Previously:

Missouri Boys State 2012 (June 16, 2012)

Attorney General Chris Koster at Missouri Boys State 2012 – Q and A (June 17, 2012)

Governor Jay Nixon (D) and Kansas City Mayor Sly James at Missouri Boys State 2012 (June 18, 2012)

Kansas City Mayor Sly James at Missouri Boys State 2012 (June 18, 2012)

James Carville at Missouri Boys State 2012 – photos (June 19, 2012)

James Carville at Missouri Boys State 2012 (June 19, 2012)

Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan (D) spoke at Missouri Boys State in Hendricks Hall on the campus of the University of Central Missouri on Thursday evening:

Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan (D) speaking at Missouri Boys State

in Hendricks Hall on the campus of the University of Central Missouri on June 21, 2012

The transcript:

Secretary of State Robin Carnahan (D): …. And I want to break it down in, really, to three questions. They seem kind of basic. But it turns out basic questions are really the ones we have to ask ourselves that end up making the difference in how we live or lives.

And the first question seems incredibly simple. Who are you? You might tell me your name, you might hand me your resume. Doesn’t really tell me much about you. Doesn’t tell me about what you value, what your principles are, what you hold dear, what you’re passionate about. You might tell me that you’re a Boys Stater, that might be an Eagle Scout, or somebody on the track team, might be a basketball player, an honor roll student. If I answered those questions I’d tell you I was a fifth generation Missourian, I’m a lawyer, run a few marathons, have a cattle farm, like to fly airplanes. That doesn’t tell you much about me and what I value. These descriptions are useful, but what’s more useful is what’s inside. And what motivates us and keeps us going. It’s our goals….

…You know, when I took this job as Secretary of State, one of the things I have to do is hire a lot of people, so plenty of resumes come in. And it’s gonna, it’s gonna be interesting if you look at resumes. I don’t know how many of y’all have done this. But a lot of times people’s, you know, credentials, they’re all pretty impressive. The real question is which one of them has the integrity and the passion to do what I need ’em to do. That’s never on that piece of paper. I remember talking to a guy who ran a, a HR shop in a big company and he told me that integrity was such an important part of what they looked for when they hired people that he asked this question in every interview. He asked, has there ever been a time in your life when you stood alone on the side of what was right and it cost you something? [pause] That is sort of a telling moment, isn’t it? When you’re doing something that isn’t along with what everybody else does, or isn’t what the crowd, or isn’t the easy choice. And yet, in the end, that is what tells you who you are inside. And that is what ends up mattering to people the most. The best part about that is that you get to decide those things. It’s sort of an amazing thing how many choices you have in life. And I know when you’re young it seems like they’re just so many choices. It is so cool that you get to decide your path. That’s a great thing about America, is we don’t live in this place where where you’re born is where you end up. We live in a place where you have the choice and you’re empowered to do those things.

You know, there’s a great story about a couple of young men that were born not too far from each other in Germany back in the late eighteen hundreds. They were alike in a lot of ways, they were born like two hundred miles apart, they were both altar boys at their church, both really creative, one was big into the arts and another was into music. Both of them wrote books. At one point in their lives they talked about their life’s philosophy. One of the young men, he wandered around Europe as an artist and tried to sell all of his stuff and failed at that and went back and joined the army, found out that he was really good at leading people and went on to do that. His name was Adolph Hitler. [voices: “Oh.”] Another guy who grew up two hundred miles away from him, liked music. Very, very talented. He became a master organ builder. One of the most, foremost authorities about Bach. Earned a degree in theology and philosophy. He had all this talent and everybody in his town thought he could do anything he set his mind to do. The world was his oyster. But here’s where the story gets interesting. This young guy, when he was in his mid twenties made a couple of really profound decisions about his life. He decided that until he was thirty years old he was only going to study things he was really, really interested in. When he got to be thirty he was gonna go to medical school. After he got done with medical school he decided to go to Africa. He started a leper colony and a hospital. People back home in Europe couldn’t understand how this brilliant mind was being wasted. That he had made the choice to waste his life. He has so much to offer in Europe, and yet he went to equatorial Africa to be a doctor. Anybody know who I’m talking about? Albert Schweitzer. You’re right. Albert Schweitzer, a man who went on to make a huge difference in the lives of millions of people and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. These are two people who grew up in very similar areas, who made life choices that were dramatically different fro the world.

Just like you they had to make a choice about who they were. The choices that you make are profound for your community and for your country. Second, second question, told you there were three. Second question, again, pretty simple. Reminds me of another story of a scientist, I love this. It’s about Albert Einstein. He was a professor at Princeton University. The story goes that he was on a train going someplace and the conductor comes down and starts taking tickets, to all the people on the train and came to Dr. Schweitzer [Einstein] and, and he couldn’t find his ticket. He’s looking around, he’s looking in his pockets, he can’t find his ticket, he’s looking in his briefcase, he can’t find the ticket. The conductor says, Dr. Einstein, don’t worry about it, I know who you are, don’t worry about it, I’m sure you bought a ticket, you’re fine. Conductor went on, going down the aisle, taking the rest of the tickets and he’s about to leave the car, when he turns around he sees Einstein, like on the floor looking around still. And so he rushes back and says, Dr. Einstein, really, we know who you are, I know you bought a ticket, don’t worry. And Einstein got up and stopped and looked at him and said, young man, I, too, know who I am. What I don’t know is where I’m going. You can laugh at that, that’s supposed to be a joke. [laughter] Come on. [laughter] I actually thought was sort of funny. [applause] You’ve never had that happen before. [applause] You guys. Ah, should have told a joke first. Okay. No, but it’s true.

You gotta know where you’re going. It’s a question that haunts everybody. Doesn’t matter who you are, the goals and directions that make a difference,
people struggle with those. Sometimes they don’t even bother because it’s such a hard thing.

It’s sort of fortunate I grew up in this family, you heard from my bio, people involved in politics. I discovered at an early age that people in my family didn’t really didn’t struggle with having big dreams. Have ’em all the time. Sometimes we’d get, we, sometimes we achieve ’em, sometimes we don’t, but we never lack for having a big dream. And I know that one of the stories I love is when my grandfather, I was growing up. He was born in the late eighteen hundreds, he was one of nine kids, he was the only one that went to college, went to become a school teacher, but he had these big ideas about what he wanted to do. Even though there was no real reason to think any of this would ever come true, but he still had ’em. And this great story, about the day he walked in to the house and announced to my grandmother that he intended to run for Congress. Well you can imagine my grandmother’s surprise. She thought this was a terrible idea and said so. She said, don’t do it, you can’t win. He’s a big dreamer, hard headed, went to the neighbors, told the neighbors he intended to run for Congress. They said, ah, don’t do that, you can’t win. Told the local politicians he intended to run for Congress, they’re all like, no, no, don’t do that, you will never win. Well, he was a dreamer, went on, ran for Congress anyway. And guess what happened? [voices: “He won.”] He lost. They were right. [applause] He lost. He didn’t win. But it turns out that’s not the end of the story. Because, of course, it was a setback not to win, but that didn’t change his ultimate goal just because there was a setback. Two years later he ran for Congress again and he won. And he kept winning and serving in Congress for fourteen years. Went on to be a delegate to the United Nations and served as an ambassador in west Africa under President John F. Kennedy. It’s a long way from where he started.

Goals and dreams have a way of keeping you on track and giving you a purpose even when they’re hard. And for those of you in this room, this is especially important, having those goals and having the direction, because the chances are, there are gonna be people behind you wanting to follow in your footsteps. And so you all knowing where you want to go will make a difference not just in your life, but in the lives of all those around you.

Okay, last question. What difference will you make? [pause] You ever notice there are some people who seem to live their lives, they wake up in the morning, they go to work, they go home, have dinner, watch television, collapse into bed, and do that same thing again the next day. Their lives are focused narrowly, just on what they can do for themselves, and sometimes they’re pretty successful. But there are other people who not only figure out ways to succeed but they also figure out ways to help others. These are the ones that volunteer at the school, these are the ones that are here at Boys State helping, these are the ones that lead Boy Scout troops, or get involved in campaigns, or help clean up a polluted stream, or get involved at church or a local hospital. You know those people.

You know, the ancient Rabbis had a name for this, they called it tikkun olam. It means repair the Earth. [pause] To me that seems like an incredibly powerful mission to repair the Earth. To right the wrongs that mankind has done to each other and to our planet. And for some of you in this room repairing the Earth might mean running for office, it might mean joining the military, it might mean volunteering at a homeless shelter, or coaching a little league baseball team. Each of you is in a very unique position. To serve. And I hope before you leave here this week you figure out how you can do that when you go back home. ‘Cause service isn’t just about some big idea. It can be small things.

When my father was Governor of Missouri one of the things he did to repair the Earth he never talked about. Live out in the country, and he would go for a walk along our county gravel road he always had a plastic bag with him. He was picking up trash. The Governor of Missouri was picking up trash. He was busy reforming education, doing other things to get money and change things around to make the state better, but he also picked up trash.

So don’t think that you can’t find a way to serve. [applause]

So, that’s my message tonight. Three questions. Now, my challenge to you is to answer those questions for yourself. Who am I? Where am I going? And what difference will I make? And as you do that I hope you’ll consider the words of President Kennedy who said, with a good conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth and lead this land that we love, asking his blessing and his help, but knowing that here on Earth God’s work must truly be our own.

So, thank you all very much. [applause]

Missouri Attorny General Chris Koster was the keynote speaker on Saturday evening for the opening session of Boys State on the campus of the University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg. After his speech Attorney General Koster took questions from the Boys State audience:

…..[applause] Attorney General Chris Koster (D): We’re gonna go with questions. [pause] Good evening, Michael. [pause] No questions? [laugh]

Question: I have a question. [….] When we, there was mentioned previously, before you gave your speech, was, was about the Medicaid reform. Um, is, ’cause I have heard rumors of the Medicaid reform, is there gonna be drug testing currently? ‘Cause I heard that that would be implemented to Medicaid fraud, to prevent Medicaid fraud…

…Attorney General Chris Koster (D): Um, there have been bills for, uh, drug testing, uh, that have gone before the legislature. Uh, and I think to some degrees some of them may have passed. Um, but, the, the biggest Medicaid development, of course, is going to be the Affordable Care Act which is, the U.S. Supreme Court is going to decide on in about, uh, seven to ten days. Uh, and it will be the biggest event in the Medicaid world and probably in American politics to occur between now and the election, the biggest single event. And so the smartest people, uh, in the entire country have no idea, I think, how, exactly how this decision is gonna come down. But in terms of, of events that are likely to touch Medicaid, uh, and effect both the things that the people in this room are highly interested in and, and the future of our health care system that decision next week is gonna be huge.

[….]

Question: Uh, what is your favorite part about your job?

Attorney General Koster: I am an old prosecutor. Um, how many folks in this room are from Cass County? Can I see some hands? Fair number. Very impressed. Uh, so I used to be Prosecuting Attorney of Cass County from nineteen ninety-four to two thousand and four. And then I went into the state Senate which, so, for the first teen years of my career I was involved in, in the prosecution of the laws of this state, just straight ahead law enforcement. Then, from two thousand four to two thousand and eight I was involved in a much more political arena, which was the Missouri State Senate. Now as Attorney General I think what I like the most is the balance of prosecution on the one hand and policy on the other, because it actually, uh, it seems to be in synch with both sides of my personality. I get to, to go in to court, I was in court about a year ago prosecuting a, a homicide in Kansas City and, so I get to go in and be the prosecutor that I, I wanted to be growing up. But I still get to involve myself in, uh, public policy issues. So I think that the answer to the question is really the balance between policy and prosecution, policy and law enforcement that, uh, makes me enjoy it the most.

[….]

Question: Uh, to start off, I’d like to thank you for coming to speak to us today, Attorney General Koster, um [crosstalk]…

Attorney General Koster: It’s my [inaudible] to be here. You actually, you would be, the members of political community in, throughout this state feel very, very strongly about this, uh, organization and its success, past, present, and future. And so when this organization calls and, and you will find this yourself when they call upon you in the future, uh, to contribute back to future generations, uh, you will feel the same pull that all of us feel. Governor [Jay] Nixon will be here tomorrow. Tomorrow is Father’s Day, right. Governor Nixon, who is the father of two young men will be here on Father’s Day because of how strongly he feels about the success of this organization. So, um, I, I appreciate the thanks but, honestly, it’s my thanks to you for getting the invitation and allowing me to be here with you.

Question: [….] I wanted to know, I know you used to be a Republican and then later switched parties to become a Democrat. And I know, I wanted to know, um, what your motivation was behind that, if it was an ideological switch or, um, something different.

