terrorism, we should also take pause to honor all the veterans and active duty service members who have paved the way to this day. and we must remember that this tremendous victory has come with a tremendous cost. a cost that we must bear as a nation for many years to come as our service members return home. mr. president, this is, of course, also a particularly meaningful day for the thousands of americans who lost a family member or a friend or a loved one on september 11. we know this news can't bring back their loved ones, but our hope is that it can help ease the pain they live with each day. like many americans, my first thought last night after this news was of the victims and their families, and my thoughts and prayers remain with them during this time. going forward, we must remain vigilant and focused on the treks of the american people from terrorism wherever it may

be, and we must continue to work in the interest of peace and security for all americans. thank you, mr. president, and i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from tennessee. mr. alexander: mr. president, i would like to congratulate the men and women of our military for a courageous mission and our intelligence community for accurate and important intelligence. i would like to congratulate the president for his persistence in bringing a mass murderer to justice, and i would especially like to salute the men and women of our military services who for the last ten years have fought as indispensable consequences of the actions of terrorism. and all of us, as has been said by many senators today,

expressly having our hearts -- having in our hearts and minds the families of the victims of 9/11 and hope that somehow in a small way this event helps bring some conclusion to what has happened to their lives. mr. president, i have just returned from visiting eastern tennessee where there were devastating tornadoes last week. the president at the request of our entire congressional delegation has declared four of our counties -- washington, green, hamilton, bradley -- as disaster areas. and we thank him for his prompt attention to that. i visited today a county just north of chattanooga, just north of where the new volkswagen plant will be. in tennessee last week, 36 men and women lost their lives as a

result of these storms. the area where i visited is one of the two areas most affected, the other being washington and greene counties where our governor was today. someone asked me following my visit if anything about it shocked me, and i said it always shocks me when i see the consequences of a devastating flood or especially a massive tornado. this one had winds of nearly 200 miles an hour. and whenever you stand there and you see -- you try to put yourself in the shoes of someone who might have been there when the tornado came through, you try to imagine what it would be like, if you saw this funnel coming and knew that it would only interfere with your life for about 20 or 30 seconds, that after that all would be devastated, there is no way you

cannot be shocked by it, there is no way i could put myself in the shoes of those who were there. i saw one man who was there, arthur bates, 70 years old. i saw his house which was completely demolished. his upright piano was upside-down. he told me that he had killed a calf and left to take some meat to the preacher and had been gone for about five minutes when the tornado hit his house. not so lucky was another family not very far away. all of the members of that family were killed except for an 8-year-old boy who was found in a tree and who survived. not far away, several families had signs that said the lord was with us, and surely it had to seem to them providential that there could be such devastation almost in their front yard and their homes would be safe.

ironically today, as i went from nashville to chattanooga, i was reading about a commemoration of the floods that hit tennessee almost exactly a year ago on may 2, 2010. these were floods that affected counties from nashville to memphis. in nashville alone, there was was $2 billion worth of damage. people are still recovering from that flood a year later. businesses have closed in some cases but most have opened. the grand ol' opry was shut but it was open again. opryland was open again, nashville is thriving again, people are coming back to nashville, but the commemoration today was for the large number of families in tennessee who hurt and some are still in recovery. and then if that weren't enough, in the western part of our state along the mississippi river, we have reports that the water is rising and will rise to levels that will be higher than at any

time since the flood of 1937. people are already preparing shelters, tributaries into the mississippi are already rising. on friday, i will be going to memphis to meet with the army corps of engineers and with local officials to make sure that we're doing all we can do. none of us in the federal government believe that we can make anyone whole after a disaster like this, but we can help. as i said to those who i sauteed in chattanooga, north of -- who i saw today in chattanooga, north of chattanooga, there is a local number to call for help, there is a fema number to call-1-800-681-fema. we found in a flooding a year ago from nashville to memphis that that was a big help to many tennesseans. i hope the same will be true in east tennessee and across our state today. a year ago, tennesseans distinguished themselves by not looting and complaining but by

cleaning up and helping one another. i saw that again today in hamilton county. the sheriff told me that within a few hours after the devastation, there were 500 or so men with chain saws out clearing debris and trees from the roads and from the yards, helping one another. so, mr. president, i speak today on behalf of all members of the senate in expressing to those in tennessee our concern and our willingness to continue to do all we can to help. i ask unanimous consent to place in the record following these remarks a summary of the actions that we are taking and the events that are happening in tennessee as well as two letters from the congressional delegation to the -- well, one letter from the congressional delegation to the president

requesting a disaster relief which he granted promptly, and another to the general who was president of the mississippi river commission urging him to take every action possible to help the communities along the mississippi river as water rises there. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. alexander: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i rise today to support the nomination of kevin sharp to fill a judicial vacancy on the united states district court for the middle district of tennessee. the senate will be voting on the nomination within a few minutes. kevin is an outstanding individual. i'm pleased to be able to support his nomination today. as a governor, i appointed about 50 judges. i tried to determine in doing that if he or she had the character and the intelligence and the temperament to be a judge, whether that person would treat people before the bench with courtesy, and most important whether they were determined to be impartial to

litigants before the court. i believe kevin sharp meets these qualifications and i'm pleased that he will bring that character and skill to his service on the bench. i congratulate the president for nominating him. kevin is a native of tennessee. he is a founding partner of the national law firm of drescher and sharp. he has been an expert in employment law and commercial disputes. he is a graduate of two tennessee institutions of higher education. he earned his bachelor of science degree from christian brothers college, graduating assume cum laude. he earned his juris doctorate from van den built. -- vanderbilt. he was a recipient of the appellant advocacy award. he was a research assistant on constitutional law and habeas corpus. as a lawyer, kevin sharp has repeatedly earned recognition from his peers, being named one of the "national business journal"'s best of the bar in 2000 and each year from

