colleague here, the yazidis have mentioned most of them. >> okay, great. [speaking in native tongue] >> translator: we want to kakai religion to be mentioned in the prostitution the not a matter of having -- a matter of recognizing. >> and with that, thank you so much. we have 10 minutes left to ask questions. [speaking in native tongue] >> translator: he stole my time. >> okay, thank you. so with that we have 10 minutes for questions. so why do we take three questions at a time?

who's got the mic? awesome. here's three questions right here. why don't you give the mic to these guys. each willful you question it will take to encrypt to make sure we get to as many as possible, okay? does that make sense? [speaking in native tongue] >> translator: he is the representative of the trinity and the question is what the process will look like whether yazidis basically, surround it with the sunni come with the sunnis, what will be, how post-isis will look like.

>> that's an excellent question. >> i guess the elephant in the room is how should i sense of how can i this be defeated? that's at the heart of what all these things are happening. i wanted to their opinion on that spirit right. and other elephant is how can communities the together when their neighbors turn against them? >> is there a question speak with yes. i'm very happy that my brothers the yazidis and the turkmen and the tripod are thinking of a safe haven. or something that is within the iraqi constitution to self administer. i am really very sad to hear my parliamentary from a rock to say i don't understand how is this going to happen. this is a proposal that has been handed to the vice president of the united states of america a year ago signed by nine of the

organizations. i would like to give it to you. also the question would be, for all the panelists, we need to come how can we work together, how can we work together as the communities in that region to actually a call push this? >> i'm going to refer to our kakai college to ask how can we work together question. so he has a chance to answer that. defeating isis might be beyond the scope of these guys. do you know what i mean? what kind of international response would you like? that sounds good. nick, can you give me when we have three minutes, can you give me a high sign? >> is the question on isis? >> no. they can answer whatever you would like but it sounds like this idea of how can we work together if something is already

thinking about. [speaking in native tongue] >> translator: we must find the common ground among all the problems, and start adessing these issues. [speaking in native tongue] >> translator: second, we need to secure all the areas where the main militia are living from the military and security point of use. [speaking in native tongue] >> translator: thirdly, to affect national reconciliation in the desired way and in a manner that suits the kind of problems that have arisen. [speaking in native tongue] >> translator: also getting

the community engaging in spreading occulter to prevent vengeance and to diffuse tensions. [speaking in native tongue] and providing legal and international production. [speaking in native tongue] >> translator: the peshmerga is a chart of the kurdish people -- [speaking in native tongue] >> translator: the peshmergas do not have the right kind of speech i think this is a very important point, yes. [speaking in native tongue] >> translator: the peshmergas

were formed in the first place in order to protect kurdish areas. >> so with that we are just going to say that very important point that mona touched on earlier that the kurdish forces withdrew from some of these areas in defense of isis. so the protection wasn't there, and in other areas, we've got three minutes come and other areas the kurds have used their own advanced to take land from minority groups in order to safeguard their own interest rather than the of their protecting. we have three minutes left a record to take the next three questions and we're going to give you guys a chance to respond. >> can i talk to? >> we have three minutes left. [inaudible] spent would like to ask a question?

[inaudible] >> welcome to a panel in washington. [laughter] we are doing our best. that's the reality, to figure out who is being persecuted and why and what can be done is a pretty tall order. [inaudible] >> thank you, sir. last question right here. >> i'm from the kurdistan regional government. like my colleague we are very frustrated because some accusations have been made and there impacted but we can deal with that another time. my question is i agree with a lot of what is being said despite some of the inaccuracies. there needs to be a protection, but it's be an international guarantee. went all of you speak to the international community, not us, to the international community,

what do they say? >> about what? about what type of protection force they would like? [inaudible] >> so why do we tend with this question? the each of you are to articulate for your particular group, what kind of so protection force -- [inaudible] >> yeah, yeah. [inaudible] spent what did they say back to you? so what do you from the international community when you say we need our own protection force? >> i might just answer the question to go back, i think that's what i said, once you have a justice than just is to be established. for your question, the international committee does not have obligation at this moment. international securities answer to this question is no. so the international community doesn't have a special plan for minorities. the international community is telling the minorities to go and

find your own solution. as i said, if you lost everything over three generations, if you are under persecution and genocide what solution will you find? i hope this conference will answer your question. >> there was other questions as well. i just want to say that as an international community we need to be ready for post-isis. not plan for when most of us been liberated. like what happened in fallujah? the same thing will happen in mosul. the what a mess access the people. we have a plan for that? we need to support at the top new systems of education that promotes tolerance towards culture and diversity and accepting others for different religions. it's just a whole, you know, the system of education has to be looked at again and we done. accepting of different ethnic

backgrounds as well and having respect for each other. and to create jobs, there needs to be investment by the international community to create jobs and bring back dignity and promotes sustainability in the region. and that's really the only way to keep the diversity and peace in the area. >> great. by my clock we have three minutes left. so let's give both the turkmen and the kakai represented a chance to respond to these questions. >> regarding the committee, i know it's not easy but the problem as i mentioned, over 13 years, talking about after change. we are like an experimental field. we must tell the reality effects of the others what happened. we know in 1991, they got their rise by this safe haven for

autonomy and they formed their own region, and they are living peacefully in their lives. so i think we have -- according to the responsibly of international community, how they change the system in 2003. >> okay. and one minute. [laughter] >> so what is the question he is answering? >> i think for the kakai represented i think it is essential to say that the kurds have taken hundreds of thousands of people, open borders, when their own economy was not open to it. and so as much as there are ongoing problems it's really important to express gratitude for the action, and that the kurds themselves have not got the support from the united states government to take on this continuing problem. i think that's really important

to say and we are going to return to the kakai represented. so when you go to the americans and say we need a self-defense force, what do they say to you? [speaking in native tongue] [inaudible] >> i'm sorry, time is really up. [speaking in native tongue] [speaking in native tongue]

