tv U.S. Senate CSPAN January 26, 2012 5:00pm-8:00pm EST
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senator from arkansas. mr. boozman: thank you, mr. president. we are constantly reminded of the sacrifices of american troops and their families. these brave americans fight for our freedoms and our values while putting their own lives at risk. we must always remember their service and thank them for their patriotism, dedication, and commitment and honor especially for those who have paid the ultimate price. today i am hereo pay my respects to arkansas soldier sergeant first class benjamin wise, who sacrificed his life for the love of his country while in support of operation enduring freedom. sergeant first dallas wise
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graduated in 1995 and enlisted in the military in 2000. joining the army as an infantryman, assigned to the 520th infantry regiment, second infantry division at joint base lewis mcchord. he discussed his military service with the hope star in 2004, saying that he was proud to be a soldier and he wanted to serve his country. in 2005, he volunteered for the special forces, something his sister, heather, told the arkansas democrat gazette was something he talked about while growing up. his new position in the third battalion, first special forces group suited him well. sergeant first class wise comrades said that he was a friend to all the members of his unit, cracking jokes and offering an ear to listen to all of their concerns. he was well aware of the dangers
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he faced having served four appointments, twice to iraq and twice to afghanistan. his family says he was proud of the career that he built in the army. he was all too familiar with the sacrifices associated with work in war-torn afghanistan after his brother, jeremy wise, a former navy seal working as a security contractor was killed in the country in december of 2009. on monday, january 9, 2012, sergeant first class wise was injured during an attack by insurgents during a small-arms fight. he passed away on january 15, 2012. mr. president, sergeant first class benjamin wise is a true american hero. i ask my colleagues to keep his family, his wife tracy, sons luke and ryan and daughter kaylan and his friends and family in their thoughts and prayers during these very difficult times and i humbly
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offer my appreciation -- and i know i speak for the senate and congress as a whole -- for the gratitude of this patriot and of his family for his selfless sacrifice. with that, i yield back. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the senate stands adjourned until monday, january 30, at 2:00 p.m. january 30, at 2:00 p.m. >> the $1 trillion debt ceiling increase goes into effect tomorrow after the senate today failed to advance a resolution blocking the increase. house and senate negotiators say they're close to a long-term agreement on extending airport programs, fees and taxes. the current program expires at the end of the month.
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the house and senate have both passed a temporary extension while negotiations continue. you can follow the senate live here on c-span2 when members gavel back in. >> tonight, defense secretary leon panetta unveils the fiscal 2013 military budget which calls for a decrease in the number of army combat brigades. joining the secretary was joint chiefs of staff chairman general martin dempsey. that briefing is at 8 p.m. eastern on c-span. and here on c-span2 remarks from national intelligence director james clapper on information sharing in the intelligence community. he says that secure and credible information sharing is a beneficial tool for those working to protect national security. mr. clapper gave those comments at the center for strategic and international studies. you could see it at 8 eastern here on c-span2.
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and this afternoon author jeffrey clemens talks about his recent book, "corporations are not people." he wrote about the supreme court's decision on corporate campaign contributions and is currently working to overturn that ruling. you can see his remarks live at 6 p.m. eastern on booktv.org. >> i do believe that the west for all of its historical shortcomings -- and i'm scathing in my book in discussing these shortcomings because they have to be admitted -- for all of these shortcomings, the west still today represents the most acceptable and workable, universeally workable political culture. >> in 1991 the united states was the only global superpower. today how to restore its status in the world from former national security adviser
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brzezinski saturday night at 10 eastern. also this weekend on booktv, did fdr use world war ii to cover a more powerful executive branch? saturday at 11 p.m. and sunday night at 10, the new privacy is no privacy. lori andrews on how your rights are being eroded by social networks. booktv, every weekend on c-span2. >> earlier today secretary of state hillary clinton held a town hall meeting for state department p employees. she talked about recent violent episodes in iraq and commented on the state department's quadrennial diplomacy and development review. this is a little more than an hour. [inaudible conversations]
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[applause] >> good morning, everyone, and welcome to the secretary's town hall meeting. just one brief technical reminder, this session is being broadcast not only on the state department's internal closed circuit system, b net, but also is being broadcast by a number of networks. so, please, always be diplomatic -- [laughter] in your, in your questions and in your performance. and with that, briefly, it gives me great personal and professional pleasure to introduce the secretary of state, the honorable hillary rodham clinton. madam secretary. [applause]
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>> well, thank you very much, pat. and i am delighted to be with all of you again this morning. on the way down the hall, i saw the overflow crowd, so i want to greet them. they're clustered around some of the tv screens out there. it's wonderful to have this opportunity so soon in the new year to speak with you face to face to have a chance to bring you up-to-date and also answer questions. it is also an opportunity to understand the full seating capacity of the dean acheson auditorium. [laughter] and, i'm afraid, test the fire marshal's patience. many more people than even the very large crowd gathered here and out in the hall have contributed to the work that we are doing together. there is so much to talk about.
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i wish i could be here for days, and we could bring in shifts of people, but there's much work to be done of which you are essential partners. i do want to thank carrie o'connor and molly moran for their great work running the sounding board -- [applause] and they're giving everyone here in the state department a chance to ask questions. i'm also looking forward to going over to usaid, and i see deputy administrator don steinberg. i know raj shah is out of town, or we would have tried to piggyback them on the same day, don, but we're going to get a date very soon because it is appropriate for us to have this chance to kind of catch up and look forward. and it is also so fitting that we would be meeting here in an
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auditorium named for secretary of state dean acheson who cautioned us, and i quote: always remember that the future comes one day at a time. and despite the daunting challenges and the extraordinary opportunities that we confront, it is that one day at a time, one step in front of the next that really gets us where we're heading. this that spirit -- in that spirit, i want to update you on the implementation of the first qddr, the quadrennial diplomacy and development review which we launched in this room just over a year ago. our goals remain the same; to strengthen state and usaid as we continue to strive to work better, faster and smarter in the 21st century. during his state of the union address this week, president obama spoke about the essential role that america still plays in spreading peace and prosperity around the world.
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well, that was music to my ears, and i hope, also, to yours. the state department and usaid are critical to maintaining and extending american leadership, and we will be in the future called upon to do more in more places, more frequently and most likely with fewer resources. the goals of the qddr, therefore, are even more imperative in times of tight budget constraints. we must show, it's up to us to show the american people and their representatives in congress that every dollar given to the state department and usaid is a wise and effective investment in advancing the values, the interests and the security of the united states of america. now, over -- yes, i agree with that. [laughter] [applause]
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over the past year, i have been so gratified to see how individual bureaus, missions and posts have applied the underlying principles of the qddr. i'm seeing more interagency cooperation, people breaking down work silos, tapping institutional capacity wherever it exists. and we're also making great progress on the four main lines of activity that we identified in the qddr process. adapting our diplomacy to new threats and opportunities, transforming our development to deliver results, strengthening our capacity to prevent and respond to conflict and crisis and working smarter by improving our approaches to planning, procurement and personnel. and let me just briefly share with you some of the progress we've made in each of these areas. first, adapting our diplomacy for the 21st century. we are empowering our chiefs of
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mission, our ambassadors as interagency ceos and making sure to include their perspective whenever a decision touches their country and their responsibilities within it. ambassadors now regularly participate in high-level interagency policy-making discussions with washington via video conference. and they help formally evaluate employees from other agencies as part of our whole-of-government approach. we also created a home for all of our experts on one of the defining challenges of of -- of our time, energy. for too long energy was the second, third or fourth priority for several different offices. now the new bureau of energy resources is our single point of contact on all energy issues. enr is already working in close coordination with the department of energy to keep energy markets
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stable as we implement sanctions on iran and to lead our global strategy with the u.n. to achieve sustainable energy for all. and enr taps skill sets from across the government from treasury, commerce, interior among others to run the energy governance and capacity initiative which is helping countries use their own energy resources transparently to actually benefit their own citizens. [applause] we also reconceived the role of the undersecretary for global affairs. now known as the undersecretary for civilian security, democracy and human rights. we wanted to focus on those areas. civilian security and the other
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essential elements of building safe, fair and just societies. we raced the organizational distinctions between what was once viewed as hard power and soft power, you know, the kind of security concerns with the hard edge in order to look more comprehensively and in depth at an integrated and, ultimately, more effective approach. now, counterterrorism and police training programs work alongside those that defend human rights, promote opportunities for young people, combat trafficking in persons. in other words, we are bringing a 360-degree approach to people protection that addresses both the root causes of insecurity and its immediate threats. working closely with regional bureaus, the new jay family
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works to make sure a government's first obligation is to its own people. that government institutions including courts, police forces and others that effect everyday life are rooted in the rule of law and respect for human rights. that refugees are protected from persecution. that the voice of young people is heard and respected. and individuals are protected from the excesses of government. in the democratic republic of congo, for example, a country emerging from decades of conflict the jay family is working closely with the africa bureau to create the environment for more stability and security. working to prevent sexual and gender-based violence, break the link between conflict minerals and violence, support democratic institutions that can promote lasting peace and achieve accountability for the atrocities that have been committed against innocents. we have also elevated the
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counterterrorism office to a full bureau that will help us build an international counterterrorism network that is as nimble and adaptive as our adversaries'. the ct bureau is undermining extremist attempts to find new recruits and shrinking the space available to al-qaeda and its affiliates by increasing the capacity of our partners to combat terrorism on their own. now, we also launched a new center to deal with countering violent extremism within the state department, and i attended the inaugural meeting just yesterday and saw the interagency in full splendor. as i sat between danny benjamin and ann stock and ambassador richard le barren and across from representatives from dod, cni, you name it.
