vote:

the presiding officer: are there any senators in the chamber wishing to vote or to change their vote? hearing none, on this vote the yeas are 55, the nays are 44. three-fifths of the senators duly chosen and sworn not having voted in the affirmative, the

motion is not agreed to. the majority leader. mr. reid: madam president, can we have order, please. madam president, for my members, we're going to have a conference at 5:15 in the l.b.j. room. i've spoken with the republican leader, we'll have no more votes tonight. we'll determine a time in the morning to have the next vote or votes. and we'll move on from there. so again, my senators, 5:15 in the l.b.j. room. i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call: mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i ask unanimous i asks consent the call of the quorum be terminated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: mr. president, when the senate completes its business today, i ask unanimous consent the senate adjourn until tomorrow, march 21, at 9:30 a.m. that following the prayer and pledge, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed exspierk the time twor the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day. that following any leader

remarks, the senate be in a period of morning business for an hour. during that period of time, senators be allowed to speak for up to ten minutes each, with the time equally divided between the two leaders their designees. the republicans will control the final half, the majority the first half. following that morning business, we'll resume consideration of h.r. 3606. finally, that the time from 2:30 to 3:00 p.m. be as if in morning business to acknowledge the milestone reached by senator barbara mikulski of mare as thes the largest serving woman in the history of congress. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: if there's no further business to come before the senate, i now ask that the senate stand in recess under the previous order. previous order.

>> the measure still with the export import bank they would extend the charter for another four years which expires in may. live coverage of the senate here on c-span2. house budget committee chairman paul reiner released his budget proposal today. the washington post rates house republicans laid down a bold but risky election-year marker unveiling a proposal that aims to attend the national debt by reshaping medicare and getting deeply into medicaid, food stamps, and other programs for the port while reshaping the tax cut to sharpen lower rates. we spoke with a reporter for more. >> john shaw's with market news international house budget committee chairman paul ryan released the details of the 2013 budget blueprint today. what are some of the key highlights in his proposal? >> well, paul ryan is offering a new plan that is largely reflecting what he offered last year, so it is a plan that makes fairly deep cuts in spending,

seeks to fundamentally overhaul medicare, medicaid, calls for urgent sweeping tax reform. a lot of these particular policy issues are things that his budget committee can recommend to some of the other committees but that the budget committee just puts out a broad framework. so this plan sets up a broad framework which he claims would cut spending by about 5 trillion over the next ten years compared with the president's -- with the budget that the president offered, and he says his plan would also cut the accumulated deficit by 3 trillion more than the president's plan would. >> the general democratic reaction to the release? >> deep skepticism, hostility, anchor, things you might expect. the paul ryan plan did not get of very positive reception. the senate majority leader, harry reid, after speaking with

senate democrats, came out and went into up pretty fiercely -- said the changes to medicare would effectively dismantle the program, said that it was just a way overblown. the democrats are also focusing on a narrower issue, which is the whole notion of what the level of discretionary spending for the 2013 fiscal year would be. democrats in the last summer brutal debt ceiling initiation, argued that there was an agreement to spending for air for 13 would be the 1.047. paul ryan offered a budget that cuts this by a little less than $20 billion. again, that is not a huge amount, but this is something that really rankle the democrats , the debt ceiling fight angered a lot of people. they said that they had reached an agreement on fy13 spending. they accused ryan of violating

that agreement. >> he released today. what is the next step for the budget resolution in the house? >> what will happen is tomorrow paul ryan will present it to the house budget committee. they will spend a very long and acrimonious state arguing about it, voting on amendments, probably passing it late in the evening. next week it will then go to the full house where it is likely to pass on something close to of party-line vote. its fate becomes far more unclear after that. senate budget committee chairman kent conrad has said that he will offer his own plan sometime next months, but kerry reid, the majority leader, has suggested that that plan may not even come to the senate floor. reed argues that this debt ceiling agreement has nail down the discretionary spending level, which is one of the main purposes of the budget resolution. so if he is saying there is no need to even have a full-scale debate on the floor. >> covering the budget debate on

capitol hill, john shaw with market news international. thanks for the update. >> thank you. >> budget committee chairman paul ryan talking about his budget plan on capitol hill. [background noises] [background noises] >> good morning, everybody. it's a good day. i'm proud to be here with my fellow colleagues on the house budget committee. we have worked very hard. we get together to produce this document that we are all holding in our hands, the path to prosperity. i'm also grateful for senator sessions to was here with us, the ranking member of the senate

budget committee brings a prosecutorial zeal to the budget that has had none of control. one year ago we offered our path to prosperity, and this year we are asking -- offering again our path to prosperity. this year we are going to build on the important work that we did last year. we are going to take several new and improved strides. first, we propose that we repeal the president's disastrous health care law. stop-loss mandate from trampling on our liberties, stop it spending from attending our fiscal health and stops the sport of bureaucrats from threatening medicare instead we propose to save and strengthen medicare by taking power away from government bureaucrats. we preserve the medicare guarantee for today's seniors said that they can count on the benefits they have organized their retirement around, and we preserve that guarantee going to the future for tomorrows seniors by empowering them with choices,

including the fee for service traditional option within the premium support system. we believe competition and choice should be the way forward verses price control that leads to rationing. on the budget we also propose to strengthen medicaid by empowering our states, by returning money to them so that they can design programs that are unique for their states to tailor this program to meet the needs of their populations. we also reform welfare. the 1996 welfare reform was very successful in getting florid it -- be a part mobile society, getting people off dependency and on to lives of self-sufficiency. that was the only program among the entitlement programs that was reformed, and we are proposing similar reforms so that we can make sure that we are not creating a culture of dependency in america, but a culture of self-sufficiency, of getting people back on their feet in the lives of upward mobility. we also propose as one of our

hallmark issues to get to economic growth and job creation to reform the tax system, specifically including a tax reform proposal provided to us by all of the members of the ways and means committee. we propose to collapse the six different tax brackets into two, 10% and 25 percent for individuals and 25 percent for corporations, which is the international average and going to a territorial system. all those details you can get on the website that shows the letter we have been given by the ways and means committee. finally, i would say something about what's coming this next year. the sequester is coming. a lot of people in washington would like to simply ignore this. a lot of people in washington would like to simply think that we can spend as we are going and ignore the fact that on january 2nd the sequester kicks in. we don't think we should ignore this, and so what we're doing in this budget this year is something we have not done for six years. we are going to propose a reconciliation process. you might be thinking, well, we

used reconciliation a couple of years ago, and they distorted the process to jam through an new part is in health care entitlement. we are going to bring reconciliation back to what it was meant to do, which is to get spending and deficits under control. instructing six authorizing committees to bring their spending cuts to the budget committee and, therefore to the floor by may so that we can show how we would replace next year's sequestered. we think that is extremely important to show the country exactly how we would prepare for these eventualities. now, i think it is also critical to reiterate the several challenges facing our country, and i want to bring everyone's attention to these charts. this thing actually works. [laughter] now, we have had deficits in the past. we have had, for a brief moment, surpluses, and we have had deficits. like and where our country is headed. look at where the president and his budget is taking the country

the president's budget is putting us on a path of debt crisis, a decline, and these are the deficits that are in store for america if we stay with the status quo. here is what the path to

national debt. we know in front of us is one of the most predictable crises we have ever had in this country's history. a mountain of debt that is coming. this is what the congressional budget office is telling us our future is going to look like. this is a feature that the president's plan of debt and decline brings us to. this is what the senate gets you by doing nothing by not passing a budget for three years in a row. this is a feature that gives our children a diminished country. this is a future that runs our economy. this is a future that we don't want to see happening. so if we have a difference of opinion with the president and the direction he and senate leaders have taken the country, which we do, we feel morally bound to offer a choice. and we have a legal obligation in our budget laws to reduce the budget. and so what our budget does is

it shows precisely how we will get this budget under control and get our debt levels under control. at the end of the day, it's all about growth. it's about growing opportunities , growing the economy, lifting the debt, restoring economic freedom, reforming the tax code so that we can help have our economy reaches full potential. it's about turning our system that has become a dependent culture into an upward mobile society, getting people back into lives of self-sufficiency. if our economy grows even faster than what we produce here the results are all that much better. before i close i would like to thank my colleagues in the budget committee for all the hard work we have put together in putting this budget together. i want to thank senator jeff sessions for his lead in the senate. i am hoping to call and chairman next year. and at its core of want to basically cut say this. this plan of action is about putting an end to end to promises from bankrupt

government and restoring the fundamental promise of america, ensuring that our children have more opportunity than we do. that is the american idea, leave your children better off. we know for the first time in the history of this country that that legacy will be severed unless we act. and if we step in and fix this problem now we are going to avoid a very painful debt crisis tomorrow. we are here to offer americans the chance to choose which featured they want for themselves, the president's path of debt and decline or the path that we are proposing, a path to renewed prosperity for americans with that, let me turn it over to senator sessions. [background noises] >> the house republican elected to a new majority and have courageously, intelligently, and responsibly wait out a new plan for america's future.

