>> you can see past programs and get our schedules at our website and you can join in the conversation on social media sites. >> prime minister's question time is next live from the british house of commons. later, a senate banking committee.

>> and now to london for prime minister's question time live from the british house of commons. every wednesday while parliament is in session, prime minister david cameron takes questions from members of the house of commons. prior to question time the house is wrapping up of the business. this is live coverage on c-spa c-span2. >> will she share with the house her assessment of the impact of the humanitarian needs in syria? >> always a pleasure the question from the honorable member from chelsea. [inaudible] >> hundreds of civilians displaced in burma recently. what representation has the minister made about great america access to idps.

>> she is right to raise this question. it's an incredibly important one, one that we continue to look out. she will be aware we put in significant humanitarian support. >> having just returned from a seen refugee camp, i pay tribute to her department for what she's doing in that camp but what is she doing to make sure some of the other camps in other countries are as good as that one? >> well, i would just like to thank them for the amazing trip i know he had the last couple of weeks. is right to raise issues of camps. >> can the secretary of state assure the house none of the aid

in the belarus the european commission is used -- some that? >> she will know the aid of a risk was transferred under a multi-annual financial framework. it was agreed under the last government. i can tell are under this government we tightened it up to make sure countries like belarus will receive aid in the future. >> question number one, mr. speaker. >> thank you, mr. speaker. try to i'm sure the whole house would want to join me in paying tribute to those who are killed in kabul on sunday in a cowardly terrorist attack, both were there to support the afghan government and to improve the lives of the afghan people. he was offended many in this house and given so much time and dedication to troubled regions across the world. our thoughts should be with their family and friends episode difficult time. >> here, here. >> mr. speaker, this morning i

had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others, and in addition to my duties in this house, i shall have further such meetings later today. >> i would like to associate myself with condolences prime minister express on behalf of the whole house. the trust coordinates the fast growing -- now numbering some 400 of church-based food banks which between them provide food for half a million people just between april and december last year. with the prime minister be willing to meet with representatives of the truffle trust to discuss with them the very the challenges that they are grappling with a? >> i would be happy to meet with them. we listen carefully to the trust. one of the things they wanted to see done by this government and, indeed, by the previous government was to allow for banks to be promoted in job centers. we've allowed that to happen. that is increase the use of the banks but i think it's important to do the right thing some of them i just seem convenient. >> thank you, mr. speaker.

the prime minister is aware of the tragic case of a two year old boy at an urgent care center at 3 a.m. for the emergency care he needed but despite the best efforts of a senior nurse and the paramedics who took him to the hospital he was tragically pronounced dead at 4 a.m. in the morning. i know we cannot comment on the case until the full report is published but does he agree with me the effects of reconfigurations often puts her despite local opposition, including from myself, is that we are asking people, is that we're asking people to decide where to go for help at moments of great personal stretch and into how we must do more to explain the choices to help them decide? we finally meet with the our publication of the report to see if the are lessons that can be learned from changes made? >> i'm happy to meet with my honorable friend. this is an absolutely tragic case and offer my deepest sympathies to the family.

anyone who's taken his desperately ill child to the hospital in the middle of the night when the child is at risk know what an incredibly desperate time that can be. i understand the hospital is carrying out a full and comprehensive investigation into the circumstances around this poor child's death. i fast the health secretary to discuss the findings an investigation with my friend once it is completed. we must ensure everything is done to avoid this terrible incidents happening in the future. >> ed miliband. [shouting] >> mr. speaker, i want to start by paying tribute to the two british nationals, simon chase and del singh who were killed in suicide bomb attack in afghanistan. simon chase cancer britain in the army, and my condolences go to all his family and friends. and del singh was one of labour's european campaigners. he was in international development worker who dedicated his life to helping people across the world and we all grieve with his family.

mr. speaker, recent reports of the murder of thousands of innocent civilians by the regime in syria are a reminder of the horror unfolding there. we all hope the significant progress in today's talks. last month the prime minister, deputy prime minister and i made a joint statement about the plight of syrian refugees which welcomed the government leadership to come to the aid program. the u.n. high commission for refugees has also called on britain to be part of a program to help resettle a small number of the most vulnerable syrian refugees. 18 countries are part of that program. britain is not so far among them. doesn't the prime minister agree that we should be? >> first organic completely agree with the right gentlemen just how dreadful the news is that is come out of syria in recent days about allegations of torture and worse in that country. i think we are fulfilling our moral obligations to the people of syria. we are the second largest bilateral aid donor. theamong the bridge taxpayers ae

