Transcripts For CSPAN Town Hall On African-American Voters And The Midterm Elections 20140928

Africanamerican vote. This is just under two hours. [applause] good morning. It is an honor to be here with this distinguished panel, with the leadership of the foundation. It is an honor and pleasure to be here with each and every one of you. We are about to hear a presentation, and exchange of ideas, about something so fundamental, the right to vote. I will be brief. Dr. King said one of the most significant steps we could take is a short walk to the voting booth. That is what we all have to do in the election. A few weeks ago we had the privilege of bestowing the congressional gold medal. It was so remarkable because it was so overdue, but also because of the very same time we were appealing to our colleagues to pass a bipartisan Voting Rights act to correct the shelby decision. That has still not happened but we must make it happen. In order to make it happen, we all must vote. As i said, it is a privilege to be here. To accept the invitation of the Congressional Black Caucus foundation. Another privilege i had more than year ago was standing on the steps with the Congressional Black Caucus, members of cbc on the steps of the Supreme Court. They were there calling upon the court to make the right decision. That very day we were meeting in the house of representatives to dedicate the statue of rosa parks. It seems are strange, dedicating a statute to rosa parks, people turn out in a bipartisan way to salute her, and yet we have to appeal to the court to do the right thing. When they dont, they sing the praises of dr. Martin luther king but dont pass the Voting Rights act. We have important work to do. We have important people doing it. The distinguished chair of the foundation has been working for children, for cities, for the american people. He is a great leader. Marcia fudge a very strong leader and fighter for opportunity for all in our country. Taking the lead on fighting for food stamps and the rest in a very tough battle, but who better than she to lead. Our ranking assistant leaders, a champion on the vote writing act. They are working so hard to get that pass. Our chama and chairman working very hard to make sure to set the record straight as some in congress would be consomme on the attack of president barack obama. Our Ranking Member of the Homeland Security committee, keep americans safe. Our distinct chair looking out for consumers and our Financial System so that it is fair to everyone. All this talk we have heard about science, technology, math, she is the chair of the science and technology committee. The Congressional Black Caucus has provided such tremendous leadership to our country. We will have a new following up when his important work for young people. This caucus is making a valuable contribution to our country, even some who are not chairs of the caucus, Emmanuel Cleaver and congresswoman clay, they were there in ferguson and they made us also proud as a represented us in a way that was appropriate and respectful of the very serious nature of what happened there. They, along with john lewis, the conscious of the congress, he was part of that. So much needs to be done. The word conjures up so much that needs to be done. Voting rights act, freeing people so they have the right to vote with respect to who they are. I thank jeff johnson for his leadership. So many people who are making today possible. As i said, it is an honor for me to be here to salute the members of the Congressional Black Caucus led by marcia fudge. How about those fellows that we met . How about that some of those publishers were named for donald payne, that beautiful lovely man and chairman stokes. The tradition goes on. Education, which is key to the fulfillment of the junk people, which is also necessary to keep america number one. I leave you with one thought, one way we hope to turn out a big vote in all communities and the vote in the Congressional Black Caucus Leadership Community is so important is what jeff said, keeping good jobs, jumpstarting the middle class, investing in education to keep america number one. That means we have to invest heavily in colleges as well as reduce the cost of loans. [applause] a very important part of it to the community is when women succeed, america succeeds. That is how we are going to turn out a big vote. Thank you for the honor of having a chance to say a few words. Good luck in your deliberation. Thank you very much. [applause] thank you congresswoman. She said it right. The panel we are getting ready to go into is going to cover ambitiously three key areas. One, the state of the africanamerican vote moving into 2014, the necessity to look at both voting and Law Enforcement reform as it relates to policy, where we are going and how the black vote of effects of us socioeconomically. That is a lot to cover in a short amount of time, but we have a Brilliant Panel that is going to do that. I am going to be introducing folks that are in the audience every now and again good you know how we are. We got to do shout outs. Congresswoman beatty said that i am no stranger to the Congressional Black Caucus. If i could take a point of personal privilege, it is not just for me about supporting the jobs to her of the Congressional Black Caucus, or getting on the road to be able to support different members in certain parts of the country. It is that before me, when i was a senior senior in high school, there was a woman by the name of Stephanie Tubbs jones, she came into my High School Government class and blew me away. I said to myself that i need to work for her. I asked my teacher if i could walk her to her car as she was leaving the classroom. I said to her at that time, prosecutor doug jones, you are going to hire me. Anybody that knows her knows that look, like what you talking about, i dont know you. She said, are you a lawyer . I said, no. Said, i only hire lawyers. You have a file room were those files appear cheese at yes. Are. She said, yes. You need somebody to get files or lawyers in a file room. She said youre funny. Come see me on monday. She hired me in the file room of the county Prosecutors Office in cleveland, ohio. That set up a trajectory for me to be where i am. We talk about honoring those that come before, and Stephanie Tubbs jones was one of the most powerful black women that we have seen in the halls of congress. On days like today, i remember her so much and want the letter of. It is my honor and privilege to introduce those are will lead us in our discussion today. Please hold your applause till the end. Wade henderson is president and ceo and the Leadership Conference education fund. A tireless civil rights leader, he is a member of the bar in colombia and the United States of in court. Elaine r. Jones was the first female president , a legal powerhouse who was elected to the American Bar Association board of governors in 1989. The first africanamerican to do so. President clinton presented her with a Eleanor Roosevelt human rights award. John lewis was elected to congress in 1986 and represents georgia. The civil rights leader was a a member of the march on washington. He also received the president ial medal of freedom. Barbara r. Arnwine president and executive director otherwise committee for civil rights. A graduate of Duke University law school. She continues to campaign for civil rights and sable justice issues. Civil justice issues. She specializes in housing and lending, community developing, Voting Rights, education, and environment of justice. Xavier becerra is a former Deputy Attorney general of the california apartment of justice who was first elected to the house of representatives in 1992. He is a member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus where he served as chaired in that congress. He is also a member of the executive committee of the congressional Asian Pacific american caucus. Last but certainly not least, a leader who i met while i was working in that file room in cleveland, ohio. [laughter] she was chief of staff at that time to energy is a nonbelievable Public Service from my home state, representing the 11th Congressional District in such an unbelievable way, she chairs the Congressional Black Caucus and is continuing on every single level to be an Unbelievable Freedom fighter, even as she is a powerful it is later. Ladies and gentlemen, representative marcia fudge. [applause] now, i have to ask an unbelievable favor. As we are a dressing these three major themes of the state of the black vote, the necessity to look at reform of voting and Law Enforcement policy, and how the voting is affecting american africanamerican socioeconomically. I need to remind you that this panel in today. I need to remind you to be sure any responses. We will have a great panel. I would like to start with representative lewis if i can. Congressman lewis, is there clearly an impact that recent legislation in particular, and Civil Supreme Court cases have had on Voting Rights and Voting Rights for africanamericans. What have the last two years done for the africanamerican electorate. More importantly, if there was one thing we all need to be doing moving into november, what is that one thing . More than anything else is the decision of the United States Supreme Court and local, state officials across america. Not just in the southern states. They have made a deliberate effort to take us back to another period. We must stand up and fight and push. We must go to the polls and vote like we never voted before. Our vote is precious. It is sacred. It controls everything that we do. Everything. As a minority, whether it be black, latino, asianamerican, native american, or whether we are right, we must understand that 50 years ago, this year, three young men that i knew gave their lives trying to make it possible for all our citizens to become dissidents in a democratic process. We want to respond to ferguson, you have to vote. It is powerful. We must do it. If not, we will go