no culture and no strategic command and no measurement systems, nothing. .. the project itself and. but, you know, we are developing requirements and we have basically architect at the very

top level of the system we know what it is going to look like and now we just need to build in the pieces of the system and i would say that we would be able to do that in the first year. >> there is a lot to do this and we will have to continue to see how the governors can be actively involved because the expense looks extraordinary to me in wyoming which is one of the most rural states in terms of the population verses the land mass and a tremendous expense and we talked about the opt in and of out. governor o'malley and i worked on the d block issue together and the concept is very important, but the details on that how we go forward will be doubly important. >> i think that you heard me say that our objective is to cover every square meter of land in

the united states. if you look at commercial systems they cover 65 or 70 percent and we are taking on the responsibility to cover every square meter. >> if you can do that in wyoming, you make tracks that haven't been made before so it's going to be a challenge. >> our plan is to do that. we may do that by satellite, but we will do that. >> mr. chair, thank you for the time. >> thank you for the leadership of this issue and from the homeland security task force that this committee has morphed out of work has morphed into. any other questions on this? very quickly, again, with the state and local agencies have access over the capacity within their states? i mean, is that a given up front here? >> that is the criteria, yes. >> good. another question that we had, i suppose this is another part of the criteria the cost of

broadband services from firstnet would be less than the current broadband services the other entities use? >> there is no reason why they shouldn't be treated just a couple of reasons why. if you buy locally now, you probably pay five times what we would pay with an order of three or 4 million units of whatever. so, i think yeah, we will have failed if we don't build this cheaper than you could build it. >> finally, as we are building this, they're still will be the extensive expenses the states and governments have to come up with the dollars for to be able to build out their own interoperable communications with their first responders. so i hope that there is some accommodation and if we are going to control this, our spectrum within the low point in the states i hope he will also

give us the capacity to possibly work out the leases that give us the of devotee and also to raise some dollars until local level so that we can buy and invest. >> the question is for the individual negotiating with at&t or sprint or verizon or could we cut a better deal nationwide? whichever way it goes, you want those savings back into the pricing structure. >> which then goes back to the governor mead's point that we should have a governor on the panel. >> do governor padilla from puerto rico. >> she told me that puerto rico is included in this effort and i want to show my appreciation. on behalf of my colleagues from

the islands, thank you. >> the territories are included. >> and puerto rico. >> thank you. [laughter] >> issues i don't quite understand. [laughter] >> once you are connected and have that internet and broadband going then we will get through those nuances. anything else on this? okay, let's move on. thanks again for your comments and good work. heather, we should consider sending off another letter because this will be another issue in terms of maximizing the value of this and whether that becomes something that is intercepted by the federal government, or whether we actually have it so that we can achieve interoperable the among our first responders who need to respond when 911 is diebold. let's move into the next topic,

which is going to be the balance of this meeting. we are also joined by the governor from arizona and we thank her for her work on these issues. governor bentley from alabama and from oklahoma, governor abercrombie from hawaii, governor malloy from connecticut. we have a number of presenters who will talk about the cybersecurity imperative that we face as a nation and really -- just last month secretary janet napolitano warned that if the cyber 9/11 could happen at any moment with a potential to cripple the nation's electrical grid and information networks. over the last several years, they're have been attacks on cyber networks that have increased in their frequency and have increased in their sophistication. and they now have the potential to inflict even more serious damage on our critical infrastructure such as the water

treatment facilities coming electric credit financial networks, transportation systems and so on. a network attacks have emerged as one of the nation's greatest threats and require all levels of government to work together in our state governments all of us are at the trustees with sensitive and personal information in our health departments and other places we control the government services for citizens, supporting emergency response and supporting private sector partners. all of this, all of these things require a new level of vigilance in this era when people all the way over on the other side of the globe can potentially enter our networks and hack them and steal secrets and also leave back doors and other avenues to come at us and vulnerable times that we might not even anticipate in the future so in

addition to and to make another announcement there is no one-size-fits-all solution. the governor and i threw the nga, a national governors' association announced the creation of the resource center for state cybersecurity. we want to thank the corporate sponsors, citi, hewlett-packard, ibm and semantics who has helped make the research center a reality. working with state and local governments, if he federal partners come entities in the private sector, it is the hope that this new cybersecurity resource center will closely examine the role of the states can and should be playing to ensure the security of state based networks as well as the key critical infrastructure the states' economies and it's the resource center will identify resource practices and we will be the best determinism thing

second if somebody's already figured out how that's like accomplishing the r&d for those of us in the state government. so, we have a number of one of their announcement. tomorrow we will also come all governors are invited to a top-secret reason provided by the department of homeland security. i will be tomorrow afternoon from four to 5 p.m.. this breeding will build on the session today and provide governors with information on the current cyber threat environment and how those threats may affect our states. and i want to invite and encourage all governors to participate. i know that it happens at a time right between our last meeting here and when we are supposed to be a formal dinner at the white house. so, i can assure you anybody that comes in with a tuxedo, we will keep james bond jokes to a minimum when you show up for that.

[laughter] top-secret briefing. we have a number of experts. before we hear from them, i would like to ask the vendor sandoval for any opening remarks he may have on this issue on cybersecurity. >> thank you, mr. chairman for the opportunity to present these remarks. state networks and critical cyberinfrastructure attack on a daily basis and protecting these networks is one of the most pressing issues that we face today. in addition to storing vast amounts of personal data, we rely heavily on these networks to conduct numerous, state level or activities including critical homeland defense and emergency response operations. a properly coordinated attack has the potential to disrupt a multiple state agencies or even multiple levels of government preventing essential services from reaching our citizens. this past october, the national association of state chief information officers, nascio found that a majority of states,

a majority of states are not adequately prepared are properly equipped to combat and respond to a sophisticated cyberattack. according to the report, while states have made progress in the protection capabilities come shortages of qualified personnel and resources have left states unable to address the growing number for advanced nature of the attacks the face. without proper resources and personnel in place, states have also had difficulty putting procedures in place to effectively respond to a successful breach in their networks. in addition to compromise and personal information in the state based infrastructure, mitigating and repairing these breaches can place a further strain on state budgets. our success in defending our state and nation against the growing cyber threat is dependent on our ability to develop a common sense approach to cybersecurity. we must work together across all levels of government as well as with the private sector to

identify best practices that safeguard our information systems and the lemonade our vulnerabilities. just as important, we also need to begin preparing now to quickly and effectively respond to and recover from the region order to reduce the potential disruption to the daily lives. i look forward to hearing from our panelists and discussing how we can better respond to it and recover from a cyber incident. it is my hope that our discussion today will also provide governors of the information they need to engage with our congressional leaders as they continue to develop a comprehensive cybersecurity legislation. again, i welcome our speakers and look forward to hearing from you. >> thank you very much. we are pleased to have with us the first two speakers. the first is mr. richard clarke of good harbour security risk management, and mr. clarke served on the last three

presidential administration as a senior white house adviser, including special adviser to president for cybersecurity and national coordinator for security and counterterrorism. he also worked for several years in the u.s. department of state for the assistant secretary of state for political military affairs and managed the deputy assistant secretary of state for intelligence. in addition to the current roll at a good harbor, mr. clarke is an adjunct professor at the harvard kennedy school and author of several works related to homeland security and national defence, including his latest work "cyber war the next threat to national security, quote cohen and important for this panel what to do about it. we also have with us, daniel lohrmann, the chief security officer for the state of michigan. i do believe he's a native of maryland. mr. lohrmann began his career as a computer systems analyst with the national security agency and

served in a variety of positions in the public and private sector for over 25 years. in 1997, mr. lohrmann served as chief information officer and director for the michigan department of management and budget. prior to his current role, mr. lohrmann worked for several years as michigan's chief technology officer and information security officer. in october 2011 he was appointed the state's first security officer by governor vic snyder. as a gentleman, thank you both. let's begin with richard clarke. >> thank you, governor for the opportunity. you know, an awful lot of press has been devoted to the issue of cybersecurity in the last week or two, including the president saying in the state of the union that foreign entities had hacked their way into the power grid controls into our water system controls and that they were stealing our industrial secrets. the national intelligence estimate, which you'll hear about tomorrow, has concluded,

and we can say this in an open meeting that there is a pandemic of foreign espionage going after the company's, the research institutions throughout the country. part of the problem with cybersecurity is the three different issues. people tend to lump it all together. and when you lump it all together, you can't solve it. i suggest you start by disaggregating it and realizing it is three different things you are dealing with here. one is a crime, cybercrime. it's about stealing money. people steal money by hacking into systems and writing themselves checks or stealing credit card numbers. the second phenomenon is espionage. and this is not a james bond in a tuxedo. this is someone in china hacking their way into a company and stealing any information that

company has this of value or into a research lab. this is a pandemic. it's a quiet pandemic but it's a pandemic. billions of dollars in the intelligence estimate says $300 billion is what it costs the united states. they lost research and development. that means lost jobs. you can't be an american company and compete against a chinese company if all the money that you pay for r&d they get for nothing. they get all of your r&d for nothing. whether it is taxpayers' money or stockholders' money that pays for that r&d come they wait until it is done and then they use it to compete against us. the third issue that's called cyber is something called cyber war and that thankfully hasn't happened very much but it's been demonstrated that it could happen. what does that mean? instead of blowing something up with a bomb or a missile you

blow it up with a cyber command. not science fiction. it's been demonstrated. in fact the united states did it to iran opening of 800 nuclear centrifuge as the seibu command instead of flying a b-2 bomber overhead and dropping a bomb. we also demonstrated that you can do it to the electrical generators. you can do it to pipelines. you can do it to trains. and you can do it from the safety of your little office in shanghai or tehran or pyongyang. the bad news, even worse than that, is that this knowledge is now filtering down below the state actor level to them on state actor level. we saw 30,000 computers in the saudi iran oil company. 30,000 computers completely wiped clean. all the data gone, non-recoverable in one very quick attack by a non-state

actor. so three different issues: crime, espionage, war. what is so full of the state in all of this? there are five rules the state has inherently that apply here. one, the corporation. think of yourself as a company. you've got networks coming you've got data. if you write people checks and hold social security numbers coming to hold credit card numbers just like any corporation you have to secure that the debt against cybercrime. second coming you are a regulator at the state level. and you can regulate the power grid, the pipeline, the trains coming due can cause them to have higher levels of security than they have now. third, you are an emergency respondent, and you need to know what you would do if the emergency was in the hurricane or a tornado or something you recognize what if the emergency

was a cyberattack. would you know what to do? what everybody in your government know what to do? have you exercised a cyberattack? you probably exercise a snowstorm, but have you exercised what you would do in the cyberattack? forthcoming you are a law enforcement organization, and law enforcement at the state level can help companies that have been hacked that sometimes don't get all the attention they need from the federal level. and fifth, you are an educational organization. you run universities and colleges, and the big, big gap is and trained personnel. when i was in the white house, we created something called cyber corps scholarship for service. if you pledge to work for the government on cybersecurity, we would pay for your education at the master's degree level or college undergraduate level. indeed the state level and you will about state universities

where you could do it. i've got a longer list of things you could do. i passed out here 12 suggestions that you can do. it's on the web site. but the biggest thing i think is you need to begin with a strategy. figure out what you think you want to do. figure out what you think the role of government at the state level should be. come up with where you want to go on this issue. and then to a gap analysis of what's the difference between where i philosophically you think the state ought to be and where it is now. and then do a path of a maturation half of getting from where you think in your strategy, the state strategy you ought to be from where you are now to where you ought to be. a few states have started that. a few states have done some good work in this area. i think the sharing of best practice is a great idea but don't rush out and start

programs. begin with a strategy that reflects your philosophy about what you think the state ought to do against these three distinct problems of cybercrime, cyber espionage and potentially cyber war. >> thank you. >> dan? >> thank you, governor, and governor sandoval and the nga staff for this invitation. it's an honor to be invited to speak to the governors on this important topic of cybersecurity. let me begin by starting with emphasizing that the state of michigan government faces a barrage of unauthorized attempts to access our networks and systems each and every day of the week. utter in 2012, we removed over 31 million pieces of malware from incoming e-mails cost of over 142 million web site at tax and walked over 24 million

networks gams. the threat is real. we see it daily in michigan as does every other state in the nation. so what can be done, and what are we doing now when michigan? i would like to offer seven actions that the governor should take to mitigate some risk. for on cyber defense and three in the area of cyber response and go right in line with what richard clarke was mentioning. first-come actions regarding cyber defense. governors must make cybersecurity a top priority. in michigan, governor snyder personally led the charge by establishing clear accountability authority, visibility and governance. michigan is centralized i.t. for all 17 executive branch agencies and over 47,000 state employees. now merged physical and cybersecurity into one cohesive program. the chief security officer charged with providing enterprise risk management and security associated with michigan government assets,

property, systems and networks. this organization also leads the development and implementation of a comprehensive security strategy for all michigan technology resources and infrastructure. number two, each state needs a strategic plan for cybersecurity as we just heard. following this framework, industry best practices for cybersecurity and guidance to be provided from the new nga resource center on cybersecurity each state must implement an effective level of cyber defense. in october, 2011, governor snyder brought together the best and brightest from across the nation as he launched the michigan cyber initiative. at the national tick off for cybersecurity awareness month this plan lays out a comprehensive strategy for establishing michigan as a secure state that provides individuals, businesses and government safeguards are citizen data. the strategy includes the development of resources for home, business, government and schools as well as protecting

the critical infrastructure in the state's cyber ecosystem. our plan can be seen michigan.gov/cybersecurity. in every state, employees are both our greatest asset and sadly, the weakest link against cyberattack. and users mistakes are the number one cause of the data breeches. whether they click on the phishing scams or provide unauthorized access to sensitive data. in the past, michigan developed training that quickly became outdated, boring and quite frankly was a failure. we learned from our mistakes and now we offer new statewide cyber awareness training and we call it 2.0 for all employees. reef interactive pleasants delivered to employees over the web in a relevant, timely and hopefully even fun activities offered users. feedback this far is overwhelmingly positive with employees praising the approach and even sharing the information

with family members at home. let's not forget technical training for staff. in 2012, partnering with the network we lost the michigan cyber range. the state of the art training and testing facility provides a secure environment for cyber response, training, cyber defense scenario testing and the latest training for cybersecurity staff in the public and in the private sector in education. number four, monitor and defend your network's 24/7. in the global internet, the attack can come from anywhere any time. we need staff and tools to detect, ss and respond to threats in order to ensure confidentiality, integrity and availability of our data systems and networks. michigan is in the process of enhancing this capability with next-generation security operation centers that never sleeps. we are working to develop a report using new metrics based on the top 20 vulnerabilities. but i ask what if there is a

major cyber incident in your state? are you prepared? what if there's a breach? recommendations 527 address the cyber response infrastructure resilience. number five, build a cyber disruption response plan, which we just heard. states must develop a plan containing a checklist of required actions, following a catastrophic cyber incident or breached. the governments have become a very, very good at responding to natural disasters such as tornadoes, fires, floods and hurricanes. the same level of discipline must be applied to cite incidents using an all hazards approach. and in partnership with private sector companies to own and operate michigan's critical infrastructure we are developing a cyber destruction plan to map out a clear communication strategy and mrs. reaction following the major cyber incident. states should align those response plans recently released presidential the executive order on cybersecurity and presidential policy directed 21. number six, cyber disruption plans must be tested.

