Transcripts For CSPAN Key Capitol Hill Hearings 20140922

There are no winners or losers inside these classrooms. I want to be the most innovative governor when we give new ideas to the federal government. If you have questions you can go to my website. Thank you so much. Thank you very much for your attention this evening. I look forward to serving your governor and moving arizona to a strong new future. How do you create the most energized Business Growth in the country . How do you create the best improvement in the k12 space in the country . How do you make everybody feel welcome and have a seat at the table. It we have got to get back into funding to make sure our students have success. It is the signature issue of my campaign. In 1963. Tucson my father started medical school. We had to raise money. We drove to the gas station. Knocks filling our tank on the window and says are you the doctor trying to raise a money . Bay andto the mechanics they came out with a can filled with their tips. Im hoping you will do your share to build the Education Opportunities we need for our children. That wraps up our debate for tonight. Thank you to our sponsors. [applause] cspan debate coverage continues tonight with the pennsylvania governors race. Thesday night at 9 00, debate between nebraska representatives. Debate. E i was a live picture from the White House Briefing room this afternoon. We expect to hear from the white house spokesman. A number of topics that could come up today, the president travels to new york for the Climate Summit. Response torations the Ebola Outbreak in west africa. We could hear questions about the intruders that got onto the white house lawn over the weekend. In ariefing is coming up few moments. We will have it live for you on cspan when it comes up. , this iswait for that from todays washington journal. Her coverage is been focused on National Security issues. We want to start with what we learned about the issue of homegrown isis threats in the u. S. There is a lot of attention to this on capitol hill. It came out of those with big eyes saying they had never seen such a threat since the months after 9 11. We learned a lot. There are two different types of homegrown threats. One of those are people who are called out to syria. They seem to be recruited by isis. There are many terrorist organizations operating in syria. One of them is isis. They go over there and they train it to be suicide bombers and they are trained to fight with them and then they come back to the United States. That is the main state when they concern when they come back. Some are radicalized locally. They are reaching out to the internet and social media. Isis is very wellfunded. They have a very Sophisticated Media operation. There is fear that they would go out and use their passports and visas. What is the scenario that lawmakers are more worried about . Another 9 11 style attack . Oneore of a lone wolf person carrying out an attack . I think they are scared of both at this point. There is a group in syria. It is not isis. It is a cell from al qaeda. They are operating in a serious. It is solely devoted to focus on western attacks. This is a new threat. We saw peter king talk about it in the Committee Hearing last wednesday. Jeh johnson just shut down completely when he started talking about it. Talk about that in an unclassified setting. They are a subdivision of al qaeda. They are completely different from isis. They are coming from all over the place. Think it is mainly from yemen and saudi arabia. New, we have so not fully reported on it. I think people on capitol hill are worried about it because they would not speak about it openly. Speaking of homegrown terrorism, you talked about recruiting efforts. Can you talk about how those efforts work . What the recruiting scenarios are to get upwards of 100 americans that a been recruited at this point . We are learning more about this. We had a man in rochester. He was operating a convenience store. There was a grand jury indictment of him. It was unsealed last week. The attorney general announced it on tuesday night. He was recruiting different people. 600 1100 of his own money. He sent these guys over to syria. Was recruiting a local new yorkers to go to syria. He was also planning attacks. They were planning u. S. Military coming back from iraq. He is now under indictment. It seemed like they discovered him through twitter. They were looking at his twitter account and it was interesting. He was tweeting radical jihadist statements. Not seem that they could catch on to him. Host they are concerned about half again that campaigns. This is jeh johnson talking about isis and their propaganda campaign. We will play that and come back. I think it is important that in our efforts we not enable the enemy to recruit faster than we can capture or kill the enemy. When it comes to the homeland, along with the efforts of our military and along with the efforts of our partners overseas to take the fight directly to isis, there has to be an effort to counter their propaganda and their social media. There has to be an effort at engaging potential violent extremist threats here at home. As has been pointed out, these groups in the current age are very good at propaganda and recruitment. They dont have to and doc indoctrinate them in a terrorist training camp. We are focused on counteracting the literature and the propaganda, the notion that isis is an Islamic State. That is false eeriest it is not a state and it is not islamic. It is a group of murderers and kidnappers. It they are a group of depraved individual that have captured the worlds attention. I think i am addressing the premise of your question. It has to be a comprehensive agent effort. Host how does that work . What are the strategies to do that . Guest theyre trying to get different imams to stand up and say this is not part of our religion. This is a radical extreme version and we denounce it. They have been releasing statements over the last weeks showing different leaders of the muslim faith that are standing up against isis and saying it is not legitimate. Host is this something new with isis . Is this not true of al qaeda . Guest i think it is more aggressive. This is even more barbaric. People are taken aback on capitol hill. Dan feinstein says this is a completely different version than what we have seen before. We felt like there might be something happening but we did not know what the threat was. We know what the threat is. We know they are declaring us a strategic enemy and are plotting attacks. Host we are talking to susan crabtree. If you have question or comments for her, phone lines are open. Susan crabtree, the u. N. Is meeting this week. There is going to be a meeting held specifically on isis threats. What do we know about that meeting question mark guest we have a wednesday address from president obama. There are 15,000 from even European Countries to syria to fight with isis. They want to know how we can stop this. Do we need to revoke passports . Do we need to make it illegal for people to go to syria . Britain has arent taken steps to stop their citizens to go to syria. There is a movement that is building steam on capitol hill to make it illegal for americans to travel to syria. That is very difficult because you can go to turkey and jordan and they are our nato allies. I expect the president to speak about this on wednesday and hold a big assignment with other World Leaders. Host we want to get to your calls. Dakota is in oregon on the republican line. Caller good morning. I have several questions for you. I study Foreign Policy at the university of portland. I listened to your comments and the videos that were given by cspan as examples. I follow with great enthusiasm statements given by the Prime Minister of britain and the president of the United States. The statement of we have no strategy for isis was sort of used as a flaming the fire, he was trying to be honest and genuine with the press. I want to get your opinion on how certain statements could the used as a defensive weapon in terms of mocking us. Guest i wouldnt say we have a strategy to defeat them. We have the fbi has been tracking different people. A florida man went to syria, trained with isis, he came back to the United States and went to see his parents. This was an americanborn a person who was raised in the United States. He felt like the fbi was tracking him. This is according to videos he released on youtube. Syriaas somewhere around he blew up a restaurant with soldiers in it. He fell at the fbi was on his trail. You also have the Justice Department unsealing an indictment against a man in rochester, new york. That case was being developed late last year. Its not like our government is not doing anything. I dont want to send that message. They are having trouble tracking people who have traveled to syria. You have jeh johnson and the Homeland Security committee saying last week we have a reasonable degree of confidence that we know when people are traveling to syria. We dont have a high degree of confidence that we know whos traveling. That is of deep concern. You have resident obama has a strategy with arming the syrian rebels. I want to emphasize there is not a direct we do not have a specific threat that we know about right now. The homeland secure department and others are working very actively to detect and really track as many people as they can who are fighting over there. David is in maryland on our line for independence. Good morning. I have a question. We heard jeh johnson and the. Resident they stated very clearly that the Islamic State is not islamic. Knownk some of us dont any better and dont understand how it is not islamic. Muslims that i know arman earned and peaceful. Recruiting, how is this entity doing such a better job of recruitment then al qaeda was . Are theyon is radicalizing muslims that are otherwise from moderate backgrounds . How are they doing that . Insistence among our leaders that these guys are not islamic, is that away to prepare us for going to war with them . You might get to dds question from twitter. You had john kerry last week what you justay said. They are not islamic and he said they are the spawns of hell. I was taken aback. Is a diplomat and he knows what it means to say that. How are americans and other westerners supposed to take this . All we see are these beheadings. That captures the public. Of course we will associate that with the muslim religion and islam in general. I think this is something muslims need to consider and start taking it greater stands to denounce this. Are more interested in holding our and Holding Territory then talking about their religion or doing all religions are supposed to be aspiring to help other people. If you look at what people on capitol hill are saying, that they are more interested in power and Holding Territory than they are their religion. Explaining the term radicalization question mark how you go from a kid in florida who is 22 and a college dropout, howd you go from playing basketball for your High School Team and talking about how you like a goes on facebook to going to fight for syria. It is a process. How can it happen . It is because of social media right now. It is different than what we had 13 years ago before 9 11. The intelligence agencies are very concerned about how quickly people are becoming radicalized. You are reaching out to people in syria, these terrorist groups. They are giving you information about how to build alms. There is a magazine that teaches people how to build bombs. It is readily available on the internet. You have youtube videos. It it seems that people in this country are looking for a cause. They have some strongly held opinions from their background. They are looking for a way to join forces. 