>> okay, that's really all the time we have. >> translator: we've asked the americans to offer help not only to the peshmergas but to all the others, groups. >> so with that, this is been so engaging and i have to say that is unusual. so let us continue these conversations over lunch. thank you so much. [applause] >> if i could add, hang on a second. ladies and gentlemen, this is religious freedom in action. to the gentleman who complains that we need to leave this -- sir? i'm speaking to you. that these are political questions. in a democracy, politics is not left just to the politicians. [applause] it a democracy, politics is the

way we organize our lives together. and religious factors such as these have every right to say what they think their future should be. this is precisely what religious freedom is, and for my money this is what we need in iraq and syria. so let us, applause for this panel. thank you very much. >> tonight on q&a --

>> on saturday see spent issues spotlight looks at police and race relations. we will show president obama at the memorial service for five police officers shot and killed in dallas. >> win of the bullets started flying, the men and women of the dallas police, they did not flinch, and they did not react recklessly spent southcom and republican senator tim scott giving a speech on the senate floor about his own interactions with police. >> but the vastly good after i done i was pulled over for nothing more than driving a new car in the wrong neighborhood, or some other reason just as

trivial. >> our program includes one family's story about an encounter with police in washington, d.c. followed by japan with the cities police chief. >> most people get defensive if they feel like you're being offensive. so being very respectful in encounters and request if it's not a crisis, if it's a dangerous situation request. .. [inaudible conversations]

>> ladies and gentlemen, i'm honored to introduce to you the man who heads the american effort to advance international religious freedom, embassador david saperstein. embassador is the fourth person to hold this important position which was created by the international religious freedom act of 1998 or as we referred to it as the erfa. the erfa requires the government of the united states to advance religious freedom in its foreign policy. the embassador and his office at the state department are the executive agents of that policy.

the buck as we say, stops with them. the embassador for religious freedom is confirmed by the senate. he is the official charged with caring out u.s. policy, the one who travels the world representing the united states, its government and its people to defend those persecuted for their religious beliefs and to advance the institutions and habits of religious freedom. embassador saperstein was confirmed by the senate in 2014 and consumed duties in january 2016. prior to becoming embassador, he served for 40 years as the director of the religious action center of reform judaism overseeing the social justice programming for the largest segment of american jury. a rabbi and an attorney, for 35

years rabbi saperstein taught jewish law in the university law center. in 1999, david was elected by his peers as the first chair of the u.s. commission on international religious freedom, a separate and independent body also created by the erfa, charged among other things with producing policy recommendations oh on this issue for the president and the congress and the department of state. when embassador -- when david became the first chair of the commission back in, i guess it was 1998 or '99 is when i met him. i quickly came to have a deep respect and affection for this man. he is savvy, persuasive, courageous, most importantly,

he's a man of his word. as embassador, he has adopted an aggressive travel schedule to visit the dims of persecution, to urge governments to stop persecution and advance religious freedom and to give hope to the persecutor. david played an instrumental role in ensuring that the united states government made the correct decision and declared what is happening in iraq and syria as genocide. i was proud to support him for the position he now serves with such distinction and i'm proud to call him friend. ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the u.s. embassador for international religious freedom the honorable david saperstein. [applause] >> well, it's an honor to hold this position, tom, and it's

honor to be here to address this distinguished group of leaders. i will say in the entire works since i have been part of it since the beginning, the three constants in all of my work have been tom far, frank wolf and chris smith. two of them are here today and they are both great heros in the cause for religious freedom, so thank you for what you do. and i want to thank the religious project for cosponsoring this meeting today and part of ongoing and productive partnership with you, tom, and rfp the project does serious work and today we are talking about the most serious of topics. so fellow embassadors, ladies and gentlemen, i can say with great deal of pride, a lot of friends in this room, i am deeply honored to be here with you. many of you have risked your

lives to help victims of daesh violence, well, many others have spent your lives fighting against the hateful ideologies of intolerance that fueled daesh's rise, which you have done amongst various vital ways to promote human rights, tolerance and inclusiveness and peace both here in the united states and across the globe and middle east and too many of you were victims of daes or groups like it. secretary john kerry who cares about this issue deeply made the historic announcement that in his judgment, daesh, i'm quoting, daesh is responsible for gene side among groups and areas under its control including christians and shea muslims. he said that daesh, quote, is

also responsible for crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing directed at these same groups and in some cases sunni muslims, kurds and other minorities and he put it plainly when he said, daesh is genocidal in what it says, what it believes and what it does. the fact is that daesh killed christians because they are christians, shea because they are shea. a report to congress we deservedly described abuses in the terms we could, not a terribly difficult task given the heinous atrocities daesh continues to perpetrate against so many. among those we named were unlawful force displacement,

forced religious conversions, slavery, kidnapping, trafficking, sexual violence resulting in wide scale fatalities and injuries, victims including women and children come from across the spectrum of ethnic and religious groups including sunni muslims, shea muslims, christians, turkmen, shaba, kakai, among others, daesh has used public beheadings and other forms of executions, kidnapping, rape, forced marriage and sexual slavery, employ child soldiers from amongst its own recruits as well as capture children. daesh also continues to attack places of worship, schools, this assessment by house of representatives, european

