last year, probably more than the wars in iraq and afghanistan combined. this is a serious issue that's not only an issue to mexico but to the united states of america. i just want to give you by way of background how i got into this issue. i went down to mexico city with congressman cuellar who's right here, and we visited with president caulderon. this is a couple of years ago. he was just sort of getting into office and really unique experience to sit down, just the two of us, with ambassador at that time tony garza and talk about the future of mexico and what issues were important to him. and what he told us was that his number one issue was security for his country. and, of course, the economy -- his economy weighs into that as well. i know people from the chamber -- our economies are intertwined. the trade issues are important. it's in the best interest of the united states for mexico to have

a healthy economy. and vice versa. but when we talked about security, he was very determined. i walked away thinking, wow, this guy really gets it and he really means what he says. and his conviction to try to do something about a problem that has existed in mexico for a while but now has really escalated and that's the drug cartels who have literally taken over, you know, parts of mexico in terms of the plazas, the gateways into the united states. now we see the gang -- cartel on cartel violence escalating and cartel against the mexican military escalating. but he said i want to do something about it. he said but i need your help. because it's important that i see a hand coming from the united states saying that i recognize there's an issue and we want to help you with that. and he was referring to what is now known as the merida initiative.

congressman cuellar and i came back and introduced on a foreign operations bill what was sort of the inception or the beginning of the merida initiative on an amendment to provide additional funding for law enforcement and military in mexico. since that time, the merida initiative has gone forward. and i think -- i'm glad the state department is here because i'd like to hear from them. we just met with secretary napolitano this morning. and i asked her specifically about this issue as i was going to speak to this audience. and while i think there have been some successes, i think there's been some concern that the black hawk helicopters and the military hardware and equipment has been a little slow to get down to mexico to help in this effort. i know secretary napolitano feels the urgency in trying to get this problem fixed. i look forward to hearing from the state department in terms of

what they're doing to move -- we passed in the last congress and the congress wants it to move as swiftly as possible so we can assist president calderon and mexico in what is a very serious -- as president calderon called it, a war. he said i'm in a war. against the drug cartels. and it is the number one priority, number one issue for him. and the economy is intertwined with that issue. know we are very supportive in the congress of mexico where it comes to the national security issues, whether it comes to trade, the economy in mexico. and you know with that i know we have a distinguished panel and a limited amount of time and i know you'll want to hear from them as well. but i want to thank everybody for being here particularly from the chamber and thanks for attending this panel because i think this is -- you know,

again, this is an issue that's been largely ignored in some respects lately. we've been involved with obviously a lot of other issues up here. but, you know, we had a hearing this morning, congressman cuellar and i did, on the sbinet, our resources on this side of the border and we need to be looking at what resources can we provide mexico to help them have a more secured nation. so thank you very much. [applause] >> okay. what i would like to do is ask our three congressmen to step to the podium and say a few remarks. if you would like to, you can do it. you don't have to get up. whatever you'd like. but i would first like to ask our great congressman from the rio grande valley -- you're going to hear from two others that have links into that part of south texas. but at this time i'd like to ask

a dear friend, congressman ru n ruben -- >> good afternoon and thank you all for the opportunity to come and share some thoughts with you today. i would like to briefly highlight the importance of u.s.-mexico security cooperation. it is a troubling trend that i am going to be talking in reporting of border violence and what i hope will be a renewed focus on communities by the merida initiative or any future security program. the theory that drug-related violence from mexico could spill over into the united states gained some currency throughout the past year. fueled by alarmist headlines and

breathless news bulletins that created the impression that american border cities are threatened by the intergang warfare that erupted in some parts of mexico in response to president felipe calderon's sea-changing decision to roll back drug trafficking organizations. reality suggests otherwise. the u.s. city crime rankings the years 2009 to 2010 does not list a single u.s. border city among the 60 most dangerous metropolis in america. while u.s. media has focused on the situation in juarez where drug traffickers are fighting to control the flow of illicit drugs into the united states and for the violence they have spawned provides sure fired grist for the 24 hours news cycle.

it rarely mentions the fact that el paso, san diego and other u.s. border cities are among the safest in the country. there are no mentions either of the findings of the southwest border task force report issued last september. that the use of the word "spillover" is a misnomer and is likely to remain so. the risk of such violence physically spilling over the border to threaten american communities according to this report presently remains low and to date has not occurred. i do not claim pride of authorship of this theory that i just shared with you. and i want to give full credit to the author, mexican ambassador arturo sarukhan. it seems to me that the violence along the border is a critical concern over the united states.

a critical concern for the united states and for our congress because it jeopardizes the safety of our citizens and the stability of our neighbor and friend, mexico. i commend congressman reyes and al zapanta that we can discuss this and have a dialog. this issues border conference is in its 14th year and has worked to advance cohesive and effective u.s.-mexico border policy that is in the mutual interest of both of our nations. the increased violence along the border further underscores the need for the u.s. and mexico to work together through programs like the merida initiative and for the need to continue dialog like ours today. i've talked with u.s. and mexican reporters who say it's too dangerous to effectively

work stories along the northern border of mexico either through radio or written media. it is essential that we have independent fact-checking and observation of what is transpiring. furthermore, these stories can provide an important personal dimension to the drug trafficking problems along the border which can help articulate the situation and improve decision-making. i welcome the new focus on the social impact, the u.s.-mexico security cooperation is having on communities like ours along the border. we must work to create positive conditions for families on both sides of the border. positive conditions that promote education and economic advancement. while the state department's narcotic affairs section identified strengthening communities as one of its four

pillars for implementing the merida initiative, i believe as we move forward with merida that these community concerns must receive greater attendance by us here in u.s. congress. in closing, i wish to share with you that merida funding should be more flexible to respond to these needs and the united states needs to do a better job of getting and quickly to the mexican -- getting those funds to them as quickly as possible. again, thank you, al, and all of your staff. i very much would like to say thank you for giving me an opportunity to share these thoughts with you. thank you. [applause] >> thank you congressman hinojosa. we now have another dear friend that has been no stranger to congress especially on the

border which his district borders from -- if i'm not mistaken south of san antonio down to laredo and then hook up with -- close to -- am i close? let me introduce you to a dear friend who has really been one of the real guys behind a lot of our efforts. thank you. >> thank you very much. [applause] >> let me just once again thank each and every one of you for what you do. i know that this effort has been going on for -- al, congratulations for about 14 years. what you do by coming up here not only helps to educate you and get you better prepared but you also help us in educating others about the border and the difficulties that we encounter there and the misconceptions that exist about it. and so i want to personally thank you for what you do by coming up here and helping to

educate other members of congress as you do that. i also want to acknowledge the hard work of congressman reyes as well and on his efforts in making this happen and moving forward on these efforts because i know through the years it has opened up opportunities for others. i represent probably the longest stretch along the border, over 800 miles from maverick county, la paz to new mexico and i have over seven crossings and in the big bend they closed three during the unofficial crossings during the -- after 9/11. and we all know that after 9/11 things changed. i represented a district where we would go down there and go across, go to dinner and come back. we would go across and meet and we don't do that anymore. and it's unfortunate. and we know that full well that after 9/11 that things have changed. and that it has a detrimental impact on our economy.

and so we've talked about the fact that -- and i always stress the fact that one of the things that the terrorists wanted to do was to hurt us economically. and we got to make sure that we do not do that to ourselves. and i know that we continue to stress the importance of security but also the importance of making sure we have individuals on the ports of entry, this budget this year calls for 300 additional staffing when we know that we need over 5,000. we have beefed up on border patrol people and we're now close to 20,000 and so but we do need some people of customs on the direct ports of entry so that we can continue to move forward and making sure that we make some gains. we also know especially along the border the problems with water and health and infrastructure and other issues that have always confronted us that we need to continue to move forward on those areas.

since the push on the merida initiative under bush, we had approximately -- the first year we had approximately 400 million on 2008, 300 million. in 2009, 254 million. on the 2009 supplemental, 239 -- 231 million for 2010. a total of $1.12 billion. i'm on the appropriations committee and i'll continue to work to see how we can be helpful in making some of those things happen. but as we all know, there's issues that seem to be getting worse. and in some areas positive, you know, and one of the things that i know we have a good number of mexicans, coming over and we looked at the defense issue when it was mandated.

and we added some additional visas there as it dealt with the business visas as well as the religious ones and the medical ones. and expanded that aspect of it to be a little more reflective in terms of the needs. and we are having a good number of people coming in especially into texas that i know of and it's a positive thing for us. i don't know how positive it might be to mexico in the long term. and, in fact, i would say that in the long term it would not be positive for mexico but it is definitely positive for us in texas to see a good number of people coming over and doing business both in san antonio, and del rio and la paz and all throughout the region. and so but it's a phenomenon. i think in the past we've only seen during revolutionary times. and this time we're seeing that occurring at the present time and so we'll hopefully move forward.

i just had the opportunity to have secretary salacad in the big bend area and we talked about what has been talked about since the 1930s and the possibility of doing -- of a neighbor -- a sister park along -- and that's been discussed. it's been on the -- and one of the good ways of also securing that area is by doing something such as that. i know the secretary was pleased to have the opportunity to go. we were there and a couple of other points that have been closed and talked about the fact that it makes more sense to open those points of entry and have better communication with the other side than what has occurred now. and that is the closure of several other areas that have been extremely harmful to both sides of the border and not to mention the economic impact to both sides of the border and my district there.

i think a variety of other issues that have come about as a result of the merida initiative. i know the chairman is here of intelligence. and i had acknowledged the fact that he's helped put these efforts. and he'll probably talk about the dialog that we had earlier with the ambassador and others and the reaching out and helping to educate each other as to what is occurring. and what needs to happen. and i know we'll be getting additional information later on as we move forward. i want to apologize. i have two committees going on at the same time right now. and i am on both the homeland and the transportation and housing and va on the appropriations so i'm going to have to be leaving. [applause] >> our other co-chairman has just joined us and so thank you for rushing out. i know you've had a busy morning as you had last night.

at this time we have congressman henry cuellar who has the district from san antonio to laredo that really i should have said, san antonio for ciro north of el paso. henry has been a real stalwart. he's bringing congressmen of both parties down. i was on one of the trips when you had four republicans and it was a great trip. so henry, thank you for being with us. >> i want to thank you and the chamber and i want to especially thank chairman reyes and michael mccaul, the two cochairs for sponsoring these meetings because i think it's important to talk about our neighbor that's so important to us. i certainly want to thank you all for being here. what we do at the border is going to be important for several reasons. number one think about the trade between the u.s. and mexico. we see a billion dollars of trade between the u.s. and mexico. which means that mexico is so

important to us economically for the stability of mexico it's important to us over here, too. but the other thing is, what we do at the border and what we do with border security is going to affect some of the big issues coming up. right now the big issue as you know -- you probably heard is healthcare. but after this we're hoping that soon we'll be addressing immigration. and you've heard the arguments of some people. you got to take care of border security before we talk about immigration so this is why it is so important that we address the issue of border security because of the impact it has not only on the daily lives that we have but also on both sides of the rio bravo, rio grande but the issues that will be impacted like immigration. i'm the new chairman of the subcommittee on border maritime global tourism homeland. i want to thank betty thompson for giving me which basically dealing with anything of customs, border patrol, coast guard, ice -- anything dealing with the border is now under my jurisdiction.

