this hearing has given us a good sense of complexities that exist. we have similar complexities in the middle east where we are dealing with countries that, you know, leave these vacuums, discriminate various sex that are not of their own and so this is a challenge we have throughout the world when dealing with issues like this, but we thank you for your focus today on africa. as you heard me mention in the last panel, they'll be questions from members in writing. we will close that as of thursday afternoon. if you could respond fairly briefly, we would appreciate it. we thank you for your expertise and knowledge and your willingness to share with us. with that, the meeting is adjourned. >> thank you. >> thank you.

.. >> . >> .

[inaudible conversation] >> madam secretary, we give 72 of our delegate vote to the next president of the united states, [applause]

>> and of course, both those conventions taking place in july. live coverage on the c-span networks. and the road to the white house continues into state, nebraska holding its republican primary and republicans and democrats go to the polls in west virginia today. we have live result tonight after the polls close beginning at eight easter on our companion network, c-span and a look now at the west virginia primary taking place today. >> david gottman, he's a political reporter for the charleston gazette mail in west virginia.

mister gottman, what's expected today and who will come out on top according to polling? >> well, if you listen to the presidential race, i would expect a big victory for donald trump who is led by significant margins in every recent poll pick up add to that fact the fact that he doesn't really have any opponents anymore. he's looking at a big victory although i should add that on the republican side of the process is a little bit confusing that you do vote for a presidential candidate but that boat is pretty much entirely symbolic pickup republican voters farther down the ballot will actually choose a specific delegate to the republican national convention and those votes, they will choose i think 22 of them, those votes are the ones that actually matter. but mister trump has a full slate of delegates and i think can win up to about 31

of our 34 possible delegates. over on the democratic side, it's probably going to be much closer. bernie sanders has led most of the polling recently although that hasn't been that much polling. i think two polls or so in the past couple of months and they both then within i would say 5 to 8 points so he's probably a slight favorite but anyone's guess over on the democratic side pickle. >> mister gottman, what do you think are the driving issues when it comes to west virginia voters and who they will choose? x well, cold, the coal industry is always a huge industry or huge issue here in west virginia pickup all three candidates had campaign rallies here last week. both hillary clinton and bill clinton campaign here and both big protests at the campaign events they had in southern west virginia.

protest partly organized by the coal industry but also a lot of people very upset about comments she made a month or two ago where in a question about, in a question about what was going to happen to kind of lower income whiteworkers , she talked about her plan to transition away from coal and to reinvest in cold communities with a multibillion-dollar plan but also said we are going to put a lot of coal miners and coal companies out of business and that did not go over well here. when donald trump was in town, later that week much of his rally was spent talking about how much he loves coal miners and how he's going to put coal miners back to work although he doesn't have any specific plan for how to do so but he did promise to do so, i guess despite most

every industry analysis which says that no, the coal industry is not going back to boonetimes in west virginia . >> and mister trump getting endorsements if i understand correctly, came out with a hardhat if i remember . >> yeah, the leadership of the state coal association came out to, for a little photoopportunity with mister trump and handed him a hardhat . he was seen shoveling and the crowd ate it up, the crowd went wild. behind him during the speech were some miners in minor reflective stripes and hardhats waving these coal signs which had been organized by the trump campaign but yeah, that's absolutely a drivingissue in the election. >> mister gottman, before we let you go, participation

today. what do you think it would really like ? >> it's tough to tell. the one metric we have is early voting numbers and we got a 10 day early voting. and they are way up. the highest we've ever seen. 106,000 people have already voted which is close to 10 percent of the voting population. that's way more than we've ever seen back in 2008 with the highest previous numbers for early voting and it was only 66,000 people so an increase of 40,000 over the last five weeks of contested primaries in the presidential election for west virginia. >> david gottman with the gazette mail, a political reporter talking about today's primer and the importance of cold . thank you. >> thank you. >> and we hear from both the democratic candidates, hillary clinton holding a rally in louisville kentucky.

that will get underway life here on c-span two at 6:15 eastern and later, live on our companion network c-span, senator bernie sanders speaking to supporters in salem, oregon. coverage set to begin at 10 pm eastern on c-span. >> the campaign 2016 continues his. a winner from this student competition. the bus made a stop at cherry hill high school east in new jersey to recognize six-time student cam winner madeleine ballin for her second prize video on the house becomes a home. madeleine honored in front of classmates, family and community members, people having a chance to visit the bus which then traveled to west scranton intermediate goal in pennsylvania to honor it graders evans and brian for their second prize-winning video, national immigration issues. during the ceremony, the dion and addie donated $500 of their winnings to local charity of scranton.

following this event the bus drove to new jersey to celebrate zachary's second prize-winning video, the next big problem. over 250 classmates, teachers and elected officials including congressman leonard lance joined in the ceremony for zachary. a special thanks to our table partner comcast for helping coordinate these community visits. you can then view all winning documentaries@studentcam.org. >> before a crowd of some 25,000, secretary of state john kerry gave the commencement address to graduate at northeastern university yesterday, adding them to strive to become global leaders and confront what he described as the world's most pressing issues. climate change, poverty and terrorism. at one point in the speech, kerry noted the graduating class of students from nearly 80 countries, making it the most diverse in school history. say quote, in other words you are donald trump's worst nightmare. >>. [applause] thank you for your

very generous introduction and thank you for the invitation to be here on this very, very special day. jim being, henry masella, members of the board, faculty, parents, friends and especially the brilliant and charismatic class of 2016. [applause] you know, the guardian is about as good as it gets for a commencement. all you have to do is just look up there at the banners heralding the boston bruins family cup championship in 2011. [applause] i know some of you come from somewhere else but you are here. [laughter] the 17th celtics championship banners, thanks to that second coming of the big green. [applause] and in the 28

years representing the state in the senate, i tell you this is a living reminder that boston is the number one sports town anywhere. [applause] now, at the moment for the red sox: anywhere just happens to be first place while the yankees are in last. [applause] so don't let anyone tell you that our country is not moving in the right direction. [laughter] now graduating class, i've got to tell you you really do look spectacular. i want you to look around you. classmates of every race, religion, gender , shape, size , 85 countries represented and dozens of languages spoken.

