the horizon and other rigs. we have a monthly scheduled trip that goes to two different rigs. it is a scheduled flight devoted to leadership. anyone in houston with either transocean or bp can get on that flight. the purpose os the vits is to acquaint midget with personnel or for management to personnel or for management to do safety audits to conduct talks about performance, plans, to reinforce messages, to a

variety of things like t hat. >> was set to a first fiddle to let the? but it was that your first settled trip like that? >> it was the first scheduled trip i had made in that capacity, yes. >> you said you are going to reinforce messages stocks? >> in a broad sense, that is one of the reasons for those visits, is for leadership to reinforce messages that are delivered, goals that aboth bp and transocean have. >> who wasn that helicopters

with you? >> myself, pat'brien, bp of dnc in the gulf of mexico, don winslow with transocean, buddy trehan with transocean. >> youtube a flight out of houston and did you took that flight out of his indhouston? >> those trips were out of our base in homa. the reference to houston with a service to nearly four of his leadership. usually for office leadership. >> usually thbp [unintelligible]

>> normally, it is a wide range of leadship from teamleaders up to vice presidents. >> is a typical for mr. o'brien to go out there? >> it to the typical for his position. he had not been in that job very long. this was his first trip to the horizon, but other dirtors and vp's went on those trips. >> how do you know when he actually took over as the position as vice president? >> it was very early in 10 or

late 09. >> do you know who is in a position prior? cook'>> that would have been ken lacy. >> did he frequent the deep water horizon in that capacity? >> i do not recall a trip that he made to the horizon. >> once you got to the deep water horizon on the 20th, can yowalk me through what time you bryant and up to the incident? >> we arrived about 2:30 p.m. i went to speak briefly with the

site leader. >> who was well site leader? >> bob kalooza. spoke with him for a few minutes. i went to jimmy for awhile. i found my room assignment. took my gear to my room, spent some time there. some time there. i went back up stairs to the we site leader's office. mr. o'brien was there. he had completed his safety orientation. we were assembled there to go on

a tour of the rig. we toured the rig for about 2hours. we had dinner around 6:00 p/m/ meetingow et uset up a for a gneral rig leadership that was available. it was not a mandatory meeting, but anyone available to visit with us to talk about a variety of things -- there was no set agenda. >> there is no set agenda prior

to arrival at? >> there was no set agenda for that meeting. we had some things but we wanted to talk about. to talk about. we were just there tovisit visit with leadership and talk about an issues they had or visit about the things we wanned to talk about. >> what did you want to talk about? >> we had dropped objects. as well as transocean. we talked about dropped object programs. we talked about rig maintenance programs. we had a few safety related

issues that we were going to touch on, learnings that had come from events on both the horizon and other rigs that we wanted to make sure had reached the horizon and see what they were doing about those. we wanted to talk about control of work, pat's first trip. i was going to include a bit about horizon's performance in comments and some

about what made the horizon a good rig. we would also then leave it up to don. he had a few things he wanted to talk about. see where the conversation went. went. >> you had dinner at 1800 hours and went directly to the meeting? >>yes, don had set that up before 7:00. that was the in to the commencement of the meeting. >> folly the meeting, what transpires? >> it went until 9:00. we broke up the meeting. pat and i headed down the hall to the well site leader's

office. don winslow followe us and asked if we wted to go to the bridge. we had not made it on our tour yet. we did. we went up to the bridge and talked to the marine crew up there. a wide range of conversations. we talked abo sation keeping and all of the instrument on the bridge. it is an impressiveplace if you have not been there. lots of technology. we have a long,, nice visit there. we also got a chance to work with a dynamic position in

a simulator that they have a fair used for training and the demonstrations purposes, to give an idea of how difficult it is to remain on station in a m anual sense, trying to keep it with a joystick and the way the stsytem works. so, thduring that time is when the event began. wh >>at hpened, sir? at did you notice? what did you see? can you take away to the point

that you were able to adopt rig the rig?uate >> here is the vibration that was felt. it had a high-frequency vibrations that the captain and the lead was alerted to. the house rhetorically, what is the, if something up against a stock us? presumably boat. that lasted for a few seconds. then there was hissing, spewing sounds, like you imagine gas

escaping at high pressure in the direction of the rig floor, the best i could tell. the only windows -- the only wall without windows is in the direction of the rig floor. after that subsided, a few seconds, captain looked out the port door of the bridge and i could see the bangston next to us. it looked like everythiung was covered with , mud. the rig looked like the boat had

some on it. it was fairlyalm at that moment. i have a recollection of the boat moving slowwy away from the rig at that point. door and saido thd the to not go out there. at that point, i recall hearing a relatively small explostion or boom toward the rig floor. the scene in the bridge was fairly excited. shortly after that, not many

seconds there was a louder explosion and all the power went out at that point. no lights, electronics, screens. i remember looking over at the redpanel, and i saw one light -- 3 >> green? all >>t lights i saw were green and yellow on the panel. it was dark and difficult to read anything. i did see one red light toward the top of the panel, which i

the top of the panel, which i assumed to be an prevent hig panel.highup on the i would not swear to that. that is what it all looked like. people started coming in from outside. there was an interior access to the bridge from the living quarters. people came up from there. i remember that one of the bp "mday"rs was collalling

in the radar with our court and it. i remember jimmy came in from the starbird side of the bridge. i could not swear to that. that is where i saw him firs that is where i saw him firs i asked ji,,y mmy if the well was shut in. he was confused at that moment. in a split second, he shook that off and headed over towardhe preventer panel. i do not have a continuous picture of him walking over there and doing something.

i remember at some point, and i do not know i it was right then, i do recall seeing all red lights in addition to other lights on the paenl. i cannot remember if i said we should "eds" or someone else. should "eds" or someone else. i rememer the captain seemed to hesitatefor a moment and tn seemed to agree that was teh th the thing to do. i remember him distinctly saw 1:56. at 2

1:56. at 2 at some point, i saw the light from the flames over north toward the rig floor. someone looked out the port door and said they could see someone in the water. i stuck my head out and looked in that direction. ng in someone swimmin gi the water. it hhdmoved further away, but had lights in our direction. there was some discussion about things like going tohe lifeboats. there was not an immediate

consensus to do that. then some short period of time later, i looked at pat. comment was, "ok, let's go." it seeme that is where everyone was headed. i followed him out the starbird door. we went down a couple of flights of stairs to the lifeboats. very orderly down there. pat and i were among the last to get in one of the life boats. then the was made to lower the

boat and close the door. we lowered the boat down. that went well. we drove aw ay from the rig. we spend a while on a off everybody. -- getting everybody off. >> thank you a lot. upon arrival, you said you went and spoke with kalloza. can you tell me what you discussed? >> what we were doing and. he said we were getting lined up for-tests. for negative testes.

we proceeded to talk of but a lot of her things. most were arco days and alaska days, no more talk about business. >> you went to talk to mr. harold? what did you talk to him about? >> i talked to jimmy. just some general . i had not seen him in about five months. he showed me their 2010 goals

and some of their performance indicators. indicators. he had a new tracking chart he was putting together. briefly spoke to randy, senior tool pusher. we stopped in the galley for something to drink. then i went to find my bags and get room assignments. >> were you aware of any problems neg with theative test? no. >> >> a real where they ran a second one? ,>no at the time. >> was there any discussion at

all about the negative test? >> there was noiscussion at that time. don, our night well site leader, came to me when we were eating in the galley and asked if i wanted him to attend the 7:00 meeting. iold him, "no, we are not rolling out any new material." nothing that he probably had not heard. he seemed happy with that. that is what i recall of that.

>> you save you discuss made his between welles. a gun in a knit were you going to be doing? >> -- what kind of maintenance were you going to be doing? >> rig about plans maintenance. i do not recall any specific maintenance we were discussing. it was me of a plan that transocean was implementing a bit of the new strategy around, prevented his maintenance. that played into buddy's visit.

there was the rig equipment. maintenance is one of those stains. >> do you know [unintelligible] >> would you repeat that? >> do you know where the deep water horizon was going after the mississippi canyon to 52? 252? >> the plan i recall was to go to a well that we called "nile/" it was a well that we were going to plug and abandon. it could be. i do not recall that ocs number.

>> do you know when it was supposed to ride? >> wheneve it got finished from mccondo. >> and dob [ you know when cemented -- to do you know when bp said they would stop operations? >> i do not know the date. >> i have no further questions. >> no questions at th time. >> no questions at th time. >> excuse me. good afternoon. i am with the coast guard. and i had a key queions for clarification. >> would you say your name again? >> hausler wheatley.

ross wheatley. vip went into the burden on the clock. is the correct? i was there with pat o'brien and don winslow. bridge, you're on the you indicated that some of the personnel participated in use of the simulator. is that correct? >> that is correct. >> who was given instruction on how to use the simulator? >> certain conditions, ocean

conditions are programmed in that exert forces on a simulated picture of the rig, and y to force it off location, and use the data to try to keep their with in a watch circle. >> was the captain participating in this exercise? >> i do not recall that he participat in that. i believe it was another of the marine croup would -- marine crew to would photograph the

conditions and start the simulation. anyone could work with the simulator. >> was the captain observing what was going on? >> the captain was observing everything that was going on on the bridge. i was not watchg him the entire time, nor was i talking to him the whole time. i know that he was not standing there right next to me or pat when we were using the simulator. >> do you recall which members of your party participated in using the simulator? >> i tried it once, and i know that pat tried it. i cannot say for sure if anyone else did. >> in your estimation, how much

time was spent by members of your party in the instruction and participation in the simulator? simulator? >> 10 minutes. 15 max. >> was that per person or total participation by all of the members? >> that was total participation. >> at the time that you indicated that the incident began, was anybody utilizing t simulator? >> i cannot say for sure that i know. know. i was not, so i was not really paying attention to what was going on at the simulator. i know that pat was not that the simulator, because i remember

where he was standing when we first heard the -- felt the vibration. he was standing up close to the front of the bridge looking at some screen up towards the front of the bridge. sir, if i recall your earlier testimony, you indicated that part of your trip out tohe deepwater horizon on this occasion was to conduct safety audits. is that correct? >> that is correct. as it presents itself, that is one of the things that we would do. >> on this particular occasion, did you conduct any safety audits, anif so, what type? >> we went to an area on the aft

deck of the rig, where the rer would be laid down if the riser was not in operation, not in use. we discussed aincident that had occurred, and talked about how it that same situation should have been on the horizon, what the differences were, what they had learned, or if they had adopted any earnings from that incident. we were asked to look at the -- there is a thing called the skate that moves pipe from that area up to the rig floor and

back, and an area underneath it, kind of a day -- kind of a bay. it was the scene of an incident that had happened on another rig ju a few days or a week before. we went to that area to see, again, how t horizon would be different or similar to this other rick -- to this other rig. we detected whether learnings from the other incident had been communicated, and how horizon had dealt with those learnings.

