Im an adjunct professor at George WashingtonUniversity School of media and public affairs. Former International Bureau chief with associated press. 107th president of the National Press club. A leading organization for journalists committed to our professions future through programming with event such as this while fostering the free press worldwide. For more information about the national desktop, please visit our website at press. Org. On behalf of members worldwide welcome our speaker and those attending todays event. I would also like to welcome our cspan and public radio audiences. You can follow the action on twitter. Npclunch. After the speech concludes, a question answer period. I will answer as many as time permits. Introducing our head table stand briefly as your name is announced. To the right, chief of staff of the u. S. Department of housing and urban development. Senior adviser to the secretary of the u. S. Department of housing and urban development. The Washington Bureau chief for buffalo news. A past npc president. Skipping over our speaker for the moment, the Speakers Committee member who organized todays event. Thank you very much. A former three term mayor of san antonio, julian castro, stepped into the National Spotlight when he delivered a keynote address at the 2012 Democratic National convention. He was the first hispanic to deliver a keynote address at a National Political convention. After that speech, abundance speculated that he would make an attractive Vice President ial candidate. That didnt happen. But present obama chose castro to be secretary of the department of housing and urban affairs, and post he assumed six months ago. Castro was born into politics. Both parents were political activists. His mother helped found the chicago political party. His twin brother was elected in 2012 to represent the san antonio region in the u. S. House of representatives. As mayor, castro pushed initiative such as expanding preschool education and establishing a Citywide College guidance effort. He also launched a Downtown Program meant to attract investment in the city center. That has attracted more than 300 million in private Sector Investment. At hud, he oversees 8000 employees and a budget of 46 billion. Castro has a b. A. From Stanford University and a j. D. From harvard law school. He and his wife have two young children. Please give a warm welcome to hud secretary julian castro. [applause] thank you very much for your kind introduction. More importantly, thank you for the service you do as president of the National Press club. I understand this is your last event at the helm. I know i speak for everyone in this room and expressing my gratitude for your leadership. I would like to recognize your incoming president , john hughes. I know from personal experience how effective he has been as an editor of the Bloomberg News breaking news desk. Last week a few hours before we were going to make an announcement, we learned that john and his colleagues already have the story. [laughter] i hope that never happens again. I do wish him well and all the best for a successful term. Let me think the press clubs officers and board of governors for their great contributions. Finally, i want to thank the entire National Press club. This is the first time i have addressed this prestigious organization. It is an honor because one of my degrees in college was communications. There was a time when i thought i would go into journalism. Obviously i chose a different path. I have a tremendous amount of respect for the work that you all do. The events of last week in france remind all of us in the United States and throughout the world the value of freedom of expression and the importance of journalism. If shined a light on important issues. Enhance democracy at home and abroad. Truly a pleasure to be with you this afternoon. We gather at the beginning of the new year. A time to take stock of where we are as individuals, communities, and as a nation. In this moment, that tells us one thing most clearly america has got momentum. 2014 saw great progress. The strongest year for job growth since the tech boom of the 1990s. The Unemployment Rate has dropped below 6 , the fast its fastest decline in unemployment since 1984. Growth has been highest in sectors that a good wages such as technology and many fracturing. Most significantly for those of us at hud, the Housing Market is coming back as an engine of economic austerity. Today more americans are feeling confident because year over year, home prices have risen for 32 straight months. More americans are financially secure because homeowners equity is up 4 trillion since 2009. The phones of realtors are ringing. Families are looking to the future with renewed optimism. Simply, we are seeing gains across the board. Hud stands ready to take this momentum in may 2015 a year of housing opportunity. For the many things that have changed over the years, our nations fundamental challenge remains the same. Be the strongest and safest nation in the world. The totality of that challenge is broader than the scope of our conversation today. Im convinced the central principle worlds down to one word opportunity. Opportunity is not an abstract concept. It is a path to more prosperous life. Housing often serves as its foundation. T. S. Eliot once said that home is where one starts from. We call hud the department of opportunity because whether rich or poor, young or old, republican or democrat, black or white, housing