that i can go around the university and talk to students. to go to the university of baghdad and has an english -- and had english language students talking about how the would like to have more distance learning opportunities with american universities, i have seen a few memoranda of understanding with american universities and they have not been implemented and i plan to be in touch with those universities to get them moving. these are not just for signing ceremonies. these are to get something done. the education system for iraq has a proud history and that needs to be revitalized. that is a good fit for with the u.s. can do and the key thing to what we are to win on the

strategic framework agreement. iraq already has the largest program in the region but we have to do more. a lot of this will be possible when we get security. security. >> i'm with al-jazeera. mr. ambassador, you did mention to coalitions have recently agreed on a code of conduct with the election. despite the very concerned about a possible coup d'état if not all iraqi's a great on the final outcome? >> and i don't see any signs whatsoever of any coup d'état. so i've got a lot of worries in iraq, but that's not one on the top of my list. you know, i think there has been a real strengthening of civil governance in iraq. and so i don't see any immediate danger of that.

>> john barry, newsweek. >> john barry, newsweek. thank you, ambassador, for your >> is that sarcastic? >> in america who we say riveting, we don't mean it. [laughter] >> two countries divided by, like us is. can i ask you to turn it around and reflect on what you've learned or what we should learn about the capacities of the u.s. government, and of the international coalition. particularly and this is for reconstruction and rebuilding, huge national project. >> that is the subject of a future book. these -- you know, is a long -- is a long and complex question as to what we've learned, but i will tell you, you can go into these countries thanking you understand them before you're there. and you need to be really respectful of the history,

respectful of emotions as i suggested earlier on this the best issue. respectful of the fact that you may have a solution that is pretty obvious, like is some sort of out your great equation, but it doesn't mean the other guy is going to buy it. i think you also have to be respectful of the time element of political solutions, that is we have a certain timetable, and i can't be sure that the iraqis always always share our timetable. so when we say you must get an election law done by december 13, or whatever, there is action is sort of, says who? [laughter] so i think solutions get there, solutions are reached, but they're not necessarily reached in that we would consider a timely way. the main thing and these, the

sort of issue and many others, is you have to go into with a real sense of humility about what you are dealing with. and also, don't, you know, things happen for a reason. i mean, the first question, the first question when you confront some nasty dictator is not how you get rid of him, it is how did he get there in the first place. and that certainly affects the answer to the question of how you get rid of him because you may want to get rid of him, but you should first answer the question how he got there in the first place. and i think often when you go into that question, things will be better for you. so i don't know. i mean, i went in with a very, very aware of my limitations in terms of the region. i had worked in the western ottoman empire but i hadn't worked in eastern empire. so was kind of company to see some of the same patterns that i've known so well in the balkans, covering in the sense

that i was familiar, familiar with them. but every day you are there, you feel, you have a handle on something and then you feel you don't. so you just have to keep at it, and i just think the united states is tremendous responsibilities around the world, but we also have a responsibility to try to understand things and conduct ourselves with the humility that some of the complexity of some of these problems. i don't know, that's a couple of lines from what i hope will be someday a book. >> probably the last question from some of our overflow room. the sunni community in the early election, what percent of purchase a patient expect on march 7? >> i don't know the answer to that, but i can tell you, all senior sunni leaders we have talked to, and believe me, we have spent a lot of time talking to people. a lot of time drinking tea

there. they are pretty clear that they want to vote. and i think many sunni leaders, i've heard him say this, we believe we made a mistake in 2005 and we will not make that mistake again. and that is encouraging, but what needs to be done is we need make sure these elections, off and this is, you know, we will have tough days. you know, we still have two weeks or so, two weeks and two and a half weeks. so there will be some tough days. there will be violent days as well. there will be very intemperate a days, but we will get through this, and the iraqi's need to know that we're not getting through this in order to leave. we're getting through this in order to develop a long-term partner. and we believe that in iraq, we have such a partner. >> ambassador hill, on behalf of the online participants on the people that you can see, but are looking at you know, and everyone in the room, thank you very much. this is a man who will tell us

when we're talking through his embassy, that ride over there, he mentioned his iranians ordinates. he was not kidding when he says it comes literally down on his head in his front yard. this takes commitment which he mentioned. this takes bravery, which he mentioned. this is an important opportunity that the united states has come and we appreciate your time speaking to us today. so thank you very much. [applause] >> thank you very much.

>> in a few moments, the conference of black and poor -- and legislators. in less than an hour and half, president obama comments on the first anniversary of the economic stimulus bill. and then we will hear the u.s. ambassador to iraq christopher hill on iraqi elections. on "washington journal" tomorrow morning, the head of the american conservative union, david kaine will discuss the conservative political action conference which begins tomorrow. we will also look at the

conservative movement with,. and bonnie glaser talks about president obama is meeting tomorrow with the tibetan spiritual leader, dalai lama. >> a couple of live events to tell you about tomorrow morning. eric holder is speaking at a justice department conference on the public defender system. our coverage2 on coverage began said 8:00 eastern. hear on c-span, the conservative political action conference. it includes mitt romney. >> sometimes i think history is a series of accidents. it is like a pileup of cars in a snowstorm. >> how did the u.s. end up in

vietnam? ted morgan on the valley of death and the battle that ended french rule in indochina. >> do you -- the new york -- new york black and puerto rican legislators held its conference recently. the program also included remarks from a possible senate candidate, former representative harold ford and david paterson. from albany, this is a little less than an hour and a half. >> thank you. that was my sister. chairman perry, chairperson, senator schumer, senator gillibrand, attorney general cuomo and all of the wonderful

people who have come here to help this organization -- i would like to begin my remarks where i began friday night, in tribute to percy ellison -- alice sutton -- ellis sutton. in only six weeks, we've started to make the chairman of mythological figure, and in some ways we see why we remember him. he was a the assemblymen, all borrow money from manhattan, and rose to be the mayor of the city of new york. but that is not why we remember him. he held a number of jobs -- i cannot keep track of them. one assemblyman said that he wasn't sorry police officer.

-- he was an odd story police officer. and he is a great lawyer, but that is not why we remember him. he was the chairman of intercity broadcasting. it was one of the largest african american media mogul's the country has ever produced. but that is not why we remember him. we remember him because in 1961, when a lot of people were scared, he went to the heart of segregation, mississippi, and was jailed for weeks while boycotting public accommodations that did not serve african- americans. [applause] we remember him, because after he was mayor, after he ran for mayor and could not get coverage in the major media, he shifted inner-city broadcasting to create wlib so that the

neighborhood could got -- could get the message that all of us elected officials wanted to deliver. we remember him because he was not afraid and he spoke truth to power. when malcolm x was murdered in 1965, and his widow with four children and two on the way had no place to bury him, only percy sutton came forward to give the fitting burial to that great leader of our community. so we rightly -- he rightly takes his place along our great leaders, malcolm x, who lived in our times with criticism and honesty about america as it was at that time and for black americans. harriet tubman, who went back into the south to rescue her

brothers and sisters from slavery. paul robeson, a singer, an actor, assault -- a scholar, a philosopher, one that could have got along very well by going along but who would speak out against injustice. so when honor percy sutton, who taught us to speak truth to power, for a moment, i'll like for power to speak to the truth. the state over the last four years has had revenues down twice the national average. working with the legislature, since i became governor one month before two years ago, we reduced $33 billion of deficit. this has been painful, this has

been challenging. we have had to reverse course on some of our most prime believes of the past two years to try to keep the state from running out of money. we have had to veto legislation that at any other time would have brought opportunity to our community. i had to veto a piece of legislation that would help children afflicted with lead poisoning, but at that time and cost us $50 million. it was legislation i introduced when i was a senator. these are very difficult times for new york. these are very difficult times all around the country. 48 of the 50 states are currently in deficit. 29 states have laid off or furloughed workers. 27 states now have abandoned all of their early childhood and

pre-kindergarten educational programs. the state of california is passing out iou's. the state of arizona is at this point selling off state property to pay their debt. the state of illinois has released inmates from prison, because they have been unable to pay their debt. the state of vermont has shorted the court weeks to 4.5 days. the state of utah has shortened their state worker work week to four days. the state of hawaii has shortened its school week to four days. these are difficult times. some people say i should not be running for governor because i have tried to stop the state from running out of money and

becoming insolvent. [applause] let it be known, i am not going to let the states run out of money, not on my watch, and i will be running for governor no matter what they say. [applause] we have got to get real here for a minute. the reality is that school districts around the state, 95 percent of them, they have the resources to cover the proposed reductions that we are making. the wealthiest school districts have $1.5 million in wealth that they can use to absorb this deficit, but there are school districts that cannot, and they

are the districts of roosevelt in what -- and long island, rockaway and washington heights, and the new york city. mount vernon in west chester, and arbor hill, five blocks from where we speak, and ease buffalo, where 40% of the children live below the -- the poverty line. we cannot cut those districts anymore because they do not have the resources to absorb it. and and any reduction plan that i offer, we will not overtax the school districts where the students live on the margins of the need. [applause] but these are difficult times. just last week we have had to redefine the deficit from $7.4

billion to $8 billion because wall street firms gave their bonuses in stock, not in cash, and we cannot tax them. but we will find a way to get the resources and balance this budget, and we will balance the at the right time. it is our ardent belief that at times like this, we cannot ask those who have the least to pay for it. that is why last year we went into the welfare allocation for the first -- we increased the welfare allocation for the first time in 19 years. we increased food stamps by 30%, and unemployment insurance from 26 weeks to 59 weeks. we increased benefits for those who lose -- lose work and need insurance to 36 weeks, and we

provided $350 million for those who are going to college and cannot take the increase in loans by lenders who were taking our young people's educational opportunities away. when i came into office in march 2008, african-americans and hispanic companies who had been qualified to receive 16% of the contracts that new york state was offering and procurement, they got 1.3% of the business even though they were qualified, even though they had the resources, even though they were certified. we have quadrupled that number in 23 months. [applause] the african american firms of lawyers and bankers, insurers and the sellers of securities and bonds, who issued that -- we

have sextupled -- that means six times -- it should not be confused with any rumors. [laughter] [applause] we have sextupled their participation in 23 months. with every written new york's real estate law so that we have not to find the meaning of alone and the meaning of predatory lending. if you go outside the parameters of our new law, you will be prosecuted for mortgage foreclosure my -- violations under the laws of the state of new york. and so as we move forward, it is important to note that the state, the state that has had

more difficulties than any other state, has been the epicenter of the recession and has not had to make the changes that 36 other states have made. we have balance our budget. we have paid to all of our obligations. i make sure that we pay our school districts, our local governments, a service providers. i have maintained a sound credit rating when other states did not. i'm black. i'm blind. i am still alive. how much better do you want me to be? [applause] and so this is an election year and it is open for anyone that would like to challenge main,

and the only way i am leaving is through the ballot box, and the only way i am moving before is that inner box. [applause] -- is in a box. [inaudible] and the reason the way i am -- the reason i am the way i am is because i was raised in this caucus, under the tutelage like people like angelo del toro, and also like their mentors, david dinkins, my own bed, charles rangel, and the late percy sutton. they always told me, keep fighting, don't give up, keep

fighting, and don't give up, keep fighting, and never give up! thank you very much. [applause] >> thank you, governor paterson. they have decided to make a joint presentation, perhaps in the interest of time. our senior senator chuck schumer and the dean of it congressional delegation, charlie rangel, welcome. >> thank you, girl. it is good to be here with my partner and good to see senator gillibrand here, the attorney

