is to making sherr that we have the stem train ed people that we're going to need for the future and if there are any particular effort that you see that the military is involved in to help make that happen? >> again, having people who are stem people who have that set of skills is irreplaceable for us. anything we can do to support the development of our young people in that regard, we need to go do. i would say it this way. in all of our combat and commands, you can look and you can see who the warriors are. typically, there's someone with a set of war fighting skills that you would recognize on television, they carry a rifle, they fly an airplane et cetera. in strategy come, and general

alexander can speak to cyber command. but across strategy command, whether it's cyberspace or any of the other things that we do. the engineers and the scientists are the people with that kind of background, so it is even more magnified, i believe in strategy come, the value of -- may be in other places. >> senator, i just add, that nsa has a program, we do that in conjunction with the development of homeland security, so that offers us a wealth and tulsa university is one of those that we work with, and there are many others as you well know. i think the issue with science and technology in -- we need more scientists, and we need to start that in fourth grade, and

it's the things that we have absolutely got to push. and i have 14 grandchildren. and all of them can be engineers. >> thank you for b leaving us a little room here. >> thank you, as you point out, this is an area where the military and the civilian sector really need to work more closely than we have in the past. as we talk about what we need to do in our education system, we need to point out that this is a national security issue as well. so thank you all very much. >> thank you, senator shaheen, i happen to agree with her about the agreements in the stem skills, despite i'm a lawyer and i'm married to a lawyer, i won't

comment about whether we need more lawyers, just that we need more engineers. i'm very grateful for your comment, probably general al kpan expander is you make repeated reference of what we need to do in the area of cyber in terms of working in the industry. and i obviously agree with that. in terms of meeting employment standards, they're going to work with trying to come up with performance standards. >> i think it's important to emphasize even though they will be adopted, that they're going to have to be followed, the industry can decide how to meet those standards, but there will be standards. and i don't think you should shy away from that. we're talking about national security here, this is not a question of pro business,

anti-business, this is the security of the united states we are talking about. we want to work with business, but we can't just allow business here to dictate what the security of this country is by saying they oppose standards, instead we would hope that they would work with us on those standards. and there's flexibility on how to meet those standards, but not weather to meet those standards. are you with me so far? >> i am, and i agree. >> also another piece, and that's the information sharing piece. we -- as you point out, you want them to get to the point where they can tell us about an attack, and the bills make it easy for them to tell us because we're addressing some of the issues about proprietary information for instance so that they will be protected in that.

but i think it's also clear as your answer to senator collins made clear, that weren't they share, and we're talking here about the major infrastructure here in this country, whether or not they share information with us is not a question of whether they agree to it or not. at some point, with major infrastructure, there's going to be a requirement that they share information relative to attacks with us. we will protect them in terms of proprietary information, but they've got to help protect the country by understanding that there should be and i believe hopefully will be requirements that they share information of attacks on that major infrastructure with us. and i would just urge that you not be reluctant about talking

about their obligation, not that -- only that they will get to the point where they will share, but that there's a responsibility that needs to be placed upon them, and we're talking about major infrastructure and strontd that will be placed on them to share that information of major attacks was. >> we thank you both, a very, very helpful morning and we will stand adjourned.

this week on cspan3, we're hearing discussions on the president's budget request. >> budget proposal and the recent denial of the keystone xl pipeline seemed to insinuate that this information is not serious, of that responsibility and responsibly diversifying our energy port folio, instead this budget request for doe, coupled with the budgets of the interior and the oea--this

administration's political posturing and diversion, how scare federal dollars to favored sectors at the expense of the others, in particular, coal, so important to my region of southern and eastern kentucky. and our country's most abundant energy resource has remained compa squarely in the administration's strosz ha crosshairs for distinction. >> more hearings on president obama's 2013 budget request. tomorrow, secretary er---leon panetta on the defense budget. primaries well underway today in wisconsin, maryland and

washington. mitt romney has -- find out how today's 95 delegates will be doled out tonight at 7:00 eastern, cspan will have primary coverage of the results and candidate reaction. deputy u.s. trade representative, an ambassador to the world trade organization michael punk speaks next on u.s. global trade influence. the u.s. chamber of commerce and the organization business european looking at trade europe looking at priorities for the wto. this is about a half hour. >> i believe we're ready. for our grand finale. changing hats now. i'm ralph gardner, managing ceo

of fedex. i'm the co-chair of today's task force, i hope that they found the panels as interesting as i did. i want to thank the chamber for organizing this, and for all of you for -- trade agenda, as chris mentioned, the statement by the chamber and business europe is doing well. set the priorities and a pathway forward for 2012 and beyond. today, we are especially pleased to be joined by deputy u.s. ambassador to the wto michael punk, who has his bioin front of you. but ambassador punk has worked in the field of international

trade for two decades, from 1995 to 1996, he served as chamber advisory. from 95 to 95, he served at the white house senator max baucus worked on international trade issues, including his partner at the washington, d.c. of mayor brown and from 2003 to 2009, he advised clients on trade issues, along the river of -- the river banks of the galitin.

