vote a list of all a joke eligible residents of each jurisdiction. is that registrants. and west virginia also passed a similar lot. id to be implemented said dmv the chief government agency these needed reforms have 50 million eligible voters to save money for what is necessary for the system. also addressing the fact was that of nine americans moved every year the voter

registration in many would-be voters don't realize and their location but they should work together to establish the program of the registration so they can vote on the election day but i take we should implement this fail-safe procedures by allowing every voter to cast a ballot on election day. several states a 40 taken the steps and showed with those percentage points but also save precious taxpayer dollars but despite the benefits is a those hurdles

will lead to voter fraud let me be clear. that is not acceptable but as i learned early in my career as a prosecutor in the public integrity section to be investigated it is real and that is simply not likely. and we must exercise that ability of the integrity of the election system to advance what is necessary to achieve this.

and willing to demand fact based intentions and solutions politicians under which they are affected and to strengthen further protection and restoring of the voter rights act and they can bring about a meaningful change for the leadership of these issues and it has done much since then with those of their voting enhancements through public education. so stakeout to raise awareness calling on the

political party and works to achieve by appealing to more voters. into reevaluate and perform them away of that participation to make it easier to vote so why is it tied to a single tuesday november? expand the days so many fellow citizens can choose between casting about it and keeping their jobs. increase the number of polling places that people can participate.

or nor should we sure could sacred responsibility with the promise of the voting rights act america was the first nation with a purpose and to do justice for the last two centuries the fulfillment of backs of protest and declarations of "war and peace" in certainly government of iran by the people today there are competing visions our government should before word that is what the democratic process is all about.

and letting the people char there'll course to help people establish such a process to order the democracy demand through all barriers to voting in all political backgrounds must share with a sacrifice you must remain diligent and other basic and important rights. i believe they are shameful for what defines us and what makes this exceptional and a gamble for all the world with part of america's history compels us to the franchisee must never forget the purpose that is centuries ago inspired our nation's founding must

inspire us for word. in with those divisions of our time. and the pursuit of a more perfect union. with the voting right is not only a legal issue but a moral imperative. have less challenging every way possible to undermine our democracy with the covenant and people.

in to struggle and we ought to read through with the right to vote. [applause] very important

statement. madam president, it's my pleasure to rise with my friend and colleague from rhode island to speak about the national defense authorization act for fiscal year 2017. for 54 consecutive years, congress has passed this vital piece of legislation which provides our military service members with the resources, equipment and training that they need to defend the nation. it's one of the few bills in congress that continues to enjoy bipartisan support year after year. that's a testament to this legislation's critical importance to our national security and the high regard with which it is held by the congress. last month the senate armed services committee voted 23-3,

23-3 to approve the ndaa, an overwhelming vote that reflects the committee's proud tradition of bipartisan support for the brave men and women of our armed services. i want to thank the committee's ranking member, the senator from rhode island, for his months of hard work on the ndaa. it's been a great pleasure to work with him on this legislation and i remain appreciative of the thoughtfulness and bipartisan spirit with which he approaches our national security. he's a great partner and a great realeader. i also want to thank the majority leader, the senator from kentucky for his commitment for bringing the ndaa to the senate floor on time and without delay. it's a testimony to his leadership that the senate will once again consider this bill in regular order with an open amendment process. i am tremendously proud of the senate armed services committee's work on this legislation. this year's ndaa is the most

significant piece of defense reform legislation in 30 years. it includes major reforms to the department of defense that can help our military to rise to the challenge of a more dangerous world. the ndaa contains updates to the pentagon's organization to prioritize innovation and improve the development and execution of defense strategy. the ndaa -- the legislation continues sweeping reforms of the defense acquisition system to harness american innovation and preserve our military's technological edge. the ndaa modernizes the military health system to provide military service members, retirees and their families with higher quality care, better access to care and better experience of care. the ndaa authorizes a pay raise for our troops. it invests in the modern equipment and advanced training they need to meet current and future threats.

it helps to restore military readiness for the $2 billion for additional training, depot maintenance and weapon sustainment. and it gives our allies and partners the support they need to deter aggression and fight terrorism. this is a far-reaching piece of legislation. there is one challenge it could not address. the dangerous mismatch between growing worldwide threats and arbitrary limits on defense spending that's in current law. and this mismatch has very real consequences for the thousands of americans who serve in uniform and sacrifice on our behalf all around the nation and the world. our troops are doing everything we ask of them, but we must ask ourselves are we doing everything we can for them? the answer, i say, with profound sadness, is we are not, we are not.

since 2011, the budget control act has imposed arbitrary caps on defense spending, and over the last five years as our military has struggled under the threat of sequestration, the world has only grown more complex and far more dangerous. since 2011, we have seen russian forces invade ukraine, the emergence of the so-called islamic state and its global campaign of terrorism, increased attempts by iran to destabilize u.s. allies and partners in the middle east, growing assertive behavior by china and the militarization of the south china sea, numerous cyber attacks on u.s. industry and government agencies and further testing by north korea of nuclear technology and other advanced military capabilities. indeed, the director of national intelligence james clapper testified in february that over

the course of his distinguished five-decade career, he could not recall a more diverse array of challenges and crises than our nation confronts today. our military is being forced to confront these growing threats with shrinking resources. this year's defense budget is more than $150 billion less than fiscal year 2011, and despite periodic relief from the budget caps that impose these cuts including the bipartisan budget act of last year, each of our military services remains underfunded, undersized and unready to meet current and future threats. in short, as threats grow and the operational demands on our military increase, defense spending in constant dollars is decreasing.

how does that make any sense? the president's defense budget request strictly adheres to the bipartisan budget agreement which is $17 billion less than what the department of defense planned for last year. as a result, the military services unfunded requirement total nearly $23 billion for the coming fiscal year alone. meanwhile, sequestration threatens to return in 2018, taking away another $100 billion from our military through 2021. this is unacceptable. this is unacceptable. while the ndaa confirms -- conforms to last year's budget agreement at present, i have filed an amendment to increase defense spending above the current spending caps. this amendment will reverse shortsighted cuts to

modernization, restore military readiness and give our service members the support they need and deserve. i do not know whether or not this amendment will succeed, but the senate must have this debate, and senators, we're going to have to choose a side. at the same time, as i have long believed, providing for the common defense is not just about a bigger defense budget, as necessary as that is. we must also reform our nation's defense enterprise to meet new threats both today and tomorrow and to give americans greater confidence, which they don't have a lot of now. the department of defense is spending their tax dollars efficiently and effectively. that is exactly what this legislation does. the last major reorganization at the department of defense was the goldwater-nickels act which marks its 30th anniversary this year.

last fall, the senate armed services committee had a series of 13 hearings on defense reform. we heard from 52 of our nation's foremost defense experts and leaders. the goldwater-nickels october of 30 years ago responded to the challenges of its time. our goal was to determine what changes need to be made to prepare the department of defense to meet a new set of strategic challenges. as jim locker, the lead staffer on goldwater-nickels testified last year, and i quote -- "no organizational blueprint lasts forever. the world in which department of defense must operate has changed dramatically over the last 30 years. instead of one great power rival, the united states now faces a series of transregional, crossfunctional, multidomain and long-term strategic competitions that pose a significant

challenge to the organization of the pentagon and the military, which is often rigidly aligned around functional issues and regional geography. put simply, the goldwater-nickels act of 30 years ago was about operational effectiveness, improving the ability of the military services to plan and operate together as one joint force. the problem today is strategic integration. how the department of defense integrates its activities and resources across different regions, functions and domains while balancing and sustaining those efforts over time. the ndaa would require the next secretary of defense to create a series of crossfunctional mission teams to better integrate the department's efforts and achieve discrete objectives. for example, one could examine a russian mission team with representatives from policy

intelligence, acquisition, budget services and more. there is no mechanism to perform this kind of integration at present. the secretary and the deputy have to do it ad hoc, which is an unrealistic burden. the idea of crossfunctional teams have been shown to be tremendously effective in the private sector and by innovative military leaders such as general stan mcchrystal. if applied effectively in the office of the secretary of defense, i believe this concept could be every bit as impactful as the goldwater-nickels reforms. the ndaa would also require the next secretary to reorganize one combatant command around joint task forces, focused on discrete operational missions rather than military services. here, too, the goal is to improve integration across different military functions and do so with far fewer staff than these commands now have.

similarly, the legislation seeks to clarify the role of the chairman of the joint chiefs, focusing this leader on more strategic issues while providing the chairman greater authority to assist the secretary with the global integration of military operations. the ndaa also seeks to curb the growth and civilian staff and military officers that occurred in recent years. over the past 30 years, the end strength -- that's the total number of members of services -- the end strength of the joint force has decreased by 38%. the number of men and women serving in the military has decreased by 38%, but the ratio of four-star officers -- that's admirals and generals -- to the overall force has increased by 65%. we've seen similar increases among civilians at the senior

executive service level. the ndaa therefore requires a carefully tailored 25% reduction in the number of general and flag officers, a corresponding 25% decrease to the ranks of senior civilians and a 25% cut to the amount of money that can be spent on contractors that are doing staff work. the ndaa also caps the size of the national security council policy staff at 150. the national security council staff will be capped at 150. the staff has steadily grown over administrations of both parties in recent decades. under george herbert walker bush, there were 40, and now more than -- first 40 under george herbert walker bush. more than 100 in the clinton administration. more than 200 during the george

w. bush administration. and now there are reports of nearly 400 under the current administration, plus as many as 200 contractors. this tremendous growth has enabled a troubling expansion of the n.s.c. staff's activities from its original strategic focus to micromanagement of operational issues in ways that are inconsistent with the intent of congress when it created the n.s.c. in 1947. it's gotten so bad, so bad that all three leaders who served as secretary of defense under the current administration recently blasted the n.s.c.'s micromanagement of operational issues during their tenures. former secretary of defense leon panetta. leon panetta has come out publicly in favor of shrinking the n.s.c. staff, saying he thinks we can do the job better with fewer people. in short, the n.s.c. staff is becoming increasingly involved

in operational issues that should be the per view of senate-confirmed individuals in the chain of command, and doing so beyond the reach of congressional oversight. if this organization were to return to the intent of the legislation that established it, it could reasonably claim that its strategic functions on behalf of the president are protected by executive privilege. if on the other hand the n.s.c. staff is to play the kind of operational role that it has in recent years -- and i could give my colleagues example after example, but if we were going to play the kind of operational role that it has in recent years, then such a body cannot escape congressional oversight. the purpose of the provision in the ndaa is to cap the size of the n.s.c. staff, is to state a preference for the congress' original intent, congress' original intent in creating the

n.s.c. integration as i have said is a major theme in the ndaa. another is innovation. for years after the cold war, the united states enjoyed a near monopoly on advanced military technologies. that is changing rapidly. our adversaries are catching up, and the united states is at real and increasing risk of losing the military and technological dominance that we have taken for granted for 30 years. at the same time, our leaders are struggling to innovate against an acquisition system that too often impedes their efforts. i have applauded secretary carter's attempts to innovate and reach out to nontraditional high-tech firms, but it is telling that this is required -- this has required the secretary's personal intervention to create new offices, organizations, outposts and initiatives, all too move faster and get around the current acquisition system.

