we deployed. the second point i would like to ask is we talked about over utilization. has there been research into frivolous health care as in an appointment at that scene as actually frivolous usage and potentially once it is deemed as frivolous, that person would then pay a co-pay rate has there been a consideration to recoup some of those benefits? >> it's one of the hardest things to define. that's why at least the base portion for using those in conflict. you could take it to a much more

limited thing that we should back off of the specific numbers and recognize there is a strong commitment to readiness as the department of defense says there should be especially wary face as many facts that come up with a warning as they do in healthcare. i can tell you from personal experience that discussions are made about benefits and what we are going to do to the health care system and military readiness is something that always gets raised and it should be and will continue to be. >> i want to invite wanted to invite you to add anything that you would wish. given the responsibilities you have and how much you've contributed and realizing that you are now out of service in the department of defense i

think i'm hearing you today say the military health care system is in reasonably good shape but it needs a lot of work into the compensation system is reasonably fair but there are significant changes we can and should consider and we don't need an overhaul but we do need a lot of work in specific areas. >> bookings published the paper and it described the current system which is very complicated politics is the art of the possible. i don't see starting over in this kind of environment and therefore i would say if it is doing its fundamental role it is most realistic. but i would like to give the chance to talk about the

emergency room care which you know better than i do. >> we will go down the road first. >> i think the dod has tried to wrestle with the sort of things but certainly you will see the sort of plans that you outlined if you go to the er deductible is higher. i don't think those sort of things have been proposed officially. >> let me stick with reckless because that is such an unfortunate word usually and in

this instance there are good studies that will tell you that care coordination for chronic disease will help avoid running to the emergency room and it avoids getting into the condition that you have to go to the emergency room and some of these studies have to do with things you don't ordinarily think of as healthcare. we were looking at pediatric asthma and if you can get children into an environment with less mold and hazard in the household they are much less likely to have emergency room

visits. that isn't a healthcare thing that it is a disease management that can save money. >> continuing again virtually any contact that you have with the medical system has some probability of helping. it's maybe a high parity to be compatible with the few walk with a broken arm. it's maybe a very low probability and there are some cases the harm is likely to occur. there is no clear distinction anywhere on the probability distribution of contact is in one case clearly indicated or

not indicated so inevitably you are making a decision about a policy change that has the effect of reducing the degree to which somebody uses healthcare there is some ability of benefit. now the point that i think carla made or i made citing the health insurance study from many years ago is that within the u.s. healthcare system health care system there is an awful lot of contact with the healthcare system where the probability of the benefit is modest. so this isn't an on and off signal where you know it when you see it. it is an ambiguous and difficult

decision. so, when we speak of changing cost-sharing that will have some effect on people's willingness to demand care that usually goes with the fact that preventive care is free and vaccinations are free and low-cost sharing their because we know those pay off big-time but sure there is some sort of trade-off but the evidence is a sacrifice from imposing some charges. i don't think there's any doubt that they are going over the transformation and it's not done yet.

the military does her duty to delivery service system will be part of that. >> my experience in this town is the best solutions where all of the stakeholders can come together and recognize that there's going to be change and we need to work together to get that change possible. but that's exactly what each stakeholder wants. there are many members in this room today. i strongly encourage you to get in a fight not to justify or protect what you have but to establish what's right for the future for the country and your constituents. >> last word to you if you have anything you would like to add. >> it was about four times higher per capita in the

department of defense and it is in the private sector. there is worry about the medical effects but i think it is a concern on the surgeons general part of the follow-up care being heavily used. i would worry about trying to add adjudicated the use but i think that some kind of pace case for the emergency room use is appropriate. but me back off of the broad issue. we are doing a lot of good things for the country and we have a lot of men and women in uniform. that includes healthcare, reasonable healthcare that i think all of us would agree to that. the discussion is can we do it more effectively whether it is to use the broad resources in the national system whether it is some changes and incentives or budgeting differently that is the debate that needs to happen. we are committed to a strong military health care system. we are all current beneficiaries

>> before we think the paneling sure you would want to join me in making sure that we are also also applauding the men and women in uniform, the families, retirees, veterans and everybody else who's contributed so much to the nation. thank you for being here and happy holidays. [applause] [inaudible conversations] >> some news as this comes to a

close today the associated press is reporting that the fbi is formerly accusing north korea of carrying out the hacking attack against sony pictures. the threat against moving theaters prompted them to cancel the christmas of the release of the interview and the fbi and justice department will release the evidence prior to a news conference with the president is expected to discuss the u.s. response. and again we can expect to hear more about this during the president's year-end news conference that sets forth this afternoon at 1:30 eastern and just after that the president will take off for his year-end annual vacation to hawaii. we will have coverage on c-span at 1:30 eastern and open the phones and get your reactions by phone and social media. they sat down with a number of retiring members to get their thoughts about their time in office. to hear about some of their achievements watch our interviews with the house ways

and means committee chair congressman david kamp and armed services committee. >> i knew i wanted to get on the ways and means committee and we worked hard on the welfare reform and issues but at that time the steering committee was called the committee on committees so you knew you were in a government process and it it doesn't really campaign. it's about the vote on that committee to determine who gets a seat on the committee like the ways and means so you're talking to every member on the committee and that is a particular member that i just didn't know what to do and just out of the blue i titled the office. i have met him several times but his secretary answered the phone and said congress man and he got on the phone and said how are you. then he said i used to be the leader. somebody owes me a favor and i will make the call and he did

and that person came to me on the floor and said anybody that fits asked the former president of the united states to call me so he changed his vote and i did they did it on the ways and means. it was a changing moment for me and he was very gracious and the fact that he was in his office and took the call i had scheduled the called. i literally called him out of the blue as it was very much a hail mary pass. >> we need to go back and make things a little simpler. when my dad first went into business he had been working for a company infinitely he saved enough money and bought the truck and he and my mom worked all week to try to get this bow out of that truck.

he had some friends he was able to buy enough to fill up his truck and then he started going around to try to sell it. one week and he was in business. one day he could have been out of business but the end of the day and that got him started. now you've got to get different licenses and permits. everything is tougher. so while this is the greatest country in the world we have lots of challenges. >> you can watch both of the interviews with the congressman at eight eastern on c-span. the national menorah was late on thursday, the national wedding took place on the white house with remarks by vice president joe biden.

here is a 20 minute portion from the ceremony. >> the word chanukah relates in the public view to ceremonies and celebrations this month but also has its roots in the same which is education. we dedicate, educate and live, we celebrate. as part of the celebrations, we have instituted the rabbi national contest where we have children from across the country explained what chanukah means to them. so i would like to call cindy from pennsylvania to read her winning entries for us today. [applause]

>> hanukkah is a special meaningful holiday for me. it is a great way to remind us of great miracles. hanukkah means dedication. i think the word education beautifully describes we are dedicated to judaism. he is the one who creates creates over a great miracles. hanukkah is one of those amazing miracles. just seeing the menorah by my window makes me truly appreciate the amazing great this. one of my favorite things to do on chanukah is to spend a dreidel and as i do so i think about children my age. thousands of years ago who are also spending the dreidel. just imagine that they would risk their lives for judaism.

