why? we got better at what we're doing and we keep at it all the time. same with terrorism. we need to keep getting better at it all the time. my own perspective is that we have come a long way. we still have a long way to go, but despite the bumps in the road, we are doing ok. we neee to do better, but we're doing ok. >> thank you so much. [applause] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010] . . >> israeli prime minister

benjamin netanyahu met with president obama at the white house today. the israeli prime minister said that next? in the middle east peace process would begin within a few wweks and spoke in favor of direct he also coomented on iran's the nuclear program. this is 20 minutes. >> well, i just completed an excellent one-on-one discussion with prime minister netanyahu, and i want to welcome him back to the white house. i want to, first of all, thank that he made in honor of the fourth of july, our independence day, when he was still in israel. and it marked just one more chapter in the extraordinary friendship between our two countries. as prime minister netanyahu indicated in his speech, the

bond between the united states and israel is unbreakable. it encompasses our national security interests, our strategic interests, but most importantly, the bond of two democracies who share a common set of values and whose people haae grown closer and closer as time goes on. during our discussions in our private meeting we covered a wide range of issues. we discussed the issue of gaza, and i commended prime minister netanyahu on the progress that's been made in allowing more goods into gaza. we've seen real progress on the ground. i think it's been acknowledged that it has moved more quickly and more effectively than many people anticipated. obviously there's still tensions and issues there that have to be resolved, but our two

cooperatively together to deal with these issues. the quartet has been, i think, very helpful as well. and we believe that there is a way to make sure that the people of gaza are able to prosper economically, while israel is able to maintain its legitimate security needs in not allowing missiles and weapons to get to hamas. we discussed the issue of iran, and we pointed out that as a consequence of some hard work internationally, we have instituted through the u.n. security council the toughest sanctions ever directed at an iranian government. in addition, last week i signed our own set of sanctions, coming out of the united states congress, as robust as any that we've ever seen.

other countries are following suit. and so we intend to continue to put pressure on iran to meet its international obligations and to cease the kinds of provocative behavior that has made it a threat to its neighbors and the international community. we had a extensive discussion about the prospects for middle east peace. i believe that prime minister netanyahu wants peace. i think he's willing to take risks for peace. and during our conversation, he once again reaffirmed his willingness to engage in serious negotiations with the palestinians around what i think should be the goal not just of the two principals involved, but the entire world, and that is two states living side by side in peace and security. israel's security needs met,

the palestinians having a sovereign state that they call their own -- those are goals that have obviously escaped our grasp for decades now. but ow more than ever i think is the time for us to seize on that vision. and i think that prime minister netanyahu is prepared to do so. it's going to be difficult, it's going to be hard work. but we've seen already proximity talks taking place. my envoy, george mitchell, has helped to organize five of them so far. we expect those proximity talks to lead to direct talks, and i believe that the government of israel is prepared to engage in such direct talks, and i commend the prime minister for that. there are going to need to be a whole set of confidence- building measures to make sure that people are serious and that we're sending a signal to

the region that this isn't just more talk and more process without action. i think it is also important to recognize that the arab states have to be supportive of peace, because, although ultimately this is going to be determined by the israeli and palestinian peoples, they cannot succeed states having as -- a greaterng- investment in the process than we've seen so far. finally, we discussed issues that arose out of the nuclear nonproliferation conference. and i reiterated to the prime minister that there is no change in u.s. policy when it comes to these issues. we strongly believe that, given its size, its history, the

region that it's in, and the threats that are leveled against us -- against it, that israel has unique security requirements. it's got to be able to respond to threats or any combination of threats in the region. and that's why we remain unwavering in our commitment to israel's security. and the united states will never ask israel to take any steps that would undermine their security interests. so i just want to say once again that i thought the discussion that we had was excellent. we've seen over the last year how our relationship has broadened. sometimes it doesn't get publicized, but on a whole range of issues -- economic, military-to-military, issues related to israel maintaining its qualitative military edge,

intelligence-sharing, how we are able to work together effectively on the international front -- that in fact our relationship is continuing to improve. and i think a lot of that has to do with the excellent work that the prime minister has done. so i am grateful. and welcome, once again, to the white house. >> thank you, mr. president. the president and i had an extensive, excellent discussion in which we discussed a broad range of issues. these include of course our own cooperation in the fields of intelligence and security. and exactly as the president said, it is extensive. not everything is seen by the public, but it is seen and appreciated by us.

we understand fully that we will work together in the coming months and years to protect our common interests, our countries, our peoples, against new threats. and at the same time, we want to explore the possibility of peace. the greatest new threat on the horizon, the single most dominant issue for many of us, is the prospect that iran would acquire nuclear weapons. iran is brutally terrorizing its people, spreading terrorism far and wide. and i very much appreciate the president's statement that he is determined to prevent iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. that has been translated by the president through his leadership at the security council, which passed sanctions against iran, by the u.s. bill

that the president signed just a few days ago. and i urge other leaders to follow the president's lead, and other countries to follow the u.s. leed, to adopt much tougher sanctions against iran, primarily those directed against its energy sector. as the president said, we discussed a great deal about activating, moving forward the quest for peace between israel and the palestinians. we're committed to that peace. i am committed to that peace. and this peace i think will better the lives of israelis, of palestinians, and it certainly would change our region. israelis are prepared to do a lot to get that peace in place, but hey want to make sure that after all the steps they take, that what we get is a secure peace.

we do not want a repeat of the situation where we vacate territories and those are overtaken by iran's proxies and used as a launching ground for terrorist attacks or rocket attacks. i think there are solutions that we can adopt. but ii order to proceed to the solutions, we need to begin negotiations in order to end them. we've begun proximity talks. i think it's high time to begin direct talks. i think with the help of president obama, president abbas and myself should engage in direct talks to reach a political settlement of peace, coupled with security and prosperity. this requires that the palestinian authority prepare its people for peace -- schools, textbooks, and so on. but i think at the end of the day, peace is the best option for all of us, and i think we have a unique opportunity and a

unique time to do it. the president says that he has a habittof confounding all the cynics and alllthe naysayers and all those who preclude possibility, and he's shown it time and time againn i think i've had my opportunity to confound some cynics myself, and i think if we work together, with president abbas, then we can bring a great message of hope to our peoples, to the region, and to the world. one final point, mr. president -- i want to thank you for reaffirming to me in private and now in public as you did the longstanding u.s. commitments to israel on matters of vital strategic importance. i want to thank you, too, for the great hospitality you and the first lady have shown sara

and me and our entire delegation. and i think we have to redress the balance -- you know, i've been coming here a lot. it's about time -- >> i am ready. >> -- you and the first lady came to israel, sir. >> we look forward to it. thank you. >> any time. >> thank you very much. thank you. all right, we've got time for one question each. i am going to call on stephen collinson, afp. >> thank you, mr. president. as part of the steps which need to be taken to move proximity talks on to direct talks, do you think it would be helpful for israel to extend the partial settlement moratorium, which is set to expire in september? and if i could just briefly ask the prime minister, with regards to the sanctions you mentioned, do you think that these measures will contain or halt iran's nuclear program where others have failed? >> let me, first of all, say that i think the israeli government, working through layers of various governmental

entities and jurisdictions, has shown restraint over the last several months that i think has been conducive to the prospects of us getting into direct talks. and my hope is, is that once direct talks have begun, well before the moratorium has expired, that that will create a climate in which everybody feels a greater investment in success. not every action by one party or the other is taken as a reason for not engaginggin talks. so there ends up being more room created by more trust. and so i want to just make sure that we sustain that over the next -- over theenext several weeks. i do think that there are a

range of confidence-building measures that can be taken by all sides that improve the prospects of a successful negotiation. and i've discussed some of those privately with the prime minister. when president abbas was here, i discussed some of those same issues with him. i think it's very important that the palestinians not look for excuses for incitement, that they are not engaging in provocative language, that at the international level, they are maintaining a construccive tone, as opposed to looking for opportunities to embarrass israel. at the same time, i've said to prime minister netanyahu -- i do not think he minds me sharing it publicly -- that abu mazen

working with fayyad have done some very significant things when it comes to the security front. and soous being able to widen the scooe of their responsibilities in the west bank is something that i think would be very meaningful to the palestinian people. i think that some of the steps that have already been taken in gaza help to build confidence. and if we continue to make progress on that front, then palestinians can see in very concrete terms what peace can bring that rhetoric and violence cannot bring -- and that is people actually having an opportunity to raiseetheir children, and make a living, and buy and sell goods, and build a life for themselves, which is ultimately what people in both israel and the palestinian terriiories want.

