It will be his first are to russia since the conflict and ukraine began at his second trip since taking office. They will meet in the resort town of sochi. Today in washington, d. C. , the Atlantic Council is holding a conversation on gas prices and the oil prices and fracking. Live coverage of that discussion gets underway at 3 00 today right here on cspan. On cspan 2 at 3 00, the u. S. Senate gavels in for general speeches, and later discusses the release of u. S. Citizens in iran. Tomorrow, work on trade Promotion Authority in the senate. The house is back tomorrow to talk about Defense Program securities you can watch the house live here on cspan tomorrow. Tonight on the communicators we met up with author peter novak who says we are in a new phase of Human Development and through bro us and other technology, we are likely to enhance the human condition. Robots is an especially interesting one. 2014 was the year where i do not know f if the day went by where did not see a story that said that robots are stealing jobs from humans. The thing that i find the point that i think of missed a lot is that every prior revolution or advance in automation has actually resulted in better jobs for humans. We are really worried about whats taking our jobs, and we have a hard time imagining what we will be doing not 200 years from now, but even 10 years from now. I think that history has shown that we will figure out a way to combine with robots to create new jobs again that were previously unimaginable. Tonight at 8 00 eastern on the communicators on cspan 2. Former Florida Governor jeb bush gave the commencement speech at Liberty University over the weekend. The former governor is exploring a bid for the 2016 president ial nomination. His speech to graduates in lynchburg, virginia was about 20 minutes. [applause] it is now my pleasure to introduce the 2015 commencement speaker, governor jeb bush. [applause] jeb bush thank you very much. Trustees, faculty, staff distinguished guests, faculty and friends i appreciate your hospitality. To all of the graduates, thank you for letting me share in this day as you become proud alumni of Liberty University. It is good to be here, and to visit with the falwell family. My dad thought very highly of your father, president falwell. He knew him as a loyal friend. Jerry falwell had a gift for friendship, spoke to everyone, and he turned his back on no one. His legacy endures, and it only begins with this Great American university. My dad received an Honorary Degree here 25 years ago. Many of you asked this morning how he is doing one month shy of his 91st birthday. Im happy to say he is in good shape. It will stay that way if we can keep his mind off that darn parachute. [laughter] today was my first time to be able to meet with pastor jonathan falwell. Jonathan has a unique place at liberty, because among other reasons, at this university his dad used to be president , then his brother was president. Somehow, i dont know what it was, we really hit it off. [laughter] jeb bush im not sure what is in store for you jonathan, but i am pulling for you, man. [laughter] jeb bush the proudest people will not be collecting degrees. And maybe the parents of this class might be thinking of another time when your milestones in life were a little less ceremonious than today. Things like standing up the first time, or starting to read books instead of just chewing on them, or performing miracles like blowing your own nose were or sitting still in church. It does not always feel that way to parents, but they must have done a lot of things right. Today, by the thousands, liberty is sending forth civilized confident, true hearted men and women, which happens to be what America Needs today. When the rest of the world hardly knew of you you were all , of the world to your mom and dad. By the way, you still are. How about we show our gratitude to the parents and families of the class of 2015. [applause] jeb bush i might add, if you earned a liberty degree and have had active duty in the United States military, you are a credit to this university, your country, and we thank you from the bottom of our heart. [applause] jeb bush whether in the stadium, or an Online Student receiving a degree as of today Liberty University is in your past. This school and the values it stands for will always be a part of who you are. If theres any useful role i can perform, maybe just to offer one last word of encouragement in the vocation you have taken up it is the same one, whatever degree you take, whatever work you will do, it is the greatest of all callings to know, love, and serve the lord, and it is yours by choice. You know how to choose a path and stay on it. That is useful knowledge when life can present more choices than we know what to do with. Especially if you are young and trying to live out the word of the gospel. The world will never run short of competing offers. Youve heard all of them and are not impressed. That wisdom can carry you a long way. The faith that brought you here, that matured here, does not give every answer to every question. Nor of course does it promise a life spared from doubt or difficulty, but in the way of lifes advantages, each of you has the best there is, and awakened conscience. When you have that going, there is no end to the good you can do, or the wrongs you can help overcome, or the hope you can bring into the lives of others. This does not always come as a welcome reminder, but is true all the same. The affliction, the injustice, there is no more powerful or liberating influence on earth than the christian conscious in action. How strange and our own time to hear christianity spoken as a backward force. Outside the 7000 acres of shared conviction, it is a depressing fact that when some people think of christianity and judeochristian values they think of something static, narrow, and outdated. We can take this as unfair criticism