>> you mentioned that one of the areas you visited w eight skate. could you give us more details about that incident and what the lessons were? lessons were? >> well, the incident was a hydraulic line that had been leaking in that area on the other rig, and one of the drilling contractors had stepped down into that area to cle up the leak and lost his footing. in catching himself, he had hurt his shoulder. the learning's from that were around, as we always find learnings are around hazard

recognition, making sure that you think about where you're going to step or where you are going to put your hand. having access to that area that could be improved. again, these are investigations that are led by transocean. bp participate sometimes in bp participate sometimes in these, but we do both embraced the learnings and try to make sure those learning's get passed from grieg to rig -- from rig to rig. those were a couple of the learnings. we went to a rise in -- we went to horizon to see if those same learning's would apply, whether

access to the area was the same. in fact, on the horizon, it was a little bit deeper skate. a little bit more difficult to get into. we discussed what transocean was going to do relative to the event and the incident. >> you mentioned that this was part of your safety audit. all was participating in the safety audit besides yourself? >> well, pretty mh the group that was walking around was that was walking around was myself and pat o'brien , buddy, jimmy, and i cannot recall with

100% certainty the other folks who were with us. i think in total we were seven or eight. >> now, it is our understanding that you all have the safety measure program in place. is that correct? >> transocean has a safety management system that is followed on the rig. >> you mentioned that there were a number of lessons learned from this and prior incidents. how are those lessons learned communicated to the crew members on board a rig such as the deepwater horizon, and how do you validate and ensure that those lessons learned are being

incorporated in all safety procedures of the future? >> that is the challenge that we are always trying to improve. transocean, when they have an event, an incident, has their own internal communications methods that share learnings and any actions from -- that results from investigations or analyses of the events. of the events. bp will also share with transocean learnings that have been in other operations, other dp operations.

if there are places that we think are pertinent or relevant, wwill share those in a variety of ways with transocean, who then will tranche -- who then will pass along learning to the crew. >> during the course of your safety audits, do you utilize interviews, for example, drill core members, to try emphasize the safety members are actually being put in place and the crew members on the drill core are aware of those and enforcing those? >> to the extent that we can do that without interrupting anything, we do that. anything, we do that. there is no -- there is no

forced participation, i guess would be the best way to describe it. if we happened upon someone who appears to be doing something extremely critical, we might take the opportunity to have a conversation with them, but otherwise we generally try to be -- we do not cross any be -- we do not cross any barriers, and we do not interfere, for lack of a better word. >> i guess my question is a little more directed towards th practice and execution of your audit plan. our queries or interviews of crewmembers part of your audit plan in trying to determine how

effective your safety measures are being? >> in general, that would be a method of doing that. i can te you that i do not recall on this trip having an opportunity to do that with anyone other than the group that was walking around with us. so, any questions that i had or pat had were answered by one of our party rather than someone else. >> thank you, sir. i have no further questions, but i am sure other members do. i am sure other members do. >> hello, i am lieutenant

robert butts, united states coast guard. >> it seems like you are coming in very broken. could you change my profound -- could you change microphones? >> sure. how is that? >> better. thank you. >> mr. sims, in the discussion over the last couple of days, i have heard of this visit from a corporate as a vip visit, even as a dignitary visit. does that seem surprising to you? >> you are coming in very broken. it is in and out. it is in and out. could you change your microphone? it is very scratchy. >> how is this? >> try that.

>>ell, is it clear the? >> it is working now, but what happens is, when you start talking, it comes in and out and we can only hear parts of the conversation. >> my wife says that too. [laughter] mr. sims, over the past couple of days we have heard the characterization of your visit as a vip visit or even a dignitary visit. it does that surprise you? >> it surprises me, but i can understand possibly how that mit be characterized by folks on the rig. it was not advertised as such. there was no agenda sent out there was no agenda sent out ahead of time, and so i cannot say anything other than what i

know, which is that it was a routine, scheduled trip. >> yes, sir, and i am understand that. from your perspective, i imagine that is exactly how you would speak of it. but from the perspective on the rig, the guys doing the actual work, a kind of characterized as myself being in a unit and an admiral coming to visit us. i passed the gentleman the other day as you were going through your tour. he commented that there was a discussion, and he was talking with the gentleman, and due to the tour -- >> could you hold on for just a second? is it possible that we could hang up and call again? i do not know what is happening,

but it is very difficult. >> maybe you could use somebody else's microphone. >> how is that? >> that is a little better. >> ok. the visit. the tour of theig. well going across the drill bored, one of the gentlemen was confronted about the situation. we will not go into that. he said that in hindsight, if the tour was not going on, the gentleman would have stayed with the crew on the drill rig. i just wanted you to recognize that the visit did have some impact on the way that folks were actually doing their job. you had said that you went to reenforced goals. reenforced goals. was that bp's goals or goals

that the rig had set for themselves? >> that would be generalized, maybe a characterization of what we were doing. we have goals to reduce hand injuries. we andransocean together had a hand injury prevention program that we were, yo know, that was going on. >> i wrote what you had said were the goals. from your perspective, they were company goals that were just being refreshed? >> bayh worm -- they were, yes.

>> good enough. that is good enough. usually when i want to refresh a goal, it means that i have potentially missed a goal, and someone needs to remind me of it. i just wanted to touch on that. was the corporate office providing any recognition of the day, or identifying any persons on board that did something above their normal job or any of those other things? we, again, did not have that as an objective for the trip, but during that time after 9:00 p.m., we talked about a number of things. one of those was pointed out

that one person had been awarded, had been given a transocean award, so everybody said, "great job. keep up the good work. " there was a bit more conversation about that, but then we went on to another topic. >> it has been my experience on board transocean and regs and the past -- transocean rigs in the past that rewards are given to individuals, whether it be walmart gift cards or things like that. i was wondering if that was the flavor of the day? >> not intentionally. >> good enough.

>> when you were in at the bridge, and you went through a very good description of the events of the night, and i appreciate that. you had mentioned that a bp operator had put out a mayday. was that a verbal mayday across the radio? >> it was a radio. i do not know what type of radio it was. she, i believe her name was andrea, plus speaking into what looked like a radio. >> -- was speaking into what looked like the radio. >> was she given any instructions for doing so or criticized for doing so? >> i was not aware of any instructions or any criticism. >> all right. as you were going through, you made several comments about a general question that went out

to the room, and overhead question to all. it was some reference to ees? was that true? >> i think he said eds. >> was there a general question to the room regarding sothing about e.d.s.? >> i apologize for and in complete memory about all of the events at that moment, but that is what it seems like i said. >> after that, at someone hesitated. >> again, there were a lot of things going on. we were thinking about something else, thinking about that, i don't know. very shortly thereafter, within seconds, very few seconds -- and i doubt even know why noticed. i am just telling you everything

the kind of came through my head. i remember he went straight over towards the panel, is my recollection. >> we appreciate your clarity, because it is extremely important when we are putting a time line together. you said that the captain hesitated and then later said that the captain agreed to e .d.s. we do have some records e that.d.s. -- we do have some record that e.d.s. was activated. >> i do recall that. >> there was also some discussion about going to the light post.

>> probably a portrait of words, but there was not -- when t words fit came out it was not a, not a command or an order. i do not know how to spell it -- who spoke it, but in general the feeling was, i guess, that we were starting to head in that direction. >> yes, sir, i am understand. you went on to say that there was not a consensus on the bridge to actually move forward with that. you said mr. pat -- is that pat o'brien? >> pat o'brien. >> he said let's go. >> i remember looking at him, and i think that is what he

said. >> also in the testimony you provided, you mentioned something about john -- >> john winslow. i am not sure. could you be specific about ich comment? >> he was wanting to excuse himself and you had made a comment something like, that is all right. all right. >> that was in reference to him asking if i wanted him to participate in the 7:00 meeng. >> did he explain to what he may not want to attend this vip dignitaries visit? >> i cannot recall with 100% certainty if he said anything about what was going on outside

or not. >> outside meaning the drill floor? >> yes. >> thank you very much, mr. sims, for making yourself available. i believe someone else has a few questions. >> we have no questions at this time. >> we're not getting new at all. >> and thank you, captain. we have no questions at this time but would reserve the right to present questions at a later time. >> did he say no questions? >> yes, but he reserves the right to ask questions when the witness appears before the board at a later time. >> ok, and who said that?

we did i get it at all. >> that was the counsel for the republic of marshall islands. party of interest, bp, do you have any questions for your witness? >> [unintelligible] >> thank you, sir. >> what was that? we missed that? >> could you relate to anything they are saying. we cannot hear them in the audience. >> yes i can. bp did not have any questions. >> council for anadarko? no questions from anadarko.

douglas brown? >> does he have questions? >> yes, he has questions for mr. sims. >> what is his name? >> mr. steve gordon. can you hear me sir? >> and not real clear. steve gordon. counsel, can you hear me? >> yes, what is your name? >> steve gordon. mr. sims, once again, your drillings operations manager for

bp, correct? >> currently for the elite well by the d d three. >> what is your oer title? >> that is it right now. >> that is it right now. before -- >> was the word "completion of" title?rt of her title stocyour >> iw ould say it has been -- the title has been written a number of ways. the wells ops manager. both ways. written

>> has the word "completion" ever bombarded your title? >> that is what the "c" sants for, yes. >> thank you can you tell me rew fort look of the c the deepwater horizon? >> would you explain? >> i have been told by bp they thought they were considered the "a" team. is that true? >> what bp said? >> what did he income of the deep waterise in crude? -- deepwater horizon crew? >> i think the crew and the rig had good performance.

associated with that rig. >> do you have knowledge of whether people in had management in ha asked transean to try to clone the deepwater horizon crew because they were so efficient? >> clone? >> put them on the other transocean vessels. >> would you ask the quesion over? >> into you have knowledge that management in bp stock transocean to try to "clone othercrew so the transocean vessels would be able to operate as effectively?

cannot honestly say i recall that word being used. i think that bp felt like it was a good rig, crew and i do not recall the word "clone." >> would you have like to have a a crew like deepwater on other vessels that drill wells for you. >> you are asking him to speculate? >> i am asking his opinion of the crew. >> it was a good crew.

>> you were there for a routine safe audit, correct? >> i would call it a leadership visit. >> it is not for a safety ward? >> that is correct. >> who did go out there with? , donbuy'brien, don trehan. >> would you agree with me that those people might be considered executives of bp and transocean? >> let me run an objection. >> objection. >> the witness answered "i suppose pep." >> we thought we heard an objection.

hold on. [laughter] >> i could tell it was ned. [laughter] >> let me have your objection. >> my objection is that this witness is being asked to render an opinion about whether certain people with in a different organization might be viewed in a certain way by certain people it is well beyond this with this isbility to ma that judgment. i would think that on his own he will answer that he cannot make this judgment. i want the record to make addition not be made. >> he is awkward to answer that. he is only saying he thought it was a good rig and cre he will not say what someone else might have thought of them.

>> at this point, he is asking about certain pple and whether they could be considered executives for the upper management. that is the question i am objecting to >> ok. >> igree. i can -- >> i just want to ask another question then i am good. >> ok. [laughter] >> is transocean had been -- if two memebers from transocean had been given a safety award, and they certainly would have told you about that when you traveled with them out there, right? classes are a good answer -- he classes are a good answer -- he is not good to answer any question about speculation. >> did you ask the u.n. to do out there? was everybody quiet? >> not to sound flip sense, but

in a helicopter you cannot have a conversation. before, the onl form thing that i recall don winslow saying was that he wanted to leadershipeeting with sometime during the visit and that is the meeting that was set up for 7:00. >> thank you so much. two questions appear do you know a lady by the name of rachel klingman. >> i do not know her. >> she is a lawyer for transocean. tuesday for the house judiciary committee on may 27.

>> he did not know. >> this is a question. >> he has indicated he did not know. >> i'm just good to ask him the question without referring to her. >> fine. >> did you know -- >> did you know -- >> how i knowrachel klingman. he want to read something she may have said the for a panel in washington -- hold on. you do not know what is going to ask. >> let's hear your question. did mr. sims know that rachel under oath says that the transoce executives weron board to give a safety award did he know that? >> if you can answer yes or no.

>> did i know she said then? >> no. >> thank you. >> transocean, and do you have any questions? cried not at this time. -- >> not at this time. >> we did not hear that. >> in the questions from transocean. this is not a legal proceeding. i note denotation of being an"honor." an"honor." >> good afternoon.

my name is david jones. i represent cameron. i believe that you testified earlier that it was after the second explosion at the lights went out on the bridge. is that correct? >> thais correct. >> i thought you said that the lights went out on panels on the bridge. is the corrected text again? rk in, i sd it was dart the bridge and difficult to read or determine any worse on the bop panel. >> how did you ever observe the right to go out on the bop panel? observe thet

lights go out. >> how did you know when you said you turned and attacked the gop panel? how did you know you are looking at the bop panel? had you seen it before? >> i had seen it before. >> it is a fairly large panel, correct? >can you describe it for me? >can you describe it for me? probably 5 feet high and i guess 3 feet wide. >> ok. it has two sides that are 5 feeet high and 3 feet wide. is this your understanding?

