first national vice president and two days your national president. broderick johnson, assistant to the president secretary and chair of my brothers task force on national president. dwayne crawford, noble office. hubert, 2016 cochair and our national treasure. brien mcrae, 2016 conference cochair, federal assistance to the national president. matthew arthur barroso, chief of police, u.s. capitol police department. marita jay bryant, region two national vice president. patrick labonte, region three national vice president. gregory c. baker, region four national vice president.

frederick thomas, region five national vice president. cheryl moody, recent six national vice president. and the shields, national financial secretary. let's give these folks a run of applause. [applause] are second-tier, thomas lake nasser and, also washington d.c. chapter president. >> national association representative. believe a gun, special assistant for the national president and northern virginia chapter president. seymour jones, says to the national president.

excuse me, special assistant to the national president. national president for international affairs. major general you see boulder, united states army. jeffrey s. shank, director of united states national central bureau. guide jake trout, chief postal inspector united states postal inspector. thomas e. bratton -- excuse me, thomas brennan, deputy director of alcohol, tobacco, firearms, explosives. david harlow, deputy director u.s. marshals service. sophia jones, assistant administrator transportation security administration office of inspections. phil miller, executive assistant or immigration and customs

enforcement. mark ridley, deputy or naval criminal investigation service. kathleen tye, spent their general but her of education. kill stalwart stone, act inspector general, social security administration office of inspector general. h. agnes daniels, commissioner police, surinam police force. no bullet grant, deputy commissioner of police, jamaica constabulary force, jamaica chapter president. he drew up a home has been commissioned, the commissioner of police, the nigerian police force. [applause]

broaddrick a house in, direct terror federal air marshals. anthony and chop a common director hispanic american command police officers association. paul the third vice president and the international association of chiefs of police. garcia had been made, secretary of amateur association of caribbean commissioners. deputy craig hartley junior, executive director commission on accreditation for law enforcement agencies. gil krukowski, commissioner u.s. customs and border protection. assistant commissioner metropolitan police.

marcus hill, assistant director u.s. department of homeland security. tracey s. perry, direct third u.s. department of agriculture surveys. jeffrey d. spec, executive director air force office of special investigations. jean mccaskey, commander service police, montréal, canada and treasurer of the montréal chapter. craig w. floyd, president and ceo national law enforcement officers on. ladies and gentlemen. [applause] again, good morning. coming to the podium, your

current national president, gregory thomas. [applause] >> these are the best of times and the worst of times. these are the best of times and the worst of times. these are the best of times in major cities across the country are experienced rapid growth with crime and unemployment trending downward. these are the worst of times some areas across the country are experienced in stagnation and growth while allowing crime numbers steadily increased and with relationships between the community and one for his campaign. good morning again, noble. by opening quote comes from the classic 1959 novel by charles

dickens, the tale of two cities. allow me to paraphrase this quote to more, where foley says it was the best of times, the worst of times, the age of wisdom, the age of foolishness ,-com,-com ma a season of light through the season of darkness. it was the spring of hope with the winter of despair. we had everything before us. we have nothing for us. we are all going direct to heaven. we are all going direct the other way. as we are here in washington d.c., celebrating our 40th anniversary, we are indeed in the mid-to the best of times and the worst of times. during these moments, the country needs to push forward and ensure that there is less and events like those we have it or you in the past few days, weeks and months. we have to step up collectively. blood words meant in the

community that we serve to bridge this effort be made of. as we continue to go through the pain of processing -- they go through processing these event that happened recently, we need to look within ourselves to know that the opportunity for reform lies within those law enforcement and the communities we serve. i'm a law enforcement side, police officers must take a personal check and ask themselves, is this the right job for me? how do i address any inherent biases? can i fully serve the community with impartiality are my fellow officers administering justice in a fair manner? in a leicester south come about is the role of one force that? guardian or warrior? moreover, if i'm worse than executives, we must ensure we are selecting and hiring the right people, administering penalty where needed and more

importantly providing support, training and guidance throughout an officer's entire career. on the community side of public safety partnerships and indeed to tamp down redrick with violence directed at members of law enforcement. no matter where we stand in the chain of command of our respective agent is, we all know that our work is important, needed and valued by the vast majority of citizen, as an industry, we have to acknowledge and recognize the pain, agony and despair of some, emphasize some, not all of our brothers and sisters have caused in a minority communities. if we do this, we can move close to reconciliation. when we do this, we can have a candid, if conversation about healing. then decide just to add here that as he may have heard i was invited to the white house a

week or so ago with nine other members of law enforcement agencies represented the loudest ones in the country and we were summoned there by vice president i. as we sat there, and with vice president biden, the door suddenly opened and in walked president obama. he sat there with us for two hours to have a conversation about healing and went around the room to ask everyone about their thoughts or solutions. as he came to me, i said then -- i say now what i said then in that we as an industry on this. it is nobody else's issue but us. we have to step to the floor and admit, as i mentioned earlier and recognize the pain people are experiencing around the country regarding the way they have been treated by some members of law enforcement. without doing that, there will be no reconciliation. so it is critical. [applause] so it is critical as you heard the words of attorney general lynch and attorney general

holder. we spoke about this in the room before he joined the stage about the need for us to be who we are, be steadfast about the statement. with knowledge the pain caused in our community in particular by some members of law enforcement. we can never have a conversation about healing because what is happening is people are being hurt, but not listened to. as we come together as a noble family, i want to stop also to say an ever expanding noble family. you heard the introduction at the vice president about who is on the stage here. in particular, i want to recognize two people and stand if you are here. we have a new chapter in montréal signed into a charter of late last year and also this past friday we also signed a charter or a chapter in jamaica. now we are expanding internationally as well. [applause] so as they come together this

week to celebrate the wisdom of our founders, let us do so with the goal of those being prepared to stand in the current gap between law enforcement and the communities we serve. as a praying people, we know there are times in the bible of the lord called on and looked for someone to stand in the gap. let us take on that task in a very dutiful manner to be the leaders that we know we are in need to be because to do so will be as being true to what is noble and, what is noble now and noble tomorrow. thank you. [applause] [applause]