innovation cannot be an auxiliary at the department of defense. it must be the central mission of its acquisition system. unfortunately, that is not the case for the office of the under secretary of defense for acquisition, technology and lodge is particulars are known as a.t.l. it has grown too big, tries to do too much and is too focused on compliance at the expense of innovation. that's why the ndaa seeks to divide a.t.l.'s duties between icvide a.t.l.'s duties between .. the job of research and engineering would be developing defense technologies that can ensure a u.s. qualitative military dominance. this office would set defense wide acquisition and

industrial-based policy. it would pull together the centers of innovation and the defense acquisition system and it would oversee the development and manufacturing of weapons by the services. in short, research and engineering would be a staff job focused on innovation policy and oversight of the military services and certain defense agencies such as darpa. by contrast, management and support would basically be a line management position. it would manage the multibillion-dollar businesses lltibillion-dollar businesses it would manage the multibillion dollars businesses such as defense logistics agency in the commissary agency that buys goods and services for the department of defense. but also manage other defense agencies that perform other critical business functions for the department such as performing audits, paid trips and managing contracts. this is not only enable research and engineering to focus on to knowledge development.pe

would also provide for better management of billions of dollars of spending my mission support activities. these organizational changesquit complement the additional acquisition reform in the nda that build on efforts of last year. this legislation creates new pathways for the department of defense to do business with nontraditional defense firms. it streamlines regulations to procure commercial goods andisio services. it provides new authorities for the rapid prototypingcapabi acquisition and fielding of new capabilities and imposes new limits on the use of so-called cost plus contracts. the overuse of these kinds of contracts and the complicated and expensive governmentnt bureaucracy that goes with them serves as a barrier to entry for commercial, nontraditional services that are driving innovation by military needs.

another major reform in the series nda is a sweeping overhaul of the military health system in a generation. the strong bipartisan effort is the result of several years of careful study.re the nda it creates greater health value for military families and retirees and families by improving quality of health care they receive providing timely access to care and enhancing patient satisfaction. all done at lower cost to the nation's by encouraging them to seek high-value services from high-value providers. the nda incorporates best practices and recent innovations of high-performing private-sector health care providers. for example, he and the aa creates specialized ofased on excellence at major medical centers based on the specialized care delivery model and

high-performing health systems like the cleveland clinic. the legislation also at dan the use of tele-health services and incentivize participation in disease management programs at the nda it expands and improves access to care by replying thelh system of facilities and creating more options for patients to get help here in the private sector. taken together, these are forms of many others in the pill will improve access to and quality of care for service members and families and retirees and their families improve their military combat medical readiness of our. forest and reduce rising health care costs to the department of defense. this entails some difficult decisions. the nda makes significant changes to the services and medical commands raptures and right sizes the costly military

health system infrastructure. and yes, it does have three asked some beneficiaries to pay a little more for health system. but they make three brief points. active-duty service members will not pay for any health care services or prescription drugs they receive. the ndaa does not increase the cost of health care a singleicae cent for active-duty service members enrolled in tri-care tha prime. there will continue to be no enrollment fees for health care coverage and all beneficiaries including retirees and families will continue to receive health care services and prescription drugs free of charge in military hospitals in the next good sacking, the ndaa does ask for a teenage retirees, many of whom are pursuing a second career to pay a little more. increases in annual enrollment fees are phased in over time and

there are modest increases in pharmacy co-pays at retail pharmacies and for brand-name drugs through the mail-order is pharmacy good it's important to remember 68% of military retirees live within the servicn area of the military hospital iy clinic where they will continue to enjoy no co-pays for prescription drugs and all military retirees have access to the mail order pharmacy or they can access a 90 day supply of generic prescriptions or you charge through fiscal year 29or, team. third, while some military retirees who pay little more, a guiding principle of this reform after this we would not askat beneficiaries to pay more unless they receive greater value in return for better access, better care and better health outcomes. the ndaa delivers on that of promise. modernizing the system is part of the focus on sustaining

quality of life for military service members, retirees and families. the ndaa authorizes a 1.6% pay raise for church and authorized in reauthorized over it or to types of bonuses and specialve pays.ary the legislation restructures and enhances sleep or military parents to care for a new child and provide stability for families of our fallen by extending the special survivor indemnity allowance. no widow should have to worry year-to-year is she or not receive the outset of the so-called widows tax. if the ndaa becomes law, he or she will never have to. the ndaa implements recommendations to the department of defense military justice review group by incorporating the military justice act of 2016.

the legislation modernized best appellate practice, incorporates best practices from federal criminal dissent procedures and increases transparency and independent review of the military justice system. taken together, provisions contained in this set too reconstitute the most significant reforms to the uniform code of military justice in a generation. a month of many military personnel policy provisions and the ndaa, there is one authority attract controversy. that of course is the provision in the ndaa that requires women to register for select service to the same extent as then beginning in 28 team. earlier this year the department of defense lifted the ban on women serving in ground combat units and after months of rigorous oversight, a large bipartisan majority in the armed

services committee agreed that there's simply no further justification to limit select service registration two men. that is not just my view, but the view of every single one of our military service chiefs including the army chief of staff in the commandant of the marine corps. there will likely be further debate on this issue and as it unfolds we must never forget that women have served honorably and our military for years. they fill critical roles in every branch of our military. some have served as pilot light for next value flew combat missions in afghanistan. some serve as the logisticians like the chair, senator joni earns, who ran convoys into iraq. others have served as medics, intelligence officers commended for their engineers from abu camp instructors and more. many women have served in harms

way in many women made the ultimate sacrifice including 160 killed in afghanistan and iraq. as we have told our commitment to the service members and families, we must also uphold our commitment to americannate w taxpayers. as part of the comprehensive effort to root out and eliminatn wasteful spending and improve the department of defense acquisition system, the ndaa imposes strict oversight measures on programs such as the f-35 joint tri-fighter come to be 21 long-range bomber, for class aircraft carrier and the littoral combat ship. these provisions will ensure accountability for results for more transparency to protect taxpayers and drive the department to deliver war fighters capabilities they need on time as promised at reasonable cost. the ndaa also opposed america's

commitment to allies andn partners. it authorizes $3.4 billion to support afghan partners as they fight to preserve the gains of the last 15 years and defeat the terrorists to destabilize the region and attack americanor interests. the legislation provides $1.3 billion for counter isil operation. the set three fully supports the reassurance initiatives and increase capability and readiness of u.s. and nato forces to deter and if necessary respond to aggression aggression. it also authorizes up to $15 million in security assistance to ukraine, including lethal assistance. we should care the ukrainian people the ability to defend themselves. finally, legislation includesro $239 million for u.s.-israel cooperative missile defense program.m.

as we continue to support allies and partners against common threats, ndaa makes major reforms to the pentagon's complex and none will do security corporation enterprise which has complicated the effectively prioritize, plan and oversee the effect dvds. legislation also make sure we are not prevented to port two adversaries like russia. the u.s. assured access to space continues to rely on russianpuri rocket engines. purchasing engines provide t financial benefit to vladimir putin's cronies, including individuals sanctioned by the united states and subsidizes the russian military-industrial a base. this is unacceptable at a time when russia continues to occupy crimea coming destabilize ukraine, then its nato allies, violate the 1987y

intermediate-range nuclear forces treaty on bomb moderate levels in syria. satisfy the ndaa repost the ndaa work has provisions for monsters under this appropriations bill that further dependence on the russia. by allow that to be extended, the defense department would be required to achieve assured access to space without the use of rocket engines designed or manufactured in russia. the testimony before the committee as secretary of defense rector of national intelligence and secretary of the air force each confirmed that the united states can meet its assured access to space requirements without the use of russian rocket engines. we do not have to rely on russia for access to space. given the urgency of eliminating reliance on russian engines, the

ndaa would allow half the funds for the development of replacement launch vehicle of a propulsion system to be made available for offsetting anyt potential increase in launch costs as a result of prohibitions on russian rocket engines. $1.2 billion budgeted over theig next five years can cover the cost of any reliance on russia will develop in next generation of americans space-bar b capabilities. finally, the legislatilegislati on takes several steps to bolster border security andse homeland defense. it authorizes $688 million for department of defense counterd e drug programs. it enhances information sharing and operation of ordination between the department of defense and the department of homeland security. it provides additional support for u.s. southern command and continue support for the ant u.s.-israel anti-tunnel andffors

cooperation which helps to improve efforts to restrict the flow of drugs across the u.s. southern border. i say to my colleagues, this is an ambitious piece of legislation and it is one that reflects the growing threats to a nation. everything about the nda a fist at driven, everything but the top line of $602 billion. that is an arbitrary figure setg by last year's budget agreement having nothing to do with events in the world, which itself is a product of five years of letting politics, not strategy determined the level of funding for national defense. former chairman of the joint chiefs, martin dempsey described last year's budget as though the ragged edge of manageable risk. and yet here we are one year

later but defense spending arbitrarily capped a $17 billion of other military needed in planned for last year. ma the lower ragged edge of risk, but this is what i fear it means, that our military is becoming less and less able to do for conflict and god forbid deterrence does fail somewhere and we end up in conflict. our nation will deploy a young americans into battle without wr sufficient training or equipment to fight a war that will take mr longer, be larger, cost more and ultimately claimed more american lives than it otherwise would have. that is the growing risk we face in for the sake of the men and women serving in our military, we cannot change course soon

enough.. the senate will have the opportunity to do just that when we consider my amendment to reverse the budget driven cut to the capabilities of our armed forces that are needed to defene the nation. i hope we will seize this opportunity. we ask a lot of our men and women in uniform and they never let us down. they must not let them down. as we move forward witheagues on consideration of the ndaa, i stand ready to work with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to get the fastest important legislation and givedr our military the resources they need and deserve. again, i note the presence of my esteemed colleague and friend, ranking member of the armed services committee, without whom this legislation would not have been possible. it happens to be a source of great pride to me and i hope to americans who believe that we

are bitterly divided. in the case of defending this nation in providing the men and women who we send them to harms way. the senator from long island any i have developed a partnership i believe has been incredibly enjy productive and without that partnership with rhode island, and would've not been possible to produce this legislation,or moti floor. >> morning business is close tot the previous order, the motion c to proceed is agreed to pay the clerk will report the bill. >> calendar for and 69 for 69 from a bill to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2017 for military activities of the department of defense itself but for the purposes.iding of

>> madam president. >> senate from arizona. >> i call it the number 42 is six to be that the clerk work for the amendment. >> senator mccain for mrs. fisher. >> i ask unanimous consent the reading be waived.d. >> is there objection? >> without objection. >> senator from rhode island. >> i first asked unanimous consent that the detailing senate armed service committee have joined consideration the past 2943 national defense authorization act. >> without objection. >> thank you madam president. i rise to discuss the national defense authorization bill which is staffed by may 19 by a vote g of 23393. i want to begin by thanking chairman mccain for his kind and thoughtful words. he has ably led the committee through many thought-provoking hearings and a special markup with bipartisan support of theut

bill. i believe the committee has been diligent to evaluate not only the president's budget request for fiscal year 17, but also a high look at the department of defense consider what reforms are necessary. most if not all of that effort is a direct result of the leadership of chairman mccain. his commitment to ensuring that we were at early emerged in the hear expert testimony that we heard both sides of the argument led be out to here before us today. we can see improvement and we are both going to strive to do that over the course of the next several weeks.s. we are beginning with a thoughtful. i thank the chairman for that. there are many provisions inil this bill that will help today in the future that contains sweeping reforms of the chairmat

described in some detail.ir i was privileged to work with the chairman of staff to develop this aspects. because of the scope and because of the range of these improvements and reforms, i believe and i think it is shared a others that that we need a continued dialogue for the department of defense department of defense and other experts to ensure we not only take the first steps, but the subsequent consequences both intended and unintended are well known and contribute to overall national security. we really must ensure truly better decisions that incorporate this legislation improve the department operations and do not create unnecessary detrimentalill consequences. first let me highlight aspects of the bill that will help our military ongoing fees operations. we are engaged in a difficult struggle victory in 11 and

radical extremists and critical buffers to fight against tran 11 our local partners and that is that the bill includes $1.3 billion to support thefo impact and syria programs than $180 million to support efforts of jordan and lebanon to secure the borders. the bill includes 3.4 billion for the afghanistan security forces find and these are critical investment and enhance interesting to pressure anoperar enemy. the bill provides the funds necessary to enable operations across iraq, syria, yemen somali and other locations where isil, al qaeda and remnants are located. the funding will enable the illt department to lead organizations and eliminate network of support. ensuring that there is continuous pressure on these violent extremists is critical into this with a focus focus the chair but then i include this important elements of the