following fema or agency guidelines, all states should be testing and refining the cyber incident response plans to ensure infrastructure resilience. in partnership with the government, michigan has benefited by participating in all four cyber storm global exercises as well as national level exercise and 2012 that focused on cyber incident response. we are planning for the public exercises during 2013 to test our cyber protocols. last and perhaps most important, we must establish trusted partnerships. cyber defense and response cannot be done on an island or it will fail. we must work together to face this growing threat, share information and coordinate our response. establishing and maintaining trusted relationships is a central key to cyber defense and incident response. michigan, for example, has strong partnerships with to name a few, the national association of chief information officers or nascio and other federal

agencies, the fbi and the regard program, the multistate information sharing and analysis center in albany new york, michigan state police and other law enforcement agencies, and numerous private sector partners. building and strengthening the partnerships must be the key for each state moving forward. in conclusion, cyberspace has revolutionized government. the internet is accelerating opportunities for gooding and 44 at the same time. each state must act now to further protect the digital the investments to get our public trust and government is at stake. i look forward to answering your questions. >> why don't we break their for questions before the gentleman, or should we go with the third -- okay let me ask governor sandoval if you would do the honors of introducing the third presenter. >> thank you, governor and it's a pleasure to make this introduction. a fellow nevadan like to introduce. we have with us today mr. david hannigan, chief information

security officer of zappos.com. mr. hannigan served as chief information security officer for the leading contract research organization where he implemented the company's security strategy to protect and secure confidential customer data. prior to this he worked at equifax where he was instrumental in building the security engineering and operations and compliance teams. while at equifax, he helped build one of the largest and most efficient data loss prevention systems deployed as well as a highly regarded security risk-management program. mr. hannigan, welcome. >> thank you, governor especially for heading up this committee to push an agenda conference that's important for all parties represented here. welcome, governors and distinguished guests. i am honored to be here to speak about something i'm passionate about and i've been lucky to be working inside of this, and it's

pretty nice to hear that a lot of the themes are similar from dan. we were asked to come in and talk about what to do after a breach. we were told previous conferences spent time on threats and that you wanted some key takeaways from this conference that you could act upon so i am happy to do that for you. ..

and i want to use that to frame what i'm going to talk about. if you read through the news clips you will hear statements similar to this. we were victims of a sophisticated attack. and then, we are aware of the attack and are launching a full audit of security practices to insure we can prevent this in the future. so just talk a moment and think about those two things. now i will tell you some facts about data breaches and about security, right, so you can take these lessons and start asking additional questions, right? assertions are always nice. it is always good to have the right questions for people to ask folks. so data tells us most breaches are the result of unsophisticated attacks. all right? as a matter of fact, 96% were not highly difficult according to 2012 verizon data breach investigative reports. and they also have data that

showed 97% of breaches, get this, were avoidable through, and i quote, simple or intermediate controls. what does that mean? they were known vulnerabilities that people simply didn't patch or find other preventative controls for. that is important as you think about your security plans and what you're doing. my point in that, as i discuss it here, it will be about action, right? so knowing this, what are the key things that you should do after a breach? i'm going to surprise you here. i'm saying it is not rocket science and no secret best practice out there. it is almost common sense but it is harder than it seems, i will acknowledge that, and what you need to do is follow your incident response plan and take actions you already deemed necessary to contain the event and analyze it and learn from it. it's that simple. if you don't have those plans, that's a different story. right? because the immediate time of the breach is no time to sit there to think about

what needs to happen. you have to be able to react and take care of what needs to be taken care of at those moments because time is precious, right? and you have to understand and contain those particular events. we should know that it is not a matter of if but when as everybody up here has said when you're going to be ad being at thatted and you could be being attacked today, i will not spend a lot of time on that and not even know it and you need to be prepared for what happens. what is interesting is, companies, government, and organizations seem to have so much time after an event to spend looking at the security programs and be looking at their server programs and et cetera, why are not not doing it before something happens and constantly testing them, right? the two most important thing to focus on during an incident from my experience or a breach are communication and execution. you have to keep people informed what's happened. both internal and externally and you have to enable it

your teams to execute what it is they're supposed to do in order to contain the breach you've had, right? in order to do that it makes sense to focus on a few key things. i told i would give you frameworks for you. these are questions you should ask your cso or cio however you're organized within that about data breaches to gain some confidence in your security program, right? here are question questions for you. do you know your environment? ask how many events and incidents have been reported this month if if the answer is not many, you better dig deeper, right? either one of two things are happening, either you don't have technology in place to detect the attacks are coming or the people you have don't know what the attacks look like. just read the newspapers, and all the evidence is there and if you go into shared evidence. dan talked about it. the data is there. you're being attacked. define roles, right? who is in charge of security and do they know it? i know that sounds easy, right? but as you dig deeper, is it

really just your cso or ciso or is it also your system administrators, your d/b/as, right? all the other folks part of the technical side or even the data owners out there. it's very dangerous when everybody else thinks it's somebody else's responsibility, right? so make sure people understand who is truly accountable for the information that people want to steal. do you have the right people? we heard this echoed both by mr. clarke and mr. lohrmann. i can't harp on this one of the most. people are the greatest assets that we're lacking here. you're not going to do anything without the right talent within your organization. you could have all the greatest technology. you could have all the greatest processes but if you don't have people who know what to do in the event of incidents, who know what incidents even look like, you've lost the game already. and how often do you really test your security measures. these are questions you should be asking, right? is the answer we really haven't, and i'm not talking

about desktop exercises. i'm talking about getting something unannounced and going in to see what you can take from a third party because you want to see how the team is reacting. you want to he is it the plans. you want to understand so are things working so you can make adjustments before it is too late. what do you have that others want? that's a key question, right? without understanding that, how do you know what to protect or how to do that. or even what to look for. only you can answer that question. what is the data sets that you haves. whether it is confidential data. whether state strategy plans. whatever you deem is important to you, do you know where it is, do you know who has access to it, right? you will be surprised you do a data flow exercise because of your partners, et cetera who actually has access to that. then you have to be able to detect suspicious activity. here is another fact for you. 94% of the companies are told by others they have a breach. they couldn't even detect it themselves. somebody else let them know about that.

detection is not enough. it is about prevention, right? you have to be able to detect and stop it in its tracks. the average time that is a hacker is involved or sitting in an organization's 416 days before they're actually detected. really? so you have to ask yourself how effective are your programs? so don't be fooled by false security. sometimes i go out out there. i'm countered to things that other people talk about. what i mean by this is, we talk about security risk management. i want to make one point on that. just because you know about a risk and then you accepted it doesn't mean it goes away, right? so as a security person i keep it simple. i'm not going to come to you with something complicated. i'm going to say, this is the issue. if we do nothing about it, the issue stays the same. who in their right mind would sign off on a risk like that if it was explained that simply, right? it is still there for somebody else to take

advantage of and to harm to you and your organization. and then the last point i want to talk about because the audience here is really important is, how do we share data? we have heard from all the panelists from sharing data. i want to challenge that even more. i want to say how do we do more than share data to operate more effectively. sharing data is hard. keep company out there is building the same thing, a soft application security group, et cetera. we're duplicating so many things. we're taking resources from each other. how do we work together to manage that better, right? that is a challenge for security people to figure it out. what about share socs. shared resources. what is private about attacks? yes, private data but what is private about the actual networks that you can't find trusted partners to share those resources? we do have a shortage in trained resources. that is an area i want to challenge you as governors.

we have great schools and universities and we have to get people excited about security because we can involve these problems. these eight points are all components of the two most important aspects of managing a breach, communication and execution. without these components you wouldn't know who to communicate with and you wouldn't know how to assess the impact of the events. so spend your time now and validate the information you received from your teams. again, i'm going to stress that it seems odd we have plenty of time and resources to fix issues once a breach happens. why don't we have that same opportunity before so we can prepare for it. i hope those questions give you a good framework to ask your csoes. i look forward to the conversations we'll have now. thank you. >> thank you. thank you all. i'm sure the members will have some questions. let me get it rolling here by asking richard clarke, mr. clarke in your handout which was excellent and this has been passed around to

everyone, the 12 steps. i hope you guys have written down yours that you will submit them to us at the end here so we can share them with members. on number three you say, richard, request and receive regular security briefings from cybersecurity personnel including state employees and contractors responsible for information and assets from across various state agencies. request regular briefings from the department of homeland security. so much of our ability to set priorities and to get people focused on things that we can and must do and the follow-up depends on our ability to ask the right questions. so what are, what are the things that you would advise those of us who serve as governors to be asking for as a sort of emit plate if you will as, in these briefings so that they're not a show-and-tell, so that it is actually an actionable, sort of one, two, three? >> governor, i think if you have a strategy and flowing

from that strategy is a plan, with metrics and milestones, there are 12 things or 20 things you want to get accomplished. you know when you will have them accomplished by, you could get briefed every quarter for half an hour or so on how that progress is being made. there are all sorts of things you could decide. are your priorities in this area, education, law enforcement, specific new ideas, new programs and then you get briefed every quarter from an advisory board. maybe an inside government advisory board and outside government advisory board. sometimes your employees are not willing to be as frank with you as some of us on the outside might be so you might want to have both, insiders and outsiders involved. get briefed on progress on implementing the plan, and get briefed on, as you just heard, what's happened lately?

what have the attacks been like lately? because i totally agree with david. the if they tell you, we've got it under control, there haven't been any penetrations lately, fire them. >> good point. questions? follow-on, follow-up? neil? governor abercrombie from hawaii. >> i came into a situation in my state in which, the capacity for even our departments or divisions within departments were utterly incapable of talking to one another. i'm going to, pardon my 20th century approach but i actually believe in talking and. this had enormous consequences for us, just on a fiscal basis alone, if you just take foster children for example. you deal with education. you may dealing with the

judiciary, you may be dealing with the health department. what we found five files, six files, separate files all separate siloed from one another, incapable of cross referencing. so i wanted to, i wanted to change that. and, we found that we had seven, we stopped counting after 736 different systems. i'm boeing to say systems. 76 different methods -- 736 different methods, techniques, infrastructure. we had, i found three people i could not, you mentioned about firing. i have three people i can't fire because they're the only people that know where to go on ebay to get the parts for the wang computers that they were this using and, which contained all of the information that, and in certain areas. true.

36 years. found somebody has been using a wang computer for 36 years. of course he was very smug about it. but, maybe not everybody is in as bad a situation. so we had no chief information officer. i got a chief information officer. to try and put all this together. i give you all that preamble because i am thinking toe myself, that everything that i thought i was planning may come to naught. because if i, if i understood you correctly, mr. clarke, you talked about centralizing. wouldn't that make me more vulnerable than less vulnerable? in certain respects 700 different ways dealing with things maybe people would give up on us and leave us alone? maybe i ought to stay the way it is have signals to one another with morse code, i don't know. is there a danger in actually getting too, pardon the word, sophisticated,

that we, my goal is to try to yank us into the 21st century in terms of our capacity to communicate but am i setting myself up then for a, a failure, vis-a-vis cybersecurity? >> i could start. i think that if you bring together -- >> wait, i did get, the chief information came in very, very quickly. let me explain to you what is happening right now today in terms of attacks. it dumfounded me a little bit. i'm thinking, what do they want to know? the hotel revenue per room? i mean we publish that. why are we being assaulted? honestly we're being attacked right now. >> i could certainly see in michigan bringing together i-t into centralized security organization but also i-t organization. you have reduced number of pipes so you can watch those pipes. the department of homeland security has similar process

that's happening in the federal government. there's a large number of tools. the question is, are you going to have, as you mentioned, you know, 20, 30, 50, 800, whatever, number of security groups to work? and they're all, not communicating with each other. so i think, as you heard from david and others, and also richard clarke, there is a shortage of qualified staff. so bringing them together i think we've shown in michigan, not saying that we have no problems. we have a long way to go but by bringing your team together i believe you can be more effective. i believe it is shown by and large in the industry and other states as well to be more efficient in use of taxpayer dollars and a better overall security program. >> maybe we didn't, i'm assuming, again, it is my lack of sophistication in this, by centralizing everything i thought i was making everything more efficient but am i setting up making it easier for people to get into our

systems or not? >> i think as dan said, you're making it potentially easier but you're also making it potentially easier for you to defend it. you have got limited resources, limited trained people. rather than having 12 state departments and agencies, however many you have, all trying to do this, and you know they can't all do it, have one organization at the state level that is the chief information security officer for the state, have one operations center for this kind of thing. and maybe have one, you know, cloud operation. you actually make things more secure in the cloud if you do it right. but governor -- >> a little bit, richard. >> we did the cloud because that is counterintuitive to some of us. >> essentially an extension of this observation. rather than trying to secure a bunch of different physical locations you put it in the cloud and the cloud can exist in multiple

locations. if you do it properly, you don't put everything in one data center in one place. you have two data centers maybe in two different states. and then every, everyone who is involved in security is looking at that one target. and it is easier if you do security right on one target. it is easier to defend than to try to defend hundreds. i would say, governor, having, being one of the older people in the room and having used the wang system, i would say, if you're still got that working, keep it, because no one knows how to attack it. [laughter] >> that's right. that's what i got cold. came in and said we have three invulnerable employees here. >> governor fallon? >> this is very interesting discussion and we appreciate you coming today to speak to us. when i came into office two years ago i started trying to prepare my budget and i found out all of our state

agencies that we had 76 difficult computer software programs. i was trying to match apples and oranges trying to figure out what the agencies did and we had a chief information officer but he had no authority to do anything but he had the title. we passed legislation to give him authority over all the difficult agencies. we brought them all together. we started come inbooing information like governor abercrombie has been talking about and we had a little saying in oklahoma. we were running our technology on a eight-track technology and in ipod world. we were running off old technology when we needed to come up together. so we do have a chief information officer that oversees all the different state agencies. we have a backup separate system. i asked where's the backup? is it just one or do we have more? how do we make sure it's secure. i want to ask you a question, dan, you mentioned something about resource kits you did in michigan, home and