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because it makes no sense for us to be trying to combat violent extremism, have expertise in the cia, expertise in dod, expertise across our government that is siloed in ways we don't even know what each other is doing. so we're trying to break down those bureaucratic barriers. we've also launched -- [applause] as an american initiative along with our partners around the world the global counterterrorism forum to strengthen civilian-led counterterrorism efforts and further bridge the divide between security and development. and in addition we've taken many other steps, one in particular establishing a coordinator for cyber issues that is going to be increasingly important to us. in order to respond quickly to
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21st century threats. second, along with the great leadership of dr. raj shah, we are transforming our approach to development. we've made a long-term commitment to rebuilding usaid as the world's premier development agency. under the usaid forward reform agenda, we've strengthened aid's capacity to elevate development l as a pillar of civilian power. we've built up the policy, planning and learning bureau, and i especially liked that initiative because we need to be constantly a learning organism. what can we do better, what can we learn from others. it is now a thought leader on development, adopting an outstanding system for monitoring and evaluating our work around the world, reinvigorating our investments in science, technology and inthough vegas and stepping up our focus on democracy, human rights and governance. we're also consolidating our
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administrative services when it make sense from a business and operations perspective. you know, it no longer makes sense in a world of con trained -- constrained resources in countries to have separate warehouses for state department and aid. we need efficiencies, we need economies of scale, and we're working through all of that. pat kennedy and his great m team is really helping. and as promised, we launched a foreign assistance dashboard at www.foreignassistance dot above. .gov. that lets anyone in the world with an internet connection to see where we are investing and how much. and i will be discussing this in greater details at the usaid town hall. prison. [applause] it's also nice to be able to refer our own inquiries that
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people think we spend, you know, 20% of the u.s. government's budget on development to tell them to go to the foreign assistance.gov and actually get a little evidence-based reality going here. third -- [laughter] because we recognize that it's more important than ever to address the problems of fragile states, we are strengthening our capacity to prevent and respond to crisis. we rolled out our new conflict and stabilization operations bureau, and in the past year cso has deployed more than 175 civilian response corps members to hot spots in more than 30 countries around the world. they come from nine different agencies and bureaus including usaid which has expanded its own work in this area. they're working everywhere from afghanistan to south sudan, often in some of the most remote and least governed places on
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earth. they can be found camped alongside special forces, sleeping under mosquito nets in camp sites hacked out of the jungle by machete, eating mres, hitching rides in the back of pickups to meet with local leaders. not the common image of a diplomat, but they are among the hundreds of state and usaid employees practicing a trade craft that now lives at the intersection of diplomacy, development and security. and finally -- [applause] we are doing everything we can to work smarter by improving our approaches to planning, procurement and personnel. for example, we have overhauled the way state and usaid go about setting goals and developing long-term plans. for the or first time -- for the first time, strategic planning and resource planning are separate and sequential
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processes. now, as obvious as it may seem to all of us here today, we now set our goals before we determine funding rather than doing everything all at once. and we're simplifying those processes to relieve unnecessary burdens. you know, in the press of the budget and the incredible pressure that comes on everyone every year and especially last year and this year, it seemed to make sense in the past that we just tried to do everything at once. how much could we get, what could we do it for? what we have found in our engagement with omb and in our engagement with the hill that if we've done our planning first and we have the rationales behind what we are asking for, we will be more successful. we will make the case to both the omb and the appropriations committees on the hill. it helps us focus our resources on our highest prior fews --
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priorities. and we're also investing in our most important asset, namely all of you and your colleagues. we set up new trainings through fsi to better prepare our staff for the demands of 21st century diplomacy, we've created multiple new courses designed to emphasize priorities identified in the qddr including training and development assistance, multilateral diplomacy and social media best practices. we want to make sure that every person at state and usaid has the skills and resources necessary to do your job. we also want to tap all the talent and expertise of our civil service. [applause] [laughter] last year we developed a department-wide survey of civil servants, and by popular demand launched a pilot program for
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civil servants to deploy overseas. posts will, obviously, benefit from having skilled civil servants fill out their team, and the participants will gain greater experience about life at posts and a new set of responsibilities. if the program proves successful, we will look to expand it to more people and more posts. now, these are just a handful of the steps we've taken in the last year. there are many, many more stories of the qddr in action. we've been tracking them on the web site, qddr.state.gov. i encourage each of you to go there to check on the progress we've made, to share your ideas about how we make this first-ever qddr real in your office. and as we look ahead to the coming year, we these to keep up this momentum. now, i know it isn't easy. there is just a lot to do every single day. it's hard to be, you know,
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inventing a new airplane when you're up in the air. but we are really together demonstrating how it's done. large bureaucracies like large organizations anywhere can often resist change because it's new. it disrupts the orderly flow of the routines that have been already established, and it might be tempting to just sit and wait in the hope that a change will pass you by. but instead so many of you have embraced the qddr and the ideas behind it. and i want to thank each and every one of you who have been involved in the process. if you're still working to implement the guidance, i encourage you to keep pushing forward. now, many of the projects we've already started will need follow-up actions in coming months, so we will be defining the next set of projects to take on. and i really invite all of you. we really welcome your ideas about how to bring these changes
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into reality because implementing the qddr should not be an extra task on top of your real day job, it should be part of that job. and it should provide transformative thinking and tools to help you work better. ask aside from the big -- and aside from the big institutional changes we're making, i want the qddr to do something else; encourage all employees at every level to really think hard and to kind of dream big about what more we can do on behalf of our country. for more than half a century, the world has benefited from exceptional american leadership, and an international system that was designed and implemented by talented and dedicated employees here at state and usaid. the sources of america's power are enduring and durable. our value, our vision, our productivity, our ingenuity, our
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incredible demographic diversity. but none of these advantages is a birthright. every generation of americans has to reestablish their legitimacy and credibility and has to reimagine how america will be going forward. so let's nurture those values, let's keep making the tough choices, and let's be sure we are part of securing american leadership well into this century. now i will be happy to take your questions. there are two microphones already set up in the audience. we've received a lot of interesting questions through the sounding board. we're not going to have time to answer all of them, so i'll take a few online questions submitted from overseas posts today. i understand that we will take a few from the sounding board moderator who's merged a few of the questions, apparently, so i could respond more directly to all of you.
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and i promise that all the thoughtful questions that you took the time to ask which i don't get to right now will will be answered either on the sounding board or the qddr site. so with that, pat, we should begin. [applause] >> madam secretary, thank you so much for being here. my name is kathleen corey, and i work at fsi. many of us are have very involved in working on qddr-related projects, and we're very excited about the document and want it to stay. so my question is, what is the department doing to institutionalize the qddr so that regardless of who is secretary of state or regardless of which administration is in power, that the qddr will remain a cornerstone of u.s. foreign policy? thank you. >> well, first of all, thank you for your work at fsi and for your work on implementing the
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qddr. we are hoping that it will prove itself so that no matter who comes next not only in my position, but in all of the positions of leadership throughout state and aid will see it as the tool that it is. you know, the defense department has been doing this for years, and it has really advantaged them. that's how i first thought of it because i served on the armed services committee in the senate, and every four years the defense department would come up with this really slick, well-manufactured brochure and, you know, filled with pages and powerpoints, you know how they are so good at that. [laughter] and, you know, i mean, it just was daunting to see because it just laid out, well, here's what we want, and here's how we're going to get it. and we had nothing like that from state or aid. in fact, if you ask jack lew who has gone from d here to omb, now will become chief of staff for
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president obama, he said it was always so easy because state would come in with their priorities, aid would come in with different priorities, you could set one against the other, and so the end result was we got less than we should have gotten. [laughter] so i don't like that as a operating principle. so we decided to launch the first qddr. we are expecting it to be, um, legislated because i think that the congress are authorizing committees and appropriating subcommittees found it really useful. because, you know, they used to come into meetings, and all the dod appropriators would have, you know, their stacks of stuff from dod, and now guys would have little pieces of paper with somebody called me and told me i needed to do this. so, you know -- [laughter] we think on the merits it should be continued, and if it's legislated, it will be continued. so that's how we see it. yes. >> [inaudible]
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>> thank you, madammer secretar. the first question from the sounding board comes from michelle nichols in kabul. she wants to know what will the footprint of the department be in afghanistan as we prodepress through transition? >> well, a very good question, and just about ten days or so ago i called our team in afghanistan, had a conference call with many, many of the, um, really extraordinary people serving there not just from state and aid, but from our whole government. and we are going through that process now to evaluate as the transition continues in afghanistan and the military footprint draws down and transitioning areas are transferred to afghan lead. our civilian mission will have to shift its focus from stabilization and support to the
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military to long-term development and building afghan capacity. we have, um, over 450 civilians right now embedded in nearly 80 locations with the military, primarily u.s., but also nato is af forces. we will be gradually consolidating, our present thinking is, into four enduring state-led locations, and our staffing will be drawn down as the military draws down. we will have to be really thoughtful about how we reconfigure our mission in kabul and around the country. that process is just beginning, so, michelle, i would welcome your insight and input as well as those of others serving with you. ambassador ryan crocker runs a great mission in kabul, so he is -- and his team is very much focused on this.
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but it is a work in progress because we don't know all the details about exactly how the transition to afghan-led security will occur. but we're starting that work right now. >> madam secretary, i'm on the board of executive women at state. fewer women are applying for senior positions in the department, and women at every level are having difficulty with maternity, child care and elder care issues, and some are resigning. workplace flexibility options are inconsistent from office to office. how can executive women at state and other concerned affinity groups work with you to help address these problems before you leave? thank you. [applause] >> well -- [applause] this is a matter of, you know, great concern to me because, obviously, balancing family and work responsibilities is challenging, and if challenge falls disproportionately on women in the workplace, and it's
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no longer just a question of one's chirp, it's also one -- one's children, it's also one's aging relatives who are often part of the care-giving responsibilities that are assumed. and i really want to do more on in this this year. i think we've got a variety of policies in the place that are trying to make the department a for family-friendly work environment. i know some of you have raised on the sounding board and through your chains here the question about more telework. pat and i have talked about this. we have to determine which positions are eligible and which aren't. you know, a lot of the classified and confidential work can't be outsourced, so to speak, to telework. so we are looking at that. we will continue to look at it, and we will try to, um, support as much expansion of it as is
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possible, but i don't want to overpromise because there are inherent challenges. we also have a policy that provides for alternative work schedules. we support job sharing when it has been worked out with the office and the person willing to share the job with you. we have two daycare facilities, we're about to have a third, one at fsi, one at sa1 and then at a new building that is being revamped and readied for ca. we need more capacity. everybody knows that. and we're exploring everything we can do. i also, um, have been made aware of the desire for more lactation rooms. i think we've added numbers to that, and we are in the process of trying to develop a policy to increase the numbers. and i think there's a lot that is practical and, again, maybe
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apparently small steps but which could make a big difference in an individual's ability to balance family and work. so i hope that you will keep really stretching the envelope on this. obviously, on, you know, for our lgbt community we've really broken through and done a lot in terms of improving family-related policies. so we're very sensitive to this. we'll try to do as much as we can within the confines of the kind of, you know, specific constraints that we have to work with. so keep the ideas coming and keep encouragingal talented women to move up the ranks. we don't want there to be any stagnation in numbers. there should be no glass ceiling or any other kind of ceiling that prevent women from going forward insofar as we can make the work environment successful
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for you. so we'll keep working on that. [applause] >> good morning, madam secretary. my name is doris mcbride, i am in the bureau of economic and business affairs. as you know, even though there are some agencies that are growing, we are still not the only agency that's facing difficulty in terms of resources. you mentioned earlier, for example, the department of energy as well you didn't mention, but the department of commerce are among the agencies that we work with closely that are having resource issues, and i'm wondering what your thoughts are about that and be how that effects their ability to engage in diplomacy with us overseas. >> that is a really good question. because, um, you know, we have worked hard to make the case for state and aid resources. and, you know, i'm knocking on
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wood, but we've done better than many would have ever expected because we've been really, um, focused on making the congress understand that all the things they want done like increase the numbers of people processing visas in china and brazil and shorten the time takes money and takes people. but it's hard, it's harder for us to make the interagency argument about our colleagues. we do work close hi with commerce -- close closely with commerce, with energy, with usda. we now have representatives from so many l different agencies in country under chief of mission authority. so we do have to, you know, help our colleagues and other parts of the government, you know, understand the role that they play in our 21st century state craft. and that's particularly true in
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e because in order to practice what we do call economic state craft, we want a team. we want the american team out there working for us. and i think that it's going to be challenging because the number of positions that commerce is able to fund, for example, in the arab spring region has dropped. and so we've been scrambling to try to help commerce keep personnel experts in north africa so they can work with us in order to be able to promote economic opportunity. you know, and globalized world like the one we're in, um, the tools of foreign policy are not just within this department or even development just within usaid. and is so we have to be smarter -- and so we have to be smarter about how we make a broader case. so it's a very good question.