hanukkah is a holiday that is really fun and holds a special meaning for me and all jews. [applause] >> our second winner, that was from the new england academy, we are now going to hear from our first winner. >> what hanukkah means to me. hanukkah means different things to different people. two little kids, hanukkah means presence. two adults it means spending time with family. to me hanukkah means going out. you might ask what does that mean. the second night of hanukkah we go out because every night you add more light by adding another candle. this leads to more.

one good deeds leads to another. we should try to do more good deeds every day. it's important to me to add for me to add more light in honor of my grandmother who passed away on the second night of hanukkah many years ago. my favorite way to add light [inaudible] at the same songs with them. i know i not only elevating myself but my grandmother, too. [applause] >> are those wonderful or what? when we hear children speak in this way we know that we have a future as a people. >> now as we know, the menorah

is late towards my time and the reason for that is the essence of hanukkah is the core tradition to spread the message of the miracle. we cannot do that if nobody knows about it. so even though all year we spread the message and the miracle in our hearts come in our homes come in our synagogues and in our communities and community centers and schools is this the time of is the time of year when we bring our message to the public. there's never been a time in history when they've been afforded the freedom that we have in america today. let's hear it for the united states. [applause] and for all of those that are watching in your homes or by the

live broadcast note that you can light a candle even if you're not celebrating hanukkah go warm up some of these life or do another good deed. go make the world greater than it would be without you and that way you are celebrating hanukkah got too. obviously the community would like menorah is spreading like the good and warmth to the world is a universal opportunity and message. now we are going to be lighting the menorah at this point in the program. we are close enough to the dark, the sun is getting ready to set and we want to start spreading this message all across america as quickly as we possibly can. so what we are going to do at this point is we are going to do the lighting in a moment. we are then going to hear from the vice president. i'm going to ask that everyone please remain seated until the end of the program even though we will be rising for the lighting of the menorah itself to read after this we will

conclude and i will ask that everybody please return to your seats and remain seated until the end of the program. this time i would like to ask the conductor of the band of the united states army to present the torch with which we are going to light the menorah to the vice president. and i'm going to like this on behalf of the vice president. i cannot light it right here with all of these electronics but i will light it as soon as i possibly can. we will like to the national menorah with his torch and then we do have these two lights the middle and the one overlay on the right for all of the world to see. the reason we like the first one tonight and only one is because we are at the beginning of the process. tonight we might wonder, tomorrow we might to until we

finish and have them all left at the end of hanukkah. the middle one is a bit above because it represents the public servant, the utility of the one that goes above and beyond their own needs so that others will benefit from what you're going to do. so i'm actually honored to take his torch from the vice president and the love and light to the menorah and who founded this public menorah in philadelphia in 1974 and to have our little children here who won the essay contest and two of my own sons are going to join and watch this and there's some significance there is some significance actually mr. vice president now that i think about it. because the vice president was involved before the community and the public's were involved on such a large scale. we've been doing this now for 45 years. 35 years at the white house with

president carter starting in 1979 together with a great friend of ours is here tonight to read what you're a round of applause. [applause] he was a domestic policy adviser at the time and every year he comes indices that greater and greater attention that this event deserves and receives. but vice president biden was then a senator and there was a rabbi that needed some help and permission to put up a large public menorah and since he was right across the border from philadelphia and delaware he afforded the help necessary to make it happen. so in a sense this is yours liberation, too. passing the torch to me is very symbolic in more ways than one. [applause] thing going to ask you to bear with me as we get this done. you can stand for the blessings

and the lighting and then after the perch or if the vice president following his remarks i will ask that you still remain seated. thank you. >> [inaudible conversations] ♪ ♪ ♪

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♪ [applause] mr. vice president, mission accomplished. >> [inaudible conversations] ..

and yes, we did learn from him how to act. he went home to his family as often as he could and he cared about every individual and i saw it then and i remember it now. so i guess, my humble privilege

to introduce the vice president of the united states, the honorable joseph biden. [applause] >> thank you very much, rabbi. thank you very much, very, much. rabbi shemtov, you and i have been friend for a long time. i have only one regret you mentioned, going home on amtrak. a great honor me able to do this. i will miss lighting of the menorah of my daughter's dining room table with her husband howard and i'm going to be down here in washington. i wish i were with her. i want to give a special thanks to the habad for hosting this event and i want to also, the

lebo-tr taught us that every living thing must grow. just as hanukkah lights will grow from the first day to the 8th, just as even those who have achieved good and holy things must never be satisfied with what they have achieved yesterday, may you all go from strength to strength. israeli ambassador i'm told is here, ron dermer, a great friend. i'm not sure. i don't see him but i was told he was going to be here. rabbi, leading the american jewish community and jews around the country. it is my genuine honor to be here with you. tonight, tonight is about miracles. the miracle of courageous warriors overcoming great odds to preserve the culture, the identity and the freedom of a people. a miracle of rededicated temple

flame burning for eight nights when there was only enough oil for one. the miracle that sustained a faith and a community through times of tragedy. that thousand years later judaism is a live and well in its many vibrant communities and denominations. that the people, that the people of israel live on. the miracle of lights flickering in the eyes of grandchildren and grandparents, mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, gathered together to feast to remember and to sing and the ongoing miracle of coming together in a nation that respects the freedom to live and worship in peace, the same freedom that the macabees fought for so very, very long ago.

tonight, we stand in the front lawn of a nation founded on the principle of the book of micah, in the versus george washington quoted to the hebrew congregation in newport 223 years ago. he wrote, may the children of the stock of abraham who dwell this land continue to merit and enjoy the goodwill of the other inhabitants while everyone shall sit in safety under his own vine and fig tree and there shall be none to make him afraid. the central, the central jewish notions of religious freedom, of safety, in your own land, of being treated with dignity and respect in your own community. not only led to the creation of the modern state of israel as the homeland for the jewish

people but it also formed the bedrock of the united states of america since our very founding. these values are captured in the words of a young jewish poet name emma last legitimate, when she wrote, give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses, yearning to breathe free. these words captured forever in the statue of liberty are among the things engrained in your dna and become engrained in the dna of america. not only did millions of jews escaping from problems in eastern europe see those words, but millions, millions of all other faiths and culture from all over the world saw them as well and continue, and continue to see them. the truth is, the truth is that

jewish heritage, jewish culture, jewish values, are an essential, such an essential part of who we are. that it is fair to say that jewish heritage is american heritage. that is who we are as a people. and to me that's part of the miracle, the miracle we all celebrate together as you celebrate with your families tonight. so on behalf of my children and my wife jill, and the president of the united states, let me just say happy hanukkah to everyone. thank you for having me. [applause] >> well, the fbi formally

accusing north korea of carrying out the hacking attack against sony pictures. that attack an the threat against movie theaters prompted sony pictures to cancel the christmas day release of the movie "the interview" of the fbi and the justice department will release their evidence before a news conference by president obama where he is expected to discuss the u.s. response. homeland security secretary jeh johnson released a statement and in part he says, the cyberattack against sony pictures entertainment was not just an attack against a company and its employees, it was also an attack on our freedom of expression and way of life. we seek to raise the level of cybersecurity in private sector and civilian government and provide timely information to protect all our systems against cyber threats. again president obama will hold his final news conference of the year this afternoon. among the items we expect him to touch on is the north korea hacking issue and the congressional agenda. after which the president will depart with his family for their

