Service. He will not give an opening statement, but is available as a resource to answer any members questions that may arise. Begin somewe want to brief questioning by the members of the panel. It is my pleasure to recognize first representative bobby scott of virginia. As a cinematic opening comments, most of the comments are based on the mathematical curiosity that in a close election, the Electoral College and the popular vote may not agree. If youre counting electoral votes and that is what you count just like in the world series you can get outscored but still win. We heard a lot about swing states. One thing about a swing state is it assumes you have in the bag enough to get close to 270. You will spend your time on the last couple of states, just like is a president is trying to get a bill passed. When you get close to 218 in the house, a handful of members get all the attention. Those last few senators will get all the attention. That assumes that you have in the bag and off to get too close. Again, and the Electoral College, you have to be able to carry states that amounts to 270 electoral votes, half of the country. If you do not have that, then swing states do not have any meaning at all. The question that i am asked is how things would change . If you can get credit for running up the score and a state you already have in the bag rather than trying to get from 49 to 51 and a swing state, is that a good change or a bad change . What kind of candidates would be elected . The thought of a National Recount is absurd. Youre not going to be able to do it. You will have state secretaries of state that you do not trust any further that you can throw them coming up with numbers that are just not credible to their face. What are you going to do in that situation . Different states have different election laws. The states of the same size casting vastly different votes. Campaigning strategy how would the campaigning strategy differ on the popular vote, and is that change good or bad . What kind of candidates would get elected . If you have a candidate that is strong in just one region running against two or three people strong in their region, you do not have that now, because you afar because if you are a regional candidate you do not have a shot at 270. Wouldnt that be a good change or a bad change, and what kind of candidates would be elected . Would that be better for the country or worse . That is the focus i would like to see. Not just the mathematical curiosity that you can win one and lose the other. I think well get answers hopefully. Distinguishedhe gentlelady from texas, Sheila Jackson lee. I come away from this hearing with the conclusion that it is going to be a tough fight, but it is a worthwhile fight, and i believe it has to be done. I still go back to the historical fixture that the Electoral College is. The underlying premise is a lack of trust of the American Population at that time and ther capacity to elect leader of the nation, albeit smaller at the time. One thing i wasnt sure what youre saying, and i do want to correct if you have an interpretation that i said the Electoral College was worn out of slavery born out of slavery. Me. Ink you misheard what i said was that elections have consequences. One of the consequences was the unfortunate compromise between hayes and tilden. Popular vote. The by the compromise of hayes getting to be the leader of the free world, the south received a bonus of removing the Union Soldiers and the firewall that the southern opportunities for freed slaves who were then governors and senators and congresspeople. My analysis was that elections have consequences. The consequences of the individual who was sent to the office will be major cuts in medicare and medicaid, a system that will break the backs of most working americans, the illumination of the Affordable Care act, seemingly ignoring conflict of interest. Also looking to undermine laws that have a separation of military and civilians. I want to make sure i clarified that i did not associate the Electoral College with slavery. What i do want to ask, and i the two of you i think was the professor he made the point about the fractures of the National Popular vote interstate compact. I want to thank the gentleman from arizona. It is not a partisan issue. I think that is the point we should make very clear. It seems that way now, but it is not a partisan issue. If we ultimately get will be my 10, 50 years from now, if the popular vote rules, maybe our only challenges will be was it counted . Be interested more importantly the value of a 50 state campaign in some way, shape, form, or fashion. Campaigns will always try to get around to doing work. I think you have a greater chance if you rely on the popular vote for candidates to say i am going to try to get the vote everywhere i can get the vote and speak to national issues. The constitutional premise that the only way to do it is the amendment, if you have some constitutional work on the fractures of the potential impact, i would be interested. The last point is i want to acknowledge a partner, a young man who is now having a press conference on one nation, one vote. I think we should think about young people. ,e has taken his frustration putting it into a nonprofit which he thinks will draw young people from around the nation to talk about one person, one vote. We have to think about the political aspect, how you are literally dousing the hopes and dreams of a Younger Generation that are literal. You vote from your vote counts come you help elected president or not. That is going to be the Larger Population of voters. What are we telling them after this election that despite whether numbers were up or down, those who voted heavily weighted to their vote. As new voters come into this voting process, i really think were going to have to have an answer if youre going to continue to encourage them to be part of the participatory democracy. I welcome more thoughts on this points. Thank you so much. To the distinguished gentleman from georgia, mr. Hank johnson. Thank you mr. Chairman. I would like to know particularly from the professor the answer to this question, which is to what extent did americas history of slavery shape the development of the Electoral College, and were there any other historical conditions, political concerns, or interest that motivated the theers to establish indirect selection of the president and Vice President , and do those conditions and concerns still exist . Thank you sir. Is there someone going to respond to this . Yes, starting with our first witness. Actually engage all of them. These are the questions that have obsessed me for the last 20 years. Actually are answers to some of these specific questions. Theyes will govern will campaign differently. You change the rules, you change the game. Look to the states. We have governors of big states, diverse states that have big rural and berlin areas areas. I dont think they have actually campaigned in ways that should make us anxious about using the template nationally. There are recounts in states. California is a big state. Representative scots concerned that a National Recount races some distinct issues. In 2000, it was clear nationally wonone the popular vote the popular vote. Al gore won by more than 500,000 votes. Yet we had to do recounts in three different states florida, new mexico, and New Hampshire. In the most recent election, it is clear who one nationally. It is actually less than completely clear who one in michigan or maybe wisconsin or maybe pennsylvania. We are going to have recounts either way. In recent history, the national has been clear, the states have been unclear and we have had more recount problems. Here is where i agree with representative scots completely. If you actually have a National Popular vote, you are going to need a National Recounts system. You cannot leave it to the secretaries of state of the different states. That will require can National Oversight congressional oversight. Whether or not a compact stiffly speaking requires congressional oversight under the compact laws of the constitution and the onfessor thinks it does the constitutional issue, i with him. As a practical matter, the system will not work without congressional oversight. In thethat are not compact may try to game it and also took ways. They may not participate in recounts. They may come in and out. You are going to need National Oversight in order to make it seem and i say it to you all with all due respect as one of two people whose brainchild the National Popular vote interstate compact was. This emerged from two ideas independently of dean and Professor Robert benny and heres truly Robert Bennett and yours truly. There are these technical problems. The system will not work without congressional oversight, which will require National Recount possibilities. That is a reason to say that is different from the governors. Point taken. Finally, it is not a partisan measure. Im delighted to have republicans as well as democrats. In 2004, john kerry could ,asily, had he been in ohio 60,000 votes changes hands in ohio, he wins the Electoral College while losing a National Popular vote by 3 million. I dont think there is a partisan skew today. Would be a partisan skew if we want to congressional districts, everyones to state proportionality. That would in fact skew the system to the Republican Party in ways that i could go into. Right now, it is not particularly partisan. We do not have regional candidates for governors. We do have them for the Electoral College. Names are Strom Thurmond and George Wallace and evan mcmullen. We have the more for the Electoral College than states. The Electoral College makes a fraction of the national system. You can be a spoiler and throw things into the house of representatives and change the whole outcome and bb king makers and be the king makers. We have problems with candidates e more big spoilers candidates being spoilers for president than for governor. Slavery, the role that slavery played is not merely the founding at philadelphia, but in particular with the amendment of the system after two elections in which the seven or jefferson ran against the northern adams. The constitution was amended, the top amendment the 12th amendment. Without the actual electoral votes greeted by slavery, john adams wins that election. My friend may be shaking his head, but i show you that that is what every adam supporters said, including people in this house who actually say he was robbed 13 electoral votes because of slavery. South did not have extra electoral votes, the candidates would have campaigned differently, but the biggest role that slavery place is actually in the 12th amendment. The Electoral College is not the one created at philadelphia. You have an Outdoor College there is a separate vote for the president and Vice President. Slavery was large and that. Theres a book on that called negro president s, and it is not largenown how will how a role slavery played in those early election when southerners ran against northerners. The wanted to notice that chairman of the congressional black caucus, chairman g. K. Butterfield, has come into the panel. We welcome him. He has been here before during this hearing. If he wanted to make any observations, we welcome him at this time. Thank you very much mr. Chairman. [inaudible] thank you mr. Chairman and my fellow colleagues. I really came today to listen. This is a subject that i have a lot of interest in, because everywhere i go in my district, people are stopping me on the street wanting to know about this thing called the Electoral College. They had never heard of it before, some of them say. I dont know where they were during bush v gore. People honestly, truly do not understand the Electoral College. We have to have a very robust debates now in this country about whether or not it is wise to continue with the Electoral College system, or whether we want to move and gravitate toward the popular vote. I dont have an appropriate answer for people who confront me on this when i get home. I look forward to hearing as much as i can today. Thank you very much. Thank you sir. Lets continue with the rest of the panel. You mr. Chairman. A number of questions have been raised by representative scott. I will try to deal with them fairly six safely. Being a historian, i dont believe in predicting anything. That is one of the trademarks of our discipline. You have to be prepared to be surprised on any given day as was the case on november 8 and november 9 and so on. If i wanted to imagine what would be the most likely change in our system if we had a National Popular vote done by article five amendment rather than potential he interstate compact, i assume that if the parties were competitive nationally, which i believe they will continue to be, that the parties would at that point have a strong incentive to turn out their votes wherever their votes were. They would not just be hanging out in new york, l a, the bay area, chicago and so on. Parties would have to come up with a variety of strategies. That will become more easy in the future than it has been in the past. Because social media can give you many more ways to reach voters. I think that would be in the public good. A democracy in maximizing Public Interest in the election. Not just my vote is being wasted. If im the minority and a red state or blue state or whatever. Number two, i think i agree that instead of how would you recount individual states, if you have a National Popular vote, there would be only one constituency. Lets call it the United States of america, to come up with a convenient phrase. Under the constitution, congress has the authority to intervene to determine how elections were to be conducted. Instead of having a chaotic Voting System the butterfly ballot in West Palm Beach would be the classic example the National Government already possesses the Constitutional Authority to determine what are the best methods of collecting votes. You want to have a paper trail and so on. Instead of this chaotic systems where states to everything, you would have a racist for nationalizing the basis for which americans vote. Based on the we have seen in these elections, i think that would be a positive development. Also the chair of the bush 2000 Campaign Committee deemed a responsible person to decide what to do about the florida recount. That is nuts. Maybe we need a civilservice basis for this. I think that would be a net public good. To congressman johnsons about the history of slavery. We have spoken about it. Sense that in one the 3 5 clause is an important factor in the original construction of the Electoral College. Took placenk it primarily for the writing of the constitution. I dont think it took place to advance slavery. It was a set of compromise is where the framers ran out of time. Upon the compromises they had made previously. Is onceky part of this you realize that the Electoral College is there for partisan then on aon, and statebystate basis you can write and rewrite the rules for maximum partisan advantage, what takes place between 1796 and 1800 and intending some after that there is a whole set of rule changes. If you take the 1800 election as your great test point, you have to take into account all the other rule changes going on. This system was not static. Of theson im skeptical professors conclusion is if you look at the congressional result and you compare the disparity between the state legislatures in terms of running electoral rules, the republican victory in 1800 was so dramatic, they basically reversed a lopsided margin in the house of representatives. If you go on the index, as the best marker of what sediment was at a time of it sentiment was. Slavery factor is important, but it is not determinative in the way that the professor suggests. Let me try to respond to several different issues. If an of i had to desk even if i have to disagree with my friends. First, i would like to note for this group a remarkable anniversary. We are exactly 200 years. 