back. Many in this room have been consistent engaged to make sure that we are registered in the votes are educated, and making sure there is robust efforts. As we are looking at what happened with the Supreme Court decision, do we continue to fight for federal voter laws or do we more focus on state laws that we are losing in many cases all over the country . Is it at both and proposition question mark proposition . Is it due to lack a lack of resources, even when we has some federal protection . Let me say two things. First off, let me say thank you. He is a little modest. When he came to work in the Prosecutors Office, he was a worldclass track athlete. He was not only bright, he was doing all the right things, the things we want our young people to do. I thank you. As it relates to its not an either or. When we were kids, we would say i can walk into bubblegum at the same times. Let me say two things. First off, let me say thank you. He is a little modest. When he came to work in the Prosecutors Office, he was a worldclass track athlete. He was not only bright, he was doing all the right things, the things we want our young people to do. I thank you. For still being who you are. Its not an either or. When we were kids, we would say i can walk into bubblegum at the and chew bubblegum at the same time. We can. If we dont, we make a huge mistake. The reason we are in the shape we are in, is because of redistricting. We lost the state houses. If we had not lost the state houses, we would be in a better position today. That is the thing people need to understand. We know that we need to vote. And we know why we need to vote. Let me say a few things, if i may. Believe it or not, they are going to file articles of a pitchman against our president articles of impeachment against our president great if we dont bow, your street when i get the experience if you dont bow, we will have hungry german if you dont vote \ we have to understand that this election is about us. It is not about the people who are running. To congresswoman fudge is point, we can walk into gum at the same time. And chew gum at the same time. Even those of us who are inside the political bubble are looking around i hear conversation every day about the need to secure the seats in the house and potentially moves and seats forward. I hear about securing the senate and ensuring that immigrants stay on the front in their, for those earthling party politics. I dont hear the same level of fervor and enthusiasm about down ballot candidates that will drastically affect the quality of life in states all over the country. As we talk about walking and chewing gum at the same time, how can we ensure that we are doing the kind of work that leads people to the polls, that pushed for the kind of represented as we want in the house and senate, but not at the cost of poorly educating folks on those down ballot seats, many of whom still have an opportunity to win certain states . Let me say thank you for being here and allowing me to be with these great leaders here. To the point, i think that marcia fudge hit it on the money there. What we find that is after 2000 2008, when the black vote at their set historic numbers, republicans went on the offense and said, we have to stop this. They have been playing offense for the last four years. They have been going after that vote, not by trying to persuade, by not making a possible to vote. We have to stop playing defense. We are fighting the Supreme Court decision. We are fighting to change laws of state and federal levels. We should do is take the offense. I dont think youre going to take the offense only if you concentrate on the federal or local level. You have to do both. Jeff, i think the response here is we have to teach our young folks that voting is a right. It is not just a right, it is a right of passage. If you dont vote, you will to learn how to drive . It is a right of passage. You have to show me that you deserve to drive that car. You want to be a man . You want to be a leader question mark you would be a woman leading this country question mark you have to show me that you know the importance of voting. It is a right of passage for our young folks to vote. We have to teach them. I dont think it makes any difference if the City Council Seat or if its a congressional seat orchids for the president the United States. Our young folks have to understand the value of voting for that little town hall, City Council Person or the president United States. When we knew that do that, when these antivoters want to push us, we will be on the offense and we will win. Thank you. Barbara, i am concerned. I hear and agree, but as someone who has worked at the naacp, american way, even worked at the popculture side to engage young voters, i hear the language of voting being important, and i hear specifically during targeted periods, but if we are talking about offense. In many cases the enemy that we are fighting never takes a day off. When do we move beyond this notion that fighting for the vote starts and innings somewhere around the time campaigning starts. Whether it is our churches, civic organizations, our leadership, begin to have messages and movement that dont turn on and off. Utterly create a movement that is larger, more comprehensive, and more 360 than we have seen in several decades . Thank you for that question. I figured you would like that. [laughter] listen everyone, voting has to be 365 days a year. It cannot only be about showing up for an election, although that is key, the guys that is a you manifest it. If you dont give a gift on christmas, you know what happens. We know that for every one of us who knows that november 4 is the election day that for other people have no idea, not a clue. Not a clue. Our duty is to create the massive microphone to get the word out to every Single Person we know. My mother is 83 years old. She will be on the phone calling everybody in our family and asking them if they are registered, because registration is going to start cutting off for some states as early as october 7. It is very important that we get that word out. She is going to be on the phone calling all of my family saying, you better get ready. You have to get to those polls. We have to do that. We dont do that just by talking. I want to make sure that everybody here knows that we come here today to bring you tools to help you do that. The lawyers committee, the Leadership Conference, the naacp, all of us work together. The National Coalition for black civic dissipation plate we put out toolkits that every Community Group can use good we have a new when it just comes out. Another one for you voters. I want to make sure that those toolkits talk about not only registering the vote, what is going on the local communities, that they also talk about making sure that people stay engaged, because the problem is the reason people dont want to go to the polls is because they get disgusted putting people in office who dont do what they were promised to do. They get angry that they are not making sure their children are having the best education. They get upset when the mayor is not holding the police force accountable. Let me interject. Thats why we have to make sure we hold people accountable and that we engage in this process all the time. I think you make a great point. Thank you ray much. Very much. Why arent we holding mayors accountable . Why arent we Holding State legislatures accountable . In cities that have 2000 churches, very few of those members attend city council meetings. In places where we have active organizations, a lot of times they dont show up at the state legislature. My question is, how do we begin to better engage folks to do what barber is talking about on a consistent basis . It is a great question. I am honored to be here. I am honored to be a part of this conversation. Very important. Voting is the length of democracy. If you dont vote, you dont count. Number two, voting should be a nonpartisan issue. The truth is partisanship, particularly a corrosive, toxic partisanship, it has subverted the right to vote and democracy as we know it. I want to give just a brief History Lesson of why this issue is important, ok . I would say about how. When president obama was elected in 2008, he shattered every record about voter turnout of participation. In North Carolina you had a huge turnout of africanamericans. In virginia, indiana, it was mind blowing. The night he won the 2008 election, Robert Draper documented an event that took place in our washington where many came together to talk about how to regain power and subvert president obamas legislative agenda. That was on the night of his inaugural ball. In september, 2009, an of skier congressman from South Carolina by the name of joe wilson, who was attending a joint session of the house and senate, yelled out during a president ial address, you lie. It was an attack on the presidency and an attack on president obama. He was rewarded with a nine point victory and a war chest of untold proportions generated by what he did. In march, 2010, Tea Party Activists came to town and spit on congressman emanuel cleaver. They threw racial epithets at john lewis and other members and argued that this was really a free exercise of the right to express their views. I mention all of this for the following reasons. This is a concerted effort to subvert the president s agenda. It began on the night of his first election. The failure on the part of black voters to respond in 2010, as we responded in 2000 and eight, 2008, cost us everything. We lost both state houses, control of our ability to set the site agenda, and were still paying the price. What do we do . I would love it if we put up a slide that shows some the black voter turnout between 2010 and 2012. My concern is about the house. Really quickly. We talk about the electorate and what the electorate didnt do, but a lot of times i did not see resources, infrastructure, organization and large part pushing to ensure that that turnout