providing is providing food and shelter and water and medicine for literally hundreds of thousands of people. we are also fulfilling all our obligations in terms of asylum-seekers and we've taken over 1000 asylum seekers from syria in recent months. we are also making sure that where we can help foldable children were ill including a child in a british hospital today, we take action there as well. i don't believe you can solve a refugee crisis of this scale when you've got almost half of the 9 million population of syria either displaced or risk of displacement with a quota system where countries are taking a few hundred refugees. but where i disagree with them is that if there are very difficult cases of people who don't belong in refugee cams who have been either disabled by these dreadful attacks or in very difficult circumstances i'm happy for us to look at that argument. written always plays the right

role in these desperate humanitarian crises. >> ed miliband. >> mr. speaker, i thank the prime minister for that answer. let me make a few points in reply. it's important issue. first of all we all agree that this government has shown in relationship to searing tait and i pay tribute to him and others. on the point about asylum seekers, those are people have been able to get you. were not taught the people have been able to get here, we're talking to people in the refugee camps at the moment. on his point about whether this can solve the problem. of course, again but the u.n. is talking about a number of the most affordable people including children who've lost their parents and victims of torture. i was somewhat encouraged by the end of his answer of this. we are all proud of britain's tradition in terms of taking refugees. why doesn't he look again and say that britain will actually participate in this program and take just a few hundred refugees

and, indeed, set an example? >> i don't actually think there's a disagreement between us. the problem i see -- at me say, the problem i see some countries are using this quota system as a way of saying, therefore, i fulfilled my obligation. when you've got as i said almost half of a 9 million population at risk of displacement, the fact that the fence or the french or the sweeps will take a few hundred people, that is not fulfilling your obligation where as the massive amount of aid that britain is putting forward, the second largest in the world i think is putting the most important role. but as i said to him i think there are individual cases where we should be looking and i'm happy to look at those arguments and those issues, but let's not pretend that a small quota system can solve the problem of syrian refugees. >> i do feel we are gradually inching forward on this, mr.

speaker. let me be clear about this. let me be clear about this. it must not be an excuse for failing to provide a. of course, it must not but we're not talking about either providing aid or taking over refugees. we are talking about doing both. given the results on of the prime minister, will he now open discussions with the united nations about britain making its contribution to this program? i think colleagues from all sides of the south want this to happen. will he now say he will do so? >> i've made very clear we are prepared to listen to the arguments about how we can help the most vulnerable people in those refugee camps. but just to correct him, some of the countries that are participating, include in the quotas both a side in numbers and refugee numbers which i think is not the argument we should be making. let me be absolutely clear, britain is leading the world in terms of humanitarian aid in syria. we should be proud of that. we are fulfilling our obligations on asylum claims and

we should be proud that we do give him to those who fleet torture and persecution. where the our extreme hardship cases i think we should look at those again. that is the approach we should take her i think it should be all parsable for anything britain can be proud of the road -- proud of the role we are playing. >> as i say, we will open discussion with the united nations. i don't think honorable members should grown on this issue. i really do not. we know that britain can make more of a contribution on this specific issue and the hope we will have discussion. i want to move on, mr. speaker, to another subject. [shouting] >> i want to move on to today's welcome fall in unemployment. [shouting] >> we welcome the fall in

unemployment because whenever -- [shouting] whenever individual gets back into work it's good for them and good for the family. [shouting] i do have to say to on will members, doing that doesn't anybody good. can he confirm, can he confirm that today's figures also show that average wages are down by 1600 pounds a year since the election? ordinary families, for many ordinary families life is getting harder spent i think it is worth pausing for a moment over what the statistics show today because what they show, youth unemployment coming down, long-term unemployment coming down, the claimant count coming down, unemployment over all coming down. but above all what we see today is the biggest ever quarterly increase in the number of people in work in our country. [shouting] now, there should not be one ounce of complacency. they're still a huge amount of

work to do to get britain back to work but there are 280,000 more people in work. that is 280,000 more people with the security of a regular paid package coming in for themselves and their family. now, of course, we are seeing a slow growth in wages. why? because we are recovered from the longest and deepest recession in living memory. but i have to say, because the leader of the opposition keeps quoting the figure without the tax cut that we put in place, he's not recognizing that actually busier people are better off because we control the spending and cut taxes. >> ed miliband. >> mr. speaker, all he has done is shown he is absolutely complacent about the situation. because he's trying to tell him he's trying to tell millions of families around the country that they are better off when they know they are worse off. it doesn't help for the prime minister to tell them the opposite. let me take this figure. and britain today, and britain

today there are 13 million people living in poverty. that is a shocking figure. and what is scandalous is that the first time ever the majority of those people are living not in jobless families but in working families. lets his explanation? >> the explanation for this is what the institute for fiscal studies have said. they said this, wages have increased much less quickly than inflation. as i say that is not surprising. we had the biggest recession we had in 100 years. it would be astonishing if household incomes haven't followed and earnings haven't followed to the fact is we are recovering from the mess that they left us. [shouting] every week he comes here, every week he comes here and raises a new problem that he created. we have the betting problems they may have the banking problem, then we have the