they have met their duty that there were sent here to fill. we have never needed a budget more than we need here today. we are facing a systemic threat to america's financial health. the budget that they have offered will alter the debt course from unsustainable to sustainable. it will take as from declined to prosperity. it is the right thing for america. the senate democrats have abandoned that up the -- that obligation and have refused sought for a budget for three straight years now. they did not bother to write one last year, and there going to miss the april 1st deadline this year. they're not going to produce one this year. senator harry reid, the democratic leader, said it would be foolish to have a budget. the senate's democratic majority has forfeited their claim to leadership for america. if the voters give the republican in the senate the honor of having the majority and

the leadership, we will work with the house to pass a congressional budget. it will be an honest budget. it will change the debt course of america. thank you, paul, and all of you for the great work in leadership you have provided. questions? >> if you could talk for a minute, democrats are portraying this as last year. just a few minutes ago said it's all over again. if we look at this conflict plan here, most people are going to sit down and read this. >> go to budget dot of and you can download this yourself. >> most people are going to see the 302nd ads. most people are going to hear a sound bite and second of, gosh, how are you going to do that? >> here is what i would simply say. if we simply operate based on

political fear, nothing's ever going to get done. if we allow entitlement politics , fear that your adversaries will turn your reforms into a political weapon to use against you and we tower to that america will have a debt crisis. i've got news, medicare under the present law is going bankrupt. medicare under the president's lot is next year turning medicare over to a board of 15 and elected unaccountable bureaucrats whose job is to circumvent congress and put prices on medicare which will lead to deny care for current seniors. medicare under the president raised a half a trillion from medicare to spend on new health care proposal. we are saying, get rid of the rationing board, stop the raid, and preserve the system. don't take benefits for people in near term because there already retired or are about to retire and then organize their lives around this program. we're saying, let people in the

future in order to save the system have a list of choices of guaranteed options, including the traditional fee-for-service program, just like we do as members of congress for our health care choices. saving medicare this way, rich tradition of bipartisan support for this kind of reform. it's the most humane and most common sense and bipartisan way to save this vital program. let me turn it over to dr. price to is an expert on this and a member of the ways and means committee as well >> the iraqi people are smarter than the democrats give them credit for. they understand this program, the current program is broken. they understand that what the president has done with this party, remove $500 billion from the current program, the current medicare program. they understand the president's plan, through his law currently, to put in place an independent payment advisory board, aboard a 15 unelected bureaucrats who have the power without appeal to deny payment for services for

seniors. the american people understand this and other what we have been working on a strengthening and improving in saving the medicare system which is why the work that was done between last year and this year allows for seniors, will allow seniors the opportunity to stay on their current program if that is what they desire, or to voluntarily move to a different program through premier support. the american people are bridget and the democrats give them credit for. >> if i can't follow up, some on the other side of the i'll describe this as a rationing board. we have search -- heard it portrayed as a death penalty. are people going to say that this is just another shot? >> let's be clear, the independent image advisory board is aboard that is in current law that will be 15 individuals appointed by the president who without appeal will be able to deny payment for services that doctors would provide to seniors. as a physician, i can tell you that when you talk to the

doctors of this land and say, if you don't get paid for something are you able to do it? the answer is no. and so what happens is that care is denied to seniors. it doesn't make any difference what you call it. the fact of the matter is the board is in place that will deny payment for services to seniors. seniors know that is wrong and that is why we are working to improve and strengthen the program. >> chairman. >> one thing, americans are very tired of government shutdowns. the democrats, budget levels among spending levels already agreed to over the summer. with this budget -- >> i wouldn't say that at all. we have to prepare for the fact up on january 2nd to discretionary spending goes down to 950. we are preparing and showing how we would preempt the sequester from hitting next year. we shouldn't be going down the path knowing that once we pass appropriations in october, after

october, november, december, and as sequester its income we need to prepare for that. what we are doing is showing how we will prepare for that. we are going to reconcile this committee. we will make six committees, and come up with spending cuts to show how we replace the sequestered. we think it is being honest with people. we think it is being forthright about how we think we should deal with what's coming instead of just ignoring the law and attending as if nothing is going to happen in january. >> chairman, do you feel that this budget -- >> hang on. >> sorry. [laughter] >> do you feel that this budget could have a detrimental effect to gop presidential nominee in november? >> i really don't. i think all of them have campaigned on these various ideas. our nominee and owes it to the country to give them a choice of to futures. we are helping them do that. look, the president is giving us the path of debt and decline.

the president just give us his fourth budget with a $4 trillion deficit. a fourth time of kicking the can and ignoring the drivers of our debt and actually it's worse than that because the president is making it worse. he is putting more taxes on the back of taxpayers, the back of hard working americans and small businesses, and he is increasing spending. so we of the country an alternative path if we don't like the path the president is taking a sun. whoever our nominee is going to beat those the country that choice of heat to futures. romping does it put together. each of these people have all given their various ideas with perfectly jive and are consistent. >> you believe it will accept your budget. >> absolutely. i'm confident. >> the cost of your proposal over the next decade and specifically how will you pay for them? >> right. we proposed revenue neutral tax reform. how do you do that? we believe there is an emerging bipartisan consensus just like

there is in medicare. the only problem with this is the president and the senate the aircraft and not part of it. the president gave us a budget that has raised tax rates as loopholes. higher tax rates leads to more cronyism and less economic growth. we are saying keep the revenue base as it is, but replace this tax could we have, which is extremely complex, the result of old -- both political parties loading up the tax cut with special-interest loopholes. get rid of them, get rid of the loopholes, lower tax rates for everybody. the one part of its simply talk about is this, eight out of ten businesses in america are not corporations, their small businesses. they file their taxes as individuals. subchapter sllc. the president is saying in january was the top effective tax rate to go to 44%. i come from overseas, which we mean the lake superior. [laughter] that canadians to lower their

tax rate to 15%. how on earth in estate were nine and a tin of our businesses file their taxes as individuals can we compete we are taxing them at 45 percent and the canadians are 15. the point in trying to make is get rid of the tax shelters, lower everyone's tax rates of we can get faster economic growth, and you can do that in a revenue neutral way by cleaning a proposed. which ones? that is what the ways and means committee is in charge of doing. what they want to do is to this up front in plain sight with the public and you and not in some back room. >> revenue loss. >> we don't propose a revenue loss, the current policy baseline which is what the cbo uses to show where revenues are under the code as we know today. we do not assume a massive tax increase. we do not assume the $4 trillion tax increase that the current law has in store or the big $2 trillion tax increase that president obama has in his budget. we propose not to raise taxes. we propose to get tax revenues

the same amount on americans not by picking winners and losers in washington, by treating everyone fairly and simply so we can have a more competitive tax system. >> the tax cut, dougie fd read a pretty much everything, mortgage deduction, and care where you get that? >> so look at the to chilly income you have to remember relative to the president's budget they tried to reclassify a lot of the spending, highway bills, mandatory savings. what it does makes the other mandatory look bigger than the discretionary number because the president tries to reclassify some spending from discretionary in the mandatory. that is an issue where i think the demonstration went the wrong way. they're trying to take many more things on to the autopilot side of government spending. as far as tax rates are reached -- concerned, that is of the ways and means to decide which state, which go and the band

points within the income stream. [inaudible] >> no, you don't. i've been writing tax bills for a long time. the fiscal commission says get rid -- we got 23%, rate that is a little higher than that which allows you to go for the combination of some of these expenditures. >> growth and some other conservative steps demand balance. you haven't done that. what is your response to them? could it be done? >> yes, it could be done. under the right kind of economic growth scenarios, more realistic scorekeeping, it is done. if you put this budget through what we think are much more reasonable projections of the economy, then that is accomplished. the issue is we as the budget committee must use the cbo baseline. here is the problem. their baseline assumes a $4 trillion tax increase starts in january. therefore assumes readily the economy goes down, but we have to use that baseline.

we have to, in writing our budget, use this baseline that this is really bad economic policies which we don't have in our budget but unfortunately it is baked into the yardstick that we must use to write our budget which shows it takes a long time , longer time to balance. if you apply what we think are much more reasonable academically backed up, you know, reinforced economic growth projections that, yes, absolutely. you can balance within that timeframe. >> responding, you glossed over the other mandatory question. i mean, these are unlike anything you have proposed last year. are you going after food stamps? >> let me go into the detail. we propose -- this is the proposal which says that state does principles of welfare reform that were extremely successful in getting people out of lives of dependency and back on their feet. that means to entitlements like

food housing, back to the states they can customize these benefits, time limits, work requirements, the kind of successful policy that may welfare reform so successful. we propose and rebels reform in the savings from that. we don't propose to have as much spending on the agricultural commodity side. that means insurance come up in the reform. we also propose federal employe you reform. we think that federal workers should have to pay, you know, half of their pension themselves instead of having the private sector, taxpayers pay for all of it. so, you know, there are about 100 pages your details which are food stamp reform, welfare reform, federal employee reform, agriculture reform. i can go on and non-combat deaths the bulk. [inaudible] >> that's not part of this. [inaudible question] >> most of the folks working on

this, reducing spending on this other program. why go after that? >> we are asking the authorizes in the agricultural committee to decide how to do this. they will have to save 33 million. payments, insurance, all within the title is what the authorizing committee chairmen will have to come up with. tonight think -- this is me talking, do i think you can get more reform? test might do. i also think the bulk of the savings need to come from direct payment, but that is up to the agricultural committee to decide exactly how they do that. >> how much does your plan save medicare? >> our plan saves medicare from bankruptcy over the long term. in the tenure window these benefits to not change for people, as i mentioned, 55 and above. what we do propose, the

liability reform by it repealing obamacare, and we also agree with the president in his budget on then it needs of means testing throughout the medicare program. you put that in here. i can't remember off the top of my head with the savings are. [inaudible question] >> a follow-up. you see this budget, the issues in this budget as essential is used in the coming campaign, and do you expect the republican nominee for president to be campaigning on this? >> i expect the republican nominee, whoever this person is, to offer the country the legitimate choice that they deserve. the president and his party are ignoring the problem. if we have a debt crisis the people who get hurt the first in the worst of the poor and the elderly. we will be cutting indiscriminately, just like they're doing in greece. we have a moral and legal obligation to budget, to show how we will prevent this debt crisis that is predictable from

