>> this syndrome is extremely rare. but friends don't have to be. when you are connected you are not alone. >> cox supports c-span as a public service along with other television providers giving your front row seat to democracy. >> us ambassador to the united nations linda thomas-greenfield discussed diplomacy at an event by the strategic and international study center. she talked about increasing us engagement to build long-term relationships with pacific island nations, meritorious services stability and how the united nations and congress can support programs in the region. this is 50 minutes. [inaudible conversations]

[inaudible conversations] >> good morning, good afternoon and welcome, see where i've been sleeping all day. good afternoon, we are delighted to have you here and it's a real privilege to welcome ambassador thomas greenfield and just a word of introduction, charlie is going to do that. i want to say i'm glad to see all of you here and when i was talking with charlie i thought having a program on a monday afternoon about pacific

islands, would we get anybody to come and he said yeah, people are interested and i'm most impressed that you, ambassador are so interested. let me say a word of welcome to joann, assistant commandant for policy for the coast guard. the assistant secretary for insular affairs. mario -- i hope i didn't pronounce that improperly, ambassador from maui, colette morgan, assistant deputy assistant for southeast asia and brandon ramsey, staff director for the house foreign affairs committee, thank you all for coming. i have to share a little story. i was talking with ambassador thomas greenfield and she said something that is both a true insight into a character, on

the floor of the general assembly, i am sitting there with every other representative there as my equal and that's a testament to how she used her mission, use them as equals, not the whole superiority thing going on in her mind and that's a very refreshing thing. i can't say that is typical of american foreign policy but it is a welcome. it's a testament to your character and i think that comes from 35 distinguished years in foreign service, becoming ambassador to liberia but now you are posted, i don't know how the president talked you into coming out of public life to go back but now you are representative at the un. people don't know this but that's the only ambassador that gets invited into the nrc. only the ambassador to the un gets invited to the nfc and it's a testament to her

intellect, her character and that you are willing to come out of private life again after 35 years of serving this country. let me turn to charles edel who's going to do the formal introduction. charlie. [applause] >> thanks very much. thank you especially, ambassador linda thomas-greenfield, for joining us, it's an honor to have you with us at the center for strategic international studies. i'm charles edel, the chair at csi s. given the ambassador's wide range of experience, hardly comes as a surprise to go to the cook islands, the pacific islands to represent the united states in the pacific.

i should say that on the one hand, there's absolutely nothing new about that. for most of american history the united states has been deeply engaged in the pacific. i won't if you too much of a history lesson but starting in the 1780s american commercial ships were plowing through and across the pacific. by the time you got to the nineteenth century we expanded the commercial presence to include diplomatic and naval engagement, hardly needs saying that america's prison engagement in the pacific stalled deeply throughout the 20th century but, there is a but here, over the last several decades, american focus on and attention to the pacific has atrophied. you can see signs that this is clearly changing. the biden administration released its first-ever pacific partners strategy.

the white house has hosted leaders from all the pacific islands at the white house not once but twice in 2,022-two thousand twenty three. we are in the process of opening new embassies across the pacific, we have pushed out the first ever us ambassador to the pacific island forum. we are seeing an increase in both coast guard and peace corps presence in the pacific where they had not been for the previous several decades and perhaps most significant, congress has now funded our conduct of free association with the federated state of micronesia. however, this is the most important point, this is just the start. to discuss the importance of us efforts, to walk us through what we should expect to come next, i am thrilled to welcome ambassador thomas greenfield here to csis, the ambassador

will offer some comments after which my colleague, stauber -- kathryn paik, will come up here to run through a conversation after which we will open the conversation up. ambassador, we know how extraordinarily busy your schedule is and really want to thank you not only for taking the time to come to csis but making time to talk about an extremely vital, important part of the world. ambassador. >> [applause] >> good afternoon, everyone. it is really great to be here with you. let me start by thanking john and charlie for the warm welcome and thank you to everyone, the whole team for having me here today. last november i had the privilege of leading a

high-level interagency delegation to the pacific island forum leaders meeting in the hook islands. i will admit here that i had to look at where the cook islands was on the map. i have a huge map in my office. it was off the map because it is so far but i learned the largest and most populist of the islands, no building can be taller than a coconut tree and that is a true fact. i gained a new appreciation of the vastness and isolation of the pacific and the important message it sends when we take the time and make the effort to show up. most of all i learned the stories of so many extra ordinary pacific islanders, leaders and community members who like all of us want to build better lives for their children and benefit from sustainable development in the region who are worried about