was going to be at the same level. Advocacy in the black community, organizing the electorate are scarce. Be real. We know that your vote is always sought at election time, but there is no infrastructure on the part of the National Party support organizing in the black community. Im not here in a partisan mode. Interestsg that our should determine how we cast our vote. In the event that we dont vote, we are ultimately harmed. Here is the connection. When you look at the states that have failed to provide medicaid assistance under the generous provisions of the obamacare hill, states get three years of federal support. Its an inducement to have states joined the medicaid debate. Most of the people affected by medicaid are poor people, black people, white people, latinos. The states that are denying them that right are largely in the south. The truth is we cant get health care, and we desperately needed. Our vote will determine whether that is carried out. Im curious about how think everything he brought up was poignant. For those of us that are in cincinnati for indianapolis or pittsburgh or oakland, wherever they may be, how do we begin to three hundred 65day engagement in a voter process that creates a culture of civic engagement. Need to be half as good as our forefathers and foremothers. We need to be half as good. They didnt have degrees. They didnt have college educations. When black men, first got the right to vote in 1870, black women didnt get it until 50 years later, 1920, but in 1870, those brothers five years of slavery, five years out with the new holes in the haves and the little turnover shoes and their little collars wrapped themselves around the polls for 25 years. They didnt miss a vote they elected 24 black men to the congress by themselves. Because they didnt need to be educated. They didnt need that. They understood that. They elected 24 black people to congress. The powers this be have always understood the promise and the strength of the black vote if it is exercised. In our hands we have the seed of our own liberation. Amen. And we do not use it. Now, have to talk about what gets us out there . What we can do . What the organization, we got our day for barack obama in 2008. Big time. What did that . We got out there because what we do, we vote for people. We dont vote for issues. And in barack obama we had the issue and the person combined so we could come out. Thats right. You remove the African American president , state level, federal level, it is all connected. We get myopia, we cant see anything. We dont educate ourselves as to what is going on in our communities. Ferguson, missouri is an abomination. 67 population and 6 voter turnout . It is no wonder you got any on the police force. So we have been fighting for the right to vote and to hold on to the vote ever since we first got it in 1870. It is nothing new. It has always been under attack. When it the Supreme Court decide they were going to review the Voting Rights act case . Three days after obama was elected in 2012. Okay. Three days so i mean we we the foundations dont fund it. All right, they dont fund it. The people dont organize. All right, we not organized. Thats right. Is our individual duty to selfeducate . Yes, yes. Selfeducate. Yes. [applause] yep. It is our duty to organize and educate others and it is local. Yes. It begins at home. Everybody. The Community Meetings. The school board. Yes. Black people should be known as the most politically active. Active. Active folk in this nation. In the country when they look at us and we are over 18, they ought to automatically know that we are voters. Thank you so much. Elaine, what i need you to do next time, i need to hear more passion. You are not passionate enough. We need a little more energy. Oh oh i loved it. All right, my sister. Congresswoman fudge, and i know you have to transition, but i have a sticky question. And i know normally you can deal with sticky questions and wade brought up something that i think is important. I did. And that is that often times even democrats treat the African American Community Like baseball fans who only watch the world series. They just show up in october. Thats right, thats right. And so how do we begin . Because i think elaine really dealt with the fact that there is several internal issues that we need to deal with. Yes. If we are going to mobilize. There also is support issues from those who we support. And so how do we engage the Democratic Party in a more effective way of supporting candidates that we can see have a chance of winning but dont get broader support . And, this unbelievable infrastructure, some of which people in this room represent of people that work in the political space and are always brought into meetings to give free advice, but never hired. Yes. As consultants. Well within this electoral infrastructure. All right. Jeff, the answer is really easy. Selfpreservation is human nature. And so when they have finally realized that 45 of the vote of the Democratic Party is minority, then they Pay Attention. When they realize that they want to hold the senate and realize that in louisiana they need our vote and it is 30 of the vote in louisiana, 30 of the people in louisiana are black people. Alabama, almost the same. In georgia, almost the same. In North Carolina, almost the same. I was in arkansas on monday i mean sunday arkansas, only 15 , but in a close race 15 is a lot of votes. It is a difference. Now that they realize that not only they need us like they always needed us, come on, black folk, come out here and support the Democratic Party, once they realize we make a difference we went to them and said you want us, we are players in this game. Right now the dscc is getting ready to spend 67 million in seven states. Guess who is going to get some of that money now . We going to get some of that money now. I hope so. The d. N. C. Supported our freedom sunday effort. We hit almost 3,000 churches last sunday to talk about getting out the vote. I think it is just important that you have to make people do what is right sometimes. We expect them to do what is right, but see we expected that of the masses, too. We expected them to of the masters, too. We expected them to take care of us because we were worth something and had some value. Sometimes you have to make them do it. And now we are making them do it. Because if they dont, then they lose. I tell you what, my life aint going to change a whole lot personally, but what will change is my neighbors when their kids cant eat or when they cant keep a roof over their head. We are saying to the Democratic Party, all three houses of the Democratic Party, you better Pay Attention to us because if you dont, everybody loses. If we win, everybody wins. If we lose, everybody loses when black folk dont vote. Thank you. And at this time we are going to shift gears a little bit, and i want to talk about what is on a lot of peoples minds, many of you have seen in the last 24 hours that people were in the streets in ferguson. Yes. That there is conversation right now about protesters blocking the st. Louis cardinals game as they go into the playoffs. But there is also right now a video that was released of the John Crawford shooting. Yes. In ohio. Yes. In a walmart where it was said he was the Police Stated he was a gunwielding individual, but it was a gun that was sold in walmart that he was getting ready to buy. I think as many of us said because we had heard about the video that there was no warning, that the police didnt identify themselves. He was shot from behind the first time. He was killed from what they believe was a second shot. And so ferguson is an example of what is happening in cities all over the country that either no one catches on video or it doesnt bubble to the surface. I would like to, barbara, if you could chime in first to deal with and actually if i can pause for a second, congressman lewis, if you could chime in. Because the issues as to the militarization of local police, the policies as it relates to what the rules for accepted force are. More importantly and what communities are concerned with, how do we create policy that hold Police Accountable in substantive ways versus superficial ways so we dont continue to see people that shoot someone and tomorrow they are back on the street or on paid leave . Thats right, umhm, umhm. I think it is important. I think it is a must that we become organized all across america with the ability and the capacity to speak up and not wait until there is an incident. During the 1960s we didnt have a website. We didnt know anything about the internet. Facebook . We didnt have a fax machine. Thats right. We had the old mimeo graph machine. Many of the communities are just too darn white. We need to make some noise. Organize and organize. We have to use the vote, yes. But we have to organize dissident campaigns. Before there was a sitin, a freedom right, a march, we steadied and prepared ourselves. That was my next question to you. Because i get concerned when i hear elders sometimes talk about the lack of engagement of young people but there isnt a real historical analysis of the fact that your generation got trained and you couldnt be on the frontlines if you werent trained or you couldnt be at a lunch counter you werent trained. Before the freedom ride. We were trained before we boarded a bus to travel from washington, d. C. To new orleans. And you all werent using some sophisticated multimillion dollar funded institution. No. Im interested in knowing how those working with young people or College Students moving them to address the issues of the vote or address the issues of Police Brutality what are the ways to do the training . Recruit a cadre of young people. Gifted, yes. Smart, yes. But the average joes and prepare them to be prepared stand up and speak up and organize the unorganized and be prepared to mobilize. I want to go back to just one little point. The vote. If you want to change ferguson or other places, we got to use the vote. It