade policies which have cost us millions of decentpaying jobs. And that includes defeating the tpp. Corporate america has got to start investing in our country, not just countries all over the world. We need a movement which says that every worker in this country deserves a living wage, that understands that the current minimum wage of 7. 25 an hour is a starvation wage and we will raise that minimum wage over a period of years to 15 bucks an hour. That we are going to end the disgrace of women making 78 cents on the dollar compared to men. We are going to have pay equity for women workers. And we are going to end the International Embarrassment of being the only, only major country on earth that does not provide at least 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave. We need a movement that says that when real unemployment, including those who have given up looking for work and those who are working parttime, is over 10 , when black youth unemployment is over 50 , that we need a massive federal jobs program to rebuild our public infrastructure. Our roads, our bridges, our water systems, our wastewater plants, our airports, our rails are falling further and further behind other countries. We can create millions of jobs rebuilding our infrastructure, and i intend to do that. We need a political Grassroots Movement which tells the Koch Brothers and the billionaire class that they will not be able to continue to buy candidates and elections and that we will. [cheers] Bernie Bernie mr. Sanders i have not made Many Campaign promises so far. But let me repeat one to you that i have made, and that is that no nominee of mine to the u. S. Supreme court will have his or her name go to the Senate Unless that candidate is loud and clear in saying that one of the first orders of business for that candidate will be to rehear and overturn citizens united. [cheers] mr. Sanders but we have got to go even further than overturning citizens united. If we want a vibrant democracy, where all americans who want to run for office are able to do so, we need to move toward public funding of elections. And, by the way, together we are going to end this cowardly Voter Suppression that republican governors are imposing on people all across america. If a politician is too cowardly to face the voters, if a politi n