you are the most diverse class in northeastern's history. in other words, you are donald trump's worst nightmare. [applause] now, now you may not know it but there is at least one thing that truly unites you. you are all going to be in really big trouble if you forget that sunday is mother's day. [laughter] now to the parents who are here, the moms and dads, if you feel anything like i did when my daughters graduated, your emotions have to be mixed. a little bit sad, a little bit relieved. incredibly proud and

absolutely blown away by how short the interval is between diapers and diplomas.now speaking of blown away, i want to congratulate you guys for just getting here in time for the ceremony. i told you had to report at 8 am . [laughter] i got to tell you, that's either crazy early or crazy late depending on whether you actually went to bed but why would the last might be different from the rest of your college career, right? now i've given a few commencement speeches before and the biggest challenge is always to follow everything that's come before you, particularly the student speakers that i want to thank , erica and dan, and i want to thank casey and still carmine for making my job a lot tougher today. thank you. i really want you to know

that i accept this honor with great humility. and particularly because northeastern was kind enough to bestow an honorary degree on my daughter vanessa last year who is involved in a global health program which you recognized. i come here absolutely promising not to sugarcoat reality. because that is the last thing you need. no one here needs to be told that life can be a struggle. whether it's over grades or affording tuition or something more complicated. friends, family, illness or the death of a loved one. no words of mine can change those realities and no lecture can lessen the loss. and as we were reminded earlier, you are still mourning the tragic loss of victoria mcgrath and purse priscilla pistorius.

even before on patriots' day 2013 when victoria was among those hurt by a terrorist bomb, this community felt the weight of a wounded world. so this morning, we grieve and we celebrate all at the same time and in a way, there is no better shorthand description of life itself. and no better two word summary of this gathering, i think today, then northeastern strong, huskies strong. and i have learned. [applause] i have learned that resilience is really just the beginning of what northeastern is all about. service is at the heart of this institution. so it's no surprise that

northeastern's effort to keep faith with those he who keep america safe is actually unparalleled . we can be proud that northeastern graduate veterans at a rate of 30 percent above the national average. [applause] to soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines from one veteran to so many others, i am proud to say the class of 2016 is the rule, not the exception. you northeastern and thanks to all of you who have award or where our nations uniform. [applause] now, i am honored this morning to address the university family that thankfully is unafraid, utterly unafraid, to look beyond our borders and into

the future. and it's also almost clichc to say that you have global vision. but northeastern really does and it's different . it tests the limits. your bold commitment to experiential learning, your leadership on the environment . the opportunities for international study , new campus in silicon valley and cutting edge research in things like high rate mental manufacturing. and the class of 2016, believe me, if you are mastering a technology that your parents can't even pronounce, you are doing something right. and just think, after today you are going to have a leg up on facebook's mark zuckerberg. you will actually have a college degree. [laughter] in fact, northeastern example should everyone of us about the massive transportation

transformation taking place around the world. northeastern's gone global. our leading corporations are going global. health and medicine and film are going global. and you don't have to be great at math to understand that our economy can't grow if we don't sell things to the 95 percent of the world customers who live in other countries. you don't have to be a doctor to understand that we can't be healthy if we can't fight things like ebola and he got that may originate overseas but mixes as sick as the people they preferred from our shores. in many of you were in elementary school when you learn the toughest lesson the hall on 9/11. there are no walls big enough to stop people from anywhere, tens of thousands of miles away who are determined to take their own lives while they target others. not in a clash of civilizations but in an assault, overall assault on

civilization itself. so i think that everything we've lived and learned tells us we will never come out on top if we accept advice from soundbite salesman and carnival barkers who pretend the most powerful country on earth and remain great by looking inward and hiding behind walls at a time that technology has made that impossible to do and unwise to even attempt. the future demands from us. [applause] the future demands from us something more than a nostalgia from some rose tinted version of the past that did not really exist in any case. and i think that everyone here, especially the cast class of 2016 understand

that. this really, internally, intellectually. you are about to graduate into a complex and borderless world . you heard president out to them talk about his description of the view from space. you're about to embark on careers that will take many of you two companies not yet founded using devices not yet developed. based on ideas not yet conceived. that is how fast things are moving. and that doesn't mean you have to succumb to science fiction. you're not going to all be replaced by robots because the economy of tomorrow will have enormous space for those with the energy, the training and the courage to compete. and northeastern has made sure that you have that and more. because this university is blessed with a global vision and so are you, it'sgraduates now. believe me, that is critical . because you are entering a

world where thinking globally is absolutely essential to seizing opportunities and confronting the challenges that we face. when i was younger, we had more than our share of national traumas including a long and the blood he wore in southeast asia but it was also a time when the dividing line between ideologies was simpler. when the primary forces shaping our world were governments of recognized states. today, we face a world that is much more complicated, less hierarchical where non-state actors play essential roles. where disturbing images and outright lies can circle the globe and an instant where dangers like climate change, terrorism and disease do not respect borders. or any of the norms of behavior. and we where tribal and sectarian hatreds are as prominent as they have been

in centuries. now, for some people that is all they need simply to climb under the sheets, close their eyes and with the world away. and shockingly, we even see this attitude from some who think they ought to be entrusted with the job of managing international affairs. it seems obvious that understanding the need to engage with the greater world , with the wider world it should be a threshold requirement for those in high office. and yet, the specter of isolationism once again hovers over our nation. i thought we had learned the lessons from the 20th century when an isolationist foreign policy and a protectionist character policy contributed to two global wars and the great depression. well, the desire to turn inward and shut out the world