is the most powerful nonviolent tool we have on the Democratic Society and if we fail to use it we will go backwards. Congressman becerra. Elaine talked about something that was critical. In so many cases people of color vote for people first and issues second. I dont often see candidate incubators looking for young talent outside of the party system. Im not sure about the work that you are doing, it but how do we begin to, and i dont mean Just Brilliant College Students, im talking about young ones to be philosophyed and on the block and connected to a politic platform because they care about something. And then we have the ability to talk them and pull them in. What are ways that we create candidate incubators and electoral incubators so we are seeing a different feeder of folks woulding no the school board and state leg or mayors races. You look at people and they say i tried to find a good person of minority background but they are not out this or they dont come to me. Im the chairman of the Democratic Caucus. The majority of my staff on the Democratic Caucus are people are color and women and i had no trouble finding any of them and they are as talented as anybody out there. Thats right. And so you just got to push the envelope. You cant let people get away with the excuse. But jeff, i i agree but not completely with the nose that we vote based on with the notion that we vote based on the person. I think we vote based on our existential ability to survive. When ferguson occurred, i think people said that is me. When the Civil Rights Movement got strong, people said that is me. And that is when people came out. Then what happened was you had success, we saw that we got the Civil Rights Act passed. We saw that we got the Voting Rights act passed and we said we got what we were looking for. And we got complacent. And we sat and we didnt teach the next generation the john lewises of the world to be ready for the next time. It is coming up all of the time and ferguson is just oneexample. It is hard to teach an dog new tricks. We have to an old dog new tricks. It is tough to change bad habits. We got to teach our young folks never to have those bad habit. If we dont put some of our own money and skin in the game on voter reg, not just on whether the parties will do it for us pulpit our own money we will never fully get there. The parties will only do it every year there is an election. We need it to be done every year of that childs life so when they turn 18 it is just like getting a drivers license, when you turn 18 you go out and vote because it is a rite of passage. Let me build on what xavier just said, when i listen to mr. Lewis and wade and elaine and we hear the passion and talk about our history, what happens is we get comfortable. Let me spoke to the younger folks in the audience because what mr. Lewis said was they were trained. They were trained because they felt the conviction and it affected them. So my message to our resolve is whether you are on the more mature end of this audience, when you get that corner Corporate Office, you remember that there is somebody that needs to be in the fileroom. And when you get there with all of your credentials, you have to remember that there is someone your contemporary. What im saying is you get the one person in the Corporate Office or at the highest level and they dont bring people along. And so then we emulate when our young folks come along they emulate what our leaders in those environments are doing because we like all of the attention on us. When mr. Lewis and everybody was marching, it was never about him. It was about the cause. When 22 black women, 101 years ago, had the courage to convince a president of the United States to let them be the only women of color to march in the womens suffrage march. It wasnt about them. It was about the cause. So, i agree on the people, but it is always about the cause. So this forum, you are in here for free. You will attend things late in the evening for free. So everything you have for free, you then write a check back to the cause. All right. Whether it is to the naacp, whether it is to the caucus that you prefer but there are no free rides. Mr. Louis and all of his contemporaries they didnt ask anybody for a dime to feed them. They didnt ask anybody to get them a bus ticket to get on the bus. When rosa parks created the modern Civil Rights Movement for one year black folks didnt get on a bus. Could you imagine today if joyce beatty said to you stand with this group and walk for a week what would happen . We have to go old school. And lastly that is why we are doing this panel because we stand on the shoulders of someone. You stand on the shoulders of of someone. Thats right. It is time for us to give a shoulder for our young folks can stand on. Thank you. Thank you. Barbara, if i can because i think that there is if you ask somebody walk with you for a week, if i remember so much of what made the bus boycott so brilliant was it was just started with one day. What we are seeing in ferguson that im pleased about is we are seeing young and old people alike on the ground that arent waiting for anybody to come back. Thats right. That arent waiting for a National Leader to come in. That arent waiting for someone to tell them how to do it and there is continuity that we are starting to see. When are the issues, if you will, on the policy side as it relates to Police Brutality that helped turn the needle . Is it civilian review boards . Is it blocking federal funding . What are the things that people should be looking for from a policy piece so when they are going to the polls they know what to look for by way of ways to end this at the local level . Thank you so much. First of all, i want everyone to know that there is a unified statement that has been put out by at least 15 civil rights organizations on ferguson reforms, on Police Reforms nationwide. And i wanted to be i want it to be very clear that this is not a letter talking about we abhor and we are so annoyed and disgusted and angry. This is a letter that says federal governments, state governments, local governments, do these 14 things and we wont be burying our children. Do you know in august alone police shot and killed over a hundred people . This is not a moment as reverend yearwood says, that it is about a movement, that is the work of our generation. This is the work that we have to get done. I want you to know that you can become a signatory to this statement. You can get copies of the statement. Some of them are outside of this hall, they are also at booth number 230 in the exhibit hall. And i want you to sign up. I want you go to lawyerscommittee. Org and become a signatory. But also, what i wanted to say is that to all of the questions you have been asking, jeff, the beauty of the moment that we sit in, lets not miss where we are right now in this moment and where we are going in the future. I want to give a shout out to all of my Young Brothers and sisters who created handsupdontshoot. Org. I want to give a out out to all of my brothers and sisters, black lives matter. I want to give a shout out because those brothers and sisters have done it with no dimes. They got on buses and figured out how to get from new york to ferguson. Gotten on buses and figured out how to get from florida to whatever. They have done it. I want us to be clear that we have a youth generation that is like generation x and all of the others using their talents. You know, Darnell Moore and charleen caruthers and Phillip Agnew and the brothers and is sisters that are standing up because they understand this is not just an issue about black men, it is an issue about black boys, it is an issue about black women and black girls. My god, two days after the shooting of mike brown, police shot and killed in phoenix, arizona michelle couseau who was 50 years old, mentally disabled, had a hammer in her hand and they decided to shoot her 20 times. The community was so disgusted that 300 people marched with her casket and took it to the city hall and put it in the middle of the rotunda in the lobby. Lets be very clear that everywhere in this country black people are rising up. That we are standing up and saying no more killings of our people but we need, we need these systematic and institutional reforms. We need to dig deep and fight to make sure that the change happens. That im not sitting here on the panel next year talking about the latest people they shot and killed. No. My brothers and sisters we can stop this by getting the racial guidance passed. By getting the funding taken away from the departments that have histories and clearly are engaging in Police Brutality. We can change this by making all of the places wear the cameras to the true story gets out. By having dash cams on police cars. By forcing people to keep statistics on who is being shot and killed. By making simple changes who is in fact employed. By having community civilian review boards that are role. That are powerful and can subpoena and punish and have the ability to have Community Policing instead of broken windows that makes it racial profiling legal. These are the things that we got to do. Listen, i stand here because you know that my family was invaded by a s. W. A. T. Team. Came into my home at 5 00 at night. You think ferguson had some military gear . Please, they came in with night goggles. I kept saying turn on the lights, you are going to kill some of my people. Turn on the lights but they wanted to play with their night going toes, their shield, all night goggles and the shields and they held us under armed guard for three hours while they executed a search warrant that they couldnt produce. These are the realities. We need to be clear about the moment that we are in. I dont want us to ever forget, jeff, that as black kin that we black lives matter, hands up, dont shoot. We created those organizations. We can create the organizations that you are talking about. That we need to have a 365ion you know, day review on what is going