shapes the quality of your life. Good housing and Strong Communities are a source of hope for individuals and for families. Hud was created to build a new america that was beautiful, liberating of life, more inspiring of the spirit. The dedicated folks i serve with worked from sunrise to sunset to fulfill this mission. They do not do it for the money. Trust me i have seen their salary. The do not do it for the amenities. Buzz feed rank our hud building is the second ugliest washington, d. C. Not quite sure who is first. Glad we are only second. But hud does this because they care. They are committed to tackling the great challenges of our day. From poverty to homelessness, to climate change, to discrimination. We are also paving a path to help people get access to the Affordable Housing that they need. For many americans, that means Home Ownership. Home ownership is still the cornerstone of the American Dream. In fact that you can see in the lives of everyday folks. One of them is a person from des moines, iowa. Go up as a foster child. Change homes and schools on a regular basis. Because of that, she dreamed to give her kids better. A dream that came true when she became a homeowner. Kim put in years of work. Took numerous Financial Education classes. Spent hundreds of hours helping build homes with a local hud partner. Greater des moines habitat for humanity. Now she takes pride in the fact she has a permanent address. Her kids could board the same bus to school each day. Her girls know she will be there when they arrive home. That is why the opportunity of Home Ownership is so powerful. It is a source of pride. It is a source of wealth. Providing both a nest and a nest egg. It strengthens communities and feels growth in the Overall National economy. It is also why it is time to remove the stigma from promoting homeownership. Some have been surprised by this focus. A few have suggested this is a return to a fuel of mania. It is not. The answer isnt to deny responsible american homeownership. It is to do it right. Since 2009, the Obama Administration has enacted historic safeguards. For example, the Consumer FinancialAction Bureau requires lenders to evaluate a borrowers ability to repay their loan and prohibits them from receiving bonuses for more expensive loans. In addition hud served 9 million folks. Helping them buy homes when they were ready. Postponed their search when they are not. These are helping folks obtain a place to call their own. Now the challenge is to expand that opportunity. I also want to be clear that there is nothing wrong with being a renter. As a matter of fact, my family and i rent here in washington, d. C. So for most american to struggle with stagnant wages, a homeownership is a better deal. Zillow says renters are spending twice as much of the incomes on housing as homeowners. Costs are going up significantly in places like portland and denver and baltimore. Some folks feel as if they are almost misspending money by paying their landlord instead of themselves. We need to provide them with more housing options. That is where the federal Housing Administration comes in. Fha has long been a beacon of hope for underserved borrowers. In fact, have ventured 1. 6 million homebuyers. We want more folks to access our services. This means expanding access to credit. Some believe that a few years ago it was too easy to get a home loan. The fact is in 2015, it is too hard. In fact, Housing Market is missing out on 1. 2 million loans every year because credit is so tight. Just a couple months ago, then bernanke remarked even having trouble refinancing his mortgage. Weve undergone a yearlong effort to clarify policy cylinders could feel more confident working with a wide range of credit worthy borrowers. The soft increase the flow of credit. We are going to keep building on this address. Secondly, we want to make homeownership more affordable for those who already qualify for a loan. Last week president obama announced that fha will reduce premiums by the end of this month. Fha premiums are at a high level. The cost of obtaining the American Dream is too great for a lot of working folks. People like britney from maryland. A dental hygienist says she found her dream home after looking for two months. She planned to use a fha loan to make that dream real. Then she saw fha raise the fee. That is something that she had budgeted for. Britney postponed her search. She isnt alone. It is estimated credit worthy borrowers are priced out of the Housing Market in 2013 because of high premiums. An average of 900 over the next three years. It will encourage nearly a quarter million new borrowers to purchase their first home. This is a commonsense step. Fha premiums will still be even after this reduction 50 greater than they were at the beginning of the crisis feared this premium change only makes an fha loan more affordable for qualified buyers. Family still have to qualify for an fha loan purely do, the find a more affordable path of ownership waiting for them. Made she most you believe this reduction is a win. Many agree on this point. I freaking the cost down, we are hoping and have confidence it will help lift folks up and it will expand opportunity for generations of americans to come. When i reflect on the work that we do every day at hud, think about folks just outside louisville, kentucky. A person whose determination and talent coupled with support from hud help the transition from Public Housing residents to homeowner last year. Looking