business resource kits. what are you referring to and what's that about? >> sure. so, michigan.gov cybersecurity you can go online and see those. the efforts in michigan are not just around state employees but also looking at the schools, looking at universities, looking how we can work across public and private entities and clearly coordinating. clearly the private sector has their own independent authority but working together for, as we mentioned critical infrastructure protection. but whatever level, whether it is a family, whether it is home, whether it is school, small business, to have kids that, you know, what are checklists that they can use of helpful tools they can use, and actions that they can take to protect their individual entity, school, business, whatever. >> by the way when we brought all those services together, and we had our chief information officer in charge of all these different agencies and

branches and their i-t functions we were able to save $86 million in i-t costs to the state of oklahoma. >> that's wonderful. >> mr. clarke, what do you believe are the most important, what do you believe is the most significant cybersecurity threat facing states? >> governor, i think i would distinguish between the most significant threat and the most likely. so the most significant threat would be an attack by either a state government like china or iran or a nonstate actor, like hezbollah, that took down the power grid, oar caused pipelines to blow up. or caused trains to derail. i think, the emergency response that you do for those sorts of things is similar to hurricanes but there are some distinct differences and i think knowing what you would do and exercising it is very

important. knowing what authorities you have in those situations, and, knowing who the right people are, and who to call them and what they will do. that is the most significant threat. the most likely threat is happening every day. and that is people are hacking into your networks, and writing themselves checks and stealing you blind and you don't know it. >> gotcha. and gentlemen, you care to opine on that question? biggest threat, most likely? >> yeah, i would agree. i would ask questions to folks out there. just think about all of your infrastructure and how all of it's run. you will always see a computer terminal somewhere, right? everything that's out there is susceptible to attacks unfortunately, right? the only way you're not successful is have it disconnected? even that is not always successful because attacks

come through other means. i agree anything that can stop all your critical operations basically. they would be highly detrimental to any government out there today. the likelihood, i like the way that richard framed it. the likelihood is, they're taking whatever you have that's valuable and it's happening right now. whether it is enough information to do identity theft. whether it is enough information to understand how you award bids and then manipulate that system, right? anything that is out there that's critical and secret to yourself. if it is connected and you're not protecting it and you don't even know how somebody would use the information against you, i is happening and it is happening right now. >> at the same time that all of us have, at the same time all of us are trying to do more of our services online and facilitate consumer transactions online, and mr. lohrmann, what are, as the head of a state network

and somebody protecting a state network, who are the people you call on in the federal government to help you with the exercises? are there resources that we can call on as governors, whether it is dhs or fbi or others to help us do a better job of protecting our networks and our information? >> thanks for the question, governor. absolutely we work with the department of homeland security very closely. we work with also the multi-state isac, which is working with the dhs and is arm working with all 50 states. nascio, national association of state cios. not we call them once a month or something. this is daily we're talking to them on ongoing operations. >> describe what the isacs are? >> information sharing analysis centers. >> how many are there and where are they? >> in the case of state governments there is multi-state isac that works with 50 state governments but different plans for each critical infrastructure

sector. for the water sector, for, you know, transportation, you can go to, go, go to dhs board slash nipipp which is the national infrastructure propegs plan. that les out infrastructure protection plans that lays out each plan for each critical infrastructure sector. really isacs work in individual sectors and government, we work with the multi-state isac, department of homeland security and fbi, criminal justice organizations like the department of justice as well. >> does anyone offer a regimen of training exercises, of training, yeah, of exercising and drills that are useful and valuable? or is that something we're still working to create? because i know immediately after the attacks of 9/11, i mean there were a lot of people rolling out drills and exercises. some of them were so expensive none of us running cities could afford to do them without a huge amount of federal help.

and then when we were one of the lucky oners that would be supported in those, we came away, boy that was a lot of time. i'm not sure how much more we learned from that than from a tabletop. i think in this sphere that there should be a way to do this in both a cost effective way and also in a way that where you truly do learn something without it costing you a small fortune as a state? >> i agree, governor, and there, the cyber storm exercises, there has been four of them, did exactly that. worked across state lines. they also worked with other countries as well, allies around the world. in addition i know national level exercise 2012 was around cybersecurity. so i know they're out there. there are exercises and i believe more are planned as well but i would agree with you, states should really take advantage of those on type to -- opportunities to test their systems. >> richard? >> you can also apply for

fema grants particularly under the urban security program. while there is still fema money left you might want to think about applying for that. it's expensive to do the big field exercises like cyber storm but it costs almost nothing to do a tabletop exercise. while they're not as valuable they could be very valuable for you in learning who does what and what capabilities you have. >> what about our national guard assets? i would think increasingly those are places we could turn to and that would be a great reservoir of some expertise. have you found that is helpful in michigan? >> absolutely. thanks for the question. we work closely with our michigan national guard, actually working tabletop plans with them on scenarios around, you know, cyberemergencies and also, training and resources working together on our michigan cyber range. so -- >> would you say almost all

of our national guards have some sort of cyber capacity or -- >> i think it varies around the country but i certainly believe that's being built up. i think it is the way of the future and actually it is an opportunity for all the states to look at beefing up their capability in that area. >> that would be a way to institutionalize it. benefits within the national guard is always there for you to call on the stateside. governor sandoval. >> thank you, governor. you asked, the question was asked, what was the most likely attack. what is the most likely vulnerability? >> well, you know -- >> don't share it on television or anything? >> no, i have. i do all the time. governor, when you asked what's the most likely vulnerability, it is almost like where do i begin? all of your databases can be breached. so anything in your databases, any information. social security numbers, credit card numbers.

any records that you have. the ability to hack in and write checks, make yourself an account payable and get paid. the fbi has discovered a number about cases like that where small corporations have discovered that they were writing checks to people who were actually in the ukraine. doesn't, the check doesn't go immediately to the ukraine. it goes to a local bank account and hops several times. so, the most likely is cybercrime. identity theft and monetary theft. i think that's happening all the time but the president said in the state of the union address something that we've known for a while but has been secret, that foreign entities are now in the control grids. have hacked their way into the control grids for power systems, electric generation and distribution, and water systems and other critical utilities. now you have the power to regulate at the state level.

sometimes better than the federal government does when it comes to utilities. and you could establish cyber regulations for electric power for example that would make an even playing field for all the companies so that it wouldn't be a case of one company having to spend more money to achieve security. everybody would have to do it within your state. . .

>> and our teams need to be aware of that, looking at that, blocking those attacks -- >> which then dials up the importance of the training, right? >> absolutely -- >> and this has been somewhat of a movement, i mean, a shift over the last ten years that it's, that most of the attacks are now coming through individuals in these fishing, you know, incidents rather than in the old method which was of to go kind of directly at, you know, the body or the mainframe or wherever -- >> yeah. you're right on there. um, as you look at the vulnerabilities, the sad truth is they're going to take advantage of whatever vulnerability is the easiest, right? and unfortunately, that tends to be people. it's an interesting thing that's going on now if you're not working, if you're not in higher education or a government agency, where where are you getg security awareness training? where are you learning about

these types of things? it's pretty interesting, right? if you study attacks, what's happening now because of the way technology is, they're just using systems, right? they're getting independent people's systems contaminated, and then they're controlling all of those as a giant bot, basically, to do whatever they'd like to. so we have to do manager about educating folks -- something about educating folks in security awareness, and they're doing that because while it's not difficult, it's getting slightly harder at the corporate level -- >> the firewalls -- >> exactly. because there are technologies, and we're getting better. they're going to go where it's easier, always remember that. >> which means just as we insist people show up for work, we need to start insisting that people get this training on a regular basis. i mean, through -- anybody that uses a computer in our state government, i mean, we require the police officers periodically have to, you know, make sure they qualify at the range, and we -- i mean, i think that, what is it, like, 86% of them are now being -- it's from coming at

individuals who click on these innocuous e-mails. >> right. >> so that's where 86% of the attacks are coming through, i would think that all of us need to adopt policies and insist our employees get the training regularly so that they don't do that. >> and there's technology that'll also train them for that. >> and, governor, the other thing i would add to that would be that we had training in the past, and there's a lot of state governments and local governments that may say, you know, we provide that, we've had that, but, quite frankly, as i mentioned in my comments, michigan failed earlier kind of miserably in this area because our employees just thought it was a waste of time, and it was not really teaching them anything. so we need to overhaul our whole training approach and try and make it more relevant. >> gentlemen, thank you. go ahead. >> i just want to add one thing to that, um, because it's the dirty little secret about security, and it's the nonsexy parking lot, right? the reason the vulnerabilities are there, and this is going to sound really harsh, it's because people are not doing their jobs, and nobody's holding them

accountable to it. and it's the truth. if the vulnerabilities are there and we know about it, why aren't they getting fixed? it's not hard. of yes, it's time consuming, it takes an effort, but it goes back to what i talked about earlier which was execution, right? you got to be doing things. >> and by the vulnerabilities, you mean, what, the individual users? >> well, no, in this case i mean by systems they take advantage of. so if you're a system administrator, there's patches that fix known issues. they just don't always get deployed. >> gotcha. we need to wrap up. governor abercrombie, you have the last question. >> just one other thing that came up, and i wondered whether this is, how you deal with this. it occurred to me virtually everything that you've been saying to this point was somebody outside coming in. and one of the things i discovered very recently, i'm sorry to say, is people who were already inside, state employees.

this is you mentioned vulnerabilities of privacy, social security and so on, tax department. people going -- what i called fishing, just looking people up. celebrities. it's easy to see, let's go see richard gere's tax returns or something like that. let's go see richard clarke's tax returns, he's been on tv a lot lately. let's find out how he's really doing. we're going to get him. [laughter] but how do you deal with that then in terms of securitiesome. >> -- security? because you're talking about centralization and getting, figuring out how to defend yourself from outside. how do you defend yourself then from people who by definition almost have to know what it is you're doing in order to protect yourself from the outside? how do you protect yourself from them? >> governor, if you have a

statewide security operations center, you can have software and human eyeballs looking for anomalous activity. so that if something, somebody's doing something they shouldn't be doing, if you can predefine what those roles are, the software will alarm when it happens. >> is this the equivalent of a kind of internal affairs that you have in the police department? >> only it's automated and works better. >> okay. >> you can also have what we call provisioning with identity management. technical terms here but, really, who has access to what and really doing a better job with identity management and federal identity management is also a national initiative that really is important that plays into cybersecurity. and so what do you have access to, what is your role, what can you see, what are you not allowed to see and then really getting better hands around identity is important. >> the only reason i brought it up at this particular juncture is when this was being done, it wasn't being done for criminal

purposes. among other things, it was being done because people, i don't know, too much time on their hands, they got curious. it was like a prank. the problem that i thought, though, when i got told about it was what if somebody else, though, who is looking for a way into people's tax returns, doesn't that open -- if you're doing that kind of thing, doesn't what you're doing open up the possibility of other people realizing you're doing that or being able to get ec call access to what you're doing -- technical access to what you're doing to do the same thing? >> whether -- we focus a lot on the external, but the same controls have to be focused internally too, right? the same questions of who should have access to this apply whether you're in your domain or whether you're not in your domain. >> well, look, we've had -- >> thank you, martin. >> thank you, governor. we've had some light moments in this, but this is a very, very serious issue, and we've kind of only scratched the surface here. i'm looking forward to developing, governor sandoval,

with you the best practices and figuring out those states that have come up with the best policies. unlike some other areas where we can be and should be totally open and transparent about these things, this is one area where perhaps that does not serve us well at least initially. so we will be having that briefing tomorrow, top secret briefing, governors only, 4:00, 4-5. and tomorrow we'll announce where the secret location is. [laughter] but, mark, you're -- and we have before you five policies of the, as our final bit of business, the health and homeland security committee, and we'll consider five policies. one is temporary assistance to the needy families, second one is homeland security and emergency management. the third is armed forces the, the fourth has to do with public safety communications, the fifth has to do with health. and two of our policies were amended to reflect the current status of key issues, those being in health and also public safety communications that were

addressed here today. in addition, our homeland security emergency management policy was amended to include language regarding the importance of federal collaboration with states to enhance food supply chain security and our armed forces policy was amended to include language regarding state/federal coordination to serve our nation's veterans. so they are before all the members of the committee, and in the interest of time i'd suggest that having been vetted by staff and the governors prior to their assembly here in washington for our meeting that we consider them, that we consider them together as a block, and i'll ask governor sandoval any comments or motions? >> just a motion, mr. chairman. i move that we consider the policies en bloc. >> mr. chairman? >> yes, sir. >> may i -- >> governor abercrombie. >> may i just say before the vote you mentioned being vetted by staff. the national governors' association from my experience just over the last two years is

one of the findest group of people, most professional, dedicated, knowledgeable possible. and the reason i'm confidently casting a vote is because of the extraordinarily good work that they've done. >> thank you. so that sounds like a second from governor abercrombie. [laughter] all in favor signal by saying aye. aye. all opposed? well, it's unanimous. this concludes our meeting. thank you, gentlemen, very, very much, and thank you all. [applause] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations]

>> turning to capitol hill now, both chambers of congress return from their presidents' day recess today. the house gavels back in 2:00 eastern for legislative business. at 6:30 a vote to redesignate the dried and flight research center as the neil a. armstrong flight research center. live coverage on our companion network, c-span. the senate also gavels in at two went senator kelly ayotte will read george washington's farewell address. they'll vote on confirmation at 5:30. also op the agenda this week, democratic and republican plans

to replace the sequester budget cuts that are due to go into effect on friday. you can watch the senate live at 2 eastern here on c-span2. and more live programming today, an event on iran's nuclear program hosted by the arms control association live at 2:00 eastern on c-span3. earlier today we covered a meeting of the nation's governors, and at this event they heard from tv talk show host dr. mehmet oz. for now, here's a brief look. >> why can't we lose weight? what conventional diets depend on willpower. there are a dozen redundant systems in the body that force us to eat. how many of you, put your hands up despite being governors, how many of you can hold your breath indefinitely underwater? none of you. not one. not a one. it's impossible. it violates the basic understanding of mammalian physiology. likewise, you cannot lose weight

by trying to lose weight because your biology will always beat your willpower. second thing we do is we don't measure the right stuff. it doesn't matter what your weight is, it matters what your waist is. if your waist, which is a better predicter of your health risk, is greater than half your height, that's a problem. complications start to occur. let's go through the math. my height, i'm 6-1. six times 12 is 72, my height divided in half, 36.5 inches. if my waist size is more than 36.5 inches, then i'm at risk for cardiovascular disease. men after the age of never buy a new belt size. they waltz around like this. and so they actually mislead themselves in thinking that 32-inch waist they have is still what they're carrying around at age 45 when, truly, it's significantly greater. now, why, why is the waist more important? because of this: take that yellow pad away, i'll come back to that.

see the liver there in the upper left-hand corner? you just had breakfast, your food is now moving through your stomach towards the small intestine. it will mix with the bile there. it washes the food. as it washes the food, it breaks down the small particles getting absorbed through the wall of the small intestine. it goes up to the big vein called the portal vein that carries newt rent toss the liver. if they're high quality, your liver loves it. but if it's junk, if it's simple carbs especially, it turns your liver to foie gras. as your liver gets fatty, you begin to do something else, that becomes toxic, and it begins to release toxic cholesterol, and that yellow pad, it gets ponderously large, and it get cans pulled across the screen. that's why i care about belly fat. it's not the fat beneath the skin. it's not the jiggly arms or big thighs. that'll cost folks some dates, but that's not what causes disease. what kills us is that belly fat,

and that's beneath the muscle. that is uniquely placed there because our ancestors needed to store fat in times of famine. strses is the -- stress is the number one reason that we accumulate fat there. and the reason that that's true is because historically what was stress, chronic stress was a famine. when you didn't have enough food in the environment, you've turned down hormones to force you to eat. >> we know foreign countries and companies swipe our corporate secrets. now our enemies are also seeking the ability to sabotage our power grid. our financial institutions. our air traffic control systems. we cannot look pack years from now and -- back years from now and wonder why we did nothing in the face of real threats to our security and our economy. >> guest: you hear a lot of different concerns. interestingly enough, i think, you know, one of the, one of the concerns that we hear and you see it reflected in why we set volume, quality and time limits, okay?

great, you've shared information with us about stuff that happened three months ago. yeah, but what about now? so that's one reason why we're trying to increase our timeliness, so that we're out ahead of the issues. and we're making progress in that space. i think that we're over the last year in particular we've really improved our ability to share information faster or with the private sector. um, i also hear concerns from different sectors about insuring that the other sectors that they rely on also are increasing their cyberrer security, you know? if you're a bank, you're reliant on power and water and transportation to conduct your business. so what i frequently hear is that all the companies want to make sure that all of the critical infrastructure sectors are moving together to increase their cybersecurity because everything is so interdependent. >> the president's new cybersecurity executive order, tonight on "the communicators" at 8 eastern on c-span2.