1816 that a proposal for a National Popular vote was first introduced in congress. Exactly 200 years ago. It was dismissed from consideration, in part because of what it would do to the slave states. Turning to more recent matters, i would agree in response to congressman scotts comment that campaigns would change. I think they would change in ways that are not for seeable. I think youd see in tents of a lot of places. I also think it is reasonable to think that if you had a National Election, we would have National Election rules of one sort or another. I realize that would be controversial. I think you did a National Uniformity of election rules. I do not as fast do not necessarily regard this as a bad thing. It seems that in every country in the world, if you have the same rule of governing elections in all parts of the country. Im sure why we would be ill suited to do that. Is a case that we might end up not with more regionallybased third parties with ivr advantage by the Electoral College we may and up with more ideologicallybased third parties around the nation. That may be something to consider. Toally, a response congressman johnsons question about what were the other considerations going on in the minds of the framers in addition to slavery, let a things in response to that. One is that there was this were that there was this concern for electioncollection would not be logistically feasible and it would be hard to get candidates known. That is certainly not an. Bjection which obtains today back then, they didnt even have youtube. Ander notable thing this is my reading of the Constitutional Convention and all of the discussion that takes place among the framers as theyre going backandforth to try to figure out how to choose a president and they dont now and keep changing their mind, there is never a concept that the people have a right to vote. It is never invoked. It is never mentioned. We are talking about a very different political era. It is good that original intent is not something that we have relied upon around here. Textually, it is important to note that the words right to vote now appear five times in the constitution. In the 14th amendment, and the 15th amendment, 19 amendment, 24th amendment and 26 amendment. It is precisely because of the legacy of slavery and racism that the founders could not acknowledge. They did not have anything in their original constitution that persons are equal, only that states are equal in the senate. In thet find them original constitution. I promise you today when you look at your constitution, adhered to pull up my copy and tell you that today those words appear not once but five times, and equal of years there as well. That i refresh the panelists memories on some of the points that i have made that i have not heard them respond to . That is that elections have consequences. Electoral college skews those consequences to the extent that Electoral College decides whether or not reconstruction survives, it decides whether or not we have a massive change in how health care is done and medicare is done. Secondarily, the point made about the strength of a compact that you have made the point. Whether or not it would stand constitutional muster. Third is if you have a new generation of voters who are literal in their thinking, which is one vote, one person, how do you engage them in this fixture called the Electoral College . The appreciate the of remaining three panelists would respond to those questions, or at least include those in your answers. , inr. Chairman and members response to congresswoman lees , i want to let you know also that in arizona and arizona house, we actually passed the National Popular vote in the house bipartisan, 20 republicans, 20 democrats. I think it was one of your questions a little earlier. I would differ as far as stating that the Electoral College itself is skewing election outcomes. I would point out that i think one fix to the problem that we currently have and it is a difficult fix when you look at state like california, Republican Voters are disenfranchised when it comes to electing our president. You go to texas, and democratic voters are disenfranchised there. What i would say is that one potential fix is that we do not have winner take all states. That any electors are awarded proportionally to the votes cast. For example, i think california had one third republicans whose us did not mean anything because no electors were rewarded. I would like to remind members that the way our system of republic, is we are a a representative form of government. It, our think about house members are elected directly. Originally, our senators were elected and selected by our state legislatures until the 17th amendment was enacted. Our framers of the constitution had some different thoughts in mind when it came to how different people were being selected. Of course, our legislators are selecting electors to represent the will of the states when it comes to the Electoral College. Course, i have just thements about system in general. My understanding is that it comes from an english tradition. It wasnt them in founders just milli vanilli came up with. Different aspects of our constitution were borrowed from other countries. Judgmentaling to be or anything, but congress, you voice some concerns about the way that the Electoral College behaves and works and whether it might be disenfranchising. It has been around a long time. You think about our history as a nation, congress could have mustered up the two thirds to pass it at any time. Especially after the civil war, if the Electoral College and its system of selecting the president was deemed to be somehow biased. Certainly after the civil war, this is something that should have been looked upon. I think we only really talk about it when we run into a situation like we do in 2016 with our current election. Thank you very much. Mr. Chairman, i have a few comments. I will start by taking a crack at congresswoman jackson lees comment, particularly around how do we its planar systems young people explain the system to young people . Register voters registered voters was difficult. ,hen i teed out why that was that was the ceiling that my vote does not matter. Run into students that live in pennsylvania or New Hampshire. In a somewhat perverse way they would say im from pennsylvania, i must that there. And we would say absolutely. Just an oddity of our system. I think also others have asked what would a campaign, National Popular Vote Campaign look like . Were so fixed on winning state x and y on that red and blue map. If you are talking about getting the most votes of the country, it is no longer of particular interest to win a state very it is of intense interest to run up margins in the states where you are going to win and minimize losses in the states where you cannot avail prevail. We all watched New Hampshire in 2012. They did spend a nickel in vermont or massachusetts or maine or connecticut or rhode island. That would change. They would presumably be some kind of spreading out of resources throughout new england. In a state like vermont, we deliver routinely the first or second highest percentage for any state for president obama and his election and reelection. You could not go to democratic headquarters. 80 miles in New Hampshire, they were baking people to take it. It is amazing how extreme and liberally people are shut out at least 35 states are. Running up to george w. Bushs reelection, the white house and the campaign of added that they had been calling for two years in 18 states. In that era, 32 states were not even of interest to their opinions. This is how shutout we are. Under popular vote, it becomes absolutely about margins everywhere. You would minimize places you have been losing. Under winner take all, it doesnt matter if you lose vermont or any state by 2 or 20 . You have lost. Under a popular vote, it is about margins everywhere. And must can say to us get us an extra 5000 votes because we want to make up the drumming we are getting in alabama. If people are worried about recounts, you should be worried about them today. Their farmer prevalent today and are problems today. Prior to this election, we have had five litigated accounts, and have called into question elections are result into question our elections. All, if there is 10 of us in our room and we vote on something, we are far more likely to tie that if there are 1000 of us in a room. When you expand the franchise so that you treat every vote equal ,ut of 100 30 odd million votes the chances of a very close election go down. Right now, were carving the country up into 51 little pools as we saw in 2000. There is a big question of who prevailed in florida. There was zero question and an election who had the most votes in the country. And we lovehe pool the country into one pool of voters, the chance of a recount is greatly diminished. Should we need a recount in that case . Congress does have the authority to create uniform rules. States themselves do have rules around recounts. It is a bigger problem, it is a bigger likelihood of having problems today. We have seen problems with recounts. The timeline is very condensed. It is a bigger irritant under a winner take all system that would be under a National Popular vote. Finally, folks have mentioned potential instability if you go the compact route. To some it is a great advantage, if there is some kind of unanticipated outcome not of the election itself, but of the process. It is easier than have we amended the constitution, much easier to change state law back. I will say the idea that legislators who have made this change, who are after all creating a system that part far too manyts americans already think is the case, but have a hard time looking at constituents and say we have to back away from a onevote, oneperson system and go back to the old winner take all system that is part of the constitution. Political reality actually creates a great deal of stability through state action. My conservative colleagues very much favor keeping this power within the states. They like that it is a benefit that maybe people could decide to change the mind back out of a popular vote. Did you feel . Firstcome historically, if we look at the 3 5 rule, if you look back and drill down into the Constitutional Convention, that was initially established as part of the formula for representation in the house of representatives and for direct taxation. It is arguable that along with the great compromise, the connecticut compromise which set up the bifurcation between the senate and the house of representatives, that without the 3 5 compromise, the south might not have gone long. They may have withdrawn from the convention. If the Electoral College was tainted by association with this initial 3 5 compromise, it was more by extension. As one of the other panelists pointed out accurately, late in the convention, the Electoral College was the best they could get and it was something everyone could agree on. Secondly, with respect to representative jackson lee, the hayes tilden event was arguably one of the great tragedies in american history. If you look at the progress of participation in selfgovernance by africanamericans in the , therefter the civil war certainly seem to have been something the extra but in life. They worked with the africanamerican officeholders. The hayes tilden compromise with true federal true withdrew federal troops who upheld civil rights, and also gave a blank check to jim crow another 70 or 80 years. I think your point is well taken. I thought one of the more interesting points made here today was the possibility that the National Popular Vote Initiative could be a halfway house, which may ultimately lead to direct popular election through constitutional amendment , which the panelists suggested. As probably the best goal another interesting point is that i watched over the years proposedect to amendments that deal with the Electoral College, there has been an increasing interest among members or there was an increasing interest that would enhance the authority of the United States government through its authority over the times, places and manner of holding elections. Some of the other panelists mentioned this as well. It is something the states might complain about, but on the other a greatert were to be federal rule in the way our elections are administered, conducted, and perhaps financed, states might arguably not be so unhappy with that. Finally and you would really need if youre going to have a manner ofecount, some doing it on a uniform basis across the country. There are 50 different statutes on books in the states right now and it is difficult to do that. With respect to constitutional amendment for direct popular election, constitutional amendments as we said earlier are difficult to get through. My experience from studying the amendment process is that either amendments are the result of a long building up of public support until it becomes obvious