and certainly one of the things i told the folks i wanted to do is not only talk about enforcement but the other thing is to talk about how do we find that balance between commerce, trade, tourism and security? in fact, yesterday i was with secretary napolitano. we were at the federal law enforcement training in georgia. and they were using this scenario of the ports of entry. they use that, hey, you know, that's good that we're doing the enforcement and if you see a bad apple go after them, but what about the professionalism when somebody comes across the border? because think about the majority to go the border is to spend money, go to our malls, our hotels and our restaurants and they are here to spend money. in laredo as jerry knows, we get 100 buses a day of people -- about 40 people a business come in and cross a river to come spend money in the united states. so we have to find that balance between -- what we call a

legitimate trade and tourism and what's so important to us over here in the u.s. and, of course, the mexican side. the issues that i think mike and i think reyes and the other folks will be talking about is very important. we're facing difficult times but it's very, very important that we do this in a very steady and very right approach on this. back in 2005 when i got elected i was talking about the missing americans that we had in northern laredo trying to get the attention was very difficult. 'cause people were focused on iraq. people were focused on afghanistan. my alarm at that time is, look what's happening across the border. here we have a 1,993 border with mexico and we got to make sure that we help mexico address those issues that we have. and, you know, i've been across there with mike and other folks. we met with president calderon as mike said a few minutes ago. and we're talking about the importance of why we need to

address this issue, which is again very important. then later as you know, the merida initiative came about. i was one of the first ones. mike and other folks who support it. and for a while it was almost negative. i got a couple editorials on this side saying wrong thing to do. you got to spend the money over here. why are you spending money over there. and we need to spend the money over here and i'll be the first one. i got three brothers that are law enforcement officers. one is a sheriff in webb county and we put in a lot of money for our border folks on this side but we have to look at it by dimensional area. one, we have to support our folks over here. more law enforcement, more boots on the ground and more technology but we got to be -- you know, we got to be smart how we do it. you know, the fence, i thought it was totally -- i totally disagree with the fence. there's another way we can address border security by putting a 14-century solution to a 21st century problem that we

have. and the money that we're spending is just incredible. in fact, this morning we're at the homeland and we're talking about the sbinet, the technology. and i'll be the first one to say we need to look at it. but look at what's happened. we have spent about $615 million, almost close to $700 million on this technology, this fence, this virtual fence which i support but i don't know we might have to re-assess this. in the last four and a half years. and we've done only 28 miles in the last four and a half so do the addition. if we're going to cover 1,993 miles at 28 miles every four and a half years this will take us about 320 years to do what they want to do. now, you add this 28 miles at $700 million, do the math and we got to be a little smarter as to how we do this. you know, mike and i were

talking about the dia, which rayez has been talking about else. they spent $20 billion on research investment. why are we not using tested equipment that has worked for the military in iraq and afghanistan. use that and use it in the areas up here that we need to use? what about the uavs. as you know, i met with cbp. they're going to put a uav for texas-base and corpus christi to go up from corpus christi to the brownsville area and up to the el paso area. all they need to work with is they need to work with the faa agreement because as you know we have commercial planes, private planes to make sure there are no accidents and we're working on that. it's going to happen before the year is over on that uavs for our border over here. so we got issues like this. but on the merida initiative, i know we got my good friend roberta, congress is going to reevaluate this because we are

going to be putting about $1.3 billion. a certain amount has come in and i've heard the arguments where the mexicans took too long on the specifications and all this. without going into specific numbers, we've only given a small amount. out of the 1.3. and we just can't wait. we got to have accountability but we got to have a little speed in addressing these issues. i think we need to work with homeland and the department of justice, some of the folks who we already have over there. i do know that we need to re-assess this to get this over to mexico a lot faster without due respect. i do know that -- i believe next week, i think it's official now, secretary clinton will be heading with secretary napolitano and secretary gates, defense department, down to mexico to talk about looking at what extra things we need to do because again it is something that we have to succeed.

we have to succeed in helping mexico because if we help them, it helps us. the spillover that a lot of people talk about, the spillover is here already, guys. it's over here. if you look at the information -- the mexican drug cartels are already in 250 cities. give me your city and i'll tell you they are there already. the only difference is the violence has not really followed and there's been situations on this side -- we saw that in laredo. we saw that in mcallen, in my district, you know, the violence is not there like we see it over there. but they're over here already in about 250 cities. so again what we do to help them is going to help us over here. so again there's a lot of other issues that we need to cover but i certainly -- our chairman is about to speak next and i certainly want to thank him for the leadership. i want to thank mike. this is not a democrat or a republican area. this is something that we got to do as americans to address the security. so again, thank you. i have to go. i have to talk about healthcare. so i'm going to be stepping out

right now. but i want to thank all y'all for being here. thank you and god bless. [applause] >> don't let him twist your arm too much. >> i'm already undecided. >> he's undecided still. [laughter] >> mr. chairman, would you like to say a few words before we get into the panel or are you comfortable just moving into it? >> no, let's get into it. >> okay. good. i'd like to now introduce our moderator suzanne petrie, who is a lady that again i mentioned her yesterday to you. but she's got an extensive background both when she was working at state, working at nse, working at dod and her last government position was with ambassador chris arcos in international affairs at homeland security where her focus was everything south of the border but especially

looking at the u.s.-mexico relationship. suzanne will be our moderator. she is also representing her company tasc that is one of the four sponsors for today so i want to thank you for that, suzanne. and it's all yours. >> absolutely. all right. well, thank you. i know it's been a long day. and i know our panelists have been very patient so we'll try to move along quickly. one quick thing before we started, i know many of you -- and thank you for referencing what i've done in government. one quick two-minute thing about tasc. you might be used to hearing northrop grumman tacc. the whole organizational conflict of issue oci issue. that is a company can't work on program management systems design, independent validation and testing and then go ahead and build it and solve the problem so northrop grumman made the very wise choice in accordance with the law to be a first move in getting out there

and being truly unconflicted company. so what we do now is we provide expertise, systems engineering, support, requirements analysis, validation to the government so for me it hasn't been that bad leaving government service although i miss it because i really get to go back and work in an independent objective role helping the government with objective assessments and so anyway, that's why we're still here. we're still hoping to help with the u.s.-mexico relationship and i'm happy to be here. okay. so we've heard the structure of our panel. we're here to talk about the merida initiative and mexico security concerns from several different perspectives. we've heard from congressional members. we have federal -- the federal side here with state department with roberta jacobson. alan bersin from cbp and paco palmeri and including a representative from the mexican government. and we'll look at the security concerns from several different ways.

i know in the last week of escalating violence we've seen some el paso juarez, some tragedies in the areas. there's a much larger mexico-u.s. picture. we don't always get a balance perspective coming out of the sound bites that often appear in the media. i think it's very timely that we're here to talk about the bigger picture issues. anyway with that, we want to look forward to the merida initiative and how we're transitions what was initially kind of a hardware approach moving forward to a training and actualization approach of our countries working together. so with that as mr. bersin is not in the room yet, we'll turn it over to roberta jacobson, who is the deputy assistant secretary for canada and mexico and nafta at the u.s. department of state. ... canada, mexico and nafta at the u.s. department of state.

>> thank you, suzanne. it's nice to see you again, nice to be working with you again since we worked together on things between the u.s. and mexico years ago. i am very grateful to al and the chamber and chairman reyes to call for this invitation and i want to start by saying having just heard from those congress members, the role played by all of the folks who are here today from the u.s. congress just cannot be overstated in the importance of getting the miranda >> and the importance obviously as they themselves have said of keeping the bilateral relationship in the event in mexico on the front page, on the radar screen, of people who might not otherwise have paid attention to it. and so we are deeply grateful for their support from the very beginning. i also think that it's true, as congressman cuellar mentioned,

and certainly we see by the presence of cochairs here today, that's a from the beginning that merida initiative has been a bipartisan effort. proposed by a republican administration to a democratic congress. the initiative and its intentions and in its goals has crossed administrations as he continues to cross the aisle. and so i think that's incredibly important for us, those of us in the executive branch as we try move ahead. because we been able to gather support from lots of different places. and i think it speaks to the importance of the issue of the united states. i'm just going to say a couple of words. i'm going to try to be real brief and cut out a novel others as ago because many of my colleagues here on the panel are as knowledgeable about this, and many of you live these issues and know them every day. but i think one of the things that we know about the relationship with mexico is that in many, many ways it is never

been stronger than it is right now. tested absolutely. certainly by this agree situation, but never stronger. and that is incredibly important. if you look, and on going outside security, if you look at a couple of events that have taken place over the last couple of months, it kind of speaks to the breadth and depth of the relationship. at the end of january deputy national security adviser john brennan and his mexican counterpart chaired a meeting to view progress on merit and see how the initiative was going to be evolving. the next day that state of art hosted a meeting on the u.s.-mexico framework on clean energy and climate change. which talked about new and renewable energy technologies, beginning bilateral projects, cross-border projects, building on climate change efforts coming out of copenhagen as mexico will post the next climate summit in the center. in early february that pentagon hosted the first bilateral defense working group meeting,

which was in fact multi agency, and an unprecedented military to military cooperation effort. and next week secretary clinton will lead a delegation of u.s. officials to mexico, which as mentioned, including secretary gates, secretary napolitano, chairman of joint chiefs of staff mullen, director of national intelligence blair, john brennan, and many of the constituent agencies, i.c.e., dea, et cetera. as well as participants from aig and other organizations in the u.s. government. so i think what you see in sort of a two-month panorama is really even as we focus at our front pages may focus intent on the security issue, all of us know that it is a much broader and deeper relationship that gets we hope a lot of attention all the time. as we look at merida right now it's a particularly good time to take a look at the initiative

and how it's evolving and how security corporation is going. it's three years into the calderon presidency. it is three budget years, if you will, into the merida initiative, although congressman cuellar and i have of course had this conversation and we don't actually have all of that money yet. but we are deadly in our third year of programming of the merida initiative initiative funds and, of course, the obama administration has reviewed the relationship with mexico, the merida initiative and has given guidance to all of us as to how we are to move forward. so i think it's a very good time for us to take a look at things on the ground, and how they're going and how we can do more together. when we began, i remember coming up to congress for our first briefings in 2007, and the question that we got from everyone after the fund had been requested by the white house in the fy08 supplemental was why is

this an emergency? you put this into a piece of emergency legislation, why is this an emergency? none of the people at this table asked that question, but we did get it from many other people around capital hill. for better or worse, nobody asks that question anymore. everybody knows how important it is to continue, and, in fact, increase our cooperation with mexico. and so i think that as president calderon has done the hard work and taking on the tough task of confronting narcotics cartels, and as they to some extent expectedly respond with violence, we all know that that partnership is imperative if we're going to move ahead and try to weaken those cartels and secure the communities in mexico. what we have been doing, i think, is a review of the initiatives. and many of you have heard reference to the four pillars and new areas of cooperation. i think the focus for the merida

initiative moving ahead is really on a lot of what we've been doing and broadening what we've been doing. so it's additive, if you will. we are obviously going to continue to work on disrupting the cartels and the criminal organizations themselves, but we need to look at the organizations and a much more holistic way. you've obviously seen over the last couple of months that mexico has had some rather dramatic successes in capturing or killing heads of some of the cartels. and that's incredibly important. but like hydra-headed monsters you have to go after the entire body. if you think about these in or take the ruthless corporations, you need to be going after not just the ceos, but there transportation networks, their infrastructure, their supplies. and we're going to be taking a look with mexico at making sure that we are looking at all aspects of those criminal organizations, including the money laundering and other issues.