Attorney General Koster: It was, when I was in the Missouri Senate there were issues of concern that I had around stem cell research, which was probably the biggest motivating factor. In two thousand and five, which was, so that was six, seven years ago, um, in two thousand and five we had a major debate in this state over the future of stem cell research. Now my dad, uh, was a, who I mentioned in the speech, but what I didn’t mention was that he was a Type I diabetic. Um, he developed diabetes when he was eighteen years old and he died at fifty-seven. And so, when the effort came forward from the Republican Party in this state to criminalize stem cell research, research that would have the ability and the possibility of changing the future for young men and women who are growing up with the same type of disease that my dad had. To criminalize it and to take doctors who we were recruiting to Washington University and to Stowers Institute in Kansas City, to take those doctors from, who were coming here from Harvard, from Paris, from London to do some of the most, in my opinion, the most important research in the world, and we were gonna turn their work into something that violated criminal laws of this state I found myself on the other side of an ideological divide. Now, the question splits the State of Missouri about fifty fifty and I, I don’t begrudge anyone who hold a different opinion on the topic their opinion. But my opinion started to move me in a direction that began to separate me on a, a number of different issues from the, the conservative base of the, the far conservative base of the Republican Party.

Let me explain one other thing about the mechanics of politics in our state. In my opinion, this is just one man’s opinion, and so don’t, I mean, there are Republicans and Democrats and independents in the room, just one man’s opinion. If politics are the, the range of political expression in our state was a football field and it ran from end zone to end zone then I came to the opinion that the party with which I was formerly affiliated was playing a game basically inside the red zone to the goal line of the right side of the field. And so as a policy maker within that party you had to come up with solutions that fit inside the red zone, from the goal line to the twenty yard line.

The Democratic Party is, they call it a big tent party, but what I like about it is that it allows you to come up with a range of solutions that really span from goal line to goal line. So if a truly conservative solution is the right way to go on a given problem the Democratic Party largely gives you the freedom to pursue that. And if a solution that is left of center is the best solution for a particular problem the Democratic Party certainly doesn’t begrudge you that as well.

I changed parties, in addition to the stem cell issue and for a few other reasons that are more, to, uh, detailed, probably, to go into tonight. I changed parties because I wanted to get up every day and use my best judgment from goal line to goal line and not within a certain relatively limited range of, of options. And I just felt that the Democratic Party offered me that.

[….]

Question: [….] Obviously a, a great opening, um, telling us, uh, how you got to be where you are today, but, um, my question was to you, was, uh, as district attorney was that all that you, Attorney General, pardon me, uh, was
that your, your goal from, say, high school or grade school, did you always want to be that, or did you have different aspirations?

Attorney General Koster: I grew up the son of a sports writer and I wanted to be a sports announcer when I was real young. In fact, uh, Joe Buck, everybody here knows who Joe Buck is, right? [voices: “Yeah.”] So Joe Buck and I grew up, basically, together and knew each other from the time we were ten or eleven years old. Um, and so he has my chosen career. Um, I became interested in public policy and in government when I interned during law school for the Attorney General’s Office in about nineteen eighty-six eighty-seven. And then from nineteen eighty-nine forward I worked at, as a law student, almost full time, at the Missouri Attorney General’s Office, got a chance to see the incredible work that it does helping the lives of people. I was down in the boot heel earlier today, there’s been a lot of, uh, violence, uh, in certain portions of the boot heel lately, gun violence. We were down meeting with concerned citizens and clergy and law enforcement, uh, in Mississippi County. And when I was in law school I, I, I had a, an opportunity to see what this office was about and what it could do and so I, I think that I, I fell in love with it, uh, at that point in time. The office, let me tell you, tell another story that I think is appropriate for this office. The office also has a great history behind it. I mean, there were from both political parties, there have been extraordinary, uh, bright people who have worked in this office during, uh, previous years. From the Republican Party you had individuals like Jack Danforth and John Ashcroft and Kit Bond who all worked in the Missouri Attorney General’s Office. On the Democratic side of the aisle you had individuals like Senator Tom Eagleton and, for sixteen years, Governor Jay Nixon, who occupied the chair that I am privileged to work in every day. So the office has great history behind it and that was one of the things I think that, um, caught my attention when I was not much older than you are.

[….]

Question: [….] As someone who’s run for Attorney General, I was wondering if you had any advice for someone who is also planning on running for Attorney General, the theoretical fifty-first state, uh, Missouri Boys State, and if you, possible to offer an endorsement as well. [laughter]

Attorney General Koster: I’m gonna hold my endorsement for a little longer.  Uh, and so it, the advice, you’re asking for advice for running for Attorney General? [question: “Yes, sir.”] Put other people before your own interest. Which is actually the best advice for anybody who is in politics. Um, if you put other, if you put your interests in front of other people’s interests they will, people will see through you and figure you out real quick. And as long as all of you and me, it’s good advice for me, too, uh, keep a sense of service oriented leadership you should, you know, maintain a good straight line to walk and, and people will sense that as well. Uh, so, every day get up and say that this is not about me, it’s for other people, I’m doing this to help make other people’s lives a little better. And that should keep everybody on the straight and narrow.

[….]

Question: [….] So you’ve been reading papers for obviously a pretty long time, so you’ve watched, uh, the growth of, you know, Twitter journalism, you know [Attorney General Koster: “Right.”] over the last half decade. And so, I was kind of wondering what you think of that, both as a reader, uh, an avid reader of newspapers and as a subject of, uh, you know, some scrutiny from journalistic sources.

Attorney General Koster: I don’t have a very high opinion of it. Um, I think that it is, it moves too quickly , there is not enough analysis, it tends to focus on gossip rather than policy. But going back to, I think, a more substantive side of the question, and that is, why is a newspaper better, why is reading a single newspaper better than reading news on the Internet. And because, and that is because the, the electronic news that you receive, um, over the Internet is not filtered by a human being in a news department that places a prism or perspective over the world and organizes it with a human mind. Most of the news that you see on the Internet is generated through computer, uh, assimilators. And the most hit on stories become the lead stories and the top stories. And there’s not human interaction that organizes it in an intelligent way. And what makes the Wall Street Journal great and what makes the New York Times great is they’ve got extraordinary editorial boards that every day have a meeting and organize the world’s events before it hits your computer screen. You can read it on your computer, that’s not the issue at all. But the issue is, you don’t have time in your world to organize the mass of information that is out there in front of you. But the editorial board of whatever newspaper you find most relevant to your life does have that time. And that’s what makes the difference. And Twitter, you know, the, Twitter’s I guess a great thing, I, I don’t have a strong opinion on it, uh, but the, the new media does not organize the world in those same, with the same thoughtfulness that a great newspaper staff does. [applause]

[….]

Sorry, Michael. [laughter] We’ve got a member of the new media right over here.

[….]

Question: [….] I know there’s a lot of controversy over the Affordable Healthcare Act and I have two questions regarding it. First of all, um, how does, how do, what position do you take on this act and, uh, how does Missouri on this act, that’s my first question. And then, uh, I know this is kind of looking at the future a bit, but do you think it’s going to be repealed or, uh, kept?

Attorney General Koster: Well, my opinion happens to coincide with the briefs that we filed in the U.S. Supreme Court, uh, not surprisingly. There were thirty-seven states that have filed, essentially have filed paper work on this issue. Twenty-six of the states in the country have said that the mandate, which is the subject obviously of most of the controversy, that the mandate is unconstitutional and that the mandate is not severable from the rest of the bill. And so when the mandate goes down the entire bill goes down. Twenty-six states of the thirty-seven states have filed briefs and paper work that follow that line of thinking. Ten states took exactly the opposite position. Ten states said that the mandate is constitutional and the entirety of the bill, therefore, is fine and should be upheld. Missouri is the only state in the country of the thirty-seven who have opined on the issue to have filed briefs with the Eleventh Circuit in Atlanta and the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington to state that the mandate is unconstitutional but that the law should be severed, could be, can be severed and should be severed from the rest of the bill. That was the opinion of the Eleventh Circuit. Now, that is not my political opinion. That is my legal opinion. And the, my belief is that the twenty-six state that are to the right of me and the eleven, ten states that are to the left of me, um, have allowed too much politics into their drafting. Um, now that’s my legal analysis. The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, which is the case that went up to the U.S. Supreme Court, agrees with the State of Missouri’s general opinion on this topic. Missouri is the only state which has written a brief consistent with the Eleventh Circuit opinion.

It is going to be a very close call, what happens in Washington either next week or the week after that. My belief is that Missouri’s legal analysis is the most likely outcome based on the history of the case law over the l
ast seventy-five years and that the Supreme Court is more likely, than any of the other two possibilities, to strike down the mandate and then to sever the bill, uh, from the, severe the mandate from the rest of the law. Then I would say the second most likely outcome may be that the entire law, uh, is struck by the court. And the third most likely outcome is that the entire law is upheld. But these are very, very close questions. And this, literally, the smartest law professors in the country are speculating, uh, as to what the nine individuals on the court are going to do. And almost all of the analysis is that the decision will be very close, falling five four in one or the other direction.

Question: [….] You talked essentially about having to be informed about national and foreign issues here and just in Missouri and I was wondering as Attorney General of just Missouri you have a special position to influence national, uh, events and news or around the world.

Attorney General Koster: Do, are you asking me do I or…

Question:  Yeah, are you given like a position of like influence or like as just, uh, Attorney General of Missouri do you have more of a power, uh, in national news.

Attorney General Koster: Well, it’s, it’s good that this question came on the heels of the other question because there’s probably no better example of attorney generals influencing national policy than has occurred in the Affordable Care Act situation. Uh, the, the litigation began with the twenty-six attorney generals, uh, filing lawsuit, I think the, started with, uh, fewer than that, maybe sixteen or eighteen filed a lawsuit in Florida. Um, so attorney generals really have done more than any other single group in shaping the early understanding of the Affordable Care Act in the federal courts for the, in, in the district courts and then the, and then in the court of appeals and really now in the, in the U.S. Supreme Court as well. So, that’s one very good example and, and I went through the analysis of where the, the thirty-seven states are.

The other arena in which attorney generals have played a leading role is in the mortgage crisis. And earlier this year the fifty attorney generals agreed, uh, with a, entered a settlement with the five largest banks in the country to bring restitution back to our individual states for the, uh, the ills committed during the mortgage meltdown and for the wrongs, uh, that may have been committed as a result of, uh, different mortgage activities and the way that mortgage documents were handled around the country.

So, I would argue that the two biggest, uh, issues of the last four years, which would be the, the recession led by the mortgage meltdown and the Affordable Care Act and the country’s interpretation of that have probably more influenced by the fifty attorney generals in the United States than by any other single group.

[….]

Question:  [….] I was just curious to what your opinion is on President Obama’s recent quote, the private sector is doing fine.

Attorney General Koster: I think that on his recent quote that the private sector is doing fine, uh, job growth has been anemic, everyone knows that job growth has been anemic. Um, the private sector is not doing fine. Um, I think the President probably would take those words back if he could. And, and reshape them. I think he was, I’m not exactly sure of the larger point he was trying to make but my guess is if he could grab those words and bring them back he would.

[….]

Question:  [….] I just wanted to ask, kind of referring to your speech, um, what particular connections do you look for when you read the newspaper every morning and how do you apply those connections to what you do during the rest of your day as Attorney General.

Attorney General Koster: Well, the, um, I usually start with the opinion page. And, and I find the opinion page, um, I find the opinion page is incredibly informative. And it helps me put a prism on the day’s news. Then I go back to the front section of the newspaper, uh, in the, in the New York Times what is now, uh, typically referred to, well it used to be the front page but is now typically referred to as top news. So I’ll go, um, I’ll go opinion pages, then to top news, then to world news and then, because I’m almost fifty, I go to the obituaries. [laughter] You’ll understand that some day. Um, it’s a strange transition that happens about the time you’re forty-five, I don’t know, it seems to click. And then all of a sudden you read the obituaries. Uh, and then I go back to the, uh, the national news, um, and then through sports and arts and whatnot.  Um, you know, I think that probably what I look for most acutely right now would be economically driven. Um, I, I’m looking for a better level of understanding about the economic crisis that the country faces, about the, about job growth, uh, or the lack thereof, about how the banks are doing. You know, Missouri’s a, um, Missouri has lagged behind the rest of the country in job creation. And it’s been a, a frustrating part of the economy that, uh, that this region of the country has had to face. And, so, I read a lot out of the, the two federal reserve, uh, districts. The one federal reserve district that does a lot of analysis on basically, in the east, that does a lot of analysis on the economy from, say, Jefferson City to Memphis, so it spans states. And then the other that goes from the center of the state west out to Denver. Uh, so, I would say the main thing I’m looking for right now is economic information. And, and informing my job in terms of where we go in the mortgage crisis, uh, how we deal, where, where, uh, blame should or should not be assigned in terms of fault within the banking industry. Sometimes the banking industry is appropriately blamed, sometimes it is not appropriately blamed. And developing a higher level of understanding of that issue so that I can do my job relative to the mortgage crisis, uh, is, has been a big deal.

[….]

Question:  [….] What is your philosophy on civil liberties and how much intervention do you think the government should have in people’s personal lives?