coming. so, yes, i expect our nominee, whoever he is, to talk about how he proposes to fix this problem. we have an obligation in the house because we are in the majority. we are still a minority party, but in the house we are the majority for. we are putting our path to prosperity. we will show the country, here is an alternative path. this is a path that we believe reignite and reduce the american idea. it retains the opporunity of the safety net, which we do believe must exist for people who cannot help themselves, for people who are down on the looks of it and get back on their feet. we don't want to turn this into a hammock. it drains them of their will. and so we are sharpen the contrast between the path that we are proposing in the past the deadline the president has placed us on. yes, we do believe that our nominee, whoever this person is going to be, is going to be perfectly consistent. i have spoken to all of these

guys, and they believe that we are heading in the right direction. >> how these you get on how congress can change? >> what we propose is a trigger, like the one the president has turned out that says when we conclude that medicare is -- so it -- excuse me, so security is as of mid that requires action by congress and the administration. the thing we're talking about is if we do nothing 23 percent across the board cut the benefits across the board occurs we run out of trust fund reserves and 2036. we believe congress needs to act, and we are proposing what we call a forcing mechanism, a trigger that requires congress to do that. one issue that is unique about social security is those people wrote the 1974 budget act, they took social security outside of reconciliation. for those of you are but reporters, it can't be breck reconciled. you need to have a 60 about

consensus. that is why we have a trigger in here to force all the parties to come together to come of the plan to save at stake than social security. >> really quickly. isn't this an example that triggers don't often work? >> they work if you can pass them. none of this works of the senate decides not to buy it again to be done but instead of this works. have you ever seen just a bill on capitol hill? schoolhouse rocks. you pass a bill on the house. depressive illness and that. you reconcile the two together and you go forward. this budget process stops and in some of the senate continues to do nothing. the senate into a budget in 2010, didn't do budget in 2011, and now they're saying it won't to one in 2012 at a time when we have the most predictable debt crisis on horizon. we think that is wrong. we are leading with proposing

solutions and showing that the defense showing the country have we would get out of the debt ethier on to secure our future. you get the last question because you get picked over twice. >> liability reform. reference to h.r. five? >> h.r. five meeting the ip 80 bill to? >> yes. >> yes. thank you, everybody. appreciated. [background noises] >> this briefing with congressman paul ryan and fellow republicans happened earlier today at the capitol. also this morning a senate budget committee chairman, kent conrad, spoke with reporters

about spending limits agreed to in last summer's budget control act, which was intended to serve as the budget for fiscal 2013. this is 15 minutes. [background noises] [background noises] >> everybody ready? okay. why don't we begin. i am here to discuss the budget gimmick resolution that i will file in the senate later today. this resolution sets the spending limits for fiscal year 2013 and the levels agreed to by the congress and the president last year and set out in last summer's budget control act. it allows the appropriations committees to proceed with their work in drafting bills for next year. it ensures the senate will have

the tools to enforce those spending limits that we agreed to on a bipartisan basis. i want to emphasize that we do have a budget. it is the law of the land. it was passed last year. it is in place. those who say we do not have a budget have either failed to pay attention to what they voted on or are deliberately trying to mislead the public. the budget control act was passed by the house of representatives. it was passed by the united states senate on an overwhelming bipartisan vote. it was signed into law by the president. it is now the law of the land. it established the key components of the budget for both 2012 and 2013. here is the language from the budget control act itself.

it is a very clear the budget control act is intended to serve as the budget for 2012 and 2013. it states, for the purpose of enforcing a congressional budget act of 1974 through april 15th 2012, the allegations aggregates and levels set in subsection b1 show -- shall apply in the senate in the same manner as for a concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2012. that same language is repeated for 2013. in many ways the budget control act was even more extensive than a traditional budget resolution. number one, it has the force of law, unlike a budget resolution that never goes to the president , which all of you

know, a budget resolution is purely a congressional document. the budget control act is a law. number two, said discretionary caps for ten years instead of the one year normally set in a budget resolution. number three, if provides important mechanisms, including two years of resolutions which allow budget points of order to be enforced. fourth, it created a reconciliation like super committee process to address both entitlements and tax reform and it back that process up with a sequestered. i think we can put to rest the claims that there is no budget in place or that we have not enacted a budget. a budget was enacted for last year -- or this year and next, i should say, and the budget control act of last year.

last week we received cbo's updated budget estimates which allow me to complete work on the budget gaming resolution for 2013. the filing of this resolution was required under the budget control act. i filed a similar resolution for 2012 back in september. the budget control act is crystal clear that the spending limits in the resolution should be set at the levels agreed to in the budget control act. again, here is the language taken directly from law. its states, not later than april 15th 2012 the chairman of the committee on the budget show file for the committee on appropriations, committee allocations for fiscal year 2012 and 2013 consistent with the discretionary spending limits set forth in this act. ..

>> here's what the house budget committee chairman said on the house floor on august 1st of last year, and i quote, "what the budget control act has done

is it has brought our two parties together so i would like to reflect for a moment that we have a bipartisan compromise here. that doesn't happen all that often around here so i think that's worth noting. that's a good thing. what are we doing? we are actually cutting spending while we do this. that's cultural. that's significant. that's a big step in the right direction. we are getting two-thirds of the cuts we wanted in our budget, and as far as i'm concerned, 66% in the right direction is a whole lot better than going in the wrong direction." so last summer, our republican house colleagues were pleased to get 66% of what they wanted. on that basis, they made an agreement, shook on it, and passed it as law.

now they are threatening to walk from their agreement. it seems our house republican colleagues are on their own. so far, the republican leadership agreed that we should keep to the spending. we have negotiated the top line for the discretionary spending for this coming fiscal year. we already have that number. there's no good reason for this institution not to move forward with an appropriation process that avoids what we have done so frequently under both parties for years and years either continuing resolutions or omnibus appropriations. the senate republican leader concluded, i hope we join together to do the basic work of government this year in a timely fashion. i hope our house republican colleagues are listening.

now, it is very clear. we have a budget for this year and next. that budget is in law. in the senate today, provides the numbers that the appropriators need to proceed with the work for the year. bca also sets the revenue levels and the mandatory spending levels for the year. again, i hope our house republican friends are listening. we still must come together on a longer term plan to deal with the long term debt threat, but the short term budget is in place. it is the law. it was included in the budget control agent they agreed to last summer. it provided for about $900

billion in discretionary spending cuts over the 10 years of that agreement and so the senate is proceeding with its business. i will be filing the deeming resolution for 2013 today, and we will be moving forward with the appropriation bills at the levels that everyone agreed to just last year. house republicans, i hope would do the same. if they fail to do so, they will once again threaten to shut down the government and needlessly imperil the economic recovery. happy to answer questions that people might have. >> what the republicans say is there's a master sequester coming that hits the discretionary programs, and what they are doing is cutting $19 billion instead of $78 billion

on the sequester with a recon conciliation process that would take care of some of the other cuts. you don't have any plan as far as i can tell to deal with the sequester, or if you do, what is it? >> well, first thing that has to be done, the first responsibility i have under the budget control act, which is the law, is to file the deeming resolution that sets the budget for this next fiscal year. i'm doing that today. my counsel tells me that meets the requirement for the budget committee to file a budget for this year by april 1st. a longer term plan, as i indicated is what remains to be done. that has to be done in some bipartisan way. i'm hopeful that as we go through this year, we'll find a way to do that.

i'll go to markup, provide an outline what i think makes sense as a long term plan, but the april 1st deadline has now been met. yeah? >> how do you know, you know, with sequestering hitting the defense department, the impact happening, they may not, their suppliers might go, you know, belly up in the meantime, and so how do you deal with that, and when do you propose dealing with the larger deficit issue? >> well, what is provided for in the budget control act, which everybody agreed to last year, sets the defense, non-defense fire wall for this coming fiscal year. that's been decide the. the question is sequestering, which takes effect at the end of

the year. that's what has to be addressed in some longer term plan, and i'll propose a longer term plan at some point in the future. we're talking to colleagues about that now. the first requirement i have, the first responsibility, was to meet the april 1st deadline set out in the budget control act law, and i do that today. >> so when do you think you propose a longer term plan, the conventional wisdom something happens in the lame dug, but folks say there's not much time in a lame duck to get that done. >> that's why my own belief is -- well, we're in a very unusual situation, and people are kind of trapped by what they know from the past. in the past, we have dealt with budget resolutions. that's not what congress and the president did last year. instead, we passed a budget control act that set the budget for this year and next, and

provided gave me the responsibility to lay out these numbers for the appropriators before april 15th. i've done that today. they can go forward with their budget this year. as i indicated what still needs to be done is a longer term plan, but we're no longer tied # to the april 1st deadline. that deadline has been met by what we file here today. what we need is a longer term plan, a matter of judgment. when is it most likely the two sides can come together? i had many of my colleagues say it's most likely after the election. . that may be. i don't know the answer to that. i know we met the requirements for a budget for for this year. what's needed is a longer term plan, and when i make a judgment

we're in the best position to move forward on that, we'll go to mark up. yeah? >> the remarks on the floor were clear to the house republicans to try to lower the number. have you said anything sense -- >> not that i know of. >> i mean, is that the key point or that senator mcconnell -- [inaudible] >> you know, i really don't know what the key element is here. what i know is the budget control act is law. what i know is i was given the responsibility to file a budget by april 15th, and i've done that. the appropriators can now go to work. they are not limited. they are not restricted. that's the whole reason we have in the underlying budget control act a requirement that i file by april 1st so that the appropriators can get started. the budget control act provided

the budget for this year, for this coming fiscal year and for the current year we're in. i now discharged that responsibility. the appropriators, met with the chairman of the appropriations committee. his legal counsel advised him this is required under the law, and he has all the authority he needs to proceed with the appropriations process for this year. again, we have now met the responsibility for a budget for not only this year, which was done last year in september. i did the deeming resolution then. what i'm doing today discharges the responsibility for the coming fiscal year wha. we still -- what we still need to do is agree on a longer term plan that deals with our deficits and debt.