>> i don't know. >> whatever the panel you were looking at the you believe to be the bop was about 5 feet tall and 3 feet wide? is that fair? >> the panel that i of a tent that had buttons that i believed were associated with individual eop components but to me to b about 5 feet high and about 3 feet wide. >> i in hughes said that use of green lights, a yellow light, and one red light. is that correct? >> that is correct. i saw a green and yellow light side by side, and green on left i believe and yellow in the middle. or what appeared to be the bop

component in the stack. >> then you said the one red light you saw was at the top of the panel. is that correct? a i would characterize it as toward the top of the panel. >> de know if there any light above the red light that you saw the suspec? >> i do not recall any of but it. >> ok. i understand you have a red light in the middle toward the top. going down beneath it, you have a yellow light and green light side by side as you are going down. >> that isy recollection that the red light of the uppermost light that i recall seeing and below that and what flights were

there were green and yellow light side by side. furtherwer discussion about seen the captain and the captain going over to the bop panel. indeed you actually see someone active a e theate the eds? >> did not see the hutton pushed specifically. >> at some point after the captain and went toward bop panel, you said you looked at the panel and you still get the lights were no different. is that correct? >> glanced at the panel shortly after that. my recollection is that there were now red lights on what looked to me to be all of the

green and yellow lights. where the green light off or on? >> i can't remember. >> were any lights plinking? >> i did not notice any blanket plight. >> when the plans said the panel, how long did you look at it? was it a quick glance at? >> i would consider that a quick look. a couple of seconds. o >>k. i believe that is all i have. thank you and ridd. clyde thank you.

we reserve the right to ask questions when the witness appears in person. >> halliburton is not have questioned at this time pitah. >>mi has no questions. >> no questions at this time. >> no questions at this time. >> thank you for your testimony today. are there any questions so we did not ask ind? >> np, sir.

we will need to appr before the board, will you make yourself available? >> i will do everything i can. i appreciate the grayson that was given to me verbally. i appreciate that. you are dismissed. >> thank you. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010] cable satellite corp. 2010] to allow for the party interest we have, we hav time for evident for the board to consider and the technical verification phase. we are planning to hold the next sessions in the later part in july.

i request that of a party terested to submit a request to the board by the end to an impossible. throughout our investigation, we will identify identify additional parties as appropriate. is on the conduct of the captain well operating under the deepwater horizon, the board will issue letters to each individual as a party of interest. this meeting is

>> my name is paul james meinhart iii.

>> by him are you employed? >> transocean. >> what position do you currently hold with them? >> motorman. >> how long have you been a motorman witthem? >> three months. >> did you have any experience prior to this? >> i worked on another transocean rick prior to working on deepwater horizon. >> said you have about six months working with transocean? >> yes. >> did you have any special training for the job? >> prior to coming off shore, and worked as a diesel mechanic with a dealership. with a dealership. >> as a motorman on the

deepwater horizon, warrior day- to-day operations and responsibilities? -- what were your day-to-day operations and responsibilities? >> i was shadowing another mechanic, assisting as needed under the engineering staff. >> who was your supervisor? >> it changed from day to day. llie stoner and terry sullers. >> how long had you been on the rig prior to the explosion? >> four days. >> were you aware of any problems on the rig? >> no. >> could you give me a brief

summary of your day on april 20th from the time you wok up until the explosion? >> i got up at approximately 5:30 a.m., got my daily pass from our first engineer, went and performed the daily rounds on the pumps, came back. at that me, some of the other crew were installing a cooling ps of piping. i went with them and installed -- a cooling piece of piping. i went with them and installed it. i went to isolate the equipment, tested and return it to service. fill out paperwork, but it signed -- it got it signed, came back and gathered everybody to isolate the equipment and

test it. that is when the incident occurred. occurred. >> where you located at theime of the incident? of the incident? >> in the engine control room. >> was anybody elsthere wh you? >> yes, three people. >> prior to the incident, did you hear any type of indication that something was going on? any lights or something blinking to make you aware of a problem? >> prior to the explosion, we had an alarm for combustible gas. that was the very first alarm. that was the very first alarm. we overheard a transmission on

the radito disconnect been moved off the vessel 500 m. after the transmission, three to four more alarms came up. >> what type of alarm, visual, audio? >> both. >> you just referenced thatou had some type of communication. how lo prior to the first explosion did that communication takes place? >> i perceived it to be 15 to 20 seconds. >> then how much longer was the second explosion after the first explosion? >> 10 to 15 seconds, i believe. >> was there any communication to the engine control room to perform a shutdown? >> no. >> did they have that capability?

>> we had the capability of shutting down the engine, yes. >> did the bridge communicate to the control room to shut down the engine? >> we had both radios and telephones. >> which engines were running at the time of the incident? >> 3 and 6. >> i know you said you had only been on the deepwater horizon for three months, but were you aware of any safety devices on the engine themselves? the engine themselves? >> they had mechanical and eltrical. >> who was responsible for doing preventative maintenance d inspection on those? >> i believe our first engineer. >> in the three months that you're out theredo recall any preventative maintenance or inspection on those devices? >> i recall doing a test and testing of the systems on one of thengines, yes.

>> de remember which engine that was? >> not exactly, no. >> do you know what the settings were for the over speed? >> not the exact settings, note. >> when the alarm sounds, does that shut power to the engin at all? >> the alarms notify us. the engines provide power to the rig over hydraulics, the rig over hydraulics, thrusters, for all of the equipment on the rig. if we shut down the engines, the rate has no power to perform any operations. -- the rig has no power to perform any operations. >> are there backup generators? >> yes. the emergency generator has to be manually started.

>> have you ever seen mms or the coast guard on the rig? >> wii's. >> did an of those indivi -- >> yes. >> did any of those individuals perform inspections while you were there? >> non- during the shift that i worked >> can you tell me where you were during the explosions? >> the first explosion, and was standing port side with my back to the door. i got blown in. i believe that it came fm the port side of the vessel from where we were at. >> and the second explosion?

>> the second explosion, at that time i had just moved over, but i still had my back to the po side. there was another door coming from the center of the rig. during the second explosion, that door got blown open. >> do you know what exploded? >> no. >> de know what happens in an engine scenario when there -- do you know what happens in an engine scenario when there is a run ay? >> depending on the extent, a bearing failure can occur on any of the rods which can cause the head to be blown off the engine. >> when you were in the ntrol room, was there a presence of gas? >> and do not recall that. >> are you familiar with the saver?"

>> that is a valve on the engine that is supposed to close in the event of an over speed. >> do have any indication that that device it activated? >> that would be on the sbc consoles. it is the main consoles that controls all the power and the generator systems. >>o u have any will control procedures in your role as a motorman? >> no. >> were you ever in any type of a well control scenario?

>> not that i know of, no. >> if you were in a well control event, do you know what you would do as a motorman? >> assist as needed, as directed. >> w would be directing you? >> the watch engineer or the first engineer. >> that is all the qstions i have. thank you. >> sir, can i just follow up with a couple of questions. after the second explosion, when you made your way out of e engine control room, c you just tell us what happened? what did you see? >> as i was making my way out of the engine control room, i

assisted someone in getting out, and willie stunner out, and willie stunner insisted -- willie stoner assisted in getting him out. there is a phone on the deck. willie attempted to contact the bridge. the phones or dead. -- the phones were dead. at that time, we knew that we needed to get to our primary lifeboat station. myself, willie and brent made our way onto the deck and then to the port side of the vessel, and then moved up to the bridge. >> did you notice any damage? i know it was pretty confusing at the time, but did you notice any damage along the main deck area? >> on the main deck, i did not

take a survey of any damage other than just observing our direction of travel, to observe any obstructions. >> did you step over anything that was blown down? >> there were bits of debris. >> did you notice any holes or missing rails? >> on the main deck, no. on the belowain deck, there is a set of steps, ree or four steps down to a walkway. initially, i wanted to stay below main deck to get to the starboard side of the vessel to avoid any danger, but the small steps going to the walkway were damaged. >> that was at the rear of the vessel? >> yes. >> i have no further questions.

thank you. >> when you exited out of the engine control room onto the life boat deck, where the life boats packed, or were they gone? >> i do not recall ever taking a survey of the lifeboats. and do not recall if they were there or if they were packed. my initial concern at the time was making the phone calls, attempttng to make the phone calls to the bridge. brent had a severe it laceration to the scalp, bleeding quite bad. my first thought was to assess his injuries and to try to see if there was anything i could do for him. >> thank you. >> sir, i have a few questions for you, specifically about the emergency generator you described. on board the deepwater horizon indicated in your testimony that the emergency generator had to

be manually started. did it switch on automatically? >> the systems on the rig, you have the primary generators running to prode power. in the event that the main generators trip off or over speak for whatever reason, the system was designed to then start any other main generators that were not running at that time. >> is that a what you are referring to as your emergency generator, the generator you attempted to start? >> know. no. the damage to the system prevented the other generators from starting. >> there was yet another generatoseparate and distinct from those generators? >> yes. >> and that i what you're referring to as the emergency generator? >> yes. would it be fair to --

>> would it be fair to referre u.s. a standby generators -- would be unfair to refer to it as a standby generator as opposed to an emergency generator. i am not trying to put words in your mouth, but there is a difference between one that is automatically generated and one that has to be manually started. >> from the time that you got on board the deepwater horizon, d recall whether there was any maintenance performed on that generator? >> on this particular raid? >> yes.

>> no. i had not been on the rig enough days at that time. >> according to your statements you provided, you indicated that you had gone to the bridge, and then you went to this auxiliary generator room to try to started. do you recall that? >> yes. >> how did you try to start it? >> the generator has a battery starter, an electric starter. the battery systems were turned on. it has a start button. the start button was then switched on. we tried to start the generator. nothing happened. we we not sure if maybe we were not doing something right. as an operating manual -- there was an operating manual that we then read it through to verify we were performing correctly. the generator still would not start. >> how many times did you attempt to start the generator?

>> the generator was attempted to start several times, five or six times. based upon your experience as a diesel mechanic and now a motorman, did you have any idea what was causing the problem? >> something electrical, because the generator would not even attempt to turn over >> thank you. i have no further questions at this point. >> you had gotten everyone. i think it was mr. paul. you had made it back up to the bridge, and ensure your buddies got up there and taking care of. where, from the bridge to the generator check, where is that located? how did you get down to that? where is that located? >> is on the main deck on the

port side behind the bridge. >> the kit. thank you. -- ok. thk you. >> transocean? >> no questions. >> douglas brown? >> no questions. >> halliburton? >> no questions. >> no questions. >> did you sayhat you tried to start the generator that night?

>> after the incident, when we needed power to possibly run fire equipment, yes, we did try to started after the incident. >> when was that? when did you start to do that? >> are you asking? >> time wise. >> time was, after the initial blast, i cannot say exactly. i would say less than 10 minutes. >> had mr. mansfield been taken out of the engine control room? >> yes, sir. as i said, myself and willie assisted mr. mansfield to the bridge. >> and then, did somebody direct you to try totart the generator? >> whener i got up there at the time, i got up there, mike williams was up there. doug brown was up there.

we had all of us up into the bridge. the captain said that we needed power to attempt to fight the fire. we then informed him of the damage that had occurred, and that we were not going to be able to attempt to get main power back on the bridge. he then asked if it would be possible to possibly get emergency power from the backup generator. >> and then he sent you to go try to do that? >> myself, mike williams, and steve then went to attempt to start the standby generators. >> and where did you have to go to do that? >> as i stated, the standby generatoroom is on the main deck on the port side of the vessel behind the bridge. >> in a prior emergency, it did any one of the three of you have this assigned task or any other

assigned task other than that? >> the watch engineer, the first engineer and the mechanical supervisor he assigned tasks. i assign task is to assist as directed. >> do know what the other assigned tasks are for the other gentleman? >> they are primarily supposed to assemble in the engine control room, assess the situation, and then proceed as needed to either set -- either shut down any equipment or start any equipment in whatever situation is. >> did you hear at any time anybody tell the captain that attempting to fight the fire would be a futile attempt? >> i do not recall that. >> as you sit here today, do you think there was a china meant chance to put that fire out? >> could you repeat the question?

