years ago? >> three years ago? >> on which -- >> on the ctb. >> on cbtb? again, larry, i have had a very interesting experience in watching the ratification of the new s.t.a.r.t. treaty. because up until the final week, we didn't have any votes, aside from -- well, we had the democratic side of the house, senator lugar. but in terms of specific votes on the republican side of the ledger, we didn't know. you've just got to work it. and again, i found that one of the most valuable aspects of the ratification debate is that the senators were willing to really take a serious look at the treaty, and to really consider their responsibility under the constitution, with regard to the national security of the united states in giving their advice and consent to treaties. to make a long story short, they wanted to hear the details.

they delved into the inspection regime, in ways i never would have predicted. they delved in -- a lot of the tension went to the budget side, and the concern about the budget for the national nuclear security administration and so forth. but to me, it was very impressive how much they wanted to understand the details of the treaty, and how it would improve our national security, our confidence with regard to what the russians are doing, and their strategic arsenal, and overall enhanced predictability with moscow. so my view is, this is the time we need to get the word out there about what the ctbt can do for us, what it will do to enhance our national security. we need to ask all those concerned, both inside and outside of government on capitol hill and elsewhere to take a serious look and be ready to listen, to get some questions answered and to debate.

but we're not asking anybody at the moment to say yea or nay. in fact, i hope people will not say yea or nay right now, but have a very, very serious and intensive debate on the merits of the comprehensive test ban treaty. >> all right. thank you. i think we're drawing to a close here. i think your time is up. i want to thank you very much for joining us. >> thank you. >> and hope to have you back again. we'll take up your invitation for ideas on the conventional forces in europe treaty. we always have space in arms control today for more ideas on that long-running issue. and we will promise to persist, which is very important. the admonition from you -- >> and calvin coolidge. >> we'll have to use that one in the future. thank you very much, rose. [ applause ]

tomorrow, federal reserve chairman ben bernanke gives his annual economic outlook report to congress. the joint economic committee hearing begins at 10:00 a.m. eastern and we'll have live coverage here on c-span3. over the past four years, pulitzer prize-winning author has been writing his book, barack obama obama, the story. it included traveling the globe and speaking with the president's relatives in kenya and discovering his african ancestors. he toured the family homes in kansas. barack obama the story comes out in bookstores on june 19th. but book tv will give you an early look with exclusive pictures and video, including our trip to kenya, as we traveled with the author, in january of 2010. so join us sunday june 17th, at 6:00 p.m. eastern time, and later, at 7:30, that same night, your phone calls, e-mails and

tweets for david maraniss on c-span2's book tv. commerce secretary john bryson now on the ocean's role in the u.s. economy. he says the u.s. should join the law of the sea treaty defining the rights and responsibilities of nations in international waters. it's part of the national marine sanctionwear foundation's conference. this is 20 minutes. good morning, everybody. welcome to the 12th annual capitol hill ocean week. it's wonderful to see many familiar faces. it's equally wonderful to see many unfamiliar faces. i want to invite those who are joining us for the first time. my name is jason patlis.

i'm the president and ceo of the national marine sanctuary foundation. to kick off the month, president barack obama officially declared june as national oceans month the other day. and as he seems to do year in and year out, he once again foreshadowed a lot of the things we'll be discussing over the next few days. in his proclamation, the president asked us to, and i quote, celebrate our heritage as a seafaring nation. and that is what this year is all about, how we're fundamentally a maritime nation. from our earliest origins, to today, whether we look at our culture, our identity, our economy, our heritage, our demographics, our national identity in our daily lives, they're shaped by the ocean. we are in some, one nation, shaped by the sea. and through this year's trial, we pose the question, how will we define the future of

america's relationship with our ocean. we will explore this relationship and answer this question over the next three days here in this building, and on the fourth day friday at the capital visitor's center. beginning with our opening key note presentation by secretary john bryson, and closing with our roundtable on thursday. and then continuing at the capital visitors center on friday. national marine sanctuary foundation is proud to host the ocean week. it's to connect people to the underwater places. one of the individuals who does it better than anybody else is mr. fred keeley. mr. keeley is one of the newest trustees of the foundation, but he's a longtime champion of the ocean. he hails from california where he currently serves as treasurer for the county of santa cruz. mr. keeley was three times

elected to the california assembly where he pioneered the marine life management acts, which the associated press at the time called the most significant investment in ocean policy in 50 years. additionally, mr. keeley authored two of the largest park and environmental bonds in our nation's history, totaling $4.7 billion. even from his perch in california, mr. keeley commands a national perspective on ocean and environmental issues. the university of california at santa cruz hosts a lecture series in honor of fred keeley, which speaks volumes. because an honor like that is usually awarded post human osly. but m my eyes don't deceive me, mr. keeley is right here in the front row. the former secretary of the interior bruce bab bit will be here, and current administrator of noaa. so it's my great honor to recognize a longtime public servant and long-time lover of