back at our journey, she said that it wasnt the services alone that made such an impact on her life. She said that it was support, compassion, understanding, and encouragement that was passed through each individual and service. This is what we are about. People. Making their lives a bit better. Giving them a chance to thrive. That is why we are focused in 2015 on homeownership. It represents family and community. It leads to stability and security. And it is the cornerstone of the American Dream. Over the years through decades of economic downturn and wars, the American People have held on to the dream. And im confident they always will. Its part of the fabric of our nation. It is what we do and who we are. We try, we seek, we aspire. For many folks working hard and saving, the aspiration leads them to their own home. For them, the time is now to buy. The time is now to invest in their future and make the dream of Home Ownership a reality. Every day at hud we report and we put in the hours to match the aspirations and dreams with hard work on our end to make those dreams a reality. In my five months on the job the biggest transitions i have made is going from City Government to the federal government. I would be lying to you if beginning at that transition i said there werent a bit of growing pains and it took a bit of gettnig used to. Five months later, im convinced of this much at hud and throughout the system, folks are passionate committed, ready, willing and able. Hud stands ready to help make 2015 a year of housing opportunity. We are confident families will seize that opportunity. We believe that in so doing we will help make that American Dream more real for millions of americans and help make this 21st century another american century. Thank you very much. [applause] mr. Secretary, what is the biggest problem in helping people secure homeownership . Thank you very much for the question. I think one of the biggest challenges, and one i address, is access to credit. Another is affordability. The goal behind the fha premium reduction president obama announced was to principally address affordability. And the National Association of realtors has estimated there are about 400,000 potential borrowers that were priced out of the market because of high mortgage insurance premiums. The other end of it is access to credit. This is something fha is working on, to try to create the business certainty that is good for fannie and freddie, good for fha, also good for the lending community, also good for the american consumer. And so the biggest challenges, i would say, are the issues of access to credit and affordability. Both of those are challenges we are prepared to meet headon with sensible policies that are prudent and have the effect of extending opportunity. You are generating a lot of questions, mr. Secretary. Are there any steps you have not taken yet in your first five months on the job that you would like to take to increase homeownership . We are taking a number of steps at fha. Last may, we announced a blueprint for access to credit. We are looking at ways to make that more robust in the future. Those are not fully cooked. They are still being worked on. Reserved for a later date. If we do expand that blueprint for access to credit, the details of that. But homeownership very much is on our radar screen. Let me also address this point. Because i feel like every time we throw that word out, Home Ownership, the First Response you get is well, arent you just turning back the clock . and the straightforward answer is no. In my remarks, i mentioned several of the checks and balances that have been put into the system so that we do not go back to where we were before. From the work the cfpb is doing to new policies at fha, the landscape of lending has completely changed since that time. You can see that most clearly in the Credit Scores of borrowers today versus the Credit Scores of borrowers from a few years ago. The case is that the pendulum has swung from one extreme where it was too easy to get homeownership, where it is too difficult. What we need to achieve is a sensible and strong middle where we had the right safeguards in place. But we also have Good Opportunity for hardworking americans to be able to own a home. How did you reach the decision to cut fha premiums and will you consider cuts to upfront fees and or dropping the requirement that premiums must be paid for the life of the loan . It is a very good question. On the annual fees, these annual fees have escalated significantly. Fees over have gone up by about 145 at fha since the crisis began. We made a decision about reducing the insurance premiums based on the latest actuarial report, the annual review we got on mutual mortgage insurance funds. You may know, those who write about housing, that we said at that time that we were back in the black and would take a step back and analyze whether or not it made sense to reduce mortgage insurance premium. After that sober analysis and really understanding the numbers, listening to those numbers, we made a decision to go ahead and lower it by 50 basis points. 