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one of the reasons we consolidated what we did inside e was to try to get everything in one place so that we're more effective in putting forth our positions and then from that i hope we can in this new alignment of economic growth, energy and the environment be more effective in working with our colleagues across the government. but it's a challenge, and i appreciate you for raising it. >> [inaudible] >> madam secretary, this next question is probably one of the most-discussed topics on the sounding board. todd schwartz asks are there any steps that can be taken to accelerate the upgrade of internet explorer on department systems? [laughter] [applause] >> i remember the first time, um, i did a town hall, and i
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think i was, i was asked about this. i hope you agree we've made progress. we continue to make progress. we know how important this is for all of you. as i recall, it seems so long ago, but, you know, three years or so ago we really didn't, we really were not in the 21st century, let me put it that way. but under, you know, great leadership from pat and our team we have made progress. so today i'm happy to announce -- [laughter] we really do read the sounding board. [laughter] that google chrome will be deployed worldwide on february 14th -- [applause] [cheers and applause] that's my valentine's present to all of you. [laughter] internet explorer 8 will be deployed on march 20th --
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[applause] and for more details you can go to state cable 7330 which officially announced this january 25th. now, google l chrome is -- google chrome is intended to be an optional browser. it may not work with all the department internet sites or applications, but we believe it will greatly improve the accessibility and performance with external sites. internet explorer 8 has been tested with department enterprise applications. it's precisely this sort of quality control testing that delays the deployment of newer versions of explorer. pat's informed me that it's the assessment of our incredible crack information systems team that will skip internet explorer 9 completely and deploy internet explorer 10 on or before february of next year. so we're moving, moving, moving,
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and we appreciate the constant prodding, prodding, prodding that we get from the sounding board. [laughter] >> good morning, madam secretary. my name is virginia, i work in i.t. in the office of european affairs, and be i have a question on our foreign policy, if i may. um, regarding the atrocities that happened in the beginning of the 20th century that some would label the armenian genocide, i am wondering why it is that we do not recognize it as such and if it has to do with our classification of what a genocide is or more to do with our relationship with turkey? and given the recent legislation that was passed by lawmakers in france, um, criminalizing the denial of the armenian genocide whatever, what our stances are on that. my understanding is that undersecretary sherman was there recently, and i wonder if that came up and what our position is.
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>> well, first, you know, one of our great strengths is we do no criminalize speech. people can say nearly anything they choose, and they do in our country. you know, other countries including close friends and allies like france have different standards, different histories, but we are, you know know -- i hope -- never going to go down that path to criminalize speech. i think it's fair to say that this has always been viewed, and i think properly so, as a matter of historical debate and conclusions rather than political. and i think that is the right posture for the united states government to be in because, you know, whatever the terrible event might be or the high emotions that it represents, to
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try to use government power to resolve historical issues the act chem demick -- the academic community, the open architecture of communication that is even greater now than it was in the past are the proper forum for this kind of engagement, and that's where i hope it is worked out. and, eventually, you know, people will have their own conclusions which needs to be respected, but we need to encourage anyone on any side of
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any contentious historical debate to get out into the marketplace of ideas. muster your evidence, put forth your arguments and, you know, be willing to engage. and that's what i think should happen on that too. [applause] >> good morning, madam secretary. the last time i stood before you i was an intern, and now i'm a program analyst, so it's quite an honor to be here before you again. [applause] >> good, good. >> my question is regarding foreign policy, if i may. as a kurdish-american, much of my interest focuses on the current state of iraqi political affairs. given what's going on and what's happened since the american truth withdrawal in the kurdistan region, i was wondering what the role of u.s. diplomacy is right now with that situation and what you hope you will see in the future to ensure iraqi security and democracy and stability continue. >> well, first, i'm delighted that you have gone from intern
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to full-fledged employee in such a short period of time. and we're delighted, and that's exactly the kind of movement of young people into our ranks that i'm thrilled to see. there is no doubt all one has to do is follow the media, that there's a lot of political contention in iraq right now. the united states led by our very anal, experienced ambassador -- able, experienced ambassador jim jeffrey, he is constantly along with his able team reaching out, meeting with, cajoling, pushing the players starting with prime minister maliki not to blow this opportunity. let me just be very clear. this is an opportunity for the iraqi people of all areas of iraq, of all religious
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affiliation, of all backgrounds. thisthis is an opportunity to ha unified iraq. and the only way to do that is by compromising. and one of the challenges in new democracies is that compromise is not in the vocabulary. especially in countries where people were oppressed, brutalized over many years. they believe that democracy gives them the opportunity to exercise power, and even though it's not the specific individuals -- saddam hussein is gone, he oppressed the shia, he, you know, terribly abused the kurds including chemical attacks, he's gone -- but people's minds are not yet fully open to the potential for what this new opportunity can mean to
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them. and you unfortunately, there's t of line drawing going on and boundary imposing between, you know, different political factions. so we are certainly conveying in as strong a message as we can that these political difficulties and disagreements have to be peacefully resolved for the good of all iraqis. and that everyone has a chance to grow the pie bigger, to have more freedom, more economic prosperity by working together. and it's not easy, it's unfortunately one of the challenges we face everywhere in the world right now. with the great movement toward democracy which we welcome and applaud, it has upended a lot of the historical experiences that
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people have held on to, and there is a need to get moving beyond that. but it will take time. the united states will be firmly in the role of advising and mentoring and playing the go between in every way that we possibly can. but at the end of the day, iraq is now a democracy, but they need to act like one. and that requires compromise. and so i'm hoping that there will be a recognition of that, and such a tremendous potential to be realized. iraq can be such a rich country. it's already, you know, showing that with the oil revenues starting to flow again. but problems have to be resolved. they cannot be ignored or, you know, mandated by authoritarianism. they have to be worked through the political process. [applause]
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>> madam secretary, we received two very similar questions from katherine kohler and eric claiborne that ask you about your vision for us. from the most senior employee to the most junior, in an era of limited resources what is the one thing that we can do every day in our work and our attitude to make sure we reflect the priorities and values of the department and your strategic vision for smart power? can you give us a vision of what it means to work creatively and innovatively given the growth of issues that we must deal with and the reality of the resources that we have? >> well, that, that is a very important question that would probably deserve a much longer answer. but let me just, um, say that part of the vision is in the qddr. i mean, that is really what drove our doing the qddr and why we, you know, asked so many of you to participate in helping us think through what the vision was for diplomacy and
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development. to have an openness to change, to learn new skills, to be willing to collaborate and listen to one another, not to defend the past. if past is worth defending in the values and the practices that we used, then make the case for them. not a reflexive this is the way we've always done it, this is how we expect to do it forever. i'm too old to change, i relate to that. [laughter] so i think it's both institutional and personal attributes that we are trying together to examine. and there is an opportunity -- i always believe that the best change comes from the bottom up, you know? it comes from empowered employees saying, look, i've got
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this great idea -- [applause] so to everyone, feel that empowerment and then to, you know, supervisors, managers, etc., be open to those ideas. not every idea's a good one. you know, that is -- you have to say that. [laughter] baud even if you -- because even if you believe it and you've spent a long time working on it doesn't necessarily mean it will carry the day. but how do you know unless you ask, unless you deliver and not just stand to one side and say, well, you know, if they only did what i would have them do or why are they doing that? well, that's not helpful to anybody. and i'm sure we'll find it increases stress levels and all kinds of health problems. [laughter] so, you know, come forward with ideas, and then i want to encourage everyone at the supervisor level, you know, to be open, to listen. doesn't mean you're going to agree or accept, but to have that give and take. and that is what we're looking for. you know, when you think
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about -- [applause] 21st century diplomacy, you know, we're asking, you know, our director general, we're asking fsi to envision what is the training, what are the new modes of thinking that we have to equip you with? was you're not your mother's -- because you're not your mother's or father's diplomat or foreign service officer or civil service expert. you're coming with a new set of challenges. so how can we help equip you, but then how can you help prepare yourself to be ready? so i think if you look at the qddr and kind of go through that and imagine how this will lead to the vision of our role in the world, how we can be more effective, more impactful, how we can go further on less because this' no guarantee in -- there's no guarantee in these
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austere times that we're going to have what we would ideally like, that starts a conversation. and in kind of the office groupings, the subject matter groupings, the affinity groupings, you know, have that conversation and then come with ideas either through the sounding board or directly to people in positions of responsibility, and let's see where it leads. and we'll do our best. [applause] >> good morning, madam secretary. >> good morning. >> my name is leon -- >> could you get just a little closer to the microphone? thank you. >> i'm with the management office of policy right-sizing innovation. i work for undersecretary kennedy. in your opening letter in the qddr you asked the question how do we do better: i'd like to say that in order to meet the program goals of the qddr, we need that strong management platform in the department and usaid, and the important component of that management
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platform is how we manage data, information. um, i just want you to know, um, that we have a interbureau working group that started in june 2011 that is working at getting all those silos together to share data, to access data better so that you get that information you need quicker and more accurately, and we would be keen on meeting with your staff to brief them on our success and the work yet to be done. >> well, we will do that because you're 100% right. in today's world you can either manage data or be drowned by it. and it is, it is -- that's the choice. and it, and if you start being drowned, the natural human inclination is just to ignore, you know? [laughter] um, so the smarter we can be about managing and parenning and ute -- presenting and utilizing data, so we'll follow through on that, pat, okay? >> not a question. >> that's okay. [laughter] a shameless but very important plug. [laughter] [applause]
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>> good morning, madam secretary. my name's michelle, i'm a member of the civilian response corps. i wanted to know what your vision for the corps and the interagency is in their role in the implementation of the qddr in the next few years. >> great question. is rick barton here? there he is. rick's right in front of me. you know, we were so fortunate to recruit rick to be the first leader of the cso. and i think his vision and what all of you are thinking through will answer that question. i want us to be able to deploy expertise in the form of, you know, americans both from the government, from the outside if appropriate, but part of our network to be on the ground as i said in my remarks doing what is necessary to protect us, promote
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our values and further our interests. and that's why this is so exciting. because i can't, standing here today, tell you exactly all of the different roles and functions that cso will perform. it will, it already does have a very tight partnership with counterparts in aid that we need to increase the, you know, the flow of information and cooperation. but then going beyond that into the rest of the government. but i do know this, this was absolutely one of the most important decisions that came out of the qddr. you know, we entered into it with a question like, well, do we need this? you know, because we'd had some efforts that were really quite important, but never were given the support, the resources, the attention and time that they deserved. so it was a natural question to say do we need this, and the
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answer was resoundingly, yes, but it has to be done the right way. so i'm hoping that as we go through the start-up and the consolidation of the cso you'll be coming to me to say, well, here's what we need to do what we think we should be doing, and i will be as responsive as i can. thank you. >> [inaudible] ..