22yearold, he was promised a wife over there when he got there. He would be martyred. He would be in heaven. It is something that we needed to learn more about. What are the estimates of numbers of westerners who have gone over to join isis . We know there are at least 100 americans. I believe there are 1500 or more , around 2000, from the west. That does not include all the other countries. What i have seen on a map with recruits shows the from every country in europe, russia, they are coming from everywhere. It is up to 15,000 people. Lets go to virginia for our line for independence. Youre on with susan crabtree. The other factor is our prison system. There are so many muslims in our prisons. They are angry and bitter to begin with. Jails. Ow these guys in they are recruiting people all the time. Do you know anything about the 100 americans that have gone over . Were you able to track who these people are and what their background is . We have certain cases that are coming forward. There are a lot coming from minnesota. Has a huge population. John kline was concerned last inr when you have somalis st. Paul and minneapolis going over to somalia. They were involved in the nairobi attacks. In the mall. This is been a growing concern. Like jeh johnson said last week, we dont know exactly. We dont have a high degree in confidence at we know everyone who is going over there. Springfield, massachusetts for our line for republicans. Good morning. Lets start with the battlefield at home. It should be one language. They are registered to vote. Instantaneous citizens. This article one section eight two bypass the president the border states can. Section eight. Happy monday. I dont have any announcements at the top. We will go straight to questions. How was an intruder able to get all the way into the white house . Your reporting on this topic over the weekend. Glad to hear it. Let me say couple of things. The secret service has indicated that they are conducting a review of the incident that occurred on friday night. That review will include a wide variety of things. I refer you to the secret service. It will include a variety of things including the positioning of tactical assets inside and outside the fence line. It will include review of technical security enhancements that may be necessary. It will include a question of ongoing staffing an assessment of whether or not staffing is needed. It they will review policy and procedure regarding to the assessment of threats. A review of include previous interactions with the subject. Providing security at the white house is complicated business. Is one of thee more popular tourist destinations in our nations capital. Thousands of tourists on a typical day will tour the white house. Thousands of tourists and members of the public will watch walkout that front door at the conclusion of their tour. The white house is essentially a big office building. People show up every day to do their work. Security is an important priority. Right outside the front gate of the white house is lafayette park. It is one of the more prominent laces where people will gather to make their First Amendment fully views known. Servicens the secret has the challenging task of balancing the need to ensure safety and security of the first family while ensuring the white house is the peoples house. Balancing those is challenging work. It is clear a review of that work is warranted. That review will be conducted. What was the president s reaction . I had the opportunity to talk with them earlier. He is obviously concerned. President has complete confidence with the secret service. President is confident that this will be conducted with the highest amount professionalism. He is confident this will be necessary. You talked about striking the right balance, is the president favoring expanded the perimeter or restricting tourists from being in the immediate area . Are highly experienced professionals in the secret service. They will conduct a broader review about security at the white house. Ourquestions you are asking. Hat will be included kerry said they expected other nations to have nations in this coalition. Is that still the case . Is the president looking to press countries to broaden the coalition western mark it will be ongoing. Members of thend cabinet including the secretary of defense and the secretary of state and other senior members have been actively engaged with their counterparts in countries around the world. This is a high priority. We have we have seen important amendments from individual countries around the globe indicating their support for the goal the president has laid out for this rotor coalition. This broader coalition. I dont anticipate reaching a where we sort of stand up from the desk and say our efforts to build this coalition have been completed. This will be ongoing work. There is this important task that general allen is principally focused on which is assessing the needs of the coalition and those needs will change over time. He will also be assessing the capabilities of individual nations who are committed to being part of the broader coalition. And matching up those capabilities with the needs of the coalition will be work that is ongoing. I anticipate that when the president is participating in activities associated with the United Nations General Assembly this week is that he will have the kinds of conversations with cand leaders about how they contribute to the broader International Coalition. That is work that has been going on for weeks in advance of the United Nations General Assembly and it will occurred during the General Assembly and the efforts of the resident and other members of this team to build this coalition will continue long after the United Nations General Assembly has been closed. And iranian officials said they will work with america and their allies but they want more flexibility on the clear program. Im wondering what would be the u. S. Response to linking those issues. The conversations related to 1 talks have to do with the International Communitys concerns about the Iranian Nuclear program. Those conversations to try to resolve those concerns are entirely separate from the that irang interests may have with the broader International Community as it relates to isl. As i have discussed at least a couple of other times, it is not in the interest of the Iranian Regime for this Extremist Organization to be wreaking havoc on its doorstep. Like the International Community, the iranians are understandably concerned about the gains that isl has made in iraq and they have indicated they are ready to fight isl. But the United States will not coordinate any of our military activities with the iranians. The United States will not be involved in sharing intelligence with the iranians. The United States will not be in aspects ofof trading secureNuclear Program to commitments to take on isil. These two issues are entirely separate. The focus of the p5 1 talks will being about the Iranian Nuclear program. As we have indicated a couple of times, the conversations on the sidelines of those talks could about irans concerns or their overlapping interest with the universe with the Global Community as a relates to isl. Secretary of state john kerry was in new york to engage in conversations about resolving the concerns internationally about Irans Nuclear programs. On the sidelines, he had a conversation with his iranian counterpart to discuss isl. Indication that this is two separate matters that will be resolved separately. So the idea of a trade of is a nonstarter. Thats correct. Will it be overly rejected . I believe there is a speech given that iranian leader over the weekend. It was not a speech or interview but i read news accounts of his proposal. I am confident our views on the topic have been conveyed to the iranians. What the conversation was like or how it was brought up by the iranians or by members of the have made clear publicly and privately that the conversations and the context of these talks are entirely separate from conversations about isl. What is the timeline for the review you discussed . I can tell you that the senior Circuit Service officials the senior secret Service Officials are carrying it out with certainty. I dont have a specific timeline to share with you. You might check with secret service to see if they have a timeline. This is something that they are ing urgently and it began friday night because this incident on friday evening occurred a few minutes after the president and first family had left the white house, i would think the president would be more than just concerned. Was he angry or did he pick up the phone and call the head of the secret service . Can you give us more in his response . I can tell you that the president over the weekend was briefed. He was briefed friday night multiple times in the actual incident and over the course of the weekend, he was updated. I dont have any specific president ial conversations other than what i spoke with him about earlier today. There are senior members of the white house like the chief of staff and others who have been in frequent touch with secret Service Personnel over the weekend and today to discuss the incident and discussed the review that the secret service has already started. The top officials at the white house, were there scratching their heads as to how these dogs were not deployed and why the door was unlocked . To thekes you very close residence of the white house. And reaction to some of these lapses along the way . Many of the things you are raising our topics that will be the subject of this review the secret service is conducting. Number of changes to the Security Posture the United States secret service is already implemented at the white house and these were implemented in the immediate aftermath of friday. The secret service has beefedup controls around the fence line of the white house complex. The secret service has deployed additional surveillance resources to be put the surveillance around the white house. The secret service has changed the procedures for ensuring that the entrance to the white house is secure. Theres already stepped up training for officers who are standing on the front lines of the white house to ensure that they are aware of the policies and procedures related to securing the white house and dealing with incidents like the one friday. Its clear that these are antiquated . Procedures themwould not describe that way. There is a review that will examine exactly what procedures are appropriate and which need to be changed. Im confident the secret service personal recommend those changes take place and the president is confident those changes will be properly conducted. Isis issued a call to foreign fighters around the world to carry out attacks on coalition countries. What is the administrations response to that . I have no response to that. During a background briefing this morning, Senior Administration official said there is a concern that the International Community is not prepared to deal with these kind of calls, foreign fighter calls that are issued by isis. The president wants to accomplish that this week. Is that right . The president will be chairing a meeting of the United Nations Security Council which is only the second time u. S. President has done that or it the topic of discussion will be what nations around the globe can do to mitigate the threat proposed by foreign terrorist fighters. We have seen that there are several dozen countries from around the globe where individuals have traveled to the region, taken up arms alongside fighters who have been trained and have access to military equipment and these are individuals who have indicated a willingness to die for their cause. The concerned the u. S. And their allies have and our partners around the globe have is that these individuals could decide to turn to their home countries and possibly carry out acts of violence. What the president hopes to accomplish in the un Security Council meeting is to have a discussion about what kinds of Global Standards can be put in place to mitigate the threat from these terrorists. There are multiple jurisdictions in washington. If youre going to expand the perimeter of the white house . Is it secret service or park police are metro police . You did raise another complication come another challenge the secret service deals with in terms of providing security to the white house that there are overlapping jurisdictions. The secret service has to work closely with park police and with the mantra politan washington, d. C. Police department. Thats another layer of come like city added to this task. Who might be to involved in some of the proposed reforms, i would refer you to the secret service and some of the other Law Enforcement agencies about that. I am confident the review the secret service will conduct is one that will consider a wide range of factors. The secret service is always updating and reviewing their Security Posture. There have been reports about a possible change to the screening of tourists before they participate in a white house tour. The individual in question on friday was not a prospective tourists. Thats an indication that there is always a review of security protocol, that the secret service continually updates, but in the context of this incident, there will be a pretty rob look at a wide range of data pretty broad look at a wide range of secret Service Missions to protect the president on the first family but also protecting the status the white house has is the peoples house. Reaction of the idea of a buffer zone on turkish soil . I have not seen that proposal. We will check with my National Security council colleagues. Ban, a prospective travel you had the counterterrorism director and other law in force say that sometimes they want these individuals were suspect to commit to the country because then they can keep an eye on them and see who they are contacting and develop an idea of what the network is. Is that being into taking is that being taken to his iteration . The dont want to get into procedures and currently in place to mitigate the threat from foreign fighters. One of the concerns is that we want to ensure the countries around the globe are taking advantage of every opportunity they have to monitor the individuals who traveled to syria and to mitigate the threat they may pose it or to other homeland or other countries. Trying to raise those standards will be a topic of discussion at the Security Council meeting. Over the weekend, 130,000 syria kurds [indiscernible] they say get would take six monthsone year. What do you say about the speed that isis is moving. . The humanitarian situation in the refugee situation around the countries is what we have been concerned about for some time. Largest bilateral donor to refugees from the syrian conflict. We have worked closely with our allies in turkey and with their heart is in the region to try to assist them as they meet the needs of these individuals who are fleeing violence. What we have seen there is a terrible humanitarian tragedy. We are very concerned about it. Because of the concern we have for our fellow human beings and for vulnerable populations that have been subjected to terrible violence. There also concerned about lifesaving impact that flows of refugees have in a volatile region. That is one aspect that is important. Also, the United States has been providing both military and nonmilitary assistance. Thatresident has indicated he believes that we should be ramping up the assistance, the training and equipping currently being provided to Syrian Opposition fighters. Week whenatified last democrats and republicans in congress came together to give the administration Greater Authority to ramp up our assistance to the opposition fighters. That should improve their ability to counter isil attacks on the battlefield. The other thing that will assist the Syrian Opposition fighters is a campaign of Coalition Air strikes. The president indicated in a speech about 10 days ago that he is ready to expand the air campaign in a broad and systematic way into syria and that will also have an impact on our ultimate goal which is to degrade and destroy isil. What is your understanding of the hostages . [indiscernible] we are obviously pleased that some diplomats, about 49 who were being held hostage by isil are currently in the process of being reunited with their families. We are relieved that that is occurring. About theirs release, i dont have any information to share with you on that. Chuck hagel was in turkey today to discuss with them their efforts or their willingness to participate in an in a broader coalition. Turkey has been engaged in other conversations and our partners and allies have been having conversations on this matter. Turkey have their own clear vested personal interest in confronting the threat proposed by isil. All of the mayhem and havoc that and is wreaking in iraq syria is right on the turkish doorstep. Its not in their interest for that instability and violence to be occurring so close to their border. That is why the United States and the International Community is confident that we could build a coalition that includes countries around the world also muslim let countries in the region who will join the effort to degrade and destroy isil. On the question of air there havesyria, been strikingly contradictory statements coming from senior officials in this administration about what exactly the president has decided to do. You told us last week that the. Resident had made a decision the night of his speech, september 10 in primetime, a senior official said there is this is something the president has decided to do and just yesterday, samantha power, ambassador to the u. N. , said if the president decides to do the airstrikes iff. Meaning he has not made a decision yet and general dempsey said he had presented a plan to the president but the president had not located yet. Can you clear this up . The president has made a decision that he announced to the country about 10 days ago when he gave a primetime address indicating he believed it was in the interest of the United States to broaden the systematic air campaign against isil targets to include targets in syria. In your conversations with military officials, you have heard that degrading and ultimately destroying isil will fromre preventing isil establishing a safe haven in syria. As broad and systematic air targets inainst isil syria is necessary to accomplish the broader goal. The president has decided and he announced that decision to the country last wednesday night. Is it odd that senior officials like the one at the u. N. And is topped up dust top military advisers seem to be saying Something Else . I cannot account for their individual comments but i am confident that both the ambassador and the chairman of the cheese of staff are aware of the president s decision and have been working with them to advance our strategy. I will remind you that our strategy is not just focus on military strike. Error other aspects that are critically important. I am confident the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff and the United Nations chief are on the same page. The president was sent a letter over the weekend from 31 republican senators saying they are gravely concerned about the negotiations of the Iranian Nuclear program and the administration and the president will grant concessions to allowingwhile also them to continue to produce Nuclear Explosive material. As the president received a letter . I have not seen the letter. I am not aware of it but we can get you a response. As a general matter, i will say the United States continues to be actively engaged with our 1 partners with iran to address the broader concerns about their Nuclear Program. Of the interim agreement put in place so far, iran has rollback key aspects of their Nuclear Program to allow for these conversations to continue. We are pleased that the has been able to work closely with our partners in congress to put in place the kind of sanctions regime that has taken a significant toll on the iranian economy and is brought them to the