>> yes. >> i think you're standing too close to the microphone. >> i'm sorry. would it have been possible for anyone on the deepwater horizon, if you had had power, to put the fire out? >> i cannot make that assumption. i do not know. >> of car in -- ok. can you describe the capt. as far as his demeanor at that time? >> my opinion of the capt.'s demeanor is that he was very direct and organized, and getting information from the crew that were in different parts of the vessel to assess the damage of the vessel, and then directing people as what needed to be done. >> the panel back in the engine

control room, before th explosion -- actually, let me ask you. were you trained at all to utilize the emergency shutdown buttons? >> myself directly, no. >> ok. were you ever personally trained on that vessel on how to somehow shutdown electrical power? >> electrical power? no. >> all of your training regarding power, either taking it off line or on line, was to bring power up if it went down. is that correct? >> yes. >> or you ever trained for --

trained or alerted to the fact that the ventilation into the engine control room was such that if there was a gas leak on deck, the gas would come into the engine control room? were you er told that? >> i was not told directly, no. >> was there ever any discussion by the captain that if you, when you were sent to iniate the emergency generator system, that there may be cast in the area, and that by doing so you could actually cause an additional explosion? explosion? >> the question is d the captain say that? >> know. -- no. >> did anybody say that? >> at the time, no. >> looking back, do you understand the concept that that could have happened?

>> yes, understand that, but due to the fact that the reagan was on fire at the time -- on fire at the time -- >> -- that the reaig was on fire at the time -- >> one more fire wouldn't matter? >> known not that. -- n not that. >> you would not put it like that. was there another first engineer on the rig? >> yes. >> who was that? >> i do not know his name. i believe that on the shift i did not work on, that person would have been a jerry. as i said, i did not work on days. i do not know. >> in this dan you are under oath, and i do not want you to

guess, -- i understand you are under oath, and i do not want you to guess, so let me rephrase. do you understand that there was a first engineer who was a counterpart to james mansfield? >> wii's. >> but you did not know who he was -- >> yes. >> but you did not know who he was? >> as i said, i did not work on it days. >> let me ask you another question. it is my understanding that he was working for his engineering license. is that possible? >> anything is possible, but i think we are getting really far afield here. >> i just want to verify whether he knows whether he had a license or was working towards

it. >> [unintelligible] >> ok, fine. thank you so much. do you recall hearing j engines at three or six or revving up in power? >> yes. >> do you know what they are set to run at? >> the ect setting, a normal run at speed is 78 >> how about 720. >> ok. >> can you tell me what they read up to? >> i do not know. >> did you have the ability to look on the screen to determine that? >> the ability to monitor what the engine rpm was is possible on the console, yes. >> d you have an opinion -- and you may have answered this, and i am sorry if i do not recall,

whether things function on engine 3? >> i do not know for sure. >> engine 6? >> i do not know for sure either. >> did you go dark? >> yes. >> is it your belief that the reason you went dark is because the frequency trip on engine three or six? >> i do not know exactly the cause of us going dark. >> but the engines and never stopped running before the explosion, correct? >> i do not believe so. >> they were winding up when the explosion occurred? >> yes. >> thank you so much. >> thank you, sir. >> bp? >> no questions. >> cameron? >> no questions.

>> drill quit? >> no questions. >> brought the third -- rutherford? >> no questions. >> just to follow up, or the engines winding up or were they winding down? >> i believe that they were winding up. >> how long have you been a esel mechanic, including your time with deep water? >> including my on short time and this, about six years. >> if gas was going into the turbo, with the engines revved up or read down? >> they would rev up due to the

fact that they're receiving an internal, unregulated source of fuel. >> thank you, sir. a couple of questions. what would have been damaged for the other primary generator to come on line? >> what would have been the damage to the primary generated? >> if th went down, other primary engines should have come up and they didn't. what would have been damaged for them to come up? >> i do not believe that during the time that the raid went dark -- the reagan went dark -- the rig went dark. there is always a delay in

registering the equipment has failed. there was not enough time between the reagan and going and dark and the fst explosion -- the rig going dark and the first explosion. >> so if the consol was damaged, the other primary would not come online? >> yes. >> can the primary generator, can it be shut down from the bridge or any other location, or is it only in the engine control room that you can shut these things down? >> the bridge and the engine control room have the ability to control the engines as far as starting up engines and shutting down engines. >> so, if personnel on the bridge felt that some of the engines should have stopped ignition, they could have done

that from the bridge. >> at the time, the engine control room was in control of the equipment, so we would have had primary control of the equipment, and then the bridge could have taken control, but the amount of elapsed time, and the other issues that the bridge was dealing with, i do not know. >> a does do not understand, you have primary control -- i just do not understand, if you have primary control down there, could the bridge take control? i am trying to understand the configuration. at no time did the bridge in four knew that they were taking control and shutting it down? -- at no time did the bridge inform you that they were taking control and shutting it down? >> no. >> thank you for your testimony. >> you have lived on a rig for

three months. do the terms think and start come to mind? >> wii's. >> -- " yes. >> could you elaborate on what they are? >> start is maintaining control of a task. think is executing control of a task. >> is there any question we did not ask you or any information relevant to this investigation that you would like to offer? >> i do not believe so. >> in the future, if we need you to come back to provide additional information, would you make yourself available? >> yes. >> thank you. you ardismissed.

we will take a break, a 10 minute break, and reconvene at 9:00. thank you.

it is available in hardcover and also as an ebook.

>> and now drew brees, the quarterback of the champion -- the super bowl champion new orleans saints, addressing the graduates of loyola university. he talks about his decision to move to new orleans after hurricane katrina. this is about 15 minutes. [no audio] [no audio]

[no audio] summer of 2006 -- that was not the most popular thing to do. for me, i felt like coming to new orleans was appalling. for you, there must have been something drawing you hear -- was a calling. for you, there must have been something wrong you here as well. ed knew that we belong here. four years later, we can reflect back and say we were part of something special. the work is not done yet, but we were part of something special.

we have watched the city come back songer than ever. we have seen the people come ba with more passion and determination than before. we have all been part of the super bowl championship. [cheers and applause] denitely could not leave that one out. [applause] no matter where you are from or where you go from re, keep new orleans close to your heart. remember what you were a part of, and know that we are all n linked together forever. [cheers and applause] as i looked out at the young men and women graduates of loyola university, class of 2010, i am so excited for you all.

what you are about to experience will be i opening, certainly rewarding -- eye-opening, certainly rewarding, and challenging at times. experience is gainewhen you do not get what you want. i can promise you that you will gain experience. you will not always get what you want. you will face of adversity. this guy is a limit as to what you can accomplish -- the sky is the limit as to what you can accomplish. some of you will be doctors, lawyers, politicians come writers -- politicians, writers, artists, teachers, coaches, entrepreneurs, inventors, and maybe one of you will even own an nfl franchise someday. i kno another loyola university member who does.

[laughter] [applause] i can tell you this -- your best years are yet to come, but that does not mean it is going to be easy. i can guarantee you that he will face of adversity along the way. for most of you -- that you will face adversity along the way. for most of you, it will be the toughest thing you have had to face in your life. every person that you meet will say it is because of that adversity that they have the opportunity to reach new heights that they never thought possible. for me, it was my shoulder injury in 2005, december 31. i was playing for the san diego chargers and i dislocated my right shoulder going into the off season in which i did not have a contract. i did not have a job. when you have the kind of injury as a quarterback, ere are not many people who come calling or knocking. at the time, i thought it was

probably the worst thing that could have ever happened to me. but now, i look back at four years later, and i say it w probably one of the best things that ever happened to me. [applause] because it brought me to new orleans. there are many others that have faced tha adversity and been in simir circumstances and situations. steve jobs -- c zero of -- ceo of apple. you might know him. he was adopted as a young baby. he went to college and dropped out after his first year. he ended up then starting apple, along with a partner of h, when he was 20-years-old, in his basement.

by age 30, heas fired from his position as ceo, when he had a falling out with his partn and with the board at apple. for the next f years, there was some soul-searching for him, but in the end, she ended up starting up another company -- he ended up starting up another company which you might have which of -- pixaar -- ended up getting bought out by disney for $8 billion. he was right back where he was 20 years before as ceo. he is now doing some remarkable things. it was that adversity, when he was kicked to the curb, so to speak, from the company that he founded, where he really gain

strength and even more motivation to go forth and the remarkable things that he would not have been able to accomplish at the not gone through what he went through at age 30 -- that he would not have been able to accomplish, had he not gone through what he went through at age 30. another example -- ellen degeneres. i have heard her talk about the moment when she came out and announced she was gay. at that point, she was having a pretty successful career. [laughter] little slip. [applause] she was having a pretty successful. [laughter] once she announced that, she, for three years, was out of

work. peopleould not give her the opportunities that they had before. to her, that was the toughest thing she ever had to go through. but in the end, she was being true to herself. and she then received a small opportunity to host her own tv show -- her own talk show. and i think we all know how that has gone. she is perhaps one of the most, if not the most, successful talk show hosts in the history. by being an new orleans woman, we know what she has meant to the country, to the world. she is a source of inspiration. d she not gone through what she went through during those three years, she would not be

where she is today. once again, the lesson being that adversity is an opportunity. adversity will make you stronger. adversity will shape you into the person you are meant to be. yoprobably remember the onside kick in the the super bowl -- in the super bowl. [applause] how coul we forget that? i will tell you the story behind that. we had two weeks to prepare for the super bowl. he came into the meeting and said, we have an onside kick that we're putting in the plan, and is not a matter of if, but when. it is going to happen. sure enough, it did. and it worked. thank god. [laughter] so the lesson there -- it is not

a matter of if you will face adversity in your life, but when. when adversity knocks on your door, seize it as an opportunity. it is god's way of providing you with the strength and the tools to face future challenges and to mold you into the person that he meant for you to be. in the end, it is ts adversity that will allow you to accomplish things in life that you originally thought were reserved only for your dreams. my second piece of advice to you is this -- find what you love to do and then figure out a way to get paid for it. [laughter] it sounds pretty simple, does it not? find what you love to do and then figure out a way to get paid for it. some of you think you know exactly what you want to do.

there are others who probably have no idea. i can tell you this -- that is ok. in a year from now, those that think they know what they want to do, they might not have any idea. those that do not know what to do may have found their passion by then. my point is, be patient and don't settle. the only way to do great work is to love what you do. as with every matter of the heart, you will know when you find. -- find it. my third piecef advice is to approach every opportunity with an attitude of gratitude and a mindset that whenever you encounter, you will leave it better -- whatever you encounter, you will leave it better than when you arrived. we have all been part of that here in new orleans. in everything u do in life, leave your mark.

be a great stir word of the community and society and whatever business -- a great community the and societand would never -- and whatever business you're involved in. life goes fast. i was in your seats ten yeaers ago-- ten years ago. it feels like it was yesterday. my point there is, do not forget to enjoy the moment and reflect back on the journey from time to time. for me, standing on the podium after we won the sup bowl was a moment -- one of the defining moments of my life. at made it even more special was the fact that i was holding my son.