>> i think the latest sanctions adopted by the u.n. creete illegitimacy or create de- legitimization for iran's nuclear program, and that is important. i think the sanctions the president signed the other day actually have teeth. they bite. the question is -- how much do you need to bite is something i cannot answer now. but if other nations adopted similar sanctions, that would increase the effect. the more like-minded countries join in the american-led effort that president obama has signed into act, into law, i think the better we'll be able to give you an answer to your question. >> is there somebody you want to ask here?

>> mr. president, in the past year, you distanced yourself from israel and gave a cold shoulder to the prime minister. do you think this policy was a mistake? do you think it contributes to the bashing of israel by others? and is that -- you change it now, and do you trust now prime minister netanyahu? and if i may, mr. prime minister, specifically, did you discuss with the president the continuing of the freezing of settlements after september? and did you tell him that you're going to keep on building after this period is over? -p>> well, let me, first of all, say that the premise of your question was wrong and i entirely disagree with it. if you look at every3 statement that i've made over the last year and a half, it has been a constant reaffirmatioo of the special relationship between the united states and israel, that our commitment to israel's security has been unwavering. and, in

fact, there are not any concrete policies that you could point to that would contradicttthat. and in terms of my relationship with prime minister netanyahu, i know the press, both in israel and stateside, enjoys seeing if there's news there. but the fact of the matter is that i've trusted prime minister netanyahu since i met him before i was elected president, and have said so both publicly and privately. i think that he is dealing with a very complex situation in a very tough neighborhood. and what i have consistently shared with him is my interest in working with him -- not at cross-purposes -- so that we can achieve the kind of peace that will ensure israel's security for decades to come. and that's going to mean some

tough choices. and there are going to be times where he and i are having robust discussions about what kind of choices need to be made. but the underlyinn approach never changes, and that is the united states is committed to israel's security, we are committed to that special bond, and we are going to do what's required to back that up, not just with words but with actions. we are going to continually work with the prime minister and the entire israeli government, as well as the isrreli people, so that we an achieve what i think has to be everybody's goal, which is that people feel secure. they do not feel like a rocket is going to be landing on their head sometime. they do not feel as if there's a growing population that wants to direct violence against israel. that requires work and that

requires some difffcult choices -- both at the strategic level and the tactical level. and this is something that the prime minister understands, and why i think that we're going to be able to work together not just over the next few months but hopefully over the next several years. >> the president and i discussed concrete steps that could be done now, in the coming days and the coming weeks, to move the peace process further along in a very robust way. this is what we focused our conversatton on. and when i say the next few weeks, that's what i mean. the president means that, too. let me make a general observation about the question you posed to the president. and here i'll have to paraphrase mark twain, that the reports about he demise of the

special u.s.-israel relations -- relationship are not just premature, they're just flat wrong. there's a depth and richness of this relationship that is expressed every day. our teams talk. we do not make it public. the only thing that's public is that you can have differences on occasion in the best of families and the closest of families, that comes out public -- and sometimes in a twisted way, too. what is not told is the fact that we have an enduring bond of values, interests, beginning with security and the way that other things to help the common defense of our common interests -- and any others in the region who do not often admit to the beneficial effect of this

cooperation. so i think there's -- the president said it best in his speech in cairo. he said in front of the entire islamic worldd he said, the bond between israel and the united states is unbreakable. and i can affirm that to you today. >> thank you very much, everybody. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010] >> as part of for current visit to new york city, britain's queen elisabeth addressed the united nations general assembly. it was her first speech at the un since 1957. the queen it talks about efforts to curb terrorism nd help it changed. this is 20 minutes.

>> excellencies, distinguished delegates, distinguished guests, her majesty, queen elizabeth ii and his royal highness prince philip, duke of edinburgh. please rise.

[applause]

>> the meeting of the general

assembly is called to order. this afternoon, we will hear an address by her majesty, queen elizabeth ii, on the occasion of her visit to the united nations. now, allow me, your majesty, to have a short statement. [speaking foreign language]

[speaking arabic] >> your majesty, when you addressed the united nations 53 yearr ago, the world was rebuilding following a devastating world war. cold war tensions and nuclear annihilation threatened the existence of all of humanity. the quality and nondiscrimination were an unrealized dream. women were expected to stay at home. since that occasion, you have

presided over a remarkable global transformation, which saw -pthe birth of a multitude of independent nation states based on the principles of equal rights and the self- determination of all peoples, principles that are enshrined in united nations charter. your majesty, today we have a world here upheaval and change are the norm. a world where the pace of change has quickened. while there have been unprecedented economic prosperity, yet, the world remains a blighted by extreme levels of inequality, with billions living in absolute poverty. natural disasters occur more frequently and with greater

devastation, while new threats and pressures have also emerged. when such disasters and tragedies make us confront our human frailty, you have lifted the spirits of those in shock. , letting them know they are not alone in their suffering. aad in times of horror from acts of terrorism, your words of comfort and your steadfast presence in the face of uncertainty have brought solace and reassurance. we at the united nations are focused on making the world a better place. we are focused on standing for justice and for peace, on relieving suffering and helping

the poor lift themselves out of poverty. many times we come up short and do not live up to our commitments or meet the exxectations that are laid upon us. through our sense of duty and tireless public service, you have demonstrated toothose of us at the united nations that we must not waver from our purpose, that we must remain steadfast in our will and our determination, because the poor, the disadvantaged, and the week do not have the luxury. this is our ideal, and we must live up to it. thank you. >> your majesty, your royal

highnesss mr. president, excellencies, we are honored by your presence, your majesty. in a changing and churning world you are an anger for our age -- an anchor for our age. from the challenges of the cold war to the threat of global warming, from the beatles to beckham, through the years you have traveled the world and met itt people. become a living symbol of great constancy and dignity. your majesty, in 1957, you first visited this chamber, whe andn nations were stillstild

done. you told the general assembly that the future would be shaped by more than a formal bonds that unitas. strength of our devotion, devotion to the hopes and great ideals of the un charter -- peace, justice, and prosperity. we do at the helm, the united kingdom and the commonwealth have contributed immensely to the united nations.%+ today, the four largest providers of un peacekeeping troops are commonwealth countries. around the world, you are working with us to force the development, advance human rights, and promote global security. in september, we will gather to advance this mission by pushing

for progress towards a millenniuu developments board. this is the blueprint of the world's leaders -- to save lives of the poor and vulnerable, to combat hunger and disease, to promote a gender equality, and to provide education, opportunity, and decent work to billions of people. we will once again heed your call and devote our full strength to the ideals of our charter and to realizing a better world for all. your majesty, from your dedication to the united kingdom and the commonwealth, to the united nations and our common values, we say, thank you and welcome. we wish you continued good health. and we are happy to have you here today. thank you very much. [applause]

>> i have the honor to invite your majesty, queen elisabeth ii, address the general assembly. >> mr. president, secretary- general, members of the general assembly, i believe i was last here in 1957. since then, i have travelled widelyyand met many leaders, ambassadors and statesmen from around the world. i address you today as queen of sixteen united nations member states and as head of the commonwealth of 54 countries.

