Good afternoon. I am Bill Mayer; I am Chairman of the Board. It is my pleasure to introduce a great American that you all know, Senator John McCain, who dedicated his entire life to service to the US Government first in the Navy which he retired in 1981, elected to the Congress in 82', to the Senate in 86' and now a presidential candidate to run our country. A very unusual man, we share something in common. I flew in the Air Force in the 60s. I was very lucky my plane wasn't shot down and I think in reading his book and his memoirs about that experience is very powerful influence on his life. Just yesterday John released a new book called "Hard Call". If there is any mistake, you would [0:02:01] ____ for sales of this book. We will be selling copies of the book here. It literally just came out yesterday; it's a very interesting book. It's a compilation of the hard calls various people have made and it's been separated into sections; inspiration, foresight, judgment. And under foresight he talks about Winston Churchill at the eve of the Second World War and so it's quite a powerful book and I would urge you all to read it. Senator is going to have some comments and then I think I will ask the first question and we will do Q & A from the audience. Senator McCain. Thank you Bill thank you very much Bill, thank you Bill for your kind introduction, thank you for your stewardship of this wonderful organization. This is not the first time I've had the opportunity to visit this beautiful area, but also the Aspen Institute and you and Walter Isaacson I think have done a magnificent job. This has become a center of thought and discussion and dialogue that's needed throughout the United States of America. So thank you Bill for your kind introduction and it's nicer than the one I received at the Scottsdale Rotary Club, where the guy said here's the latest dope from Washington, Senator John McCain. So thank you for that. Yesterday I yesterday I started out in Beaufort, South Carolina and at a town hall meeting there. By the way if you've never been to Beaufort, South Carolina, it's one of the really lovely cities in America and then I flew to I where were I made an appearance at the Iowa State Fair, where I met a pig named Big Red who happens to weigh 1,203 pounds, an incredible experience. Runner up and only 1,197 was Corn Dog and so it gave me a chance of course to see real pork-barrel spending and have a chance to look at lot of the a lot of the pork and then I went to Sun Valley where we had an event there and came here this afternoon. Cindy and I are here and we I always love being back here. I do spent time in California. As you know, they have stolen Arizona's water. And in fact we have so little water in Arizona that the trees chase the dogs. But I was doing an event recently with Governor Schwarzenegger and of course he and I have many similar attributes as you can tell. So over there in over there in California and we went this event we had to deal with climate change and trying to enact green technologies and anyway there is always protesters in California. No matter what the event, there is always protesters. I walked by here is this great big tall guy, muscular guy and he says, "Hey", he said "has anybody ever tell you, you look a lot like Senator John McCain?". I said "Yeah." And he said "Don't it just make you mad as hell?" So well thank you for for your kind kind words. And by the way I would also like to thank all of you who are kind enough to spend some time in the winter with us in Arizona on behalf of the Chamber of Commerce, I would like to thank you. And I would like to ask your sympathy for the families of the State of Arizona because Barry Goldwater from Arizona ran for President of United States, Morris Udall from Arizona ran for President of United States. Bruce Babbitt from Arizona ran for President of United States. I from Arizona ran for President of United States. Arizona may be the only state in America where mothers don't tell their children that someday they can grow up and be the President of the United States. I had a beloved friend named Morris Udall who ran in 1976 against Jimmy Carter and his joke has been stolen by every presidential candidate and he said he walked into a barber shop in Manchester, New Hampshire and said "Hi, I am Morris Udall from Arizona and I am running for President of United States". The barber said "Yeah we were just laughing about that this morning." We had a we had a very similar experience when I first ran in 1999; we were at three percent approval in a poll that had a five percent margin of error. So we could have been at minus two when we began and we were proud of our campaign in 2000. In fact after I lost in South Carolina to President Bush in the primary, I slept like a baby. I sleep two hours, wake up and cry, sleep two hours, wake up and cry. And anyway, but these are very interesting times and the most enjoyable part of a gathering like this is for you to ask questions and make comments and an occasional insult that might come to mind. And so I would like to make just very brief remarks about three issues - just three. And then I would like to respond to questions or comments. Again thanks for coming today and thank you for your involvement in the institute, thank