conservative than those republicans want to be running. he's the front runner right now. so can you talk about that tension and how you manage it. >> well, the way you have a good election is nominate someone who is going to win. what we did in 2014 was we didn't have kristin donald. we would not nominate anybody for the united states senate on the republican side who is not appealing to a general election audience. so i'm competent we are going to have good candidates. we have five incumbents up. one in a blue state. we expect to be competitive in nevada and the florida open

seat. all of them illinois have in common is they're all purple. what i said about the presidential race, so this is as far as i'm going to go, we would like to have a nominee who can carry purple states because unless the nominee for president can carry purple states, you're not going to get elected. i would add one more purple state that's important in the presidential race where we don't have a senate candidate and that's virginia. those states are going to decide who the next president is and those states are also going to decide whether we're still in the majority or the other guys. >> how do you choose are going help republican states? >> we want to continue to be the kind of senate that we were this year, focusing on things that could be achieved and turned into a law, and i've listed a

number of them. but we would point differences, and we did this on four occasions on this year. we are in the process of putting repealing obamacare in his disk and two, clean power plant resolutions on his desk. so there will be times where we would want to point out the differences, but fundamentally, my view is when the american people elect divided government, they're not saying don't do anything, look for the things you can agree on. and one thing i think we're set up to accomplish next year and i think there's considerable democratic sympathy for this as well. and what i can tell you today about next year is that i'm prepared to give a lot of floor time, which is the realm in this

senate. the house can do something in an hour, it takes us two weeks, to give enough floor time to give us a chance to do something that hadn't been done in 20 years. yeah. >> there was a 9/11 responder in your office yesterday to give you a coin and ultimately getting the bill over the senate, at the same time he's been asked by democrats to use leverage, he was texting with a colleague who, i think, had been to your office who had been to the hospital and probably dying, why was it so hard to get the bill across? 69 now in the senate. >> it's supported by everyone and it got passed.

it all said it was going to happen and it happened soon and it did. yeah. >> senator rubio is in highly credit cull of -- critical of the omnibus, give us who senators that missed the vote today. do you think he should have been here -- >> i mentioned a few moments ago, i'm not going to get in the presidential race. why do we not waste each other's time and get me into the presidential contest. >> you say that you don't want to take next year off because it's presidential year. you talk about focusing on the appropriations bills. what are the other legislative priorities you would like to see -- >> i'm not here to announce today, but just doing appropriation bills would be such a dramatic depapture --

departure from the past. i believe the speaker wants to do the budget early, wants to begin process appropriations bill early. i think one of the things the american people wanted the most in last year's election was for the congress to get back to work to end the dysfunction, to do at least the basic work of government. this big bill we just passed was a trillion billion dollars in one bill. that's not the way to do business. so we are going to try our best not to end up in that situation again. yeah. >> the president called harry reid, have you spoken to the president? >> he called a moment ago but i thought it was important to talk to y'all. i'm going to call him back. >> speaker ryan have pointed to a mental health -- system

overhaul bill. there's a similar bill in the senate, do you support that, do you anticipate congress taking action on this? >> i can't lay out an entire schedule here today. the kind of bills that enjoy bipartisan support have a better chance of making it. given the way the senate operates, i think you guys know this, if you can pass something on consent by consent or if you can get a short time agreement so that you don't use a huge amount of floor time, it clearly makes it easier to pass work law measures. i think a lot of people are interested in on both sides, hopefully, you know, we can process bills like that with a minimum amount of decisiveness. yeah. >> since revenue tax reform, what tax breaks would you

propose getting rid of -- >> do you want me to write a tax bill? i think we need to get the rates down. it's pretty obvious in having need for the second highest tax in the world is not good for america. you add onto that the regulatory abuse to which the private sector has been subjected by this administration. that's why we had so many requests for writers at the end. businesses all across america have been nailed by this regulatory rampage that's been going on and that's why we are limping along with a 2% growth rate, worst recovery and so all of the folks were in here saying, please help, they're destroying my business, environmental writers, nlrb trying to destroy the

franchising model, problems with small banks, all of that, and we were discussing that. in the end the president was threatening to veto over anything that would provide relief to these various sectors of the economy. so that has to stop. if we want to get american going again, the next president, right after sworn in has to start undoing all of this stuff, all of it, as quickly as he can and then do comprehensive tax reform and america will take off like a rocket. [inaudible] >> how would you pay for the lower rates to keep revenue neutral? >> what you do is when you take the preferences out, the revenue produced by that is used to buy down rates. you make -- that's a big complicated subject. but almost everybody who has

looked at this -- it's been 30 years since we did the last one, 1986, everybody agrees in principle it needs to be done. but the only way you get rates down is to use renew produced by eliminating the preferences to buy down the rates. the territorial that you mentioned, the territorial proposal floating around here, in other words, whatever revenue is produced by going to that was going to be spent by the government, not use today buy down rates. that's not what tax reform is about. tax reform is about getting rates down and not having an impact on the government's revenue either up or down. although, most of us believe that a more competitive country is going to produce more revenue. that's what happened after the '86 act and i think it would happen again. >> senator said just a moment ago that final passage for the

conference report on customs is in doubt. do you think by separating the tax and online sales tax proposal that he and others are pushing separating that from the customs bill might make it easier to pass? >> i don't know quite what the way of customs is for next year but certainly high on the agenda. >> there seems to be an understanding on the other side of the building that democrats and speaker ryan has that he's going to get committees working on something on the first quarter. do you have a similar agreement over here to take objection or -- action or is it something that's going to be happening mostly in the house? >> yeah, we haven't been discussing that issue over here yet. i read. as you indicated, there were discussions in the house. i have not been involved in the discussions yet. i may well be in the future but not yet.

>> too many like a shift or an extra website, not necessarily from the budget. how do you feel that there's too much spending beyond the limit? >> this is the kind of thing that could happen that are thoroughly vetted, done in the open, where everybody has a chance to see what's in the bill, and that's why i hope and i hear the democrats are saying the same thing. i like that. i know harry has cede on several occasions, we want to get past the appropriation bill, i say amen, help us do it and we will do it. you had your hand up. >> last year you said that ppa and cyber were two areas that you could work with the president and you have. and so i wondered where you next year you see a common ground.