annual vacation in hawaii. that news conference is scheduled for 1:30 eastern, just an hour from now. it will be at the white house. we'll have live coverage on our companion network c-span. also we'll take your phone calls and get your reaction via social media. this weekend actor seth rogan talks about the relationship between politics and humor. wednesday sony pictures as you heard canceled the movie "the interview" which he participates in a fictional plot to kill north korean leader kim jong-un. early this month seth rogan appeared at harvard university where he talked about how politics influences his movies. >> i would never make a joke i would think i woo get a laugh that has political view i don't personally believe in because i might get asked about that one day and i don't want to look stupid. so it's like, i do think that a lot of people who try to be edgy or political or who feel as though they're unfairly targeted by the political correctness

crowd forget they have to be funny as well as edgy and political and i think that if you really look at the people who complain about that, and the people who don't, their view of the people who are complaining about it are hilarious and, and most of the people who are truly hilarious who are incredibly edgy never complain about it at all. i mean, i think every time you make a joke that you know in your head is like, slightly, i don't know controversial we can, almost like a group of people that have to react negatively to some jokes in order to have the jokes be valid and you know that group of stupid people have to say that thing and that is point of joke you're making they say that thing that you think is not necessarily what they should be thinking you know. and they will say their thing and sometimes say something though that offends more than just those people by accident. and i do think that, i do see comedians apologizing sometimes

and i have never done something that i felt like i have had to apologize for you about i have seen people make joke, yeah, they should maybe apologize for that. i don't think that is a loss or some admission, an admission made a joke that maybe went too far and i think we screen our movies a lot, in a lot of early screenings of our movies there are jokes that go too far and are probably in bad taste. by the time they reach mass consumption we filtered those out. we maybe we're like, we didn't realize or the way it will play in the room, oh, we were wrong about that. and we try to be sensitive towards that personally but i personally don't feel like, you know, i, that like there is some political correct squad that is trying to prevent me from doing my job in the best way that i can. >> and you can watch the entire event hosted by harvard university to earlier this month

saturday night, 9:30 eastern, on c-span. this month is the 10th anniversary of our sunday prime time program, q&a. we're featuring an encore presentation from one q&a from each year, highlighting authors, historians, journalists, film-makers around leading public policy thinkers. from 2005, kenneth feinberg. 2006, lonnie bunch on the important of african-american history in 2007. 2007, robert novak on 50 years of reporting in washington. 2008, the value of higher education in america, from 2009, conservative commentator, s.e. cupp. q&a at 10:00. a decade of compelling conversations december 22 m.d. through the 26th, at 7:00 p.m. eastern on c-span. special presidential envoy in charge of international efforts to combat isis spoke this week about the threat posed by the islamic state and

strategy for defeating it. retired general john allen was former commander of u.s. forces in afghanistan. he was interviewed by former congresswoman and will send center president jane harman. this is just over an hour. >> i'm jane harman, the president and ceo of the wilson center and recovering pop tish shun. general allen says that i haven't recovered. probably true. it is not a 12 step program. but we're delighted to host him here today. i first met general john allen while i was leading a congressional delegation to guantanamo prison. we stopped first, the stopped first at certaintycom to see my good friend, david petraeus, who was our then centcom commander. general allen was dave's deputy. we sat next to each other at dinner, and boy, was i am impressed and he has continued to impress. first rising to deputy commander

to acting commander after dave left to head isaf. then taking command of isaf himself when dave moved to the cia. his is a hell of a resume'. general allen spearheaded some tough missions in uniform but he has led two of his toughest out of it. organizing an international effort aspects presidential envoy to the global coalition against isil and keeping israeli-palestinian peace discussions warm, that is his word, on the security side. when the history of the last few years is written i hope there will be something positive to say about what's been achieved in the middle east. if there is, major credit will be due to general john allen and we're thrilled to have him at the wilson center today. the plan is to ask general allen to make some opening remarks. i will then ask him a few questions and then we'll take audience questions. what is missing here, that

little clock that shows me the time so i make sure we keep this event to an hour. we may have a cameraman in front of the clock but someone will figure that out. general allen, welcome. >> jane, thank you very much for that introduction. i, i will seek to live up to that, the standards and the comments that you've made. but let me first start by addressing your comment about being a recovering politician. regardless of how you would describe yourself i think all of us who know you and who have seen you in action in this town, regardless of whether you depict yourself as a politician or anything else, we all view you as a leader, a forever leader, someone who will influence the discussion in this town for many years to come, hopefully for all of us. for those, and also someone who has touched many of our lives and frayingly made us better for your participation and for your

presence in our lives and i can't thank you enough and i speak for thousands of people who have had an opportunity to interact with you and are better people for it. as well, thank you for your leadership here at the wilson center. as we walked down the steps coming in here you were telling me about woodrow wilson and magnificence of his vision and how it is enshrined in this center and this particular institution, i believe is an engine for thought that creates an opportunity for all of to be better for this administration and the other branches of government to learn by watching and listening closely to what's going on inside of the four walls of this institution. so thank you for that. it's difficult to find a particular starting point to represent the role that i play in this particular crisis. i had the great opportunity to have served in iraq and it was a

difficult time, a little bit in oh 06. and all of '07 and part of '08 where i had a chance to see a crisis in a very personal way and to work very closely not just with the emerging iraqi and provincial governments but also to work very closely with the tribes and sheikhs and understand some of the dynamics and the true complexities that are the inherent reality of working in iraq or working more broadly in the middle east. and so when i received a call not long ago as to whether i would, whether i would take this position, i called my wife and we had a conversation. i was well-entrenched in retirement, making a little bit of money and we both agreed that the 4500 of our young americans

who never made it out of iraq alive was a reason for me to take this position. and the thousands who were wounded and the families that will, that will ultimately bear the price and consequence of that. so i do what i do and try to do what i do not just to be of help to the president and to the administration but also to having, to make their sacrifice meaningful. and that is important to me. the role that i play in this particular crisis is to work with the coalition and to work within the strategy for the implementation of the strategy, but primarily within the coalition to do three principle things. the first to help consolidate the coalition of the many states that are involved, 62 separate countries, a number of international organizations, who have come together because they all in common believe that the crisis of isil and i will use

the term daesh throughout this presentation, that the crisis of daesh is a crisis within our time. it is a crisis within the region and it is not just an issue solely associated with syria or the potential fragmentation of iraq. it's a crisis that can come home to all of us in the context of foreign fighters and we talked a little bit about that and the reality of foreign fighters last night. so as we have gone through the process of consolidating the membership of the coalition, and i believe we're generally there at this point although there will be coalition members who will still seek to become, or members who will seek to become members of the coalition but there will also be those who at some point will depart the coalition we're generally there. the second thing i do is to seek to integrate the contributions of the members of the coalition into the strategy and in that context as we said in a previous conversation, the strategy with regard to the coalition generally falls along five lines

of operation. the first of those is the military line. it is the one that is receiving the greatest attention today. it is the one that is most conspicuous and in broad terms has two components to it. one is the current air campaign which is intended to blunt and reverse the momentum of daesh, and set the conditions ultimately for the other very large portion of the mission which is the building of capacity, to give the iraqis ultimately the moderate syrian opposition the capability ultimately to deal with daesh in the battle space. very broad and imprecise explanations. we can get into greater detail about that if you desire. the other four lines of effort in which coalition partners are playing very heavily, and they receive less attention and it is important to understand that these are prominent investments

