where there was realtor amateur for i guess political prisoners. solitary confinement is a harsh punishment for prisoners. our only comfort was the holy koran. thanks to god i came out of prison memorized the holy koran. we were even deprived of personal visitations for ten years i haven't had a kuwait communication through -- with my family. we don't want that. we are victims of torture. traces of torture are still with

me and my body. it will never repeat this experience to violate the physical bodily injury. we suffered because we oppose the regime. we represent the islamic reference in tunisia. our project is against oppression. we will never build anything but a project that is built on the freedom of individuals and human -- respect of human rights.

can. >> i truly want to apologize for the many, many hands that are raised. but we truly are out of time. i want to encourage you all to mingle with guests. we're going to have let's say 25 minute break until 11:30 and then reconvene to talk about the constitution writing process. thank you very much. republican presidential candidates mitt romney and newt gingrich will speak at the annual national rifle association's meeting tomorrow. also addressing the nra, former

presidential candidate rick and tomorrow, texas governor rick perry and wisconsin governor scott walker. that's live tomorrow on c-span starting at 2:00 p.m. eastern. tonight on c-span 3 american history tv looks at the battle of hampton roads. that civil war naval conflict was the first combat between ironclad warships from the mariners museum in new port news museum tonight at 8:00 eastern. >> our specific mission is to work to see to it that human rights remain an essential component of american foreign policy. and that when we are evaluating our foreign policy moves globally, human rights can never be the only consideration but it has to be part of the dialogue.

>> we have the president and ceo of the lantos foundation for human rights and justice. >> when we abandon our deepest values when we're talking about torture as it relates to the war on terror or the reset policy with russia and the upcoming issue of whether or not the u.s. congress should pass the accountability act, which is we don't need to go into the details of that policy issue. but whether or not we're going to stay on record as saying the human rights matter. they matter in russia. they matter in china. >> more sunday night at 8:00 on c-span's q &a. >> the pension benefit guarantee corporation ensures private pension plans. the head of the agency spoke at the national press corp. last week about how americans should plan for retirement. this is about 40 minutes.

>> good morning. i'm jamie horowitz and i serve on the news maker committee here at the national press club. on behalf of the committee and the offices of the national press club, i want to thank all of you for coming out today. i want to thank the reporters who are joining us on the phone as well as the audience that's joining us live this morning on c-span. our speaker this morning serves as the president of the pension guarantee corporation. he'll speak for ten to 15 minutes and after that we'll take questions from reporters in the room and on the phone. the press club invited him here today because we live at a time of retirement insecurity. for many the golden years aren't

so golden. 10,000 people will retire every day for nearly the next two decades. but what kind of income will they have in their retirement years? many baby boomers are without traditional pension plans. an economic downturn and a drop in housing prices has wiped out assets. those lucky enough to have defined benefit pension plans find them under pressure. our speaker today will discuss you we can improve retirement savings for millions of americans. and also the aggressive actions he has been taking at pbgc to preseven pensions for millions of americans fortunate enough to have pension savings. before we begin, though, let me tell you a little bit more about pbgc. josh is currently director of the pension benefit guarantee corporation and was appointed

director by president obama in july of 2010. he has for three decades managed a private, public and managed institutions. for that time he was an investor banker in new york and london where he advised businesses, unions and governments on a diverse range of mergers, acquisitions and restructuring in steel, transportation and other industries. during the clinton administration he held positions at omb, treasury and defense and he worked on the white house staff during the carter administration. while he was appoint bd i the president and confirmed by the senate, pbgc is not funded by general tax revenues. it collects insurance premiums from employers that sponsor insurance pension plans. it earns money from investments and receives funds from pension plans that has taken over. but i'm not going to talk

anymore about what it does. i'm going to let you do that. without any further ado, josh, let's turn it over to you. thank you. >> i want to thank jamie and the club for inviting me to talk this morning about what it takes and what we can do to have a secure retirement. it is not news that americans are concerned about retirement. most people know they're not doing enough to prepare. and they fear that they won't have enough to live the life they want to live when they retire. but that can be changed if we act. what does that mean we should do? individuals, people need to save more.