on politically and at our local, state and federal level. That we can hold people accountable. We got the technology. We got the means. We just have to do the work. And i know in this audience, elaine, that seed you talked about, they are right here. And they are going to take what they learn today and change it into a new america. Thank you. Thank you. What i want to do is i want to ask one more question but i hate when we have three minutes left and then we open the floor and only two people get to ask questions. Uhoh. So there is a mike in the middle here that will be available for those that want to ask questions. We will get so as many as we can which is why i want to open it as quickly as possible. If you would begin to line up there in the center aisle following this question. This is for both wade and elaine. We wanted to talk about this what is the Socioeconomic Impact of voting on African Americans . Yes. And so wade, i would like for you to just talk about some of the small ways that we are impacted because there are so many . Elaine, could you also talk about something that representative becerra talked about which is how do we financially impact the voting process . And what we can do to play a more sophisticated game on fund raising, on donating to the kind of candidates that we want and on playing a fundraising role within parties if we so choose to play the role in that space . Guys and then elaine. Voting obviously matters. Here is a good example. Eric holder who is now the attorney general in the United States would not be in office were it not for barack obama. Without eric holder in office it is unlikely we would have gotten something called the fair sentencing act that reduced disparities and took off three years of sentences for many. If it were not for eric holder we wouldnt have an attorney general arguing that people who were convicted of felonies should be entitled to vote. If it were not for eric holder we would not have a comprehensive effort to reduce sentencing disparities based on mandatory minimums that have been generated. So elections matter, guys. When eric holder is challenged by the house of representatives and thrown into a censorship fight, that is something we should be concerned about. And when people talk about the potential to impeach president obama because he has carried out policies that are in the best interest of the country, understand that is an attack on his record and the programs that he is pursuing. So when we dont have a jobs program that responds to the high level of unemployment in the African American community, because obstruction of the jobs program was seen as being in the interest of his political opponents, that is a consequence we have to deal with. When we are challenged about providing resources, i mentioned medicaid earlier, there are school costs for Public Education that are affected by elections. So there are a number of both major and micro issues affected by the outcome of elections. Im looking to use what we have. You know, ferguson has given us a moment that will help generate a movement and yes, im delightd that groups like color of change and others are in the effort. But im now looking for a hashtag that says hands up, go vote. Yes, that also. Hands up, go vote. We can do that. There is a connection between what you do and the consequences that we are feeling on the ground. So when the president supports providing body cameras for Police Officers as a way of helping to protect all of us by giving us film of what happened, that is a positive. Or when holder, who has responsibility for writing guidance from the department justice, that determines how race can be used in Law Enforcement purposes, that is something that only he is capable of organizing and doing. And so im saying yes, we do have to educate ourselves. But look, i want to go back to Something Congresswoman beatty said. There is a judge in this country, damon keefe, a 92yearold retired judge out of michigan. An incredible guy. He told me once, look, wade, you walk across floors you never scrubbed. You walk through doors you never opened. You have an obligation to do that for those who come behind you. That is why at 92 he is raising hell and encouraging people to do what is necessary. So yes, you did walk across floors you never scrubbed and yes, you do walk through doors you never opened, and the key is using the power that we already have in our hands to determine the outcome of change we want to see. Thank you so much, elaine. What was your question . My question was how do we play please, a round of applause is all right. [applause] how do we play a more oh sophisticated Financial Game in local politics . All politics is local. It is not national. Coming from our organization at our Community Level we with go national. That is easy enough to do. And we are already organized to do that. But we used to have and we have to get back to it, in our communities they used to be called voting crusades or crusade of voters or the voter league. And what this committee did was for Something Like your home, what they would do is in terms of the Police Department, who hires these people . Who is the officials . Who are the officials that fire the police . The department of public safety, you know. You look what role did the governor play . What role does the mayor play . What role who are the Public Policy people that bring them on the force . Put that so when the local election comes we can have a direct connection between the person who is running and the composition of the Police Department and what their power is. In other words, it is an ongoing education process about what goes on at home. You get the voting leagues and you keep informed locally and then you come together and you can even collect your money locally. Well, we like what so and so is saying and what so and so is saying about this so we are going to give in 500 to that campaign. We are going to just i mean you can and it is where your power lies. And so that is how you do it. And that also builds awareness. It builds awareness. We are not we are engaged spasmodically, episodically. We are 365 years. Being engaged. Knowing the power of the vote. When somebody tells you they are registered and you doubt it, get with them. Or go with them. Lets go check your registration to make sure the address is right. It is all in the details so when they show up they dont have a problem when it is time to vote. That is your power and it starts locally. You need your organization locally. You need your research group. You need your folks who think about the money. You need your Community Meetings. Yes. You dont have to have them every week. Once a month, there ought to be a Community Meeting about what is going on here at home. We are going to take you to the dinner to hear remarks from president obama. He is expected to announce an expansion of the my brothers Keeper Program which involves a partnership between the white house and local Community Leaders to help minority young man. Cspan. Live coverage on hello you so much. Everybody, have a seat. It is good to be with you here tonight. If it werent black tie, i would have worn my tan suit. [laughter] i thought it looked good. [laughter] thank you for that introduction. You for havingf me here this evening. I want to acknowledge the members of the Congressional Black Caucus and chairwoman marcia fudge for their outstanding work. You, cbc foundation, for helping to do so much to help andyoung people aim high reach their potential. I want to begin tonight by paying a special tribute to a man whom all of you have worked closely with, someone who served his country for nearly 40 years and prosecutor, as a judge, of therney general United States, mr. Eric holder. [laughter] [applause] throughout his long career in Public Service, eric has built a powerful legacy of making sure that equal justice under the law actually mean something. That it applies to everybody regardless of race or gender or religion or color, creed, disability, sexual orientation. He has been a great friend of mine. He has been a faithful servant of the american people. We will miss him badly. [applause] more marking the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act. We honor giants like john lewis, unsung heroines [applause] unsung heroines like evelyn lowery. Countlesshe americans, some who are in this room, black, white, students, scholars, preachers, all, whoers, patriots with their bare hands reached into the well of our nations founding ideals and helped to nurture a more perfect union. Weve reminded ourselves that progress is not just absorbing what has been done. It is advancing what is left undone. Even before president johnson signed the Civil Rights Act into law, even as the debate dragged on in the senate, he was challenging americans to do more and to march further to build a great society. One, johnson said, where no child will go on fed and no youngster will go on schooled unschooled, where no citizen will be barred from any door because of his birth waste or his color or his church. Where peace and security is common among neighbors and possible among nations. This is the world that waits for you, he said. Reach out for it now, and join the fight the young join the fight to finish the unfinished work. To finish the unfinished work. America has made historic progress ins since that time. Over the past 50 years, even over the past five years, but it is the unfinished work that drives us forward. Some of our unfinished work will lie beyond our borders. America is leading the effort to against russian aggression and you crank. America is building and leading the coalition that will degrade and ultimately destroy the terrorist group known as isis. As americans, we are leading, and we dont shy away from these responsibilities. We welcome them. That is what america does. [applause] we are grateful to the men and women in uniform who put themselves in harms way and have served the country that we all love. [applause] weve