as it typically is or we can take it as a further challenge to show in our lives the most dynamic and inclusive and joyful message that ever came into the world. These are the days in which christians are expected to praise every faith but their own. He never accepted that limitation, and neither should we. Least of all in reply to criticism. One of the great things about this faith is it staring. Loving our neighbors seems like an easy call, especially if you like them already, but how about loving our enemies as a bold challenge to leave our comfort zone and lift our sites to larger purposes. As to the suggestion that christianity is a static faith that is not how it reads in the original. I cannot think of any other subversive moral idea than the last shall be first, and the first last. Likewise, is it really some premodern idea that gods favor is on the gentle, kind, and poor in spirit . A lot of people, including a few that command armies have not gotten the news. Violence and fear and domination are their rules to live by as many persecuted christians in our time can attest. No matter what they is professed by cruel men, if we can imprint a few lines of truth on their heart we would surely start with the words of the carpenter born in bethlehem, blessed are the meek, the merciful, the peacemakers. It is a voice like no other. Whether it is captured on scrolls, paper, or in bits of data, seeing in the example of francis the saint or francis the pope, affirmed by the witness of ancient martyrs, or by the witness of martyrs dying in his name today, no place with a message reaches, no heart it touches, is ever the same. Across our own civilization, what a radically different story history would tell without it. Consider an alternative universe of power without restraint conflict without reconciliation, oppression without deliverance corruption without reformation tragedy without renewal, achievement without grace. It is a glimpse of Human Experience without the christian influence. No law in the world, said Martin Luther king, could produce such compassion, genuine love thorough altruism. The Christian Faith joins the assemblies of the hopeless and brings new light into the dark chambers of pessimism. It is not only untrue, but also ungrateful to dismiss the Christian Faith as some obstacle to enlightened thought. Some ancient, irrelevant creed wearing out his welcome. Whatever the source, it provides the moral vocabulary we only use in america and may it always be so. [applause] jeb bush try to separate the ideals from the source, as cs lewis observed, is like a rebellion of the branches against the tree. Justice, equality, the worth of every life, the dignity of every person, rights no authority can take away, these are founding moral ideals in america, ma did and they did not come out of nowhere. Every day people are comforting the lonely, serving the weak and giving hope to the prisoner, and in every way they know, loving mercy and living with integrity. That doesnt happen by chance or because anyone ordered it, or because there is a federal program for it. The endless work of Christian Charity in america is what free people do when they have good news to share. Its how free people live when they have a living faith. There are no blinders on the christian conscience. Try as the world might to try to make us look away from needs wrongs, and make us too comfortable to care, your generation is bringing the christian voice to where it is needed and is not heard enough. This nations efforts to fight poverty has sometimes taken on an air futility because so much has been tried and so much needs to be done. So many Young Christians today are showing the way. Moved not by pity for what is, but by a vision of what can be. For all who would serve the poor and homeless, you set the standard with your belief that everyone matters, and that everyone has the right to rise. Americas environmental debates can be coldly economical, to sterile of life. You remind us of what is at stake. Christians see in nature requires grandeur. The endless glorious work of the lord of life. Men and women of your generation are striving to be the protectors of creation instead of users, Good Shepherds instead of hirelings, and that moral vision can make all the difference. You understand some moral standards are universal and do not bend under the weight of cultural differences. Wherever there is child waiting to be born, we say choose life and we say it with love. [applause] jeb bush wherever women and girls are brutally exploited or treated as possessions without rights and dignity we christians , see that arrogance for what it is. Wherever jews are subjected to the oldest bigotry we reject that sin and we defend them. [applause] jeb bush in all of these causes, and others, your generation is fully engaged, acting by the light of conscience. If any spirit is going to be welcomed in a free society, you think that would be one. At least the founding generation thought so and they wrote the first amendment. Others have their own fashionable ideas, which can be a religion by themselves. It has to be a problem for christians. That makes it our problem, and our response has to be the forthright defense of the first freedom of the constitution of the United States. [applause] jeb bush it can be a touchy subject. Im sometimes asked if i would allow my decisions in government to be influenced by my Christian Faith. Whenever i hear this i know what they want me to say. The safe reply is no, never, of course not. If the game is political correctness, that is the answer that moves you to the next round. The endpoint is a politician weve heard before. The guy whose moral convictions are so private, so deeply personal that he even refuses to impose them on himself. [laughter] [applause] jeb bush the mistake is to confuse points of theology with moral principles. They are noble to reason. This confusion