2005-2009. prior to becoming a lawyer, kevin served in the united states navy as a flight crew member operating patrol reconnaissance and antisubmarine warfare capacities as part of the u.s. pacific fleet. kevin has broad support in tennessee. both the white house and my office and senator corker's office received numerous letters from republicans and democrats and those who didn't indicate any sort of partisan leaning, which is the way it ought to be. although the president nominated kevin on november 17 of last year for the first time, the seat that he has been nominated to fill is designated as a judicial emergency. it's been vacant for four years, since march 1, 2007. it's the third longest vacancy on the list of judicial emergencies, and the people of tennessee deserve to have this vacancy filled. i thank the judiciary committee

and the president for its prompt consideration of kevin sharp's -- well, i thank the president for the nomination and the judiciary committee's prompt consideration of that nomination. i'm grateful for the opportunity to join in support of the nomination of kevin sharp, and i encourage my colleagues to join me in supporting the nomination today. i thank the president. i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. mr. grassley: today, the senate will confirm two more of president obama's judicial nominees. i continue to work with the chairman of the committee to ensure nominees are afforded a fair but thorough process and in a timely manner. today's vote marks the 19th nominee to be confirmed in just 42 days that the senate has been in session this congress. the judiciary committee is holding nominations and their hearings on wednesday, and on

thursday, we will report additional judicial and executive nominees to the floor. thus far, we have taken positive action on 43 of 63 nominees submitted this congress or 68% of all nominees. now, let me repeat that because i'm going to say something that makes it very disgusting to me, some things that are coming out of the white house. thus far, we have taken positive action on 43 of 63 nominees submitted to this congress or 68% of the nominees. with this progress, i was then surprised at the recent remarks of the white house counsel before the american bar association members. this past april 14. this council addressed the group and complained about the pace of

judicial appointments. he encouraged the group to escalate the general sense of urgency regarding judicial appointments. press reports indicate that he asked them to play a larger role to -- quote -- "bring home the impact or the effect of gridlock." end of quote. so, mr. president, not only do i think that these remarks are unjustified, given the pace of confirmation this year -- and that's the 68% that i've referred to -- but they also fail on the part of the white house counsel to acknowledge the problem begins where? with the president of the united states and his staff at the white house, the counsel particularly. so this brings me to the point that if we're acting so slowly, why has the president failed to send to the senate a nomination

for 55% of the current judicial vacancies? this statistic certainly does not indicate any sense of urgency on the part of the white house and then brings further attention to the intellectual dishonesty of the white house in his speech to the a.b.a. members that we are not acting fast enough up here on the hill. having said that, i want to say a few words about the two nominees that we're going to be voting on today. roy dalton jr. is nominated to be u.s. district court judge, middle district, florida. mr. dalton received his b.a. with high honors and his j.d. from the university of florida. following law school, he joined the firm of dean, ringers, morton and lawton as an associate where he later became a principal of that firm. in 1982, the nominee founded his

first law firm, roy b. dalton jr. b.a. he would later form other practices where he could serve as a principal. in 1999, he began working of counsel for the firm of gray, harris and robinson where his practice grew to an area of civil litigation, government relations, appellate practice and business practice for relations, appellate practice and business practice for individuals. serving as counsel to his former legal partner and united states senator, mel martinez. mr. dalton has also practiced in appellate matters of counsel for the carlyle appellate law firm, a post that he has held since 2004. the american bar association standing committee on the federal judiciary gave

mr. dalton the rating of substantial majority, well-qualified, minority, qualified. i'm pleased to support the nomination of mr. dalton. i also rise in support of kevin sharp for u.s. district court judge, middle district tennessee. mr. sharpen listed in the united states -- mr. sharp enlisted in the united states senate following high school and received honorable discharge 1964. th19644 -- 1986. he received his b.s. from christian brother college and j.d. from vanderbilt university school of law. he began his legal career as an associate with the firm of storystokes and barthelmew. and mr. sharp returned to stokes, barthelmew and petry

eventually making partner. since 2003, has been a shareholder and partner at drex ler andrexler and sharp, where s focused on disability law. the american bar association on the federal judiciary committee has rated him qualified and i urge my colleagues to support the nominee. i would note that the vacancy of mr. sharp that he will fill was created by the retirement of judge eackels march 2007. a few months later, on june the 13th, 2007, president bush nominated gus preier to fill the vacancy. mr. prier waited eight months before he had a hearing. that was the last action the committee took on the nominati nomination. his nomination languished in committee for another ten months before being returned to the president january 2009 at the end of president bush's second term. it is both unfortunate and

unnecessary that this seat has remained vacant for this long. i congratulate each of these members for their achievements and commend them for the public service that they have given and that they will provide to the people of this country and particularly to their respective states in the future. thank you, mr. president. and i yield the floor. and i don't see anybody here, so i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

mrs. boxer: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from california. mrs. boxer: i ask that the quorum call being dispensed with. and i yield back all the remaining time. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. boxer: and i ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the dalton nomination is confirmed and the question now occurs on the sharp

nomination. the yeas and nays were requested. is there a second? there appears to be a second. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

vote:

vote:

vote:

vote: the presiding officer: are there any senators wishing to change their vote or to vote? if not, on this, we have 89 nay, no zeros, and with that, the nomination is confirmed. under the previous order, the motions to reconsider are considered made and laid upon the table, the president will be immediately notified of the senate's action, and the senate will resume lenl laifb session. -- legislative session.

mr. reid: mr. president, what's the pending business? the presiding officer: s. 493, which the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 17, s. 493, a bill to reauthorize and improve the sbir and sttr programs and for other purposes. mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: at the beginning of this congress, we entered into an agreement with the minority and one of the things that we wanted to do is to make sure there was a process for allowing amendments to bills. we've had the small business jobs bill on the calendar for weeks. i believe this is the fifth week this bill has been around. we've had votes on a lot of amendments, but each time we think we can see the way to close this, my friends on the other side of the aisle come forward with other amendments. making it impossible for to us move forward on this bill that creates jobs.

it's a jobs bill. and i don't know how much more good faith we could show than what we've shown. before the recess, we -- and we had i think nine amendments. we said okay, let's vote on these. senator snowe from maine objected. because she wanted to have a vote on a bill that the chairman of the small business committee said there's not even been a hearing on the bill. we spent days working on an agreement to have votes on amendments to the small business bill that would get us closer to passing the bill. included in this agreement were a cornyn amendment having absolutely nothing, no amendments or nothing being germane to this bill. when he one from senator hutch hutchison, same thing dealing with health care, has nothing to do with this legislation that's before the senate. so we had all kinds of

amendments. very, very few had anything to do with the subject matter of the legislation. during the course of many weeks debating the bill, we've made efforts to accommodate senator snowe and the rest of the republicans on amendments but there's been no way of ending this. so we're going to file cloture tonight. we had a vote on another amendment offered by snowe. she's already had one vote on this, as well as multiple other republican amendments, nearly all of which, i repeat, had nothing to do with this underlying bill. in light of our accommodation to extraneous amendments, it's difficult for me to understand why we can't finish debate on this bill. but obviously, the republicans feel differently. we've been more than fair. we should be able to reach agreement on considering the remaining amendments and voting on final passage but that's no not -- but the -- that's not what the republican leader said is going to happen. i'm sure he will tell his senators, we need more amendments and they will vote

to -- to not allow cloture to take place. but there is only a limited amount of time we can spend on this. we believe that jobs is the key to what we do here in the senate. that's why i worked so hard to get the f.a.a. bill done, the job dealing with patents, to get that done, because they create about 750,000, 800,000 jobs. this bill would create thousands of jobs. but i guess the -- my friends on the other side of the aisle are more interested in messages than they are trying to get something done that would be good for the american people. so i have to file cloture on this bill. and i send a cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the motion. the clerk: cloture motion. we, the undersigned, senator in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, hereby move to bring to a close the debate on calendar number 17, s. 493, the

sbbir and sttr reauthorization act of 2011. signed by 18 senators as follows. mr. reid: mr. president, i would ask consent the name of -- names of the senators be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i now ask, mr. president, unanimous consent to proceed to executive session and consider the nomination of john j. mcconnell jr. of rhode island to be united states district judge for the district of columbia. the presiding officer: without objection. the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination, the judiciary, john j. mcconnell jr. of rhode island to be united states district judge for the district of rhode island. mr. reid: mr. president, i ask consent that it be in order at this time to waive the mandatory quorums under rule 22 with respect to both cloture motions. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: now, mr. president, i got a little ahead of myself. there's a cloture motion.