>> at age 25 she was one of the wealthiest widows in the colonies, and during the revolution while in her mid 40s, she was considered an enemy by the british who threatened to take her hostage. later, she would become our nation's first first lady at age 57. meet martha washington, tonight in the first program of c-span's new weekly series, "first ladies: influence and image." we'll visit some of the places that influenced her life including colonial williamsburg, mount vernon, valley forge and philadelphia. and be part of the conversation about martha washington with your phone calls, tweets and facebook posts. live tonight at 9 eastern on c-span, c-span radio and c-span.org. >> japanese prime minister shinzo abe met with president obama friday at the white house. after they met, the prime minister talked about their agreement to improve trade relations between the two countries as well as his

economic plan for japan dubbed abenomics. the event took place at the center for international studies in washington d.c. he's introduced by the ceo, john hamre. [applause] >> thank you, everybody, for coming. i'm delighted to have you here. my name is john hamre. i'm the president of css. you know, i just have to share with you just this little story. you know, the more important you are in washington, the worse you're treated when you come to a building. you know, any one of you was invited to come in, there was six elevators, you could take any one you wanted. but if you're the prime minister of japan, you have to come on the trash elevator, you know? [laughter] and we make you come down to a reserved room which is junkie

and, you know, we make you walk through kind of the catering kitchen. it's just terrible. but that's what it means when you're important, you know? it's called security, okay? [laughter] but anyway, we're delighted to have the prime minister here. this is, this is an exciting time for us, and we know, of course, prime minister abe, we know of his leadership through the years, and we're really delighted to have him here. we welcome him. we're excited that he can be with us today. thank you, prime minister, we're delighted to have you here. i would especially like to say words of thanks for our colleagues who are here. i would like to welcome foreign minister koshida, we're delighted to have him here, senior adviser to the prime minister is with us, deputy chief cabinet secretary cato is with us, ambassador rich armitage, of course, is with us. he's one of my bosses, so i really do have to recognize him. ambassador tom schieffer, you know, great service for america and japan. we're delighted to have you

here. governor parnell, and we're delighted to have you here from alaska. he's our closest state to japan and has the keenest interest in japan, and it's really wonderful to have you here, ambassador -- governor. pleased to have you, thank you. you know, there's a new word in washington that's called abenomics, you know? that prime minister abe is bringing to japan. we rather need a little bit of that here in washington. we've got to get ourselves started again, and i think that's exactly what pram abe is doing in -- prime minister abe is doing in japan, and it's an exciting time. i would just like to take a second to say i don't know how many of you have listened to the prime minister talking about his foreign policy agenda. and it's very important, you know? and i just would like to say he's articulated five key principles for japan's foreign policy going forward. to protect freedom of thought, expression and speech in the asia pacific. can you think of anything more important than that? honestly? this is going to help transform

the region. to insure that the seas are governed by rule of law and not by intimidation or power. to pursue free and open interconnected economies throughout the region. to bring about a more fruitful intercultural tie with japan and other countries in asia. and to promote an exchanging with the younger generation. these are the five principles that prime minister abe has articulated, and i think they're good for america. if this is successful, it's going to be good for us. and this is a partnership that's good for us. and we celebrate that, and we welcome it. we're going to have of a chance to hear prime minister abe. of he's been here today, he had a meeting with the president. it was extended, it was an important visit that got extended because there were -- i don't know how much he's going to tell us. i'm going to ask him, by the way. [laughter] we want to know. i think it's a very important dialogue that we have between japan and america. this is the most foundational

relationship that we have in asia, and we need this to be a successful relationship, and i know that prime minister abe is going to be a key leader for that. you know, about 80% of americans believe that the u.s./japan relationship is the most important foundational relationship in asia. and i think that's emblematic of this, how important we give this relationship and why it's so important that prime minister abe would be here so early in his tenure and in president obama's second term. so we're delighted to have him here. would you please welcome him with your applause? prime minister abe. [applause] thank you. [applause]

>> thank you, dr. hamre, for your warm introduction. thank you, secretary armitage, and thank you, ambassador schieffer and thank you, governor parnell, thank you, dr. green, and thank you all for joining me today. >> last year richard armitage, joseph and i and others published a paper about japan. they ask if japan could end up becoming a territorial nation. here is my answer to you. japan is not and will never be a tier ii country, that is the corps message i'm here to -- the core message i'm here to make, and i should repeat it by saying

i am back. [laughter] [applause] >> and -- thank you. and so shall japan be. that much is what i have wanted to say. i could stop here and take your questions for the next 15 minutes. i know, however, the ambassador has started to look very much anxious, so i'll go on talking anyway. bear with me for other 20 minutes. the time i've spent, five long years, since leaving office as prime minister was my time for reflections. first and foremost --

[inaudible] in the future. i didn't think whether japan could do this or that. i thought more often what japan must continue to do. here are the three tasks that were always in my mind while i was thinking that way. firstly, from the asia pacific or the indo-pacific region gets more and more prosperous, somewhere pan must remain a leading -- japan must remain a leading promoter of rules. by rules i mean those for the, for trade, investment, intellectual properties, labor, environment and the like. secondly, japan must continue to be a guardian of global commands

like maritime commands to benefit everyone. japan's aspirations being such, japan must work even more closely with the u.s., korea, australia and orr like-minded democracies -- and other like-minded democracies throughout the region. the promote promoter and guardian and effective ally and partner to the u.s. and other democracies, must japan be. i also looked at the globe. it tells me that as your longstanding ally and partner, japan is a country that has benefited from and contributed

to peace and prosperity in the asia-pacific for well over half a century. the bedrock for that, needless to say, has been our alliance. it is high time in this age of asian resurgence for japan to bear even more responsibilities to promote our shared rules and values, preserve commands and grow side by side with all the high achievers in the region. no luxury is allowed for japan to be self-absorbed in its struggle against economic malaise. my mentor also told me that japan must remain a robust

partner in fight against terrorism. my resolve is even stronger now after what happened in algeria, the killing of ten japanese and three american engineers. the world still awaits japan. i thought in promoting human rights in the fight against poverty, illness and global warming, and the list goes on. that's why, ladies and gentlemen, i stood for office again. that's why i am resolute to turn around japanese economy. i said a moment ago that the asians are making great progress with the exception of a single

country. i should have added the exception, of course, north korea. my government upon their nuclear test introduced a sanction against pyongyang. their nuclear ambitions should not be tolerated unless they give up on developing nuclear arsenal. missile technologies and release all the japanese citizens they abducted. my government will give them no rewardment this is no regional matter, but a global one. japan, on my watch, should work hard with the u.s., south korea, others and the united nations to

stop them from seeking those ambitions. now, if you look at the lapel on my jacket, i put on a blue ribbon pin. it is to remind myself each and every day that i must bring back the japanese people who north korea abducted in the 1970s and '80s. among them was -- [inaudible] who was only 13. that is also the reason why as a nation pirmly behind -- firmly behind human rights japan must stay strong on economy and also in its national defense.

let me tell you, japan must be -- [inaudible] as well, yet i'll let my government to increase for the first time in many years the budget for homeland defense. so today here with you, with john, mike and all my distinct friends and guests, i make a pledge. i will get back a strong japan, strong enough to do even more good for the betterment of the world. [applause] >> the japanese voters have given me a renewed opportunity as the prime minister to turn my

tasks into reality. each morning i wake up with a somber sense of tremendous responsibility. now there are something called abenomics. i didn't coin the word. [laughter] market did. it is a name for my 3-year-old economic plan. in japan, depression has gone on for more than decade. my plan, or abenomics, is to get rid of that first and foremost. indeed, it has made a jump-start. the first arrow i orderedback of japan -- ordered bank of japan to do their job on the dimension

they thought they couldn't do. investors, both japanese and foreign, have started to buy japanese shares. japan's industry wheel better greased due to export growth. tokyo's stock index has risen as a result. the secondary row is to carry out a supplementary budget huge enough to lift the economy by 2% and create 600,000 jobs. the third one is about growth strategy. private consumption and investment will come much sooner than we expect it.

soso far all economic indicators point north. true, we have shot those arrows before. but only in timidity and incrementally. in my plan the three arrows are strong and being shot without any interval. soon japan will export more but import more as well. the u.s. will be the first to benefit from that followed by china, india, indonesia and so on. that is not the end of the story though. a task even graver remains.

that is to enhance japan's productivity. it is to restore japan's economic structure. women should be given much greater opportunities. the big savers, mostly aged population, must be able to give their money to the younger generation with smaller tax burdens which is exactly what my government is now doing. before conclusion, let me make a few words on china. and then define how i view the japan/u.s. relationship. about the -- [inaudible] first. history and international law both attest that the arabs are

japan's southern territory -- sovereign territory. after all, for the long period between 1895 and 1971 no challenge was made by anyone against the japanese sovereignty we simply cannot tolerate any challenge now and in the future. no nation should make any miscalculation about the firmness of our resolve. no one should ever doubt the robustness of the japan/u.s. alliance. at the same time, i have absolutely no intention to climb up the escalation ladder. in fact, my government is

investing more into people-to-people exchangings between japan -- exchangings between japan and china. for meja pan's relations with china stand out as among the most important. i have never ceased to pursue what i call mutually beneficial relationship based on common strategic interests with china. the doors are always open on my side for the chinese leaders. that leads me to say finally a few words on our mutual ties between the u.s. and japan.

in order for us, japan and the u.s., to provide the world with more rule of law, more democracy, more security and less poverty, japan must stay strong. that is my first point. i have started to revisit our national defense program outline. our defense ministry will get increased budget in order to do just that. looking back, it is remarkable that the bond we have developed between japan and has weathered the days good, rain or shine, more than one-fourth of the

entire history of the united states. yet that should not surprise anyone. the united states, the old and biggest maritime democracy, and japan also asia's most experienced and the biggest leaderrer of democracy -- leader of democracy. that is also on ocean goal, a natural fit. they have been the case, and they will remain so for many more decades to come. some say the biggest emerging market is, in fact, middle america like dakotas and carolinas. now in conclusion, ladies and

gentlemen, my task is to look toward the future and make japan the second biggest emerging market in the world. and even more trusted partner for the region and the world. the road ahead is not short, i know that. but i have made a comeback just to do it. for the betterment of world. japan should work even harder, and i know i must work hard as well to make it happen. so, ladies and gentlemen, japan is back. [laughter] [applause] and keep, keep, keep counting on

my country. thank you very much. [applause] >> prime minister, thank you very much, and welcome back. [laughter] we'll take questions. please ask the questions in english. the earphones are only japanese to english. so please ask the questions in english, keep them short, and to set the standard, i'm going to turn back to john hamre. >> first, prime minister, i don't know of an american president who could give a speech to the japanese public in japanese. [laughter] so i want to say thank you. this is a real honor that you gave us with your speech english. thank you. [applause] um, prime minister, i did about an hour ago receive a phone call from the national security council. they said there was a very good meeting, they extended the meeting that you had with the president and felt it was quite

constructive. but they didn't tell me what you talked about, and so i'm wondering, would you share or with us, you know, your insights, your perspective on the conversation you had with the president? [speaking in native tongue] [speaking in native tongue]

glpt um, today's meeting was attended by vice president biden and also the secretary of state kerry. and basically we discussed how we would strengthen the alliance that exists between our two countries. and our discussions, as a result of our discussions, we were able to share not just the understanding that we have to strengthen our alliance, but concrete ways in which we would achieve that. we were able to agree completely on those things between the two of us, and i think the bond of alliance between japan and the united states which tended to wave a little bit during the past three years, now i can, i can declare with confidence that a strong bond of alliance between japan and the united

states is back now. it's completely back. and we were able to discuss many be you issues, wide-ranging isss in the area of politics, regional issues, economics, and we talked about how we would deal with many issues in those areas. so based on a strong alliance between our two cups. two countries. >> [inaudible] >> [speaking in native tongue] [speaking japanese] >> this is one example, but on the issue of north korea and the launching of missiles and the conducting of nuclear tests by north korea, we agreed that we

would deal with this issue under, in a cooperated way. we would resolutely deal with that issue. for example, we would jointly pursue a chapter 7 resolution in the u.n. security council. we also talked about how we could strengthen our sanctions including, for example, financial sanctions being applied to north korea. [speaking japanese] >> translator: and concerning the asia-pacific region, um, we agreed that we would have to work together to maintain the freedom of the seas and also that we would have to create a region which is governed based not on force, but based on an international law.