deficit problem, and now with the cost of living problem. he goes about setting fire after fire and then complains when the fire brigade are not putting out the fires fast enough. [laughter] why does he start with an apology for the mess that he left us? >> ed miliband. >> mr. speaker, he comes here every week and does this routine, and all the shows, and all the shows is he is absolutely no understanding of the lives of people up and down this country. that is the reality. ordinary families are working harder for longer for less. he's cutting taxes for millionaires and not helping them. the minimum wage is falling in value. he can't be the solution to the cost of living crisis because he just doesn't understand the problem. >> we are cutting taxes for everyone in our country. [shouting] that we are only able to do that because we have controlled spending. what he cannot face is the fact

the economy is improving. for months they told us to listen to the imf. remover that? five tweets in one month from the shadow chancellor, listen to the imf. now the imf are telling us the economy is growing. stick to the plan, on the point is going down. not a word. remember, he predicted 1 million more unemployed. we got 1 million more people in work or to protect the deficit would go out. the deficit is coming down. the fact is today, our plan is working. there are 1.3 million more people in work in the country. that is 1.3 million poor people with of the security of a regular pay packet. we are securing britain's future put at risk by labour. >> mr. speaker, the systematic torture and killing of 11,000 people detained by the city and state is surely a war crime. as there can be no lasting piece without justice, will the prime minister resist conceding any immunity from prosecution for

war crimes at the geneva ii talks that started a so that the next time a time instead of his own people, law is not muffled? >> i think my friend makes a good point and britain is going further than that by making sure we play our role up not just in the imaging crisis we discussed but also in collecting the evidence about war crimes so that people can be held to account for the dreadful things they have done. >> does the prime minister agreed with lord stevens and home secretary that stop insurgent needs reform, or does this mean he will block it? >> stop insurgent does me before because what the hmic report shows is the and 27% of cases the police have not been following their own guidance in terms of stop and search. so we do need to reform stop and search but it is necessary to legislate, legislate if it's not we will get but what's important is stop and search issues properly but we don't add to the burdens of the police. >> thank you, mr. speaker. the government goal will double

the number of homes and businesses that will receive -- 40% to 80% but they will still be 17% of people left with getting -- >> can the government would be to deliver the extra 20% because it is very much part of our long-term economic plan? >> my honorable friend is absolutely right. for those of us who represent rural communities, broadband isn't just part of the economic plan, it's an absolute vital part because without that connectivity, small businesses and entrepreneurs in our constituencies won't be able to benefit. we've seen massive investment going into broadband. we will shortly be sending out a plan for the 250 million pounds announced in june to extend superfast broadband coverage to 95% of uk by 2017. we are not connecting up tens of thousands of homes and businesses every week, all progress that was made under the government opposite.

>> does the prime minister except that the remarks by the irish foreign minister by the house toxin deposit of some kind of intervention by his government is unhelpful? that the majority, vast majority of issues at stake are integral to northern ireland, the matters for the parties in northern ireland to engage in agree upon? end of the most hopeful thing that the irish government could you if i could ask is to be more forthcoming about the role of the state to force collusion with the ira? >> first of all let me reassure the honorable gentleman there's no question of an imposed solution. the proposal for the discussion was a proposal of the northern ireland parties themselves. i wish this process will. i think haas did a good job in providing the architecture of a future solution on parades and complex and on the past but i hope the parties can come together and continue to work. my friend will do what she can to help facilitate that work.

i think it's important to go on discussing this with the government of the republic of ireland. they have taken steps themselves to come to terms with some other things that happen in their past and i think if the parties work together and did the british and irish governments are digital, i hope we can make some progress. >> mr. speaker, i am incredibly -- a large gay community in my constituency. with my quad right honorable friend agree with me that despite the views of some -- [inaudible] [shouting] >> my honorable friend is quite right. breitling does have a superb microclimate that people should be encouraged to take advantage of. he stands up for all his constituents with great vim and vigor. i think and reward it was only be fair if brighton was actually put in place on the shipping

forecast summer between dover and white. i think we should get a reflection of this every morning last night. >> thank you, mr. speaker. [inaudible] can the prime minister a shooting that he will support the college and make sure the decision is taken quickly on the did so the employees and young people can acquire the skills they need? >> on a great support of university technical college. i think they provide a really good new set of schools for our country to focus on vocational training and education. the new college announced last week is welcome news but it will open its doors in 2017. so i look forward to working with him on that issue. >> thank you, mr. speaker. [inaudible] to more companies and bracelet set up shop in my constituency bringing hundreds of new jobs to