he was professor of the united states of montana and a writer, offering two novels and two books of nonfiction and two screen plays. i think the ambassador deserves a lot of credit for -- he was able to shift for the productive discussions. so ambassador punk, thank you for joining us, thank you for your efforts and we look forward to your remarks. >> thanks very much for that kind spin on my resume. i will say that over the years, i have heard less chair fastball interpretations, including from my boss ambassador kirk, i had never met him before, and i was

montana. he said to me, i'm sitting here and i'm looking at your resume, and you have done some interesting work in washington, but i also notice that you've gone off to montana to live for six years by yourself in the woods with a typewriter. he said i can't tell if you're just the person i need for the job, or if you're the una bomber. so ralph, thanks for taking the kinder spin on my professional background. before i get started today, i wanted to do one thing very quickly. and that is to acknowledge my colleague chris wilson. chris as you all know very well is the trade representative for multi lateral affairs. he follows in a very long tradition of distinguished people holding that job. one of his predecessors is dorothy duwaskin.

we have very blessed at ustr with a fantastic qadry of career professionals and chris is certainly in the great tradition of usgo. let me start my remarks by saying thanks to the chamber for the invitation to speak here today. this morning's discussions have stimulated some terrific thinking about where do we want to take the wto. it's been -- its especially gratifying and important that this exploration of future directions for the multilateral trading section is -- it may be a bit of a cliche, but the fact remains that solid partnership between the united states and the european juunion is essenti

to finding a viable path forward, this is always the case, but it's particularly crucial by the acknowledgement that the doha round is at an impass. this is a strategic moment, we should be thinking with each other about strategy. not squabblings with each other about tactics. and that it was the only way to begin to tackle more productive trade labor ralizing work in the wto, we know that it also creates some anxieties and certainties about the future. the u.s. and eu had a special share responsibility to address those anxieties intelligently and create a new sense of momentum in geneva. our political systems don't always line up immediately when it comes to trade policy.

and our emphasis on the wto -- has at times colored our collaboration. but we simply can't afford, either of us to allow the development of an impression that we are pulling apart at the wto. we have to stay focused on our shared commitment to the value of the institution and our responsibilities as two of its key leaders. the u.s. and the eu need to re-enforce each other that the -- liberalizing trade, serving as a bulwark against protectionist pressures and generating enforceable rules that provide stability to the global trading system. our partnership with the eu is strong but we can always do better. and it helps that the u.s. chamber and business europe are pushing constantly to find

common cause. i should mention that the information currently under way in the u.s. high level working group on jobs and growth, is an excellent complement to what we are trying to rebuild multilater multilaterally. -- is well under way, although there is obviously much more work to be done. but it's clear that both we and the eu are approaching this exercise with an awareness that whatever we do bilaterally can and should support the trade -- let me try to provide a perspective on some of the current focal points at the wto, building on the discussion earlier today. the enthusiasm within this group for the initiative we are exploring from international services agreement is great to see and confirmation among the strong appetite to find practical, meaningful ways to

advance the ball on trade liberalization. frankly speak it has been refreshing and sadly a little bit novel to engage with a group of members who actively want to pursue an honest to goodness trade initiative. but there are strong core ideas already on the table. and a common recognition of the tremendous benefits that can be shared through expanding services market access and developing new internationally agreed rules and standards. we need such work in order to deal with both new and long standing issues, especially in key areas that fuel growth, such as information communications technology services and global supply chains. i should mention that this is an area where closer coordination between the u.s. and the eu is particularly urgent.

while i can appreciate the impulls of some of my eu colleagues, the big emerging economies have made it abundantly clear that they are not ready to enguage seriously in services liberalization. to say nothing can be done without them means that nothing can be done. the united states does not support that view. we cannot afford to see the recent doha history repeat itself here. we must and we will approach international services agreement with a keen awareness that a plural lateral structure should be a stepping done for advancing multilateral liberalization, this is possible. there are ways to do it and we are ready to move now. it's been no surprise to me that we have also heard a lot today about expanding the information technology agreement.

here again, is hugely welcome. and we're taking it very seriously. our team is working closely with like minded negotiations in this area. taking into account the need to expand product coverage, retain a commitment of existing ita members and expand the appeal of the agreement to wto members who aren't yet ita participants. here again close collaboration between the u.s. and the eu is essential. we're not quite yet on the same page particularly with regard to the scope of an ita expansion negotiation. from the u.s. perspective, what makes best sense is a negotiating scope that allows for rapid progress, tangible deliverables and the reinforcement of the ita membership. while i can understand why my eu colleagues would like to use ita expansion negotiations as a platform to pursue long-standing aspirations on nontariff issues, the ita is fundamentally a

tariff agreement. exceeding the current mandate is unlikely to garner the necessary consensus to move an ita expansion initiative forward. let me also offer a brief perspective on the wto's negotiations on trade facilitation. since the ministerial conference in december, we have been pleased to see a continuation of the workman-like bottom-up approach to this negotiation that has characterized it for some time. our intention is to continue contributing to the negotiation in the same spirit. the economic gains from an eventual tf agreement for the u.s. economy are important. and merit our continued attention. just as importantly, trade facilitation has huge potential to advance development and it's great to see that this is recognized among a broad range of developing country wto members. there's real promise here. and the steady issue goes approach as the best potential to continue to build towards strong results.