parliament, the council of u.s. parliamentary assembly and others have helped global attention in the ply of religious. there must be actions to implement the goals that all of us share in common, secretary kerry and his statement challenged the world to, quote, find the resources to help those harmed by these atrocities. and last week's pledging conference and this conference of the delegations from 30 countries and international organizations gathered today and then in close meeting tomorrow are focused on producing the resources, so at the conference last week, an additional $590 million was pledged for

humantary assistants. under the new un program, the floyd maywether -- financial facility and for the new program that is the mid-term program, the mid-length program here, the financial facility for expanding the united states with $50 million of its own with many promising that they would come back with pledges of their country and 200 million pledged for 2017, 2018 and much more to come. 80million just for the defining that is so vital. so we are convening these meetings today and tomorrow to try to answer that call, to find

ways to better assist religious and ethnic minorities in iraq and syria and what we are learning from the conversations we've already add and the rich conversations that are promised in the rest of the afternoon here will be vital to our deliberations tomorrow. we are deeply appreciative. i have to say, tom, where is tom? he's right here. i have to say, tom, that you folks do great conferences. this really has been one of the most fascinating, rich and fruitful conversations that i've been part of and i really -- i really want to thank you for the extraordinary effort that you have done. as the state department special adviser for religious minorities in south central asia, our effort is in partnership with france, spain and jordan as a follow up to the french-led initiative by former foreign minister loraine fabius, we are

deeply concerned about all those suffered under daesh's reign of terror at the same time this conference represents, we recognize a existential threat that it is for minorities. christian and some of the shea communities are under enormous pressures to survive under daesh's genocidal efforts. under the daesh efforts, ethnic cleansing, some virtually extinct in their homeland. so we gather to fight for religious freedom for all. we strongly present support religious freedom not only because it is a core basic fundamental universal human right but also because respect for religious freedom is

instrumental to peace, security and development around the world. no nation can fulfill its potential if its people are denied the right to exercise their freedom of religion or brief, nor can it have the stability that's known for peace prosperity, for advancement, for strong democracy of the nation driven by violence and if members of some groups simply because of their religious identity and practices are declared functionally or by law to be second-class citizens. all that does is drive religious life underground resulting in frustration, despair and anker, providing fertile ground, violent extremism can be sowed and recruited and supported. and further more as this conference illustrates, looking around the room and listening for the questions and comments from the floor , this gathering

testifies to the power of what happens when people of different backgrounds, different perspectives, different identity come together with a common purpose, richness of america contribution to the world, this nation that socialists tell us embodies 2,000 different religious, denomination, faith groups, sex, all across america. and our ability to live together in commodity and to forge common interfaith approaches to the problems that face us is a rich model for others. but we do so not just by its effectiveness, but because of the fundamental reality that in any country, in any society, if any group can be persecuted, then all are endangered. there cannot be safety and

security for the religious freedoms of some groups and that requires sometimes compromises of how to proceed together, finding common ground even amongst our differences. now, tragically daesh and other violent extremist groups in iraq and syria continue to target members of ethnic minorities and women from all community occupy areas of subject to severe restrictions and freedom of movement and dress, often trapped indoors out of fear for personal safety. sunni muslims who disagree with these terrorist extremist religious interpretations to justify their blood thirsty power-seeking have also suffered . barbaric violence. the ladder abuses lead to daesh

selling price to restore and we are pursuing multiple efforts to assist minority communities, including documentation of atrocity support for efforts that accountability for perpetrators of this unlawful violence, services to survivors of gender-based violence, preservation of cultural heritage in iraq and syria. our vision is of a sovereign united iraq in which historic communities can remain in and return to their ancestral homes. to our vision is for a syria that's nonplurallistic, they're still far greater than the resources currently available,

what are we doing to achieve that goal is that what -- what progress is being made? let me list some of the answers to that question. first and foremost, daesh must be defeated and the efforts of iraq, opposition forces in syria, together with the 67 member counterisil coalition are conducting coordinated air strikes, military training, diplomatic engagement and cooperation and messaging coordination to degrade and defeat daesh. the coalition more than 14,000 air strikes eliminating thousands of its fighters, cutting key communication hubs, routes, so, for example, daesh's production of oil has declined about 30%, indeed, their ability

to generate revenue in general of the areas under their control has been reduced by at least that much. strikes on cash storage sites have destroyed tens of millions of daesh's cash, we work today cut off the elicit sale. daesh has cut fighters paid by half in some areas and turn to taxation and extortion to raise funds further undermining credibility. efforts to support iraqi forces have resulted in daesh being pulled out in half of territory. we have brought military power to assist religious freedom directly most of you know air

strikes in 2014 to relieve that save it had lives of thousands and the strikes in march of 2015 that enabled a syrian-kurdish defense forces in syria that threatened syrian christian villages. danger still exists as all of us know. we seen it recently with the multiple attacks, in syria, targeted patriotic from the second head of the syria act orthodox church, syrian church of the east bishop on the commemoration on atrocity committed years ago. the attack on the clergy was thankfully unsuccessful but tragically three guards were killed. too many are still suffering. you see women and children still held in captivity, many idp's

between the two countries displaced in their homes warning the loss of their loved ones because of daesh's reign of terror but we are making progress liberating territories mostly muslim majority areas but we look forward in the future liberation of lands belonging to christians and other indigenous communities. and that day is approaching. second, even we need to secure rights and opportunities, we must stabilize the condition of members of displaced communities whom we are asking to wait until they can safely return, until then they need stability, a quality of life, a feeling of personal security that provides them with the willingness to remain in the country and to return to their homes when they decide to do so. we need help ensure that their kids have schools to go to, jobs