climate change and how it might wreak havoc on their lives and livelihoods, and their children's futures and who have already felt the effects of this exercise will global challenge. i'm proud i was able to tell them face-to-face that the united states is standing with them, we are standing for the man we have their backs. my visit was the first of its kind since the us established diplomatic relationships and recognized both as sovereign independent states. during my time there i was able to reaffirm the united states's plan for empowering communities like the ones i met with and the 2.3 million pacific islanders in the region. after all, the united states is a pacific nation as well. we share unique long-standing

history with the pacific islands, robust ties to people that stand generations and our economic prosperity and national security are inextricably linked. at the same time, though, the biden administration recognizes that we can't take these vital relationships for granted. since day one we have worked to strengthen the ties that bind us. that includes passage of compacted free association amendments act. this agreement will fully fund $7.1 billion in us assistance over the next two decades, helping the nations to provide essential government services like healthcare, education, infrastructure, capacity building. we will continue to make good on our commitment to strengthen our relationships in the pacific and invest in the people. this is just one aspect of a

broader approach. we developed the first ever us strategy as you heard for the pacific islands and continue to strengthen our support for the region's priorities outlined in the pacific islands forum 2050 strategy for the blue pacific continent which we are extending our diplomatic and develop and present in the region with new embassies, expanded usaid footprint and peace corps volunteers for the region. when i took my trip the head of the peace corps and usaid representative were part of my delegation. we are deepening high-level engagements including with president biden himself, bolstering the pacific regional architecture and deepening cooperation with the pacific island forum, because we know this region is strongest when it is united and we are working closely with like-minded partners to enhance digital connectivity in the region.

since the first summit the us has announced us$8 billion in funding for the pacific islands, robust new programs to address climate change, maritime security, gender equity and more. together, these actions reflect the incredible progress we've made together deepening our diplomatic relationship, development partnerships and security cooperation with the pacific and they paint a picture for the future of the relationships. over the next year our goal is to continue implementing and delivering the commitments we've made in the past few years. to demonstrate to our words and our actions our enduring partnership with the region and its people and our commitment to elevating the voices of the pacific as we address shared challenges. meeting this moment takes a robust network of partners and

i'm proud of the network we've created to that end. they did this month i will head to the agency to meet with those stakeholders in person where we will discuss among other things shared priorities on nuclear nonproliferation, closing the digital divide and our work in the security council including to support the region. we also look forward to supporting pacific island countries through preparation at the fourth international conference on small island developing states coming up at the end of may. this will be a once in a decade opportunity to bring together diverse debtholders to build partnerships and make new commitments. in the meantime i'm excited to have the opportunity to sit down with all of you to talk about where we have been, where we are going and how we get there together. i thank you all for your attention and look forward to our conversation.

[applause] >> thank you, ambassador, for your words. as a reminder for our audience here and online you can continue to submit questions on this a bit questions now button under the australia chair on that page. thank you so much for talking us through the major movements that have been made over the last couple of years. there has been a significant ramp-up in us engagement. part of this ramp-up has been a plethora of promises from this administration, banking investments, climate change. having been to the pacific and

heard from pacific leaders and talked to them, where do you think the us should be prioritizing as we look ahead? >> excellent question and it is a question i was asked when i was there. what they said to me as we are used to you guys showing up once, we are used to you paying a moment of attention to us but what we need to know is, is this a commitment? are we going to see you again? is it more than just showing up? are you going to honor all the commitments we have made? i was able to assure them that we would. that our intention was for a long-term relationship. the funding is the first indication of that because the funding of two decades, that was just passed through congress, for members of

congress and staff in the audience. i want to thank you for that because that was an extraordinary commitment that showed the pacific island nations that we are in it for the long term. >> guest: one of the strategies you mentioned to amplify pacific voices on the international stage, something you are uniquely positioned to see. the pacific island nations are vocal at the united nations that are critical to them. with sealevel rise due to climate change. and to work through the un. and the highest levels of the

us and to their voices. in new york, i have a unique perch because i can meet with all these countries all at once, the groupings of the pacific island countries. i met with other groupings where we committed as a group to meet with pacific island countries that includes japan and australia and we met recently and agreed that it was important that as a group we engage, we were equally engaged on these issues and this is a commitment, and all the work we do in the future.

