cheek when i got her back and every day when i was in the shelter i wanted to learn how to be a good mother to my daughter. . .

you have no other identity. [speaking spanish] >> translator: and that is what makes me stand here today and raise my voice to say enough. >> president obama spoke with reporters today following a daylong meeting at camp david with arab leaders of the gulf cooperation council. he addressed several issues including iran nuclear negotiations, conflict in syria israel and palestine and today's

vote in the senate to advance trade legislation. he also talked about u.s. commitment to maintaining security in the gulf region. the president's remarks around 35 minutes. >> good evening. the four i get to what we discussed here today with our gulf partners i want to get -- again express my deepest condolences to the families of those who died in tuesday's terrible train derailment outside of philadelphia. i want to express my gratitude for the first responders who race to save lives and for the many passengers who despite their own injuries made heroic efforts to get fellow passengers to safety. and for a lot of people on that

train it was a routine journey. a commute, a business trip, for the amtrak employees were badly hurt it was their office, place of doing business in that is what makes it all the more tragic. until we know for certain what caused this tragedy want to reiterate what i have our descent, that we are a growing country with a growing economy. we need to invest any of the structure that keeps us that way and not just when something bad happens like a bridge collapse or a train development but all the time. those with great nations do so i'd offer my prayers for those who grieve for a speedier recovery for the many who were injured as they work to recover and we will cooperate obviously at every level of government to make sure that we get answers in terms of precisely what happened. now, to the work that brought us to camp david. for the past 70 years the united states has maintained a core national security interest in

the security and stability of the middle east generally in the gulf region specifically. there's a fundamental tenet of american foreign policy upheld by generations of american servicemembers and reaffirmed by every u.s. president including me. since i took office we have tested by their security cooperation partners saudi arabia the united arab emirates kuwait amman qatar and bahrain. at a time of extraordinary challenges across the middle east including complex that it told and told human suffering the united states and our gcc partners cooperate extensively countering terrorist groups like al qaeda and now isil opposing the assad regime against serious people supporting the legitimate government of yemen and opposing iran's destabilizing actions across the middle east. i invited our gcc partners here

today to deepen our corporation to work together to resolve complex across the region. i want to thank each of the leaders and delegations who attended. we approached our discussions in the spirit of mutual respect. we agree that the security of the relationship between the states in our gcc partners will remain a cornerstone of regional stability and our relationship is a two-way street. we all have responsibilities and here at camp we decided to expand our partnership to several important in concrete ways. first i am reaffirming our ironclad commitment to the security of our gulf partners. as we declared in a joint statement the united states is prepared to work jointly with gcc member states to deter and confront an external threat to any gcc states and territorial conflict. in the event of such a question or a threat of such aggression united states stands ready to work with our gcc partners to

urgently determine what actions may be appropriate using the means at our collective disposal including military force or for the defense of our gcc partners. and let me underscore the united states keeps our commitments. second and to back up our words with deeds, we will increase our already extensive security cooperation to expand their military exercises and assistance to meet the full range of threats in particular terrorism. this means more training and cooperation between our special operations forces sharing more information for stronger border security to prevent the flow of foreign fighters and increased enforcement to prevent terrorist financing. we will step up our efforts to counter violent extremism including on line and more broadly we will expand our cooperation on maritime security and work too hard and our partners -- partners critical infrastructure. third we will help our gulf partners improve their own capacity to defend themselves.

the united states will streamline and expedite the transfer of critical defense capability to our gcc partners. we will work together to develop an integrated gcc defense capability against ballistic missiles including an early warning system and we will work toward the development of rapid response capabilities to undertake missions such as counterterrorism and peacekeeping. fourth we pledge to work together to try to resolve our conflicts in the region and we have articulated core principles to guide our efforts, respect for state sovereignty recognition that these conflicts can only be resolved politically and acknowledgment of the importance of inclusive governance and the need to respect minorities and protect human rights. therefore with respect to syria we have committed to continuing to strengthen the moderate opposition to oppose all violent extremist groups and to testify or efforts to achieve a political inclusive government

without bashar al-assad. we will continue to support the iraqi government in its efforts against isil and reforms to make sure that the rights and opportunities of all iraqi's are fully respected. we welcome the humanitarian truce in yemen so urgently needed and we call on all parties in yemen to return to political talks facilitated by the united nations. we will step up our cause drivers to help form a national unity government in libya and counter the growing terrorists present their. we reiterate the urgent need for a two-state solution between israelis and palestinians. fifth, we spent considerable time discussing iran. i updated our gulf partners on negotiations toward her conference a deal to prevent iraq from obtaining a nuclear weapon. i'm pleased to hear camp david we agree a comprehensive verifiable solution that fully addresses the regional and international concerns about

iran's nuclear program is in the security interest of the international community including our gcc partners. of course whether we reach a nuclear deal or not with iran we are still going to face a range of threats across the region including its destabilizing activities as well as a threat from terrorist groups so we will work together to address these threats and much of the enhanced security cooperation that i've outlined will allow us to do precisely that. i want to be very clear, the purpose of security cooperation is not to perpetuate in a long-term confrontation with iran or even to marginalize iran iran. none of her nations have an interest in open in the iran. we welcome and iran that plays a responsible role in the region one that takes concrete practical steps to build trust and resolve its differences with its neighbors by peaceful means

and abides by international rules and norms. as i said before intentions in the region in resolving this conflict will require broader dialogue one that includes iran and its gcc neighbors and so the key purpose of bolstering the capacity of our gcc partners has to ensure that our partners can deal with iran politically diplomatically from a position of confidence and strength. and finally quelled the summit was focused on security cooperation since the beginning of the arab spring a reminder that chair and lasting security includes governance that serves all citizens and respects universal human rights. so in the middle east as we do around the world the united states will continue to speak out on behalf of inclusive governance representation -- representative institutions and we will work to expand educational and economic opportunities that allow people

especially young people to fulfill their potential. again i want to thank all of our gcc partners for making this summit a success. i believe the camp david commitments i've described today can mark the beginning of a new era of cooperation between our countries closer stronger partnership that advances our mutual security for decades to come. without i'm going going to take some questions and i will start with julie pace as ice promised her in the oval office that i will call on her. >> you mentioned your statement the flawed support from the gcc for stopping iran from getting nuclear weapons. did you you get in a specific commitments from the gulf leaders for the framework that he reached a few months ago and a commitment to not publicly opposed a deal if you're able to reach that and the main concern iran's destabilizing activity in the region how can you really assure that iran would not continue that activity if they had an influx of money from sanctions relief if they are dealing with a weaker economy?