and the reflection on everything that we had been through as a city, as a team, to get to that pionoint. as we watched the confetti comedown and "world champions" come across the jumbotron and looking at the who dat nation going crazy we recognized what a journey that had been and how special it was. there is no city, no organization, no group of people that deserve it more. i promise you that. [applause] but the journey is not over. we want another one. [applause]

also, do not forget to enjoy the little things in life. sometimes you get going so fast. i feel like the last three months have been like that for me. do not forget to enjoy the little things in life. watching the sunset with the woman you love. taking a walk the park. sitting in rocking chairs on the front porch, watching the street cars go by. throwing the ball with your child. you will work too hard to not enjoy those little things. so enjoy the little things. my last piece of advice is, do not forget why you were put on this earth. the mayor mentioned this earlier. we were put on this earth to

serve others. sometimes, the more successful that you get, people tend to forget that. it becomes more abou how they can serve you, as opposed to how you can serve others. do not forget, no matter how successful you become -- which you all will -- to serve others. i believe everyone can agree that we have all been blessed with some great opportunities in our lives. the appreciative and respectful of those opportunities -- be appreciative and respectful of those opportunities and not take them for granted. give back what has been given to you. take the time to make the difference in the life of somebody less fortunate. it i amazing that the more generous you are and the more you choose to serve others,the happier you will be. and now, for the words you have been waiting for, in closing -

- [laughter] i would like to leave you with a quote. we are going to finished strong, do not worry. [cheers and applause] we cannot know and the other way. i want to leave you with quote. i could have chosen any quote, but i am choosing one from my grandfather. he is 85 years old and he still lives on the ranch, herding cows. i heard this all the time from them when i was growing up -- him when i was growing up. there are three types of people in the world -- those that make it happen, those that watch it happen, and those that wake up and say, what the heck happened? [laughter]

which onare you? that is what he would tl me. i leave you today bfirst saying, congratulations to the 2010 graduating class of the royal university -- of loyola univerty. [applause] and now, let's go make it happen. [cheers and applause] >> and now lucy beckham, at the college of charleston graduate school commencement. she is a high school principal in south carolina.

she discusses the value of education. this is about 10 minutes. >> when one asks what makes a school great, the obvious answer is the commitment and hard work of the stakeholders. we of some of the best teachers, parents, -- we have a some of the best teachers, parents, and students in the untry. the funny thing for me is that, when i began my career, i had no ambitions to be the national principle of the year. i did not plan to be a principal at all. i was excited about being a teacher. i thought one of the board members sitting here to my right -- taught one of the board members sitting here to my right. she did write well back then. -- right well back then. i was pleased to have my experience here.

the principal there offered me a job as a math teacher. he asked me if there was any math subject i would prefer not to teach. i said, yes, father, geometry. you can imagine my surprise when the only subject was geometry every period. i had to study geometry books. i got help from experienced math teachers, including my own dear mother, and i tried to turn self into a good geometry teacher. i faced a different challenge the next year. father kelly told me my schedule would be all geometry and one algebra 1. that class met at the freshman building. it was about eight blocks away by car. both buildings were on the same schedule. each day, after teaching section of geometry, during the class exchange, iould run down

three flights of stairs, to the parking lotto my car, and drive down the street as fast as i could without getting a ticket, into the other building, top two flights of stairs, into the classroom, pick up my chalk and begin. i was young, thin, and in great shape. th was what was bes for the kids. they needed a ma teacher and that principle thought i could handle it the best. i learned some important lessons that helped me through the rest of my career. i've learned that persistence and determination and flexibility are critical for success in any field, but especially in education. that has never been truer than it is today, as we face what is e real crisis in our country's public education system. for the next few minutes, i would like to talk to you about this crisis and what all of us can do to help.

on the state and national level, we have far too many elected officials and citizens who seem to have a "what's in it for me" attitude about our public schools. -- for me" attite about our public schools. some of them seem to be blinded by self-interest, or they are under the interest of special interest groups. th fail to see the connection between a strong system of public education and the future of america as a whole. they are focusing on what is going wrong, and ignoring the many successes. this type of thinking is at best misguided, and at worst it endangers the security and prosperity of our country. when people say the children are our future, it is the truth. children across this nation, from all sorts of backgrounds and circumstances -- the

quality of their education and opportunities available to them should not be limited by their race, their family income, or there's a code -- their z code. fiveears ago, i was the mentor for a young man who led been raised in generational poverty. his principal called to ask me to look out for him. he said he was a quiet kid, but one of the brightest in his class. keep abreast of the story. he lived in a small, -- he told me the rest of the story. he lived in a small, dilapidated home on the edge of town. the family had no car and no access to public transportion. his dad was dead. his mom never came to a meeting because she had no way to get there. doing homework was not an option. there was no quiet place t study and bary a place to sleep. he had missed the basic social experience that we all take for

granted. going out to a restaurant and ordering from a menu, taking a car trip with a family. i learned more about the issues of povty and social class and their impact on children from my relationship with michael than i ever did in any course or seminar. although he was intelligent, the obstacles he fed were massive. he did that -- he did graduate from high school last year. it was a great day. he was the first member of his family to do so. he quickly found that having a high school diploma is not enough. after five months of looking for a job, to no avail, while attending community college, he opted to enter the u.s.rmy and hopes to go to college later. he understands that, to compete for good jobs in the world today, he must have post secondary education. that is the new reality for every high school student in america. had it not been for the teachers who were willing to tutor and

nurture and encourage him, michael, today, would be another dropout. as a nation, we cannot afford to fail the children like michael who desperately need a good education to break the cycle of property -- poverty. providing adequate and stable funding for our schools is a national crisis, a problem in every state. cutting instructional days and letting our teachers go, canceling the arts and athletics programs that are being considered now -- these are awful ideas. [applause] if that is where we end up, then we will have failed these children and not given them the quality of education and opportunities that they need and deserve. ease understand that america's economic forecast is dependent upon the quality and the skill of the work force.

we're always only e generation away from a bright future or a great decline. on a trip to washington last fall, i visited the home of thomas jefferson. he was one of the visionary founding fathers of this nation, and the principal author of the declaration of independence. his writings make it clear tt he envisioned a strong system of public education as being critical to the success of this country. describe the system of education which would serve every citizen, richest and poorest -- he described a system of education which would serve every citizen, richest and poorest. he believed having an educated citizenry was required for the preservation of our liberty. this crisis is simple and the solution is simple. each of us and every citizen in america passed to actively seek ways that we can do our part to

support our country by supporting public education. we all had role to play. those of you who are entering the education field will have the privilege of molding future americans. decide that you will always do what is best for your students, even if it is difficult for you personally. choose to have a positive attitude, regardless of how many flights of stairs you may be asked run, or if your teacher at the site and -- teaching at a summit is not what you wanted. be alessing -- teaching assignment is not wha you wanted. be a blessing. remember, teaching is a calling. it is missionary work. you have an opportunity to impact lives. be the teacher that you remember

to your students. for those of you who do not plan to enter the education field, please do not think you are off the hook. . today the first hellish recipient will be graduating.

will you please stand now and recognized in honor of your contribution to education. [applause] on behalf of the children, i want to thank you. you make a huge difference. finally, there is another way that all of you can contribute. that is by letting your voice be hear speak up for our schools. learn about the candidates running for office. choose those who support public education. most of them say they do. votes in every election. let me say that again. but in every election. be an advocate always for the children. we're so blessed to live here in this great country. we endanger our liberty and prosperity without a strong

system of public education for all of our children. please g out and do your part to make a difference for those children. god bless you, graduates, as you take on new roles in our society. god bless your families and friends who are here today and who have helped get you to this point. god bless america. thank you. [applause] >> and now michelle bachelet, the president of chile. she discusses foreign service and your country's relations with the u.s.. from washington, this is 15 minutes. >> dean goodman and the class of

a 2010 and all of your family, thank you, mr. president, for your kind words. please send me because i might need them now that i am looking for work. i wish to thank of the american university for this incredible honor. you have bestowed an honorary doctorate upon me. i am honored and i speak on behalf of the the millions countryman and countrywoman. our people have struggled to rebuild a democracy and we are so proud. the people of today struggled after one of the most destructive earthquakes in recent history. throughout chilean history, we have overcome challenges. allow me to and read my

appreciation because this university that includes chilean students, professors, and the dean had been involved with the struggle for and strengthening of democracy and human rights in chile and all over the world. i am pleased to learn you have recently established a center for latino americans which will undoubtedly be a catalyst for deeply intellectual collaborations between your academ community, and ours. i am proud to accompany you in the joys and happiness of this ceremony. i want to extend my special congratulations to all the students who are graduating today. that m extend congratulations to your parents and families. graduates, please join me in expressing your support for your

friends and family. [applause] graduating from college is a bit like leaving the presidency. you look back and reflect with pride on the hard work and the things you have accomplished. the most valuable lesson lies in what you have learned about yourself. you have the ability to work through the night and still be in top form tomorrow. leaving college, you like me, look forward to the future with optimism that you are not sure what that future holds. some of you may seek employment, some that may go on to continue your studies. remember that the past you choose today will help guide your future but it will not determine it. when will help you reach your goal is hard work, perseverance,

and a bit of luck. in myase, life has taken many unexpected turns. i studi resident -- i studied medicine and became president. when the nicest has been able to share this milestone in your life. for this, i think you. graduates coming have earned your degrees and deserve a celebration. that is the good news. the bad news is that w comes the hard part because you have been given the tools and now is the time to go out and change the world. it is a world tt expects much from you.3 regional challenges, economic crisis around ago, and a few difficulties in america. the financial crisis is the worst in the last 60 years and has a serious effect and is

starting to recover. we must ask ourselves what we have learned from this crisis. first, the crisis was a result of an extended absence of international political leadership. we lack the will to act on the many problems as globalization was expanding. it has been ignored for so long. the international economic crisis than we have endured since 2008 has become an example of the cost of globalization without rules. they believed it could be managed with a laissez-faire attitude and that the market would replace policy. we must learn this lesson. if we do not, humanity will face much larger problems in the

future with many other baubles that will burst. the best example is global waing. the main challenge for the international community is to learn to help the global problem. as a result, we need to design a global social and political contract based on a new political paradigm whose aim is a collective action carried out five strong states capable of generating comprehensive relations that are sure and governance for the 21st century. that means one thing. must take multilateralism seriously. we cannot continue things as we have before. we must go ahead with the task that has been proposed. it points toward theiable path for improving this. we must coordinate fiscal

policies and avoid imbalances. we must strength relations in order to avoid another global financial crisis. we must reform multilateral institutions. if we do not do this together, they will not be able to do and alone. the international community is moving in this direction, but the truth is that we are only at the beginning. you may wonder why a former president of chile is so concerned with this. first of all, everything is connected and we are l connected. the fact is that the tension between the paradigm of deregulation and the need to generate the regulations to ensure an ability has been a recurring theme in our democracies around our region. during the 1980's and 1990's, they flourished. many thought that democracy was here to stay. since then, we have observed how

many doctors' fees ha been unable to generate as expected. democracy faces a problem. democracies from the 1980's and 1990's have been lost in a world recession. let america has noteen immune to this global phenomenon. on the one hand, this is the longest democratic stance in history. during the last 25 years, there have been 20 interruptions of the legitimately elected governments. until honduras, we have not seen a situation like this since the cold war. the more reason democratic interruption [inaudible]

defending the mark receive and searching for dialogue to solve political crisis is much better than when generation ago. take for example the response of the union of south american nations, the 12 countries of south america, as we try to avoid a breakdown of democracy during the crisis of 2008 or duri the crisis in honduras. even so, the organization of democracy in latin america requires much mor it requires an undstanding that democratic rules are totally and absolutely essential but they are not enough. we must pay attention to what the people think, how they experience of democracy, and what we can get from it. they never forget what others sometimes fail to remember.

abraham lincoln reminded us 150 years ago that democracy is the government of the people but it also must be by the people and for the people. this requires the socialization of oanizations. without a doubt, civil liberties and respect for human rights are the essence of democracy. guarantees for an individual for freedom of thought, religion, of the press, and association must respected a also the freedom to live without fear. although in the entire continent, we respect civil rights and individual guarantees in many places, there is the pressure from organized crime. this is y if we wish to consolidate and improve democracy, we must also defeat organized crime, corruption,

inefficient judicial systems. when he spoke at this university, the american university, almost 50 years ago, and i will quote, "where ever we are, we must all in our daily lives live up to the age-old faith that peace and freedom of together. in too many of our cities and today, the piece is not to cure it is -- because freom is not secure." let us bolster the freedom once we are sure to move forward to creating a format for public participation and citizen involvement. even if this means less power, which traditionally has been so powerful in america, let us not be afraid of giving up power because in reality we are not giving it up but we are giving

it back. public apathy and the eroding democracies. public input and participation results in me efficient public policies. keeping in mind that democracy is the government for the people, let us ensure that democracy provide citizens with basic social needs. especially in latin america where the social dimension was not given the same thoughts that the modernization had. as a result, in many cases, we ended up eroding those democracs that we worked so hard to rebuild. during that time, the region's microeconomic management did improve creating a six year period of economic growth and bringing 37 million land americans out of property.

that improvement has not been insufficient but it has stopped altogether. this was due to t international economic crisis. as a result, we run the risk of debilitating. recent numbers are alarming. it has increased to 62 million people. in 2009, the number of unemployed people in increased 3.9 million from the previous year. this is why today with all of the energy, and democracy that makes sense with and not just a privileged few. we cannot afford to keep waiting for a society that enjoys civil liberties, equal rights, and equal opportunities. we need to go beyond handouts for the poor and towards the

more universal and caring scheme of the modern welfare state. this requires a great deal of political. it ruires sitting in the good times to have something to fall back on. that is what we did. insuring social rights over time and not having conditions like today. this is not easy. it is even harder in times of crisis. the challenges are formidable but not insurmountable. many countries have shown that it can be done and we are one of them. we reduced povty from 40% to 13.7% between 1990 and 2006. when the prices -- with the price of copper was high when it was most needed, we were able to increase social standing by seven.