we also want to move into more accelerated work on supporting democratic institutions cut. mexico is a looming judicial reform, a very exciting reform, and move from an oral adversary system. this is critical as part of tackling organized crime, and we will be getting as much support as we possibly can to that effort with judicial authorities and human rights groups and civil society. but we've also added an unfortunate my colleague alan bersin and here to talk about this right this minute, because this is his biggest issue, we've added a component to our discussion on the border specifically. on creating a 21st century border, i'm looking at exactly as the congresspeople have said, looking at how we can both simultaneously improve security as improve flows. legitimate close. we don't think that was getting enough attention in the past, and we think there are new ways

more innovative ways that we can pay attention to that issue as part of this larger process. finally, i think we are going to be looking at carefully at how we can help the mexican government in supporting communities so that they can be more resistant to the scourge of drug trafficking. what are the socioeconomic programs, programs for use at risk, groupings of civil societies, that we can work with to help them able to resist this problem. the solution is clearly much broader than just the use of law enforcement. it has to be one that's broader, more holistic and involves the entire community. so those are sort of the large categories that we're going to be focusing on, and i think in the coming weeks, which you will see is a better understanding of how what we're doing fits into each of those categories and how we are supporting president calderon's efforts. a certain have spoken of this

and juarez of this broader strategy bring in the community and the way that they can attack the cartels in a much broader and more holistic fashion. so i think i'm going to stop there. especially because my colleague is back. thank you all very much. [applause] >> thank you very much, robert. next coming from the other side of the state department we have francisco, who is an international narcotics and law enforcement bureau. he has had an interesting past. i know he is deadly hardship tour. is also been palooka counselor and has been to the dominican republic and i believe you're also a ut graduates lineup our congressmen would be happy to do that. but with that, we will turn over to you to talk a little bit. >> suzanne, thank you very much, and i also want to express our deep gratitude for the strong bipartisan congressional

leadership behind the merida initiative from chairman reyes and representative mccollum. and acknowledged that the input from representatives and cuellar will help reform our work as we move forward. that is very helpful to us. and find i think it's very important to acknowledge the work of al zapanta, the u.s. mexico chamber of commerce. your hard work on behalf of the u.s. mexico relationship is inspiring to those of us who work in public service and are also dedicated to keeping the bonds of friendship between our two countries. thank you very much for this conference and in life that you bring to this issue for your work. the merida initiative was designed to help our two countries deal with the problem of transnational gangs, organized crime, and all forms

of illicit trafficking, not just narcotics, but also illegal arms, bulk cash shipments and money laundering. the cooperation between the u.s. government and mexico in this effort began even before the funding was approved. as interagency teams from both governments collaborated to construct a plan and succeed in obtaining congressional support with resources totaling $400 million, in 2008, with additional increments in subsequent years. the first estimates provided funds for hardware with a long lead times required for production, such as aircraft, and nonintrusive expections equipment. equipment. or niie. the first of the niie begin to arrive in june of 2009, and are continuing for the foreseeable future as additional requirements are defined and validated. this burst along the border at select airports and randy station in the countryside, niie

is providing the capability to detect and seize drugs, arms, cached, or even persons. the first five bell helicopters were delivered to mexico in the summer. the casa maritime patrol aircraft are on order. black hawk helicopters promise by secretary clinton in april 2009 were funded, ordered, and manufactured within nine months. when the normal process of this kind is measured in years. this is a significant acceleration of our effort. and reflective of the effort that many different u.s. government agencies have place in the effort. the blackhawks were ready for delivery in january. however, we are now providing upgrades as requested by the mexican government, and we anticipate a delivery sometime later this year. as roberta noted, with acquisition of hardware well underway, the focus of the initiative is changing.

while organized crime still has access authority and impunity in some localities, the long-term solution to restoring safety and security requires a more comprehensive approach than simply making arrests and incarcerating criminals. the hardware i mentioned previously goes toward the support of pillar i, which is designed to deny the cartels that space and resources they require. the helicopters put security forces within reach's of the places they operate. the niie restricts their ability to move, and assist in seizing drugs, arms and cash. under the second pillar we had just economic support funds to facilitate engagement between judiciaries in the united states and mexico. there are no affiliations between law schools in both countries, helping to improve ask you to a capabilities and mexico to put criminals in jail.

our investigator training effort for the mexican federal police has also had far-reaching implications, and we are examining ways to expand how these law-enforcement institution building initiatives can be expanded to the state and local levels in mexico. corrections officer training that began in u.s. facilities is now established an operating in mexico, providing training for both mexican federal and state correction officers, and it is anticipated this training will be expanded to regional partners throughout the hemisphere, primarily from central america. when we began to work on pillar iii, the 21st century border structure, most imagine what could be done on the shared u.s.-mexico border, but some of

the best results have been on mexico's southern border. where we have worked with do not need to implement document verification software and biometric collection equipment and training for better control along the guatemalan border with mexico. we are trading custom canine teams, niie operators come and look forward to assisting with the establishment of a customs training academy as well as developing a cadre of highly specialized customs criminal investigators. some of the highest profile accomplishments have been done under pillar iv, as congressman henry joseph noted helping to build resilient communities. first lady help lead every direction conference here in washington, d.c., and with also supported her in her efforts to develop and expand citizen anticipation councils throughout mexico.

these funds have also helped develop and expand a cultural lawfulness a program that is taking training to all of the states. though we had all is anticipated anticipated the invitation of the four pillars would occur in ciudad juarez, none of us expected it would be so imperative to quickly assess, design and implement a campaign to take back the streets and communities of juarez. to this end, the embassy interagency team is coordinating a multinational interagency approach with representation from the u.s. and mexican agencies. the team met in el paso in february and focused explicitly on the situation in war is that some of the conclusions are still under consideration, but i would like to mention a few of the key items. we're hoping to establish and maintain a robust system of

internal affairs controls so that we can appropriate way help the mexican government screen personnel. we are looking to develop effective and integrated and tested it is structured, increase the quality and quantity of prosecutions by expanding institutional assistance to the mexican attorney general's office. and building information technology platforms to help support all of the programs. and finally, we also understand that we have to develop safe and effective incarceration systems. and are working closely on the penal systems with the mexican government. i would like to think that is this binational interagency planning draft the report, that was the first chapter of an individual success story in juarez and one that could be replicated throughout mexico and serve as a model for the region. state department, with our u.s. government, federal interagency partners, look forward to

continuing to lead and facilitate this effort, and to coordinate resources in pursuit of a common goal, peace and security in our streets and neighborhoods in both countries. thank you. [applause] >> thank you, papa. next to help oust the u.s. perspective we'll turn it over to our mexican colic, mauricio ibarra. so with that. >> thank you very much. it's a pleasure to be here today. thank you, chairman reyes and congressmen maccoll. i would just start by saying that given the growing transnational of organized crime, from the first day

present calderon took office he decided that we needed to strengthen cooperation with the united states. i think the merida initiative was the first and most important step in this direction. i was reading in the meeting in 2007, in october of that year the merida initiative was presented to the public. we would like to underscore about the merida initiative that it's a program based on mutual trust, shared responsibility and reciprocity, and premised on the recognition that any successful would be included, must include both domestic actions in both countries, while at the same time to ensure greater and bilateral cooperation. it includes strengthening what we're doing around stations and what we have said all the time, we would like to see a stronger effort against the trafficking

of weapons and bulk cash shipments ago. i would like to say that the merida initiative, it was from the beginning not only equipment, we know everybody put attention on the hard work that was the first part of the initiative, but it has much more. it gives support to various areas related to justice and reform, police, training and to corruption efforts, information technology, data collection, modernization of equipment, transparency, and demand reduction programs and actions to promote the culture of lawfulness. so it's a very well thought program. with no doubt about the merida initiative, will complement and

it is complement what mexico is already doing against organized crime and it complements mexico's comprehensive strategy for the next frame. our strategy includes several areas after a well thought a analogy, and basically it includes criminal organizations, strengthening law enforcement institutions, recovering public spaces such as parks for the people to enjoy this area. programs for cooperation and trust, and obey's international cooperation, and this is where the merida initiative comes in place. we think that that collaboration and what we're doing has already revealed results, especially for example, in the first part hating criminal organizations.

as you know, we have hit criminal organizations, all criminal organizations from top to bottom, along this structure. and also where it hurts the most. now we have seized millions of dollars. we have seized records of drugs, just seven in that year alone we seized 50 tons of cocaine, for example. and as was mentioned here, we have apprehended leaders, going from alfredo, from arturo that died in operation, and also the zambada brothers, one which has already been extradited to the u.s. we think we have been successful in that part, obviously we need

to do more and we have to keep strengthening what we are doing. this takes us to now this cooperation in the framework of the merida initiative. new way forward, and this is what roberto talked about an ambassador talked about. and we are focusing now in forming peace. and the first one is dismantling criminal organizations in old mexico and the united states. strengthen and institutional support, strengthen the justice reform in mexico, for example. we have justice reform in 2008 which has been implemented right now. it takes a while to implement

but it includes, for example, the oral hearings. this is very important because we're going from one system to another system. so this second pillar strengthens a justice section reform. the third pillar, the 21st century orders is very important for us. the border is important for us. he will talk about what we're doing. and the last, one of the most important is building resilient communities and strong communities. as francisco mentioned, we have a drug reduction meeting just a few weeks back, and we know it's a bilateral issue of interest. it should be given a priority, reducing very much.

and justin some, i would like to say that the merida initiative represents a dramatic change in the bilateral cooperation against organized crime. by recognizing shared responsibilities, the merida initiative represents a unique, a unique opportunity to build on these unprecedented levels of cooperation that we are seeing. these resources that the merida initiative includes will surely help our agencies to increase their capacities to combat crimes, which is key for us. and more importantly, we think that the merida initiative sends a very clear message first for friendship, but also political commitment of what we should be

doing, fighting together, drugs, a shared responsibility. and finally, as ambassador, during his speech, there is no u-turn for us. there is a clear commitment but president calderon, by the mexican government, of mexico to continue forward this fight against organized crime. thank you very much. [applause] >> thank you, mauricio. i think it's particularly important to thank you for pointing out how much the mexicans are doing on that side of it border. and speaking of some of the things you mention in the area nonintrusive inspection, we have with us today john. he is a vice president for north america, and i'd like to turn over to him to make some comments on the private sector's interaction with mexico's security issues.