of national prestige and treasure and blood is the effort by the coalition to deal with foreign fighters. foreign fighters are something we're going to live with for a long time. foreign fighters originate for a particular region in source countries and as they generally are recruited, mostly through social media they can be recruited, indoctrinated and targeted and sometimes not even have to leave the home country. so we are working together to deal with the recruitment of foreign fighters, their transit from source countries across borders using international transportation. the mechanisms by which they are able to find themselves into syria and iraq and frankly in other places and ultimately what we do as a community of nations

but specifically by virtue of our internal efforts, what we do to react to them when they come back. there has been, i think, some very good work that has been done by individual states and international organizations to highlight the problem of foreign fighters but also take both executive and legislative action, domestically, to deal with the problem. we're going to be dealing with foreign fighters for a long time. the third area is in the area of understanding and beginning to squeeze and disrupt the revenue streams that give daesh the ability to conduct its operations. and they generally fall into several areas. i think the one that is most conspicuous, the one that receives a lot of attention is the area of the oil enterprise where it comes out of the ground to its refinement, the refining process, development of products, transportation of products, the black market sale and the illicit enterprise that

is associated with the distribution. generation of cash, the use of certain bank branches and the connection of those banks into the international financial system. understanding that the supply chain and understanding the nervous system if you will of the oil enterprise has been something of great importance to us and we have dedicated some significant intelligence assets to it to begin to understand in a way where we can start to take it apart. other areas where daesh is able to generate revenues is in, if you will, the cooers is i have criminal actives over populations over which it has sway and those populations which live in its area of occupation. in essence it is plundering the population that it rules at this particular moment. as well daesh is involved in kidnap for ransom. we've seen the horrendous

outcomes of that with a great deal of revenue is generated at a much lower level where the sons and daughters of prominent individuals throughout that region are kidnapped and are sold back into families or sold back to tribes or sold back to organizations. not an insignificant amount. it generates a good bit of money. of course daesh is now engaged in the year 2014 in an active slave trade. you know i think sometimes we have been so exposed to this organization that in some respects, and i don't believe anyone necessarily in this audience would be but sometimes people become desensitized how horrendous this organization truly is and what it has done to the people that it has conquered and what is is prepared to do to the other people that it is prepared to conquer and for an organization not just to be engaged in slave trade but to celebrate the fact that it is doing it, just has to continue

to be one of the motivating factors for why this is such an an important undertaking. tragically all of these things together are tragic enough but daesh is not generating not insignificant amount of money selling the antiquities of syria and other areas where they have been able to plunder archaeological sites and museums and so on. and finally there are foreign contributions that have been helpful to daesh although we think that amount is reduced, largely because daesh, through the plundering of banks, the criminal activities, oil enterprise, has permitted in some respects to be nearly self-financing. a fourth area is the area of humanitarian assistance and this is one that must be part of our attention. it is one that the coalition i think has been hugely helpful in helping us to reduce the misery and the human suffering of the

large population that has been affected in the middle east at large but very specifically in syria and iraq. very importantly, helping the populations, refugee populations in front line states of turkey, lebanon and jordan. they deserve great credit for the generosity, care and humanitarian nature for what they have done for much of this population but also of course beyond answering the u.n. appeals for syria and iraq, helping countries in the region deal with the large, really substantial refugee populations will also be, will have to be keenly@tuned to the immediate humanitarian needs of the populations which will be liberated in the course of the counter offensive which woe anticipate in 2015, at least in iraq. and in many cases, beyond the

generosity frankly, and i'm very proud of the generosity of the united states in contributing to the humanitarian piece of this, elements of the collision also equally within their means generous both to the u.n. and to other international organizations to help us to end this suffering. and then the fifth area which the coalition is deeply involved and it is one that is really essential to the success of the strategy is dealing with the image of daesh and it is really a two-sided coin. the first is to go about the business of delegitimizing the organization, exposing it for what it is. pointing out massive flaws and horrendous conduct and behavior with the idea of compromising its attractiveness for the purposes of recruiting, to diminish within its own ranks the sense that it has an inevitable outcome with a caliphate that will endure

within the region and it won't but the other side of the same coin as i said is an opportunity to celebrate those societal values and the values of faith of islam primarily that deserve ultimately to be highlighted and in the context that they exist in direct counter ven shun, contravention to which daesh stand for. not just important that we delegitimatize the movement of daesh, it is equally as important we celebrate the values of this marvlous faith, celebrate values inherent to the cultures of the region and in the inherent nature and relationship that complimentary effort, seek ultimately to assault and to do away with, or to diminish the idea of daesh at the same time. so the coalition has come

together. members of the coalition are actively contributing across these five lines of effort. we're working very hard with our coalition partners within the context of the strategy to bring to bear the full capabilities of the coalition ultimately to accomplish the strategy and, now we move to the third principle area which i'm engaged which is the coalition, coordination and coalition management. as the coalition has come together one of the most important events that we have seen, i think it is important to recognize the coalition really only started to come together three months ago and 2 1/2 months ago we determined it would be a coalition. so in the course of 10 weeks or so we have gone from a group of states that have a common vision for what needs to be done with daesh to a, an organ organization which met just last wednesday in brussels at the ministerial level, led by secretary kerry and a number of

international organizations where the ministers of 47 of the countries of the 62, joined all of those member, all of the states, in come mening on the strategy and commenting on lines of effort in committing their national purpose and their national resources and assets to this common endeavor that we've all undertaken which is ultimately the degradation and the defeat of daesh. that's an important moment and when you consider from my own experience this is, i've been involved in a number of coalitions. i think this is my fifth, when you think about what we, how we operated in the context of the international security assistance force in afghanistan there was a clear legal international basis for that that flowed from the united nations security council resolution but there was also an international framework, a recognizable framework in the context of nato and the north atlantic council which gave us

that framework to meet periodically for the very important process of political consultation. neither of those are present in this coalition and to see it come together this way, to see us meet at the mine material level in this manner, to hear the really profound words of the ministers and the, and the leaders last wednesday and their commitment to this cause and the importance of ongoing political consultation, where we've come in about three months is really important. . .

we believe that will begin the process of reversing the momentum ultimately in iraq, and to restore the territorial integrity of iraq, the sovereignty of iraq as we continue the process at the same time of working with the moderate sunni opposition, not just at a political level but in the field. let me stop there. does offer some overarching perspectives on the role that i play, and again, it's an honor to be associated with this. i can't overstate how grateful we are for our coalition partners in joining us in this undertaking, and again, jane, thank you for your leadership and letting us come together

today to have this conversation. >> thank you, general. i think the entire audience wants to thank you for your service and your continued service, and the service of your wife and family. talk about what you've gotten done in 10 weeks, prompts me to ask when this assignment successfully concludes, should president obama ask you to take over obamacare? [laughter] >> why don't we scheduled out for another session? [laughter] >> all right. turning to some questions obviously based on your comments, you talked about, first come in the first five lines, military, the military campaign. you said you hoped to build partner capacity. we have already about the training. in fact, congress was involved in the mission and the effort to fund a training mission for a limited number of people. what is the potential for partner capacity? could that capacity would be the