them everywhere long-term unemployment has fallen by 35% and youth unemployment by 40%. will my right honorable friend commend the good sense o of thee companies for coming here quickly and courage more to do the same and will he consider visiting himsel themselves we ce how our long-term economic plan is getting results of? >> always happy to visit his constituency and spend time under the shadow of the robert p. which is always welcome but i've enjoyed visiting in the past but i think we are seeing a recovery, particularly in terms of jobs and particularly in terms of getting people off the unemployment register. it is worth noting today's figures also show full-time employment of 220,000 compared with just 60,000 increase in part-time employment. that shows people getting full-time jobs that the want of them happy to commend -- to come and visit the businesses.

>> prime minister, the green shoots of economic recovery are not being recognized across the entire uk. does he intend -- [inaudible] to make them aware of the fact that in the wake economy it is, any signs or increase in inflation would undoubtedly would make a devastating impact on many household? >> the point i would make to the honorable gentleman is of course we want to secure a recovery in every region of our country and every nation of our united kingdom but if we look at scotland, the last quarter, actually the employment level went up by 10,000 there are 90,000 more people in work than one year ago. i think progress is being made in the scottish economy is performing. we should do everything we can to help make that happen. if you want to keep interest rates down, that is a matter for the bank of england but our role must be to continue to work on getting the deficit down. we have to make difficult

decisions on spending. it's not helped by the fact that all the difficult decisions we made, not one, not one single decision has been supported by the party opposite. >> the leader of the opposition has suggested we learned lessons from the assembly leader government on how to establish -- [inaudible] does he agree the only lesson we learn from this is that nobody cares about public services vote conservative? >> i think it is now possible to look very closely at the decisions that the labour government has made in wales, the decision is taken and the effect of those decision. if you take for instance, the nhs they have about our approach to protecting the spending on the nhs. there's been an 8% cut to the budget in wales and as a result they haven't met a target since 2009. i also we've been worried about some the changes that have been

made in education in wales because we want all children in our country to get the benefits of good basics in education. >> this weekend nigel wilson of the chief executive of legal and general one of our biggest financial companies asked the government to abandon its health -- held in london. [inaudible] >> we are building homes across the united kingdom but i think one better than what she suggests is what we've done which is give the power to the bank of england to specifically advise on any potential problems in the housing market or indeed in any other market. we've cleared up the mess of irregular choice system that were left by the party opposite, so the proper warnings can be given in proper time. >> manufacturing was neglected.

with this government investing in manufacturing technology sector in my constituency, an excess of companies like jaguar land rover and import export market, does the prime minister agree that the research and manufacturing sector is part of this government long-term plan for the economy? >> rebalancing our economy is absolutely part of our long-term economic plan. we want to see a balanced recovery, balance between manufacturing and services, properly balance between north and south and making sure we win back these jobs and these orders from overseas. the companies he quotes have the full backing and support of the government. they got the investment going into the apprenticeship scheme that are helping them. we reformed the we can help themselves around the world. we're doing everything we can to encourage them to bring jobs back into the uk and

manufacturing exports and investment are responding well. >> thank you as the deputy prime minister knows, -- [inaudible] but does the prime minister agree that alex salmond is because the prime minister agree that alex salmond -- people of scotland -- owes the people of scotland an apology? >> i say to members on both sides of the house, this is supposed to be questions to the prime minister, not a punch and judy show. >> thank you, mr. speaker. does the prime minister agree that alex salmond owes the people of scotland an apology, on a white paper that dodges the top question? does it explain that by adopting the poem -- [inaudible] of scotland will be a foreign bank? >> i agree with the honorable gentleman that i think the white paper which we were told was going to answer all of the questions actually left the most

important questions about the future of the currency, about scotland's place in the european union, about the future of defense jobs, but the future of financial services, it left all those questions unanswered and i think that's what alex salmond is struggling to get his argument across. >> thank you, mr. speaker. we can currently celebrate record levels of investment in north sea oil and gas production and all the jobs it supports. we do have to recognize this going concern of the lack of exploration. of the prime minister recommit the government to its tax stable the policy and encourage as much expression as possible to ensure future investment? >> i can certainly give my friend that assurance. is the import we make the most out of the asset that is the north sea. that is what the would report is all about and we are putting those proposals in place. i know my friend the chancellor listen carefully to what he says about making sure that the tax system for the long-term encourages the maxim recovery.