negotiating table and in that context, i ran has agreed verifiable steps to rollback ts pecks of the Nuclear Program. That is different than ultimately resulting the broader International Communitys concerns about Irans Nuclear program. That is difficult work that that is work that continues to be underway. I was engaged in that work over the weekend. There are now private groups forming like to counter extremism project were trying to expose secret Funding Sources for isil. What is the administrations position on that . We welcome the efforts of nongovernmental organizations another outside observers. The group that was announced over the weekend or maybe this morning is a group that has some bipartisan authorship. We are certainly gratified that in the u. S. , we can Work Across Party Lines to try to confront the threat posed to counter violent extremism. Would be a conflict with what department of treasury is doing . We dont see that there would be an Important Role for nongovernment organizations to combat terrorists. Opportunity for the administration lawenforcement agencies to work with agencies and communities across the country to try to counter this threat. Major the entrance to the white house is secure so does that mean the door is locked . The door you are referencing is a door that is used by every day to tour the white house. I dont think there are on monday. On a regular basis, there are a thousand people that go in and out of that door. Or our staffers of the white house who are responsible for doing work either in the easter the east wing of the residence. They will occasionally use that door but after friday nights incident, that will be secured3. Johnson made a Public Statement for the public not to jump to conclusions. There is something the public should be calmer than it is . Maybe its an anomaly. Do you think it actually represents something that is bigger and broader and requires much more sweeping assessment of what goes on on a daytoday basis . The opinion of the secret services most important. They have launched this broader review into the security. Posture at the white house i am confident that they will consider all the factors that may have contributed to the situation. Im sure they want to ensure that our future ability to do with these situations and respond to them promptly will be strengthened as a result. Does the president think there should be a second fans . The president believe will leave it up to the professionals. Its to protect the first family but ensure the white house remains the peoples house. Man didamily said the three tours of duty in iraq. Maybe he did not have the kind of care that he was obtaining or needs to have now. Has there been any request from the white house to run down the situation and find out where he was in the system and find out if he had been a victim of waiting lists . I am hesitant to talk about the case of one individual. The subject we are discussing is currently in the midst of a criminal prosecution. I dont want to get ahead of that. As a general matter, the president has spoken a number of occasions about the important amendment the nation has and he has as the commanderinchief to ensure that all of our veterans, particularly those who served on numerous deployment to iraq or a dentist and have access to the physical help them Mental Health benefits to which they are entitled. There have been a number of reforms already put out to try to improve the ability of those individuals to have ready access to benefits area this is a top priority of the newly confirmed va secretary as he continued to to continue the work to determine what reforms necessary and continues to be a high priority. It would be a higher priority does not gof this through. [indiscernible] we have been really clear about the challenge. Is challenge of vetting difficult work and the concerned that the president had early on even before the individuals by our partners in this part of the world is that our weapons and training can all us fans of individuals who do not share our goals and dont share our interests and him share the values of us. What we had been engaged in is a longerterm effort to determine who are the Syrian Opposition fighters that are fighting in syria for their country and that are fighting for the right reasons, the reasons that would promote the kind of inclusive government able in theory would like to have. Over the course of the last three years, we major mens progress in learning about these individuals. This is not foolproof work but we made progress and strives. Individualsg with and those are the elements that after three years of working and building relationships with them that we feel we can ramp up our training and assistance to them in a way that will counter the advance of isil in syria. Guest i understand that. What would have been worse whichhich we have now requires an enormous amount of work militarily and difficult at and diplomatically, self financing, what would have been worse, that which we have now or a few evidence due in two years ago leaping into different hands. Allow it is hard to imagine this complexity but you have something that is is legitimate threat to the region that is here now that might have been slowed according to the former defense secretary who says it would have been worse. The one element of your question is that i dont think even secretary panetta would suggest that if you weapons would have dramatically alter the outcome. What would have been required they would have been given to someone who is buried thoroughly vetted. A significant investment of time and hardware would have been required with the hope, not the conclusion, but with the hope it could alter the outcome3 we are not in a situation where we know for sure that providing additional weapons would have solved the problem. In fact, there is the concern said wouldeople actually have done more harm than good. The president and his National Security team are confident that in the midst of dealing with these copper kitchen set of variables, at each turn, a decision was made that recognized this neutrality of American Security as they were implemented. How optimistic or how much effort will the administration put in to talk to the russians about isisl and enlisting their cooperation . I have not read the report of resident putins comments. [indiscernible] president putin has expressed his concern. Demonstrated with russia is that its possible for us to have a strenuous disagreement related to their behavior in certain parts of the while maintaining collaboration with them in other parts of the world. Our counterterrorism relationship with russian, despite our bakers differences relating to ukraine is ongoing. I think theres an opportunity somes to demonstrate cooperation and court made between the United States and russia. President putin has made clear i was thinking about itat earlier question you are asking are you taking it back . I was wondering if you had any response or could you elaborate a little bit on that . I appreciate the opportunity to elaborate a little more, but im not going to. Could you draw a contrast between the president s course of action in syria and the runup to the iraq war . I ask because some have drawn comparisons between the two. Theres no indication from a sovereign nation. How do you see that approach is different from president bush . Ask there was an invitation from an Iraqi Government and participation for efforts to counteract isil. You will recall the inclusion of a Central Government in iraq was the linchpin of this broader strategy. Address about a week and half ago was dedicated on the formation of a Central Government in iraq. The involvement of the Iraqi Government is important because the president does not want to pattern of making a mistake that was made in the previous conflict, which is the United States was put in the position of essentially trying to deploy significant resources until the end of her snuff to try to address the security situation across iraq. Thanks to the bravery, current and service of our men and women in uniform, significant gains were made in terms of trying to strengthen the security situation in iraq. Those changes and improvements did not endure because the Central Government was not invested in them. Rather they were governing in a sectarian way that allows isil to make dramatic gains across the countryside. That is one way the approach the president has taken is different than the approach that was taken in the previous decade. To important thing understand, and this is not an unrelated point, but i will make it into something important the president is not contemplating committing 140 thousand u. S. Military personnel to go on the ground in iraq it does not contemplate tanks rolling across the desert swaths to occupy large and believes its the responsibility of the iraqi people and Security Forces to provide security for their own country. The iraqi people can count on a broader coalition coming in behind them as they take the on the ground and they can count on getting the equipment and Technical Advice they need to wage this campaign. They will do that with the full support of the American People and the broader International Community. But there should be no doubt that a large contingent of Ground Troops there is not in the best interest of the United States of america and is not the best way to get the desired outcome. Thank you. The parallel i would point out is talkingident about Going Forward with airstrikes in syria. Bush before him is going to the u. N. Asking World Leaders to at least tacitly support them. The principle as it relates to serious is one that is central to this presidency. The president has made clear he will actively deny a safe haven to individuals and organizations seeking to do harm to the United States in our homeland. It is consistent with the approach we have use as a counterterrorism strategy to deny safe haven to Extremist Organizations in other parts of the world. A strategy that involves building the capacity of local forces and involves supporting local governance structures and is a strategy that involves building a broader International Coalition. As they take the fight to Extremist Organizations, they have designs on attacking the United States or the homeland. The examples we publicly discussed are yemen and somalia. Each situation is very different, but they are hoping to deploy a strategy that has been successful in mitigating we expect that strategy will be successful in syria as well. President has made it clear that tax reform is a priority and regulation will be coming soon over the weekend and they are