>> well, i hope we will have some. yeah, obviously the bills that i've been referred to most of them the president has been willing to sign and tba and cyber were on the top of my list. we've accomplished both of those. he's going to sign the other one shortly. i've gone as far as i can go as far as next year's agenda is going to be. you are familiar with the things that are being discussed that seem to have bipartisan support and all of those -- all of those types of issues will be competing for attention, and it becomes my responsibility to decide what to give floor time to and it's always a tough challenge because the floor time is the coin realm of the senate and i'm not here to announce that today. we are going to try to do every single appropriation bill. anyone else? okay, thanks a lot.

merry christmas, everybody. i'm going to a ball game. [inaudible conversations] >> music city. [inaudible conversations] >> senator is on his way but he's detained with another press conference and my two friends have two airplanes to catch. months ago democrats calling republicans to work with us to craft a budget agreement, we outlined three goals. we want to get rid of

sequestration, we did that. we want today make sure that we kept the poison pill writers off the legislation. all three goals we had, we accomplished. democrats prevented writers that would undermine women's health. clean air, clean water. and lots of other things. 206 other things. but it's not just we kept off the bill, we were able to ensure that legislation creates and saves middle-class jobs. it lift 16 million families out of poverty and has 6 million of those as children. it allows students to get a 2500 tax breakthrough tax credit to help pay for college by including provision that will lower health insurance premiums.

picture what this would do. 50 million cars, 50 million cars, not 5 million, taking off the highways and roads, this is what we did with this renewable energy legislation. the legislation had successful year for senate democrats thanks to a cooperative minority. most of the things my republican friends boast about, we could have done years ago. we cooperated. that's the way the minorities are supposed to do to work for the country. we hope in next congress we help middle class like raise minimum wage, do something to take care

of the tremendous burden that people have, students and their parents with student debt and, of course, we want to make sure that my daughter, my granddaughters get paid the same as a man for doing the same work >> i had an unusual assignment this year, they told me work on passing a defense appropriations bill and then convince the democratic caucus to work against it, which they did repeatedly. it turned out that was the strategy that brought everyone to the table. if you remember, senator called at least three times believing that our unity would crack on the democratic side. it didn't, and as a result we had an opportunity to go to the table with the white house democrats and republicans in congress and it was that meeting which led to a budget agreement and an agreement to extend the

debt ceiling that started us on the path where we are today. i want to give credit to my colleague murray. she set the template when it came to negotiating with house speaker ryan. we followed her example with this agreement and came up with a means of funding our government without a shutdown, which i think is essential that people who are calling for that frankly lost in this exchange and also making certain that we addressed some critical issues. do you remember where there was a time where the import-export bank was beyond reach, no one could touch it, it was third rail in politics? finally when it was called it was clear that the people who were making all the noise didn't have all the votes. we had bipartisan support. when i look at this bill that we passed, i want to give special credit to my friend senator

harry reid, i know as late as this weekend, he's not a night owl but staid up all night to make sure that those negotiating that there would be no exporting of crude oil unless there was a significant, underlying significant to renewable and sustainable energy. this is going to be part of the reid legacy that's going to help us as a nation and our environment for many generations to come. i also have to tell you as unshamed progressive, the safety net in america when it came to tax code it was on wheels, it meant that every year it could be whisked away with those middle-new mexico families that counted on the itc as well as ctc and others that had to be renewed on an annual basis. now it's permanent long.

that's a critical achievement, and from the progressive side for struggling families it's a desperate hand that they desperately needed. the way the senate works is when a constructive, cooperative majority can kind a constructive cooperative minority, that's why this significant bill was passed today, because that happened. we created a positive environment for positive change, and that made all the difference in the world. i hope that it can continue next year. we have a lot more to do. >> go ahead. [inaudible conversations] >> when i hear from families back in washington, they tell us that they want us in congress to work together on policies that create jobs and help our middle class. they wanted that when democrats controlled the senate, they want that now that the republicans

have take over and they're going to want that when democrats get the senate back. so while there's a whole lot more we should have done this year, i'm very glad we have been able to take some very important steps forward in 2015 for workers and middle-class families in our country. you heard about a lot of them but i want to focus on two and reiterate the thread that runs into every single bipartisan accomplishments. first the budget. democrats had a simple request this year. we knew what a bipartisan deal looked like. we did it in 2013. so there was no need to wait till the last minute. no need for countdown clocks and the artificial chris -- crisis. republican leaders insisted on waiting. they were so afraid what the tea party would think and it took a resignation of speaker before they were willing to come to the table. in the end our budget deal

reflected what democrats had been asking for all year. we restored investments in education, in healthcare, in research and other middle-class priorities. we rolled back budget cuts evenly. it was a big victory for middle-class families in our economy and while it should not have taken so long to get it done, it's something i hope we can continue to build on. second, our education bill, we knew that no left behind program was broken. now democrats have been trying for years to fix this broken law because investing in education and making sure federal policy is, working -- >> the senate isws now in reces.