>> we didn't have a document that we presented to them to sign on the bottom line will you approve of this nuclear framework deal because the deal is not completed and in the same way that i wouldn't ask of the united states senate or the american people to sign off on something before they have seen the details of it and given that i'm not going to sign off on any deal until i have seen the details of it i wouldn't expect them to either. what i did hear from our gcc partners was their agreement that if we can get a comprehensive verifiable deal that cuts off the pathways to a nuclear weapon but that would be in their interest in the interest of the region as well as the world's community and so

the question is then going to be his iran prepared to do what is required for the international community to feel confident that in fact it's not developing a nuclear weapon and we have set up the inspection regimes that allow such competence to be maintained not just next year or five years from now but out into the future. so what we did was we had secretary kerry secretary monies who obviously was involved in negotiations as well to walk through why it was that we were confident that if the framework agreement we have arrived at work to be solidified that in fact we could verify that they did not have a nuclear weapon and that was important to them and they think it gave them additional confidence. there was a concern that i share that even if we deal effectively with the nuclear issue that we

will still have a problem with some of the iran's destabilizing activities and the number of them did express the concern that with additional resources through the reduction in sanctions that was wasn't possible that iran would siphon off a lot of these resources into more deeds they blessing activity. secretary jack lew was there to explain the first of all there would be no sanctions removed until we could confirm that iran had carried out its obligations under any nuclear deal. secondly we gave them our best analysis of the enormous needs that iran has internally and the commitment that iran has made to its people in terms of shoring up its economy and improving economic growth and as i pointed out most of the destabilizing activity that iran engages in is

low-tech low-cost activity so part of my emphasis to them was that if we are focusing more effectively on the things we need to do to shore up defenses and improve intelligence improve the capacity for maritime monitoring of what is taking place in the gulf if we are working in concert to address the terrorist activity and countering terrorist messages that are coming not just from state sponsors like iran but more broadly from organizations like isil then we are going to be able to fortify ourselves and deal with many of these challenges much more effectively and we can do so from a position of strength and confidence. so it's not to deny the concerns

that were there are about what happens when sanctions are reduced but it was to emphasize that what matters more is the things that we can do now to ensure that some of the destabilizing activity is no longer taking taking place and of course when you look at her place like yemen the issue there is that the state itself was crumbling and if we can do a better job in places like syria, yemen and libya and building up functional political structures then it's less like he that anybody including iran can exploit some of the divisions that exist there. michael vaquero. >> thank you mr. president. on syria one of the reasons we are here is because many in the

region are upset. more than two years ago when bush are all so deployed chemical weapons there was no retaliation on the part of the u.s.. now there is the possibility that assad has once again use chemical weapons. what would you tell these leaders here who are disappointed last time and will you use military response if it's confirmed that he used chemical weapons again and if i could ask another question as well sir and this one is about the environment and drilling in the arctic. this nation the united states is a net exporter for the first time in years partly due to fracking and some environmentalists have objected to something you regard as all of the above energy strategy that the oil company shell has had a very mixed record drilling in that region. many environmentalists look at it and say is it really worth the risk to drill with such a delicate ecosystem?

thank you. >> first of all michael i don't know why you were here but the reason i'm here is not because of what happened in syria a couple of years ago. the reason i'm here is because we have got an extraordinary challenge her out the region and not just in syria but in iraq yemen libya and the development development of isil in their interest to make sure we don't have a nuclear weapon in iran. with respect to syria my commitment was to make sure that syria was not using chemical

when it's used in this fashion it can be considered a prohibited the use of that particular chemical so we are working with the international community to investigate that and in fact if we have the kinds of confirmation that we need we will once again work with the international community and the

organization charged with monitoring compliance by the syrian government and we will reach out to patrons of assad like russia to put a stop to it. with respect to the situation in the arctic, i think it's fair to say that i know a little something about the risks of offshore drilling given what happened in the gulf very early in my presidency and so nobody is more mindful of the risks involved and the dangers. that is why despite the fact that shell had put in an application for exploration in this region several years ago we delayed it for a very lengthy period of time until they could provide us with the kinds of assurances that we have not seen before, taking account of the extraordinary challenges if in fact there was a leak that far

north in that kind of environment which would be much more difficult to deal with than in the gulf. based on those very high standards shall have to go back to the drawing board, revamp its approach and the experts at this point have concluded that they have met those standards, but keep in mind that my approach when it comes to fracking, drilling u.s. energy production of oil and natural gas has remained consistent throughout. i believe we are going to have to transition off of fossil fuels as a planet in order to prevent climate change. i'm working internationally to reduce our carbon emissions and to replace over time fossil fuels with clean energies. obviously we started home with all the work we have done to

poor example double the use of clean energy but i think it's important also to recognize that is going to be a transition process in the meantime read rate we are going to continue to use fossil fuels when it can be done safely and appropriately. u.s. production of oil and natural gas is important. i would rather us with all the safeguards and standards that we have been producing our oil and gas rather than importing it which is bad for our people but also potentially purchased from places without much lower environmental standards than we do. >> thank you mr. president. i would like to ask you about trade. the senate move forward on a bill today to improve your trade legislation and it also moved

forward with a proposal to punish countries like china or what they do in terms of manipulating their currency. could you potentially see yourself accepting senator schumer's language or would you have to veto that and secondly could you talk about your relationship with -- and do you regret the fact that this has become so personal on trade. >> that was the second question, wasn't it so thirdly is what you are saying. >> yeah. you mentioned the issue of a state -- two-state solution with israel and i was wondering if you would give your reaction to what the pope is moving forward with in terms of recognizing this day. you think that's a good idea or do you think it's a mistake or do you think it might help or hinder the two-state solution you mentioned earlier? >> okay well first of all i want to congratulate the senate on moving forward on providing