may be especially seductive in an era as complicated as this but it is not a responsible choice for the most prosperous and powerful nation on the planet which happens to also be the leader of the free world. [applause] as secretary of state, let me assure you, when you consider the range of challenges that the world is struggling with, most countries don't lie awake at night worrying about americans presents. they worry about what would happen in our absence. so we cannot be seduced. for us, the lessons of history are clear. we don't see an excuse for inaction. we see a mandate to lead because the greatest challenges that our world confronts are best addressed and in some cases can only be addressed by good and capable people working in common cause with citizens of other

nations. you often hear politicians talking about american exceptionalism. and indeed, this nation is exceptional. but remember please, we are not exceptional because we say we are and keep repeating it. we are exceptional because we do exceptional things. in other words, greatness is about bragging, it's about doing. it's about never being satisfied . it's about testing the limits of what we can achieve together. of what america and its partners can accomplish in the world. and that is exactly what we are trying to do with the united states already today, more deeply engaged on more important issues in more parts of the globe than ever before in our history. and we are profoundly conscious of the gravity of the challenges. in the words of the haitian

proverb, there are mountains beyond the mountains. one of those mountains is the effort to safeguard future generations fromharmful effects of climate change . i am proud to say that the united states is leading the way together with many other nations and last month, with my granddaughter on my lap i formally committed the united states to set an example to the hundred 96 nations that have pledged to curb greenhouse gas emissions and make progress toward a low carbon energy future. [applause] i want you to think about that because with just a few exceptions, including i am sad to say an embarrassing coterie of naysayers and science deniers here in the united states, the whole world is now in paris and in new york for the first time accepting the need

for revolution in how we produce and use energy. ladies and gentlemen, the last march was the hottest march in recorded history. last year the hottest year in recorded history. the last 10 years, the hottest decade in recorded history. the one before that, the second hottest. the one before that, the third hottest. the facts are simply staggering. and yet, despite all the science, one of my former colleagues thought it would be persuasive to walk onto the floor of the senate with a snowball in his hand and point to it as evidencethat climate change is a hoax . well, i hate to tell him it proves something, that's for sure but not what he intended. [applause] at the same time, just in the past four years,

a record $230 billion was spent in the united states of america in response to extreme weather events. just the other day in houston, they had 17 inches of rain in 24 hours. that is the entire amount of rain more than they had last year in the entire summer. just imagine if we had put even a small fraction of that 230 billion into efforts to prevent or at least prepare for the worst impacts of climate change. and there's one more thing to remember. don't believe the doubters who claim that we have to make a choice between protecting the environment or growing the economy. that's a lie. there are millions of jobs to be created. businesses to be built. fortunes to be made. in tapping the potential of renewable energy and i hope that many of you will share in that future. [applause] in paris last

december, we took an unprecedented step with our first ever international agreement to combat climate change. it is literally though, it isn't the solution. in itself because it's not going to guarantee we hold the worst temperature to a warming of two degrees centigrade. but what it does is it sends a massive signal to the marketplace, for private entrepreneurs, for scientists, for creative minds to go to work to find the alternative for the next elon must for the next job, whoever it is that is going to produce the battery storage or the ability for us to solve this problem. paris is the beginning of what we have to do to meet this challenge. and in the years ahead we will need an all-out global commitment in clean air, clean harbors, clean coasts, renewable energy and the preservation of our endangered oceans and marine resources and i say to you, today with certainty, this is

one of the great challenges of our time. and hand-in-hand with this challenge is on a mountain to scale. the effort to eliminate poverty from the world. now, we estimated to say wow, that's just too big. that's just not possible but the truth is, it's not only possible . we are making enormous progress in trying to achieve it right now. today, extreme poverty worldwide has fallen below 10 percent for the first time in history. the revolution that is taking place on the global basis has brought hundreds of millions of people in india,hundreds of millions of people in china into the middle class . and while that's welcome news, we are not satisfied because 700 million people still have to survive unless that what it costs for us to grab a couple of dunkin' donuts a day. because the gap, the gap that was referred to earlier

between rich and poor remains are too wide. so at the un last fall, the world came together and agreed to move forward on an agenda that not only will reduce poverty further but ensurethat every boy and girl can attend school . that every mother gets the healthcare that needs to survive and that every available resources use to win the fight against epidemic diseases and after all my friends, we've defied predictions by stopping people up. remember? experts said that 1 million people would be dead by christmas of 2014 without action but we took action. president obama had the foresight to send 3000 troops to west africa to build capacity, to provide care and aid and to stem the spread of the epidemic and now thanks to unprecedented global response, global response.

not one country, not turning inwards and avoiding responsibility but accepting responsibility. today the most affected countries are virtually evil of free. there is absolutely no reason . [applause] there is absolutely no reason to believe that we can't do the same for malaria and the same for the zika virus. right now if we uphold and continue ourcommitments to critical global health programs in africa , we can see the birth of the first aids free generation, an extraordinaryaccomplishment. and yet , and yet another mountain. that we have to climb which stands in the way of the call that we want in our lives and the stability that we need to achieve many of the things we want to achieve is the

scourge of violent extremism that threatens communities around the world.and there can be no peace without eliminating this scourge. i mentioned victoria mcgrath earlier was injured in the boston marathon attack. so boston and northeastern need no lessons and how important it is to win the battle against terrorists area i want you to know without exaggeration, we will win it and we are even winning it now in syria and iraq, we had the greater the leadership of the terrorist group known as isis or daesh. we have liberated a third of the land once occupied and are continuing to move. they have not taken one piece of territory and held it since may of last year. but we are not going to be successful in the long run, we're not going to be successful in the long run if the world continues to turn away from other kinds of