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to feel like there is nowhere for them to go. so we are going to be taking a hard bucket this. i mean, it was one of the could problems that we had. how were we going to quickly, you know, incorporate, integrate our new entry-level hires because we had so many of them, and that was our goal, to begin to rebuild our ranks. now we have to take a look at what changes have to be made to kind of keep the, you know, the momentum going for these young -- not all young, but many young entry-level people. thank you. >> good morning, madame secretary. my name is susan johnston. first of all, would like to thank you for that excellent and exciting update an overview.
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for your really inspiring advocacy for all of us to embrace change, participate in it, and see what we can do to make our agencies more effective in advancing and protecting u.s. interests. thank you very much. welcome. [applause] >> madam secretary, president obama led his state of the union address with the remarks, and all polk, last month the went to andrews air force base and welcome home some of our last troops to serve in a rock. to give their we offered a final pro salute to the colors under which more than a million of our fellow citizens fought and several thousand give their lives. the president continued to offer the first time in nine years there are no americans fighting in a rock. madam secretary, you know that all of us salute the accomplishments and the sacrifices of our military
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colleagues. in fact, many in our community are former veterans of the armed services. my question is, what are your ideas and thoughts on what the state department can do to ensure that the american people remember and better appreciate that we all, the men and women of the state department and our other foreign affairs agencies are still there, still in harm's way, still taking care of business, and advancing the interest of the united states. the related question is how can we help. >> i think that is a very fair question, and we are, you know, obviously trying to talk about it, trying to raise the visibility of it. this is the largest post
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conflict operation the state department has ever tried to lead and manage. it's hard. you know, many of you have spent time trying to help us with this transition. but i think when i see the president tomorrow i will mention to him the importance of also having presidential attention to our members of the civilian side of the ledger who are still in iraq and are still facing a lot of threats and dangers, and he is very mindful of that, very grateful for it. i think we will look for an opportunity to try to raise it to a higher visibility. i thank you very much. of course you been a good partner in all of this work, and we continue to appreciate your support and constructive criticism. thank you. [applause]
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>> madam secretary, we have another synthesis of to similar questions from elizabeth williams and adam kauffman about the future of the state department and you in 2013. the state department has been very fortunate to have an experienced and intelligent, productive and passion secretary's past few years. with the election season -- [applause] >> let me put that first part of the question in writing so that i can put it in front of me when it gets really, really hard. >> we will put it on your ye are. [laughter] >> with the election season fast approaching can you offer any predictions for the state department after the elections in november, specifically are you considering staying honor not? this is the synthesis, would you -- what can we do to persuade
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you to run for vice president? after year tenure here comes to an end will you do and what will become less? [laughter] [applause] >> oh, my goodness. first of all, it is one of the most extraordinary wonderful experiences being able to work with all of you, which i am always telling people everywhere , how privileged diane i think i have made it clear that i will certainly stay on until the president nominate someone and that transition can occur, but i think after 20 years of being on the high wire of american politics and all the challenges that come with that, it would be probably a good idea to just find out how tired i am. everyone always says that when they leave these jobs. i have no reason to have any
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concern about the future of this department and usaid so long as we continue to do what we are doing to really make the case to a broad base of the american public about who we are, what we stand for, the work we do, why its importance. then i am looking, you know, full word to this year. i don't want to think about what might come next because i don't want me or any of us to divert our attention. i think the best case that we can make is to do the work reviewing every day at the highest possible standard and trying to achieve the best outcomes for our country. and then, you know, the election is going to, sure, set up a lot of the attention from following
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areas that we think are so important, you know, trying to resolve conflicts, trying to, you know, bring, you know, food and healthcare and education to desperately poor people, trying to build up america's reputation and reality in some anyplace in the world. but the good news is maybe we could even get more done if they're not paying attention. [laughter] factor that and. i think from my perspective i will just work as hard as i can. i have the honor of being secretary. certainly do everything no matter what i do, which i have no idea what it will be, to support all of you. and i am happy to work with vice-president biden who does an excellent job and is a huge advocate and support for this department and for u.s. at the. it's a little odd for me to be
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totally out of an election season. as secretary of state i cannot participate, but tonight you know, i did not watch any of those debates. [applause] >> that will have to be the last question. >> thank you all very, very much. let's get going. [applause] >> tonight defense secretary leon panetta unveils the military fiscal 2013 budget, which calls for a decrease in the number of army combat brigades and several other cuts. joining the secretary was joint chiefs of staff chairman general
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martin dempsey. that briefing is at 8:00 eastern tonight on c-span. and here on c-span2, remarks from national intelligence director james clapper on information sharing and the intelligence community. he says that secure and credible information sharing is a beneficial tool for those working to protect national security. he gave those comments at the center for strategic and international studies. you can see it at 8:00 eastern here on c-span2. >> i do believe that all of the historical shortcomings of the west in my book discussing his shortcomings because they have to be admitted. for all of the shortcomings the west still today represents the most acceptable and workable universally workable political culture. >> in 1991 the united states was
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the only global superpower. today how to restore its status in the world from former national security adviser on his strategic agent -- vision saturday night at 10:00 eastern. also this weekend on book tv, did fdr used world war ii as a cover to create a more powerful executive branch? saturday at 11:00 p.m. and sunday night at 10:00, the new privacy is no privacy. lori andrews on how your rights are being eroded by social networks. book tv every weekend on c-span2. >> president obama announced the sale in the gulf of mexico. during his speech on the economy and energy he spoke in los vegas as part of his post state of the union tour. ♪
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>> thank you so much. hello, nevada. it is great to be back in las vegas. [applause] i love you back. although i always say when we stay here for the night, i have to what my staff to make sure that they get on the plane and we leave. sometimes they conveniently missed the flight. everyone have a seat. it is great to see you. thanks for the introduction. scott, thank you. the folks in dps for hosting a state, i want to thank all of the election officials at the trouble leaders who took the time to join us. before i get into the core i just want to mention something that i said to scott. that is that ups, i think,
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deserves just extraordinary credit for being the best in its space, one of the best businesses that we have in the united states, but the reason is because it has such outstanding workers. the relationship between its work force and management, cooperating, constantly figuring out how to make things better. it's just an outstanding organization. and so you guys all need to be congratulated for everything that you do. [applause] now i am here to talk alone more about what i talked about at the state of the union on tuesday night. [laughter] and what i want to focus on is how we are going to restore the basic promise of america. something that folks at ups
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understand, which is if you work hard, if you do the right thing you should be able to do well enough to raise a family and down-home and send your kids to college and cuddle little away for retirement. that is the american dream. that's what most people are looking for. they don't expect a handout. they don't expect anything to come easy. they do expect there willing to work hard to try to get ahead, if they're doing the right thing then they can have a sense of security and dignity and help make sure that the family is moving forward. that is what americans are looking bored, and that is what americans deserve. today three years after the worst economic storm and three generations our economy is
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growing again. our businesses have created more than 3 million jobs. last year businesses created the most jobs since 2005. american manufacturers are hiring again and creating jobs for the first time since the 1990's. we have more to do. what we can do is go back to the very same policies that got us into the mess in the first place. we can't go backwards. we have to go forward. i said on tuesday and i will repeat today we will not and cannot go back to the economy weakened by outsourcing and bad debt, phony financial problems. so on tuesday i laid out my vision for how we move forward. i laid out a blueprint for an
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economy that is built to last a has a firm foundation. we're making stephan selling stuff and moving it around and ups drivers are dropping things of the viewer. that is the economy we want. an economy built on american manufacturing made here in the night @booktv as its american. an economy built on american energy tool by homegrown and alternative sources that make us more secure and less dependent on foreign oil. an economy built on the skills of american workers, giving people the education and the training they need to prepare for the jobs of today, but also to compete for the jobs of tomorrow.
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most imploringly an economy that is built on a renewal of american values, hard work, responsibility, and the same set of rules for everybody from wall street to main street. that has to be our future. that is how we restore the basic american promise. now, part of my blueprint, what i want to focus of a little bit today is for an economy built to last with american energy. that is why we're here. for decades americans have been talking about how we decrease our dependence on foreign oil. well, my administration is actually beginning to do something about a. over the last three years we negotiated the toughest new efficiency standards for cars and trucks in history.
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we have open millions of the new age for oil and gas exploration. right now all american oil exploration is the highest is been in a year's time eight years. last year we relied less on foreign oil than in any of the last 16 years. it hasn't got a lot of attention to of the that is important. square moving in the right direction when it comes to the oral and gas production. today i am announcing that my administration will soon open up around 38 million acres in the gulf of mexico for additional exploration and development, which could result in a lot more production of domestic energy. as i said on tuesday and as the folks here it ups understand, even with all of this oil production we only have about 2 percent of the world's oil reserves. so we have to have an all-out
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all in all of the above strategy that develops every source of american energy, a strategy that is cleaner and cheaper and fall of the jobs. a great place to start is with natural-gas. some of you may not have been following this, but because of new technologies, because we can now access natural-gas that we could not access before an economic way we have a supply of natural gas under our feet that can last america nearly 100 years, nearly 100 years. when i say under our feet i don't know that there is actually gas right here. [laughter] i mean, and all of the united states, and developing it could power our cars and homes, our factories, and a cleaner and
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cheaper way. the experts believe it could support more than 600,000 jobs by the end of the decade. we, it turns out, are the saudi arabia of natural-gas. we have all lot of it. we have a lot of it. now, removing that natural gas obviously has to be done carefully, and i know families are worried about the impact is to have on our environment and on the health of our community, and a share that concern. that's lamb requiring for the first time ever that all companies drilling for gas on public lands disclose the chemicals they use. we want to make sure this is done properly in safely. america will develop this resource without putting the health and safety of our citizens of risk, but we have to keep at it. we have to take advantage of this incredible natural resource think about what could happen if we do.