general, we're glad that you are all here. recognizing the link of the program tonight, and knowing that i can i get back to new york without my senior senator, we decided to greet you together. my portion is to say, for those of you that have identified education as a priority, that the condition we find ourself in, in the city, state, and federal government dictate that without education we will not have the ability to survive. not to survive. percy sutton understood that vision. percy sutton has touched so many different lives. percy sutton will live forever because one of the initiatives

that he had was not just forming groups like this the fight like hell, as the governor has so well spoke, but to make certain that every kid has a good, decent, college education. but percy had partners, and one of those partners was arthur e. and i would like to ask arthur to please come on stage because they have an award for him, and percy loved him so much. and we have -- on behalf of all the legislators that of her -- that serve this body over the years, i want to pay tribute to arthur e. because he lives now

and he will live forever. author is the best, and his lovely daughter, lisa -- alicia. so what do we have for my distinguished by the right over here? he is going to be briefed because it is time to be brief. here it is here. arthur, of the love of all of us, you know, is with you but it is symbolized by this. i am so pleased that i am here to represent him because he would want to do this, he would be doing it, but i am lucky enough to be here to do it. thank you for all that you have done and continue to do. god bless you. [applause] this is the percy sutton empire state award, given to you as the

first one that they have. thank you, nick perry. >> all right. >> whatever we have been able to do, god did it. i did not do it -- god did it. god gave us percy sutton, and this morning's church, someone said that i started a program. it was not made. it was percy sutton who started that program at the city university, and he started that , and many of us build on that. the staff program, eoc, liberty partnerships, teach opportunity

core, professional opportunity corps, they are at least 600,000 eop graduates and 400,000 agop's, and that does not count all the others. because of percy sutton, over 300,000 people got their education, and they are now paying billions of dollars back to the state in taxes. percy sutton love digitation -- education, and we loved him. percy looked at me when i ran for mayor, he ran the same year, and he consulted and gave me good advice. it is good to be able to look it charlie sutton, we both were in

the assembly. we had a house here in albany. >> easy, that is enough. >> charlie was the cook, i was the dishwasher, and tom to the shopping. -- did the shopping. i want to thank all of you and thank the caucus. their numbers of significant -- are significant. and all i want to say in conclusion is focus on children in the education of children. don't back away from any program that would help our children. thank you and god bless you. [applause]

>> my friends, my friend in the senate is just not an ordinary center. he certainly is not a freshman, but he has provided the leadership for the congress and indeed the nation. working very closely with our great presidents and the speaker of the house and the ways and means committee, we do not know how n.y. would have done as well as she has been able to do many of the programs that the governor and mayor have been talking about because we got a house in the senate to do what had to be done with our programs. and so -- it is great that we do not get a chance to talk about each other in washington, but every year we come up together. give a great round of applause for my great friend, chuck schumer on the finance

committee, and the third ranking member of the united states senate. >> while we are added, let us hear it for the dean of our whole delegation, charlie rangel. i am going to be brief. i just want to recall to you that when i got to the assembly just a little after charlie and tom fortune and the great archer read them like you can count on two nape -- hands the numbers of members of the caucus. now there are 48. when i started, there was a young freshmen next door to me, all bets. he had one staffer. he carried him around and helped him out, and everything has grown and grown since then, so congratulations, new york black and puerto rican legislators we

make history together. last year, i said to all of you, we have a hope and a prayer and help us achieve it, and that is that we persuade first the president and then the senate's to nominate the first latino to the supreme court, sonia sotomayor. shias on the court today. one of the many accomplishments -- she is on the court today. one of the many accomplishments of barack obama. i want to thank you for first bringing her name to all of our attention in terms of the supreme court. and i want to say one final thing. tonight we speak not just to the caucus members but to the millions they represent, to the worried moms and dads who are keeping the wolves of monthly bills at the door, to the senior citizen who worries about health

care and the cutbacks that occurred to them, for those young men and women who are desperately seeking a job, not for two weeks or months, but for two years. we speak to them and i can assure you and i know charlie can, president barack obama speaks to them as well. and despite -- despite all of the barriers put in his way and put in our way, but we have accomplished a great deal, but we have much, much more to accomplish. we must on the bench continue to increase -- increase diversity. tonight i am proud to announce that we are nominating raymond loya, a laotian, to the second circuit court of appeals. i have always tried to bring

diversity to the bench. i have three criteria -- excellence, and diversity, and i've recommended a number of people of color to the bench. i told one of the white males that i nominated that he was diversity. but we have much more to do. we have to create jobs. we have to improve education. we have to pass a health-care bill that gives health care coverage to all americans. and here is what we say together -- chairman riegle, and all of us here tonight, to president obama -- with the special interests go after you, when everybody goes after you, we have your back. we have your back when you fight for health care. we have your back when you fight for jobs. we have your back when you are improving our kids' education. and together, we will succeed. thank you, god bless you, and

have a great evening. [applause] >> ok, let me make a special welcome to the congressman from the 21st district, i believe that he is in the middle. and i also want to introduce to you malcolm smith, who represents the 14 senatorial districts in queens, and is the first african-american president pro tem of the new york state senate. malcolm's death. -- malcolm smith. >> thank you very much, girl. good evening everyone. -- that you very much, earl.

good evening, everyone. all the men in the house, but to the lady -- look to the lady on your left or right and say, happy valentine's day. now -- now, all the ladies in the house, look to the left and right to demand, and say happy valentine's day to them. and my wife is way over there, table 84, happy valentine's day, michelle. thank you very much. i have the pleasure -- shh. i have the pleasure of introducing someone tonight, a young man that all of you know. i was at service this morning, and the preacher, dr. sojay,

davis a sermon at of exodus, and the topic was "through struggle comes straiength." the young man i'm about to introduce to you is a man who understood and knows what struggle is and how that struggle gives strength to individuals. this young man could have left washington and went on to make millions of dollars, but he recognized that there were people and individuals who were struggling that needed somebody to stand up for them and give them strength. this young man struggled on behalf of immigrants, and now these immigrants through the

immigration for a program that he accomplished have the strength to manage their own lives on the ground. this young man understood that there were homeowners who are struggling with people who would not and did not want them to maintain their homes, so he struggled and fought for so many homeowners who are being victimized by a predatory lending, and so many of them now have a home with a roof over their heads. this young on -- this young man understood the struggle of young people who were fighting to go to school, who needed loan programs. he fought and struggled for them and so many of these young people now have the right to get a decent education. this young man has always been there for our community, so buffalo to brooklyn, this young

man is one of the brightest lights in the state of new york. and he has the future brighter than many know as it comes for today. he hails from quaint. one of the best attorney general's in the state of new york, please join me in welcoming andrew cuomo. [applause] >> good evening. it's a better even than that. good evening. >> good evening! >> let's hear it for a great state senator from queens. that malcolm should call me a young man made me so happy. he is a great senator, a great president pro tem, he has done a fantastic job bringing the senate to the majority, malcolm smith. let's give him a round of applause. to our great emceed tamar tonige

paid me to give him that blood but it was my pleasure. let's give him a round of applause, role louis -- earl lewis, and to all of you, it is a pleasure to be with you nearly 40 years for the caucus. let's give them all round of applause. 40 years, but they have accomplished. and as david dinkins used to say, when you get to this point in the program, everything has been said, but not everyone has said it. so let me be brief also. on this weekend, we recommit ourselves to the battle.

we recommit ourselves to the battle for justice, the battle that says every child, every person in this state deserves the right to make the most of their god-given talents, and any barriers in their way must be knocked down, and it is the affirmative obligation of government to be that vehicle. when we talk about the good fight, that is the good fight, off like that we have to fight every day, and the reason it is important that we are hill to recommit ourselves is because the battle must go one, because the barriers still exist, because there is still too many young people who are not judged by the content of their character, but people who think our work is done, they have to think again. painful to say, but discrimination is alive and well in new york state to date, and that is the truth then we have to say it because you will never

solve all problems you are unwilling to admit. and if you have any questions, spend a day in my office and hear the tales of discrimination in housing and unemployment and lending. yes, it is better but it still exists today, there is no doubt. there are too many millions who do not have access to health care. and we are at a time today, my friends, when there are hmo costs in a position where they can play god, because the hmo is going to decide who gets covered and who does not get covered, and if you do not get covered, you do not get the operation and you lose your life. they're still a barrier to access credit and capital. there is one for the rich and one for the poor, and when you go to school on the rich side of town, they will show you the first grade, they run the

internet. you go to the first great in the poor school, and they don't even have a basketball net. you go into the school on the rich side of town, and it will show you the fancy computers and their pentium processors. you go to the school on the poor side of town, the most sophisticated piece of electronic equipment is the metal detector that you walk through on the way to your classroom, and that is not new york, that is not america, that is not fairness, that cannot be tolerated, and that is why we are here this weekend. and i will tell you, my friends, one of the great issues that we're in the midst of today, one of the great economic justice issues is how we're going to deal with the consequences of this economic meltdown that we just went through. and we're still working through it as a nation. who is going to pay the price? for what this nation just went

through and what this nation is going through. i will tell you what fairness is to me. the rich got richer and richer than they ever have been over the past 10 years. the top 1 percent, the top 2%, unprecedented wealth. and you have reckless bankers who were manipulating the mortgage markets, a were wrapping market is an securitize in them, that would put a bow around anything and salih. and if it sounded too good to be true, it was too good to be true. it was a fraud, it was a scam, and they make hundreds of millions of dollars over the past few years, and then the government had to come in to bail them out. that means that taxpayers are going to have to pay the bill. and that means that taxpayers will have paid twice. because they first paid when they lost the equity in their homes. when those home values drop, it means the equity in your house

is gone, and the equity in the house is the family's main asset. that's the retirement, that's the next day, that's the tuition payment, that is that daughter's wedding, and that is gone. the citizens lose the equity in their home and now they're going to pay debt bailout the bankers so they could have million- dollar bonuses. that is not justice. that is not fairness. and that is not going to happen in the state of new york. that is the fight for justice that we make. that is what we recommit ourselves to this weekend. is my honor to serve as attorney general. it is my honor to represent the people of the state of new york. and that is their fight for justice. new york was always the beacon for the rest of the nation. new york is the progressive capital. when we -- we do not talk about progress, we accomplished

progress and the other states follow a spirit that to me is what it means to be a new yorker. that has kept this caucus live for 40 years and that is what we're going to carry forward. god bless. [applause] >> thank you, attorney general,. let me acknowledge the former comptroller of the city of new york, good to see you. representing the 30 that senatorial district in westchester county is a woman who among other things is the first african-american to preside over the state senate. please join me in welcoming address cousins -- andrea cousins. >> good evening.

you would never know when you're going to be called upon to do something extraordinary. you never know when somebody is going to say, it is short-term. you never know when you're going to be asked to step up to a bigger platform, to higher heights. and then you never know you're going to do and how it is going to work out. the young woman i am going to introduce to you is someone who was asked to step up a year ago by gov. paterson. someone who was asked to step up to become the junior senator of the united states. and people wondered, who is kirsten gillibrand?

and within weeks, even days, we knew who she was. we knew right away she was hard- working we knew right away she was not afraid of a challenge. we knew right away that week -- that she was competent and a securities lawyer for 15 years. we knew that she knew downstate because she spent 15 years in new york city before coming of state. we knew she had global understanding. then we came to find out that she knew as much about wall street as she did about main street, that she knew a much about corporations as she did small businesses, that she knew as much about health care as she knows about the need for child care.

we understood that she was never going to stop fighting, that she was not going to stop until she went to every one of the county's that she represented, and that nothing was too big or too small for this woman whose dedication and commitment to serve all new yorkers fairly and justly was met. senator kirsten gillibrand has been a tremendous advocate. she has been someone who got on the map and is staying on the map. she is someone who her colleague the senior senator said, work hard, no-nonsense, gets the job done, despite by her colleagues, and yes, she is loved by yes. i present to you senator kirsten gillibrand.