the ocean, the honorable fred keeley. [ applause ] >> thank you. good morning. thank you very much for all of you being here today. mr. secretary, thank you, sir, for literally gracing us with your presence. it's my honor this morning to introduce to you the 37th commerce secretary of the united states. john bryson has a very, very interesting background that goes both wide and deep. after he graduated from yale law school, he was one of the folks who put together the natural resources defense council. and took a deep abiding and life-long interest in the preservation and enhancement of our natural resources throughout the country. he also in california was the chair of the state water resources control board. now, that's worth thinking about for a second, because

california, as mark twain once said, whisky is for drinking, water is for fighting over. so when you're the chair of the state water resources control board, and you understand that the waters in the north, the agriculture's in the middle and the people are in the south, there's plenty to fight overm t overment. so when you're the chair, the idea is to see can you keep the fighting to a minimum and actually make progress on the issue of water in california. and john did that. john, of course, went on to become president and ceo of edison international. one of the world's largest and, in my view, the most progressive energy companies. john is a talented, intelligent, thoughtful secretary of commerce. he is a person who the president has entrusted with the rather

sizeable mission for this administration to be able to 24/7 create jobs, extend the reach of commerce throughout the world for the united states of america, domestically and abroad. it is my pleasure to introduce the 37th secretary of commerce, the honorable john bryson. [ applause ] >> you nearly knocked me out with that. that is very generous. and i thank you very much. fred and i, when he was in the assembly of the california legislature -- am i saying it, the assembly? we had a tough stretch in california and we worked very, very hard to sort things out.

i won't go into any of the details, but it was amazingly challenging period of time. ultimately we worked it through. and fred, it's so nice to see you. and jason, i want to say that your having undertaken this, over the 13 years, is a real service to all of us. it's a fabulous service. and this is a wonderful gathering. i thank you all for being here. as fred said, president obama, it's an honor to greet you on behalf of him and the entire administration for this ocean week. it's great to see such a diverse community here from researchers to businesses to congressional staff, to the local, regional and nonprofit groups. and i want to thank the national marine sanctuary foundation for putting together such a great

week, as well as for their input into the national ocean policy, which will soon enter its implementation phase. and i think all of you know, we should all stay tuned for more on that in the months ahead. so obviously this is a crucial moment for america's economy. you all know that as we emerge from the biggest recession since the great depression, our businesses have added over 4.3 million jobs over the last 27 months. that's good news. but we still have much more work to do. i touched on that. that's what i'm most engaged in. and today, what i want to do is speak to how our oceans play a

key role in that critically important economic recovery. america's waters have always been a strong economic engine. some call that the blue economy. sir walter raleigh, you know sir walter raleigh one of america's earliest explorers, he said this. i like this a lot. for who so ever commands the sea, he said commands the trade. and whosoever commands the trade of the world commands the riches of the world, and consequently the world itself. i'm sure that raleigh couldn't have fathomed the impact of planes or railroads, much less ecommerce. but the fact remains, even centuries after he spoke those memorable words, there remains a powerful link between america's

oceans, rivers, lakes and coast and america's economy. so consider this, more than half of americans live in coastal watershed counties. that's true even though this area makes up only 17% of our u.s. land area. and those counties support about 66 million jobs. so it's along the coastal areas. and so now, more than ever, we need to ensure that the blue economy is strong and growing. this morning i'll touch on three ways we can do that. so, first, we simply need to show off america's waters. i grew up in portland, oregon, and as a boy, i remember going with my father and my uncle down to the columbia river, down to the coast. and while they would go out in the deep water to catch salmon,

i would spend much of my day trying to fix the line on my little fishing pole. i was really into this. and then one summer when i -- in the years i was in high school, i got very excited about something, and i worked as a camp counselor on the puget sound. and each week i took campers out, every week, campers out for three and four-day canoe trips. these were big trips, we thought. and i'm sure that many of you have personal connections like that to our waters, and you cherish those memories that you made with friends and family. today it's time that we share those experiences with the rest of the world. that's what noaa and the national marine sanctuary foundation are working towards every day. together they support 14 marine

protected areas across the u.s. and these sanctuaries offer snorkeling, whale watching, fishing, and much more. and although altogether noaa estimates that these communities and coastal businesses derive about $4 billion into our economy, that's big, but let me take it a little further. nationwide, we also see major impacts on our economy from things like recreational fishing. so when you add up the bait shops and the boat sales and the other economic drivers in fishing communities, that comes to more than $73 billion supporting hundreds of thousands of jobs. so, let me talk for a minute, however, about a missed opportunity. our oceans, our coasts, our

great lakes are sometimes almost entirely overlooked when both americans and international travelers plan their vacations. that's part of the reason why secretary sal i czar, the department of the interior, and i are heading up the administration's new national travel and tourism strategy which was released just last month. we believe that showing off our oceans, rivers, lakes and coasts is not just a nice thing to do. the fact is, that travel and tourism is america's number one services export. this is a big impact on our economy and jobs. so last year, for example, we had an all-time record of 62 million international travelers to the u.s. and they supported 7.6 million good american jobs. we need to build on that