that there are national majorities in favor of it, or it can be the result of a catalyzing event such as with respect to the 25th amendment and the assassination of president kennedy. Both of these factors are helpful. The third factor is the allntion and support members of congress and the leadership in congress. Many years i used to say that if ,e ever had a socalled misfire that they would probably be action in congress to push forward a constitutional amend. We had one in 2000. Congress did respond. Help americah the vote act, which i dont think i heard mentioned here today. That was used for legislation to provide improved and enhanced federal standards and grant aid to the states to improve their Election Administration procedures, and particularly their hardware. There has been work on this in congress. , i cannotssibility speculate, that this catalyzing event here that we have seen may lead to further developments. Mr. Scott . Recount, one of the things about the state recount, if you have a recount you expect both sides to be well represented. If you have a National Recount in each state, you may not have both sides well represented, and you may have different election registration and that thing. If youre running up the vote, election laws can be extremely helpful. That is why one of the things you have suggested is there would have to be national standards, which would eliminate the Voter Suppression laws that some states can enact. We hope that we would get that straight before we go to a popular vote so we would not have some states doing their own recounts, changing their election laws to allow sameday registration, no counting know, certified results no counting, no certified results. We are faced with having to accept that or, i dont know what you would do. If we had the federal mechanism in place first, then i think you would have something that would make sense. A couple of other things. I have not heard any comment over whether or not running up the score in one state would produce a better president than in the close states trying to 51 . Rom 49 to which would produce the better candidate, particularly if it is a swing state where you have to get to have the country to get to 70. 270. An get you can get the popular vote running up the score in your region. Which is actually better . Finally, one of the things that could be helpful in this is if you have a runoff. If you have a bunch of candidates getting 25 , 30 , whether or not you have a runoff. With a copy 50 or something lower . Any comments . , on those three questions first, you are absolutely right that we are going to need national standards, not just for the recount, but for the count for voting. ,n an Electoral College world the states actually dont have a particular incentive to make it easy to vote. You have the same number of electoral votes since 1910 where the let women vote or not. In a direct election you double your clout if you let women vote. In a direct election world, it is true, and it is a concern as i try to address it as i thought through the ideas that became the National Popular vote interstate compact. California might say hey, lets let 17yearolds the. And texas is hey lets let 16yearold vote and arkansas says hey, lets let dogs vote. It is a good thing, not a bad thing to have a national law that you all would draft, implementing a national right to vote. The founders did not have that phrase in the constitution. You now have it five times. The deep a gala terri an idea that all those are counted equally and no voter is more valuable than any other voter whether they are in a swing state or not a swing state or will not beal, that vindicated if you count votes equally but have completed the different rules about who can vote and how they can vote. You are going to need that upfront, whether it is required or not by the interstate compact clause. It is will make the system actually work. Other countries do it. As to whether it is better to have candidates who try to rack bases or justeir appeal to swing areas, that is basically the same issue that exists in states. Can say swing counties rather than swing states. Do you try and california to rack up the vote in urban areas, instead try to have a different kind of appeal where you might not rack up as many votes there, but you will lose fewer votes and antiurban areas . My claim is that we have many states that are quite diverse and lookig are big like america whether we call them ohio or pennsylvania or california or texas. Our governors are just fine with one person, one vote, uniform standards. The system will change if we moved to that. We cannot fully predict all the changes. We can say we can look at governors. I do not think they are a bad model. No one else has the Electoral College. No international counterpart. That system seems to work pretty well for those places. I just want to put something in the record. You have been indulgent with your time or just to get a quick yes or no. I sent the beginning i think this has been a rewarding and instructive, and particularly intellectually grounded in the constitution and otherwise hearing. I believe it is important now that we are on i think our fifth popular vote if i have the right count right conflict, that we have official ongoing hearings on the question elections that includes the Electoral College in the house and senate. Can i get a quick yes or no . Amen. Down to the end . Congressional Research Service will support congress, whatever decision. I forgot your limitations, but thank you for that. I have a letter asking for those hearings, thank you. Do want to put it in the record . I do. That is unanimous consent. Is some other comments that we want to hear from before we close down. Mr. Chairman . I would like to make a very brief comment about the interstate compact and the notion of a way station. There are two different ways of thinking of a way station. View is ask her to think of the interstate compact as a way of mobilizing Political Support for changing the system. If you got close, that could be channeled for an amendment. Yes or . Yes sir . I understood the comment to the effect of do we end up with a better candidate at the end . You look at this particular election cycle, Something Like 17 republican candidates and i think we had four democratic candidate. It is through that primary process that a party chooses a candidate. It is a partybased process. Voice is ing i would consider myself a federalist and a constitutionalist. I would be concerned that right now, we have a u. S. Justice department that can at times be very overreaching when it comes states and down the not necessarily treating us as sovereigns when it comes to our election laws and how we have our elections. Arizona has a policy that disenfranchises individuals or groups based upon any criteria, it is going to make Headline News and were going to be we are not going to be able to move forward with that. The last thing i would want to see is that the federal government take away more of our sovereignty at the state level to run our business when it comes to elections. We do not need to be micromanaged. If there are grievances from individuals or groups as they feel that we are being unfair, then those need to be run out to the light of day. If were making mistakes, either accidentally or on purpose, we need to correct those mistakes. Did you want to close this down . I would be honored to one final comment in regards to representative scotts concern about the differentiation between state laws under a National Popular vote. This is the system today. We live with those results today. I would argue they have very deep impact today. In fact, outsized influence today than they would under National Popular vote. Surely we would agree floridas use of the chad ballot had enormous applications of the rest of the country had to live with. Ohio or lack and thereof has a major influence on our elections. Voter id laws in wisconsin is going to ripple through the future of our country. When we routinely have a system 512comes down to battleground states and we live under the variation of those state laws, we are going to already see an outsized influence over the variation of state law. When you lump everyone together, i would argue that it minimizes the impact of that variation. Mr. Scott . Comments that the Electoral College does not exist anywhere else. It actually exists in the city of richmond, virginia, where you are elected mayor by carrying five of nine warts wards. On that note, i want to thank the panelists for an excellent discussion. There were seven of you initially. This has worked out well. I also congratulate not only my colleagues, but my colleagues who were able to stay with us throughout the entire discussion. Ms. Lien mr. Scott, i thank you very much for being here today for your contributions. With that, i declare this hearing adjourned. [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2016] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] [indiscernible] a senate and senate panel tomorrow look at the impact on the at t time warner can merger impact on consumers. Subcommittee on antitrust and competition begins at 10 a clock a. M. Eastern on cspan three. Later, the House Rules Committee works on a resolution to fund the federal government through april 20 8, 2017. Current putting what that friday at midnight. We will also work on a Water Resources measure that is for flint, michigans tainted water system. You can stream live on cspan. Org, or listen live on the free cspan radio app. Here is a headline from the guardian. Lose airing should force one contract over outofcontrol cost. Going for going to lose its contract over air force one. He cites what he claims is a 4 billion price tag. Boeing is building a new 747 air force one for future president s, but costs are out of control. More than 4 billion. Cancel order. The president elect wrote on twitter. You can work you can read more on the guardian. Com. Good morning, how are you . Everything fine . You guys are great people coming weve got some great people coming in today. Were talking about a lot of things to a lot of people. We have a lot of people coming up, great people. Thank you all very much. He said this money about canceling the contract for air force one . The plane is totally out of control. It is going to be over 4 billion for the air force one program. I think it is ridiculous. I think boeing is doing a little bit of a number. We want going to make a lot of money, but not that much money. Washington, d. C. , mayor spoke briefly to reporters at the trump tower in new york city after meeting with president elect donald trump. After her remarks, we will hear from i will governor, who also met with mr. Trump the iowa governor, who also met with mr. Trump. Good morning everybody. I am from washington, d. C. I came up to meet with the president elect and congratulate him on behalf of the residents of washington, d. C. Also to welcome him. We are a unique entity in our system. Washington, d. C. Is neither a city, county, or state. We are all very proud to be the nations capital. As such, we welcome every american president as he comes to the white house. I will talk about specific things that the president elected by discussed. I will say we had a wideranging conversation about things that are important to washingtonians. Who we are, how we function as a city, county and state. Ow we are 680,000 people how our citys economy is booming and how we have exciting Economic Development projects and exciting opportunities. I also talked to him about concerns washingtonians have. I talk about his transition and how his transition and the transition we went through as a city just two years ago maybe a like. We are also very focused on education. And how our city is focused on education as well. We also finally have a discussion about the inaugural activity, i can take a couple of questions. Yes maam . The one thing i know and emphatically he said it is he is a supporter of the district of columbia, familiar with the district of columbia, and that he wants to be supportive. Like i said, we talked about a lot of issues. Number one on my list of things to talk about is the federal involvement and how we improve the washington, d. C. , transit system. I have the best job in washington, d. C. I am the mayor. I am not going to talk about his feelings or what he shared that i think it was important for me to make sure the new president knows that we are not a federal agency. We are not dependent on the federal government for our funding. Budget a 13 billion that we do not get any more from the federal government than any state, only the things that support our activities to support our goals of protecting the like. Ent and it was important to me that he knew also about our relationship with the president and congress. Like i said, sam, we talked about the things that are important to washingtonians and certainly becoming the 51st state is one of them. Thank you everybody. That we had a wonderful meeting. I was able to report to president elect trump that he carried iowa by nearly 10 points. He carried 93 of 99 counties. Doneest a republican has in iowa for president in a long time. My son was the state director of the campaign and he was able to connect with a lot of rural and bluecollar voters and did extraordinarily well. We also talked about the transition. I am excited about the quality of people he is attracting to the cabinet and were looking thank you event that is going to be held in des moines on thursday and i think it will be a recordsetting crowd that weve had for any political candidate or office specialnd he has a very relationship with my son who was the state director in iowa and helped with wisconsin. So, well, we had an opportunity to talk about a number of things and i cannot comment on that at this point in time just to say that i am very proud to have supported donald trump for president. I think he is going to make America Great again and bring good jobs to our country and make us more competitive and so we are very excited and very proud and that is all ive got to say. Thank you. Announcer president elect donald trump met with the founder ian ceo of the Japanese Telecom and Internet Firm softbank. The company will invest 50 million in net u. S. After that we will hear from Trump Advisor Roger stone who spoke to reporters at trump tower. [indiscernible] mr. Trump ladies and gentlemen, softbank from japan, he has just agreed to invest in the United States. He is one of the best men of industry. So i just want to thank you. Thank you very much. If you want to speak to them you can. But one of the truly great man. Thank you. You may want to say hello. See you soon. Is a true 2. 