putting finishing touches on the regulation. Can you tell us what has been holding it up . Is gettingpriority congress to pass legislation that would get it past best to close this loophole. You will recall the last time Congress Passed legislation addressing a loophole like this was in 2004. That was a law passed with bipartisan support and was signed into law by a republican president before election day. Theres no Reason Congress should not be able to act to address this loophole in that timeframe. The other thing i will point out a lot was passed shortly before election day that was retroactive and prevented companies from trying to take advantage of this loophole shortly before legislation was enacted. We would like to see Congress Pass a measure that would be is to ensure countries trying to game the system and Beat Congress to the punch line here are not able to do so or at least not able to benefit from it. Because congress has not taken the kind of concrete steps would like them to take, the united at the direction of the president has been conducting a review of their own to determine if theres anything currently existing law that to reduce theem financial incentive that currently exists for companies to exploit these loopholes. That is essentially announcing them to renounce american citizenship so they can prevent paying their fair share in taxes. This has been underway for a long time now and is being worked on by experts over there. My colleagues at the Treasury Department can give you the best assessment about the status of that work and can give you the best assessment about what kinds of options they are considering, but i saw the same report you that treasury is expecting an announcement on this. [inaudible] i am not in a position to preview that meeting between the president and treasury secretary. This is something they have the best previously, so im not in a position to preview the meeting, but i would not be a surprise i would not be surprised. The president said he wanted does recommendations quickly as possible, which is remnant of Immigration Reform language. Do you expect an announcement before the Midterm Election . This is a ruling that would by the Treasury Department. I would be mindful of the guidance the treasury secretary has offered witches they have anticipated he would go very soon. More generally, can you talk with a lot going on on maybereignpolicy front, there is one month and a week before election day. Will we start hearing more from you guys about mid term election economy . Return to the i dont have any scheduling announcements to make from the podium today. I can tell you the president has talked about why he believes it is so important for americans to participate in the electoral process. The president has talked wistfully about the fact that this is the last election in which he has such a clear, direct stake in the outcome as an elected official. So the president has placed a priority on supporting Democratic Candidates on the ballot and has been traveling across the country to raise money in support of those candidates and they political committees that will benefit those candidates. Of those events, the president has made what i think is a pretty persuasive case about the determination of this administration and democrats in congress to advance the kinds of policies that will help middleclass families. Thats the president s priority when it comes to the domestic agenda and the president believes theres a clear choice between Democratic Candidates who are supportive of those priorities that benefit the middle class and those policies advanced principally by republicans that benefit the wealthy with hope those benefits will trickle down to benefit middleclass families. The president doesnt believe that approach has worked in the past and doesnt believe it will be successful this time. He is hopeful the american in thisill engage debate, participate in the election and be supportive of Democratic Candidates who are supportive of the agenda the president is hoping to form. Is there concern among you guys since you have not seen the numbers rebound on the economy that the underlying trend numbers look better, Foreign Policy is drowned out from that announcement given that his overall numbers are still struggling . The president believes his top priority as commanderinchief is the safety and security of the american public. The president is competent if he makes decisions to secure the homeland and protect american interests at home and around the world, that is the most important part of his job. We will leave it to you guys to analyze the polls, but the president is confident that he over the course of the next two years he remained in office that regardless of what the polls say, his priority is the safety and security of the american public. [indiscernible] i dont have an estimate on that. I know we are interested in having an open dialogue with congress to ensure our military has the resources necessary to carry out the mission the president has laid out. Withe actively engaged in our partners around the globe in ways they can participate in this broader effort and as we discussed last friday, one way countries can participate is intentionally to support the broader global communities with the International Community efforts to take the fight to isil. In terms of the specific number, i dont have one with me right now. You can check with omb to see if they have a ballpark figure they can give you. Ask thereve been estimates that it could be 1 billion or 2 billion a month. Is he specifically going to be making these asks of these other countries, if you cant send planes, send checks . Am not sure exactly that way. Maybe there is more about how they can contribute to the broader coalition. The president has a pretty aggressive agenda and is giving a speech focused on Climate Change and will discuss the leadership role the United States has changed in reducing the causes of Climate Change and will leave this meeting to talk about foreign fighters. Dedicated tonts building up Civil Societies in countries around the globe at institutions that can support effective governments that affect the will of the people. The president has a wideranging agenda at the u. N. But i suspect he will have a number of conversations with World Leaders that will include this topic. You were just talking about the midterms and said the president is trying to argue theres a clear difference between the president on parties related to the middle class will stop to the middle class. And how a difference would he describe that distinction . Its a difficult thing to sit a difficult thing to assess from here. Ofhave heard a variety things and we are glad the democrats and republicans put aside their differences and we saw a majority of democrats in the house and the majority of republicans in the senate vote together to approve giving the administration needed authority to wrap up the authority to the Syrian Opposition. Members of the senate at least in one instant were willing to put aside their hardest and interests and focus on the country and thats a credit to the men and women in the United States congress that in this instance they were able to do this. Thats the approach the president will take even in the runup to some hotly contested Midterm Elections. Have isther question i about the training you have been you havet how been talking about. Rebel university or whatever. [laughter] i if you have any ideas, encourage you to contact the department of defense with them. How soon will that get up and running . Whether the individuals are vetted and brought up there will they be wearing a uniform of a particular country . Will they be wearing a syrian uniform . Will u. S. D taxpayers be offering a subsistence to live because there are arguments about why isil is doing well with recruitment is that they offer subsistence and pay their recruits more than the syrian army. Can you explain how soon it will get up and running question mark will they be wearing uniforms and will they be paid to do it. If it sounds like you are asking for the dress code at rebel university. Youre asking a lot of questions but they are along the lines of the operational details that we will have. I encourage you to talk to the department of defense. This is a priority of the administration. The president made clear when he was talking to congress that it was urgent for congress to grant it ministration this authority because wed seen commitment from partners to practice hitting in this broader training effort. The president wanted to strike while the iron is hot and take these regional governments up on their commitment to be involved in these training programs. We saw the government of saudi arabia, the kingdom of saudi arabia announce willingness to host a training site. We want to work closely with the saudis to advance our goals along those lines. Oft assured the Department Defense was responsible for ramping up our training assistance and is already hard at work doing that. In terms of a specific timetable, i urge you to contact the department of defense about that. The unsaved in our partners in the region have embedded with the Syrian Opposition and we have relationships with these groups. In terms of timing for when these individuals will start and what sort of compensation they will receive, i urge you to go to the department of defense. [inaudible] i dont have an update on that. I urge you to go to the department of defense on that. [inaudible] i did not see that story. Congress has passed resolutions about antisemitism. Is the white house concerned about terrorism in this country to protect not just the Jewish Community the Christian Community also . I can tell you that the is constantly vigilant about threats that may and our National Security professionals are reviewing our Security Posture to make sure we are taking the steps necessary to keep our people safe. Does the president believe the National Football league should be a nonprofit and should not pay taxes . President heard the express a lot of views as it relates to football. The of it relates to coaching decisions made by the Coaching Staff of the chicago bears. But i have not heard him weigh in on the tax policies of the National Football league. As part of the conversation around broader tax reform that may or may not or may never happen i have to be honest im not sure what impact this tax benefit would have on the broader revenue stream. The inversion of issue we have been talking about is on the order of several billion dollars a year. That is why that particular issue has emerged as a high priority in this