Service as acting president here. You have done in my view a seamless job of plugging the gap in this. Have had here between president s. I also want to single out gary greg. When this program started, i had no idea it could develop into what it has become. You are the reason for that. He came here in 2000. He took it to a whole new level. I hope you will join me in thanking him for what a great job. [applause] we have had a lot of interesting speakers over the years. In my view, none more interesting than our guest this morning. [laughter] Chuck Schumer of course is from brooklyn. Born and raised. His dad owned an exterminator business. One of chuck siblings remembered that we always associated the smell of triple x roach spray with love. [laughter] it was his hard work, day in and day out that took this kid from brooklyn to the worlds greatest deliberative body, the United States senate. It is also why last year, time azine named him one of the to its distinguished list of 100 most influential people. After graduating from harvard law school, chuck was elected to the new York State Assembly at the age of 23. About the same age of the graduates of this program. In his memoir, chuck remembered his parents did not want him to run. They thought the life of a corporate lawyer would be respectful. [laughter] and more comfortable. That my life would be a lot easier if you had only listened to your parents. [laughter] since that first electoral victory, he has kept a perfect batting average. Never losing a single election. Andame to congress in 1981 has served in both the house and the senate earning a reputation for tireless effort on behalf of the people of new york. A lot of people talk about working hard, but chuck has taken it to a whole new level. There is nobody that works harder than this guy. The Washington Post once wrote, work has always been schumers ace in the hole. Stated of congress has they supported schumers bills because he would not stop pestering them. For the senate convened for the he became the, first new yorker ever to serve as Senate Democratic leader. Chuck still lives in brooklyn with his wife, a very accomplished woman in her own right. No matter how much time he spends in washington, he never let anybody forget where he is from. In our leadership roles, i get to work closely with him every single day. We negotiate the legislative schedule, nominations, and other Public Policy matters before the senate. As majority and minority leaders, we are kind of like the offense of an defense of coordinators. Ive had both roles. Offensive coordinator is better. [laughter] washington may look like a pretty divided place. I often think they teach them in Journalism School that only conflict is news. Actually the senate is a pretty collegial place. We do not dislike each other. We have to Work Together. Of robustlong history debates over the history of this country. Thate to remind students anything you may have heard us other say about each posing in comparison to what adams and jefferson said about each other. We have not had a single incident where i Congress Almost the to death another man with a cane. A robust debate is not unusual. It has been going on for a very long time. Moment,every critical in this country, we have come together to do to do what needed to be done to move the ball down the field. Look at people probably conclude me and something very different. In fact, there is a great tradition of Senate Leaders working together. In 1990, George Mitchell and bob dole Work Together to pass the americans with disabilities act. Workr lott and tom daschle wrote a book together. One of the most visible ways that chuck and i are seen together is every day when the senate floor opens for business. After the prayer and the pledge of allegiance, each of us has the has the opportunity to offer opening remarks detailing our views. Speak firsty, i followed by the democratic leader. Now that we have this show on. He road, i am the warmup act i am thrilled to have my good friend, the democratic leader of the senate here this morning. Join me in welcoming Chuck Schumer. [applause] thank you. Thank you everybody. It is so great to be here with you. What a wonderful room and thank you mitch for that kind and generous introduction. We really do get along despite what you read in the press. Mitch will tell you i like to start off with a little story, a little joke. Nocolleagues sometimes say one laughs harder at these drugs than i do. This is a story at these jokes than i do. I am blessed. My dad is 94, my mom is 89. Life. Struggled his whole he had an exterminating business that was not very successful. At age 70, he retired. My brother who is a corporate lawyer and the financially successful schumer bought them a little house in florida. Every winter, they drive in their car down to florida. My dad never played golf before. He took up golf. They had a good time. As they got older, they things changed a little bit. Many of their friends passed on. Florida Atlantic University is any Senior Citizen allowed to take a course for free. My parents enrolled in a course called humor. 