businesses can help their employs by contributing to plans. at we can do what we've always done to work to strengthen retirement security and to provide a safety net. pggc's job as jamie says is to encourage and preseven retirement plans by u.s. companies. when companies can't afford their plans we're a safety net. right now we're responsible for benefits for almost a million and a half people. and we do it without a dime in tax dollars. we're fundsed by premiums from the pension plans we ensure. but first, we try to preserve plans. because people always feel more secure if their plans are in tact. our mandate, however, is broader than that. under the law, we're charged with encouraging voluntary

private pension plans. and that frankly is why i'm here today. each and every day some 10,000 baby boomers reach 65. that used to be thought of as the normal retirement age. but many of them aren't retiring because they can't. the basis of this challenge is good news. we are living longer, healthier lives. when jfk was president, the average retiree didn't live to see their 80th birthday. today, the average retiree will live well into their 80s. and a quarter will reach their 90s. so people are living longer. but that means that retirement will cost more, too. some folks say all it takes is for people to work longer. for people not to retire so

soon. well, people already are working longer. from the mid '9 0z to about five years ago, the average retirement age went up by two years. and that was before the mark crash. so the fact is people are working longer. but even though they're working longer, they're live longer still. that means that in the future retirement is going to cost more not less. pensions that were enough in the past won't be in the future. now, half of the people working today don't have an employer provided pension at all. most of those who do have 401(k) type plans. those plans have some very real benefits. they move with you from job to

job and people feel comfortable knowing that they have their own savings plan that it's theirs. but those plans aren't guaranteed. if the market drops when you're planning to retire, you're not going to retire when you want. or have the life in retirement that you hoped for. there are other issues with a 401(k) plan each of us has to figure out how much to set aside and guess how much we'll need in retirement. turns out that employees just don't do that as well as employers do. and if people guess wrong, they don't find out until well after they've retired. and there's not a lot they can do about it. that's why at pbgc we work to preserve traditional defined

pension plans. with traditional pension plans employees don't have to guess about how much to save. employers figure that out. and because traditional pensions offer lifetime income, stey payments for as long as you live, people don't have to worry about how long they'll live or if they'll outlive their savings. further more, i should point out that traditional pension funds also fund much of our nation's venture and other entrepreneurial capital. so we think traditional pensions are important. i also turns out there are plenty of them under reserve. today 75 million americans and their families are in traditional plans. that includes almost 40 million active workers. and in the corporate plans that we ensure, the vast majority of plans are still operating.

they're not frozen. more than 3/4 of the people in them are still earning benefits. that brings me to american airlines. american airlines is an example of what we do every day. what we're trying to do working with american airlines is to preserve both the jobs for 80,000 people that are working and pensions for 130,000 who depend on them. the first priority has to be for american and for the millions who are passengers to succeed. that's the first priority. but plenty of businesses including other airlines have managed to organize without almost terminating the pension plans. american as a lower pension cost

that some of its competitors. so pbgc has worked as an active creditor within the bankruptcy process to see whether those plans can be preserved. part of the reason pbgc can do so is it is a very unusual government agency. one of the terrific things is that the staff actually understands business. they understand business plans and work with business to see what the possible. sometimes it is clear that companies cannot afford their plans. in that case pbgc steps in and pays benefits. other times we find that companies can restructure successfully and keep their pensions in tact. that's what we found at american

airlines. it's now clear that american can do both. it can restrekture. it can be competitive and still keep its pensions and pay a pension in the future. american is not alone. there are plenty of other examples. the grocery chain a&p just came out of bankruptcy and kept its pension plans. so did the former auto parts business of ford. we preserved benefits for more than 74,000 people. that's what we're doing. we think that's important. the fact is the government doesn't require pensions. government can't ensure retirement security. everyone has to do their part.

as individuals each of us is going to have to save more. if retirements last longer. if you have an active healthy life. you've got to save more. most of us cannot just rely on social security. that's easier to say than to do to set aside 10% of your income each year. it's perfectly natural when requirement seems years away. it's okay when times are tough to say i'll do it next year. it's perfectly natural, but it's a mistake. the way to have the life you want tomorrow is to save today. people don't do that alone. businesses are critical, too

because businesses set up the plans that make it easier for employees to save. and the vast majority of employers contribute to those plans. they set them up and they help fund them. in some cases there's traditional plans where the employer provides the funds, handles the administration, worries about the investments, guarantees the benefit. in more cases they're 4010 k type plans where the employer does handle administration, we're both sharing the costs and where employees take the risk that there's enough there. one of the things that i think is important is that a lot of employers dissatisfied with either option are looking for better models. some are looking for 401(k) type plans that are looking for a

lifetime annuity benefit or they're looking for a hybrid type traditional type benefit plan where the investment risk is shared with the employee. all of these efforts are important. because businesses are better able than individuals to figure out retirement plans. i am worked in finance more more than a decade. i have a variety of certifications from the national association of securities dealers. but i don't pretend that i have the time or the expertise to set up a retirement plan. employers do that. and that's why it matters that they do. every time a business says you're on your own, fewer people get a secure retirement. now fortunately most businesses do offer retirement plans. 2/3 of american workers today, 2/3 have access to some