immediate authority to not only strike a smart progressive growth promoting trade deal with some of the country's major pacific regions potentially europe as well but also to give me the tools to enforce those agreements which happened always happened in the past. so i want to thank all the senators who voted to provide that authority or at least to begin the debate on moving that process forward. those who didn't vote for it i want to keep on trying to make the case and provide them the information they need to feel confident that despite the fact that there have been very genuine problems with some trade deals in the past the approach that we are taking here making it the right one not just for big u.s. businesses but also for

small u.s. businesses and medium-sized u.s. businesses and most importantly ultimately american workers. i would not the promoting any agreement that i didn't think at the end of the day was going to be creating jobs and creating jobs united states and giving us more of an opportunity to create ladders of success higher incomes and higher wages for the american people because that is my primary focus. it has been since i came into office. the issue with respect to myself and elizabeth has never been personal. it's fun for the press to see if we can poke around at it and when you see two close allies of the disagreement on a policy issue that they are are a bunch

of my best friends in the senate as well is in the house. my earliest supporters who disagreement -- disagree with me on this and i understand because like me they came up through the ranks watching plants close jobs being shipped overseas. like me they have concerns about whether labor agreements or environmental agreements with other countries are properly enforced. like me they have concerns about whether in fact trade into being fair and not just free and like me they have a deep concern about some of the global trends that we have seen and trends that we have seen in countries in terms of increased inequality in what appears to be the effects on a nation and

globalization and allowing folks at the top to do really really well but creating stagnation in terms of incomes and wages for middle-class families and folks working to get their way into the middle class. so these are folks whose values are completely in line with mine mine. i noticed that there was sort of a progressive statement at decibels about what it means to be a progressive by some of these friends of mine and i noted that it's basically my agenda except for trade. the one area where there was a significant difference and this comes down to a policy difference and analysis in terms of what we think is best for our people, our constituents. it is my firm belief that despite the problems the previous trade deals and we are

better off writing high standard rules with strong enforceable provisions on things like child labor or d4 station arm bar mental degradation or what wildlife trafficking or intellectual property, we are better off writing those rules for what is going to be the largest fastest growing market in the world and if we don't china will and other countries will and our businesses will be disadvantaged and our workers will ultimately suffer. and the terms of some of the fears of outsourcing of jobs it is my belief based on the analysis that at this point if there was a company in the united states that was looking for full cost labor they had no problem outsourcing it under the current regime and so what we do have the opportunity to do is to attract back companies that manufacture here in the united

states and we are seeing some of that happened. that is why went out to nike. i understand that nike has been manufacturing shoes with low cost labor in many of these areas in the asia-pacific region and that hurt the american footwear industry in terms of jobs here in the united states but that happened over the course of the last 30 years and now for nike to announce that because of new technology there are potentially bringing 10,000 jobs back here because we have gone up the value chain and manufacturing in different ways that's an opportunity that we have to be able to sell over there to take full advantage of those opportunities which is why my argument with my progressive friends is what we really need to be focusing on to me the same objectives, the shared objectives is the kinds of other issues that we all agree on strong minimum wage strong job training programs, infrastructure investment to put people back to work, stronger laws to protect collective bargaining and capability of

workers to have the voice, strong enforcement of rules around things like overtime pay making sure that we have paid sick leave making sure that we have an honest conversation about our budgets and that we are not slashing investments in the future simply to make sure we are preserving loopholes for corporations that don't provide any economic benefit. those are the things that are going to help us address the very problems they are concerned about. blocking a trade deal will not particularly since they are the first ones to acknowledge the existing trade rules aren't bad deal for u.s. workers. if they are not working for us now how does hanging on to what is going on now help american workers? it doesn't make sense. i'm all for enforcement in the provisions that were signed. i have expressed concerns about

how the currency language that is in the bill is drafted but i have talked to senator schumer sherrod brown and others about how we can work on language that does not end up having a blowback effect on our ability to maintain our monetary policy. i don't even remember what your other question was. rather than speak for others i will reiterate what i have said previously. i continue to believe that two-state solution is absolutely vital for not only peace between israelis and palestinians but for the long-term security of israel and a democratic and jewish state and i know our

government has been formed that contain some folks who don't necessarily believe in that premise but that continues to be my premise and since we are up here at camp david i think it's important to remind ourselves the degree to which a very hard peace deal that requires incredible vision and courage and tough choices resulted in what has now been a lasting peace between countries that used to be sworn enemies and israel is better off for it. i think the same would be true if we get it peace deal between the israelis and the palestinians. that prospect seems distant now but i think it is always important for us to keep in mind what is right and what is possible.

okay, last question. scott. >> thank you mr. president. you mentioned at the outset our need for world-class infrastructure. we are coming up on a deadline for the highway trust fund. with gas prices where they are why isn't this a good time to consider a hike in the federal gas tax which might serve some of the carbon goals he talked about and since you mentioned the overtime rules i know it's been 14 months since these department put this together and they went to omb next week. how soon might we see those? >> soon. and with respect to transportation you are absolutely right that now is the time for us to get something done. i am practical and in order for us to get a transportation bill done i have got to get cooperation from a republican-controlled congress and so i am in discussions with

the majority and minority leaders in both chambers as well as the relevant committee chairpersons. we want to hear their ideas. we want to find out what's possible. i think that's going to be something that we need to explore but this is not an area where either side should be looking for political points. this did not used to be a partisan issue. building roads, building bridges, building airports, sewer lines dams, ports this is how we grow. this is how america became an economic superpower was investing in our people, investing in infrastructure doing it better and faster and bigger than anybody else. we should be doing the same thing now. the first republican president a proud native of my own state

named mr. lincoln even in the midst of civil war was looking at how we join the country together through our railways and our canals and we shouldn't be thinking smaller. today we need to be thinking bigger in this global economy. so my hope is that we have a chance to have a serious discussion and look at all potential revenue sources. the highway trust fund has consistently gotten smaller and smaller and smaller and inadequate for their needs. what is also true is patchwork approaches of three months or six months at time don't make any sense. we need some sort of long-term solution. nobody foresaw that we could actually get a doc fix and

actually saw the long-term problem there in terms of how we are managing medicare payments for doctors. who knows? maybe we might see some intelligent bipartisan outbreaks over the next few months. i think everybody recognizes important. thank you very much everybody. president obama returns to washington tomorrow and will attend a tribute to law enforcement officers who lost their lives in the line of duty over the past year. may 15 was designated as national peace officers memorial day by president kennedy in 1962 and coincides with national police week. see live coverage of the memorial service which also includes remarks from the paternal order of police beginning at 11:00 eastern here on c-span2.