[inaudible] a warm and generous friend and a passionate campaign of for piece and just but he dedicated his life working for those in need in areas of conflict, including in afghanistan. can the prime minister usher the house that after the drawdown of troops this year that those were good people like del singh will continue to be supported by this government? >> i very much share what she said about del singh, and remind us of the risks that aid workers take on our behalf to deliver this vital assistance around the world. i can give her the assurance that it's very important for able to recognize while our troops are coming home at the end of 2014, our commitment to afghanistan will continue to our commitment to its armed forces but also our commitment over $100 million a year in terms of our commitment to its age and its future developer. so we will need many more

people, brave people like del singh to go on working with the afghan government to deliver for the afghan people. >> thank you, mr. speaker. formula one team is the largest employer in my constituency. with the prime minister like to join in congratulating them on the hundreds of new jobs decorating locally on the global south other team one sports car and the 61 pounds worth of exports that they will achieve this year in china? yet more example should of the success and have our long-term economic plan. >> i actually sure my on will friends enthusiasm former clarion and for the work which is brought one of his cars to our great meeting in china where we are encouraging investment into the uk. of course, this is the very highest in a british motor manufacturing but is worth recognizing that we have a vehicle rolled off a british production line every 20

seconds. this government is backing it and along with that continues. >> and i also thank the prime minister and the leader of the opposition for the kind words about my friend, del singh, a man who devoted his short life working for piece and justice, not least in palestine and in afghanistan. but can ask the prime minister, affordable homes has fallen by a third. since 2010. why is that? if it in part because of tory council are demolishing council homes, the most affordable type housing and selling the land for exclusively private development? >> i'm afraid that he's got his figures wrong. housing starts are actually 89% higher than the trough they left us in 2000. and when it comes to affordable homes and we've already

delivered over 100,000 affordable homes. will deliver one of the 70,000 in total by 2015. the rate of affordable housebuilding will soon be the highest it has been for two decades. that is a massive contrast with labour warehousing labour has almost doubled and if he doesn't with the them i want to listen to this quotation. guess who it is from? we refuse to prioritize building of new social housing. who said that? anyone? the leader of the opposition. thank you very much. >> thank you. thank you, mr. speaker. and i commend the prime minister for his firm action against unscrupulous payday lenders and for driving the credit union expansion project? could e-mail urge more employers to look at the local credit union, many more people can access affordable credit, savings direct through payroll? >> i want to commend my friend for his constituents campaign in speaking out on this issue. we are taking the tough action

that is needed on payday lending but as he says a positive side of this is that we need to expand credit unions faster and we should be looking at always in which that can be done, including the organization partnering with credit unions and encouraging their work. >> mr. speaker, a report on the food crisis in uk commissioned by the uk government in february lasher was given to ministers in early summer last year and yet it is still being suppressed. what is the prime minister afraid of and why does a now publish and be done? >> what this government is publishing today is the fact we've got hundreds of thousands of more people getting into work, able to provide for the families and get a piece of my and security the people want in this country. that is what we are publishing today and that's real progress or our nation. >> 45% of people don't pay their

utility bills by direct service. 1 million of them don't have bank accounts get energy companies are charging on average 150 pounds extra for people who don't pay by direct debit. hitting pensioners the most to will my friend -- [inaudible] by cutting energy bills by 50,000? >> i'm happy to look into this issue because that is why we've taken the steps to compel the energy companies to put people on to the lowest tariffs and we want to make sure that everyone can take advantage of that. as he said would also get energy bills by 50 pounds but rolling back the cause of some of the green measures. we should continue to make this market more competitive to get more choice to consumers and to encourage the switching which happened a huge amount towards the end of last year that have saved many people many hundreds of pounds. >> order. >> here on c-span2 will leave the british house of commons now as they move on to other legislative business. you've been watching prime minister's question time aired live wednesdays at 7 a.m.

eastern while parliament is in session. you can see this weeks question timtime and again sunday night t nine eastern and pacific on c-span. >> for more information go to c-span.org and click on c-span series for prime minister's question, plus links international news media and legislatures around world. you can watch reason the u.n. putting programs in with other international issues. >> did i feel prepared? yes. i did. first of all i wasn't elected so he didn't make that much difference. i did notice though the difference between being vice president's wife and the president's wife. it is huge because the vice president's wife can say anything but nobody cares. the minute you say one thing as the president what you have made the news. so that was a lesson i had to learn, pretty quickly.