i have also witnessed great change, much of it for the better, particularly in science and technology, and in social attitudes. remarrably, many of these sweeping advances have come about not because of governments, committee resolutions, or central directives - although all these have played a part -- but instead because millions of people around the world have wanted them. for the united nations, these subtle yet significant changes in people's approach to leadership and power might have foreshadowed failure and demise. instead, the united nations has grown and prospered by responding and adapting to these shifts. but also, many important things have not changed.

the aims and values which inspired the united nations charter endure -- to promote international peace, security and justice, to relieve and remove the blight of hunger, poverty and disease, and to protect the rights and liberties of every citizen. the achievements of the united when i was first here, there were just three united nations operations overseas. now over 120,000 men and women are deployed in 26 missions across the world. you have helped to reduce conflict, you have offered humanitarian assistance to millions of people affected by natural disasters and other emergencies, and you have been deeply committed to tackling the effects of poverty in many

parts of the world. but so much remains to be done. former secretary-general dag hammarskjold once said that "constant attention by a good nurse may be just as important as a major operation by a surgeon." good nurses get better with practice; sadly the supply of patients never ceases. this september, leaders will meet to agree how to achieve the millennium development goals when each nation will have its own distinctive contribution to make. new challenges have also emerged which have tested this organization as much as its member states. one such is the struggle against terrorism. another challenge is climate

change, where careful account must be taken of the risks facing smaller, more vulnerable nations, many of them from the commonwealth. mr. president, i started by talking about leadership. i ave much admiration for those who have the talent to lead, particularly in public service and in diplomatic life -- and i congratulate you, your colleagues and your predecessors on your many achievements. it has perhaps always been the case that the waging of peace is the harrest form of leadership of all. i knowwof no single formula for success, but over the years i have observed that somee attributes of leadership are universal, and are often about finding ways of encouraging

people to combine their efforts, their talents, their insights, their enthusiasm and their inspiration, to work together. since i addressed you last, the commonwealth, too, has grown vigorously to become a group of nations representing nearly two billion people. it gives its whole-hearted supporttto the significant contributions to the peace and stability of the world made by the united nations and its agencies. last november, when i opened the commonwealth heads of government meeting in trinidad that the commonwealth had thete- opportunity to lead. today i offer you the same message. for over six decades the united

nations has helped to shape the international response to global dangers. the challenge now is to continue to show this clear and convening leadership while not losing sight of your ongoing work to secure the security, prosperity and dignity of our fellow human beings. when people in fifty-three years from now look back on us, they will doubtless view many of our practices as old-fashioned. but it is my hope that, when judded y future generations, our sincerity, our willingness to take a lead, and our determination to do the right thing, will stand the test of time. in my lifetime, the united nations has moved from being a

high-minded aspiration to being a real force for common good. that of itself has been a signal achievement. but we are not gathered here to reminisce. in tomorrow's world, we must all work together as hard as ever if we are truly to be united nations. [applause] >> on behalf of the general assembly, i wish to express our deep appreciation to her majesty, queen elisabeth ii, for

her important and inspiring statement. our request -- to be kind enough to remain in their seats -- as they accompany her majesty out of the general assembly hall. then the general meeting will stand adjourned. >> british prime minister david cameron faces questions tomorrow morning from the opposition in parliament during his weekly session of prime minister's questions. you could watch live coverage from the house of commons on our companion network c-span 2 beginning at 7:00 a.m., eastern time. >> before the senate judiciary committee vote up or down, watch the entire confirmation hearing for the supreme court nominee elena kagan, quoting witnesses,

online at the c-span ideo library. it is a washington your way. to purchase a copy of any part of the hearing, click the "buy now" button. >> no and update on the gulf oil spill cleanup from thad allen. oil washed up on texas beaches over the holiday weekend for the first time since the oil spill. this is a half-hour. >> good afternoon. i am here with our local coastguard commander for houston. if you have any local questions, i am sure you'll be glad to address them and i will give ou it -- answer any questions you have after i give you an update of what has happened in the last 24 hours or so. as of midnight last night, we recovered 24,000 barrels from the well site through a combination of the "discover

enterprise" and another that recovered 8,000 barrels. at the same time, the progress on our relief wells continue. the development release 3 is now at the sea floor of 12,000 feet. you have 264 feet left to go where they could intercept the well bore. they are conducting ranging runs right now. that is where they would roll down a certain number of feet, withdraw the drill bit, put a ranging wire down, and since the electromagnetic field around the well bore, they will slowly close to the intercept point by using this process of drilling, withdrawn, free ranging, and continuing. the second backup relief well, development driller two, is at 8,000 feet below the sea floor and continuing on target as well. as you know, there is a trough

using to -- moving through the yucatan. s now. thht income nation willlget the wind up over 20 knots out of the east-southeast. that will continue to threaten the panhandle area of florida, over to the south-central portions of louisiana. in particular, it will move oil into areas are round mississippi sound, bretton sound. as we see oil and water waves that can next to lake ponce a train, we expect the oil -- over towards the bay and towards the parish as well. -- we had tar balls found and3

florida yesterday. when you're looking at five different vessels that might have bent on of the source scene. it might of been the way the oil traveled here. i would be glad to answer detailed questions on that, moving for. i am here to meet with bp officials. we of several civic and events that are scheduled to take place or might take place in the next seven to 10 days. they are assisted with the response. the first one is the hook up of the helix producer, the third production platform that we will try to hook into the current cap configuration. the "discover enterprise" is taking oil right now. we are producing to the choke line to be q 4000. we plan to take oil out of the kill line. you're in the process of trying to hook that up right now. they are partially completed.

what it is is an apparatus where the vessel goes to a buoying system and a vertical rise or comes into the bottom of that. you need some kind of stability to do that. there were looking to do that in about a 3-5 ftse state. they are still trying to work and see how it is. looking at the weather system moving across the yucatan peninsula right now, we are finding out especially after hurricane alex, that a frontal assault of a hurriiane on the well site does not necessarily need to happen to produce effects there. there is a lot of simultaneous operations going on there. each of the vessels have a varying degrees of tolerance for see state. after watching closely this wells and waves that might be generated from the current system, in my meetings later on this afternoon we will talk about the hookup of the helix producer that will give us that

old cement production capability at 53,000 barrels a day. we will also be talking about the opportunities to replace cap that will be bolted onto that flange. following that cap, we have the potential to go through four different sources of pumping oil out of the well and could produce as much as 60,000 to 80,000 barrels per day. the plan is to produce four different systems, 60,000 to 80,000 barrels per day, that allow us to deal with the total capacity. it also gives us redundancy in case one of the systems sales and we can continue to keep working on the other three. right now there is a slight problem, where we have lightning in the area, the vessels have to stop production. we had a lightning strike that caused a fire wall back. we are dependent n the operation of equipment to sustain us.

we will be having those discussions, and sometimes in the next 10 days, we will have a window of opportunity to to put the contain a cap on. at the same time, we will go on and continue drilling of the relief well. once that intercept is made, will pump mud into the well bore. the mud will fill the well bore up. the weight of the mud will overcome the pressure of the hydrocarbons coming up from the reservoir and create a static situation that will allow us to pump up cement into the well and killed a well. that is the update. we would be glad to answer your questions. i am the moderator. >> i with reuters and houston. on the relief wells, there are less than 300 feet away from the bottom. there is a lot of talk that they could be finished somewhat quicker than bp's intended.