legislation. the bill finds u.s. special operations command at the requested level of $10.76 including an increase of $26.7 million to help addressd technology gaps identified and q. nine reaper, unmanned aerial vehicles which are important to our ability to carry out counterterrorism strikes while avoiding collateral damage. the bill also extends criticalpe word is used by special operations forces and enhances the secretary of defense cooperation from all intensity conflicts providing oversight within the department. the fight against terrorism is not our fight alone and requires bold and their partners across the globe. this bill enable the department of defense to support our form part cars and also critically providing support to art most

homeless. major significance, the bill would undertake since 9/11, do congress and our own doing has g created dozens of new authorities to enable our armed forces this is difficult to oversee. to address this problem, the bill would consolidate and streamline security cooperation- authorities. this will create enhanced department of defense ability to address a wide range and evolving nature of global threats. additionally, the ndaa consolidates $2 billion in security cooperation funding into a new phone. the security cooperation enhancement fund. this will enhance publicnd transparency, increase flexibility and improvewo of

oversight. the department of defense department of defense is only responsible for two of the nine months of effort against isil and this bill funds the sooner the better. dod plays an essential enabling role for many other parts of our government particularly in the area of intelligence collection and analysis. the bill ensures that critical support is so bad we ca maintain after. the defense department is not the oldest responsible. all agencies have a role and should receive the resources they need. this bill before us also that could $3.4 billion for the european reassuring initiative which will deliver critical investments to increase u.s. military presence in europe, improve existing infrastructure and enhance ally partner military capability to respondal to external aggression in both

stability. it authorizes up to $500 million for the ukraine training assistance initiative to continue and expand ongoing efforts to support the ukrainian security forces in the defense of their country. one major concern the committee heard repeatedly and the readi chairman made reference to in the universe deification is thes troops equipment i am veryss f pleased this bill contains almost $2 billion in additional spending of the unfunded requirements with the goal of restoring military readiness as soon as possible. additionally, and chris's scott paper correspondent targeted funding reductions. one other aspect of national security is the rare deterrence. it forms the bedrock in manyhi cases of our defense posture is an essential mission of which must not be neglected and continue to support a bipartisan basis. the bill continues to fund a request to modernize our trident

nuclear-capable air, sea and ground delivery by plants. this is the first year of full engineering manufacturing and development funding for the b. 21 which would replace b-52s built in the 1960s.gh while it will be costly, this bill places rigorous oversight of the program to ensure we understand technological risk as it moves forward. turning to the area of unseeded deterrence. if they have a deterrent to submarines must be replaced starting in 2027 due to the potential of wholesale units. then the first ohio submarine will be 46 years old. the oldest summer interns failed in our navy and its history. the third aspect of our land-based icbms will not need to be replaced and authorized the national develop and for as

those triad which acts as a counterbalance to a russian icbm. let me focus for a moment on the submarine program since it's anb important part of her national security and important part of my home state where it begins. this bill supports the virginia class attack submarine production of level two per year. the submarine is having a force of 48 vote. since the force levels will fall below 48 even this year, we cannot allow production rates to drop at all.e but those supporters of virginia to the class submarine and 20 may team to begin replacing the missile magazine capacity though it declined sharply as the four credit missile submarines in the next decade.l

we have improved productivity. supports the plan for achieving similar effect to miss and establishing and achieving goale and needs a no hire replacement programs will yield significante civilian nations suffering industrial basis which will ensure the navy has a capable submarine fleet for many years to come. it converses much on behalf of servicemembers and department of defense paid it authorizes the 1.6% pay raise and we authorizeo a number of exciting bonus and o special pay authorities to encourage a list mac, reenlistment and service by active-duty and reservely component military personnel. the bill permanently extend the special survivor indemnity allowance scheduled to expire next year. clarifies applicability of

military technicians, establishes independent national commission on military public service to review the service process and makes numerous enhancements to military whistleblower protection. this bill contains a robust package of health care reforms for the current military designed decades ago has servedf us well. our since 2001, battlefield injuries about low rates has been higher than any time in the nation'scee history. battlefield medicine is a pocket effect in the military system that must be maintained. however, the military health heh care system has increasinglyced emphasized peace and health care and beneficiaries of concerned about access to care. by now many military community be wary of changes to the health care system, we are designed to improve and maintain medical force readiness was at the same time affording better value by

providing higher quality medical care and better experience in the process. i'm also pleased to note that the mark includes the recommendations of the militaryw justice group. the review group is made up ofof judges and lawyers, who spent 1u months reviewing and providing ju recommended changes in the u.s. military justice. these provisions providing much needed at getting out the system and i want to commend the members of the review group forr their work in the castles on our committee. a major record is the highlight of the chairman is to continue the tradition improving and they asked 35 submarines to alter s support services to spare part and even new technologies.

i am pleased we've taken positive steps to strengthen our contract team and program management workforces and support secretary carter's efforts to reach out to innovative silicon valley companies and other high-tech small businesses. i'm glad we're building on the considerable effort that undersecretary frank kendall has taken to improve delivery time of our major weapons systems to active management and leadership which have resulted in ament successful series of better buying power for current estimat reforms.y consistent with the we are taking steps to improve ourai ability to estimate cost of new systems, especially the cost to maintain them in the field or ae sea. sometimes a decade. to deliver bureaucracy in a tangle of red tape that the pentagon acquisition process han sometimes been weighted down by it. we could use better data andon better analysis to make better decisions on what we acquired

and how we maintain at. i want you to know i believeh there are two provisions for a continued dialogue can improve our build and make sure we achieve our shared goal. delivering the best and most modern system forces won't protect taxpayer money of the most responsible mannerew possible. i hope we can work together to re-examine them beside provisions of the bill. for example, i'm concerned that both of them at the flexibilitye of dod to use all available contract types to best balance the needs of government and industry. i'm pleased that the bill before us is very supportive of the finest engineers and other technical innovators and organizations that arafat and department of defense and in laboratories across the nation. we focus on the presidents request for for science and technology research programs including university research

almost all military commercialma technology. we are also fully funding the strategic capabilities office, both of which are working to develop the next generation systems about the future on thee ground, sea, under the sea, and space in cyberspace. we also take important steps to ensure dod can better compete the private sector for a limites intriguing polevault class dop talent. the dod labs will hire the best scientists and engineers to assess the special authorities. were also taken steps to cut the red tape that ties up organizations and keeps themd from achieving their full innovative potential as well as allow to more easily build and maintain research equipment and laboratory facilities. one of the major challenges facing dod is the organization

to adapt business park says. the bill provides a number of bs birdies and focus that will allow the department to explore new business practices by best commercial practices which hopefully will drive down costs and features the burdens on the military. for example, we push the department should make more use of big data and data analytics m to use its mission data in a much more sophisticated way toen dod management, resources and acquisition practices. big data techniques change the way the commercial sector markets products, manufactures and manages supply chain and t logistics. it even changes the way people manage sports teams. who would like similar techniques of advantages to get away that will improve the efficiency of the pentagon.ecrey we would designate the position

of the undersecretary for technology and majestic as the undersecretary for research and engineering. i understand and support the chairman's intent to make sure the innovation research and technology are at the forefront we all know we are now in the world with pentagon can no longer cornered the market of the best best people in a technology. foreign competitors close the gap on battlefield technologicaw authority and global commercial companies far between the government development of newe systems and cybersecurity, biotechnology, aerospace and others critical to the future of national security. i hope every organization realignment steps in this bill support dod staffers to stay at the meeting at a technological advances. i worry we may not understand all of the implications of the change we are opposing and hope we continue to have a robust and open dialogue in that the pentagon leadership so they can

take steps on a thoughtful consider me. once again, we've taken bold and thoughtful steps that i think we could even enhance the steps with a vigorous productive str dialogue. this bill takes several other steps to reform both the organizational structures and the civilian military leadership. also, the overall approach toig the pentagon to operations. one of the significant provisions is permission of cost functional teams. the office of the secretary of defense along functional lines such as acquisition, personnel, logistics, finance and intelligence. re performance which requires all of these functional stovepipes to achieve specific objectives. this integration task has alwayh been a serious challengedi conducted through layers of management spending more and more functional boundaries but the secretary and deputy secretary of defense. the armed service committee in

the years before drafting the goldwater-nichols act grappled the problem with missionor integration across dod. the committee found solutions for achieving chart and said that combat operations topic. but the committee was unable up at time 25 immigration in the office secretary of defense. the problem of integrating the expertise is not unique to dod by the government as a whole. industry has long struggled with the same problem. not surprisingly, industry has pioneered effective ways to integrate across enterprises dramatically improving outcomes in shorter time frames and ultimately streamlining and flattening organizationalatical structures. this concept systematically in government.nc it will not be easy. there will be resistance to sucf changes. but i believe we take steps in a the right direction and encourage leadership in the department of defense to work

with congress to make this reform successful. the form ofrocess the joint requirements oversight council for shoppers to join b acquisition process. this bill elevates the chairman of the joint chiefs first among equals on the council to the principal adviser to the chairman of military requirements. the committee hold this will solve one of the most important consistent criticisms, namely that it is a quaint pro quote process dominated by parochial service injuries. there are other reform positions. changes to the chairman of the t joint staff and combatant commands, reduction in the office and change to the types of strategy document produced by the departed. again, these reforms are a good start. these may have unforeseen defense it could benefit again from further discussion with the military civilian leadership and outside experts.

i encourage and look forward to the dialogue. i'm a highly upon provision of the bill then i'm somewhatrt concerned with. t it limits the ability to implement the health safety of veterans disabled persons and other industry or force. the executive tool to ensure dod is working with responsible contract to who are more likely to deliver goods and services critical to national security on time and on budget when they are following these procedures. this order is implemented in a way that protects the rights of all employees and due process rights to the companies concerned and ensuring that there's no discrimination against them based on evidence continue allegations. i hope we can work to continue g policy as an executive orderis that i think we can all supportc ensuring dod is working withcury

contractors to protect our work force and support national security missions. finally, would like to say a few words about the funny bubble defense. the bild reported $523.9 billion in discretionary spending for defense budget requirement and $50.9 billion for overseas contingency operations. it also includes $19.3 million e related to two babies resultings in a topline funding level of $602 billion for discretionary national defense spending. while we adhere to the levels mandated by the bipartisan actus of 2015, concerns have been raised that the department requires additional resources. as all members are aware of in the senate considered the vba last fall, and despise the funding level for fy 17 and that agreement passed the chamber for both radical parties.tion furthermore the increase in

discretionary spending evenly c between security and nonsecurity categories. as we consider the fy 27 team ndaa, there's likely to be committee chairman has made it clear above the level established. it is important that since the budget control act was enacted in 2011 was made repeated incremental changes to the discretionary budget caps for both defense and nondefense accounts. we have done so in order to provide some -- it's urgency to the department of defense and also domestic agencies. as the debate on this bill continues, the chairman has indicated he will propose an amendment to increase spending for defense only. this seems to run counter to all the previous budget negotiation agreements. it defends increase for a domestic agencies must also be t increased and in addition, the point i think all of the technology national security is

broader than the department ofay the fbi, department of homelandt security, many other agencies that contribute to national security. let me conclude once again by thanking the chairman, my colleagues on the committee who contributed significant and thoughtfully. i want to thank the staff who we worked at great personal cost to insure that we had a bill that we could bring into our colleagues on the floor and stand up and continue it very te thought of, baker is an important dialogue about the national security of the united states. let me thank them. many amendments have been filed and i look forward to workingge with the chairman and all my colleagues to get this legislation completed. with that, madam president, i would yield the floor.