>> okay, we will be inflexible. it is my turn now to introduce. i apologize. according to the program, we need to welcome the youth director. my apologies. we now introduce the chief of police, capitol police here in washington d.c. to say a few words. thank you so much. [applause] >> president thomas, distinguished guests, thank you for the opportunity and welcome to the noble executive lord. as members, distinguished guests

in the law-enforcement community, participating in this conference in our nations capital. it is an honor to be here and i appreciate how important noblesville has been helping to develop and mentor today find enforcement professionals, some of whom may someday become effective leaders have been 1% to affect positive change and bring communities together. noble's mission to ensure equity in the administration of justice. being committed to justice by action is exactly what is needed today. law enforcement agencies and departments that have lost touch with the communities they serve are doomed to failure, the basic principles speak directly to this. sir robin peel and the nine principles of modern policing enumerated these basic print of that applied today's post this

on the basic philosophy. the most important of which i believe are that police at all times should maintain a relationship with the public that gives reality to this tradition that police are the public and the public are the police. [applause] the police being only members of the public to duties which are incumbent upon every citizen in the interest of community welfare assistance. if the police do not secure the willing cooperation of the public they serve and complying with the law, they've lost the public's respect. does that sound familiar? both cities have one force and are in crisis. we have one person in

professionals need to address this issue straight on. the dialogue and co-opt your nation with community leaders. we only serve the public because the public allows and accepts the rule of law. when the police act outside of the law or proceed to act outside of the law, they avert the public confidence in the police in difficult and nearly impossible. it becomes an us versus them relationship. we are part of the public and law enforcement can never forget that. leaders and members of noble enough to rouse an inordinate nations can help us or the confident in policing and community said of ickes' and his divisiveness and other people. you, the members here can affect the true change, positive institutional change in the nation's police department. through leadership, education, mentoring future executives, training as well as recruitment of us any new to join the ranks of police departments, change

can be achieved by including people from diverse communities in the change process and that happens through dialogue through community policing, through achieving a place where once again the police are the public and the public are the police. u.s. capitol police, he personally am proud to support noble in this nation. in fact, i have chosen my best leaders to attend the conference this year. thank you for allowing -- [applause] thank you for allowing me a few minutes to briefly touch on this topic. i have enjoyed the presentation so far. let me -- i appreciate the opportunity to speak today. [applause] >> i need to offer you an apology, chief.

truth be told i have my glasses with me and my wife is probably saying why don't you have your classes with you. thank you yet i apologize for not doing that properly. [applause] i do have them now as i introduced the keynote speaker. it is my pleasure to introduce to you this morning's keynote speaker, mr. broderick johnson, assistant to the president and cabinet secretary and chair of my brother's keepers task force. mr. johnson, in that capacity, has also held other positions in the public and private actors as a senior advisor to president obama during his campaign in 2012 and informal advisor to the obama presidential campaign in 2008 and the senior congressional affairs in 2004. during the clinton administration, he saw the deputy assistant to the legislative affairs and started

his career in the house of representatives during the time he drafted landmark legislation in putting the family medical leave act and the control act of 1986. he later served as chief counsel to the house committee on the district of columbia and as democratic chief counsel to the house committee on education and the workforce. he received his baccalaureate from the college of holy cross and mr. is dr. from the university of michigan on public policy and government relations. a native of baltimore, maryland, currently resides in washington d.c. with his wife and three children. before i bring him to the podium, let me say one of the best i've found serving in this role as national president is the amount of times you get invited to the white house. what is scary as you get invited to the white house when you didn't tell them that you were in washington d.c. they track you down. scary, scary. that happened this past fall of

when we were here for the congressional black caucus. we got a call from valerie jarrett, senior vice president saying she knew we were in town. it came to the white house to meet and discuss issues relating to you in particular. it is very met minister johnson in his role as chair of the my brothers keeper initiative and from then on, it has been a discussion come a very deep on about how mobile can join with the latest initiative. people talk more about that. let's give a noble round of applause for mr. broderick john then. [applause] -- johnson. [applause] >> we are temporarily leaving this program of the u.s. senate gavels and for a brief pro forma session. life here on c-span2.

the presiding officer: the senate will come to order. the clerk will read a communication to the senate. the clerk: washington, d.c., tuesday, july 19, 2016. to the senate: under the provisions of rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the honorable michael d. crapo, a senator from the state of idaho, to perform the duties of the chair. signed: orrin g. hatch, president pro tempore. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the senate stands adjourned until 1:00 p.m. on friday, july 22, 2016. july 22, 2016.

>> and we return now to the leadership awards ceremony for former attorney general eric holder hosted by the national argument nation of black law enforcement executives. [applause] >> it is a true privilege today to bring reading and sincere dude on behalf of the 44th president of these united states, barack obama. it goes without saying that these have been challenging weeks and painful weeks for american family and certainly for law enforcement. .. times to shake enough to our core, weeks when some individuals filled with hatred have done terrible things to try to care this country apart but we also seen weeks where we have come together to more than together to commit to take action. i know the noble family was

gathered here for the civil rights brunch yesterday when the nation heard the shocking news from baton rouge about the loss of your brother's, the loss of three brave officers who put their lives on the line to serve and protect their community. brave souls who wrote towards danger rather than from a. we pray for their families and for those who were injured yesterday. as the president said in his address to the nation yesterday afternoon, quote, regardless of motive, the death of these three brave officers underscores the danger that police across the country confront every single day. and we as a nation have to be clear that nothing justifies violence against law enforcement. attacks on police are an attack on all of us. the rule of law that makes society possible. but as i standard today in front of all of you in this esteemed room i am also reminded of the presidency words from this years

medal of valor ceremony at the white house. the president said, quote, and e men and women who run towards danger remind us with your courage and your humility what the highest form of citizenship looks like. we see students and commuters and shoppers at risk, you don't see the civilians and strangers. you see that as part of your own family, your own community. the scripture teaches us you love your neighbor as yourself edge but others safety before your own. and your proud example comes remind us that loving our country means loving one another. closed quote. you all show that let every day in your service and your sacrifice but then you go above and beyond by sending tens of thousands of youth through education programs every year. we so deeply appreciate your new commitment to the my brothers keeper initiative, designed to

connect boys and young men of color and other vulnerable youth to education and program resources aimed at improving relationships with law enforcement through your law and your community program. thank you so much for that commitment to my brothers keeper. we applaud that commitment. [applause] and that commitment joins alongside your support for the presence task force on 21st century policing. you've been alongside us in our committees and some of the toughest moments like an aftermath of ferguson. you all and by what means to be servant leaders, and for that we are forever grateful. in addition to serve as a secretary of the president's cabinet, it's also my great privilege to serve as the chair of his my brothers keeper task force. the question of the presence domestic policy agenda has been about expanding opportunities,

and indicate came about in the wake of the tragic killing of trayvon martin. following a tragedy and the subsequent trial the president spoke candidly to the nation when he said trayvon martin could have been his son. 35 years ago, trayvon martin could have been him. the present went on to say there are a lot of kids out there who need help and we're getting a lot of negative reinforcement. finally, he said there has to be more that we can do to give them the sense that this country cares about them and values them, and is willing to invest in them. as you all know the challenges that the disparities that boys and young men of color face are significant, and they start in the early days and follow them throughout their lives. some of these statistics, one and two black boys have no fathers at home. one in four latinos. by age three, children from

low-income households have heard roughly 30 million fewer words than their higher income here's. by age three. although african students represent 15% of the public school population, they make up 42% of those suspended more than once and 34% students expelled. many of those children are preschoolers, three and four year old suspended and expelled from preschool. isn't that startling? they are like little people about this tall. we can do better high school graduation rate in america is not 82% but many districts see 50% graduation rates, or worse for boys of color. finally while only 6% of the overall population like males they governor half of the nation's murder victims.