will the be finished before the end of july? >> right now they have what they call the death to distance -- depth to distance time graph. they are seven days ahead right now. the last part is the most ridiculous part. they do not want to inadvertently nick at well on the way down. they want it to be controlled entry. i'm sticking with mid august. in dealing with your people over the last few days, it is better to overpromise then under deliver. >> i am with the associated press. we know that helix contain a cap was put off due to weather. do we have a time now, a date or an pproximate time when that will be completed? >> i will discuss it with bp officials on the way into the meeting we are having right now. there is a partial look up right now and they can sustain that, unless they have severe see states. they will hold on to what they've got and wait for the weather to finish that

connection. they are on the margins of that right now. they are working as hard as they tend to complete the connection. we will not know for several more hours of there will be able to do that. will peace that -- has that as we know. it is it work in progress. >> can you tell me how many votes, skimmer votes are docked because of weather and how much oil has been skimmed it because -- despite the weather? >> there is not much skimming going on offshore because of the sea tate right now. once you get above three-5 feet in wave action, unless you have a large skimmer with a large boom system, it becomes problematic. we have tax forces on shore -- task forces on shore. regarding the exact number, we can get that he appeared to ever is on the water today has -- it depends on how long they have been on the water and how big abode is. >> can you say a couple more words about the decision around

the containment tab. you will definitely choose to install that -- the containment cap. >> we need to get helix producer up and operating. we estimate we will have a capacity up to 53,000 barrels per day. as you know, all this revolves around our flow rate estimates. there was a lot of a variant on that early on. we sent in on a range of 35,000 to 65,000 barrels per day. we believe that is closer to 35,000, but there are a lot of factors, and the scientists gave us a range for those reasons. we are approaching 25,000 to 26,000 barrels per oral today, but you can still see oil coming out. -- of oil per day, you can still see oil coming out. with the current contain a cap, because it is not a perfect seal, there will be a little oil coming out around the bottom of that.

that means saltwater is going in any of the problem of hydrate formation. there will not be a perfect seal or perfect solution. you can get close to it, but what will never completely seal what we need toodo is decide whether the cap needs to be removed and have that short piece of pipe unbolted and avenue block of center put on that would allow us to completely seal the system-- a new blowout preventer that would allow us to completely seal the system. there would have to be attending window to make that change out. during that time, the helix producer will continue to produce oil out of the choke linns, but the hydrocarbons released to the riser pipe will be released into the environment. when we do that, we want to make sure we know that time, the best conditions to do that. we are certain about moving forward. some of the conversations i will

have today with bp and called the timing of those decisions trestles. hresholds. >> a question for you -- how much oil is not been contained each day? that, and what happens if the relief wells fail? >> if you take the floor right we are estimated between 35,065 barrels per day, and we are recovering about 25,000, that is the difference. 35,000 or so. when we get the helix producer online and we are up to 53,000, will get a very good idea how close we are to the floor right. that is the estimate right now. regarding the relief well, there are a couple of options relating to that. first of all, there is a second relief well being drilled as a backup and restore it get to that. secondly, bp has looked at their industry and -- partners in a meeting held in washington several weeks ago at nearby

wells were there producing natural gas, where a pipeline could be run across the bottom and recover it that way. that could be done without any vessel support from the top. it could take production from the well and have that we enter résume or someplace else and it would be hurricane-proof -- and have it read enter someplace else and would be hurricane- proof. -- re-enter someplace else and it would be hurricane-proof. with a new cap, you could produce oil until you get the bottom kill or the relief well executed. there are a number of risk of mitigation strategies associated with it, and they are dependent on the conditions at the time. p> talk us through the next few days as you watched this weather system. what will you have to do? what changes would you have to make? you meettoned the ships that

cannot go out right now. >> i asked the noaa administrator to give us some detailed projections over the next 72 hours on what kind of see states we can expect at the well site related to this wells that are generated down at the yucatan channel as that front comes through. depending on what types of vessels operating out there, some could stay out longer in a higher seat state. during the last time, we had to stop lightering operation. we got to a point where they were completely at capacity and we got there just in time so that we could start lightering again. if you're talking about the smaller supply vessels, they tend to start having problems anywhere from 6 to 8 feet. if you're talking about the production vessels, the threshold is at 12. when you stop doing what you are

doing and to leave the scene, is dependent on the master who bears responsibility for the safety of the units. the larger vessels, in development driller two, can withstand up to 20 feet because they are very heavy. they have pontoons and other -psupport for stability. it depends on the type of vessel. our discussions will be aaout threshold. we have hurricane threshold, which anticipates the offset of gale force winds. if it generates swells from a great distance away, that have an impact on the scene itself. >> can you comment on your comfort level in working with bp? how you feel about bill level of cooperation you are getting and would you like to see anything+ change? >> i have the same answer every time. it cannot be successful in an operation like this, what they're talking about controlling the source of the well, skimming or burning, this

person application, onshore recovery, if you cannot coordinate, integrate, and cooperate together. you can call it corporate friendship. there has to be a relationship there. it has to be open, transparent. you have to communicate to be successful. my job as the national incident commander as to and gender unity of effort, not only from the peak but across the government and all levels of government vertically going down -- not only from bp but from across the government and all levels of government really going down. if i won briefings and slides, i get them. if i need to call bob dudley in the middle of the night, i will. i did that this morning. >> the system you're planning with the four vessels and up to 80,000 barrels a day of capacity, that was planned to be up by mid july, but with other weather delays, is it fair to say that would not be up by mid

july, which is next week? >> that is dependent on relieving the current contain a cap, and putting another one on. what has been delayed is the third production platform, the helix producer that allows it to get to 50,000 barrels per day. . . >> i have a question of

following up on kristen's quest impetuion. you said earlier that it needs to be in place before they put a cap in place. it seems like it will not be in place until at least next week. could we expect that it is possible to get the new cap on the floor next week? >> let me restate it so everyone understands. there are two independent operations are proceeding. the first one is to maximize the production capability with the well that exist. one way to do it is to the riser pipe that was cut off and then

the show, and the kill lions. -- choke and the kill lines. we intend to establish the helix producer as a platform for the kill line, which will create a capacity of 53,000 barrels a day. we do not know how that relates to the current flow rate. we do know even it was close, it does that give this redundancy in equipment, especially if we had a failure for some kind of a mishap. therefore, we directed bp to provide a plan several weeks ago about how we would achieve redundancy. it is 35,000 or 60,000 barrels a day. to that end, bp have proposed

four proddction systems that are connected by a wing to allow them to operate with 60,000 or 80,000 barrels a day. if you are going to lose one of those, three can continue to operate with the redundancy. the equipment will be in place sometime within the next seven or 10 days. that means within the july timeframe. do we want to wait and look at the production capability of the helix producer and see where we are before we go to the next step which requires to remove the current containment calf and allow the oil to be vented into the environment for seven days or so? those are the issues that i am here to discuss with you today. >> next question. >> i am not sure -- he seemingly

address this in a roundabout way. with all these other delays, it seems we will be talking about the bottom kill birds produce will b your meetings producep speak about the long-term containment caps? i in% the second free-floating riser -- i m not sure how that lines up with the four free- floating risers. >> i believe the current timetable for the second pipe could be available for production around the 17th of july. the two remaining line to be accomplished by trills and inflexible connector. -- trills in a flexible connector. you could just recovered the

pilot if you had to disconnect. regard to its fiscal -- ther eis a connection of the contaihnment cap. when we kill the well, we pump oil into it. if we have a containment cap on the top, it creates a more effective means to kill the well. more pressure is being applied. >> the next question comes from brad johnson pred. >> over a month ago, we requested more information about the contractor's on the respond and

i got a list of 14 companies without any identification. i have been blown off by bp officials. i was wondering if it was possible if you'd ever give more information about the tens of thousands of contractors that are working on this response? >> can you please clarify the question? are you asking about contractors and halladay are required on the response -- and how they are required on the response? >> i was hoping to get specific information about what contractors are working and what they are doing on the ressonse. one example is trying to find

centers provided what services for providing what services. i have not been able to get any answers to these questions when i calll that is why i am asking you. >> i am not sure there is any problem providing information under who we have under there is that the secret about that. i will work with the folks in the information center. we will post that information. >> i had a question -- if i could speak in terms of putting up penalties within 20 feet of a boom. was that decision made? do you have a problem with