>> next time a conversation on combating global terrorism. we would hear from a political advisor to syrian president basher al-assad who defended the government. the event was hosted by the global alliance for terminating al qaeda and he says. [speaking in native tongue]

thank you all for coming today and good morning. i do ask everybody to stand for a moment for the victims of 9/11, the vic guns on al qaeda and her dad, san bernardino, boston, beirut, that god and moves all -- mosul. the children have been burned alive in the cage. i ask you to stand up for one minute as they respect to the american heroes who are fighting

in al qaeda and iraq and to every hear of fighting a space space -- isis in al qaeda and iraq. please stand up for one minute. thank you. first of all, i would like to introduce myself. my name is off matt cooper. i am the founder of global alliance for terminating al qaeda and after a couple weeks -- couple months actually, i say if invaded iraq, which is a new version of al qaeda.

first of all, i'd like to introduce the organization of florida, nonprofit organization. we are limited in budget. we don't have much money, but her message is so powerful we are not associated with any government or any group. today, when i talk, we give our opinion. but my guest speakers and present ourselves to give their opinion. but the invited speaker does not mean they endorse said. does not mean that. we have our mission, our own

goals, her vision. we believe we are unique in our vision. we believe we do have the solution to determine from the face of the year. i've been inspired by president obama. yes, we can terminate them if we know what we are doing and if they put the lives of the problems. it is very complicated. it's not an easy job to fight isis and al qaeda. you cannot fight all the military as a process of the complicity of the region, products of too many factors from the ideology that kerry from countries that became a proxy war. it became a proxy work today.

i understand there's a lot of differences within governments, within religion, within societies, within everything. what has differences as human beings. that is why we have the united nations to solve our problem with differences. but when it comes to a says an al qaeda, there is no differences. we should all be united to this evil. we cannot do it unless we have understanding. who is the good and who is the bad and who is the ugly. the good, but that coming ugly ugly. it is very important to know that. it is clear we have differences. but we have been inspired by a

picture in the second war when roosevelt, president of the united states of america sitting next to a baghdad. the vote, they could evil. but the head of capitalism justice with the communists. simple answer. hitler. but that letter. the death of the next east and west to be united. the evil ideology but 6 million msn jewish not keep silent.

they cannot keep silent. roosevelt is a hero. we are proud when he has the courage to use and, he says we have to be united to the story and they did and they succeeded the mission. we have been inspired by this picture. this picture today of the dissension amid, we do not have stalin, but we have worse than hitler. isis and al qaeda. they occupied for two years because in italy, the every day pass we are heading toward a disaster. how could the whole world could do a -- condemn isis and al

qaeda. it has the organization as a reason. this is a miserable hunt them down evil. i don't call them except evil criminals fascist. the people are not islamic. that is the biggest mistake. who called for an islamic state? al qaeda is not islamic. islamic cannot be terrorists. terrorists cannot be islamic. we ascended the wrong message to isis and al qaeda. they're happy to call them islamic terrorists.

they did and gentlemen, it's not a military war. it's an ideological work plus military for. plus media were, for psychological war. the war in all aspects we have to be careful even when we use terminology with criminals. they say look, nicolas islamic terrorists. davis and gentlemen, from the city in baghdad, only baghdad talking about. only one city they call it baghdad. there is more than 20,000 terrorists. 20,000 terrorists acts for a city like maybe new york city or chicago. imagine in boston a week at here. but imagine a city daily.

i'm talking with you right now and an explosion might be happening. within half an hour, the traffic come back again. nothing happened. just car accident. today in bag that they don't call them terrorists. they are not terrorizing the nation. they are not terrorizing the people. even isis and al qaeda did tired. even in the news media and nobody pays attention. as the city taking in 20,000 terrorists acts and now people of bag that have the brazilian and the determination to continue the fight again isis and al qaeda. this is teaching us a lot. today we are a moment.

we should terrorize this evil. i know there's political differences. i know in this meeting i say hundreds of calls. what's going on. are you sure what you're doing? yes, we are sure. just we have a mission to determine from the face of the earth. but how are we going to terminate them without terminating their ideology? when you call them islamic, is a thank you so much. that is why i give warnings specifically to the republican party. the careful when you use the islamic terrorists. i do salute president obama when he insists to call them terrorists and refuse to call them islamic. because there is one thing it is

muslims to come are ready to join. as an american muslim, i am ready to volunteer to fight physically under the leadership of president obama. president obama offers would like to volunteer. he was the thousands and thousands of americans ready to fight basis and al qaeda in iraq and syria, ready to do it. as a fabric of our nation from the hospitals, from congressman, just fighting right now muslim and american army. it's wrong to do that. i give advice to donald trump. you have brought advisor. do not insist her apologize to the american muslim and say sorry, i don't mean you.

i meant islam. i says -- isis as for hoppe said come in from saudi arabia. if you take the hobbit of them out, almost 100% of the muslims against isis and al qaeda. the problem is wahabism is a colt and interprets the carondelet didn't like it and they teach people. right now i'm talking with you, keeping silent about scholars teaching hate, teaching and killing. the christian, jewish, the other muslim is not your way. they are teaching that. they are teaching that daily. this is saudi arabia's allies.

everybody knows this war became a proxy war. the differences in the area between iran, saudi arabia, qatar, turkey and some people decide they have a list of people who support isis financially and al qaeda. in turkey, thousands of threats followed oil export. isis exporting oil. they are doing business and nobody stopped them. it is a proxy war. there is a proxy war. our organization is trying to break the status quo. it is trying to break the status quo and create your environment. everybody i know, bashar

al-assad. that is why i invited one of the gas attack today. our organization is trying to build the bridges between where the problem is. the problem is iraq. the iraqi people and the iraqi army, iraqi password via, the popular mobilization force fighting in iraq. that's why you invite somebody from iraq to present the mobilization. they're going to come and talk. so we have the status quo. a lot of people have said bashar al-assad if you believe that is anchored by russia and iran. it is anchored by russia and

iran. if assad goes, who is going to take over? the moderate opposition not even three persons are four-person on the ground. we haven't got our vision. our vision inside with ron paul and richard black, senator black congressman ron paul. and also we agree with chuck hagel who resigned from security and defense. i saw on the news. so another question asked by syria? i says -- bashar isis came fromq through syria. the city of my mother, by the way.

people are suffering right now and most wealthy at the city of my mother and i am in touch with them. they said they would rather die than live under isis. they need help. they need the whole world to wake up then please come help us. so we have the status quo. today in iraq we will finish isis. after one week, two weeks, one month, they come back. you terminate the termite. isis and al qaeda, if you want to destroy them in iraq come you have to destroy them as syria. you cannot do half the job. you have to do a complete job. it has to be a package, totally. i am limited in time. i know i am limited in time. i do have the signal like the

time is over. but we have question-and-answer at the end of the program. i would love to introduce you today to the muslim imam. i present bassam al hussaini, american muslim. he is going to give you the patient. he was indicted to the national dnc. they invited him one time but thought the news and talk about. he's very well spoken and bouthaina shaaban is the one invited with president george bush. he is so popular and so lovable. he is going to give you the image of the american muslims and islam.

.. the problem of the time of the generation, present generation, and how can we solve it. anhow do we look to it? who is behind it? is it growing? is a getting less? who is getting interest? who is getting hurt? in this 50 minutes i don't know

how i will do that but let me give it a try. first i would like to start with the verses of the koran. it says -- [speaking in native tongue] that's in the holy book of koran. the single we have said, the same thing you said in the bible. bible, chiron, different cookies with a single. that's it. whoever kills an innocent person like he or she kills the whole humanity and the ever saves a human being, like you said the whole human. so here we have a global goal, christian, jewish, muslim, we have to unite against terrorism.

against terrorism as no faith, no religion. it's against all the humanities, and we are not here under shia fighting sunni. half of my family are shia, half of my family our senator kyl from iraq. what a bridge, you know, you know there's about 40% of the baghdad population, about 8 million people, 40% of them are integrated. so the problem is that sectarian. the problem is not religion. it's not faith. the problem is a new penny, there is evil. that is an enemy of god, any of the humanity. is named isis, and this kind of germs, they retreat themselves, some kind of hollywood movie, you know. you kill them, they come back again. i used to be al-qaeda and then

they become isis, and then al-nusra, and then what's going on. the first of all we are in a global mission and it's not only islamic. it's not only shiite. it's peace against evil, and bloody evil like aces. secondly, we have to have a plan. there is a holy plan from a religious point of view. there is a holy history. there's a christianity and judaism here as the children of isaac, and all of the muslims and the arabs of the children of ishmael. they are brothers, of a brain. i'm not going to take too much time. when it come to dearborn, we will have amusing and we'll show you. so there's a similarity. there's the 12 disciples from this side.

12 sons of jacob. 12 tribe leaders, 12th imam in here, so there's a balance. there's a picture of his son, his name john baptist. there is hussein, jonesing. but the point is this. there's a savior on this site. his name jesus. we are waiting for him to come to the earth with peace and justice. i am a muslim and that we can do. ihe is the son of the virgin mary, waiting for him. maybe it's not normal to say that but that's what we believe and. we cannot deny one message or. we cannot deny jesus or moses or abraham otherwise we will not go to heaven. this is what islam means, peace. so from the site we have a savior. there's a holy plan and they will, in need. may be will appear in mecca. jesus will appear in jerusalem. they will pray together and fill the earth with peace and justice. the problem is that denies for this holy plan of god so that

nyers of jesus at the nyers are united. so the believers of jesus and mohammed, the children of abraham should unite against evil and terrorism. and there's a time limit. there is a goal and it is a plan and there is a tiny. we cannot wait. you waited a little bit. look what is done to my people. i possibly people and friends and family members. why did we wait that long? is it because an interest? well, we should not refer interest against the goal or against the valley. so there is a tiny. if we don't do it now, if you don't unite with the iraqi people determinate isis, they will grow up.

in belgium come in france come in california, in iraq, and lebanon, and syria, in pakistan, and india. all around the world. why did you wait that long? if you wait a little bit more, by the way, there's something called super pacs that everybody in the white house. super pacs have a strong community. and by the way, 30% of antibiotics is not helping and they need to stop using it. why? their symmetry will that is used, at about it. the isis is getting used to the irritating to europe, getting to america. , on, helpless to stop this bacteria otherwise it will kill us all. so there is 3400 terrorists, ice is coming from europe through turkey, to syria, iraq. no, on.

there will be fairness, justice. turkey is sending to us and iraq killers, isis. saudi arabia supporting them with money. and the west, some of them give them weapons, and they will treat al-nusra injured would people. know, how can we win that battle? you cannot say to the world we are anti-isis, but you help them. you have to mean what you say and say what you mean. this is what religious and faith in god is teaching us. you cannot only worry about yourself. you could not only worry about your people. you've got to worry about what god wants you. god wants you to bring peace to the whole humanity. like if there's one person getting killed in europe by terrorists, so many people getting ready to? what about iraqis people?

a couple of weeks ago 300 people got killed and injured and wounded, and swear to god, cannot figure out whose hands and legs? where is the world? why is there one person getting children. everybody gets weird. we are all human beings. all the human beings are one nation to do all our children of eve and adam. we cannot play double standard here. dividing iraq, but uniting the world. we cannot do that. they want to create a country in the north, in iraq, and kurdish and sunni in the west and shia in the south. well, if you be that lose, then we won't have the united states of america. every state will go on their own. so there is, has to be justice

and injustice has to be big. you cannot have justice in accord with a valley. so the law should be based on value. that value should be justice. so you should not, only concerned about interest, you have to worry about justice, united nation, you they are. i mean, how you want as to fight an unknown enemy? even saddam, the dictator, he was clear face. you know this is a done. that's why they pluck it out of the hole like a mouse. but isis, they wear masks. hoyou want us to fight them cous and when they kill us can which country should sue? which government you should sue? where to go? it is a wild enemy, while creation. we should help united nations should help us.

why you've been waiting? you waited for saddam for almost 40 years until he destroyed millions of people. now we see isis destroying iraq and syria and the rest of the world. how much do you want us to lose? so if there is no peace in one part, there will be no peace in the other. no justice, no peace. so there is a new world order has to be applied in this world. world order based on spiritual power. see, we have in iraq, we have popular mobilization forces. the iraqis soldier fighting in the iraqi army, when he moves to the popular mobilization forces, he fights better, stronger. why? because there's an energy, a

spiritual energy. we have to use that energy. there is a nuclear energy and there is a chemical energy come into chemical energy and it is a spiritual energy. we have to use that energy because a politician without faith or without god is a fearless. and, finally, the world is going toward non-conventional politics. you know, my time is over a half a minute. trump is not republican. sanders, which i voted for, not democratic. and in philippine they choose president from the people. so there's a people power and that's why we have the popular mobilization forces coming from the people, working for the people instead of the people. god bless you all. thank you. [applause]