house speaker john boehner commented today on ongoing negotiations at the highway trust fund bill pay the measure provides for long-term u.s. transportation funding and infrastructure development. here is a look. >> there is a conversation going on between democrats and republicans, the house and senate over how to deal with the highway funding authorizations

but no decision has been made. >> would you be okay with -- the. >> that would work or we had a permanent five year or longer highway funding program in place place. [inaudible] >> it's probably not going to happen next week. >> what is your preference? >> my preferences whatever we can get agreement on amongst all the parties involved which you are well aware is always difficult. also discussing the highway bill today former clinton transportation secretary rodney slater former mississippi republican senator trent lott and former louisiana republican senator john growth moderated panels on long-term u.s. transportation funding in infrastructure development. participants included deputy transportation secretary current and former members of congress and industry representatives. this event is sponsored by law

firms squier patton boggs and the council on -- it runs two hours. [inaudible] to one of more than 50 such events sponsored over the course of this week to highlight the importance of infrastructure investment to our improved quality of life and our economic competitiveness and well-being. over the duration of the next two hours while gathered in this this, the historic house

transportation and infrastructure hearing room, he would hear from chairman bill shuster and ranking member peter defazio leaders of this distinguished committee. you will also hear from deputy secretary victor mendez as well as other transportation and infrastructure leaders from across the united states. our two panels will be moderated by distinguished former members of the u.s. house of representatives and the u.s. senate former majority leader trent lott and the distinguished senator from louisiana john breaux. infrastructure week started monday of this week with comprehensive presentations by vice president joe biden and u.s. secretary of transportation anthony foxx followed by panel

discussions that included voices from a diverse quarters if you will of our society. rich trumka president of the afl-cio tamara lungren chairwoman of the u.s. chamber of commerce and the noted harvard or kesser rose at that mosque cantor who unveils her new book move, putting america's infrastructure back in the lead. today's session was focused on the specific and particularly important topic long-term transportation funding the imperative that's it relates to u.s. competitiveness and leadership in the global marketplace. to begin i would like to call forward victoria kram who is the

cochair of the squire patton boggs transportation infrastructure and local governments practice group to introduce ranking member peter defazio who will bring opening remarks to be followed by senator lott and our distinguished first panel. vicki. >> thank you secretary slater. it is morning everyone. it is my great pleasure to introduce peter defazio. he was first elected in 1986 and is now the longest serving house member in oregon history. he has served on the house transportation and infrastructure committee since he was first elected. the ranking member transportation and infrastructure committee and you

will know that he is passionate about transportation policy. he has been integral to the development of every transportation aviation bill over the last 25 years. he is known to understand the need for and to spot long term transportation and i want to be brief and bring the congressman up. [applause] >> thanks vicki. trent and i were reminiscing about tenure here and i've been here so long that i will start with this point. the last time as you all know we raise the gas tax was 1993 and that was with the dad of the current chairman but shuster and brought a group to vote with the then majority democrats. we raise the gas tax and ran a

very bipartisan bill for blood and bill and i are teamed up and if you stay around long enough i don't think i will be around for the grandkids from the family. so as you know our country is falling apart. very briefly 140000 bridges need repair or replacement and 40% of the highway system surface not just surface but you have to dig up the road that substantial renovation. we are now up to 86 billion dollar backlog on our existing transit system. it's so bad we are killing people here in washington d.c. on the metro system because of the state of disrepair on the system. that is pretty bad news altogether. the good news is we have -- much stronger than the pentagon and

if we make these investments will put a heck of a lot of people to work not just in construction and manufacturing, not just steal that high-tech manufacturing when it comes to transit vehicles and a lot of small businesses will be contributed to this effort. it's imperative we get to that point. we got a roadmap back. we had two commissions and they did great work. one focused mostly on the system itself as the state of disrepair and the other focus specifically on finance. if you want to know all the potential options go back and look at that finance report. we have invested many new ones except perhaps for some things that might deal with the tax code which we were talking about them because we were much more focused on the user fee based system and i as a member of the committee himself look is principally on the user fee based system. it is proven and i think it's a possible way to go forward. the problem is the president has been opposed.

the speaker is opposed. we have a few roadblocks there but more and more rank-and-file members are coming up to me from both sides of the aisle and saying you get your bill and i will talk about that in a minute to the floor i will look for it but i'm not going to put my name on it. the ice is kind of melting here. we went through that period for a couple of years for some people who believed in so-called devolution. i didn't bring my poster here today which i have carried around the country for years. i don't need it anymore now that jim has declared the devolution. dead. we are done with that but they are are still some devolution in the house and the poster i have is from a picture from "life" magazine in 1956 and is an aerial shot of this beautiful ribbon of concrete brand-new kansas turnpike and it ends and it's kind of these weird angles

that are dark. what is back? that happens to be the oklahoma state line. if oklahoma said if you build it we will build it and they got into some difficulties and those are farm fields which is where the new freeway or turnpike and it. people crashed through it and he could have made a lot of money. until the eisenhower bill and then when oklahoma and got in the timeshare with the feds they built it. we have tried devolution and it didn't work in the 1950s so it sure as hell isn't going to work in a 21st century while you're competing with other countries spending up to 10% of their gdp moving goods and people when we are down around 1% grade i give a lot of speeches on this and i talk about the deteriorated condition. we used to be number one in the world and we are rated 26 and of

the structure. blumenauer came up to me after one of his speeches and he said that was -- i said you know how bad things are. he said you are insulting third world countries because they are investing more in gdp and infrastructure than we are. so i have now taken to calling is the fourth world jump into the back of the pack. we need to make these investments and i know you will have the competitiveness panel later talking about the implications to the u.s. in the world so i won't go into that. i will focus more on the finance side. the two problems with the gas tax obviously one is we have it raises since 93 and construction costs have gone up dramatically. it seems to me had we indexed it back then we would have a problem. we can still index it today. that doesn't get you too much comic you choose 26 and a gallon but his key militant overtime. it at least to stop losing