when they graduate and their economic opportunities for families. engaging efforts to ensure that those who survive abuse in captivity have support including psychological services that they need to recover as well as livelihood opportunities to support their families and themselves. we acknowledge that these services may not yet have reached the victims in a number of areas and where trying all of the time to support ngo's that are involved in providing the services in much wider areas. this fund is a public-private

partnership that can accept contributions from other countries. we are also providing support for implementation of iraq's national action plan on women, peace and security. and one more example, the united states provided $18 million in fiscal year 2015, continuing this year, to the international organization for migration, the iom in iraq, to provide livelihood support for vulnerable displaced iraqis, conduct rapid response and assessments of newly displaced populations, complete community-lit programs design today reduce tensions and enhance integration through community revitalization program. i think most of you know the challenges that displaced communities face in terms of the provision of schools for their kids. as part of this program, iom has been able to expand and renovate primary and secondary schools

throughout the curd ir -- curd ish region which will allow thousands of idp's and host community children access to an education. this is an important start. much more needs to be done in this regard. now, obviously the liberation of mosul will produce enormous new challenges. this was addressed a couple of times in earlier conversation through -- those challenges must be addressed along with the military planning. organizations will need rapid, safe access to populations in need but specially in iraq and the kurdish regions. as undp deputy for iraq has reported, campaign to free mosul from isil control could

adversely effect well over a million people in the short-term and this would make it the largest humanitarian crises of recent times. it released its plan to support idp camps supported by the international community that can house up to 420,000 people. it will work with krg to build them. they need sufficient resources for all efforts because as you know up until july 20th, just last week, only 41% of humanitarian needs identified by the un's 2016 iraq humanitarian response plan were funded as of that day. so we convene the pledging conference for iraq last week here in washington and following

up with its conference focusing on restoration of liberated communities. as i noted last week, as i noted earlier, last week our international partners pledged over $2 billion for humanitarian efforts demining stabilization which will help meet the needs of millions of iraqis who have been displaced or otherwise affected by isil violence, including our contribution that we announced last week, the united states has provided more than 914 million in humanitarian assistance for vulnerable iraqis since 2013. in addition we have contributed more than 5.1 billion for conflict affected syrians since starting the crisis including 1.8 billion inside syria alone to provide emergency food assistance for emergency needs. funding for shelters, much needed counseling and protection programs to the most vulnerable

including children, women, persons with disabilities and the elderly. the result of these conferences will play an essential role in closing the gaps between the needs and the resources in iraq. third, the areas liberated from daesh must be stabilized, providing security on which returning residents of all religions and ethnicities can rely. the coalition is trained, more than 31,000 iraqi security forces undertake extensive police training mission in iraq under italian leadership to secure the areas liberated from daesh and guaranty the safety and security of displaced populations returning to their homes. we are seeking to expand the training program and as for other coalition partners who contribute to this effort. we have also begun training defense forces for minority communities, specifically

christians so far which will be integrated into other goi forces. fourth, minorities need to feel they have a greater voice in their governance. respect for the human rights and fundamental freedoms. so is the provision of equal citizenship and equal access to justice. take just one small but important example which a number of you worked on, iraq has suspended religiously divisive changes in the identification card law and those changes should not be revisited. more broadly, the united states supports arrangements wherein minorities have greater voice of how their communities are governed within a federal governance framework. you're doing this work and we are applaud you.

the alliance of iraqi minorities aim, one of the shining lights of human rights, advocacy in iraq, worked with minority caucus to add language beginning in the 2012 budget law to provide foundation for the equitable distribution of funds from iraq's regional budgets. iam worked with councils, subdistricts as well as the very indigenous communities to ensure those funds were used in specific projects such as health clinics, roads and schools. fifth, recovery. members of displaced communities will not choose to return to their cities and town ifs no livelihood opportunities exist there or if the infrastructure and basic services remain devastated. areas liberated from daesh must have functioning infrastructure

such as roads, electricity, sanitation, available means for people to support their families . .. necessary to help in the recovery efforts. it is important to promote accountability for perpetrators of atrocities on all sides. this includes atrocities perpetrated of course by daesh as well as by shia militias affiliated with the popular mobilization forces who committed abuses against civilians after areas have been

liberated from daesh. let's also focus on a wide variety of crimes committed. sexual and gender-based violence, mass killings and accountability in transitional mechanisms must reflect the needs of victims and communities. one size will not fit all. submit that together, these efforts must include formal and informal forms of reconciliation and accountability. they must pursue high level prosecutions where possible, also dressed accountability of local and regional and national levels for followers and four leaders. in this effort documentation of atrocities is crucial. because it preserves the information for future accountability efforts and helps to identify survivor needs and connect individuals with services. u.s. government is currently inflicting a project that

enables a rocky civil society to document violations and abuses. creates protocols in a repository for information gathered and mx documentation efforts to local and national accountability undertakings. to date representatives from iraqi civil society or possessions that operatives made in this project have collected nearly 1000 narratives from victims and witnesses of atrocities committed in iraq a. many in the ngo community are contributing as well to the compilation of evidence and narratives to help in this cause. in syria the united states support justice and accountability center. one of the premier series and let s. decisions leading this documentation effort. they work with partners with its team on the ground to collect documentation related to the conflict including interviews with former detainees at