Attorney General Koster: That is an awfully broad question. [laughter] Um, I would, I mean, as a, I, I give you, I, unfortunately, to give, to a broad question ‘m gonna give you a broad answer. Um, I believe that the Attorney General’s Office is there to protect civil liberties, uh, and like the majority of Missourians I feel that government intrusion into people’s lives, personal and, and, uh, professional, should be as limited as possible. But to still achieve, we still have to come together in some sense and achieve larger goals. Nobody’s gonna rebuild highway [Interstate] seventy, uh, no business is gonna come in and just rebuild highway seventy. Uh, but it desperately needs rebuilding. So, there are goals, education, uh, higher education, uh, infrastructure, that require all of us to come together and so, to that degree, government has to rally the troops, uh, and, and lead us toward larger goals that Missouri has to, uh, accomplish. But shy of that, I think limited, uh, intervention in our lives is, uh, is what this country was founded on.

[….]

Question:  [….] I have a couple of questions about, um, education, college education, um, because I attend college in Northwest Missouri State University, um, and my tuition is being raised five thousand dollars more than it was. Um, I’ve heard that Governor Nixon cut college, or the money that they’re giving to colleges by twelve percent. So, we’re the future of the state yet you’re cutting our education.

Attorney General Koster: Well, let me ask you a question. Um, do you, what do you think should be done about that problem, then I’m gonna answer, uh, address the issue, but, uh, what do you think should be done ab
out that? Because we, the government in our state, um, is constitutionally directed to have revenues and expenditures basically equal every year. And so we have various needs out there. Uh, health care needs, higher education needs, agricultural needs, um, public safety needs, we’ve got a Department of Corrections that has to be, um, funded every year. We’ve got thirty thousand prisoners that, uh, are housed in the prisons across the state, uh, for crimes that are committed. So, before I answer the question, what would you advise me to do with regard to increasing state revenue, holding the line on state revenue, or reducing state revenue? And remember, you’re gonna be running for office in the next couple days.

Question:  That is an excellent question I do have to admit. Um, but I mean, you, we’re the future of the country, so shouldn’t we be treated [crosstalk]…

Attorney General Koster: Are you gonna answer my question with a question? [laughter]

Question:  Yes, I am. [applause]

Attorney General Koster: I answered your question with a question. [applause]

Question:  I know. Okay.

Attorney General Koster: My, my response on the tax issue is relatively well known. I agree fully with, uh, the, uh, governor that I am privileged to serve alongside, that’s Governor Nixon who will be here tomorrow, we hold the line on taxes in the State of Missouri. I differ with him on one particular tax and one tax alone, uh, and that is the cigarette tax. I think that the cigarette tax, um, should be raised. Uh, but other than that I think all the other taxes in the State of Missouri should be, um, held and that we need to, uh, look for ways to find cost savings within the larger government to do everything we can to make sure that higher education and other needs of this state are provided for. And in doing such, again start to grow this economy, uh, in a way that revenues will increase as our prosperity increases.

[….]

You’re not gonna answer the question, I take it.  [laughter]

Question:  Nah, seeing as you didn’t answer the question either. [laughter]

Attorney General Koster: I did answer the question. [voices: “No.”] I actually said there’s a, one tax out there I would raise. I went out on a limb.

Yes, sir.

[….]

Question:  [….] I wanted to know who’s the biggest motivator in your life. Who made you keep going even when you didn’t feel like keeping on going?

Attorney General Koster: Hmm. My brothers. Um, my mom and dad had four boys in five years and I’m the oldest of the four boys. And so we’re very, very close in age and we’re extremely close friends. And so I, I talk to, there’s one brother I talk to probably two or three times a day. Three times, four times a day. There’s one brother, probably every other day, and there’s one brother I talk to, I don’t know, every three or four days. And we, like all, uh, I don’t know, I’m sure that many of you have brothers that are close in age, we fought in the way that brothers fight. And my dad used to say to us when we were kids and my mom as well, that, be careful who you’re fighting with because these guys that you’re fighting with are gonna be your very, very best friends for your entire life. And, um, my folks were right and they are my very best friends and they’re the ones who I rely on when, if, if everything were to go wrong, uh, those would be the three guys, uh, who make all the difference for me.

[….]

One more question I’ve been told.

Question:  [….] What is your view currently on Eric Holder, the Attorney General of the United States, on the fast and furious issue and the possible vote to… [Attorney General Koster: “On the what issue?”] Fast and furious, and his supposed refusal to cooperate with Congress and their possible vote on holding him in contempt here in the next couple days.

Attorney General Koster: Um, now there was an article this morning that said he was, uh, looking for a compromise on releasing information around fast and furious. And so, you may know more about this than I do, but my understanding is that there have been developments, woo, glad I read the paper this morning [laughter] , that there have been developments in the last twenty-four hours, uh, yesterday perhaps that, uh, indicates that General Holder is trying to provide Congress with, um, the information that they are looking for, at least some information that they are looking for.

You have now exhausted my knowledge of the topic. [laugh]

[….]

Thank you everybody and best of luck to you this week. [applause]

Today is the first day of the week-long American Legion Boys State of Missouri program on the campus of the University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg. Approximately 1000 boys from across Missouri will participate this week. This is the fifth year we’ve been able to cover the session.

It takes a significant number of volunteers to register the approximately 1000 Boys State citizens.

Why do we cover this? It’s about government and politics. Plus, Missouri Boys State always has an impressive list of speakers, including statewide office holders.

The keynote speakers this week:

MISSOURI ATTORNEY GENERAL CHRIS KOSTER

Saturday, June 16, 2012 (6:45-7:30 PM)

Prior to the Opening Night Ceremonies of the 73rd session of Missouri Boys State current Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster will deliver the keynote address at a special assembly in Hendricks Hall. Following his prepared remarks, Attorney General Koster will hold a question and answer session.

MISSOURI GOVERNOR JAY NIXON

Sunday, June 17, 2012 (6:45-7:30 PM)

Missouri Governor Jay Nixon will deliver a keynote address at a special assembly on Sunday evening in Hendricks Hall. Govenor Nixon has been an outstanding supporter of the Boys State program throughout his years as Missouri’s Attorney General and Governor. We are very pleased to have him back to Boys State. The Governor will hold a question and answer session following his prepared remarks.

KANSAS CITY MAYOR SLY JAMES

Sunday, June 17, 2012 (7:30-8:30 PM)

Kansas City Mayor Sly James will deliver a keynote address at a special assembly on Sunday evening in Hendricks Hall. This is Mayor James’ first visit to the Boys State program and he will provide a candid and entertaining discussion of the issues facing elected officials at the city level. We are very pleased to have him as part of the program. The Mayor will hold a question and answer session following his prepared remarks.

MEDIA PERSONALITY AND POLITICAL ICON JAMES CARVILLE

Monday, June 18, 2012 (7:15-8:45 PM)

James Carville will accept the 24th Annual George W. Lehr Memorial Speakers Chair on Monday night at Hendricks Hall. One of the most recognizable figures in politics, James Carville is an insider who analyzes the Obama Administration, Congress, the 2012 elections and the global political landscape with his signature energy and humor. Following his prepared remarks Mr. Carville will hold a question and answer session.

MISSOURI SECRETARY OF STATE ROBIN CARNAHAN

Thursday, June 20, 2012 (7:15-9:15 PM)

Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan will deliver the keynote address at the special assembly on Monday evening. Secretary of State Carnahan has been a long time supporter of the Missouri Boys and Girls State programs. Robin Carnahan was sworn in as Missouri’s 38th Secretary of State in January 2005. Carnahan’s family has a proud history of devotion to public service. Her father, Mel Carnahan, served as Missouri’s Governor, and her mother, Jean Carnahan, was the first woman to serve Missouri in the U.S. Senate. Her grandfather, A.S.J. Carnahan, a congressman from south-central Missouri for 14 years, was appointed by President John F. Kennedy to be U.S. Ambassador to Sierra Leone.

WHITE HOUSE FELLOW AND NAVY SEAL COMMANDER ERIC GREITENS

Friday, June 22, 2012 (7:00-8:30 PM)

White House Fellow, Navy Seal Commander and Rhodes Scholar Eric Greitens will speak to MBS participants on Friday at Hendricks Hall. One of the most accomplished Boys Staters in recent memory, Greitens will share his extraordinary career with Boys Staters in a special assembly. Greitens returned from his last tour of duty in Iraq in 2007. As an award-winning humanitarian leader, Eric has traveled to many war and crisis torn countries to reveal not only the hardship of the people, but also their strength and compassion. Following his prepared remarks he will hold a question and answer session.

Gary Grigsby, a member of the American Legion and a long time Boys State volunteer.

Previously: Former Senator John Danforth at Missouri Boys State: Q and A, part 1 (June 16, 2011)

Former U.S. Senator and U.N. Ambassador John Danforth speaking on the stage of

Hendricks Hall on the campus of the University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg on Tuesday night, June 14th.

Former Missouri Attorney General, U.S. Senator and U.N. Ambassador John Danforth was the keynote speaker and recipient of the George W. Lehr Memorial Speakers Chair at the American Legion Boys State of Missouri in Warrensburg last Tuesday night, June 14th. After his speech Senator Danforth took questions from the audience.

“…but, are there issues where if I had to do it over again I would have done it differently? Yeah, sure. But, do I really have regrets about it?  No, I don’t. I, I really don’t…”

Journalists who saw the fool in John Danforth go on to great things

By David Martin Mon., Jun. 6 2011 at 2:10 PM

….Danforth seemed to lose his mind during the confirmation battle. At one point, he wanted to peddle a theory that Hill suffered from a condition known as erotomania, which enabled her to sound so convincing when describing Thomas’ sexual interest in her. (In his own book about the events of 1991, Danforth admits that he “fought dirty” but defends his actions by describing the terrible injustice done to Thomas.)….

“…You know, I, I am getting, you know, government retirement, I’m getting Social Security, I’m getting Medicare and I don’t think I should get so much. But I, I think that it’s pretty hard to sell that to the public. But this is the big debate we’ve gotta have…”

From 1979:

Nation: Show and Tell

Monday, May 28, 1979

…Runner-up was Missouri Republican John Danforth, who said his assets actually declined last year because the family business, the Ralston Purina Co., suffered a dip in profits. Danforth said his current holdings amount to between $6.9 million and $17.2 million..

The second part of the transcript:

….Question: …I’d like to know your, uh, position on the death penalty.

Former Senator and Ambassador John Danforth: On the death penalty?

Question: Yes.

John Danforth: Um, well, I’m , I’m opposed to the death penalty and, and my, my reasoning for it is that the only, the justification for the death penalty is that you save lives by taking lives. But that’s never been shown to be the case. Uh, it never has been shown to have an effect on law enforcement or preventing capital offenses. And therefore, I think that, so what’s the reason for it other than sort of the blood lust of, of people who want it to exist? So, I do not agree with the death penalty. Now, let me say that’s how I voted in the Senate as a, as a legislator. But I also spent eight years as state attorney general and the job of attorney general is a lawyer’s job, not legislator’s job and they’re very different. And if you’re the attorney general of the state your job is to defend the state law as it exists, not to pretend you’re a, a legislator trumping what the legislature does. So, when I was attorney general my office did seek and get the death penalty in capital cases, but as a matter of policy I don’t agree with it. [applause]

Question: Thank you very much…

…Question: …Do you have any regrets in terms of your career and, if so, what’s your biggest one?

John Danforth: Do I have any regrets? Uh [laugh], I, uh, my net, net answer is I do not. I mean, I really enjoyed being in public office and I hope I did a good job at it. I, I know that I enjoyed it. Are there, are there votes that I took or issues that I championed at the time that, looking back on it from a little bit of distance, I ask myself, why did I do that? Yeah, you know. I mean, I, I’m not, I could, I want to bore you with all, with, with some of them, but, are there issues where if I had to do it over again I would have done it differently? Yeah, sure. But, do I really have regrets about it?  No, I don’t. I, I really don’t. But, I, I really enjoyed it and I hope I did well. [applause]

Question: …I was just, uh, wanting to ask, uh, the do not, don’t ask, don’t tell policy was talked about earlier and I was wanting to know what are some, uh, future repercussions you think might happen know that that’s repealed?

John Danforth: I think that the military will adjust to it. And, uh, do their job as the military and that it will have no effect at all. [applause]

Question: Thank you.

Question: …What must our current leaders in the U.S. do in order to improve the financial position of, for our generation?

John Danforth: Well, I think, you know, when you talk about economics and fin, the financial situation for your generation you’re talking about the big issue that is before our country right now. The biggest issue before our country right now has to do with the debt, the deficit, federal spending, what to do about it. And there is a lot of philosophy in this. But, my, my view is that the central question is, what percentage of the total economy should government spend? Now this is a big deal issue. Now, President Obama would say that it should be about twenty-three or twenty-four percent of the economy. I think it should be about twenty percent of the economy. Doesn’t sound like much, three percentage points, but it’s a lot. And it really, the question is, how big should the federal government be? How expensive should the federal government be? And, what point does it get so big that it becomes a dead weight on the rest of the country? My view is it’s there. It is too big. We have to cut down the cost of government, we’re not going to tax our way out of the hole. Start with the question of how much government spends and in my view, get that percentage substantially below where President Obama wants it to be. [applause]

Question: …Can we look at other countries with good health care, economic systems, and education and learn from them to help better the United States?