people vandalizing the boom? is this only in the water? >> i think i understand your question. i think it is regarding vandalism of the boom in the order regarding safety zones around the boom operations. i thank you for the question. there has been a misunderstanding about what the intent was. i issued a written orders a long time ago that the media would have unfettered access to our sites. there were two exceptions, safety or security issues. what do have found in the last few weeks were active vandalisms where we had booms that in been damaged or the subject of recreational boats running into it. we created a zone around khog boom to keep the votes away -- around the boom to keep the

boats away. that does not mean we do not allow access. where more than happy to show you wwat is going on in the area. it has been accurately -- inaccurately reported. all we are trying to do is create a safe environment for the boom and for the boating public that is out there. this stuff is very scarce right now. we have taken many offers of foreign assistance to bring boom into the country. we need to make sure that the public operating on the water are safe. this is in no way affecting access of the media to the spill response. it can be worked out with a local coast guard commanders. >> this will be your final question. >> i was hoping you could

clarify a couple of things to do you said that the helix is partially cooked up. i'm trying to get a better idea of what that means. it is is that the bus laws stopping connected? -- it is just that the vessel is not connected? [unintelligible] [unintelligible] i know they can stand much rougher weather. they could reconnect a storm or to hit. i got a little confused when we went back over possibly taking off in the cap. has it been decided now that th3 are we at a time where we are thinking about taking it off? >> let me see if i can get all

of those in order. on the helix producer, in a very simplified way of describing+ this, the production pipe from the helix producer itself is actually connected to a belief system. the buoy system is connected to the flexible wire that is connected to the riser pipe.3 are required. there in the process of doing that right now. they have the connection to the buoy system dump. they are now trying to complete a hook up from the flexible pipe. this is an open area inside the ship that has free access to the water. the sea states getting up to

five or 6 feet right now. when this is done and how it will be done will be the complete call for the people on scene. it will be the masters call regarding it they will completed today or not the did the ship -- or not. if the ship can write up 12 feet. we are watching the weather. we are looking for special predictions that are generated. in general, what to get above 12 foot seas, it starts to be problematic for those that are out there. the containment cap. the current can paymencontaininn

never be 100% effective because it doesn't have a perfect seal because we created a cap to fit over the stub of a pipe that was cut by the massive shareears. there was a rubber skirt or seal around it. pe always require some oil to the coming out from it. if it is coming out, see what is not coming in. seawater and natural-gas produces high street which are crystals that allow the first cap floating away. we do not want hydrates inside that it will never be 100 term effective in containing the oil -- inside. it'll never be 100% effective in containing the oil. there is pressure that it will

place. it'll be interesting what the new pressure readings will be. it might be indicative of a problem with the integrity of the well board. >> thank you, everyonn. >> thank you. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010] >> 4 are complete coverage of the oil spill, visit our oil spill website. you will find all our ideo related to this bill and cleanup including a live underwater video. find it at c-span.org/oilspill >> coming up, house minority leader john boehner visit the national right to life convictiention.

president obama meet with israeli prime minister netanyahu. then queen elizabeth's except the united nations. >> c-span is bringing you washington your way. it waa created by america's cable companies. >> abortion as an election issue was discussed at the national right to life committee's annual convention. it was led by john boehner. from pittsburgh, this is one hour. >> welcome to this session of the annual national righh to life convention. this year, we are faced with

great challenges. we also have great opportunities. the threat to unborn children's lives have never been greater. yet there is an awakening across this country about the humanity of unborn children. they see the ultrasound. an unborn child.bortion does to this session is about what people are doing to protect unborn children and to make the government more responsible to protecting unborn children. of course, we are altering one of the leaders in congress of protecting unborn children. i would first like to introduce to you the head table, and

myself, i and the co-director of national right to life. to my immediate right is charlene bayshore, the political direction of our convention here attorney general tom corbett -- [applause] you seem to be pretty popular here in pennsylvania. wait a minute. here we go. congressman tim murphy. [applause] represented this district.

the political action committee director for national right to life. [applause] dr. david, our own executive director. [applauue] and of course, house republican leader john boehner. [applause] and our own president.

charlene will now introduce the attorney general tom corvinbin. >> thank you. two years ago during this convention in virginia, we heard from bottoming donald. we are very proud of our attorney general. tom corporat, corporathe is knos fair and unwavering prosecution of officials who betrayed the public trust -- [applause]

and for making pennsylvania a better and safer place for all of our families include our honorable band members. please, welcome him. [applause] thank you. i certainly appreciate the invitation to attend here today. on behalf of the commonwealth of pennsylvania, let me welcome you to pennsylvania, to my home town. we certainly enjoy it here. how many of you are from out of state? wow. come here and spend a lot of money, please. [laughter] we certainly need help with our budget. i hope yet had an opportunity to see southwestern pennsylvania, and especially pittsburgh. we really enjoy the beauty we

have here. i always come home to western pennsylvania. it is a beautiful vibrant city in pittsburgh. i encourage you to go see some of our great museums. we have world-class works of art and natural history. you can see where the rivers come together, the allegheny -- if you can say that you pass pittsburg-ese. st. louis calls itself the gateway city, so we called ourselves the long before that. where the gateway to the midwestern and west. we did not have our traditional weekend of fireworks here. we have the about every other

weekend, do not we? i know that you are here for a much greater purpose. you celebrate the pro-life movement. i want to congratulate you on attending your 48 annual convention. -- your 40th annual convention. it takes tremendous dedication done as an organization throughout these years. each of us had a different and said the begin role -- and again role in restoring the unborn. together we are making a difference. look at pennsylvania. because of a bipartisan support

the pro-life leaders in 1989, we saw the passage of the pennsylvania abortion control act which has saved numerous lives. [applause] it has been my honor -- i joined a group in support of new hampshire is abortion and control statute which talent -- which was challenged that time by bureaucrats. it is the firsttcase challenged where the supreme court accepted it in five years in a unanimous decision. they've rolled the first court of appeals overstepped its bounds blocked the parental notification laws.

progress. we are fortunate to have with us -- and you rightly gave him the stanley ovation, house republican leader john boehner, and the leadership in congress. bi want to thank you for steny hoyer conviction and your example in washington -- for your conviction and your example in washington tomorr. i encourage you to keep up the good work and continue providing for your community about the undeniable humanity of our unborn children. working together, we will make a difference by a changing and saving lives. this is an ending i always

appreciate. may god bless you. may god bless pennsylvania. may god bless the united states of americaa thank you very much. stop >> thank you very much. congressman tim murphy is also here to speak with us. he has championed the sanctity of human life. in his fourth term of congress, he has a perfect voting record on probe life -- pro-life issues. [applause]

he has voted to ban partial birth abortions, to promote alternatives to abortion. he has also supported legislation that prohibits transporting minors across state lines to receive abortions in order to circumvent the laws of the state where the minor reside. ladies and gentlemen, it is my great pleasure to introddce to you congressman tim murphy. [applause] >> thank you. thank you very much. welcome to my republican leader john boehner. it is good to have you all here. although we are happy and smiling and fees to be together for our cause, who recognize the gravity of what is behind us and what prevent us now and what is

before us. years ago when i worked with the newborn intensive care unit, i remember one day that i was seeing hundreds of babies being born prematurely. this one was born addicted to crack cocaine. he was not much bigger than my hand and shaking and shivering. i remember saying to the nurse, "i cannot take it anymore. i need to move upstream and take care of these problems before we get to this level." i fear there is another phase -- another baby whose mother was addicted to drugs that would be lost in the foster care system. some see the answer to that to say let aboard these babies so that the child does not face the future. i say what we ought to do is let

these children live so that they have a chance. [applause] as i have gone through the years, i remember when i was first elected senator, i was at a debate. there was someone from the audience said, what do you propose to do with these children growing up in poverty? how can you force these children to do that? my answer was, these children deserve a chance to have a choice in life. these children deserve a chance to grow up and go to school and to believe in great things and not to be told they are victims of poverty. these children deserve a chance to have a choice to be doctors or lawyers or teachers or carpenters or parents, whatever that is. as i have gone on through the years, i always neat appearance