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think about an america where more cars and trucks are running on domestic natural-gas ban on foreign oil. think about an america where our companies are leading the world in developing natural gas technology and creating a generation of new energy jobs where natural gas resources are helping make their manufacturers more competitive for decades. we can do this. and by the way, natural gas burns cleaner than oil does. it's also a potentially good for our environment as we make this shift. last april we should challenge to shipping companies like dps. we said, if you upgrade your fleet to run on less oil or no oil of all we're going to help you succeed. we're going to help you with an
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experiment. we started out with five companies that accepted the challenge. of course ups was one of the first. that's how they're role. so less than a year later we have 14 companies on board and together they represent 1 million vehicles on the road. that's a lot of trucks. we should do more. that is why we're here today. first lets get more of these natural gas vehicles on the road. let's get more of them on the road. the federal fleet of cars is leading by example. it turns out the federal government has a lot of cars. we buy a lot of cars. we have to help that only the federal government, but also local governments upgrade their
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fleets. if more of these brown trucks are going green, more city buses should, too. there is no reason why buses cantor go in the same direction. second, let's offer new tax incentives to help companies buy more clean charts like these. [applause] third, let's make sure all these new tracks that are running on natural gas have places to refuel. that is one of the biggest impediments, the technology we know how to make. but if they don't have a place to pull in and fellow they have problems. we're going to keep working with the private sector to develop up to five natural-gas corridors along our highways. these are highways that have natural-gas fueling stations between cities, it's as like the one the folks at ups, south coast air, and clean energy
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fuels are opening today between los angeles and salt lake city. that's a great start. so no one of these trucks can go from long beach all the way to solid city. they're going to be able to refuel on the way. finally to keep america on the cutting edge of clean energy technology, my energy secretary to launch a new competition that encourages our country's brightest scientists and engineers and entrepreneurs to discover new breakthroughs for natural gas vehicles. so we are going to keep moving on american energy. we're going to keep boosting american manufacturing. we will keep training of workers for these new jobs in economy that is built to last also means a renewal of the values that made us who we are. hard work, fair play and shared
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responsibility. right now that means first of all stopping attacks icon 160 million working americans at the end of next month. people cannot afford no losing $40 of each paycheck. your voices convince congress to extend a middle-class tax cuts before. i need your help to make sure they do it again. no,. adelaide. let's just get this done for the american people and for our economy as a whole. we have along her running issue. we were talking about this before we came out. that is how to get america's fiscal house in order. we're going to have to make some choices. the reason that we have these debts and deficits is because we
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are not making hard choices. right now we are supposed to spend nearly $1 trillion more, was intended to be a temporary tax cut for the wealthiest 2 percent of americans. so be temporary. back in 2001, that's a long time ago. a quarter of all millionaires pay lower tax rates than millions of middle-class households. warren buffett paid a lower tax rate and a secretary. i know because she was at the state of the union. that's not fair. that doesn't make sense. the reason its importance for us to recognize that is if we're going to reduce the deficit than we have to have a balanced
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approach that have spending cuts and we already agree to $2 trillion with spending cuts. we have to be rid of programs that don't work, make government more efficient. i have asked congress for authority to consolidate some of these agencies, to make them run better. we're going to have to be much more effective when it comes to government spending. that alone does not do it. so from what i actually deal with the deficits, we have to look to the other side of the ledger. who want to keep these tax cuts for the wealthiest americans or keep investing in everything else? education, clean energy, a strong military, caring for our veterans who are coming home from iraq in afghanistan. we can't do both. we can't do both.
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a lesson is let's follow the above the rule. if you make more than a million dollars a year you should pay a tax rate at least 30%. which, by the way, is lower than you would be paying under ronald reagan. no one is talking about anything crazy here. if you make less than $250,000 a year which 90 percent of all americans to, your taxes and a lot. i think that is a fair approach. a lot of folks a been running around saying, well, that's class warfare. as the a billionaire to pay at least as much as a secretary in texas is just common sense. and i promise you if we make this change warren buffett will be doing fine, will be doing fine, we don't need more tax
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breaks. you the ones to a senior wages and then come stall while the cost of everything from brush trees to college to health care have been going up. you are the ones who deserve a break. [applause] and want to make one last point. we do not begrudge success in america. we aspire to it. we want everybody to succeed. we want everybody to be rich. if we want everybody to be working hard, making their way, creating new products, creating new services, creating jobs. that is the american way. we don't shy away from finances success, politesse fort. but what we do say is when this nation has done so much for us shouldn't we be thinking about the country as a whole?
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when americans talk about folks like me paying their fair share of taxes is not because they in be the rich. desisted a bill gates said he agrees with me that most -- of americans can afford it should pay their fair share. bill gates is not in the the rich. we have to make choices. americans understand, if i give a tax bracket don't need and a tax break the country can't afford them one of two things are going to happen, either it will add to our deficit or someone else will have to make the difference. going to have to pay more for their medicare or a student will have to pay more for this and loan. or a family that is trying to get by will have to do with less. that's not right.
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that's not who we are. each of us is only here because somebody somewhere felt a responsibility to each other and our country and helped to create all this incredible opportunity that we call the united states of america. now it's our turn to be responsible, and it's our turn to leave an america that is built to last for the next generation. that's our job, and we can do it. [applause] ..
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and the incredible work they do and the reason to our military is so good, the reason why they are so admired is because it's not like everybody in the military agrees on everything. you have democrats in the military, republicans in the military, you have folks who are conservative or liberal, different races, different religions, different backgrounds, they figured out how to focus on a mission. they figured out how to do their job. and that sense of common purpose is will we are going to need to build an economy that lasts. and if we work together in common purpose, we can build that economy and we can meet the challenges of our times. and we'll remind the entire world once again just why it is
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address the president of the national congress of american indians gave the annual state of the indian nations address. u.s. congressman tom cole of oklahoma, was a member of the chickasaw nation provided a congressional response. this is an hour and 20 minutes. >> we are live in five, four -- >> good morning to get my name is jacqueline, the executive director of the national congress of american indians, and i'd like to welcome you here to our status indian nations event. we are the largest, oldest organization in washington, d.c. representing the troubled governments across the country. i would like to welcome our distinguished guests to washington dc. we have many folks listening to us across the country to watch the state of 2012 state of
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indian nations address and across the country we have students, tribal citizens and leaders who have gathered in the schools and centers to watch the event together. among many of the regions across the country, we are pleased this in santa fe mexico is joining us. we of the university of oklahoma college of law and the center for the native american youth in washington, d.c.. the tribal office and the indian tribe of wisconsin, leaders of tomorrow and today's event that are watching and there are many other more watching events across the country. and we are glad the and have be that they are all joining us. we are having an incredible turn out here today and would like to acknowledge some of the guests in the audience, and among those special guests we have today we have our board members of cnii,,
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norris, don arnall, cynthia and david bebb also joined by tribal leaders across the country and some of those are the chairman gary and councilman eddy. among the federal partners of course we have the esteemed and honorable daniel akaka and representative tom cole, the assistant secretary larry and charlie bilbray from the white house, david from the senate committee, yvette from iehf, and aram plame from treasury. we also have the native organization partners earning stevens, a request from the housing council, and finally, i want to thank the native voice one and many of our trouble stations across the country for airing today's address and bringing the state of the indian nations to hundreds of thousands of people in the andean
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countries and beyond. this year we've asked an american indian active duty military service member to begin and to introduce president keel. it is my distinct honor to be able to introduce and to welcome the lieutenant governor of the bus marine corps in the u.s. navy judge of the ticket at the pentagon. the lieutenant colonel has participated in the deployments and iraq and afghanistan. please join me in the thinking him for his continued service and welcoming him here today. lieutenant colonel. [applause] >> thank you. good evening and it is my pleasure to introduce the president of the national congress of american indians president keel. he is currently the lieutenant of our of the chickasaw nation
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of oklahoma and was recently unanimously elected to a second term as the president of the ncai. i'm here to represent the american and the native service veterans and it is an honor to serve and protect all citizens of the united states including members of america's first nations. today there are tens of thousands of active-duty service members and over 300,000 native veterans who know the great sacrifice to protect our freedom and our sovereignty. one of the great veterans is jefferson keel. himself a retired u.s. army officer with over 20 years of active-duty service. he's translated that duty into serving the indian country and building a stronger america. ladies and gentlemen, the president of the national congress of american indians jefferson keel. [applause]
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>> thank you. thank you for that warm introduction. i want to thank the native service members and veterans who have joined us today. many know the story of the indian country. the challenges we have faced and the ones we face today. very few americans know the story of the 100 of thousands of tribal members that have served in the united states military as far back as the revolutionary war. and the veteran myself i want to thank the colonel hunting horse and 24,000 active-duty american indian service members serving today to protect the sovereignty of the united states and the tribal nations of north america. thank you. [applause] my fellow traveler leaders, tribal citizens and american citizens, members of the national congress of american indians, members of the administration, members of the
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100th of congress, those listening and watching today, and honored to speak to you all, but especially to address representatives of the more than 5 million native people and the 566 tribal nations of indian country. [applause] the state of indian nations is strong. our nations are strong. our people are strong. our sovereignty is our inheritance. the status indian nations as i outlined today should be defined by what we commit to right now to make the state of indian nations even stronger in the years to come. we all know the tribes have faced a difficult history. we are rising from harsh economic conditions to contribute to a more prosperous tomorrow. the tribes have been doing more with less for generations.
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i here today to outline a path to overcome our shared challenges. the specific economic changes and improvements for our tribal nations. some of these changes require legislative action, but many others can come from direct action by the administration. ultimately though, it would be the actions of the native people that can change the nation's in our community. the native people are the first americans, tribal nations are the first governments of this country. one of the three recognized in the united states constitution. our america is a place where each member of the american family of government contributes to the future. to achieve that vision, we need leaders who understand that indian country matters. especially in a presidential election year. we are all aware of the impact the election can have on indian
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country. in the recent years many have come to learn that the door swings both ways. the indian country can have a significant impact on the elections and can be game changing. on the navajo reservation and the young people in the villages go to the ballot box this november, they are standing on the shoulders of those that fought hard for that right. as the students and arizona state university and veteran's in foreign land cast their vote they are reminded america that the matter. in the 1940's, thousands of native veterans returned home to a shocking reality. america had accepted them on the battlefield but had no place for them at the ballot box. a member of the indian river community who raised the flag and hiroshima and returned to the homeland that he had
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defended and was denied the right to vote. from the state of play blow enlisted as a marine in the days following pearl harbor return home to new mexico and was denied the right to vote. these american heroes inspired the fight all the way to the federal courts with a right to participate in the 1948 elections. they expressed the power of the native vote for the first time, the first time they cast their ballots, and it's worked ever since. stories like these have shown native people we can and we must think big. simply put, we will work tirelessly and 2012 to see the highest vote turnout ever. [applause] we know that it can be done. for instance on the reservation
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in montana their turnout rates are regularly over 80%. a survey of seniors and ucla showed that native young people participate at rates higher than any other group of students. this is especially important because almost half a million native youth will be eligible to vote for the first time in the next four years. native people didn't see the world and don't see the world in the election cycles. we are focused on building stronger communities for generations to come. when we step in the ballot box we want to vote for candidates who stand with tribal nations to create strong and prosperous futures. we are not mobilizing for one party or for one candidate. indians don't just vote d for democrat or r for a republican. for us it is i for indian. [applause] we are independent voters and we
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will continue to vote for the candidate who is strong on our issues and cares about our priorities. that's why today i am calling on all presidential candidates to make sure the indian countries at the table or during the campaign and throughout your administration. these specific actions should form the foundation of your native policy platform. first, we call on the president to spend a special message to congress on the importance of the nation to nation relationship. in 1970 president nixon sent a message to congress on the tribal self-determination. that message lost the self-determination era of the very framework that allowed the tribes to prove our capacity as government. all presidents should do the same. second, we call the president to fully implement the united nations declaration on the rights of indigenous people. we specifically called for the review of all existing federal
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law to ensure the rn alignment with the declaration. dewitt would call for an annual nation to the nation summit, an ongoing high level meeting, this would institutionalize the current nation summit the meaningful commitment to the nation to nation relationship that must be upheld by all future presidents. we also called the president to convene a regular meetings on specific issues between tribal leaders and cabinet secretaries. fourth, elevate native people in the federal government. it's past time for the qualified native people to be seated on the federal bench. the appointment of a senior adviser on the native american affairs has advanced policy making at the white house and we would applaud president obama for his leadership. with the importance of the indian budget in the coming decades, we urge the creation of an office for native american programs at the office of
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management and budget. and finally, we would call upon all candidates to actively engage in the country and in your campaign. each candidate to visit indian country to outline your policy positions. we also urge the campaigns to make sure the tribal nations are part of the discussion at the presidential debate. between now and election we have a lot of work to do. for all of the partisan challenges of the past year, the converse passed on the common ground on the indian policy. and of the bipartisan leadership with senators akaka and barrasso, the senate committee on indian affairs has reached across party lines to develop legislation that promises to transform in the in country. and in the house, republicans like chairman don young, democratic defeat could democrats like dale kildee have
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worked hard to educate their constituents and colleagues about the benefits tribal governments offer the nation. there are some important things congress can do right now that can grow the in the economies and create jobs. without spending a dime and the congress can fix the problems created by the supreme court decision, and offer surgeon keefer the land and trust transactions that are critical to the andean country's economic future. [applause] the department of the interior has already acted to streamline the approval for the renewable energy development, and we urge congress to pass the act to expand the leasing reform and passed the indian energy self-determination wall. congress can also act on public safety legislation that will attract businesses to the communities. we urge the passage of the
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amendments to the stafford act that are supported by fema and would remove the burdens by the states and tribes and the critical emergency when the lives are on the line. native women are the protectors of the culture, our family and future. we call on the senate to pass the violence against women act reauthorization and the save native women at both of which would take critical steps to address the horrific rate of violence being perpetrated against our when. [applause] the native blacks act offers the chance to provide the kind of education our young people need to succeed today and build economies in the in country needs for tomorrow. our young people must not be left behind any more. [applause] congress must stand with us now
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to get these bills passed. the long term success depends on america keeping her promises. that's why ncai along with our partners in indian country are making available to you today our plan for the indian but. this out lines orphism for investing in the future of our america and stabilizing the indian budget. will create reliable, safe, domestic energy. it will build a 21st education system in america. it will modernize our infrastructure and it will have the implementation of a critical legislation like the tribal law and order act and the indian health care improvement act. [applause] just as our plan holds hope for the future, the budget control act poses great risk. the act requires congress to cut discretionary spending for the next ten years.