administration. I do not believe the price tag is quite that large. Have as, we should conversation about it but i dont believe it is. At least some of the foreign fighters in syria and iraq have come back to the united dates how many is the it ministration tracking and they were also under active surveillance can you comment on that . Im not in a position to confirm numbers on that. About someing relatively sensitive intelligence that i could not discuss on the podium. As a general matter, let me say Law Enforcement officials here as well as our National Security officials are very focused on the threat opposed by foreign fighters. These are individuals that traveled to syria and have taken up arms alongside isil, and the concern is they could take up arms and come back to the u. S. We are trying to keep up with them and monitor their movements. We have been in contact with interpol to track the movements of these individuals. Is an interagency response to a significant threat we are watching closely. Armtwisting is a term of art used on capitol hill. But when it comes to this coalition, are there still nations that need to be cajoled and encouraged to do their part . Were are very pleased at the response weve got. The broader International Community recognizes the threat by d by isil opposed isil. Y the threat they poses not just to iraq but they are concerned about isil using syria as a base of operation to launch attacks and violate the territorial integrity of their country. We have seen countries in the region, muslim led governments indicate they are concerned about the instability and violence i sell is wreaking in that area of the world and they are justifiably concerned. Are terrible act of violence and individuals who are beating recruited and radicalized in a way thats not in the best interest of these countries. It should not be a surprise to you that we have seen willingness from the countries in the region to engage in this. And the threat opposed by foreign fighters we are seeing threats around the world that approach conversations like this in the broader International Community and want to know what they can do to assist as we work to degrade and. Estroy isil a word if you will about what the president is going to be doing in new york. I think the president will be having a number of conversations with World Leaders at the u. N. He will be discussing a wide range of issues while he is there everything from Climate Change to good governing issues. When the president talks about issues related to foreign terrorist fighters and other efforts to build a broader International Coalition, we are optimistic he will continue to get the kind of feedback we have gotten already as it relates to individuals willingness to degrade and ultimately destroy i. Old destroy isil you are talking about the inding role the u. S. Played Climate Change. Several hundred thousand demonstrators in new york and thend the world how does white house judge and see those demonstrations and some scientists were critical of the administration say not much in the end was done in the last six years, even though you say we are playing a leading role, people do not seem to view this or be conscious of it. Let me say a couple of things. As you know, the president will be addressing the Climate Summit tomorrow where he will speak to the tremendous project progress the u. S. Has made under his plan to cut carbon pollution, advancing Clean Energy Solutions in promoting Energy Deficient energy efficiency. He will also discuss the role of the United States in leading the International Stage and will call on other leaders to work toward a strong global framework to cut emissions will stop the president will commit to redoubling our efforts to help vulnerable populations prepare for the climate impacts we cannot avoid. To that end, the president will announce a suite of planned tools that will harness the unique scientific and technological caper for these to help vulnerable populations strengthen climate resilience. We will have more details on that tomorrow. The president has laid out a pretty aggressive agenda to take the kind of steps so critical to protecting the Public Health and Public Safety of the American People, to reduce the causes of Climate Change. To try to mitigate the effects of Climate Change, particularly in cities more vulnerable to some of the more common impact. The president has played a leading role in this and the president does hope that the kinds of steps he has already taken in the u. S. Will serve as a model for significant leaders to take similarly important steps to confront the challenge of Climate Change. Is there a sign people are getting involved that something has to be done . I think the demonstrations are in indication that theres a lot of support at the grass roots level four important steps causes ofeduce the global Climate Change and the president is pleased to see their our citizens in this voice toilling to give the concerns they have about the causes of Climate Change and are pleased to have their support for some of the steps he has announced for reducing the impact of Climate Change. Last one. A lot of pressure. Eczema get a good one here. I want to go back to something stephen asked. He asked you what was the cost of the war and you did not challenge the word war. Do you accept we are talking about is a new war in the middle east, syria and iraq . We have talked about this in the last 10 days. I have not used i have not heard you use the word war. I have come of it you are raising an important issue, so i will address it again. It is the view of this administration in the United States that isil has declared war on the broader International Community. What the president is doing that she is doing what is expected of the american president. Leading aning and International Coalition to take which means isil the International Community is that with isil and United States is at war with isil, and the same way we are at war with al qaeda. So it is a town or operation, not a police action. We are talking about a counterterrorism strategy that will apply to the situation that we have successfully applied in other places. Whats important to understand is the conflict the president is talking about and the strategy he is talking about is very different from the strategy pursued in the previous conflict in iraq. Were not talking about the deployment of 140,000 american troops to roll tanks across the desert and secure and occupy a large swath of desert land in iraq. We are contemplating a counterterrorism strategy predicated on strengthening the capacity of local forces to take , backing themsil up with a broader coalition where necessary and backing the american air power to take the fight to isil, to ultimately root them out in a way that will allow the iraqi people to stabilize the security situation in their country and will also have the effect of denying isil a safe haven in syria. The president is concerned if they were to gain a safe haven in syria, that can be dangerous for the International Community and for the u. S. Homeland. To see myam going followup to jen from huffington post. Senator leahy told the New York Times recently that obama plus judicial nominee does not have the vote in the committee and he should withdraw. Plan to white house urge him [inaudible] resident believes judge boggs has the necessary qualifications and thats why the president nominated him. In terms of senator leahys comments to the New York Times i have not seen them but i have heard about them. We do believe judge boggs has the qualifications necessary. [inaudible] thank you, guys. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2014] treasury secretary jack lew is part of a roundtable about the impacts of Climate Change on the economy. This is the best Climate Change Conference Begins this week. You can see the beginning live here at 4 00 p. M. Eastern on cspan. Coming up at 5 30, we will hear from cbs news chief correspondent bob schieffer, he will moderate a discussion on battling isis and other groups. 5 30 eastern. Also, an author discusses her latest book on private military and security companies. The invisible soldiers how america outsourced our security. That is live at 6 30 from kramer books in new york city. Our team paying coverage continues with the pennsylvania governor debate our Campaign Coverage continues with the pennsylvania governors debate. Here is a look at that race. Lets try the philadelphia governors race and debate tomorrow night again with Tom Fitzgerald all stop inquiry. Mr. Fitzgerald, good morning. Host good morning. How are you . Host host could you set up not only this debate tomorrow night which folks can see on cspan but where the two candidates stand as far as this race is concerne concerned . Absolutely. The first debate tomorrow is that it finds the incumbent, the top republican, needing to really have something happen to reset this race. Hes been the under dog almost from the beginning which is a huge surprises in a new statement that historically has reelected the incumbent governs overwhelmingly. Basically, its been a stable race. The real clear policy averages have democrat tom wolfe with 17 percentage points, a little over a fraction over, and there was a new poll up this morning from the kneeland berg and the morning call newspaper in allentown found wolfe leading 52 to 31 among likely voters. It also found that its not necessarily a prowolfe vote. Half of the respondents said they were who were voting for involve but they were motivated by dissatisfaction with corbett. I was going to ask you if there were specific instances why mr. Corbett is seeing these low numbers. Its somewhat of a mystery, but substantively t probably goes back to the number 1 issue is education, and when he took over in 2011 after the after being elected in the republican way, there were, because of the stimulus ran out, there were cuts to Education Funding from the state from harrisburg. The governor cut some state money. The stimulus was a bear. And then, he went ahead with some business tax cuts that his predecessor had on the plan. And schools increased class sizes, laid off teachers and other workers and increases property taxes. So, he started the negativity toward him among voters across the state and upon his own party. There were a variety of things he did that form very conservative republicans dont feel he really stood up for their issues. For instance, he had pushed through voter id law that then when it got in to tough challenges, the Appeals Court abandoned the appeal, accepted a ruling it was unconstitutional. Was there any doubt from governor corbett as