momentum. and that's why our new plan, the one that has just been put out, sets a goal of 700 -- i'm sorry, sets a goal of 100 million visitors each year by 2010. let's move that up. the only way we're going to meet that goal is obviously if all of us work together. many federal agencies, for example, are involved in this effort. i'll just give you one example. the state department is working to issue more tourist visas from countries that have a growing middle class. and then in addition, our private sector partners on, for example, the travel and tourism advisory board are working to ensure a great experience for our tourists. they want, for example, to make it easier for them to get through our airports and arrive

at their final destinations. and today we need your help. let's get the word out about the wonderful opportunities to discover and explore america's vast waters. i encourage you to check out the new travel and tourism strategy, and thank you very much in advance for helping reach its important goals. all right. that's one. and then the second way we can strengthen the blue economy is to maximize the potential of our oceans and waterways. i believe we can ensure that our oceans are healthy, while also leveraging their ability to drive the economy. and specifically, they can help increase u.s. exports. so even with air cargo and high-speed trains, it's important to remember that shipping remains a cornerstone of our export infrastructure.

this is a stunning fact. nearly 90% of our foreign goods trade dollars in u.s. goods were exported around the world through shipping. it occurs to me that sir walter raleigh would be smiling at that. but no surprise i think that our water ways are a key part of president obama's national export initiative that seeks to doubles u.s. exports by 2015. we are making historic progress towards that ambitious goal. and last year we hit an all-time record, all-time u.s. record of $2.1 trillion in exports. and our folks at places like noa

are working harder than ever to work on that. the services navigation division uses high tech positioning tools combined with the latest weather data to ensure that our experts can move safely and efficiently. the technology and information we provide to the private sector is particularly important at our nation's ports. if a shipper knows that the port has one additional inch of water they can load more goods to the boat. that one inch you can put 99 more chevy volts on the carrier or enough wheat to make over 400,000 loaves of bread. my commitment is that we will continue to do everything possible to empower our exporters who use the sea to

send out good quality made in america products. today we must do even more. i will give just one important and timely example. the senate as i think all of you know is taking a hard look at having the u.s. join the law of the sea convention. this has the strong support of groups ranging from our military, the world wild life fund, the american petroleum institute. we ensure to continue to protect and maintain the shipping routes. but it is more than that. it will give our energy companies the certainty they need to make critical investments and create jobs. ilow telecommunications as they build and maintain cables and

secure our access to rare earth minerals which we need, for example, to make computers and cell phones. importantly, it will help us urge other companies to support sustainability, protect marine habitats and promote healthy oceans. already over 160 countries have signed on to this treaty. republicans and democrats have voiced their support many years from presidents clinton and bush to secretary of defense to james watkins, great figure in my life, the former chief of the u.s. naval operations, u.s. secretary of energy and the chair of the commission on oceans policy. so it's clear that no country has more to gain from this

treaty than does the u.s. important meetings are already underway to draw up the rules that are flowing from the convention. the u.s. has an empty seat waiting for us at the table. we need to fill it. after all america has never been content to sit back and let others make decisions that could effect our security, our economy or our environment. the benefits of the treaty are too great to ignore especially in this crucial moment in our recovery. we should act now. so finally it's commencement season. we all know that. most of us know it or are affected by it. i am. it is appropriate to close by saying we need to inspire the next generation to understand,

explore and protect our waters in the decades that lie ahead. about a mile from here in d.c.'s crime museum just opened a new exhibit on the 40th anniversary of the marine mammal protection act. as you know this law helps protect marine life and our marine ecosystems. as we speak there might be a young person wandering around that museum looking at the pictures and thinking for the first time this is what i want to do. this is my world. i bet that many of you here today had the same moment at some point early on and today you probably still have moments that spark your interest. i'm sure you know that technology allows us to send sea

floor images to researchers and scientists around the world. this helped us uncover an incredible ship wreck deep in the gulf of mexico. looking forward going to do even more to spark the interest to those young people. for example, starting this weekend we're teaming up with the national marine sanctuary foundation to launch what is called the sanctuary classic. the will foster excitement among our youth about conservation and fishing. what is clear is this. we need to find young people who share our curiosity and interest in america's waters. maybe they want to be a

researcher in this field or want to go to public service or perhaps want to start a business that helps people understand and enjoy our waterways like that camp i worked for that summer. taking campers on canoe trips on the puget sound. i thought it was the greatest thing i could do. we need to identify these young people. we need to nurture them and mentor them and make sure they can make a difference just like all of you are making in your daily work. and so what i want to do is conclude with a quote from a favorite president of mine. mr. president i right now his portrait behind my desk, president kennedy once said

knowledge of the associations is more than a matter of curiosity, our very survival may hinge upon it. i think everyone here would agree. our oceans and our waters are critical to our prosperity, to our quality of life and to the future of our nation. so let's show them off. let's maximize the potential and let's inspire that next generation to follow in our foot steps. thank you very much and have a great, great week. thank you. [ applause ] tomorrow federal reserve

chairman ben bernanke gives his annual -- tear down this wall. >> sunday night on american history tv mark the 25th anniversary of president reagan's speech. also this weekend our series "the contenders" 14 key political figures who ran for president and lost. this saturday james blaine american history tv this weekend on c-span 3. this is c-span 3 with politics and public affairs programming throughout the week and every weekend 48 hours of people and events telling the history story on american history tv. you can join