that is no longer tied to april 1st according to the legal counsel, so, you know, we have to make a collective judgment? when is it we have the best chance of reaching agreement? my colleagues say they don't believe it halfs until after the election. my belief is we can't wait until then to be working on a plan, and so for months i have been working on a plan. i've got meetings with my colleagues. i've also been working, as you know, with the group of eight on a bipartisan plan. it has my hope that through these joint efforts that we will at sometime this year, and maybe we have to wait until after the election, that we will be able to have a comprehensive plan agreed to that meets our long term challenges. thank you.

we've got a statement here that lays out what we are doing in the deeming resolution, the numbers assigned to each of the committees, and it lays out the savings -- nearly $900 billion over 10 years. thank you. >> c-span's road to the white house will have results from the illinois primary live at 7 eastern with speeches from mitt romney and rick santorum. your phone calls and some of "politico's" coverage. earlier today, white house press secretary, jay carney, talked about the house republican budget plan giving reasons why president obama will not support it. this is 50 minutes. [inaudible conversations]

>> good morning, everybody. it's quiet in here. very subdued. i wanted to welcome everyone here, including my fellow irish-americans, it is, after all, alternative st. patrick's day here at the white house. [laughter] [inaudible conversations] he came to my aide, and i appreciated it. [laughter] i do not have any other comments to make at the top of the briefing. [laughter] i'll go straight to questions. okay?

>> jay, the house republicans released a budget plan today that includes cuts to the safety net praks for the poor, proposes lower tax rates. does the administration see value in the plan, as a starting point? >> unfortunately now because what the ryan plan fails to do is in any way meet the test of balance that every credible person in this debate has said must be met if we are going to deal with our fiscal challenges in the future. in this room, we had a lot of talk about the simpson-bowles commission, the president's budget proposal. all of those share in common at their core a recognition of the

fact that there is no responsible way to deal with budget challenges if we don't do it in a balanced way. if we do not include both discretionary spending cuts, reforms to our entitlement programs, cuts in our defense spending, and cuts in our tax expenditures. we need to make sure that the effort to get our fiscal house in order, that the burden of that effort is not born solely by senior citizens and families with disabled children or the poor or the middle class, and unfortunately, what we see in this proposal is, again, much like its predecessor. essentially a shift of money from the middle class, seniors and lower income americans,

disabled americans to the wealthiest among us, $150,000 on average tax cut, additional tax cuts for the wealthiest americans. a program that would voucherrize medicare and end it as we know it and create a system in medicare where seniors are priced out of the market and more and more of the burden of their own health care costs born by them, a burden they cannot bear, many of them, and so it is not a plan that this president could support that not just democrats, but responsible republicans could support if they supported simpson-bowles or others to deal with the problem in a balanced way, and it's not one that we think the american people would broadly support

because it's not right for the economy or right for vast majority of the american people. >> basis for tax reform if the lame duck session? >> well, it's hard to anticipate what the end of the year will look like. put that aside. driving in this morning, satellite radio, listening to a news program, and i heard chairman ryan on, and he was asked about the tax rates and the lowering of the tax rates in his proposal and then a responsible questioner said, well, how do you pay for that? well, i know there's not specifics here. we'll just let the ways and means committee handle that in a transparent way. let congress give massive tax cuts to the wealthiest americans, paid for on the backs of the middle class. i don't think that's a bait and switch to participate in.

we saw it before. it's not the right approach, and it's not fair. >> i just want to ask on the president's issue -- [inaudible] >> i refer now you to the state department. the central message within it is this issue of the efforts at many levels by the iranian regime to restrict access to information to their own people because they're afraid of what the iranian people might do with the truth about the way they are treated, how they are viewed in the intergnarl committee, the

extensive international consensus that exists, that points a finger at tehran, the price paid by iran because of the sanctions regime that is ratcheted up as a result of the regime's failure to live up to its obligations, and social security a multifaceted effort by the regime, and it's demonstrating just how fearful the regime is of the truth. >> saudi arabia said today oil prices were not just as high at the current level, ready to pump more oil if there's buyers. does the united states agree that oil prices are not justified at the prices they are currently at? would you like --

[inaudible] >> one, the president is very concerned about the high price of gasoline american consumers pay to fill up their tanks. it's a burden for american families trying to make ends meet, and it's one of the reasons why it was so essential to extend the payroll tax cut and give 160 million americans extra money in their pockets to help deal with these added costs that every family's dealing with. on saudi arabia, i think the treasury secretary commented on this. i refer you to his comments about this, and i'm not getting into broad conversation or speculations about the global oil markets. >> would you like to say more regimely as the president goes on tour to talk about energy, continue to express concern about gasoline prices. is there more that countries in the international committee could be doing or the united

states would like to have them do to bring the prices down? >> it is certainly true that the price of oil is driven by a global market and what tools the americans have to drive prices down at the pump, and those are limited in the near term. beyond that, we as a nation, our government, is in regular consultations with and in conversations with oil producing states as well as our allies around the globe for whom this is an issue. certainly, a topic of conversation for great britain and top of the conversation between this government and others around the world because

of the prominence of the issue right now. >> [inaudible] >> i don't have specifics for you. >> one follow-up from the question yesterday. today, yet to seek filing, finding out which white house official had appeared at priority usa event and how the operation is going? >> i don't have the information for you i'll take the question. again, as this administration has with both parties, alaws for the fact that white house officials, cabinet officials, on their own private time can participate in political activity, but beyond that, i don't have details. >> thank you. i want to follow-up on the budget because you hit him for not having details on taxes, but you have not put your details on the able either. the buffet rule is a principle talked about about what you want as a minimum, but the president didn't put those on the table either. how do you hit the ryan plan

without details when -- >> right. let's look at the difference between the principle like the buffet rule that says if you make a million dollars or more, you should not pay a lower effective tax rate than hard working lower income or middle income americans. warren buffet's secretary, for example, and the other side of this is say we will dramatically cut income tax rates for the highest income americans, bequeathing upon them an enormous tax break coming after many tax breaks in the previous decade for that very same population of americans and promise to explain how to pay for it later. there's a big difference, and for average americans out there, there's a big difference. one is about fairness, closing loopholes that unnecessarily benefit those of us of the wealthiest in the country, and

when i say "us," unfortunately, i don't mean me. we'll give more tax cuts to the wealthiest americans, but without saying how to pay for that and the implication is there's only one way to pay for them. you either have the mitt l class pay for them directly or you have seniors pay for them which the voucherrization of medicare essentially demands or you pay for them in the all of the above approach or pay for them through dramatic cuts in education and research and development and in other essential aspects of our discretionary budget which the ryan republican plan makes clear is their plan, and so those are choices that this president feels are not right for the american people or the economy

right now. you know, to the extent that this is a debate to be engaged in this year, you know, we are ready to have that debate. >> quick follow-up. saying the debt rose 4.899 trillion under president bush and know up to $4.983 under president obama. you don't like the ryan plan, but president inherited a lot of debt from the bush administration, but has now added more debt than its predecessor. if you hit the ryan plan, what credibility do you have that you cut the debt? >> well, we put forward a clear map that achieves over $4 trillion in deficit reduction, achieves as the cbo reestimated brings our deficits down to a share of the gdp to a manageable level driving down bet in a balanced way that includes the

$11.2 trillion in real cuts agreed to by this president and congress last summer and then builds upon those with reforms and entitlements that produce saving and raising revenue by asking oil and gas companies to give up 100 years of subsidies by the american taxpayer at a time when they make near record profits, again, that asks hedge fund managers not to pay the income tax rate that you pay or pay what you pay rather than to on their substantial income pay an exceptionally lower rate than working class and middle class americans. you know, that's the balanced approach that republicans supported with simpson-bowles, the balanced approach that republicans supported the gang of six proposal that believed

was right, the balance of the -- unfortunately, we have not seen the need for balance by house republicans or by a majority of republicans in either chamber. how are you? >> good, thank you. couple questions. first on the ryan budget, since the last budget, he's made changes in approaching medicare. do those changes in the right direction? do you feel the medicare proposal this time is something closer to what you want to see prepared to a year ago? >> unfortunately no, not much difference at all in this proposal. it is still a proposal that creates a voucher system for medicare and thereby ends it as

we know it, contrary to some assessments that by calling it medicare it remains medicare. we stand by the fact that medicare, as we know it, would be ended by this program. it creates basically, segments the population. one of the reasons why medicare works and why seniors in the country support and want medicare to continue is because all risk is pooled currently for recipients, and the guarantee for medicare exists for all. if you segment it into a part private, part public system, what happens is private insurance company, understandably, cherry pick the healthiest, youngest seniors, pull them into the private plans, making the pool of american of seniors who continue on the traditional medicare system older and sicker driving

up costs, creating more pain for those americans who can't afford it. that's a recipe for destroying medicare as we know it, but not saving or strengthening it. >> that's what medicare -- >> what we've seen is that that's not the foundational program of the system. one of the reasons why we know that doing this doesn't work because of what we see in the medicare advantage studies. if you replace medicare with medicare vang, that's a problem you have. >> on a message to iran and also the action by the treasury department today on related fronts, essentially how much of a difference do you think this makes in terms of the ability of iranians to get more information? >> in terms of the action that we're taking? >> yes, the action the