7 billion has already been spent . Mr. Trump i dont know. Theyve got to work that out. [indiscernible] were going to invest 50 billion in the u. S. And commenced to create 50,000 new jobs. How you do that . We invest into the new Product Company in the united state. A, no, we dont make proposal. My friend make apple farm. We are softbank. We own sprint. Internet so many company. Pardon me . Of. 100 we paid 32 billion in cash. What right you here and how did you come about this meeting with mr. Trump . Through your own bullish and . I just came to celebrate his new job and we were talking said, weand then i thought he would do a lot of deregulation. I said, this is great. The United States will become great again. Companies. New Startup Companies in the United States. How many jobs . Jobs. 000 new we will invest 50 million and 50,000 new jobs. Studies by your name sir . I am the ceo of softbank. Softbank. N is my friend, ok . Asa. [indiscernible] what kind of advice are you giving the president elect . That would be proprietary because any conversation i had with it must remain private and i just nothing i think you guys would love. In divided know anything i would not say so. So but, he is in a great mood. Plusser. Ade by alan to have them made it in london but now i have the made in the United States. I am so busy on deadline for a book i am trying to write to get out on inauguration day, i have been sent 100 links i need to read. I am behind the curve therefore i cannot assess how real it is. I just dont know. I understand the outline of the story. I am not a great fan of john. Ccused me of being a do you think you will like the book . Yes he will. But it will be in the balanced style analysis of how he won the election. He might not enjoy that. Who might not enjoy that . Some democrats, even a few republicans. Again, i am trying to use the same kind of big picture style. If you go back and look at making the president s 1960, john kennedy is the hero of the book. If you are conservative, you have to be very happy today. Im good, thanks. Announcer, follow the transition of government on cspan is president elect donald trump selects his cabinet and the republicans and democrats next. E for the watch or listen. Free cspan radio app. Up next, remarks from Vice President elect mike pence at the Heritage Foundation. Then in his last National Security event of his presidency, president obama urged americans to heighten scrutiny. Trumppresident elect thanked supporters in fayetteville, North Carolina. Bags now Vice President elect governor mike pence talks about health care and policy in the incoming administration, saying the president has secured a mandate for leadership. He spoke at the Trump International hotel in washington. [applause]] well, thank you. A sense of humor. Less time he introduced me i gave him a hard time because it was a rough introduction so he overdid it this time. What a great crowd. I apologize for those of you who had to stand in line for so long it it is going to be worth promise you. I understand they got you something to drink while you are standing there and everything so thank you. Thank you for the care. Im trying not to be too giddy tonight. Theres something really sweet about standing in the trump hotel cheers and applause] just ate a few blocks from me white house. Just a few blocks from the white house. Introducing my friend who will be the next Vice President ial couple of the United States. It is very sweet. Mike and i got to know which of the spent a fair amount of time getting called on the carpet together when we were in the house. A lot of times in the leadership of his because were trying to stop some nonsense that we would end up in a small room where they were trying to persuade us to go along with their nonsense but one time we were actually called to the white house by george bush and we were at the Table Holding up something he had not been kind to pass into congress and it was president bush and dick cheney and karl rove and their whole group and mike pence and i were there and he really went after us so mike will remember this, he looked across the table and said, i know some of you are running for the senate, which i was at the time and he just kind of looked that and i knew what meant. He did that to my, i dont know what its writing but he pretty much set of we did not go along our political careers were going to be over. I went on to be a senator, might want on to be leader of the house and governor of the state so somehow we survived standing our ground. But thats what i remember about mike. The Tea Party Movement set the stage for what has happened this year. When a Million People came to washington in 2010, we got some people here, give yourself a hand. The Tea Party Leaders generally did not ask politicians to speak. But there were two people they asked to speak. One from the senate and one from the house. I got a chance to speak to that group and i remember when mike and scott up there he looked out over the all crowd and said, the calvary has arrived. And they have. They have kept working. What a great friend, what a great hero. The turning point in the Trump Campaign was when he released our list of Supreme Court justices. Applause] may be a tax plan that steve moore had worked on or some of our defense stuff but i think we all know when this campaign turned. It is one donald trump said mike pence was going to be his Vice President. Welcome, please governor mike pence and karen pence to the stage tonight. Give them a good heritage welcome. [applause] gov. Pence thank you so much. Thank you so much for that warm heritage welcome. Humbled to bey before you today and my wife and i are so grounded to be back. Glad to be back. I can honestly say i was with the Heritage Foundation before it was cool. Thank you for supporting the extraordinary work of the Heritage Foundation. You have made a difference in america and we are just getting started. As i look around this room i see so many people i deeply admire. Aople that have been mentoring role in my life for so many years and to be here with the future second lady of the United States of america, karen, is a particular joy. Just 44 days away from one donald trump will be inaugurated as the 45th president of the United States of america. He did it. It was commonsense conservatives all across the land, just like all of you in this room that made the difference. I am here today to pay a debt of gratitude to Heritage Foundation and to express the appreciation on behalf of the president elect for your generosity. As we speak isn continuing to play an extraordinarily Important Role in the formation of this new government. A government that will take office on january 20 and a president who i know will make America Great again. I want to thank my friend jim dement for that wonderful introduction. Jim and his wonderful family have been friends for a long time. I admire him. We were foot soldiers in the conservative battles back more than a decade ago on capitol hill and to see his role here at Heritage Foundation widening out, jim we are just so proud and grateful for your strong conservative stand on the national stage. Jim and i are good enough friends to know the that that kind introduction he did the shorter. Was a little i am a christian, a conservative, and a republican. In that order. It is a pleasure to be here today. I am grateful to your chairman, tom saunders my friend and feist chairman. Into the incomparable ed who each and every day is showing up for work at the Transition Office of the next president of the United States of america. And you give and a standing ovation . I tell you what, he has made a difference in america and he never quits. [applause] gov. Pence but i am really here to say thank you. Thank you so much for your support. Of our new president elect and for the ongoing support of the Heritage Foundation. Jim and died talk on a regular basis and i want to show all of you who are the patrons of the Heritage Foundation that this administration has already, is now, and will continue to draw intellectualnary resources and creativity, as other republican administrations of done, of the Heritage Foundation. We truly do believe that our president elect has secured a mandate for leadership and here at Heritage Foundation you know something about that. 40 of 50 states, more counties one since Ronald Reagan was the republican candidate for reelection as president in 19 84. A historic victory born of ideas and i want to share with you some of the president elects priorities and call on each one of you to draw on the resources of this Great Organization and continue to support the work of Heritage Foundation as we address the challenges our nation faces in National Security, economic security, and ensuring we have a Supreme Court that will uphold the constitution of the United States of america. Applause] gov. Pence but in each of these cases i truly do believe what has already inspired me about the Heritage Foundation is this underpinning commitment to Free Enterprise and in a little bit more plane smoking way, the commitment to ensure the ongoing vitality of the American Dream. It is what we are about. And before i leave the stage tonight i want to share with you to theis so important president elect and his hoosier standing before you today. Foremost, for america to be prosperous, for america to be strong, america must be safe. It was Ronald Reagan who taught us that piece comes through strength and yet it would be in recent years. [applause] the pence and smite ongoing commitment to a national thisse, the reality is administration and 70 ways or even longer, we have walked away from our commitment to be that in the of democracy world. Here are some statistics. Remember, the Heritage Foundation was minted back in the day when an former head dark hair and was just a staff intern. It was minted around the mission of national defense. My friends in the commission who would go on to be in an outside foundation who would promote the principles of National Security. That just are rather jarring. Since 1991, our activeduty armed forces have gone from 2 million to one point remain today. Our navy has been reduced from today. 0 ships to 272 the air force is roughly one third smaller. The smallest it has been since world war i. Our Standing Army the smallest it has been sent the end of the second world war. I promise you, the obama era of weakening our National Defenses is over. [cheers and applause] gov. Pence president elect donald trump recognizing the policies that have hollered out our military. Son, i amde that my proud to say, is a pilot in the United States marine corps so it is a great pride for our family. Thank you. The average age of our aircraft in the military today is older than my son, 25yearsold. [chuckles] gov. Pence that is about to change, everybody. I promise you im going to roll my sleeves up. We are going to pass a military supplemental. Give our soldiers, sailors, and airmen, because guards, and marines the materials they need and they are going to hunt down and destroy isis at its source so it can no longer inspire violence in our homeland or kill our people. [applause] gov. Pence and our president elect is not just dedicated to those in uniform. But those who have served in uniform. The first speech i attended since the National Republican convention he laid out a 10point plan to make sure those who served in uniform who have earned the Healthcare Benefits of the v. A. Receive worldclass health care hand donald trump as president of the United States is going to fix the v. A. And ensure that all of those who have served have worldclass benefits and health care from day one. [applause] gov. Pence and, i was just on capitol hill today meeting with leaders in the senate. The president elect and i have been on capitol hill and im going to tell you, right out of the box our president elect is going to be in the promisekeeping business for working with leaders in the house and senate and we are going to repeal of obamacare lock, stock, and barrel. And applause] gov. Pence the number one priority in this administration is to keep that promise to the American People. Enormous premium increases facing the American People. The Heritage Foundation did so much to educate the public. 