grandpa add another factor which would be fuel economy that's the other reason to trust fund is in trouble. our vehicles are driving particularly light trucks and cars are driving more miles. there are more of them on the road but they are consuming less fuel. if you double index the gas tax to fleet fuel economy and construction contemplation the estimates last like iran estimates and the secretary really like this idea would be 1.7 cents a gallon a year. i don't think any of my colleagues believe they will lose their election if they vote for taxation and gas prices by 1.7 cents. when you go by the gas station you probably saw the digital sign going up and nickel so 1.7 cents isn't going to help you. there are still some reluctance that they would need something like that before they vote for it. that doesn't solve the problem but the wood project that cash flow which is what i worked with

rayon and we would borrow a lot of money put it in the trust fund and dedicate that increment on the gas tax for as long as it took to pay that down. back when he ran the numbers when interest rates were low because it are up 140 billion paid it back in 15 years so that is the media problem with the trust fund and the midterm problem with the trust fund. they're still an issue about what we are going to do going forward but it gets us through six are robust bill that nets is $140 billion. that is not never caught on although there have been other more and more people have talked about the potential for indexation. i put that idea out there and i think it was 06. since i wasn't getting anywhere with that i thought when they try something else. another way to go and what is interesting as is this has been done recently. virginia moved to a somewhat complicated tax at the wholesale

level tax and pennsylvania just recently raised their transportation fund with a wholesale level tax and at the time pennsylvania and virginia are red states so there seemed to be some acceptance of the idea that if we move the tax upstream it simple to collect a higher level and maybe we can use that to lose the income. i propose a barrel tax. it would only tax the fraction of a barrel of oil that goes into taxable transportation so i'm not going after the farmers. i'm not going after the tax-exempt trait i'm not going after the manufacturing or any of that stuff. it's only the part that goes to currently taxable transportation use and a barrel tax is very simple to collect and you can assess either an equivalent on imported refined fuel.

there isn't a heck of a lot of that but there is some and again i would use the projected income of the barrel tax at a point in index that and do the same thing borrow money up front. the way i designed this last year and the year before would be the first year even if the oil companies could pass through every penny of the tax in the first year attacked with a currently lower lower than it is today by 1.5 cents and over time we would grow and we could borrow against the future projected income. i worked this really hard. rahm emanuel theoretically i'm told that the white house to agree. i don't know how he did because larry summers was never helpful on transportation. anyway i'm glad he is gone. ron ron said ivan agreement and he saw me before he left and he said we will go for the barrel tax.

and that was the end of the bat, no more discussion. so finally i thought how can i get people who are against taxes but agree we need to invest and i said how about doing something similar to what virginia did. eliminate the retail diesel and the retail gas tax and get rid of the truck tire tax which was making a lot of people unhappy, for heavy trucks and then go to a barrel tax eliminating that. you have to set the barrel tax little higher but same thing even if they pass it through the first year there is a good brand study on a different kind of barrel tax. because of the way oil markets work in all probability they would not be able to pass 100% of the time to consumers. that would be an added benefit to opec and major oil producers.

those ideas are out there. i put them out. we haven't gotten very far. we had a new proposal somewhat similar a couple of weeks ago which is a breakthrough because it's bipartisan. it is renacci, ripple and bill pascrell. they have proposed something a little complicated. they would single indexed the gas tax assume that money over 10 years and that would give us one year spending for current levels and highways in the trust fund. and then they would have a commission. the commission would meet, deliberate and put forward a proposal to congress on how to fund taxation needs and then congress didn't act that would be some sort of automatic increase of the gas tax. so sort of a rude goldberg but i

don't care. anything that we can get done is fine with me. there are others. barbara boxer and i can't remember rand paul, wright's proposed au repatriation to pay moving outside the user pays idea and there has been to some discussion over here. paul says he is going to find a way to do this. the thing is they have adopted dynamic scoring in the house. now the rule in the house that this will be dynamically scored so you could cut taxes and assume revenues that will put it in the trust fund. if the revenues don't show up -- i'm not opposed to borrowing money for infrastructure.

if we were corporation and building plant equipment we would borrow the money. if we are operating and borrowing when operating you are in trouble. we should have capital budgets and looking at these things as investments as opposed to one time expenditures in scoring everything the same way. i'm now how we are going to get there but there seems to be a rowing consensus. we just need a little shove. speaker boehner has assured chairman shuster that brian is going to find the money. we will see but right now this week five legislative days we have to lease reauthorized the spending or contract authority by the end of this month. so that is the potential looming problem. there is a debate over whether we should reauthorized with no additional money through july or august 1.

that is already having an impressive threat on construction around the country because with the current levels on or about the first of september declaring the trust fund insufficient spending reimbursement to the states. a number of states have constitutions or charters are requirements where they can't deal with that create they just can't deal with it. a number of states because of the uncertainty have already canceled their projects. my state is moved from major investments to more maintenance kinds of things, lesser projects. so if we do a two-month thing with no money it's better than doing nothing. but there is going to be less demand for it. the other option as we go to october 1 somewhat logical in terms of budget year. or we go to december 31 the end of the calendar year. i personally am in the end of

the calendar year year camp but that takes us $11 billion and remove the uncertainty to the state. we get a more robust construction fee. i have been in a lot of discussions about this over the last few days and it's not clear where we are going. people have moved back and forth on both sides of the hill on about the turn of the should be. the administration opposed to short-term no money. for a while that went great in the senate and then they backed off. on the house side bill has proposed that we do the year and and then of course we have to find the $11 billion to get to year-end. that is a brief summary of where we are at or where we'd like to go and i would be happy to take questions for a couple of minutes. anybody? are right good, i will leave.

[laughter] anybody have a question? ..