administration's taking. .. we want more democracy, we want a government that respects and

works for us in the case of syria or libya before us brutalize and oprah's us, so access and information is a very powerful tool in the effort to provide a greater democracy and greater freedom for people around the world. >> you've said on the question of priorities the same thing yesterday that it would take the same question? >> i will see if i can get an answer, but again, i didn't look into it yesterday i just forgot but it is simply a fact that in this administration has in previous administrations officials in the white house and the cabinet are able to participate on their own time and political activities so if there is more information i will get. let me just see what we are gathering here verses what

organization you reference or others might have to give out, because we are not collecting all this data. it's not for the -- again this is productivity, not white house activity. yes? >> does the president believed that they are hurting? benet the president believes the tax breaks, the loopholes and subsidies that provided the $4 billion of taxpayers' money to oil and gas companies for example provided untold millions and billions and tax benefits to some of the wealthiest americans to to get in touch of a carried interest rule, that those provisions are not helpful to the economy, and they are not fair, and removing them would create benefits to the economy ought by treating a fair tax

system and one that is fair to the broad majority of the american people the middle class. it should not be paying in the case of the carried interest will their income taxes and a higher rate than hedge fund managers what's the lummis you guys understand it's not -- this isn't even investment interest, this is basically being paid for their work but because of a loophole in the tax code they are getting to pay taxes at a substantially lower rate as if it were investment income. >> that doesn't seem right to this president or to a lot of people and it ought to end. >> everyone agrees the economy is in a much better place now. >> who said that? >> does the president believes this is a function of what he's done or is it just part of the national cycle of what comes up?

>> to things. the reason why america always comes back when it's down is because the american people it is also the case that when he took office in january of 2009 we are on the edge of an abyss. we face the potential for a global financial meltdown in the possibility of unemployment and economic contraction which we have not seen since the great depression and we did experience both of those things. the worst recession since the great depression, worst unemployment since the great depression, but not nearly as severe as we could have if we had not read the right choices. if we hadn't done the things needed to stabilize the economy, to stabilize the financial sector, to salvage the automobile industry, to provide essential assistance to states and municipalities so they

wouldn't have to lay off masses of teachers and firefighters and police officers come and get our economy going in the right direction again. that has resulted in quarter after quarter now economic growth and a positive to come growth. it has resulted in two years of private sector job growth. unfortunately, the whole was so deep that we are not out of it yet, but we are moving in the right direction. >> yesterday you asked about trayvon martin whether you had a conversation with president about that. >> i have no conversations to report to you. i know the justice department has said this would be looking into the matter and i would refer you to the justice department. obviously our thoughts and prayers as i said yesterday are with trayvon martin's family. but beyond that, not least because there is an investigation going on i don't have anything else i can add. >> that you've had a conversation with him about this? >> i talked to him about a lot

of things. yes? >> there is talk that syria, the wife of the president trayvon team, asma assad might be placed on the new sanctions list along with several other family members. and the sort of the e-mails from assad that were leaked saying that he was able to brag about getting around u.s. sanctions because he got an itunes account of the fake new york address and a new york identity. is there more that the u.s. can do on sanctions for a particularly with syria? and what you guys to get him bragging about getting around the sanctions? >> i will make two points. there is more and we are working with our allies to put greater pressure on the assad regime to isolated further to deprive it of economic lifeblood. i don't have specific new sanctions to announce today that we are certainly working with friends of syria with our international partners to do everything we can to put greater

pressure on assad peery with regards to the e-mails lysol that it's really sickening if you think about it that a man that is overseeing the slaughter of his own people is going about the sanctions and getting an itunes account, there may be no better image for the kind of heartless and brutal approach that he's taken to the demands of his own people for greater democracy and better treatment from their own government. >> is their anything the defense of syria even and at the end of this month -- >> well, we are -- we are working very much preparing for that friends of syria meeting. we are obviously jury concerned about getting humanitarian aid to the syrian people. that's a constant subject of conversation now and will be an sure at that meeting. we fully support the koffi annan

mission which is ongoing and we're working with our allies in the friends of syria and with of the nations with of united nations and elsewhere to look at every we become put greater pressure on the assad regime. i don't have anything to add to that today. >> the president talked about a steady job, forces. has he solicited yet from his commanders a recommendation for the next phase? >> i believe general allan is testifying today on the hill broadly about afghanistan obviously since he's the commanding general. and on that issue, i believe that we are in a process of drawing down the search forces the president sent in. we will have withdrawn all of those forces by the end of this summer, middle of september, and that assessments will be made about the pace of continued drawdowns as we get closer to

that period where we've drawn down the search forces. so i don't believe that there have been new proposals put out about or asked for the new with strauss. i think i made this point in regards to an article that appeared in the newspaper the was incorrect about proposals that supposedly were circulating that are not and have not. estimate does the president have to have any recommendations from his generals before the nato summit in may? >> i think i made clear last week when we were talking about afghanistan that there will be -- while afghanistan will clearly be a subject of intense discussion in chicago at the nato summit, you should not anticipate a new announcement about troop withdrawal schedules in chicago. there is a time frame -- >> we should not -- >> i'm sorry? >> we should not anticipate? >> should not.

that's correct. nato is operating under a time from afghanistan was established at lisbon. and as we have said in recent days, including coming out of the president's most recent phone conversation with president karzai, we are in the process of transitioning security lead over to the afghan security forces. we are -- we will be by some point in 2013 had transferred combat lead over to afghan for security forces. we will still be in a support role with those afghan forces on some missions. and by 2014, the full process of transition to full afghan security lead will have taken place, in accordance with the lisbon decision. again, numbers in terms of pace of withdrawal we don't have for you. but this is all about implementing a strategy to the president put in place which was designed very clearly to focus commission on the number one objective which is going after al qaeda, stellas in afghanistan, in support of the objectives of that time and space was created and stability

was created so that we could help train afghan forces and prepare them to take over the responsibility for their own security and bring american men and women home. and that's happening now, and it will continue to have been three estimate there's been some excellent reporting in the last several days about surgeon to heels who was accused of the massacre in afghanistan and some other stresses that were on his family. the president read some of those stories and express any concern or comment about sergeant bales condition and family? >> i didn't have any conversations with the president to read out to you. i can tell you that setting aside an individual case and obviously a matter that's under investigation, that the issue of stress on our armed forces, those serving in theaters like afghanistan and iraq is always -- has been a focus of this administration since the president took office it ptsd in

particular is something that we have put a focus on both here and at the veterans administration. and it's something that the president talked about when he was running for office, that this is clearly period of extended combat for the american military. we ended, as promised, in a responsible way -- the president did -- the war in iraq. but that was a nine year conflict, and we are obviously in afghanistan now for over ten years. so one of the reasons why the president is so focused on executing a strategy that has very specific priorities and objectives and in achieving those objectives and bringing americans home is because he does not believe that we should be in afghanistan any longer than we need to be to achieve that mission. he wants to bring our troops home as soon as possible. >> and then, final question, prove the vice president biden was in new jersey for a fund-raiser and he was talking about bin laden and she said, you could not find a more audacious plan if you go back in history 500 years. what did he mean by that?

>> if he meant that the decision the president made, as you all know and are aware of, was a very difficult one. that, as has been reported, the information that we had, which was obviously of high-quality, was not conclusive. a degette vice the president was getting from his senior most national security advisers was mixed on what to do -- mixed at best, and that in the income he had to make a very fateful decision. >> and as he said, one of the reasons why he felt so confident in making the decision was that he knew that the forces he would send in on the bin laden mission were the absolute best that has ever existed, and that they would fulfill their mission with great professionalism and success. obviously it would have been a different story if bin laden had not been in that compound. but the president -- that's why

you're president -- you have to make those tough calls. and i think that's what vice president by in was referring to. >> more audacious than d-day? >> welcome the historical assessment i will leave to him and others, but there's no question that this was a very, very difficult decision that the only commanders in chief have to make. yes. >> so she didn't miss the? >> nope. >> do you have any reaction to the dozens of people -- i believe the latest estimate more than 40 people were killed in iraq? >> well, we are certainly aware of the attacks. we strongly condemn the attacks on innocent civilians in iraq -- a blatant attempt by extremists to undermine iraq's progress toward a more secure, stable and prosperous future. >> we offer our condolences to the victims of those reprehensible acts, as well as

their families and loved ones. and we support the continued efforts of iraq's security forces to bring those responsible to justice. >> what is truly is even as we see these attacks now, which are clearly aimed to try to get attention in the run-up to iraq hosting the arab league summit, is that this despite these efforts by extremists, violence in iraq remains at near historic lows, and iraqi forces have demonstrated their capacity to deal with the security challenges that exist in that country again and again in recent years. and we have -- we do have faith in their ability to show that in -- that ability again. >> to what extent is the administration, is the president concerned that these latest the sort of destabilize the region there? >> well, i think that, as i just

said, that the -- we have seen some spectacular attacks on iraq over the number of years that this president has been in office, all aimed at trying to destabilize the situation in iraq. overall, however, the violence levels in iraq remain at near historic lows. and iraqi forces have proven themselves capable of maintaining security, and proven themselves to have been -- thanks in no small measure to the training the they have received from u.s. forces -- to be professionally capable of dealing with security challenges -- which doesn't mean that there won't be spectacular attacks again in the near future, but you have to put them in context. >> and just on syria, according to recent reports, the insurgents there are now being accused of human kitt dumping and torture of pro-government forces. to what extent does this complicate efforts to get humanitarian aid to the region?

