other societies with humility. and which i thought is absolutely true. so i have good news. from now on, we'll give americans an opportunity next summer, up to 80 american leaders will join --

after that, a discussion on college affordability. president obama urged support for the iran nuclear deal while speaking at american

university in washington. he outlined the agreement and said only one thing can happen if congress rejects the deal. >> now, because more sanctions won't produce the results that the critics want, we have to be honest. congressional rejection of this deal leaves any u.s. administration that is absolutely committed to preventing iran from getting a nuclear weapon with one option, another war in the middle east. i say this not to be provocative. i am stating a fact. without this deal, iran will be in a position, however tough our rhetoric may be, to steadily advance its capabilities. it's breakout time, which is already fairly small, could

shrink to near zero. does anyone really doubt that the same voices now raised against this deal will be demanding that whoever is president bomb those nuclear facilities? and as someone who does firmly believe that iran must not get a nuclear weapon and who has wrestled with this issue since the beginning of my presidency, i can tell you that alternatives to military action will have been exhausted once we reject a hard won diplomatic solution that the world almost unanimously supports. so let's not mince words. the choice we face is ultimately between diplomacy or some form of war. maybe not tomorrow, maybe not three months from now, but soon. >> house and senate leadership

plan debate and hearings on the iran nuclear agreement in september. after members return from the august recess. president obama has said he'll veto any legislation that tries to stop the deal, and the vote counting of congressional lawmakers is already under way. some reports saying there are enough democrats in favor of the deal to block any effort to override a veto. the coast guard celebrated its 225th anniversary this week, and the postal service commemorated that by unveiling a new forever postage stamp. it shows a coast guard rescue helicopter and a three-masted sailing ship known as america's tall ship. the commandant of the coast guard, admiral paul zukunft spoke at the national press club today discussing the challenges facing the service including budget constraints, cyber security, and maritime transportation security. from the national press club, this is an hour.

>> welcome to the national press club. my name is jeff baloo, i'm news ed for fora al al jazeera. first, i'd like to introduce our head table guests. i'd ask each of you to stand briefly as your name is announced. from the audience's right, natalie de blasio, run heche and a member of the national press club speaker's committee. max letterer, publisher, "stars and stripes." lieutenant commander natalia best, united states coast guard. jen judd dorn, defense reporter at politico and co-chair of the national press club young members committee. master chief steven cantrell. master chief petty officer of the united states coast guard.

skipping over our speaker right here, kevin wensing, retightret navy captain. and information systems technician second class riota jenai. >> john donnelly, congressional quarterly and co-chair of the national press club press freedom committee. will watson deputy commander of the national press club's american legion post and john gallagher senior america's reporter ihs maritime and trade fair play magazine. [ applause ] i also want to welcome our c-span and public radio and online audiences on press.org, and i want to remind you you can follow the action on twitter

using #npclunch. as 25th commandant of the united states coast guard, admiral paul zukunft leads the largest component of the department of homeland security. the nonretired coast guard boasts some 88,000 personnel including active duty reserve, civilian, and volunteers with a budget of about $8.1 billion. down a bit from last year, right? members of the coast guard operate icebreakers in the arctic ocean and help mitigate recent events like the migrant crisis coming over, the greenpeace blockade protests against the royal dutch shell, excuse counter drug operations in the caribbean and provide security in the u.s. and even some places as far away as the south china sea. they respond to natural sasters such as hurricane