25 percent average premium increases facing americans. In the state of arizona, one 116 increases. The president elect has directed the leadership in congress to put on his desk with all deliberate speed a bill that repeals obamacare he and we will set into motion a process to replace it with free market reforms that reduce the cost of Health Care Without growing the size of government. [applause] gov. Pence the president elects particular passionate about the opportunity to bring relative asian to states innovation to the and that is nowhere more true than in Health Care Reform and with the appointment of dr. Tom price as the new secretary of hhs we are going to be advancing reforms in medicaid. Working with members of congress to block grant medicaid back to the states so states around america can innovate with Health Care Solutions Like Health Savings accounts, Association Health plans, and drive down the cost of Health Insurance to every american even while we meet the needs of those that are struggling to make ends meet. [applause] gov. Pence but this lesson of congress and the focus ultimately is going to be about growth. The first 100 days i was visiting capitol hill the other day and i told my former colleagues to buckle up. Vacation is over. We are going to work. Were going to start out by repealing obamacare and starting the process of replacing it with Free Market Solutions and right out of the box you are going to see our president elect get out that pen and repeal every single unconstitutional executive order that barack obama signed into law. [applause] gov. Pence as we traveled across this country we heard more about regulation than we did about taxation and many businesses large and small so we are going to work with members of congress to roll back the avalanche of red tape that is been stifling american jobs and growth and we will be working closely with Heritage Foundation that has long been talking about regulatory reform. To undo red tape stifling jobs and growth but working with members of congress on reforms that will permanently reform and reset the balance of the regulatory state and lawmakers in washington, d. C. [applause] gov. Pence and make no mistake, it is about regulation but also about taxation. Working with leaders in the house and the senate. Before we get to the spring i promise you with your help and with the help of our friends in congress we will cut taxes across the board for working families, small businesses, and family farms. Were going to simplify the tax code and lower business taxes in america from 35 to 15 so companies can compete and create jobs in this country without seeing them shipped overseas. I have to tell you that the American People, if you saw last week in my home state of indiana, the American People are going to see come january 20, a champion in the oval office for American Workers and american jobs. Some of you may have heard about that because of the initiative of our president elect im happy to say in the state of indiana more than 1000 goodpaying jobs are not going south of the border. They are staying right here in the United States of america. And the reason carrier made their decision, i was actually in the room when he called. He called him up and said, i just want you to know we meant every word we said. Were going to cut taxes, make america more competitive for manufacturing and job creation. We are going to roll back regulations. We are going to repeal obamacare. Have tougher and smarter trade deals so businesses will see the wisdom in creating jobs for the american worker, the American People right here in the United States. [applause] gov. Pence make no mistake about it, our president elect and i believe fervently in the free market. It you cannot say you are for free markets and stand by while an avalanche of higher taxes, regulations, in Big Government stifle out the competitive of the American Economy. Things are about to change in the American Economy and that begins on january 20. And lastly a perhaps most importantly when we think about it think about the stakes in this election and so many of you played such a leading role not just us patrons of the Heritage Foundation but also supporting candidates and supporting our cause in the campaign as well and for that we are rightful. And for that we are grateful. You know, as i traveled around the country i often reminded people that while we were electing a president to survey serve it a fouryear term right before he is elected to serve another fouryear term i would often remind people as our president elect would that the next president would likely have the opportunity to influence the Supreme Court and its direction for the next 40 years. And the American People responded to that message. In that calling. I want to thank the Heritage Foundation and other great conservative foundations like the american foundation. Like the Federalist Society that have weighed in. It is a list that legal scholars and conservative thought leaders have called a gold mine of conservative jurisprudence and you may rest are sure that our new president elect will appoint justices to the Supreme Court of the United States of america in the tradition of the light and late and great justice antonin scalia. [applause] gov. Pence so we have work to do and i am the only one standing between you and dinner. So im going to get out of your hair. Although i might just single one person out of the room. Carly fiorinas right here at the front table. Do my standing up, carly . This is a great, great voice for conservativism in america. [applause] gov. Pence thanks for your great leadership. So we have work to do. Enjoy your dinner. And roll your sleeves up. The president elect tonight is in North Carolina on a thank you tour. Is also making it official that the next secretary of defense will be general james mattis. But he said last week in cincinnati, he said last week in cincinnati words that i want to remind you of tonight before i leave you with a parting thought. And that is that for all the we did together in this country to elect a president who will make America Great again, our work has just begun and i hope you leave here tonight inspired to continue to play a role in the Heritage Foundation and its historical work in this country and i also hope you leave here today and go back to respective states and as you see these initiatives, as you see the president elect pause right hand the president elects right hand go into the air and when it comes down i hope you know it begins. And here is where we do the work. We go back and take all the energy from the campaign to get behind these efforts to rebuild our military, restore our economy, stand up for our constitution, and illegal immigration. Repeal and replace obamacare. The work is ahead of us not behind us. I want to challenge you to be ready to do that by doing in a couple of different ways if you would. You know, i said at the Republican National convention that the Republican Party had nominated a candidate this year who was larger than life. Charismatic. Unfailingly interesting and memorable. [laughter] gov. Pence so he obviously wanted to balance the ticket. [crowd murmuring] [chuckling] gov. Pence and i am humbled to be a small part of it. I truly am. I also want to remind people around the campaign trail in many ways from the first time we spent time together last summer i sensed a certain commonality between us. You see, my grandfather immigrated to this country when he was about my sons age. From ireland. He drove a bus in chicago, illinois, for 30 years. His family immigrated to this country. Raised a family, started a business. My dad was a selfmade man who built a small gasoline station business with his own two hands in a smalltown in southern indiana. His dad build a great business and a great family. Both of us were raised to believe that to whom much is given much will be required. And so for him, that meant the kid from queens went to manhattan island. [laughter] the talle and built buildings and a national name. For me, it was a calling into Public Service believing that this nation had been so good to my family. You know, i often tell people that you know other than a whole lot of zeros, donald trump have a donald trump and i have a whole lot in common. [laughter] gov. Pence a lot. And that is a belief in the American Dream. That is really where it started and that is where i want to and. And where i want to end. Because that is what the Heritage Foundation has always been about for me. Advancing, preserving, defending the ideal that are the very foundation of our nations prosperity. The American Dream. It i want to promise you for our president elect and for his Vice President elect, the American Dream is not a bumper sticker. It is real. We lived it. We experienced it. I mean, his calling into Public Service itself i know in his heart is borne of his sense of gratitude for this nation. He loves this country. He loves everything that has made America Great before and he is going to fight every day to make America Great again. Because we believe in the American Dream. And we can bring it back bigger bigger than ever before. That is the work we have before us. Leave here tonight with a burden on your heart to be part of that ongoing work to that matters. America matters far beyond our shores. We are that last, best hope today every bit as much as the day that was first set. I would ask you to do one other thing if you are of my mind. To bow your head and bend your knee in the days that approach january 20 and every day afterwards. I would encourage you to pray. Pray for our country. Pray for those of us with the awesome privilege to serve this, the greatest nation on earth. I always like to think that Abraham Lincoln probably had the focus of prayer and his times. He was asked in his day if he thought that god was on his side. And president lincoln said, i would rather concern myself more with whether or not we are on gods side. Then that god is on our side. So think of that. And pray for our nation. And when you do, and when you do, pray with confidence. I truly do believe it in my heart of hearts that what has been true for millennia still true today. That in these divided times where we face unknowable challenges abroad and too Much Division at home that if his people were called by his name will humble themselves and pray he will do like he has always done throughout the long and storied history of this nation. He will hear from heaven. And he will heal this land. This one nation under god. Indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you very much. Thank you to the Heritage Foundation and god bless you all. [applause] announcer cspans washington journal. Live it every day with news and policy issues that impact you. Morning, wednesday congressman tim ryan of ohio discusses the future of the House Democratic leadership, his views on the 2016 Election Results and Donald Trumps pending residency. Subcommittee on health, a talk about how the republicans plan to handle the river handle the Affordable Care act. And a talk about the anniversary of the bombing of pearl harbor and its impact in the world on the u. S. In the past and today. Be sure to watch washington journal live wednesday morning at 7 00 a. M. Eastern. Join me discussion. Announcer president obama delivered his final National Securities speech and spoke effortsunterterrorism during his administration. He talked about efforts to on a monday and noted he was the first president to serve two ofl terms during a time four. He spoke at Mcdill Air Force base in tampa, florida. [applause] announcer ladies and gentlemen, the president of the United States. ] heers and applause pres. Obama thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you everybody. Thank you so much. Everybody, thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. Applause] resident pres. Obama thank you, everybody please have a seat. Thank you so much. Good afternoon everybody. I was just told that was going to be the last hail to the last hail to the on the road and it got me kind of sentimental. I was able to visit with some of the men and women from Mcdill Air Force base, central command, special operations command, to thank them for their extraordinary service. So to you and your families and to the extended family of American Service members let me say that our nation ocean you and unbelievable debt of gratitude. We are grateful for you and we will be praying for you over the holidays. [applause] pres. Obama as you know, your mission was changed after the 9 11 attacks. And the time i took office, the United States had been at war for seven years. Years, that ive been in office, there has not been a day when a terrorist or some other colorized individual was not plotting to kill americans. 20, i will become the first resident of the United States to serve two full terms during a time of war. Now, we did not choose this fight. But once it came to us, the world saw the measure of our results. The most solemn responsibility for any president is keeping the American People safe. And in carrying out that duty i intosent men and women harms way. I visited troops around the globe. I have met our wounded warriors. And i grieved with gold star familys. And i know better than most that it is because of your service and your sacrifice that we have been able during these eight years to protect our homeland, to strike crippling lows against , and tot networks fortify our friends and our allies. So today i would like to reflect on the work and talk about the foundation we will leave for the next administration. Setme to this office with a of core convictions that have guided me as commanderinchief. I believe that the United States military can achieve any mission. That we are in and must remain the strongest fighting force the world has ever known. [applause] obama i believe we must never hesitate to act when necessary, including unilaterally when necessary against any imminent threats to our people. It i have also insisted that is unwise and unsustainable to ask our military to build nations on the other side of the world or resolve their internal particularly in places where our forces become a magnet insurgencies. And instead, it has been my focustion that even as we relentlessly on dismantling terrorist Networks Like al qaeda and basis, we should ask allies to do their share in the fight. We should strengthen local partners who can provide lasting security. These convictions guiding the policies we pursued both in iraq and afghanistan. When i took up his, the United States was focused overwhelmingly on a rack. Troops150,000 american has spent years fighting an insurgency and helping to build a democratic government. Meanwhile, al qaeda had regrouped in need order regions pakistan andn and was actively planning attacks against our homeland. Nearly 150,000 troops home from iraq, consistent with the status of forces agreement negotiated by the previous administration. In we served our efforts along with our allies in afghanistan which allowed us to focus on dismantling al qaeda and give the Afghan Government the opportunity to succeed. This focus on al qaeda, the most dangerous threat to the United States at the time, paid dividends. Measure, al qaeda, the organization that hit us on 9 11 is a shadow of its former self. [applause] obama plots direct it from within afghanistan and pakistan have been consistently disrupted. Its leadership has been decimated. Dozens of terrorist leaders have been killed. Osama bin laden is dead. [applause] pres. Obama and importantly, we build a counterterrorism capability that can sustain this pressure against any terrorist network and Southeast Asia that may threaten the United States of america. That is because of the work of our outstanding Service Members. Moreover, that early decision to strengthen our efforts in afghanistan allowed us to build the capacity of afghans to secure and defend their own country. Than they are less there are less than 10,000 american troops in afghanistan. Instead of being in the lead against the taliban, americans 320,000supporting arean Security Forces who defending their communities and to supporting our counterterrorism efforts. I do not want to paint too rosy of a picture. The situation in afghanistan is still tough. War has been a part of life in afghanistan for over 30 years. The United States cannot eliminate the television in thator violence country but we can do is deny al qaeda a safe haven and support afghans who want a Better Future which