and to what extent does it look like this is sort of spiraling or descending into a civil war? >> well, i would say on those reports that we have seen them and -- those and other reports of excesses committed against security forces committed we would denounce those attacks as we had previously denounced killings of syrian security personnel expanding the scope of violence harms the syrian people first and foremost and the violence must stop. we should also note, however, that these attacks would not take place if the syrian government wasn't brutally and indiscriminately attacking syrian cities and civilians one by one. while the regime's crackdown does not justify violent responses other than in self-defense, we would know that there are many more reports of unspeakable atrocities at the hands of government forces, and reiterate our call for the syrian government to halt its attacks on cities. so let's be clear. we absolutely denounce attacks like these and killings like

these. we've seen these reports and we would denounce them. within the context of what's happening in syria, we cannot lose sight of the fact that the great preponderance of violence against civilians and innocent people and being perpetrated by forces under the control of the regime. >> this is the second week, i guess, in succession the president is making energy the focus of his activities, his public activities. will that continue as gas prices remain high or go hi? and does it mean he will be talking less about job creation? >> yes and no cure yet he will continue to talk about the absolute need to have and all of the above approach to our energy challenges, to the need to have american made energy. he will also continue to talk about jobs and economic growth.

both are urgent purities in this country. and i would simply take a little issue with the premise of the question, that somehow the focus he's been demonstrating on energy issues of late is wholly different from where he's been. one of the reasons why we can report you that we are well on our way to double in the production of renewable energy in this country is because of the president's focus on investment in alternative energy sources in the country from the time he took office. one of the reasons why we can report to you that we are continuing to increase domestic oil and gas production in this country is because of the focus that he has put on growing domestic oil and gas production in this country since he took office. i mean, as someone who has spent a lot of time at a lot of energy events with the vice president, and who noted in the first several years the president's attention to these issues, i think we can confidently say that this has been a priority and focus on the administration

from day one. also, there was -- you mentioned before, last year when prices went up for gasoline, the justice department task force on oil speculation. has the president differs from received a report either last year were this year about that? >> i'll have to check if there was a formal report. and i would refer you to the justice department about the efforts that the task force or unit undertook last year. as you know, at the president's request, the attorney general has reconstituted the task force and asked them to investigate potential fraud and speculation because they do everything we can to insure hard-working americans are not getting rid of the gas stations. it is the case the global price of oil was what drives the price of gasoline and that is hard

enough for americans to deal for and we need to make sure that protectively they are not getting gouged because of speculation and fraud. >> i know we will probably leader in the week but for those of us who can't wait, could you give us a little bit in the sense of what the president really helps to accomplish and what message he also wants to send to north korea and iran, and the second question, there are the two treaties that you talked about, in congress to ratify that have to do with nuclear security and i am just wondering if there's any message to congress to those this week? >> the president looks forward to his visit to seoul to participate in the nuclear security summit. as you know, the president made a nuclear security a priority when he took office and hosted a security summit, nuclear security summit here in washington, and he will continue that work at this summit in

korea. you will be getting briefed on more details about what we expect from this visit. perhaps sooner than you think. but the -- i don't have a lot of specifics right now for you to read out from the podium about what will happen next week in korea or on the treaties that you mentioned. so we'll have to get that information for you and can you just -- this may be part of that -- but new free trade deal of korea, a lot of other stuff will there be a non-nuclear aspect of this trip he will want to talk about? >> i will have to get specifics on that. he will spend some time with our host and the south korean leader, but beyond that i don't have any details with you. >> denver? >> how about that. i don't know, who's going to get

tebow, is that what demint, is very broncos and? i can report out that i have not had that conversation but i look forward to it. some comments made by the first lady last night the first to follow-up on this executive order issued. in february of 2008 the candidates obama told the houston gop caucus that he would support a federal amount of discretion policy for federal contractors. wondering if the president changed his position on that has been and if not, why he hasn't taken any action to implement that policy. >> well, i would say since this is in reference to the conversation we have had a few times in this room about an

executive order i'm just not going to comment on the executive order that may or may not be under consideration at this time. but i have more -- i have no updates on his policies to give you on that matter about the exit of order i don't have any comment on it at this time to this debt as for the first lady, last night at two different defense and new york city, she made reference to the effect that the supreme court appointees will have on whether we can love whomever we choose. is that a reference to the american quality-of-life not, what is that? >> thank you for the question to get qingdao's folks who regularly report on the speeches they will know that she has said this before, has for some time and that is a reference to the president's position on the defensive mer reject the president and first lady believe that the americans and lesbians and their families deserve protection and the devotee to drive just like every family

dispute the first lady said she is proud of her accomplishments including repealing don't ask don't tell and ensuring hospital visitation rights and calling for the repeal and obviously our actions on doma not to defend doma scoffed. >> not the least of which she does not belief. >> cow laws the president's fault about nuclear weapon and the speech prepared with his thoughts back and given what happened with iran and north korea. >> i haven't had that high-altitude conversation with him. i know that it nuclear security is a very high priority for this president that's why he's hosted the summit that he hosted here and that's why he's going to sold.

it's been notably of years and i will not hear the the effort that president has undertaken with regards to unify yanked the international community against iran and demanding give up its nuclear weapons ambitions and get right with of the world began to honor its international obligations has been and is proof of his concern about and is focused on the threat of nuclear proliferation and one of the reasons he's noted that it is essential acquiring a nuclear weapon is a good cause a terrible nuclear weapons arms race in the region he which would greatly diminish the nuclear security around the world. so, i don't have anything new for you on the efforts in north korea and that is of great

concern. we've has some developments in that arena of late that you know about this is an extremely high priority that the efforts the united states and other countries have taken to try to secure nuclear materials and try to prevent dangerous regimes from acquiring the nuclear weapons have been very robust and that effort will continue for as long as president obama is in office. >> spec to things >> [inaudible] >> nope.

>> second come on the world bank. the deadline for the nomination is coming up on the world bank. no nomination yet. so to the best of your knowledge as the selection been made and just not announce or has there been no selection and why? >> rather than give you the play-by-play for an update internally i will say we have no announcement to make on that issue. i of no announcement on the timeline to make. >> the company has announced they would have a 1 billion-dollar some other u.s. companies are going to india. what i'm asking is is this a shift from the u.s. countries like russia and china now to

india? >> i haven't made that assessment myself and i haven't heard any assessments made with regards to that. and it is a growing economy, and i sure one that american companies viewed as having a great potential for their products but i don't have any comment beyond that. >> as far as afghanistan and pakistan is concerned, since a chemist and has now bringing those who were supporting al qaeda and taliban now into the mainstream of accepting the afghan constitution my question is can you do this and you said yesterday that the u.s.-pakistan relations are not complicated, what do you think the complications are between the two relations, and second, can you do all this transition without texas and's full support and help for combating the the terrorism and al qaeda from the region? >> welcome a one of the reasons why the relationship with

pakistan remains extremely important to us is because of the role that pakistan plays in our efforts to achieve our objectives and afghanistan and chief our objectives in terms of taking to fight tooth and ultimately defeating al qaeda. there is a parliamentary process underway in pakistan, and we respect that process, and we will continue to await the outcome of the process to hear from the pakistani government about how they would like to engage moving forward. it would not be productive for me to comment beyond that on the specific recommendations were reports from the press. but i think it's important also to note that the united states has critical national security priorities that we continue to pursue including counterterrorism efforts and, as i said, al qaeda, strengthening afghan security and supporting the afghan let reconciliation. all are areas where we believe we have common goals with

pakistan, and we continue to move forward on those areas because they are in our national security interest. >> do we see an opening -- >> you asked. let me leave it at that. >> you may have addressed this of the top of the briefing that some house democrats are finding some positive elements in the plan, things they think are grounds for further talks. for instance, the example they gave was the elimination of the alternative minimum tax proposal because it hit so many middle class americans. does the president at the white house believe there are positive elements in the plan today that our food for thought and talks down the road? >> welcome i haven't seen the comments that you've referred to. the idea that tax reform is a good idea is certainly one that i think is broadly shared by the members of both parties and certainly this president. the problem is when you present all the good things in tax reform like i'm going to get to the tax recording going to eliminate the amt and then have no details on how you would pay

for them and given the prairies that you have very robust the expressed in terms of not asking the wealthy to pay more, not corporations to give up their subsidies like the oil and gas corporation or asking hedge fund managers to pay income tax at the rates everybody else pays then it's pretty evident who's going to get stuck with the bill. it's going to be middle class americans, it's going to be seniors on medicare, it's going to be families with disabled children. it's unfortunately the same list of those who would be bearing the burden for the benefits of the wealthiest americans that existed last time we have the budget proposal, and the fact that people agree there should be tax reform doesn't mean that

the specifics don't matter because the matter a lot to every american out there who has to make ends meet, so i think we have seen pretty clearly that what this proposal does not to is take a serious approach to getting our fiscal house in order that everyone who is serious about this issue says you have to take. i mean, you asked me a lot about the some symbols commission the president created. what is his view, shouldn't his proposal mayor that and the fact is it does very much near the central tenets of some symbols. one thing that is often not noted is not a single house commission on that voted for it. chairman ryan didn't support it. so i think when we talk about what everyone agrees has to be the responsible approach to the deficit reduction we look at who would put forth a different plan

that would embrace the balanced approach and then look at the republican proposal emerging from the house. you have to acknowledge the great differences between them, which i did today. thanks very much, guys. this week marks the queen elizabeth's anniversary of her recession. in westminster hall she delivered an address to a joint session of parliament. the ceremony included speeches by both of the speakers of the house of lords and the house of commons.ccc#cc## bbc pew edwards hosted this

program.ñññññññ ñññññññ select the senior parliamentary it is not a launch of the even skis start to contract lasto ónth in february to marko a t at the queens accession back in 1950. the only other in british history television was in fact queen victoria but there was  visit to buckingham palace. the oldest part of the palace

a joke to murowa i suspect we won't be seeing any of those smiles in8rñ own time. ♪ >> good morning. welcome to the river room just a few blocks away. just a few feet away from the house of lords this is where we will be following the morning events, and i have the expert guides with me delighted to welcome the commentator whose book our queen has been a best-seller and the royalçç historian, delighted toç have ç withç us.ççç thank you very much.çççççç and weld, it is a formal event.ç it is marking a very formal thing, a very special and rare event in fact.