problems and allows the production of terrorists at such an alarming rate. and that is why it is critical that we expand our commitments to taking on violent extremism at the roots. we know that there are millions of young people across the globe no jobs. no opportunity. but they have smart phones in their hands. they can see what the rest of the world has. and in the seeing of that they also see and know what they don't have. i want you to know that the fruit vendor who ignited the arab spring in tunisia, he wasn't religiously motivated. there was no religion at all in what he did. he was tired of being slapped around by a corrupt policeman who wanted a bride and he was so frustrated by his inability to sell his own fruit where he wanted that he self immolated and that ignited a revolution that saw a dictator 30 years driven

out of the country. that's what ignited tar your square. there was no religion in time your square in terms of what motivated it. it was young people like you wanted an opportunity like you have here but they wanted it in their home and for their country. we need these young people to know that their countries and their communities will not be abandoned to the clutches of terrorists and extremists. experts tell us that a 50 percent reduction in youth unemployment could lift the global living standards by six percent or more. so our mission, your mission is to create jobs not just in a few places but in many places. and that's going to require the deep involvement jointly of the private sector, civil society, academic institutions, international organizations and governments everywhere and still there will be no guarantees. and let me make it clear, doing this is not about charity. it's not about getting

something for nothing. it's about building our own security and preventing the conflicts of the future that may inevitably see us having to become involved. you know, there used to be a famous song during world war i. over there. it sang about the distance shores where our soldiers traveled to fight but in our time, in your time, there is no over there.in a digital, well-traveled world, in a global marketplace, those distantshores are practically always right at our doorstep . so all of us need to do much more to build relationships with partners overseas, to deliver assistance to families and communities abroad, to promote stability worldwide and we need to do this not because it is morally right which is is, not just because it's in keeping with our national egos which is also true but because our own security and

prosperity demanded. my friends, we are blessed to live in a country with a $17 trillion economy. and yet we spend just one penny on every dollar of our federal budget on all of our foreign aid. the fact is there is much more that we can do and must do to encourage and reward innovation, to diversified economies, to improve governance, to stop corruption, to ensure the education of young people and that it actually teaches young people what they need to know and keeps them from being radicalized. now, there is much more that we can invest and many more projects where my generation and your to take on as you take on your careers in the days ahead. and i ask you just for a moment to think about the careers of the three distinguished americans who

preceded me in receiving honorary degrees from this university today. over a period of decades, susan hartfield dedicated her vision and her talent to the fight against braincancer . through accommodation of genius and high purpose, tom mccarthy has reached the pinnacle of his art of storytelling. charlie boulder has been an aviator, an astronaut, a military commander, the administrator of nasa and above all an inspiring leader of women and men. none of them would be here today if they were easily satisfied. and the accomplishments which earned their degrees came about because they dared to always explore the outermost limits of what they could do, thinking especially of charlie and my own dad who flew in the army air corps in the year prior to pearl harbor, i want to tell you in closing about a group of people who were called on years ago to test themselves

under the most extreme conditions. the setting was asia. the time, a few months after the start of world war ii. enemy planes dominated the traditional air routes so to get supplies from india to friendly forces in china, american aviators had to fly hundreds of miles over some of the lord's highest mountains including the towering himalayas . they called it flying the hump and nothing similar had ever been attempted. the airplanes they flew came straight from the factory and were untested. the pilots were given no charts so they drew their own. they were asked to fly higher than any aviator had flown, higher than they had been trained to fly and they did so over the globe's most forbidding terrain. amid clouds or in darkness, hidden peak or a crack could appear at any moment and bring them down.

and yet, each night playing after playing flew off into the unknown because had they not, allied forces would have stood no chance. eventually, the pentagon sent an officer to observe and talk to the pilots, deciding in each case whether the strain had become too much and the aviator should be sent home and the officer reported back that some of the flyers were mentally drained after the first trip. others began to crack in a couple of weeks or months . only a few were able to go on and on much longer than their buddies . in four years, more than 1000 pilots were lost. but together, these courageous airmen, none of them famous or with big reputations, they kept the supply lines open and they helped to win the war. now, some of these pilots were better able than others to persevere but here's the point. none failed.

because all went as far as their own capabilities allowed. each pushed like a dedicated marathoner has to push to plumb those final reserves of strength to find the spark of greatness within them. that is the most that anyone could have asked of them. it's what history demands from the united states of america. it's what the future asks of you. you graduate today with an increasing reservoir of knowledge and skills but how you use those gifts, how far you push yourselves, whether you give your own capabilities of chance, that's not just about education. that's a question of character. and the question that only you can answer. when robert kennedy was running for president in 1968, he raised with students at the university of kansas some basic questions about

dignity and purpose. he pointed out that what we now call our gdp was measured among other things in items like the size of our military, the capacity of our jails, the production of our weapons and the pollution emanating from our factories. it was not, he lamented, measured in the things that mattered most in our daily lives. kennedy said the gross national product does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education or the joy of their play. it does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages, the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials. it measures neither our wit nor our courage, neither our wisdom or our learning. neither our compassion or our devotion to country. it measures everything in short except that which makes

life worthwhile. my friends, we are under no illusions about the gigantic challenges before us. but we should remember that compared to any earlier generation, we have from indus advantages. a child today is more likely than ever before to be born healthy, more likely to be adequately fed, more likely to get the necessary vaccinations, more likely to attend school, more likely to live a long life . individuals in countries around the world thrive on new technologies that have made possible incredible breakthroughs in communications, education, healthcare, economic growth and the number of democracies as doubled while the number of nuclear weapons has fallen by two thirds in just the last 30 years. and all of this is because of any one country or because of what governments do alone. it's what happens when people have faith in their own values, in their own skills .

when they respect the rights and dignity of each other and when they believe in the possibility of progress no matter how many setbacks they stand in their way. that is not a complicated formula. but it gives me a powerful sense of confidence in what together we can achieve now and in what you can achieve in the years and decades ahead. because meeting those challenges, pursuing arenas that excite your passions, completing the mission to teach and to serve and heal and give back, that is what makes life worthwhile. and i encourage you to search for the greatness within while you push for the outermost horizons. and remember always as you do this what nelson mandela said . all the hardest jobs seem impossible until they are done.