got unfinished work overseas, but weve got some unfinished work right here at home. [applause] after the worst economic crisis since the great depression, our businesses have now created 10 million new jobs over the last 54 months. This is the longest uninterrupted stretch of job growth in our history. [applause] in our history. We understand our work is not done until we get the kind of job marketplace where it means everybody who wants to find a place to work can find a job. We did some work on health care, too. I dont know if you have noticed. Thanks to the Affordable Care act, we have seen a 26 decline on the rate of uninsured in america. Africanamericans have seen a 30 decline. Way, the cost of health care isnt going up as fast anymore, either. Everybody was predicting this was all going to be so expensive. Billion in00 medicare because of the work that weve done slowing the costs, improving quality, improving access. Opposition,elding this change has been just in the last couple of years. We know our work is not yet done until we get into more communities, help more uninsured folks get covered, especially in the states where the governors arent being quite as cooperative as we would like them to be. You know who you are. [laughter] me when youzzles decide to take a stand to make sure poor folks in your state cant get Health Insurance even though it doesnt cost you a dime. That doesnt make much sense to me. I wont go on on that topic. Weve got more work to do. [applause] its easier to take a stand when youve got Health Insurance. [applause] im going off script now. That is what happens at the cbc. Our High School Graduation rate has been at record highs. The dropout rate is falling. More young people are earning College Degrees than ever before. Last year, the number chuck the number of children living in poverty fell by 1. 4 million, the largest decline since 1966. [applause] since i took office, the overall crime rate and the overall incarceration rate have gone down by about 10 . That is the first time theyve declined at the same time in over 40 years. Fewer folks in jail. Crime still going down. But our work is not done. When too many children live in crumbling neighborhood, cycling through substandard schools, traumatized by daily violence, our work is not done when working americans of all races have seen their wages and incomes stagnate, when africanamerican unemployment is still twice as high as white unemployment, when income inequality on the rise for decades continues to hold back hardworking communities, especially communities of color. Weve got unfinished work. We know what to do. That is the worst part. We know weve got to invest in infrastructure and manufacturing and research and development to create new jobs. We have to keep rebuilding the middle class economy with letters of opportunity so that hard work pays off and you see higher wages and fair pay for women doing the same work as men and Workplace Flexibility for parents unless if a child gets sick or if a parent need some help. We have to hold more promises on partnerships and support revitalization of local communities. We have to keep investing in Early Childhood education. We want to bring preschool to every fouryearold in this country. We want every child to have an excellent teacher. We want to invest in our Community Colleges and expand pell grants for more students, and im going to keep working with you to make college more affordable, because every child in america, no matter who she is, the matter how much money her parents have, ought to be able to fulfill her godgiven potential. That is what we believe. I just want everybody to understand, we have made enormous ryegrass progress. There is almost no economic measure by which we are not at when in we were took office. Unemployment down, deficits down, uninsured down, poverty down. Energy production up. Manufacturing back. Auto industry back. I list these things so if you have a discussion with one of your friends, and they are stock market up, corporate Balance Sheets strong. The folks who are doing the best, they are the ones who complain the most. [laughter] you can just point these things out. But we still have to close these opportunity gaps, and we have to ,lose the justice cap gap how justice is applied, and also how it is perceived, how it is experienced. Eric holder understands this. That is what we saw in ferguson this summer when Michael Brown was killed, and the community was divided. We know that the unrest eric spent some time with the residents and police of ferguson. The department of justice has indicated that it civil rights investigation is ongoing. I wont comment on the investigation. I know that michaels family is here tonight. [applause] i know that nothing any of us can say can ease the grief of losing a child so soon, but the anger, the emotion that followed his death awakened our nation once again to the reality that people in this room have long understood, which is that in too many communities around the country, a gulf of mistrust exists between local residents and Law Enforcement. Too many young men of town of color feel targeted by Law Enforcement, guilty of walking while black, judge by stereotypes that fuel fear and resentment and hopelessness. , innow statistically everything from enforcing drug policy to the death penalty, there are significant racial disparities. Those are just the statistics. One reason polls show that a majority of americans think the criminal Justice System doesnt one reason is polls show that a majority of americans think that the criminal Justice System doesnt treat people equally. That is most americans. That has an effect, not just on the black community. It has a corrosive effect on america. It harms the communities that need Law Enforcement the most. It makes folks who are victimized by crime and need strong policing less likely to go to the police because they may not trust them. The worst part of it is that its cars the hearts of our children. Hearts of white children who grow unnecessarily fearful of somebody who doesnt look like them. It stains the hearts of black children that think no matter what he does, he will always be under suspicion. That is not the society we want. It is not the society that our children deserve. Whether you are black or white, you dont want that for america. Its interesting. Some of was used by americas enemies to deflect attention from their own shortcomings overseas, to undermine our efforts to promote justice around the world. They said, look at what happening to you back at home. As i said this week at the united nations, america is special not because we are perfect. America is special because we work to address our problems, to make our union more perfect. We fight for more justice. We fight to cure what ails us. We fight for our ideals, and we are willing to criticize ourselves when we fall short. We address our differences in the open space of democracy with respect for the rule of law, with a place for every person of race and religion and with an unyielding belief that people who love their country can change it. That is what makes us special, not because we dont have problems, but because we work to fix them. We will continue to work to fix this. To that end, we need to help communities and Law Enforcement build trust, build understanding so that our neighborhood stay safe and our young people stay on track. Under the leadership of eric holder, the Justice Department has launched a National Effort to do just that. It has been working to make the criminal Justice System smarter and more effective by addressing unfair sentencing disparities, changing policies on charging mandatory minimums, promoting stronger reentry programs for those who paid their debt to society. [applause] and we need to address the unique challenges that make it hard for some of our young people to thrive. For all the Success Stories that exist in a room like this one, we all know relatives, classmates, neighbors who were just as smart as we were, just as capable as we were, born with the same light behind their eyes, the same curiosity about the world, but somehow, they didnt get the support they needed or the encouragement or they missed an opportunity. They werent able to overcome the obstacles that they faced. So, in february, we launched my brothers keeper. [applause] i was the first one to acknowledge it government cant play the only or even primary role in the lives of our children, but what we can do is bring folks together. That is what we are doing philanthropy, faith eaters, mayors, educators athletes, and ,he youth in cells to examine how can we ensure that our young men have the tools they need to achieve their full potential . Next week, im launching my brothers Keeper Community challenge, asking every community in the country, big cities and small towns, rural counties, tribal nations, publicly commit to implementing strategies that will ensure all young people can succeed, starting from cradle all the way to college and ending in a career. Is a challenge to local leaders to follow the evidence and use the resources on what irks for our kids. We already have 100 leaders signed off. We are going to keep on signing them up in the coming weeks and months. [applause] they are going to need you, elected leaders, business leaders, Community Leaders to make this successful. We need all of us to come together to help all of our young people address the variety of challenges they face. We are not forgetting about the girls, by the way. I have two daughters. I dont know if youve noticed. Africanamerican girls are more likely than their white peers to be suspended, incarcerated, physically harassed. Black women struggle everyday with biases that perpetuate repressive standards for how they are supposed to look and act. Too often, the entire they are under scrutiny or clothed in invisibility. The white House Counsel for women and girls has for years been working on issues affecting women and girls of color, from violence