>> thank you. i'd like to thank al zapanta an account for inviting me to speak today. i come from a different area. i come from the private sector, and my come he develops equipment that is fighting the battle at the border. , and i spoke and today, by many of the people from the ambassador, the issue we have is the merida initiative is focusing on improving the

border, 21st century border. and technology companies like mine, we recognize to do this both the u.s. and mexican organizations need to continue to improve the quality and quantity of inspections, improve the efficiency of detection, and do all that without compromising the flow of commerce. and so this is a challenge. we take very seriously. we work very closely with our counterparts to understand what their application requirements are. we go where technology company, we are an engineering driven company, and we go back and try to design products that clearly fit into that application. pictures are worth a thousand words. these are some of the seizures. we know that drugs, stole ways,

and now increased the threat of vbieds entering the u.s. and cash and weapons flowing into mexico. so it's very important that the equipment that we are using today is able to detect these. and these are all different, different types of materials. we're dealing with organic materials. we're dealing with metallics, and so it's a challenge for the technology companies, but we are moving forward quite well. initially, in our screening methods, we began with the visual inspections. so mayors under-vehicle cameras and canines. that migrated to more sophisticated trace sampling, vapor trace sampling.

and now we are into nonintrusive inspection imaging systems, and there are different types of different types of x-ray systems. we can combine these types, and as this migration has gone, we're getting an increased level in detection. we are finding more things. it's remarkable how installing equipment in certain applications will instantly turn up a very large amount of drugs or stole ways. so it's quite gratifying. it is moving in the right direction. one of the issues that we deal with is that there a number of different parameters that we must focus on. alternately without affecting, or improving throughput. as the u.s. or mexican agencies

have to decide, make decisions on these types of technologies, they need to look at what level of detection. some equivalent gives a much higher level of detection, some equipment will look for different things. also, what's the flexibility of the site that is going into? many of these border crossings were designed and developed prior to any thought putting into this. they are very tight, and is a difficult to fit equipment in and get that quitman without affecting the flow of traffic. costs are these is a big important. it's not just the cost of the system itself. is the maintenance involved, the manpower requirements, it's the facilitation. so there are many, many issues that go into that. so finally, you know, what type of footprint, what kind of footprint? we have systems that can look deep into it our go container,

can penetrate 300 millions of steel and find and find contraband within, deeply within a freighter. to system that are very light, light penetration. so all these factors in deciding on what types of equipment to go to have to be considered but with the ultimate thought of how do we do this without affecting throughput or improving throughput. what technology company like myself and others do in this industry is we develop a layered approach, and we offer the layered approach depended on what the specific application is. so that could go from a stationary, very large gantry type system to a drive-through system. so for instance, if i'm interested in a high throughput scenario where i need to pull

150 trucks and our through the port, very busy port, i need a system that can look deep into the vehicles, and from there get through in a very fast period of time. also mobile. mobile is very important in dealing with al zapanta and mexico. we find that many of the mexican agencies are for mobile systems. their high energy systems. they can deep within vehicles, oral as the center system, a system that can quickly find the drugs and stowaways. so again, it's our job as technologists to provide the tools necessary to span a very large and very difficult task of finding many different types of things. these are some actual seizures, and as i mentioned earlier, the

seizure rates have increased. you can see the top left, that was a false wall that was built into a vehicle and they had filled it with drug. this would not have been found visually or with any type of cameras or anything like that. this is a system that sees organic materials very by the, illuminates very by the. so it's very easy to see. the same thing with stowaways. we have tremendous success with, people are organic and therefore, we see an image quite clear. it's almost a photo like quality. and as far smuggling drugs, they are becoming very creative on how they do this. recently there was a pickup truck that they had welded in a false bed. that false bed was lined with lead, knowing that our x-ray can i go to lead their but what they didn't realize is that when we look at the x-ray scan, it would just be a black surface. we would see nothing, and instantly they found it was loaded with drugs underneath the

false bed. so you know drugs and these types, as countries like mine are continually developing new technologies, and we're pushing the envelope every day. with scientists who are looking at how we can do a better job at this, and also obey is a we are concerned with weapons. and weapons entering in to the u.s., developing such a system, which can see, look through a vehicle and actually see if they are carrying weapons. so we are covering kind of all of these areas, and it's not just, we are kind of pushing each other along quite well in doing that. thank you. in summary, i think one thing that we have noticed is that there's a higher higher level of sophistication in the understanding of technology, both in the u.s. and mexican side.

we've worked very close with cbp. we been very successful. cbp is using our equipment quite successfully. our seizure rates are up. we're very pleased with that. in dealing with a different mexican agencies now, the level of sophistication has grown by the understanding has grown. they now are able to look at a layered approach. they target what they need and they go after specific types of equipment. and in closing, my company and others in our industry, we are committed to this mission. we work very hard at this and we're very proud of the fact that we're contributing. thank you very much. [applause] >> thank you, john. and to wrap up our panel, i will turn it over to someone who needs no introduction. that's alan bersin. he is our last speaker today. history the assistant secretary for international affairs at the department of homeland security. nominee to be head of the cbp.

with a distinguished background coming from california, and also i wanted to thank debbie secretary roberta jacobson. i know you need to have -- have a hard stop at for a lock. -- at 4:00. smack she has done this before. >> we thank you very much. we know you have to stew. and with that, secretary bersin. >> well, i will -- thank you and thank you again to general and u.s.-mexico chamber for the opportunity. this was also an honor for me to be here to request chairman reyes. i had the opportunity to discuss and the context of ambassador zircons discourse, the change in the u.s. mexican border, i believe we are a turning point. and the good things about turning point is that it is always exciting for any particular generation to be

living at the point out on the far edge where history is being made. it's also a risky place, because history is unforgiving. and to those that come to a turning point don't turn. and i think in many ways we are the u.s. mexican relationship, and this magnificent intersection of what the chinese call a crisis, which is the intersection of danger and opportunity. we can take advantage of this time together and change the way in which our two nations have interacted, or we can miss an opportunity and come to regret it as we failed to reap the benefits of u.s. mexican partnership this chamber has been calling for. if we project out 50 years, it seems clear that in order to have a competitive economic position in the world, given what's developing in east asia and on the subcontinent, north

america will need to have a very much more efficient series of arrangements than currently obtain. so for example, the nafta, 16 years ago, has created a huge benefit in terms of north america. with trade before the current recession, which to will pass, amounted to just under a billion dollars a day. when you put that level of of commercial interaction between our countries and the context of the border which we expect to support that, the infrastructure, we begin to see that we have a mismatch between the development of our two countries relationships and the physical infrastructure that exists on the u.s. mexican border, 42 ports of entry in a

situation in which one was opened up this year and it was the first port that had been opened up in 10 years. notwithstanding the fact that nafta has so dramatically impacted cross-border trade. so one of the challenges we face is picking this moment of opportunity that merida has presented, and reagan's eating, reinventing bilateral relations and a whole variety of ways. we have heard about the extent to which we are starting down that path in security cooperation. we're starting down that path in terms of assisting movement in mexico towards the rule of law, among all the courageous decisions of this contemporary generation, mexican leadership, a very important departure and

acknowledgment of the importance of having an authentic and honest law enforcement and judiciary. in the area of brazilian communities, the fact that all of government and society rests for a resilient series of community systems that support families and particularly young people as they take their journey through life. so the fourth pillar that's been mentioned that i want to touch on, and then help wrap up within the timeframe set on the agenda, is the 21st century order, this notion have to build a border that is capable of supporting what exists. and one of the subjects that i know will be taken up in mexico next week deals with that, and it's a discuss and i don't want to prejudge or jump to conclusions. but there is a dramatic change in the way in which in 21st

century we need to look at borders, which between the united states and mexico is typically been a juridical lines, a political boundary between mexico and the united states. and given the fact our histories, it's been a line that represents the one place in an otherwise asymmetrical relationship in terms of power relations, where the united states and mexico have been equal. and because of the history, of our two countries, it's also a place in which sovereignty, mexican sovereignty has been inserted with great pride and great determination and great admiration, which is we are a sovereign nation, and our rights and prerogatives must be respected. and that's what it was asserted with greatest force was at the border. it's part of the courage and part of the extraordinary opportunity is the recognition in an area of responsibility for

dealing with organized crime and causes of a, but we have to recognize that the border is not a place where relations should stop, but respecting sovereignty, it's a place that looks at further relationships north and south of the border in terms of security cooperation. in the economics sphere i suggest you that we have to stop looking at the border as a place of juridical lines or political boundaries, but rather secure the flows of people and passengers and cargo in good, and a digital global world in which tens of millions of people are traveling, and in which billions and billions of dollars of trade take place. it's a little bit acronyms to, although very important that we recognize sovereignty and sovereign lines, not to look at borders as flows of people.

to board at a cross borders, legally and illegally, and the flow of goods, legally and illegally, across the world. again, with the notion that borders as flows not as lines. it seems to me that in that context of looking at borders that way, we begin to define the bilateral relationship as it is in the interest of both countries to keep dangerous people and dangerous things as far away from the physical border as we can. and to identify dangers people and dangerous things, as far away in terms of time and space as we can. and when we do that, we create numerous opportunities for bilateral cooperation, both in the security sphere and in the commercial facilitation sphere. and i want to say in particular to this group, and a conference of the u.s. mexico chamber of

commerce, we have tended to look at security and commercial facilitation as mutually exclusive items. that is, as the need to balance security with commercial facilitation. and when we have more security am it means necessary that we have to have longer waits at the border. i submit to you that the paradigm, and part of the change in the way we look at borders, is that they are not mutually exclusive, but need to be looked at as part of the same phenomenon. two sides of the same coin. and that's not just a rhetorical device, or something to say, well, it would be nice if that were true, but those of us, and i've lived and worked at the border for a quarter of the century, it's nice to say that but the fact is that if you search every trunk, you're going to slow traffic at the border. if you actually every train, you're going to slow down the passenger trains. as they go from place to place.

ladies and gentlemen, i ask that we look at this. as we look at borders as flows, and we take the burden of inspection and we think about the possibilities of clearing those people and those cargoes, about which we know something, and we do that away from the border. a change is entirely the way we look at the infrastructure that we need as a border. if we say that at the border where going to be inspecting those people and those things about which we know less than we'd like, and let everyone else move quickly through, then in fact i think we begin to have a border that works much more effectively from the standpoint of the 21st century. if we are to accomplish that, if we're to accomplish that, it seemed to me that we have to recognize the interagency relationships that it will take to create that 21st century

border. >> audios. >> and what that means is create new relationships of the times that of start to blossom between agencies in the u.s., and one is working with cbp to build out new ways of protecting borders and introducing the kind of inspection equipment that john spoke about, so that we can mutually protect and think about doing inspections within and far back from the line within each others' countries. it means creating relationships of the kind of dimension at lunch between ssp and the u.s. border patrol in which between the ports of entry we begin to see collaboration, to prevent lawlessness here it means relationships between cbp to make sure that we can use trust

and traveled programs to move people through the border about whom we know something about and to our trusted travelers and spend our time on those about who we know nothing. it means new relationships within each government. i must say that one of the remarkable and accomplish its of merida was that it force the united states government, for the first time, and i've been involved 10 years ago, to create an interagency policy coordination mechanism that has never truly existed before. so if i say to you, but it strike you as strange if they had never before, under the leadership of the state department, been created at the national security staff and infrastructure policy coordination committee that actually has sitting around the table every agency involved in the building of infrastructure, land ports of entry? gsa, state, the department of

homeland security, commerce, the environmental protection agency, the department of transportati transportation, everyone who has something to say is now sitting around the same table having to do with infrastructure in the united states. what we begin to see happening in mexico is the development of a similar interagency, so that for the first time in u.s. mexican history we can actually seriously coordinate on prioritizing bridges and border crossing projects, and actually have schedules and capital commitments that will be met together. that is the opportunity that narrative to place her in the context of new borders offers. and just last i would like to say the obligation is on border communities, local port commuters and the federal government to also develop the new means of coordination. and the fact is that the central

government's in may go and washington for most of you in history basically and/or the tijuana, and the del rio and others of the border. we need to seek new relationships, new federal relationships develop between the federal government of both countries and their local communities, and and frankly, we need to provide a lot more flexibility for local communities to solve local problems across border. the good news is that all of this is under way. the bad news is that i must i must -- there is more to do that we have time for. but it is a turning point on the u.s. mexican border, and i want to again commend the u.s. mexico chamber of commerce for being at that point out on the pointy

spear where history is being made, and always to honor my friend and a great american leader, chairman reyes, for having been present at the creation and having stuck with a to this turning point. thank you very much. [applause] >> at this time i'd like to thank suzanne petrie for taking a hold on a fluid situation as usual. thank you again, suzanne. and thank our panel. i have some certificates of appreciation i will present. i wanted to one thing before our chairman closes the conference. i know some of you have questions. he's got to lead. he just got another note to go to the white house. they are breaking arms. only his is in good shape. his is fine. but i did want to just say thank you to people here before we

close this. the congressman's staff, we can do this without them. and his personal support. so perry, issues here, the chief of staff, lisa lynch, alexandria, louise, vince, jennifer, sam, my staff, martha, we have four interns in the washington center. our for sponsors. thank you as always. suzanne petrie, thank you. for always being here and being part, special on the security panel. and, of course, rudy of coca-cola. and our food was by capital flows. mr. chairman, we now turn to you so you can go to the white house. >> thank you.