>> the substitute amendment has amended be agreed to and the bill as amended be read a third time and passed and the motion to be considered be considered upon the table. >> without objection. 332, 432, 438. >> department of state of connet to be coordinator for stabilization. david mall conrobinson son to be an assistant secretary. department of interior, suzette m. kimball of west virginia to be director of the u.s. geological survey. peace corps, carlos jay torres

of virginia, s shvment oshana miriam lew,. mr. perdue: i ask consent that the senate vote en bloc without intervening action. that following disposition of the nominations, the motions to reconsider be laid on the table, with no intervening action or debate. that no further motions be in order to any of the nominations, that any statements related to the nominations be printed in the record, that the president be immediately notified of the senate's action and the senate then resume legislative session. the presiding officer: without objection, question is on the nomination, en bloc. all in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes have it. the nominations are confirmed en bloc. mr. perdue: mr. president, as

in executive session, i ask unanimous consent that all the nominee neighs received by the senate during the 114th congress, first section, remain in statusio, is not withstanding the provisions of the standing rules of the senate with the exception of pn128 and p (214. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. perdue: i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today, it stand adjourned pursuant to the provisions of h. con. res. 104 until january 4, 2016, and sphiewrnts the terms of h.j. res. 76, and that on january 4, the senate convene at noon for a pro forma session only with no business conducts. further whks the senate adjourned, pursuant to it stand adjourned until 2:00 p.m. monday, january 11, 2016. following the prayer and pledge on the morning of the 11th, the morning hour shall deemed expired, the journal of

proceedings be approved to date, and the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day. furthering following leaders' remarks, the senate be in a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak thereiner for up to ten minutes each until 5:00 p.m. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection, so ordered. mr. perdue: if there is to further business to come before the senate, i ask that it stand adjourned until the previous order. the presiding officer: under the provisions of h. con. res. the provisions of h. con. res.

>> good morning, everyone. >> good morning. >> good morning. i know you're out there. i see you. [laughter] >> some of you for the second time this morning, thank you for coming by. we are very please today say that today we delivered sweeping victories for hard-working american families. the bill makes investments that will create jobs and strengthen our future and grow the paychecks of people. [applause] >> that is such an accomplishment. my congratulations to our appropriators specially our ranking member congress women of new york for whom 9/11 was a priority but our new yorkers

specially focused on it. this is your day, nita. because of your leadership we passed the best possible under the, the appropriations bill. the success with our members is that in the republicans obsession with oil export ban, they really gave away the store. democrats were able to strip scores and scores of poison pills, some which they had to have which they ended up not having. those -- they are called poison pills because they have a toxic effect not only on legislation, not only on the number of votes they could get or not get but because of what they do. they wanted to dismantle human's health, eliminate power plant, to sabotage campaign finance reform, devastate organize labor in our country. i had my own problem with the

oil, but i decided i could not empower big oil to overcome the successes in this bill. the wind and solar tax credits we added to the omnibus bill eliminated ten times more carbon pollution than the export of crude oil will add. of course the omnibus was a compromise. it was a monumental improvement over interest appropriations bill that house republicans were offering this year. this is a big win for america's working families. i'm very proud of members once they saw what was really actually in the bill. with that i'm pleased, mr. hoyer. >> well, thank you very much, madame leader. the big role was played in putting the bill together and as leader pelosi has said it was a

win for the american people. was it perfect, i said on the floor it wasn't perfect. we don't pass perfect bills. we pass bills that are reached through compromise. this was an extraordinarily big victory in my opinion to the american people. i want to congratulate leader pelosi and ranking member loui. they were working around the clock to reach the objective that we've got to. congress has now approved the appropriation bill that will keep the government open, more importantly it will increase investment in priorities and will help our economy and help our people. when members return to the 114th congress second session in january, we have a responsibility to turn the pressing challenges of job creation, fixing our broken immigration system and restoring

voting rights protections. we ought to proceed in the same bipartisan cooperative fashion allowed us to reauthorize our secondary education act and pass the bill which will try to make america safer. ..

bipartisan successes which i have mentioned. now 2016, if it will be successful america needs to replicate that. i want to thank she and her staff. staff worked round-the-clock. their extraordinary efforts. and i want also quote the white house who worked, as leader pelosi would say, shoulder to shoulder in making it very clear that we would not take poison pills but would undermine the health and safety and security of our country. i want to join in wishing all americans especially those serving a nation overseas and their families a joyous holiday season and happy new year and now i want to yield to the assistant leader, my friend jim clyburn of south carolina.

>> on your right. thank you very much. i want to add my voice to wish all americans happy holiday season. hopefully a prosperous new year for us all. i also want to congratulate leader pelosi for a fantastic job. in fact, i turn my phone off from 1130 last night. but i am thankful for the tremendous work you do on this. thank you so much. i had some real battles. but we are here today to celebrate a very, very successful effort and very good deal. i am particularly impressed

with this legislation in that it has restored a significant amount of funding to the national institutes of health. i think all of us know that research is very, very important to all americans and i daresay there is not a single family in our great country that will not stand benefit. i represent to research institutions. i am also particularly impressed with the significant help given to the historical universities. i represent seven historical colleges and universities and i am pleased with what

has gone. the crude oil, that exporting crude oil is problematic. and i emphasize the fact that opposition is not toward the exporting of oil but the exporting of crude oil which means there are finding that would ordinarily take place in this country and create jobs and maintain jobs will be lost. and so i am disappointed. and i'm disappointed i did not know enough. and i am pleased the speaker ryan and leader pelosi have gotten together on this

issue, the 1st of the year we're going to have some serious discussions about what to do about the persistent poverty in our country because although we have seen a rise in both projected and interest rates meaning that the fed is impressed that the economy is recovering. the fact of the matter is there a lot of communities that have not filter get. until weç begin targeting resources into theset( communities are going to be challenged. we still have a lot of work to do. i hope that we can do so and begin 2016 in the same bipartisan fashion that we are closing 2015 and ii would forward to working with my colleagues to get it done. with that, i would yield to

the ranking member on appropriations and congratulate her for a job well done. >> it is a delight to be here today. and it has been a long month has been working across the aisle. first, i just want to thank our fearless leaders. we have been in the congress together a very, very long time and fought many battles. to have nancy pelosi is earlier really made a tremendous difference. responsible which means so much to children's families along the country whether it is education, healthcare, community centers.

nih was mentioned before. i am so proud of the tremendous investment we have made and we will make in the national institutes of health. in our communities we have people who depend on this. whether they suffer from cancer for alzheimer's or autism or heart disease, the research of the national institutes of health is critical, and we can be so proud of that effort. let me just say this, when you're working across the aisle you don't always get everything you want. and if we were in the majority we would have gotten even more than we wanted. as a strong bipartisan effort, and i was particularly pleased that we were able to get rid of a hundred and 50 poison pills that were anti- environment.

