Does bend toward justice and i believe that it does, it takes all heart and all hands to keep its path straight and true. My friends, i stand before you today having been blessed beyond compare. But to those who much is given much is required. And so i make these pledges to you here today. Mr. President , i place to you to lead this department of justice with integrity, honor and total dedication of the cause of justice. To the people of the nation, i pledge your protection , your liberties, and your legal rights will be my sacred charge. To the Law Enforcement committee, i pledge this department will be your partner as we work to bring about our highest mission the protection of the people of this great nation. And to all of my colleagues in this department of justice i pledge to always remember the place of justice is a hollowed place and continually strive to be worthy of the trust you have placed in me as we Work Together to uphold the constitution, to protect the american people, and to serve the cause of justice. And to my family, my wonderful family, i pledge to strive to continue to live up to the examples you have set. I make these pledges to and before you all upon the oath i have taken and the honor i hold dear. To everyone here in this room, thank you again for the trust that you have imposed in me, for your faith, and confidence in me, and thank you for sharing this wonderful day with me. Thank you, all. [cheering] [applause] [no audio] [applause] [drums] [bagpipes] [applause] [inaudible] [laughter] [applause] [indiscernible] [applause] [indiscernible] [bagpipes] [cheering] [applause] [bagpipes] [applause] [no audio] thank you all for coming today for todays ceremony. Please come back to the department of justice and join us. [applause] this week on newsmakers, louisiana senator bill cassidy it was also a medical doctor talks about the Health Care Law or republican plans to replace it, and other health care issues. He talked about energy, climate change, and politics. Newsmakers on cspan. Summer sitting kind of front left of the chamber if you will. When brooks comes into the chamber, he comes to the center doors. Sits down and is almost looking directly at sumner. The problem is that some there is not looking at him. His head is about and literally signing copies of the crime against kansas speech. Brooks gets up, lost on the center i with his cane, approaches some there. Again, totally oblivious. Had vowed signing this copy of the speech. Brooks reaches him, with mccain over his head and says mr. Sumner, i read your speech twice. It is a libel to my state and my relative. Sumner looks up and looks is blurred or his glasses because he is so close and brooks strikes among top of the head with a cane. His head explodes in blood almost instantly. Author Stephen Puleo by the caning of congress and sumner by Preston Brooks that drove the country closer to civil war. Tonight on cspans q and a. On friday the American Conservative Union hosted a Panel Discussion on the Ongoing Nuclear negotiation between the p5 plus one coalition and iran. While the white house has prioritized the negotiations, skeptics remain worried about the ability to monitor Irans Nuclear activities. Among the panelists was the type thats retired Lieutenant General michael flynn. This is two hours. [indiscernible] we are going to get started here. I think we need a life mic. We need a live mic here. So this is yours here. Im going to put it right here. Is that on . There we go. Could i get everyones attention up here . I know lunch has you very excited. I always get excited about lunch, i know that. Thank you very much. Thank you all so much for being here. Its great to have this packed house for a really important event today. For those of you who dont know me my name is matt schlapp and , im the chairman of the American Conservative Union and a little over a year ago i was elected chairman of this the nations original conservative organization. We were created to unite conservatives to attain greater political and policy victories and we need them now more than ever. It has been a great honor to work with their our team to help restore our financial health, and reimagined this year cpac. I hope many of you are this ear cpac and to make it clear that the American Conservative Union will stand for a conservative philosophy across the policy spectrum. We will advocate for strong families, the right to life and a the culture buttressed by our sacred traditions. We will fight the growth and incompetence of our outofcontrol centralized government and on behalf of the constitutional principles that empower the individual and curtail government. And as we clearly state today the American Conservative Union and the American Conservative Union foundation will stand up for america, for her security and for a Foreign Policy that recalls the guidance of president Ronald Reagan who urged us to strive for peace through strength. It gives me great pleasure to be able to tell you that we have unveiled our new policy center which many of you may have read about today in town hall. The policy center for statesmanship and diplomacy in this event today is that centers an inaugural event. We believe that the content that this year cpac was too valuable to leave at a conference and we need to talk about it all throughout the year. Thats the spirit that we need here today. That is why we are coming back to you with more policy centers in the weeks and months to come on a full range of considered conservative issues. Our intent with these policy centers is to better inform activists, elected officials, and their staff many of whom are here with us today and other key decisionmakers. I dont know if you feel like i feel. I