i would ask the clerk to report it at this time dealing with john mcconnell. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the motion. the clerk: cloture motion. we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, hereby move to bring to a close the debate on the nomination of john j. mcconnell jr. of rhode island to be united states district judge for the district of rhode island. signed by 17 senators as follows. mr. reid: mr. president, i would ask consent that the names -- the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i've asked consent, previously asked, ask that be confirmed, that this time rule 22 with -- with respect to rule 22, the mandatory quorums, would not be required. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask consent the senate now resume legislative session, mr. president. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: ps, reid: mr. presidd say that i would hope that, as i

mentioned this morning, i hope that we're not in a situation where we have to file cloture on district court judges. that really is a little much. i would hope that -- you know, i filed cloture on this because i couldn't get an agreement not to do it, but i hope that we don't have to have cloture on all the district court judges that somebody has some concern about. this is a very good man. morally his record is impeccab impeccable. as a lawyer, he is certainly one of the two or three best lawyers in the state of rhode island. and i would hope that we we could get this done on wednesday when this cloture motion ripens. i ask consent that the injunction of secrecy be removed from the following treaties transmitted to the president: dish i'm sorry, to the senate, on may

2, 2507, by the president of the united states, protocols 1, 2, 357bdz 0 the south pacific nuclear-free zone treaty document number 112-2. procoals 1 on the one hand 2 to the nuclear weapons free treaty, document 112-3. i further ask that the treaties be considered as having been read the first time and they be referred wayccompanying pairpts to the committee on foreign relations in order to be printed, the president of the united states in regard to both be printed in the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: ask unanimous consent that the appointments at the desk appear separately in the record as if married by the chair. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i i understand, mr. president, that we're going to make a report to the -- the presiding officer: the chair lays before the senate communications regarding the resignation of senator ensign, without objection, the letter will be printed in the record as spread upon the journal.

mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 10:00 a.m. tomorrow morning, tuesday, may 3. following the prayer and pledge, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, the senate proceed to a period of morning business until 5:00 p.m. this be for debate ohm, senators permitted to speak for up to ten minutes each, with the first hour equally divided between the two leaders or their designees with the republicans controlling the first 30 minutes, the majority controlling the next 30 minutes. finally, that the senate recess from 12:30 to 2:15 for the weekly caucus meetings. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: we're without objectioning with the republican leader regarding the death of osama bin laden. we may have a roll call vote on the adoption of the resolution tomorrow afternoon. i ask that the senate adjourn under the previous order. the presiding officer: the senate stands adjourned until

10:00 am harp nomination. the dalton nomination will be confirmed by unanimous consent. mr. president, late last night we heard the news we've been longing to hear since the worst morning in our memory, osama bin laden brought to justice. this was an american mission. last night's news stumped the world but this operation's success surprised no one. america's special forces and intelligence operatives are the best, best trained, best equipped and best led. every day of every year they risk their lives for our safety. they are the most professional and proficient forces on the

planet. and yesterday they brought down the most wanted mass murderer on earth. their success is the most significant victory yet in the significant victory yet in the >> the fight against al qaeda and terrorism sends the strong message to terrorists. this success is direct result of president obama's leadership and the national security priorities he outlined when he took office, and the green light he gave the forces this week. president obama insisted that we refocused on afghanistan and pakistan in the fight against terrorism. those tremendous military diplomatic efforts are the reason that we woke up this morning in a world that is no longer home to osama bin laden. at the end of his life is not the end of the fight. it was justice, but only one nature of justice. absolutely as a definitive victory, but it does not define

absolute victim. america welcomes the success of our fellow extraordinary mission. even as we breathe a sigh of relief, we are not relieved to be persistent to beat our enemy to make our nation stronger. the leader of the al qaeda is gone, but the organization is not. we know our enemy is widespread and motivated. the youth is it maybe more motivated today than it was yesterday. our troops continue to fight. our intelligence professionals continue to work, their families continue to sacrifice, we continue to support all of them. and support each other. i also pause today to once again lend a shoulder to those who's grief never ends. not with time, not with bin laden's demise, not ever. this significant measure of justice is a small measure of comfort to those that lost loved one to america and around the world, and new york and virginia and pennsylvania and aboard the uss cole and on training in

london and madrid, and so many other places. bin laden's death does not bring back the thousands of innocent people his thugs kill, or make whole families that will be incomplete forever. it is an important milestone that reminds the world, america does not suffer the wicked and will not submit to evil. our resolve is strengthened and challenged in the immunity. the writ is often tested and unbreakable. because of the hard work of courageous americans in the intelligence and law enforcement communities, along chapter in the nation's history closed yesterday. today we welcome spring of a new optimism and reviewed patriotism. the chapter behind us ended with justice, we hope the chapter ahead of us will bring security and piece. >> mr. president, today americans and all who long for justice awoke to good news. nearly ten years after the

united states set out to kill or capture osama bin laden, justice has indeed been done. the man who orchestrated the 9/11 attacks and who rebelled in the horror of that day is dead. and those who follow his twisted vision are again on notice. america is in pursuit. this is a long time coming. for two decades, osama bin laden and the al qaeda network he created, sustains, and led had been at war with the united states. the path of terror, extended from the first world trade center bombing, to the bombing of towers and the u.s. embassy in kenya and tunisia, to the bombing of uss cole, to the horrors of 9/11, and two long and difficult wars that followed. 9/11 may have been the day that the pattern of violence became suddenly and undenially clear. bin laden disruptive path was

already long by then. and for the past ten years, america has been determined to bring this monster to justice. from the beginning of this fight, submission has been clear. to deny al qaeda any of its affiliates a sanctuary to plan, prepare, and launch another attack on u.s. soil. and the effort to prevent that long feared attack has been an undenial success under two administrations in the ongoing war on terror. a few short years after 9/11, al qaeda had gained enough strength to once again pose a serious threat to the united states. meanwhile, the taliban had reestablished his headquarters in pakistan and gained enough strength to return to afghanistan and risk the success of our mission there. as the years went by, osama bin laden's ability to elude capture had become a greater source of frustration to us, and a source of propaganda to his followers.