>> thank you, imam al-husainy. i forgot to show you a picture of my city, baghdad. every time they have an explosion, they put a red dot on the plays when they had the. that was in 2012. okay, and right now it's more jobs. so all the dots is red. and i chose red dot because, for two reasons. 20,000 suicide was in one city, the people are still a lot -- still alive without being arise. i can again and again to make baghdad a symbolic for the city and were providing a isis and al-qaeda. it has a lot of meaning in this picture. i'm going to talk more about it. also in the picture, i'd love to get it but i didn't have time to get it. isis burned a big family from

three years old to 12, 15 years old with a mother and a father. they put that in the cage and he burned them alive. that's what i see that picture, i couldn't bring it because i get very emotional. and that was -- i cannot see it. i cannot see it, but i have the passion since i've been tortured in saddam prison. i feel the pain of the people. all the time this use of the child who is being burned by isis and al-qaeda. that hurts me and that's what i say i cannot deliver more powerful message than the unity of the whole world. today it's been a pleasure to have a unique person, a character, a man with a character, mr. al-husainy. he is the one, representative in

iraq. the mass popular forces fighting isis and al-qaeda and daily the dropping, daily they fight and they died to protect the christian, the sunni, and everybody on the behalf of the whole world, our behalf of the global, okay. and also after to tell you, he served for three prime minister, senior advisor. he's the only one, they kept him because of his character. because of his style. he's a doer. he's the one in charge of putting saddam control. and all the big mission, impossible mission, mission impossible, al-husainy wa was i. it's been a pleasure come and

honor to have them here today. i did give the hand to him. [applause] >> in the name of god, the most compassionate. i'm going to talk to the of the problem of motivation or if it has been talk about this new phenomenon that started in iraq. after the collapse of the city of mosul, a post a couple of years ago, what was the, jun june 102014, when one of the third largest city in iraq was occupied by vicious al-qaeda and call to dave isis. the pmf unit was established by a guy -- like some reporter, the media focus as this is an iranian proxy. it's not the what happened, he

issued a fatwa for all the iraqis to purpose -- participate in the. a volunteer basis for the fatwa to be part of come to protect your city can to protect your homeland, iraq. this was a couple days later, was a june 15. the fatwa was issued june 13, 2014. only a couple days later, june 15, 2014, it was backed up by an iraqi government council. console. they backed up with a law. this lot implement about the methodology and the technicality of the implementation of these forces. i'm going to just cannot talk about just a little bit. for an average volunteer basis to go to the war to fight, to receive training, although coordination was done with the m.o.d., mr. of defense. we pay about $700.

not a lot of money for individual to fight. he received training with coordination with the minister of defense. some of these volunteers happened to be like they work for the minister. they have every day job. we usually give them 90 days contract, then possible for renewal. we pay them about $300 only a month and then they go, they leave the job, they go on assignment basis. they could take care of business. they fight to be part of this global mission. it is a noble mission to a lot of people ask me, what are you talking about? what's the number? the number fluctuates. they cut up to 200,000, 220 at one point all the way that 260,000. today the pmf, pmu, we have about 185 or so on payroll. something very important to a lot of people think this is an iranian influence.

this is backed up by iranian else. that's not to the this is only shia dominant at a lot, go to talk about fallujah, what's happening in this problem is nation, have it take place in the battlefield. we have come was at january 15 to 2016, the prime minister issue 40,000 from the provinces and to create these cities, the sunni city to we recruit and i was in charge of these payrolls by the way at the time, we recruited 40,000 individuals from the sunni cities. we have about a couple thousand from the christian community, from christian iraqi people. in other words, the driver was the only for the shia dominated or the shia to a lot of shia, yes. a lot of shia came to protect their homeland but a lot of these pmus are from the sunni and the christian centers. something very important that we need to talk about.

but be amused, it's really interesting, i'm going to be very frank about this to me but i'm sick of i that every time i google the word pmus end is going to show shia militia. it's not. i just make my case very clear. these are not shia militia. these are a rocky forces fighting to free the seed of a right. mosul is a sunni city kind of but they're fighting for who? for the people of mosul. the same thing with fallujah. we salute the iraqi army. we should that be amused who are fighting today and making great progress in the city of fallujah. we just liberated a couple of bridges, and a couple of the ridge coming from the main street and hopefully the next couple of days, hopefully or maybe three, four days hope we will have the great news that fallujah will be free of isis. a lot of people asked they just last night when we get some reporters, slow down a little bit just because we let these

civilians get out. we had to make an announcement left and right with helicopter saying all civilians get out, and this protection next door in tikrit. that protection for the families for the children, a lot of people wish to stay just because to help isis to be honest with you. hopefully these folks will get out and the battle is just so for the last 24 hours or so just because that we will give them a chance to get out. people ask me what these organizations. dominate by groups, different brigades. each and every of these people may be performed to affiliation with the iraqi parliament party, that's okay. that's the case. some of them belong to iraqis political party in the iraqi parliament. that's okay. according to the law as long as they receive their training, they go to the war with a good cause.

i've got to mention, 1200 people about 10 days ago, 1200 from the sunni city from fallujah participate in the work to flee their own cities. today number 3000 individuals from fallujah joined the pmus. that's a great number. fallujah is about 326,000 individuals. the population of fallujah. when the 3000 from the own city participate in the war fighting it's a great number. the enemy is one. outside yesterday called september 11, and today isis our isil, islamic state of iraq in the lot, but we call it in arabic, we have to be united to fight isis. isis is not something that's going to go away. it's like a snowball, keep rolling. the numbers are great, keep getting greater and greater and bigger and bigger every day. we have in the backyard in d.c. come in los angeles the happened

yesterday. san bernardino, california. where did they come from? if we don't stop them, and i'm kind of upset about the media promoting isis wendy kopp islamic state. like my colleague in france when the college, these are not islamic. they do not represent islam. just because they are evil. we have to stop the. that way we stop it, we have to be united to commit isis year and only one way, but if you don't have the power, military but you have the power, cyber. you know, media, social network. we have to fight them. is easy to target them and find them. they are all over. they're coming from europe. they were indulging in france come in san bernardino. pretty soon they will be here. i don't think this administration welcomed them, but? what do they do about? knothole it honestly. we get a lot of help all right from surrounding country and the american administration honestly

given us great protection on the air, but hopefully when we get to mosul, hopefully we will get more aid in the protection military wives from the american administration. there's been a great deal of hate towards the american unfortunate. this is a fact. why? because we've not done a great job. i'm an american. i go back and the taliban. i flash my american passport. they don't like us to guess what. great deal of sentiment of hate toward the american now more than ever the do you know why? i'm going to be very frank and very honest about it. a lot of these folks in the middle east, the belief isis is the american creation. they believe in the middle east isis is the american creation. if not, write? do you agree?

if not an american creation. this administration needs to prove me otherwise. they need to prove me otherwise. it is not an american creation, what is it? how are they? who are they? where did they come from the they receive training in 2014, i think blessed west point report i read about three to 4000 chinese train in istanbul. and move to mosul to fight with isis. do you believe this? from russia, from europe, few thousand people from this country move to mosul to fight with isis. did we know this? how we do anything about it? we need to pay attention to this. we are not going taking part in the mind of the iraqi people by helping the iraqi army that way. we need more support and more help than ever. the blood of james foley, we got

of the lot of media folks here today, will not go in vain. we need to protect our media individuals, to protect the right of these individuals to fight. a lot of media got to isis. you know the beheaded, who started this? it was them. al-qaeda than. today we call the isis. last but not least we salute the iraqi army is been fighting bravely to free one of the major city of fallujah. the bad news, a report a couple of days ago, and it may come they always issued a report, about 2300 people in iraq were killed as a victim of isis. that's a great number of by the way. obviously, the iraqi official number was 1800, always different. issued a statement a couple of days ago we have 2300 people were killed in iraq in may 2016. that's a big number. like we said, if we get a couple

of these people get killed in this backyard, the whole world will turn upside down but, unfortunately, -- we vow to the victim, the family. we will not let them go and get continued fighting against isis into we reached the victory. hopefully we will never be victoria street lest we be united. thank you. [applause] >> thank you so much, bassam al hussaini. and it's a pleasure and thank all of you to be here today actually. of the windows how things as complicated. when it comes to the battle in iraq to fight isis, it's clear that, clear-cut. thank you, mr. obama. i do say on the behalf, thank you america for standing with the iraqi people, with the kurdish people.

providing isis and a qaeda. today we have an american soldier on the ground training the iraqi army. we salute them. we love them. they are the hebrew. and that's an echo, united we stand determining isis. when i see the american soldier next to the iraqis soldier together training him, we love. that's what we are heading for. thank you, mr. president. i love president obama. as the republican by the way. i am a republican. i love george bush went to iraq to liberate a not a saddam hussein. i voted twice for them but also i voted twice for president obama. i wish he would go for the third terms and i would vote for him, as republican. real issues which i believe i

see -- bouthaina shaaban, there's a story about him. okay. where is isis did they? and iraq? it's okay. who's going to talk with syria? how do we know what's going on in syria? such a complicated situation in syria. such a complicated like imagine you have a family living in the same house, the ad, the sister, the brother, a coming everybody, the mother, the grandfather with his against that. such complicated. i could write a big book about it, and i cannot see what is the puzzle of the book? such complicated. united states foreign policy is so clear, so clear. dominating isis and al-qaeda. we salute you, president obama come and i love them. the confusion is about the

opposition. our proposal, 95% of the forces in the ground is isis and al-nusra. al-nusra al-qaeda. the people of 9/11. the question, where is the stop sign to stop? it's clear. obama and set isis and al-nusra got to be terminated, got to be out. we love you, mr. president. the question we as american, we love democracy. we stand for democracy. that's the principle and essence of our nation. that's why we love america. bouthaina shaaban represent an advisor to president assad. have an angular of you. nothing to do with -- when he talks them whenever said his

view, not about the imam al-husainy, same thing. i don't know that much about her but i ask a mr. mansoor to come, to give the biography about bouthaina shaaban, after that she's going to give a speech, and after that question and answer, okay? >> thank you. good morning. this is the part where you guys responded so good morning. thank you. so it's my honor to present to you guys today doctor bouthaina shaaban, she is the political and media adviser to the syrian presidency.

she set an example -- what's. sets an example to women all around the world, those in positions where they can influence decision-makers. she's a nobel peace prize nominee, a reputable offer, and professor at the damascus university. so without further ado, dr. rafe al-issawi. and please hold any question to begin. will have a skype q&a -- dr. rafe al-issawi. life q&a. [inaudible conversations]

[inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] a. >> good morning to you in washington, d.c. allow me first to thank someone

for inviting me to join you at the national press club at this important endeavor of global alliance against isis and al-nusra. allow me also to thank you for making this event take place. at the outset i would like first to question with you two of the most important technologies that have been circulated for the last five years in corporate media. before we start our discussion of the topic. the two terms are opposition and modern opposition. and i would like to ask all of you, your excellencies, did you ever hear of an armed opposition

in any country in the world? and to my knowledge, opposition is political opposition, but once arms are being taken, killing is being perpetrated, massacres are being done against people, it's no longer an opposition. it is a terrorist movement that kills and destroys. this leads me to question the force narrative that has been circulated also all over the world, but particularly in western countries about events in syria. since march 2011, al-jazeera, that is owned and funded by qatar, and a lot of the tv that is owned by saudi arabia, has been a major source of

information about syria. although your information -- correspondence right on the very first two months of the war in syria and they rely on what they call eyewitnesses. the same thing applies to the human rights, for human rights which also has been a major source for western media. i don't know how many of you know that only one person who lives in coventry england is the one who is providing all this information about syria. what i'm trying to say is that the western media, whether inadvertently or -- who ignores what was happening in syria throughout these five years.