[applause] >> thank you, andrea, for that beautiful introduction. you're a woman of wisdom and much generosity. i what i think nick perry for chairing this fantastic weekend. it has been amazing. we have had a great time. and i want to thank the chair of the caucus for her hard work as well. thank you for everything you have done. as many of you know, i grew up just a stone's throw from here. as many of you also know, what my greatest mentors and the person who inspired me into public service was a woman who was a heart and soul of the albany democratic party, my grandmother. for those of you that had been around, if you know about her, but she was a lady who grew up in the south end of albany, came from very modest means, worked her whole life, it never went to college.

she knew one very important thing, that women did not have a voice in government. they did not have a say in the direction of their country, the direction of their community, because they were not represented. what she did about that is organized women, all the women in the legislature come up all the women in albany at the democratic club, and those women with their passion made a difference because it was all grass-roots work. all the work that we do in this room envelops the thing and the fund banking, she did it. she brought me a long soak every fall would be working in someone's campaign, stuffing envelopes are passing out fliers and putting on bumper stickers. it taught me an important lesson, that women's voices matter, that what we do with our time matters, that our advocacy matters. and so i always dreamed of public service and trying to do

things for others. so when i was given this opportunity to be the center for new york, i thought long and hard and looked deep into my heart about what kind of senator i wanted to be. and from my grandmother, i knew that i wanted to be a voice for the voiceless, to be someone that would fight for those families of hiv, for that single mom who cannot find affordable day care and so cannot get a job, to be someone who would fight for that small business owner who cannot get a loan even though they have had one for years. i was a church this morning -- i don't know how many of you made it. there was a lot of parties last night. but those of you who did make the service, it was well worth it. there was an amazing sermon, an amazing woman. and what she talked about was moses. she talked about accidents, she

quoted the scripture and said, what is most important from the story about moses was that the struggle strengthens us. and she talked about how moses, when he is leading the israelites into the promised land, he had his enemies behind, a body of water ahead, and two deserts' on either side. it is that moment when you put your hand outside and say i need help, i need guidance, and your faith carries you along. that is what moses did, and they split the red sea and he continued on its journey. it reminds me of where we are right now. we are in this struggle. this is our desert moment. everything is difficult now. unemployment is as high as it has ever been in our lifetime. real unemployment in new york state is 50%, 70% for veterans

coming back from iraq and afghanistan. real unemployment numbers do not show this. some people say, it is getting better. look at the stock market doing great. the bonuses that wall street are giving, it's getting better. that is not true for all across new york were so many communities and so many small businesses, people are struggling. i've traveled the whole state and i can tell you that when i meet with families -- i was in the bronx and went to a health center, 40 children in the waiting room, 40. i imagine being a mom with her sick child. one mom told me about her child who has asthma. the door, my 6-year-old has asthma. god forbid i could not afford the medicine that he needs to say help the. that is what parents face all across the state. we need a health care system that works for everyone. [applause]

i traveled the state and talked to small business owners -- even this morning someone came up to meet, a small-business owner from brooklyn, and he said, what are you doing for me? i asked if he had access to credit. he said, no, i don't. we're trying to increase that credit, helping the credit union and the small bank to makes more -- to make more loans. tax credits for small businesses. those of the types of solutions that matter. and just as the doctor told us about moses, bringing the is rely to the promise line, moses was never allowed to enter the promised land. that was up to joshua. every elected leader in this room as part of that joshua generation. president barack obama said that he was leading that joshua generation. it means that it is our responsibility to move forward through the struggle to the

promised land. there will be obstacles in the way. joshua had the walls of jericho in front of him, but we have to remember, if you want to bring those waltham, unique to speak in one voice. one voice together, all in unison, to bring down those walls. and that is what joshua did. the walls came tumbling down. and that is what we as community leaders and activists, if we come together in the struggle, we will be victorious, we will overcome, and we will make a difference for every family in new york. god bless you. [applause] >> thank you. thank you, senator gillibrand. i know of wellcome to the deputy president of the bronx, and a former -- and a former assemblywoman.

when you join me in welcoming felix ortiz, the assemblyman from the first district in brooklyn. >> beuenaz noches! it is a great honor for me to be here and welcome you all. as a former assembly member, he and i sat together for many years. he is come to be one of the shining stars at columbia state, and it is my great privilege to introduce you the former comptroller of the state of new york. tom the napoli --denapoli. >> it is a great evening, it is

a wonderful evening. congratulations for the caucus pulling together an incredible evening and weekend. let's get another round of applause to chairman perry, the association, the association chair, and art danner chair. give them another round of applause. and their staff, for doing a great job. i also want to give another acknowledgement to someone i have a great privilege to serve with, his recognition this evening was long overdue, but most appropriate. the former assemblyman and deputy speaker, or three -- arthur e.. thank you for all that you've done for new yorkers. and one other shout out. i know he was a knowledge but i don't think he got a round of applause the desert. on a personal level, i could not be have to control or i am today

if i did not have a friend and mentor and a partner and former city comptroller bill thompson. he is a great leader, not only today but for the future. bill, stand up today and get that round of applause that bill thompson deserve from each and every one of us. last thursday march the 20th anniversary of the great nelson mandela walking out of his prison cell. one of his very simple phrases that certainly guides me is one that i just want to mention to frame the evening. mr. mandela said, "it always seems impossible until it is done." .

>> thanks to the caucus and everyone who support the assembly members in the home district, it is possible to have of voice, to have a seat at the table, and as we go through this tough and challenging time, i think we need to keep in contact -- in context the sense of history, that we stay focused on what is real. as we stay focused on what is best for our younger citizens, for our children, we can get through this tough time in a way that is stronger than we were at the beginning of it. i just want you to know, we are working very hard with a

wonderful team who supports me to help move this date forward at this tough and challenging time. if we work together in partnership, keep our goals in mind, i know that the time come when we will say it seemed impossible, but we did get through it, to a better and stronger place. thank you for the hard work you do in our community. have a great evening, everyone. [applause] >> representing the 68th assembly district in east harlem, please join me in welcoming adam clayton powell iv. >> good evening, ladies and gentlemen. heavy valentine's day once again. i have the distinct honor and privilege to introduce our

keynote speaker for this evening. harold ford, jr.. he served in the united states congress for 10 years. he is now chairman of the democratic council, news dallas- fort nbc and ms nbc and a visiting professor at the graduate school of public service. harold ford, jr. is a graduate of the university of pennsylvania where he received a b.a. in american history and the university of michigan law school. he also serves on the pentagon transformation advisory camp. he also serves as an overseer on the board of the international rescue committee and a member of the council on foreign relations. you and i know that much has been said over the last few months about this young man's right to run.

i have not endorsed anyone in his u.s. senate race, but i am willing to listen to all the candidates are potential candidates and make an informed decision. if he runs, whether you support him or not, let me be perfectly clear. everyone has the right to run. [applause] many years ago, my father and many of your parents and grandparents fought valiantly and shed much blood, sweat, and tears to ensure the rights of all people to vote and to fully participate in this democracy. and not just referring to a our keynote speaker, because you and i know there has been some whispering about our governor, a former caucus member, and whether he can or should run for

governor again this year. my friends, i have always believed that the people and only the people should decide who represents them. so therefore, i brothers and my sisters, in the true spirit of democracy, let us give a warm welcome to our keynote speaker harold ford, jr. [applause] >> thank you. and i am honored and humbled to be here this evening, and i will not be long. i joked with governor paterson and nick perry and general cuomo that ronald reagan gave a

morning in america speech, and at the rate we are going, i thought i would give a morning in albany speech before it the night ended. hi grew up in a little town called memphis. i ran for congress when i was 25 years old. i had a father who was my predecessor in congress to serve for 22 years. my mother and was a member of the church of god in christ and my dad was a baptist. when i announced for congress in april of 1996, i was 25 years old. my opponents were all experienced legislators and i was told that i should not run, that voters would make a selection that would not be meet, that voters wanted more experience. it was true, i was graduating law school, and my first job if

i were to be elected would be in the united states congress. the first few weeks and months of the campaign were incredibly difficult. like those of us to run for office and put our names on a ballot, we can all understand, and those who work in campaigns can appreciate as well. i will never forget coming home from graduation from law school and arriving at the headquarters with a bunch of young people working in the campaign, because we had no money. i will never forget my elementary school principal, who is the only woman -- the only principal who that it who had ever paddled me. mark principal locked in to my campaign office and said baby, i have got you some speeches. up to that point, i had not been invited anywhere to speak.

the only way we were able to create excitement or interest in what we are doing is that we would just show up at events. an event like this where all the leadership of the delegation and the caucus this evening -- i am i have to shut up at the front door to shake hands on the way in and on the way out. but she rushed in with a great deal of excitement in her voice and said baby, i have you 35 speeches. i looked at her and i could not have been more excited. she said they are graduation speeches. i looked at all the young men and women and said let's be organized and methodical about this. let's go and grab every voter registration form we can find. go to the library. go to the election commission downtown. although i will not be able to politics from the stage, i will

be able to urge civic participation. ms. jackson looked at me and said these are not high school graduates. i look to her and said it must be middle school. still grab all the voter registration forms rican. she said baby, they are not middle school graduations, either. i looked at her with puzzlement and ask for what she had arranged me to do. she said i have got you 32 kindergarten graduation speeches, sweetheart. i looked at her with all the honest excitement that i could, and quickly did the math. i realized there were three others i was giving that i did not know where i was supposed to be speaking. she said she had three

elementary schools as well. as much as i wanted to be angry, as hard as it was to try to convince five bureaus to tell their parents to vote for me, i thought about where else would i be spending my time. the press laughed at me and said i had no chance. i was speaking to kids who could not vote, and if they could vote, there is no guarantee they would vote for me. here i was speaking to children. i made my way through 15 or 16 of them, and my dad decided to be my driver for some of them. i will never forget going from a school in midtown memphis out to north memphis where my mother grew up. on the radio dial was a group of deejays who had the most awful things to say about me every day. of a sudden, i say to my dad,

can we get someone to call in and say something positive on the radio? just a reminder that i am not a criminal. remind them that i did go to college and law school. remind them that i have a decent head on my shoulders, and they should give me a chance and listen to me. >> he said do not worry about that. just a on your path. you'll be surprised, if you keep doing what you are doing. the primary is still two months, and we have time. right now, just a on track. we pulled into the driveway, and i will never forget, a lady called in to the radio show and identified herself as a grandmother. she said to the radio host, i listen to your show every day. i am amazed and treat an often find myself in support.