far as the expansion of medicare within the state . Ca it does not seem like he got much bounce from that. The dominant narrative would have been that he was not expanding medicare. When he finally, did, you know, its an Innovative Program that might well work. Its going to do some good. I think people focus did on most voters focused on if they thought about the issue at all, they focus did on the fact that a year had gone by and we missed a billion dollars of federal funding because there were negotiations between the administration and d. C. About pennsylvanias alternative version of the establishment. Host as far as his challenger, tom wolfe, how is he casting himself . Whats his strategy . Tom wolfes strategy has been to do no harm. Hes being very cautious. He is limited public appearances. He doesnt get specific, doesnt take many questions. He is trying to avoid a mistake. Hes sort of major policy pitch is that he wants to put a tax on natural tax, of 5 and use that money to increase spending on education. And a couple of other things and the governor has declined to put a tax on natural gas. Tom fitzgerald of the Philadelphia Inquirer who covers politics for that paper. Governorsholding you debate is tonight. You can see that live at 7 30 eastern here on cspan. Offers of congress are until after the november elections. Dedicate senator Richard Blumenthal tweeted out some pictures as she walked along the stratford parade. Heres a look at what other members are doing today. The arizona congressman says hes exciting excited to go to the Bridgestone Center opening today. Roy blunt said he will be at Rennes Waterfield trucking in munro city to talk about obama administrations costly regulation. Keith ellison is speaking at a calm at a Conference Today saying great Public Transportation means faster travel and less pollution. Republican, the iowa evan her and his opponent took to the stage for a onehour debate. Was the second of a series of three debates focused on economic austerity and job creation. We will show you that debate in a moment, but first some of the political ads the candidates are running. Ago, 114,000 iowans were out of work. Unemployment was the highest in 25 years. The state budget was 900 billion dollars 900 million in debt will stop today, we have a Budget Surplus will stop 140,000 new jobs will stop governor branstad is just getting started. He is honest, he is compassionate, he is a visionary. He is always looking forward to where we can go next to where we can do better and grow the economy. The jobs are there. Unemployment is at the lowest in the nation we see young people moving back. We have more iowans working today than any other time in our state history. Im optimistic about the future i am a passionate passionate for the state. After 20 years, iowans are government are tired of the governor. There is the 110 million bad deal taxpayer money given to an egyptian billionaire. Economists call this the dumbest economic decision made in ila. He even tried to abolish preschool funding while pushing tax breaks to wealthy special interests. Arent you tired of terri . Its time for a fresh start. Jack hatch for governor. Are two people running for governor for ila. For iowa. Governor branstad has given way to hundred Million Dollars could wealthy egyptian country, jack hatch was rebuilding neighborhoods and think iowans to work. Theres only one thing they have in common and for jack, thats one thing to many. Im jack hatch, and like you, im ready for a fresh start. Good evening, and welcome to burlington, iowa. Im gary with kwqc. Tonight marks the second of three debates in the race for iowa governor. We are happy to bring it to you with our partners, the Burlington Hawkeye newspapers and the greater burlington partnership. For the next hour, Terry Branstad and jack hatch, his democrat challenger, will answer questions from our panelists. Lets introduce them, kenneth, danielle, and the managing editor of the hawkeye, dale. Well also be getting some questions, from you, our viewers and readers, through twitter and Facebook Live throughout this program. Use the hashtag iowagovernordebate. Please welcome Terry Branstad and jack hatch. [applause] the overall theme, if you will, continue is on the economy, from jobs to job creation to infrastructure. Our first topic will be on jobs. In this, we will talk about job creation, tax incentives, like those used to build the fertilizer plant thats being built right now not far from here, and the minimum wage. But we begin with jobs. Job creation and sustainment is always a very big political promise and point of contention among candidates running for office. Danielle begins our discussion on jobs, specifically with a question for senator hatch. Senator hatch, at 4. 4 , iowas Unemployment Rate is even lower than the national average. What could you do to make iowas job climate even better . And well get to the governors record on jobs in just a moment. Were very fortunate in this state, as in every state, to have recovery after the devastating 20082009 recession. And every state is increasing their employment record. Were glad that iowa has the most jobs its ever had before. But so do all the other states in this country. And unemployment is going low, and thats as well an accomplishment for all of us. But what we need in the next governor must lead iowa to the next generation of jobs. That will be an explosion of Economic Opportunity. But to get there, we have to do something different. Build the economy from the community up. Not from the top down. My plan is to have an Economic Development authority, not one to cover the whole state, but regionally, four of them, so each Congressional District will be able to match the states priorities with National Priorities that will be funded by our Congress Persons and also the local communities have spent so much time and effort, like davenport and burlington, to be able to create jobs on their own. Who knows jobs the best but the local authorities, the City Councils . They know where the jobs are. They know where the communities are that need it. They know what they have to do to get those jobs to become a reality in their community. State government is going to be able to provide refreshing new dollars instead of one Agency Getting it. It will be disbursed to four Economic Development authorities with their own board of directors, appointed by the governor, to sit for three years. They will create the opportunities and identify the match between our state investment and the local priorities. Senator, thank you. Governor branstad, 45 seconds for a rebuttal. Well, first of all, obviously my opponent doesnt know whats going on in illinois, because they have the secondhighest unemployment in the nation. Iowas has dropped by nearly 30 , illinois is mired in debt and has the secondhighest unemployment in the nation. Im really proud that weve created over 150,000 jobs in the last three years and eight months. Weve gone from the highest unemployment in 25 years to having a Record Number of people employed. That doesnt happen by accident. Weve got a great Economic Development authority that partners with the locals. The fertilizer plant happened because the people in lee county partnered with the state and made that possible. And im proud that we see those great jobs in iowa. And well be talking more about the fertilizer plant in just a moment. Would you care to rebut for 30 seconds . Yes. Its important for us to understand these numbers. The governor talks about 150,000 new jobs that he has created. But, you know, even a fifth grader knows you have to subtract what youve lost. Over 80,000 jobs were lost in this economy, giving a really net job gain of about 75,000 or 80,000. Thats how we identify jobs. In the private sector, we know that government doesnt create jobs. Businesses do. And we know that governors dont create small businesses. Entrepreneurs do. Were going to create a base of entrepreneurs in this state that will be able to meet the demands and the needs of our communities. Thank you, senator. And as we try to keep on path, well try to keep as close as we can ill give a reminder as to the length of time. Its harder to keep track of, i know, from back here. But well do our best. Our second question now, still on the question of jobs. Yes, governor. I want to go a little bit more into detail about your promise in 2010 about creating 200,000 jobs in five years. And increasing iowans personal income by 25 . Governor hatch has accused you of cooking the books on this. All right. Do you care to tell us where we were at that point, where we are now, and how you think youve done on those promises, talking about adding and subtracting . People think back to where we were four years ago. The Unemployment Rate here in southeast iowa was the highest in the entire state. And we had an Unemployment Rate in iowa well over 6 . Weve reduced that by over 30 statewide, nearly 40 here. I was just last week down at the fertilizer plant. There are 1900 construction jobs there. Theyre going to add another 400. The permanent jobs are now going to be 240. But theres also another industry right here in burlington that share foods is going to be investing 35 million and adding 80some jobs. Were working every day to bring more good jobs to the state of iowa. Im proud of the fact we work in partnership with the local governments and with the local Economic Development people and our Economic Development authority, debbie durham, has done a great job. I think it would be a big mistake to divide the state into four regions. You wouldnt have as much resources. Im really proud of what we have accomplished. But were not done. Were going to continue to focus on how we can prepare the workforce for the jobs of the future, because the Lieutenant Governor and i hear from business we have good jobs but cant find people with the right skills. Thats where skilled iowa and investments in s. T. E. M. , science, technology, engineering and mathematics, prepare them for these jobs, and im really proud of the fact that today the unemployment tax rate in iowa is going to go down again in january for the fourth year in a row. This also makes iowa competitive for businesses and jobs. Senator, 45 seconds. Thank you. It is clear that the topdown approach that governor branstad has been following where des moines picks winners and loses is the wrong approach to use when were recovering from a recession. Our proposal is from the community up. Our proposal is to ensure that local communities, state coalitions, City Councils, boards of supervisors, have a chance to identify and empower their communities to get engaged and to value their own dollars and to be able to have a opportunity to leverage local dollars with state dollars. I think its wrong to be able to say its only going to be des moines thats going to make those decisions. Thats the wrong direction. Were going to have a direction of going from the community up. Now lets move to the big topic, but the both of you have alluded to, regarding tax incentives. We know tax incentives are used more and more for job creation and generating revenue by many states. Tax incentives, tax breaks, the fertilizer plant being built right in this area, 1. 