the sovereignty, as sea levels rise, the they stole, still exist as a nation regardless what happened to their islands because of climate change, made a commitment to the increase and they have heard us and are holding that and continuing to maintain our commitments to all of that. we have a long way to go but have gone a long way already. that commitment is showing in the efforts we are making now. >> one of the concerns is chinese efforts are going against many of the pacific island equities. it is not just because of global competition but is a fact of the pacific islands are

very aware of. i'm curious your thoughts of what you see on the ground in terms of chinese and other efforts that benefit the pacific and how you work with pacific island and other countries. >> guest: it's a huge problem we have encountered in new york but it's a global problem as well, the chinese made a very concerted, forceful effort to rewrite the rules of the road, to deflect its own vision of what they see as the future, including putting in, inserting in un documents. going against the core values, what with they've been clear on, that statement as well, we

are not forcing countries to choose between us and china. we were forced into these relationships because we don't have other choices, we are giving them those other choices and those other choices means having the us have their backs, and what they are forcing upon them. >> the audience questions and people's about those during the conversations. from doa news, some pacific island leaders say there's a trust deficit when it comes to the united states in terms of attention to the region.

to improve relationships between the washington pacific islands and prepare us diplomats who are heading to the region to understand the priorities of the region. >> that the question i was asked by leaders when i messed with them. our commitment is an ironclad commitment and we know that there have been times when we are therefore a day for a meeting and not to show up again. i regularly meet with my pacific island counterparts in new york, i go to them, don't always ask them to come to me. i mentioned when we were speaking before with one country i made an appointment and went to that country's mission and they told me they never had a visit by a

representative in the history of their time in the united nations and i don't just call them when i meet them. i call them regularly and show them the respect that they deserve as a sovereign country and i think that has gone an extraordinarily long way in showing our commitment in developing the relationship and engagement that we have. when you are the us pr, your schedule is out of control. you don't always have control over your schedule. and courtesy calls with every country, i've only gotten through 157.

some countries we are seeing over and over again, one courtesy call, my goal is to hit every one of them and at this point i may have gotten all the pacific island countries in grouping. >> i'm curious your thoughts on another tenant of the indo pacific strategy of this administration, the partnership with partners and allies. obviously we have wonderful partners in the pacific have strong partners and allies, japan, australia, new zealand, in the pacific, how we might do better and how we might collaborate. >> this came up during my

visit. the new zealand speaker, i met with australian counterparts, i met with indonesia so there were a number of countries, larger countries from the region we had the opportunity to talk about how we can talk about, we are working with australia. it is $65 billion, correct me, million? million sounds better. $65 million to address digital issues. we are working with countries on youth programs and education programs, they know the region even better than we know the region.

i'm not going to say i know the pacific islands better than new zealand, more cook islanders living in new zealand than on the island. every island are in new zealand as well. they know these countries well. what they bring to the table, what they worked together on common interests. i want to add one thing that i came away from. people want to be heard. they don't want to just be talked to and spoken to. they want us to hear what their priorities are, what they are dealing with with issues of climate change, how they are

dealing with youth programs and we announced the program to support their leadership as well. how they are dealing with gender issues and the private sector and how we can engage with the private sector to help them to address some of their needs so they wanted to be heard and i get a lot of listings when i was there. i did less talking and more listening. >> sounds like the right approach. i want to go to judith, former us ambassador from tonga who asks the success of us partnership and pacific island countries will depend largely on us ability to help address the region's top security threats through climate finance and other forms of assistance. follow-through will depend on congress appropriating necessary funding. do you see a path forward?

i will add to this more broadly in your role as ambassador to the un a role for the un in making climate finance more accessible on a global level. >> first on the question related to our engagement with congress, the fact that we got through sends a strong message and we continue to engage with congress on other programs we want to fund in the pacific islands and i think they understand and appreciate the importance of us engaging with pacific island nations. at the un, that's an easy one. we have the summit of the future. we are dealing with a whole host of issues that are very specific to the priorities of pacific island countries and working with those countries at the un to address those issues

are key to us, looking at how we deal with oceans and the importance of addressing all of the scgs, whether it is education, gender equity, infrastructure issues. all of these are issues we address on a regular basis at the un and i will mention we were very very pleased last week that we got the resolution on ai. ..through summit .. vote -- well, no vote, it was consensus -- that we got this resolution through. and the important thing in that resolution for many developing countries was bridging the digital divide, and that is something that pacific island