congratulations again to all of you and thank you for letting me share this day with you. [applause] >> the senate is back today at 2 pm eastern after yesterday failing for a third time to advance the energy and water spending bill.

family members of political pressures being held in vietnam are on capitol hill today testifying before house for the fair subcommittee. that will be live starting at 4 p.m. eastern on c-span3. >> this sunday night on q&a. historian and his book saying and hearts on american islamic in the spanish civil war in the late 1930s. >> this attempt happened in spain when all over the country right wing army officers tried to seize power and in parts of the country succeeded in seizing power in 1936. it sent a shockwave of alarm throughout the world because he was a major country in europe, the right wing military quickly backed by hitler and mussolini who sent arms to airplanes, pilots, tanks, and mussolini eventually sent 80,000 ground

troops. he was the spanish right making a grab for power and people all over the world felt it ought to be resisted. if not here, where? otherwise we are next. >> sunday night at eight eastern and pacific on c-span's q&a. >> the u.s. holocaust memorial museum in washington, d.c. held a remembrance ceremony and use capitol visitor center to honor victims and survivors of the holocaust. speakers include israeli ambassador to the u.s. ron dermer and secretary penny pritzker. ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ >> ladies and gentlemen, tom bernstein, chairman of united states holocaust memorial council. >> good morning and welcome, distinguished guests, friends of the museum, and especially

holocaust survivors. in a few minutes we welcome the flags of the u.s. army divisions that liberated the nazi concentration camps. this stirring moment in these ceremonies always fills us with pride and awe at the courage and sacrifice of our military forces, then and now. but it is worth recalling that 75 years ago, in the spring of 1941 our nation overwhelmingly opposed fighting the nazis. into election campaign the previous year, president franklin roosevelt was up against powerful isolationists such as charles landsberg come with most revered man in america. in response to being accused of plotting to into the war, fdr made a campaign pledge to mothers and fathers of america that quote, your boys are not going to be sent into any foreign wars.

after being reelected, fdr pushed his legislation through congress. his critics called it a war dictatorship bill. he called it the creation of the arsenal of democracy. reflecting broad public sentiment at the time, senator of ohio said war is worse than a german victory. while part of our country was busy keeping america out of the war, others are busy keeping refugees out of america. it was reported the nazis were bribing jewish immigrants to spy for germany. this outlandish claim provided the ammunition needed to making reducing immigration and important national security measure. and the state department imposed even harsher restrictions on those trying to flee escalating our situation and violence. and that there will year of 1941, 40% of all immigration applications were rejected, and

less than half the quarter was filled, even the hundreds of thousands of jews desperately sought to escape, a trickle of a few thousand was admitted to a nation of 133 million. 1941 was a pivotal year for yet another reason. on the other side of the world, unprecedented events began to unfold that barely penetrated american consciousness or public concern. our doors were shu shutting juss the systematic murder of jews was begin with the invasion of the soviet union. at the time it did not seem like we were consigning the jews to sure death, but that is indeed what happened. overcome by our fears and a failure of imagination, we allowed xenophobia and anti-semitism to shape our policies. of course, 1941 would end with another pivotal event, the

attack on pearl harbor. yet even after america's entry into the war, it would take almost 3.5 years to defeat nazi-ism. that was an eternity for the doomed of jews of europe. by the time our soldiers reached the camps, they found a tiny remnant of what had been. so today as we watch these flags we are reminded of our profound gratitude to those 16 million americans who served in world war ii. a few of whom are here today. we are losing 430 veterans every day, but our gratitude is enduring. in honoring them, we also remind ourselves that the very freedom they fought to preserve is always fragile and that every one of us has a responsibility to protect it. thank you. [applause]

>> ladies and gentlemen, please rise for the presentation of the flags of the united states army liberating divisions, followed by the national colors. bennett. >> first infantry division. ♪ >> the 101st airborne division. >> second infantry division. >> eighty-second airborne division. ♪ fourth infantry division. ♪ >> eighth infantry division.

♪ >> twenty-six infantry division. ♪ >> twenty-ninth infantry division. ♪ >> third infantry division. ♪ >> thirty-six infantry division. ♪ >> 42nd infantry division, dachau.

♪ >> forty-fifth infantry division, dachau. ♪ >> sixty-third infantry division. ♪ >> sixty-fifth infantry division. ♪ >> sixty-ninth infantry division. 101st infantry division. ♪ >> seventy-first infantry division. 103rd infantry division. ♪

>> eightieth infantry division. 99th infantry division, dachau sub camp. >> eighty-third infantry division. 95th infantry division. ♪ >> eighty-fourth infantry division. 90th infantry division. ♪ >> eighty-sixth infantry division. 89th division. ♪

♪ >> please remain standing for the presentation of the national color. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪.

♪ ♪ oh, say, can you see ♪ by the dawn's early light ♪ what so proudly we hailed ♪ at the twilight's last gleaming? ♪ ♪ whose broad stripes and bright stars ♪ ♪ thro' the perilous fight ♪ o'er the ramparts we watched ♪ were so gallantly streaming ♪ and the rockets red glare ♪ the bombs bursting in air ♪ gave proof through the night ♪ that our flag was still there ♪ ♪ oh, say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave ♪ ♪ o'er the land of the free