so-called military boots on the ground that everyone keeps talking about? >> the answer needs to be segmented a bit. when you talk in terms of a campaign of this nature, you often hear the operational term, a main effort, a supporting effort, a shaping effort. sometimes when you hear the campaign depicted or portrayed you will hear it as an iraq first and syria second. that's to start a depiction. -- start a depiction. because we're dealing with daish across boundaries as we've you daish as a 32 countries in particular but a region more broadly and to the international community by virtue of its reached and direct and indirect influence, it's important to say that the main effort of the campaign for the moment is an iraq. and that main effort not only is dedicated or directed at an

attack on the daish formations of the daish nervous system, if you will, but it also is complemented very importantly why this building a partner capacity. that's an inherent part of the strategy. it has been the reason that the numbers of our troops and coalition troops are increasing in iraq is to provide the basis for the building a partner capacity. iraq has recognizable government in terms of the context of having a political partner. there is a new and hopeful presence in baghdad in the form of prime minister abadi. it's also important as we judge the progress occurring in baghdad, it's also important to understand that that the government has only been

complete for 60 days, two months. it's the first of there's been a full government in baghdad since 2010. it's the first time we've seen a minister of defense and a minister of interior, and in the context of prime minister abadi having been appointed to a position of prime minister only since the eighth of september, i think we can all be pleased with the direction of iraq seems to go. we have a political partner. the relationship is evolving. his government is evolving. he is ultimately having, will have to take full to take full appreciation of the many, many challenges that he has to face in the aftermath of the molecule regime but also the challenges that one-third of the country basically is in the hands of daish, that much of this could mechanism collapsed in the process. for this is a gentleman who we know well, a government that is taking shape.

it faces economic difficulties as well as political challenges and security challenges, a full platter for this individual. supporting him at the political level is the work that we have to do on the security front to go about the business of restoring the territorial integrity of iraq and providing back to the central government and to the regional governments, provincial governments. capacity for full sovereignty. and that is where the building partner capacity occurs. there are some iraqi security force elements that remained intact in the aftermath of mosul back in june. those units are being assisted now in limited tactical operations against daish in key areas. they are setting the conditions for additional activity later. for example, and i won't go through the whole list but kurdish forces were supported by direct air support in pushing daish off the mosul been.

i think we all know that would have been a potential catastrophe downstream have you been able to hold onto the mosul been. itself from in the hands of the kurds and the of than a magnificent job in taking it. similarly, we reduced the pressure. daish was intent on taking the damn so mosul is on the takers, the euphrates, maintain our control, our being iraqi control of those, of the strategic infrastructure was really imperative. the iraqis were able to hold on with american support, another pressure on it has been really. the iraqis attacked up route one and ultimately the refining center which had been encircled and cut off and was beseiged in the spring and summer offensive, which has just been relieved by an iraqi security force called has worked its way up route one and is now taken possession of this enormous importance hydrocarbon sector in iraq.

and there are many others. for several iraqis were dropping supplies to the yazidis. iraqis were dropping supplies out of c-130s on the population in sinjar mountain. is a limited activities at this point. as we established the training camps in the four particular areas in iraq which is then herb you in kurdistan as an irbil. that begins the process of the retraining and reintegration of iraqi forces that will enter into the fight. similarly, we're beginning to establish the training camps elsewhere in the region where moderate sunni opposition elements will be trained as well. that's the significant support we received from the congress -- >> and that's the harder problem. >> it is a harder problem because the partnership that we enjoy in iraq, very clear partnership we enjoy in iraq at a political level, at a security level, at a governmental level,

it's not as apparent nor is it as far advanced or developed. determining our partners, ensuring that the process of recruiting, betting occurs in a proper manner. the training and supporting of the overall, that's a challenge and we're only now getting the camps to come to fruition. >> and she mentioned syria which is a hard promise if we don't have a relationship with the syrian government, but the aspirations of isil or daish is way beyond iraq and syria. we've seen incursions into syria's neighbors, but is it not also possible that they would want the headquarters of the so-called islamist state to be in mecca? you know, some kind of the huge regional reach the something we should be thinking about? >> it's something we are thinking about. we think about every single day, and we have to ask them what his

ultimate objections are. but we are very attentive to come while we conduct this operation, we are very attentive to containing daish is spread beyond the area of operation in which we are continuing the campaign at this particular moment. it's also important to recognize that not only may have additional contiguous aspirations, contiguous in the context of countries that are on the borders of iraq and syria, and i think we know that they do, it's very important as well that we are keeping close tabs on the groups that may swear fealty ultimately to the organization which then gives them in essence a franchise reach into other areas of the globe, as far away as east asia. we have seen, and thankfully the

national police in australia were able to thwart the intention to kidnap random tourists and be had been in sydney. so we have to be very attentive to reduce social media through other means of communications for long reach of daish beyond the simple terrestrial reach within the context of contiguous space. we are intended to saudi arabia, a tentative equilibrium in jordan, certainly in turkey and lebanon, and we watched very closely. >> i would underscore in yemen if there really were an affiliation between aqap and daish, and the tools that the bomb maker in yemen is able to produce that in the hands of daish, that could i be sick enhance -- that's a terrible word -- make it -- accelerate is a better word.

>> well week, for the moment, we know that there is a really substantial tension between daish as an entity and al-qaeda as an entity, and if we ever believed either those two guys could become the good guy in this relationship. al-qaeda has broken from daish in important ways, and so long as they are unable, ultimately, to see a common future and the common road that they can walk together, that works to our advantage. >> i would say -- let me return to congress for a moment. congress did on a bipartisan basis fund the training mission for so-called moderate elements in syria, training to our current in saudi arabia. congress is about, at least i would hope, to pass a budget for this coming year, the so-called from the bus -- a marvelous name to it funds the wilson center, so thank you, congress, in part.

but also congress has to fund the humidity assistance that you're talking about, at least in the u.s. piece of that. so my question is, how is that going? are there things that congress should be doing that it's not going? and do you think that the bipartisan cooperation -- i'm always an opt mr., that occurred on the funding bill for the training mission could continue? on me, it certainly occurs to me that the terrorists aren't going to check our party registration before they blow us up. you've talked about the fact that the way the social media campaign works does reach people in their homes and basements and computer cafés, and does radicalized people, i would assume, clooney this country so we have to think about this, not just as a foreign mission to

protect an entire region but as a nation to protect the united states. >> it would be difficult for me to overstate how pleased i have been to the other congress has reacted to this. i don't comment on the political dimension of the bipartisanship. it's not for me to do that. but i will tell you that i've had opportunity now to speak to a number of members of congress. i come away from everyone of those experiences, whether it's at the committee level or the entire house, convinced that we all share a common sense of the challenge, a common sense of the threat and a common desire to act effectively and prudently to deal with it. so we are very grateful, support of the congress and the support to the train and equip missions are very grateful to congress to

continue to support the humanitarian nature. and i think we all have an obligation in this process to continue to talk to congress, to inform the members, to help them to understand what it is we're doing, help them to understand the nature of the crisis, to inform the congress and through the congress to reform the american people. and to this point we are very grateful for what congress has done to help us in this regard. >> i would just add my own view that i think there are very good people and leaders in congress in both parties. and is just imperative that administration and, obviously, you call on their talents. because everyone is needed. >> and no reluctance to offer their support. and i think this is an opportunity for us to create opportunities for communication that i think can help us to really remedying this emergency. >> just a final question and they will go to the audience.