>> well, thank you, al. and in a mike mccaul has to leave, but i wanted to express my appreciation to both of them. we couldn't do this if we didn't have a willingness from someone like mike mccaul who has got a real interest in making sure that border issues get addressed in making sure that we work to make life better on the border. and, of course, without the partnership with the u.s. mexico chamber and in particular my good friend, al zapanta. this is our 14th year, and i think these conferences get better and better. and i hope you have the same sense, having gone through a full day when we covered a number of topics, but most of all i hope you leave with a sense of optimism that there is a lot going on.

and we have some challenges, and we are facing them. but in the context of the future, i think it looks bright, because we've never seen the kind of cooperation we are seeing today. we've never had the kind of commitment on both sides that we have today. and we have an opportunity to ensure that, for the united states and for mexico, and also for canada, because a lot of this really got initiated when we passed the north american free trade agreement agreement your here we are, let's see, that passed in 1994, so here we are 14 years later or so. 16 years later. he said do the math and i should

have done that. but 16 years later, and we really haven't followed through as was the vision for the north american free trade agreement. it's long overdue. we're at a point as commissioner bersin mentioned. were at a point we need to move forward and we need to move forward together. those of us without were born and live and eventually will die on the border want to make a significant contribution, because our children and our grandchildren will have a better life if we focus on, and focus our energies on the priorities that we have set up with this conference and with the panel. i want to also thank my

colleagues who, not only do they take time from a very busy schedule that they have to be here and participate, on the panels, but they also walk the walk. they are there. they testify. they take the votes that are necessary, and help with making sure that the leadership, both on the administration side and the congressional side, understand the importance of the border region. and the fact that, while we all want a secure border, we want a border that works. in the 21st century, that makes sense, and the kind of technology that you saw and got a brief glimpse of here this afternoon, is just a small glimpse of the capabilities that we should be pursuing, that we should be working collectively.

so that as the commissioner said, we can ferret out the ones that need to be screened from those that go back and forth and depend on the transparency of that secure border to get business done to make sure that the relationship that we have enjoyed for centuries continues your so again, i hope that you leave here with a sense of optimism. i hope that you know that if any portion of what you heard in this conference here, if you want additional information, if something wasn't clear or you have need of additional information or recommendations, please contact either my staff or alan's staff. and finally, to our panelists, thank you so very much, suzanne. again, i appreciate the

leadership that you provide for this panel, and also thank you and the panelists before you for making this conference successful. i will tell you, once we wrap this up, al can tell you, we started looking at what we are going the 15th conference. so it takes, it takes a lot of work to put this on, but i think it's worth it. and i hope your attendance here is a testament that you agree. and today we use the internet to pipe the conference to anyone that wanted to tune in, and i think this has been a successful ever and i think we will continue it. so once more, thank you, al. thank the panelists again. and thank you, most of all, for

coming and your interest that we all share mutually, that we need, expect, and should work towards a 21st century border region. thank you all very much, and thank you. [applause] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> . . . .

>> the senate begins 20 hours of debate on the budget reconciliation this afternoon is only a >> our commitment to israel's future is rock solid, unwavering, enduring and forever. >> whether as secretary of state, senator, first lady or

attorney hillary clinton in 1991, you can search it, clip it, share it and more online at the new c-span video library with over 160,000 hours of video and 115,000 people, every c-span program since 1987. the c-span video library, cable's latest gift to america. >> which president was buried wrapped in an american flag and a copy of the constitution under his head? andrew johnson. find these and other presidential facts in c-span's newly updated book, "who's buried in grant's tomb." >> it's a guidebook, a travel log, if you will, but it's also a mini history work of biography of each of these presidents and let's face it you can tell a lot about people from the end of their lives. >> insights about their lives.

"who's buried in grant's tomb" now available at your favorite bookseller or. publicaffairsbooks.com. >> next, from the american-israel public affairs committee annual policy conference this week in washington, senators lindsey graham and charles schumer. then in about 50 minutes benjamin netanyahu and a reminder live just afternoon today, president obama speaking on healthcare. ♪ >> ladies and gentlemen, please welcome aipac national board member barry mannis. ♪

>> good evening. welcome honored guests and aipac activists. this evening it is my honor to introduce senator lindsey graham, a personal friend and a true friend of israel and the jewish people. as a member of the u.s. air force, the south carolina air national guard and now the air force reserves, senator graham has seen firsthand the threats that israel and the united states both face emanating from the mideast. in fact, senator graham known as colonel graham in the air force jag corps is the only veteran of the iraq war currently serving in the united states senate. [applause]

>> and he still does his reserve duty in iraq and afghanistan each year. throughout his years of service, in both the house and the united states senate, senator graham has encouraged republican and democratic administrations alike to stand with israel in her quest for security and peace. with his clarity of purpose and words, he has been outspoken against the arab world's refusal to recognize israel and with his unique characteristic insistence on calling them as he sees them, lindsey graham has demanded an end to efforts to delegitimatize israel in the international arena. [applause] and as a military lawyer himself

he speaks with expert trees in defending the manner. but lindsey graham doesn't stop from words. but from the terrorist-controlled gaza strip, senator graham went to visit himself the largest town that was directly in the line of fire. there that day he pledged his personal support for the safety and security of israel's citizens and he lauded quote the spirit of israeli determination in the face of constant terror. he knows the threats that israel faces every day. and that's why he has pushed so hard for strong u.s.-israel cooperation in developing missile defense systems. whether it be the long-range arrow missile or the shorter

range david sling. and when it comes to the greatest threat facing israel and america today, the specter of a nuclear-armed iran, senator graham is constantly looking for the next action that he can take. whether urging the administration to quickly move forward with crippling sanctions or seeking to penalize companies that provide technology, facilitating this theocratic regime's repression of its own people. in every arena, senator graham has demonstrated his strong and lasting commitment to the u.s.-israel friendship. and on top of all of that, senator graham has joined with his democratic colleague, senator chuck schumer of new york to circulate a letter urging president obama to

immediately impose sanctions against iran. [applause] >> tomorrow, when we all the thousands of us head up to capitol hill, we will be lobbying for that letter to be signed by the senators of the united states. we feel so fortunate to have senator graham's leadership in the senate, his friendship and his presence here tonight. so please join me in welcoming from the great state of south carolina, my friend, israel's friend, senator lindsey graham. [applause] >> thank you.

the music sounds like the ten commandments that that's pretty cool. thank you for that very kind introduction. back home i would say he laid it on pretty thick so i got a lot to live up to. thanks for having me here tonight. this is the annual aipac dinner that begins on monday and apparently is going to end on tuesday so i'll try to pick up the pace a little bit here. but when barry told me -- yeah. [applause] >> for those who need to go to the restroom, right? well, the more you drink, the better i sound. but when barry told me that i was going to be a speaker and it was an all-senate night and it was going to be long, but i was honored. how many people here are going to capitol hill tomorrow to lobby? [applause] >> if you think it doesn't matter, you're wrong. it matters. go to your senator, your

congressman, people you can vote for and make your voice heard. the most effective way to lobby a member of the senate or the house is to show up and let them know that you live in their state or their district and you care. they will listen. it's not money. it's people that matters. now, we've done this once before but would every member of congress, would every democrat, every republican stand just for 5 seconds. stand. [applause] standing, to our friends in israel, to aipac, the congress has your back. [applause] >> we will not let you down. [applause] >> republicans, decrats,oe

lieberman, who's vote a republican and a democrat and an independent, we have your back. [applause] >> and if you want to know how wide and deep the support for israel runs, i'm a baptist republican from south carolina. the next speaker is a jewish senator from new york, chuck schumer. that's as wide as it gets. you could put the whole planet in the middle. but we're here tonight to speak with one voice. and you don't have much of that going on in washington now, do you? if you're watching television, you wonder if we've all lost our minds. and some days i wonder, too. so it's good to be here tonight to celebrate something that we all agree on. and that's our support for israel. tonight is a celebration. tonight is not about healthcare. [applause] >> it's not about immigration. it's about our national security. it's about our best friend in the world, the state of israel.

[applause] >> it's about those things that unite us. [applause] >> and i say that with no animosity to anyone else. any other group. i say that with no animosity to the palestinian people. i share your hopes and dreams. all i ask is you recognize israel has a place on the planet. [applause] >> now, some of you may have come here tonight because of a recent dust-up. i'm not going to get political and i'm not going to dwell on the recent conflict we've had. but let's say this, and let's say it loud and let's say it clear, friends disagree. that's part of being friends. they call it marriage. [laughter] >> the one thing that will make a strong friendship and a good marriage is to disagree quietly. [applause]

>> so that those who wish you ill, who do not have your common interest at heart will not be empowered. ladies and gentlemen, howard said it best. jerusalem is not a settlement. [applause] >> no government in israel will ever look at jerusalem as a settlement. no government in the united states should ever look at jerusalem as a settlement. [applause] >> it is the undivided capital of the state of israel. [applause] >> it is the eternal home of the jewish faith. it is now time to move on to other issues. i want to talk very quickly about the world as we wish it to

be. as we celebrate tonight, let's embrace in our hearts the world that we all wish it to be. a world where there's no rockets from gaza. no hezbollah attacks from the north. where palestinian children go to school without being taught hate. that's the world we wish it to be. [applause] >> an iran controlled by its people and not some theocracy. an iran governed by someone other than a holocaust denier. that's the world we wish it to be. [applause] >> an iran pursuing peaceful nuclear power not a nuclear weapon. a world where moderate muslims are celebrated not condemned and killed. [applause] >> an afghanistan where a young girl never fears the soccer stadium but can go to school and achieve her dreams. [applause] >> a free and independent iraq

where sunni, shias and kurds can settle their differences in the ballot box and celebrate the rule of law and be an inspiration to the middle east. a u.n., a united nations that can actually control thugs and dictators. [applause] >> a united nations that would never issue the goldstone report. [applause] >> that's the world we wish it to be. [applause] >> this is the world as it is. and if you don't know the difference, then the world is a dangerous place. i know the difference between the world as we wish it to be and the world as it is. the world as it is, is a divided palestinian people. a place that allows rockets to be launched from apartment buildings. a place where mosque weapon

storage sites, a place where children are taught hate. that's the world as it is. iran, a theocracy that kills its own children. iran, a nation whose president questions whether or not the holocaust actually existed. that's the world as it is, ladies and gentlemen. i've got one simple idea. if you're a nation that wants to pursue nuclear power, there should be an application. and if the president of that nation denies the existence of the holocaust, that should be the end of the application process. [applause] >> the world as it is, russia and china, are awol when it comes to iran. it's important to have a good relationship with russia and china. but it's equally important that russia and china help the world deal with the threat of a nuclear-armed iran. that's the world as it is.