over the years, americans had become all too familiar with bin laden's dark pronouncements from his preverse declaration that it was the obligation of every muslim to kill and fight americans and their allies whether civilian or military in any country to the declaration after 9/11 that he had calculated the number of innocence that he could kill that morning. and that he was the most optimistic planner of them all. last night, those proud pronouncements ended at the barrel of a gun. the last thing osama bin laden saw on this earth was a small team of americans who shot him. so americans can be proud of the efforts of our military and intelligence communities and the focused efforts of two administration in fighting al qaeda and now in capturing it's self-appointed leader. this is indeed a signal

achievement. a huge victory in the war against terrorism, a day of great pride for our country, the president made the right call and we thank him for it. we can never bring back those who died on 9/11, or those who have given their lives in the long and difficult war. but all americans can say with renewed confidence today that we have kept our pledge and that this is a war we will win. some will recall that osama bin laden launched the war many years ago in the false assumption that america didn't have the stomach for the fight. and while it may have taken longer than we hoped, last night he and his followers learned just how wrong he was. we take great satisfaction in knowing that osama bin laden will no longer be able to carry out his evil plans, that he has made his last video, and that whatever -- and whenever someone

suggests that the u.s. has grown weary, complacent in the war we have shown how determined we have to fight it until the end. history is full of fallen december puts and madmen. last night he added one more to the ranks. but we don't rest. because we know al qaeda's determination to attack the united states didn't end on september 11th, 2001, and it didn't end last night. we continue to fight. knowing that al qaeda remains committed to attacking our homeland and our allies. we were reminded of this just last week when germany arrested three men associated with al -- al qaeda planning an attach there. we have matched the terrorist threat with the valor of or armed services and terrorism

professionals. the men of women in the counterterrorism center have unselfishly devoted himself to thwarting the plans against us. we are deeply, deeply grateful for their effort. as for the war, bin laden may create the opportunity to review our efforts with pakistan, to bring fresh pressure on al qaeda's senior leadership. president obama noted in his remarks of last night that it was essential for pakistan to join us in the fight. today is the day to redouble our efforts in pursuit of al qaeda. in the coming weeks and months, the same counterterrorism professionals will focus on determining what bin laden's death means for the threat posed by al qaeda affiliates in somalia, north africa, and remainder of al qaeda's senior

leadership. but today, the world knows once again that wherever al qaeda lurks, wherever they lurk, we will find them. it may not be days from now. it may not be months. those who plot harm to innocent americans and our allies will be captured or killed. for them, justice will be done. anyone who lived through the horror of 9/11 remembers exactly where they were on the terrible september day. now they will remember where they where when they first heard the new that is the man behind had been killed by brave american forces inside of pakistan. we'll remember where we were when after years of effort we finally got our man. america didn't seek this fight. it came to us. but every since 9/11, we've been determined to fight al qaeda to

the end. we knew from the start it would require patient and great sacrifice. and that effort has paid off. thanks to the skill and perseverance of many brave men and women, we have done what we said. america has not waived, it has not lost sight of the mission, and we will prevail. :

has been the head of wal-mart since 2009. his discussion with wall street journal deputy managing editor alan murray focuses on the future of retail, the economy and diversity issues of wal-mart. during this event a protest against wal-mart began outside this manhattan restaurant. this is just over an hour. [applause] >> thank you for a much for being here. can we assume your presence as a harbinger of the store opening in manhattan? >> i thought that question might come of this morning and i'm glad it's first. i hope i get to make more visits to this great city.

[laughter] >> anything you want to announce? >> as you might expect, we don't have any announcements today, and we have to look forward to coming back media that is a future breakfast. >> soon? >> it's one of those there's a lot of steps in the process and we are frankly it's very clear if you ride in a taxicab in the city that we are very, very interested in new york. i think many of you here have already said that to me this morning and said how can we help? and that's what we are in the process of doing is really disgusting, looking at the options could of the important thing is we know there are millions of customers in this great city that don't have easy access to a wal-mart stores and we would like to help solve that problem. we also know with fuel prices many residents of new york city have to drive distances to

shopping our stores. if you drive away from the city on a weekend you will see many residents of the city out shopping in a wal-mart store. we believe that last year new york residents spend $195 million in wal-mart stores not a single dollar of that was and new york city. semidey you know that? is that something on credit card records or -- >> you think of the sales tax and jobs and all the factors about what it would mean to the city but that's right that is our actual data based on the information available. >> we will look forward to the announcement. people in new york like to make guesses about what's going on in the economy all the time. at wal-mart you know, you are the economy, you have all this data. tell us what you're seeing right now in the united states.

>> will of course, we do have a lot of data because we have a lot of customers. we have in the united states approximately 140 million customers visit us in the u.s. every week. so, by that just sheer volume of transactions of customers visiting our stores, we can look closely at what they are buying, when they buy it, and we of course do look at that very, very closely. frankly, we do see the customer in u.s. core customer is still wonderful love pressure, and you know come here as we get toward the end of the month for example the paycheck cycles when customers are really running out of money and when you're shopping in the store and they have very little income left to get through the end of the month we can see the purchase pattern of the smaller size, less discretionary spending, often just the basics to get through the end of the month.

then when the new cycle the customer you might see his been replenished and they are able to come into the store. it's always interesting and i enjoy looking at sales for the first day of each month and especially during times like this. we get bigger increases in sales year-over-year in the first couple of days in the month and then at the end of the month it's really dropping off. so even compared to a year rego it shows greater pressure on the consumer. >> more pressure today than a year ago? >> probably even more. we saw all over the last 12 months even that in the of the month cycle continuing to be a concern, and frankly i think again it's the wal-mart customers. it's not we would like for all of you here to be customers of the wal-mart store here in new york city but frankly to think of across the united states and really the communities, the small towns, across the u.s. and

we end up representing the customers across the whole u.s.. >> so your customers aren't showing many signs of healing over recovery. >> not yet. and we may be one of those where a lot of economists try to determine leading indicators were trailing indicators. i can't say that we are one or the other but we do see there is still pressure on the consumer. >> what about prices? what do you feel going on in very price sensitive customers? obviously a lot basic materials, prices are going up. you're dealing with the falling dollar. how was that affecting prices in the stores? >> first of all, i think if i even talk about the wal-mart u.s. business because here this morning we made a lot of different businesses because we have a wal-mart u.s., sam's u.s. which is a different customer in