dont suffer for lack of opinions, especially my family with five daughters. I dont suffer with a the lack of opinions or information. We are deluge with opinions and information but what we do lack is conduits to get timely information that is digestible that we can understand so we can make a positive difference. And we do suffer from a perception that conservatives are simply people who complain, who yell stop but generally stand at the corner with their arms crossed. I have been this guy, and their minds closed. And actually with the topic today that mike might the exactly the right stance. We also know that we love our country and we know that our philosophy will help us develop policies that can bring us peace and prosperity and improve the state of the world. We are confident and we are optimistic that we can still make a difference. So why why have we started with statesmanship and diplomacy . Because there is a very unusual dynamic occurring in this country in our politics. Usually pocketbook issues affect the elections. We all hear about the analysis. As peoples economic stance that determines who they will vote for and i think much because of president obama something is going to change in this next election where i think issues of security will dominate this election. Security in our communities, in our homes, and of course the security of our nation as americans watched in horror the brutality of a let radicalized islamic terrorists this white house seems to base our entire future on our simple rose garden strategy. We would not be here today if it wasnt for two dynamic groups of people and i want to quickly say thank you to all the acu staff who have worked tirelessly both to put on cpac and after cpac and planning for today and all the centers and great policy advocacy work we are doing so i want to say thank you to the staff and i also want to give special recognition to one of our acu Board Members john eddie who flew here, im not going to say where you came from, but to resizing colorado and god and who very early this morning into his Business Partner whose vision ideas and support that may not only the center possible but the entire plan for acu and its Foundation Going forward. Now my next task is to do something thats easy. Speaking of energetic people and energetic leaders, im proud to introduce kt mcfarland who is a to be one of our Foundation Fellows and we are honored to have her on her team. Its rare in politics to find someone who is smart, famous and dynamic but is also sincere and caring and let me stress, hardworking. There is no one in the country who helped us more to put on this fabulous cpac we just and helped dan and ian in the team more than kt. It wasnt all about her comment was about making the country understand the huge problem of obamas Foreign Policy. She has earned our enduring respect and she is the absolute perfect person to lead our discussion here today. Kt, please come to the podium. [applause] mcfarland thank you all very much. The topic we want to talk about today is iran and theres really no issue on the american agenda, foreignpolicy agenda that is more important than iran and the Nuclear Negotiations happening supposedly to result in a Nuclear Agreement with iran by the end of the month so in other words in two weeks time. We have assembled the greatest group of experts that we could find. Its not so much numbers has quality. We have two of the great iran experts from the United States today who have spoken out on this issue and spent years studying this issue but the person that i particularly am please who has been able to join us is general michael flynn. The guy at the end. [applause] general flynn is a Lieutenant General in the air force. He stepped down as head of the Defense Intelligence agency last year. Everyone is familiar with the cia. No one has heard of dia but the Defense Intelligence agency provides intelligence and analysis to the military. Not it not only identifies military threats we face down in the future but it recommends but we need to do about them. General flynn is probably one of the two or three most wellrespected senior military and foreignpolicy National Security analysts in the country. For decades he did not speak to the public this like being a Living Legend in an spell intelligence circles. He was known for being accurate, effective, and blunt. He was really considered one of the great National Security analysts certainly of his generation. He has now emerged from the shadows and he has become one of the countries leading spokesperson spokesman on National Security and savings in a way that everybody understands. Not just the experts, but the men and women of the street. He has sounded the alarm about eminent and longterm threats facing the nation. He is likely at fort yes button, that when he speaks, everyone listens. He is blind and he doesnt mince words. I also went to interest the other two iran experts we have joining us. Dr. Michael rubin. He is the resident scholar [applause] he is the resident scholar at the American Enterprise institute. He is also a lecturer at the Naval Postgraduate School and a frequent commentator on various new shows including fox news, which is the best. He is the iran desk officer at the pentagon during the bush administration. That means used to work for general flynn and one way or another maybe. He has a phd from yale and iranian history. He was imposed revolutionary iran. Hes the author of the book dancing with the devil the danger of rogue regimes. Night is ago he had his second child. Nine days ago his wife at their second child. [applause] and my friend, clara lopez. The Vice President of research a senior fellow at the London Center for policy