John Danforth: Can we look to other countries, um, on those various issues?

Question: Their systems like, good, countries with good systems of health care, education, and good economies.

John Danforth: Well, you know, you can always look to other countries and, and say they’re doing it better or they’re not doing it as well as we are. I think that that’s, that’s fine to look at them, but I think, really, what we’ve got to do is to, is to make some fundamental decisions. And the most fundamental of them all is the one that I was just talking about. And that’s how much government do we want, particularly at the federal level? And how do we afford this? And I think that one of the problems we’ve gotten ourselves into as a country is that largely the government at, at all levels, has become a check writing operation. So, when the President talks about, okay, we’ve got to invest in education and we’ve got to invest in transportation or whatever he wants, capital investments in the future. This is not what is consuming government. What’s consuming government is we’re writing checks. What’s consuming, uh, us is that between the retirement programs, the pension programs, the health care programs for retirees basically it’s just money going out which is not investment. And I think that that’s where we’ve got to look to get i
t under control. And politically it’s gonna be very unpopular to do that. Because most of us, you know, want ours. Send me my check. You know, I, I am getting, you know, government retirement, I’m getting Social Security, I’m getting Medicare and I don’t think I should get so much. But I, I think that it’s pretty hard to sell that to the public. But this is the big debate we’ve gotta have. I don’t think we’re gonna solve the debate by looking at what other countries are doing. I think we’ve gotta look inside. [applause]

Question: Thank you.

Question: …He was talking in the introduction about how you examined the situation at Waco with the Branch Davidians and a lot of people today they were talking about how militias and those sort of groups are becoming a problem again. What do you think the government can do to solve that problem and stop citizens becoming disenfranchised and becoming violent?

John Danforth: Uh, the situation in Waco was a, was a religious cult, um, with, uh, a kind of charismatic person who had a following. And, uh, he was, he was, he was gathering a large stock of weapons and the, um, ATF – Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms – part of the federal government, was trying to serve a, a search warrant on his compound in Waco. And they opened fire and they killed four federal agents. And then there was a standoff for fifty-one days. And it ended in just terrible bloodshed and that’s what my investigation was about. It wasn’t about politics. It was about a religious cult. So, it, it’s really different. I, I would hope that in our country people would feel that, you know, you can speak out, you can vote, you can have differences of opinion and you can also respect opinions that are not your own. And I think that’s what we’re, we’re really lacking is a sense that, that the other person deserves respect even if we don’t agree with them. And, and part of it is, you know, when we, when we view politics as though it were religion. And, you know, I’m right, or I’m on God’s side, or I’ve got this issue, and, you know, I’m so totally committed to it and therefore you’re wrong. So, where, where do you make the political arrangement in that kind of situation? And I think this is, this is too bad. Now, right now I think in our country there is, as I, as I said earlier there kind of a disappearance of the center. And so you’ve got people, the loudest people are the people with the most far out views. And, so, say somebody wanted to win the nomination of his party. He’s gotta be some kind of nut, you know, to get people to vote for him. He’s gotta appeal to the true believers in that party. And we’ve lost, we’ve lost the center. So, that’s what I’m for. I’m for trying to reestablish the center in American politics. I am for trying to recreate civil discourse in politics so people can agree to disagree and believe that they had a hearing even if they don’t turn out to be on the winning side. I think, you know, politics is the art of compromise. I’m all for it. Because I don’t think any of us has a monopoly on truth. And if we act as though we do then we, really we are aching for a breaking and, and I think that’s too bad. [applause]

Question: …Now, you spoke a lot at the beginning of your speech about the significance of energy within politicians. I was wondering, do you feel as though the current members of Congress are doing a good job of doing their job with energy and passion that you spoke so much about in the beginning?

John Danforth: Well, I think that the, a personal quality of somebody in politics is a high energy level. I mean, whether they’re liberal, a conservative, or , or terrific member of Congress, or, or something less than that, all of them have a high energy level. And all of ’em are, at least, supposed to be working hard. I hope they are. And I, I know that, you know, the hours are long. And, and the weekends, you know, I mean, really, you’d rather be home with your family and you’re not. So, I think that that was kind of the first test that I’ve put to people, do you have that energy level that you want to devote to politics? I don’t think that there’s anything to do that, that can create it. It, it just, you either have it, or you don’t have it.

Question: Thank you very much. [applause]

Question: …Since becoming a world power after World War Two America has developed a, a slow growing economy, poor test scores, among, oh, among developed nations and the number one obesity rate in the world. Oh, is our gradual decline in the international standing a result of an attitude of superiority we developed after the war?

John Danforth: Is that the reason for it? Uh, I, uh, that hasn’t occurred to me. No, I, I wouldn’t think so. Um, you know, I mean, I think that that’s more of a foreign policy question, uh, rather than, you know, as everything else that you can point to in the country depended on how America views itself in the world. It, and it, it’s a very interesting question, now. I mean, it’s should the U.S. have gone into Libya, for example. That’s an interesting question. Should the U.S. have gone into Afghanistan? And, and on and on. So, I think that that’s worthy of debate. And there are people who have, you know, who have, who have written on the subject and the, the history of, of hubris in, in American foreign policy going all the way back to the days of Woodrow Wilson. And, um, and, and what that has done to our foreign policy, and it’s a matter of debate. But I would not lay all of the, sort of, domestic issues like obesity and so on on America’s view of itself in the world.

Question: Thank you, sir. [applause]

Question: …I was wondering what your, uh, opinion is on the, uh, [Congressman] Weiner scandal. [laughter]

John Danforth: Uh, my opinion is that the country isn’t all Washington and the country isn’t all statutes and laws. And the country is basic standards of, of decency. And that it’s the responsibility of people, all of us, not just people in public office, but all of us, to uphold standards of basic decency. And to act as though, you know, the way we behave is the standard for other people. And that’s why I think really the question should be for all of us, is, do we intend to be admirable people? Is that what we want to be for ourselves? Do we want to be admirable? If you want to you can be. You know, even if you’re not the smartest person or the best athlete you can be an admirable human being. And I think for somebody to be, at any point in life, and to be disreputable, but particularly somebody who is highly visible, I think it’s just, it’s a disservice. I mean, when you talk about like the, the previous question had to do with America’s view of itself in the world post World War Two and how that had to do with our values, I don’t know that that has much to do with our values. But, I think how we conduct ourselves does. I think that does. And, uh, I think that, I think that Congressman Weiner is probably sick [laughter][applause], but certainly, but, but, but whatever the reason, whether it’s some mental illness or something else [laughter], he’s disreputable. [applause] And he shouldn’t be there.

Question: Thank you.

Question: …I like to ask how your Christian values affected how you served in public office.

John Danforth: Um, well, uh, I am what I am. And, uh, and the whole time I was in public life anybody who wanted to know anything about me knew what I was. You know, I, I am a, I went to, I graduated from divinity school. I’m ordained in the ministry of my church. That’s what I am. But nobody, the whole time I did it, twenty-six years I was in public office nobody expected me to be their pastor. They expected me to be either their attorney general or their senator. And I represented a state made up of people of all different religions and of no religion at all. And it was my responsibility to serve them. Not to check my religion at the door, because as I say, you are what you are. You know, you’re not just one way for an hour on Sunday and t
hen different the rest of your life. But, if you try to import your religion into your politics nothing is more divisive for our country. And that’s why our founding fathers kept the two separate and they should remain separate. [applause]

[….]

Question: …I was just wondering, uh, a lot of the speakers this week really inspired me to get going with international affairs. And, uh, your actions in all these countries you talked about tonight really impressed me. Uh, I was wondering how a younger kid like us could get involved with countries like that, uh, now, like before we enter Peace Corps or, uh, Food Reserves and all those.

John Danforth: Yeah, well, I, I , now, I mean, just take an interest in it. And, uh, and read the papers and try to know what’s going on in the world and understand, you know, what’s happening in other countries and how the U.S. is related to other countries. And then, you know, think about it when you go to college. I mean, think about the possibility of programs that, that offer, um, international relations, maybe a foreign service school, something like that. And just keep your options open. And, and see where it leads.

Question: All right. Thank you very much. [applause]

Question: …A man who’s job requires so much sacrifice of time and energy, how is it that you have managed to maintain such a strong family basis in your life? How do you juggle between political and family man?

John Danforth: Thanks for asking it. I, I think that this is, you know, as I said earlier, I think it’s really important to keep your priorities right and to know that, you know, you’re, you’re more than just sort of a politician. You’re a human being with all the interests that you have and, um, I, I tried very hard with the help of just a wonderful wife to make it clear to her and to our children that they came before my job. And I wrote a book a few years ago and, and one of the chapters was called family values and it wasn’t about, you know, the political, politicization of family values, but about my family. And I asked all of my children and, and my wife, I interviewed them. And they, they said, you know, one of the best things I’ve ever heard and that is, that they knew that they came first. And they did. And they do. And it’s just where are your priorities, you know? And, and keep them where they should be.

Thank you all very much [applause], really exciting to be here.

This evening Governor Jay Nixon (D) signed HB 233 into law in a ceremony at Missouri Boys State on the stage at Hendricks Hall on the campus of the University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg.

HB 233 will, in part, help Missouri university nursing programs hire additional faculty to help address a nursing shortage in the state.

Governor Jay Nixon (D) (seated, center) signs HB 233 surrounded by Missouri Boys State citizens (left) and

Dr. Julie Clawson, Professor of Nursing and Chair of the Nursing Department at the University of Central Missouri

and Dr. Charles Ambrose, President of the University of Central Missouri (right).

The release from the Governor Jay Nixon’s office:

June 16, 2011

House Bill 223 becomes law in front of 933 high school students selected to attend 2011 Missouri Boys State

Gov. Nixon signs bill to increase scholarships for math and science students, provide resources to train more nurses

WARRENSBURG, Mo. – Gov. Jay Nixon today used the setting of a leadership program for high school students to sign legislation that provides more scholarships to Missouri students pursuing college degrees in science and math. House Bill 223, signed by the Governor in front of more than 900 students attending Missouri Boys State, also puts additional resources in Missouri’s nursing programs to meet the growing demand for nurses.

“We want to make sure that we’re preparing our students to enter careers where they can be successful in a changing economy,” Gov. Nixon said. “We can do that by identifying industries poised for growth, and aligning our curriculum priorities to meet those needs. Engineers, scientists, innovators and educators play a key role in our global economy. By promoting, encouraging and supporting these core subjects, we can better prepare Missouri’s college students to be competitive in our global economy.”

The section adding resources so Missouri’s colleges and universities can produce more nurses is also critical, the Governor said.

“Missouri needs more nurses, and this bill will help meet that demand,” Gov. Nixon said. “It provides up to $150,000 to each of those programs so they can hire additional faculty to train more nurses. Once it is fully in place, we expect to train more than 130 additional nursing students each year.”

House Bill 223, the Advanced Placement Incentive Grant Program for STEM and Caring for Missourians Nursing Education Incentive, passed both chambers of the Missouri General Assembly with overwhelming bipartisan support.

The legislation establishes a one-time, nonrenewable $500 grant to Missouri public high schools who score a 3 or higher on AP tests in math or science, and who receive an Access Missouri award or A+ scholarship.

This legislation also creates grants up to $150,000 per year, per campus, to higher education institutions to hire nursing faculty to address areas of need. These grants will be funded by dollars generated through nursing licensure fees; the State Board of Nursing and the Department of Higher Education will determine categories and criteria for these grants. Gov. Nixon first announced the proposed initiative last December at the University of Missouri – Kansas City School of Nursing.

“I’ve brought that legislation here today to demonstrate that when we stand together on common ground, we can provide for the common good,” Gov. Nixon told the students attending Boys State. “Take the lessons you learn this week about governing, and put them to work in your own lives and careers.”

Missouri Boys State, founded in 1938, is a citizenship and leadership training program held annually in June for high school students who have completed their junior year. Missouri Boys State is sponsored by the Missouri American Legion.

Former Missouri Attorney General, U.S. Senator and U.N. Ambassador John Danforth was the keynote speaker and recipient of the George W. Lehr Memorial Speakers Chair at the American Legion Boys State of Missouri in Warrensburg on Tuesday night. After his speech Senator Danforth took questions from the audience.