you for your involvement and engagement of the issues of the day, thank you for contributing to the dialogue on a variety of issues that are challenging our nation, and these are very challenging times. My friends I am running for president of United States because I believe the transcendent challenge of the 21st Century is the threat of radical Islamic extremism. I believe it's here, I believe it's a multi hydra headed I believe that the challenge is going to be with us through out the 21st Century. If right after 9/11, we had been having a discussion in the United States by the way there are going to be some doctors, some doctors in Scotland who become so radicalized that they will become suicide bombers and wanted to destroy the Airport in Glasgow, Scotland, you would have said that that's unlikely. If you would have said that there is some kids that grew up in London and are soccer fans that went to Mosques and got the message and got on the internet and became suicide bombers you would have thought that was unlikely. Our stereotype of the radical Islamic extremist is the kid standing on a street corner in Islamabad with no hope, no job, no opportunity, no education, are taken in the madrasas, brainwashed and become suicide bombers. That's still happening. In fact the majority of suicide bombers that are coming into Iraq today are Saudis. In case you didn't know that I am I am sure that most of you did. But the fact is we've got to win this struggle militarily, diplomatically, intelligence, but ideologically. And the greatest struggle where we are not doing it, what nearly what we should is ideologically. Today millions of people are watching Al Jazeera. Today millions and 100s of millions get on the internet and they get the message latest message from Osama Bin Laden or Zawahiri or one of the radical extremists, they can they can go online and see the picture of an American Humvee being blown up by an IED. We are not doing what we should in cyber space. And I am glad that we have got people in this room who are engaged in making cyber space a far more available and accessible to all people. But we as an American as Americans and those who believe in the fundamentals of freedom and democracy are going to have to do a lot better job because that's where I think the ideological struggle is been waged. My friends we didn't win the Cold War by a tank battle in Europe with the Soviet then Soviet Union. We won it because we had the message of hope and freedom and democracy for people all over the world and that's what prevailed eventually. And this struggle that we are in, is going to require us marshalling every resource, every bit of intelligence, to fight back the forces that are want to destroy everything we stand for and believe in. That's why I am running for president because and I am prepared to do that. Now I would like to just mention with to you; climate change. My friends, you can feel it today. It's real. 20 years ago it probably would have been 20 degrees cooler in this tent. The fact is climate change is real. The debate should have been over long ago and the question is what are we going to do about it. I'd like to quote Tony Blair, a man who I've grown to admire enormously, "The question is suppose all of us are wrong who believe that climate change is real and all we do is develop green technologies and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, then we will have a far better world to hand to our children. But suppose we are right and do nothing suppose we are right about climate change and do nothing about it, then what kind of a planet we are going to hand to our children and our grand children." And my friends, the debate should have been over. The question is are we are going to do the things necessary, including an international agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions which includes China and India and must including going to alternate energy sources because it's now a national security issue as well as climate change issue. We are too dependant oil. We all we all know that. Look around the world where we get our oil, starting with Venezuela and you will find that our dependence on foreign and imported oil is very shaky in many parts of the world. So we need to have a cap-and-trade. Joe Lieberman and I have tried to get through the Senate on four different occasions; a cap-and-trade of emissions which is a capitalist excuse me enterprise oriented way of reducing greenhouse gases. Nuclear power has to be part of any solution. You know our good friends, the French 80 percent of their electricity is generated by nuclear power. We always imitate the French as you know and so by the way on my last trip to Iraq, I came back and I stopped in Paris on the way back and met the new President of France and as you know he is pro American, which shows you that if you live long enough any thing is possible in this world. And by the way I think it may be he might be the first pro American leader since [0:12:34] ____. I am sure but so so we have to address it and we have to make Americans aware that this is a two prong problem. One, we have to reduce our dependence on foreign oil and we must give our kids a better and cleaner world than the one that we are presently on track