>> >> of course, have to get funding somehow from the paul ryan ways and means committee but as a know from past experience with shuster at the helm riding shotgun good things can happen.

also for the record for the $10 billion he got back and he was secretary that is the great airport with $100 million for that one. but we want to move right along first average just like to get each member of the panel to be recognized. first of all, of the president and ceo and regina who was president and ceo of the society of america. and the congressman from utah the knowledge of his

house on a lot of good things including trade in then we have michael lewis president and ceo of the deputy secretary of transportation got a few things going but then allowed him a to ease out with the panel. but i think the timing is significant as a leadership in the senate with the infrastructure funding we need to do what is necessary with though whole package with the people liked the

highway bills with their resources with the aggressive advocate and amtrak and still feel very strongly about that. it is like supply-side economics if you want more growth you have to invest in it. if we compete in the global economy we have to improve our global infrastructure so we will commit to that we will get this done so when i got that call from president reagan from the secretary of transportation and we ought

to have the guts to do it again. so let's just part thank you for being here to set the parameters. >> thank you very much and good morning i like your idea about the whole package. but one item that is important with the very significant event with amtrak i just want to make sure all the folks that were affected hopefully we will of the speedy recovery that first responders who were on point immediately our deepest thanks to them and the other thing that i

observed as there is always the silver lining. in the united states people step up and you can see people helping each other trying to help them get out of the wreckage watching an interview talking about her experience she looked at her shoes. someone gave me their shoes. that's what we need to do so wanted to recognize that. but with the infrastructure because we celebrate what we do but in today's world but to recognize long-term as

administration was working pretty hard to get the country to look at the infrastructure investment we did unveil of steady that is the 30-year framework the topline to have 70 million more people over the next 30 years with an increase so if you add that and couple it together you think about what does that look like? not just the issues for to day but the demand of the future. over the past six years congress has funded our programs through 32 extensions.

in the private sector you do not run your business to a three months at a time and one could argue it was a 27 month extension in but that is not how you run a multibillion-dollar per year business and as somebody mentioned some states have pulled back for this construction in season about $2 million worth a picture mitt because they don't of the certainty their federal partner will be there. so the timing just is not good if we don't expand beyond may 31st at expiration is coming up in a couple of weeks because of a the long term approach.

the administration under president obama we call it the grow america act the investment plan for the country we have submitted it to congress that if you don't like our idea is we want to hear yours we are prepared to chat so i will wrap up my comments because we're short on time but at the federal level we want to be good for the end -- federal partners of what supports real and the frail and dash rail system not just today but into the future looking at any city and what has happened from the economic impact the history is there.

they give for inviting as. >> and thank you for your time i do remember with the highway bills and the legislator was hanging out in my office and almost got him a desk. [laughter] get in the house and the senate to meet with those leaders who work together we have not had enough of that but when you sit down and talk it is amazingly you can accomplish how about that congressman? you have found a way to get results? >> thank you senator is good to be back where i joined this committee as the freshman.

i do have the magic formula but i have some thoughts the way we can frame the issue and first of all, we all recognize the goal you have members of congress that understands the need for investment infrastructure security passed a significant hurdle of the issue at hand so we can agree where we want to be and challenge us how we get there is very difficult to come up with the long term solution that adequate cleveland's our infrastructure the ranking member did an excellent job to describe the last few years with the summary of the needs that we have. how do we move forward from there?

but in congress there is of certain understanding of the cost of uncertainty but the first year business scores learning that it is a cost the future always have a level of uncertainty but to put in another there on top of that with the short term extending is a cost for the country i would suggest they need an education on the importance of that cost of additional risk that hurt the country's economic foundation so we need to continue to emphasize that long-term certainty for those who make decisions but the title of this panel is competitiveness have increased opportunities to enhance the rest of the

world that is a great framework for this issue to reach members of congress is no secret it is characterized by the polarization that has fallen into the trap of the us person is the mentality but maybe we can shift that then is the rest of the world and thus is the united states of america to have greater emphasis to reach consensus because the fact of the matter is those who want substantive details but investment infrastructure is of a key factor they invest in far greater percentages of gp and even in the new did digital world it turns

out infrastructure still matters more because you have to be so much more efficient than it is the important part of the efficiencies so i am proud it is it in the context of competitiveness that is the framework congress should look at this issue for the long term transportation bill. >> we're going to be really good ways to find to get things done. >> we're all highway users reader like gridlock either so from the point of view of highway users for the competitiveness is the great honor to be here and i

worked here as a lowly stafford so it is an honor to be back here to talk about these issues. the organization around representing those around the country the motorcyclist gore the truckers' those the rely on logistics' like ups in basically the taxpayer of the for those who pay the gas tax law would they want to raise the gas tax? we paid our full share one into% of the interstates even enough for other things including public transit programs we want to be responsible citizens to pay our way and the key thing is

can you imagine what our country would be like if we didn't have a highway trust fund? often we justify this program on the basis of jobs and we are being short-sighted because of the really need to talk about the investment and roads for the united states. we have a network of only 40,000 of which is on the interstate system that carries 25 percent of the traffic in this country 40 percent of the traffic on 3% of the road so the project that benefits every citizen to invest in a core system is a no-brainer. we have to get past the idea simply cutting always is

everything we need to do so i am here on behalf of road users we need to invest a user fees and receive the benefits far greater than the cost we raised over $200 billion but we lose that one-third of which could be prevented and reached over $200 million in traffic congestion that could be adjusted through technological investments. the cost-benefit ratio is as much as $42 in benefits for congestion improvements is $6 for every $1 reinvest we draw from number one thru number 26 we're just so

afraid to say we have to pay more that we let our country go to hell. so on behalf of users the retailers and restaurants those that have trucks all over the roads every single one and are hurt when they cannot get their product or services to people and they need to engage it is maybe number six source seven but that is an important way to reach out so i appreciate the opportunity to be a part of that. >> how can we have intelligence? >> with all those wonderful companies doing development across this country frankly

we have to start with where we are unfortunate to work in the trucking industry and telecommunications l.i. unfortunate and throughout to be associated with the transportation initiative looking where you want to take the country we have to have good roads and a good infrastructure and also think where we will be in the future of america has been extraordinary that we developed the intellectual capacity around technology that is worth the affiliate's to around the world because it is an international issue and while we are struggling not just this week but as the

world economy with the world investment i sat as a young child to watch as my father came up here year after year as chairman of the arkansas highway commission tear talk about look 20 years out or 30 years out yes famous deal with the issues but let's also have some foresight. soties use it to your in this room special these secretaries later should we tell them how long we have been friends? [laughter] but looking for word out can

reuse technology is the nation's largest organization with research and development in deployment and it is about 1200 public-private partnerships research and academia to say what are the issues now? were the issues for the future that we can use technology to a dance? little people i was coming here they said intelligent transportation? but it is about information and controlled technology to provide accurate and real-time information that will help us to make sure we go from talking about