and relied on regional partners and regional outlets who are extension. and i feel the whole narrative and immediate have been used by our adversity in the region in order to misinform western audiences and, therefore, how can western people know what's going on in syria, and how can the question their governments about their stance towards syria? however living through the thick and thin of all this happened in syria or the last five years, living through all of the problems and all the pain, we have reached few important conclusions which i would like to share with you this morning, few important conclusions about combating terrorism and the best way to combat terrorism as this

is the theme of this event. during five years of this war in syria, we discovered that terrorism, there's nothing called terrorism that falls from space. terrorism is adopted by certain countries or certain powers or certain parties. terrorist in syria have support of countries in the region and, indeed, of some international powers. for our country speaking out against terrorism, but in reality, facilitating the arrival of terrorists providing arguments pashtun armaments and providing money for these terrorists. although to our understandings been reached in geneva and vienna out that although the our security council resolution

which call for combating and undermining terrorism, but this is not been implemented. however, there is a clear definition and i like to remind all of you that syria has been struck by terrorism before in 1979-1982, and in the aftermath of that very difficult period, the student government tried its best to call upon international community to reach a definition of terrorism and to make an alliance of international power against terrorism, but all because of the syrian government to define terrorism went unheeded, and there were no listening ears to all what we were saying. we renewed the invitation after the events of 9/11 and before

the wars in afghanistan and iraq, for the international community to define terrorism and make one strong stance against terrorism, but we were not able to do so. however, on december 17, 2015, the security council resolution reached, security council reached a resolution 2253 which calls upon countries to stop facilitating, army or financing terrorism. within 24 hours that reached another resolution which is 2254, which called for a political solution in syria. however, the resolution 2253 which you are taking in chapter seven is hardly ever mentioned, even by united nations or by the countries who were trying supposedly to reach political solution in syria. but political solution in syria cannot be reached without

addressing the elements that led to this situation which are terrorist elements that the isis and by on this or. the government of syrian and arab republic have been cooperative with all international efforts since kofi annan in order to reach a political solution in syria. but the fact of the matter is the region parties, turkey, qatar and saudi arabia are facilitating, financing and arming terrorism in syria. and unfortunate international powers including u.s. and russia did not seem to be able to put an end to this financing and arming and facilitating terrorism in syria.

if you imagine syria without the 850 miles of border with turkey would been impossible to the war on syria because all the terrorists came to us through the turkish border. however, now we come to the resolution 2254, and the will of the russian and the americans to try and implement this solution. unfortunately, as i said, the regional partners do not want this resolution to be implemented, and united states for some reason or another does not seem to be able to restrain its partners in the region from financing and facilitating terrorism into syria. -- destroy the fragile truth, since the end of february 2015.

insistence that we are opposition withdrew from the talks and military groups like to turkey, began a fierce campaign on the governments part of a love. turkey also injecting, ejected over a thousand cameras into the northern part of syria, into trying to in the last two months and a porch with a perpetrated massacre there and everywhere. between now and then we hear some statements from western officials, such as what joe biden said, vice president biden is set in 2014, and i quote, the turks, the saudis, the emirates, what were they doing? they were so determined to take down president assad and essentially have a proxy,

sunni-shia were. what did they do? they pulled hundreds of millions of dollars, and thousands of guns and weapons to anyone with fight against trenton but he also said turkey admitted it had led to many foreign fighters across its borders into syria. these politics ended up helping militants linked to al-qaeda, between the brackets up on this or and ultimate isis from joe biden's claim. of course, afterwards vice president apologized for saying that, but actually he said the truth about what is happening in syria. i don't think we would like american officials to wait for their memoirs to write the truth. we would love him to say the truth to the people and to the world about what's happening in our country, because covering the truth is costing us blood,

people, lives, history, alter, identity. this is what is costing us. it's not an easy matter. anyway, the war him what the united states decided to bring together is the international coalition of countries. all of you know that this is happened about two years ago. unfortunately, the united states was not able to strike at terrorists or was not willing. it's not for me to tell, but when terrorists drive over 200 kilometers in the desert in order to destroy the city, we can't let the americans didn't see these terrorists in a flat desert arriving in destroying the city without hitting them and without doing anything to prevent them from doing so.

while when the russians planes came, they struck up the trunks that are carrying oil to the north and east of syria to turkey and to a rocky. they discovered where terrorists are and they struck them and actually with the syrian arab army, with the help of the russian air force, were able to liberate cities and villages, including palmyra at a huge part of syria from terrorism after the nation comes. the question is why does the united states refuse to cooperate with russia? inciting terrorism in syria? if the united states really means to fight terrorism in syria, why doesn't -- rushes fighting terrorism in syria, why doesn't the united states except, to join hands with the russian federation and fight terrorism in syria and undermines isis and undermines down this road which is what you

call al-qaeda and syria. the fact that president putin and secretary love rob all the time upon the united states to join hands with them in fighting terrorism -- present love rob -- flatly refused this offer by the russians. so on the contrary the united states brought in 500 soldiers into the north eastern part of syria and is cooperating with what we call the kurdish democratic forces in order to liberate areas from isis but only in order to put the last of the kurdish party in these areas which means an effort to partition series. we have been living in this country for tens of thousands of

years the sunni-shia are the christian kurds. we never talk about this issue and that's why it should not be allowed to happen and will not be allowed to happen in syria. unfortunately, what we hear from united states confuses the statement. there was an agreement on two points between the russians and the americans in geneva. the one point is to separate what they call moderate opposition from him this rob so that -- al-nusra and the second one is too close to the turkish border. united states refuse to cooperate or i give you my analysis because there's no such thing as moderate opposition. there in the field, on this or, isis, they are all telling people. they are all destroying our cities and villages your and,

therefore, it is very difficult for the united states to do so because it is not a realistic objective. the realistic objective is to target all those of terrorists who are exercising terrorism and perpetrating acts of terrorism all over. so who is a moderate and who is not a moderate is an issue that i think exist in the media and exist in the minds of some people in the united states. although the art, as you know, reports also that the united states is supporting and financing and giving missiles to some groups, arming the kurds in syria. in his last statement in the security council on the 27th of may, he spoke about two points. humanitarian assistance and

cessation of hostilities or implementing truth industry. as i said at the beginning, the implementation of 2253 is a prerequisite for implementation of 2254. it is a logical prerequisite for the implementation of 2254, because without fighting this terrorism, without undermining terrorism in syria, how can you bring peace about, and how can you restore syria to be a peaceful and good country? i would like to tell you, respectable audience, that the syrian people are not very happy with such a victory assistance. they have never been used to eat 10 food and macaroni brought from somewhere. syrians people are used to eat fruits and fresh vegetables and fresh crops that they themselves grow in syria. since the 1970s the syrian

people raised the motto, we eat from what we grow and we where from what we manufacture. syria produces the most delicious fruits, vegetables. the best week. it has the best sheep all over the world, the best meets. so deceiving people are able not only to feed themselves but to feed millions of people with them. only may need peace and security. and when syrian people and the syrian arab army are fighting terrorism in syria, believe me, they are fighting a cancer that will spread to the region and the world if we do not initiate that international alliance against terrorism, against isis and against al-nusra year it's from this perspective i would like to go back and thank you again for this commendable

effort in order to create or at least raise the awareness for the necessity of the global alliance against isis and against al-nusra. we have a great experience now after six years of horrible war on our people and our army, to join hands with all others would like truly to fight terrorism, and not contain isis and almost wrote, but undermine and get rid of isis and all new circuit because between you and me with the united states is doing is trying to contain isis in syria and in iraq, and by the way, the syrian people and the iraqi people is the same. because our enemy is at the same. terrorism is the enemy to all of us. we would love to join hands with the international community, with western people in order to get rid of this horrid 21st century disease.

one thing is needed, and we will definitely prevail, is to be honest in one thing, to fight terrorism. not to take it as a cover for geopolitical purposes and for achieving geopolitical interests for some country. i think you again for inviting me, and hope to see you in person in syria after it is peaceful and secure and free from all terrorism. [applause] >> okay. please, i would like to just about everybody. we are going to have a session for q&a. okay, so in this session i will take, okay, question number one. but please control of everything emotional. i would like to get food from this meeting, okay? unfortunately to talk with her

life via skype to ask any question. so you ask the question, and you have to answer. and to set up the skype, okay, i would like to see anybody has any question to our guests? okay to go ahead. >> wait for the mic, please. >> thank you. i am with c-span tv. you all three have made a call do not call islamic terrorism. but you are still using isis unlike in middle east, the use of the term daesh which i haven't heard from you. thank you so much. >> to whom would you like to send a question, anyone? okay. bassam? >> unfortunately, -- this is good.

can you see me? we don't call them that. you guys do. is the content of you always calling islamic individuals. these are not islamic these are hard-core cold terrorism, vicious individuals killing humanity. we don't call the islamic. we don't believe they are muslim to begin with. they have been called islam in the left and right. we need to change the. that's why today we make this new concept, a new phenomenon. saying these people are not muslims to begin with. they do not represent islam. be imam made eric lippert the islam -- they've been coming from all over the country from europe, from the state. they have been attacking killing off people in iraq answered and ever else. in our backyard right here. so we did all the islamic. they do not represent islam whatsoever. and it has got to change.

we just call them terrorists, period, thank you. >> you want to elaborate for a few seconds? >> islam means in arabic these. come from salaam, peace. so a cold -- cult, they don't care about faith, they don't care about sex. they don't care about age. they cannot be called islam. and let me challenge isis. if they are really true muslims, clear your face and let's see you. because our beloved prophet mohammed and his family and his followers, we have a clear shiny face. show us out of the face. >> thank you. we have right now dr. shaaban on the line with us live, and thank you for giving us a chance to be

the a pleasure to have you here. and i'm going to give you the opportunity, dr. shaaban. we have a lot of questions, a lot of. everybody is so excited just to the opportunity to talk with you directly. thank you so much. so i will give the first question -- go ahead. >> hello, dr. shaaban. i come from "the daily telegraph." i wanted to know whether the syrian government is going to give the u.n. permission to carry out aid drops to beseiged areas in syria, given that the syrian government has apparently failed to access to these areas? separately, i wanted to know, there's a man come and 2011 he was released from prison and then he went on to become a senior member of the isis.

how does releasing people from the prison who have been cannot do joint isis, how does that fit in with a government strategy to defeat isis? thank you. >> dr. shaaban. sorry, the voice, sorry with technical problem. we have technical problem. who is in charge? no, sorry. i think we have problem. so okay, and to we get, fix the problem with skype, okay, any question pashtun she gotcha question. she will answer shortly. yes, go ahead. >> there was an investigative piece by abc today, released today, that said that the popular mobilization forces have committed atrocities in

fallujah, and that there's a big fear by so many humanitarian organizations, american organizations, that they would be more atrocities committed in fallujah by the forces, these forces. for how to respond to this investigative piece? >> what type of atrocities speak with beheadings, torture. on abc. >> i made myself very clear about these beheadings. they start this. we did not. >> by who come by who? >> by abc and with the help of humanitarian organizations, american organizations, that these were committed by these forces, these popular mobilization forces. >> yeah. i'll be honest with you, there was a movie about some bad apples called three kings back in 1998 about the liberation of kuwait when saddam hussein occupied kuwait. i happened to play on it, made the money. i mean, there's always going to

be some bad apples honestly. look at the american soldier, what they did in iraq, you know? remember the case of? remember the abu care of -- abu ghraib prison? i'm guessing these are private individuals. these people lost their life but i guarantee you, i was in charge about 20 cases myself, but some cases, they were actually human rights violations activities done by the pmus. ..

to reach her reconciliation with the syrian people and the theory and government. some of those came out to go and be a service pa they were joining isis and killing people. we say is responsible for this terrorist who join you there is no doubt -- there should be no doubt that this year in government is the one end the people are the ones who are

fighting isis because this has not been trained not to an hundred years back. he started our hospitals. it destroyed our land. so we are desperately and strongly against this terrorism. >> thank you. we have another question. you're going to have a lot of questions today. we have one hour. we are going to get to everybody. >> i am ready. the >> dr. shaaban, a mysterious the decision and the center for geopolitics. my question to you as a theory in his letter that concessions that this year in government is willing to do in geneva in order to overcome the turmoil that syrians are feeling, but what is the political solution. look at tunisia.

there were concessions from both sides to come into a solution. >> thank you so much good >> i assume that you follow the news and i ain't he should have known that in the last meeting in geneva, it was our allegation that withdrew from the negotiation and refused to meet with the syrian delegation and our delegation that the syrian government delegation we are very construct it. we are very positive they are not concessions we are being asked to make. we want all of us to make our country a better place for all of this. people appeared you have a

position in geneva and by saudi arabia. i don't think syria is the policy. we should ask these people the order given to them outside and how the bacon is serious for in order to bring peace. >> next question. please introduce yourself. >> my name is elian from a to you and you and you, will in

iraq you thought they are doing. they are combating terrorism. there is so many complicated issues in the region and financing, arming, as i said in my beach, we have a big problem. if the international community were able to close the border today, half would be undermined immediately in no time. so it's the will regional and international will have a real alliance, a global alliance against terrorism. it's very difficult to uproot terrorism and why others are seen in this all the time. >> we've got this one.