against women, to pay equity, to access to health care, and you know michelle has been working on that. She doesnt think our daughters should be treated differently than anybody else. Ive got a vested interest in making sure that our daughters have the same opportunities as boys do. [applause] so, thats the world weve got to reach for, the world where every single one of our children have the opportunity to pursue their measure of happiness. That is our unfinished work. We are going to have to fight for it. And we have to vote for it. We have to vote for it. [applause] all around the country where ever i see folks, they say, barack, we are praying for you. [laughter] boy, you are so gray. You have gray hair. Youre looking tired. We are praying for you. [laughter] which i appreciate. Them after president johnson signed the Civil Rights Act, he moved on to what he called the meat in the coconut, a Voting Rights act bill. Some of his administration argued, that is too much. That if wet knew rested after the Civil Rights Act, all we could do was pray that somebody would enforce those rights. Whenever i hear somebody say, im praying for you, i say thank you, i believe in the power of prayer, but we need more than prayer. We need to vote. That would be helpful. [applause] relieve me of my gray hair, but it will help me pass some bills. [laughter] because people refused to give in when it was hard, we get to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Voting Rights act next year. Until then, weve got to protect it. We cant just celebrate it, weve got to protect it. There are still people trying to pass voter id laws to make it harder for folks to vote. We have to get back to our schools and offices and our beauty shops and barbershops and make sure people know that theres an election coming up. They need to know how to register, and they need to know how and when to vote. Got to tell them to push provedainst the cynics, everybody wrong who says that change isnt possible. Cynicism does not fix anything. Cynicism is very popular in america sometimes. It is propagated in the media. Didnt put anybody on the moon. Cynicism didnt pass the Voting Rights act. The busesat packed full of freedom riders. Hope is what a lot of black folks and white folks to march from selma to montgomery. Hope is what got john lewis off his back after being beaten within an inch of his life. Cynicism is a choice, but hope is a better choice. Our job is to convince the people would privilege to join us in finishing we have the privilege to join us in fighting. Exercise your right to vote. If we do, i guarantee you weve got a Brighter Future ahead. Thank you. God bless you. Keep praying, but go out there and vote. God bless america. [applause] president obama wrapping up remarks at a dinner hosted by the Congressional Black Caucus. We will show though you them again. Held a, the same group voter laws. N the we will rejoin the conversation. Meetingtall townhall is because of your question. The Congressional Black Caucus is sensitive to that because diversity has created a new problem for us with the younger folks who do not understand the history of what a mr. Lewis or others went through. People,ay to the young the congresswoman is having a Town Hall Forum tomorrow morning. She is bringing the dream defenders. Young folks can be engaged in that. We have many workshops. Africanamerican members. Lack folks in the caucus who have planned of this because they want you to understand the behind the scenes. This did not just happen. Making sure we have lack folks who are engaged. We move members to be where they there are black contractors. We know racism prevails. It is our other counterparts who wanted to put it out there. To the young folks in the audience, dont think you do not have members of congress that belong to our caucuses were not fighting for us. Issuere you there is an where she is taken to task. I would like to get the last three of you to concisely state your questions. We will get the panelists to answer that before we go to Closing Remarks. Questions,f you have tweet them. The last three, if you would concisely state your questions. I work with a nonprofit. Volunteera non local Government Committee person. How we cane to know engage individuals to be part of local government. How can we engage people who are the most affected . Who may not have access to technology . From ohio. Tudent i want to know what we can do to gain the proper respect from our country. Yes sir . I am a washington, d. C. Native to read you talked on the panel about the militarization of the police force. I wanted to know why the caucus voted against the amendment that to from transferring arms local and state police. We have three questions. The Congressional Black Caucus support. The question on the simple task of getting the country to people and then there arequestion on collegelevel courses engaged on that. How do we get people most in thed to be involved local electoral process. Thisdy that wants to take the billnts to take that you supposedly supported. You are me to do that first . Looking like that, i dont want to look like anything else. I have heard so much foolishness like this on twitter. It was a dumb amendment. That is the first thing. It anytime you say you cannot give any Police Department any that goes to the extreme. I represent cleveland. You want me to say my Police Department should not get bulletproof vests . Amendment would not have allowed that to happen. Everything is not ferguson. Why would you vote for something so extreme that you hurt yourself . It does not make sense. Yes, we voted against it. It was the right thing to do. How do we get local folks, those most affected by local policy to be engaged in the process . In a robust way, not just a superficial way. We have an institution that gives the opportunity to do that. The public schools. Our kids will be indoctrinated. What we can do is make sure they are coming out rate to run to be part of the School Council for that particular school, to get the training. We have to change our kids. They have to be excited, as if it were christmas when there is an election. You say, mommy and daddy, you are taking me to the polls. You have to tell the church, we will raise the money to buy a bus. Institutions that want us to do this. If we give incentives to Young Leaders, to actually leadershey become the of the future. Im excited about this one. All of you have the chance to address this. , alain, about you answering the question how we get america to respect black people. Question youeat dont really have to like me. [applause] [laughter] that i live inow the constitutional democracy and i have a vote and i have a people. We are working together we will be counted. You are going to respect me. Writ you do not have to respect me. You can devalue the life of my black sons and brothers. Regularly. What would get us respect engagement is our local folk who are disengaged and dont have all the education that we have out here and all those who are affected every day, you Start Talking about criminal justice. They are all affected. You talk of criminal justice at home. And what we can do as a teen nearly to change this system, you will go to an issue that speaks to them. And i bet you if we really work on it, and they will, and tell us what their issues are and how they think we can help. But we have to show some solidarity and some community with our own. And we will get respect when we give it to each other. Congresswoman, what would like to do before go to close remarks is recognize the other members of the Congressional Black Caucus who are here with us. Thank you very, very much. Donald payne, jr. From new jersey. [applause] all right. Robin kelly from illinois. [applause] of course you have met our cochair, joyce beatty from columbus, ohio. [applause] barbara lee from california. [applause] Donna Edwards from maryland. [applause] are there any other members here . Thank you. Of course, and again i guess what you think our leader for being here, nancy pelosi. Thank you very much. Here, here. [applause] tahnk you so much. And before you all did that, just a point of personal privilege. There are two others in the room that need to be acknowledged for the unbelievable service, and those are my children who are out of school today and are angry with me for pointing all this attention to them. Miles and madison, i love you both so much. Everything i do [applause] is for you all. So you all stand up for just for a minute and just about everybody to see what im so proud of on a daily basis. [applause] my 15 yearold is taller than me and its a problem. [laughter] i might have to become a member of the nra. Just for the rights, not for the politics. [laughter] i need you all to be able to give Closing Remarks in two minutes. I will be respectfully ridiculously interruptive after the two minutes. And so if we could start with wade and in with the congresswoman. Thank you, jeff. Thanks to the audience, a great and important program. Let me say, guys. Again, this is all about the vote in our power and i think weve underscored that. But i just want to talk to the brother who raised this issue about bias as my closing remark. We have a study out from the department of education, four year old kids, black kids are 16 18 of the preschool enrollment. Yet they are 46 of those who are expelled from preschool. Now, im telling you guys, lives is out there. It is rael. But if youre going to do with it youre going to need a multiracial coalition. Youre going to need a coalition because only in coalition is their strength. Beyond will become produce ourselves. We have it but weve got to be in coalitions. We also have to recognize that every issue has an interest that we serve. The brother here from honduras, immigration is a black american issue. [applause] just as it is an issue for other communities have and we need to be a part of these debates. So i would say we have the power. Hands up, go vote. And im looking to see us make a