>> watch our progress on first lady barbara bush at our website c-span.org/firstladies, or see a saturday on c-span at 7 p.m. eastern, and live monday our series continues with first lady hillary clinton. >> former joint chiefs of staff chairman admiral mike mullen spoke at an event hosted by the group concerned veterans for america. this is about one hour. >> i want to say thank you to the veterans of america are putting on these events, which happened to a lot of events in the years in washington, a lot of discussions and i think equality has been very high, very serious, interesting discussion at the events i've been it. i hope we will adhere to that standard this morning.

admiral mullen will. i will do my best. ago mola needs no introduction. he was the chief of naval operations from 2005-2007 and chairman of joint chiefs, 2007 2007-2011. having a very distinguished military grid over four decades. i want to thank him for his service and thank him for being here this morning. we will have a brief discussion, talk about the debt. admiral mullen highlighted himself and was a testimony for our interview? >> it was a random question a reporter asked me stood always a mistake answering random questions from reporters. three years ago, 2010 a random reporter in the pentagon said the admiral mullen and what's the greatest threat we face in the united states? and he said the biggest threat we have torn national security

is our national debt. that got a lot of attention to our national debt was a little about $13 trillion but it's now a loop of $17 trillion. why did you say then? are you at all encouraged what's happened and would you say begin? >> thanks, bill, for doing this. and steve, for you and your organization but i think what you're doing is critical. and i would say you are young because this is a long haul. it is going -- it isn't going to happen quickly but please persist. i'm delighted to double to spend some time. the storm issue is a terrific issue but i know it is not -- the seat does afford me the opportunities but there's no snow after to watch my car gets towed away because it's in a snow emergency routes, i'm sure. [laughter] it really is i was telling bill earlier, i can't actually

remember the forum, if you will, that was there when reporter asked me that question. but i have given it quite a bit of thought, from very strategic level, i believe the military is part of, part of the solution to better outcomes around the world. but at a higher level, it's really about economies. so i focus a lot of my time on relationships with countries who rekey economic engines in the world. whether it was brazil or china or europe or the middle east, or india, i tried spend some of my time in that regard because i do believe that if you can create stability in a peaceful environment, people's standards of living will get improved and the economy will start to try. i put a lot of thought into it and did you believe that as the debt just kept going up

exponentially. in the last year or so everybody is enhanced and because the deficit has gone down. it's as if the problem went away. the problem is that hasn't affected the ticker at all. it's about 17 trillion witches can be the country that we are capable of our time in the world where we are need as much as we've ever been needed if we just keep spending our way, spending ourselves into oblivion. we won't be able to make the investments. we will continue to lose what i consider to be credit, if you will, on the international stage. so it's something that's got to turn around the it's going to take sacrifice quite frankly on the part of everybody. the pentagon gets a lot of money, i understand the. it's 50% of discretion spending roughly every year. you could take the whole pentagon budget, or into the debt and it would have a minimum impact.

it's got to be the entitlement peace. we're going to have to figure how to get at it. i'm someone who believes everybody will have to sacrifice. i'm i'm very specifically, from a retirement standpoint, this goes to a hot issue as well. of cold issue right now. i'm happy to be means tested for my health care payments, okay. i'm happy to be means tested or other quote unquote entitlements if you will. i don't want to hurt the twenty-year staff sergeant who was just bumping along. don't touch individuals like that. but those who can afford a little more need to be a little more as far as i'm concerned. we will all have to figure. it's not just a single answer. so i get asked when i speak publicly what keeps me awake at night, and everyone is still the debt because i don't think we've done much about it.

>> when the paul ryan and patty murray budget deal had the reduction in the cold increase, the reaction to that was based part on legitimate concern, partly a little bit on misunderstanding of what the actual proposal was to show how hard it is i think to reform entitlement. it might've been better off doing it by means testing as opposed to across the board. >> i would like to see them means test it personal. secondly, i'm very conflicted about that because particularly when i was asked this can question on active duty women look at retirement for the military, for example. all the cheats, myself and the vice chairman lined up in the position that we supported that long-term, but we wanted to grandfather to anybody who had come in and had basically and applied or actual contract for

career. so starting at the five, six, seven, eight, nine your level, those declared indicated they may stay for 20, we should grandfather anything like that. if you do that that doesn't lose any money in 15 or 16 but it doesn't get at the issue for significant amount of time in terms of retirement pension fund that you. i guess i get back to i really do believe we need to means tested and that everybody is going to have to pitch in. we talk about entitlements in so many different -- it has a specific meaning of you only this. -- you owe me this. there's a broader perspective in terms of people at every level, people that are doing very well in the sort of heart of the envelope of their income life, that they feel entitled to is whether they needed or not. i think we maybe need to broaden the discussion about

entitlements and disintegrate come off of -- you only this, i'm entitled to this even if i don't need. >> i suppose you could argue that debate -- serious entitlement reform. but spending has leveled off the last two, three years. the deficit is 500 billion instead of 1 trillion which is still a lot of money by cutting out. do you think the political police as well as the public are officially alarmed about the consequences of $17 trillion of debt that they can finally move on? >> they are much better informed because of the debate. i worry, i was delighted with the budget agreement that it took place. i worry that it sends a signal that it is over. the short-term focus that is out

