wanted to find out more so we called kent's cup -- kent cup her spin to talk about his 1992 book called "inside: the biography of john -- of gone jump other." >> on this episode of book notes plus, listen at c-span.org/podcasts or wherever you get your podcast. he spoke in an event hosted by the university of maryland in college park. house majority leader steny hoyer gave the opening remarks. >> good afternoon and

welcome to the clark school and at the university of maryland. my name is dara rowland. i'm a proud senior here. i plan to graduate this spring with a bachelors degree in mechanical engineering. i'm honored to address you all here this afternoon. it feels exciting to speak here in my favorite building on campus. our clark engineering school has shown me my perspective and ideas are valuable. i'm dedicated to making sure the next generation of leaders will always see engineers that look like them as they grow up. after i graduate, i'm

excited to drive change towards sustainability in the automotive manufacturing industry i'm proud to be part of the shift towards electrification and our mnu -- and our american manufacturing system. i'm eager to live in a world where cars run on batteries, vehicle charging stations are found everywhere, and environmentally stable transportation is normalized and affordably available to all. the infrastructure requires to accelerate toward sustainability, led by the bold inventions, rate -- brave decisions and quick action from our engineers. i'm grateful for the engineers that made my experience possible. as i reflect on the engineering behind virtual communication, i'm reminded of why i wanted to become an engineer in the first place. to make life easier and better for those around me. the past year and a half has inspired me to reimagine what discoveries might be possible and what boundaries we can move in the future. even in the most challenging of circumstances. at this point, i'm honored

to introduce our next speaker. house majority leader steny hoyer has devoted his life to public service. in 1975, he became the youngest president of the maryland state senate and now, as majority leader of the u.s. house of representatives, he is the highest ranking elected official in marilyn's history. is a strong champion for college affordability and federal funding for research end of element. in addition, he is university of maryland alum and we are proud to call him ours. please welcome leader hoyer. [applause] leader hoyer: thank you so much, sarah. i don't know who's this is. this is yours, tony? i will bring it back up. if i can remember.

i was incredibly impressed as you are reading -- strike that, as you were giving your speech, so i snuck a look around and saw the teleprompter. you gave it so flawlessly that it looked as if you had nothing there. congratulations to you. we are proud of you and all the students here at the university of maryland that you represent. i'm going to take off for just a minute. i'm so pleased to be here with my two colleagues. who are such strong supporters of the university of maryland. our senior center, senator -- senior senator, senator carter. senator chris van hollen. and senator jim rozen pep who represents us in the state senate, the. you, sarah. on behalf of senator cardin and myself, i'm honored to welcome all of you to the university of

maryland college park. the flagship campus of the university of maryland system from which i graduated. thank you for inviting us. for this wonderful event. over the past year, you have shown yourself to be a great leader for this university in a time of challenge. we are so pleased to have you in the leadership. as dean of the engineering school for the past decade, you demonstrated great ability in making this campus center of innovation and stem learning. i'm sure tim clark, when he gave such a generous gift to the university thought of his investing in people like you and the people who work with you. dean brighter come thank you for hosting us today at the clark school, and for continuing that legacy of prompting cutting edge research and innovation and science and engineering here at maryland. university of maryland has become one of the great ugly universities in our country.

ranked 11th in the country among public colleges by forbes magazine. maryland is home to more than 40,000 students. learning in 12 schools and colleges. it was listed as number three among public universities for undergraduate entrepreneurship. i have an agenda i call it make it in america which is about entrepreneurship. that was done by the princeton -- by princeton and was ranked by the national science foundation. what an incredible statistic. how proud we are of this university and this campus. each year, the university sent its students to over three hundredths -- 300 study abroad locations. with more than 50 excepting full grants to continue their studies overseas. last year, the u.s. news and