she came back and said i have to disagree with you on one thing. that boy you keep talking about on the radio named harold ford, jr.. what would make you disagree with everything? she said i listened and believed all that up until yesterday. she said, i went to my kenner barden -- my granddaughter's kindergarten graduation. she said he walked into the auditorium and stood before all the kids, acknowledged their teachers, and started a speech about health education was important and how this graduation would not be their last. no sooner than when he started, all the kids fell asleep, and she said that did not stop him. he keptd talking and talking. when he was finally done, he shook all the hands of the

students, took pictures with their parents and other family members. >> and radio post said, that is going to make you vote for him, because he shook hands with all the parents? she said what he did afterwards, when he finished taking pictures, he decided to go back in the kitchen where the kitchen staff was, and he took pictures with all them and did whatever they wanted to do. i realized then that he was going to be just like his dad, and the kind of person i wanted in congress. it was that moment that changed everything in my life. it was the beginning of the realization of a dream. i knew that i wanted to serve in public and give back. i did not know what my dad did, i just knew he put a suit on and people like him. i enjoyed taking calls in the office.

when i was 9 years old, a woman called because she could not get a landlord to perform the repairs and improvements on her home that he had promised weeks before. she called, and i decided to call the landlord and introduce myself. i told him i was 9 years old. he said 9-year-old are not supposed to call. i said 9-year-old can call when you do not do right by the people who live in your building. they can call when you do not respond to the human needs of people who count on you and depend on you. and tell the stories for a simple reason. you have all been unbelievably warm and encouraging and generous to me over the last month and a half. i moved to new york officially about 1.5 years ago. my wife lived and worked here

for five years before i met her. she moved here after college. i moved right after the senate race and started spending time in new york, still spending time in nashville and memphis. i was going back and forth and was president of new york. i ran and lost a6 still hundred and desire to be a part of what inspired me at 9 years old to continue to be a part of the conversation and to try to make a difference. after the 2008 campaign, after president obama was elected to the white house, my wife and i decided to make new york home for a very simple relationship.

she decided that we would live in new york, because tennessee was a place that so many things were said during the campaign that made her uncomfortable. it made the prospect of making a family uncomfortable for her. some people have said i move to new york to run for office. i could have predicted all of what happened over the last three years -- if i could, we should all go into business together and find ways to make loads of money and give to those that we care deeply about. my travels across the state have been revealing in so many ways. people are people. new yorkers are just like people from tennessee. people want to work and raise their families. they want the best opportunities, and they want a demand for what they sell. people in tennessee and new york one government to work. they are not interested in

keeping forms and processing. they are dedicated and committed to a simple thing and it's outcome. i have heard my friends tonight. like so many new yorkers they understand the power and majesty and a huge part of a person. i could not help be reminded that people all across this nation depend on each and everyone of us to do just one bank, to make government work. i listened to those in syracuse braque about their education program. i met with the leaders of public housing authority in buffalo and the mayor of buffalo. i met with leaders all across long island, and many in this

room. these are people who said they would support me or not support me. i am not running for anything, at least not yet. my hope, believe, and prayer is that we as elected officials, democrats and republicans scattered across the room, that our commitment to not only a system of democracy but one of openness and understanding that title still not making entitled to anything, and an understanding and appreciation that above all, we as people and voters have every right to choose who want, when we want, and we have every right to expect them to deliver. the last the years have been full of stress and hardship. many of the constituents i used to have all across this

unbelievable state are worried and wondering what the future will be like. they are not as interested in whether or not we yell loud enough that the republicans of whether they yell loud enough at us. they are not interested in hearing us blame george bush or the guy before him or the guy before him for the problems that we face. the challenges that we in new york or those in tennessee are anywhere across the nation are facing are ones that government has to play a role in helping to solve. i listened to charlie rangel talk about the importance of education. if there was ever a time in which america it needed to not only come to grips but be willing to think creatively and beyond the scope of what we have been training ourselves to think about education and how we teach

and where we teach, now is that moment. no generation of americans has ever faced a level competition, the number of threats to kids, no generation has had the resources, technology, and i rigidities that you and i have today. i am more proud and confident in our ability to find our way out of this mess that i have ever been, for a single reason. the people of this date and of this country are poised to leave when government and leaders give them the tools in which to do so. i remember traveling in memphis. as i travelled across the public housing committee, i met a 07- year-old. he told me he was retired from helping those in the community deal drugs. i said you are 10 years old and you have stopped doing this? how did you get started?

he tell what he was 25. he said i used to watch the kids in the neighborhood. they always had something to eat. dell is had something to do. i mother told me not to mess with that crowd. i told him when i was younger, my grandmother used to use the word agomannish -- to use the word "mannish." that young man's mother told him that that group of boys were just bad. they kept calling him over and he kept resisting, but one day he decided to go over. all they asked him to do was take a little bag and run it across to another building in the public housing, and he did it. he did it again and again, and before he knew, he had enough money to buy his own happy meal. he had enough to buy his friends something. he kept doing it, and one day

they asked him if he would take the back a little further. he did that a few times and they asked him if he would recruit some of his friends to help as well. he finally woke up one day and said his mother found one of the bags in his house. he said he never felt so embarrassed. he said he decided he would just go to school and do the things he was supposed to do. i could not help but think, that young man did all of this for a happy meal. he wanted a chance an opportunity. their kids like that all across new york, new jersey, pennsylvania, and all across this great nation of ours. we shortchange their future and our future and we do not ensure that a 7-year-old who is that right -- that bright, shame on

us as a nation if not as a people if it cannot appreciate and understand and do better by that. [applause] whether i run for office in this great state or not, this is home. whether i run for office in this great state or not, in the next few months, a wife and i have every intention of starting a family and raising our family here. whether i run for office or not, i am as concerned as any in this room after watching what happened in jersey and virginia and massachusetts. for any of us who believe for one moment that are majority, that the country's love for our president cannot be shaken or change, ask martha coakley. ask former governor corzine. asked a state senator deeds in virginia. if there was ever a time for us as democrats with all of our faith and confidence that we

know what is right and best for new york and for the country, if there was ever a time for us to not be content with that, now is that moment. we find ourselves going backwards by electing the other side to be the majority in the senate or the house in washington, shame on us. a year ago, we celebrated the inauguration of a new president. historic on so many levels, a pedestrian in others. his story because he is the first african-american, because he understands the unique needs of african-americans and minorities throughout this great nation, latinos all across this great nation, unique because he understands the importance as we celebrate, because it ensures that new york will get our fair

share ensures we are all treated equally. his story because he appreciates as much as any urban needs an urban challenges, coming from the great city of chicago. a year later, this nation is not sure about us. they are not sure our real commitment to making government actually work. they are not sure if we understand that government can grow too big at times and it poses a problem on middle-class and everyday people. in middle-class america, they are not convinced that we speak with them, understand them, represent them, and will work for them. each time we have face this challenge, we have found a way not only to come together but to develop a message that will bring others to us. i submit to my friends this evening that we face one of those moments right now in our state and in our nation. we can either choose either to

be a backwards nation or a forward nation. we can be a backwards thinking state or a forward thinking state. the power rests right here in this room. from those of state and those downstate, and i readily admit, i am still learning, but one thing i have listened to and learn over and over and over again over the last several weeks. there is a thirst, appetite, and desire to succeed again. there's an appetite and thirst to do well again and for new york to have the kind of leadership at every level of government that we can all be proud of, all know they are accountable to, and at the end of the day, say that is my person. i say to my friends this evening, over the next few weeks i ask for your prayers as my wife and i think about what may happen over the next several months. those of you think you know my

record in those who do not, those who have been nice and those who have been not so nice, i think you not only for the chance to listen and to learn, but i hope if we decide to go forward, you give me the opportunity to show you that indeed, i can lead, and not only for those in this room, but for those across this state. not only for those who are of age to vote, but every 5-year- old and 6-year-old and 7-year- old across the state who hopes they can have a leader in washington who understands that even if they fall asleep during a speech, they deserve representation and leadership as well. thank you, and god bless you. >> in a few moments, president obama on the first anniversary of the economic stimulus bill.

later, the u.s. ambassador to iraq looks ahead to the march 7 elections there. in 2.5 hours, we will reach year the annual conference of the new york association of black and poor rican legislators. >> joined art like conversation with seth jones and mark moyer, a professor at the marine corps university, author of ago a question of command." mr. moyer was recently in afghanistan, where he met with general mcchrystal. we will take your phone calls, e-mail's, and tweets. for our other prime-time programs this week, go online to

booktv.org. >> with your wildest imagination, you would not have made this story up. >> this weekend, the death of american virtue author on "afterwords." >> president obama says the economic stimulus plan has prevented another depression. he spoke at the white house on the anniversary of the bill signing. this is a little less than a half hour. >> good morning, folks. thank you all for being here. it has been one year to date since the president sign the recovery act into law. >> i am probably preaching to the choir as to how beneficial it has been. i stand before you one day, the

exact day to a year that we signed this act. what i want to talk about is what we have accomplished, where were back then. i think where we are now and where we're going. you and i know without any question the recovery act is working. it is working well. maybe even most importantly is working towards something. it is not enough that american workers get back on their feet a day, but it lays a foundation for tomorrow. you are living proof of just what the recovery act is capable of. we realize there is a great deal more to do. every success story you could talk about, there is another story of a man or woman who just lost a job, a plant that has been closed down.

we know times are tough for too many people throughout the country. i have traveled to 60 cities talking about the recovery act. every day, every community i go to, you can see the pain of some of the communities are going through. communities that were battered by the economy. i was just in saginaw, michigan. out of work teachers and businessmen and women, small business owners, construction workers who have been laid off. but i have seen something else as i have gone through those cities and towns. i've seen a sense of hope and optimism. i was with a gentleman yesterday. his name is gonzalez. he worked for an automobile company.

he got laid off. his wife and kids were there. because of the recovery act and the job training program at a community college in his town, he went back and took a 16-hour course in being able to deal with -- a 16-week course in being able to deal with chemical's debt related to how they produced -- chemicals and how they produce solar panels and dow corning has a plant nearby. they have added 1000 people over the past year because of help they received as well. he is now working. he is working at a decent salary. that community college will train another 100 people from not training program directly to a job. the other thing i've noticed

from you all is this emphatic belief that there is more reason why america has to beat number two, none whatsoever. i find even that worker refuses to believe america is going to two in the world, whether it is in the construction of wind turbines or other renewable energy. there is a sense among americans that there is no reason we will not come out of this stronger than when we went in there. so that is what we have been able to deal with. the recovery act has provided a significant degree of optimism. we transform american health care and creating the best education system.

that is our future. i say to my friends who voted against this act, tell me how we cannot lead the 21st century with the same health care system and the same energy policy we have had the last 35 years. everyone knows the truth. without a transformation in health care and education, new jersey, we're not going to succeed. we will not lead to 21st century. that is unacceptable. some of my friends who were willing to acknowledge we need to lead in those areas, they are not willing to take what are difficult steps to make this transformation. they're not willing to step up. not us. the president and i know we can do better. we think we can usher in a new era of innovation for america. we owe much of the recovery act

to those elements of change we're looking for. we look to the clear-eyed leadership of the president and many of you. i will conclude by saying many of you have taken advantage of the sparked that the recovery act provides and some of the tax incentives and others. we do not think the government is the one that will ignite this revolution. you all take a little bit of help and you go out and risk a lot. you get some help from the government and you give to capital markets and you go on the line for a whole lot more. a whole lot more risk. we and our youth for it. that is the way we would get through this.