“…Here’s just a little, a little fact which I think is impressive. By the year twenty twenty-four, so you’re talking thirteen years from now, not long, four, thirteen years from now Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and interest payments on the debt will consume one hundred percent of federal revenue. Nothing will be left over for anything else…”

Leave Social Security out of the deficit debate! (May 16, 2011)

….Social Security can not, by law, run a deficit. It can only make payments it has the funds in reserve to cover. The only option Social Security has is cutting benefits if it gets into fiscal difficulty. In plain English, this means that Social Security does not — can not, by law — contribute a single dime to the deficit, and that is why it should never be a part of any deficit reduction deal….

“…I, I, haven’t given up on the two party system. I, I think that it’s served our country well. But, I don’t, I don’t think it’s working so well right now. And it’s, it’s interesting to try to analyze why that’s the case. Some people say that with congressional redistricting we’ve created these safe districts and, and so the result of that is that politicians aren’t competing for the center of American politics they’re just trying to please the base of their political party. And the base of each party has tended to get just extreme…”

Campaign Finance: the republican establishment always votes with a check book (June 9, 2011)

CONTRIBUTION OF MORE THAN $5,000.00 RECEIVED BY ANY COMMITTEE FROM ANY SINGLE DONOR – TO BE FILED WITHIN 48 HOURS OF RECEIVING THE CONTRIBUTION

C091145 FRIENDS OF PETER KINDER [pdf] 6/9/2011

John Danforth

911 Tirrill Farms Rd.

St Louis, MO 63124

Bryan Cave LLP Attorney

6/9/2011

$10,000.00

[emphasis added]

Former U.S. Senator and U.N. Ambassador John Danforth speaking on the stage of

Hendricks Hall on the campus of the University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg on Tuesday night.

This is the first part of the transcript of the audience question and answer session:

Question: …In your broad view of the world, in the country, do you foresee an atomic bomb being dropped somewhere in the world within our’s, citizens of Boys State, lives?

Former Senator and Ambassador John Danforth: Could you say that again? I, I’m sorry I [inaudible]. [laughter]

Question: Do you think that an atomic bomb will be dropped somewhere in the world within the lives of everybody here watching?

John Danforth: Oh, I , I, I [laugh] , boy, I sure hope not.  You know something, it’s not just atomic bombs, as you know, it’s flying planes into buildings, and it’s, uh, it’s using chemical weapons and that kind of thing and it’s, it’s weapons that are not, see, I mean, the days of fearing atomic bombs that was really the time of the Soviet Union when there was this big force in the world. But, um, not crazy. And now, you know, there’s with these fanatics and, uh, and these groups, they really are crazy. And it’s very, very hard to predict. So, I can just say, I hope not. I doubt that it’s going to be an atomic bomb.  I think that it’s more likely to be terrorist acts sometimes using, uh, the kinds of weapons that can cause a lot of damage, but probably not an atomic bomb.

Question: Thank you very much. [applause]…

…Question: …Now that, uh, Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell has been repealed and we allow both gays and lesbians to serve openly and die for our country do you still believe that marriage should not be defined in the Constitution and we should deny these people basic human rights?

John Danforth: I think that marriage should not be defined in the Constitution. I think that the only time that the Constitution was used to try to get into a purely social issue was, uh, at the time of prohibition. And that provision in the Constitution lasted exactly thirteen years. So the problem with putting almost anything in the Constitution is that it becomes rigid, ossified. It’s stuck. That’s the way the Constitution is. And I think on a question like marriage, it’s the sort of thing that should evolve from, um, the social standards of the people and not be written in the Constitution language. [applause]

Question: …You talked about, uh, honesty and integrity. Why do you think that, uh, people in politics and, and higher power sometimes use that power to better themselves instead of, um, using it for the public and public service?

John Danforth: Um, it’s the human condition, you know, or religious people would say it’s original sin,  I mean, what all of us think about ourselves. And a person in business wants to succeed in business, the customer’s always right. A person in politics wants to succeed in politics by telling people what they want to hear and, uh, to get to win the next election. So, it’s, it’s the nature of politics. And I think that, you know, the, the, the real question really is an ego question, and is there something more than getting yourself elected. Is there some standard beyond that? And I think, you know, for a politician to be told, look, I don’t agree with you, but I respect you, I think that’s the best thing you can say to a politician. [applause]

Question: Thank you.

….Question: …You mentioned how Harry S Truman advocated that people should learn a lot about American history and, um, when I entered high school, because I went to high school in Independence, I became really fascinated with American history and, uh, I saw, I explored a lot about, uh, you know, acts of civil rights and what not. I became really fascinated with that. I wanted to know, um, for those who can’t get into politics, but for those who can act in civil rights ways, you know, to advocate civil rights movements I wanted to know, um, is civil disobedience justified when a government acts unjustly? And in today’s day and age with today’s status quo in this age of conservatism do you think there will ever be a chance of some sort of civil disobedience or civil rights movements?

John Danforth: Well, you know, I think that the way our country functions and the way it was intended to function when our Constitution was written was to, to create a system where different interests could express themselves and be heard without taking to the streets. And, I believe in that system. I mean, think about what was in the mind, in the minds of the framers of the Constitution. They were trying to hold together what was then thought of as a diverse country with mercantile interests, agricultural interests, large states, small states. They were trying to create a system that accommodated those different points of view. That’s the way that American, America should function. Not one side saying, I win, you know, you lose, you’re out to lunch. But one where everybody gets at least some stake and ability to speak out, then even
tually somebody’s gonna win or lose. Could I conceive of civil disobedience? Sure, in a repressive country, but I don’t think our’s is a repressive country. So I would say work within the system. [applause]

Question: …Our nation has a vast and expanding national debt. Uh, politicians greatly differ on how they feel this debt should be dealt with, but that’s not my question to you tonight. Uh, my question is this, what effect will this debt have on the future of our country.

John Danforth: I, well, it’s unsustainable for the future of our country. And, um, there’s, um, it, it’s, it’s ruinous, you know, I mean, eventually it would, it would create, um, uh, a devaluation of, of the dollar, massive inflation, we’d lose our credit rating, interest rates would go up, the, uh, the economy would be seriously crippled and it would get worse and worse and worse. And my generation can survive this way, it’s very, gonna be very difficult for your generation. Here’s just a little, a little fact which I think is impressive. By the year twenty twenty-four, so you’re talking thirteen years from now, not long, four, thirteen years from now Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and interest payments on the debt will consume one hundred percent of federal revenue. Nothing will be left over for anything else, nothing for education, nothing for research, nothing for the military, nothing for law enforcement, nothing for anything else government can do. All of it is going to be consumed by these three big entitlement programs plus interest on the debt. It is not a sustainable situation and the consequence is gonna be felt by your generation more than by mine.

Question: Thank you very much, sir. [applause]

Question: …You talked about, um, marriages for, um, um, men and women of the same, of the same sex which, um, made, made me think of a question. Um, what do you think about the protests that are going on in Kansas where people are openly protesting military funerals for homosexual military men and women?

John Danforth: I think it’s disgraceful and sickening. [applause] [cheers] My view is that marriage, I’m not talking about, you know, legal issues like visitation rights and inheritance and that kind of thing, my view is marriage is a religious issue. And in my view it is between a man and a woman, but I think that that’s the kind of social issue that should be worked by the people rather than be something that is written into the Constitution. [applause]

Question: …Uh, what brought you into politics and did you have a teacher that pushed you and made you love politics?

John Danforth: Um, well, what brought me into politics, that’s the first question? What was the beginning?

Question: Yes, sir.

John Danforth: Yeah. Uh, well, when I was ten years old my parents took my brother and me to Washington. And we sat in the gallery of the U.S. Senate and I can remember saying to myself, I want to do that some day. And I, my, my family was not political. But, I can remember saying that to myself. And I can remember as we were leaving the Senate gallery I can remember exactly the words my father said. What a bunch of windbags. [laughter] But, but I, I liked it and, and because of that my family encouraged it even though they weren’t very political. And the same was true of teachers in my school. You know, they kind of, they, they, they let me do it and encouraged me. So, any time there was a mock political convention or a model U.N. General Assembly or anything like that I was always part of it. I was not, unfortunately, part of Boys State. I don’t know why not. But, I was always part of almost any other program you can think of. [applause]

Question: Thank you, senator.

Question: …With you experience and work in international politics did you ever find that bipartisanship and party politics to have as much influence in the United Nations and around the globe as they do in the U.S.?

John Danforth: Oh, it’s very different, you know, I mean, the U.S. it’s Republicans and Democrats and positioning themselves for the next election. The U.N. is, is just really different from that. It’s not like that at all. The only thing in the, the only part of the U.N. that has real power is the Security Council. And there are fifteen members of the Security Council, five of them have the veto power which means you can’t pass anything over the objection of one of them. So, Security Council resolutions tend to be kind of mushy. But, uh, it’s, that’s really different from, from Washington I think.

Question: Thank you. [applause]

Question: …Given your experience as an ambassador and your experience in the Sudan, um, what advice do you have for us who are interested in pursuing a career in international relations?

John Danforth: What, what about pursuing a career?

Question: What advice do you have for those of us interested in international relations [crosstalk]

John Danforth: Yeah, I, I think, you know, maintain an interest, read the papers, uh, try to keep up with what’s going on in the world, think about what’s going on in the world, and then look for the kinds of opportunities once you’re, uh, in college, where would that lead. I mean, what kinds of things would that lead you to? One possibility ids the Foreign Service which is, uh, just a terrific, you know, terrific experience. There are other things as well, there’s, uh, USAID which is, um, which is a food relief to various parts of the world. There’s the CIA which is very interesting. Uh, then there are nongovernmental organizations, uh, Refugee’s International and so on, that are, that are involved in what’s going on in the world. So I’d just find out what these opportunities are and I’d pursue them and see what, what’s the best fit for you. [applause]

Question: Thank you, sir.

Question: …President Obama recently made some remarks about, uh, Israel. Uh, what, what are your views on those?

John Danforth: Um, I think that  [pause], I couldn’t , I couldn’t understand why he said what he said. And particularly when he said it, when the Prime Minister of Israel was either in the U.S. or about to come to the U.S.  And he said that he thought the, that, you know, with, with adjustments Israel should return to the same, uh, geography, the same lines that existed before nineteen sixty-seven. Israel is not going to do that. Israel is not going to agree to be a country that’s nine miles wide. It just will not happen. And I don’t get why the President said that at that time. So, I think it was a mistake. [applause]

Question: …Whenever you face difficult times in your career in public service where did you draw your inspiration for strength?

John Danforth: Where did I draw my inspiration? Well, you know, I , one of the things that I tried to say in my remarks is that I think, I think it’s important to have a bigger world than just your political life. And, uh, I think you can get that from your religion, and I think you can get it from your family, and I think you can get it from other interests that you have.  And I, I think that it’s very important to recognize that, you know, if you’re in politics someday you’ll be out of politics, probably. Or, you might lose and you gotta be willing to lose and then, what is your life? I mean, are you so invested in being a politician that that’s all you are? Because if that’s, if that’s the case then, first of all, it’s sad, and secondly, it makes you a desperate person and, I think, not a very good public servant. So, it, it really is important to, to have values beyond your own political ambition. And I think that those will sustain you. [applause]

Question: Thank you very much.

Question: …You have a reputation for being an incredible statesman and I’d like to know what young people can do today to become more involved in statesmanship.

John Danforth: Thank you very much for the compliment. Um, how to become more in
volved? Just do it, you know, just do it. But, I mean, just show up. And, for example, people in, let’s say, members of Congress have what they call town hall meetings and they come, they come home all the time and they, they are accessible. And people show up at the town hall meetings, usually people mad about one thing or another, but they show up at the town hall meetings. Show up. And if you’ve got a question, ask the question. And if you’ve got a point that you want to make, make the point. And, if you think that the, that your representative in government is doing a good job, say so. And I, I think just participating in, in being active and not being just sort of a lump is really, is really important and it’s, it’s important for you and it’s a gift to the country to be engaged in it. Because you don’t want to have the only people engaged, the people who have just some axe to grind or some interest to serve by doing it. And, and if you’re, if what you’re interested in is good government and the country being better and the country having a future then you participate and, because, otherwise, the people who make the biggest demands on government, and the politicians  pander to them, are people who, who want something, you know. They want, send me a check, or hire me, or something. And, if you are, if you, if you’re not just what’s in it for me, you’ve got a lot to offer and it’s by way of counterbalancing people who do have more of immediate interests. So, show up. [applause]

Question: …One of my main things I think that’s wrong with the economy now is the lack of manufacturing in the United States. Over the last few decades there’s had like a huge decline in the kind of things that we do manufacture and we’ve turned into importing more and more things. I guess I just kind of wondering what are your thoughts on that and do you think that made in the U.S.A. still means something around the world.

John Danforth: I think that the prosperity of America depends on letting the system work, rather than government trying to manage the system. And, I think when government tries to impose, you know, trade barriers to what’s coming in from abroad that’s government management of the system. And it doesn’t work very well. So, my view is that government should have a relatively light touch and let the system work. [applause]

Question: Thank you.

Question: …Obviously the two party system has caused a lot of dissent, especially within the, uh, within the Assembly, so do you think that the two party system is the superior system, or would we do better to have a multi-party system, a two, three, more?