so let me just say in conclusion, september 11, carol maloney had done an amazing job and, of course, over here and joe crowley it was really a team effort,, especially for those of us who are new yorkers. i will never forget september 11. as we talked to firefighters who were fortunate enough to survive and all the public service that worked on 911, i will never, ever forget it. so we fought together as a team very hard to get the

funding because many of the police who were lucky enough to live and the firefighters assessing from a whole variety of illnesses, we owe them so much, and i want to thank you. maybe johnmaybe john stewart had a little bit to do with it, too. but you have been working so hard. i want to thank our leader again for your leadership. >> thank you very much. ranking member on appropriations. she mentioned congresswoman delauro: this $2 billion additional for the national institutes of health. nec opportunity. we have a responsibility to respond.

i want to acknowledge who is here with us, the congresswoman who has been mentioned, member of the leadership, member of the leadership steve israel, also an appropriate her. on the committee fighting for the september 11 initiative to past. it was unfortunate we had to find the money to pay for it and they were giving away tax breaks to the tune of 700 unpaid for coal but that is another subject. congresswoman donna edwards, fighter from september 11, personal as well as official , important to him. and as has been mentioned, carolyn maloney and jerry nadler have been relentless along with steve israel, joe crowley, and all the members of the new york delegation.

so thank you for your leadership. when we passed at the 1st time it was in a very different climate. strong opposition from the republican and terrible rhetoric have come a long way and we are glad of that and appreciative of the strong bipartisan support. some of you have asked earlier this morning, there are three issues. they are not satisfied with what is in the bill. we tried to work late to get into the bill. he will have a legislation complete by march 312016. and also what is knew about it he committed to having hearings the 1st day back

on the subject. of the subject of big oil, let me join saying, for their relentless leadership on this i think probably every minute of every day was also try to get something. we trust that this will come to pass. unfinished business of the bill, how we compensate, mitigate the damage to domestic refineries. very clearly that we have no problem with refining oil. it's crude. it carries with it the refinery job should be here in america. there was an attempt in the bill to mitigate for the damage with a tax credit for

some refineries which is helpful for some parts. we had some unfinished business. in terms of what i said about the renewables, the damage that the ban on crew presented comeau we have unfinished business because the bill through a drafting error did not include fuel cells, geothermal and other renewables that are part of that tax credit. we have commitments that it will happen with the early revenue bill. we are pleased with that. and then research has been mentioned over and over. we could not get the ban lifted on research into gun violence. we will continue to work on that as well as other initiatives to reduce gun violence in the country.

there are other unfinished pieces of business that we had to work in the future. these changes, the prospect of success from the speaker wants refineries on the renewables and on the puerto rico, i think wei think we're in a good place to go forward. not satisfied parade to work in a bipartisan way. we did not brag too much about what was in it. again, we feel very good about. i hope she will the more difficult questions. >> i am wondering if you could specifically go into yesterday we were talking.

they were not expecting the vote to be this high. specifically what happened in broader terms, calls you made, how influential your calls were comeau what happened, but what specifically -- >> when the appropriations committee gave us a serviceable form. would you speak to that? >> i ami am pleased to answer that question because this is a huge bill. $1.1 trillion. what was and what was not in the bill. so we were able to resolve this morning. working with my colleagues on appropriations we were able to spread the facts. and as our leader said, there were many people were very upset and has not been resolved regarding puerto

rico. but the misunderstanding turkey. about able to get a huge number of those. >> you saw -- [inaudible question] >> let's remember that we sat through months and months of appropriations committee hearings and markups where we were asked to swallow hundreds and hundreds of poison pill amendments. republicans would say if we don't get these writers who will bring the whole government down. we will not have a budget. we began with the bill that had all the bad stuff in and all the good stuff out and we ended up with a bill today that has all the good stuff in and most of the bad stuff out. that is a definition of victory. and what came out, gop

writers to inflict damage on the environment, clean power plants out. gop writers with respect to a woman's right to get healthcare out. hurting consumers out. undermining the president with respect to negotiations on climate change out. everything that was a priority for them came out due to these negotiations. undermining campaign-finance reform and transparency out. all of the must haves came out, and that is the result of the leadership in the shrewd negotiating strategy of the her policy. >> you have heard it. what happened is over the last 24 hours members have

had an opportunity to see the bill, understand what was in it, understand what was not in it. what you saw yesterday was an understandable disappointment that puerto rico is not in their most of the other things were not in their, but these are adult legislators, very bright people. i think the committee made it very clear and god next line document. we understand this is not 100 percent but it is a 90 percent bill, and that is in a. what happened was over those 24 hours members reflected upon what we did get. the glass was about 80 percent or 90 percent full, not half-empty. yesterday was half-empty, today was 90 percent full.

that resulted in the overwhelming vote that you saw. >> one of the most crucial pieces of it was labor hhs. >> thank you very much, madam leader. what an honor it is to work with the leader and with my leader on the appropriations committee in my colleagues who are here. keeping in mind, your me talk about labor hhs which with regard to the allocation we were shortchanged. and we spoke loudly and clearly about that. but what happened before yesterday and today, what happened with the leadership is that what we did was fight for additional resources for labor hhs which allowed us to be able to do the $2 billion for the nih without having to

cannibalize other programs, and that which we were able to get in the last hour against the leadership, what happened was we were able to say yes to head start and more funding, yes to a community development block grant, yes to promise neighborhoods, yes to magnet schools, yes to antibiotic research. and that is the information. as you know, after defense that have the greatest claim and portfolio on resources and programming and those of us who sit on the committee no that the subcommittee really focuses on people's lives and making our members understand the effect on people's lives that we were able to succeed in getting those additional dollars and what it would mean for their communities. let them swallow hard.