among young adults ages 10-24 our site is the leading cause of death for black males and also among the leading causes of death for hispanics but we can do better. so february 2014 the president launched a my brothers keeper initiative from the east room of the white house. and was designed to address the opportunity gaps, some which i just cited faced by boys and young men of color so we can ensure our young people in this nation can reach their full potential. indicate is not about a single solution. it's about supporting our children at every key state in the developments -- mbk -- from cradle to college and career and, indeed, providing second chances. in response to the president's call to action two years ago nearly 250 communities in all 50 states and the district of columbia and puerto rico have accepted the president's my brothers keeper community challenge.

nearly 250 communities. more than $600 million in private sector and philanthropic grants and in kind resources, and a billion dollar spent financing have been committed in alignment with mbk, but we can do better. a new federal policy initiatives and grants programs have been implemented to ensure again that every child has a clear pathway to success from cradle to college and career into second chances. mbk communities have brought together diverse community leaders, are executing those plans of action to reduce inequities and to expand opportunity including reducing violence and providing second chances. and often that work includes partnerships and conversations between youth and law enforcement. for example, in the city of boston, boston has expanded its violence program in coordination with the boston police department to provide increase

on the current outreach to youth at risk of violent crime. in detroit, team up detroit now has border with the chief of police to launch the team that program, that matches police officers who serve as mentors with baseball and softball teams. nearly 2000 years participate in detroit's summer youth employment program are paired with law enforcement officials. there are a thousand youth in that program, 2000 of which are paired with law enforcement officials. philadelphia's police diversion program has led to a 54% reduction in school-based arrests. so rather than sending his children into juvenile justice systems, the school diversion program offers youth and their parents and their caregivers a range of social services and counseling, but we need to scale up that work. that's why we are especially grateful and thank noble for the

mbk an announcement that they will work with us to see this work take place in more communities across the country to bring together young men and young women of color with law enforcement. so again we are so deeply grateful for your commitments we can expand this work. [applause] mbk is not about just giving with issues through four rounds or discussions, while those are important, but it's about making sure we take action, that we come together, that we are honest about the challenges that we face, but that we are committed to work with each other to do the hard work, to restore and rebuild trust, doing the hard work of making sure all of our children about who they are or where they come from having equal opportunity and nothing stand in the way of them achieving their dreams. it's about young people realizing that they can and

should become law enforcement officers because it is such an incredibly honorable profession. before i stepped off the stage the president asked i should is created with all of you as well. the white house, washington, july 15, 2016. i am pleased to join in marking the 40th anniversary of the national organization of black law enforcement executives. our law enforcement officials put their lives on the line every day for a cause greater than themselves. for many this work is more than a job. it is a calling. a chance to get back to the communities in which they live and an opportunity to uphold the rule of law that sustains our democracy. the hours are often long, the work is often dangerous, and the stress is often high. and get all across our country, officials carry out their duties

fairly and professionally. our nation is safer for it. we are all part of one american family and it is our responsibility to do everything we can to lift up into support all our people, including those who serve and protect our communities. for 40 years noble has been a leader in these efforts. found in the midst of increasing crime in communities of color, you have worked not only to unify black voices and law enforcement but also to mentor and educate thousands of youth through leadership development programs. my administration's task force on 21st century policing has looked to leaders of noble to address key challenges, and i'm grateful for your commitment to help communities that have accepted a my brothers keeper's community challenge to strengthen relationships between youth and law enforcement.

in today's world our collective efforts are more critical than ever before. as a nation we have made enormous progress in race relations over the course of the past several decades. i have witnessed that in my own life. still, more work remains in the face apart and tragedies, leaders like you remind us that there is no contradiction between supporting police officers and recognizing the racial disparities that exist in our criminal justice system. the america i know is not as divided as some try to insist. i am confident that by coming together to listen, learn and build trust with each other at forums like this weekend for the address some of the challenges that have plagued our nation for centuries. as you ca can see to tackle somf america's most pressing issues and work to keep our communities safe, please note that a grateful president thinks you

and your families for your service and sacrifice. signed, president barack obama. [applause] >> the final thing i would like to say is thank you on behalf of of my family for all of you do to protect us. we are deeply, deeply grateful. god bless all of you, and thank you. [applause] >> we are as you say shortly a

press release that will more from you detail the partnership between the white house my brothers keeper and noble before we discuss the outset with the topic of law enforcement engagement comes up amongst -- who else but a noble to be there to have a discussion, the discussion went anyway so we'll try to coordinate outfits with my brothers keeper and vice versa. i know it will be something that membership will not that membership will love because we do not doubt but another opportunity to work with resources you have from the white house to spread the message about law enforcement role, how important it is but also to help with recruitment, get more ambassadors that are in use uniform if you will debated speak on behalf of us when it comes to issues related to law enforcement. again thank you for your time today and the president for his work industry. i will not pay that back again. i'm going to take advantage and bring to you now the youth leadership conference

representatives and they will come back to doing to close with some intelligent. -- come forward, please. thank you. [applause] >> you guys look sharp. let me get out of the way. >> thank you. good morning, noble members and guests. [inaudible] >> my name is satchel, i'm 16 and i can st. mary's high school. standing with me -- [applause] standing with me is -- aged 18 come to a long with the serving as a noble youth ambassador for the 15th annual noble youth

leadership conference. [applause] >> i want to take this opportunity to thank noble for hosting the youth leadership conference here in washington, d.c. along with the other participants i am committed to being focused and look forward to being enlightened, empowered and encouraged. [applause] our intention for this youth leadership conference is to be focused and be free from distractions because we don't want to miss anything that you have for us. although we are young, we are

mindful what is happening in our world today. we look forward to engaging in robust discussions and engaging with you guys. and we want to be an intentional part of the solution. to our behalf of the youth leaders of a noble youth leadership conference, thank you, noble, for investing in the future of youth. have a great conference. [applause]

>> i was up all night preparing my speech, young man. young man, young man. i was the only preparing my speech and a practicing it like it one in the morning. what are you doing, man? you are showing me up, bro. how cool was that? how cool was that, right? [applause] and he said -- i was like, really? please, thank you. [applause] >> noble family and guests, please give yourselves a round of applause. [applause] this has been unbelievable morning. i'm going to go through some of our notes so bear with me. i'm going to start off from keynotes.

the following meetings are scheduled. homeland security, 10 a.m. to 11 a.m., washington 4. immigration and customs enforcement 11 a.m. in washington 4. bureau of how called tobacco firearms and explosives, washington 2. u.s. postal service washington 3. at the u.s. marshals service washington 5. we mentioned earlier we have -- press release might have on the medic on a. president thomas -- executive board and having -- this is going to be a key initiative but it would be part of our community program. there will be an announcement coming out. this is a big, big deal. [applause] >> side auction is open after plan regrettable in at 2:45 p.m. however, you can pick up the

items at the security desk. you can pick up your items at the security desk. host city don't leader to go to host city. however, all you'll need is what, your badges and if you have your badges, you can get into the host city. founders, take a moment. we want to recognize any of our founders understood this way. are any of our founders here this morning? please stand and be recognized. [applause] >> thank you trip achieve johnny johnson. i call him mama triplett and chief johnny johnson.