countries will definitely benefit from. kathryn: as you mentioned, there is such a tyranny >> as you mentioned there such a tyranny of distance after between them and that activity is so, what were talking health or security or just being able to connect with thehe rest of te world. you mentioned the u.s. being of specific country which weou definitely are. i for numbers of 2 million citizens live in the pacific whether it's in territories or hawaii. the australian institute policy asks an interesting one. leaders in american samoa and guam have expressed desire to join the pacific island form similar to participation of the new deal and brown countries and the french territory. what is it administration position on native american desires, all the pacific islanders more generally and the possibility of the u.s. as a pacific country joining? >> i think right now of course we are partnered.

that meets all the territories are partners. they're engaging on a regular basis. i stopped in hawaii on the way to the forum, and heard from the government that he was very actively engaged. and i was encourage samoa and other u.s. territories to be actively engaged. and be part of what we are doing as the united states on dealing with pacific island countries. i thinknt that there is a commitment for all of these territories, hawaii and others to be directly engaged in what is happening in the pacific islands because they also have the same challenges. they should know that we're absolutely working to ensure that their concerns are being brought to the table as well.

>> absolute. do you think there's ways that we as a nation could use our territories and leaders in the pacific better to engage with the pacific ocean we always beginning from d.c.? >> no, no, no. i think absolutely should be part of it. that's why stopped in hawaii to ensure that there they ar. they have their own connections, the own relationships, their own voices. so i absolutely support them having their own voices. they are part of us. it's not just as going out there representing them, but it's as joining with them to ensure that their issues are on the table as well. and yes, it probably makes more sense when you send a delegation, have cabinet official do it. i think the pacific island nations appreciate it thatat a member of president biden's cabinet was there, but in no way

does my presence diminished the important voices that the pacific island territories of the u.s. and hawaii would have an addressing these issues. >> absolutely. cleo pesco as consumer question, wondering if you're engaging at all with the congressmen and women from our territories such as from american samoa, guam, and some of these issues who may have brought her expertise on the pacific region? >> i have engages with them at a factor group of them came to new york before i went off on the visit and then met with them. when i returned i met with some individual congress members to share what i learned on that visit. but also it's my belief that we have to always engage with members of congress on a regular basis. i am on the hill.

i answered their calls. i answer their letters and i actually proactively engage with members from that region as well as other regions of the world. >> based on what you hearing from pacific leaders and what you heard last year at the leaders summit, obviously we been wrapping up engagements, lots going on as you said. where are we still falling short, the u.s., and where should we be doubling down our effort? >> i think we have to double down our efforts just having high level, my visit can be a one-off. we've that other members go, and we need to ensure that with other cabinet members go on a regular basis. as i said it's distant and it's isolating. you have to make an effort to do it. so encouraging other members of cabinet to make that effort to get out there and insured that they seeee us on a regular basi.

that's one area where we have to double down. the second one is, again, you mentioned congress. it's engaging with congress to ensure that we get the funding that we need. we have a request in now for funding for the pacific island young leaders program. i want to see that funding come to fruition. i work with the young african leaders initiative, and i saw the importance of the initiative in terms of bringing the voices of young people forward. i don't want to see that happen in the pacific islands as well. that we can actually promote and mentor and encourage young voices to address the issues of today as well as the issues of the future.f third, on peace corps, as a mention i traveled with the

peace corps, the head of peace corps out there, and there are a number of countries who avast for peace corps to return. and having that happen is going to require funding for peace corps. i am a great fan of peace corps. i was never a peace corps volunteer, it's the biggest regret of my life that i is not a corps volunteer, but i think it's one of the greatest programs we have because they are on the front lines of american diplomacy in terms of giving young people out into communities to meet with communities and developing those long-term relationships, because they live in communities. so getting the funding to get peace corps. and thenin forth, our diplomatic presence.c we've opened two new diplomatic entities in cook islands in nauru. when you do get a diplomat out there and we need to look at where there are other places

where we can have more diplomatic relations. we have to build of those embassies so that they see we are serious about that, and get our presence. and then finally i haven't spoken about ambassador read who is our special envoy to the pacific islands forum. she's amazing and where to give her the resources so that our presence can be felt and she's going to be on the front lines really on the front lines of our diplomacy and to think that since a very strong signal of how important relationships are with the pacific island countries. so again giving herla the resources that she needs to ensure that her presence is seen and respected. >> i certainly heard the same of peace corps. it's not uncommon to talk to a