ladies and gentlemen, here's the world as it must be. we must never allow anyone to drive a wedge between the state of israel and the united states of america. [applause] >> it must be so. israel's right to exist must be acknowledged by every group in every corner of the world. that's the way the world must be. [applause] >> to move forward. we must not allow this iranian theocracy to develop a nuclear weapon. [applause] >> it's not enough to be determined. we have to say without any hesitation it will not happen. [applause] >> all options must be on the table. you know exactly what i'm

talking about. [applause] >> the question is, do the people we're talking to understand what i'm talking about? i've been in the military as a support person. i've never been a combat troop walking down the streets of iraq and afghanistan. but i've been in theater. i know that war is a terrible thing. it takes the lives of people at the prime of their life and when you talk about war, you should never talk about it with a smile on your face. but i do know this, that sometimes it's better to go to war than it is to allow the holocaust to develop a second time. [applause] >> it is not lost upon me what would happen if nuclear -- if military force had to be used against iran.

i hope and pray that is not the option that we have to seek. i hope and pray that other options will work. but as barry indicated, time is not on our side. here's the question for this group. is this the last aipac meeting before iran has a nuclear weapon? 14 months from now we meet again. i don't know the answer to that question. but i do not this. time, ladies and gentlemen, is not on our side. it is not fair to put this ally of ours, the state of israel, its prime minister and its government, on both sides of the aisle under the burden of having to deal with this issue alone. that's not good for the world. it's not good for israel. [applause] >> and i'm often asked would a military strike as the last

option be effective against the iranian nuclear threat? my belief is a military strike stopping the iranian government from having a nuclear weapon is more effective than trying to deal with the iranian government after they have one. [applause] >> and if military force is ever employed, it should be done in a decisive fashion. the iranian government's ability to wage conventional warfare against its neighbors and our troops in the region should not exist. they should not have one plane that can fly or one ship that can float. [applause] >> we have time but time is not on our side. the u.n. security council has an opportunity to act. i hope and pray they do. russia and china has a chance to change the course of history. i hope they will understand that

a nuclear-armed iran is just as much a threat to them as it is to us or israel or any or tolerant person or group. ladies and gentlemen, these are consequential times. this is the time to show determination and resolve in the face of extremism. we are at war as a nation. september 11th, 2001, everything changed about our country. we're almost nine years down the road and some of us, i think, have gotten too short of a memory. we're at war. and we have to fight this war within our values. khalid sheikh mohammed the mastermind of 9/11 should not be in civilian court in new york city. [applause] >> if he is not an enemy combatant worthy of military commission trial, who would be? i think a lot of democrats and republicans believe that thought. we are at war and we must win this war. we must see it through in iraq

and go through afghanistan. barack obama is my president. i stand by him. i stood by him in afghanistan. i will stand by him as he draws our troops down in iraq in a responsible way. and if it ever comes necessary to use military force or any other strong engagement tactic against iran, i will stand by my president and i ask you to stand by him. [applause] >> i ask you to pray for him. i have a lot of differences with president obama but can you imagine being president of the united states in these times? this man has a very hard job. we can have our fusses and we can have our fights and this week on healthcare we're going to have a hell of a fight. [applause] >> but when it comes to national security, no democrat in this room is my enemy. [applause] >> you're my opponent on the political battlefield but you're my brother and you're my sister. we're all americans.

[applause] >> i can promise you one thing. that the people we fight in far-away places with strange-sounding names could really care less the political differences between chuck schumer and lindsey graham. they hate us both equally. [laughter] >> many of you may be that way. [laughter] >> but our enemy doesn't distinguish between our political differences. they hate us because we will accept differences. they hate us because we will allow the streets of south carolina a mosque, a synagogue and a baptist church. [applause] >> that we will stand up for each other. [applause]

>> they hate us more than they love life. ladies and gentlemen, people asked ronald reagan, how does the cold war end? he said, we win, they lose. [applause] >> how does the war on terror end? we win, they lose. [applause] >> and when i say "we," i mean, moderate muslims who have been slaughtered by al-qaeda and islamic extremists. no group has suffered more than people in the muslim world trying to be tolerant. by "we" i mean, jews and gentiles, buddhists, agnostic, vegetarians, you name it. [laughter] >> i mean anybody who believes

in tolerance and support for their fellow man. one last thought, this is 2010. and we're wondering what to do with a country whose president denies the holocaust. we do what we have to do to make sure there is no second holocaust. [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, we gather tonight with one simple message. and never let it be misunderstood by the enemies that we commonly face. our message tonight, to the world, to the people in israel, to the young men and women serving overseas on our behalf, never again. [applause] >> god bless you.

god bless the people of israel. god bless the united states. god bless all those who believe in peace and tolerance. [applause] ♪ >> ladies and gentlemen, please welcome aipac national board member bob cohen. ♪ >> shhh, friends take your seats. wherever congress can affect the u.s.-israel relationship, the senior senator from new york is

never far away. throughout his 11-year tenure in the senate, and before that in his 18 years as a house member from brooklyn, senator charles schumer has advanced the u.s.-israel alliance in countless ways by introducing and passing legislation, cosponsoring bills, drafting letters, soliciting votes, speaking on the senate floor and much, much more. navigating a bill through the senate is no easy task these days. as everyone here knows. with senator schumer's leadership in the past year, critical iran sanctions legislation made it out of the senate banking committee where he sits. but he did not stop there. he insisted on adding an amendment that penalizes

companies that provide the iranian government with internet jamming equipment. this provision makes it more difficult for the iranian regime to crack down on its citizens. then as the number three democrat in the leadership, he worked closely with majority leader harry reid to get the iran sanctions bill to the floor and secure its passage. as for u.s. security assistance to israel, senator schumer has consistently made sure that aid to israel passed the senate and became law. in addition, he has spoken out to both republican and democratic presidents urging them to adhere to the negotiating principles that have led to arab-israeli peace treaties in the past. and he has told saudi officials right here in washington that after 62 years of isolating

israel, now is the time to recognize the jewish state and welcome it as a neighbor in the middle east. [applause] >> and finally, senator schumer along with republican senator lindsey graham has taken the lead in circulating a senate letter urging president obama to immediately impose tough, meaningful sanctions against iran. tomorrow, when we head to capitol hill, we will ask the rest of the senate to sign on. [applause] >> it is clear that senator schumer cares deeply about the issues that matter to us most and is uniquely positioned to advance those issues in the u.s. congress. please join me in welcoming a long time champion of the u.s.-israel relationship, my friend, our friend, senator charles schumer.

♪ >> thank you, bob cohen. thank you for being here. you are all great friends of israel. and i am proud to add, bob, you are a great friend of mine. i also want to thank howard kohr who i heard gave a great speech this morning. [applause] >> one of his many talents, esther kurtz for the hard work that helps make aipac just about the most effective political organization in america.

thank you. [applause] >> now, it's an honor to be here tonight. i want to extend a warm welcome to everyone but particularly the 700 new yorkers in attendance. [applause] >> new york, thank you! the 1200 students from 360 schools. 125 from new york. and thank you for showing your support for the state of israel. i also want to acknowledge the next speaker. i'm sort of just the warm-up act for the prime minister netanyahu. let me tell you a story about bb that shows his passion. back in the late 1980s when he was israeli ambassador and i was in the congress, he went to our

place for dinner. my wife put together the incredible spread from the local deli, pa-stromi, you name it the works. at one point in the dinner somebody asked bibi ambassador, can you please explain to us the state of the israeli economy and the role of price controls which were then in effect. so bibi says, well, tell you what. i'll show you. he then reaches over and picks up a 2-liter bottle of pepsi. he takes off the cap. puts his thumb in the mouth of the bottle and starts shaking it up. [laughter] >> i mean, he really, really shakes it. the israeli economy, he said, is like this bottle of pepsi.

but once you take your thumb out and sure enough, when he took his thumb out, the bottle exploded everywhere. 2 liters of pepsi on the ceiling, on all our guests, everywhere. our drapes was soaked. there was soda everywhere. it cost us $1800 to clean up the mess. [laughter] >> $1800 so, bibi, as my wife is always reminding me, you owe us $1800. we'll accept personal checks or shekells. now, ladies and gentlemen, you're at a crucial time here in israel's history. and, you know, we say that every year. but every year it's true. such is the nature of israel's constant struggle for survival.

it shouldn't have to be after all after these years but it is. in just the past two weeks, israel has seen an alarming violence arise in depositions over east jerusalem. rockets from gaza continuing to shower sderot. another decorati declaration of ambitions, criticism from the international community. and that, ladies and gentlemen, is just two weeks in the life of israel. the only nation in the world whose every action, every statement, every policy is magnified, is sliced, is diced and held to a rarefied standard of perfection. israel, we all know, is not perfect. but as any elected official will tell you, in this modern world, when you strive to do the right thing, you open yourself up to much more criticism than if you

don't even consider doing the right thing in the first place. too many, far too many in the media would rather criticize israel for the 5% that it does wrong than turn its focus to the failings of the palestinian community and governments. because expectations there are so low. it's unfair. it's wrong. but as we know, that's the world israel lives in and we live in. we have to live with it. sure, like every other country israel has its imperfections. but we all too often take for granted the fact that israel is in so many ways a remarkable and resilient country. a realization of the vision of isaiah, a light unto the nations. it is the light of democracy that has maintained its core principles in the face of 62 years of war, conflict and daily, daily aggression from its neighbors.

like america, freedom of speech, assembly and press is embedded in the very fabric of israel's society. and these are just a few of the values that hold our two countries so close. it is the light of a jewish homeland that has provided refugee to millions of immigrants huddled masses from europe, north africa, the middle east, the former soviet union, ethiopia and beyond. it is the light of innovation. a nation whose 5 million citizens, just 5 million, have given the countless medical, technological advances and have been awarded 9 nobel prizes in the process. it is the light of humanitarianism. a nation that's provided aid to 140 countries in the world, small little israel. whenever there's a crisis, you see her men and women helping those who are afflicted. in haiti and rwanda and india and indonesia, in turkey,

ethiopia and bosnia. it is the light of civil liberties. a nation where minorities are protected under the law by a fair and independent judicial system. a nation whose parliament the knesset who sits on a hilltop much like america's capitol hill and has 13 current arab members. it is a light of a nation desperately seeking peace that it has wanted and not found since its beginning. yes, israel is a remarkable and resilient country. but, of course, it faces grave challenges. every year, challenges it cannot and must not face alone. today the number one challenge as mentioned by my friend and colleague, lindsey graham, a challenge of a nuclear iran. let me tell you a brief story. it's another one involving the prime minister. last september prime minister

netanyahu came to capitol hill and met with the joint leadership, democrat and republican, senate and house, to talk about iran. he described the threat posed by a nuclear armed iran to israel. and it provides the training, the weapons and the funds that sustain hezbollah and hamas. he showed us they wanted nothing less than to dominate the middle east. he told us that israel had a mortal fear of a nuclear-armed iran. and that everything, everything must be done to prevent that from happening. i don't have people around the table understood the prime minister's concerns. but questioned his sense of urgency. well, what's the rush, they said? let's be careful here. iran, they are just saber-rattling. don't worry, nothing bad won't happen.