it was good to get that. there was a compromise, some things that you don't like. but there is no perfect piece of legislation. the ability for people to go home and say to families, more for early childhood education. more for job training, more antibiotic resistant so that we can save people's lives. that is what turns people around to be able to say let's go, let's do it. >> any other comments from our colleagues? >> to serve in the house select a leadership the last three years and of my 17 years in the house i get 13 of which have been in the minority i never witnessed the democratic leadership

exploit more effectively leverage that they had, and i want to congratulate the entire leadership team. pushing the buttons when they need to be pushed and holding back when they needed to as well, how we spoke about negotiation was important in terms of giving further leverage to negotiators. much has been talked about the damage that our republican colleagues wanted to do in this omnibus bill that was thwarted. >> we are. >> we are leaving our plant scheduled to bring you book tv here on c-span2. we will return to plan coverage as soon as possible. >> military historian max hastings prevents a history of the 1st year world war i next on book tv the author examines the diplomatic failings led to the onset of the war and recalls the early battles.

this is about an hour. [applause] >> thank you so much for that introduction. introduction. it is a pleasure to be here at politics and prose. i was telling my wife of the program here. you know that you guys are not only people who read books by people who buy books. there is nothing every author loves more than that. every great historical event becomes shrouded in mist of legend. a few more so than 1914, sunlit brilliance mocked mankind by providing the setting for the outbreak of the 20th century's 1st huge calamity, what was then called the great war.

those days are not quite as distant as some suppose. may remember that a few people still alive today live through them, albeit as children. 2014 will mark the centenary of the drama was profoundlyas influenced the world. i spent the last three years writing a book describing how the war came about and what happened on the battlefield. it was a widely held view, a delusion that the two world t wars belonged to different moral orders. 193945 was the good work 19 14as to 18 was a bad one. so horrendous that the- merits of the two sides causes scarcely mounts. the british and american peoples always have a vivid idea of what they think happened. until 1941 britain defied

theva vast evil of nazi -ism alone. then russia and the united states encompassed the destruction of hitler.s the struggle was nothing like as bloody asoo its predecessor. the allies had better generals who understood our soldiers should not be allowed to become futile sacrifices. but our ideas are much cloudier and indeed thoroughly confused. even among educated people few have much idea why europe exploded, though they may know that a big way with an extravagant mustache got shot in sarajevo. the most widely held belief i is that the conflict was simply ghastly mistake whichpo all the european powers sure blame, folly compounded by the british incompetence ofof military commanders.

this is what i would characterize the 1st articulated by the likes of robert graves amid the modern blood they felt no cause to be worth the paughter. some british people and americans feel almost embarrassed that we finished up on the winning side. get my own opinion is somewhat different. while the war was assuredly a a colossal strip -- tragedy certainly britain could not possibly have remained neutral while germany secured hegemony over the continent.on imperfect seriousness a few years ago that a german victory in world war i would simply have created something like the european union half a century earlier. the british not to mention the united states could have remained rich and him bloodied bystanders.an

serious historians including some of the i best term once to the 1914 kaiser reich as a militarized autocracy his victory would have been a disaster. i suggest that western civilization is almost as much reason toat be grateful a german ambitions were frustrated. despite the appalling costn and that the outcome of the 1st proved a tragic impermanence.au this time under hitler all over again.et i won't detail events in the summer of 1914.he on the 28th of june the archduke frantz ferdinand era to the austro-hungarian throne was shot dead by young bosnian serb terrorists. the man in charge of austria

felt a special sorrow for franz ferdinand. they saw in the average the ideal pretext for settling accounts with serbia, a chronically troublesome little neighborca whose leaders in such ano their own minorities to revolt. some serbian army officers provided the weapons and perhaps also the impetus for the assassination plotlt although personally i think it is unlikely. one aspect of 1914 seemsra that our generation incomprehensible. most european nations regarded more not as the supreme or but as a usable instrument of policy. i many interpretations of how the conflict you about our plausible but the only one that seems untenable is that it was accidental.it every government believed it acted rationally in pursuit i of its national interest.

austria decided in the 1st days of july to invade in the break of serbia. everybody knew that russia regarding the slavic nations as under the czar's protection.he vienna dispatched an envoy timberland to assure german backing. on the 6th of july kaiser wilhelm in his chancellor gave the austrians were historians call the blank check, and unqualified promise of german diplomatic military supportk, crushing serbia. this was incredibly reckless. it seems to be impossible to escape this undisputed fact. endorse the decision to unleash a baltimore. some including several germans suggest that the

kaiser's regime intended from the beginning of the crisis to precipitate the general european conflict. i don't buy that. i think the germans wanted their austrian ally to crush serbia without anybody else getting involvede . they saw only a local war.th they were amazingly willing t to accept the risk for the general european conflagration.ou germany was ruled not quite a monarchy which a partially unhinged emperor of austria was journals spent her premise that work had served pressure well with three great victories in the previous half-century. t they also recognize the democracy now threatened their control of o their own country. there. was a socialist majority which wastl

vehemently opposed to militarism, promising to end the kaiser's dysfunctional personal role. all but a few conservative politicians and soldiers believe that a triumphld abroad would hope the advance of the socialist o side. they also made a mistake typical of their age. they underestimated the dominance their country was achieving for its industrialin powers without firing a shot at any battlefield. w germany was powering ahead by every economic indicator. the kaiser and his generals measure strength by county soldiersen. they were fixated by russia's growing military might. their calculations show as early as 1916 the russians would achieve a decisive t advantage. it was this prospect that

force germany's army chiefeg chief of staff to growhe with the street -- a secret strategy meeting. war and the sooner the better. t 1914 the germans werehi confident they could achieve victory over russia and its ally france. the discounted burdenco third-party of the so-called entente because the kaiser credibly remarked the red knots have no wheels. the austrians duly declaredy war on serbia on the 20th t of july and started from bombing -- bombarding belgrade. the russians mobilize three days later. apologists for germany.out -- >> this weekend the c-span cities tour explores the history and literary culture located approximately 40 miles west of boston worchester played a key role in the american revolution.

also a major contributor to the industrial revolution and was known for its innovators in commerce and industry. on book tv we learn about the life of political philosopher and politician henry george. and then we will visit the american antiquarian society more of the largest repositories in the country of original books and periodicals related to the history of the united states. next we will talk with author jeanette greenwood. >> there were, you know, organizations and worchester. there were lots of aid societies that are organized as well. it is a city that is very forward-looking.