that along with the president's a leadership. that is why we stand here today with so much hope for tomorrow. his leadership has taken us. far from where we were last year. lester, this economy shrunk over 6%. in the last quarter, a group over 6%. something is happening. i think the main reason it is happening is because of the man i am about to introduce, president barack obama. [applause] >> thank you, everybody. thank you. please, have a seat. thank you to blake and chuck and to my outstanding vice

president and his extraordinary team that have done a great job of managing this program. i want to begin by recalling where were one year ago. millions of jobs were already lost to the recession before i was sworn into office. another 800,000 would be lost in the month of january. we later learned our economy shrunk by an astounding 6.4% in the first quarter of 2009. economists from across the political spectrum to warrant a dramatic action were not taken, the united states could spiral into another depression. that was the backdrop against which i signed the american recovery and reinvestment act with blake alongside. it certainly wasn't a politically easy decision to make for me or for the members of congress who supported it. no large expenditure is ever

the popular, particularly at a time when we're also facing a massive deficit. but we acted because failure to do so would have led to catastrophe. we acted because we had a larger responsibility than winning the next election. we had to do what was right for the u.s. economy and for the american people. one year later, it is largely thanks to the recovery act that a second depression is no longer a possibility. it is one of the main reasons the economy has gone from shrinking 6% to growing at about 6%. manufacturing production posted a small gain. the recovery act is responsible for the jobs of about two million americans who would otherwise be unemployed. these are the members of economists across the spectrum. -- these are the numbers of economists across the spectrum.

part of the controversy is because there are those who have tried to score political points by attacking what we did. many of them short at ribbon cutting ceremonies for projects in their districts. [applause] despite the extraordinary work that has been done for the recovery act, millions of americans are still without jobs. millions more are struggling to make ends meet. it doesn't yet to feel like much of a recovery. i understand that.

it is what we will continue to do everything in our power to turn this economy around the truth is the recovery act was never intended to save every job or restore our economy to full strength. no government program can do that. businesses are the true engines of growth. businesses of the engine job creation in this country. during a recession, when businesses pullback and people stop spending, what government can do is provide a temporary boost that puts money in people's pockets, keeps workers on the job, cuts taxes for small businesses, give us confidence 2 entrepot norris that maybe they did not have to cut back right now. -- gives confidence to entrepreneurs.

there has never been a program of this scale moved at the speed that has been enacted as effectively and as transparently as the recovery act. i am grateful that congress agreed to more crest that the bill include note earmarks, that all projects received funding based solely on their merits. despite that, i was concerned -- we were just talking. when this past, we said $787 billion, some more there will be some story of some money but ended up being misspent. $787 billion spent out over 18 months. that is a lot of money. and it is a testimony to vice president biden and his team

that the dog so far has not barked. [laughter] this team has done an outstanding job. it doesn't mean that everything has been perfect. think of the scope of this. it has been running smoothly and transparently. we print one of the toughest inspector general's in washington as well as professionals to help run the implementation. every american can see how and where this money was spent by going to www.recovery.gov. 1/3 was made up of tax cuts. tax cuts for a 95% of working americans. we see some polling where twice as many people think we have raised taxes. 95% of you got a tax cut.

[applause] tax cuts for 95% of working americans, first-time homebuyers, parents trying to care for their kids, 8 million americans paying for college. so far we're provided $120 billion in tax relief to families and small businesses. i mention this at the state of the union and they were squirming in their seats. there were not sure whether to clout because most of them voted against the tax cuts. it was interesting to watch. [laughter] the second third of this bill was minute of relief to those who were most affected by this

recession. we have increased unemployment benefits for more than 90 million americans. we made health insurance 65% cheaper and those who went to get temporary coverage from cobra. we gave relief to states. relief that has allowed 300,000 teachers to keep their jobs as low as tens of thousands of police, firefighters, first responders, and correctional officers. not one of the 50 governors we have spoken to has failed to show appreciation for this relief. i am concerned because state budgets have not yet recovered. you are now seeing a whole bunch of state and local governments who were able to put off playoffs last year at the -- having to make some tough

decisions. we could see layoffs taking place this year because we have not re-upped terms of providing help. that is something we are watching. we're concerned about that. the last third of the recovery act as one want to talk more about today. that third is about rebuilding our economy on a new and stronger foundation over the long term. we knew we came into office it wasn't enough to solve the immediate crisis before us. we knew we came through with some people are calling a time when there was barely any job growth and where the income declined in the average american household. this was before the recession. the average american household declined as the cost of health care and college tuition reached record highs.

prosperity was built on little more than a housing bubble and on financial speculation. people were taking out home equity loans. we cannot go back to that kind of economy. that is not where the jobs are. the jobs are in areas like clean energy and technology. advanced manufacturing. new infrastructure. that kind of economy requires us to consume less and produce more. we need to send more products overseas that are made by american workers. we need to train our workers with new skills. other countries realize this. they're putting more emphasis on math and science and expanding broadband. they are making serious investments and clean energy because they want those jobs. america cannot stand still in

the face of this challenge. we cannot afford to put our future on hold. a big part of the recovery has been investing in that future. it created jobs now and business opportunities now. it is laid the foundation for where we need to go. instead of pouring more money into schools, we launched a national competition between states that only rewards success and reform. reform the raises student achievement, turns around failing schools. failing schools that failed the future of to many students. we make sure there is an infrastructure that his bill to compete. we know how projects that 31 states that are laying the ground for the first high-speed rail network in the united states of america. for years, japan and europe have had high-be it will.

-- high-speed rail. china has about 40 times as many projects on its front. we're playing catch-up. we should not be. the recovery act has been possible over 12,500 transportation construction projects from rebuilding highways to improving our airports. today winnow its funding for over 50 innovative transportation projects, everything from real roads in appalachia, a new passenger terminal in new orleans. these projects will put hundreds of thousands of americans to work. in many cases, they already have. that is part of the reason that truck is here today. the recovery act will fund about 1/3 of the work his company will do. he can hire two engineers and about 100 employees.

in case people are wondering whether or not the recovery act has created jobs, talked to chop. -- talk to chuck. the new equipment he has ordered will save an additional 40 jobs in california. these are will pain, long- lasting, private-sector jobs that would not be possible without the recovery act. they will be doing the work america needs done to stay competitive in a global economy. in no area is this more important than in energy. we have finally jump start it the clean energy industry and a possible to 1000 jobs in those sectors. -- we have made possible 200,000 jobs. consider the investment we have made in the kind of batteries used in hybrid cars. before the recovery act was signed, 90% of the world

advanced better production was done in asian countries. the the united states did less than 2% of this advanced battery manufacturer that will be the key to the high-mileage low-emission cars. then we invested in new research and battered technology in support of the construction of 20 battery factories that will employ tens of thousands of americans, batteries that can -- factors that can make enough batteries to power half a million plug in hybrid vehicles. next year, two years after the recovery act, the united states will have the capacity to produce nearly 20% of the world's advanced batteries. from less than 2% to 20%. we will be able to make 40% of

these confessed batteries by 2015. an entire new industry because of the recovery act. this kind of progress is happening throughout our clean energy sector. i announced loaned guarantees on the first new nuclear power plant in nearly three decades. it will create thousands of construction jobs. there is a manufacturer in philadelphia the makes energy efficient windows. he used to be skeptical about the industry and so the head to head onto more shifts. one year ago, blake gave us a sort of one of his companies. right before i sign the recovery act. at the time, blake was pretty sure the recession would force him to play off half of this

stuff. one year later, because of a clean energy investments, he has added about a dozen new workers and expects to hire about a dozen more by year's end. the company continues to install solar panels all over colorado. that is our future. that is what is possible in america. you can argue rightly that we have not made as much progress as we need to make when it comes to spurring job creation. that is part of the reason why the recovery act will save another 1.5 million jobs in 2010. that is why i expect congress to pass on additional measures as quickly as possible to help our small business owners and

have more of an incentive to hire. but for those skeptics who refuse to believe the recovery act has done any good, who insists the bill did not work, i would ask you to take that argument up with blake and his employees. take that up with chalk and his construction workers. taken up with those who are building this new highways or teaching our children new skills, all because the recovery act made it possible. our work is far from over, but we have rescued this economy. new factories and research facilities and small businesses, the american people are we building a better future. we will continue to support their efforts and we will leave our children an economy that is stronger than it was before. thank you very much, everybody. [applause] >> we spoke with a republican member of congress.

>> congressman tom price is from georgia 6 congressional district. he joins us on the phone from his district in marietta, georgia. >> the white house is saying that this recovery act cushion the greatest economic crisis since the great depression. do you agree or disagree? >> if they keep saying it, somebody might believe it. the american people understand that only 6% believed the stimulus actually created any jobs at all. this has been a dismal failure. if it were just a failure of policy, it would be one thing. the problem is, it has burdened our kids and grandkids with an increasing debt that they will be paying for decades to come. >> one of the points the president made is that small businesses creating jobs or the engine for the recovery, but in a recession, the government needs to provide some stimulus spending to keep jobs in place,

especially in the public sector, like police, fire department, state budgets and teachers, education and the like. >> it is a new spain, but is not what the stimulus it was supposed to be about. he said if the stimulus was not passed, the unemployment rate would go above 8%. if it was passed, it would stay below 8%. we are currently at 9% with nearly four billion jobs lost since the stimulus was passed. this is clearly a dismal failure of the program that is only exceeded by the remarkable selfishness of its act. >> the other point the white house made, 95% of working families getting a tax cut, he

specifically took aim at the republicans when he boarded up at his state of the union address. >> it is clearly a lack of appreciation for what a tax cut is. tax cut is the decrease and rate individuals actually pay. it is not a check that individuals receive in the mail from the federal government with money that it does not have that is going to be charged to the taxpayer. it is absolute fiction that they have provided tax cut for the american people. if you ask the average american on the street if they have gotten their tax-cut yet, they would say no. >> how do you create jobs and get people to spend more and to say more? >> this is the most frustrating thing. if you listen to the white house, one would presume that we do not know how to create jobs. the greatest nation in history of the world has provided more opportunity and successful more individuals than any nation

ever. the way you create jobs is to do a number of things very specifically. one is to have a predictability in the marketplace. businesses will not create jobs when they don't know if they will be punished with the new health care bill or energy tax. decrease taxes to businesses and individuals. increase the oppressive regulatory mechanism. decrease -- it decreases the ability of business this to create jobs. >> so when this president says the recovery plan save your created an estimated 2 million jobs, a number that was backed up by the congressional budget office, do you disagree with that figure? >> only the first lady and vice- president and folksy has

coerced to appreciate his expanding definition of saber created or the ones who believe that. >> you can find out more about the economic stimulus bill signed into law a year ago. visit our website and raise the white house report on the stimulus bill, watch hearings, and link to other information. we also spoke to a capitol hill reporter about the stimulus package. >> joining us is political writer jack sherman who has an article this afternoon. what has been the correctional reaction so far? >> it has been pretty predictable. republicans have positioned themselves against the stimulus for a long time. they have continually ask where the jobs are.

today john painter came out with a 37-page report detailing what he thought was wasteful spending, examples of missteps, projects that have created no jobs. democrats, on the other hand, have privately and publicly said that this was something that stopped the sinking ship. one of the many measures they have done that is created some jobs but helped save america from the brink of losing more jobs and actually did. the president called out republican leaders who were opposed to the stimulus, and later on celebrated some of the spending that came from it. the dnc released an ad on line having much the same effect. what is behind that effort? >> i have heard this from several republicans, that if our state is eligible for funds, we will get it and do these things.