let's just continue these diplomatic talks. as this chorus grew louder i watched the look on the prime minister's face. as he grew more and more uneasy. his face tightened and so i spoke up. i said to my colleagues, of course, the vast majority of whom were not jewish, why those of us who want to avoid a nuclear iran are so passionate about acting now. i told them that there were many jews in america in the '30s. many of whom were in positions of influence. some of whom were in congress. hitler was a rising danger. his hatred of the jewish people was well-known. he'd even detailed in print his plan to annihilate the jewish people. but too many people in the american establishment said, careful. hitler is just saberder rattling. mein kampf, just rhetoric.

nothing will happen. unfortunately to our shame, the american jewish community largely sat back in the '30s. the establishment's argument, don't worry, nothing bad will happen won out. even saul bloom, a leading jewish congressman, a senior leader of the house foreign committee helped tamp down the fears. and, of course, we paid the worst price any people can pay. 6 million of our brethren, 1 million of our children murdered in cold blood. and ever since then, the jewish people have vowed never, never again. [applause] >> the current president of iran, his analogies, the analogies to the '30s are stunning.

he too denies the very existence of the holocaust. he denies the murder of 6 million of our brethren. he wants nothing more than to see the homeland of the jewish people wiped off the planet. this is not just isolated crazy talk. from some two-bit terrorist, iran's ties to semetic extremist, this is venomous hate speech from a head of state who seeks to transform iran into the dominant military force in the whole middle east. when there are fears and plausible scenarios that the jewish people could be in mortal danger, we must never repeat the complacency of the '30s. [applause] >> we must never, never again. i told my colleagues that is what motivates prime minister netanyahu.

i told him it's what motivates me. and at the end of the speech, bibi came over and hugged me and said, thank you. ladies and gentlemen, we cannot -- we must not, we will not allow iran to obtain a nuclear weapon. we cannot. we must not, we will not turn a blind eye as iran builds clandestine nuclear reactors and rejects all deals to limit uranium enrichment and thumbs its nose at the iaea. can we really call this saber-rattling when they are on the edge to developing the most awesome and deadly weapons mankind has ever known? diplomatic efforts have failed. we are too close. [applause] >> to simply continue those efforts. i believe that when it comes to iran, we should never take the military option off the table.

but i have long argued -- [applause] >> that economic sanctions can right now be the best way to choke iran's nuclear ambitions. it is important to remember this about iran. it is not a stable country. in many ways it's like a triangle perched on a point. its people like democracy. they like america. they're western. do you know what the most popular television show is in iran and the young people get american and western television because they hide their antennas in their air conditioner ducts and the regime can't stop them. well, the most popular show is not -- it's not al-jazeera. it's not even cnn. it's "american idol." [applause] >> no accounting for taste. [laughter] >> the iranian people crave

economic advancement more than anything else. they are not a poor country but a middle class country. average income in iraq, $2600. average income in iran, $8,000. if the iranian people are prevented from seeing economic progress, they're far more likely to take to the streets in an attempt to throw off the yolk of this oppressive, brutal governing regime. now, some sanctions should be imposed multilaterally. we have a better chance to do that. president sarkozy who as you know is part jewish. chancellor merkel are much more focused on the iranian threat than their predecessors who did nothing. but russia and china, both u.n. security council members with veto power constantly drag their feet. china, one of the biggest investors in iran's energy

sector, $80 billion has a particularly strong interest in delaying sanctions. that is why once and for all the u.s. must hit iran first on our own with unilateral sanctions no matter what the other nations of the world do. and we cannot wait. we must push those sanctions now. [applause] >> there is no time to wait. iran is on the verge of becoming nuclear and we cannot and must not afford that. [applause] >> both the senate and the house have put together strong bipartisan sanction packages that will send a clear message to iran and the world community that america means business. a centerpiece of this legislation is the iran petroleum sanctions act sponsored by senators lieberman, kyl, bayh and myself.

although iran is replete with oil as you know, they have trouble refining it. they import 45% of their gasoline. the iranian people have a lot of cars. they want and need gasoline. our bill says that any country that exports gasoline to iran or helps them refine their -- helps them refine their own is barred from doing any business with the united states. no ifs, ands or buts. already european oil companies that traffic with iran are beginning to pull out. even before our legislation is passed. so several months ago we pushed to get this broad senate package which includes the petroleum bill and many other tough provisions marked up by the banking committee. then we pushed to get it to the floor. things move very slowly in the senate these days. but we told majority leader reid that the iranian threat is an

issue that demands fast action and much to his credit, he heeded the call. he moved this legislation to the floor and on january 28th, the comprehensive iran sanctions accountability and divestment act passed the senate unanimously. [applause] >> now, we are in the process of reconciling the senate and house versions of the legislation so we can get this bill on the president's desk. and then the minute the president signs it, we should not carry. he must put the sanctions into effect immediately. we cannot wait. [applause] >> now, this week senator graham, who you just heard from, and i will send a bipartisan letter it off president obama emerging immediate implementation of the comprehensive iran sanctions legislation when it becomes law including the sanctions. on countries that export gasoline to iran. we cannot afford to wait for

russia or china. when you meet with your senators tomorrow, when i know you're doing, please ask every one of them to stand with israel, to stand with world peace, to stand against a nuclear iran and cosign our letter to the president. [applause] >> now i know that iran is israel's number one focus. but, of course, there are many other issues before us. like you, i am deeply concerned about the security of israel. let me be clear. a majority of israelis want peace and a two-state solution. prime minister netanyahu wants peace and a two-state solution. aipac wants peace and a two-state solution. i want peace and a two-state solution.

now there are a lot of people of good will in europe and here in the united states that have the attitude, oh, gee whiz, if only we could get the israelis and the palestinians to the table. if only we could get them to sit down and discuss the matters rationally and calmly. of course, there would be peace. that unfortunately is wishful thinking. that unfortunately is not the case. the gee whiz people ignore a sad but singular truth that we must constantly remind our friends. to this day, too many arabs and too many palestinians do not believe there should be a jewish state in the middle east. let me repeat that. too many arabs and too many palestinians do not believe there should be any jewish state

in the middle east. their view goes as follows. they say western europeans treated the jews badly for centuries. all europeans treated the jews badly for centuries. anti-semitisim was a very real problem they might say. culminating in the horror of the holocaust but it was europe's problem, not ours. and yet as recom pence many of the arabs say the western europeans gave the jews our land. of course, this view ignores the jewish's people long and continuing ties to the land of israel but that's their view. and we have to remember it. they deny israel's legitimacy but they know that as long as the bond between the u.s. and israel is unbreakable, there will always be a strong secured jewish state in the middle east. and so they work diligently and very cleverly at weakening that bond.

they seek to drive a wedge between the u.s. and israel 'cause doing so will delay the day when they have to sit down and talk seriously about peace. it is very important that we make clear -- we as a nation make clear to israel and indeed the entire world that despite our differences, such as those displayed all too publicly last week, that nothing will ever divide israel and america. [applause] >> the bond -- the bond between the u.s. and israel will be maintained regardless of the ups and downs of the peace process. regardless of the internal israeli politics. the bond we must remind particularly the arab world. between the u.s. and israel is immutable and unbreakable. through good times and the bad.

there is one other immutable. that is you. aipac. aipac is stronger and more effective than ever. that's a very high barrier to exceed but every year you exceed it just as this dinner has a record number of people. aipac knows what to do. and is unrelenting in making sure israel is protected. for that i thank all 7800 of you. and i applaud you. [applause] >> now, let me close by telling you about my name. as some of you know, my name is a hebrew word. schumer comes from the hebrew word so-mair which means guardian. watchman. my ancestors were guardians of the ghetto wall in galisha and when they came to ellis island

they said their name in yiddish and it got written down as schumer. to you i say this, that name was given to me for a reason. for as long as i live, for as long as i have the privilege of serving in the senate from new york, i will unflinchingly, unstintingly and with all of my strength will be the guardian of israel. ladies and gentlemen -- [speaking hebrew] >> the jewish nation lives now and forever. thank you. [applause] ♪

>> more from aipac in just a moment from israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu speaking yesterday at the conference but first an update on healthcare. yesterday the senate parliamentarian ruled against a republican objection to the budget reconciliation process clearing the way for consideration of house changes to the initial healthcare bill. the president signs that bill today. that's getting underway now live on our companion network c-span. then president obama heads to the interior department to speak about healthcare legislation. that's live at 12:05 eastern here on c-span2. the senate is set to begin 20 hours of debate on the budget reconciliation this afternoon with only a simple majority needed for passage. final vote is expected this week. we'll have live senate coverage of a 2:15 today here on c-span2. and now israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu from the aipac conference last night. this is about 45 minutes.

♪ ♪ >> ladies and gentlemen, please welcome aipac chairman of the board, david victor. ♪ ♪ >> we are so honored to have the prime minister of israel here with us tonight. [applause]

>> but before i introduce him, i want to first recognize a few very special guests from israel who have also joined us. defense minister ehud barak. [applause] >> and minister of national infrastructure, uzi landieu. [applause] >> and the prime minister's wife, sarah netanyahu. [applause]