John Danforth: I, I, haven’t given up on the two party system. I, I think that it’s served our country well. But, I don’t, I don’t think it’s working so well right now. And it’s, it’s interesting to try to analyze why that’s the case. Some people say that with congressional redistricting we’ve created these safe districts and, and so the result of that is that politicians aren’t competing for the center of American politics they’re just trying to please the base of their political party. And the base of each party has tended to get just extreme. And the center has been, has been pretty well marginalized in American politics. And one of the results of that is that the, in the two parties, let’s say in Congress, I think people are just saying, okay, what’s it take to win the next election. Which means, what’s it take to energize my base supporters, rather than how can you work things out. Uh, I, you know, I don’t want to just say, be this old guy talking about the good old days, but it is true that when I was in the Senate I had to work closely with members of the other party. I had to do it. And some of my closest social friends were Democrats. And the people I worked with, for example, on the Senate Finance Committee to get anything done, Democrats. So, I mean, Tom Eagleton, my, my colleague in the Senate from our state was a very good friend and we worked together even though, you know, we frequently disagreed on things. And in the Finance Committee, Democrats like Lloyd Bentsen and David Boren and David Pryor and Pat Moynihan and these people, you could deal with them. Now, I was told by a Senate wife not too long ago that when Senate spouses go on, you know, like bus trips to, say, a museum or wherever they’re going, when they sit on the bus they sit by party. So the Democrats are sitting next to Democrats, the Republicans are sitting next to Republicans and I just think that’s, it’s wrong. You know, it’s more than, it’s weird. But it’s also just plain wrong. And, and we’ve got [applause] to try and recreate the center in American politics. [applause, cheers]….

The second part of the transcript will follow in a subsequent post.

Previously: Former Governor Bob Holden at Missouri Boys State: Q and A, part 1 (June 12, 2011)

Former Missouri Governor Bob Holden (D) was the keynote speaker for the opening of the seventy-second session of the American Legion Boys State of Missouri in Warrensburg on Saturday night.

Former Missouri Governor Bob Holden (D) takes questions from Missouri Boys State participants on the stage of

Hendricks Hall on the campus of the University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg on Saturday night.

This is the second and final portion of the transcript of the question and answer session:

….Question: I was wondering if you had some final words of advice for those of us who will be on the campaign trail trying to go out and get voters, trying to persuade people.

Former Missouri Governor Bob Holden (D):  Well, first, first of all, meet as many people as you can, don’t try to bowl them over, uh, with your personality, but meet ’em, and know why you’re running, and what you want to do and why you want to be elected. I also, just one of the little techniques I, I learned is with, uh, if you want to meet everybody the best place to meet people is in the food line. You meet ’em before they get their plate, don’t try to stop ’em after they get their food. [laughter] Uh, you know, little things like that, uh, you know, it sometimes can go a long ways. I mean, my first election, Springfield, I took on the incumbent, uh, that, uh, a Republican that everybody said could not be defeated and we just went out and outworked him. Uh, I had a young lady that, uh, helped me in that campaign who later became my wife. And, uh, without her I wouldn’t have been elected governor, state treasurer, things like this, so. Partnerships, relationships mean something. Male and female. Campaign workers and, and future spouses. So, good luck.

Question: Thank you. [applause]…

…Question: …I was wondering, uh, you, without question had a great deal of success in your life. I was wondering what advice you would give to somebody who, you know, loses an election or fails at something. How do they take from it and move on, you know, for betterment?

Bob Holden: Well, I had, I like to believe, a great deal of success but I also failed, too. Uh, I lost a race for student body president in college. Uh, I lost a race for state treasurer, uh, against an incumbent. I lost my reelection as governor of the State of Missouri.  Uh, so not all wins, I think, uh, Abraham Lincoln lost five races before he ever won his first one. Uh, so, many times I think you learn more when you lose then when you win. ‘Cause when you win you think you did everything right. When you lose you analyze it a little bit. You think about what I, what could I have done differently. Uh, and, uh, you know, I learned things when I lost the, the, uh, initial treasurer’s race against the incumbent. Uh, I analyzed, uh, my, uh, race, uh, for reelection as governor. Uh, and candidly, my assessment is, uh, is tenor of the time. Mike told, in introduction told the fact I earned a million dollars interest off investments, state funds, state treasurer. When I came into office in two thousand one after Mel Carnahan had been killed, his, uh, uh, governorship was over with, I had to start cutting budgets. I cut a hundred eighty million dollars out of the state budget in the first eighteen days. I ended up cutting over one point two billion out of a six billion dollar general revenue budget in my four years. We had September the eleventh that came along. We had the depression across the board. [inaudible] make decisions. And instead of continuing to cut, cut on things I thought were important like education, like senior health care, like transportation I tried to raise taxes. I would still do the same thing again today even know the outcome. Because I think you owe it as a responsibility to future generations that while you’re, while it’s on your watch you do what is necessary to give them the best chance for success in the future. And to me that’s education, infrastructure, technology. Whoever controls the technology controls the economy of the, of tomorrow. That’s the reason investment in education is so very, very important. So you, you can learn by failure and losses.

Question: Thank you very much. [applause]

Question: …I want to backtrack to the first question that was asked.

Bob Holden: Sure.

Question: He asked about, um, why you thought scandals and stuff are so prominent and why politicians didn’t always go straight try to hit the issues and try to fix them. Um, going back to that, do you see any solution to that or any way that could be fixed? And, if so, how long would that take?

Bob Holden: Well, if you could guarantee that every citizen, every person that runs for office, uh, has the right ethical, uh, underpinnings. Uh, but politics is no different than many other professions, even though you, it’s more in the spotlight. Uh, there’s always gonna be people trying to, uh, push you in to things that shouldn’t do. That’s the reason it’s so important to have a free press, an open press. It’s the reason it’s also important that you have two or three or whatever political parties. Uh, to, to be sure and keep those issues out there. And, you know, all the stuff that you’re reading about today, you know, when George Washington was president, when John Adams was president, when Thomas Jefferson was president, when Jackson was president, go back and read some of the stories in the newspaper about those men during their time. This is not new. It’s feels like it’s new. And of course now we’ve got, uh, uh, Fox, we’ve got MSNBC, we got CNN, we got about fifty television stations all with reporters, uh, trying to find everything they can. It, it, which is their right to do. And so you feel like you’re just bombarded. And you are. But, it comes back to the, the quality of people that you elect and what values they have. And, you know, there, there’s no easy answer to this. It’s just, you’ve got, as a citizen in a democracy it’s work. Because in a democracy you have a responsibility. In a dictatorship, as long as you like the leader you don’t, you know, you expect them to care of these things. But in a democracy we all have a responsibility. That’s what Missouri Boys State’s all about. Did I answer your question?

Question: Yes, thank you very much. [crosstalk]

Bob Holden: I’m not, I’m not trying to evade the question at all.

Question: I think you, think you hit it pretty much head on, so, thank you very much. [applause]

Bob Holden: [inaudible] Be true to yourself.

Question: …When you were like Governor of Missouri and even now did you feel it was important to vote your party or the person that you thought was the better candidate for the office?

Bob Holden: Well, I voted for people in my party. I didn’t always share the view, the political views, of some people in my party. Uh, and that’s where times you, you [inaudible], uh, that relationship. But, I voted for people in my party because I had a better chance of getting their support for legislative and, and policy issues I was promoting.

Question: All right. Thank you very much.

Bob Holden: That does, but I mean, the, it’s one thing, it, it’s one thing to vote for people in your party, it’s another thing to try to demonize people in the other party. Uh, you know, Jim Talent, who some of you pr
obably know, Jim and I ran against each other for governor. We probably didn’t agree on a single political issue, but we remain friends. Roy Blunt is a long time friend of mine from Springfield, Missouri. May not agree on most political issues at all, but you can get along with people. It doesn’t mean you have to compromise your point of view, but you can communicate in a way that’s not offensive.

Question: That makes sense. Thank you very much.

Bob Holden: Okay. [applause] Any more?

Question: …My dad always told me that you get what put in to something. I was curious what you think what we need to put into the economy to get the most out of it.

Bob Holden: First of all, we’ve got to be willing to change. One of the things that I found the hardest when I got elected, uh, all of your interest groups in our political system are there to protect what’s already in the system. And I, I was in the process of trying to move us from old line manufacturing, to high tech manufacturing, to the plant life sciences, all of these things, the information technology, all of the things that didn’t have a constituency at that point in time. They’ve got a little bit more now, but still not enough. Uh, and there was no constituency out there to support ’em. Uh, but it was still the right thing to do. And as we are seeing in our country, those, those pockets of economic growth and opportunity are those that have been willing to change and make the investment in those jobs of the future, not of holding on those jobs of the past. Give you another example, uh, the people of Hazelwood, Missouri came to me and their car plant, Ford Motor Company, was getting ready to close down. And they asked if I’d be willing to help ’em to protect those twenty-five hundred jobs. And so I, we as a state put together a tax package to keep Ford at Hazelwood. That lasted for about two and a half years. Ford closed the plant. I’d have probably been better off to take that two point five million dollars and put that into education training programs so that those twenty-five hundred people plus many others would have the skills to compete for the jobs of the future. But that’s the, the politics of being in office, you’re trying to balance, uh, all these different interests and still make the right, the right one. One of the issues I have a great deal of concern about, not just Missouri, but all over the country, is, how many people do we have from Kansas City here? Well, quite, quite a few. Okay. Well, in Kansas City, those of you, that are ought, familiar with Kansas City, Missouri and Kansas are about as wide as a highway, the, the line goes right down the middle of the road. And companies all the time that are, are in Kansas will come to Missouri officials and say, our leases are up, we’re looking for a better opportunity, what can Missouri do for us? Uh, we’ll put together a package of what, what incentive, tax credits, money, your tax money that would bring that company to the Missouri side of that line. Then that company will take that package that we’ve offered, go back to the, the State of Kansas and say, you know, we want to stay in Kansas but Missouri’s put together a hell of a package for us. And we, we’re not gonna be true to our, uh, shareholders and everybody else if we don’t consider this offer. Can you meet it or can you surpass it? And so Kansas puts down the pencil, they, they look and see what they can do to keep the company there. At the end of the day whether it’s in Kansas or Missouri they’re not adding any jobs to that regional economy. But one state, if not both states, has spent millions of dollars to maintain an economy that hasn’t changed for the region. Is that good public policy? But as a governor you want that headline, if you’re a Missourian, saying we got five hundred jobs from Kansas coming to Missouri. Doesn’t say anything about five hundred people still living in Kansas paying taxes in Kansas. And if you’re a Kansas governor you want the headline, company x decides to stay in Kansas. Because both of ’em, that is a benefit on election day, that they did, they created these jobs or protected these jobs even though they’ve not added any economic value to the region at all. That’s what governors have to deal with. Did I answer?

Question: Yeah, you did. Thank you, sir.

Bob Holden: Okay. [applause]…

Question: …What makes it so difficult for politicians to maintain your, their reputation on social networks when high schoolers such as ourselves are able to like promote ourselves so well? [laughter]

Bob Holden: Are we talking about, uh [crosstalk], [Representative] Anthony Weiner in New York?

Question: Like. Yeah, in part, parts, [laughter] in part.

Bob Holden: Well, first of all, you shouldn’t be doing it. And he should resign. Uh, uh, and people in both parties, I mean, uh, it really ought, I think, more than anything else comes about, why are you there? What do you want to achieve while you’re there? What’s your purpose? What’s your goal? What’s your vision? All of the things I talked about in my speech.  You know, winning and losing elections, to me, is not near as, uh, difficult as losing your soul. ‘Cause that you live with no matter what you’re doing. Uh, and, the way I was raised, uh, and you know, my parents, my parents were no, nobody special. But, one thing about it, you never had to guess what my dad’s attitude or feelings were. If you asked him he would tell you straight up. Some people liked him, some people didn’t like him at all. But, I think you can do it in a civil way, but I think you deserve to give people an answer. And hold true to your values. And then that, and then in a democracy it’s the people’s right to decide whether they share those values or want somebody else’s values.

Question: Thank you, sir.

Bob Holden: Okay. [applause]

Now, all that being said, I would still go out at campaign time and work my tail off to win. But you do it, the, the, the, in politics there should be and there is, by and large, at least when, when I was growing up in the poli, in the political game, a certain code of ethics and conduct that you don’t go beyond. And that’s the way it is in life.

[….]

Thank you very much. [applause]

Former Missouri Governor Bob Holden (D) was the keynote speaker for the opening of the seventy-second session of the American Legion Boys State of Missouri in Warrensburg on Saturday night.

Former Missouri Governor Bob Holden (D) takes questions from Missouri Boys State participants on the stage of

Hendricks Hall on the campus of the University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg on Saturday night.