there in so many ways throughout the country and certainly in this town, but there's a lot more work to do. i would hope that it's the harbinger of steps to be taken in the future, and i make last half full guy in general, so i'm hoping that is beginning of being able to turn it around. >> who i do think your comment that really was started in of the people that did have a very good effect. let's hope that both parties get more serious perhaps willing to make sacrifices for the. what about the other things that keep you awake at night? >> i list five. one is the debt. to is our k-12 education system. because certainly in my life we were talking about fixing that or problems with it for a good 20, 30 years. there's been some significant efforts undertaken in terms of, in particular, charter schools,

education and education reform. by and large is still in very bad shape and it's almost like, there's a parallel to the debt issue in the sense that you have to have resources to invest for the future. if you don't have them, you would not have much of a future. we have to have an education system which is functioning at a very, very junior, very, very -- at the beginning, if you will. because i think the competitive advantage america has is right here. and if we invest in that, we will be okay and if we continue to erode, we're just not going to be competitive. i spent sometime in the education sector. you can't scale charter schools to the public school system in the country. i don't know what the answers. i want to believe you've got to do this through teachers. they would've most impactful people in my life as a kid, among coaches and parents and pastors, et cetera.

and i think somehow we have to channel that. we don't pay them very well. ipod for a year at princeton and i didn't run into princeton graduate who was going to go teach quite frankly. that doesn't mean there aren't any, but it's not the path that so many because it's not valid in the country. i think we need to turn that around oregon, this very slow erosion will make -- we will wake up one day and we will wonder what happened. third thing is political paralysis here. i've been in washington most since the mid '90s. i asked friends, historians, some who are quick to say we've been through this before. about a year ago, two years ago i asked that question and i said when? 1938 or 1939. so that wasn't overly uplifting in that conversation. what about one year ago i asked the same question of another historian, and he said, well, we

have. i said when was the last time? he said the civil war. the point is this is really tough and i think everybody knows that. i don't know how it gets broken. i worry that we will continue to dig the hole, if you will. i hope that somehow the leadership in the country writ large can figure out a way to get us moving in a much more positive direction before we have some catastrophic event. so that concerns me a great deal. the fourth is cyber. i won't talk much about cyber but cyber scares me to death. i thought that threat when i was chairman to understand how capable it is, how lethal the potential is, not just from a pentagon perspective but literally from a national perspective. it's capable of shutting down our grid, shouted down our financial system and impacting significantly our logistics.

it almost has no bounds. i've actually the target incident over christmas, which the initial reports were 40 million, a couple days later it went to 70 million. it speaks to the scale, the capability and the cyberwar. that many that quickly. i talk but in terms of laying leaders need to understand it's not the text of to keep after them because leaders make decisions on people and investment and on policy. so that is of huge concern to the last one is veterans. we are not doing very well for our veterans who fought these wars. just because i was chairman in the iraq and afghanistan war, i focus, not exclusively, heavily on iraq and afghanistan. they are coming back to very, very tough employment numbers. the economy is, while it's bumping along, getting a little better, hiring them throughout the country is very difficult. they are and deployment numbers

are notionally about facing the 24 euros are notionally about twice the national average. half of them are married. they need to put food on the table. i'm not convinced you can do it from washington, quite frankly. there's a lot of issues associate with it. what i try to do is engage local readers in communities throughout the country, someone has got to lead an urban or rural community to customize the support for veterans focusing on health, education and employment. and remember, these spouses have been extraordinary as well in these wars. typically they are two income families. so they of huge capability they can offer. i find this quote unquote sea of goodwill out there on the part of the american people. you just and local leaders to galvanize that. we've seen significant progress in certain parts of the country. but i do were notionally that are coming home, they are leaving the military out about a thousand a day which is normal,

and we are hiring them at about 100 at a. and it's better than it was in vietnam and better than it's been in the past in many ways, but we are just beginning. i think as we come out of afghanistan, america didn't have to buy into these wars. america doesn't have a stake in these wars. to combat troops are out in a few months and america will accelerate away from our veterans. giving visibility to this in making sure this young group, and its 2.2 million men and women, the best i've ever seen. i did it for a few decades. hands down, they are the best. they're going to make a difference in the future. i see them by the thousands. they're going to make a huge difference. investing in them is a great investment. so that's where i spend a lot of my free time. spent on internet at a thank you for spending your time on that. it's so important to one of the destruction, there are some people who serve 20 years who are bouncing along and doing the

important thing but people i think need the most help our people getting out after four, six, eight, 12 years. they don't have retirement provided. they don't have a college degree. i don't know if we are set up well in this world. my sense is the officers do pretty well. they have college degrees, networks to help them find things. what i worry more about -- >> i love my officers but that's not my focus. when you look at their mid, it's the sergeant, the second class petty officer, that's the bulk. we've seen certainly in our lives ceos from vietnam, from korea to world war ii that that's where they started. extraordinarily strong group of talented individuals. it's that investment. they don't want a handout. they just want -- we need to guide them to the opportunities. once they did in they will knock