document torture and inhuman detention conditions and works directly with survivors of sexual and gender-based island. another project provide support to the identification, protection and escalation of mass graves. by collecting information about these sites, we reduce the chances of accidental or purposeful damage to them and provide important forensic information told daesh accountable. especially as the government of iraq and its partners continue to liberate territory from daesh. in addition we have started to use satellite imagery to look for mass graves behind daesh front lines in syria and iraq. the delegations from abroad to participate in the conference have photos of some of these satellite pictures in your packets. seven, relatedly, to atrocity accountability, the extraordinary attention salute

to in the earlier conversations, that will accompany the return of displaced communities to their homes and businesses that have been occupied in some cases by former neighbors, damaged or destroyed during the course of the violence. this must involve transitional justice and reconciliation efforts another measure to prevent or minimize reprisal violence on all sides. credible, inclusive, judicial, investigative capacity is critical to give all of those displaced hope that there will be justice. simultaneously religious and community leaders must take the lead in reconciliation, in peacemaking. cycles of violence must end and it will not happen unless all of us are committed to making that a reality, even as accountability processes are pursued. otherwise there will be no peace in the end. eight comments far as cleansing

efforts, daesh has eviscerated the cultural, religious and historic heritage of the region. this sector cited this destruction of cultural and religious heritage when he said daesh was responsible for crimes against humanity but it is also a crime against history here my office has taken lead in coordinating efforts in the field, and i commend knox james was leadership in this regard. and working with the smithsonian institution we are working with local communities in iraq to help them determine how they can best preserve their religious and cultural heritage including by preserving churches, shrines, synagogue, mosque's. in closing i want to highlight a new opportunity i mentioned several times to assist minorities after liberation. the creation of u.n. development program's funding facility for immediate stabilization, or ffi

s., or the funding facility for expanded stabilization, ff ds, these funds restore civil services, provide small grants to businesses, assist local government with recovery, address small infrastructural with medium-sized infrastructure needs that includes utilities and the general structures of the communities. and support reconciliation efforts. these are the fundamental building blocks that for committees to try. donors have pledged over 200 million from almost with partners including more than 32 million pledged by the united states. undp is great a similar mechanism as indicated called ffes the difference is that focuses on the midterm assistance program because you can't just do it for a year if it's not going to be continuity of funding to so we are looking out for several years and asking

countries to purchase the innate. into ffis and ffes we are working with the united nations so that countries and private donors can provide funds to specific projects for assistance which can include minority areas of specific sites but we hope that this will bring significant international engagement with country feeling a sense of partnership with the local communities in restoring those communities and making return possible. and that all this will help give minority confident that the future in ancestral homeland. that is our message to the international community. it is indispensable that we find the resources to assist all in need, no matter what their faith, no matter what their religious or ethnic identities, so that as many as possible want to stay in their homes and feel confident in the future.

so much remains to be done in order to achieve a lasting defeat of this barbaric group and to ensure that religious diversity survives. as secretary kerry has said, daesh represents barbarism in its purest most people for. from the slaughter of minorities to the systematic oppression of women, daesh attacks every civilized nor. but to truly get the daesh and its message, nothing so vividly or effectively repudiates their goals and ethnic, or efforts at ethnic cleansing and genocide and to ensure the security of the very people that daesh has targeted the protection of their human rights, and the success of our joint efforts to allow the return of iraq and syria's displaced populations. your excellencies, your graces, my fellow ambassadors, we aspire for all people in the region regardless of their beliefs to

enjoy universal human rights and fundamental freedoms, including religious freedom. i am proud that we played a lead role in responding to these atrocities and our dedication to promoting religious freedom including the rights of members of minority groups and iraq and syria remain strong. but there's much work we must do together. let's be honest, we all know whatever we have achieved, this is a very hard undertaking. achieving the goals and implementing the programs described above will not be an easy task. it requires creativity, vision and tenacity if we are to achieve our goals. but that is exactly why we have cause for hope. creativity, vision and tenacity are not in short supply in this room. the powerful growing innovative grassroots advocacy and aid work that we've heard about today and we see manifested in this room

throughout iraq and syria is having real results. yazidi and christians and turkmen and kurdish and yes, sunni and shia, arab organizations are coming to the aid of their own and others in the spirit of selflessness and common cause. calling for end to discrimination, persecution and conflict and calling for political inclusion and a reawakening of iraq in syria's historical diversity. we see the work of father running medical clinics to provide health care, help survivors of gender-based violence and aid in documenting these atrocities. the work in human rights and governance, and we see strong advocacy for democracy and pluralism and syria and advocacy and activism come and we've seen with the krg is nurturing the rebirth of a small jewish community in the face of this catastrophe, you and so many

others in this room at around the world, together with committed governments and international community are gathered here this month will make the world listen and attend and respond. somewhat to express my sincere gratitude for your efforts in defending pluralism and iraq and syria, and protecting the religious and ethnic minorities and in abdicating for the enjoyment of religious freedom for all five members of populations whose voices are too often muted or ignored. thank you all for your significant contributions to a more peaceful, tolerant and for your new beast. it is a model the entire world needs to urgently today. thank you. [applause]

>> tonight on q&a. >> all of this tonight on booktv prime time on c-span2. >> booktv on c-span2, 48 hours

of nonfiction books and authors that he weekend. here are some featured programs this weekend. government abuse is largely one-sided. i think there's a couple of reasons for that. what i started this, i care about free speech and the first amendment. i'm a bit of a libertarian and i have no allegiance to one party or the other. i went into this, i have been a lot about the abuses on the left for my column in "the wall street journal" but i assumed i would find a whole bunch of stuff on the right. i didn't.