when we do, please identify yourself and ask a question. no speeches because a lot of because a lot of people i'm sure want to talk. i mentioned you a second nation, and i was keeping the security dimensions of the israel-palestine negotiations warm. what our of what they get to spend on this mission? and how is that going? >> well, the week i retired i got a call from john kerry and asked if i would help in that regard. i had some background in that while i'm still on active duty, and i consented due to my strong desire to, if i could ever have an influence in the process to bring about a two state outcome that provides both for initial security but also provides for a future for the palestinian people. and i still do strongly, deeply believe that that's the outcome that is the only way ahead.

because i have a background in that area, because i knew the players on both sides, that begin a process where, over about 15, 16 months, i traveled to the region about 13 or 14 times, met with israeli counterpart, met with palestinian counterparts and we began the process of looking in a systematic way to deal, as i said, preserve the security of israel and the two state outcome, but at the same time provide for the security of the palestinian people and the sovereign state. and to do so in a manner in which seeks to create not a divorce but a partnership. and i think that process was well advanced and, obviously, in the last several months we have seen that the political dimension of that process has really ceased for all intents and purposes for the moment. but our intent and our hope is to continue to talk about the

potential security outcomes. so that if the political process picks up again we don't have to start this a fresh. we've had the conversation about the region. we've had a conversation about the west bank. we've had the conversation about how a long-term secret relationship might look and we just don't have to start all over again because as we've seen many times as a political process has sought to address these really difficult final status issues, the first part of the conversation at the political level is tell us how we solve the security peace. because we really can't go forward with more into the conversation on the final set of issues if we haven't solved the security peace. we do well down the road in a trilateral way of addressing some of the more difficult security aspects of the. we didn't come to final closure but we certainly can i think a long way down the road towards progress.

we don't want that to start all over again if we're fortunate enough to see the political process begin to catch fire again, and that's what we want. >> there will be changes in leadership or there may be because their new collections initial but i sure hope the leaders in the region are listening. spent we do as well stick such a great contribution by then. >> absolutely. spent audience, so let me welcome, a bit late, the ambassadors from finland, italy and denmark. thank you for coming. and then invite the audience to ask questions. is michael crowley is you want to call in first. is michael your? >> thank you, jane. thank you, general for coming today. i michael crowley with politico. my question to you, general, there's been recent reporting that you been in conversations with the turkish government about some kind of air exclusion or no-fly zone along the border. the white house evidently is not sold on this idea is anything you can tell us about those

conversations with the turks and also in washington? more generally, what are you saying to moderate shearing forces who may be asking, will american and coalition jets in the region come door eight after we are sent into battle and we may be suffering extreme damage from seeing regime forces? will you come to our rescue before being there'll bond and we can't defend herself? thank you spent that's two questions. the conversation with the turks has been actually quite constructive. i think it has evolved in ways, i will go into the details because the conversation is not over. i've been pleased with the trajectory of that conversation. and it's about not just the military dimension of how the turks might persisting in the

coalition, but i think we all have to understand that turkey as a frontline state. turkey is currently hosting the numbers vary but somewhere between 1.5 and 1.8 million refugees, and has done really good work on their behalf in a very compassionate way. the situation on the ground in syria is very difficult, complex, multilayered situation. and the conversation with which we are currently engaged with the turks seeks to understand that any manner that permits us to have a common vision on the measures that we can take together, conceivably to further the objectives of the coalition. the conversation started some time ago and almost a precondition away with the conversation of the no-fly zones. the nature of that conversation

has changed, and i was just depicted as a constructive conversation. i think if my turkish counterpart were sitting next to me he was a it's a very constructive conversation as well. but it continues. it's not the moment to begin to talk about the specifics of the details, but the conversation continues i think in a constructive way. i have personally seen it change to the benefit of both countries in the last couple of months. with regard to the syrians, regarding the syria moderate opposition, our conversation continues to evolve as well on how the campaign will take shape in syria. the many ways in which we can both support the free syrians, or rather a modern street opposition in the field today but also how we can support them over time. that conversation has a variety of factors to it. it's not just that she mentored support and not just direct

assistance military assistance and training assistance, but how the coalition might be helpful as well. so let me just stop there in terms of specificity. >> let me invite you all to ask the one question. >> i'm not criticizing two questions. sometimes it's one question in six parts. those were both -- those were both very important questions, thank you. >> holly has done groundbreaking right on the treatment of women in the region, and we just two days ago hosted a meeting with the ucd member of parliament from iraq, the only ucd number apartment for america's talk about dire conditions. holly. >> the women in p. who was here mentioned that there were 1002 and families in the sinjar mountain, between six and 7000

people. they haven't received much help from the iraqi government. the iraqi government has given them for helicopters for evacuating them, and each helicopter takes any time 25 people. it's winter. it's cold they have been surrounded by isis, daish. can the coalition to something to help these people? >> there's actually been much more deaths been done more than just the activity of the for helicopters. i have the exact number of sorties, but the iraqi air force flying iraqi c-130s has dropped several, tens of tons can't exact numbers but we can get those for you, tens of times of supplies to those families on the sinjar mountain. we are working very closely with

the kurds and kurdish forces to continue to provide support and security. we are come as were able to find them we are attacking daish positions in and around sinjar. without insignificant the fact in several of those attacks with respect to attacking command-and-control sites. so the coalition is helping. i suspect that we will always say that more could be done, but in terms of what iraq has done and what we are continuing to encourage that iraq continued to do, not just providing helicopters but also providing airdrops, providing medical support where they're able to, and encouraging the activities of the kurds were also committed to helping. i think that there is perhaps more being done than necessary

has been depicted. we will continue to look at this. it is an area where we are very heavily invested in the numbers of people that were chose to remain on the mound rather than to come off. and there are for particular points that attract our attention in terms of the concentration of the families, will continue to provide support as we can. >> i would just add that you know the slave trade which is one of the funding sources for daish, and allow those slaves are women. >> that's right. >> who are used as rewards for the conquering soldiers. let's go, anyone in the back? the man right here. >> hi. i'm retired, international health care worker, also a marine. spent three years in active duty. my question is too general, based on information i got at the school of advanced international studies, the saudi play somewhat complex role that you have the government which is part of your coalition, our

coalition, and give individual saudi. i understand individual saudis contribute money to isil, when they were in iraq and then their expansion as well. what's your understanding of that? >> we've worked very closely with the saudi government. the saudi government has been aggressive in working to reduce and even and that saudi support for those groups. you are exactly correct. it is a complex relationship. we were here just yesterday as we continued to work on the strengthening and deepening our partnership with saudi arabia and its respect. saudi aircraft flew alongside an american air force aircraft in a first strike mission against daish targets in syria, holding themselves quite well.