5 points. As to the question of further reductions, right now, there are no further reductions on the table. Somewhat related question. Fha is the starting gate for most firsttime homebuyers. Is there any concern that fha homebuyers are already upside down the first day they move in . We are always generally concerned about ensuring folks who take out a loan are able to repay that and that homeownership is a positive experience, not a negative one. The goal is to build wealth out there, not detract from it. We believe that some of the policies that have been put in place, the checks and balances during the housing crisis, have held to ensure that buyers that qualify and get a fha loan are in a better position to pay off that loan and benefit from homeownership in general. We also, as i mentioned, have been raising housing counseling as a effective way, both prepurchase and post purchase that buyers fully understand the responsibility and how to budget their monthly household budget. That house payment, and what the true costs of owning a home are. It is also about the upkeep and maintenance. So through some of the sensible policies we have put in place at fha and things like housing counseling, we are confident that borrowers will have a positive experience. Did the context of the condo building thresholds for sales that need to be met before any one new loan may be closed, in other words, the holding has to be 50 sold out before the fha will land in there. Are there any plans to review some of those rules in order to help facilitate the orderly selling of urban dwellings . I want to thank you all for the question. This is a question that comes up from time to time. I know i have been to a number of cities where the condo market is very large. An important part of the real estate market, a growing part of it. I think places like miami. This is an issue on the radar screen. We have heard a variety of perspectives from different groups, business groups, other interest groups. It is on the radar screen. And we are looking at what is possible. But have not come to any conclusion about whether there are going to be significant changes. The fha waiver of regulation prohibiting home flipping expired on december 31, 2014 two weeks ago. Is there any benefit to the market to restrict homeowners to buyers . Would it be better to impose guidelines to help ensure quality work . Thank you very much for the question. Let me put this in a bit of a broader context. One of the concerns we hear out there is that, to the extent that s h a hold of properties in communities, folks out there are concerned that we in we have an eye toward not just what is right for the fha and the fund but also, how do we help keep the character of that neighborhood in good stead . With regard to the rule that you cited, i have not looked into that in the last 11 days. When we think through how we approach these questions, we want to ensure we strike a balance between the health of the fha and its Business Needs as well as the character of the communities we are serving. That we do right by those local communities and their neighborhoods. That is how we evaluate those types of rules. Peter wallace set of the American Enterprise in his new book that the Affordable Housing goals of the administration are leading underwriting. This will lead to an economic downturn. Your thoughts, please. In that question, he said the questioner is suggesting it is leading to underwriting that is too lax . The answer to that, first of all, the proof is in the pudding. That is not the case today. If anything, underwriting standards are too strict. We went from one extreme, where it was too easy to get home loans, to a another extreme, where it is too able to get a home loan. What we want to be able to achieve is a strong, sensible, middle round. Where we had safeguards in place so we do not slide back. At the same time, folks who are ready and responsible to own a home can get access to credit. And the Housing Administration has set i do not believe they are playing the role the questioner suggests. I do not know if you can quantify this, but the questioner asks, how many homeowners were needlessly foreclosed . Did you see it happening in san antonio . To the feds do enough to help . I do believe communities across the united they saw the impact of closures. San antonio was no different from that. It was not as pronounced in some markets as it was in others. I am thinking about places like phoenix and las vegas at the depth of the housing crisis. Places like florida, very strongly impacted. From day one, the administration took aggressive action to help folks stay in their home. Make it affordable to hold onto mortgages and pay them. The announcement the other day was significant because we went back to a Housing Market that had been very hard hit with the housing crisis but has seen significant uptick. I believe that the Obama Administration took very strong, important measures to blunt the force of the foreclosure crisis. Millions of americans have been able to stay in their home, and the administration continues to stay committed to helping people stay in their home. At h. U. D. , we embrace grants like the Neighborhood Stabilization program, as well as partnerships with local communities. The usage of home funds to make homeownership possible in communities throughout the United States. Will Congress Passed housing reform in this new Congress Taking office this week . The straightforward answer is i do not think anybody can tell right now. The administrations position has not changed on Housing Finance reform. The ministration supports reform that gets the taxpayers off the hook were we ever to experience the kind of housing crisis we experienced a few years ago. We believe there is a sensible way to accomplish that. We are pleased to see johnson make it through the Senate Banking