world report ranked the clark school is number 12 among public engineering schools. it was in the top 10 for public aerospace and computer engineering programs. mr. secretary, you come to one of the quality institutions, not only in this country, but in the globe. it is no surprise why the university of maryland college park and clark school of engineering were chosen today as the venue for the secretary of state to talk about america innovation and leadership in the world. when i was a student here, as i told somebody, our nation elected john f. kennedy to steal our country through the crisis in the cold war and refocus america's attention and resources in the mid-20th century to conquering the new frontier of science and space. it is -- in his inaugural address, president kennedy declared, let every nation know whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any

price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty. and i would add to that, free enterprise and entrepreneurship. since that day, america has prospered when we have invested in her strength and training generation after generation of graduates to help our country. and indeed, the global community. help them to compete and lead the global economy and promote our ideals of freedom and democracy around the world. resident biden -- president biden is steeped in the experience of foreign policy. committed to restoring america's place of leadership, and understands that we must continue to empower those who have always been the instruments of our global leadership and success. our talented young people. that has been his approach to restoring american leadership in

the world. president mcclung of france, upon meeting president biden for the g 12 -- g7 summit in june said "what you demonstrate is that leadership is partnership." america, mccrone, and other allied leaders declared, his back. as a matter of fact, macron's quote was "welcome back america." deeply engaged and an expert in america's approach to the rest of the world, president biden has selected someone as his chief diplomat, who not only shares his deep knowledge and experience, but also his vision. secretary blinken has already served in many of the most senior foreign-policy and national security roles in our country. he understands what it would take to make president kennedy's words ring true, and to carry

out president biden's mission to build america back better. by ensuring that we can lead the world on the global economy in this century. as a partner. he knows that it starts with young people with the talented graduates come in -- innovative research and discovery, and a commitment to learning and teaching. so i'm honored, and pleased, to welcome secretary blinken, who i count as a dear friend. to a place where these are paramount, students from maryland, students from america, and students from around the world gather to dedicate themselves to the betterment of our country, and our globe. now, i'm honored to turn it over to president pines to welcome secretary blinken to the university of maryland college park, that he may join in the long tradition of american leaders choosing our campus to share their vision and call

americans forward to great and evers. president pines? [applause] pres. pines: you left your mask. rep. hoyer: oh! pres. pines: that afternoon. -- good afternoon. and welcome to all of our guest in the many dignitaries joining us today. thank you, sarah, for your voice of today's event. welcome to university deans faculty and staff and students and distinguished alumni. to the public servants of the u.s. state department, thank you for being here. to senator ben cardin, thank you. to senator chris van hollen, thank you for being here, and all that you both do for our state.

and of course, to our graduate, peter steny hoyer, what can we say? we are grateful to have you as an alum and the work you do for maryland and the nation. to state senator aaron and former u.s. ambassador, thank you for all you've done, and for everything in the greater college park area. our special guest, secretary of state anthony j blinken, thank you for being here and representing the state department. i'm proud to welcome all of you to the great university of maryland. and welcome to a james clark hall. it is fitting that we are here today to talk about infrastructure because you see, we are here and clark hall and mr. clark who was a 1951 civil engineering graduate was a builder. while the washington, d.c. city skyline is dotted with dozens of mr. clark's towering structures, he built more than buildings. he built beautiful and immaculate labs like the one you

are sitting in. because when you invest in science, infrastructure, you invest in the spaces that spark innovation. to dramatically change our future. that is not hyperbole. that is fact. the world is a better place because of research born out of the university of maryland and its labs. if you walk up two flights of stairs to the lab, we have dr. fishel's research and more than 200 patents to thank for modern medical stents, lifetime pacemaker, and implantable insulin pumps, improving the lives of many. if you walk just one block west, you will find the physical science complex, built with federal funding, and the state of maryland, and lawmakers from the state of maryland, and the governor's office. it is the home of groundbreaking research, quorum research, that field the birth of a firm called inq.

which is set to become the first publicly per play quantum computing company in the united states and the world. make no mistake about it, quantum science will be instrumental in solving the grand challenges of our time. including climate change, threats to human health, and economic, social, and environmental inequities and injustice. at the university of maryland, we attract some of the brightest minds like sarah from around the world to develop transformational technologies, ideas, and social innovation. through our billion-dollar research enterprise, the university of maryland's leading transformative areas for clean energy to quantum science and technology, cybersecurity, computer and informational sciences, resolution or new materials, and human health. we are educating the next generations of thinkers, planners, builders, healers, and yes, leaders.