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much of the funding that fulfills the federal trust responsibility is categorized wrongly in our view as domestic discretionary spending. the trust responsibility is not a discretionary choice. it is not a line item. it is a solemn agreement that has been sustained over hundreds of years. unless congress acts to hold the tribal programs harmless, then starting in 2013, we are facing ten to 15% cuts across the board for the next decade. cuts that will threaten the essential governmental services and affect millions of native citizens throughout the vast regions of the rural america. we are well aware of the budget challenges of our nation faces. we live in indian country. we know all about doing more with less. we urge congress to stand up for the relatively small piece of the federal budget that belongs
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to the tribal nations and our citizens. [applause] protecting the indian budget is the first step. the long term success depends on the tribal nations having the same opportunities to protect and preserve our communities that are available to the state and local governments. we exercise jurisdiction over land that would make us the fourth largest state in this country. we've done dozens of programs previously administered by the federal agencies or the states. and we protect reservations environments in the manner that the states regulate off the reservation land. the prisoner capacity to grow our economies. educate our people and manage our resources. we need the federal government to put decision making power back in the hands of the people who live in indian country. the people who know best.
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many tribal leaders can tell you stories today about business opportunities lost excessive red tape. our federal partners have already proposed crucial lease reform to free our economy. tribal nations again have proven our capacity. we don't need government involved in all our business decisions. we need flexibility. and by creating it, we will remove barriers that cost us jobs and opportunities. this is a goal i think we can all agree on across the political spectrum. it is something we can achieve with a change in policy, not an increase in spending. this is the kind of solution that washington is crying out for and we in indian country are eager to answer the call. insuring government flexibility will yield more efficient programs and spending because decisions will be made by those
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best in the position to respond to the community needs. we will also relieve administrative burdens that the federal level. this message comes directly from tribal leaders. we went to them with one simple question, what can we do with what we have already without asking for more resources that will provide greater opportunity for indians, more impact for federal programs and over and over the answer came back. we need freedom at the local level to best use our limited resources. we know what is best because we live in indian country. we know where their needs are. we know what works for our people. no one understands indian life better than the andean nations themselves. those people who live their daily. give us the flexibility. the standing rock sioux tribe in north dakota delivering advanced services across their reservation because of governmental flexibility.
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the ftc's decision to designate standing rock telecom that can receive universal service funds. this designation has empowered standing rock to own and operate essential telecommunications infrastructure. this offers avenues for economic development, opportunities to preserve tribal languages and culture and infrastructure for distance learning programs. that is the kind of flexibility we need in indian country when only one in 10 native people have access to broadband today. the reno indian colony in nevada opened a 65,000 square foot health facility in 2007 that showed the promise of tax-exempt bond financing. almost $16 million in bonds funded a full-service clinic
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that serves 100,000 people each year. this project created permanent jobs and build the infrastructure for quality health services. tribes were denied full access to the source of financing until the recovery act created a limited on offering. based on that experience, the treasury released a report in december recommending the governmental parity for tribal nations because it works. this will bring huge economic benefits to tribes and surrounding regional economies. education is another example where flexibility can prepare our children for the global marketplace. the cherokee nation's language tool formed formed an innovative partnership with apple computer's to integrate in the cherokee language. >> they develop cherokee language software for use on mcintosh computers and iphones
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and ipods and ipads. students even chat on line in cherokee with students from the eastern band of cherokee's in north carolina. this is a powerful example of tribal innovation and the type of innovation that is vesting tribes with greater authority over our gnome print -- programs. whether it's economic development -- [applause] whether economic development or are education, health care or energy, the key to getting it right is the freedom to identify and tear down barriers to our success. tribal leaders carry with us a dream. it's a dream passed down from our parents and our grandparents. it doesn't look forward to 21,242,016. it looks to the seventh generation.
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we see a future where trust relationship actually works. it works for tribal nations and it works for our federal partners. our ancestors knew the tribe could govern our nations and govern ourselves like no one else. today we have proven it. residence of rural oklahoma are driving to our health facilities because they offer the best services around. states and counties are turning to our traditional knowledge to manage natural resources and the citizens of these rural states are coming to tribes for job opportunities and good education and tribal colleges. companies are coming to us to set up businesses on the reservations and bring american jobs home. when we have the tools of freedom that we need we are creating businesses, delivering services and leading the way. it's time to build our trust on
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that reality. [applause] that trust also requires consultation. legally enforceable consultation without the power of legislation and accountability, free prior and informed consent are just some nice words on paper. as president obama himself said when he announced his support for the u.n. declaration, what matters far more than words are actions to match those words. we call for action to make consultation count. enforceable consultation means we must talk about another idea, tribal consent. there will be a public outcry if the federal government tried to impose policies on the state. without its consent, but the concerns of tribal nations are routinely overlooked even when
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more than a dozen tribes are larger than some northeastern states. this must not stand. [applause] our america is a place where all candidates know that we matter and america sees us at the ballot box. it's a place where each and every president honors our unique nation to nation relationship, where indian country is always at the table, not just because it's a good idea, it's the right thing to do, but because it's the smart thing to do. our america is home to a congress that works across party lines to free our economies. our america is a place where government keeps their promises. our america is where tribal nations create economic opportunities, where people come to us for the best jobs. it's a place where tribes are on
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the forefront of new technology, high-tech manufacturing, telemedicine and clean energy. our america is where it indigenous people reach across borders and bring home economic opportunity for all americans. as the oldest governments in this country, tribal nations understand what is required to overcome stark economic conditions. perhaps more than any other time in history our nations must stand together, and power to make profound and permanent improvements in the lives of our people. our nation is committed to the success of the united states of america. let us realize that future together so that our nations strive today and forever. thank you. [applause]
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>> thank you. [applause] >> thank you resident keel. now i have the privilege of introducing the champion of one of our champions from congress and one of our dear friends, congressman tom cole has agreed us to give us the congressional response. he is a fifth generation oklahoman and an enrolled member of the chickasaw nation. he has been serving indian issues since 2002 and we hope he continues in that position for a long time to come. please help me welcome congressman tom cole. [applause]
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>> it's an honor and a privilege and a pleasure to follow my good friend, my fellow chickasaw governor jefferson keel. governor keel was here to give you or did give you a thoughtful and eloquent address. i am here to prove to you that not all of chickasaw are thoughtful and elegant. [laughter] but it is my privilege to look across indian country and i do so like everybody in this room or probably everybody in this room as an american and a very proud american. i do so as someone who is very proud of my state. i know most of you are proud of the states in which you reside, semiyou are american citizens but i also do that as a fellow native american and as somebody who is proud of my tribal traditions and my tribe. my forebears and my family were members of the chickasaw nation and leaders in the chickasaw
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nation before there was a united states of america. my great great grandfather was clerk of the chickasaw supreme court before there was a territory of oklahoma and my great-grandfather was treasurer of the chickasaw nation before oklahoma was a state. and so we approach this as most people in this room approach this, with a very long and different and and and nuanced view of american history. that is not true for most americans. they don't have the ability to draw from that tradition and most of the problems we face when we deal with other americans is largely because they are ignorant of those traditions and has not have the opportunity quite frankly to be educated about them. they labor under many misconceptions of who we are and what our status is in the larger political system. in washington today i would say from a native american perspective, and from an
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american and an oklahoma perspective that is the best of times and the worst of times to borrow a phrase from charles dickens and. it's the best of times in many areas. we have certainly in the house and i think in the senate bipartisan cooperation on native american issues to an unprecedented degree. that's unusual and frankly native american issues aren't partisan issues i don't think should ever be approached in a partisan fashion. the reality is most of our interests span political parties and some of them are absolutely irrelevant to the political dialogue and debate between republicans and democrats that goes on in this country. but what is enduring on federal trust relationships is indian nations with the federal government. whether not the federal government carries out its responsibilities in a particular area. the appropriations area where is jackie said i specialize in spend a great deal of time, this
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has been a pretty good year for us. i want to commend the administration. i'm a very conservative republican. obviously i have some differences with the administration by the cheer the president has been in office he has put forth a real budget and a good budget in a serious budget for us to consider in the legislative process. and certainly on the house side i can tell you we had a real bipartisan alliance on interior appropriations where most indian funding takes place. our subcommittee chairman mike simpson from idaho, our ranking member jim moran from virginia have a wonderful partnership and working relationship and because of that and working honestly with the administration we now made substantial progress. we increased substantially, 10% in the house, appropriations for the indian health service. the presidents facing a difficult budget. he reduce the bia budget very slightly. we thought it was very -- and if
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you look at indian funding on thing like impact aid, things like housing across the board while it didn't receive the same increase as we saw in other areas it was actually essentially held harmless in the house and that is a good thing when we are experiencing difficulty in other areas. that bipartisan relationship has been very powerful and very good. i think you have also seen it expressed in the establishment of the natural resources committee for the first time in many many years in the house a subcommittee on indian and native alaskan affairs. that is something my good friend dale keeled the end i have worked on for many years and finally came to fruition. that would not have happened if doc hastings and the chairman of the committee had not been supporting that and he put in as the chairman don young from alaska and we have no better ally of on native american issues than don young. his partner in that, my friend
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from california is equally committed and equally knowledgeable so that has been a really good thing and provided a vehicle where we began to get much more of the way of attention to focus and momentum for issues that are important in indian country. let me mention just a few of those. h.r. 2362, and i'm a chickasaw so i always start out with my own legislation, which is a trade bill. a trade bill because we have a unique opportunity with a country of turkey which has a long-standing interest in native american affairs and a profound belief that the turkish people are related to native americans and wants to move ahead and wants to partner with individual tribal nations for economic development. that bill has been heard in the subcommittee and is now waiting for action. we have h.r. 205, my good friend representative heinrich from new mexico, democratic bill.