♪ and the home of the brave? >> right shoulder, arm. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ >> ladies and gentlemen, please be seated. ladies and gentlemen, ambassador ron dermer of the state of israel. >> chairman bernstein, secretary pritzker, senators, members of

congress, fellow ambassadors, world war ii veterans, and above all, the survivors and their families who are here today. we are gathered here to remember, to remember the murder of 6 million jews, and the murder of 1.5 billion jewish children. to remember that a civilization capable of producing a gutenberg and the beethoven was also capable of producing a goebbels, a mandolin and a hitler. to remember that the same leaders who sent brave soldiers to liberate, also turned away desperate refugees aboard the st. louis. to remember both the righteous among the nations, and the willing executioners. 71 years after the holocaust,

the task of remembering should not be difficult. seven decades is not long enough for ghettos and rail cars, let alone death camps and crematoriums to fade from our collective memory. but what has largely been forgotten is a powder keg of hatred that preceded the violence against the jews of europe. a powder keg had been filled to the brim by the vilification and slandering of the jews throughout the ages. for more than two millennia, the jews was typecast as the enemy of mankind. we were depicted as the poisoners of wells, the spreaders of plague, the murderers of children. even the murderers of god. no doubt a combustible mix of

national economic and social factors in 1930s germany helped light the fuse. but without the powder keg of hatred, such a lethal explosion would never have been possible. and while this horrific explosion has been seared into our collective consciousness, the powder keg of hatred has been largely forgotten. we have forgotten that anti-semitism did not begin in nazi germany. we have forgotten that this hatred has transcended time and space, faiths and cultures. we have forgotten the names, much less -- we have forgotten what happened over 2000 years ago in alexandria, or what happened 1000 years ago. ladies and gentlemen, the irony is that the holocaust is the main reason we have forgotten.

because of its unprecedented scale and scope, because of its unfathomable premeditation and unimaginable cruelty, the holocaust has been a blinding sun block it out the many stars at anti-semitism that have littered the skies of the jewish people's history. but we must never forget. because just as hatred of the jews did not begin with the holocaust, hatred of the jews did not end with the holocaust. for a time this was not fully understood. for a half century after auschwitz, it was politically incorrect to openly hate jews. at least in the civilized world. but those days are over. hating jews is fashionable once again. you can see in the fbi statistics which showed that of all the anti-religious hate

crimes in america, 57% are perpetrated against jews. but you can also see it in how the old hatred of the jewish people has become a new hatred of the jewish state. the slanderous depiction of israel as an apartheid state, as a perpetrator of genocide once again casts the jews as the enemy of mankind. and once again these lies are believed not just by the ignorant, but also by the educated. as statements by the swedish foreign minister and facebook post of british parliamentarians can attest. just last week a former mayor of london, even declared hitler a supporter of zionism. only in the sickest of mines can a monster who is dedicated to

annihilating the jews be declared a friend of the national movement that was established to save the jews. ladies and gentlemen, the painful truth is that the return of anti-semitism as a force in the world should surprise no one. it is simply a return to the historic nor. sadly the aberration was a few decades after the holocaust and anti-semitism was taboo. but while this age old hatred has returned, this time things are different. this time the jewish people are no longer a stateless and powerless people. the founders of zionism hope that the establishment of israel would end anti-semitism. they believed that anti-semitism persisted in the modern world because the jews were a minority everywhere, and the majority nowhere. they believed that if the jews,

that the jews would be treated like all the nations come if the jews had a state like all the nations. today this belief has ironically been flipped on its head as the turn of the twin century, many believe the cause of anti-semitism was that the jews did not have a state. at the turn of the 21st century, many people believe that the cause of at the semitism is that the jews you have a state. a century ago the call of the anti-semite was jews go to palestine. today the call of the anti-semites is jews, get out of palestine. ladies and gentlemen, the establishment of israel is neither that you were for nor the cause of anti-semitism. but the establishment did give the jewish people the ability to fight back against anti-semiti anti-semitism.

it gave the jewish people a voice among the nations to fight slander with truth. and more important, it gave the jewish people the ability to defend themselves when the powder keg of hatred inevitably erupts of violence. so on this solemn day, let us remember those who perished in the holocaust, and the horrors that they and the survivors endured. but let us also remember that powder keg of hatred. let us be grateful that the jews are once again a sovereign nation. and let us be grateful that isaias ancient promise is coming true. from the stump of jesse has come forth the shoot, a shoot that now is rooted in its ancient soil is growing stronger and stronger and it is more determined than ever to secure the jewish future.

[applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, sara bloomfield, director of the united states holocaust memorial museum. >> thank you, ambassador bernstein. kelly once said that the museum is not an answer, it is a question. so, too, with the holocaust. and our endless questions. how could so many tortured and killed? why did so few help? what enabled the victims to cope? the experience of the victims is unimaginable, but imagine we must. to understand is not possible,

but perhaps we can gain some insight with stories. and sadly, there are millions of them. in the ghetto, a rabbi dedicated his life to jewish religion teaching and values, and he remained unshaken over several years of unspeakable events to this very dedication. at great risk, he had treasured jewish books and taught clandestine classes to young people and adults. now that in itself was extraordinary, but you did something more. he gave a unique kind of spiritual leadership that both reflected and reacted to the horrific circumstances. he preserved faith and community, and skillfully adapted them to survivability your he actively encouraged

ghetto residents to continue the traditional practice, of posing questions seeking advice here and he painstakingly researched his answers. catastrophe may have changed the question, but for him it did not change the importance of long-standing religious principles. i want to share three of his responses with you. in the first, the germans have brought stray dogs and cats to the house of religious study where they shot them. pay-fors several jews at gunpoint to rip apart and use of the sheet up parchment to cover the carcasses of dead animals. having committed sacrilege, these individuals asked the rabbi what to do. his response, those who witness

the torah being torn were obligated to rend their garments, a jewish expression of mourning. those who actually toward the scroll, even though they were forced to do it at gunpoint, had to fast. but if they could not fast because of physical weakness due to hunger or other sufferings that they bore daily in the ghetto, one could not obligate them to fast. the second example involves a storeroom filled with clothing that once belonged to jews who have been murdered. the question was, could the garments be used again? his response, since the garments had no blood stains, they must've been removed before the victims were killed. therefore, they could be worn not only by the victim's heirs, but by others as well.