committee. That did not get broader senate approval. It did not get approval in the house of representatives. What we remain committed to the principles underlying the administration. To look forward to see what comes forward in this new congress. My hope is that we can find a sensible way to address this in 2015. Will fannie and freddie survive . That is a great question. And the fact is that depends on what happens in any potential legislation. I think that folks along the ideological spectrum and partisan spectrum believe there is a better way out there. There is a way we can accomplish having a government backstop but do it in a matter that does not leave taxpayers on the hook the way they were a few years ago. And i know that director watt is doing fantastic work at fha. They are very much a part of this conversation. I believe we can accomplish this balance between getting the taxpayers off the hook, getting good sensible Housing Finance reform, and also creating more opportunity for homeownership. The fact is congress right now has just begun its work in earnest. And i have not seen anything put out there yet. So nothing is swimming through the process that i know of. We will address it as it comes along. Redlining is racism in the Housing Market. Is redlining more prevalent than it was 10 years ago, and do you have any plans to crack down on this practice . The department is committed to ensuring that everyone in the United States has an opportunity to have a good quality of life where they live. And opportunity for homeownership. And we have a robust federal housing equal Opportunity Office that is committed to enforcement as well, to ensure that no matter the color of somebodys skin, or if they have a disability, their religion national origin, they are able to live where they want. Where they are able to afford. That includes looking at situations where folks engage in discriminatory lending practices. This issue of redlining is one that has had, over the generations, a profound impact on urban growth patterns. And the location of different communities within cities. It is one that we continue to be attentive to. And fheo and h. U. D. Is committed to eliminating that discrimination. They take up cases that impinge upon those obstacles and seek to make the United States a place where homeownership and freedom to live where you want is possible regardless of the color of your skin. How does the credit quality of fha loans in 2014 and 2015 compare with fhas historical norms . Thank you for the question. This is january 13. Only 13 days into 2015. I do not know we have any analysis for this new year. In 2014, the credit quality was still one of the strongest for fhas history. I mentioned earlier that what we see today is that the credit score of borrowers getting alone, whether it is from fha or gst is traditionally higher than it was in the time period when it was too easy to get a long. But even higher than it was 20 years ago. The credit quality of borrowers is very strong. At fha, for instance, we have done things like put in a credit score floor of 500 and have required that if you have a credit score of 580 or underneath, you need to put 10 down, not the traditional amount. All those things, as well as the credit overlays that the private sector have put on, have created borrower credit quality for fha that are very strong comparatively. Has as senior population grows, does h. U. D. Have plans to expand rental demonstrations and add more Affordable Housing for seniors . That is something on our radar screen. I know that aarp and joint center for housing studies at harvard have done fascinating work on this issue. You just look at the demographics and what is happening in the United States when we talk about cities, we often talk about millennials. This young generation. How important they are to livening up local communities. But the fact is the fastestgrowing population is people over the age of 65. That is something on our radar screen. We are looking at how to be more robust in the support we provide for those kinds of housing opportunities, including section 202. Your focus seems to be on housing. Do you plan any changes in urban development . As a former mayor, a recovering politician, one of the things i have enjoyed most about h. U. D. Our programs like home. A 40 year legacy that they have had in helping to rebuild communities and investments in infrastructure. We like to think of h. U. D. As the department of housing and urban development. I am very focused on the urban Development Component of that. Under the leadership of former secretary donovan, we did great things like the choice neighborhood grants and promise zone along with other departments. We have invested in placebased strategies for rebuilding communities. What i see is that we need to continue that trend. At h. U. D. , we are looking at for the longterm, how do we orient the department in a way that is aimed at serving individual communities better . With more agility . How do we make placebased not just a name of a policy, but truly something that is embedded in the organization . These strategies really are all about urban redevelopment. I would be remiss if i did not say as well that it is not just about cities. Because h. U. D. Also serves tribal communities, smaller towns. Some rural settings as well. Even though we are called housing and urban development. As a matter of fact, housing and Community Development would be more accurate. My first love is