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very very important in extending tribal authority in service leasing areas, things i would give tribal governments precisely the kinds of flexibility and authority that lieutenant governor keel was talking about in his address and that's a bipartisan bill, a good bill. it to makkah waits for action. we also have h.r. 1599 which is an economic development bill which i have brought forward a more importantly because he is the chairman don young is working on and major economic development initiative in things that would give tribal governments the tools they need to control their own affairs and their own destiny. we have had hearings on the bills that representative kildee has offered and i have offered and i always like to say i will take either one of those bills. i would be delighted if representative kildee's bill passed her mind. he's a wonderful partner and a wonderful friend. we have had a lot of things
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happen in the house of representatives. in the senate and i don't want to speak authoritatively toward that. we have a senator barrasso as ranking member but we don't have to have to better advocates and they worked hard to focus attention on the senate. they worked hard on economic development issues to begin to educate their colleagues on a bipartisan bases in the areas of which we can move together. so we have a strong bicameral as well as bipartisan partnership in native american affairs. i would be remiss not to have mentioned the administration as well. first the personnel, many of whom are here. secretary bach and director roubideaux here but also secretary salazar. they have shown continuous sustained interest and commitment in the movement of important legislation, important administrative decisions and indian countries. we were actually talking about
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this. at the administration has put in place advisers at senior levels and cabinet positions so that members of the coming into those important positions have immediately available to them advice and counsel from people who understand indian country in all its nuances and of course obviously the presidential initiative on the native americans summit is one of the hallmark contributions institutionalizing and strengthening the relationship between tribal governments. i could go on, individual initiatives the administration has taken on the service leasing in renewable energy. i would like to get the oil and gas guy to get service flexibility there but we are going to work on that in this was a very important step on the right direction on the part of the administration. there are lots of good things happening there and again the good things that happen are almost invariably bipartisan
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where we found common good and could work together for the good of indian country. on the other hand, i say it's the worst of times. there are some challenges. i think particularly we need to have more bipartisanship in the appropriations process between the two bodies. the reality is the house this time out to the senate in terms of its commitment to funding of indian programs and when we got into the process of negotiation with we basically were fighting on bipartisan lines in the house who wanted to keep money and the native american concerns particularly in the health area. there wasn't so much opposition. it was just simply other priorities. they're not against what we are trying to do but they have conditional priorities. i would argue that actually there should be few if any priorities higher than the trust relationship the united states has with individual indian nations. [applause]
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so we need to expand that bipartisan and bicameral cooperation. we need to build on the good works of senator akaka and senator barrasso who have a partnership where we move together where frankly democrats and republicans can go into indian country with a great deal to be proud of instead of the great deal to apologize for. a let's be real. if we wait simply on the federal government to take care of our problems, we will be waiting for a very long time. indians of all people want to know self-reliance, self progress, self-determination as lieutenant governor keel said are the real routes to moving forward. the governments job is to keep its commitments, honor its trust in responsibilities and work with us to remove the obstacles that have been placed in front of tribal development of individual indian people.
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that is something where we have a long way to go. the scope of our challenge is historic. and monumental. most americans don't realize. i could sit here and quote at nazi him statistics we all know and make the point whether it's in terms of a their education, their lifespan, their health, their opportunities to move forward. the first americans are still after over 230 years of this country the last americans. that needs to change. it's a national disgrace. to national challenge and it will take a national effort to move us in the right direction. i think the challenge for this particular organization is to educate the rest of america about the challenges that we face in indian country and i am proud of what this organization has done frankly throughout its existence. it has a long and honorable history of doing just that but the scope of the challenge is
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just amazing. this summer i had the honor of traveling with my good friend secretary echohawk and director roubideaux and jody gilad who is with us from the interior of the white house, congressman simpson, congressman mccollum for minnesota and we went first to chickasaw and choctaw country in oklahoma where we have been fortunate. we have had challenges like other people have had challenges. this is not our historic homeland. my forebears did not come here by choice. that they have used the tools and the opportunities they have had and they have had their set of hardships that they have overcome them. we have thriving tribal economies and doing well. we went to see some of our friends on the great reservations in north in south dakota who are also resilient, innovative, but their challenges are greater. the challenges they face american should see.
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they should go to pine ridge. they should go to cheyenne river. they should go to standing rock. they should see some of the challenges that their fellow americans are facing and i am sure if they saw them and they understood them they would work with us to overcome them. so that is going to be our great challenge going forward. we have a very very different perspective on american history and i want to end with a couple of stories to drive that home. my great aunts was a very famous indian folklore artist and storyteller, really internationally renowned and she not only told the stories of our people, the chickasaw, but a lot of tribes and she's hinchey's to pick up historical and it goats and incidents and try to draw a moral out of them that an indian which out of them. i remember one and i won't be able to quote it verbatim. it's one of my favorites and based on a real incident, an
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incident of the southern cheyenne war chief and a treaty negotiation in the 1860s dealing with the american government. and trying to comprehend and encapsulate the words, the enormity of the challenge and the change that he was seeing in the course of his lifetime. in the course of those treaties and negotiations he addressed the representative of the united states government and he was an american but not an american citizen obviously. and he said, once this was all the land of the red men and then came the white hand and the black man and the yellow man. and i thought about this. and i thought about nature. in nature, aren't there white horses, black courses and red forces and forces of many colors? i thought about herds and there are white birds, black words, brown birds and red birds but all one bird, all one horse, all one man.
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the great spirit must have wanted this to become the land of all the peoples and so it shall be forever more. if you think about american history that has a pretty profound way to encapsulate really who we are as a people, as an american nation and that is where he concluded his story. but my great aunt added, to really know indians you really know what they don't say is sometimes more important than what they do say. when he gave the eloquent speech, he recognized the changing reality of the worlds in which he lived. he did not say he would give up who he was or who his tribe was for his languages or his traditions. he intended to keep those within the greater whole that he was now becoming part of. that is who we are. the oldest part of america, the most remarkable part of america,
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actually the most diverse part of america but each and every person in here is a member of a tribe and tends to remain who you are and to obtain a pass on that identity, your culture, your traditions but yes you are unique political status within the constitution of the united states. each generation of american indians usually has to educate the rest of the country about what that status is. who we are and who we intend to be. our navajo brethren have a real story, phrase they use. the long walk, one of the great tragedies they went through as a people but we ought to remember, we think about the long walk. it's a little bit different than a lot of traditions. in oklahoma the cherokees with the trail of tears. there are so many of our tribes. the long walk, you know the
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history of course almost everyone in this room does is a two-way walk. it's a long walk away, but it's a long walk back home too. we are engaged as native americans in a very long walk, the longest walk in american history and much of it is a walk away from who we were. sometimes forced relocation, sometimes forced assimilation, sometimes forced efforts to literally eliminate tribal governments altogether but we are now i think it the turning point or in the long walk back. the long walk back home, the long walk back to retaining our sovereignty, retaining our identity and retaining the unique contribution that each and every indian nation makes with this wonderful nation we all call the united states of america. thank you very much. [applause]
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[applause] >> and now you well know why we are so proud of our and rolled chickasaw member of congress. and his profound words that he shared with us today. today we also are honored to be able to be joined by two other members of congress that give us a good example of this bipartisan effort to really come together. so i want to introduce an recognized today, we have chairman akaka who is the chairman of the senate committee and indian affairs. he is a native hawaiian. he has brought the spirit of cultural protections, the importance of some of the values of our language programs and of course the hope and opportunities and part of his championship in the senate committee. he is joined today by
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vice-chairman senator barrasso from wyoming who is among many things his support for indian country has championed the energy bill and moving forward with the energy bill which we think is going to be another great economic opportunity for all of indian country. if either one of you would like to say a few words we would be glad to have you both come up here, standing together like you do in the committee. [applause] >> aloha. it is a pleasure to be with you today and to hear nci president keel's assessment of the state of the indian nations and tribal
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priorities for the coming year. it is important for all native american communities, be they american indian, alaska natives, or are even native hawaiian, to take stock of where they are and set achievable goals for the coming year. in this time when all government shines having to do more with less, we must endeavor to strengthen the ability of tribal governments to develop their local economies, to spur job creation and meet the needs of their people. was chairman of the senate
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committee on indian affairs, i am committed to reminding my colleagues about their trusted responsibility and the promise made to tribal nations, and working to protect the federal program and services that are mandatory to meeting that responsibility. vice chairman barrasso and i continue to lead the committee in a bipartisan manner, to resolve ambiguity in federal law regarding the rights of native communities and their jurisdiction of their government. we look to advance native solutions to native concerns. in this congress, the committee has held numerous hearings,
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roundtables and listening sessions because i believe in hearing from the stakeholders as we do important work impacting indian country. native communities are innovative and their approaches to self-sufficiency, particularly in energy. economic development and education. bay are demonstrating the capacity to meet the needs of the communities and we must remove barriers to their work. in keeping with the federal policy of self-determination and self governance, the committee will continue to tilt the record of issues vital to native peoples. their unique identities and the
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importance of their homeland. we will work with you to build a foundation for a new era and the government to government relationship. you also have a strong partner in the obama administration and assistant secretary larry echohawk and we have had good cooperation with them and relationships and also with the secretary salazar as well. as many of you know, my two top priority's of fixed legislation and of native hawaiian government reorganization act. both are vital to ensuring parity in federal law and resolving ambiguities in america's relationship with its
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first people's. a contrary fixed bill clarifies the secretary of the interior's ability to take land into trust forms. and authorities of the -- more than 75 years. it has created instability in native and rural communities across the country. and a legislative fix of over 100,000 jobs for american workers and statistically improves law enforcement on and near reservations. we are seeing new challenges to the status of indian lands. these kinds of lawsuits cost
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money and that is better spent meeting the needs of native peoples. this issue has bipartisan and bicameral support and i extend to my good friend tom cole for his leadership on this issue. almost 120 years ago, the united states stated in the illegal overthrow of hawaii the native hawaiians of their traditional government. shortly thereafter, the congress began exercising its indian affairs powers to address native hawaiian conditions and has done so in over 150 laws. 100 years later an apology to the native hawaiian people from
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the united states role and overthrow the kingdom and their suppression to self govern nations was enacted. native hawaiians have waited too long for justice. it is time to make things right and pass my bill. under my direction, the committee will continue to advance several important bills. the native class active powers, native communities to implement strategies that produce strong educational outcomes for their children. the save native women act ensures that tribes have the authority and resources to address issues of violence against women. these bills go to the heart of a
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community's ability to thrive. as a native hawaiian working with office doing things with aloha that are right and just is the cornerstone of who i am. my career is proof that being who we are as native peoples is effective in washington d.c.. [applause] i do encourage tribal nations to participate in the process. meet with my committee staff to share your concerns and solutions, and continue to move
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forward together. we are part of a great nation, and we must continue to keep it great and by coming together and working together, we can bring it about. i look forward to working with you all on your priorities. i want to thank you for giving me this opportunity to make these remarks. god bless you, god bless your families, god bless the indians and nci and the alaskans and god bless the united states of america. [applause]
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[applause] >> i wanted to stand here today with our chairman to show how we want to continue to work together in a bipartisan way. and we will continue to do that on behalf of of the indian people. [applause] thank you mr. chairman. i wanted to be here to express with president keel my appreciation, my admiration and my respect. i am so grateful to be here with you and representative kohl's statements are absolutely right, flexibility and authority and i want to thank you for sharing those wonderful stories of the histories of your families and your great aunt's's stories. these are lessons that we should
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and never forget. they are critical to all of us. listen very closely to the remarks and to me it all comes down to what is the real headline of this? it is tear down the barriers to success and we continue to face those barriers to success. let's remove the obstacles and that is what we are going to continue to do as we work to remove the obstacles that stand in the way of economic success, jobs, health care, education and a better way of life. i just wanted to be here to share with my chairman and with representative kohl all of our concerns as well as our good wishes so thank you so much. [applause] [applause]
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>> thank you began to our members of congress for joining us today. we know you have is the schedules that we are honored by your presence. at this time we would like to open up for questions and we will start by opening up to questions from our press and then we will go to open it up to questions from other folks. we do have people on line. we have over 500 sites watching live right now as well as the taping that will happen if. we will be taking questions on line via the ipad. at this point, questions from press. could you please state who you are and who you represent, and we do have microphones. [inaudible] >> do you think that allows tribes and especially some of these bills that have lingered in the senate, do you think that
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kind of opens the door for some of these bills because they're such bipartisan agreement on them to become top priorities to this congress? >> i certainly hope so. i think as you mentioned the partisan gridlock, i think the partisan gridlock is not because of the bills that affect the indian people. as we said earlier, congress has found common ground on those issues that affect indian country. on indian policy i think you have seen across both i'll support for those programs. i don't know what the outcome will be in some of these bills in getting them past the certainly we are encouraged by the bipartisan support for all of those bills and we thank you for that question. >> good morning. my name is levi and i'm with the native american network.