>> we will visit mechanics home. the building is listed in the national register of historic places. originally served as a learning center and also a platform for social and cultural activity including woman's rights rallies. >> the 1st women's rights convention happened before the hall opened. afterward most people came here to speak. worchester was a central location. mechanics all was where everything happened. >> finally we will tour the special collections the physicist robert daughter. we will talk with fordyce william. >> he attributes his 1st interest in travel and his 1st interest in a career in science to a day in 1899.

he went outside with the signed a hatchet and trimmed the dead branches off of the cherry tree. he climbed the tree, made himself a letter and now he was up in the tree he looked out of the fields around him and thought, how wonderful it would be to build some kind of a device that could leave the earth and maybe even travel to mars. >> watch c-span cities tour saturday at 12, noon eastern and sunday afternoon at two on american history tv. the c-span cities tour. >> book tv has 48 hours of nonfiction books and authors every weekend on c-span. here are some programs to

watch for this weekend. saturday at 7:00 p.m. eastern. >> and so with military experience that i had and the opportunity to learn what was going on, that started me. i had a great law practice. politics was the last thing i wanted to get involved with. >> watch book tv all weekend every weekend on c-span.

>> yesterday former us ambassador talked about the syrian refugee crisis at a forum hosted by the arab center. he was critical of the obama administration for not allowing more refugees in the country. ryan crocker has served as ambassador of iraq, syria, afghanistan pakistan. this is an hour and a half. >> good morning, everyone. i would like to invite those who just arrived in the hallway to join us as quickly as possible so that we can begin this event. i am the executive director of the arab center in washington dc. the arab center washington dc is a one -year-old nonpartisan nonprofit organization dedicated to

providing basically insight on us foreign policy in the middle east as well as furthering general understanding of economic, political, social understandings of the arab world, particularly at this time when the arab world is going through unprecedented waves of change. our mission is to serve as an authoritative research and policy analysis center conducting timely them independent, and objective independent, and objective research on fundamental aspects of us bilateral relations. communicate with the arab center for research and policy studies which is emerging as the number one think tank in the arab world and it used to be known as the delhi institute. it is directed by doctor, i

meet. and we are affiliated through the center there with a group which we will try to leverage in our relationship think tanks here the washington dc area. the center is affiliated with some 80 different types of research centers and think tanks. we would like to serve as the link, local link with all these think tanks. we again part of the production here, we view ourselves as a progressive think tank and a lot of our emphasis is different from traditional think tanks. we emphasize efforts and

analysis on democracy, human rights, and justice in the arab world regardless of the traditional approaches. today's events are focused on a controversial topic going back to september when president obama announced that in response to the crisis of syrian refugees the us would like and instructed the administration to begin working on observing 10,000 syrian refugees in the united states which is frankly and eager number compared to the magnitude of the crisis in the magnitude of the moral and political response of our allies particularly in europe and the issue has become controversial ever sense.

you have governors, presidential candidates talking mostly nonsense about this issue and spreading rumors and innuendo and false information which has impacted unfortunately public opinion. when you look at public opinion 56% of56 percent of the american public as opposed to bringing refugees to the country. that propaganda, the opposition to this kind of took a toll. but to help decipher the issue and what us policy should be in terms of standing up and being counted particularly as a country of immigrants we have the right person, the dean and executive professor the government and public service at texas a&m university.

he holds the ever in howard crews chair and was also the past couple of years the james schlesinger distinguished professor at the university of virginia and senior fellow at yale university 20122013. ambassador is a very well-known face one of the richest careers and diplomacy in the region. us foreign policy history. he served for 37 years in the region. he does not look like it. and found the opportunity to

visit with him during the ten years. not only respected here at home but very well-respected in the region. he was called back to active duty by president obama to serve as us ambassador to afghanistan. he has served as us ambassador in the region. afghanistan, iraq, pakistan, syria, kuwait, lebanon. he served where he joined the 2,003 through may until august he was in verdun is the 1st director of governance for the provision at a crucial time.

he also served right after that. ambassador crocker received the presidential medal of freedom, the nation's highest civilian award in 2,009 in his other awards with dwight eisenhower award 2,008 and 2012 again. the american foreign service association for creative dissent. we never combine creative dissent.

definitely this is a man who is done very well. in december 2004 president bush conferred on him the personal rank which is most of you know is the highest in the foreign service. inmate 2009 announced the establishment of the ryan c crocker award for outstanding achievement in expeditionary diplomacy and in july 2012 he was named an honorary marine. the 75th civilian to be honored as such since the founding of the marine corps in 1775. for those of you who are not familiar, he wanted us to invite them to this event. i refer you back to the "wall street journal" when his article was a voice of sanity for us as a country.

it is an honor to introduce to you. [applause] >> thank you very much for the generous introduction. i can be introduced in a number of ways. i kind of like the way you did. another way i can be introduced to be pictorially. if you could imagine a picture of every significant us foreign policy setback in the greater middle east since 1979, one picture freeze disaster i would be in every one of those pictures. sort of 1st or 2nd from

the left. you know, i heard that the arab center had been established. when i got the e-mail what i really focused on was the center. there is no question in my mind to my can, blessings. i was going to be here because into the inviting. i reminded him that we 1st met a quarter of a century ago literally 1985. i was in the deputy director for israeli and palestinian affairs and received a question from the state department. what did i think of a meeting between dick murphy or legendary assistant

secretary of state and julio deshawn. i thought about that for a minute and said, well, it would be great if he will agree to do it. and the rest, as they say, is history. so it is a pleasure and an honor to be here. under the auspices of the arab center to discuss a truly critical issue, the issue of syrian refugees in the us response. and the description you charitably put it is the evolving us policy. we are facing is everyone in this room knows i crisis of truly global proportions and as bad as it is now on his

current trajectory for million syrian refugees to scale and severity of any refugee crisis. what is missing that was present at the end of world war ii's global leadership. this is not a syrian problem. it is not a middle eastern problem. it is not a european problem.