democrats are saying wait a minute, you cannot call this a waste if you are going to go out and campaign on it and cut ribbons. it is a look at what republicans will do in november. they will say you were campaigning against us, but you were not afraid to put your name next to it when it came out. very interesting stuff. >> what is the ultimate mark that stimulus spending in their district is successful? >> it is the point that a lot of people are grappling with. . .

you can make the argument that the stimulus was a stopgap measure or that things are getting worse. it cuts both ways. democrats are saying, wait a second. we upheld plug the gap in plug the hole and create some jobs. and republicans are saying, it didn't help. >> frame that discontent. you wrote about that, that there is a jobs bill pending in the senate. what does this mean? there is been content over the -- there is discontent of the jobs numbers. >> to be honest, it is a lot

about optics. the obama administration framed it this that it would keep unemployment at 8%. it did not. what it means for congress is that the house passed it but the senate is obviously grappling with it. >> right. >> to put this in a nutshell, democrats are going to have a hard time getting around it because the president and his administration are saying that you passed this very pricey stimulus program, a and it would keep unemployment below 8%, and it did not. looking at it strictly from that perspective, that is of problem, and the republicans are saying that by your own benchmark, this is failed. this is a tough argument to make. >> j sherman from the politico.

thank you for joining us. >> in a few moments, u.s. ambassador to our right chris hill looks ahead to the march 7 elections there. and a little < two hours, remarks from kirsten gillibrand and former congressman harold ford. after that, a briefing on the president's budget request for the national oceanic and atmospheric administration. and later, the head of the product consumer safety admission tells manufacturers that we need to focus more on safety. on "washington journal" tomorrow morning, the head of the american conservative union will discuss issues at the

conservative political action conference. we will also look at the conservative movement with wall street journal columnist, thomas right. and bonnie glaser talks about president obama is meeting tomorrow with the tibetan spiritual leader, the dalai lama. "washington journal" is live every day on c-span at 7:00 a.m. eastern. >> of couple of live events to tell you about tomorrow morning. attorney general eric holder speaking at the public defender system. our coverage on system -- on c- span2 is at 8:30 eastern. hear on c-span, the conservative political action conference. tomorrow includes jim demint dick armey, and mitt romney. >> your one-stop shop for everything c-span is that c-

span.org/store. you will find the the piece of art documentaries on the capital, the supreme court, and the white house. presidential libraries, plus books, will prince, coffee mugs, and other accessories. look for these and other gift- giving ideas at c-span.org /store. >> now christopher hill, the u.s. ambassador to iraq, looks at the march 7 parliamentary elections there. this is a low < two hours. -- this is a little less than two hours. president here at the united states institute of peace. i'm delighted >>

there will be time for questions after the ambassador's remarks, and i think we're using microphones? there will be microphones, roving mics, and if you would, please, identify yourselves before you ask a question and to keep it relatively short so we can move around the room as quickly as possible. to introduce our guest of honor, i turn to ambassador richard solomon, president of the u.s. institute of peace. >> good morning and thank you all for turning out and thanks to all the cameras in the back. it's clear we have a very important and timely session today which in some ways is heralded by the lead headline in "the washington post" today, specter of sectarian strife resurfaces in iraq. this is a special occasion not only because of the work the institute has done on iraq over

the years and the importance of something that isn't so much in our headlines these days as we focus on afghanistan, pakistan, other issues, but very much because of the opportunity we've had to work with ambassador hill over the years. he has taken on some of the most difficult diplomatic assignments, and i suppose you could say in the old saw that no good deed goes unpunished. after four years of trying to get the six-party talk process moving forward in terms of the north korean nuclear program, something that i'm sure he will detail has had some significant and lasting impact in a positive direction, he was given the most challenging assignment that he has today as ambassador to baghdad. in 2005 there were elections in iraq that generated a wave of

sectarian violence, and in terms of the president's objective of seeing the country stabilized and focusing on other challenges in the region, the upcoming elections are really critical and we'll be hearing from our presenter his assessments of the current situation. ambassador hill, one of the outstanding diplomats of his generation and others no doubt, began his career in the peace corps in the cameroons, has been ambassador to macedonia, poland and south korea, republic of korea before his current assignment. he's received distinguished honor awards for his role in supporting the dayton accords and a special envoy for trying to stabilize the balkans. so we're exceptionally pleased that ambassador chris hill is with us today.

please, mr. ambassador. [applause] >> thank you very much, dick. it's a great pleasure to be here at usip. i gather you're going to move to the new building pretty soon. i will miss this building mainly because in my old job at east asia bureau we had a terrific view of the river which we don't have anymore. [laughter] so you remember the office. i mean, you'd look out there and look at the potomac river and think of north korea. [laughter] but it's, it's all gone now, and in its place is a beautiful, beautiful facility which i really do believe befits the status and the tremendous mission of the u.s. institute for peace, the things you've done, your work and really all over the world. i've worked with usip in every different part, i mean, whether in the balkans or in east asia,

but i particularly appreciate what you all are doing in iraq because you're taking on one of the major challenges there which is conflict resolution and getting people in the same room to talk to each other and getting people to sort of understand that there's a way through problems. and a way through by dialogue. i really appreciate the fact i saw ambassador bill taylor out there just a couple months ago, i think, and visiting and your office, i mean, you have a standing office there. it's working, you've gotten iraqis to buy into the process. in fact, i think you've got some iraqi employees there. and i think it's just a great credit to what you do because we've got a lot of talk shops in washington, but probably fewer do shops in washington. i think you, you do both very, very well, so we really, really

appreciate what you've done with this institute and the direction it's going. so i'm, it's a great pleasure to come here. it's always a pleasure to be in washington, even a greater pleasure to leave, i guess, after a few days. but i really do believe this is an important time for iraq. i think it's an important time for u.s./iraqi relations. i think really a time that will, i think, when we look pack it'll be a time -- back it'll be a time of probably one of the most critical periods because we are now on the eve of national elections in iraq which are coming up in some two and a half weeks. i was talking to the prime minister a couple weeks ago, and i said, you know, we have elections, you have elections in 30 days, and he said it's actually 28 days and 7 hours from now. [laughter] so i think everyone is very aware of the moment. it's also a year in which our

military is preparing to draw down after seven truly, truly heroic years of service. it's a year in which the u.s. military will be out of combat operations and will leave in its place later this, beginning of the fall we will have advised and assist brigades, but we will not be directly involved with combat operations. it's also a year in which our embassy -- bill, in fact, as someone who's run embassies was commenting on the size of the thing -- i think along with the great wall of china, it's one of two things you can see from outer space. [laughter] it truly is extraordinary. we are there, the u.s. embassy is there for the long haul. people who equate our interests in iraq with our troop presence have, may i say, kind of missed

the point because we are interested in a long-term relationship, and the embassy that we have there is very much symbolic of that, of that relationship. it's also a year in which i think new economic potential very much beckons iraq into this, into a new decade. we have a number of oil contracts that have been reached with international companies, iraq is really on the move economically. it's also now a year just after president obama stated his vision for iraq in his camp lejeune speech, and i think it's a very appropriate time to share some of the observations from the ground in baghdad and, if i can, lay out some of the, you know, what we believe will be the road ahead. this will be a landmark year as we pivot from a military-led engagement to a civilian-led presence. the dynamic of our relationship

with iraq, with the iraq government will mature, and as we make this shift the american civilian military team, and it is one team and one mission, will put into practice the hard lessons of the past seven years. general odierno and i share the presence and strong resolve to help iraq finally become a place where its citizens can live free of fear, resolve to help iraq build an inclusive political system where people have a say in the decisions that affect their lives, to help iraqi communities settle their differences peacefully just as usip is engaged in thats process, to resolve to help iraq modernize its economy and very much resolve to help iraq integrate with the region and with the it is a daunting agenda, and we work closely to chart the course toward. we're committed not just for the

satisfaction of helping our rack but because it is undeniably in the interest of the united states to do so, to stay engaged. opinions about iraq among the pundits and professors and politicos are as abundant as they are in the nfl draft. people talk about the various ideas that they have, and you hear a lot of the terms that the u.s. must do that and the iraqis must do that, and so on. and there are a number of musts -- one newspaper had an editorial, 11 mousts in the editorial. i am looking at all of them and i tried a boil it down to three of them.

and they are that the -- that we must help iraq build a help the political and democratic institutions in an environment of security. we must help our rock modernize its economy. it does not have to modernize the economy and then it is not going to work. and thirdly, we must help iraq established productive relationships with its neighbors, and in so doing, we can secure their role is not only a reliable partner for the united states, but a strategic partner with the united states. we could have 1000 musts, and it would not mean anything without a secure situation in iraq. critical stage. first of all, we won't ever forget the sacrifice of our u.s. military, our coalition partners, our iraqi counterparts who have taken on what is often

a deadly and assuredly a daunting challenge. due to their collective efforts, violence against civilians, violence against elements of the iraqi state have dropped dramatically. in addition, violence against our forces has also dropped precipitously in recent months. these changes which are evident all across iraq's 18 provinces are not only a sign of a stronger iraq, they're also a sign of a smarter american presence. a presence where we have learned the lessons of the last few years and, frankly, some of those lessons were very hard, indeed. just as we have brought change to iraq, so iraq has changed us. we have new military doctrine, a new counterinsurgency doctrine developed from our experience in iraq, we have new civilian military engagement. you know, i worked on military-civilian engagement in the balkans. i can tell you what we have going on in iraq is

unprecedented in the scope and depth of the degree to which we work together with the military. the united states has developed many more effective uses of smart power, all of this can be traced directly to this war. and while every war is different, the lessons learned through the sacrifice of lives and resources in iraq will inevitably change the way america interacts with the world. our efforts in iraq will be indelibly etched in the history books for future generations to judge. in 2006 and 2007, iraq interests and power were played out on the streets against the pack drop of -- backdrop of death, uncertainty and fear. today the notwithstanding the article in today's washington post, power and interest are battling it out with election posters that, frankly, obscure the bridges and blanket the markets in every province. if you drive through iraq today, you'll see these posters just

everywhere, and they will look very familiar to anyone who's ever seen an election anywhere in the world. it is inspiring stuff. everybody has these posters out there, the campaign for this election has, indeed, begun. we know that late night intensive negotiations and anyone who's negotiated with iraqis, you immediately see the prayer beads and the tea. i must confess i've engaged in both. as iraqis, politicians consolidate their blogs and hash out very tough political deals. truly the iraqi people have embraced the reality of democracy, and i, i think it's very important to understand that it is a place where people speak their minds. iraqis are quite comfortable letting you know where they stand, and the issue is to try to create some rules of the game of that, try to explain that politics can be just as tough as american football, but at least in american football we have a

field that's 100 yards long, and we need some type of scope for how that iraqi politics is going to be, going to be played out. one of the major issues in the recent weeks that has been very difficult in iraq has been the debaathification issue. given the history, given the baathists legacy in iraq, it is very understandable why it incites strong emotions in iraq. given the history of the u.s. in iraq if you look at the 1960s and how the u.s., the united states was very concerned about the potential spread of communism to iraq and how baathism was seen as an alternative to communism where the u.s. preferred it in 1968 that led to the return of baathists, how the u.s. preferred that outcome to a

communist iraq, it is understandable, it is really understandable why some iraqis look at a pattern in the 1960s and think they're seeing a pattern today where the u.s. has been so concerned about other influences in iraq and somehow when people look at that pattern, they think we must be in some way supporting a baathist resurgence in iraq. for americans it's hard to understand. after all, we have lost 4,000, over 4,000 of our countrymen in this struggle against baathism. we took on saddam hussein, we defeated him. he rooted out baathists throughout the country. it is simply extraordinary for americans to try to understand that some iraqis think we somehow support baathism. but when you look at this pattern in the 1960s, you can see how this distant and cracked mirror can somehow affect people's view of the current situation, so we need to be respectful of the history and respectful of people's emotions.