>> it's quite extraordinary. we have only had one before in history, and type and the pace was different before us. this is a very sad occasion of the jubilee in a lot of razzmatazz come a lot of and on the country lot of what about some things on the river coming up in the summer with the river pageant outside the palace but at the same time these big ñvents like today.ñññññññ >> it's really parlements chancñ to say thank ñyou.ñññññññññ >> yes, exactly. this iñs the moment all of theññ country we see so many.ñññññ it's the parliament's chance to speak to the queen and express their gratitude because she isññ the key to parliament and as shñ set herself she thinks parliament is the best place toñ make this great occasion because she sees the effort as greatçk constitution.ñçñçñçñçñçñçñç >> we will be back with you in  second. as we have heard it is only the sixth time that the queen hasñ made a special address to bothñ

houses of parliament and notññ talking about the state ofñññ parliament come ñentirely different thing of course which happens virtually everyñ year. but some of you certainly willñç remember as some other occasionç a decadçe ago for the goldençç 1977. ♪ >> this call has been seen that summer which would mark the of our history.?????? ♪ i cannot forget that i was crowned king of the united kingdom of great britain and

northern ireland.  hipaa horray. ♪okkiiwkwkwk >> we salute and subscribe our dollar brought us the victory wx remember the dark days in the the pilots of a royal air force fought in the sky is to protect us from invasion. estimate the minister blair. estimate i would like to express my pride in the past and my confidence in the future. i would like, above all, to declare my resolve to continue with the support of my family to

serve the people of this great nation of ours to the best of my times ahead. [applause]??????? spec welfare we are, a flavor of past events in west minister. and it's fair to say without an element of controversy by certainly remember all of theooo coverage back in 1977 when theoo debate about the delusion was raging at a time and aboutoooooo ooighing in on that speech toooo say i was -- i cannot forget. are we likely to see an equally@ controversial competition or7@7@ 7@t?7@7@7@ >> i suspect probably not.7@7@7@ 7÷fferent jubilees have a7x7x7÷÷ different tone, a different7÷7ñ atmosphere.777ñ7ñ7ñ777 i 7thi7ñnk in 77 it was quite w owgy time and certainly thewww remarks like i cannot forget io was crowned queeno of the unit

indolent. that certainly raised aoo few hackleso in scotland.oñoñoño÷oñ i thinko÷ this time it is alll differenth tenure.hhl you saw that years ago thelh golden jubilee, a somber occasion a few months after the this time i think it will be a setting. >> the prime minister just taking his place in westminster mentioning alleges controversy. again, do you think that the address today will be used to because every with robert.

the high water mark of rity. wedding. arguments. be no coverage of the jubilee at all. of course, people did, but now there is no contest. the jubilee is bigger than the olympics it's so popular. and i think she really is going to be moving back on her great rain. we are a nation of change and transition to believe she has addressed that in every speech. it seems incredible in 1977 that she said we've got to get used to launder being in the tyrannyj of power ngnow.wnwnwnwnwnwnwnón imagine that now, the conceptónj that we would see as having ano empire. it iso complete oando the cok that skhe's running a free andk isk incredibly popular now and+ looking back at 60 years ofoog success.çoçoçoçoçoçoçoço >> i think it is fair to sayws that there would beos links to e ñmmonwealth and cases on thatñ relationship in the commonwealtp and the can to the duke sheúúúú built it herself and she came tú

the front of its 54 nations it means an awful lot. >> em really to explore the kin of thing we have seen remarkablc prince harry on the trip toññ maica for a simple and you ca see the images now what we se re really despite the very bi debate about the future of some on the stage making the point generation the queen is still the head of 16 countries earth's ning human whatever the constitutional

th and how that is i'm not sure but she is been the most troubled most incredible touring around the country it's been the world to give us over. >> i think that will be firmly let's have a look inside of westminster all because we have seen the prime minister taking place and his place is secure of course in the tundra. if we look across the aisle we see people now because a glimpse and the house of lords. but there of the of the bishop of london. of course just a few days ago we learned that the archbishop was going to step down at the end of this year in december and lots of people are mentioning the bishop of london as a possible each other. side of that group of people,

just to the left, we see the archbishop of europe who for lots of people is for that succession. so all of them there in the house of lords. they are all in that block and it's interesting. it's not just politics to do with party, its politics through the church. they are mangling. the lord's chatting, the former lord chancellor has been leading of lords for many years. if we look behind them we can see other members of the cabinet, too. on the other side there is a of the comments of the very turbulent times and= left the chair in 2009.; the; baron es standing to greet'

her successor as lord speaker.'/ of lord speaker procession is/// under/ way. lord speaker of course is a position that didn't exist a decade ago when the jubilee was being celebrated. but it is now a position where you have the lord speaker in effect an ambassador for the the sessions of the house of÷y÷c lords where the lord chancellor the principal leading the way and then we have the deputyír the days of charles ii and thenx weqx have the lord speakerjejaz[ herself, the baron s who wasfifi elected for her term last summei in june of last year.bibivhbibh and thenfh followed by the clerh and the assistance and then theh

gentleman at the end of thisbhbh procession just coming up thebhh stairs now and david is the manh really who has been in charge oh all of the practical and because a a special reason symbolized the sovereignty of the queen in this case and because of the queen's presence, that symbol will no longer be required to bebhbhbhbh covered. next procession about to get under way is the speaker's procession presenting the house of commons but by the principal door keeper and then the

sergeant harms carrying this.hh@ >> and a glimpse of the speaker dço's been the speaker now forz nearly three years. robust with matters from the chair for the elected after the election of 2010. every published public speaker and i am sure that his full contribution today will be note that he's developed in his time in parliament. the same pattern on this side o the aisle because the meese wil be arrested and when the queen our lives leader ron will catch

a glimpse of the cloth being used to cover to symbolize the queen's presence. >> if we look at the crowd today there is one man in particular that has a special-interest in the proceedings because he is michael ellis a conservative chairman of the parliamentary group to the queen's jubilee e. he is the one who persuaded the members to dig deep into their pockets and to contribute 5,000 pounds for a gift and it is a new stained-glass window at the diamond jubilee to give to the queen and it will be a little later on that we can give you a sneak preview because we

the house of commons event got together and organized a of lords, but it looked as pipeline about 15 months ago for the queen's diamond jubilee as a unicorn which is pretty gorgeous fierce. these things. technique. zzx÷x joining them with a piece of lead and it blocks a net like a jigsaw puzzle.

>> if you slip you can break th glass and that is not what is we three times and fired three >> you will be able to see the golden color you can get with the stain. estimatech the effect in the 8 spec they cannot do more. estimate does. her majesty and in a short time when it is on failed it will be the very first occasion that her majesty will see at.

>> their york. you've seen it already but it will be unveiled later on. that is the box that will house the window for the next year so that will allow visitors to west minister to see it when they pass through the hall. eventually it will be installed in the window above the north or and the central panel, so it end of the days of henry the eighth because when he refashioned the halls there were great windows facing each other north and south, so when the new window goes into the north side, we

stairs left and right, we have the unit of the guard whose history goes right back to the days of henry. the first made their appearance at the coronation in 1485 some months of course after the battle comes a great tradition and a great heritage, and of course well known for the splendid uniforms dating all the

time and the captain of thek@k@@ gentleman is in this case the@@ other baroness see you have the history andç the current.çzç ♪zzzzzzzz >> they are in place and that's where the queen will be makingz her addzress.zzzzzzzz in response to the initialzzz address by zthe lord speaker a the common speaker.zzz so, now we are in a positionzz where we are awaiting the queen a rifle and a lot of thought ha gone in to the lord speaker and the common speaker because ther will beç çthings they want tow

will say. it's a very interesting speech because we are used to the queen's speech by the government. on't it said the other in this parliament, so she's not on her ground. i imagine that maybe the officials will have had a sort ybody in the hall, speech and it's a speech where

what we hear today everyone loves reading between the lines they are unsure about the jubilee and it is going to be a much happier event than the last time. >> that's crucial because reflecting the decades past it is worth noting we've been going has been changing but really the century. she was born in the great depression and this is the second world war, the 50th and the 60's and in 2000 she was not as popular as now the country was a riveting and we thought we were unconscionable and we have seen the collapse the banks tha! collapsed and we have seen the3 press being undermined and theñ# queen has been constant andç3ç3 always in her speeches she talk#

about the family community and service can't and she always stresses how she is continued in xse world of change.÷c÷c÷sxsxsxc xc the economic point is madexcc and yet back in 2002 there wasññ family itself.ñ there had been a lot of constitutional change in the general sense that the family particularly the queen. now as the short-term and point at the top of game the most1"1"# respective and the most famous woman in the world and i think that will be reflected.