using leading laboratories and research instrumentation, and supported by vital government and private funding, we and our university partners are creating knowledge and technologies that our country and world needs. secretary blinken has noted the critical importance of the u.s. maintaining our scientific edge. i commend the secretary and president biden for their commitment for improving our nation's scientific infrastructure. so i will close by remembering my good friend, mr. a james clark, who made this building possible and so many more. before he had earned the money to invest in the university of maryland, scholarship dollars were invested in him, making a maryland engineering degree possible. which as a reminder, as we start out learning, what we cannot fathom, true visionaries are building towards what many cannot even imagine. with that, i'm honored to now

introduce the 71st u.s. secretary of state, antony blinken. [applause] sec. blinken: good afternoon, everyone. it is wonderful to be here at the university of maryland college park. one of our country's outstanding public research universities, to be joined by some of the students, university leaders, and public servants. who helped make this community such a dynamic place to learn, teach, and to create. mr. president, i especially want to thank you, both for your kind words, for hosting us today, and for your leadership of this institution. leader hoyer, it is always an honor and pleasure to be with you. i know you are a very proud alum of this university. thank you for taking the time to join us. as well as my colleagues and

friends, senator harden and senator van hollen. i'm flattered to think i had something to do with you being out here this afternoon. but i know that is not the case. it is this university. i know your strong support across the board for this extraordinary institution. i'm glad to be able to share that with you today. sarah, a special thanks to you for a wonderful introduction. in the unlikely event that engineering somehow does not work out, diplomacy, think about it. we may want to bring you in. thank you so much. the best part of today is getting to spend time with some of the extraordinary young people here at college park. secretary, i'm often focused on events that are taking place thousands of miles away. the last lab i toured was at the university of copenhagen. across an ocean. i wanted to come here today, to the university of maryland, 10 miles from the state department, because as has been noted, the innovation happening here, and i

thousands of colleges and universities across america, is a huge source of our strength. whether america protects and invests in our strength at home is going to determine whether we remain strong in the world and deliver results for the american people. i have meant to tell you that maybe it any other -- more than maybe any other time in my career, all distinctions between domestic and foreign policy have simply fallen away. our domestic renewal and our strength in the world are completely entwined. that is why i'm here today. because there is nothing we can do that will enhance our global standing and influence more than what our domestic renewal can deliver. particularly when it comes to the strength of our workforce, our economic dynamism, the quality of opportunity we offer our people, the resilience of our infrastructure, and the power of our innovation.

i'm here to tell you that we could be doing better. that is the hard truth. we are falling behind where we once were in the world. and our rivals, slowly but surely, are pulling close behind us. in some areas, they are already ahead of us. and this matters. it matters because if these trends continue, we will be less competitive in a more competitive world. the weight of our diplomacy and our ability to advance in the interest and values of the american people will suffer. and the democratic model and way of life will be less able to withstand a fierce challenge from authoritarian governments. most of all, investing in our domestic renewal now will make our future more secure, more prosperous, more free. so, what i would like to do today is talk about the foreign

policy, the national security case for public investment at home. because it is vital that we act. let's start by stepping back for a minute. i think you all know this very well. for a long time, america made big investments in ourselves. we established in a versatile elementary school. we made investments in public secondary education. between 1910 and 1940, the percentage of american teens in high school went from 18%, to 70%. president lincoln signed into law grand colleges like the university of maryland, so more people could get higher education. president roosevelt signed the g.i. bill, so more servicemembers and veterans could go to college and get job training. more than 50% of its beneficiaries went on to start a business. these and other programs were not perfect. we know that. they were not equitable. many people were left out

because of their race or gender. we are still working to close those gaps today. these investments helped america's economy leap ahead. and maybe the united states, the wealthiest and best educated in the entire world. through the decades, we have also invested in roads, railways, and highways and ports, airports, power grids, water systems. a vast public infrastructure that was the foundation for us becoming the strongest economy in the world, with the workforce and standard of living that set us apart. but in recent decades, our public investment as a share of the economy has fallen more than 40%. we are still relying heavily on those earlier achievements. schools, roads, and innovations created a long time ago. meanwhile, other countries have doubled down. for example, china is spending three times as much on infrastructure as we do every year.