we are now going to ask you to stand so we can retire our colors. please stand to retire our colors. please stand. [inaudible conversations]

[background sounds] [background sounds] [background sounds]

>> please give our colorguard a round of applause, please. [applause] also please remain, all of our international members, all of our international members. it's been the largest contingent of international members at our conference. [applause] we will ask reverend barbara williams harrison, please come and give us our benediction. >> again father, we thank you for what we have heard today. we thank you for the words. we thank you for the enlightenment. thank you for the future and the

words of our youth. thank you for the blessings of the last 40 years. thank you for the blessings today and thank you for the blessings two, in the next 40 years. we have been tested. we are being tested. we will be tested. but because of our foundation, no matter what storm comes, no matter what tests we face, we will not only pass them but we will be victorious. thank you for the rest of these sessions are in your name pray. they men. >> amen. that concludes our session. thank you. [inaudible conversations]

[inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations]

>> the republican national convention is live from cleveland this week. watch every minute on c-span. listen live on the free c-span reader app. it's easy to download from the apple store or google play. watch live or on-demand anytime at c-span.org come on your desktop, phone or tablet where you'll find all of our convention coverage and the full schedule. file us at c-span on twitter, and like us on facebook to see video of newsworthy moment. the republican national convention all this week on c-span. and c-span reader app and c-span.org. and on monday watch the democratic national convention live from philadelphia.

>> the reason i've added this convention and i'm a delegate is because of what to make sure mr. trump becomes our nominee, becomes president because i feel these are the only one that can make this country great again and we need them as our president. so i'm honored to come to be a delegate for mr. trump. >> the most important issue that ihas come up in this years election i believe it's education. we don't have a strong enough policy when it comes to education, public education. i think we need to concentrate more on making sure our children are educated. also there's some type of relief for student loans. i think people are having a tough time paying student loan and they shouldn't paying for them for the rest of their lives. student loans come good education at public school education. >> the most important issue to me in this election is that people are thoughtful and ask the question what the candidate will bring to our country.

and if you like obama has presented a wonderful format for our country and put us on a positive path. and for me i just want that to continue. >> the issue that is most important to me this election is one that has been brought up, the way we pick our candidate, seems so ridiculous. closed primaries as opposed open primaries. i believe we would have a different candidate. >> i think regardless of your party affiliation, it's a wonderful opportunity to show everything, all the wonderful things going on in cleveland these days. i think it's an important moment in history and i'm glad is taking place your. i think will be a great time for our city to shine.

>> in just a few minutes on c-span2, live coverage of iraq's foreign minister will talk about his country's future and its role in the middle east. the u.s. institute of peace is hosting this afternoon's discussion. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations]

[inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations]

>> again waiting for iraq's foreign minister to address the forum like you're at the usip. of course it is day two of the republican convention that begins later this afternoon at 5:30 p.m. house speaker paul ryan, majority leader mitch mcconnell, house majority leader kevin mccarthy into donald trump children and former republican presidential candidate and carson are all scheduled to speak. tonight's theme of the convention is make america work again. live convention coverage today on c-span at 5:30 p.m. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations]

[inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations]

[inaudible conversations] >> while we wait for iraq's foreign minister to the, to the stage to address this forum, some updates about tonight. booktv in primetime beginning at 8 p.m. eastern with authors of recent best selling books beginning with jeremy mccarter on his book hamilton, the revolution. leslie stahl on her book the coming grandma, the choice and science of the new grandparenting.

later nathaniel on valid ambition, george washington, benedict arnold the fate of the american revolution. we round out the night look at the book the gene, an intimate history. that's all tonight beginning at 8 p.m. eastern here on c-span2. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> good afternoon, everybody. welcome to the united states institute of peace. my name is lance lynn board and i'm the president of usip. just to note about everybody who needs one has a headset for simultaneous interpretation,

english is on channel one. arabic is on channel six. and it is my distinct honor today to welcome his excellency dr. al-jaafari, the foreign minister of the republic of iraq. adult also like to welcome the distinguished members of the iraqi delegation who have also joined us today. the deputy minister for bilateral affairs. the iraqi council here in washington. doctor mohammad, the indices chargé d'affaires', and the minister senior advisor. thank you all of you for joining us here today. i would also like to welcome our very hard-working colleague from the state department your special presidential envoy to the global coalition to counter isil, ambassador brett mcgurk.

for those of not joined us before, u.s. institute of peace was founded in 1984 by congress as an independent national institute dedicated to the proposition that peace is possible, peace is practical and it is essential for global and united states security. and we pursue a vision of the world without violent conflict by working on the ground with local partners, building peace from the ground up as well as, the top down. and we provide people, organizations and governments with the tools, knowledge and training to manage conflict so that it doesn't become violent and resulted when it does. and iraq is been a priority for usip for more than a decade. we have worked closely with both iraq and american partners. our teams have been on the ground to see both significant challenges as well as significant progress. and then, of course, the terrible rise of daesh that is

taken territory, it has taken lives, destroyed communities and now threatens over regional and global security. so we are gathered here today at a very significant moment for iraq and the region as a whole. the iraqi government forces and the u.s.-led coalition partners have logged significant military victories in recent months against daesh, and hopefully mosul is on the horizon and just ahead. this makes the pledging conference tomorrow of utmost importance because overshadowing those military victories is the question of how to put the progress into an enduring and lasting peace. the questions how do we help the iraqi people return home, and importantly how do the iraqi people avoid cycles of violence that could require repeated military operations?

especially as they cope with the aftermath of an occupation that has torn apart the social fabric and left communities deeply suspicious of each other. two weeks ago we hosted here in washington our iraqi partners for peace building and the network of iraqis facility are so dedicated themselves to answering just this question. and in the aftermath of the 2014 massacre by daesh of 1700 iraqi cadets at camp speicher and in the subsequent liberation of tikrit, this network of iraqi facilitators worked with tribal sheikhs and iraqi government to mediate agreements on accountability and reconciliation. between communities. and in doing so were able to address the sick carrying accusations of complicity with the daesh come and convert the liberation of the tikrit into a

sustainable peace your these results can be replicated. and iraqis diverse communities must and can learn to live together. we also are very hopeful that local agreements can be reached and hopefully eventually support a national reconciliation. tomorrow's conference will be critical for death rate international support for life-saving humanitarian assistance and vital support for stabilization. it is important as it is to restore basic infrastructure in destroyed communities, it is important to rebuild the social infrastructure, to rebuild the social fabric, to ensure that renewed violence doesn't break out again on the heels of military victories. we know this is possible. peace is possible and we are pleased to be worked with so many dedicated and courageous iraqis from civil society as well as of the government of iraq, the u.s. government and