>> musicians working very hard today, and pleading to dutifully for us directing the music. full marks to them, and then of course in the audience itself we have an array of very familiar represent a retreat parliamentary tradition just against the former chancellor and of course smith was in cabinet now former conservative leader, and we have florida

queen's birthday been steadfast, diligent, she takes these things extremely seriously. nt. to speak to the reception. sure if she's going to go down

building. making sure the queen moves.

he will arrive when she arrives. one of the differences by keeping and commissioned at the it really is a miraculous palace. to mark the north door, which leadsads directly into westminster hall.s

they are going up towards the door.an there we have the symbol to the world that the queen is now at the palace toen westminster.la music mac. ♪ ♪

♪ [inaudible] ♪ the microphone has been set to

hear her response. >> the hall is ready for the lord speaker.

>> most gracious sovereign, are symbol here today to celebratete 60 years of your brain. we will call with warmth andvict affection the appreciation of your dedicated service to your people enter unequaled success over the years.y service and duty to which youh y have only recently and is so moving rededicated.. we celebrate two this church of st your high office. you ensure your role is an integral part of our nationaletc life today as it was 60 years ago. a we rejoice in this jubilee, and we give things for all which it represents. at the same time, we recall oure gratitude for the support which you have received from his royai

highness prince philip. we celebrate his service too. manyis one of the first of celebrations to be held up andee down the land.wn in the coming months, you and the duke will travel widely throughout the kingdom. but today you have come toc narliament, for constitutional proclamation and granted us the privilege of being the people to honor your jubilee. what better to begin the where celebration then here in the splendor of westminster hall, the hall of kings and queens al over the millennium. this all has seen many historic events, few are prominent andtin commemorative. n we gather for the unveiling of the same glass window which wasr

commissioned in honor of this day.door you place in the window of the glass doors, your coat of arms and ail splendor of color.ese as well as the many sizes ofces, visitors we received from homey and abroad. br we must remember that we celebrate this joy in other realms and territories and te throughout the commonwealth. therr commonwealth is of course one of the greatest achievements ofon your brain, and yournand leadership continues to flourisl with a membership of 64 countries. it is still growing, it is a tremendous force of good in the world, and they are aware that special thanks goes to you. many of us present here today take part in the work of the

united kingdom branch.arlienta we work to learn from one another, and to promote democracy. but all of this is compared with nothing of your magnitude. an over the years, some countries, many times, since 1997.we look we look on with admiration and with pride at the triumph of some of your competence.aml the royal family are represented this year the jubilee to celebration in all those lands which were headed in this state. your majesty, spiritual andd temporal assembled, we give thanks for your diamond jubilee. we look forward to the years to come, and we pray that you andcd your own may enjoy the peace,

plenty, and prosperity that hav so distinguished a rain. [applause] of lords to smile. d once >> the speaker, which she accepts with a smile.the sp the speaker of the house of commons, john bercow, willpresen present his address.ergn >> most gracious sovereign, a we, your faithful comments are honored to be here to commemorate and celebrate the 6 years of your brain.

contributed to two jubilee window to be revealed shortly, and which will mark this occasion permanently. time is better preserved in thio historic place than in human memory. time also tells a story.ls it sixty years ago, before thewa arrival ofbe the latest electros item, six years ago britain hads just emerged from a war of an intensity never seen before or shadow of the korean conflict.ek sixty years ago when a newetha elizabethan hero was weighted, new enthusiasm, tinged witheadr uncertainties about the challenges ahead for the , country. if the best way to find yourself is to lose your self in theol service of others, then yourre o

majesty must have found yourself yo countless times over the lasttlt you have dedicated your life tox others. the daily example that you sat, mirrored by our courageous armeo forces of which you areh your commander in chief is extraordinary.ext profound contribution which has been to the continuity which haa and herriot and has hold togee capacity to hold together that which could be fall asunder. you have moved with the times and allow the times to moveand o around the rest of society. this is a different britain frof 1952, but not one detached from we are in several ways a muchs a

kingdom. this is a land where many women today are equal under the law, and where your people areec reg respected, regardless of how they live, how they look, or how they love. this is a nation of many races, faiths, and customs, getting nod to be reflected in parliament. all of this progress hass occurred during your rain. you have become to many of us a kaleidoscope clean of a kaleidoscope country in auntr of many diversethese items attribute it to you and this great anniversary. nation willn as a rightly embrace the duke of a number and other members of your family. these will be striking for thef

sincerity expressed as much as for the scenery encountered. sixty years of stability, 60 years of security, 60 years of certainty. sixty years of sacrifice. sixty years of service. gandhi also observe that in a gentle way, you can shape the world. your majesty, in a gentle way, you have shaped this united kingdom and the world for sixr decades. on the half of all the membersha of the house of commons, may i thank you wholeheartedly for al that you have done, are doing, and will do for the good of our >> [applause]

>> john bercow will signal the public to unveil the gift, which is the window. >> john reyntiens designed the window, and he is responsible for the now receiving the gift. and she is now preparing to

deliver her response on this y casion of the diamond jubilee. >> my lords and members of the house of commons, i am most grateful for your loyalyal addrs addresses and generous words of the lord speaker andro mr. speaker. this great institution has been at the heart of the country andc the lives of our people throughout its history. as parliamentarians, you share with your forebears a fundamental role in the laws ane decisions of your own age.ons o parliament has survived as an unshakable cornerstone of our constitution and our way of life. history links monarchs and parliament, a connecting threado from one period to the next. in an era when the regulator, where the rhythm of life is les eye-catching than doing something extraordinary, i amng

reassured that i am nearly the second summer in to celebrate a diamond jubilee. >> as today, it was my privilege to address you during my silver and gold into belize. many of you were present 10 years ago, and some of you wills recall the occasion in 1977. y since mike session, i have been a regular visitor to the palace of westminster, and at the lasta count, have had the pleasurable duty of treating with 12 prime ministers. >> over such a period, one can observe that the experience of

venerable old age can be aiee o mighty guide, but not aide b prerequisite for success in public office. i am therefore very pleased tomh be addressing many younger parliamentarians, and also those bringing such a wide range of t background and experience to your vital, national work. during these years as yourhers a queen, the support of my family has across the generations then beyond measure. prince philip, is, i believe, a well-known for declining compliments of any kind.hu ót throughout he has been an a constant strength and guide. he and i are very proud andeer grateful that the prince of wales and other members of our family are traveling on myngn behalf in this diamond jubilee

year to visit all the reminder of our close affinity with the commonwealth, population. my own association with the commonwealth has taught me that the most important contact between nations is usually contact between its peoples. p an organization dedicated to certain values, the commonwealth has lurched and grown byy successfully promoting and protecting thatñ contract. at home, until it and i will be visiting towns and cities up anb down the land.cies u it is my sincere hope that the diamond jubilee will be an opportunity for people to come together in it a spirit of

neighborliness and celebration of their own communities. we also hope to celebrate the professional and voluntary service given by millions of people across the country whoo are working for the public good. they are a source of vitaltal support to the welfare and well-being of others, often unseen or overlooked. as we reflect upon publicblic service, let us again be mindfu of the remarkable sacrifice and encourage of our american -- ar british armed forces. much may indeed have changed these past 60 years, but the valor of those who risk theireas lives for the defense and freedom of us all remains undimmed. the happy relationship i have enjoyed withon parliament has extended well beyond the moreone than 3000 bills i have signedtha

[laughter] i am therefore very touched by the magnificent gift before me. you. should this beautiful window caused just a little extra color tod shine down upon this asianpn place.a i should gladly settle for that. we are reminded here of our past, of the community of our national story and the virtues t of resilience, ingenuity, and tolerance which created it. i have been privileged to witness some of that history, and with the support of my family, we dedicate myself to the service of our great countr andth its people now and in the years to come.

[applause] >> they are giving a standing ovation for her majesty in westminster hall. what happens now is that the key people will approach the thronen again and present them with aesw copy of the royal response.

>> the speakers take their place national anthem. >> [applause] >> this is a long applause of perception and loyalty.

>> ♪ british national anthem. ♪ >> lord chamberlain, step forward to escort her majesty

into saint stephens hall, which is just to the left, and thequen queen is going to need some s of popular parliament and thank them for their work in service, and then we will go on to a reception, a private reception in the gallery, whicho is hosted by two speakers. then mr. ergo winner will be installed on the other side.' the queen very familiar with th' south window with her father's coat of arms display >> into saint stephens hall, ans this is the main area that leadl up to the central lobby of thece house of parliament.sde

as seen on the sides of the royal chapel of saint stephen's, this ise where the house of commons sat until the temple way destroyed in the great fire of 1834.we back in westminster hall now that the queen has left. we have the chief of staff and the same on the lord's side. ♪ >> very familiar symbols of royal authority.tle as i was expanding, there is ad little bit of adjustment today.e the queen is making her way into the central lobby where she wil meet in the central lobby theret

some of them will be working in the offices across the hall. as we enjoy the images inr hales westminster hall, let's stay with them, because we will see some of the main people leaving. in the meantime, i would like to reflect principally on the response to the two of them and? what did you enjoy the most? o >> i think they were very upbeat and forward, that she made. it seemed to look back on allinw the changes queen has beenco through. the queen billy was focusing on the here and now, and, as rightly seen, she paid bigtib tribute to the people, there is

a feeling that she is the queen of 16 countries, she can't visis more, so she wants to remind them that she is thinking of of them. that came through in publical service. twice she singled out -- sheut talked about professionally and voluntary forces. i think everyone who is in theoa service of the state will feelhs that she is on their side. >> i mentioned before in severa. the phrases using about thefact shaker of things and the kaleidoscope. it is a interesting way ofo she' looking at it. she is very much someone who holds things together and shakes things.