After Governor Holden finished his prepared remarks he took questions from the floor. The first part of the transcript of the question and answer session:

Former Missouri Governor Bob Holden (D): ….I’m not running for any office so I’ll be very candid with you. [laughter] Uh, so feel free. Be sure, all of the elected officials come this week, that you, uh, acknowledge them and pay them respect and ask tough questions. Anybody want to ask a question? The first one’s always the toughest.

Question: Uh, governor, I wanted to get an opinion from an actual politician. Why do you think it is in today’s society where we have so much political, economic and social turmoil that we’re not able to get past basic, uh, scandals like Anthony Weiner, [New York] Representative Weiner’s scandal  or [former California Governor Arnold] Schwarzenegger’s or [former North Carolina Senator and presidential candidate John] Edwards being, uh, charged with a one point seven million dollar misuse of funds and not able to focus on the issues like the, uh, debt ceiling being reached or the wars or any other matter for that matter?

Bob Holden: Uh, first of all, neither political party has a solution for the problems you’re talking about. Uh, if they did they’d be out here on the campaign stump talking about it all the time. And in a democracy when you have no clear direction you, you try to sidestep the issues, uh, you try to give part of an answer. Uh, because honestly, uh, to solve the problem that you’re, in general you’re talking about, which, every [inaudible] comes back to money. You know, that, that line, follow the money? Well, there’s a lot of truth to it. But, you could, to do the things, whether it’s reduce the budget or in, or increase our commitment to health care, Social Security, the military, whatever it might be you’ve got to raise taxes. And neither side wants the other one to win that argument. And so they, they have not been able to come to a consensus. But, people like you can force that issue. And I will tell you as a former official, raise, trying to raise taxes is not a very popular thing. I’ll also tell you if we don’t make the investment in education we won’t lead the world in the twenty-first century going forward. We’ve got to be willing to make that commitment to education. Uh, and that’s, to me, uh, that’s the single most important thing, uh, that we as a culture and a society must do. But to, to pay for it you gotta figure out how to raise the revenue to get it done. Uh, and we need a, a far different curriculum, I think, in the future. We need to be pushing foreign languages, we need to be pushing things like understanding all the cultural, uh, variants of cultures around the world. Because not all of the decisions will be made within the borders of the United States.  So, the, the simple answer to your question is the, both parties can’t come to this stage, uh, to an agreement on what the solution is. Republicans want to reduce the size of government. Democrats want to protect their interest in the budget, Republicans want to protect their interest in the budget. And there’s not a consensus in our society about what the answer should be.

Question: Thank you, governor. I agree. Maybe you could pass that on to the House and the Senate. [laughter] [applause]…

…Question: ….Governor, you talked about, uh, the budget, about how Democrats are trying to, to focus on that. Um, I’m curious, with your relationship to China, do you believe that the key to the United States budget in the future is to increase foreign dependency in trade with countries such as China, Brazil and Germany or do you believe that the key is handling domestic issues in the United States, such as universal health care, job, excuse me, job productivity, and, uh, reforming the welfare system.

Bob Holden: Well, I agree with all of those things, but, you know, when we talked about China or we talking about India or any place else, uh, I come at this from the stand point I want to create jobs in the United States. Do we have anybody from Moberly, Missouri here? Ah, I see a couple hands. I, I worked on a project called Mamtek. It is a Hong Kong company, they’ve got a plant in China, the technology, I think, comes out of Israel, the investors come out of California. They made a commitment to build a facility in Moberly, Missouri that’s going to create six hundred new jobs in Moberly, Missouri. Because that company’s made that commitment another Chinese company that’s got a relationship with them has also made a commitment to come to Moberly, Missouri. There’s three more companies in China talking about coming to Moberly, Missouri. So a town of fourteen thousand people that’s not on a major Interstate, doesn’t have a major university, got a community college, potentially has anywhere from six hundred new jobs up to twenty-five hundred new jobs. In the United States. Americans with a job with health care right in the middle of this country. There’s hundred of Moberlys throughout the United States and particularly the Midwest. But, it takes leadership and a commitment on the part of the community that they’re willing to take the risk and make that investment. Every time some governmental agency, no this can’t be done ’cause it doesn’t abide by our rules. A young lawyer, who I knew his parents twenty-five years ago in Springfield, Missouri, who, who does legal work for communities came up with a way to get it done. It’s about leadership. Leadership will solve a lot of the problems. So, I think all those things you talked about were important, but we can create jobs here. And that’s what I’m about in the Midwest U.S. China Association. It’s creating jobs in the Midwest. [applause]

Question: ….How is that you connect your core values with, uh, your policy, or more specifically, how you, uh, create the policy in your government so that it reflects exactly what it is you were raised on? And I know that’s Christian principles.

Bob Holden: Well, it, to me a, a Christian, which I am one, uh, believes in treating your neighbor as yourself, respecting them for who they are, uh, letting them have their values, and taking care of those who can’t take care of themselves. Uh, you know, if you read the, the Bible according to Jesus he wasn’t all that popular in his culture, either.  How popular would he be in our culture today [stir in audience] with some of his views? I, I think you, you lead by example. That’s the reason why, when I was faced with the, the first serious budget deficits in a long time as governor I tried to raise taxes. Wasn’t popular. But I thought it’s the right thing to do. At the end of the day winning and losing an election is not as important as winning or losing your soul. If you stand for something you ought to stand for something. If you don’t, then don’t get involved in politics. To me politics is about public service. The two people who got me involved in politics were Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy. And I believe that people who run for office, people who serve in office, have an obligation to be true to those values. When I left public office I had no more money in the bank than when I started in politics. To me it’s public service. That’s what Missouri Boys State teaches you. That’s all, what it’s all about. It’s wha
t it should be about for all of us. You know, I don’t care how much money you have in life, if you’re unhappy you’re gonna be unhappy with a hundred dollars or a thousand dollars. But if you’ve got good relationships and built the kind of relationships and personal life, uh, in politics sometimes it’s not easy to do. But, I can get up every day, look myself in the mirror, and feel okay. So, I used to tell my staff, by the way, on a side note, if you’re doing something, if it shows up on the front page of the newspaper, am I gonna be pleased with what I read or not? Your gut tells you if what you’re doing is right or wrong ninety-five percent of the time. Live by those values and you’ll be okay.

Question: All right, thank you.

Bob Holden:  Thank you. [applause]

Question: ….Why do you think America as a whole is trying to find somebody to blame for the current economic crisis that we’re in?

Bob Holden:  Well, first of all, we don’t have a solution. And, you know, I, I have found that in, in government or politics, uh, everybody wants the budget cut as long as it doesn’t affect them. Everybody advocates change as long as it doesn’t affect them. And we’ve got to get over that. For, for us to have a budget solution at the federal level everybody’s gotta be willing to sacrifice. Those who are Democratic, Democratic values and those who are Republican, Republican values. As I said in my comments, you’ve got one of the classiest individuals in politics that I’ve ever met, and that’s Jack Danforth, coming to speak. I tell audiences all across the country that I long for the day when you could have a Jack Danforth and a Tom Eagleton representing Missouri in the United States Senate, one Republican, one Democrat, could fight on issues very aggressively, but still walk out respecting each other and be friends. Unfortunately I think term limits and the massive amount of money in politics today has eroded that relation, relationship building that is needed. So, that’s, you know, I’ve got a lot of answers on some of these, not very popular with some people but it’s what I believe.

Question: That’s very insightful. Thank you.

Bob Holden:  Thank you. [applause]

Question: ….Concerning your economic relation with China, what do you find to be the most effective means of getting your key points across to such a culturally and linguistically different group?

Bob Holden:  Well, first of all, the leaders that I work with, the Ambassador to the United States from China, the Counsel General, and my message to them is, it is not politically sustainable in our culture if all, if everybody perceives all the jobs leaving the United States going to China. It has to be a two way street. And honestly China needs us as much as we need China. They’ve got to keep their economy growing or they have revolution in their country, too. They may have a different political system, but they change leaders there, too. And if those leaders are not meeting the needs of the people they’ll change. They may change in a little bit different way than we do, but they make changes in their culture, too. And, and particularly in the whole area of energy, that is the one issue where both countries can work together on that is critical for the world at large. Whether, whether it’s figuring out how to use clean coal, whether it’s figuring out how to take care of the spent rods in nuclear, whether they figure out how to use wind and solar and renewable. You know, China has one point three billion people and they gotta have, they gotta feed those people every day. Their people have to have jobs every day just like they do in the United States. And so they need a prosperous America buying their goods as we need a prosperous China helping us provide some of the, uh, things that we like to buy. And what most people in this country don’t understand China has a problem of losing jobs, too. The jobs that ten, ten, fifteen, twenty years ago left the United States to go to China are now leaving China and going to Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam. And so they have some of the same problems. They’ve also got a very serious drought. They’re talking about what are they gonna do in Beijing when it’s dry. What, what are they gonna do when it’s dry. Uh, you know, so they’ve got a lot of issues. And what, to be successful with China or anything else you’ve got to design a solution where both sides or all sides see that they win more by working together than working against. And that’s the opportunity that we have if we have leaders willing to step up. And what we’re trying to do through this organization, which is bipartisan, is no matter what the politics are in the twelve Midwestern states, who, Democrat versus Republican, we’ve gotta keep the lines of communication open and look for those opportunities like Moberly, Missouri  where we can place facilities here, creating jobs for Americans that can work with China. And what’s interesting about the Moberly project they’re, they make the ingredients called sucralose that you find in Splenda, they’re making it here to send back to China to sell. ‘Cause made in the U.S.A. still means something if you’re doing it right. [applause]

Question: Thank you very much….

Today is the first day of the week-long American Legion Boys State of Missouri program on the campus of the University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg. Approximately 1000 boys from across Missouri will participate this week. This is the fourth year we’ve been able to cover the session.

Missouri Boys State volunteer Matt Dameron (left) assists Boys State citizens with directions from the parking lot.

Why do we cover this? It’s about government and politics. Plus, Missouri Boys State always has an impressive list of speakers, including statewide office holders.

The keynote speakers this week:

FORMER MISSOURI GOVERNOR BOB HOLDEN

Saturday, June 11, 2011 (6:45-8:20 PM)

Following Opening Night Ceremonies of the 72nd session of Missouri Boys State former Missouri Governer Bob Holden will deliver the keynote address at a special assembly in Hendricks Hall. Bob has been a long time friend of Missouri Boys State. He has volunteered with the program for 25 years and serves on the Board of Directors. Governor Holden is chairman of The Holden Group, LLC, where he advises public and private sector clients on business development and international trade strategies. He also serves as the vice chairman of the new Midwest U.S.-China Association where he works with all Midwestern governors to improve economic cooperation and stimulate business growth between the Midwestern states and China. Additionally, he leads the Governor Bob Holden Public Policy Forum @ Webster University. As a visiting professor, Governor Holden lectures on public policy and leadership throughout the worldwide Webster campus network. Governor Holden is also serving as a Dole Fellow at the Dole Institute on the campus of the University of Kansas. Following his prepared remarks, Governor Holden will hold a question and answer session.

KELLY M. KING, PRESIDENT – SOUTH CENTRAL REGION, AT&T

Sunday, June 12, 2011 (7:00-9:00 PM)

A native of Sullivan, Missouri, Kelly King attended Missouri Boys State in 1984. He later received his undergraduate degree in mechanical/aerospace engineering from the University of Missouri-Columbia and a master of business administration degree from St. Louis University. Kelly is active in a variety of business and civic organizations to include the serving as the charman of the board for the Institute fo communication, Technology Management at the University of southern California – Marshall School of Business, and is the co-chairman of the advisory committee for the Asian Pacific Islanders for Professional and Community Advancement.  King also served on the board of directors for the Special Olympics of Southern California and the Boy Scouts of America. In 2010, he was named to the list of Outstanding 50 Asian Americans in Business by the Asian American Business Development Center.

MISSOURI SECRETARY OF STATE ROBIN CARNAHAN

Monday, June 13, 2011 (6:50-8:15 PM)

Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan will deliver the keynote address at the special assembly on Monday evening. Secretary of State Carnahan has been a long time supporter of the Missouri Boys and Girls State programs. Robin Carnahan was sworn in as Missouri’s 38th Secretary of State in January 2005. Carnahan’s family has a proud history of devotion to public service. Her father, Mel Carnahan, served as Missouri’s Governor, and her mother, Jean Carnahan, was the first woman to serve Missouri in the U.S. Senate. Her grandfather, A.S.J. Carnahan, a congressman from south-central Missouri for 14 years, was appointed by President John F. Kennedy to be U.S. Ambassador to Sierra Leone.

FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS AND MISSOURI SENATOR JOHN C. DANFORTH

Tuesday, June 14, 2011 (6:50-8:30 PM)

John Danforth will accept the 23rd Annual George W. Lehr Memorial Speakers Chair on Tuesday night at Hendricks Hall. John is a native of St. Louis, MO, where he attended St. Louis Country Day School. He later received his bachelor’s degree from Princeton University in 1958, and attended both law and divinity graduate schools at Yale University. He served as the 37th Attorney General of Missouri from 1969-1976, United States Senator from Missouri from 1976-1995, and was appointed the 24th United States Ambassador to the United Nations in 2004. As an ordained Episcopal priest, Danforth officiated the funeral services of former president Ronald Reagan. Following his prepared remarks Danforth will hold a question and answer session.