the united nations. we are privileged to have with us today the foreign minister, ibrahim al-jaafari, and ambassador brett mcgurk to give their insights into the current situation in iraq, the efforts to counter isil and the prospects for an enduring peace. and so it's my honor not to welcome and browser fashion ambassador brett mcgurk, the special envoy for the global coalition to counter isil ambassador mcgurk has devoted a significant amount of his career to iraq and its citizens. he has served as lead negotiator during bilateral talks with the iraqi government on both the long-term strategic framework and the security agreement to govern the temporary presence of u.s. forces. he was one of the chief architects of the search strategy under president bush. he has helped several positions in the obama administration including senior advisor in the bureau for new eastern affairs and a senior advisor to ambassadors ryan crocker,

christopher hill and james jeffrey in baghdad. in short, he is one of our most knowledgeable and experienced diplomats who was ably leading us forward on this important issue. please join me in welcoming ambassador mcgurk to the podium. [applause] >> thank you very much. i want to thank nancy. i want to thank my former boss, ambassador taylor, usip, for everything that you do to try to make the world a better place and in particular for all the very hard, difficult working to in iraq to associate myself very much with nancy's work. we're determined to do all they can to defeat isil or daesh come and we will defeat them. i can talk a little bit about where we are in this campaign but we are also just on focus on defeating this. we're focusing on what comes after days.

before introducing foreign minister al-jaafari i want to put in context why the foreign minister is in washington. we are very honored to have them here in our capital city. about what's happening this week. we are bringing together over 40 members of our international coalition in a campaign to defeat the daesh to look it over the next six months. in many ways our campaign is ahead of where we thought it would be at this time. we do check in with the coalition and the couple of months and we thought most will be a very, very difficult challenge. most of of course is where al-baghdadi declared his sony caliphate two years ago this month. it is where we will put one of the nails into the coffin of that phony caliphate and we do we have to get mosul back. modeless one of the most complex challenges ahead of us. is about 1 million people still in mosul. it's a very diverse city. issues of local governments prepare for number of issues of

resources to make sure what comes after daesh that the people to return to their homes and have come to restore life to the street. this'll be one of the most complex challenges imaginable. i encourage because the military side of this campaign is now coming together. the iraqis completed at their impressive offensive moving 100 kilometers to capture unemployment rate the airbase, a major air base just south of mosul which is not a major staging area in the process of icelandic daesh inside mosul. the iraqis agree forces from two years ago this summer in which they were losing the battles have not lost a battle in over a year. they are showing increasing competence and increasing professionalism to increasing capacity and they are liberating towns in anbar province to the euphrates valley of the up the tigris river valley in setting the stage for the mobile campaign. but every time we work with the iraqis to launch a military offensive we ask all the very hard questions, a process that goes on for months, what's going to, after the military

operation. who is going to hold the ground? what will the resources before the humanitarian response? what is the program for stabilization to get people back into their homes? to the coalition we established an innovative program of post-conflict stabilization to we have to funding mechanisms. the first one is called funding facility for immediate stabilization, getting people back in homes as it back in homes is irresponsible and a second facility for expanded, enhanced stabilization, a longer-term reconstruction. we've had real success and we've had success because of the governments that foreign minister is he represented. a government led by prime minister abadi is more decentralization, more empower local people at the grassroots to take hold of their affairs. in tikrit, a city that figures ago this month was the scene of massive atrocities, thousands of young iraqi military recruits were slaughtered.

it was put on you do. i was in iraq at the time speaking with the foreign minister and other iraqi leaders as they were undergoing this incredibly difficult, horrible, horrific advance of daesh towards baghdad or tikrit was liberated by iraqis agree forces. the entire population had almost left the city. through the work of the iraqi government empower local leaders, getting local folks back industries, local police back in the streets, and through the global coalition which contributed tens of millions of dollars for stabilization projects, almost the entire population, 95%, returned to the streets of tikrit. historically of returning populations after conflict like this, that is totally unprecedented. we've had told, over 7000 iraqis have returned to their homes in areas that had been controlled by daesh. the iraqis agree forces have not liberated about 50% of the territory that daesh had once controlled. the success we're having in anbar province and ramadi on the

way out, all the way down in the baghdad corridor is attributable to the iraqis agree forces which are showing tremendous proficiency but also organizing and mobilizing local tribal fighters. anbar province, we have about 20,000 local tribal fighters working with iraqi security forces being paid by the government of iraq. because the policy of the government to empower local people at the grassroots. motion is now upon us and we will not put a timeline on the mobile campaign but we will pursue it deliberately and we will check every box to make sure we are doing all we possibly can to prepare. that everything will go right. this is one of the most complex things imaginable but the reason we're all here this week with over 40 members of the coalition is to make sure we do all we can to support our iraqi partners to get this right. tomorrow to have a pledging conference in which we hope to raise a significant amount of

funds to help with the humanitarian response and stabilization plan. on thursday at the state department we will have a joint ministerial afford ministers and defense minister to come together to talk about the next six months of the campaign. it's not just iraq there is a very important work we're doing in syria, important work in libya and is the global campaign against daesh to drive the foreign fighter network, their financing networks and propaganda networks. without a strong partner in about it really is the centerpiece of the campaign and that is what i want to increase my good friend foreign minister al-jaafari. again he has been there at every single moment of the last 10 years at very difficult times in which iraq has gone through the i saw in the sport and express my deepest condolences of course to the horrific attack that iraq faced in baghdad just about 10 days ago where 300 very young iraqis, kind of the spirit of the future of iraq was wiped out in this horrible crime by daesh

terrace. it was a horrible crime that shocked all of us but having gone back and forth about every two weeks over the last year or so, we tend to forget what happened just a few months ago where terrorists, a suicide bomber, came into iraq and blew himself up in a soccer game, a children's soccer game where young kids were getting trophies after winning a soccer game. not only do they do that, it's on youtube. everybody can see. the most horrific, horrible crimes imaginable. in iraq from month to month with sometimes 50 suicide bombers coming into iraq to blow things up and commit acts of mass murder. we, of course, have faced -- inspire terror is an we've seen the horrific crimes recently in istanbul, a nice. i think we ought to empathize a bit with what the iraqis are going to pick these horrible crimes. you have to imagine if suicide

bombers from around the world to come in and blow up our playgrounds, our churches, supermarkets, mosques. that's what is happening in iraq. it's been happening now for years, frankly. but the number of suicide bombers as well begun to pick up in 2013 and reached a peak someone's ago. we have to do all we can to support our iraqi partners, our iraqi friends. not just to defeat days but to do the hard work that comes after days. not just the restoration of electricity and giving police back industries but the psychological trauma that the society is going through. they would really need all of our help i want to welcome foreign minister al-jaafari do i want to see what a terrific job he is doing as foreign minister as with all other members of our coalition. we don't always agree on everything. we had a very good meeting to talk with some very difficult issues but we are a very strong partner of iraq. april an agreement with a rack and that will continue. we couldn't do without the leadership of people like

foreign minister al-jaafari so again i want to welcome you at a double forward to your remarks. [applause] -- and i look forward to your remarks. [applause] [speaking in native tongue] >> translator: we met a year ago at this very place at this institution. the session was moderated by former ambassador. today we meet again and this is

something important and unique to do, to see each other from time to time to exchange ideas. and because i rock is the front-line in the confrontation between terrorism and iraq, but iraq has not defend itself only but defending the whole world and the whole international community. iraq is facing three charges. these challenges are the security challenge. it is not a secret that terrorism has suppressed -- many parts of iraq. the second challenge is the economy. and the third is the security challenge. iraq is determined to defeat terrorism and to chief

accomplishments. last year we had a bad security situation compared to others. prime minister abadi applied his -- or on the economy, or management reforms as well which started. it is a have a legacy but the iraqi government has worked hard and achieved good results. the iraqi government after the election was formed. it was inclusive law and representing all the people. today the political experience in iraq is advancing. we have difficulties yet we are determined to commit to its main objective which is establishing a democratic system in iraq.