% -- by 7.8%. we did have a fiscal stimulus plan to help increase jobs. what this shows is that one can -pbe popular without being [unintelligible] [applause] it is possible to ensure minimum standards of welfare for our people so that democracy remains alive in our continent. as the democracy can improve standards of living, it may not happen right away but gradually and noticeably changes to a cot in the degree that keeps the hope for democracy alive. my friends of the american university, let me conclude with a call for optimism of the future of latin america and the relationship between our region and the united states.

despite all of its difculties, latin america has began to quickly overcome the crisis. we have to continue good macroeconomic management. there is a growing conviction that counter it -- cyclical policies are possible. this is being carried out with very few exceptions by democracies. imperfect as they all are, but democracies nevertheless. during our seven regional meetings, we have reports of building dialogue and understanding. wherever possible, we reach agreements on those issues. i ha no doubt that this role is not only desirable but viable. this year, as many of us celebrate the bicentennial of our independence, but americans want to embark and this road together, and that america building on those 200 years of

friendship that stretches, "from the piece of the buflo for the pommel the sounds of land's and and the story of antarctic lights." thank you very much and congratulations again to the class of chita's intend. congratulations. [applause] >> and now indiana state university. she talks about her background in credits the faculty for her success. from indiana, this is five minutes. >> before i came to indiana state university, nothing in my life was going right. i was a mess personally and financially. alcohol was a problem for my dad that i wanted to fix. i could not fix it. instead i became an angry,

rebellious, and find it teenager who would listen to no one. i was eventually kicked out of school and arrested and labeled juvenile delinquent. as a child with a criminal record, i had nowhere to turn. indiana state universy has been the rock of my life. coming here not only changed my life and set me on a path, but it saved me from a life of destruction. i was uncertain which way to go in august 2005. one direction was to enroll at ise new -- at indiana state. it was special. my acceptance resulted in love and an abundance of resources including faculty and administrators who care for students in their need.

as a first-generation college student, indiana state has become my safe haven, my place of restoration. it is not located in the fanciest city, nor is it perfect, but the environment of indiana state and the people surrounding it have allowed me to grow as well as find peace and shelter. the university has provided me with mentors, resources, leaders, and teachers all of whom have inspired me. because of indiana state, but we, the class of 2010 graduating seniors, are confident in our professional choices. we have learned of leadership skills from serving in a variety of traditions. our experiences have provided us with the ability to master or tackle any challenges of life. our dreams and goals incorpora the many blessings, teachings,

and life lessons we have experienced at indiana state. i also know that i am qualified and prepared for a life of service. for example, for my work in college, i have been able to found and serve as the director of my own nonprofit organization, the lamb, gorgeous ladies acting maturely. -- glam, gorgeous ladies acting maturely. indiana state has befriended me and other students with professional and life services to be able to do research, explore and steady policy, and influence social change. through the indian state study abroad program, i was able to travel to guadalajara, mexico. the opportunity provided to me by the internship i had with the office of the mayor of indianapolis and the county prosecutor's have me ready for

my next phase of life. the social life at indiana state has been exceptional. even though i originally thought i was too old for t collegiate experience, as students we have had the luxury of hearing guest speakers, attend conferences of world leaders, and network with influential people. many of us attended discussions and summits that created change. furthermore, my involvement with organizations and programs with scholars as well as my career experience proves just how much indian state has done for me and all of the student body. my fellow peers and senior graduating class rates, thank you for walking me to the top. thank you for your ambition, motivation, as well as perseverance. you are the reason that i have

learned and enjoyed my relationship in my time spent at indiana state. thank you for being creators and innovators. you have stories of your own about your experiences and opportunities at indiana ste. because of your love and support, we all live as leaders, entrepreneurs come and inventors of change. on the behalff the class of 2010 graduates and as a member of the sycamore ambassadors group, i want to say thank you to indiana state. i am a true blue sycamore standing with pride leaving a legacy for those who follow. we love life. thank you for providing us with many opportunities. most importantly, but we want to thank you for the knowledge to be all that we can be. thank you for giving us more from day one.

most importantly, thank you to all of the professors, teachers, administrators who have opened their hearts to help us learn and achieve more. thank you for your patience and your willingness to always give more. thank you to all your supporters, donors, and alumni who have paved the way and set the stage for myself and my fellow graduates. thank you, indiana state university, for educating men and women who are now qualified , certified, prepared to save lives, intellectually driven, and ready to conquer the world. stay blue, indiana state true. thank you. [applause] >> and now robert eggerm, the

founder of the washington, d.c., a central kitchen. they serve about 4500 meals a day. he speaks to the students about the importance of community service. from getsburg, pa., this is 15 minutes. >> alumni, board of trustees, faculty, and the class of a thousand 10 -- 2010 -- [applause] it is an honor to speak with you today. this is an alpha omega a moment. i was lucky enough to speak to the students when they first came here as freshmen. i have gotten to know so many of them over the years. people have asked, and i think many assume, that the subject of my speech today given theork i have done in my relationship with the school will be in the nature of asking the students to give back. i will be honest with you.

that is the last thing i will do. if i may explain why. one last pop quiz. class of 2010, before you got here, a show of hands, how many of you had done community service? look at this, america. but at this. rigid look at this. [applause] this is not a getting back generation. this is a very different generation. class of 2010, you were at the forefront of america toxic first-generation ever, 60 million strong, young men and women born between 1985 and 2000, you are at the forefront of a very new era in america. your generation has been raised doing community service. whether is was going on

mission trips, pushing grain policies, demanding fairer trade coffee, wearg toms, launching social enterprises, supporting micro credit, rallying for equal rights, you have, since the day you walked through the school, been redefining the concept of what it means to "do goodork." you did not need an instruction manual. if you set out to rewrite the rules of what it takes to do good work. the debt when you have created some to a arrived. with countless acts by individuals, whether organized by your amazing sororities and fraternities, the black student union, countless other groups, you all have completely razed of the war on what it means to be graduating class from gettysburg college. -- you all have complety raised the bar onhat it means

to beat a graduating class. you plan and gardens at the farmhouse over on carlisle. you did servi trips to help rebuild the gulf. he workeside by side with residence on the indian reservation as well as citizens gettysburg's sister city in nicaraa. if i may be so bold -- through the campus kitchen, my favorite of all. you have delivered 10,000 meals to people in the adams county. you deserve an amazing round of applause for what you have done. [applause] if i may take a moment of personal pride, i would like to of knowledge professor chris vee who for so many years -- stand- up, chris. [applause]

he has been leading freman down to volunteer at my kitchen. i would like to acknowledge someone from the class of 2008. there you go. as well as cathy, melissa, and megan who were the relationship team and toward this campus up. -- tore ts campus up. [applause] not since world war ii has a generation answer the call to service in the numbers that just -- that this generation. the stakes have not been as high for them personally, but the stakes for our country have never been as high. someone called you -- would call you generation next." from where i stand having worked side-by-side with many of you coming you are "a generation now."

this world needs you now. q. are the first of regeneration to hit the beach head, a national more midi. behind you are millions, millions coming your younger brhers and sisters who a looking to you to break new ground, to go where others have not. they are looking for the same things you are down the road, a bright future and a good job. some of you harbored dreams of attaining great individual wealth, others helping to spur social movements. my advice to you today, many people think ts is mulch -- mutually exclusive. you can do both, there i say you must. if i may be bold enough to generalize, you are a generation that seems hellbent on merging spirituality, lifestyle, and in come, saying, i do not want to choose, i want to do both. nonetheless, you want to make a

ving, and that is important this is a tough world you are going out into. you need to find a job that allows you to do that. reality is that there is something new out there and you have been exploring this step by step, this new hybrid business, this notion that you, aga, can do good and make wealth at the same time. in too many of our graduation across america what we are asking of your generation is to choose, saying after spending 10 yearsn your life doing community service in the school after school, commencement address after address, speakers are always saying, "today you must choose -- do you want to be a .com or .org"? defy that. boldly go forward with the idea that you can be both. that is what our country needs. it is every generations right to

redraw the map, to rearrange the order of things and create new rules. that is what people are dying to preserve as we speak. thats why people come to these battlefields to commemorate. it is what makes america, even today, the greatest, richest, freest country in the world. each generation has the freedom, opportunity, and obligation to do better. the boulder, run further, and push harder. -- be bolder, run further, push harder. duri the freedom of like you with a two dollar -- $2 drink special. lift up your crunk cup and guzzle every drop down. light this country up.

[cheers and applause] our country needs your impossible dreams, born of the exhilarating balance and optimism on display today. hold on to those dreams. never let them go. on them and make the spirit of now you're generation's banner, your matter out -- your model, your creed. step forward together, today into your future. brothers andisters, this will not be easy. the reality is when i started the central kitchen, i did not want to dot. i was a volunteer to try to get the other people to do it. i wanted to run and nightclub. sometimes you run into a wall where the path splits. sometimes you need to take that leap of faith. i will we all cannot be amazing

athletes le karen epstein. she is one of those women who runs far. most of us need running buddies. that is what i wld like to ap things up with. people oftentimes come to the valley and they think about the civil war. they do not realize that long before this was a conduit for the underground railroad. people can looking for a safe harbor overnight whether they were on their way north to freedom. what is often times forgotten about the overnight railroad is it the secret password. when you were looking for a safe word, the safe place, it is a friend with friends. that is what i would like to close with today. you will never go further with a friend by your side. -- without a dave -- withourt a

friend by your side. the friends you wrote your bicycles with, through the baseball with, those young men that when this day seems million miles away, think of them. some he may not have seen in a long time, reach back out with them and reconnect. let them know how important they are to you. the frenzy made in this class are some of the best friends you have to run your entire life -- the friends you made in this class will be some of the bt you will have in your entire life. all of the things dissipate if you do not work at them and nurture your friendships. while it is important to send facebook updates, happy birthday, nothing takes the place of a simple note. i am thinking of you. you are important to me. there'll be times in your life where you run into a wall and people who know what you will

save the world. you know those -- you will need those friendships to help steel yourself for the inetable disappointment and the courage it will take to really seah for word and not give up on those dreams. t me reemphasized -- american need you to hold on to the optimism, this glorious optimism of youth. never ever let it go. do not think you need to trade that for a paycheck, brothers and sisters. you can have both. that is that the country has always been about. every generation gets a chance to go out and redefine the rules. that is your birthright. you do not have to accept the world as you at -- as you inherit it today. set your sights on changing the the rules, make new rules, redraw the lines. you do not have to go out and think, "i haveo give back." realize you can do this every single day. that is really the important

message and would like to leave with you today, that notion that america needs to move beyond the notion that we can give back our way out of the situations. i am part of a generation that is getting older every day. 10,000 people turned 60 every single day in america. he would not be wrong. i will tell you, in all honesty, we need you all to redefine the whole concept of what it means to live a good life, what it means to be a gettysburg graduate. today, brothers and sisters, go forth, be daring, be brave, be respectful ofonvention, the impatient with process, be friends witfriends. as conan said, "burkhart and be kind." -- "work hard and be kd." when you make it big, tell jon

stewart he can kiss your diploma. [cheers and applause] never stop believing. the lot, class of 2010, and rock the world. [applause] >> vice-president joe biden gives the commencement address to the naval academy in annapolis, maryland. he praised them for their character and integrity and paid tribute to the 11 female graduates wh they will be able to serve on submarines. >> admiral fowler, admiral, lieutenant-general, iee the glint in your eyes looking at all of those uniforms.