research. She was a career cia operations officer. You know zero dark 30. Think there lopez. Her postcia career has focused on the threats posed by radical islam. Sharia law isis, and of course iran. She is the author of the acclaimed paper the rise of the iran lobby. Before i get to general flynn and the other speakers, i wanted to get a little bit of housekeeping. First, turn off your cell phones and understand the general flynn is a very busy schedule so he will have to leave promptly at 12 25. We are going to ask him to make a presentation. I will that interview him and he will throw things over to questions. He will leave and then we will do the same with clara lopez and michael rubin. They will each make an Opening Statement and i will engage in conversation. Then we will fill it up and it questions and were out promptly at 1 25. To talk about the iran deal, do a little bit of history to set the stage. It used to be one of our greatest friends. The shock of iraq was one of americas closest allies in the region. In 1979 there was an iranian revolution bringing to power the iranian mullahs and a different kind of regime. It has historically for the last 35 years been the most active sponsor of terrorism around the world. It has pursued a Weapons Program which includes a nuclear Weapons Program. And what is worrisome is what it has in the last decade. It has continued a nuclear Weapons Program, statesponsored terrorism, encouraging proxy regimes throughout the region. It now gives a certain amount of credibility to its frequent chance of death to america chant of death to america. When it first said that, there were american hostages in tehran. When president reagan they were released but the relationship between the u. S. And iran has been tenuous at best and probably outright hostility over the last 35 years. One of the concerns that all of us have is that the agreement that the administration is negotiating with iran, we are not sure what is in it. If it is verifiable. If it is enforceable. The three experts today will talk about all aspects of that. I will then interject my brilliant thoughts throughout. I think the key question for all of this is the ministration claims that if this deal or war. Is that a legitimate question . Is that a strawman option gecko is there another option . Is a verifiable . President reagan said trust, but makes you the ability to verify trust. Is this an agreement that is enforceable . If they cheat or are defective, it didnt agreement that we have the ability to clawback the sanctions and punish them or have leverage over the afterwards . Finally, what are the up to . Why does iran with his agreement and what will they do with it . We have seen in the postrevolutionary iran, they havent aggressive and try to expand their reach throughout the region. We know they have given aid and comfort to forces that have fought against america. Why do they want the symbol of the new and they get . All of that is a very rich topic. I bless everyone who speaks to try to summarize their thoughts and try to fly high and not be down in the lead. Weeds. We would like to have this be a more general an open conversation. Im going to turn this podium over to a man who is just really awesome and a terrific spokesman for americas National Securitys interest. Now that he can actually talk publicly. [applause] general flynn ok. I dont really have any prepared comments. I want to say couple of things here that i believe. I will tell you why believe them. Number one, where my head is at on a given day is basically basically one that is based on the history of this country and friendly World History. When i look into the future and i see do we where we want to be as a country, i see it through the eyes of my grandchildren and i have several grandchildren. My mother lived until she was just over 90 years of age. She just recently died a few months back. The most courageous person ive ever known. An extra ordinary woman. We grew up in an Irish Catholic family. My father was a very tough guy. He was in a world war ii career vet retired from the army as a sergeant. He worked hard around the house and Lifelong Learning was part of our system within our homes. When i look at my youngest grandchildren, my granddaughter who is three if she is able to live to the age of my mom, her greatgrandmother, my granddaughter will be a life in the next century. Think about that. Not only to the think about one in ministration to the next. Most of the other people dont know what theyre going to saturday night. We have to have people who are very serious about the future of our country because anybody that is even that a little bit of basic World History knows that country countries go sideways and then they go away. Countries that are in the dustbin of history. Back to be we have to pay close attention to those. Some of those are a very tactical. The right answer people all change the federal. People have to get out and vote. They have to punch a dot in a piece of paper. People do not know the position of the person they are voting for. They vote blindly. For the most part, you are a switched on audience, but most of america is not. Most of america does not Pay Attention until they say, ok, i will go ahead and try this voting thing. My mom was very heavily involved in local politics. I used to get picked up by a school bus and he would have me hustling out of the school bus knocking on the doors. And i would escort the nice ladies to the bus and we would take them to the voting booth. We would get them back on the bus and they would take them home. That still exist in this country. It does not exist in this crowd. I am being very general. A side of our political domain or dimension. It n