is why we work not only with their military but we have backed the unity government and kabul. We helped afghani girls go to school. We helped with electricity and education. You have made a different in afghanistan and america is safer for it. [applause] obama of course, the terrorist threat was never restricted to south asia or afghanistan or pakistan. Even as al qaeda has been decimated in in afghanistan and pakistan, the threat from metastasized in other parts of the middle east and africa. Most dangerously, we saw the l. Ergence of a sold of isi the terrorist network and insurgency. There has been a debate about is il that is focused on whether or in timettempt back couldve stopped them from growing. This was not an option. Wanted ouraqis military presence to end and they were unwilling to sign an agreement to protect our troops from prosecution if they were trying to defend themselves in iraq. In addition, maintaining american troops in iraq at the time could not have reversed the forces that contributed to isis rise. A brutal dictator in syria who lost control over large parts of the country. Social media that reached a global poll of recruits and a hollowing out of iraq Security Forces which were ultimately in 2014. N mosul in fact, american troops, had they stayed there, would have lacked Legal Protections and faced a choice between remaining on bases or being drawn back into a sectarian conflict against the will of iraqs elected government for the local populations. But circumstances changed. L made substantial gains mosul and first in then another parts of the countries, iraqis reached out for help. In shaping our response, we refuse to repeat some of the mistakes that help to give rise to the organization that became first place. We conditioned our help on the emergence of a new Iraqi Government and Prime Minister that was committed to National Unity and committed to working with us. We build and International Coalition of nearly 70 patients, including some of iraqs nations, including some of iraqs neighbors. Help usuded things to better understand the enemy. Isil we took the fight to in both iraq and syria. The with our advisors and importantly, our special forces. That campaign, we have now hit isil with over 16,000 airstrikes. We have equipped and trained tens of thousands of partners on the ground. Today, the results are clear. Has lost more than half its of major, last control population centers. Its morale is limiting. Its recruitment is drying up. Its commanders and external plotters are being taken out and local populations are turning against them. [applause] obama as we speak, isil sul from offensive on mo iraqi troops. That is the largest remaining city it controls. Meanwhile, the selfdeclared qa is being the squeeze. We have destroyed the lifeline that contained hundreds of millions of dollars in cash and oil reserves. Were breaking the back of isil. Weve taken away its safe havens and we have accomplished all of this at a cost of 10 billion over two years which is the same amount we used to spend in one month at the height of the iraq war. So the campaign [applause] the fight haso been sustainable on multilateral and demonstrates a shift in how terroristsh everywhere. Instead of pushing all of the burden onto american ground troops, instead of trying to mount envisions wherever terrorists appear, we built a network of partners. U. S. Air power has helped local militias dislodge a dangerous isil cell. Mali, where we helped our french allies rollback enemies there. And international peacekeepers. And in yemen, where years of targeted strikes have degraded isil in the peninsula. These offensive efforts have buttressed a global effort that make it harder for terrorist networks to breach our defenses and spread their violence and ideologies. Working with european allies who suffer terrible attacks, we strengthened intelligencesharing and cut in half the foreign fighters in baisil. We have worked with our technology sectors. A recent study shows that isils propaganda has been cut in half. We have launched a Global Engagement center jump our voices that are countering i sils perversion of islam. And we are working closely with our allies from the persian gulf to Southeast Asia. This is your work. We should take great pride in the progress weve made over the last eight years. That is the bottom line. No Foreign Terrorist Organization has successfully planned and executed an attack on our homeland. Applause] pres. Obama into this is not because they did not try. Plots have been disrupted. Terrorists have been taken up the battlefield. The battlefield. And we do this as we drew down nearly 180,000 troops in iraq and afghanistan. Today there are just 15,000. Should sub and built. We have respected the role of law. We have enlisted our values and this fight and all of this progress is due to the service of millions of americans like you. In intelligence, law enforcement, homeland security, diplomacy. The Armed Services of the United States of america. Thanks to you. [applause] obama to say we have made progress is not to say the job is done. We know a deadly threat persists. , thisw that in some form extremism will be with us for years to come. Of the world,s especially the middle east, there has been a breakdown of order that has been building for decades. It has unleashed forces that are going to take a generation to resolve. Longterm corruption has rotted too many nationstates from within. Governance is collapsing, sectarian conflicts rage. A change in climate is increasing competition for food and water. [applause] are. Obama false prophets peddling a vision of islam. Every one of these trends is a play inside of syria today. At play inside of syria today. What complicates the challenge even more, with all of our focus on terrorists overseas, the most deadly attacks on the homeland have not been carried out by operatives with sophisticated networks or equipment directed from abroad, they have been carried out by homegrown and largely isolated individuals who were radicalized online. These deranged killers cannot inflict the sort of mass casualties we saw on 9 11, but the pain of those who lost loved ones in boston and San Bernardino and fort hood and orlando, that pain continues. And in some cases, it has stirred fear in our populations and threatens to change how we think about ourselves and our lives. So while we have made it much more difficult you have made it much more difficult to carry out an attack approaching the scale of 9 11, the threat will endure. We will not achieve the kind of silly to find victory, comparable to those we won in previous wars against nations. We wont have a scene of the emperor of japan and Douglas Macarthur and the surrender. The reason is because Technology Makes it impossible to completely shield impressionable minds from ideologies. Somebody who is trying to kill and willing to be killed is dangerous, particularly when we are living in a country where it is very easy for that person to buy a weapon. So rather than offer false promises or deploying more troops or fencing ourselves off from the rest of the world, we have to take a long view of the terrorist threat, and we have to pursue a smart strategy that can be sustained. In the time remaining, let me suggest what i think should guide this approach. First of all, a sustainable counterterrorism strategy depends on keeping the threat in perspective. The terrorist threat israel, and it is dangerous, but these terrorists want to cast themselves as the vanguard of a new world order. They are not. They are thugs, they are murderers, and they should be treated that way. [applause] pres. Obama fascism threatens to overrun the entire world, and we had to wage total war in response. Communism threatened only to overturn a world order threatened not only to overturn a world order, but threatened the nuclear holocaust, so we had to build arms alliances to contain it. Todays terrorists can kill innocent people, but they dont pose an existential threat to our nation, and we must not make a mistake of elevating them as if they do. That does their job for them. It makes them more important and helps them with recruitment. A second and related point is that we cannot follow the path of previous great powers who sometimes defeated themselves through overreach. By protecting our homeland while drawing down the number of troops serving in harms way overseas, we helped save resources, but more importantly we saved lives. I can tell you during the course of my years that i have never shied away from sending men and women into danger where necessary. Its always the hardest decision i make, but its one that i have made where the security of the American People is at stake. And i have seen the cost. I have held the hands of our wounded warriors. I have met the caskets of the fallen. And that is why i make no apologies for only sending our troops into harms way when there is a Clear Mission that is achievable, and when it is absolutely necessary. Number three, we need the wisdom to see that upholding our values and adhering to the rule of law is not a weakness in the longterm, it is our greatest strength. [applause] pres. Obama the whole objective of these terrorists is to scare us into changing the nature of who we are and our democracy. The fact is, people and nations do not make good decisions when they are driven by fear. These terrorists can never directly destroy our way of life. But we can do it for them if we lose track of who we are and the values that this nation was founded upon. [applause] pres. Obama and i always remind myself that as commanderinchief, i must protect our people, but i also swore an oath to defend our constitution. And over these last eight years, we have demonstrated that staying true to our traditions as a nation of laws advances our security as well as our values. We prohibited torture everywhere, at all times, and that includes tactics like waterboarding, and at no time has anybody who has worked with me tell me that doing so has cost us good intelligence. [applause] pres. Obama when we do capture terrorists, despite all the political rhetoric about the need to strip terrorists of their rights, our interrogation teams have obtained valuable information from terrorists without resorting to torture, without operating outside the law. Our article three courts have delivered justice faster than military trials. And our prisons have proven more than capable of holding the most dangerous terrorists. Consider the terrorists who have been captured, lawfully interrogated, and prosecuted in civilian courts. The one who tried to set up a the set off the set off car bomb in times square. Dzhokhar tsarnaev, the Boston Marathon bomber. And the socalled underwear bomber. American juries and judges have determined that none of these people will know freedom again, but we didnt lawfully, and the wheels of justice are turning for others, such as the accused leader of the benghazi attacks. We can get these terrorists and stay true to who we are. In fact, our success in dealing with terrorists through our Justice System reinforces why it is passed time to shut down the facility at guantanamo. [applause] pres. Obama this is not just my opinion, it is the opinion of many military leaders. During my administration, we have transferred over 175 detainees to foreign governments with safeguards to reduce the risk of them returning to the battlefield, and we have cut the population in gitmo from 242 to 59. The politics of fear has led congress to prevent any detainees from being transferred to prisons in the United States, even though as we speak we imprison dangerous terrorists in our prisons, and we have even more dangerous criminals and all in all of our prisons across the country. Even though our allies often times will not turn over a terrorist if they think that terrorist could end up in gitmo. Even though groups like isil use gitmo in their propaganda. So we are wasting hundreds of millions of dollars to keep fewer than 60 people in a detention facility in cuba. Thats not a strength. Until Congress Changes course, it will be judged harshly by history, and i will continue to do all that i can to remove this block on our national honor. [applause] pres. Obama number four, we have to fight terrorism in a way that does not create more terrorists. For example, in a dangerous world, terrorists seek out places where it is often impossible to capture them, or to count on local governments to do so, and that means the best option for us to get those terrorists becomes a targeted strike. Action under my ,ommand, including with drones to remove terrorists from the battlefield, which has prevented real threats to the American People. [applause] pres. Obama under rules that i have put in place and made public, before any threat is taken outside of a war zone, there must be near certainty that no civilians will be killed or injured. And while nothing is certain in any strike, and we have acknowledged that there are tragic incidents where innocents have been killed by our strikes, this is the highest standard that we can set. Nevertheless, we still have critics who suggest that these strikes are wrong, and i say to them you have to weigh the alternatives. Drone strikes allow us to deny a safe haven without air strikes which are less precise, or invasions that are much more likely to kill innocent civilians as well as americans servicemen as American Servicemembers. The actions we have taken have saved lives at home and abroad. But the point is that we do have to be careful to ensure that when we take actions, we are not alienating local populations, because that will serve as recruitment for new terrorists. Number five, transparency and accountability serve our National Security not just in times of peace, but more importantly in times of conflict. Thats why we have made Public Information about which terrorist organization we are fighting and why we are fighting them. We released assessments of noncombatants killed in our operations. Taken responsibility when mistakes are made. We declassified information about interrogation methods that were wrong, so we learned from past mistakes. And yesterday, i directed our government for the first time to release a full description of the legal and policy frameworks that guide our military operations around the world. This Public Information allows for a more informed public debate, and it provides a potential check on unfettered executive power. The power of the presidency is awesome, but it is supposed