[inaudible] establishing this system yet iraq must respect all the different dangers in iraq, different political attitudes. this is the very principle for which iraqis democratic system, to give the liberty and freedom of all the iraqis. as the confrontation continues -- from time to time you see that we face a surprising battle inside of the country. but the same attacks happened outside iraq in parts of egyptor france and the different parts in the middle east. terrorism cannot be divided. terrorism is the same and it tries to extend into new areas. standing beside iraq and the

success that iraq achieve to start a successful iraqi people only, but although the iraqis are paying the most precious price, which is a rocky blood, iraq achieve the victory and it is achieving this for the whole world. it is the right of the hole world to feel proud and happy for the achievements that iraq has achieved in the meantime the calamities that happened in iraq and the attacks that have been integral parts of iraq like a terrorist attack, we should all take -- because civilians were attacked and everyone of you have children, as a mother and a father. this new war that terrorism brought to the world is the darkest civilian targets, to

bomb markets, to bomb kids come hospitals. and the attack, people were rejoicing the festival and they were shopping at the festival buying gifts for their children. but they were suddenly blown away with this terrorist. i'm quite sure that this wave of sympathy that we received from different officials around the world suppress a humanitarian reaction and proved that when i iraqi forces achieved victories on the ground, they might expect such reactions from these terrorists. mosul will be after fallujah is

the next target. terrorism tried to deepen its roots in the city of fallujah, but with the assistance of the iraqi army and the citizens of fallujah, they managed to defeat terrorists into society. in a short period of time, fallujah was liberated, and something the world was not anticipating. and disapproves the true desire to the world at iraqi people are determined to liberate iraq. for sure, mosul requires a momentum of the efforts that are continuing your mosul is a huge city, is the second largest city after the capital.

the time that mosul was under control of -- is more than two years, it's almost two years and requires a plan. the people of mosul are victorious. they are heroes. they were threatened and attacked across history so many times, and they were always achieving victory and liberating their city. the last battle, it is the last height of , achieving victory for iraqi people is not a national victory. it is an international and a global victory for the world. because terrorism and -- is a global challenge to the world. iraq is proud and defending itself and defending the whole world.

the iraqi government is determined and is proceeding and following on defeating daesh of all iraqis. and in 2014, september, as i stated that i was addressing the international community telling them that not asking the united nations and member states to send their own sons to iraq and lose their lives there. the iraqi people, it is the responsibility of the iraqi people to defend themselves. but i appeal to the united nations to provide assistance at three levels. the security level and the assistance level. as you know, iraqis were leaving

the country, displacing outside the country. and asked the united nations to provide assistance for the iraqis and thanking the countries to help the iraqi refugees. .. and the post-deliberation era. i always mentioned the marshall project in europe where the united states assisted germany and helped germany to rebuild itself as a country. and the german people reacted to this iraqi government is suffering as you know from an

exceptional economic conditions. with exceptional conditions on the ground. no secret iraq is country of multiple resources. there is oil, agriculture, there is religious tourism in iraq. it's a country of first dawn of civilization. it is six thousand years ago. yet iraq is living in exceptional conditions today. traditional community has a responsibility to support iraq which stands facing terrorism. iraq will always be one of those countries standing beside iraq as officially countries provide ad security assistance, training, equiping. i would like to extend my thanks to these countries with this

honorable position it has been doing in support of iraq. iraq is looking forward to rebuild the city that was destroyed, the city that has been liberated. the policy of daesh is to destroy totally the cities that it leaves. it leaves the cities in ruins and detonate whole houses and the whole neighborhood with explosives and mines. it was not easy for the iraq forces to liberate the city as this forced the iraqi army to extend the time of the military contact, especially to avoid the citizens that were captured as a human shield by daesh. so we had two-way fight confronting daesh, and trying to

save the citizens and avoid targeting these civilians. iraqi armed forces moved in professional way and on the battlefield. eventually the victory has been achieved. we will apply the same policy and in liberating the city of mosul. iraq is committed to preserve democratic identity. the democratic system in iraq state has all the people should should -- why you see public demonstrations from time to time in baghdad, despite the opinion

they adopt it is constitutional right for the people to demonstrate. this is something that iraqi, new democratic system is determined to. the security forces that were sent to iraq was not to suppress or fight the demonstrators. they were sent to maintain these security and protect the civilians. [speaking in native tongue] >> translator: on our political relations and the strategy of political relations that we have with the countries in the region, and the world, it's based on strategy and a philosophy. it is not spontaneous. it stays on having equal relations based on mutual

interests of these countries. we do not ask themselves, why should we have relation with such a country? the original think and normal think is have bilateral relations a world of mutual interests and world of mutual threats. we should not ask ourselves why should we have relations with this country or that on the country. we share the same love, and respect with all countries that help iraq and countries that sent delegations, sending delegations to the iraq. most of the countries in the international coalition sent delegations and understand this is our policy states that we do not interfere with the internal affairs of other countries.

iraq, as you know is situated in a region founded by -- surrounded by turkey, syria, jordan, iran, islamic states and for example, there is the monarchy civil. iraq deals equally with these countries and iraq will not imitate any of these countries. on the contrary, iraq being in the middle of these countries, can do some administration and work on work on improving relations with these countries. for example, we maintain relations with syria and we maintain our relations with turkey. we know there is some tension between iran and saudi arabia and we maintain good relations with both countries and try to build bridges between these two countries. iraq always do its best to keep

itself distant upon the policy of -- political pillar and like to extend my thanks to the united states, to all the countries in the international coalition that supported iraq and has been supporting iraq during this fight, during this difficult time. iraq as you know is not defending itself only but defending the whole international community. i would like to thank you for listening to me today. i wish you all the best. thank you very much. [applause] >> thank you. so minister, thank you very much for those comments. my name is bill taylor. i'm the executive vice president here at the united states

institute of peace and very pleased to moderate this question and answer period with foreign minister. we've taken the opportunity to give you cards, if you would like to ask the foreign minister questions, please put some questions on the cards, pass them to the sides and someone will pick them up and bring them up to me. if you are following us on twitter, there is a hashtag where you can ask questions as well. #jabariusip. both ambassador mcgirk and talked about reconciliation. you have talked about reconciliation. you spoke of, you spoke of the plans following the mosul military campaign.