cities as a former mayor, that i recognize the work is more diverse than that. Questions related to renting and then we will go to general questions. Multi family lenders say h. U. D. Needs to expand rental housing construction. And ease underwriting standards on apartment loans. Do you have any plans to do that . We are not announcing anything on that in the near future. The multi family market has been a relatively strong market in the United States compared to the singlefamily market over the last several years. There are reports that may be cooling Going Forward in 2015. However, there is a strong commitment on h. U. D. s part two making investments in multi Family Housing. We are not ready to announce anything new in that regard, but we do have a very full commitment to the investments we made in multiFamily Housing. One of the ones we are excited about is something called r. A. D. It is about taking private Sector Investment into Public Housing and making renovation of Public Housing units more possible. So i will give you an example. There was a gentleman from Housing Authority in the midwest a couple of months ago that i spoke to that said in their community, they had been able to make renovations, improvements in Public Housing units, in two years that would have taken 18 years through traditional funding. We had our first peek at what this project has meant for multi Family Housing in different localities. We had thirdparty look at the study. The first 57 rental assistance demonstration deals. That found that for every one dollar of public money invested, there was 19 of it Sector Investment. Over 400 million of private Sector Investment. This is making possible the renovation and renewal of Public Housing units that otherwise would not happen or what happened over a decade or more. That is important because we are losing, as a nation, 10,000 Public Housing units to disrepair every year. This is one way that we can enhance multi Family Housing stock. The fact is, often times, there are mixed finance deals. This has been the case for quite some time. That include different types of financing. Decision reduces one more this introduces one more element, with the ultimate goal being to address rental affordability out there. Today, a greater number of families are paying more than 50 of Household Income towards rent. We want to change that. Will h. U. D. Establish a renters bill of rights or set standards for what renters should expect to be entitled to . I am all ears on the that. I grew up in the household of a mother, single mother, who was renting. And i bought my first house at the age of 25, 26. Something like that. But today, i am a renter in d. C. And i know that is, for many folks, the predominant experience of their lives. And they see costs going up. In some situations, i know as a mayor, in local government, i remember many cases on the nightly news of landlords that were not as responsive as they should have been. And that is fairly common out there. When you talk about a renters bill of rights, that is intriguing. I am all ears. Mr. Secretary, though you said you are a recovering politician, i have a few questions in the political area. When you accepted the appointment at h. U. D. , there was speculation about what it would mean for your longterm political future. To get to the point, do you think serving as h. U. D. Secretary offers the experience necessary for one to serve as a Vice President ial nominee . I am trying to do a great job at h. U. D. I think it is a great experience for being secretary. That is what i am focused on. I believe, in anything you do in life, as you all have seen from your own profession, the number one way to be satisfied, personally, and to have a great future, is to do a fantastic job with what is in front of you. If you do not do that, you can kiss bet future goodbye. I think i might know the answer, but i said i would ask as many questions as possible. Andrew cuomo, former secretary is governor of his own state. Any chance of your following a similar career path . Thank you for the question. Maybe we have some texans in the audience. That was a tough cowboys loss, i know. I do not know what my future is going to hold after these two years when i sign off in 2017. I am very mindful that, when january 20 comes around in a couple of days, there are two years left. I want to do an excellent job as h. U. D. Secretary during those two years. I believe we can for many of the reasons we have stated in my remarks. We will see what happens. There is no grand plan after that. As you say, with two years to go until the next president ial inauguration, do you endorse Hillary Clinton for president in 2016 . [laughter] i have no doubt that i will get asked that question again in november of 2016. Secretary of state clinton is obviously an extremely talented person who has made fantastic contributions to our National Progress over the last couple of decades. And i am staying out of those politics in this role. But i know that she did a great job as secretary of state, and i am confident, that if she is elected president , she will do in always good for the country as well. On the other side of the political spectrum, former Texas Governor rick perry is believed to be preparing for a run for president. How were your dealings with him as mayor of san antonio . Governor perry served, as folks may remember, from 2001 until just recently. And i served on city council in san antonio from 2001 to 2005. Most of the time