to be bound by you, our citizens. [applause] pres. Obama but heres the thing, that information does not mean anything. It doesnt work if the peoples representatives in congress do not do their jobs. If they are not paying attention. [applause] pres. Obama right now we are waging war under authorities provided by congress over 15 years ago. 15 years ago. I had no gray hair 15 years ago. [laughter] pres. Obama two years ago, i asked congress, lets update authorization for a war against isil, reflecting the changing nature of the threats, reflecting the lessons we have learned from the last decade. So far, congress has refused to take a vote. Democracies should not operate in a state of permanently authorized war. Thats not good for our military, its not good for our democracy. [applause] pres. Obama and by the way, part of the reason thats dangerous is because today, with our outstanding, all volunteer force, only 1 of the population is actually fighting, which means that you are carrying the burden, which means that it is important for us to know what it is we are doing and have to explain what we are doing to the public, because it becomes too easy to just send 1 of the population out to do things even if they are not well thought through. If a threat is serious enough to require the sacrifice of our men and women in uniform, then members of congress should have the courage to make clear where they stand. Not on the sidelines, not on the toes, but by fulfilling their constitutional duty and authorizing the use of force against the threat that we face today. Thats how democracies are supposed to work. Number six, alongside our outstanding military work, we have to drop on the strength of our diplomacy. Terrorists would like to see us walk away from the type of work that builds International Coalitions and stops the spread of deadly weapons. It would make life easier for them. It would be a tragic mistake for us. Think about what we have done the last eight years without firing a shot. We have rolled back Irans Nuclear program. Thats not my assessment. Thats the assessment of iranian of israeli and intelligence, even though they were opposed to the deal. We have eliminated syrias chemical weapons program. All of these states have helped keep us safe and keep our troops safe. Those are the result of diplomacy. And sustained diplomatic efforts, no matter how frustrating they sometimes appear, are going to be required to solve the conflict boiling in the middle east, and if we dont have strong efforts there, the more you will be called upon to clean up after the failure of diplomacy. Similarly, any longterm strategy to reduce the threat of terrorism depends on investments that strengthen some of these fragile societies. Our generals, our commanders understand this. This is not charity. Its fundamental to our National Security. A dollar spent on development is worth a lot more than a dollar spent fighting and war. Fighting a war. [applause] pres. Obama this is how we prevent conflicts from starting in the first place. This is how we can ensure peace is lasting, after we have fought. Its how we stop people from falling prey to extremism, because children are going to school and can think for themselves, and families can feed themselves and are not desperate, and communities are not rabbits did are not ravished by disease. As americans, we have to see the value of imperial society, and we have to support entrepreneurs who build businesses instead of destroying. We have to invest in young people, because the areas that are generating terrorists are typically having a huge youth bulge which makes them more dangerous. And there are times we have to help refugees who have escaped the horrors of war in search of a better life. [applause] pres. Obama our military recognizes that these issues of governance and Human Dignity and development are vital to our security. It is central to our plans in places like afghanistan and iraq. Lets make sure that this wisdom is reflected in our budgets as well. And finally, in this fight, we have to the Civil Liberties that define us. Terrorists want us to turn on one another. And while defeating them requires us to draw upon the enormous capabilities of all our governments, we have to make sure that changes in how we address terrorists are not abused. This is why, for example, we have made extensive reforms on how we gather intelligence around the world, increasing oversight, placing the restrictions on the governments ability to retain and Search Communications so that people trust us, and that way they cooperate and work with us. We dont use our power to indiscriminately read emails or listen to phone calls targeted at folks who might be trying to do us harm. We use it to save lives. By doing so, by maintaining the Civil Liberties, we sustain the confidence of the American People and we get the cooperation of our allies. Protecting liberty, thats something we do for all americans, not just some. [applause] pres. Obama we are fighting terrorists who claim to fight on behalf of islam, but they do not speak for a billion muslims around the world, and they do not stay for american muslims, including many who wear the uniform of the United States of americas military. [applause] pres. Obama if we stigmatize good, patriotic muslims, that just feeds the terrorists narrative. It fuels the same false grievances they used to kill. If we act like this is a war between the United States and islam, we will not just lose more americans to terrorist attacks, we will also lose sight of the very principles we claim to defend. So let my final words to you, as your commanderinchief, be a reminder of what it is you are , what it is we are fighting for. The United States of america is not a country that imposes religious tests as a price to freedom. We are a country that was founded so that people could practice their faith as they choose. The United States of america is not a place where some citizens have to withstand greater scrutiny, or carry a special id card, or prove they are not an enemy from within. We are a country that has bled and struggled and sacrificed against that kind of discrimination and arbitrary rule. Here in our own country and around the world. We are a nation that believes freedom can never be taken for granted, and that each of us has a responsibility to sustain it. The universal right to speak your mind and a protest against authority. To live in a society that is open and free. That can criticize a president without retribution. [applause] pres. Obama a country where you are judged by the content of your character, rather than what you look like, or how you worship, or where your family came from. Thats what separates us from pirates and terrorists. We are a nation that stands for the rule of law and strengthens the laws of war. When the nazis were defeated, we put them on trial. Some could not understand that. It had never happened before. But as one of the lawyers at nuremberg says, i was trying to prove that the rule of law should govern human behavior, and by doing so, we broadened the scope and reach of justice around the world. We held ourselves out as a beacon and an example for others. We are a nation that won world wars without grabbing the resources of those we defeated. We helped them rebuild. We did not hold onto territory, other than the cemeteries where we buried our dead. Our greatest generation fought and bled and died to build an International Order of laws and institutions that could reserve the peace preserve the peace and prosperity and promote Cooperation Among nations. For all of its imperfections, we protect we depend on that International Order to protect our freedom. In other words, we are a nation that at our best has been defined by hope and not fear. A country that went through the crucible of a civil war to offer a new birth of freedom that stormed the beaches of normandy, climbed the hills of iwo jima, that saw ordinary people mobilize to extend the meaning of civil rights. Thats who we are. Thats what makes us stronger than any act of terror. Remember that history. Remember what that flag stands for. For we depend on you, the heirs to that legacy, our men and women in uniform, and the citizens that were you, that support you, to Carry Forward what is best in us, that commitment to a common creed, a confidence that right makes might, not the other way around. [applause] pres. Obama thats how we can sustain this long struggle. Thats how we will protect this country. Thats how we will protect our constitution against all threats, foreign and domestic. I trust that you will fulfill that mission, because you have filled all others. It is the greatest honor of my life to serve as commanderinchief. I thank you for all you have done and all you will do in the future. May god bless you, our troops, and the United States of america. Thank you. [applause] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2016] a Senate Panel Examines the impact of the merger. Well hear from the ceos of at t and time warner. Begins at 10 00 a. M. Eastern on cspan3. Later, the House Rules Committee works on a resolution to fund the federal government through april 28, 2017. Current funding runs up friday at midnight. The committee will work on a Water Resources measure that includes money for flint, michigans, tainted water system. You can stream it live on cspan. Org or listen live on the free cspan radio app. Follow the transition of government on cspan as donald trump selects his cabinet and the republicans and immigrants repair for the next and the democrats prepare for the next congress. Watch live on cspan and ondemand at cspan. Org, or listen on our free cspan radio app. Next, Donald Trump Thanks supporters in fayetteville, North Carolina. At this rally, he officially announced that retired marine corps general james mattis was his pick to serve as defense secretary. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the president elect of the United States, donald j. Trump. Mr. Trump thank you, thank you. Thank you, everybody. Thank you. Wow. Thank you. [cheers and applause] mr. Trump thank you. Trump trump trump [cheers and applause] mr. Trump so, the weather was really bad, really bad, and they said, you know, these are great people in North Carolina, they wont mind. [cheering] mr. Trump they said they wont mind if you cancel and make it another time. And i said, what . And they said, we have a big crowd, but they wont mind, just because the weather was so terrible. I said, youve got to be kidding. So we have been driving for 2. 5 hours. But there was no way that we were not showing up tonight, that i can tell you. [cheers and applause] mr. Trump we could not land at your local airport. We landed a long ways away. The drive was about three times longer than the flight. But we made it. Thats all that matters, right . [cheers and applause] mr. Trump and im here today for one main reason, to thank you, the people of North Carolina, for being so incredible. We want to thank you. You went out and pounded the pavement, you organize your fellow citizens, and propelled to victory a grassroots movement, the likes of which nobody, nobody has ever seen before, and thats beyond our country. [cheers and applause] mr. Trump and i want to give a special thank you to the incredible military Service Members and veterans of North Carolina. [cheers and applause] mr. Trump they were great. I got such numbers. Oh, those numbers are good. I wont talk about that. We dont talk about numbers, we bring people together, but boy, were those numbers good. And our veterans, do we love our veterans . [cheers and applause] mr. Trump your states legacy of service is an inspiration to us all. North carolina has produced many of the finest soldiers, airmen, sailors, and marines the world has ever seen. [cheers and applause] mr. Trump so true. Our men and women in uniform represent the absolute best of us. We must follow their example, working in unison toward a shared goal across every social, racial, and economic line. They understand that to accomplish the mission, we must all be pulling in the same direction. We have to get together. [cheers and applause] mr. Trump they know that we must leave no man or woman behind. These patriots have shed their blood to defend our country in distant fields, and battle across the earth. Our debt to them is eternal and everlasting. Amazing people. [cheers and applause] mr. Trump amazing people. And we have a very special person here today who we are going to introduce. [cheers and applause] mr. Trump boy, it has been such a popular choice. We salute their sacrifice, and we salute the flag they bought to protect fought to protect. We love our flag. [cheers and applause] mr. Trump we love our flag, and we dont like it when we see people ripping up our flag and burning our flag. [booing] mr. Trump we dont like it. We will see what we are going to do about that, ok . [cheers and applause] mr. Trump tomorrow is the 75th anniversary of pearl harbor. It is the milestone of those who wear the great uniform. It is a reminder of the valiant efforts of Americas Fighting men and women who liberated millions from tyranny and oppression. Now today, our brave men and women are the first in line, defense, defense, against radical islamic terrorism, words some people dont like to say, an ideology of death that slaughters innocent men, women, and children. We are going to protect our people, we are going to protect our country, believe me. [cheers and applause] mr. Trump in every generation, a new threat to freedom arises. Just as we defeated these threats, we faced generations in the past, and you understand that. So too will we defeat the forces of terrorism. It is unseen in many cases, but we are going to defeat that force, and we are going to defeat it strongly and quickly, believe me. [cheers and applause] mr. Trump we will prevail. We stand here today just miles from fort bragg, the home of heroes. [cheers] mr. Trump our special forces at fort bragg have been the tip of the spear in fighting terrorism. The motto of our Army Special Forces is to free the oppressed, and that is exactly what they have been doing and will continue to do. At this very moment, soldiers from fort bragg are deployed in 90 countries around the world. Can you believe that . 90 countries. Based in fort bragg is the 82nd airborne division, also known as the allamerican division. We stand in awe of their achievements, we really do. Not far from here is 45 of the entire United States marine corps at camp lejeune. I have been to camp lejeune. We love camp lejeune. 