[inaudible] there are tons of people suggesting that isis whale used by the regime in exchange for the city turned to isis. i was wondering what your position is i'm not. and if not, how does isis get electricity and other subsidies? >> i think it is the government as it has been that the government from the terrorism -- the government was making billions of dollars out of this and also making billions of dollars about refugees with the whole problem about refugees. thank you. >> go the next one after or maybe you again.

let's start with this and come to you after you. go ahead, next spirit [inaudible] >> at the microphone close to you. >> is should be a follow-up question. the u.s. treasury department is selling a great deal of oil to the assad or shame. of state john kerry said assad cut his own deal. the south oil, they buy oil. they are symbiotic, not real enemies in this bid how then can assad be a coalition to defeat isis when his government seems to be assisting the group. >> i didn't understand my question. i'm sorry. repeat it, please.

>> the u.s. treasury department said in december that isis is selling a great deal of oil to the assad regime. secretary of state john kerry cut his own deal with oil. they are symbiotic. not real enemies in spf how can isis be a part of the coalition when his government seems to be assisting the group. >> there is no question that the government never buys oil or sells oil to the terrorists. the syrian government, the people are engaged and we have hundreds of thousand against terrorism. there are so many on time in views expressed you don't have to believe all of them. thank you.

[inaudible] we are here to broadcast your views. my question is you just said that all terrorists and i'm quoting you, all terrorist came from the turkish borders inside syria, and of quote. but the other example we have just heard, who was killed inside syria covered extensively by government owned media. he was discussed as a big terrorist leader by your own media. he was inside a serious prison and he was let go by the syrian government. did you not know about his past and why would he be released based on not? >> thank you so much. you try to make the question short. give everyone a chance to

answer. >> i don't know if you're insinuating that the possibly know, especially terrorists we let out of prison. he was taken to court and then he was released just as any person would be released. alice the time he had to spend in prison. all the terrorists who came are actually -- some of them came to the jordanian order. the fact that in oklahoma killed 70 children doesn't mean a trend of the american government to go until the children in oklahoma. thank you. >> thank you. actually, i spot you, okay.

>> i am a bay area of newspaper. i have a question to clarify because i'm really confused. you are talking about iraq and saying most of the terrorists came from syria. a shia seem like all of them are coming from outside the area. >> iceni politician. >> let me finish. let me finish. that's my first question. we need to know where we are standing from here. are they coming from area or both? elaborate. second question. dr. shaaban, you are saying the syrian people who are not deceiving human eggs are serious and are under siege. they receive only birth control pills, covers from mosquito. what about the food? we need to clarify that. >> thanks a lot.

when i said isis came from syria. they came from turkey. they invaded no soul. isis came from area. it is a fact. so what i'm saying all the terrorists came from turkey to iraq is fact. i will let dr. shaaban. >> i would like to tell the two americans killed in syria, their passport was stamped in turkey and that was that. there was no other stamp on the passport. so even americans over 8000 terrorists coming through. if the international community with the turkish border, you would see what happens.

the issue is not where they came from. the issue is how to end terrorism. i can tell you producing food and the impact. nobody is solving in that area. but what we are trying to get into that idea is the children's vaccination and the citizens left in the area by raskin for good i wish he would be a little bit more humble because you don't live in the area and we are the ones in syria. it is our country being hit.

>> hi. my name is kimberly from al jazeera. ms. shaaban coming yesterday the state department spoke in john kirby called you a propaganda mouthpiece if you have it. now via skype in violation of u.s. sanctions and u.s. treasury department. how can your appearance baby viewed other than a syrian push for legitimacy. [inaudible] >> repeat the question. >> i guess that would be for the treasury department to determine. let me rephrase the question. there is are you guys are a sanctions against you preventing you from traveling to the united states. >> no there isn't. i may correct to you. it was made freezing assets. that is all. my colleague, his name is with

me. so i don't have any legal decision to prevent me from coming to the united states. >> why are you not here? >> as i have no assets in the united states, they can freeze whatever they want. >> to very quickly follow up, is this too pushed to legitimacy, is this an opportune time? >> i received an invitation and i was glad to receive it and i'm happy to participate on what is truly happening in syria. to combat tear them because all of that if we want united. thank you. >> hello, everyone. my name is suzanne merrin and i'm with susan mayor and council. the question is to how you could hold a forum for a plan calling

to get rid of that isis, yet you are holding a platform. a lot of the questions today stated share that with you. also, it is openly stated by the assad regime, by your organization that you support hezbollah openly when it's actually on the u.s. terrorist list. a lot of what was said today was absolute bs, which happened to be her initials as well. i went to mention she talked about how can you have an armed opposition? you will have an armed opposition when people go out into the streets peacefully in protest, asking for democracy and freedom, when at the same time they go kill american soldiers, while on the street of syria. the assad raspberries that come up with us in prison, wife, daughter, kills them, provides

chemicals to kill them, slashes their throats with night and that you want to stand and not be an armed opposition. it exists and is still standing after five years. >> excuse me, we accept unarmed opposition on the schools and hospitals in the united states and it wants to change the government. do you accept that? if iraq except that now after the american occupation, do you establish a democracy in iraq and are the iraqi people living in heaven after the americans have advanced? i think it is about time, place, the western audiences be real and look and see what we are suffering from. we are rooted in islam. we are not going anywhere. we want to make our country better. but with every american intervention, with every

terrorist intervention, our country is not 100 years back. you're not seeing what is happening to this year and women and the syrian children. you did not see the man who killed his mother. you don't see back, so please take what you read with a grain of salt. >> thank you so much. okay, first of all, we look at independent organization, look to the geopolitics. we calculate forces. people like you -- people like you -- respect the rules. when i talk, no interruption. when we look to the geopolitics of the region. people like you by promoting

that way more suffering to the syrian people. i want to tell you something. the word became proxy were. russia and iran gave bashar al-assad. you agree with me. i'm not fact, the status quo is going to stay for another 10 years. and it was so afraid? the syrian people at an iraqi people. people like you promote just to keep the status quo without giving an alternative solution. i am here not to support or endorse any regime, but too often a lake and all the rivers around the global come to open channels in a civilized way. give you an opportunity to give a question that would never dream about it. we give an opportunity to ask

any question. >> what is the problem if you hear a voice from the syrian government as you have been hearing thousands of voices of agents who sold their countries and our own entries didn't use it in their mouths. what is the problem? a peaceful person i'm talking to you. i love my country. i have three books published in the united states read write american people and it's necessary for the american education system. i did my phd in england. i am a syrian, deeply rooted syrian and i know this is reflected on my country and i know that the western people

should learn that they cannot go destroy in our people because they are misled or because they have illusions about what is happening in the area. even the american government acknowledges that does not hard. plus an ambassador to know what is truly happening in syria. we have one after you. >> shot up from voice of america persian upper. dr. shaaban, you mentioned that it's dangerous to let the food they imitate the area are starting. i you afraid they might kill starving people in lies the

government avoiding letting the u.n. convoy and the food a day to the people, civilian people. my second question is to mr. bassam al hussaini. you mentioned the ayatollah in 2014 issued a platform for the people who raid against isis. but now last week isis again issued another fatwa for the people who are going to free falluja to save the people and not admit. so if there is such a concern with the leadership of the shia leadership, how can you then falluja is free, how can sunnis and shia come together in peace? what are the other theaters going to do after?

>> we got the message. the time is limited. >> i did not say in danger to drop food. i said it is dangerous to drive children's vaccine in madison. this is representative of talking to syrian government about. it is a food basket that there is nobody starving. i don't think you should take things at such face value. you should not be accusatory in your question. you are not even hear me. i did not say food. i said medicine and vaccine. although i know your question is not direct it to me, but i can tell you that sunni and shia's are not only living in falluja and iraq and area.

their intermarriage is among them. there is never anyone. either way, my husband is of iraqi origin. i know iraq is i know syria. we are all arabs. we speak the same language. we have tens of thousands of years without any ethnic or sick. problems. it is only western to. >> thank you so much. >> the second part of the question. some of you asked me earlier about these human rights violations done by the pm you or your is a your is a good your is as good as make sure we take care of people in falluja. do not kill them. do not hurt them. i want to make something funny that i read the other day. the accused the pm you better do

abuse the woman. guess what? these women are actually dressed like women. i concluded it was the type of woman only. >> thank you. >> my name is paul schenk ben with u.s. news & world report. dr. shaaban, three straightforward questions for you. one is a follow-up. can you say yes or no whether the syrian government will allow u.n. aid drops and if not, why not? secondly, while we have been speaking there have been reports about explosion in the cocky yet. do you have any details on that? lastly, the journalists, austin ties remains missing. do you have information and can you say declaratively that he is not in syria and government authority. >> what was the last one? >> austin ties who went missing

in 2012. can you say he is not under syrian government authority? >> thank you. i don't know why you are so interested in not mentioning obvious that the terrorists said a few days ago, killing 200 civilians. air drops are no airdrops, the system then that is being discussed between the u.n. and the syrian government. this is not very important to us. the most important thing to us is to uproot terrorism. as i told you, the syrian people are able to feed themselves. by the way, when the last food basket used to arrive in iran they would never accept to take any food because they have never accepted aid from anybody. syria has never taken aid. it has never taken a loan from

any other country. syrian people are very proud. this does not mean we are trying to very best to make everything i write for our citizens. i would love you to be more interested in talking terrorism, and encouraging new government to take the right stand against terrorism because this is hopeful of ring a lasting model that syria but the entire region. i did not see the explosion today. the syrian government knows nothing about him and if we knew something about it we would tell because we already made others americans returned to the united states although they are fighting with terrorists. this is how forgiving we are. >> thank you. next.