is part of a false narrative casting religious americans as intolerant. Running around trying to impose their views on everyone. The stories vary year after year, but the storyline is getting familiar. The Progressive Political agenda is ready for its next great leap forward. Religious people and churches are getting in the way. Our friends on the left like to view themselves as the agents of change and reform, and we are supposed to get with the program. There are consequences when you dont flex to the latest secular dogmas. They can be hard to keep up with. We find officials demanding pastors turnover copies of their sermons or federal judges mistaking themselves for legislators and imposing rights that do not exist in the constitution, or an agency dictating to a catholic charity, the Little Sisters of the poor what has to go in their health plan. And never mind objections of conscience. I dont know about you, but when it comes to doing the right and good thing, the Little Sisters of the poor no better than the regulators at the department of health and human services. [applause] jeb bush from the standpoint of religious freedom, you might even say it is a choice between the Little Sisters and big brother. Im going with the Little Sisters. [applause] jeb bush that case continues, and the present administration is supporting the use of coercive federal power. What should be easy calls in favor of religious freedom have become an aggressive stance against it. Somebody here is being small minded and intolerant, and it is not the nuns, ministers, and laymen and women that only want to practice their faith. [applause] jeb bush federal authorities are demanding obedience and complete disregard of religious conscience. In a free society, the answer is no. [applause] jeb bush it strikes me that most of the criticism reacted at directed at believers in our day is drawn from hostile character. That is an easy way of avoiding honest discussion. It deepens distrust instead of inviting understanding. So often we hear language that divides us and we need the language of goodwill. Theres so much we share in common across lines of region, religion, and demography. In my experience, you find that the same good instincts, fair mindedness, and free spirit is found among americans of all types including the many hope who belong to know church at all. There is a lot to work with if the aim is to accept differences instead of exploiting them and getting on with life in this free country. As for you graduates, getting on with life is the theme of the day. If your future prospects has anything to do with the sheer number of people wishing you well this morning, you could not have asked for a better sendoff. May this mark one milestone in a long, purposeful, journey. At each turn may you find gods lovingkindness before your eyes and may you always be his instrument. From this place to wherever you are bound, in the words of isaiah, may you go out with joy and be led forth with peace. Congratulations to the class of 2015. [applause] jeb bush there, a potential president ial candidate for 2016. Here is a look at tweeps from republican president ial candidates who have declared. Florida senator marco rubio tweeting a link to his plan for europe. Texas senator and republican president ial candidate, ted cruz, tweeting that he will be in iowa for fundraisers today. He will appear with iowa congressman steve king. Today in washington, d. C. , the Atlantic Council is hosting a discussion on oil prices and the impact of fracking. Live coverage of that discussion is at 3 00 eastern time right here on cspan. Also at 3 00 on a companion network, cspan 2 the senate goebbels and for general speeches and voting later on a resolution stating the governments policy on releasing u. S. Citizens in iran. Tomorrow, work on trade Promotion Authority. Tomorrow, the house is back. They will start debate on Defense Programs. You can watch the house life here on cspan tomorrow. Remarkable partnerships iconic women, their stories in first ladies the book. She did save the portrait of washington which was one of the things that endured her and dear to her to the entire nation. , whoever could figure out where francis was staying, who she was seeing, that would help sell papers. She took over Radio Station and started running it. How do you do that . She did it. She exerted enormous influence because she would move a mountain to make sure her husband was protected. First ladies, now a book, looking inside the personal lives of every first lady in history. Learn about their lives, ambitions, family, and unique partnerships with their president ial spouses. First ladies president ial historians on the lives of iconic american women. Cspans first ladies is an illuminating, entertaining, and inspiring greed, now available as a hardcover or ebook through your favorite bookseller. House Majority Leader Kevin Mccarthy spoke recently on his belief in american exceptionalism and be inspired by Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagans he also compared the carter and obama administrations. He spoke at the Ronald Reagan president ial library in simi valley, california. [applause] rep. Mccarthy thank you very much. Very kind. Thank you. Dont go too long, you have not heard me yet. I want to thank john. That is probably one of the nicest introductions ive ever had. I have been a big admirer of john because he has never lost what reagan taught him. He is willing to make sure the torch continues to be lit. To make sure the values of reagan are taught in other places. When i walked into the green room, i was shocked, there is a picture of me up there. I said, how did you get the already . I helped lead the 100th celebration where we went to london, to prague, to budapest to poland. They wanted to honor reagan. They understood what reagan talked about. They saw firsthand the change that he brought to the world. Whe