>> thank you, prime minister abe, for coming and taking my question. i'm william, i'm a student at american university, and i conducted a research study, um, to examine how the next generation of americans views the u.s./japan relationship. and the greatest problem i found was a lack of awareness of what's going on with the u.s./japan relationship and what's going to happen moving forward. so i was wondering if you could address your plan to make sure that the next generation understands the rich history our two countries have had so that we can continue that. >> [speaking japanese]

[speaking japanese] >> translator: well, i would like the people from the younger generation to pay more attention to the alliance that exists between japan and the united states. um, and we did -- i said this in the meeting with the president today that a stronger united states leads to a stronger japan, and a stronger japan leads to a stronger united states.

and this leads not only to the promotion of our respective national interests, but also to a lot of things that we can do together in the areas like the middle east or africa or at the united nations. and our two countries can do things together working in these areas to create a better world. so moving forward in the future, i would like people to think about those things. [speaking japanese] [speaking japanese]

>> translator: in concrete terms the u.s. forward deployment strategy in the asia pacific is the linchpin of peace and stability in the region. but at the same time, that is the presence of u.s. forces japan is what leads to peace and stability in the region. but japan is what provides a possibility for that to happen as well. i don't think there's any other country in the world that has the willingness and the technology and everything that's necessary to serve as the port for the fleet. >> mr. prime minister, it's food to see you again. victor from csic in georgetown.

you mentioned in your speech about north korea, and i'd actually like to ask you about south korea. we have a new president in south korea going to be inaugurated next week, but at the same time, frank hi speaking, it's a period -- frankly speaking, it's a period of some difficult tensions in japan/south korea relations. so i guess i would like to know what your visioning is for the future, tokyo cooperation, in the face of the threats that you mentioned in your speech. [speaking japanese] [laughter]

[speaking japanese] [speaking japanese]

[inaudible conversations] [speaking japanese] >> translator: first of all, i would like to say that korea, south korea is the most important neighbor for us, and president-elect, i have met her twice, i've also had a meal with her actually, and my grandfather was best friends with her father so, but -- at the same time the was someone who was or very close with japan, obviously, but at the same time we do have the issue, the territorial issue

between japan and the united states. but while we have those problems -- sorry, i mean, japan and korea. [laughter] japan and korea. whenever i open my mouth i say united states. korea. but even, even with, um, existing of those issues, the relations, the economic relationship, the economic ties between japan and korea is very strong, people-to-people exchanging is very strong. and i think the relationship that we have with south korea is extremely important, the cooperation that we can achieve between these two countries. so while we have the, while we do have the issue, i would like to try to work to resolve these issues and have a, resolve these

issues and have a good relationship with korea. and i am, my government is planning to dispatch the number two, the vice prime minister and the finance minister, mr.aso, to participate in the inauguration ceremony which is planned on the 25th of february. >> thanks very much, mike. thank you, mr. prime minister. chris nelson, nelson report. thank you for a good speech with so many good sound bites. very helpful. a question on the china issue. are there things you would like to have of the united states say or do that have not happened yet? have you conveyed to the president some wishes for perhaps something more in either actions or statements? and if so, whoo might they be? -- what might they be? thank you. [speaking japanese]

[speaking japanese] [speaking japanese]

[speaking japanese] >> translator: the obama administration has already made clear that article v of the -- [inaudible] applies, and they have also made clear that they oppose any unilateral action to, um, undermine japan's administration of the island, effective administration of the island. and maybe this is not just limited to this issue, but on the issues of the seas, i think

it is important that we do not tolerate people's actions when they try to alter the status quo based on force. that is what is necessary. and on the san ca coe issue, our intention is not to ask the united states to do this or that or to say this or that. we intend to protect our territory. it is inherently japanese territory, and we intend to continue to protect our own territory well into the future. at the same time, our intention is to deal with this issue in a reserved manner. we have been dealing with this issue in a reserved fashion, and we will be doing so in the future. but we think that this issue should not be escalated. we cannot, we do not agree to that kind of an an approach. >> we know foreign countries and companies swipe our corporate

secrets. now our enemies are also seeking the ability to sabotage our power grid, our financial institutions, our air traffic control systems. we cannot look back years from now and wonder why we did nothing in the face of real threats to our security and our economy. >> guest: you hear a lot of different concerns. interestingly enough, i think, you know, one of the concerns that we hear and you see it reflects while we set volume, quality and time limits, okay? great, you've shared information with us about stuff that happened three months ago. yeah, but what about now? so that's one reason why we're trying to increase our timeliness, so that we're out ahead of the issues. and we're making progress in that space. um, i think that we're over the last year in particular we've really improved our ability to share information faster with the private sector. i also hear concerns from different sectors about insuring that the other sectors that they

rely on also are increasing their cybersecurity. you know, if you're a bank, you're reliant on power and water and transportation to conduct your business. so what i frequently hear is that all the companies want to make sure that all of the critical infrastructure sectors are moving together to increase their cybersecurity because everything is so interdependent. >> the president's new cybersecurity executive order, tonight on that iters at 8 -- on "the communicators" at 8 eastern on c-span2. >> we turn now to capitol hill where both chambers of congress are returning from their presidents' day recess today. and on the senate side new hampshire's kelly ayotte will read george washington's farewell address. that's a tradition that began in 1862. at 5:00 senators will debate the judicial nomination to the 10th circuit court of appeals, a vote scheduled for 5:30. and also on the agenda this week, democratic and republican

plans to replace the sequester budget cuts set to go into effect friday. you're watching live coverage from the floor of the senate here on c-span2. of the presiding officer: the senate will come to order. the chaplain dr. barry black will lead the senate in prayer. the chaplain: let us pray. eternal god, we lift our hearts in praise to you for the gift of this new day. you have ordained the seasons of the year and also the seasons of our lives. strengthen us to do your will whether we're in life's springtime, summer, autumn or winter.

inspire our lawmakers to receive the gift of your presence which makes each day of life meaningful. where there is fear, give courage. where there is anxiety, give peace. where there is doubt, give faith. today, we thank you for the legacy of our first president george washington who heard your voice and responded to your guidance with reverence and love. we pray in your sovereign name. amen. the presiding officer: please join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance to the flag. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america, and to the republic for which it stands,

one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the speaker pro tempore: under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. and pursuant to the order of the senate of january 24, 1901, as amended by the order of february february 15, 2013, the senator from new hampshire, ms. ayotte, will now read washington's farewell address. ms. ayotte: to the people of the united states. friends and fellow citizens: the period for a new election of a citizen to administer the executive government of the united states being not far distant, and the time actually arrived when your thoughts must

be employed in designating the person who is to be clothed with that important trust, it appears to me proper, especially as it may conduce to a more distinct expression of the public voice, that i should now apprise you of the resolution i have formed to decline being considered among the number of those out of whom a choice is to be made. i beg you, at the same time, to do me the justice to be assured that this resolution has not been taken without a strict regard to all the considerations appertaining to the relation which binds a dutiful citizen to his country; and that in withdrawing the tender of service, which silence in my situation might imply, i am influenced by no diminution of zeal for your future interest, no deficiency of grateful respect for your past kindness, but am supported

by a full conviction that the step is compatible with both. the acceptance of and continuance hitherto in the office to which your suffrages have twice called me have been a uniform sacrifice of inclination to the opinion of duty and to a deference for what appeared to be your desire. i constantly hoped that it would have been much earlier in my power, consistently with motives which i was not at liberty to disregard, to return to that retirement from which i had been reluctantly drawn. the strength of my inclination to do this previous to the last election had even led to the preparation of an address to declare it to you; but mature reflection on the then-perplexed and critical posture of our affairs with foreign nations, and the unanimous advice of persons entitled to my confidence, impelled me to abandon the

idea. i rejoice that the state of your concerns, external as well as internal, no longer renders the pursuit of inclination incompatible with the sentiment of duty or propriety and am persuaded, whatever partiality may be retained for my services, that in the present circumstances of our country you will not disapprove my determination to retire. the impressions with which i first undertook the arduous trust were explained on the proper occasion. in the discharge of this trust, i will only say that i have, with good intentions, contributed toward the organization and administration of the government the best exertions of which a very fallible judgment was capable. not unconscious in the outset

of the inferiority of my qualifications, experience in my own eyes, perhaps still more in the eyes of others, has strengthened the motives to diffidence of myself; and every day the increasing weight of years admonishes me more and more that the shade of retirement is as necessary to me as it will be welcome. satisfied that if any circumstances have given peculiar value to my services they were temporary, i have the consolation to believe that while choice and prudence invite me to quit the political scene, patriotism does not forbid it. in looking forward to the moment which is intended to terminate the career of my political life, my feelings do not permit me to suspend the deep acknowledgment of that

debt of gratitude which i owe to my beloved country for the many honors it has conferred upon me; still more for the steadfast confidence with which it has supported me; and for the opportunities i have thence enjoyed of manifesting my inviolable attachment by services faithful and persevering, though in usefulness unequal to my zeal. if benefits have resulted to our country from these services, let it always be remembered to your praise, and as an instructive example in our annals, that under circumstances in which the passions, agitated in every direction, were liable to mislead -- amidst appearances sometimes dubious, vicissitudes of fortune often discouraging, in situations in which, not infrequently, want of success has countenanced the spirit of criticism -- the constancy of your support was the essential

prop of the efforts and a guaranty of the plans by which they were effected. profoundly penetrated with this idea, i shall carry it with me to my grave as a strong incitement to unceasing vows that heaven may continue to you the choicest tokens of its beneficence; that your union and brotherly affection may be perpetual; that the free constitution, which is the work of your hands, may be sacredly maintained; that its administration in every department may be stamped with wisdom and virtue; that, in fine, the happiness of the people of these states, under the auspices of liberty, may be made complete by so careful a preservation and so prudent a use of this blessing as will acquire to then the glory of recommending it to the applause, the affection, and

adoption of every nation which is yet a stranger to it. here, perhaps, i ought to stop. but a solicitude for your welfare, which cannot end but with my life, and the apprehension of danger natural to that solicitude urge me, on an occasion like the present, to offer to your solemn contemplation and to recommend to your frequent review some sentiments which are the result of much reflection, of no inconsiderable observation, and which appear to me all important to the permanency of your felicity as a people. these will be offered to you with the more freedom, as you can only see in them the disinterested warnings of a parting friend who can possibly have no personal motive to bias his counsel. nor can i forget, as an encouragement to it, your

indulgent reception of my sentiments on a former and not dissimilar occasion. interwoven as is the love of liberty with every ligament of your hearts, no recommendation of mine is necessary to fortify or confirm the attachment. the unity of government, which constitutes you one people, is also now dear to you. it is justly so; for it is a main pillar in the edifice of your real independence, the support of your tranquillity at home, your peace abroad, of your safety, of your prosperity, of that very liberty which you so highly prize. but as it is easy to foresee that from different causes and

from different quarters much pains will be taken, many artifices employed, to weaken in your minds the conviction of this truth -- as this is the point in your political fortress against which the batteries of internal and external enemies will be most constantly and actively (though often covertly and insidiously) directed -- it is of infinite moment that you should properly estimate the immense value of your national union to your collective and individual happiness; that you should cherish a cordial, habitual, and immovable attachment to it; accustoming yourselves to think and speak of it as of the palladium of your political safety and prosperity; watching for its preservation with jealous anxiety;

discountenancing whatever may suggest even a suspicion that it can in any event be abandoned; and indignantly frowning upon the first dawning of every attempt to alienate any portion of our country from the rest or to enfeeble the sacred ties which now link together the various parts. for this you have every inducement of sympathy and interest. citizens -- by birth or choice -- of a common country, that country has a right to concentrate your affections. the name of american, which belongs to you in your national capacity, must always exalt the just pride of patriotism more than any appellation derived from local discriminations. with slight shades of difference, you have the same religion, manners, habits, and political principles. you have, in a common cause, fought and triumphed together.

the independence and liberty you possess are the work of joint councils and joint efforts, of common dangers, sufferings, and successes. but these considerations, however powerfully they address themselves to your sensibility, are greatly outweighed by those which apply more immediately to your interest. here every portion of our country finds the most commanding motives for carefully guarding and preserving the union of the whole. the north, in an unrestrained intercourse with the south, protected by the equal laws of a common government, finds in the productions of the latter great additional resources of maritime and commercial enterprise and precious materials of manufacturing industry. the south, in the same intercourse, benefiting by the

same agency of the north, sees its agriculture grow and its commerce expand. turning partly into its own channels the seamen of the north, it finds its particular navigation invigorated; and while it contributes in different ways to nourish and increase the general mass of the national navigation, it looks forward to the protection of a maritime strength to which itself is unequally adapted. the east, in a like intercourse with the west, already finds, and in the progressive improvement of interior communications by land and water will more and more find, a valuable vent for the commodities which it brings from abroad or manufactures at home. the west derives from the east supplies requisite to its growth and comfort, and what is

perhaps of still greater consequence, it must of necessity owe the secure enjoyment of indispensable outlets for its own productions to the weight, influence, and the future maritime strength of the atlantic side of the union, directed by an indissoluble community of interest as one nation. any other tenure by which the west can hold this essential advantage, whether derived from its own separate strength or from an apostate and unnatural connection with any foreign power, must be intrinsically precarious. while, then, every part of our country thus feels an immediate and particular interest in union, all the parts combined cannot fail to find in the united mass of means and efforts greater strength, greater resource, proportionably greater security

from external danger, a less frequent interruption of their peace by foreign nations, and, what is of inestimable value, they must derive from union an exemption from those broils and wars between themselves which so frequently afflict neighboring countries not tied together by the same governments, which their own rivalships alone would be sufficient to produce, but which opposite foreign alliances, attachments, and intrigues would stimulate and embitter. hence, likewise, they will avoid the necessity of those overgrown military establishments which, under any form of government, are inauspicious to liberty and which are to be regarded as particularly hostile to republican liberty.

in this sense, it is that your union ought to be considered as a main prop of your liberty and that the love of the one ought to endear to you the preservation of the other. these considerations speak a persuasive language to every reflecting and virtuous mind and exhibit the continuance of the union as a primary object of patriotic desire. is there a doubt whether a common government can embrace so large a sphere? let experience solve it. to listen to mere speculation in such a case were criminal. we are authorized to hope that a proper organization of the whole, with the auxiliary agency of governments for the respective subdivisions, will afford a happy issue to the experiment. it is well worth a fair and full experiment.