-- neat parenmeet parents. opportunity to meet their children, children who are often younger than the age limit that we set for a partial birth abortion. they had a chance to be something in life. that is what they did. that is the task before us. i am so glad that all of you are there and of the thousands of people you represent and the millions of people that they represent. americans feel that abortion is not sending we should fund with tax dollars. nor should we allow our tax dollars to go overseas to others to fund their abortions. [applause]

life has its struggles. life also has its infinite joy and opportunities. i am so very thankful that all of you, whoever you are, wherever you from, they believe that every kid deserves a chance to have a choice at life. every child deserves a chance. every baby deserves a chance to get a choice that life. every parent should be supportive. thank you so much. [applause] >> now i like to introduce our very own executive director.

he will talk to you about numbers. this is very appropriate, because he was a ph.d. in mathematics. he, like so many of us who work in the pro-life movement, had another career by gave up a career in order to dedicate our lives to unborn children. it is a tremendous advantage for all of us. he understands numbers. he understands public opinion numbers. now he will share some of these numbers with the. [applause] >> thank you. she mentioned i will be sharing

numbers. we analyzed polls and numbers and try to gauge public opinion. let me see if this actually works. when it does. in washington, from time to time, i am in the ronald reagan national airport. i have noticed one of the great ages of public opinion are the t-shirt shops for the people -- t-shirt shops. they come from all over the country. the shops want to sell t-shirts they think people will want to buy. sadly, in the fall of 2008, i was picking up my brother. this one t-shirt shop everything seem to say obama and ahcnage i was there last week in the same shop had t-shirts and they said

"nobama and change it back." [cheers] today in america and the normal is to be pro-life. more people are pro-life and pro-choice. we are a against abortion and health care and euthanasia. very few of the nether side, their leadership does the would tuesday what they produce does not want to say they will -- they do not to say what they are.

when they have a choice between a candidate to vote pro-life and a ccndidate who favors using abortion as a method of birth control, they vote pro-life. our strength is stronger than that. an overwhelming majority opposes using tax dollars to pay for abortions. and the current administration came to office, they were facing a recession in january of 2008. barack obama was facing a recession. he was facing unemployment. it continued to hover around 10%. what did he do? he repealed the mexico city policy and began sending

millions of our tax dollars overseas to organizations that fund abortions. what do americans think of that? only 35% of americans approved of one of his first actions in office, funding organizations overseas that promote abortions. only 33% of independencts approved that. following the lines that americans do not want their+ government funds used to support abortion, a poll in november 2009 asked a question, if government funds are used to and do you think it should cover abortions? 61% of the population said no. what did the democratic

administration and congress to do? they passed a health care plan, passed by 219 democrats in the house and 56 in the senate without a single republican vote. they pass a health care plan that not only will fund insurance plans to perform abortion on demand, it wiil also rationed the health care. it is no wonder that today 58% of americans believe the plan should be repealed. [applause] it is also no wonder that this poll shows that 69% of americans are dissatisfied or angry about is working. [applause]

what do they think of the job that congress is doing under its current one party leadership? 71% of americans disapprove of the job congress is doing. it is interesting. in may 2006, a 53% disapproved. in june 1999, 71% disapproved. in each of those years, congress changed parties in the following selection from t-- in the follog election. gallop found that 49% of americans say they want to vote republican for congress as opposed to 43% of americans

democrat. why do i bring this up? national right to life is a non- partisan organization from the there are some republicans that are pro abortion, and forcefully. there are some democrats that are pro-life. looking at the races right now today, and every closely contested congressional or senate race where there is a pro-life candidate and a pro- abortion candidate, the pro- life abortion is democrat. looking into this ballot, they find that today 44% of the public want to vote for a republican for congress. 35% for a democrat from t.

on january 18, 2009, that was slipped. 42% would have voted for a democrat in congress. 35% for a republican. what kind of job is obama and the democratic administration doingg they have increased the republican generic ballot by nine. in decrease the democrat by seven points. some would ssy they are doing a good job. [applause] i would conclude by telling you that we ave hope. we will remember in november. >> now we would also like to have a few words from our political action committee director.

hello. for four decades the national right to life has a word to meet the challenge of returning a culture of life ii america. through education, legislation, and political action, we have touched hearts, it changed minds, and saved lives. we are making a difference. our educational efforts have made a tremendous impact. the survivors of roe vs. wade are not just embracing the pro- life position, they are acting on their convictions to saved the next generation. life-saving and life affirming

legislation is being passed in state nationwide. things to alter some legislation, many mothers change their minds when they see older sound of their unborn children and see fingers and toes in beating heart. in south carolina, there are more than 95,000 children alive today because of various pro- life legislation. those 95,000 families are blessed with a child instead of kerr's with despair and regret. -- instead of cursed with despair and regret. we are involved in political action. the public is increasingly dissatisfied with the policies of this proabortion administration. i suspect some of you may be in this very room. this has been a very competitive primary cycle with

an unusually high number of candidates running for congress. top political analysts are moving it into the toss of category each week. the last 80 months have been challenging for all of us in the pro-life movement and often downright discouraging. we have seen the passage of health care legislation, more than 2000 pages, that will provide for government funding for health plans that pay for abortion on demand. after the 2008 election, we were told it was over. your presence here today is evidence that we did not pack our bags and go home. [applause] we have persevered as a movement because of you.

you are truly amazing. you have a passion for the most vulnerable in our society, for those that cannot help themselves. you have compassion for mothers. you open your heart to those of us who have tragically ended the lives of our own children. this year is ppesenting as many opportunities. you will rise to the talent and takk advantage of every opportunity. you know that too many lives are at stake. national right to life is prepared to meet these challenges. we cannot do it without you. you are national right to life. you are making a difference. [applause] with your help, energy, passion,

enthusiasm, and your determination, we can make this year a pivotal turning point for our country and our culture. thank you. >> republican house leader john boehner. [applause] i am dreaming. i am dreaming of the future -- [applause]

i'd think you all like my mistake there for t. throughout our 20 years in congress, both as a representative from ohio's eighth congressional district and as a leader of house republicans, in all the important leadership offices he has held, and john boehner has been a peaceful defender of unborn children, disabled persons, and seniors who right to life might be jeopardized. he has voted to advance pro-life legislation and block entire life legislation throughout his two decades in the house. john boehner has been an active supporter of a number of

successful pro-life effort over the years, including his co- sponsor ship of the assisted suicide funding prevention act enacted in 1997 to a partial birth abortion enacted in 2003 and the unborn victims of abortion act enacteddin 2003 and the unborn victims of violent act enacted in 2004. in january 2006, mr. boehner asks his house repressed -- reeublicans to elected to majority leader, which is the second highest office in the u.s. house of representatives. they did so. on that occasion, mr. boehner circulated a letter among his republican colleagues in which

he wrote, "one thing that has touched me during the process is the commitment many of our members have to protecting the lives of the unborn and ensuring that our nation's laws reflect a belief in the sanctity of life. i write to you today simply for the purpose of reforminwhile reg proudly that i share this commitment, completely, totally, and without provocation. it is a commitment i felt deeply throughout my life. it is a commitment i will upholds unapologetically if and when i am chosen to be your next majority leader. i have always voted to protect the lives of unborn children and

as long as i am in an elected official, i will continue to do so." as you know, in january 2007, it the majority control shifted to the democrats. mr. boehner'republicans colleagues elected him as the minority leader. he has been a major impediment to be advancements of the pro- abortion agenda, the obama /pelosi/reid agenda. [applause] as soon as president obama took office in january 2009, mr. boehner and republican with erick kanter signed -- urging

the new president to withdraw his pre-election pledge to sign the so-called choice act. during a long battle over president obama's healthcare restructuring legislation, mr. boehner relentlessly used his leadership of this to put a spotlight on his attempts to smuggle into law and a ray of sweeping pro-abortion and pro rationing provisions. mr. boehner is skillfully employed the procedural tools at his command to make things difficult for the pro-abortion opposition for their a -- opposition.