it out of the park but i really believe that. get into the opportunity. translate their skills. medics or corpsman had to go to state x, y or z in the country and they can't be -- they've been almost surgeons on the battlefield and they can't even -- they have to do the whole recertification process to become a paramedic in a given state throughout the country. there are lots of examples of those. we are making some progress there. the fact is, back to 1000 a day getting out in 100 or so that a getting hired, all of this is for about 17% of those who join the military, the stadium. that stay in for 20 years. it's been that way for a long time. there is a significant effort, i hope, that is under way to really look at should we reform the whole retirement system. and i applaud that.

that doesn't mean i have an answer to take away the 20 retirement. we did that once. it didn't go very well. but can you best young people about earlier is the question, for example. so there's a lot of work that needs to be done here and the retirement system is very generous. the benefits for the military right now compared to the mid '90s, and this is a bipartisan issue, in much better shape than we were certainly back then. >> when you're downsizing, pushing people out, it's something weird about a system which so values the 20 your service and in a sense almost no value. no retirement value on 12 or 14 years or whatever. that is an interesting reform. you mentioned cyber. i hadn't time to talk about this but you're willing to talk about anything. controversy about the nsa. you dealt with these matters at the highest level. basically would you be, you want

to reassure americans the nsa is doing the job they're supposed to be doing for are you one of these americans who is alarmed by this store? >> i spent a lot of time at nsa. they are an extraordinary group of professionals. to the best of my understanding and i do not claim to be inside all the time, but what i knew, from what i knew they were charged with -- there were two aspects of it. one, they were complying with the law. they have the interest of the united states of america at the top of their list. and that it was, in fact, in many cases very beneficial undertaking in terms of figuring out what the threat was. i have said for a long time, i think the debate -- i hate what snowden did. i actually think snowden is a traitor. that said, i think the debate that has ensued is an important debate, this debate about, the

balance between privacy and secure. it was long coming. i was worried, quite frankly, we would get to a cyber 9/11 before we even had were the law changed immediately, and as the pendulum has a tendency to do, swings to four. i think the healthy debate, i think those two congressional cycles ago or two budgets ago, that lieberman and collins were putting forward the first homeland security discussion of these kinds of things. it didn't go very far but i think we need to continue that. now there's more life and oxygen in that approach. i think that's a very healthy debate for us as a country and i hope we continue to have it. the threat is not going away. the danger is out there. and so how do we balance that? >> afghanistan, you mentioned you were chairman obviously during the surge your paid very close attention to that. that i think accomplished a lot within the limits of what they could do in a year or two. how worried are you about what

happens this year? what do you think should happen? should we leave additional force? how stable can the situation be? >> i tried to stay out of the policy world. i mean, i was talking to build earlier today, i have an appreciation for how hard these jobs and issues are. i worry a great deal about the region. i said when i was chairman, and i repeat that, many of us -- everybody would like -- [inaudible] i don't think they're going to go away soon. and the challenges that exist there from a tear standpoint, from a stability standpoint, et cetera, are going to continue. the question is how do we, the world, quite frankly, writ large

and with the united states' position in that in terms of, in terms of longer-term outcomes. as important as security forces have been in afghanistan, to train the police, train the security forces, the issues, larger issues from my perspective, that we struggle to deal with as the government is, the corruption peace. the ivory to afghan citizens who don't look at us backing up a corrupt government that undermines our particular position, if you will, even though we are there to help, quote unquote. that's our military peace. that's the political peace if you will, the government peace. and i think that threatening that much more in the longer-term, we have got to figure out to do that. one of the things these wars did, i think we'll have to

figure out in the future how do we deal with corrupt people? how do we deal with corrupt governors? different from how we been in the past. it is too transparent. too much information at the. we know they are too corrupt. we did undermined. and in a time that is generally pretty chaotic, i sort of fallback on the values that are true to us as a country, sort of that kind of framework when we don't know exactly what to do, but make sure the kinds of things that freedom, democracy, human rights, lack of corruption. and i'm not saying that we could go anywhere totally eliminate corruption. that's not the idea. but how do you -- god-given kinds -- so how do you address it from a policy standpoint? and how do lead in that space in the long run. i think afghanistan will be problematic. i'm certainly -- all issue which

is the discussion right now, leaving a force, i think that is a smart move from a standpoint of creating some kind of continued relationship and longer-term stability. i don't know. obviously, i don't what the outcome is. i think understanding what the president karzai -- what is on president karzai's mind is very, very difficult. ..