he said, quote, the martyred souls would unquestionably derived spiritual satisfaction from the fact that their surviving captive brethren regard in garments that once belonged to them. the final question came from a 12 year old boy who was devoted to the study of torah. recognizing that german actions were now a daily occurrence and that children were a main target, he asked if he might be permitted to observe the adult prayer ritual, despite the fact that his bar mitzvah was three months away. the rabbi wrote, i ruled the precious child to merit the privilege of fulfilling this mitzvah. and then the rabbi himself posed a question.

he asked, who could issue or that the boy would live three months and reach the age of 13? now, the nature of these questions, of those asking the questions, and the rabbi's responses, this epitomizes for me the ultimate in human dignity. they provide a glimpse of humanity struggling to stay alive in an ocean of inhumanity. we've all look back on the holocaust and asked, what would i have done? the rabbi and his followers offer an example of what i hope i could have done. thank you. [applause]

>> ladies and gentlemen, the honorable penny pritzker, united states secretary of commerce. >> good morning. today we gather to remember the unspeakable event of the holocaust. a horror that resulted in the murder of men, women and children throughout europe, including 6 million jews, and millions of roma and others. 6 million is an impossible number to comprehend. we tried to intellectualize the quantity, but we cannot begin to grasp the breadth of humanity. behind that figure. and yet we must never forget. every day of remembrance we come

together to try and remember the millions of lives, the sons and daughters, mothers and fathers, the friends and neighbors who died in the holocaust your for every number, a name. and he had every name, a story. many of you here today have personal stories of the holocaust. through the lives you lead, you share these stories with your children, with her grandchildren, with students, with visitors to the holocaust museum. through your stories you ensure that those you lost are never forgotten. through your words you craft a living history that owners their memory. -- honors. i say this of the could reflect on the point that words have

power. we humans have within us the capacity to create realities, good and evil, with speech and with our words. went a holocaust survivor speaks about the death of a loved one who perished in the death camps or in the ghettos or in the killing fields, she creates a memorial in the minds of all who hear her story. the inverse is also true. when a nazi poster placed in the town square says that jews are defilers of the race come it strips the jewish people of their humanity in the minds of all who see it. yesterday's neighbors become today's enemy. the holocaust is a lesson about the power of words and language. it is the most extreme example

of what happens when we let our hate and fear of the others shape our speech. years before the first concentration camp opened, and more than a decade before kristallnacht, the nazis began to pollute europe with their speech and their language. they used hate speech to justify their eventual atrocities. this happens again and again throughout history. five decades before the holocaust, my family fled ukraine after the russian program. czar alexander ii have been assassinated one month earlier. rumors spread that the jews responsible, and riots erupted across russia. my then 10 year old great-grandfather hid in the attic with his father for more

than 60 hours. when the violence had subsided, they discovered their grain stored had been destroyed. fearing for their safety, my entire family immigrated to chicago later that year. what drove my family out of czarist russia was fueled in part by a leaflet distributed by the southern russian workers union. the leaflet said, one should not beat the jew because he is a jew and praise to god in his own way. rather, one should be him because he is robbing the people -- beat desperately sucking the blood of the working man. imagine my great grandfather for when he traveled to berlin in 1934, more than 50 years later and saw the same bigoted speech

spreading across germany. at the time he wrote, and i quote, nazi germany is merely history repeating itself. the case of the few being used as scapegoats. my great grandfather visited berlin at almost the exact time that do not seek hate speech was beginning to translate into state implemented marginalization of the jews. if there was ever a time for the german people to stand up against the bigotry of their government, 1934 was it. and yet most germans stood idly by and watched the nuremberg race laws were implemented. effectively urging jews from german society -- purging. speech creates reality.

good and evil. and hate speech as a friend in silence. most germans did not murder of jews or roma. but every person who knew what was happening in the death camps and chose to go about their lives was complicit with the atrocities. my dear friend calls them the tribe of the folded arms, and they bear their share of guilt. silence is dangerous because it spreads the notion that the problem of your neighbor are not your problems. we are all familiar with, first they came for the socialists. to this day many use his words to illustrate that you can not

tolerate discrimination against others. because one day hate will come knocking on your door. but this litany also underscores the important point that institutional discrimination is gradual. first they came for the socialists and the trade unionists. later the jews. first you lost your job if you spoke out. later you lost your job just for being jewish. first you room mood from home into the gato. and later, years later, he was sent in cattle cars to auschwitz. societies did not move him good to evil overnight. the challenge of the gradual descent into hate is to speak out early enough and loud enough

to reverse its course. today and our beloved united states we are witnessing a rising fear of the other. the southern poverty law center recently surveyed teachers across the country about how the rhetoric of this election is affecting their students. more than two-thirds reported that their students, many immigrants, children of immigrants, and muslims, are worried about what might happen to them after the election. more than one-third are seeing more anti-muslim or anti-immigrant sentiment in their classrooms. let me be clear. i do not think holocaust is possible in america. but i worry about what happens when we betray the principles of inclusion, that form the foundation of our country. freedom of speech gives us the

right to speak our mind. it is a precious right, but it does not free us from the responsibility of the consequences of our words. this right should not be used to dehumanize others with language. as americans we have a choice. do we get into the language of fear? do we sit with our arms folded while words are used to dehumanize other fellow human beings? or do we stand up and speak out? during my great grandfather's trip to berlin in 1934, he and my uncle j. or eating lunch one day when a group of nazi supporters headed by a band headed to the café. tables are pushed together.