and it is not just china. the united states now ranks 13th in the world in the total quality of our infrastructure. if we don't make major investments soon, it will be more than just 12 countries ahead of us. we are falling behind on innovation. 30 years ago, we ranked number one in the world in terms of how much we invested in a share of our economy and research end of a limit. it is how we won the space race. mapped the human genome. built the internet. now? we are number nine. china used to be number eight. now they are number two. here at the clark school, students are learning advanced manufacturing technologies, like this hyperloop pod for high-speed train travel, greeted by the award-winning u.n. the loop team, made up entirely of undergraduates. i just got a tour of the advanced lab, and saw some of what you are creating here with 3d printing.

we as a country should be doing much more to support this kind of work. the bipartisan u.s. innovation competition act, which the senate has approved, would boost federal funding for u.s.-based a semiconducting manufacturing, and provide $52 billion over five years for research initiatives. because research in fields like robotics, artificial intelligence, nano tech, and solar cells is racing ahead. too often, we are not the ones out in front. we are missing out on the chance to build and lead the industries of the future. there is no question that the free market can do a lot to spur investment. the creativity, ingenuity, and dynamism of the american private sector is unmatched in the world. it is our greatest competitive advantage. but there are some things that even the most vibrant private sector can't do on its own. public investment is still vital.

moreover, america's entrepreneurs are able to do their work in part because of the foundation provided by public investment. the work of the most brilliant scientists is rooted and publicly funded based research. companies run on public utilities. public schools help educate their workforce. public and private investment are both essential. it is not either/or. it is both/and. now, make no mistake, we are still the most powerful country and economy in the world. we are resilient and entrepreneurial. there is a reason the world's most successful companies are born here. our network of alliances and partnerships with other countries is unmatched. our military is the most powerful fighting force on the planet. can the american workforce is outstanding. that includes all the peoples from other countries who moved to the united states every year to work hard and build better lives for themselves. because this is still the place where the world's strivers and dreamers want to be.

as president biden says, it is never a good bet to bet against america. never has been. never will be. but we became the united states of america because past generations of americans reinvented, renewed, and reinvested in our core sources of strength. they used american ingenuity and determination to do it. they did not just prepare for the future. they created it. they shaped it. now it is our job to take up the baton and carry it forward for future generations. i believe our domestic renewal is the most important thing we can do to advance our foreign policy. three reasons. first, this is about our global competitiveness. we are competing for jobs. we want the high skilled, high-paying careers of the future to be created here. . somewhere else. we are competing for investment. we want the investors,

companies, countries, to look at the united states and say, that is where we want to be. they are much more likely to say that when they know that everything about operating america is top-of-the-line. from the reliability of our broadband, to the efficiency of our ports, to how well-trained our workers are. we are competing for trade. for too long, we thought we could trade more with the world while investing less at home. that didn't work out for our economy, for our workers, or for our communities. president biden has made clear that before making more trade deals, we must first make a generational investment in our own competitiveness. our domestic renewal comes first. if we do that, we will compete in the 21st century global economy from a position of strength. we will keep faith with the american workers. shape the terms of global trade. ensure that labor environmental

and intellectual-property standards are protected. and stand with our allies and partners when others seek to take advantage of them. we are also competing for the best and the brightest. one of the most powerful, i say even magical things, about the united states, is that we have long been a destination for talented, driven people from everywhere on earth. no other country has that kind of pull on people's imaginations and ambitions. that also goes for our universities. there are thousands of top international students here at college park getting a world-class education. we are lucky they chose us. we want always to be the place that represents opportunity, possibility, achievement. investing in our domestic renewal now means we can continue to be that begin to the world. second, our domestic renewal is a foreign policy priority. because it empowers our