i think when the initial lists of excluded candidates was read in the council of representatives -- and this was a process that i must be very clear with you that we did not feel passed any measure of transparency, a process of naming people essentially denying them their rights to participate in the election without, in our view, any kind of due process -- we had a lot of concerns about this. but i think it is very, people need to understand that when this initial list of candidates was read in the council of representatives, it received standing and sustained applause from all the members there. baathism is a vibrant, important subject there. people feel strongly about it, and we need to respect that, and we need to understand that in dealing with it we need to try to deal with it not as a fundamental issue that is reflected in the constitution, but deal with the question whether it was done with sufficient transparency and done

outside the political scope. obviously, we had some concerns about it. we registered those concerns with the iraqi government. we are very active in making sure iraqis understood our views on this. and so we felt, for example, that there was scoring political points was a definitely a part of the controversy. yet i think it was very important for us to make clear to the iraqis that as they got ready for elections, they need to make sure that this baathist issue was handled in the context of the rule of law. so we have gotten through this issue now. it hasn't been easy, it is very upsetting to member -- to people who were excluded who don't feel that they should have been excluded, but we have moved on from that period now, and now with two and a half weeks to go we see, i think, a very vibrant campaign, and i think we will see that iraqis will whether

they're sunni, shia or kurds, they will be voting in mass numbers. voters on march 7th will decide who fills 325 seats in the parliament with the winning bloc taking the lead in nominating the prime minister and the main cabinet posts. now, i know many -- this being washington people want to know, well, who do you think's going to win? what are the polls suggesting? well, it is a very complex process because after the actual votes are talking tab lathed, ae worked very hard with our colleagues in the u.n., worked very hard with the high election commission to manage the technology of the elections which we believe will be run well, we know that as they get through the votes they will have to -- there are five major coalitions, and we'll have to see which one actually wins. and it will go to the major winner to see who will then try to form the government.

and then that day, that march 8th or whenever this is finally decided, it will be later than march 8th, they will begin the process of putting together a new government. and this process will not be an easy process are. it will be a process in which they need to reach out to different coalitions and put together some kind of coalition government. so i think this first of the musts that is helping iraq build healthy political and democratic institutions in a secure environment is something we really need to focus on. in the end, to this end we have been, our diplomats at the embassy in baghdad and the civilian experts are very heavily involved. secretary clinton has assured the state department is adequately funded to assist in this democratic project. we've provided some $200 million to assist the iraqi people in holding these credible and free elections. the true test of victory will not be in the behavior of the

winners when they are finally announced, but rather it will be how the losers accept the results. so i would argue in iraq as elsewhere losers have an even bigger responsibility to be part of the, part of the political process. and i've always felt that the quality of democracy is determined by the losers, and iraq will be no exception to that. those who do lose need to understand that they have this responsibility, they have in some ways as great -- they have to win the public's trust as well. this has implication for what could be a lengthy government formation process, and it also affects the security. security concerns keep us very watchful on the, of the frictions that have been in plain view during the current full-contact political season. the issue runs much deeper than the election mass of iraq. we all know about some of the showcase political splits in

iraq, the arab/kurdish shoe, the sunni/shia issue. but, you know, when you're there, of course you're concerned about arab/kurdish shoes, of course you're concerned about sunni/shia issues, but you're also concerned about kurd/kurdish shoes. you're concerned about sunni/sunni issues, shia/shia issues. in kirkuk there are also kurd/arab/turk issues, and frankly, other turkmen have issues with each other. those are deadly, deadly serious for those of us who are there, and none is more essential than the disputed internal boundaries, the so-called dibs. that forms the center piece of the arab/kurd dispute. there are some 15 features along this kurdish/arab divide.

kirkuk, these are all areas in which there is a dispute, in which there are forces who do not share the view of the iraqi army forces, and we need to deal with these things. kirkuk, which is number 11 of those, has rich oil fields but also a very difficult history. it's become the focal point of this arab/kurd dispute. the unite is determined to help re-- united states is determined to help resolve these differences and play an important role in trying to address them. we have sent one of the state department's premier regional experts to be in kirkuk, a senior foreign service officer who speaks flawless arabic, and he is meeting every day with the

various parties in kirkuk to try to deal with these, with these problems. the shia/sunni relationship has implications well beyond iraq's borders, even beyond our times. but intramural fishers among sunnies are also common. if you witness the divisions among secular and more strictly religious sunnies that we see is the standoff at the provincial building last week, which shows the potential for violence. some observers think of a united front but the picture is far more complex when we look at that the bell -- the development of the change list, which is a new political identity that has come out of the puk, at a president talabani's puk.

the shi'a-shi'a divisions are also there. prime minister maliki is fending off serious challenges. i had the opportunity to visit the grand ayatollah al-sistani, and sometimes the divisions are when the -- within a family as well. he spoke of the benefits of the united nationalistic are rock above all ethnic and religious communities. we had a long discussion about the applications to preservation of water and resources and we talked about iraqi politicians, and the fact that some resort to religion and sectarianism to defend himself. this is part of our

conversation which is mentioned on the web site. i don't mind telling you about it. in short, it is hard to be a cleric and talk about these issues. but they're people that we need to reach out to and listen to, not just politicians but also people who have a great role to play in influencing iraqi opinion. question that, i think, comes up a lot which is, there is no doubt that today there's a big difference between where iraq now has its sovereignty and where we as diplomats must deal with a sovereign iraq and the old days in the cpa in '03 when essentially iraq was ruled by u.s. of-ish -- u.s.-issued decrees such as the head of the debaathification commission. i think it's important to understand, though, that what we

are -- the way we deal with iraqis is through diplomacy. we need to -- which is, diplomacy is really, i mean, there are probably a million definitions of it, but for me it's getting people to do things that they wouldn't otherwise do. and the moments in diplomacy where your interlocutor slaps the side of his head with the palm of his hand and says, oh, now i get it, now i understand, that was a great argument, i never thought of that before, those moments are as rare in diplomacy, frankly, as they are in life. i mean, we need to engage with iraqis, we need to show them what our interests are, why we believe those interests are their interests, and essentially at time just make them trust us because their good relationship with us depends on trying to work through problems together. and i'd say we're doing that. but one thing it is not is a sort of false dichotomy where somehow we're, quote, not using our leverage, that somehow we

have this leverage in our back pocket, but for some pedagogical reason we prefer to spend six weeks arguing with them over something rather than use this leverage that we could pull out of our back pocket and end the discussion on that day. it just doesn't work that way. we have, we certainly have leverage in iraq, we certainly have a major role in iraq, and i would say the most important leverage we have in iraq is not just the number of troops we have there today as o to ezed -- opposed to what we might have a year or two years from now, or the troops today compared to two years ago, but rather our leverage is that we want to have a serious long-term relationship with iraq, and if the iraqis desire a serious long-term relationship with the united states, they need to work with us on some of these issues. so that is how the process works. we sit down, we explain issues that we think are important

whether it's how they handle debaathification or how they, or whether this is the use of the army -- there's the use of the army in an inappropriate way in saladin, and if the we're going to have a good relationship, we need these issues resolved. we are continuing to draw a way forward, and we have some truly superb soldiers in that country. it's truly amazing. we have specialists, we also have diplomats like myself. but we're determined to find workable solutions with the iraqis. we have worked a security mechanism along the arab/kurd fault line. this has not been easy, but this is really directly due to the great efforts of general odierno and his staff in trying to get members of kurdish potential murder da to work with the iraqi army, to go through joint training programs.

this is something where you really have to do it step by step, and it is working. it is beginning to work. we are bolstering civil society, we're providing guidance and support to local organizations dedicated to uniting rather than dividing communities, we're maintaining a strong presence in the process, in the provinces through our provincial reconstruction teams. you know, we still have some 22 provincial reconstruction teams. these are teams, these are joint military and u.s., we have american diplomats out in these places, people who have curtailed assignments in other countries such as places like, places literally like paris, france. we have people out in these provicinity cial -- provincial reconstruction teams. people every day are dealing at the provincial level, helping provinces with social, political and economic development. our provincial reconstruction team, we also have cell phones out there as well. laugh. [laughter]

we've recently been working a very tough political military problem in nineveh which is one of the most difficult issues in iraq, and we have the head of our provincial reconstruction team, a guy named pat murphy who was also a peace corps volunteer in cameroon. he has been out there, you know, looking -- working with the governor in nineveh, working with the kurdish minority there. it has been a really tough issue, but we have people out there dealing with these thick r things. -- things. so even our strong advocacy for opening iraq's oil sector has also had, we believe, a sal you story effect on some of the arab/kurdish shoes that we've been dealing with, the krg. as iraq has begun to develop their oil sector, i think the kurds have been interested in the fact that 17% of what potentially in the next ten years could be ten million barrels a day, 17% of ten million barrels is more than

100% of 100,000 barrels. so i think what we've been able to do in terms of encouraging transparency and openness and careful management and development of the oil sector has also contributed to trying to pull iraq, iraq together. time and time again we've seen the power of the u.s. stand on issues as a key factor in promoting central tolerance and limiting extremism. despite the drawdown in funds and troops, it remains true in iraq that what we think and, more importantly, what we do matters profoundly in iraq. so all of us need to acknowledge and respond to the changing nature of our presence. this is not a time for slipping into complacency. the u.s. must remain mindful of its continuing in234r50u7bs and be -- influence and be prepared to use that influence to realize positive outcomes in iraq that benefit both the iraqi people as well as the american people. so as i mentioned with these oil contracts, the economic life of

iraq does need to begin to mature. with targeted, smart help from us, the potential is really almost limited. this is our second must. we must help iraq modernize it economy. and there's no mystery here. iraq's economic future hinges on its careful management of its oil sector. iraq is off to a good start, albeit is slow start, but a very good start. and it's also a transparent start as the use of these plex si glass boxes on live national tv as oil companies put their bids into these boxes and the bids were opened up on national tv, as that would suggest. the oil sector taking off in iraq could fundamentally change the lives of every iraq citizen, build the confidence that iraq needs to stand with its neighbors. they've realized some ten contracts, two of them are u.s. companies and some major u.s. companies including exxonmobil are going to be there, but they

also have companies from all five members of the, all five permanent members of the u.n. security council. in short, many other countries now have an investment in iraq's security and its future. so modernizing the energy service sector could create tens of thousands of jobs, attract hundreds of billions of dollars in foreign investment which, in turn, could fund rapid reconstruction and development of iraq. can import modern business practice, modern technology to an iraqi sector that has not seen foreign involvement since nixon was president. in short, when you look at the fact the emergence of foreign oil companies in iraq that is high-technology companies, this is a major new development in iraq they haven't seen for a long, long time. but this doesn't mean it's going to be easy, it doesn't mean we're going to -- that this is all assures iraq's future. it's going to be the, require