difference in november. Because if we dont, then this effort would have been for not. And an interesting conversation but if we dont turn it into a real show of power and force, then we are not anywhere. And thank you for the opportunity to be. [applause] thank you so much. We have had the right to vote for 144 years, since 1870. Women have had it for 94 years, since 1920. Voter suppression is nothing new, nothing new. Weve had the right to vote on paper for that amount of time. There have been three periods that you have had severe voting repression. One started in the 1890s after the brothers elected those 24 blocks. They started lynching him and changing the poll tax, state constitution. That was the first period, and they drove us out of congress in 1901 to next black in the south come back in 1972. Next, 1982. Next, the Second Period was the Voting Rights act of 1965. All the folks dying to the 50s and 60s trying to give us a Voting Rights act to enforce our constitutional rights. The third voter suppression. Is when . Right now. We in it. So we know our power. We have to know it. We have to protect it, and despite what they do, weve got to find a way to get to these polls and make our vote count. Thats all. Thank you so much. [applause] congressman lewis. Jeff, thank you very much for moderating this group. I dont want to say that much about the vote. I think its i dont want to take minutes, but i think its important for us, and especially young people, to understand our history, to understand the distance weve come, the progress weve made as a people and as a nation. We are not there yet. We have not yet created a beloved community but in the process of moving, we must learn to be kind to each other. And respect the dignity and the worth of every human being, and this country, on this little piece of real estate. Weve got to learn to live together as brothers and sisters. It doesnt matter whether we are black or white, latino, Asian American or native american. We are not going anyplace. We are going to be here. The country is changing. And as so many of our brothers and sisters are living in fear. They fear the unknown, but they must not be afraid, and understand that our struggle is not a struggle that last one day, one week or one month or one year or one lifetime. But you must do what you must do and pay your dues, like our forefathers and our ancestors. Thank you. [applause] resources. I want to just give a few resources for people to use and helping people to become Voting Rights champions all over this country. I mentioned the toolkit that is on our website at lawyers committee. Org. We also just put out a mobile app for your smartphone where you can call anybody in the country and say, are you registered to vote . If they said, i dont know, think so, whatever, i dont think so, what ever. You can actually look it up for them and tell them if they are registered. You can tell them where to go register, what the rules are in their state, and you can also use the app to tell them how to register online, to use the National Voter registration form. They have all that information. Get that at right now by texting 90975. Thats 90975. Once again if you go to the lawyerscommittee. Org you will find that information. The other resource we have for you right now is you can call our hotline. We have legal volunteers available to answer your question but if you dont know if its possible for somebody who is an ex felon in your state, if you dont know what the rules are about voting in your state and youre curious about voter id if it applies, et cetera, call 1 866 our vote. 18666878683. We have people to give you the information because ultimately as somebody said its about resources. And these are resources that help you to be a great Voting Rights champions. I hope that you will sign the statement. I hope that you will be there. I am thrilled at the moment. Im not negative at all because change is coming and does Marcus Garvey said, look for me in the whirlwind. Yes, maam, thank you so much. Text epa, i just want to make sure for those who cant spell. 90975. Thank you so much. Congressman becerra speed and let me begin by first checking chairwoman fudge and all the members of the black caucus for inviting me to be here as well. Weve heard the word of them for a long time. Thats always trouble but when they use the word them, we know what comes. But has it ever been different . Have you ever heard a different word . And today we had a great conversation about all the things we need to do. Theyre still using the word them out of there. About a month ago a lot of us in the Latino Committee believed something great what happened because the present was going to do Something Congress would not because republicans kept blocking reform of the broken immigration system but it didnt come. There is a deep disappointment. As wade said, this is not an issue just for the latino community. Deep disappointment. But there is now a movement to tell people you should not go vote because people did not come through the way you wanted them to. Let me to you, it is a dangerous thing. Every month for the next 20 years, 50,000 latinos a month will turn 18. If we are smart we see the power that is right there in our hands. And so some of us are beginning to do something a little differently in congress. We no longer talk so much about the Congressional Black Caucus, the congressional spanish caucus, the congressional asiapacific caucus. We talk about the tricaucus and how we are working together. [applause] and so my message is, we cant be on the defensive. We cant just react when ferguson comes along. It has to be the offense. Nancy pelosi who has stayed with us for the entire session, theres not often a leader who sticks around for two hours, can tell you best that we can all the willpower we want but if you dont put skin in the game, if you dont put money on the table, its going to take a lot longer. So my final message is this. We need to own Voter Registration, we need to own Voter Registration. No one else will do it for us. We need to own Voter Registration and weve got to put money on the table for it and then we decide how it gets done for us. Dont let them do it. Let us do it. We need to own Voter Registration. Thank you. [applause] i want to thank everyone for coming, especially this panel and jeff. I was losing to transit and ive been thinking on your. 50 years after the Civil Rights Act we are still begging people to vote. I do not understand it. Let me just say to you there are two things i want you to think about that one is i hope you will spend this much time with your local elected officials. I guarantee you most people in this room have not done that. With your school board, with your city council. Then you wont be calling going to talk to somebody to pick up your trash. You need to call your City Council Person for that. I say it that way because i need you to understand we all have a role to play. The Congressional Black Caucus cannot do it all by ourselves but everybody has to do their part. We are a very resilient people. We have come through more than any race of people on this earth. And you mean to tell me we cant me we cant stand up and fight for ourselves . I dont know what to say to you. But i will say these words to you. The black caucus fights for you every day. Even when you wont fight for yourself. We fight for you. Whether its immigration or education, whether its food stamps, housing, we fight for you every day. So my message to you is to contain your complaining. [applause] contain your complaining. You need to take, we all talk about we christians and all that. You need to take your eyes off of your circumstance and look to the future. Because today is not where we are going. Today may be a bad day. Maybe they dont respect us today, but take your eyes off of your circumstance and look to god if youre a christian. And if youre not a christian, just look for the future but stop complaining about today and make tomorrow better. Amen. Lovely, amen. Thank you. If we could do this very quickly, anybody in the audience who is under the age of 21, will you please stand. Its all right, its all right. And stay standing. If youre under 20, if youre under 25, please stand. All right. [applause] if you are 30 or under, please stand. [applause] now lets be very clear. It was said earlier that theres never been a Movement Without young people. And i have to give a caveat. Theres never been a movement that has not been led by young people. And so it is essential that all of us in the room who are not standing up, look at these Young Leaders because this is theres. If we fail to support them, if we fail failed to open be trained, if we fail to lift up their issues, if we fail to listen to their voice, if we fail to elevate their voice, then it is we will kill our own legacy. Because whether we agree with how these young people do it or not is not the issue. Its that we support them even in the face of that disagreement when theyre operating in the call that god has for them before any of us were here to lead our community to the next level. So for all those standing, i salute you. I salute the work youre doing. I salute the methodology that youre using. I applaud your intellect and your willingness to do it different even in the face of haters. [applause] bless you all, and were here for you. God bless you. Lets give this panel an unbelievable round of applause. [applause] congresswoman marcia fudge, congressman becerra. Some of the speakers from the values voters summit. After that, another chance to see the Congressional Black Caucus town hall. On the next washington journal, frederick of the Carnegie Endowment will discuss the u. S. Led military campaign against isis. And the longterm goal of just reading defeating extremist violence. And the latest Domestic Violence controversies in the nfl. Will take your calls and you can join the conversation on facebook and twitter. On cspan. 0 a. M. The Family Research county held its ninth annual