marine one flew over and said, "tell them we are waiting for them." i just want you to know, undersecretary, just to give you one ece of advice might be careful of your language in front of a microphone. [applause] thank god my mother had passed. i would be one dead joe. [laughter] you all think i am kidding. i am not. [laughter] ladies and gentleman, i was a pretty good football player in 1960 at the university of delaware. i applied to come to this great academy and they considered me.

i thought i was going to be a pretty good ball player. i found out you had two days in the backfield and i realized i would not get a chance to play at all. you had a guy named staubach. i went to delaware. ladies and gentleman, you also by the secretary of the navy, george bancroft, chose this site for the naval academy. it was because of seclusion. it was supposed to rescue the midshipmen from the temptations and distractions of the bigger cities. he did not know armadillos or o'brien's would be hanging around here. [cheers and applause]

i do not think he would pick the spot if he knew what annapolis look like today. for the few of you, like me who may be, as a consequence of the temptations, had engaged in minor disciplinary infractions i have never let that get in the way of talent. just as to me, john mccain, or a bunch of us. in keeping with the longstanding tradition, this is one of the two reasons i wted to come here and give this commencement. i like to forgive minor infractions. therefore, in a longstanding tradition, i hereby absolving all midshipmen who are on restriction for minor conduct offenses as of now. [cheers and applause] i know you hesitated sharing because you thought you might be

identified. we are not that. we are not bad guys. look, i must tell you that i am genuinely proud and honored to be here today. this is one of the great, great privileges of being vice president of the united states of ameca, getting to speak at the commencement of the academy. i must tell you that i am also very proud, and i mean this sincerely, toe in front of you, as the undersecretary said, so many young women and men who, by the mere fact they chose to come here in the midst of what was happening in the moment, have already demonstrated the strength of character and the infinite promise to possess and the integrity you repsent. you all -- ere is nothing wrong with me.

you all possessed rates that secretary bankrupt new were necessary -- when secretary george bancroft knew were necessary. you possess skills, talents, and capacities that arr beyond anything secretary george bancroft could have thought of 165 years ago. notwithstanding that, you are part of a long continuum. you are writing a new chapter in a long history of the strong tradition of this great naval academy. you are all going to be part of a fraternity that goes back 165 years double bind together like a little i have seen in m experience. no matter how long you serve in uniform, even when you are out of unirm, you will come across the annapolis graduates come to share stories, discuss those four years by the day, and no,

know like few others know, that wherever you go theres someone that will have your back even ough they do not know you personally. that is an awesome sense of pride and patriotism. it is an awesome sense of pride and patriotism that comes over you all when you sing, "navy blue and gold." it is a feeling she had right to share like all of you. -- it is a feeling that few have a right to share. this place is special. you have a special experience that has given you a bond that will last a lifetime. he will be amazed how tight that bond is and how long it will last. there are other bonds. i would argue even deeper bonds, those of surrounding you on either side of the stadium, your mother's, your father's, your grandparents coming your brother's coming your sisters. your girls, your guys, they are

the ones responsible for the content of yr character. they are the ones that brought you some carry out and 80 on campus when you were not able to leave the yards. they were the ones who walked down t driveway every way to retrieve that cherished letter during your plebe summer knowing it was the onlway to hear your voice and know you were surviving. they were the ones who screamed, "go and 80, beat army" flatter than anything that had ever screamed in their lives -- they are the ones to scream, "go navy, beat army" louder than anything they ever have. they spent the last four years thinking of you with tears in their eyes, prayers in their

hearts. for all of that and more, you of them. the united states of america i asked you all to give them a round of applause, a boisterous cheer come to those who have been cheering for you for so long. [cheers and applause] stand up. [cheers and applause] they are not proud, are they? what a great honor. what a great accomplishment. for four long years now, you have looked forward to this moment. they have looked forward to it as well, to watch you walk across this stage, marines come in aviators, seals, submariners.

maybe just a special bit of pride for the families of the 11th, the 11 who will be the first naval academy women who serve on submarines. [cheers and applause] you women sailors areot only making history but like the 55 women who first graduated from thiscademy 30 years ago, they were an inspiration to you. i got to appoint some of them as a senator. you live in submariners -- you other than submariners will inspire your daughters and granddaughters in the way they never thought they could before. nothing, nothing is beyond my daughter and granddaughter's --

you have been trained by the very best. you leave here with an outstanding capacity to lead. you almost feel pretty good right now. those semesters of calculus, those 0530t's, memorizing menus, thinking why you need to do this, reciting them in town halls. those are all behind you. you will be surprised how in a strange way they prepared you for what is ahead of you. they are behind you, but they prepare you. you managed to do at all without once losing the commander in chief's trophy. not once. [cheers and applause] as a matter of fact, admiral, thats pretty impressive, man. pretty impressive. to the united states naval

academy, class of 2010, i say congratulations and welcome to the marines and welcome to the navy. [cheers and applause] i can imagine no more rewarding a ceer, and 80 man once said, and any man who may be asked in this century but he did to make his life worthwhile i think can respond with a good deal of pride and satisfaction, "i served in the united states navy." those words were the words of president john f. kennedy. like him, you will now be able to say in this century with a same degree of pride, "i served in the united states navy." all of you will be able to say

you served in the most powerful, best equipped, most prepared navy and marine corps the world has ever seen and that is not a hyperbole. i have watched you in my 17 trips to afghanistan and iraq. a young captain was manning the post with six others who not only demonstrated and returned fire but wasble to explain to me in grt depth the history of th two trouble competing -- t wo tribal competing areas. you are prepared in a way that you have to be in the order for us to lead the world. the navy today is truly a global force for good with missions more diverse than ever before.

there are 2000 marinesn afghanistan. there are 13,000 sailors in iraq and afghanistan. there are 9000 more afloat in the waters of the region. they are fighting pirates in the horn of africa, at drug- traffickers in the waters around south america. station. correa -- stationenear korea, projecting power. you respond to national disasters and literally save lives at the same time spreading good will and support for america everywhere you go. folks, no graduating class kids to choose the world in which they graduate. every class has its own unique challenges. the class of 1940 looked over

the horizon at the looming conflict that killed literally tens of millions of people and laid waste to europe. the class of 1915 -- 1950 soon left the stage and went to war in korea, the first military test of the strategy of containment, one then endured and succeeded from that moment on. the class of 1916 live in a world -- the class of 1960 were 18,000 nuclear missiles were aimed at the united stes of america and over three and a thousand -- 300,000 men and women were ready against the soviet army along the curtain. the class of 1970 went to vietnam to stop communism in the asia and came back to a deeply divided country.

past generations, your former colleagues, those who went before you, they faced immense challenges but they met them. they met them for fortitude, unity of purpose, and a national security strategy that brought success. through the marshall plan, we rebuilt europe with the greatest military, nato, and the strongest economy in the world has ever seen we brought down the wall and made a lot of communist ideology. -- a lie of communist ideology. to the class of 2010, you will face great challenges from the moment you step off the stage. two wars, the threat of weapons of mass destruction in the hands of terrorists, pandemic disease,

economic dislocation, and a growing gap between the rich and the po of the world, ethnic animosities in the field states, a rapidly warming plant, an uncertain supply of energy, food, and water, the spread of radical fundamentalism. these challenges are real. every generation has faced challenges. just like those who came before you coming you will prevail. also, like those who came before us, we need a strategy to succeed. we have laid out and devised what is required by congress the national security strategy treaty by president obama last week at west point, released yesterday. i would like to talk to you in little bit about that today.

our national security strategy is made up of four basic principles to guarantee america's continued ascendancy in the 21st century, to guarantee our surity. the first prinple of that strategy is that our strength and influence ultimately depends on our economic prosperity and innovation. presidt obama made that point last week at west point when he said, "at no time in human history has a nation of diminished economic vitality maintained its military or political primacy." that is why we acted swiftly and boldly for the biggest stimulus package in the history of the nation to create jobs today to create a platform for a new

economy of tomorrow with historic investments in renewable energy, transportation networks, researchnd development, building a piece by piece and the economy that will not only be competitive in the 21st century but that is dominant as we -- as dominant as we were in the 20th. if we do not, alof the special talents and equipment that has been entrust to you will be very difficult to maintain. that is why we are modernizing health care to drive down costs. it is not merely about care. it is about controling our budgets so future generations are not paying off a debt of those of us who came before. that is why we are putting an end to the reckless practice and mentality on wall street that nearly brought down our economy.

a strong economy is the only foundation upon which we can build a guarantee for our national security. the second principle is to use all the municipalities of our power to allow future administrations to use all of the arrows in their quiver, and diplomacy, law enforcement, foreign aid, education, business, these are all vital tools that advance our security. just as in the past, your mind, our military capacity, it is absolutely necessary but not in and of itself sufficient to guarantee our security. although we reserve the right to act preemptively, we will strive to stop crises before they start

coming to avoid wherever we can the choice of last resort for the danger of inaction. the third principle is that we should follow the example of previous generations and build strong military alliances and effective international organizations. as i mentioned before, the threats we face from pandemic disease to terrorism, they had no respect to borders. they do not yield to the massive force. to defeat them requires responsible nations, not only to set down the rules of conduct for the 21st century as we did after world ii, but insist that other nations along with us in force enforse those rules of

conduct. -- those nations along with lessenfus enforce the rulse of conduct. . . at the very moment our found erds declared our independence, they laid before the world the values behind our revolution. because as they stated in the declaration of independence, we had quote a decent respect for the opinions of mankind. so let the world know that we establish a nation where all men are created equal, endowed

by their creator with certain inate yenible rights among them the right to pursuit of happiness and we act accordingly and that's why the majority of the population still looks for -- at us for inspiration and still looks to repair to our shore and that is why we cannot undermine our strength by compromising those values in the name of security. they are ultimately our security. and the broad struggle against violent extremism, upholding our values makes us stronger. compromising them is what makes us weaker. and yielding. so let me state it clearly, i can -- i reject.

we reject as false the notion that we have to choose between safety and our ideals. for if we yield on our ideals, they will have already won. our ideals are what can define us. our ideals are what sustain us. our ideals are what make us the greatest nation in the history of mankind. and ultimately, ultimately, there are powerful incentives for the world to respond, honor , courage, commitment. these are not only the values instilled in you, here, at the academy. these are also the values that define the rest of america. i have met literally every world leader who has been on the world stage since 1973, and

they have no doubt about -- i've never met win who has a doubt about who we are as americans. s. today, having earned the right to walk through the main doors of bancroft for the first time, you will leave the yard and enter a long, distinguished line of naval academy graduates. chester nimitz, 1905, allen sheppard, class of 1945, jimmy carter, class of 1947, john mccain, class of 1958. he deserves a round of applause. he is a good friend. [applause] and he is a great american. charles bolden, class of 1968.