it is going to take global leadership not to resolve it , that will be decades in the making, but simply to contain and manage it. there is only one nation i can exercise that leadership that is the united states. in the united states i am sad to say, is not leading. we are not even participating. khalil referred to the op-ed i did for the "wall street journal" four days after the paris attacks. in that op-ed i did not argue for supporting president obama's commitment to take 10,000 refugees. i call for the united states to take 800,000 syrian refugees. four days after paris.

a been arguing this for some time. a number of other international human terry and ngos. i believe in it before and after paris. paris change nothing with respect to the plight of refugees around the world. yet it has changed things, and i will come back to that of a minute. 100,000 against 4 million is also a token, but symbolically much more significant. it would establish us as a leader on this issue. again, what is happening without american leadership, the europeans are flailing. we may see the european union fall apart as a political construct, the economic union will persist,

but it could come apart as a political construct because of the refugee issue. you are seeing the intense disagreement from the european states. they are not going to resolve these matters by themselves. only a global leader can start a process of treating a global crisis has a global crisis, involving all stakeholders in every country on earth is a stakeholder in this, but it is not going to happen without sustained focus us leadership. you know, right now the administration is defending the policy of accepting 10,000. i just checked. in the 1st two months of the current fiscal year october november we had

resettled in overwhelming 437 syrian refugees. we are nowhere near a trajectory to even meet that rather sad goal. you look with the canadians just did, much smaller population. the prime ministerthe prime minister was prepared to stand up and say 30,000 had to be at the airport to meet the 1st families coming in. wish we could see our president at the airport. as this insane debate is carried forth in the primaries where a fractious primary field is united on one thing, let's not have any syrian refugees or if we are going to have them that's be sure. it is not america's greatest

day. you know, when you think about who we are as people, unless you are descended from native americans or your forebears were brought to this country in chains, unless your in one of those two categories your an immigrant or refugee. as all but one of those candidates are. you know, they are lucky that someone like them was not an office when there forebears try to get in this country. actually, in most cases we would have been a lot luckier. [laughter] i'm sorry. so we as a people need to take a collective deep breath, go sit under a tree

somewhere and remember who we are and what we are about the real irony, almost a tragedy about the refugee debate is that this is one of those relatively rare moments when the mock -- american values an american interest coincide. we all no that we are exceptional. almost unique among the modern states. we are a nation that is founded on ideals of principles command values as well as interest. as someone who has been in the field of the diplomacy for most of my adult life, i see constantly how there is often tension or collision between american values and american interest. i am delighted that with the

center you are bringing a particular focus on some of those values like human rights and democracy. the refugee issue is not one of those points of friction or collision. our fundamental values of who we are, written right there on the statue of liberty, your tired, poor, huddled masses yearning to be free and we will refuse them all entry. so there it is. the fundamental american value coinciding with the fundamental american national security interest which is to take a definitive and ultimately successful stand against the terrorism practiced by the islamic state. the greatest challenge we

can bring islamic state is by welcoming syrian refugees into the country. if you noticed, back in september when the great title wave of largely syrian refugees had the german chancellor initially took a public position saying they are welcome in germany. well, islamic state social media went nuts. you know, all kinds of postings. don't believe it. it's a lie. it's a trap. they hate you. they are trying to lower you and so they can destroy you inside the borders. why the media firestorm? because it undercut the islamic state narrative of the true believers against the crusaders.

the christian west was somehow fundamentally anti- arab and anti- muslim. that was a much more effective strike against them than any number bombing runs. so islamic state today, they would have loved that debate tuesday night. it is making there case. it is the west led by america against the people of the faith. so again, with an opportunity to uphold the values and uphold our security interest, we are blowing it. you know, i'm notknow, i'm

not going to get into the rise of nativist sentiment of political candidates are playing to. my real concern is again this absence of us leadership on a key issue, absence of us leadership abroad and at home quite frankly. this is a time for bold steps with bold gestures that affirm who we are as a people and that as a people in upholding our values we are going to defend our interest to take this campaign against the islamic state at the most fundamental level of values and identity. i mentioned that i am on the board of mercy corps. like our sister agencies and national rescue committee,

the syrian refugee issue is by far and away our biggest issue. we have got our people out in lebanon, jordan, turkey, greece, and we operate inside of syria. that with international staff but mercy corps, making a pitch for the younger people in the room who are looking for meaningful adventure in life , join mercy corps. you can apply. we train national staff to the same level that we train international staff. so we had a significant cadre of syrians working for mercy corps were able to operate effectively, completely independent of

any international staff presence. .. >> went we had a seed -- seen

food rations cut because the money simply is not there. and i see too long and very troubling and the will go up and in the resources will go down. and i said this in another context as bad as things are today, a cherished the moment. looking back in sixth glance these will seem golden. it will be a lot worse. and that is getting the attention of the administration. this is not going away. this will only get worse.

so i simply hope the president and secretary of state and others will push back against those forces in the country that have as to the wrong thing morally or for the national security interest. i don't have to tell anybody in this room with the refugee screening is like. is the most intense scrutiny of any category of applicants of entry go through. if you try to get a terrorist into the state is go through the refugee process. it takes about two years and the number of checks that you go through is to look for easier ways.

finding people who don't need a visa or you vote do that through refugees. there are so many levels it is wrong in terms of interest. and those who believe in a different america of the campaign trail believe in the core american interest. to take sd and equal to or greater than with the rather amazing intensity and commitment displayed against those who work against our value or interest. collectively a believe the administration has the right to orientation but with

issues related to the middle east the intention and the at actions are not synchronized. it certainly is not too late. it is never too late. but the darkness is descending. i am here to tell you it will be a lot darker. if we stay on the trajectory we are currently on. so now is the time but there will not be a better moment and i just come back from beirut to talk about the

syrian crisis it makes the refugee crisis look good. but i will not to pressure further than i have. in to have a final few words on what had really bad could look like over the long run. morsi core has a particular abysses between 3423 or 24. you and bite you and large without any form of education they are without

access to skills trading or access to employment and in short without access to hope. we have seen what happens when you deny refugee populations or even hope. it is no coincidence that radical palestinian movements were given birth is a refugee camps and had no trouble recruiting young people willing to die because they would have something to die for. the retrieved of the palestine. the dignity that went with the struggle. welcome to the next

generation of the hopeless and humiliated. if things continue as they are i would expect to see a highly radicalized syrian refugee population. not this year or five years but in ted were 20. because they don't have much of an alternative. it as they make poor choices in life to turn their back on your. with the councils of despair and hopelessness that we cannot even imagine. as bad as it is today it will be worse in six months or one year and this is the gift that keeps on giving to the region viewed the world for years to come.