>> go to booktv.org for the complete weekend schedule.

>> now a conversation with jeffrey immelt, the chairman and ceo of general electric in his first public appearance in boston since moving ge's headquarters from connecticut to that area. he talks about business, innovation, the world economy plus his thoughts about the presidential campaign. boston college chief executive club host this event. >> it's a great pleasure to introduce today and welcome jeffrey immelt, the chairman and ceo of jeb elected, our newest corporate citizen. just graduated from dartmouth with a degree in fashion and then onto harvard business school to get his mba. he spent his first 19 years at ge in global leadership positions of its biggest

businesses including appliances, plastics, health care. and then in 2001 he succeeded the preeminent jack welch as ceo of ge. it's been said this a lot easier to succeed in an inadequacy of to succeed an excellent. subject has work cut out by plan beginning. to make matters worse, jeff became the ceo of ge four days before the 9/11 attacks. and then had to deal with two recessions of long-standing during his tenure. nevertheless, in the 14 and a half years jeff has been the ceo of ge, he has transformed the company by focusing on energy, health care and transportation, and treating its core as a materials company, manufacturing jet engine, locomotives, gas turbines and mri scanners.

in that process he has divested several divisions, nbc universal and appliances which represent approximate 50% of the sales and more recently is selling ge capital which until a few years ago was responsible for 50% of the revenues of the company. in a word, this is just company. jeff has commented that ge is no longer a consumer products company. rather, a high-tech infrastructure company. he wants the company to get the intersection of physical technology and analytical software. in this endeavor he has embedded its products with digital intelligence and communications to make the machines run better, last longer. in that regard the company recently created a new ge digital division which consolidate approximately 1200 of ge software developers.

this effort is going to involve we treating massive amounts of data from ge machines and analyzing that data to determine things like how to improve performance, longevity, preventive maintenance. i will tell you i know of no executive in any company more focused on big data and analytics in the business than jeff immelt. he has said the company has invented the manufacturing process at the same time that it is developing the product. during his tenure he has brought jobs back to the united states, and ge is the second biggest exporter of products in the country. this is innovation at its best, and ge has chosen the right city to supply the resources it needs to achieve its goals. it's not a surprise that jeff

immelt has been recognized by forbes, baron and the financial times as the best ceo in the world. and not to be undone, the ceo club is about to name just as this ceo in the galaxy. [laughter] it's hard to imagine in this new world of big data, software and analytics what will happen to the manufacturing process and the need for better skilled workers. at the present time gb data show that a jet engine has less than 5% labor, refrigerate has less than two hours of labor. the targeting industry is that within five years, i ge plant will have but two custodians, a man and a dog. anand will be there to feed the dog and the dog will be there to keep the men away from the

equipment. [laughter] with that i give you jeff immelt. [applause] >> wow, exciting. that's great i would note that a longer intro than i did. >> we still have plenty of manufacturing jobs. listen, bob is a lawyer. stick to the law, bob, okay? let me worry about the manufacturing. [laughter] >> it's a pleasure and honor to be with you. >> thank you very much. >> i think one of the questions that's on people's minds is where you might locate your headquarters. i believe you announced that earlier today. speak we announced the location at seaport right by the old gillette building, two existing buildings and we will build on two and a half acres right there

in the seaport. we will be there by this summer and temporary housing, august 22 we will have a couple hundred people here are we planned to have about 200 people from corporate and about 800 in labs, around there. we think by the time it's all said and done there should be, let's say 4000 jobs about the ecosystem in boston. so we are excited to be your. [applause] it's a good location. we are going to have a building right there on the check by in the seaport. it's going to be that we want you to be proud of it. we are proud to be here. it's going to have to i think ge logo that is about 20 stories high. [laughter] that was the most important part of the deal. and we really want you, we want you to be proud of us.

we are proud to be here. >> we are definitely proud and excited to have you here. so ge is famous for people management, leadership development one of the key underpinnings of the success of ge. now that you're in boston, how wilwould you judge boston as an ecosystem and community and contributor to the ge family of what do we have to do to be in the top 20% contributor as a city as you look across the world? >> as we went through the process, first i would say it's a qa street. so first here's what i think we can do for you. clearly, the economics, the job, things like that. i always tell people the most important thing any company can bring is competitive spirit. we want to win. we win. we want to bring that competitive spirit for what we do so we want to bring that. our people, ge is a people working company. they know what it means to go to

public high schools. they know what it means to volunteer at hospitals and things like that. i think they will find us a generous neighbor in town. so i think those are the things we can bring to the city. now, the schools and the startup ecosystem in boston is amazing, right? more than 50 universities, lost of alums from the university with a ge. i would say this for startup culture is astounding. in some industries that town does extremely well. and we want to be part of this ecosystem of universities and scholarship in this sea of ide ideas. but 20% of the s&p 500, as we sit here today, is from consumer internet companies that are less

than 20 years old. they are in san francisco and seattle. and almost all of their leaders went to mit and places like that. so my thought is that there might be a chance to be a good convener here. the next generation him if you look at 10 or 15 or 20 years, probably 20% of the s&p 500 is going to be the merger of data in physics. this is a real, we call it, there are buzzwords come and chill internet and things. this is real but it's going to happen. if boston isn't the headquarters of that flow, shame on both of us. it will mean that ge has done what we think we can do. it would mean that town hasn't done what it can do. you have another whole wave coming at us in terms of technology and change, that is equal to or better than the consumer that was 20 years ago.