surviving incidents to prepare incidents here to say it is an ancillary a discussion that is the year the congress put out $86 billion but don't just look at what you have but with the intelligent transportation in society in america to use those resources so i know there are a lot of things people want to say but i want 2.0 that this is just future oriented space to think the department of transportation because of the safety pilot 3,000 of these vehicles are already out on the road and

working with the dot they can push that out into other states. >> i have to tell a story but there is a lot of gadgets. but i had the hardest difficulty to adjust to it is heart stopping before i put on the break i am not sure i like that at first bayou get used to it. it is significant for safety and also before i colony michael i was for all sorts of transportation systems we didn't have a lot of those in mississippi i had the conference meeting and we were trying to kill that mass-transit pilot hillary

clinton. [laughter] was nine the committee and the conference so she was representing york and came out with the arguments and the statistics to not get out of the park that we are going to have to do this and read it that is a part of the whole package. >> thank you senator i am thankful for the opening story to help me to rally for public transportation. it is of privilege to be here to talk about global competitiveness in the role that transportation plays in the space. 2415 years ago cities or towns in america they are very international is cities

big and small but think back the transportation and choices were very by neary but today the subway or commuter train their using their phones to change how we move about our cities or how business come to our communities and special the international but say how can i get my people to work in is a thin dependable way? how can i be sure they will get out into the roadways but the reality is we have to find the efficient way to use the resources for

another 100 million people how will we make them work well together that is our works as a system of free kaput people long public transportation we can free of power and roadways to route our cities to do any more efficient and effective way we serve better moving those as depopulate those downtown at both ends of the spectrum to say i want to move downtown so if you look at these things last year we set a record of public transportation writer ship 10.8 billion trips the highest number since 1958

when the system was first signed into law. tremendous growth let's not forget there is a $0.43 drop in gas prices and a transit rider ship went up it is happening in cities big and small with those under the 100,000 population the majority of the funding comes from the federal government when 80 percent comes from capital purchases the role of government is to provide capital for the shelters and in the buildings the government doesn't build those things they find them. but it flows through to the

private sector to create jobs across this country in places like nebraska and north dakota and alabama to build trains and buses to make a huge impact on our economy ended is creating a sense of place and urgency to build new communities but transfer is the driver for new development as ec investment along these corridors there are local transit tax initiatives 49 of those past 69% passage rate 71% of initiatives are passed the local share is

there but it is a nationwide system that has to work together with the passengers paying their fair am of share. heart is not just the evidence packinghouse as we talk about the $86 billion backlog to keep the trains and buses running independently and on time so it must invest in a state of good repair so to stand up for transportation and day it is a great story national day of local advocacy 350 organizations around the country came from 150 vince more than 10 percent of congress they told those infrastructure story aviation transit and roads

and highway all came together so it is critical congress look at the multi-year well funded surface transportation bill at $100 billion for the next six years a program that has then stagnant since 2009 over $10 billion growing and by 2021 to make those investments into infrastructure it pays off whether trade control or the return on investment the 50,000 jobs created or maintained we have to look it infrastructure for this country the time is now the need is real the numbers show it good enough is not good enough to remain competitive in this world.

>> but i will say after that mass transit bill you have to become a a lawyer for the mississippi gulf coast but the buses made it possible to get to work. >> but this is about competitiveness with the senior fellow. >> there is a lot of pressures in our lives but i am very grateful to represent the membership today's ceos from labor unions and universities around this country to join that diverse coalition ready for structure week with investment in america's infrastructure that is

absolutely critical to our competitiveness. we although the statistics. many of you wrote them with the original research the american society of civil engineers with the investment gap into the trillions with the benefits at 3.1 trillion of gdp from fully close in infrastructure investment gap but they could get lost in all the zeros with the millions and the chileans the real cost can be far away but that is measured were in delays from mass

transit it is time away from your family and delays to invest to take advantage of opportunities for growth if you cannot predict where the economy will go with transportation or construction and you don't know of those federal dollars will be there to match or if you think about big businesses and not only make goods and services here but to export of the predictability and the capacity with manufacturing growth and manufacturing that they're willing to except goods today if it is costing in the aggregate in terms of loss of

competitiveness sometime in the future but that is the inability to create jobs today are to plan for the future and ultimately the loss of investment in your much more ready for the future. the tragedy is it doesn't have to be that way we can make the decision today to make those investments in infrastructure to keep our people moving. >> we will take just a of a question or to but that would give a hard question to the congressmen first. are they going to get this done this year? >> i wish i could tell you they would do long term but

i think it is the short term through december 31. >> then will paul ryan and schuster and others find a way to get a bill done? to get the major infrastructure or highway bills done it takes a while to get the courage to get it done. we have talked about that. we need to do with this year although i must confess they like to hold highway bills tuesday election year it would be smart politics to do with in the first quarter can we find a way to make this happen in? >> those individuals the leaders of the various committees.

>> if they can come together as they have in the past and anything is possible but you have to have the money. figure it out. any questions from anybody? i think we're close to being on time. thank you for being here roger. now bring up the next panel. [applause] >> they would just warmus up. now we will keep things going. to have communication from chairman schuster is in baltimore. we got a notice from this morning we will stay in touch the secretary mendez who pays respect to those

who lost their lives, said bin, at present and injured, more than 200. it is a significant incident. with the chairman to be there to take care of business. but then to bring on the next panel. thank you to all of you who are here and have another panel and hopefully informative end for the panelist. i served in this room for a very long time and the chairman of the committee sits there trying to set up by the cameras but they

didn't want to go along with that. with the panel about the difficulty to fund the transportation bill with that increase of 4.$0.3 and the agony that we went through to pass the $0.10 tax has it was going down in 1993 was 4.$0.3 tax -- gas tax you did not notice very much and i cannot tell you from a political standpoint i will put my name to increase the tax everybody will see it everyday every

event that they go to. i want to bring up the panel of what is happening right now. a lot of them are not being done but a lot of them a lot of projects that out there in the hour private sector make a big difference in the infrastructure to take the privilege of just being the moderator of the csx and right outside the radian building that now has all the permits this city the district the federal government to redos the virginia avenue tunnel.