every day old-fashioned advocacy, and that's something embassies do best we have experts deeply involved in advising on contracts, technology and geology and environment, i might add. and our prt in basra is ramping up to support international oil companies as they set up in the operations and the oil-rich vicinity. you know, i think it was important, it was important to me that actually the first oil companies were not american. you know, we have, we have some representation, but the first oil companies were something else. there was a british company, a dutch company, also a russian company before the u.s. was, u.s. companies were there. so careful management of iraq's oil riches is essential because an iraq that succeeds economically as well as politically will be self-reliant and secure in its place in the region. also in position to live up to

still another must which is the fact that we must help iraq establish better relations with its neighbors. we still have considerable work to do on this front because iraq's place in the world depends not just on us, not just on oil, but iraq itself and on its neighbors. egypt and turkey are stepping up forging genuine multifaceted relationship with iraq, but us it's troubling that some other neighbors, and in particular some of iraq's arab neighbors, have been slow to embrace iraq, a predominantly arab country that in 1945 was one of the founding members of the arab league. of course, there's one neighbor that plays a significant role in it own history as well as iraq's, and i'm, of course, talking about iran. there's no question that iran has shown a very ma left lent -- malevolent face in iraq. it has probed for weaknesses, it has tried to frustrate u.s. and iraqi common goals, it has been responsible for helping armed militia groups, it's been responsible for training, it's

been responsible for some of the munitions that have found their way into iraq, indeed, it's been responsible for some of the munitions that we've found land almost on our heads in the green zone. this said -- so this means we need to be very mindful and very vigilant to this continued interest from malevolent interest from iraq. it's an interest that seems to emerge mostly from the kutz force in iraq, it seems to be very much militarily and security focused. but we also need to be respectful of the complexity of the shared history in iraq and not understand these issues to be sort of from an american point of view. we need to understand that the relationships there go far back in history, far before we were part of the equation. iraqi arabs and iranians have differed over the proper role of

religion and government for decades, and in this context we sometimes see iranian influence thinking it's always about us. it is not always about us. i can assure you that no one in the embassy or camp victory is naive about this iranian presence. we know the iranians are very much these malevolent acts, but we are working with the iraqi authorities on it, and we are convinced the iraqi authorities share that concern. they did not choose iran as a neighbor and, therefore, in the way they deal with iran as a neighbor, they deal very carefully because they know that for the next thousand years iran is likely to be their neighbor. it does not mean they are any less vigilant. for those who say that the shia in iraq are somehow part and parcel of the shia in iran, they do not understand the fact that during the iran/iraq war saddam hussein fought that war with an army that was 80% shia who never gave in to the iranians.

so i don't think people should be concerned about the notion that somehow the shia in iraq are inadequately concerned about the continued independence and territorial integrity of their country. so i am not sure that even if they were in tehran and people woke up and decided they wanted to be so lens saw instead of martial law poland, i'm not sure that would mean a end to the meddling or easing of relations with tag bad. -- baghdad. i think it is going to take some time, and it's going to start with an acknowledgment from iran that if they want a good relationship with iraq, they had better start respecting iraq's sovereignty and respecting the fact that iraq is going to be their neighbor for the next thousand years and not an isolated neighbor as it has often been in the past, but rather a neighbor that will have a good relationship with the united states, a good relationship with the world.

indeed, i would argue that the united states, one of the great calling cards we have in iraq is that we can introduce iraq to the international community. at present iran can introduce iraq to north korea and not much more. so all of these musts, all of these political and@@@ @ @ @ @' it is no time for pessimism, either. it is time for tenacity and resolved. we must be persistent in the face of the adversity and committed to achieving victory and success. we are aware of the political complexity. we have no illusions that things will be easy. the only place success comes

before work is in the english dictionary. but as a new iraqi government forms, what kind of relationships it wants with the united states, they need to see that the united states is committed to building a relationship for our mutual benefit in the long term. l with this very difficult problem, as we contemplate the effects of our mistakes, the effects of many mistakes that have been there, we need to approach the subject of iraq with a great sense of hue pillty -- humility. humility in the mistakes that have been made. we need to understand that as we deal with this complex place, information and knowledge are not going to be sufficient in addressing our role in iraq. we're going to need some wisdom as well. we're going to need that wisdom as we move through the future. our diplomats, soldiers and civilian experts will continue

to apply american power as best we can from mosul to baghdad, from anbar to basra. we'll continue to support the development of a robust rule of law in iraq carried out by impartial judges, trained police, competent military. that is another issue we work on every single day of the year in baghdad. we will pour our energy into expanding private sector trade and investment so that iraq entrepreneurs have a shot at success, and we'll stay deeply committed to helping create a politically sound and prosperous iraq whose leaders and diplomats, friends to the united states engage confidently and prudently with their neighbors and with the world. a stable, secure and self-reliant iraq, in other words, is a strong and proud iraq, can be a catalyst for stability in the region. and given the threats that remain, the pains of the past and all the blood that's been shed there, this would constitute a major strategic success. so for iraq certainly, but also for those military and civilians who have served and, indeed, who

have sacrificed so much. so in the end we are there, we are in iraq not only for u.s./iraqi relations, we're there for u.s. interests. we believe we can succeed there, we are very mindful of the difficulties, and we are very steady in confronting them every day of the year. thank you very much. [applause] [inaudible conversations] >> okay. okay. >> does that work? >> yeah. >> ambassador hill, we want to thank you very much for that presentation, and we appreciate, also, the time you have allocated in your time back here to answer questions from people. >> sure. >> you have a standing-room-only crowd here. you don't see it here, but there are three other rooms on this floor that are packed, and you can wave to them through one of

these, one of these cameras there. [laughter] we are also streaming your presentation on our internet site, and so there are people in baghdad and in beirut and cairo who are listening who may send us questions as well. >> relaxed. [laughter] >> that's exactly right. i may get a couple of cards from other questioners in other rooms here and also from the internet. so, so what i would ask the questioners is to raise your hand, wait to be recognized. i have two people who -- liz and zach -- who will be bringing you a microphone so you can speak into it. that will help our friends on the cameras to be able to hear your question. keep it concise, and we've got a good amount of time. so let me start right here. thank you, zach. very good.

ah, okay. go ahead. and you'll be next there, sir. thank you. >> pierre. how essential a successful election is for the plans of drawdown of american troops in iraq? >> well, first of all, we have, we have an agreement with the iraqis called the security agreement which does envision a drawdown of u.s. troops. the first major element of that drawdown was the fact that on june 30th last year we withdrew from the cities and towns. i think it was very important because many iraqis questioned whether we were, in fact, prepared to do that, and as general odierno has eloquently said on a number of occasions, we accepted some tactical risk for a strategic gain. and i think the risk has proven to be, has proven to be minimal, and i think what we have shown

the iraqi people is we are prepared to do as we are, as we have agreed to do in the security agreement. so i think it was very important, and i think, frankly, if you look at opinion surveys of iraqi people or what they think of the u.s. forces, it is increasingly favorable due to the fact that we do what we say we're going to do. so with respect to the drawdown now, we have a plan, and this was set in motion by president obama's speech in camp lejeune just a year ago, but we will withdraw to some 50,000 troops by the end of, by the end of august and that all our troops will be in advise and assist brigades, that is no more combat operations by the troops. i think a key element of this and is to have successful elections. when you say what is the alternative to successful elections, the alternative's not very nice. it's a very unsuccessful process with a very uncertain future.

and so we are predicating our, the troop withdrawals on our confidence that we will succeed with what we're doing. and so we do expect a successful election. again, elections are not, are essential because you have, you know, the constitution is quite clear, there need to be elections now, they need to seat a new parliament, and we have every reason to believe that they will succeed. we've worked very hard with the iraqis on this. you realize there are some 6,200 candidates. we have, you know, we have printed up the ballots for some 18.9 million iraqis. they've been printed up in a neighboring country, and they're being brought into iraq next week. there are going to be some 50,000 polling stations nationally. this is, these are big numbers, and we have been working on this for months, and we have worked

hand in glove with the u.n. there under the, under ad mel cert who's an extremely capable representative of ban ki-moon, so we are confident that this will succeed. >> i promised right here. >> hello, my name is mohamed, and i'm with news agency ips. yesterday general odierno said that iran, that the u.s. had direct intelligence that iran had ties with the heads of the debaathification committee, and he said that they had been influenced by iran basically suggesting the decision might have come from iran. do you also share the same concerns that iran might have been involved in the accountability and justice

commission decision to -- >> i am in 100% agreement with general odierno on that point, absolutely. >> have you done anything, basically, to confront and terminate that kind of influence? there i'm sorry, have we -- >> have you done anything to confront and terminate that kind of influence? >> i think the iranians are extremely aware of our views on that. they are also even better aware of the extent of their malevolence toward their neighbor, and so i don't think it's a question of communicating these to iran, i think it's a question of iranian behavior and what they want to do. ..

that was put into effect during the bush administration. >> i am not a spokesman for this administration or for the last administration. i am a diplomat on the ground dealing with tough issues, and every day we have tough issues that we have to solve in order to move on to tomorrow's tough issues. but the problems that we confront in iran are very difficult, every day, and they need to be addressed. if we do not address them to date, the situation will not work out for the better. i caution people against assuming that at some point

everything went well and it became a mopping up exercise after that. i would really caution you against that kind of cartoon image of what we're dealing with. every day we have problems. many of them or unforeseen by us and by the iraqis. we deal with them with what i believe it is a good and effective civil military team, like we've seen in the past, and i like to say that we are seeing now. these are tough problems and that is what i deal with every day of the week, including on sundays. >> i am bob drivers with the nation. prime minister maliki ended up siding with the accountability commission concept. his spokesman said the reversal

by the court was illegal and unconstitutional, and he seemed to have, he personally named you, in fact, and said you had interfered, we're not going to let ambassador hill interfere with our politics. you know, one of his aides called for your expulsion. i mean, if -- >> was that a threat or a promise? [laughter] >> so my question is, given all of that, isn't this a sign that our influence, or leverage as you put it, is pretty close to zero at this point? and that iranian leverage is likely to increase as we withdraw our forces, not the shia who don't like iran the nationals, but the political parties, the people.

>> i frankly disagree with the. i think it is a sign we have elections coming up into an half weeks. and i would say it is assigned there is a very tough competition. i can't tell you who's going to win. i can at least tell you is running, which is better than in some countries. but i can't say who's going to win. i know it's going to be very tight. i thank my lucky has put together a strong coalition. i think others have tried to do the same. there is the coalition which has mr. allawi, at the top, is a very secular minded shia, but there are many sunnis in his coalition. i can't tell you who is going to win. i can tell you that as issues come up, whether it is debaathification or other issues, there will be very strong, political reactions to them. now and again in this country as

well, i, frankly, to be very obviously concern is very many people were about the the wake debaathidebaathification with the handle because i think it was taken up much too close to the election to be handled in a nonpolitical way. and so i spoke my mind on it, will continue to speak my mind. i think my job is to make sure everybody in the country understands the u.s. government position. and frankly if you're a diplomat and have been accused a few times in your career of interfering in someone else's internally there's, you're probably not doing her job very well. so yeah, i made it pretty clear. i think we address issues as they come up, and believe me, they come up. since we do not know who is going to