boston needs to get more of its fair share. we are the ability to kind of be part of that as it evolves and really in the boston study, you bring, this was the genesis in this country called not a big iron, which we are very comfortable with but also has to be equally good at big data, analytics and that's the reason why boston can't be that city for the next 20 years the way silicon valley in seattle were for the last 20 years. that's our job to do that together. >> amen. >> that's our bed. our bet is that we want to win in that space. we don't want this revolution to go forward and not have ge investors and ge people get the most out of that. that i would sit and life sciences boston can lay claim to being the best or one of the best. but there's more to come and our bet is that we can be part of that and working with universities, working with great science and education schools to

make it happen in this town. >> you guys are so large and so diverse and with expertise in summary different areas. how do you work with outside partners like startups? they are much smaller and laugh. may be have amazing innovative technology about a lot of the other functionality. >> i think it's really hard. almost every big company has ventures group, but it's so hard to make sure that we bring our best and don't end up squashing the company inside our own iraq receives and things like that -- insider own bureaucracies and things like that i would love to see ge is a perfect company but we are not. the trick is to find a win-win. we had a couple start at it. we went out and hired a woman from a venture capitalist who runs our operations headquarters in california but we have people all over the world.

i think the trick to do is exactly what you were doing in boston which is we don't take an equity stake in the company that doesn't have a sign to accelerators. how do you get your first order, how do you make things. the things that really if you're starting up a company you really need, we have to be able to deliver all that. we've got much more disciplined about personal how do they fit in our own let's say product and technical roadmap, and deferred shading between when we take investment in the company and we think it's going to get long-term with what ge is doing. sometimes we take investment because we think it's a good at it will make money. 70% of the former and 30% is the latter. but then the day we take the state, you are assigned a ge team actually there to help you navigate and get the best out of what we have to bring. i think that's a change it's been an up or change. >> yet such a large footprint. aviation, health care, massive

breadth of industries and expertise. how do you offer collaboration and what extent can we learned in boston to be part of that collaborative environment even at an extension of the organization? >> i would say we have what we call the ge store which is really a couple of core processes we do across the company. we would want to help the aviation team to be great at aviation. we want our power came, we wanted to compete against either conglomerate or single point companies. but then we drive technology, we drive globalization, we drive how we interface with customers. we drive culture across the company in a more unified way. if you're an investor you sit there and say look, by doing that our margin returns better than our competitors? if the answer is yes, we have

learned that earned the right to say better business model work. when the answer is no, you shouldn't stay in the business. my contributions to nbc was make better shows. it wasn't go to the research lab or something like that. hey, guys, please don't make shows stink that badly. let's do better. the bbc blog simply spells but it didn't belong inside ge. we are pretty philosophical about the things we do best and making sure we do it. part of our culture is the belief that markets rule. part of a believe that markets rule, the number one cheaply as customers determine our success. if you really believe that you have to be open to any new idea. you have to be open to technology. we are not going to invent it all inside a company so we have to be a place where people want to come and work with us to develop the future. the advantage we have, you know, again i'm here today as just friends talking, right? the advantage we have is we've

seen cycles. we managed to cycles. some of our business is right that were going through a tough cycle but we have other businesses that make up for that. as bob said i took over after 9/11. there was no business on earth that was worse than the commercial aviation business. at that moment in time with 50% market share of jet engines. we owned 1200 aircraft and there's no place to hide. that this is still for three or four years. this is has $175 million backbone. investors like it today. in 2003 or 2004 they said why do you own some aircraft? because they do. we do. we have to work through the cycle. the thing we bring it is if you're a venture capitalist, 50 companies work and it don't work, that's good. if you're a company willing to spend time and work through a down cycle. that's okay.

that's the strength we bring that maybe come with both have room in the world. venture capitalist are awesome and they do great things but managing to cycles is something we can bring culturally that is hard for some time startups. >> give you a much longer time frame which is great. the diversity business. a lot of times i'll think about business. .. >> ms. >>.

>> em with make just two general comments. the first one is the u.s. is so cake the rest of the world is perverted with the central bank manipulating currency. larry essentially has been no reform except the central bankers have taken the place of decent growth but not robust growth and the central bank we have china in transition with for general things going on with that slow growth and volatility. sova if you are waiting you will be stuck for a long time.

it's not like it was 2,008 in the financial crisis but there just isn't that economic cycle and what cycle? with negative interest rates in in europe and japan closer dash 67% and second it is about productivity. everything is about speed and productivity so anything you can do to bring more productivity to our customers or suppliers is great so that is general terms how we think about it, our focus is adding more value to the analytics with our customers and creating more value in our supply chain. not necessarily focused on making the company broader

but making it deeper that is the way we generate growth in the future. then you'll have to do more auspex models there is a lot of ways to grow for people who don't have electricity but if think those solutions if you could be deeper so that is a $130 million industrial company but on the $130 billion basis? those are real numbers. >> so boston is a pretty good sports town.