and in the sense the administration has a new respect for those who take the a moral stance all it takes for evil to succeed is for good to do nothing. evil is succeeding. can the good are sitting on there he hands. i would hope this center a huge your ally is in america at a hunt in the world will take a different position to force a different action. we are still america. the greatest people and country on earth. this is a moment to student by our values with the knowledge for once they

coincide. i wish you luck you can count on the as an ally. i published everywhere that i write to. [laughter] but i take my hat off to the wall street journal. i wore it for reasons that obvious but i wanted to do with. [laughter] so now i will turn this into a dialogue. [applause] >> i would just like to bring it to your attention that the fearless staff has graciously put together with regards to facts and the members relevant to the presentation with the franc

presentation and morally challenging for all of us in this country to stand up to this crisis. of a couple of things that really did to -- alluded to was the screening process. in the media or your otherwise looking for the delineation of step-by-step i recommend to everybody concerned of the debate that is taking place without understanding the process. i recommend to the betty

educates them on the issue. but us a discrepancy with the growing crisis in rand be diminishing support. they can summarize if you're not familiar with that. to all sub take a good look. in your package is of legislative department but it tends to be ambiguous. we ignore congress because we are disappointed in the shenanigans with the middle east policy but it is important to look at this brief report with serious

refugee legislation before congress because it is bad now but could get worse have this applies to the plan with the other measures by the banned by purpose the ambassador was very gracious to be willing to spend a few minutes of the balance of our time and the rules of our basic i will recognize you. and state your day war of aviation and questions that are preferably short to give everybody a chance. may i first recognize my

colleague at the center who is our resident scholar on syria. >> is that okay for television? >> fait que ambassador we miss those leading voices to speak on behalf of the assyrian refugees. with the german chancellor with the board minister they show leadership and this is why and is nominated to be dull woman of the year. but i just have a comment and a question. and unfortunately with one

crisis and the assyrian refugees. those three crisis are interconnected. this is the failure of the policy makers and rand to take action. and as it is right now may be a-2 expect more and more. and there is some indication of that. have the survey of last

month of those refugees right now see the balance of that. we will not have a refugee crisis. with the intensive air strikes. en vetting go into turkey. board to have a way of leadership and how they see the united states deal with that. >> those are excellent points.

en un glad that you brought them out. i was hinting at there was a whole political dilemma that's out there. you cannot talk about these things and isolation. i have been a proponent of some time of the no-fly zone with the russian intervention that is far more complex. precisely because of a syrian transition and islamic state but something that has to be done to change the of context and the no-fly zone starting to change the dynamic.

you know, this better than i. but earlier this week i was is how the united states is increasingly perceived in the arab city world in particular. it is an accepted statement of fact from tehran and moscow because we talk about a campaign against the islamic state a lot of people in the area see that as said campaign against the city aerobes.

with the denial of a syrian military base we did not do it. that reinforces that narrative. that most of the victims in syria, most of those driven out were not by the islamic state but by a the regime of of beryl bomb. so getting yourself painted into a dangerous corner with perception into we are fighting against seeing this as a defect alliance with the iranians do russians and the teabaggers she begins this of the arabs no-fly zones north and south could begin to change the dynamic and to push back against the regime, the russians and the

iranians. and there are ways to do structure this so the clash is but this could change the politics in the way to make this possible we have the highest regard for secretary kerry but this effort will go down there because they think they are on a roll. why should they negotiate? that no-fly zone. and we do is deal with those who are slaughtered units driven out of the country.

and then we wouldn't have the russians coming in. >> and here than washington. and with that crisis we see id europe. is so we can manage this. seller that's the duty to

have difficulties to cope and those that are not at all but it has banned very well reported for those political consequences. with the al pour of europeans of course, with the american and counterpart

in the have come to the conclusion with the refugees at least not in the near future that we have described if it will make any difference in the short term. we can see to provide other types of support. and how day are suffering and here it could be crucial also the same thing in turkey or iran and lebanon and what they're redoing island does areas.

>> base for the question. as i tried to indicate it is at every level and every dimension resources are important or critical as i described. i'd love it. so resources are critical. is the intangible that is most lacking and most important the u.s. is exerting a late -- a leadership role. to say we know this is a

global crisis hitting you hard. what does the first wind need? that is greece and the balkans. and they have fewer indigenous resources. who is worried about what? saw the '80s to do what we did at the last crisis at the end of world war ii and that is step forward. you can calculate the odds of that happening and for

the world. and so without a concerted effort the requires leadership and we see at least from our perspective are the divisions. and with the european union taking a dramatically different position with how to deal with the refugee influx with germany and france. i have to say that it wasn't widely remarked as it should have been.

so to reaffirmed france's commitment to except refugees and did not back away a bit. that was a tremendous act of moral courage but i would like to step up to bring together for a comprehensive look and it involves the overall. but it takes a world leader to do this. >>. >> i am not affiliated with anybody.

did receive what is happening to the syrian population. [inaudible] i have a story. last week a number of my family and medical doctor and a payroll data be set to come to america to visit.

[inaudible] having said that you go a the procedure. with the fear maundering. to not be the best friend of the russians and the syrian people. as the ambassador maybe it is a political affiliation and the palestinian refugees.

and now is much worse. >> obviously there are several elements there. some tb exceptional. with the responsibility of the individual officer. there isn't a checklists.