both ambassador mcgirk and nancy mentioned earlier version of reconciliation in tikrit where the government and the local government and some of the u.s. ip people helped with reconciliation with people that nancy mentioned at the camp spiker. you also mentioned that the attack at karada you mentioned mothers and father hose lost children there. one of the questions we've already gotten asks about this issue, that is, why is the media silent on terror attacks such as karrada, recent attacks where spirit of the youth was wiped out by ibrahim jabar, who is somewhere, thank you for that question. the question is following mosul there is a plan for reconciliation.

there is plan for moving forward after reconciliation. can you describe the plan? can you describe how the reconciliation can take place? >> translator: we started the national reconciliation a long time ago and we moved from the national reconciliation to national participation. and by participation i mean where, where, different iraqi communities contribute in the decision making and the policy and the administration. the different levels of iraqi political life you will find people from different ethnicity ies -- [inaudible]. iraqi public sectors -- the truth about iraq. every iraqi city is diversified one. you can never find a iraqi city that is from one ethnicity.

there are no kind of -- a broad range of ethnic tension or cleansing. indeed there are some individual attacks, national reconciliation has started and can never stop. >> so the national reconciliation committee, commission, will be the focal point for those discussions? you talked about how the importance of local governments and indeed civil society organizations that can help with that reconciliation between people like in tikrit where the sunni and shia were divided by that massacre. can you describe in any detail what your plans are for mosul?

>> translator: let me explain to you the role, the role that i hope it has. when the iraqi people, when a people that is well-educated on the concept of a national reconciliation, and if they are not prepared for such reconciliation no one can impose a certain culture upon them. iraqi people i assure you can not accept internal fights and no one can convince or lead the iraqi people into a fight. they do not the -- iraqi people are coherent one. the ngos should do its best efforts to create and to strengthen this social fabric and strengthen and support and promote for the tolerance that has always lived in the iraqi

community as a counterweight on daesh. coexistence is a culture inside of iraq and not that iraqis that they will live together and the best for iraq is to stay together united. minister, speaking of a united iraq, there are communities hot have lived together for a long time, 6,000 years as you described. we have a couple quells here about the kurdish community -- questions. one question about the kurdish community participation in the donors' conference that comes up tomorrow. this question and also one from twitter, kurdish-peshmerga forces are playing a vital role in defeating isil, defeating

daesh and sheltering over one million displaced syrians and iraqis. they have a request to attend this conference. has this request been granted and will any krg officials attend the conference? >> translator: the kurds as part of the iraqi people suffer as much as the rest of the iraqi parters in. the oppression, ethnic cleansing, isolating the community. just like the same way the shia and sunnis were when saddam hussein attack the kurds, not because he was an arab, but

because he -- attacked shia not because he is sunni. he attacked sunnis as well. we all suffered, kurds, arabs, from the oppression of saddam. just as we are suffering today from terrorism where terrorism targets everybody in iraq. today in iraq the kurdish is equal to the arab and the kurdish are participating in the iraqi parliament, in the iraqi government. since the -- president of the republic and president is kurdish. we have a minister, and important ministries also assuming these positions. we have, we might have some disagreements but no one can he deny that the arrival of the kurds is a priority for them. we all gather under iraq.

today iraq is a diversified community reflect the coherence and reflect the cohesion between its parts. also there is a continued culture in iraq. whether in the parliament, in the media, that, that the national unity must always be preserved. we are not worried about the future of the national, of the national unity of iraq. kurds and others are all equal and all are part of the unity of iraq. the current government has assigned a national sense of 20 points. the first point that the iraqi government should be included

representing everybody and that was achieved. and we signed this pact under a -- [inaudible]. >> we have a couple of questions from the audience on post-mosul, after mosul. we've already talked a bit about the reconciliation components of that, so two further questions on that. once mosul is recaptured what will the iraq kay government do with the popular motivation forces? disband them or convert them to a national guard? there is on the military side. there is a related question, what are the non-security measures that the iraqi government will take to prevent another generation of terrorists from emerging after liberating mosul.

>> translator: the different national iraqi groups that are fighting in iraq came as a reshock un, for example, the mobilized forces came after great violations of the iraq at this territories and iraqi population from isil. the, the iraqi volunteers represented by the mobilizing force came as a response from different appeals from the iraqi people, from the highest religious leadership in iraq and those are committed to the principles of the iraqi army and work under the their umbrella. what would you expect after 2/3 of iraq -- of course the history. many countries adopted similar

methods, accepting volunteers, things like the shadow army who were assisting the regular army in its fight and we have benefited from these lessons and those volunteers are doing a great job to the war against isil. whether the mobilizing forces or other groups contributed a lot in preserving the cities, whether the capital and other cities. those fighters are moving under the umbrella of the iraqi government and they are under the prime minister because he is commander-in-chief and he is also the president of the iraqi government. every armed iraqi person fighting today on the battlefield is automatically

related and receives orders were the chief of command. for example, just like the president of the united states is the chief of command, we have the same in iraq. we have the same constitutional script. if there is the need continues for the mobilizing forces they will be kept. if not, we will examine other countries experiences how they can reintegrate the armed groups into the community. we have enough problem, any citizen, whether he is armed or not, whether his title is iraqi army, the mobilizing force or the volunteers, he is part of the iraqi community and we will

make himself as the experience. >> thank you, minister. on the second part, on the non-security steps that the government, the non-security steps that the government will take after mosul to avoid the problem of terrorism. a new generation of terrorists, are there plans in that direction? >> translator: this issue is very important in iraq that we need to pay a lot of attention. the city of mosul ask a diversified city. has a lot of ethnicities, religions and people from different backgrounds and different tribes. in mosul there is a tribal background. looking at this map we should react in a wise way to prevent

others from making use of these differences to create further tensions. the history of mosul there has been many attempts to ignite tension, political tensions inside the city. but the city has always overcome such attempts. i had detailed conversation with the iraqi prime minister about the plans and the postliberation period, how we can attract the inhabitants and citizens of mosul who left the city and left the country. many of these city of mosul, iraq, left the country and this is a problem we should tackle. how we can bring them back. we had a vast displacement movement to, from mosul to

kurdistan and other parts of the middle of iraq. so the demographic fabric of the country has changed a little bit. first we should, should prepare a plan for the reconstruction of the city, providing job opportunities, preserving the possessions and belongs of the citizens of mosul. and to convince of the people of this city to come back to their hometown and providing them with encouraging, encouraging opportunities and encouraging staff so they can find holes to live in and they find schools and public services. this is our principle. we need to achieve victory in mosul and but we also should

maintain and prepare for the post-declaration era. this is not only national responsibility but international responsibility for all the international community to cut the range of time and abbreviate the range of time to start the third term of this campaign and how, to consider how to reconstruct the city. we can not ask the peoples to come back to their cities while there is no hospital or public services or schools for them. all these services must be provided. all these are basic needs should be provided to the city before they are asked to come back. >> thank you, minister. in your role as foreign minister, i know you've been other ministers before, including the prime minister, but in your current role as foreign minister there are a couple of questions about international relations like in