>> now, while sarah and the prime minister obviously have accomplished a great deal in their lives, perhaps the honor they are most proud of this evening is the one recently bestowed upon their son. he won israel's prestigious national bible competition. [applause] >> this is quite an accomplishment and quite a distinction so congratulations to him and to his proud parents. [applause] >> in his long and distinguished career, israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu has confronted the challenges facing the jewish state with courage,

with passion, and with moral clarity. as u.n. ambassador for administrator, finance administrator, opposition leader and now in his second term as prime minister, he has been pursuing peace, security, and economic growth for his country throughout nearly 30 years of public life. for decades, he has warned the world about the threat of terrorism and radical islam. he has long recognized the danger of a nuclear-armed iran. not just to israel but to the entire world. and he has been among the most prominent voices combating the international campaign to delegitimatize israel. today from the prime minister's office, benjamin netanyahu is continuing to sound the alarm about all of these things. yet, even as he traveled the

world, warning of the threats facing israel, he has refused to abandon his quest for peace. and he has never relented from his desire to improve both the israeli and the palestinian economies. it is with these goals of peace and prosperity in mind that he has taken a number of bold steps in the past year. last summer, he declared his support for demilitarizing for the state of israel. [applause] >> now, i'll quote him here. in my vision of peace in this small land of ours, two peoples live freely, side-by-side in amity and mutual respect. a few months later, netanyahu took another bold and unprecedented step. he declared a 10-month moratorium on all israeli

construction in the west bank. and while the palestinian authority still refuses to enter into direct talks with them, he has nevertheless taken steps to make daily life easier for palestinians by removing nearly 200 checkpoints and road blocks in the past year. [applause] >> insisting on security while pursuing a durable peace, this has been his goal in the past and it remains his guiding principle as israel's head of government today. mr. prime minister, on behalf of the 8,000 people in the room for tonight's aipac gala banquet for the way you consistently sounded the alarm about the threat of iran's nuclear program. about the

threat of iran's nuclear program. we want you to know that we will do everything we can to ensure that the u.s. israel alliance remains on breakable forever. [applause] ladies and gentlemen, please welcome -- please join me in welcoming the prime minister of israel, the honorable benjamin netanyahu. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ >> thank you very much. i think it was woody allen who said he spent a lifetime trying to arrive at a jewish event and never made it. [laughter] i came untying. [laughter] with my wife sara, the mother of the avner and it's very good to be with all of you and members of the obama administration,

senators, members of congress, my colleagues, defense minister ehud barak and uzi landieu, ambassador michael oren and the distinguished ambassadors who are here from many countries, howard corr, david victor, all the members of aipac in the 1300 students who came from around this country. [cheers and applause] my friends, of the world faces monumental challenges, i know that america and israel will face them together. [applause] we stand together because we're fired by the same ideals and

inspired by the same dreams, the dreams of achieving prosperity, security and peace for all. [applause] now, this dream seems an impossibility to most jews a century ago. you know, this month, my father celebrated his 100th bert a. [applause] that's not his only achievement, but when he was born, bazaars ruled russia, the british empire scans the globe in the ottoman empire ruled the middle east. during his lifetime, all three of these empires fell, others rose and fell into jewish

destiny, the pendulum of jewish faith swine from the depths of despair to a renew hope and a new beginning, the rebirth of the jewish state. [applause] c. for the first time in 2000 years, a sovereign jewish people could defend itself against attack. and before that, understand what transformation this list. he for that in our desperation, we were powerless, absolutely powerless to defend ourselves against an unremitting barrage of how the jury from the bloodletting in the middle ages to the explosion of the jews for from what i meant to say that for from spain and portugal to the whole slaughter of in the ukraine to do for growth in in the greater of all, the

holocaust. the founding of israel didn't stop the attack on the on the said jews, but it merely gave the jews the power to defend themselves. i want to tell you about the day that i realized what this transformation was. it was the day i met schley meets over 40 years ago. i was 19 years old. i served with her son in the same elite military unit eared and one dark night, during the battle in 1969, hyde was killed in a burst of gunfire. at his funeral in the caboose in the galilee, i learned

something, i discovered that he had been born shortly after his mother and father had been freed from the death camps of europe. if he had been blowing two years earlier, this daring young israeli officer would've been tossed into the other like a million and a half other jewish children. hyme's mother told me that though she was in great english, she was proud. at least, she told me, and this is something i'll never forget as long as i live, at least, she said, my son fell wearing the uniform of a jewish soldier defending the jewish state.

[applause] and time and again, israel's soldiers were force to repel the attacks of much larger enemies committed to our destruction. yet, when egypt and jordan realized that we could not be defeated in battle, they embraced the packs of peace and we value the peace treaties we've achieved with both countries. yet, there are those -- [applause] there are those who continued the assault against jewish states. there are those who openly call for destruction. they seek to achieve this goal through terrorism, missile attacks, mo three is developing

atomic weapons. it's instructive that began gathering of the jews from israel doesn't deter them. in fact, it wipes their appetite. iran's rulers say, and israel is a one bombed country. the head of someone says it all the gather in israel and will save us the trouble of going after them worldwide. my friends, these are unpleasant facts, that they are the facts. the greatest threat to in a living organism, to any nation, is not to recognize danger in time, not to recognize the facts. seventy-five years ago, many leaders around the world put their heads in the sand, untold

millions died in the war that followed. ultimately, two of history's greatest leaders helped turn the tide and eleanor roosevelt and churchill helped save the world. [applause] indeed, they deserve every applause. they helped save the world, but they were too late to save 6 million of my old people, and the jewish people. the future of the jewish state can never depend on the goodwill of even the greatest of men. israel must always reserve the right to defend itself. [cheers and applause]

today an unprecedented threat to humanity looms large. a radical iranian regime -- [cheers and applause] [cheers and applause] thank you. [cheers and applause] thank you.

a radical iranian regime armed with nuclear weapons could bring an end to the era of nuclear peace, that the world has enjoyed for the last 65 years. such a regime could provide nuclear weapons to terrorists and might even be tempted to use them. and our world would never be the same. iran's brazen bid to develop nuclear weapons is certainly first and foremost affected my country, but it's a threat to the entire region. if it is to the entire world. israel thus expects the international community to act swiftly and to act decisively to thwart this danger. but we always reserve the right of self-defense. [applause]

and my friends, we have to defend ourselves also against lies and against vilification. throughout history, throughout our history, the slanders against the jewish people always preceded physical attacks against death. in fact, they were used to justify those attacks. the were called the well poisoners of mankind, the fellow members of instability, the source under the sun. unfortunately for as in the case of the physical attacks, these libelous attacks against the did not stop with the creation of the state of israel.

it's true that for a time over it anti-semitism was held in check by the shame and shock of the holocaust, but only for a time. in recent decades, the hatred of the has reemerged with increasing force, though with an insidious twist. it is not really direct did at the jewish people, it's increasingly direct it at the jewish state and at its most pernicious form, it argues that if only israel did not exist, many of the world's problems would go away. now, i want to be clear. this doesn't mean that israel is above criticism, of course not. israel like any democracy has

its imperfections, but we strive to correct them through open debate and scrutiny. israel has independent courts, the rule of law, a free press and a vigorous parliamentary debate, believe me, it's very vigorous. [laughter] while you've just gone through a week of health care voting, in israel every week is health care week. it doesn't stop. you know that in this city, members of congress refer to each other as my distinguished colleague from wisconsin, the distinguished senator from california, and israel members of knesset don't speak of their distinguished colleagues from kiryat shmona and be'er sheva. we say you don't want to know what we say. [laughter] because in israel, such criticism is a way of life and

we also accept that criticism is part and parcel of the conduct of international affairs. but israel should be judged by the same standards applied to other nations and other democracy. [applause] [applause] sometimes i think there's a triple standard. one standard for the date tatar ships, a second standard for the democracies and a third standard is a standard for israel. we should be judged by one standard. and allegations made against the state of israel must be grounded in fact.

hot [applause] one allegation that is in fact is described is foreign colonialist of. this is one of the great lie of modern times. in my office, i have a signature and i was low to me by the department of antiquities feared the ring was found next to the western wall, but it dates back 2100 years ago, 200 years after king david declared jerusalem as our people's capital. no is a steal of a jewish official in you is inscribed on it in hebrew. the name is.

netanyahu ben-yoash. now that's my last name. my first name, benjamin, dave back a thousand years earlier to benjamin, the mojica. one of benjamin feathers was named shimon which also happens to be the name of my good friend, shimon peres. you see, nearly 4000 years ago, benjamin shimon and their brothers wondered the area. ladies and jenna then comes the connection between the jewish people and the land of israel cannot be denied. [cheers and applause] [cheers and applause]

the connection between the jewish people in jerusalem cannot be denied. [cheers and applause] the jewish people were building jerusalem 3000 years ago and the jewish people are building jerusalem today. [cheers and applause] jerusalem is not a settlement. it capital. [cheers and applause] [cheers and applause]

[cheers and applause] thank you. thank you, thank you. in jerusalem, my government has maintained -- [cheers and applause] thank you. thank you, you are very kind. thank you. in jerusalem, my government has maintained the policies of every single israeli government since 1967, including those led by golda meir, menachem begin and yitzhak rabin. [cheers and applause] today, nearly a quarter of a million jews, that's almost half

the city's jewish population, live in neighborhoods that are just beyond the 1949 armistice lines. [cheers and applause] all these neighborhood are within five minutes from the knesset. they're integral and inextricable part of modern jerusalem. everyone knows -- [applause] everyone. americans, europeans, israelis certainly, palestinians, every one knows that these neighborhoods will be part of israel in any peace settlement. [applause] and therefore, building in them in no way precludes the possibility of a two state lucian. and i want to say one more thing

about our policies in jerusalem. you know, nothing is rare in the middle east and tolerance for the beliefs of others. but it's only been under israeli sovereignty in jerusalem by religious freedom for all faiths has been guaranteed and we shall continue to guarantee that religious freedom for everyone. [cheers and applause] [cheers and applause] ladies and gentlemen, while we cherish our homeland, we also recognize that palestinians live there as well. we don't want to cover them. we don't want to rule them. we want them as our neighbors, living freely in security,

dignity and peace. [applause] yet, israel is unjustly accused of not wanting peace with the palestinians. nothing could be further from the truth. [applause] my government has consistently shown its commitment to peace in both word and deed. from day one, we called -- i called on the palestinian authority to begin peace negotiations without delay. and i make that same call today. president abbas, come and negotiate peace. [applause] you know, that is so elementary and so obvious.

you'd think we don't have to say it because readers who truly want peace should be able to sit face to face with each other and negotiate the peace. you can't successfully and the negotiation for peace if you don't begin it. so i call on the palestinian leadership, come and negotiate peace. [applause] of course, the united states can help the parties resolve their problems, but it cannot solve the problems for the parties. peace cannot be imposed from the outside. it can only come through direct negotiations in which we develop mutual trust. at that mutual trust that is not very to forge a common future. last year i spoke of a vision of

peace in which a demilitarized palestinian state recognizes the jewish state. just as the palestinians expect israel to recognize a palestinian state, we expect the palestinians to recognize the jewish state. [cheers and applause] my government has removed hundreds of roadblocks, barriers earth rams, rams, checkpoints and this has facilitated tremendous palestinian movement. and as a result, we have helped spur, actually an incredible boon given today's world economy, an incredible boom in the palestinian economy. we have coffee shops, restaurants, businesses, shopping malls, even multiplex studious. and that's not come about out of sheer error. we have made it possible.

you cannot do this if you cannot move tracks, goods, people, customers. that's been our policy and we added to that an unprecedented moratorium on new israeli construction in judea and samaria. this is what my government has done for peace. [applause] now i ask you --hot [applause] what has the palestinian authority done for peace? well, you can judge for yourself. they've place preconditions on peace talks, waged a result lists international campaign to undermine israel's legitimacy and promoted the notorious goldstone report that falsely accuses israel of war crimes. in fact, they they're doing that right now at the u.n. -- that

the grotesquely named u.n. human rights commission. [applause] and i want to use this opportunity to thank president obama and the congress of the united states for their efforts to thwart this libel, and i asked for the continued effort this week to fight this live. [applause] [cheers and applause] regrettably, the palestinian authority has also continued the unabated incitement against israel in their schools and

other institutions that come directly under their control. and some others too. a few days ago in a public square near ramallah, the palestinians named this square after a terrorist who murdered 38 innocent israeli civilians, including 13 children, including an american citizen, the photographer gail rubin, they named a public square after this murderer and a palestinian authority did nothing. ladies and gentlemen, peace requires reciprocity. it cannot be a one-way street in which israel make all the concessions and the palestinian authority would none.

that's got to change. [applause] israel stands ready to make the compromises necessary for peace, but we expect the palestinians to compromise as well, to do their part. [applause] but there's one thing i'll never compromise on and that one thing is israel's security. [applause] let me express to you the difficulty of trying to explain israel's security predicament to the citizens of the united states, a country t