the only question i have is this. who among you today will be mentioned by the graduating speaker in 20 and 2070? i ask that question with all seriousness. i mean it, for some among you will. you'll be, those of you who excel bend all others, continue to be the inspiration for future generations. ladies and gentlemen, let me end where i began, with the founding of this academy some 165 years ago. in 1845, the yard consisted of 10 acres of land. it was a home to 55 midshipmen. today, a brigade of 4000 midshipmen roam these glorious

338 acres. 76,000 warriors and heroes have walked across this or a similar stage,rabbed thr diplomas, and marched off to defend their nation. you are bound to these men and women as sure as if they work your flesh and blood, as surely as had that been your ball makes. your experiences are -- as surely as if they had been your bunkmates. the commitment to your country and to your shipmates, a commitment embodied by a man who earned a silver star, bronze star, two purple hearts, a warrior by anyone's definition. the graduated from this academy

i1995. he eventually went to iraq, where he was named the lion of fallujah in 2004. during that operation, he was a young lance corporal who was wounded by a mortar and received a purple heart. the major was drawn to this young marine. he could barely speak english. he had just received his green card, yet he put his life on the line for the country he had adopted. the major learned that this young lance corporal had a dream to follow in his father's footsteps. his father was a graduate of the vietnamese national military academy and had fought alongside us in vietnam. that young man wanted to attend

a military academy and found inspiration in listening to the major's stories about his beloved annapolis. sadly, three years ago, the major lost his life during his fourth tour in iraq when he was killed by small arms fire while leading iraqi troops that he had helped train. i am absolutely certain that the lion of falujah is looking down right now with immense pride at that former young lance corporal, who is abt to have his lieutenant bars pinned on him and is about to receive the award as the marine with the heart of a warrior and the spirit of ccess. that young lance corporal will realize his dream today as he walks across this stage. [applause]

he walks across the stage to be commissioned as an officer in the united states marine corps. at is a story of honor, courage, and commitment. that is a story that represents all this academy is about, all that stands for. let me leave you with advice that only a graduate of this prestigious academy s the right to offer. it comes from the personal writings of doug zembec. he wrote, be a man of principle. fight for what you believe in. keep your word. live with integrity. be brave.

believe in something bigger than yourself, and serve your country, a teacher, mentor, give something back to society. lead from the front, and you can, for your fears. ladies and gentlemen, to me, that is what makes you midshipmen. that is the definition of who you are and who you will be. that is why i know with absolute certainty, after serving in high public office for over 37 years, that our country will reach strong -- will be strong for generations to come. so congratulations to you all. your future is literally america's future. make a brave. thank you. may god bless america, and may god bless the united states navy and marine corps, and they got protect our troops around the world. god bless you all. [applause]

>> this weekend commencement addresses from leaders in the arts, sports and sciences at 3:00 eastern on c-span. today on c-span a debate between five republican candidates to face harry reid, the candidates eninclude sue loudon and that's at 6:30 p.m.

eastern here on c-span. >> tonight on c-span, president obama at a campaign fundraising eventual for barbra boxer, running for a fourth term. a hearing now on the deep water horizon oil rig explosion. we begin with b.p. operations manager david sims who testifies over the phone. this portion is about an hour, 25 minutes. >> good afternoon. we are starting the hearings.

mr. sims, are you on the other line? >> yes, i am. >> thank you, sir. reporting this go on the record. mr. sims, as a result of the fair to explosion and sinking of the deep water horizon on april 20-22nd, the secretary of homeland security and the secretary of the department of interior began a joint investigation into it. are you aware of that? >> yes, sir. >> at the table here we have board members including mr. john mccareo and jason matthews and my co-chairman, mr. david dikes. on my right is captain ross whitley, and also our recorder, lieutenant. also in the audience we have representative of various parties of interest.

anytime i would like for you to raise your right hand so i can place you under oath. upon statement given to -- a false statement given to an agency is punishable and knowing this do you solemnly swear that the testimony you are about to give will be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth to so help you god? >> i do. >> thank you, sir. >> captain, this is eddy cass stain, i think the record should reflect since you can't see who is here, i'm his attorney and i'm sitting next to him. >> yes, sir. i appreciate that. >> is there a coast guard representative on the other side of the line? >> yes. my name is chief officer from msu port ar thur. >> would you confirm on the other line we have mr. sims and mr. gaston in a room with you only? >> yes, sir, we do.

we have mr. sims, mr. stang and also a b.p. lawyer. >> and mr. sims, who is your -- do you have a personal lawyer or both these lawyers are representing b.p.? >> no. only eddy kastang is representing him personally. >> thank you, sir. >> at this time members who begin questioning, thank you, sir. >> mr. sims, for the record could you please state your name and spell your last? >> david sims, s-i-mirks m-s. >> could the questioner identify himself? >> yes, sir, jason matthews, mms. >> thank you. >> mr. sims, by whom are you employed? >> b.p. >> and what is your current position with them? >> i am the operations manager for the releaf well being

drilled by the transocean developer three. >> outside of the releaf well what is your normal day-to-day operations prior to this incident? >> my previous was drillling operations manager for exploration and appraisal drilling in the deep water gulf of mexico. in the deepwater gulf of mexico. >> how long have you been with them? >> and how long have you been with b.p., sir. >> with b.p. heritage operation since 1982. officially since 2000. >> what is your educational background? >> scice in mechanical engineering. >> from where? >> texas a&m university. >> how long were they in

operation? >> i was in that position for approximately three weeks prior to the event in question. what were you doing prior to those three weeks? those three weeks? >> i was engineering team leader. quite often you please describe your position. >> as engineering team leader, my primary responsibility was to develop well plans for wells that we would be drilling with

the deepwater horizon. as an operations manager, it changed to execution and of exploration and appraisal of wells in the gulf. >> i was engineering team leader and the plan for that well and was developed. >> where you aware of any problems on the well, sir, prior to your arrival on the 20th? >> are you speaking of prior to my arrival on the rig on the

20th? >> from around march up until april 20. >> lost returns. >> i am sorry. prior to mine job as operations manager? >> no, i am sorry. as operations manager, were you made aware of any problems of the mississippi canyon to 52 well? >> i was aware of driven problems that have occurred up until the point, yes. >> what with those problems? >> we had had some blood circulation problems. a kick.taken int the first part of the well was that hadrans ococean

been damaged in hurricane. it had to be removed from the location on horizon. they came back in to resume drilling >> when rescheduled to go out to the deep water horizon? >> you are referring to? >> to the trip on the 20th. the scheduled trip was on the 20th. into return on the 21st. >> when did you make the plans to travel there on the 20th? >> iw ould say at least a week before, if not longer. >> what was the intent of that term, sir? t? tp was a schedule to for

leadership to visit the horizon and other rigs. we have a monthly scheduled trip that goes to two different rigs. it is a scheduled flight devoted to leadership. anyone in houston with either transocean or bp can get on that flight. the purpose os the visits is to acquaint midget with personnel or for management to personnel or for management to do safety audits to conduct

talks about performance, plans, to reinforce messages, to a variety of things like t hat. >> was set to a first fiddle to let the? but it was that your first settled trip like that? >> it was the first scheduled trip i had made in that capacity, ye >> you said you are going to reinforce messages stos? >> in a broad sense, that is one of the reasons for those visits, is for leadership to reinforce messages that are delivered, goals that aboth bp and

transocean have. >> who was on that helicopters with you? >> myself, pat o'brien, bp of dnc in the gulf of mexico, don wilowith transocean, buddy trehan with transocean. >> youtube a flight out of houston and did you took that flight out of his indhouston? >> those trips were out of our base in homa. the reference to houston with a service to nearly four of his leadership.

usually for office leadership. >> usually thbp [unintelligible] >> normally, it is a wide range of leadship from teamleaders up to vice presidents. >> is a typical for mr. o'brien to go out there? >> it to the typical for his position. he had not been in that job very long. this was his first trip to the horizon, but other directors and vp's went on those trips. >> how do you know when he actually took over as the

position as vice president? >> it was very early in 10 or late 09. >> do you know whos in a position prior? cook'>> that would have been ken lacy. >> did he frequent the deep ter horizon in that capacity? >> i do not recall a trip that he made to the horizon. >> once you got to the deep water horizon on th 20th, can you walk me through what time you bryant and up to the incident? >> we arrived about 2:30 p.m.

i went to speak briefly with the site leader. >> who was well site leader? >> bob kalooza. spoke with him for a few minutes. i went to jimmy for awhile. i found my room assignment. took my gear to my room, spent some time there. some time there. i went back up stairs to the well site leader's office. mr. o'brien was there. he had completed his safety

orientation. we were assembledhere to go on a tour of the rig. we toured the rig for about 2hours. we had dinner around 6:00 p/m/ meetingow et uset up a for a gneral rig leadership that was available. it was not a mandatory meeting, but anyone available to visit with us to talk about a variety

of things -- there was no set agenda. >> there is no set agenda prior to arrival a >> there was no set agenda for that meeting. we had some things but we wanted to talk about. to talk about. we were just there tovisit visit with leadership and talk about any issues they had or visit about the things we wanned to talk about. >> what did you want to talk about? >> we had dropped objects. as well as transocean. we talked about dropped object programs. we talked about rig maintenance

programs. we had a few safety related issues that we were going to touch on, learnings that had come from events on both the horizon and other rigs that we wanted to make sure had reached the horizon and see what they were doing about those. we wanted to talk about control of work, pat's first trip. i was going to include a bit about horizon's performance in

comments and some about what made the horizon a good rig. we would also then leave it up to don. he had a few things he wanted to talk about. see where the conversation went. went. >> you had dinner at 1800 hours and went directly to the meeting? >>yes, don had set thatp before 7:00. that was the in to the commencement of the meeting. >> folly the meeting, what transpires? >> it went until 9:00. we broke up the meeting.

pat and i headed down the hall to the well site leader's office. don winslow followe us and asked if we wanted to go to the bridge. we had not made i on our tour yet. we did. we went up to the bridge and talked to the marine crew up there. a wide range of conversations. we talked about sation keeping and all of the instrument on the bridge. it is an impressiveplace if you have not been there. lots of technology. we have a long,, nice visit

there. we also got a chance to work with a dynamic position in a simulator that they have a fair used for training and the demonstrations purposes, to give an ideaf how difficultt is to remain on station in a m anual sense, trying to keep it with a joystick and the way the stsytem works. so, thduring that time is when the event began. wh >>at happened, sir?

what did you notice? what did you see? can you take away to the point that you were able to adopt rig the rig?uate >> here is the vibration that was felt. it had a high-frequency vibrations that the captain and the lead was alerted to. the house rherically, what is the, if something up against a stock us? presumably boat. that lasted for a few seconds.

then there was hissing, spewing sounds, like you imagine gas escaping at high pressure in the direction of the rig floor, the best i could tell. the only windows -- the only wall without windows is in the direction of the rig floor. after that subsided, a few seconds, captain looked out the port door of the bridge and i could see the bangston next to us. it looked like everythiung was

covered with , mud. the rig looked like the boat had some on it. it was fairly calm at that moment. i have a recollection of the boat moving slowwy away from the rig at that point. door and saidthd the to not go out there. at that point, i recall hearing a relatively small explostion or boom toward the rig floor. the scene in the bridge was

fairly excited. shortly after that, not many seconds there was a louder explosn and all the power went out at that point. no lights, electronics, screens. i remember looking over at the redpanel, and i saw one light -- 3 >> green? all >>the lights i saw were green and yellow on the panel. it was dark and difficult to

read anything. i did see one red lht toward the top of the panel, which i the top of the panel, which i assumed to be an preventig panel.highup on the i would not swear to that. that is what it all looked like. people started coming in from outside. there was an interior access to the bridge from the living quarters. people came up from there. i remember that one of the bp

"mayday" was collalling in the radar with our court and it. i remember jimmy came in from the srbird side of the bridge. i could not swear to that. that is where i saw him first. that is where i saw him first. i asked ji,,y mmy if the well was shut in. he was confused at that moment. in a split second, he shook that offnd headed over toward the preventer pan