12,000 citizen soldiers fill the ranks of the North Carolina army and air National Guard. The National Guard rushed to the scene to help the victims of Hurricane Matthew and so many other catastrophes. And we continue to send our thoughts and prayers to those recovering. The military families in North Carolina are a national treasure, and it will be the duty of my administration to ensure that we protect those who protect us. [cheers and applause] mr. Trump and i just want to tell you that we are going to be taking care of our veterans, and i am right now working these are great, great people, but they have not been treated fairly, and i am working on picking the people who are going to be helping our veterans, and they are really outstanding. We have some of the great people, and a lot of people are making great sacrifices to do this, but they will be unbelievable. You will see such a change like you have never seen before. We are going to protect and help our veterans, believe me. [cheers and applause] mr. Trump that brings me to the second reason i am here, to discuss our action plan to make America Great again, beginning with the rebuilding of our military, and we will you are going to see it i am looking forward to next week. You are going to see what we are going to do to take care of our vets. A lot of things are going to be announced. Stay tuned. Here are the priorities that will guide our veterans policy. All men and women will have the supplies, support, equipment, training, services, medical care, and resources they need to get the job done incredibly well and perfectly. You watch. [cheers and applause] mr. Trump the best care in the world for our veterans, both at facilities, as well is the right to see a private doctor when the lines are long [cheers and applause] mr. Trump i have been saying this for the last year and a half, people have been writing have been waiting in line for seven days, eight days, nine days. Longer. He just said longer longer than that. When that happens, you are going out to see a private doctor, a private hospital, a public hospital, somebody who can take care of you, and we are going to pick up the bill, and not only is it going to be great for you, its going to be less expensive. And i wonder, why didnt somebody do this . There is not going to be no more waiting of our great people in line for weeks to see a doctor. Finally, a commitment to only engage the use of military forces when it is in the vital National Security interest of the United States. We dont want to have a depleted military because we are all over the place fighting in areas that we should not be fighting in. We are going to have such a strong, powerful military. Its not going to be depleted in depleted any longer. I mentioned equipment previously. We are going to have the finest equipment in the world. It is going to be new, its going to be modern, its going to be clean, its going to be the best. Thats what we are going to have. We are not going to be a depleted military anymore. [cheers and applause] mr. Trump from now on, its going to be america first. [cheers and applause] mr. Trump we will stop racing to topple foreign and you understand this foreign regimes that we know nothing about, that we should not be involved with. Instead, our focus must be on defeating terrorism and destroying isis. [cheers and applause] mr. Trump and we will. Any nation that shares these goals will be our partner in this mission. We wont forget it. We want to strengthen our friendships and seek out new friendships, rather than a rigid dogma, we are guided by the lessons of history and a desire to promote stability all over and strength in our land. This destructive cycle of intervention and chaos must finally come to an end. [cheers and applause] mr. Trump we have spent, at last count, 6 trillion in the middle east, and our roads have potholes all over. Our highways are falling apart, our bridges are falling, our tunnels are no good, our airports are horrible. Weve got to start spending on ourselves, but weve got to be so strong militarily, like weve never been before, remember that. Like weve never been before. [cheers and applause] mr. Trump we seek harmony and good will among the nations of the world, and we believe that respect of sovereignty helps form the basis of trust and understanding, but we dont want people taking advantage of us anymore. We dont want countries taking advantage of us anymore. We dont want that. We dont want that. We want to be the smart people. We dont want to be what we have been over the last long period of time. We build up our military not as an act of aggression, but as an act of prevention. We pursue and build up arms not only to see conflict, but in order to avoid conflict. We want to be strong. In short, we seek peace through strength. [cheers and applause] mr. Trump that is why in my first budget report to congress i am going to ask for the elimination of the defense sequester. [cheers and applause] mr. Trump depletion, i call it to depletion. We will show the world that america is going to be stronger than ever before. We are going to be stronger militarily than ever before, and hopefully we will not have to use our military, but we will be stronger than ever before, and there has rarely been a time where we have needed this strength more than we have right now. [cheers and applause] mr. Trump but in order to succeed with our defense policy, we must find the right person to lead our defense department, is that right . [cheers and applause] mr. Trump this is why im proud to formally announce today my intention to nominate general James Mad Dog Mattis [cheers and applause] mr. Trump as the next secretary of defense for the United States of america. Jim is a marine corps, fourstar general, the former commander of u. S. Central command and data does supreme and nato supreme allied commander. This is going to be so great for us. He led an assault battalion in operation desert storm, and you saw what happened. Thats the way you are supposed to lead it. There was no games. Mad dog plays no games, right . [cheers] mr. Trump let the forces that when after the taliban and, and commanded the First Marine Division in iraq. He is one of the most effective generals we have had any decades had in many decades, an extraordinary leader of our time who has committed his life to his love for our country. General mattis is the living embodiment of the marine corps motto, semper fidelis, always faithful, and the American People are fortunate that a man of this character and integrity will now be the civilian leader a top the department of defense, under his leadership, right . [cheers and applause] mr. Trump under his leadership, such an important position. We will rebuild our military, destroy terrorists, face our enemies head on, and make america safe again. It is now my honor and privilege to welcome to the stage your next secretary of defense, general mad dog mattis. Thank you. [cheers and applause] gen. Mattis thank you. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you, president elect, for the confidence you have shown in me. Thank you for the opportunity. I am grateful for the opportunity to return to our troops, their families, the civilians of the department of defense, because i know how committed they are and devoted they are to the defense of our country, the defense of our constitution, and with our allies strengthened, with our country strengthened, i would i look forward to being a civilian leader as long as the Congress Gives me the waiver and the senate votes. Thank you very much. [cheers and applause] mad dog mad dog mad dog mr. Trump what a great guy. Hes going to be a credible he he is going to be incredible. He will get that waiver. If he did not get that waiver, there will be a lot of angry people. Such a popular choice. I believe we are in the process of putting together one of the alltime great cabinets that has ever been assembled in our nations history. We have some great people who will be named over the next couple of days. But to accomplish our goals, we must reject the bill approaches of the past. We must move past the tired, conventional thinking of washington, d. C. As Abraham Lincoln said, we think anew and act in new, my plan begins with bold structural reform to create millions of good paying jobs and great paying jobs. You have seen what has been happening over the last couple of weeks, and we have not gotten there yet. We were very proud of saving 1100 jobs in indiana with the help of mike pence. Vice president elect, who is incredible. We are very proud of mike pence, by the way. Whether it is producing steel, building cars or curing disease, we want the next generation of innovation and production to happen in america, and right here in North Carolina. And dont forget, when we started, even four weeks before, they said we would have an awfully hard time winning florida, winning North Carolina. We are not going to win pennsylvania. We are not going to win michigan. We are not going to win wisconsin. Iowa, not going to win and ohio is going to be tough. We won ohio by more than eight points. We won iowa by a massive number, 10 points. Then we went down and won florida. Remember that fantastic evening . We have breaking news, donald trump wins florida. [cheers and applause] mr. Trump donald trump wins North Carolina. [cheers and applause] mr. Trump we won so many states. We won 30 states, 32 states. We won so much, and we just kept winning, and then we topped it off by winning pennsylvania, winning michigan, right . Winning wisconsin, states that won in 38 years, a lot of states. It was a fantastic evening. Thats why we are here tonight, because we want to thank you. First, our taxes. We are going to undertake one of the great tax reforms and and simplifications in american history. This includes lowering the tax rate on business from 35 while 35 all the way down to 15 . [cheers and applause] mr. Trump and massive tax cuts, by the way, for middle less workers. Massive middleclass workers. Massive, the biggest. Bigger than reagan. On regulations, we are going to eliminate every single wasteful regulation that undermines the ability of our workers and our companies to compete. The regulation business is a disaster in our country. We are going to get rid of all the unnecessary regulations. On energy, we will cancel the job killing restrictions on the production of American Energy and pursue American Energy independence. [cheers and applause] mr. Trump honoring the legacy of theodore roosevelt, believe it or not, one of our great environmentalists, we will also conserve and protect our beautiful Natural Resources for the next generation, including protecting lands and anglers and hunters and all of those who enjoy the outdoors like my sons, don and eric. They enjoy the outdoors. They love it. [cheers and applause] mr. Trump on infrastructure, i will ask congress to produce legislation that invests 1 trillion in americas crumbling infrastructure, including Major Projects in our inner cities. Remember i used the expression, what the hell do you have to lose . I am telling you, you are going to see. And we did so much better with africanamerican communities, with hispanic communities, then anybody ever purchase of dated anybody ever anticipated. So i want to thank the africanamerican communities, i want to thank the hispanic communities, and we are starting to work already. We are working already. The appointment today of ben carson has been very popular, very well received, dr. Ben carson. Good guy, great guy. [cheers and applause] mr. Trump we will have two simple rules when it comes to rebuilding this country, buy hire american, right . [cheers and applause] mr. Trump on trade, our trade deficit now nearly 800 billion a year. We have a deficit of almost 800 billion a year. You might say, whose negotiating these deals . It is a chronic drag on the growth and a destroyer of wealth in our country. In october alone, our nation racked up more than 40 billion in trade deficits. 40 billion, including more than a 30 billion trade deficit with china alone, all right . Are we doing a good job negotiating . I dont think so. How many Business People did we have in this audience that could have done a slightly better job of negotiating . [cheers and applause] mr. Trump North Carolina has lost nearly half of its manufacturing jobs and snapped since nafta. America has lost 70,000 factories since joining the world trade organization. China joins the world trade organization, and since that time we have lost so much. We are living through the greatest jobs theft in the history of the world. There has never been a jobs theft like there has been in this country. And we stopped a little. We have not really started, because we wont really start until january 20, but we are stopping it. And one of the wealthiest men in the world, masa, great guy of japan. He has pledged that he will put 50 billion into the United States because of our victory. 50 billion. 50,000 jobs he is going to be investing in. Hes a great guy. A Trump Administration will renegotiate our terrible trade deals, stand up to four and stand up to foreign cheating, and a few to every last american, and we will do this. We will defeat the enemy on jobs, and we will defend american jobs. And we have to look at it almost as a war, because thats whats happened to us. Thats whats happened to our workers. These are great people, and boy, did they come out to vote. Remember when they said they did not exist . They existed [cheers and applause] mr. Trump believe me. And millions went out to the polls, and they voted, bigleague. We had states we won by 35 points, 40 points, amazing. And if Companies Want to fire our workers, leave our country, and then ship products back into our country, there will be consequences. Big consequences. [cheers and applause] mr. Trump on Health Care Reform, every day, the law known as obamacare is destabilizing our health care, really destabilizing it, surging premiums and forcing providers out of the market. If we dont act, the damage will be irreversible. We are going to act. That is why we are going to arerump that is why we going to repeal and replace obamacare. We have no choice. We have no choice. We have absolutely no choice, so we are going to repeal and replace obamacare, and you are going to get health care at a much lower price with a much lower deductible. It is so high now, it really cannot use
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