>> havey puzo here in washington. i have a syrian american. i had to flee for my life in syria in late 2011 not because isis, not because i'm endangering anybody in any way, but because i'm from an opposition family who had joined the revolution in the beginning but the syrian youth. i just wanted to ask bouthaina shaaban, which you said you have no legal implications against you here. mr. michel maha was always in her office in the presidential palace, who later ron, the lebanese parliament member was taped while he was taking bombs to bomb christian areas in lebanon. he is an advisor to you and to bashar al-assad. can you please define your

relationship with this guy who's been in prison. [inaudible conversations] -- calculate humans as their purposes. i said at the beginning of may speech that al jazeera was absolutely a major tool in initiating this war against area. therefore, i do not accept any contribution better than this from you. thank you. >> i need everybody to ask only one question. there are too many people who want to ask. we have only had. i will give everybody a chance to ask a question. -- a question about the peace passenger u.n. security council resolution. i just upped the number.

the roadmap, the timeline in august as the date -- a deadline for a new constitution transitional government audit to be formed. first, do you think you can make that deadline? given the number of players in the country, is a unified syria a foregone conclusion at this time? >> thank you. >> the question should be addressed and whether -- the syrian government has been absolutely cooperative on every stat. so with so many players in syria, with so many players in the region and the world. you know, this city from which i am talking this time as an

aerosol. it is the oddest continually inhabited city in the world. they are going to keep syria together and syria would peak in the price of the world. >> thank you so much. introduce yourself. >> born and raised in lebanon. we have a lot suffered from the syrian regime. sectarian war. you know what i'm talking about. back to mr. michel who was charged with four years in prison. muslims and christians at the same time. where the phone calls. there is no al jazeera. so the lebanese government charged him with four years -- 40 years. what you have to say about that? >> i wish you could be construed

it. we are here to talk with isis and al qaeda. bringing something you think is embarrassing to me. nothing is embarrassing to me, but something is irrelevant to me. >> now, excuse me. security, security. you cannot interrupt. you cannot interrupt. you have to respect. please help. please stop you do have to respect us. >> can i say something, please? >> good morning, dr. shaaban. >> introduce yourself. >> all weather. i covered a syria for years with

abc. do you accept -- [inaudible] 's >> international community, do you accept that there are people dying of hunger in opposition areas and do except this is because of the policy? >> can i correct you, please? syrian people always live on fresher than fresh vegetables and that number one thing you can do is help us defeat terrorism so we can go back and eat from our products. it doesn't mean that we are under great old to what the u.n. is giving our people now who are in need, not only in terrorist areas, but also other areas. as i said it and as we wanted, we want peace and security to come back so that we don't have to talk about any humanitarian assist in. the humanitarian assistance to

people who need. please try to be positive and understand this is a very positive attitude to thank you. >> thanks so much. please introduce yourselves. >> i am a c-span tv but the hispanic media. briefly, they try to unify forces against terrorism, which involves civilian government. how optimistic are you to have the united states government involved than the ultimate goal of is to overthrow bashar al-assad? >> i don't think now the process during the crisis and i don't

think now that the announcing that the united states to overthrow transcendent. the problem now is the danger that has befallen syria and iraq in the region and i think the attitude of the united states government now has developed a great deal from the attitude at the beginning of the crisis because they can see that what is happening in syria is very dangerous to the safety and security of the region and the world at-large. therefore we are cooperating with very good attention with our partners and cooperating with united states in talking to the united states, hoping to find solutions to undermine terrorism and defeat security. thank you. >> anymore questions? i have this gentleman. we will come to you. please introduce yourself.

>> update bbc, -- all of this happened in syria because a lot of people went out on the street demanding regime change and that led to the situation. hundreds of thousands of syrians now out of the country. have you after regret you've been in power that opposition. >> thank you very much. i think it -- the diagnosis you get again the government does not stay for six years against the will of its people. i would like that the turkish government put hundreds of cents on this. turkish orders, weeks before refugees crossed the border.

you can't diagnose something wrong and say it with regret. i don't for a moment of regret being part of the syrian government because we are standing for people. we are standing against terrorism. standing for the future of syria. i will save millions of dollars to leave the syrian government. human rights and claim they want to liberate syria. we are here because we believe in our country, because we hate treason and because we hate to be civilized within the power of the world. >> ceredigion with the "washington post." there has been a proposal for a promenade truce starting this weekend. does the government have any interest in that or do you see

that as a possibility they could stop the fighting temporarily. secondly, certainly from the outside there have been a lot of accusations against the government for its use of barrel paths particularly indiscriminate weapons that have killed a lot of civilians. but the government think in order to stop the death of civilians that it might be a good idea or does the government have any desire to stop the use of that particular weapon? thank you. >> thank you. you know, honestly i don't want to give up a the idea, but you are forcing me to do so because i had amazed at how the westerns are coming from completely distorted days. the position does not want to go because they are all islam is. the true islam that fights for

the people every day in the lives of people and anything else. the government did not hear any accusations of all these horrible gas bubbles that are being dropped on the people. you do not hear about the horrible explosions about the school -- it is amazing that she neither condemn any terrorist. the terrorists are taking again our civilian people. i invite all of you in this room to recede what you have been thinking and to try and search for the information because we need your voices against

terrorism. you find it on your doorstep. thank you. >> is to follow a period we did write quite a bit about the attacks and what nokia and quite a bit about the use of what you call gas bottles. i'm asking a specific question about the government action and whether the government believes that there is any advantage in stopping the use of this particular weapon. thank you. >> the government believes in stopping all the war in syria. the government believes that the maximum should be made in order to restore peace and security to every corner of syria because this is all what we are working for and what we wanted what we live by. thank you. >> dr. shaaban, i am from dearborn michigan.

i am one of the speakers. i'm asking you for the question. there is about 40, 60 countries fighting terrorism is the area. the coalition. that they prevent or they feel that's one question. the second, we hear that some of the drop from the coalition went to isis and they claim it was because of the wind or something like that. can you tell us something about that, please? >> i don't think the coalition is interested in assessing mosul i think it is not a rumor, but an establishment that some of the weapons will drop to the terrorists. not only one, more than one. i believe that fateful terrorism

in the same space in their or we should fight it together. that is why i said i can't see why the united states cannot join hands in fighting terrorism both in area and iraq. this would be the best way if everybody honestly believes in fighting and defeating terrorism. the problem that i face is now confirmed to me by the audience. there is no honesty in handling this issue. there's a lot of rumors that are taken. unfortunately, in journalism, it is no longer here and i can see that rumors are making up their minds that so many which is a shame, which really is costing us a lot.

>> thank you beard next question please. introduce yourself. >> sullivan from the away. you mentioned about the abilities to russia's threat to syria in terms of being able to find the terrorists and strike it. given those russian capabilities brought to bear, how many -- how come there have been so there have been so many reports and airstrikes hitting hospitals, schools or innocent people would reasonably be and why haven't those russian capabilities than he is to avoid that? my second question come a number of weeks ago the russians pulled out their air power from syria and there were reports that the reason they did that is because they were upset and not satisfied with some of the words and some of the things that president assad was saying. what is the relationship between iraq and russia right now and what more serious asking to improve the situation?

>> i didn't hit the second. can i sum up with websphere is asking russia to do? >> given the report that russia was unhappy with statements made by president assad, what more are you asking of russia? >> okay, thank you. there is no doubt that before the russians came to syria, that the syrian army and the syrians were trying their best to fight terrorism. we don't have the russian air force. we are not as equipped. we don't have the weapons. we don't have the air force capabilities that the russian federation house. it doesn't mean that we did nothing before the russians came. we are fighting terrorism for the last five years. but when the russians came to help us, we were able with a

huge amount of land in syria in many cities in many villages with the help of the russian air force. as for the report that the russians are unhappy with assad. we hear that every day and make ink you can judge that those that are not happy with the russians here in relation. russia is not happy with the syrian government for iran is not happy with the cooperation with russia. i can assure you that the russian syrian relations are at the land, but the cooperation between assisted task date and with iran as well and with hezbollah. the russian syrian relations are historic. we know our russians very well. our army, offices have all settled in russia and we know that our fashion trends are people whom we can rely on very

well and who we can trust completely. a relationship of clarity and respect to train us. thank you. >> go ahead. please introduce yourself. >> my name is gary duma from reuters that the first thing i would like to ask is if you could comment on reports of the syrian army in the russian air force are about to launch an operation. what is your reaction to the recent u.s. operation? >> i'm sorry. i'm not a military officer and had no clue whether they are preparing an operation or not. >> okay, next. >> thank you. >> high, that, dr. tran. i'm from the daily telegraph. we absolutely don't want the

questioning that sent we been doing reports on both sides. it is absolutely great to be able to get your responses to some of the question we've been asking a long time. there have been some studies and bombings by both syria in the regime. sorry, this year in and its russian allies. >> can you say the syrian government -- [inaudible] >> the syrian government and its allies, russia. over 90% of the airstrikes that have been to date according to spokesman john kirby in october 2015. 90% of those airstrikes were not targeting isis gave 90% were targeting smaller and lesser-known groups that do not have the same reputation for extremism.

thank you very much. >> i'm sorry to say that this is absolutely untimely report. the russians and americans -- i think even the first person it is very difficult for us to separate between the other group into sad who is an extremist in who is not. i would like to remind you that when the russians and americans agreed the truth they call it, john kerry himself said anyone who doesn't abide by this cessation is going to be hurt very strongly by us, by the americans and russians. unfortunately they didn't do that. i think you have to be on the ground to see how the people have been sold to one group and including the christian clergymen who are now on the

borders of turkey and they ended up with very defensive groups. once you are in the land, and it's very difficult to tell who is who. i can tell you that isis, they are definitely all terrorist groups. they are all kidnapping, destroying institutions. i would like just one clarification that these people have nothing to do with islam. i am a western woman and i know that one major objective of this terrorism is to destroy the image of islam in the eyes of western people. islam like judi sohn is a -- like judaism is a religion of love. it is not to punish anybody for not being a muslim.

how could these people kill anybody who is not a wahhabi themselves. >> thank you. yes. >> shyla satiety from voice of america persian tv for dr. tran three. if syrian government has simply supported the allied iranian government for a long time, fighting the opposition, especially the cuts force. the cuts force has suffered a lot of losses and defending ordinary army troops there to help the president assad. is there any thing regarding the future support in the military support from iran and do we think they are sort of cooling down on supporting military as a stronger force. >> if you allow me to just

correct one word. they are not fighting opposition. they are fighting terrorists. iran and syria and has below are fighting terrace on the ground. i would like to remind you also that when the war on iran started, curia was the only country would be on the air country with weapons and for the united states of america. we knew they were attacking the country which he has no right to. i relation with iran is based on the principle and human rights in sovereignty and international legitimacy and not by chance with hezbollah and russia supporting us. they are supporting us also on

principles on small mobile alliance against isis. it was through this lovely meeting. >> please introduce yourself again. >> dr. shaaban, i just want to follow up on the sanctions question. when was the last time you were here in the united states? have you been in the united states and 2011? and dr. kubba, how well does the organization? >> is a good question. thank you for it. in 2,005,000 expatriate in iraq there is a minister with the syrian expatriates and i kept one of my assistants for two hours in another room without me knowing why and what they should do. and since that time i decided

that i do not want to go to the united states although i've received many invitations but i have integrity and i'm not ready to be humiliated at any airport. >> dr. shaaban, tell us about shared nobel prize. tell us about it. >> well, i was one of a thousand women who was nominated for the nobel peace prize in 2005. i am very proud. we have over 50 arab women in the arab world who were nominated because of the work for peace and date has been many years he spent in pursuit of peace. this only brings me to the contradiction between the european union decision and the united state decision to consider me as a peace advocate. i have always been and i always

will be and i hope bush about that in a world where the media performs a better bowl. i cannot thank you enough for allowing me this. i would like to tell all of your respectable audience, this is the least thing that should be done is to communicate with each other to ask questions and hear each other's answers. we must keep walking and watching. >> thank you so much, dr. shaaban. have a good night. the last comment from mr. hussaini. >> may make an official announcement. i will be leaving the negotiations that the state department an american official. you are welcome. please give your name and where you present to mr. kubba.

that way you could be headed with their team. it will be a small committee negotiation but the next step with the american administration to fight terrorism and al qaeda in the middle east and here. >> the last thing i'll just answer a question. it was born in 2014. i think it happened the same day marred the 13 day was assassinated. thank you so much. [applause] .mac [inaudible conversations]

[inaudible conversations] >> a more different decision for our country and the one between our side of democrat for progress, for prosperity, for fairness, for opportunity than the presumptive nominee on the republican side. >> so we are going to win. we are going to win an on education. no more common core. bring it down, bring it down.

we won at local. we are going to win with health care. we are going to win at the border. >> we have got to redefine what politics means in america. we need people from coast to coast, standing up, fighting back and demanding a government that represents all of us, not just the 1%. [cheers and applause] >> this morning, the u.s. senate continues work on the 2017 defense programs and policies will. it authorizes just over $602 billion in spending and in those language that requires women to register or the draft

and continues for her prescriptions on the president's ability to close guantánamo bay detention center. they will recess at 12:30 eastern to meet with party leadership, returning it to 15:00 eastern or more work on the defense bill. and there is a possibility of both later today. the president pro tempore: the senate will come to order. the chaplain, dr. barry black, will lead the senate in prayer. the chaplain: let us pray. eternal god who knows what is