come many ways, different approach to business and then the international business we operate around the world. so for the question let me focus on the wal-mart u.s. business because that is probably the interest level there are two dynamics right now. over the last couple of years the economic crisis has brought even more focus on value and price, so the customer has been looking for savings and emphasis on opening the price point, the customer really knows more about pricing than ever. as we do our own research and understand how customers will get the price of products we've seen the last couple of years brought even more focus on understanding the price. a technology is making that available even at a greater pace of understanding how much i am paying for product. now that dynamic has been happening and in recent times

the inflation and fuel prices have been factors that have come into play so there's no doubt if the rising fuel prices is having an impact on the consumer. and as we've looked at this over the last couple of years there were factors like unemployment and loss of income. in a more recent times the cost of fuel has been one of the factors that affects consumer spending. if you think of it in the wal-mart core customer with a fixed amount and if now i spend more money to put fuel in my car that means i've got that x dollars less to spend on.gov discretionary items and that is a current dynamic that's facing customers. >> what about prices in your stores, the prices of the goods or selling, do you see inflation? >> it's interesting if you think

of a wal-mart supercenter there's so many categories of products across the store and certainly there are areas that are seeing inflation. no doubt about the fact some of the fresh food areas that are basic needs for customers are seeing inflation. on the order and there are aerias of continued deflationary and i continue to be amazed and it's a wonderful thing for the customers with deflationary and electronics for example that technology is becoming much more available to the broad groups across the united states and around the world. and i think a deflationary in technology continues to be something that is a factor that is a positive. >> so ben bernanke is having the first fed press conference in a quarter-century this afternoon. if he calls you before then and says you have your finger on the polls on the balance do we have an inflation problem?

>> i would say mr. chairman, we have several problems. [laughter] so, i would always be careful in isolating one and frankly that's where i'm cautious even if i speak to the leader like him to try to end offer advice i mean not be qualified to offer and that is where i am cautious to say i'm not in the economist, we operate a reasonably good size retail business and have a good relationship with consumers, but all of the dynamics of a very complex economic system across the world, in the world today the united states can't look at just isolation. we can only look at one issue like inflation and come up with a very broad topics that would be the fed and our elected

officials have to look at. >> so you have over the last i think now seven consecutive quarters of declining sales at wal-mart in the u.s., at a time when as you point out there's been a lot of pressure on the average wal-mart customer to find better prices. in past times that led to the rising sales for wal-mart. what's been going on the last seven quarters and what makes you think it's been to get any better in the future? >> even though we start the conversation this morning talking about external factors, what we spend virtually all of our time on in wal-mart with the internal, what do we manage, what do we control? what are we in charge of? so we really did the same store sales. some ask about the pressure from the economy or other things. what we really focus on is what have we done and what do we need to do different and that's the

way that of the answer the question. what we really see we need to do in the business and what the u.s. is doing is going to the core business. what made wal-mart so great in over the many decades since sam walton opened up the first store in 1962. it was about everyday low prices and why. frankly i think we've gotten away from the principles and it takes a wake-up like this to cause you to step back, look in your business internally, not look at the external but to be focused internally about what do we need to do to grow our traffic and sales in the stores and it is really back to the basics of the everyday low-price, having with the customer needs with one-stop shopping. yanna with the rising gasoline prices, one-stop shopping becomes even more and more

important. last week i -- i do this virtually every week i dropped in a store in huntsville alabama and it's fun because we go to wal-mart and fly that makes it easier to get around, fortunately sam walton is a pilot and that's the we left was flying and dropping in on the community. so why do that today. i think there's a great role model established. >> how long does it take to figure not you're there? >> what's interesting and it's always fun to meet the associates even the others on the plane didn't know where we were going until we were in the air. i didn't want to take any chances with technology people sending blackberry e-mail message and say we are on the way. so we got out a range of sending e-mail messages and then i took

the group we are headed to huntsville alabama. we landed, got to the store and -- >> there was a banner over the store. [laughter] >> it's funny, we drove for of the store and went in the garden center entrance and the associates in the garden center spot hit me and i started talking to the associates, they started explaining what garden center singles and we had a great visit and then the manager came up and could if we had agreed to visit. she was very surprised. the store manager happened to be out at the store but also a in leedy who's been with the company 17 years is the store manager of the store but i think within about 20 minutes she was back in the store. [laughter] and we had a fantastic visit. but a lot of the -- really that is so much of my job because we spend the time talking to our associates on the front line and

talking to the customers shopping in the store. but i remember investor. one customer said more than ever on here at wal-mart because in once likened it everything i need. this was an elderly lady, a customer paying a lot more for fuel and so i'm thankful i can come to wal-mart and get everything we need in one stop. and i think that the first question of sales, we really needed to bring back product, put the right assortment in the store, have that trust, that assurance, that my basket of products that no other place i can buy can i have a lower basket than shopping at wal-mart and that's what we are focused on to drive the cost for sales. >> so you brought more products into the stores and made some adjustments. are you seeing when you want to see out of that? are you going to have rising sales in the next quarter? >> i don't commit to that in

terms of when and the amount. so what i can tell you is i like the traction and the direction that the wal-mart famous focused on. what was quicker in the easier was to bring the food product back because food has a short cycle time. you can think about the product in the wal-mart supercenter. some problem took a very short cycle time from the supplier and within 30 to 60 days some short cycles can be back in the store like food. that is well on its we probably were over 80% completed in the area of food of having the product in the stores the we want to have. on some of the product that is a longer lead time that some of the general merchandise categories we are probably looking at the third quarter of this year before we really have our full assortment in the stores. >> do you think there's any possibility to just kind of passed out and reached a

maturity market your not guinn to see those rising same-store sales that you were accustomed to in the past? >> i not see that as a possibility. laughter [applause] frankly i think customers across the united states really need this one stop shopping with of the assortment and prices of -- i don't mean to be confident to the extreme of saying it's common to know, it's not just wal-mart, it's the fact that the customer needs wal-mart and this type of offering more than ever. >> do you see your competitors getting attention these days with these discounts, 5% discount on anybody that comes with a red car, you see anybody using discounting more effectively that makes you think we should try some of those tactics? >> i think frankly what we see when we look the whole landscape more than ever what we need to do is be more focused on everyday low price. i mentioned earlier about technology, and the use of smart

phones, mobile technology, i see customers in the store now would these be wal-mart customers? i absolutely, using technology to the no pricing and that is where i think really the transparency, knowing all the prices of products i shop in the store it really works to our advantage so that's why in lieu of thinking about special discounting and other approaches a thing that's why the everyday low price model is even more important in a time of technology and transparency. >> what percentage of the products in a wal-mart store today come from china? >> the vast majority of products are produced locally. islamic a vast majority? >> i don't have percentages, it would be difficult to know the percentage of productive, but again, picture a wal-mart supercenter even the we don't have any in new york city