i won't go into what the saudis maybe once what the saudis may be willing to say publicly what they've been very helpful to us, not just in helping within the region to strike a blow against the legitimacy of daish, both in terms of clerics and the public pronouncements of leadership, but the saudis gave an early contribution of $500 million in two humanitarian support, and have also been active in assisting -- i will let them speak to a public a, but active in assisting us in the process of beginning to train the moderate searing opposition. so whether it's you mentoring assistance to the region in particular, specific provision of arms and equipment to elements that we are beginning to train, whether it's joining us in the air over syria to attack directly daish targets, or taking domestic measures to

staunch the flow of individual contributions to the extremists organizations, i would simply say that saudi arabia has been very active in the context of the coalition and is looking to do more. and it's a very positive contribution. >> okay. right in the middle. >> i'm jim reston, a scholar at the wilson center. could you elaborate a bit on your fifth point about the interface with worldwide islam? and tapping, mobilizing the horror of worldwide islam towards this. and also attempting to undermine the notion that this crowd is a legitimate beginning for an islamist caliphate, this deep-seated longing for centuries, how do we undermine

that notion that this crowd is legitimate? >> thank you, jim. >> i think one of the most important aspects of this undertaking is that we seek and really more important, the region seeks to be the leading voices in this regard. the value in the region of an american condemnation of daish often will ring very hollow with much of the region, for a whole variety of reasons. we don't live there. we are not part of the social fabric. our history is if and. our faith is different in many respects. and when you talk to the partners within the coalition who are of the region, what you here very early in the conversation is that this is our fight. this is our crisis. islam is our faith, and daish has hijacked our faith. and it is up to us to be the

leading elements seeking to create the momentum that delegitimizes daish's claim, both to be an islamist entity but also an islamist state. that's really encouraging to my perspective. and as time goes on in this line of effort, as for example, we've had in one country they have sponsored a conference for all of the states were present as were many other members of the coalition. and we spoke in great detail about the nuance of the message and who should be saying what, and how they should be saying it in the region to have the greatest effect. and so while we will have common themes, how those common themes are depicted in the region versus how we americans may articulate daish both in terms of our population and to other elements within own population that could be susceptible

conceivably to radicalization and recruitment, that will be a unique national challenge and it will be a unique national contribution. so importantly i think the members of the coalition operating along this delegitimization light of effort are developing the common themes in which we all agree. i think we can all agree on many of the common themes but it is how they're ultimately expressed, by whom, where and when that requires the art associated with science of this kind of an approach. the most encouraging piece of this team isn't necessarily the words that are being spoken, but this intense desire to take ownership in the region of this to strike the blows regionally, locally, nationally against the falsehood that this is both an islamist entity and a state. ..

will seek to shrink the surface area for which they operate across the entire nervous system in a connecticut physical way begin to shrink that as we seek to diminish its

access to rehabilitate its own. as we seek to reduce the flow of the foreign fighters to the battle space a system operationally come in the end it is defeated when we've caught the idea and that is very positively to members of the coalition are interested in combining the respective assets to kill the idea. >> another way to say that is we need to win the argument. and there is an emerging conversation in the middle east but there are moslems and then there are extremists, the point being that these extremists are not carrying out activity consistent. >> and that's the key. those powerful voices are the greatest weapon in this regard. >> we have very little time so i think the bible asked for three people and please forgive me to

ask questions and then give the general a chance to wrap up. but we just see here i can't decide. i'm going to call on the two in the front row and the other gentleman will identify himself. >> you talk about the training efforts going on in iraq now and that they are still relatively in the stages. how likely is it that the major battles are going to be forced on you before much of the training has taken place and i'm thinking about two situations.

one is likely to be imposed that they are closing in on the city. second is the battle for most knows all and the iraqi government. >> two questions in the front. >> i wanted to ask along the lines of marinas and i would ask the problems that cannot wage throughout the winter. my real question,, we can here now for an hour into the element to the cookbook and in be true of offending the room hasn't been mentioned, iran. do you see iran as a helpful or unhelpful for us in terms of what we have to do in iraq. i know that it's more complicated if you want to comment on that.

>> we heard a week ago from the general that the u.s. has identified what it thinks is that the training camp in libya. could you give an assessment of what you see the current state of isis and the prospect for its potential entrenchment and expansion. >> we are intent on those elements in the distance. the capital within the context along the area and they call themselves a state we have a

pretty good sense of the content will. i'm not looking specifically into libya if this is a camp that is set up by elements within that state on behalf of recruiting and training effort whether this is a training camp that already existed which ultimately rebranded itself from a local radical or extremist organization to simply seek to achieve the level of legitimacy in some cases by calling itself the franchise. but we are very concerned about elements within all higher in qaeda in the land of the islamic maghrib and the potential for the lie in crossers id was sworn

by info. franchise elements began to expand off away from the philippines to the areas in north africa or even inside africa and we are watching that very closely. with regards to iran, iran obviously has an enormous presence and influence in the region and i would say that it differs for us in the whole that it plays in iraq versus the role in this area versus the role that it plays in the context of the nuclear portfolio versus the role that it plays more broadly

in the region and everything from the activities in the lebanese and has velocity tribe that is destabilized by some affects. we would hope -- we had a conversation last night at dinner is a complex issue with respect to iraq. i don't want to dodge it but i would say that the debate that occurs today. it might have been two or three years ago the reflexive reaction of the militia elements which i think unrestrained it would be interestingly enough they

haven't yet. it's difficult to overstate the importance because it relates to the conduct is the behavior of iran but also in providing support to department mr. through his voice and having called for greater support to the sunni tribe for example in a a landmark to consolidate the political portfolio and reach out to the sunni elements in iraq and to do so without having to constantly have the violent militia breathing down the back or iran seeking to derail the process. so iran is a very complex player not just in iraq but serious it's a very complex player in lebanon and through lebanon of course we watch the results of

what could have occurred. and in that context we worry about israel as a partner and ally in the region and we look at the activities in iran with respect to the allied populations in the region as well and yet then i think it's an interesting case study because as i have spoken with leaders in the region, they are deeply concerned about the perspective of iran's role in how that is affecting the stability of yemen. it's the polarization that is occurring in the fabric of society is forcing elements that would otherwise would be thinking of the line in itself a

it is an interesting perspective. i don't know that i necessarily share that it is an interesting perspective, so iran is a key player in the region. we have to understand that. it's important to understand the complexities of the involvement because it is different in each of those places and understanding how it exists in each of those places and how it can conceivably interact if we did something here it is important for us. and then the issue of the specifics. it will be very important when we see a counter offensive which in some respects is underway now in a limited matter. it will be very important that we win every battle. and so getting battle and not

getting battle for a commander that is commanding a large field force, it is sometimes much better to know when not to fight into the wind and to know when to fight and it's sometimes better to ensure that you sent the conditions ultimately to win rather than to reduce the risk associated in the engagement as opposed to be going to accept greater risk. what i mean by that is for example from ramadi because it is a provincial center in alan -- alanbar. just up the road by al-assad which is one of the strong points in the iraqi division while there was mixed success in

the city of heat that about about the defeat of the tribe that really heroically defended its area. as it has attempted to pressure, there've been significant airstrikes that have gone in on behalf of the iraqi security forces and on behalf of the tribal confederation that operates the n. and around ramadi and at this point, we believe that we've stabilized the situation and reduced the ability of the threats to ramadi and we will continue to provide that kind of support until the counteroffensive ultimately eliminate the threat of a persistent threat to ramadi. with respect to those mosul i think you will be the climactic battle of the fight in iraq. but once again, i don't want to

predict timelines. i don't want to predict the order in which it will occur. that this is a city where the islamic caliphate was declared. it was also a city six months ago where the iraqi security forces ultimately begin to come began to come apart. so, i think that for one party they can't lose in for another party they cannot afford not to win. as of the moment that it is joined as to be one that is very seriously considered and that the forces are raised on the right combination of forces in the right kind of support for the so that when it feels the weight of the counteroffensive that is something that it simply cannot resist. >> let me quote something to you something that you said it's too