pacific island leader who they themselves were taught by a peace corps volunteer or had a film a taught by a peace corps volunteer. >> they said to me peace volunteers -- peace corps volunteers never leak. they go away, they go on to new lives but to never forget the peace corps families, and they always come back. they always connect to the peace corps families. so again getting the peace corps program ramped up and more robust would be i think a key part of answering the call of the pacific islandd countries. >> those people the people ties on the ground. i'm not sure you should have any regrets. >> i do regret it. i always say for young people in the room, peace corps was always my plan b, and i am lucky enough in my life that all my plan a's worked out. i peace corps had been myou plaa site could have that experience to add to the many things that i

have done. >> erin from the east-west center asked if you go into more detail about the quad engagements that you mentioned. could you commentou on what the quad intends to do in the pacific and what commitment you would like to see from india in particular? >> look, we are an informal group. we develop a lot of informal groups in new york when we come together to talk about common issues of interest and how we can bring our unified forces together on particular issues. and this quad group as a mention, australia, india and japan, and so one of the things we discussed is how w we can address as a group some of the issues that have, or the priorities that have been raised by pacific island countries, how

can we bring our unified voices supporting their efforts. and first and foremost what we plan to do is start out with meeting with them ast a group, which we've never done before, and hearing what their priorities are. so it's not about as going in a telling them what we're going to do. it's about as going in as a group hearing what you need us toto do. that is now being planned for the coming weeks and months. >> fantastic. i have a question from kelly cho. cook islands research. this they get a little into the technical nature of the question but just appreciate whatever you can provide from the perspective of the u.n. she's curious how the u.s. is planning to advocate for sustainable management of marine resources globally and aroundar the pacific island nations such as with regard to deep-sea mining, commercial fishing and tourism, all issues of intense

concern for the pacific islanders who depend so much on maritime resources. >> again, that was a subject was raised when i met with the cook of an prime minister who showed me the little nodules that, again, more technical than i been, i think it's -- i'm not sure, and how important it is to be able to mind this resource without doing damage ecological damage to the sea. and they want, for example, companies, responsible american companies, or other companies who can come in, who will take into account their concerns about how this is managed. and they talk to me about how they can gauge with those companies. in the u.n. i think the important role there is to give

them technical, or the technology resources to address their concerns so that when they are negotiating, for example, with companies or with other countries they can negotiate from a position of knowledge and strength, at the don't go into these negotiations without having the foreknowledge to negotiate the best deals for their own countries. also raised with it was issue of maritime fishing and the use of their fishing lanes by countries in particular concerns with china come in and really taking fishing resources without their permission, and how we can address, for example, helping them to build up the coast guard. so i sold i can also do member

of the coast guard from the region on my delegation as well who was able to engage with them on marine protection and how to protect their coast. these are also things that again the u.n. can bring to them in their discussions. soso this was a whole lot, and i will tell you, as i said this was my first time engaging with pacific island countries. i came away from those discussions with a deep sense of a desire on their part for our active engagement and for us to stay engaged with them. and that's the message i brought back to the president and two other members of the cabinet, that this is a long-term relationship that we have, and it's not a one-off. so hopefully, certainly for my standpoint it is not a one-off and hopefully over thehe coursef the next couple decades with

cofer they will see that it is not a one-off. >> many of our measures that were taking place or opening new embassies are much more in love with such of engagement. i that's been a real focus as long as we can follow through. similar to the last question another question from eileen from georgetown asks about health and health infrastructure. this is something i've heard many times as well in the pacific is that the lack of health infrastructure and lack of health security is a national good issue for these countries, and it cost cuts climate change, cross cuts food security and so many other issues. is there anything at the human level or are the any discussions at the u.n. on ways to help bolster the health infrastructure ofhe the health secured of these countries? >> i think covid, the pandemic really highlighted and applied the lack of capacity in so many

countries to do with health issues. and what we know is that this pandemic will not be our last. but this pandemic really i think it encouraged and urged the world to come together to figure out how to support countries like this country and the pacific islands where there is not a very strong healthcare system. part of our engagement, part of cofa, is to address the health infrastructure issues and to help these countries prepare for the next pandemic. so w.h.o. has been actively engaged with these countries as well as other countries around the world to ensure that they do have the wherewithal to withstand the impact of a pandemic. so it's not just the health impact that they experienced.