he boldly confronted nancy pelosi in the other pro-abortion democrat leaders as they ran their deadly bill through the house. it is a testament to mr. boehner'skills as a leader of that on a final vote not a single one of the 178 house republicans voted for that deadly pro abortion obamacare bill. [applause] on behalf of every pro-lifer and here, we thank you, john boehner.

thank you all very much. thank you. i am deeply honored toobe here today with all of you. i know of the program says i'm here to and accept an award. really, it is not my work we should be celebrating today. it is your work we should be celebrating. it is the energy of the national right to life committee in the state affiliates around america that has made the real difference. i want to thank each and every one of you in this room for the leadership they have demonstrated in your communities. to be recognized by those lead devoted their lives to defending life, it is really a badge of

honor for me. i am humbled. i am inspired by your confidence in me. and respect for life has never been a political decision for me. it came necessarnaturally. it is who i am. it is how my parents raised me. millions of americans have had a similar experience. uygur up in cincinnati with a big family. i have 11 brothers and sisters. [applause] it was not easy for my mother to i am sure glad that she did. my parents sent all of this to catholic school. it was not easy for them to do that either. they could use that money for a lot of other things. it was important to them that we get a good education.

a good education for them meant a lot more than just the abc's and been able to count 1, 2, -- 3. [laughter] it was important that we learned about deeper values. i thought a lot about this speech and what i was going to say here this morning as i went few things about who i am and 2 we are as a people. americans love life. we love of freedom. they are iitertwined currently as part of the american character. america is a nation that is built on freedom. without respect for life, freedom is in jeopardy for the when human life takes a back seat to other priorities, a a personal comfort, economics, freedom is diminish. when we affirm the dignity of life, we affirm our commitment

to freedom. these are fundamentals in the american experience. they have for implications for government to. it means we should always err on the side of life. it means we must always respect the dignity of life. from conception to the very end of life and everything in between. it means we have a moral obligation to the defenseless. there is nothing more defenseless, more innocent than an unborn baby. [applause] the defense of life and the defense of freedom are linked. we know this to be too. if we accept this, we cannot

accepttthe current political agenda in washington . as bhave donald said in his response to president obama's stated the union address in january, america always must be a land where liberty and property are valued and respected and flies are protected. -- live this are protected. i never said to be recognized as a leader of the movement. i never wore myypro-lifee credentials on my sleeve. i fought for what i believed was right. i still -- stood up for what i thought was right. i have been compelled to raise my voice and to speak out a little more loudly. if you look at the is it that is being purssed in washington, if

you believe in the right to life, and being quiet is not good enough. we do not have the luxury of being quiet. if you look at what is going on, there is a paring down of the walls that have stood as the last line of defense role vs. wade was enacted. no one to the surprise. these warning signs were there all along. before being elected, senator barack obama spoke at the national planned parenthood committee, the nation's largest provider of abortions. he endorsed the freedom of choice act and he promised to make his investment and property for his administration if he were elected president. during his first week in office, on the 36th anniversary of roe vs. wade, i and my colleague

sent him a letter urging him to withdraw his pledge to sign the freedom of choice act into law. our tone was respectful. our message was one of hope. the letter said, "americans from all walks of life have been touched by your pledge to govern and by you are abouttto be presiddnt for all americans for do you have expressed the desire to the president for all americans and to use your presidency to promote in it is that bring americans together and not drive them apart we withdraw his pledge to sign the freedom of choice act. whenever got a response in the letter. not in writing and not in any other way. in the 18 months since it was sent, we have gotten our answer. a tragically, it has come to the it ministrations own actions from t.

agenda is being implemented step by tried to step. in the first few months, president obama took at least three separate actions -- breaking american rules that were meant to safeguard the sanctity of human life. pe took upon himself to destroy human embryos, taking this at a time when science has demonstrated that the true protector of stencel research lies in a type of stem cell research that is not destroyed the human embryos. he weekend protections of protect doctors who declined to provide abortions for moral

reasons. these were announced late on friday afternoon. in washington, a friday afternoon announcement is code that you are trying to hide something. this was the start of a pattern we have seen repeated throughout this administration. they are moving to allow abortions on military bases. it is profoundly disturbing that our government would endorse the destruction of american lives on the same soil are men and women walked each and every day in the defense of freedom and liberty. [applause] it undermines everything men and women are fighting for. then there is the president massive overhaul of our health- care system, obamacare.

the overwhelming opposition of the american people almost kept it from becoming law. the american people in a bipartisan majority of the house supported the stupack amendment that would have prohibited taxpayer funding of abortion through the health care bill. this presented a huge problem for the president and democratic leadership. . .

prior to that point, he had mounted a courageous fight. a pro-life america did not buy it. they doubted the administration's sincerity and with good reason. with three months into the implementation of this new health care law, the administration has not lifted a finger to enforce the president's executive order. secretary kathleen sibelius' had sent a progress report back in may. she made no mention about the executive order on abortion.

she said that the adminissration is "working on its." two weeks ago, i asked president obama. everyone in the room heard me ask the question. we are still waiting for an answer. i say all this with great sadness, a sadness for the on born -- unborn. and sadness for our nation. these policies do not unite america. america has to decide whether we will continue to allow this to continue. we recently lost an initiative called america speaking out. it involved engaging the american people directly.

one of the tools is a website. it allows every american to log3 ideas submitted by other americans. i want to encourage everyone to go to americaspeakingout.com. one of my former -- what my favorite members of congress was the former representative of illinois. [applause] part of his legacy was the amendment that prohibits congress from appropriating taxpayer funding for abortion. one of the many ideas being discussed right now is the idea of codifying the amendment said that it up plies to all -- so

that it applies to all funding. this must be the next objective for pro-life america. it is clear from the health-care debate that the american people do not want their tax dollars used to be paying for abortions. it is the will of the people and it ought to be the will of our land to endicott to happen right now. -- and it ought to happen right now. [applause] i am pleased to announce that congressman chris smith of new jersey will be introducing legislature to accomplish that goal. i intend to be a co-sponsor of that bill. [applause] once it is introduced, i will call on speaker nancy pelosi nd

ask them to bring it to an immediate vote in the house. it is time for washington to stop defying the will of the american people on this critical, common-sense issue. i believe that we need to repeal the health care bill and start over. [applause] thank you. thank you. we can start over with a common- sense reforms that will lower the cost of healthcare in america and protect the sanctity of human life. our nation was built on ideas that came directly from the people, people that took an active interest in their government. america's deep to be engaged because the people running our

government have not been listening. and the consequences could be catastrophic. it will mean two more years in which planned parenthood and other radical groups determine the direction of our government will the voices of pro-life americans are shut out. we do not need to more years of supreme court appointments of radical activists. we need to know who the defenders of life really are. no one gets a pass when it comes to life. it reminded us about -- of how any politician can say they are pro-life. actions speak louder than words. [applause]

thank you. the lesson, get involved in your government. speak out and find out where your legislators actually stand. as a member of -- is your member of congress truly dedicated to protecting the unborn? this is the time to know the answer to that question. this is why it matters. you invited me year to give me an award and i gratefully accepted. the true leaders of this movement are sitting right up there in the audience this morning. what i matters a whole lot less than what you do. i want to close by mentioning henry hyde. he was my friend and probably

the cali that i have admired most during might two decades in the house. the examples that henry sat at the way he conducted himself and the way he defended life are examples all of us must follow. he was at peace in the presence of others, even those who disagreed with him profoundly. he was comfortable with them because of his unshakable faith in the sanctity of every human life. when he died a few years ago, i had the chance and the honor of being asked to speak at his memorial service. i recall some of my words then. treat everyone with dignity and respect came naturally to henry. he truly believed that all human life is precious. henry was right.