iraq. one is of course your neighbor to the senators north -- north, has put down a attempted coup. do you have your thoughts about your relations with turkey following that coup attempt? we have good relations with our neighbor country. no one should be mistaken that a country could isolate itself from the surroundings. the united states was, adopt ad policy to isolate itself from cuba. today, turkey intervened, not in iraq but on the -- we might

disagree with the government about something yet we should maintain a strategy with the, with the turkish people. we blamed the turkish intervention of iraq yet we did our best to maintain good relations with turkey despite their military presence in the country. we believe that we should maintain this relations due to the geographic and historical ties that after this coup attempt, i found the minister of foreign affairs of the republic of turkey, i called him over the phone. and i asked him to continue support to iraq. i urged him to support iraqi, including iraq and the national

list of heritage and turkey voted for iraq to include the marshes and the wall heritage. so we can achieve a lot in politics. turkey will always remain a friendly country to iraq. >> and the, your colleague in ankara gave you a positive response to your phone call? >> translator: of course. [laughter] >> minister, another of your neighbors, you now have in baghdad an embassy from saudi arabia. can you say a little bit about the relations between iraq and saudi arabia you now that there are diplomatic relations? >> translator: saudi arabia is a neighbor country to iraq and the

priorities of geography is turkey, saudi arabia, syria, jordan, iran, kuwait and we have relations. we made a lot of effort to push forward the bilateral relations between saudi arabia and iraq and to establish diplomatic ties between each of these countries. some statements, some actions surprising actions and statements that we are shocked by from the saudi side. we wanted to keep these statements and these reactions away from the media, to maintain these relations. we still hope to prevent intervention from our saudi neighbors and prevent hostile statements, maintaining good relations with them.

as saudi arabia is an arab country close, sharing borders with iraq and it's very important for us to maintain these relations. saudi arabia is the country where mecca is and we're all muslim pilgrims go every year. all these are pushing factors towards maintaining good relations with them. this agreement might happen between the two countries but we'll not hesitate to talk together, sit together and discuss how we can solve it. >> mr. foreign minister, let me thank you very much for your answers. for your comments here. i know you have other things on your agenda here this afternoon. you have been very forthcoming on these kinds of questions. we appreciate it. we wish you the best of luck tomorrow with the donors' conference and the next day on

the coalition strategy and moving forward as ambassador mcgirk said. we hope you will come back here and on your next visit. so ladies and gentlemen, please join me in thanking the foreign minister. [applause] . . [speaking in native tongue] >> translator: all the best

and i wish iraq will continue in this campaign with the assistance of the international committee. i wish you all the best and i thank you very much. >> ladies and gentlemen, please remain in your seats until the official party he parts. -- departs. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations]

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campaign. senator mcconnell has kept his distance from the businessmen come something not lost on donald trump who at a recent meeting in what he was not feeling the love from the republican leader. tuesday majorit majority leaderh mcconnell who is known for his cautious approach to tricky political situations will be under pressure to show more enthusiasm than he has so far. senator mcconnell has sometimes taken been pushed back against mr. trump's controversial comments and questions his tactics. senator mcconnell expected to speak after nine tonight eastern. read more at thehill.com. >> you have a front-row seat to every minute of the republican-democratic national conventions on c-span.org. watch live streams of the convention proceedings without commentary or commercials. use our video clipping tool to create your own clips are your favorite convention moment and share the on social media. also read twitter feeds from delegates and reporters in

cleveland and philadelphia. our special convention pages everything you need to get the most of c-span's gavel to gavel coverage. go to c-span.org/republican national convention and c-span.org/democratic national convention to see what's happening to each convention session. and every speech will be available on demand when you want on your desktop, laptop, tablet and smartphone. our special pages and all of c-span.org are a publics of other cable or satellite provider. if you're a c-span watcher check it out on the web at c-span.org. >> lawmakers and antipoverty advocates were among the speakers and panel discussions by the american enterprise institute on ways to combat poverty without the intervention of the federal government. many panelists decried federal welfare programs saying their benefits discourage unemployed persons from seeking work or for

low income workers to seek education and better paying jo jobs. >> good afternoon at a one and welcome to the american enterprise institute. my name is robert doar and i'm the fellow and poverty studies for aei. i am very pleased to welcome you to this important discussion of our nation's antipoverty programs. for sometime now the leadership of aei has felt that greater attention needs to be paid to helping those at the bottom of the economic scale. move up and out of poverty. there is a deep frustration that despite the fact we do a lot of a country to improve the material well being of struggling americans, we are not helping to achieve a station in life within no longer are in need of ongoing government support. this frustration i know is felt

in a lot of places, at the white house, in academia and other think tanks, in neighborhoods and communities around the nation and in congress. to offer some ideas on how we can move forward the republican study committee of the house of representatives early from earlier this summer produced this report, strengthening our safety net to empower people. which will be the topic of today's seminar. we are very pleased to have three members of the house today to talk about the report and every actions from two notable experts on these programs. but first and perhaps most importantly we are going to start outside of washington and hear from experts in the field of helping low-income americans move up. they work in places far removed from the halls of congress but the work has informed some of the ideas contained in the steering committee's report.

i have a special affinity for those, these outside of washington experts because that is were i worked prior to coming to washington. i spent 19 years working in social services agencies in the state and city of new york and i have some idea of the dedication, hard and wisdom of people who work in these programs. and i always loved to be among them. so i'm very pleased to welcome and introduce to you our first panel which features three liters of community-based organizations. first up will be odell cleveland who is currently the chief administrator officer from outside baptist church of greensboro, north carolina. he was the president, ceo and cofounder of the welfare reform liaison project in greensboro which began in 1997 as mount zion and became the nation's first faith-based community action agency. he has developed a broad range of partnerships at national state of local bubbles including with the white house office of

faith-based and they would partnerships, the north carolina aarp and the north carolina medical society foundation. we are glad to have you. don't store just because i'm going to introduce roberta and dean. roberta keller is director of the chautauqua opportunities, headquartered in new york. as director she works to foster economic development opportunities for low-income individuals to help them gain economic independence. chautauqua opportunities has been awarded several distinctions since she's been director including the department of housing and urban development homeownership award, best practices agency status by the state department and the new york state community action association technology award. in 1999 she was awarded the most vision or director would by the new york state childcare coordinating council, a council on one point was a number of soy and particularly to have you and she received the women of distinction award in 2005.

dean hammond, arthur participant, has worked in low-income and homeless housing for more than 30 years, including founding a company focused on hud housing, management software. he joined the board of the foundation for a formal housing in 2004, served as its chairman and was contracted as its president before stepping down in 2012. he is now a consultant to the board. he is a retired army major and was awarded the purple heart and distinguished flying cross and the defense meritorious service medal as chief of aviation of a military training mission in saudi arabia. after these three presentations we will have a congressman, can present on sections of the report and then we will have professor harry holzer and angela rachidi make comments. during parts of this and that defendants will dedicate dialogue with the audience as well with questions. i have one other person to in