4 00 p. M. ,day at they went to the course called humor. Some of the erstwhile comedian who never made it in the catskills would get up and tell jokes for 45 minutes. My dad never went to college. He said, g college is pretty easy. They called me each week with their favorite jokes. This is one of them. Mrs. Walters is brought before the judge. The judging rolls his eyes, you are back. What did you steal this time, mrs. Walters . I stole a can of peaches from the supermarket. The judge is clearly exasperated. He says, i know you are a kleptomaniac. I know you cannot help yourself. I know you cant afford a can of peaches. The lord say, this is march. You have been arrested for shoplifting 17 times. I have no choice but the sentence you to time in jail. How many peaches were in the cap . There were four peaches in the camp. Im going to sentence you for one night free speech. A gentleman get a top all excited its all excited. He said, i am her husband. She also stole a can of peas. [laughter] when you students get old enough to retire and move to florida, you can enroll to florida Atlantic University and call your children. It is great to be here. Thist to recognize Incredible Group of young scholars. Youre going to have a positive and Lasting Impact on your state, on your country. Give yourselves a round of applause. You are our future. [applause] the scholars are so good, i recruit them. One of the wonderful mcconnell scholars will be an intern in my d. C. Office this summer. Jasper, stand up. [applause] credit also goes to the great director of the Mcconnell Center, gary greg has done an outstanding job at the helm are almost two decades. I would like to thank my friend Mitch Mcconnell for this gracious invitation. I really respect and appreciate what mitch and his wife have accomplished here. Nurturing the next generation of right kentucky leaders. York, i have worked hard to support our network. A worldclass public university. And try to attack try to attract companies. That is just what the Mcconnell Center does for kentucky. You should be very proud. Much of the coverage about Mitch Mcconnell and me focuses on the differences between us and the two states we represent. The truth is, there are plenty of things that lynch mitchs hometown and my hometown. Linkbasketball that mitch his hometown and my hometown. I ask how are they doing in the rankings . I dont last them this year is much. [laughter] i did not want to miss this opportunity that two of the three louisville basketball teams ever to win the National Championship was led by new yorkers. In 2013, it was kevin ware and russ smith from the bronx in brooklyn from the bronx and brooklyn. You never know. Here is another thing you might not realize we have in common. Bourbon. It turns out that brooklyn where i was born, raised, and still proudly live produces some of the best written best bourbon in the world. I know that is a contentious thing to say in these parts. This particular burden bourbon is distilled right around the corner from the apartment from where i live for more than 30 years. It is filtered through the same limestone that was used to build some of new yorks iconic structures from the Brooklyn Bridge to the statue of liberty. As a thank you for his invitation, i would like to give this bottle. [applause] mitch and i do not agree on a lot of things as you just heard. He will never agree that new york bourbon even counts as bourbon. When we need to come together to solve our countries problems, we can and do successfully Work Together. As the longestserving leader of the Senate Republican caucus, he understands the pressure that every leader faces. I am new at the job. We try our best to understand each other. To never ask things that are impossible of the other. To be honest and respectful. To work in good faith and chives to meet the middle where ever possible. That is how we get things done in the senate. Sometimes it does not happen. It is no secret that i did not agree with the way health care and tax legislation were considered in the senate. Sometimes it does happen. In the earlyk hours of friday morning, the Senate Passed a twoyear budget deal that provides significant investment in our military and in our middle class including funding to fight the opioid epidemic, improve Veterans Health care, and relieve the student burden student debt burden. It is an extent it is a significant remit a significant achievement. It shows that even in divisive climates, the senate can be the place where the business of a nation gets done. Last april, mitch and i cut our first budget deal. Budget ofssed a sanctions against president putin. We now have this twoyear budget agreement which hopefully will lead the way. Mitch is an appropriator. That we can do appropriation bills throughout this year and the next where genuine bipartisanship happens every day. We have proven that the senate can function when the when both parties work in a bipartisan way and endeavor for compromises. This week, the senate will have an opportunity to build on that progress. The senate is poised to take up one of the most contentious issues, immigration. To his creditll has promised an open process that is fair to both sides. Democrats and republicans are laboring to find a bill to protect the dreamers and provide Border Security and garner 60 votes. It will not be easy. We are all going to try because of the gravity of the issues at stake. We know this week will be a test of whether the senate can steer the ship through the stormy as the waters. I believe it can. We have shown the senate can lead before, and it must do so again. The president is the president. That has theate potential to act as a beacon of stable leadership and progress in a political culture plagued by gridlock, vision, and rancor. We have a special obligation to this country. The senate where each individual senator is empowered to the , where theinority morals make bipartisanship not just a goal but practically a nice set practically a necessity. We all know what president washington called it, the cooling saucer for the hot tea of politics. If there was ever a time when our politics needed a cooling saucer, it is now. That is what our history teaches us. We begin this week on immigration. I am sure it will not be the last issue on which the leadership in the senate is required. I am hopeful that the same spirit that led mitch and i to a budget deal that spirit of bipartisanship and compromise of rooting country before party will lead us to immigration and the many challenges to come. Best lincoln said the thing for politicians to do is tell stories. I like to do that. I thought i would conclude by telling you young folks how i got into politics. The question i get most asked when i get into campus. Mitch just came out with a book that documents his journey into politics. Unlike many of you and unlike mitch, as a high school senior, i had no idea that politics what end up here in my life. I went to a workingclass high school in brooklyn, James Madison high school. My father was an exterminator. From that workingclass high school, i got into harvard. That did not happen very often. I got in for two reasons. I was a decent but not great basketball player. Was wem motto at madison may be small, but we are slow. [laughter] had to get a job when i was 14 to help my family. There was a Madison High School teacher advertising for somebody to run something called a mimeo machine. How many of you young people have heard of it . There was a day before xerox machines. You would type a stencil and put it on a clunky machine and turn it. I got the job. Thiswas the new business Madison High School teacher was starting . He had this brilliant idea. He was going to prepare students for the sats. . What was his name sold the business to what to the Washington Post for tens of millions of dollars. I worked there nights and weekends. The business took off the second year. The machine went around and around. I read the preparatory materials over and over. I took five tests and i got four 800s. Said, youce counselor should apply to harvard. You are in appellee with 800 an athlete with 800. The one guy from my high school who went on to harvard before me. He was a basketball player. I said how my going to make it to this place . He said try out for the freshman basketball team. They are terrible, so you will make it. Those will be your friends. It is the fourth day of school, and tryouts. The coach calls me out. Oh you went to madison . House coach soandso . He looks at me quizzically. He said, you play forward . How tall are you . I said i am 61 sir. He said, can you dribble . I said that is not my strong suit. He said go home. He didnt watch me touch of all. I was distraught and wrote my mom i note. I said im coming home monday. That night, someone else in my door and asked if id like to join the harvard democrats. We are working for a man named eugene mccarthy. I did not have a political bone in my body. My father was a republican, and my mother was a democrat. I was against the war, so i said ok. I got on a bus the next morning and went up to new hampshire. It was like sports. We would not on the doors. We had a great time. I was so good that i was given a high title and the my carthy in the mccarthy campaign. They had to mimeo machines and i knew had to run them. It was a ramshackle campaign. History,member your mccarthy did not quite where the primary. He came within three or four points. Lyndon johnson, a man who i admire. Saltrare act of humility, that the country is against me saw the country is against me and said im not going to run. I said to myself, well. Nobodies andsorted we topple the most powerful man in the world. What a system we have. This is what i want to dedicate my life to. For the rest of my days, i have been interested in politics. Would pace the floor. He hated going to work monday morning. To this day, i wake up monday morning and i love going to work. Thank you very much for the opportunity. [applause] thank you senator schumer. Senator schumer has agreed to take some questions. I know you have turned in cards. Good morning senator. Thank you for being here. Im right here. First question from the audience. There has been talk of a blue wave of democrats winning seats in the 2018 midterms. If this is to happen, what are the biggest obstacle democrats must overcome . Goal, and i have said this publicly. In 2016 we did not do enough of this. People will make their own decisions about donald trump. We do know that an off years and is often a referendum on the president. His popularity levels are rather low particularly in districts where there are contested races. Our mistake is that you cannot just run against donald trump. It is the job of we democrats to put together a strong cohesive Economic Group of proposals aimed at the middle class and those struggling to get their. There is a lot of discontent in america. People do not have faith in the future. Even at the height of the great median incomeen went much lower than it did in the last 10 years, that people had more hope for the future. That is our job as democrats. We always been the party of economic advancement. We may have lost some sight of that. We proposed a whole bunch of proposals. Three of which actually got into the budget agreement. One to help begin to reduce the that sostudent loans many of you will carry on your backs. Rural broadband. Franklin roosevelt said in the 30s that every rural home should get electricity. He set up the rea. We democrats believe every rural home should have broadband. We are endeavoring to do that. Third, childcare. These days, with so many families where both parents work or singleparent families,. It is very hard to work . What do you do with the kids we more than doubled the amount that went into the bipartisan childcare act. That is what we have to focus on. Very important for the country as well as for winning back the seats in the house and the senate. Thank you, senator. Thank you for your time this morning. This person would like to know if you feel there is a lack of Service Leadership in Politics Today and would you please define what you think a Service Leader is . I really dont know what a servant leader is. Who wrote the question . What is the servant leader . Leads e who not only far toothat off often in our politics that talk replaces action. That is not a good thing. Senate isople the an interesting place. It is only 100 people. You really get to look into the souls of people. It is very hard in a body that work so closely to hide who