is an old under the democratic club to bring real traffic called away from the south to the northeast you cannot put double stacked containers because the container is too low. it is a huge bottleneck. is the to do a double tracked the at the same time were the both of them that would eliminate the bottleneck. with a 2.3 billion dollars

of infrastructure and the reintroduce jennifer who is the group general manager so go ahead and make your comments to summarize and we will have questions. >> is such a of pleasure to be here to create the opportunity of a support forum. floor background with the international infrastructure base in northern australia

but we operate networks of toll roads to improve the ability and address congestion in major populated cities including here in the washington area with the express lanes that run through northern virginia but to put it public-private partnership to work to support those economic outcomes to focus on the opportunity and look at specific projects i want to do some with busting about sustainable funding for transportation and to widthwise public-private partnerships talk in a the revenue alternative for transportation and with

these partnerships that is not the case and all this i a i estimates there is $250 billion of private capital out there we could put to work to improve infrastructure in this country but the only way to tap into that is if we have stable funding to put both resources to work to drive transportation and and and outcome. looking at specific projects bringing the best of the public sector together is worth it to licking in individual projects here in

northern virginia on the other side them the river to see the outcomes from the partnership we have constructed a 45-mile network that to provide the option for more reliable in the congested virginia region they carry much for your business and you're here today because you took the express lane as some are probably sitting on i-95 at the moment but let's get those economic outcomes this is $3 billion worth of transportation improvement in the economic outcome treated $5 billion of economic opportunity in the virginia market including

$800 million of contacts if you look at a year like 2010 will express lane project for that one year they really hit the needle with the economic outcome virginia has to have credit because by using that public-private partnership they can give it a return of 110 times their investment to leverage private capital at 110 times return looking at capital cost that are provided through those projections to economic outcomes if you look at the network to what they provide the great story for '95 is open to travelers since 2012

-- 201295 is open for months it will show of the improved ability in the region and look march 2015 the 95 expressway the customers have an average of 20 or 30 minute saved her trap especially on thursdays and fridays saving and as much as two hours per trip to get them to work on time we have 610 bus trips every day so by looking at those solutions we can use those savings for bus travel and on i-95 30 percent of

traffic is carpool since we opened that three out of five using even more often because of that reliability for up -- of the project across the spectrum of travelers toll paying customers to reap the benefits now with the cat travelers who choose not to pay a toll to save between five and 30 minutes per trip because of the safety and mobility improvements so again it takes a lot of courage to try something bold and different view can deliver significant outcomes that drives our economy but

unless policy makers make other bold decisions to put long-term funding in place to help drive mobility here in the u.s. >> the next panel is the director of the transportation enterprises we are glad you're here and look forward to your comments. >> i.m. here today representing the of viewpoint of the state transportation provider i have been the director for five years within the colorado department of transportation which provides mobility read the

fourth in the metro denver area while colorado is not one of the top 10 states has doubled in size from that $8 million level we are projected to grow another 45 million in the next 20 years with important research centers that is critical not only to the state of colorado but the region itself has not increased its gas tax for 20 years we are facing a

horrendous financial crisis in terms of providing not only basic maintenance but the critical mobility needs in the metro area five years ago i participated in the creation of a peace of legislation that address day critical bridge and with much controversy we could enact the license plate fee which was earmarked for the repair of bridges in the state and we made some headway but to redress long-term needs retry to enact a pilot program on the user based feed and that lasted about 10 days in the

legislature before it was dumped out of the bill but the third part was the creation of the enterprise that i now direct of finance relief innovative finance was code word for public-private friendships a concept brand new in our state and still is in many parts of the country. as jennifer described some critical elements that our difficult to explain there isn't a funding source but a financing source we pay for the money provided by the private sector sometimes more dearly than others but

five years into the process we are about to open in the first major project a 22-mile stretch between downtown denver it is a managed main project also a transit project we will compete with the automobiles with the rand bid transit service in three or able to find companies willing to participate even in this case to take the revenue risk that will exist in that corridor.

in colorado between three and $5 million of transportation needs just to deal with the mobility of the issue in the metro area for:billion dollar project in procurement now and we are looking forward to a successful results from that we have problems on the interstate intersecting denver north and south and east and west and we have known arabia how we will pay for those projects with the corridor between denver in the recreational areas which are central to the economy and the state we #doubt cash

reserves used for capital projects and counting on future federal revenues to finish those projects and we are at the bottom of the barrel then i say with a sense of urgency my job becomes even more critical because we have to look for ways to leverage what we can project from user fees. and i appreciate being a part of this and help the are collectively able to deliver the message because time is critical and look

forward to being part of the solution. >> i will go a little at of order to a former member of congress to give his perspective from the project area the does something to do sotho us about what is happening. >> have to take up personal privilege to go ahead and get the fast lane on 95 we would like to see that happen and your toll road is great it is such a great alternative but i was a line

of the appropriations committee in the biggest infrastructure project is the deepening of the savannah river we have been waiting 13 years to $2 million to give for federal agencies to sign off from the epa and fish and wildlife. along with sad -- that we had stakeholders in those who had an opinion of 300,000 jobs in the state of georgia that are involved almost directly with 15,000 businesses and of those that export in the state or import, a 70 percent have less than 500 employees so there is the thought but

that is not the case at all but we had to jump through what we could imagine and in 1733 we were playing in the mind nearly 200 years down there it is not a new concept but the global part is during that period of time china build of port from start to finish but if we're going to compete in the marketplace internationally we cannot have such a slow and tedious and an uncertain permit

process. the state of georgia was ready with skin and the game it with 250 million over 650 million with the states are always ready and that is important. the point is to dig deep enough to focus on the panama canal but fortunately for us in savannah and they were delayed so that helped us but it is part of the world trade but the second part now is railroads access , crossings, to make sure there are not delays then for the truck cleans we have to get back to traditional surface transportation issues that is what we are working on at

the state level it just passed the transportation bill the congressman and talked about what virginia had done. george is the reds to a republican governor and house and senate the state legislature increased the hotel and motel tax $5 a night but there had to be some funding mechanism for go beyond the act having served in congress from a legislator standpoint you need to have leadership that we really don't have gone a complete level. from the white house to the courthouse. . .

they have got to have 218 votes and unless we are working on the entire congress