with such powerful and obvious motives to union affecting all parts of our country, while experience shall not have demonstrated its impracticability, there will always be reason to distrust the patriotism of those who, in any quarter, may endeavor to weaken its hands. in contemplating the causes which may disturb our union, it occurs as matter of serious concern that any ground should have been furnished for characterizing parties by geographical discriminations -- northern and southern, atlantic and western -- whence designing men may endeavor to excite a belief that there is a real difference of local interests and views. one of the expedients of party to acquire influence within

particular districts is to misrepresent the opinions and aims of other districts. you cannot shield yourselves too much against the jealousies and heartburnings which spring from these misrepresentations; they tend to render alien to each other those who ought to be bound together by fraternal affection. the inhabitants of our western country have lately had a useful lesson on this head. they have seen in the negotiation by the executive and in the unanimous ratification by the senate of the treaty with spain, and in the universal satisfaction at that event throughout the united states, a decisive proof how unfounded were the suspicions propagated among them of a policy in the general government and in the atlantic states unfriendly to their interests in regard to the

mississippi. they have been witnesses to the formation of two treaties -- that with great britain and that with spain -- which secure to them everything they could desire in respect to our foreign relations toward confirming their prosperity. will it not be their wisdom to rely for the preservation of these advantages on the union by which they were procured? will they not henceforth be deaf to those advisors, if such there are, who would sever them from their brethren and connect them with aliens? to the efficacy and permanency of your union, a government for the whole is indispensable. no alliances, however strict, between the parts can be an adequate substitute. they must inevitably experience the infractions and interruptions

which all alliances in all times have experienced. sensible of this momentous truth, you have improved upon your first essay by the adoption of a constitution of government, better calculated than your former, for an intimate union and for the efficacious management of your common concerns. this government, the offspring of our own choice, uninfluenced and unawed, adopted upon full investigation and mature deliberation completely free in its principles, in the distribution of its powers, uniting security with energy, and containing within itself a provision for its own amendment, has a just claim to your confidence and your support. respect for its authority, compliance with its laws,

acquiescence in its measures, are duties enjoined by the fundamental maxims of true liberty. the basis of our political systems is the right of the people to make and to alter their constitutions of government. but the constitution which at any time exists, till changed by an explicit and authentic act of the whole people, is sacredly obligatory upon all. the very idea of the power and the right of the people to establish government presupposes the duty of every individual to obey the established government. all obstructions to the execution of the laws, all combinations and associations, under whatever plausible character, with the real design to direct, control,

counteract, or awe the regular deliberation and action of the constituted authorities, are destructive of this fundamental principle and of fatal tendency. they serve to organize faction; to give it an artificial and extraordinary force; to put in the place of the delegated will of the nation the will of a party, often a small but artful and enterprising minority of the community; and, according to the alternate triumphs of different parties, to make the public administration the mirror of the ill-concerted and incongruous projects of faction rather than the organ of consistent and wholesome plans digested by common counsels and modified by mutual interests. however combinations or associations of the above description may now and then

answer popular ends, they are likely, in the course of time and things, to become potent engines by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government, destroying afterwards the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion. toward the preservation of your government and the permanency of your present happy state, it is requisite not only that you steadily discountenance irregular oppositions to its acknowledged authority, but also that you resist with care the spirit of innovation upon its principles, however specious the pretexts. one method of assault may be to effect, in the forms of the constitution, alterations which will impair the energy of the system and, thus, to undermine

what cannot be directly overthrown. in all the changes to which you may be invited, remember that time and habit are at least as necessary to fix the true character of governments as of other human institutions; that experience is the surest standard by which to test the real tendency of the existing constitution of a country; that facility in changes upon the credit of mere hypothesis and opinion exposes to perpetual change from the endless variety of hypothesis and opinion; and remember especially, that for the efficient management of your common interests in a country so extensive as ours, a government of as much vigor as is consistent with the perfect security of liberty is indispensable.

liberty itself will find in such a government, with powers properly distributed and adjusted, its surest guardian. it is, indeed, little else than a name where the government is too feeble to withstand the enterprises of faction, to confine each member of the society within the limits prescribed by the laws, and to maintain all in the secure and tranquil enjoyment of the rights of person and property. i have already intimated to you the danger of parties in the state with particular reference to the founding of them on geographical discriminations. let me now take a more comprehensive view and warn you in the most solemn manner against the baneful effects of the spirit of party generally.

this spirit, unfortunately, is inseparable from our nature, having its root in the strongest passions of the human mind. it exists under different shapes in all governments, more or less stifled, controlled, or repressed; but in those of the popular form, it is seen in its greatest rankness and is truly their worst enemy. the alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge natural to party dissension, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism. but this leads at length to a more formal and permanent despotism. the disorders and miseries which result gradually incline the minds of men to seek security and repose in the absolute power of an

individual; and, sooner or later, the chief of some prevailing faction, more able or more fortunate than his competitors, turns this disposition to the purpose of his own elevation on the ruins of public liberty. without looking forward to an extremity of this kind (which nevertheless ought not to be entirely out of sight), the common and continual mischiefs of the spirit of party are sufficient to make it the interest and duty of a wise people to discourage and restrain it. it serves always to distract the public councils and enfeeble the public administration. it agitates the community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms; kindles the animosity of one part against

another; foments occasionally riot and insurrection. it opens the door to foreign influence and corruption, which find a facilitated access to the government itself through the channels of party passion. thus, the policy and the will of one country are subjected to the policy and will of another. there is an opinion that parties in free countries are useful checks upon the administration of the government and serve to keep alive the spirit of liberty. this, within certain limits, is probably true; and in governments of a monarchial cast, patriotism may look with indulgence, if not with favor, upon the spirit of party. but in those of the popular character, in governments purely elective, it is a spirit not to be encouraged. from their natural tendency, it

is certain there will always be enough of that spirit for every salutary purpose; and there being constant danger of excess, the effort ought to be, by force of public opinion, to mitigate and assuage it. a fire not to be quenched, it demands a uniform vigilance to prevent its bursting into a flame, lest instead of warming, it should consume. it is important, likewise, that the habits of thinking in a free country should inspire caution in those entrusted with its administration to confine themselves within their respective constitutional spheres, avoiding in the exercise of the powers of one department to encroach upon another. the spirit of encroachment tends to consolidate the powers

of all the departments in one and, thus, to create, whatever the form of government, a real despotism. a just estimate of that love of power and proneness to abuse it, which predominates in the human heart, is sufficient to satisfy us of the truth of this position. the necessity of reciprocal checks in the exercise of political power, by dividing and distributing it into different depositories and constituting each the guardian of the public weal against invasions by the others, has been evinced by experiments ancient and modern, some of them in our country and under our own eyes. to preserve them must be as necessary as to institute them. if, in the opinion of the people, the distribution or modification of the

constitutional powers be in any particular wrong, let it be corrected by an amendment in the way which the constitution designates. but let there be no change by usurpation; for though this, in one instance, may be the instrument of good, it is the customary weapon by which free governments are destroyed. the precedent must always greatly overbalance in permanent evil any partial or transient benefit which the use can at any time yield. of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. in vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human

happiness -- these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens. the mere politician, equally with the pious man, ought to respect and to cherish them. a volume could not trace all their connections with private and public felicity. let it simply be asked, where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the oaths which are the instruments of investigation in courts of justice? and let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious

principle. it is substantially true that virtue or morality is a necessary spring of popular government. the rule, indeed, extends with more or less force to every species of free government. who that is a sincere friend to it can look with indifference upon attempts to shake the foundation of the fabric? promote, then, as an object of primary importance, institutions for the general diffusion of knowledge. in proportion as the structure of a government gives force to public opinion, it is essential that public opinion should be enlightened. as a very important source of strength and security, cherish public credit. one method of preserving it is to use it as sparingly as

possible, avoiding occasions of expense by cultivating peace, but remembering also that timely disbursements to prepare for danger frequently prevent much greater disbursements to repel it; avoiding, likewise the accumulation of debt, not only by shunning occasions of expense but by vigorous exertions in time of peace to discharge the debts which unavoidable wars have occasioned, not ungenerously throwing upon posterity the burden which we ourselves ought to bear. the execution of these maxims belongs to your representatives; but it is necessary that public opinion should cooperate. to facilitate to them the performance of their duty, it is essential that you should practically bear in mind that toward the payment of debts

there must be revenue; that to have revenue there must be taxes; that no taxes can be devised which are not more or less inconvenient and unpleasant; that the intrinsic embarrassment inseparable from the selection of the proper objects (which is always a choice of difficulties) ought to be a decisive motive for a candid construction of the conduct of the government in making it and for a spirit of acquiescence in the measures for obtaining revenue, which the public exigencies may at any time dictate. observe good faith and justice toward all nations. cultivate peace and harmony with all. religion and morality enjoin this conduct. and can it be that good policy does not equally enjoin it? it will be worthy of a free,

enlightened, and, at no distant period, a great nation to give to mankind the magnanimous and too novel example of a people always guided by an exalted justice and benevolence. who can doubt that in the course of time and things the fruits of such a plan would richly repay any temporary advantages which might be lost by a steady adherence to it? can it be that providence has not connected the permanent felicity of a nation with its virtue? the experiment, at least, is recommended by every sentiment which ennobles human nature. alas! is it rendered impossible by its vices? in the execution of such a plan, nothing is more essential than that permanent, inveterate antipathies against particular nations and passionate

attachments for others should be excluded, and that in place of them, just and amicable feelings toward all should be cultivated. the nation which indulges toward another an habitual hatred or an habitual fondness is, in some degree, a slave. it is a slave to its animosity or to its affection, either of which is sufficient to lead it astray from its duty and its interest. antipathy in one nation against another disposes each more readily to offer insult and injury, to lay hold of slight causes of umbrage, and to be haughty and intractable when accidental or trifling occasions of dispute occur. hence frequent collisions, obstinate, envenomed, and bloody contests.

the nation prompted by ill will and resentment sometimes impels to war the government, contrary to the best calculations of policy. the government sometimes participates in the national propensity and adopts through passion what reason would reject. at other times it makes the animosity of the nation subservient to projects of hostility, instigated by pride, ambition, and other sinister and pernicious motives. the peace often, sometimes perhaps the liberty, of nations has been the victim. so, likewise, a passionate attachment of one nation for another produces a variety of evils. sympathy for the favorite nation, facilitating the illusion of an imaginary common interest in cases where no real common interest exists, and infusing into one the enmities

of the other, betrays the former into a participation in the quarrels and wars of the latter without adequate inducement or justification. it leads also to concessions to the favorite nation of privileges denied to others, which is apt doubly to injure the nation making the concessions by unnecessarily parting with what ought to have been retained and by exciting jealousy, ill will, and a disposition to retaliate in the parties from whom equal privileges are withheld; and it gives to ambitious, corrupted, or deluded citizens (who devote themselves to the favorite nation) facility to betray or sacrifice the interests of their own country without odium, sometimes even with popularity, gilding with the appearances of a virtuous sense

of obligation, a commendable deference for public opinion, or a laudable zeal for public good the base or foolish compliances of ambition, corruption, or infatuation. as avenues to foreign influence in innumerable ways, such attachments are particularly alarming to the truly enlightened and independent patriot. how many opportunities do they afford to tamper with domestic factions, to practice the arts of seduction, to mislead public opinion, to influence or awe the public councils! such an attachment of a small or weak toward a great and powerful nation dooms the former to be the satellite of the latter. against the insidious wiles of foreign influence (i conjure you to believe me, fellow citizens) the jealousy of a free people ought to be

constantly awake, since history and experience prove that foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of republican government. but that jealousy, to be useful, must be impartial, else it becomes the instrument of the very influence to be avoided instead of a defense against it. excessive partiality for one foreign nation and excessive dislike of another cause those whom they actuate to see danger only on one side and serve to veil and even second the arts of influence on the other. real patriots, who may resist the intrigues of the favorite, are liable to become suspected and odious, while its tools and dupes usurp the applause and confidence of the people to surrender their interests.

the great rule of conduct for us in regard to foreign nations is in extending our commercial relations, to have with them as little political connection as possible. so far as we have already formed engagements, let them be fulfilled with perfect good faith. here let us stop. europe has a set of primary interests, which to us have none or a very remote relation. hence, she must be engaged in frequent controversies, the causes of which are essentially foreign to our concerns. hence, therefore, it must be unwise in us to implicate ourselves by artificial ties in the ordinary vicissitudes of her politics or the ordinary combinations and collisions of her friendships or enmities. our detached and distant

situation invites and enables us to pursue a different course. if we remain one people under an efficient government, the period is not far off when we may defy material injury from external annoyance; when we may take such an attitude as will cause the neutrality we may at any time resolve upon to be scrupulously respected; when belligerent nations, under the impossibility of making acquisitions upon us, will not lightly hazard the giving us provocation; when we may choose peace or war, as our interest, guided by justice, shall counsel. why forego the advantages of so peculiar a situation? why quit our own to stand upon foreign ground? why, by interweaving our destiny with that of any part of europe, entangle our peace

and prosperity in the toils of european ambition, rivalship, interest, humor, or caprice? the alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened i hold the maxim no less applicable to public than to private affairs that honesty is always the best policy. i repeat, therefore, let those engagements be observed in their genuine sense. but, in my opinion, it is unnecessary and would be unwise to extend them. taking care always to keep ourselves by suitable establishments on a respectable defensive posture, we may

safely trust to temporary alliances for extraordinary emergencies. harmony and a liberal intercourse with all nations are recommended by policy, humanity, and interest. but even our commercial policy should hold an equal and impartial hand, neither seeking nor granting exclusive favors or preferences; consulting the natural course of things; diffusing and diversifying by gentle means the streams of commerce, but forcing nothing; establishing with powers so disposed, in order to give trade a stable course, to define the rights of our merchants, and to enable the government to support them, conventional rules of intercourse, the best that present circumstances and mutual opinion will permit, but temporary and liable to be, from time to time, abandoned

or varied as experience and circumstances shall dictate; constantly keeping in view that it is folly in one nation to look for disinterested favors from another; that it must pay with a portion of its independence for whatever it may accept under that character; that, by such acceptance, it may place itself in the condition of having given equivalents for nominal favors and yet of being reproached with ingratitude for not giving more. there can be no greater error than to expect or calculate upon real favors from nation to nation. it is an illusion which experience must cure, which a just pride ought to discard. in offering to you, my countrymen, these counsels of an old and affectionate friend,

i dare not hope they will make the strong and lasting impression i could wish -- that they will control the usual current of the passions or prevent our nation from running the course which has hitherto marked the destiny of nations. but if i may even flatter myself that they may be productive of some partial benefit, some occasional good -- that they may now and then recur to moderate the fury of party spirit, to warn against the mischiefs of foreign intrigue, to guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism -- this hope will be a full recompense for the solicitude for your welfare by which they have been dictated. how far in the discharge of my official duties i have been guided by the principles which have been delineated the public

records and other evidences of my conduct must witness to you and to the world. to myself, the assurance of my own conscience is that i have at least believed myself to be guided by them. in relation to the still-subsisting war in europe, my proclamation of the 22nd of april, 1793, is the index to my plan. sanctioned by your approving voice and by that of your representatives in both houses of congress, the spirit of that measure has continually governed me, uninfluenced by any attempts to deter or divert me from it. after deliberate examination, with the aid of the best lights i could obtain, i was well satisfied that our country, under all the circumstances of