>> i met to robert at this luncheon to thousand two. at that time they just punched out of all nfl contest. he said to be back in the nfl? we are number one right now we can't afford the nfl right now. so i was begging robert. [laughter] begging him to get back into the nfl. [laughter] i was going to school in new hampshire when they hit that home run that i and the big

bob and and a big patriots' fans. >> i have been doing this long enough when you see culture and leadership. and they grew up in cincinnati so that is better than the bancos. [laughter] [applause] >> in your intro talk about the culture of winning? >> i would add to that at the end of the day we all believe in transparency. there is a lot to britain

about the process. so for any dollar that you think is invested you will get back one thousandfold. trust me on that. [applause] >> if you have a republican governor and democratic mayor who could actually work together and had led bigger vision for what this meant that that is quite positive because we are 140 years old basically upstate

new york moving to connecticut it is a long-term investment the infrastructure of universities with the feeling those are positives civic we have been mostly in government in the country. [laughter] they both worked very close their collaborative people to work with. and he'll need the right decision. with also growth and amazing

people we are super happy to have you here. you can beat number one. >> let's open for questions. >> i support 7,000 people with disabilities in massachusetts and thanks to our governor who supports that. twerking edgy 29 years -- working assets gb 29 years and with that common stock is that a good strategy? >> i have never done anything but that. if you want consistent valuable growth then

diversification is a good thing. but in terms of how they're viewed by the market i am glad they are coming back into favor because the world is so volatile i'll. executing on the privets is important to our investors whenever growth this out there be will get in you will get tickets to what we consider the most exciting growth. we put 100 percent of every 401k into ge stock i have never sold a share other

than san boston real-estate. [laughter] >> other questions from the crowd? >>. >> if the governor of connecticut asks for the exit interview, but would you say in a situation that what they should think about of what they did right or wrong because obviously it is a lot. >> i will not say anything bad about netiquette. -- connecticut.

but the a public servant today is a hard job. but it is about the future and who is willing to fight five-to-10 years and -- from now that is true for companies and governments. if you 12100 percent backward looking it is hard if you will begin to those technologies or collaborations' that is what companies have to do today and governments have to do today it doesn't matter, if you were looking backwards i can say anything bad about

the people. but this move is all about the next 40 years. what we want the company to look like or how we want the company challenged. i want them to walk of their office every day. i want them to be completely paranoid about the overall they are in. into the in a sea of ideas where paranoia rains supreme. i don't care about that. [laughter] island to punch me in the nose.

that is what we want that is what we are looking for. >> that's great. >> we had a presidential campaign that at one point was injured cheney now terrifying. one side because the economic inequality the other side calls it of the middle-class being left out. what is the role of major corporateitizens to change that equation for the average american? >> it is a great question. if you don't work on innovation you get fired.

if you don't work on productivity or globalization your fire. so those intersecting circles are further apart. i think we need to be mindful and cognizant of the economic impact that we have. i have to win in china and compete investing in training or anybody who walks through the door i was in new hampshire just to

show you how crazy i am so i don't exactly pick them? and i was in a town hall with the production associates with high-tech jobs we invested in the facility that is hard to do. and anita those running for president nine of them know was much as i do none of them in the competitiveness so i will not be lectured we can be callous about the

things we need to reinvest back into those core facilities and ge has many with the $20 billion exporter to almost every country in the world we are winning with exports around of world. it is just leaving a populist government it is a mess and maybe this guy will have a chance to turn around or a populist government has taken wealth so of people think ed is the answer then looked at how it is done. we need to be accountable. but we also need an be

thoughtful about what we're doing over the next six months in this country. >> i was delighted is everybody else they will be here at the other part of the year tried to be a my home in the berkshire but we don't have a lot to of jobs we don't have that legacy and not asking you about cleaning up the river but whether. >> keith that you would just drop dash out there? [laughter] just to say welcome to massachusetts? [laughter] frankly i am more sympathetic to your position that my neighbors. i am a realist. but what about the rest of the commonwealth? we are very excited what you

will do here in boston but the rest of the commonwealth is not in the same well -- in the same go. >> we have a good position so i don't think this is the last investment. i a think there are more things that happen? so the real point to a dancer is in northern massachusetts them what happened today some of that will happen eventually i would take that they would

think it is a good place to be but in terms of competitiveness but the other places sometimes the burden is on a new those states and communities have to make it investable to compete with other locations but i would say this i have been chief 34 years the governor made a difference that hasn't always been true there is times when it hasn't been a very good place to do business. i need to do my part everybody has to compete for the future there is no easy button and that means the berkshires.

>>. >> lamb with the boston foundation ge has been very active charitably we are interested in your approach. >> historically we have worked for decades on inner-city public education than even more recently employability. how do you have trained workers that become better skills for the 21st century?

we like to do things where it is more than money with their hard work and intellect and getting back as well. with that domain and expertise you will have those that are working in health clinics and you can take in the communities with modern manufacturing tools and you will see all of that. we will talk more about this april 4th, but we bled to be a part of this community. big companies are complicated. there will be things about us from time to time not everybody will like but our

job is to make sure what you like it is much higher than those that you don't so the willingness to get back to the community is something he will be happy and satisfied with. >> we're coming up pretty close. >> the health care debate is pretty contentious she is a major consumer and provider how does this play to help us get to a sustainable place with the ecosystem? >> to your point we are a

legacy health care provider since 1947 so with their best years is that we see both sides of the equation. cell that is an attempt as it tries to access it is too early to say how that exchange will work so you have to give the president some credit for the attempt but then i break down of consumers so until people have more accountability for their own health care cost cost, things don't change so

if you are like we go into a country in india, then you see different activities idiocy here it is around chronic disease had to make their peace for chronic disease we have to do something about driving productivity is still lacks of fundamentals and with payment reform. it would be 20% of gdp.

no matter what your business he will be a health care expert in the next tender 20 years. we play in a very complete way in 180 countries around the world. >> thank you very much. [applause] senator i just want to give you a token so even blind people can read that. >> i hope you feel welcome

as people are excited to have you around. i hope you will find this was an incredibly clever move in death future years it will redefine the economy [inaudible conversations]