to live in if we if we believe that we are here not only on this earth to do good while we are here but to pass off to generations in the future, a better world. Now I would like to talk to you about spending very quickly. A lot of us are very keenly aware, us Republicans as well as Democrats are keenly aware that we lost the last election. We lost the last election partly due to the frustration and anger about Iraq and that's true. But the major reason why we Republicans didn't do the things that we should have done is because of spending. We allowed spending to get completely out of control. We Republicans came to power in 1994 to change government and government changed us. We have former members of Congress today who are Republicans who are in federal prison. If that's not corruption, then I don't know what the hell is. And we should be ashamed and embarrassed. And we should be apologizing to our constituents. My friends, not long ago we spent $3 million to study the DNA of bears in the Montana. I don't know if that's a criminal issue or a paternity issue but the fact is it was your money the fact is it is your money. In 1987 Ronald Reagan vetoed the then Highway Bill and he said, "I haven't seen this much portions. I gave out blue ribbons at the Iowa State Fair. He vetoed the Highway Bill at a 152 of these earmarked projects on it. Two years ago the President of United States signed a bill that had 6140 earmarked projects on it, it was too big and billion of your money of your money. So what happens now? By the way Ronald Reagan also used to say he used to say "Congress spends money like a drunken sailor, only I've never known a sailor drunk or sober with the imagination of members of Congress" and that's a pretty that's a pretty cute line and it goes over pretty good. I find it mostly at Republican Women's Club meetings. But the fact is the fact is about three months ago I am not making this up about three months ago, I got an email from a guy that said, "As a former drunken sailor I resent being compared to members of Congress." So so I don't blame him I don't blame the guy. So so the point is my friends that it gets from the ludicrous to the tragic. Now we all know about the collapse of the bridge over the Mississippi river and our hearts goes out to the victims and those who are who are still missing. My friends 200,000 people a day went over that bridge - 200,000 people a day. In this Pork-barrel Bill that I am talking about that they passed, the $2 billion in pork, there was not one penny for bridge inspection and repair, not one penny - not one penny. My friends the tipping point on this issue and there is tipping points in sports, there is tipping points in life, there is tipping points in politics and we can all point them out. The tipping point was, on the front page, a parade, the insert of everybody every Sunday newspaper just about in America was the picture of a bridge going off in the mist. It was the bridge to nowhere in Alaska. A $233 million bridge to an island with 50 people on it - $233 million. Don't you think we should have taken some of that $233 million and put it to bridge repair or bridge inspection at least? We are now finding out there are thousands and thousands of bridges all over America that need repair and certainly many more of them need inspection. Now finally I would like to so as President of the United States first Pork-barrel Bill that comes across my desk, I would veto it and I will make the office of those pork-barrel projects famous and you will know their names you will know their names, I promise you. Iraq my friends the war in Iraq was terribly mishandled for a long period of time. I railed against the strategy I said I had no confidence in the Secretary of Defense, Mr. Rumsfeld. I said that we needed a strategy such as the one we are employing now. And Americans are saddened and they are frustrated and they are angry. And their patience was pretty long their patience was pretty good. And now we have a new strategy and we have a new General and I am proud to tell you, we are succeeding we are succeeding. Now will you always have for a long time are we going to have this terrible suicide bombers? Yes, ask the Israelis how hard it is to defend against suicide bombers, because as long as people are willing to give up their lives and in order to take others you are facing an enormous challenge. And so we are going to see that. But I can guarantee you that in Anbar Province, there has been a dramatic turnaround. I am sure that many of you are aware of the O'Hanlon and Pollack piece, that was in The New York Times that stirred such a huge outcry amongst the liberals and those who have declared defeat and that we should go home. In Ramadi they went downtown Ramadi which without body armor and with a few soldiers. My friends, six months ago Ramadi was a shooting gallery. Ramadi was Fort Apache. We are succeeding there. In Baghdad today, in 53 neighborhoods there are American and Iraqi soldiers out there 24 hours a day. They are on patrol 24/7, they are in the neighborhoods and they are providing an environment of security for the people there so that the economic social and political process can move forward. What's the bad news? The bad news is of course the Maliki Government