sort of employer provided plan. and not to hit a point too hard, american airlines is an example here, too. american is a company that work both to succeed and to provide retirement security for 130,000, well, americans, and their family. n now, how about government? what does government do? government doesn't require private retirement plans but it does encourage them. it sets minimum standards. if a business promises a pension, it should deliver on that commitment. if a business gets tax benefits for its pension, it should help all employs not just senior management. government steps in to make sure those things happen. government encourages both existing plans and new

approaches. provides tax incentives for employers to offer plans and set them up, and i think this is important, too. government is making changes to take into account the fact that people are living longer. so that the standards that are applied to pension plans recognize the reality that people are living longer. and similarly, government can and is making changes to ensure that employers have options, that they have options within the traditional db model and option s within the 401(k) so-called defined model and, of course, scientists i am from the pbgc, if government fails, should provide a safety net. i started today talking about baby boomers. partly because i am one, and --

but retirement security is not only the concern of baby boomers. last year gallup asked people age 30 to 50, people decades away from retirement, about whether they were concerned. whether they were worried about retirement, and more than three quarters of them are. now, i'm a baby boomer. i'm also a singer, and in my youth i saw the who worm and one of the iconic songs is "my generation "and in "my generation" there is a line that pete townshend put that says, i hope i die before i get old. ♪ hope i die before i get old a few years ago the rapper will.i.am. was definitely not a

baby boomer, for commercial, rewrote the words. he didn't say, "hope i die before i get old." he said, i don't want to die. i want to get old. so i don't think there's a generational divide on this. i think we all care about having a decent life when we can no longer work, and we can have it if we as individuals save more. if business continues to provide both plans and funding, and we in the government continue to provide support, standards and a safety net for those in need. thank you. thank you, josh. we'll open it up for questions.

let's start with questions in the room. and, also if i could ask you to identify yourself, your name and news organization if you would, please. >> yes. i'm robert england with hr executive magazine. what exactly is pbgc doing to promote pension plans of any, of, of course, you would be promoting mostly, i would think the plans -- is there some kind of program or systematic effort to do that? >> josh, you might -- i'm not sure if everybody could hear that question. if you could basically summarize the question, too. >> the question is, what is pbgc doing to encourage pension plans. well, one is, and i guess -- one thing i should be clear is, the agency's mandate from the day it was created is to encourage voluntary private pension plans. and so we take that, our job, as

trying to do several thing. one is, preserve the plans that are already there. that's why we work with companies like american and others to see if plans can be preserved. two is to try to make sure that we don't accidentally, or that government doesn't accidentally, make it harder for employers to offer pension plan, and this requires thinking through how do you regulate? how do you set your standards? we do that, too. third talks like this one. which is to clear the air that there is general goodwill and a

desire on the part of everyone to have good retirement plans, and so one of the things that happens when you are in an agency that focuses on plans which companies get in trouble is, you tend to think, well, is everyone trying to stop their pension plan? and the answer is, no. and i think that is really very important. the vast majority of companies in america are offering pension plans to their employees. the vast majority of companies in america are contributing to those plans. and we think it's important to recognize that and to encourage that. >> any other questions in the room? yes. in the back, please. >> i would like you to talk a little bit more about the impact of defined benefit plans on the

capital markets, and what the government can do to support their involvement. >> hi, nell. as i mentioned, one of the roles of traditional pension plans that is not widely trumpeted, but it important, is that pension plans in addition to being professionals about setting up benefits and figuring out how to pay people, pension plans are also professional investors. and that means that pension plans were among the first people when a new class of folks, call them venture capitalists, went looking around for funds. pension funds were the place where there were sophisticated enough investors to say, okay,

we'll provide capital so you can actually create a capital venture industry. same is true with what became the private equity industry. it didn't start as the private equity industry. and so the way i look at it is, that because pension funds create a group of professional, serious investors, they create a knowledgeable group that can, in fact, innovate in investments. now some of those innovations don't work. that is what the capital markets are about. but what i think is important is that pension funds provide them, and i think equally important is that because pension funds are sophisticated, they can watch their investments. they can provide oversight. they can provide the kind of governance that i know you worry about, and so from my

perspective, entirely separate benefit to us as a society is that in traditional pension plans, we have a group of knowledgeable, concerned, smart folks who participate in the capital markets in a way that isn't random, and isn't fly-by-night. >> and i just want to also remind the reporters that might be listening, well we know there's quite a few on the phone. feel free to follow the instructions to ask a question. other questions in the room? yes. in the back there. >> to what extent is, do you see interest in -- sorry. florence with bna. to what is the pbgc interested in raising premium rates have to do with longevity risk? i know some critics of the rate increase say that interest rates will surely come up at some point, ad