hopefully most of you somewhere along your travels have been in the supercenter, think of all the food products and the consumer products that represent a huge portion of the business in a wal-mart store and a vast majority of that comes here in the united states. >> but you have the consumer electronics, the tories. >> certainly there are categories and any retail store that's produced in different places around the world. >> you must have some lady with the figure is. your critics use the 70% figure, who knows where they get it, but you have access to all this data you must have some idea of what the real figure is. >> we saw something that we can track the source of product. it's not something that we publish but if you consider the vast majority of the units sold produced in the united states and this again, think of the

shopping basket if you go and look at the checkout, and i do this a lot, stand at the front of the checkout and look up the baskets of what the customers are buying in the just visualize the food consumable, the basic needs people are buying in wal-mart stores and frankly that's why you understand what i'm saying. certainly the categories mentioned our toys, electronics, much of that is made outside the united states but it's true of all the work competitors. it's true of companies that you mentioned that compete in those businesses, those products are made in countries around the world because frankly that's what it's like for the customer. >> i was asking because i wanted to get a sense of how your global sourcing nei at change in the last year. we were talking about price pressures. are you feeling the price

pressures from your chinese suppliers, are you moving into the of their markets to get the prices that you promised your consumers? >> actually, in china the wage inflation becomes a factor that will end up affecting the cost of the product as though there's no doubt about that. but i would expect china will continue to be a large producer of product and i wouldn't see a dramatic kind of shifts from that. i think it's one of those that again i'm not speaking for wal-mart and speaking about retailer and the world looks at how to price right for the customer and even though there's likely some we inflation coming out of china i think it would still be a large producer for the retailers. on the other hand, you know, i think if you look back over the decades, source and how the product is produced moves from market-to-market. it's just a part of the global

dynamic of how the manufacturers looking at producing the product. and i think there will be part of the natural revolution of the cycles that take place. >> talk about your business in china. how important is the to wal-mart these days? >> it's very, very important. i think our retail business is very strong. there is a rising middle class. many, many more consumers in the cities across china, and and frankly wal-mart is very well-positioned. again, i think our everyday low-price, wide assortment of product, wal-mart supercenter, sam's club operates, we are doing very well, and we see much, much more opportunities. you know what's interesting, much of the product in china is local of course, too because so much of this food and basic need. but what is also a really interesting is to see the multinational, many u.s. companies the door of u.s. space

that are global companies where you see much of the product and wal-mart store in china and some related to your other questions, now as we opened a retail outlets around the world it provides great opportunity for the u.s.-based companies to distribute the product on a more global basis. i happened to see the hershey's store was next to the hotel and interesting because a lot about the relationship great supply year, great company and as we open the stores outside of the u.s. the or distributing prices like hershey's kisses that were not previously distributed in the u.k.. i think china is a joint opportunity. it's an opportunity for the overall supply base. it's probably the largest retail growth opportunity outside of the united states.

>> you get the support you need, how would you compare for instance of the locality in china to new york? >> that is an interesting question. and i would not -- [laughter] just like we have here, great relations in new york city, we have great relations. sinecure raise an interesting points if the world is going to make it through the economic transition that has to happen in the next decade or the next two decades, clearly the united states has to reduce debt, the surplus countries have to reduce the surplus, and to get through that transition without austerity here is going to require the u.s. becoming much more of an export nation. you watch the flow of goods across the borders, do you think that can happen or are the policies in place for the

businesses in place to see as the president called for a doubling of exports in the next decade? >> there are things the u.s. does need to do. the topic of globalization and global trade each year you can deny it. it's not something that we can look at and say we can't participate hawks said the topic of trade will benefit the united states and some of the trade and discussion and agreement in panel those that need to move ahead and approve and finalized i think it's is in times in the u.s. the one been penalized would be our own country. >> i know you had a one-on-one not long ago with the president. we will get to that in just a minute.

india. but what else has to happen to make this turn to an exporting nation and what did you tell the president? >> of course a one-on-one meeting with the president would be a private discussion, so i probably wouldn't be appropriate to get into these about the discussions we may have looking at a global business environment we operate in one of the things we talked about is the tax structure and the tax reform is a critical topic i salles even on tv this morning there's a lot of discussion about the and it is time, one with the corporate tax reform that u.s. companies that operate on a global multinational basis many like wal-mart would be penalized. we are competing against global retailers based in other

countries which with a much lower effective tax rate so if we look at an acquisition or growth in another market and we are competing against a large multinational retailer from the u.k. or from france, then a u.s. based companies have a disadvantage. there are some of those things that need to be considered. are these your friends in the back? [inaudible shouting] >> i'm not sure i recognize. >> i wonder if we can do something about that to get rid of the malaise. the president has talked about in revenue neutral tax reform which means that some people would have tax reductions but other people would say higher taxes, probably heavy equipment manufacturers, leal and gas etc. are you okay with that? >> i can't speak to the whole but i think the country is faced with a dilemma about balancing

the budget but i do think the budget deficit, this becomes again, more complex than one simple solution. but i do think that when you look at long-term the country can't put u.s.-based company said it is a vintage. i think it is part of the overall reform that has to be addressed. do you put up with this very often or is this a special new york treat? [laughter] >> this is probably just a greeting. [laughter] >> will hopefully it will quiet down eminent sweeten continue the conversation. the gentleman that there asked about india. we were talking about international markets and indeed is a growing market in which you are very challenged. >> we got a start up business in india, and the focus that we have invested in these business to business where there are many small businesses in india that

rely on our stores now that we started buying products and then selling through the supply chain, and frankly we've been very pleased with that. today the indian government, the wall of the land does not allow foreign ownership or investment in retail. so the multi brand directed consumer retailers we can't invest in that. we have a great partnership with a great company in india that we work on the basis of partnerships. we are through this partnership with their investments able to serve customers, but we are optimistic frankly the meetings with government that that will change over time. we see india has a great opportunity though. today for us it's a small business but over a long period of time we think india will be just a real huge opportunity and i'm optimistic that the law we

will get changed. >> can people in the back here all right? you get a lot of this kind of criticism largely from labor unions. you also face now i think is it the largest class-action lawsuit that's ever been brought against any american company? >> what you are referring to, some call it to the duke's case it is a gender case -- >> it's not named after you? [laughter] >> no, it's very interesting. that's what some ask, and i say no, that's not a relationship there. but first let me say that it's related to gender discrimination. wal-mart has had for years strong policies that prohibit discrimination and frankly it's one of those that goes back many years to the foundation of the company that we would not allow any form of discrimination and