fiery speeches were made. eventually one speaker called for a toast to hitler. everyone in the restaurant stood up and gave the salute. looking at j., my great grandfather said, what do we do now? do we rise? jay, whose only 14 at the time said, grandpa, are we cowards? then we do not rise nor salute. is my uncle, teenager visiting a foreign country where the sidewalks are covered in posters proclaiming his people a menace to humanity, had the courage to stick to his principles, what is the excuse for our silence? my great grandfather and uncle made silence their descent at a

time when drawing attention to the faith and beliefs was not just unwise, but dangerous. their silence was powerful. it was justified. ours is not. all of us live in a country built on the ideals of inclusion and tolerance. we are a country that celebrates the dignity of difference. we are better than the language of hate. america is not the tribe of folded arms. if one of the lessons of the holocaust is that thou shalt not be silent, then today on this day of remembrance, we must honor the memories of the millions who were murdered by speaking up against hate speech we encounter in our lives and in

our country. the torah teaches us that you must not go around slandering your fellow human beings. you must not stand idly by when your neighbor's life is at stake. our neighbors lives, their dignity, their humanity, are at stake and we cannot stand idly by. never forget that life and death are in the hands of speech. and may we never forget the stories of the millions singled out for annihilation, the jewish people, the roma, and sons and daughters all across europe by the unspeakable horror of the holocaust. thank you. [applause]

>> ladies and gentlemen, allan holt, vice chairman of the united states holocaust memorial council. >> good morning. thank you for your wonderful comments this morning. as a jewish families around the world recently celebrated passover, they recalled deliverance from slavery and newfound freedom. for families like mine, passover has added meaning because of the very notions of freedom and family kerry after significance with all of one's grandparents were killed in the holocaust. thankfully my parents like the jews linkage of were eventually

liberated. born in separate towns in poland, their combined holocaust experience reads like a catalogue of the most infamous places. the ghetto, dachau, and auschwitz. after managing to survive by their wits, and sheer luck, my parents met serendipitously during the chaotic moments they were liberated by american troops, and survive they did come as they just celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary. when they see the flags behind me representing the u.s. army divisions that liberated the camps, i know that i stand here today only because of the courage and sacrifice of one of

those divisions. enter the world war ii veterans here today, i want you to know that there are no words to express the gift you gave to my parents. you gave him not only freedom, you gave them hope. america always was and remains for them a beacon of hope. and it wasn't that hope that was so crucial as they struggle to rebuild their shattered lives. the resilience of the survivors is truly remarkable. but most remarkable of all is that although they were subject to the most inhumane treatment, they never lost their humanity. although the world abandoned them, they never abandoned the world. they could've responded with a two morning.

with violence with more violence. they did not. despite being tested in ways the rest of us find unimaginable, they retained their compassion and dignity. that should be a source of inspiration and hope to all of us. yet today as we honor the survivors and celebrate their extraordinary resilience, we must never forget that forces that made them victims in the first place, dangerous forces that are researching today, anti-semitism, hate, extremism. so as we light these memorial candles and think about those who were killed, we must never forget why they were killed, and that they're killing was preventable.

that is the challenge to each of us, the challenge of holocaust memory. we will be assisting in the candle lighting ceremony by the junior edition high school and a graduate of the museums youth leadership program. inspired by her parents who are both graduates of the program, she hopes to become a role model and later among youth in her community. i would now like to ask senator ben cardin of maryland to stand by the first candle. the first candle will be lit by -- of romania, yugoslavia.

as a teenager, she was deported to auschwitz birkenau where her mother and two of her sisters were murdered. she survived forced labor before liberation in 1945 your after theodorus bears were sent to concentration camps, she and her brother were hidden throughout the war either non-jewish uncle and other neighbors. both transport and theodora our museum volunteers here today.

>> the second candle will be lit by joseph rimmed glass. born in poland, he survived incarceration and several labor and concentration camps, including auschwitz as well as a death march. he was liberated by american troops from a slave labor camp where germans were manufacturing b-2 bombers.

>> the third candle would be lit by kurt of vienna. following deportation and murder of his father and grandfather, five year-old curt and his mother were deported where they survived until liberation. >> thank you, senator cardin. i would now like to ask senator

donald beyer of virginia to stand by the fourth candle. the fourth candle will be lit by shoshana rose of poland. following germany's invasion of poland, shoshana's father smuggled the family to belarus where they were deported to siberia by the soviets. the family later relocated to kazakhstan where they remained until the end of the war. the fifth candle will be lit by -- born in amsterdam. with the assistance of the dutch resistance, he was three years old and hidden with a couple in

amsterdam while his parents were able to find shelter in an attic elsewhere in the city. they had no contact until they reunited in 1945. >> the sixth candle would be lit by alfred and josie and. 10 year old alfred born in vienna was sent on his parents on a kindertransport to england where he was welcomed by a host family your alfred later served the british and israeli armies. josie and was born in brussels. her mother, a member of the belgian resistance, hit her first in a convent and later with a christian family. alfred and josie volunteer at the museum, along with her

mother, a survivor of auschwitz. thank you, congressman. and thank you to all of the survivors here today. your sacrifices, courage, despite unimaginable suffering, must never be forgotten. [applause] >> prayer for the dead will be chanted by hazzan henrique ozur bass followed by gideon frieder

and leaders in reciting. [chanting] [chanting]

[chanting] [chanting] [chanting]

[chanting] [chanting] [chanting]

[chanting] [chanting] [chanting] [chanting]

[chanting] [chanting] >> [reading in hebrew]

[reading in hebrew] [reading in hebrew] >> please remain standing for the singing of "the hymn of the partisans" led by hazzan bass

spirit you can see this online at c-span.org. we leave here as the u.s. senate comes in returning after yesterday failing to advance the energy and water spending bill. it was the third attempt to move the legislation for. democrats have prevented the bill from advancing over an amendment by tom cotton that would prevent the purchase of heavy water from iran. and less an agreement is reached vote on energy and water spendinspending bill and they ct amendment will happen tomorrow but it's the first appropriations bill to send has taken up. live coverage here on c-span2. eternal god, help us to so live that the generations to come will know of your mighty acts. today, guide our senators in the