the case, had a right to take, and was bound in duty and interest to take, a neutral position. having taken it, i determined, as far as should depend upon me, to maintain it with moderation, perseverance, and firmness. the considerations which respect the right to hold this conduct it is not necessary on this occasion to detail. i will only observe that, according to my understanding of the matter, that right, so far from being denied by any of the belligerent powers, has been virtually admitted by all. the duty of holding a neutral conduct may be inferred, without anything more, from the obligation which justice and humanity impose on every nation, in cases in which it is free to act, to maintain inviolate the relations of peace and amity toward other

nations. the inducements of interest for observing that conduct will best be referred to your own reflections and experience. with me, a predominant motive has been to endeavor to gain time to our country to settle and mature its yet recent institutions and to progress, without interruption, to that degree of strength and consistency which is necessary to give it, humanly speaking, the command of its own fortunes. though in reviewing the incidents of my administration i am unconscious of intentional error, i am nevertheless too sensible of my defects not to think it probable that i may have committed many errors. whatever they may be, i fervently beseech the almighty to avert or mitigate the evils

to which they may tend. i shall also carry with me the hope that my country will never cease to view them with indulgence and that, after 45 years of my life dedicated to its service with an upright zeal, the faults of incompetent abilities will be consigned to oblivion, as myself must soon be to the mansions of rest. relying on its kindness in this, as in other things, and actuated by that fervent love toward it, which is so natural to a man who views in it the native soil of himself and his progenitors for several generations, i anticipate with pleasing expectation that retreat in which i promise myself to realize, without alloy, the sweet enjoyment of partaking in the midst of my

fellow citizens the benign influence of good laws under a free government -- the ever-favorite object of my heart, and the happy reward, as i trust, of our mutual cares, labors, and dangers. ms. ayotte: i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: are we in a quorum call? the presiding officer: we are in a call. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent that be terminated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: following leader remarks the senate will be in a period of morning business until 5:00 today. at 5:00 the senate will proceed to the nomination of robert bacharach of oklahoma to be a circuit judge for the 10th circuit. at 10:30 we'll vote on his nomination. we expect to reconsidering the cloture vote on the hagel nomination to be secretary of defense tomorrow. we expect to consider the coming of knack including and the sequestration legislation by the

end of this week. mr. president, the senate has a great deal to accomplish. including the long delayed confirmation of former senator chuck haigle to lead the defense department. this week the senate will consider two plans to avoid the across-the-board cuts. our economy the foundation or growth, congress must replace these cuts, the so-called sequester with a balanced approach to deficit reduction. democrats would temporarily replace this harsh austerity with a combination of smart spending reductions and measures that close corporate tax loopholes and end wasteful subsidies and ask the wealthiest americans to pay a little bit more. and would avoid harmful cuts to hurt american families, harm military readiness and hinder our economic recovery. families and businesses in every state in the nation in red states and blue states are at

risk because of haphazard cuts in the presiding officer's home, virginia, teachers will lose their swrobs, doesn't count main other teachers. thousands of children will go without vaccines -- without lifesaving vaccines and 90,000 pentagon employees will be furloughed. mr. president, it's easy to talk about furloughs unless you're one of those people being furl 0ed. we don't know how many days a week or month it will be, but it will be days. in nevada, 120 teachers would lose their jobs, local law enforcement agencies will lose essential funding to prosecute crime and thousands of defense department employees will be furloughed losing wages to support their families and our state's economy. residents of the republican leader's home state would also stuffer sufer. kentucky would lose funding that helps police catch and punish

domestic abusers, and keeps at-risk children in shatt programs. more than 11,000 kentuckians will be furloughed. the nationwide sequester cuts would cost more than 750,000 jobs. more than 70,000 little boys and girls will be kicked out of the head start program. meat inspectors, air traffic controllers, f.b.i. officers and border patrol agents will be furloughed. small businesses which create two-thirds of all jobs in this country will lose access to critical federal lopes. thousands of researchers working to cure cancer, diabetes and scores of life-threatening diseases will lose their jobs. congress has a power to prevent these self-insplict flicted wounds, turn off the sequester, protecting american families and businesses and ensure our national defense. in the house and in the senate, republicans and democrats would impose these cuts and it will

take republicans and democrats working together to avert them. 174 republicans in the house voted to impose these painful cuts. mr. president, to say this is president obama's sequester is absolutely wrong. 174 republicans in the house voted for these cuts. that's more than 70%. and in the senate, more than 60% of the republicans voted for this sequester. so it's really unfair to say it's -- it's really unfair to say that it's the president's sequester. we did this together, mr. president. this would not have passed but for the overwhelming vote of the republicans in the house and in the senate. if those same republicans would work with democrats to find a balanced way to reduce the

deficit, congress to reverse the austerity sequester today. now, unfortunately republicans would rather let devastating cuts go into effect to close a single wasteful tax loophole. they would rather cut medicare, education, medical research than ask a single american to pay for taxes. the overwhelming majority of americans want us to compromise before our neighbors, friends and family members get pink slips or notices that they can only work a few days this week or this month. an overwhelming majority of americans including 56% of republicans support democrats' balanced approach. it's all over the country, mr. president. all over the country, americans favor this approach, a balanced approach by a large margin, including 56% of the republicans. so once again, the only republicans in the entire country rejecting a reasonable, balanced compromise are republicans in this building, republicans in congress.

has the chair announced the business of the day? the presiding officer: under the previous order, the senate will be in a period of morning business until 5:00 p.m. with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. mr. reid: i would note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. without objection. quorum call:

quorum quoru quorum call: mr. sessions: mr. president, i would ask that the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. sessions: mr. president, last week, after congress was

recessing or about the time we recessed, the president's immigration plan was leaked to the press and was commented on generally. some of the senators who have been trying to work on a comprehensive plan expressed dismay at what was contained in it and said it was not acceptable. a brief review of the enforcement section of the president's immigration plan confirms, i think, what my concern has been all along: it's a smoking gun, in truth, that demonstrates this president is not serious about enforcement. and that's where we are. any immigration plan this nation implements has to be founded on the simple legal principle that people can come to our country

in generous numbers, as we always have done, but they should wait their time, and there should be a lawful system. and you can't have a lawful system if you're not prepared, not willing, and not committed to seeing that the laws are enforced. and what we've seen for the last several years is very dramatic point after point that i, as a former prosecutor for almost 15 years, tell you have effectively neutralized the ability of our current laws to be passed. it just is. so this bill is really confirmation that he hasn't had a change of heart. he hasn't had a change of heart. they're continuing to talk as if they expect and plan to establish a lawful system of immigration, but when you get down to it and you read the language of the legislation, it's not there.

so here are so are some examplef what the president thinks amounts to enforcement. this is so sad. i will say with absolute confidence, if the president of the united states had done what he sort of said he was going to do in 2008 when he was running for office, that he would make this legal system work, if he had invested time and effort and leadership and moral authority and maybe a little more money -- but it won't make a whole lot of money -- and begin to show the kind of progress we need to have and show a commitment that he would work to enforce the law in the future, he'd be in a much, much better place of asking for a large reform of law. so let's look at what his plan revealed. it explicitly, openly and

directly, prohibits state and local governments from enforcing immigration laws and from even asking someone for their immigration status. we got governors here and state police superintendents, and i've dealt with this issue for a very long time. that is a stunning development. there are only about 12 or so -- maybe 20,000 federal agents dealing with immigration. there are 600,000 low, state, law enforcement officials. they are the ones that come into contact every day with the people in their areas for drunkenness and fighting and burglaries and drugs. and when they find someone in the course of just doing their duties they discover people who are here illegally, we want to have a li relationship with them and utilize the abilities and

the federal government can then respond and identify the person and see what the truth is about their background. this eliminates that. and steps backward from some of the progress that we've slowly made, some at my insistence over the last several years. the proposal the president put forth eliminates the congressional requirement that the department of homeland security put in place a biometric exit system for those who enter the country legally but overstay their visas. so you come into the country on a visa and you don't every leave. we now know that -- at least experts tell us -- as much as 40% of the people who are here illegally today overstayed their visa. so they have to clock in when they come in, but there is no clocking out of them.

we have to real idea of who came and recover overstayed. the president's plan eliminates a requirement that's been in place for i think 17 years that required a biometric exit system. you clock people out. this is not hard to require they will to pay a few tha dollars to purchase a card and you read the thing like a credit card and then you exit and you're clocked out. and we have some control over that. the proposal from the president restricts the ability of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies to obtain information regarding whether a person is illegally present in the united states. think about this. it would prohibit federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies, particularly local law enforcement agencies need to know something about a person they may have come in contact

with in the course of their public safety duties to know whether they are legally in the country. so this means that if a law enforcement agency is holding an illegal immigrant for a criminal offense not deemed serious enough -- some are criminal offense but somebody in homeland security said is not serious enough -- the law enforcement agency cannot contact the federal authorities. this also means that states with laws that require a determination of immigration status will no longer be able to use federal databases to determine in a person is eligible for a driver's license, for example. so you want to be able to turn somebody down forbe a driver's license -- down for a driver's license, if you can't check to see if they're lawfully in the country. and, this is something i worked hard on for a decade, it puts the final nail in the coffin of

a 287-g program. that -- it states that state and local law enforcement officers are no longer allowed to function as immigration officers. what we had was a program that the federal government did not want really -- really, the politicians didn't want to see happen; the law enforcement officers wanted -- which would allow federal immigration officials to train state and local law enforcement officers, some of them in prisons, some in state offices, some in regions 2345-- somein regional offices o deal with people in the country illegally. now you have the average 19-year-old police officer in middleburg, virginia, can arrest the mayor for fraud or assault, but we had to have two weeks of

training before these officers could be certified to arrest somebody illegally in the country, not even a citizen. this is the way it's working in the real world. but it was being done, and it had some beneficial aspects to it. it's something i supported and thought we should expand nationwide so you've got highly trained people within the state law enforcement officers who were cooperating with the federal agents that are trying to create a system that will actually work. and this -- apparently, the president's plan would eliminate that. it allows private industries, the president's plan does -- private individuals to hire their own border patrol agents to protect them when the government should be fulfilling its duty to protect them themselves. is this a capitulation?

so we've got a situation in which you're being basically inindividuabasic --basically in? sovereign territory of the united states. it is not just a private individual's farm, ranch, property. it's the united states territory, and it should be protected from those unlawfully able to go there, and they shouldn't have to hire their own police officers. it includes a feel-go-good mease like giving illegal immigrants representation. it allows the attorney general to cancel deportation of criminal aliens convicted of aggravated felonies if they do not serve a sentence of five or more years. so the law says if you're convicted of offenses and you're

apprehended i wil illegally heru should be deported. now they've said only serious offenses, that you got time for in jail. now, the president's plan goes even further. the attorney general, if you serve less than five years, he can waive that and not follow the law and deport people who violated the law. it gives other authorities to waive requirements by the attorney general. the secretary of the department of homeland security is directed to provide appropriate training to agents enforcing laws and goes into a great deal of training on civil rights and that kind of thing that's required. there's no mention of work site enforcement -- no mention of that. no mention of e-verify. there's no measures to secure ow

borders. as i have sea stated, i just -- as i've stated, i've just begun to review this plan, but what i've read causes me great concern and it cfs the suspicion -- it confirms the suspicion that when this kind of legislation goes from some kind of outline that sounds good in theory to actual legislation, it's not going to be what it's promised to be. why did i say that? because it happened in 2006 and 2007. the bill did not fulfill the promises that their sponsors made of it when it was carefully examined. and when we saw that, the american people spoke out, abc news it went away. -- and it went away. but if you don't have a system that effectively requires businesses to at least go through a quick e-verify five-minute check to see if the

person is here legally, you're not serious about protecting american citizens from illegal workers who would take their jocks anjobs and have the net ef pulling down their wages. so we've already got the problem that the president is suing states who want to help the federal government enforce their laws. he's had his own ice agents sue the director of ice and the director of homeland security from being able to do their legal duty to enforce the law. that's going forward. they voted unanimously no confidence in mr. morton, the head of the immigration enforcement group. and so there are a the although of other problems. i just want to say, to sum it all up, we've just begun to review the leaked president's

plan. and we find massive holes in it, and it reveals a continued agenda to simply not allow a lawful system of immigration to be established effectively in america and, therefore, it's unacceptable. and i believe and am afraid that that same mentality will impact the negotiations and we'll end up, no matter how hard people try, with an inability to reef an agreement on -- to reach an agreement on the kind of plan that will actually work. what needs to happen is we need to continue our generous, historic affirmation of immigration, that we welcome people to our country in numbers that are very lark, but we believe people -- that are very large, but we believe people should come legally, that people who come here should serve the national interest not some

group's special interest. if we do that, we can be proud of that system. i am so deeply disappointed that the leaked bill from the president so fails to meet those qualifications. i thank the chair and would yield the floor. mr. coburn: thank you, senator. the presiding officer: the senator from oklahoma. mr. coburn: mr. president, i rise to speak this afternoon on behalf of the nomination of magistrate judge robert bacharach to the tenth circuit court of appeals. and i have a written statement that i'd like unanimous consent to put in the record. the presiding officer: so ordered. mr. coburn: i actually want to make three comments. the first is judge bacharach's nomination got caught up in the political shenanigans that the majority leader and the chairman

of the judiciary committee carried at the end of the last congress. never before has a circuit court nominee come to the floor without notification of the very members of the judiciary committee who sponsored their nomination in the committee. so it was purely a political trick, and for that i think the senate owes judge bacharach an apology for the delay. i have no doubt he's going to be confirmed, and i doubt that there will be anybody to vote against him, which leads me to the two second comments that i want to make. it's rare in my experience -- i've sat on the judiciary committee for four supreme court nominees. and so what i'm about to say may strike some people as hyperbole, but it is not. and those four supreme court nominees for which i sat on the judiciary committee display great qualities, and what i'm

about to say doesn't diminish their characteristics or qualities. but i must say that judge bacharach has the two qualities that are at such a high level that we should want each and every judge that sits on a federal bunch to have. and the first -- the first is personal integrity. that says a lot in this country. but this man has demonstrate it had with his life, with his commitment to other people, with his commitment to help other people, with the way he spends his time, with his commitment to his family and to his faith. you cannot find a blemish on this man in terms of his personal integrity. and very rarely can we say that about anybody. but he is actually a stellar individual, just exactly what our founders had in mind to have

the kind of personal life that exemplifies the characteristics and qualities that built this country and a love for the law and the understanding that the rule of law is the glue that holds our society together, which leads me to the second quality. i've interviewed a lot of candidates for both the supreme court for judgeships and circuit court positions. i've never met anybody who knows the constitution, its limitations, its intent better than judge bacharach. he, i think, quite assuredly impressed every member of the judiciary committee with both his knowledge, his insight and his background. so judge bacharach brings

together two qualities that are so important and represents the upper end of all the candidates i've seen in nine years in the u.s. senate of those that we would ask to fulfill some of the most important positions in our country and in our society. and i believe he is the first judge that i will have voted for that i have no doubt of absolute fidelity to the u.s. constitution. and so i sleep good at night. i wish we had 100 judge bacharachs. 100 to put on the bench today. i don't believe he can be influenced by anything other than stare decisis precedent and

the u.s. constitution and the statutes. and his personal life gives reflection and insight into how he's going to be a judge, how he will carry himself, how he will act in this position of power. for if you meet him, what you find is the humblest of men. with one of the greatest intellects that i've met in my life. so i would just say i fully support his nomination. i congratulate him because i know he's going to be approved. and i say, mr. president, bring us more robert bacharachs. and i yield the floor and note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll.