6 billion plant being built here. Some are saying 100 million in tax breaks used to land this deal and to build the plant was too much. For the first question here regarding tax questions for the governor, dale allison, whose staff has done a considerable job of reporting on this very subject. Yes, governor. Regarding the negotiations to land the plant, Property Owners in the immediate vicinity arent quite dont share your enthusiasm with it. Negotiations were done out of the purview of the general public. And, you know, not only was the property negotiated but a payment in lieu of taxes and other considerations, including water rights. Once the deal was announced, iowa fertilizer upped its demand for water from 480 millions gallons annually to 3. 3 billion gallons. How is this good Public Policy for everyday working iowans and how do you address the charge that this deal was crammed down the residents of wever . , first of all, it was initiated by the people, the elected board of supervisors and they provided incentives. But the thing you need to remember is, the net result is the Fort Madison School district and lee county are going to get net plus of 2. 9 million additional tax revenue every year. And the state of iowa is also going to gain revenue. If it had not located here, we wouldnt get those additional tax revenues and we wouldnt have the 1900 construction jobs, the 400 more that are going to be added, nor would we have the permanent jobs, nor would farmers benefit from the 740 million reduction in nitrogen fertilizer costs. That is very significant, because that is the biggest cost of raising corn today, is nitrogen fertilizer. Most of it is being imported. And the big cost is all the transportation costs to bring it in from overseas here to this corn producing area in the midwest. So this was a good deal. In fact, the Site Selection magazine, read by Economic Developers around the world, said this was the secondbest Economic Development deal in the entire world last year. Were very proud of it. And the ceo of the Company Recently said that theyre just getting warmed up. When they complete this, theyre looking at expanding it. Theres only there were ten fertilizer plants being looked at. Only three of them being built, and two of them in iowa, and were really proud theyre being built here, where the corn is produced. Senator hatch, 45 seconds. Thank you. Let me be clear. Im in favor of fertilizer plants that will help engage and expand our agricultural base. And im very much in favor of the jobs it has created. What ive been critical of is the deal that the governor negotiated. It was a reckless deal. It is a bad deal. It was a terrible deal, where he was able to engage 110 million of state money to create 165 jobs. That is equal to 700,000 700,000 per job. Governor, in the seamen manufacturing plant, gave money to them to build wind blades. For 240 jobs, that equaled 7,000 per job. 7,000 per job, 700,000 per job. Theres an imbalance. Thats what were up against. That was a bad deal. That is what is causing the problem. Just think, just imagine what this area could do, if we were able to balance those two businesses and allow us to spread the investment from the state to more businesses and to more areas than just lee county. Governor, 30 seconds. Well, you cant be against the incentives and for the jobs. Without the incentives, we wouldnt have gotten the jobs. Debbie durham is a very skilled negotiator. For 15 years, she did a great job up in sioux city. Thats why i asked her to be the head of Economic Development authority. She worked with the local people here. And actually, it looks like this is going to continue to grow beyond what was initially planned. And the net revenue gained we didnt write out a check. Theyre getting a credit against taxes in future years. Frankly, the state is going to gain i know the Fort Madison School district in lee county gained substantially. This was a great deal. We will continue on this same subject with the next two questions. So for the next question, lets go to danielle, who has a question for senator hatch. Senator hatch, if youre elected, whats your plan to make sure that any business that does receive a state tax incentive is held accountable for job creation, contributing to the overall economy, and also can you also explain how you have used tax incentives in your own private investments . Absolutely. The one important thing that you have to do as a governor, make sure that theres transparency, accountability and responsibility. This is another good area, an example, in which governor branstad did not use any of those three guidance or principles in negotiating a deal. The citizens of iowa want to know whats going on. Youve got to be open, transparent, and thats how you can ensure that negotiations with a company will be honored in the deal. They are already changing the deal. And theyre gonna change the deal more. And its going to hurt our economy, our local folks, our water and the entire ability of us to share other tax credits. Now, the governor has been criminal of my business critical of my business. The Des Moines Register spent over six weeks investigating his claims of a conflict of interest and that im spending so much state money and not giving anything back in return. Thats really kind of disturbing. My wife and i, sonia roberts, opened up our entire business. No privately held company would allow this to happen. But the outrage claims by the governor prompted us to do this. What did they find . That we followed the rules. There was no conflict of interest. And kcrg also had a fact check. What did they find . That the governors claims that our misuse of tax credits was false, that we did things right, that were an appropriate company and were a good company. And its strange that a republican governor would be blaming a good businessman for having a good and honest business. Thats just wrong. And it shouldnt be happening. Governor, 45 seconds. Well, i trust the people of iowa and i have disclosed 4 years of my 24 years of my taxes and if he wants to disprove our claim that he has gained substantially and made millions of dollars at the taxpayers expense, i would challenge senator hatch to to release four more years of his taxes. Im willing to do another four, of the previous four before i came back as governor, if hes willing to do that. I believe that we need to be open and transparent and im telling you we have been. The people in lee county know that. And we have worked with them. And were very proud of the fact that the state partnered with lee county to bring this great project here and bring these good jobs to southeast iowa. Senator, would you like 30 seconds here . I think whats important is for us to understand, in my business with my wife, that we did our tax credits in areas that no other developer would go in. We build affordable housing. And on august 21, the Des Moines Register wrote an editorial that said our use of tax credits was appropriate. The governors use of negotiating with one of the largest and most profitable Egyptian Companies in that nation was questionable. So were providing a public good, by providing housing for lowincome iowans. Hes providing additional dollars to one of the most profitable corporations in the world. Now we move on to a social media question. Our first of the night. This is for the governor. Johnny writes, since the governor brags about the deal in bringing the fertilizer plant to iowa, which was a good thing im quoting here increasing the workforce and putting a lot of people to work with this deal, how many of those jobs actually went to iowans . Most of those i have met say that wever, iowa, its out of town contractors bringing their workforce with them. First of all, its brought a lot of jobs to the area. Many have been filled by iowans. And there have been some that have come in from other areas as well. But its been also great for the economy, here in burlington and fort madison, wever, the entire area. Im really proud of the fact that we have that. We also this year passed legislation for more opportunity for people to learn while they earn. Apprenticeships. And were working, because theres a need for more people in the Construction Industry we lost jobs in the Construction Industry during the previous administration, during the recession. Were now rebuilding that. And we have a great opportunity. We tripled the funding, the state funding for apprenticeships. That way people dont have to go into debt. They can earn while they learn in construction and manufacturing. Im proud to say we work with building and construction trades and we worked with the contractors. And we got that legislation approved this year. And its now in the process of being implemented in helping train more people for those jobs in the Construction Industry, like those at the fertilizer plant, and others being created all over the state of iowa. Remember, theres jobs up in fort dodge, up in woodbury county, all over the state, so this isnt the only project. But this is the biggest and one of the best. Asas a followup to that question, were there not enough skilled iowans to do these jobs . No, there werent enough. Thats the reason why we need apprenticeships, to train more people for these skilled jobs. You can talk to the building and construction tradespeople. Theyll tell you they desperately need more people with skills. And were working hand in hand with them to train people so we have more iowans with those jobs. Those are good careers. And we want to have more of them in iowa. Senator hatch, 45 seconds. Thank you. Were talking about the possibility over the next four to six years of an Economic Opportunity explosion in jobs. But we dont do it if were going to put all of our eggs in the basket of large corporations and large projects. Then you will have an inability to attract the workers to do the job in the construction. What were going to focus on is on small business. On small business, i want to vilsacksoutheast iowas return to tom vilsacks southeast iowas vision, when tom brought in seamens and anheuserbusch, when