rather reduce the risk we talked about winning is winning the argument not just winning a connecticut fight. if we only get to the point where we will win the argument, your personal contribution or played a major role. >> it is an honor to be with you. ' we are moments away from the year-end news conference with president obama. it was set for 130 and he is running a little bit late. c-span will have live coverage

when it begins and afterwards it is your chance to weigh in with phone calls and facebook questions. later tonight the president will leave with the family for their annual vacation in hawaii. again that's conference about to go underway on c-span. recently we sat down with a number of retired members of congress to get to their thoughts about the time in office ended to hear about some of their personal and legislative achievements. tonight you can see the interviews with the house ways and means committee chair david kamp and armed services chair buck mckeon. here's a quick preview. >> on the adoption issues and trade issues but at that time the steering committee was called the committee on the committees so you knew you were in a government process. and it really is a campaign. and it's about the vote on that committee who determine who gets a seat on the committee like the ways and means. so, you're talking to every member on that committee and there's a particular member that

i just didn't know what to do and out of the blue i buy a president ford's office. i had met him several times. i wasn't sure that he knew me. i certainly knew him. but his secretary answered the phone and said can you hold and he got on the phone and said how are you and then he said he used to be the leader. somebody owes me a favor. and he did. and that person came to me on the floor and said anybody that gets a former president of the united states to call gets my vote. and i told susan that story also. i'm not sure that she cared, but it was a changing moment for me and she was very gracious. i called them out of the blue as it was a very much hail mary

pass. >> we need to go back and make things a little simpler. when my dad first went into business he had been working for a company selling and he bought a used fish truck and my mom and him worked all weekend to get the smell out of the truck. early the war have already started. he went down and he had some friends he was able to buy enough meat to some of his truck and then he started going around to try to sell it. one weekend and he was in business. one day he could have been out of business but at the end of the day he found somebody that bought everything he had and that got him started. now you have to get different licenses and permits into this organization and everything is

tougher. while this is the greatest country in the world, we have a lot of challenges. >> you can see both of those interviews in their entirety. congressman dave camp and buck mckeon on c-span.

>> is a

house on a cursor to testimony from officials about the agency's deep space exploration program and the initial launch and reentry of the capital. earlier this month the house subcommittee on space heard from the association administration for human exploration. this hearing is about 90 minutes. >> the subcommittee on space will come to order. an update on the space launch system monitoring the development of the nation's deep space exploration capabilities. in front of your packets containing the written testimony, biography and the testimony disclosure for today's witnesses. i recognize myself for five minutes for an opening statement. i would like to welcome everyone to the hearing and particularly the witnesses. thank you for your appearance today. no one is aware of the launch of the vehicle last week. i want to congratulate the

entire team at nasa as it was the teams at lockheed martin and united launch alliance for an outstanding test flight. while we will hear today with pulmonary results from this test, the science and engineers at nasa will continue to analyze the data for quite some time that i look forward to hearing more about the progress of this analysis in the future. the successful test launch of orion demonstrates that we were on the right track for sending humans back to the moon and mars within our lifetimes. across the nation people were watching with the same hope and pray that all americans had in the early days of the space program. and in my congressional district, children were in the space center space center to watch the live feed of the launch. but events like this are what we need to inspire the next generation of astronauts and engineers. and s. os is a giant leap forward in making america the leader in space once again. tremendous ongoing work at nasa and industry partners is beginning to produce tangible results. the nation can be proud of what was accomplished last week.

it was certainly a job well done. the purpose of the hearing today is to examine the challenges and opportunities facing the space launch system in orion programs. it's no secret that committee is concerned that support within nasa for the sls and orion isn't matched by the administration. but the lack of commitment is somewhat puzzling is not at all surprising. the president has made clear he doesn't believe that space exploration is a priority for the nation and has a lot of the political appointees within the administration to manipulate the course of the human spaceflight program. these decisions should be made by the scientists, engineers and program managers that have decades of experience in human spaceflight. as everyone here knows, this isn't an easy sell. space exploration requires the advance preparation and research. and this committee and this congress dedicated to support a

requirement. the administration has consistently requested deductions for the programs despite the assistance of congress that they would be priorities. most recently the president's budget for fiscal year 2015 included a request to reduce the programs by over 330 million compared to fiscal year 2014 enacted appropriation. additionally in the 2013 and 2014 budget request, the administration asked for the reductions of 175,000,087,000,144,000,000 respectively for the orion program relative to the enacted appropriations. congress had agreed to the request, orion and sls would have incurred hundreds of millions of dollars in reductions and would have faced significant delays in mass layoffs. thankfully the congress listened to the program managers and the industry partners to ensure that these programs were appropriately funded. congress has demonstrated support by providing funding well above the president's budget request and on the bus

for fiscal year 15. while the programs may not enjoy support within the administration, they certainly do from congress. but may be very clear congress will not agree to get into the program not now or anytime in the foreseeable future. the human exploration program has been plagued with instability in the changing requirements, budgets and missions. we cannot change the program if the record anytime that there is a new president. the committee is consistent and unwavering in the commitment to human exploration. i'm confident they will continue into the future. while this hearing is certainly an opportunity to subvert the great progress of the sls programs, particularly last week's test flight, the committee has ongoing concerns about the challenges facing these vital programs. in a letter that the nasa at the street or chair means that invite address our concerns for the delay is exploration mission one, that has been slated for

2017 and is now potentially delay to the latest fiscal year 2018. the administration's letter back to the committee was unresponsive in the original timeline laid out. at the very least we need to know where the expectations and are they on track to meet these expectations. in addition, we consistently submit the funding requests and the administration also appears to be limited in usefulness of the funding that it does receive. for example the administration treatment has hundreds of millions of dollars from being used in a meaningful development or also the committee has learned that the administration has given direction to the sls and orion programs to plan the sending rates consistent rate consistent with the president's budget request into the higher continuing resolution level. combine these efforts and undermining the successful development of the national

prairie programs. in a recent report the resources needed to be matched is of the long-term report ability to government accountability office highlighted technical scheduled risks nasa hadn't brought to the attention of the committee. specifically, they stated that according to the programs risk analysis the agency's current funding plan may be 400 million short of what the program needs to launch by 2017. it was surprising to hear about the shortfall sends the administrator previously testified that if we added 300 million to the program you wouldn't know it. it isn't unreasonable to expect the administration to be straightforward about the risk and cost associated with the priority programs. as we look to continue pushing towards mars we must talk honestly and realistically about the programs into what we can accomplish with them. we want to be partners moving

forward, not competitors. unfortunately the administration has not allowed for that cooperation. the test last week was an important milestone in the future of the space program. it was a fully commercial mission licensed by the federal aviation administration conduct of the private sector. in the future, they will serve as the tip of the spear for the nation's space exploration program. recently, some have argued that the government shouldn't be involved in space exploration at all and suggested the private sector alone is capable of leading us into the cosmos. i certainly hope that this will someday be possible but right now is based exploration requires government support. this is a worthwhile investment for the taxpayer and inspires the generation to pursue science technology engineering and math and advances the softcover and international relations and reinforces the industrial base and increases economic competitiveness and advances the national security interest.