the company and the plaintiffs that are challenging, they are situations individually would not be representative of the thousands of the women that at wal-mart have been promoted, advanced and served the company in many different positions. so the case isn't representative of wal-mart. >> but you're the largest employer in the united states, you are a natural target for this kind of criticism and it's obviously something you have to deal with on a regular basis. you are a juicy target for trial lawyers. how do you deal with that as a company? >> i would rather be viewed as a successful and growing company serving millions of customers, providing over 2 million jobs are not the world. if that kind of comes with the territory of the fact that we have 140 million americans visit us every week and we have over 2 million in the work force i

think some of that as you said, a large target and i would love other to be a larger target than a smaller target, and frankly we would like to continue to grow, we want to continue to be successful and to serve customers. and with that i guess comes some things the with the territory. >> the company made a big push in the environmental area over the last five years. some people think that's partly to take the edge off of the union criticism. would that be fair? >> actually i really have to applaud the space for this. he was my predecessor as the ceo of the company and has been a fantastic initiative. the focus on sustainability i think revolves around two things. first it is the right thing to do. if you look at a company like wal-mart, and we think of our print we have on the world and being more responsible with all the topics of sustainability is just a part of who we have

become a very important. i will tell you it's right for the business though. we've saved millions of dollars. when we end up reducing fuel cost, shipping products to stores more efficiently than we look at reducing electricity in the stores, reducing packaging, we work with our suppliers that have taken a tremendous amount of waste out of packaging that goes to landfills summit ends up being the right thing to do and it's right for the business and beneficial to shareholders and the other thing that's been fantastic is wal-mart people, wal-mart associates love working for the company with a purpose and with their sustainability initiative it has made recruiting much better and it's made people proud to be part of the wal-mart -- >> indigent doesn't cause you to kuran of the everyday low-price cost reduction --

>> it has enhanced. as i mentioned everyday low-price depends on the everyday low cost. operating a low-cost business is our business model. the focus on the sustainability has helped us reduce cost and even be stronger with everyday low price. >> you talked about creating a system ability index that could go on all different products not just in the wal-mart stores. is that an appropriate role for wal-mart to play? do you think you can have changed beyond your doors and the environmental area? >> in the area of the sustainability index we are working with many outside universities, ngos and trying to create something all can use. this isn't a unique wal-mart competitive event hedge because we believe in the long run consumers want the transparency just like price transparency, consumers would like transparency about products and we think that its long-term and

complex to be a will to do this but i am working with universities and ngo is to try to develop information for consumers to know about the sustainability of the product they purchased. >> with it was intentional or not, that push into the entire mittal area which has been applauded by many people has helped the criticism that you're getting five years ago, six years ago from democratic interest groups. it may not have made a big difference in new york, but don't the country it's changed the political profile of the company pretty substantially. islamic a thing that we are respected and appreciated more and i do think sustainability has helped in those areas but i think frankly as people rather it is elected officials or ngos or like many of you get to know the company even more than it helps cook for our relationship. >> i want to open up because i know a lot of people have

questions, i will open to questions in just a second before i do, talking of the social issues and he made it clear you think social issues are an important part of your mission, right? d.c. pay ecology as a social issue, one of the things run up by the critics is the vast difference between the seven, eight, $9 our many people make in a wal-mart store and the 19 million or so that you made last year. is that an issue that you feel you need to address? >> first of all you asked some questions that are not quick and easy or simple and that is a really good question for all of us to consider. i will tell you though that a company and day board of directors have the best talent in every position and whether it is that store local, the best talent serving customers in the store, the best talent to be a

store manager, the best talent in the senior executive positions the boards would not do their shareholders service nor serve customers if you don't look and say it doesn't take having the best people to run a business i tell you for our company though it's also really important is ensuring that at the associate level in the stores we are being competitive and have the right wages, benefits and the right work environment to have the best assertive on the front line serving customers. >> how do you communicate about people? and we are in one of these periods of time where because of the downturn, because the financial problems that we have been through you see the public opinion polls, the antibusiness sentiment generally is fairly high in the focus is on this issue of pay disparity so what needs to be done to convince the public of the social compact is

still intact? islamic more transparency is important. and the move towards and the proxy reporting i think that's very productive, very healthy that being transparent with all of this and the key let's say think of the wal-mart store, when we open a new store and we may create 500 jobs in a new store where the wages and benefits are competitive and ceilings of associate or potential applicants that want to be if this of a part of its why that group of people that the jobs that wal-mart are good jobs frankly we need to be just sharing more. it's about transparency. a 70% of our wal-mart u.s. management started as a sissy

and worked their way through. as of the communications and transparency about paid benefits in the opportunity i think is part of the story. >> why don't we open up to questions yes, sir. spec with the financial crisis people have said that the consumer is resetting his objectives, his position in her position going forward with d.c. on the consumer side going forward? >> i think during the crisis the consumer has learned and is paying more attention to what they pay. so shopping smarter is part of that. and i think today consumers want to be proud of being smarter

about the way they spend money and that is a form of reset in being more informed about the way that i spend money that's probably one of the more significant ones that has multiple implications. it means that price transparency is more important. it means the quality of the product is more important that if i spend i want to be longer lasting. there's a value judgment that consumers make about discretionary spending this becomes personal for each family and each consumer. it's longer-term and i don't think that it's driven necessarily only by the crisis but one of the things i mentioned price transparency and volume the hope and the social networking today is much, much

more a part of consumer purchasing decisions. many here know about facebook and participate personally but they are consuming with each other and it's become part over the last couple of years with the dynamic of change and with my friends and about how i spend money and products that i buy and that is an important area that wal-mart is interested in and engaged in. sort of the same question of health and health care but a few specific points what you sell to consumers, pharmacies and so forth and also the policies and

now your offering your employees in various kinds of software tools to engage in healthy behavior. if you can talk about that, but also when you decide to do things for your employees that presumably have costs now and will pay off in the future, what are your assumptions about the length of time that an employee will be with the company and has that varied from your hourly associates to your management, and the reason i'm asking for this transparency is other employers can learn from your example would be great. >> a series of questions that you ask and some of which involves a lot of data. i wouldn't be prepared year to recycle or share a lot of the data about the cycles of health care. we just start with the belief that healthy living is good for all of us and so associates in our stores or management is just

a good long-term practice anyway so some of the communications about exercise, about healthy diet and creating a desire to live a healthier life we think just creates a better company with have the healthiest see its. in the long run we do think that would also benefit health care costs certainly, but that's not -- that's not an approach that is easy to model. so i can't tell you that i've got data that would say over ex period of time these initiatives would lead to excess savings we just believe it will but if we think it is better any way for the associates. there's a number of in health care that goes back a number of years where we try to help the and the cost curve in the united states and frankly i am kind of focused on the u.s. discussion again as opposed to countries

around the world what we operate in. but we have set for a number of years of rising health care costs, businesses like wal-mart face is something that needed to be better managed. we in the overall environment in the united states needed change. we try to be part of that. one of the big initiatives we think change the pharmacy business was the 4-dollar prescription program that we implemented. that changed the whole approach. it even changed our competitors approach the pharmacy. to save millions or billions of dollars for citizens across the united states. we are looking for ways like that to help reduce health care costs and help and the cost curve for all employers. >> of your questions? >> just a second.

identify yourself. >> you talk about conducting your principles and core business modeling and yet there's a greater tension about the new technology and how you can start to evil store business with the new technologies offer. you announced a pilot in california with home shopping. what is the internet going to offer in terms of

wal-mart will probably be in that discussion also. >> there's a question right here and then over here. >> recently in one of the financial journals the man wrote an article indicating that he's gone into one of your competitors in the boss a representative group of items. the same items per dollar he spent a dollar in this place would have cost 63 cents in wal-mart. how do you feel about this comparison?