i interacted with governor was around Economic Development projects. And often times, when mayors and governors interact on Economic Development, everyone is on the same page. You want to see investment in your local community. Senators are usually involved in sparking that investment. I have said publicly and privately that, with regard to Economic Development, former governor perry did make that a priority. So my relationship with him on those issues was cordial and good. When he supported san antonio. Obviously, i have much different views from him on a whole host of issues. And i believe in general that texas is getting it half right right now for the 21st century. But i wish him well in the future. In the same vein, how were and are your dealings with senator ted cruz . We had a good meeting when i was going through my confirmation process. Sat down in his office, talk about where a good spot to get texas barbecue is in d. C. [laughter] a place called hill country he said. He and i have different views as well. But what i am looking for as a newcomer to washington dc is where we can Work Together on policies. Whether it is on premium reduction or the work we do in Public Housing or any number of policies. I am here to get a job done, to create more opportunity for folks out there. If it is senator cruz that we can work with or senator cornyn, who was kind enough to introduce me at my confirmation hearing, i am eager to do it. I am eager to work with people across the ideological spectrum in the service of creating opportunity for everyday americans, whether they come from texas or somewhere else. Could you comment on the president s outreach to cuba . As the president has said the policy we had in place with regard to cuba was in place for five decades and did not work. And so, the question now is, how do we go forward with a sensible policy of engagement that requires cuba to begin making a change of course . And i am satisfied the president has taken a sensible, prudent step in that direction. That is very meaningful for many americans. I know in the cubanamerican community, this is a source of a lot of different views. But i believe that folks on different sides of that recognize that the goal is to ensure we continue to promote freedom and democracy. And the president has said he believes this the best and most effective way to do it. And many folks of different ideological backgrounds have said that they agree with that this is a sensible policy. I look forward to progress on that. The penultimate question, before we had the last question, do you think republicans will get on board with immigration were warm, and did the president go far enough in his immigration proposals . The president made a prudent decision to take action. A first step to fix our broken immigration system. There are folks who have suggested that he did not go far enough. I disagree on that. The president has done what is within his authority, and he has been very reasonable about that. Doing something that is measured and at the same time, does go further than any president has before to say that we are a nation of laws. We are also a nation of immigrants. And we are going to create a way to be both of those things. To help keep families together. We have folks that are acting responsibly united they, get them to the back of the line. It is also true that the congress has the opportunity to pass legislation. In congress disagrees with the president on his immigration action, they can pass a bill. In fact, americans out there are waiting for congress to pass comprehensive Immigration Reform. If it passed in a wide partisan way in the senate, the house of representatives should have brought comprehensive Immigration Reform to the floor. They did not. Now it is up to the congress to do the responsible thing and pass comprehensive Immigration Reform. I believe, if and when they do that will look a lot like what the president has laid out and the senate supported a year and a half ago. Something that is responsible and accomplishes both ensuring that we protect our borders but also that we do something about the 11 million folks who are already here. Because it is not realistic to think we are going to report 11 million people. Mr. Secretary, i would like to resent you with a traditional National Press club mug. Should you return on future occasions, you will complete the set. [laughter] i have not met your twin brother, but the questioner says, being a secretary means being overcommitted. That being the case, will you ever consider allowing your brother to serve as your body double . [laughter] i have to be honest that i will not consider that. My brother habitually introduces himself by saying i am a minute uglier than he is. I will skip that. [laughter] thank you, mr. Secretary. Thank you for being here. We are adjourned. [applause] [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2015] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] 2012 republican president ial nominee mr. Romneys remarks at the winter meeting. That a look at possible 2016 republican president ial candidates. After that, health and Human Services secretary on Global Health security. Former president ial candidate mitt romney spoke last night at the Republican National committee winter meeting in san diego. This is his first of its speech since immediate reported that the former Massachusetts Governor is exploring a third president ial bid. This is cspan 2016 road to the white house coverage