we're pleased to see work advancing in services, information technology and trade facilitation, but what about the rest of the wto universe? i think there are important silver linings to be found in the frank and honest acknowledgment of dough how's current impasse. one is we have greater latitude to vitalize the work of the standing committees and working groups. the work of the committees in overseeing the various wto agreements on subsidies, ipr, tbt, agriculture, sps and others has perhaps suffered from some neglect in recent years due to the overwhelming amount of time and resources devoted to the doha round. but this is critical work. and we need to make sure the committees are meeting their full potential. these bodies can and should be incubators for good ideas. and for members to discuss issues they consider relevant to the world we live and trade in today.

so we'll be looking for ways to breathe new life into the wto's committees and to do so in a manner that reflects topical and meaningful u.s. trades interests. we expect and hope that other members will do the same and we see signs that this is happening. brazil for example as identified an issue that both it and we consider important. the relationship between exchange rates and trade, along with the wto working group, where a discussion on that subject can take place. that's obviously a tricky area. surrounded by a lot of sensitivity for some members. we welcome the initiative to foster this discussion within the wto. the united states has been and will continue to be an active participant as this process unfolds. i should also note that the conclusion of a revised government procurement agreement presents important opportunities to explore valuable work in this economically significant area, notably through work on the accession of china and other wto members.

as we look to strengthen the wto and set it on constructive new paths, a huge and complex intersection of trade and development will clearly to be critical as indeed it must be. as ambassador kirk told his fellow ministers in december, for the united states, the starting point of any discussion of trade and development is to remind ourselves the trade and development are mutually reinforcing and deeply complementary. trade has lifted hundreds of millions of people out of poverty, expanded individual opportunity, and accelerated economic development across the planet. it has become ever more clear, however, that a one size fits all approach to trade and development does not accurately reflect the world we live in. developing countries are not all the same and pretending that they are contributes to deadlock in our discussions, and as we've seen clearly, in our negotiations. levels of responsibility and

contributions have to reflect the world we live in. we need urgently to start an honest discussion about this difficult but vital reality. just a couple of more additional points before concluding and moving toward a more interactive discussion. first a word on russia. russia's invitation to join the wto in december is obviously a very big deal and extremely important for the united states, for russia, and for the entire wto membership. we know that welcoming this large, important and dynamic economy into the wto will involve adjustments. for russia, above all, but also for the rest of us. clearly, though, having russia -- having russia's participation in the same system of trade rules as most of the rest of the planet is going to be immensely beneficial. that's why the president and ambassador kirk have stressed that we will work vigorously and rapidly with the congress to terminate application of jackson

banek to russia and to enable extension of permanent normal trade relations. that effort is gaining steam and i know that the u.s. businesses represented here today are actively engaged in this effort. a positive congressional vote on jackson banek for russia is a matter above all of u.s. international economic interest. so that u.s. businesses and workers can benefit fully from the strong wto accession package negotiated laboriously over nearly two decades. second, most discussion of current trade issues would be complete without mentioning china. another area where u.s. and e.u. interests and concerns very often converge. in the context of doha we work together closely developing and advocating tougher subsidy rules particularly involving state owned banks and state owned enterprises. while those efforts have not borne fruit to date they did lay the foundation for future work.

currently the oecd is examining the issue of state-owned enterprises and competitive neutrality. while the united states is looking to advance new disciplines on state-owned enterprises in the context of the transpacific partnership. more broadly, we mist continue to monitor and take action to combat china's trade distorting industrial policiepolicies. whether that be with respect to china's policy of indigenous innovation or the plethora of five-year plans now being issued by china's economic planners. and, of course, our efforts regarding china's export restraints are well known and have been quite successful thus far, which we hope and expect will continue into the future. finally and on a much broader note, the work that we're doing at the wto and the specific initiatives i've touched on today, all ultimately come back to a core truth. the wto and the potential it holds for producing market expanding trade liberalization is fundamental to creating conditions for strong global

growth and job creation. while the existence of a positive link between trade growth and jobs may be self-evident to many, we policymakers, as well as economic actors, need to do a better job reinforcing this linkage in a way that we all talk about trade. put another way, trade liberalization is an essential complement to fiscal and monetary policies, as we seek to grow our way back to prosperity. ambitious market opening, and manufacturing, agriculture, and services is a critical piece of the multidimensional challenge of creating growth. and a multilateral trading system embodied in the wto remains far and away the best and most important means of producing broad-based market opening that benefits economies, companies, and individuals around the globe. the u.s. commitment to the wto is founded on six decades of labor by 12 presidents, republican and democratic.

we look forward to our ongoing labor along with all of you. our stake holders and our allies, as we continue with this generation's work to build a stable world and jobs for our people. thank you again for your invitation today and i look forward to your questions and a good discussion. thanks very much. >> i could use a hand. >> all right. thank you, mr. ambassador, for those excellent remarks.