is not functioning effectively, and they have got to. And the police are corrupt. You still have problems with the corrupt police Shiite dominated police. But we are succeeding and I believe that Patreaus is going to come back and we are going to start a great debate, my friends, on the floor of the United States Senate. It would be a historic debate, because I am convinced that if we set a date for withdrawal and by the way ask the people who are for or against going into this conflict as to whether the date for withdrawal would do anything but cause disaster, ask Henry Kissinger, Brent Scowcroft, Zbig Brzezinski, General Zinni ask any of them, setting a date for withdrawal is a date for catastrophe and genocide. So let me just let me just also make one additional point. Please, the next time you look at a map of the Middle East, look where Iraq sits and look at the countries around it. That great philosopher and Center for the Boston Celtics and a great hero of mine, Bill Russell once said "When things go bad, things go bad." And right after the initial success of our invasion the Iranians couldn't have been more co-operative, the Syrians were scared to death because they have assassinated the former Prime Minister of Lebanon, Hariri, and we were dominant in the region and things were fine. And then things started to go down hill in Iraq and we know where we are today. Now look at the region and what happens as a result of failure in Iraq. The Saudis will have to will feel compelled to help Sunnis, the Turks will not allow an independent Kurdish state. They have already said they won't allow it. Look at Syria emboldened again as they try to destabilize a democratic government in Lebanon. Look at Southern Lebanon and the threat that has below, they opposes to the state of Israel. Look at Gaza where Hamas, a terrorist organization is now in control by the way proving that elections don't necessarily mean democracy. Look at Afghanistan and Pakistan. My friends, if Musharraf goes, and is the victim of an overthrow by an Islamic government, you think we have got problems in Afghanistan now. Think and contemplate that. So it's the region we have to worry about as well as the situation in Iraq. Now I would like to to just to end up by reminding you of one good thing. And by the way, I am confident we will win, I am confident we will never surrender and I am confident that they will, because I've had the great honor and privilege of associating with the young men and women who are serving our nation. They are the best we've ever had. They are the most professional they are the most professional, they are the bravest, they are the best equipped and they are the best trained. And no matter how anybody here feels about this war and we are entitled to our views, at least thank god all Americans are in support of them and I am continued to be gratified by a brief story. About three months ago I was asked to be present at the awarding of the Purple Heart to a young man by the name of Mark Robbins. Mark Robbins is a First Class Petty Officer in the Navy SEAL team members and the ceremony was at a Naval Hospital, his family was there, some of his SEAL team members and I was honored to be there. I know that you know that the Purple Heart was originated by the George Washington as the only medal we give for someone who is wounded in combat with the enemy. That was not the first time that I had met Mark Robbins. The first time I met with him was a couple was three weeks earlier, I had been on my way back from a trip to Iraq. I stopped at Ramstein Air Force Base, we re-fueled there and I went over to Landstuhl, the hospital where the wounded from Iraq and Afghanistan are taken, treated and then send on to Walter Reed and Bethesda. I walked into his hospital room and less than 48hours, before I walked into his room less than 48 hours, Mark Robbins and his SEAL team members had been in a vicious fire fight outside of the city of Baghdad, with Al Qaeda. In the course of this fight, an Al Qaeda guy had stood with a rocket propelled grenade and was about to fire it and probably would have wounded or killed some of his comrades. He stood, fired and killed the Al Qaeda guy. In the course of it Mark Robbins took an AK 47 bullet in his right eye, it followed the curvature of his skull and exited at the back of his skull. He was asleep, I said to his friend who was there to tell him thanks. I went down the hall. His friend Petty Officer Swink came to see me and said "Mark wants to see you." I came back into his hospital room; he said I got to sit up. He sat up by the way after he was shot in the eye in that bullet, he walked to the helicopter he walked to the helicopter incredible. Anyway he sat up, he said "I got to sit up" he sat up in his hospital bed and he grabbed hold of my hand and he said, "Senator McCain, thank you thank you for coming to see me, thank you for your support." And then he said, he squeezed my hand tightly and he said, "Senator McCain, we can win this fight we can win this fight." Well, my friends it's going to be tough and long and hard but I am inspired by young Americans like Mark Robbins and the belief that we can win this fight too. Thanks very much and I will be glad to answer any questions that you might have.