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you -- yesterday 70% of american indians live off our way from tribal lands. what can be done to make sure our indians in limited urban settings and rural settings can get benefits because so much of the money goes directly to tribes. >> that is an interesting question and thank you for that. we do realize that the curb and indian population, the population of indian people in our the urban areas are growing. many of our people have left and moving to urban areas because of the lack of job opportunities and the lack of programs and the lack of access to those opportunities in and around our local community. but the tribal governments themselves are looking at opportunities to assist those tribal members. it's a difficult time particularly in those areas where the dollars are limited and because federal dollars are
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appropriated and utilized by those that are benefited within that local community and so i know that the end cai and some of our partner organizations have looked at how we can help those people in those urban areas particularly in the health care arena. we have some urban health care and access to health care for those who reside in those areas but those are limited. we don't have those in all of the areas we need. we simply have a few, a handful of those health care centers. we need more, but it's a very difficult question and one we continue to work on. >> i would add one thing to that because first of all yesterday was a great day when they release that report at the museum on the native american museum and we are pleased to have some of our staff also be the the bee part of that but look at the maps in the press release and the report. as you look at the maps the
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concentration of natives is actually really close and adjacent to native communities so even though we do have a large spread of what we would call urban indians, the highest concentrations are adjacent to the tribal communities. next question? any other press with the question? >> i was just wondering how -- the president gave the state of the union and he mentioned the native americans who are in the armed forces but failed to mention more about the american community. what is your response especially since as you said we are the first americans. >> thank you. obviously we would like a lot more, a lot more comments from the president about the native communities and the policies that affect our citizens.
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but i think the state of the nation address by the president was directed more to congress. i think his priorities were looking further and with more broad in the context of the nation as a whole and not necessarily focused on native americans. a few months ago, and month or so ago there were tribal leaders at the tribal nations summit held here in washington d.c. in december. tribal leaders, 12 tribal leaders were able to sit in and meet with the president one-on-one one afternoon and many of those tribal leaders, in fact all of the tribal leaders were there, i happen to be honored to be part of that, we did direct questions to the president and we asked him for specific areas of support. and obviously the time was
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limited. we do expect in the future, we asked for additional meetings with the president not just a one-time meeting once a year but these meetings with the cabinet secretaries. those are the people who really affect the indian programs and the services that are provided to native americans. we asked for that. we asked for support. we asked for meetings with the office of management and budget and other high-level agencies. that is where really we need to be concentrating so we would love to hear the president address and talk about native americans but for the tribal leaders to continue to ask for access to the white house and the access to him. i have to save the president -- president obama makes a commitment to indians in his campaign when he was running for president and he has kept his word. he has placed people in
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strategic important positions within his administration and is doing a tremendous job. but it is limited. again the access is limited and we need to expand that. we need trotter support the thank you. >> and the presidents message a lot of that he talked about was of course trying to address the economic security of the country but about program flexibility. you heard president keel's speech today asking the same thing that the president was speaking about in his address two days ago. we have a report of ncai and we have had meetings with the white house to talk about some of the specific areas and programs so we are hoping we will be part of his you know part of the work they are doing within the administration targeting those areas where without a lot of new money but a little bit more government flexibility, our programs would be more efficient.
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>> the national museum of american indians. also in yesterday's release of census figures a very high percentage of american indians are under the age of 24. what would be your suggestion to all of indian country on how we can mobilize the indian vote for the age bracket between 18 and 24? >> well i'm going to ask jackie to talk about they the get out the native vote he can as we do have a concentrated effort to get out the native vote this coming year. it is important that we localize our young people. not just the first-time voters but that is an important segment, but all of our native citizens in all of our communities to get out and get registered and vote. when we looked at how many were not even registered four years ago during the presidential election, almost 1 million people were not registered to
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vote. that is a significant piece of legends -- leverage to use at these native election so it's important we not only talk about getting out the native vote but we concentrate our efforts on how to do that. jackie has worked extremely hard and her staff and their sister agencies and partners in indian country have worked hard to do that so i am going to ask her to address what we are doing specifically particularly in these large indian population areas. >> we have a plan. go to native vote.org. you will see your plan. we have a campaign for the year that is targeting our tribal leaders and we ask every time to have a native vote coordinator. we have training in teleconferences for those gordon haters whether it be for the tribes for the leaders of organizations. we met with all the nonprofits on monday and talk to them about what they can do and what they can't do with regards to supporting our native vote
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effort. we met with the regional tribal association last friday and talk to them about what we should do as far as training in their communities. we partnered with rock the vote and other areas to -- their civic curriculum. we will have a native curriculum that will supplement bears for schools with high populations of native students and we have a whole native youth vote campaign going on in addition to the regular. native vote.org, you will learn about it. thanks. >> i want to add one area and that is, i wanted to thank the members of congress that have come here tonight. i want to thank congressman clapper for his remarks, senator akaka and senator barrasso. i know time is critical that we talk about people who support indian issues, who are supported. not because they are required or not because they have
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constituents within their legislative district but because they understand what it really means. that is what we need in indian country. we need to native vote to get out and talk to those candidates and find out who and what they are, where they come from, do they support our programs and if they do let's support them. let's help them. that is what we need to do in the native vote but it's more than just talking about it. we need to organize and mobilize them. thank you. i got busy there. >> i want to take a question from one of their reporters on line. this is from mark from true hahn reports. i present -- question for president keel. candy vote be used to -- especially for medicaid and other entitlement programs? >> i think he is referring to me being this bipartisan cooperation. that would be great.
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[laughter] i would love to see that. i think indian country would love to see the 51st state. there has been a lot of talk about that in the past and we talk about particularly at the centers for cms. i know that they talk about some of these regulations and how we can expand those and i'm no dr. rubio is here. she is leading efforts in the indian indian health center at hhs to get indian people and indian programs involved in how we can expand the services to all native americans and i want to thank her for that support and that help. [applause] that is a great topic for us to discuss, something we need to continue. thank you for that question. i know i didn't answer it but a good question.
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>> maryjane with the national education association office of minority community outreach. i want to commend ncai for bridging this divide in bringing this form into indian country specifically in the classrooms educating our children. are we going to have any kind of a poll on how many of our native youth across the country and our public schools have access and opportunities to participate and as a follow-up may be a challenge for you to engage our native youth in a twitter feed or twitter hall or something because i really want to know what our native youth feedback from this phenomenal event is. >> thank you and yes we did. i will tell you we have three youth who want to know, barbie, i think this is her name, terminator barbie. [laughter] so maybe i shouldn't say that. how do we connect to our youth as leaders? how do we connect our youth to the leaders that spoke at the
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conference of native americans and do we have a mentor program? so yes we do have a mentor program. we have fellows in and turns that come to ncai. a good share of our staff are fellow interns and we also have a youth commission. we have a number of youth partners that we collaborate together with including ncai and ie and we have developed a youth agenda. we have a youth web site to connect to youth in many ways and will continue to connect with youth. we have a great agenda for this year. one last question here. can i have a question from the audience here? >> jim myers. the bipartisan approach taken by congress in the legislation, that doesn't always translate into -- can you identify two pieces of
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legislation that you believe must be passed by the upcoming session of congress before it can be viewed as a success by the indian country? >> i think the most pressing need that we have is the legislation. that has been a priority for indian country for the last several years and it has been, it almost was passed last year. we almost got there. we ran into a whole i believe that is the number one priority. the other would be as we mentioned earlier, the violence against our women act and the save native women act. all of those have bipartisan support but number one would be the criteria fixed. we absolutely need that fixed today. thank you. >> i apologize apologize we ran out of time for questions that
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everyone who sent us an electronic question on line we will be answering those questions. if you have other questions we would be glad to answer them. you can get ahold of our press office. to ncai.org in those questions will be forwarded on to us. thank you for listening and being part of our annual state of the indian nations address and on behalf of the national congress of american indians i would like to thank c-span, native voice one and the tribal public and radio stations across the nation and all the on line viewers at ncai.org for realizing the importance in covering this event today. thank you. [applause]
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