quorum call:

mr. cornyn: mr. president? the presiding officer: the republican can whip. mr. cornyn: i ask unanimous consent the quorum call be rescinded. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. from mr. cornyn: it's been 1,398 days since the senate passed a budget and we'll are wonding why we are lurching from one budget

crisis to another one in washington. the fact is, this isn't the only deadline that's been missed. this year, the president failed to submit by february 4 his proposed budget. but the truth is, even last year when he submitted a budget, and it was voted on by the entire senate, it received zero votes. in other words, it was not viewed as a reasonable and practical conclusion solution to the financial crises that face our country with $16.5 trillion in debt and 40 cents out of every dollar spent by the federal government being borrowed from our creditors. so even before we reach the most -- the upcoming crisis, which is known as the budget sequester, which i would suggest to you most americans would not consider a 2.4% cut in spending to be a crisis, but

even before we reach this next stage in the budget negotiations, we know that president obama has proposed the same old solution to every budgetary question, and that is, to raise taxes. even though on december 31 with the fiscal cliff negotiations, we saw the president get his pound of flesh when it came to spending and that is $600 billion in additional revenue. but this does indeed seem like the washington version of groundhog daig day. we know that the president has rejected his own bipartisan fiscal commission's recommendations, the so-called simpson-bowles commission recommendation and's rejected budget proposals put forward by the house of representatives. even though our gross national debt has gone up by nearly $6 trillion under his watch, and even though it's projected to go up another $9.5 trillion over

the next decade, the president seems to be stuck on telling us that it only is going to take a little bit more taxes in order to solve the problem. but the american people understand we don't have a revenue problem. we have a spending problem. spending money we don't have. and the only way to reduce our long-term debt burden is through reining in that spending and not just the 39% of it which represents discretionary spending, we need to reform our entitlement programs, medicare and social security, in order to preserve and to protect those programs for future generations. and yet when we try to enact spending cuts or entitlement reforms, the president, unfortunately, has resorted to shameless faremongering. he's now warning it will be the end of western civilization or

something like it if we cut the federal budget by 2.4%. when we consider that federal spending has gone up own 19% since 2008, and when we consider how inefficient and duplicative and downright wasteful spending, how much there is in the federal government, it's hard to take this argument seriously. for example, no one should be talking about raising taxes, more taxes, from the american people on top of the $60 billion that were extracted as a result of the fiscal cliff negotiations. no one should be talking about raising more taxes when the federal government made more than $220 billion in improper payments over the last two years. that's right, $220 billion in improper payments in the last two years and this is just one example of costly government waste. the president does not appear to

believe in the urgency of the moment. he doesn't appear to believe that our country is headed for a true crisis. we all know that interest rates are at historically low levels at this time, and if interest rates were just to go up 1% or 2% more, for each percentage increase it would represent more than a trillion dollars in additional interest we would have to pay on our debt. so it's easy to see if interest rates go back up to historic norms, 4% or 5%, that very quickly we would lose control of our financial system and we would be able to do little more than pay interest on the debt and to pay for medicare and social security. both senate republicans and democrats have shown that they understand the nature of the crisis that we have before us, but we believe that it's imperative that we support a budget that reduces our

long-term debt. the only way we can see a significant path forward to deficit reduction is if the president joins us in these important negotiations, but unfortunately so far the president seems truly allergic to genuine bipartisan compromise. until the obama administration, virtually every landmark domestic policy change in american history was achieved with bipartisan support. we all understand that. it can't happen any other way. for example, both the 1935 social security act and the 1964 civil rights act were signed by a democratic president and supported by large majorities of senate republicans. the 1996 welfare reform act signed by president clinton was backed by every single member of the republican senate caucus, along with a majority of senate democrats. likewise, during the reagan years, most senate democrats voted for the 1983 social

security amendments, and a whapg 94% of senate democrats voted for the 1986 tax reform act. under president george w. bush, 84% of senate democrats voted for no child left behind. in other words, presidents have traditionally understood that reform and results take leadership, and only then will bipartisan support follow, yet the president seems to neglect this very obvious fact and prefers instead to continue what seems like a perpetual campaign and to knock down straw men rather than cantwell do something about our strocting debt. real debt reduction will require presidential leadership, the kind of leadership that president clinton displayed in 1993 when he convinced 47% of senate democrats and 40% of house democrats to defy organized labor and support the

north american free trade agreement. since then, u.s. trade with canada has nearly tripled and u.s. trade with mexico has increased almost sixfold. my hope is that the president will ultimately show the kind of leadership that we've seen throughout this nation's history when we are confronted with big challenges. he has acknowledged the need for serious reform. i believe he understands the problem perfectly, that we can't preserve and protect social security and medicare unless we deal with those programs now, yet he has never acted on his words, instead choosing to engage in the perpetual campaign. as a result, washington keeps spending money it doesn't have and saddling our children with more debt. meanwhile, our safety net programs are spiraling toward a collapse that would leave the poor and the elderly even more vulnerable. it's time for a change and it's time for the president to take

his rhetoric about debt reduction and turn it into real meaningful reform. mr. president, i yield the floor and i would -- a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from pennsylvania. mr. casey: mr. president, i have three unanimous consent requests for committees to meet during today's session of the senate. they have the approval of the majority and minority leaders. i ask unanimous consent that these requests be agreed to and that these requests be printed in the record. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. casey: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i rise today, as i have every year at about this

time, to commemorate black history month, and we do that in many ways. over a number of years, now i guess it's seven years for me, we have in our office worked to recognize individuals in pennsylvania that have contributed so substantially to the advancement of our state and really in many cases the advancement of the nation. this year we recognize bill strickland, a man whose approach to -- to work and to opportunity and to the advancement of men and women in southwestern pennsylvania and really because of his ideas people across the nation is significant, but it's also unique, and his accomplishments are of great consequence not only to the african-american community but to all americans. from the age of 19, bill strickland of pittsburgh,

pennsylvania, has worked tirelessly to improve the lives of those living in poverty, to give them a setting that they can thrive in and a future they can take a lot of pride in. bill grew up in the manchester neighborhood of pittsburgh. that's on the city's north side. prior to the decline of industry in the city in the mid 1960's, the manchester community was a solid working class community like so many in -- in that -- at that time in southwestern pennsylvania and throughout the nation before the terrible loss of steel jobs, among other jobs that disappeared over just a number of years in devastated communities. by the time bill was in high school, the area around him had slid into urban decay and instability. although surrounded by poverty, bill's mother was determined to provide a safe environment for

her family. and although she didn't have a high school diploma herself, bill strickland's mother held firm to the belief that a good education is a ticket to a better life. at oliver high school when he began his senior year, bill had neither plans for after graduation or a clear picture of what his future might look like. then one day while walking down the hallway at school, bill strickland was attracted by the smell of, of all things, fresh coffee. the coffee along with the sounds of jazz music led bill to the art room in oliver high school where he watched a pot being formed from a mound of clay on a turntable. seated at the potter's wheel was frank ross, oliver high's art teacher, who would become bill's close friend and mentor. over the next year, in the calm

atmosphere of frank ross' well-lit art studio, bill would develop a talent for ceramics. as importantly it provided a safe and stable sanctiontuary from the -- sanctuary from the chaos of the streets. at the potter's wheel, bill strickland found his passion, and although he didn't know it at the time, he was forming the beginning of a vision that would become manchester bidwell corporation. in 1967, bill graduated from oliver high school, and at the insistence of frank ross applied to the university of pittsburgh where he was accepted but only as a probationary student. although he had begun his studies full time, bill never lost the connection with his neighborhood. in the summer of 1968, as manchester grappled with the racial tensions that swept many inner cities, bill strickland decided to open an arts center

in his neighborhood. he had seen a -- he had seen the power that a bright, orderly, safe place like frank ross' studio and the artistic work done there had on his own life. he wanted to give the young people of manchester a place where they, too, could escape the effects of economic and social devastation and experience something beautiful. a conversation with a young minister working in the area led bill strickland to his first $25,000 in funding in the manchester -- and the manchester craftsman gild was born. in a donated row house on buena vista street. it was not an overnight success but bill never gave up. when the young people in the neighborhood weren't immediately taken with ceramics, bill redoubled his efforts, hitting the streets to reach out to as many people as he could and bringing them to his center.

people noticed bill's effort and the poll layerity of the guild grew. as more people came to the center, the center needed more clay, more wheels and bill started to secure more funding. along the way, an interesting phenomenon occurred. teachers began noticing that their students who regularly went to the guild were doing better academically and behaving better in school. without intending to, bill had stumbled across a simple yet empowering philosophy, and it is this -- environment shapes people's lives. by providing a safe space for young people in manchester and by introducing them to the beauty of the arts, bill was simultaneously inpierg a large-scale change in his community. despite starting as a probationary student, bill graduated from the university of pittsburgh cum laude with a b.a.

in history in 1970. he continued to work at the manchester's craftsman's guild, and a few years after graduation, he became director of the bidwell training center, a school whose mission was to provide education in the building trades to disadvantaged and dislocated workers. when bill assumed his role as head of bidwell, what he discovered was a dilapidateed warehouse in a parking lot and a $300,000 back tax bill from the i.r.s. but bill saw its potential and didn't give up. he began to transform bidwell into a forward-thinking school that offered his students a real chance to dramatically improve their lives. he realized that the -- he realized that the changing job market required less focus on construction trades and redirected bidwell's focus to the high-tech and medical industries.

he also forged important partnerships with corporations like i.b.m., heinz and bayer to design curriculum that would train the workers that needed employment, and the workers that employers needed. while he worked to improve the staff and the quality of the education, the nature of bidwell's funding meant that bill could not address what he saw as one of the institution's central flaws, the building itself. while funding for social projects was harder to come bay in the 1980's, bill was forced to lay off nearly one-third of his staff just to make payroll, but despite this setback, in his own as, bill's vision was clearer than ever. he realized that what he needed to make bidwell succeed was a center where students, faculty and neighbors could be proud -- or i should say of which students, faculty and neighbors could be proud. to achieve his dream, bill

contacted legendary pittsburgh architect taso castillas. taso was a student of frank lloyd wright. he asked him to design a world-class center in one of the worst neighborhoods at the time in pittsburgh. for $10,000, bill commissioned the architect to build a model of what would later become the home of manchester bidwell corporation as the combined programs of the manchester craftsman guild and the bidwell training center would come to be known. bill had a conviction for his building and a conviction that the future of his cause lay in its construction. just as he had done before, bill took it upon himself to turn his dream into a reality and spearheaded a $6.5 million capital campaign. model in hand, he employed the pittsburgh corporate community to fund his dream.

when the city's corporate donors who had supported him previously told him that manchester didn't need a spectacular center, he told them in no uncertain terms that it did. when he was told he needed matching funds to obtain his corporate pledges, he turned to the commonwealth of pennsylvania for additional support. in 1986, the new 62,000-square-foot arts and career training center opened. originally, the center consisted of studios as well as classrooms, workshops, gallery spaces and a 350-seat auditorium. over the years, the building has expanded as bill's vision itself expanded. in 1987, the jazz hall which has seen performances from the likes of dizzy gillespie and nancy wilson was added, and in 2003, the 40,000-square-foot state-of-the-art greenhouse opened. the center currently provides

training in fields as varied as gourmet food preparation, chemical, office and medical technologies and education arts programming in ceramics, design arts, digital arts and photography. today this effort still thrives and shines. bill's center and his students' success stories are a testament to the power of social entrepreneurship. what began as a pigs to -- as a mission to provide escape from the ghetto has provided unparalleled results in education empowerment and community growth. the program survives and strives today to educate and inspire young people through the arts. 93% -- 93% of high school students who participate in manchester's craftsmen's youth

and arts program graduate from high school, a noticeable improvement over the graduation's rate of 75.5%. the bidwell training center has changed lives by providing market-driven career training to disadvantaged results in transition. its training programs continue to place skilled technicians in middle-class jobs in companies like bayer and heinz. manchester's record label has been nominated for seven grammy awards angwards and has broughte to the city of pittsburgh much the orchids growth in the facility's greenhouse has won best in show at an orchid fair and are even available for purchase at whole foods. and while they're learning medical coding or how to center

clay, each student is fed a gourmet lunch prepared by culinary students in the center's top-the-the-line chikitchen. realizing the opportunity to strengthen other communities by using manchester wid bidwell's l ago a template, he founded the national interest for arts and techmology to replicate manchester bidwell's education model across the nation. the national center for arts and technologies collaborates with local nonprofits and businesses to assess their community' needs and then works together with the munity to design a fitting center for arts and technology. bill's pittsburgh model has been reindicated in san francisco, cincinnati, cleveland, new haven and grand rapids shall michigan.

along the way, bill has gained some powerful backers, including jeff shoal, founder of ebay and the schole foundation. it recognized the potential of his programs to drive large-scale positive change by using entrepreneurial discipline and methods. with the console foundation's help, he clarified his sales pitch that he could help solve problems faced in communities and had a strategic plan showing the benefits of working together and offering people meaning and hope through transforming experiences. bill strickland has say the that "environment determines behavior." and he has created a remarkable environment where men and women living in poverty are treated with dignity and respect. knowing firsthand that poverty creates self-defeating assumptions and restrictive

labels but does not define a person's potential, bill strick land has dedicated his life to changing the lives of others by offering them hope, meaning, and belief in the power of their own creative possibilities. bill's methods might be unconventional, but his results are success stories of epic proportions. and so in the senate today we express our gratitude to bill strickland for never giving up on poor kids or his vision for what they could be. his passion and his beliefs in the abilities of each and every individual that walks through his doors has touched the lives far beyond manchester and pittsburgh, and thanks to bill strick land's tireless efforts, all this work has truly made the potential to go across the

world. bill, thank you for your contribution to the city of pittsburgh, to the commonwealth of pennsylvania, and to our country. mr. president, i would yield the floor. and i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

quorum call: