Pakistan was sending a temporary hospital that includes army doctors, surgeons, and specialists, along with readytoeat meal packs and water and medicine, tents and other items. Yesterday, the United States pledged an additional 1 million for humanitarian assistance and said that the usa id was the point the Disaster Assistance response team. The search and rescue team also being activated to accompany disaster experts and assist with assessments of the situation. Remarkable partnerships. Magnetic women. Their stories and first ladies the book. She said her portion portrait washington india her to the nation. What she was doing, what she looked like, she thought that was going to help sell papers. She takes over a Radio Station and then she starts running it. How do you do that . And she did it. She exerted enormous influence because she would move a mountain to make sure that her husband was protected. First ladies now a book. Looking inside the personal life of every worst lady in american history, based on original interviews from cspans first lady series. What about the lives, ambitions, families, and unique partnerships with her president ial spouses. First ladies present will historians on the lives of 45 iconic american women. Filled with lies a fantastic women who survived the scrutiny of the white house sometimes at a great personal cost and often changing history. Cspans first ladies is an illuminating and inspiring read. Now available as a hardcover or ebook to your favorite bookstore or online bookseller. On wednesday evening the constitution project hosted its annual constitution champions gala here in washington, d. C. Honorees included senator Patrick Leahy of vermont and senator rand paul of kentucky. Twitter was recognized for his leadership and work in defending the constitution, and in particular Digital Privacy issues and changing the mandatory sentencing policy and National Security. This is just over an hour. Virginia if people can take their seats, we are just about to get started. Good evening. Im virginia sloan and im president of the constitution product. Im delighted to welcome me here to our eighth annual gala honoring this years constitutional champions. Senators Patrick Leahy and rand paul and twitter for their work in the areas of criminal justice, detainee treatment, and privacy reform. I want to especially welcome our past champions who are here tonight. Judges bill session and bill shields. [applause] virginia what acrimony seems to pervade so much of politics today, the constitution project constraints that it doesnt always have to be that way. Obviously, individuals ideological factions and organizations may and do disagree vehemently about what the constitution means, but for nearly two decades ccp has surmounted many of these disagreements by sponsoring groups of experts from across the ideological spectrum to seek constitutional consensus. It is the bipartisan and inclusive nature of our work that lends it such credibility and influence. This year, we are focusing on three vital areas. First, how can we maintain Public Safety while ensuring that our government exercises its Law Enforcement and National Security powers in a fair, humane, and constitutional manner . We know that systemic failures in our criminal Justice System at a high, individual, economic, and societal cost. Especially since 9 11, the growth of our National Security apparatus is threatening some of our most basic rights and protections. Our second area of focus is how we should safeguard personal information, privacy, and the First Amendment rights that are increasingly affected by rapid sophisticated, and complex technological innovation. Finding a balance between privacy and Civil Liberties and our need for security is a constant, longtime struggle. Given new technology, it is increasingly easy for the government to monitor our personal lives and it is more important than ever that a Constitutional Rights still apply in the digital age. Our third area of focus is how can we make government more open and accountable. Sadly, it seems like the governments ended practice now is one of nondisclosure. Since an informed citizen jury citizenry is vital to our government, ccp is working to break down barriers to Government Transparency and facilitating the oversight to monitor what our government does in our name. I would like to highlight some specific of vandals of our work for best examples of our work before returning to awards. Two years ago, our Bipartisan Group of task force believes the 600 page report examining the treatment of suppressive suspected terrorists in the clinton, bush, and obama administrations. The task force and staff of ccp thoroughly examined Public Records and interviews conducted on the ground factfinding all over the world. A report remains the most comprehensive of its kind. The Task Force Made three alarming findings. First, the u. S. Personnel engaged in torture. Second, the decision to torture was made of the highest levels of government. And third, the Public Record contains no Persuasive Evidence that torture produced significant information of value. As with all of our reports, we use this one to further our education and advocacy workers Task Force Members supported by ccp staff use the expertise influence, and access to persistently Lobby Congress and the administration to make public the Senate IntelligenceCommunity Report on the cia detention and interrogation program. Finally last december, a declassified executive summary was publicly released. Its findings and recommendations closely mirrored those of our own task force. Unfortunately, the executive branch appears to be largely ignoring the Senate Report and some in Congress Actually want to have it withdrawn from public view. Incredibly representatives of most of the affected executive branch agencies, including the justice, the state, and the fbi admit that they have not even bother to open their copies. It is long past time to declassified all relevant information about post9 11 detainee abuses. Tcp polling shows that americans oppose the abuses. We must understand what went wrong so that it can never happen again. And so our work in this area will continue. [laughter] thank you. Task force members and tcp staff have also supported critical steps to closing guantanamo. Both the bush and obama administrations have made some progress including a wealthy uptake on transfers last year. Detain transfers have sloan again. And some in Congress Seems set on either harsher restrictions that will ensure that get no remains open. It is an outrage that 122 detainees remain untried at guantanamo. The half of them all ready cleared to be transferred by every relevant National Security agency. Our definitely workers are another example of our consensusbuilding. We have brought together supporters and opponents of Capital Punishment to ensure that a country addresses the inaccuracies and injustices that plague the system. Last may, our Death Penalty committee issued a comprehensive report and 39 recommendations condemning the systems flaws from arrest to execution. Texas death row survivor anthony gray stated that had our recommendations been in place when he was convicted, he would not have spent 18 years on death row for a crime he did not commit. And too many capital cases, a scope of tory evidence is withheld. Defense lawyers are illequipped and outmatched. Deadlines are inexcusable he missed. Racial disparities persist. And people with intellectual disabilities face the ultimate punishment. In recommending a National Commitment to improve friends in science, the report also for shadows the fbis recent acknowledgment that decades of flawed forensic testimony affects the integrity of thousands of individuals convictions. The fbis microscopic hair analysts overstated matches in 96 of the cases reviewed so far. This includes 32 cases in which defendants were sentenced to death. 14 of whom have already been executed or they died in prison. And then theres privacy. Even before the snowden revelations, we were working to update various laws that were dramatically outdated in the face of new technology. Our bipartisan committees are demanding disclosure of and stick limits on government snooping. And act amending that Law Enforcement obtained warrants to access this information. We are pleased to work not only with the privacy community and government, but also with Technology Companies who are often caught in the know of these battles. Middle of these battles. This past year, we help build rating ample collection of our telephone records for making the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court more transparent and accountable. We appreciate senator leahy and his staff for their tireless efforts to ensure that congress adopts these reforms. And all these areas and more, it is our mission to assemble the unlikeliest of allies to promote consensus on vexing constitutional questions. We are looking at the consequences of collecting dna from people who have not been charged with a crime. We have testified before the president s 21st Century Task Force on policing about constitutional principles that policymakers must consider before equipping state and local Police Body Cameras and military equipment. We just issued a report condemning one of the most common and overlook constituent constitutional deprivations experienced by poor people accused of crimes. The denial of counsel when a judge determines whether the accused will be incarcerated prior to trial. Because of our Mutual Mission having kids and state campaigns constantly seek our help advocates and sting campaigns constantly seek our help. As they did last december when we assembled over a National Best dozen nationally recommends conservative leaders simply cant see for Scott Kennedy because of the severe mental illness, is as efficient fortunately has not been state. Litigants, including many here tonight, think it is important to organize importance of pink cases, briefs that are influential and there are former judges and prosecutors in National Security experts and other prominent and often unlikely voices. He probably just read about one of these cases. Anthony ray hansen was exonerated in early april after spending nearly three decades on alabamas death row because his recorded for lawyer his courtappointed lawyer didnt know enough to ask the court for enough money to hire a qualified forensic expert. Before turning to our awards, i want to thank jonas day for lending us this amazing spanners and i want to thank our many sponsors for this evening and especially those at the defender level bloomberg and twitter. I want to thank our board of directors for their expertise and support in the tireless tcp staff. I want to particular bank the creative and indomitable lisa banks, jenny donnelly, and brian doris further work on the scale of. On this gala. Thanks to all who are here and support our mission. Finally, think thank you to our constitutional champions who stand up for the constitution and the rights of us all. For more about our first honoree , senator Patrick Leahy, please welcome debo patrick adegbile. His biography of his and speaking others will be in the program. So let me welcome him to the stage. [applause] debo ordinarily i would ask for that step to come back here, but since we are amongst friends, i will dispatch with that. Good evening. It is a great pleasure to be here with you and to be here celebrating the constitution project and the important work. But it a special pleasure to be here to present an award to my mentor friend, and former employer senator Patrick Leahy. Senator leahy by every measure is a constitutional champions and tonight, i will speak just briefly about some of the reasons why we know that to be the case. As a center, a center, a former chairman of the judiciary committee, as a Ranking Member center, senator leahy always equips himself as a man of principle and commitment and some of the who believes in the rule of law and the constitutional rules that we set for ourselves. Most recently together with another one of our honorees this evening, senator rand paul, senator leahy is a cosponsor of the Justice Sadie bob back safety valve act, a measure which is intended to restore a measure of fairness and discretion to justice as they seek to sentence people in the context of mandatory minimums. In a post9 11 world, senator leahy has lent his voice to the rule of law and the tensions that we face with respect to our constitution and the need to keep the nation safe. Standard leahy has been in all these discussions and has been a central figure in all the legislation that we contemplate and has elevated our commitment to our principles even in the most harrowing times. But one unmistakable aspect of senator leahys leadership with respect to the constitution is that he is not just somebody who voices the important principles of the constitution, but he asked and bipartisan fashion to make sure that laws are enacted to vindicate those principles. In the context of the Voting Rights act, senator leahy was a tireless voice in the 2006 reauthorization and helped to get that legislation signed. I had an opportunity to collaborate with senator leahy and the staff and i know that it would not have been signed but for his stalwart effort. In another context collaborating with senator orrin hatch, senator leahy has made sure that there is access for postconviction people who are sent sentenced to capital crimes to have dna testing done, to bring up greater measure of awareness to people who faced the most severe penalty that are criminal system meets out. Senator leahy, it is a happy evening for me to be here and to raise tribute to you. I think when this award was named it mustve been named with men like you in mind. I thank you for your leadership, for your commitment, for your example, for your friendship for the opportunity to stand with you in good times and more harrowing times. I welcome senator Patrick Leahy to the podium to accept the constitutional champion award. [applause] [applause] sen. Leahy thank you. Thank you very much for that introduction. Verio. There we go. [indiscernible] sen. Leahy thank you very very much for that instruction. You know, i was thinking as i listened to your opening on this. We are dealing with people here who have actually read the constitution. What a wonderful, wonderful feeling that is. And debo, you are a hero in our family. You are a hero to so many of us here. I know Christine Lucius is here. David carl, Kevin Mcdonnell and others for my office. We think of you as a hero. He once said that the goal of the constitution was to form a more Perfect Union was inspirational but also aspirational. I know that i speak for many in this room when i say your dedication serving the public good and defend the constitution on behalf of all americans is an inspiration. You did the constitution for all americans even if it might cost you in your own career. He stood up for the constitution. I cant think of anything that i admire more in a person than that. And i would admire you even if your middle name wasnt patrick. [laughter] [applause] sen. Leahy but i admire you for doing that. And i think everybody here knows what im talking about. That is why we all admire you. A few years ago, i chose to stay at the home of the Senate Judiciary committee. The sessions i did that because i thought allowed me to defend the constitution and judge, thank you for being here. That is why it is such an honor to be recognized by the constitution project tonight. We worked arm in arm for so many years. We worked to defeat legislation that was there to limit the right of habeas corpus. Can you imagine . We fought them and we won. We fought to end torture and secret detention. Not because just the wrong thing to do, but it was basically unamerican and we fought it. We fought to provide Adequate Funding for public defenders something i believe strongly in and i spent eight years as a prosecutor. I wanted to see good public defenders. We passed the innocence protection act. And of the number of people who are on death row who are now free and the person who actually committed the crime is behind bars. Doesnt that speak to what america should be back . We have to push our great nation to live up to the ideals of the constitution is not just the gulf. Its not something that happens automatically. I think our founders knew that we had to fight for that every single day. Persistence, determination and unrelenting commitment to core american values. It also means that sometimes you have got to admit we make mistakes. Our nation has faced times of great fear and stress. We sometimes reacted in ways that strayed from our Core Principles of democr