diplomacy. take it from me. when you are sitting at the table with her and leaders, trying to persuade them to align with your point of view or join your coalition, or stop doing something you disagree with, it makes all the difference in the world to be operating from a position of national strength. that goes far beyond military might. if you're economy is growing, if your people are healthy, if the cultural life of your country is thriving, if your country is known to get people from all access to opportunity, it all adds up to greater diplomatic strength. countries pay attention to these things. and they pay attention if you are not strong in those ways too. this is particularly important now because it is no secret to any of us at the chinese and russian governments, among others, are making the argument in public and in private that the united states is in decline. so it is better to cast your lot

with their authoritarian visions for the world, then with our democratic one. we can and we do remind them that we continue to be an abundantly strong country by measure after measure. when we met with chinese officials in march, our first topic of discussion was what we are achieving here at home. a robust economic recovery. a massive national program to fight covid. we wanted them to know that we will emerge from the pandemic stronger than before, and better able to rally our friends and partners in the world, to stand up against aggression, abuse, and coercion. nothing would put to rest faster the facetious argument about america's best days being behind us, then if the united states made serious investments in our domestic renewal right now. it is a lot harder to say a country is in decline when you are watching it become stronger, more effective, more united, before your very eyes. i can tell you too that from my

own experience of far as secretary of state, when 80 countries that america is back, they believe it, because they are seeing how much effort we are putting into building our alliances and partnerships, and showing up against -- showing up again where democratic principles are defended. they will believe it even more when we make major investments in our own renewal here at home. that will make my job easier. because there will be no question that america is back. i could also tell you that our friends around the world are also hoping we will make these investments. they want badly for us to succeed. they know that when we are strong, they benefit too. third, our domestic renewal is about standing up for democracy. and that is a foreign policy imperative. democracy is under threat around the world right now. authoritarianism and nationalism are on the rise. united states is out there every

day fighting the good fight for political freedom and human rights. we are making the argument that our system, the democratic system, is the better one. but it is one thing to say it. it is another to show it. by investing in our strength at home, we can show the world that democracies can do hard things. and that we can do them without letting corruption run rampant, or violating fundamental freedoms. the more we and all democracies can show the world that we can deliver, for our people, for each other, the more we can refute the lie that authoritarian countries love to tell. that our system is hopelessly polarized and pallor highest, and theirs is the better way to meet people's fundamental needs and hopes. i've said the word china a few times today. it is true when we talk about competitors, we often talk about china. they are a rising power. and they are full speed ahead when it comes to investing in

infrastructure, growth, innovation. but i'm not only talking about china here today. many countries are making major investments on their own domestic renewal right now. for the united states to continue to lead, and to successfully bring countries together, for the good of all our people, we have to do the same. plus, ultimately, this is not really about anyone else. this is about us and what we can do to make our lives and our future even brighter. when president biden gave me the honor of taking on the role of america's chief diplomat, he made it crystal clear that i had one job above all others. to help deliver for the american people. to make your lives more secure. create opportunity for you and your families. and tackle the global crises that are increasingly shaping your life. my ability to do that, and the

ability for everyone who holds this job after me to do that, will depend on the choices we make as a country now, and in the months and years to come. at our best, the american people share a spirit of boundless optimism and possibility. people around the world are inspired by it. i hear that everywhere i go. we need to bring that spirit to bear in this endeavor. to renew our sources of domestic strength, and invest in our future greatness. that is how we will lead the world in the industries of tomorrow. and that is how we will carry forward the eternal work of making the united states a more perfect union. thanks so much for listening. [applause] >> c-span shop.org is c-span's

online store. there is a collection of c-span products. brass to see what is new. your purchase will support our nonprofit organizations, and you have time to order the congressional directory with contact information from members of congress and the biden administration. go to c-spanshop.org. is clyde wayne crews, vice president of policy at competitive enterprise here to talk about the cost of federal regulations. thank you for joining us. guest: thank you for having us. host: can you talk about the political point of view, and who backs you financially? guest: in 1984, you could categorize us as libertarians. we are nonpartisan.