the economic impact was immense impact on their education system, immense. there economies are still trying to come out of this. so we all have a lot of work to do, and it can't come again it's not going to be done by the united states alone. it's going to take our partners in the region, and this is what the u.n. is for. so we have to work together in the u.n. as well to address these issues. >> certainly, and many of these countries covid as health issue was less of a problem than the economic issue, which ended up being such a major part of their economy. another question from carla at sister cities international, and the not sure you, deathly sister cities ambassador but this is a new initiative we started to connect cities in unison h cities across the pacific islands. more generally he asks, how have

you seen these types of people to people partnerships between countries impact global peace and security? >> you know, it's people to people relationships that really make a difference. read diplomats can do everything in ourhi toolkits, but ultimatey it is about people and these cbp relationships i think are truly important. -- city relationships. i saw the city to city relationships in africa and what that meant to countries in africa and cities in the united states, how it did but those people to people relationships. i think it's important we see those relationships develop and the pacific islands. i was not aware of this particular program but i'm delighted to hear that we do have the city to city relationships. >> and it's just getting going.

when we got it started i was in. i think with time for one more. alan tidwell from georgetown university also ask, what can use do thes, of the u.n. to advocate for change in development funding? and noting, again back to the idea of accessing finance, which is such a critical problem for so many of the pacific island countries, and often voice that there's a a bureaucracy of multilateral banks or other international financing is just complicated for smaller countries to do with. so what can the use do to support greater access to develop and funds through undp with a the first multilateral development banks? >> certainly in new york through undp, unicef, other agencies, we are on those boards. we are on the board of the undp. we on the board of unicef. we really, and world food

program. so we do have a say in how those organizations address issues that developing countries bring to the table. our voices clearly a voice that is very powerful because we can and almost all cases, are the largest donors to these organizations. certainly to the humanitarian ones, but i think even at undp. so we can speak for and promote the interests of developingd countries in a way that a think is important, and it's something that i know that we do on a regular basis. that's certainly the case with the international financial institutes as well. we doth think there is room for and time for reform. it's not going to happen in new

york. it's going to happen to the bretton woods process. and how we address what we do with those institutions in the future. and it also means addressing the impact that china has through its own financing, which is in the past and even i can say certainly even now put these countries into a death trap. and we had to figure how to help them get out of that death deathtrap but also address more just reliable funding and easy to access funding. i think with one country i spoke to, like we don't have the people to fill out all these forms in to answer all the questions that come in so we can take advantage of some of this development funding because we

don't have the people resources to do it. so we can help from that standpoint as well, you know, helping to build the capacity that they have on the ground to add to the capacity by giving them the people resources to help them access this funding any more equitable way. >> capacity building can be so important. thank you, ambassador, for this extremely rich conversation today, and thanknk you for joing us. i know you have a. very busy schedule forfeiting us in. if i could ask everyone to join and a round of applause. [applause] >> well, thank you very much. it was really a pleasure being here with you, and it's really great to see all of you who are engaged on pacific island issues. issues. that sends a message as well, that we have not forgotten this

region. and it takes more than just the u.s. government to do it. it is those people to people relationships. it's your engaging with us to insist that we continue our commitment. your engaging with members of congress to say we need your help as well. so you play a critical role in making sure we stay well-informed, but also that we can choose the engage, so i thank you for your presence here today.en >> thank you. if i could ask everyone to please remain seated while it was the ambassador out. she is a very tight timeline. and we would like to get her on her way. >> good. thank you very much. [applause] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> the house will be in order. >> fisher c-span celibates 45

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listen the best-selling nonfiction authors and of financial interviewers on the "after words" podcast. on q&a here wide-ranging conversations with nonfiction authors and others who were making things happen. booknotes+ episodes are weekly hour-long conversations that feature fascinating authors of nonfiction books on a wide variety of topics. and the about books podcast takes you behind the scenes of the nonfiction book publishing industry with insider interviews, industry updates and best-sellers list. like all of our podcast by downloading the free c-span now out, however you get your podcast, and on a website c-span.org/podcasts. >> next discussion on safety and resiliency in the energy sector with pacific during remarks she discusses pge deal deeply to 84 felony counts of involuntary