MISSOURI GOVERNOR JAY NIXON

Thursday, June 16, 2011 (7:00-9:15 PM)

Missouri Governor Jay Nixon will deliver the keynote address at a special assembly on Thursday evening in Hendricks Hall. Governor Nixon has been an outstanding supporter of the Boys State program throughout his years as Missouri’s Attorney General and Governor. We are very pleased to have him back to Boys State. The Governor will hold a question and answer session following his prepared remarks.

WHITE HOUSE FELLOW AND NAVY SEAL COMMANDER

ERIC GREITENS

Friday, June 17, 2011 (7:00-8:30 PM)

White House Fellow, Navy Seal Commander and Rhodes Scholar Eric Greitens will speak to MBS participants on Friday at Hendricks Hall. One of the most accomplished Boys Staters in recent memory, Greitens will share his extraordinary career with Boys Staters in a special assembly. Greitens returned from his last tour of duty in Iraq in 2007. As an award-winning humanitarian leader, Eric has traveled to many war and crisis torn countries to reveal not only the hardship of the people, but also their strength and compassion. Following his prepared remarks he will hold a question and answer session.

The lineup for the final part of registration.

The registration process for almost a thousand Boys State citizens has to be model of efficiency.

Ambassador John Bolton addressed Missouri Boys State on Tuesday, June 15th. After his speech he took questions from the audience for almost an hour. This is the final part of the transcript of that question and answer session.

Previously:

Ambassador John Bolton at Missouri Boys State: photos

Ambassador John Bolton at Missouri Boys State: remarks

Ambassador John Bolton at Missouri Boys State: Q and A, part 1

Ambassador John Bolton at Missouri Boys State: Q and A, part 2

Question: …Now, I notice you’ve been putting down the current administration quite a bit. [crosstalk] I recall…

Ambassador Bolton: Not really, I haven’t even gotten started yet.

Question: Oh, okay, well,[applause, cheers]…

Now, now going back to two thousand three when we went into the Iraq war, if I recall, you and the Bush administration supported the Iraq war quite substantially. Now, what is your justification for going into the war since they had no nuclear weapons and then themselves had no threat to the United States as a whole? [applause, cheers]…

…Ambassador Bolton: Well, I, I view, I view the regime of Saddam Hussein as a threat to international peace and security. And I felt that, uh, after the first gulf war, uh, there was unfinished business in leaving him in power. Uh, now don’t get me wrong, when President Bush forty-one, uh, stopped the, uh, military action and, uh, when he did and essentially took the steps that allowed Saddam to remain in power, at the time I thought that was the right course of action. Uh, and it was only with the passage of time that I realized that, uh, that had been a mistake. Uh, so I view the decision, uh, in two thousand three to overthrow Saddam, eh, effectively as a continuation of the first Persian Gulf War. Uh, and this is not unusual in history, in Europe they had the Thirty-Years War, uh, things go on for a long period of time. But essentially, removing Saddam Hussein was important to remove a threat, uh, that he posed, he and his regime posed in the region and around the world.

Now, the question of whether the regime possessed weapons of mass destruction, uh, I think is one that has been badly misunderstood. There is simply no question that had Saddam accomplished his objectives of eliminating the, uh, U.N. sanctions, uh, and getting U.N. weapons inspectors out of Iraq, which would have happened as soon as the sanctions regime was lifted entirely, uh, he would have gone back to the pursuit of weapons of mass destruction. During the entire period of time after, uh, the nineteen ninety nineteen ninety-one, uh, war he kept, on his payroll, uh, thousands of nuclear scientists and technicians. He called them his nuclear mujahedeen. And there’s no doubt that once the inspectors were gone he would have gone back to his efforts to, uh, achieve nuclear weapons.

Uh, now some people have said that the, uh, failure to find, uh, nuclear weapons or chemical weapons, uh, in Iraq was, was either because the administration distorted what his capabilities were, or that it was an intelligence failure and that, uh, what we know today proves that we shouldn’t have gone to war against Iraq. Well, I can tell you it was not an exaggeration, uh, because you can’t do that in Washington and not read about it in the paper the next day. Nor was it an intelligence failure. The fear that we had about Iraq’s, particularly its chemical weapons, came not from intelligence but came from Iraq’s own declarations in nineteen ninety-one as a condition of the ceasefire after the first Persian Gulf War. Iraq claimed that it had enormous quantities of chemical weapons and under, uh, uh, Resolution Six Eighty-Seven, the so called Security Council Ceasefire Resolution, Iraq was required, uh, to, uh, destroy the weapons that it declared, uh, or to prove to the U.N. weapons inspectors that it had destroyed the weapons. So when the weapons inspectors went in and they began to destroy, uh, various aspects of, of Saddam’s nuclear program and his ballistic missile program, uh, the U.N. weapons inspectors said to the Iraqi’s, show us the chemical weapons that you declared so that we can begin destroying them. Uh, and the Iraqi’s said in response, well, that’s okay we’ve already destroyed them all. And the U.N. weapons inspectors said, okay fine, show us the places where you destroyed the chemical weapons, show us the records how the destruction took place, introduce us to the scientists and technicians who carried out the destruction so that we can interview them and verify that in fact you have destroyed these weapons that you declared. That you declared. And the Iraqi’s said, we’re not gonna show you the locations, we’re not gonna show you the documents, we’re not gonna introduce you to the people who accomplished it. Now, I will tell you there was not anybody involved in dealing with Iraq who didn’t believe that, uh, the Iraqis were flat out lying about having destroyed all those weapons. Uh, they, they had declared that they had the weapons and they produced no proof, uh, to support their assertions that they had destroyed the weapons. So, everybody believed, everybody believed that the weapons still existed. Uh, and in fact, that’s why when American and other coalition forces went in to Iraq they took with them chemical weapons protective gear which is incredibly bulky, cumbersome, and in the middle of, uh, the, uh, Iraqi summer, extremely hot. No responsible American general would burden his troops with that chemical weapons protective gear unless they thought that there was a real risk that Saddam would use chemical weapons. Uh, and in fact, many people around the world argued against the American attack precisely on the grounds that it would provoke Saddam to use the chemical weapons that he had declared.

Uh, now, in fact, uh no chemical weapons were used during the second Persian Gulf War and we have not located, uh, anything but little bits and traces of the chemical weapons capability. Now that means one of several things. First, that somehow or another Saddam had destroyed the chemical weapons. But there is simply no, uh, uh, no evidence anywhere that that’s happened. It’s not something that you just kind of dump into the Tigris and Euphrates River, uh, unless you want to kill everything in it for hundreds of miles. Uh, the, if you look at the way the United States is destroying its own chemical weapons supplies it’s in very tightly controlled  circumstances. This is an extraordinarily hazardous, uh, thing to do, uh, with great risk of, uh, uh, of people getting killed if the process goes wrong. So, to have destroyed the, uh, supplies that Iraq claimed would have, there would have been evidence of it and we’ve found no such evidence. Second possibility is he shipped it out of the country. We just don’t know whether he did or not. Third possibility is that he buried it in the desert somewhere. Now, hard as that is to believe, you ought to go on, uh, the Internet and find the pictures that American troops took of big fighter planes wrapped in burlap buried in the desert sands being uncovered by American bulldozers. It’s like scenes out of Planet of the Apes with wings and tail fins of Migs peering out of the desert sand. Anybody who’s crazy enough to bury Mig fighters in the desert is probably crazy enough to bury chemical weapons. [applause] But we haven’t, we haven’t found that. So, so that, please, don’t go away, I’m not done yet. [laughter] That leaves the possibility that Saddam was lying about his chemical weapons capabilities in nineteen ninety-one when he made t
he declarations to the United Nations. That, that may be the most likely outcome. That shows how profoundly, uh, deceptive and threatening this regime was. But, but let’s be clear, the decision to remove Saddam Hussein was a plus for the United States and the world, it has, it has removed one of the most dangerous regimes, uh, in the Middle East, it has given the Israeli [sic] people the chance for self government, which they hadn’t had in their entire history, uh, and I think that it will lead, uh, to, to greater peace and security for the United States. [applause, cheers]

Let’s just take, let’s just take one or two more here. Anybody else over here? Go ahead.

Question: …I am curious about your assessment of the geopolitical and international advantages and disadvantages of the American government’s often uncritical support for the nation of Israel, a nation which has often been condemned by the U.N. Security Council and a great part of the world community, specifically, with regards to the recent flotilla raid and the perpetuation of the Palestinian blockade.

Ambassador Bolton: Well, I don’t think our support for Israel has ever been, uh, uncritical. I think that, uh, uh, nonetheless that, that Israel is a very important ally of the United States. I think that it helps, uh, the United States strategically, uh, in the Middle East, uh, and I think that as a, uh, as a, as an indication of, uh, uh, American commitments to, uh, to important values to us that, uh, that Israel remains the only functioning democracy, uh, in the Middle East. Now, what it, what it’s dealing with in the Gaza Strip is a terrorist camp. Uh, if the United States had a terrorist camp, uh, on its border we would do exactly the same thing. Uh, the idea that somehow, uh, you can allow, uh, free commerce in to Gaza, uh, without increasing the threat to Israel, I think is disproven simply by looking at what, uh, Hezbollah is able to do in Lebanon where it is supplied by Syria and Iran with long range rockets and the potential for at least chemical and biological weapons to threaten Israel. If, uh, if the Gaza Strip were open, uh, Hamas would get the same capability in very short order. Uh, and let’s not forget, it’s not just an Israeli blockade of Gaza, it’s an Israeli Egyptian blockade of Gaza, uh, except every once in a while when the Egyptians open the border as they are now, uh, slightly, uh, for propaganda purposes. Now why does Egypt blockade the Gaza Strip? And the reason is that Hamas, uh, is a, in effect, a chapter of the Muslim Brotherhood, uh, which is a terrorist organization that threatens the government of Egypt. So the idea that somehow this is all, uh, Israel’s fault, uh, is disproven, uh, by Egypt’s position. Uh, a few moments ago I talked about what I call the three state solution, part of which involved giving the Gaza Strip back to Egypt. Uh, one of the difficulties with the three state solution is Egypt doesn’t want the Gaza Strip because it’s filled with terrorists, uh, terrorists who threaten not only Israel, but threaten the government of Egypt. So, uh, this is a, a graphic demonstration of how the Palestinian people have been exploited, not by Israel, but by extremists, uh, in their own ranks and from other Arab countries that have determined to make them the tip of the spear, uh, against Israel without regard to the true well being of the Palestinian people. And I think if that were a real major concern of ours we’d see a very different approach to the whole problem. [applause]

[inaudible] take the last one over [inaudible].

Question: …Do you believe the United States will commence military operations, uh, Pakistan and North Korea in the near future?

Ambassador Bolton:  well, I don’t see any, any prospect of, uh, of doing that in North Korea. I think that’s a, that, that is one of the consequences, uh, of allowing a state to get nuclear  weapons because, uh, it does make it much harder, uh, to deal with North Korea. I think the ultimate solution in North Korea is the reunification of the Korean peninsula. That’s been our policy since, uh, the original partition at the end of World War Two. I think that’s the only, uh, way to deal with the regime in North Korea. Uh, I think it’d be a huge benefit to the people of North Korea and stability in the region as a whole. I think that’s why we need to do more to convince China that they need to get on the right side of history on this question. Just as the two Germanys have reunited, one day the two Koreas will reunite. Far better to do it in an orderly and peaceful way, uh, than, than in the kind of chaos that can follow, um, uh,  developments in the north.

In terms of Pakistan, you know, one of the reasons why it’s important that we prevail against Taliban and Al Qaeda in Afghanistan is not simply to prevent Afghanistan, uh, from again becoming a platform for international terrorism as it was before nine eleven, but to prevent instability in Pakistan from growing to the point where that government could fall. And a small group of radicals, Pakistani Taliban or others, could seize control of the Pakistani government and with it, that government’s, uh, arsenal of nuclear weapons. Then you would have, in effect, Iran on steroids. You’d have terrorists in control of what have publicly been identified as between sixty and two hundred Pakistani nuclear weapons. It would pose an enormous threat to peace on the Indian subcontinent, but it would also pose an enormous threat that a Taliban led government in Pakistan would supply those nuclear weapons to terrorists around the world. So, that’s, that’s why we need to work harder on the government of Pakistan, uh, to bear down, uh, along the border with Afghanistan, It’s why we have to defeat the Taliban, uh, in Afghanistan, and why we need to persist and why time lines about, uh, American and NATO withdrawal before we accomplish our strategic objectives, uh, is inherently a bad idea. [applause]

Thank you very much.