>> i would love to see that and would love to see many more of those. frankly, we do that every day. this afternoon i will drop in a few stores and i don't buy everything in competitors, but i will look at pricing and then our pricing and wal-mart. clearly our focus on everyday low-price is about having a basket a customer can save money compared to any competitor, and that's the everyday low-price business model used to that opportunity for customers. so i think that's the way we want to see business operatives we save customers money >> ? right over here. >> i'm sorry, dow jones. you

both have the product they want in the stores, so price and assortment would be the greatest challenges that the wal-mart u.s. team is working on. that would then lead to the growth in sales. >> question right here. >> a emt television

frankly, we looked at our customer base. our customers are very diverse. to know our customers, our leadership, store managers, two vice presidents in the and the senior executives should be to represent our customers. very very important initiative. by the way, it is an important initiative globally. it would be easy to talk about just to get a and in this topic of diversity. around the world i view this as a great competitive advantage in our japanese business for example. we have a major initiative they are with women and leadership, and one of the things that i personally mentor and involved in is a council of our most senior women leaders from around the world. we do videoconferencing and we the two face-to-face meeting several times a year but it is our most senior executive women

from all of our businesses around the world and japan is one who represents and really leads the effort and backing japan or laura daniela in brazil i worked very closely with the senior women leaders because i really believe it will be a competitive advantage. it will be great for our customers and great for our business and the long-term. other questions? yes, right here. >> i wanted specifically to ask you specifically how are the higher gas prices affecting consumer behavior. are you seeing customers taking fewer trips and loading up and also food inflation. are you seeing a shift away from dairy to so that? i have been hearing that. what are some of the changes you are seeing in behavior? >> first of all on gas prices a

couple of things. i mentioned earlier, i think for many of our core customers, it does mean that if they spend more on gasoline for their cars, they will have less discretionary spending to spend on other products. there's just no way around it. it works for our customers and the customer does have to cut back on discretionary items. on the second related questions related answer to that is in consolidating -- my consolidating trips. i mentioned earlier but one-stop shopping. customers will make fewer stops to retail stores so if you think of not just walmart but in general the customer will drive fewer trips to go to retail stops. that is why one-stop shopping becomes even more important. it does mean the customer in our store will make fewer trips but will buy more when they are in the store. we will actually consolidate purchases.

we see that taking place. we have seen it in the past when we have had spikes in fuel prices like we are experiencing. i think food inflation, that is one that i don't know that i can say in the short cycle it is relatively short cycle of inflation that i don't think customers have made dramatic changes as you mentioned from dairy to so that. i don't think that has happened in any dramatic way. i think there can be subtle changes. i think it does mean at times customers have to cut back though. they may still buy the basic needs, but they may have defined other areas where they have to reduce discretionary spending. >> hello. aaron smith from cnn money. you are keeping prices down and commodity prices are out. i was wondering what are you asking of your suppliers? what sacrifices are you asking them to make in order to keep their prices down?

>> what we are asking is that we work together even more closely, collaboratively to take out waste. when i visited our own stores, i look at how much more opportunity we have to be more productive and how we can be more efficient in operating our business. when i look at the supply chain from manufacturing of products all the way to the customer's homes, i think about the improved efficiency. what we really try to work with suppliers on is how do we work together to be more efficient with the production and delivery of products? i had a meeting on friday with one of our large multinational global suppliers, the ceo and senior leadership. we were talking about how do we look from the point of product manufactured in their factory and look at all of the supply chain, transportation, distribution, inventory management, packaging. how do we look to find ways to be more efficient, to find

win-win situations? we believe your suppliers it is really important to work collaboratively and create win-win. it is not when this. is where we have to work together to take out the excessive costs and then deliver still value to consumers. >> of course that is what you have been doing for years. do you ever breached the point where you have squeezed all the efficiency chains out of the supply chain? but that have anything to do with the seven quarters? >> we are not anywhere close. you know i see it in our own business, and more efficient we can be. >> bridget. bridget heller, merck consumer care. one of the beautiful things about sustainability for walmart, and i really remember when the announcement came that you guys were going to get involved in that, with the impact that you could have just by bringing visibility to it. you have this amazing ripple as

you brought it to the attention of suppliers everywhere that this was something you were going to be looking at which caused this ripple for them to look at and therefore actions to be taken. as we look at health care, it is i think one of the galvanizing sort of issues worldwide today as every government and every company is looking at health care. is there the same type of potential ripple that walmart could have and if so, how were you thinking about that? >> i think it is one of those great opportunities and as you are thinking about health health care worldwide and delivery and meeting the needs of customers to be healthier and to have the right solutions when there are medical problems. i do think working together like we have done in sustainability. i think the focus on sustainability was not an independent walmart action.

it was and where we kind of locked ourselves in a room independently and said let's work on sustainability. we reached out broadly to ngos, to suppliers, to those with much more expertise than we would have had. i think it is a similar situation we are attempting to do at health care. i think working across all of industries related to health care, our suppliers, our ngos, governments and that is what we are attempting to do is really approach health care from that wide-open standpoint in looking at all possibilities and frankly again i reiterate like the other question, we want to create even a healthier environment for people. sam walton, alan and i have to so often go back to the founder of our great company before he passed away in 1992. mr. sam said he had an idea of vision of seeing people all over the world save money and live

better. we have taken this live better and really try to magnify that even more. i think healthy living for our associates, for consumers -- he another recent announcement with the first lady, michelle obama in washington about healthy food all of this fits together i think in the health care is not just a simple single discussion the way sustainability is not and i think a lot of our approach would be in some ways paralleled of working very broadly to help people live better and that is part of of the health care solution. >> you talked about mr. sam ikea is a relative almost but you didn't join the company until 95 >> that's right. >> so the culture is obviously pretty intense. did you ever meet him personally? >> never met mr. sam walton personally but i really feel like i know him personally because the culture is so strong.