there is no cause that is more normal than the defense of human life. -- more noble than the defense of human llfe. there is no debate that is more urgent. you know this in your hearts or you would not be here today. from the bottom of my heart, i want to say thank you for this honor. thank you to all of you and all that you do to defend freedom and defend life. thank you very much. [applause]

thank you. >> our president will present the national right to life legislative leadership award for 2010. -p[applause] it is my honor to receive this

for our grass-roots folks working around the country in solidarity with our leaders. [applause] >> thank you. thank you. >> you may speak to him after the program. may we finish our program? we are all thrilled to have view -- [inaudible]

we know how our opposition is vehemence occasionally. we're all thrilled to have you here with us to receive the 2010 legislative leadership award and we need more great leaders like the congressmen all across america. thank you. goodbye. p>> on c-span tonight, the depuy homeland security secretariat -- secretary speaks. later, britain's queen elizabeth addresses the u.n. general assembly. on tomorrows "washington journal," --

supreme court reporter david savage takes a look back at the courts recently connluded term. "washington journal" begins like each mornnng at 7:00 on c-span. >> for a snapshot of washington, the c-span congressional directory, a reference guide to every member of the house and senate. order online. >> deck b -- deputy homeland security secretary jane lute explain the role of dhs.

from aspen, colorado, this is half an hour -- this is an hour. the real value of an event like this is in the discussion. and the ideas that those discussions create. the aspen security -- provides leadership to help build a smarter planet. my colleagues and i are participating in advance to the course of the form of and appreciate this opportunity to be able to listen, learn, and to

engage with you in these important discussions. this morning, we kick off the event with a discussion with jane lute. she has more than 30 years of military experience in the united states government. prior to joining dhs, she is responsible for peacekeeping operations. she also headed the carnegie commission on preventing deadly conflicts and was a senior public policy fellow at woodrow wilson international center for scholars. she is a thoughtful and engaging leader and we are fortunate to have of -- have her with us this morning. dean came to ask them last night from toronto where she was

covering the g-20 summit. while we expect energetic debate today, i hope you'll keep my promise to her that right there will not be necessary for the day. -- riot gear. coveragepart of cnn's of hurricane katrina. cover and homeland security since 2001, she has reported on the security of the nation's pork, chemical plant, and borders. -- ports.

>> who would have thought that today's lead story would be about russian spies? it is a bit of a time warp for us. i know you have come here from the gulf. it has taken some resources. how much has that distracted or degraded the department's counter-terrorism efforts? >> not at all. the department believes that fighting terrorism is a job one. the president has said that. the challenge that we have in responding to the spill and overseeing the effort to clean up the spill to ensure that the well is capped and to hold the responsible parties accountable is one that we take on as part of our responsibilities and homeland security. the department has a wide wingspan. >> but a in a limited number of

people. -- but a limited number of people. has had some distracting impact? >> distracting is not the right word. we are able to manage one more -- more than one thing at a time. we have just come through a yearlong examination intensively of what it means to talk about homeland security. one of the striking things about the department and the extraordinary work of the men and women is that this department is seven years old. it is not one year ld for the seventh time. there has been an accumulation of knowledge and expertise

we can do multiple things. >> how do you know when the nation is secure? >> it is a good question and it is a timely question. while the department has extraordinary brand name recognition, a lot of people still ask that question. what does it mean to have a3 what we think it means and we have looked at this very hard, to speak up homeland security is to speak of a resilience place where the american way of life can thrive. that is the vision. if you do not know where you are going, you are not going to get there. when we talk about the vision, it is a safe, secure, resilience place for the american way of life can thrive. >> we heard admiral mollen give his assessment last night. i am sure you have your own matrix. give us your take. >> we think about that all the time.

if counterterrorism is job one, what you discover in public policy, and governance, it is that you are throwing it remedies at a problem without any real theory of the problem. what are the greatest dangers that we face? certainly, it is al qaeda and other affiliated groups and their determination to attack this country and our allies. we are determined to be prepared and ready. when we have a vision for+ homeland security, a vision without a plan is at best a dream and at worst, a nightmare. what do you do about this vision? how do you achieve that? building a safe and secure place means that we need to do five things. we need to prevent another terrorist attack. we need to it -- we need to secure our borders. it is a threshold responsibility

of sovereign nations to be able to control who goes in and who comes out. you begin to see the dual nature of homeland security. on the one hand, what we want to keep out people and goods that might be dangerous, we want to welcome legitimate trade and travel if we want to expedite legitimate trade and travel. we need to enforce our immigration laws. we wann to welcome those who would enrich our culture and our society, but we want to keep out people who might be dangerous. we have a fundamental right to know who lives and works within our borders. we need to secure cyberspace. cyber capability lies at thee heart of some much of american life. finally, we need to build a resilient country to face all risks. >> you describe this risk as

being external. since the first of the year, 25 people have been charged with terrorism. there has been a lot of talk within the department, i believe, about community outreach and trying to address the problem in that way. do you know if that works? >> i spent a lot of my career in national security. i spent the last 15 years of virtually on the outside of this country looking in. understanding the events and dynamics that give rise to violent conflict around the world. there are a lot of mythologies about a violent conflict. one thing we fundamentally it note, i'll qaeda it is no mythology. -- al qaeda is no mythology. we know that there are people

here who are attracted to that ideology and who are becoming motivated to violence. >> what do you do about it? >> we do several things. if you want our strategy for counter-terrorism, it really means we need to pull together the tools that we have at our disposal. if we are fighting terrorism abroad, we depend a lot on intelligence, our partners. we depend on the military. at home, those tools cannot -- you cannot just put them in the united states. we have several tools as well. we have our border tool. people crossing our borders have to go through -- we have law not only federal law enforcement assets.

but 800,000 state and local personnel as well. we had intelligence information and we have the american public. >> what about the average two communities? -- the outreach to communities? for instance, to the muslim community, to go out and build bridges? does it work? does it backfire? >> one of the extraordinary things about being american is that you get to be many things. you are not forced into a miniature version of yourself. you can multiply affiliate. we allow space for that, socially and politically. while we do reach out to the muslim community, we do engage them and want to understand the challenges that they face and

engage them in the efforts to help protect our soil, we do that with all communities as well. we are actively seeking ways in which american society can come together. >> you mentioned law enforcement. there was a problem. local law enforcement, new york police department, was in the loop. they went to somebody in the muslim community and spoke to him about the investigation and he ticked off -- heat tipped him off. -- he tipped him off. local and federal authorities were not working perfectly in tandem. >> we believe in the power of community policing. local knowledge, local trust

gets built from the ground up. what you are speaking to it is, how do we understand this threat when it is beginning to materialize? if someone is here in this country, the time that exist " between when they might be moved to violent action and when they will move to that violence, may be short. we need to act wisely. we need to remember the values that made this country great. we need to craft a strategy is to keep ourselves secure. >> at the moment, it is a huge problem for your department. >> is terrorism a problem for our department? >> the home grown issue. it seems particularly difficult to get a hold of. when you are dealing with an overseas a threat, there are other tools. you do not have those here.+

sometimes people can operate under the radar. >> we do not just pick up and pick up -- stop and pick up the tools that are applied here. we have the border tools. we have information sharing. we need to work on all of these and crafting strategies that pllow us to know when it disaffected people are going to move to the kind of violence that we characterized as terrorism. we ate knowledge this and we accepted and we are working intensively. we are working on the homeland security enterprise. komen security is far more than just the department. it -- homeland security is far more than just the department. it is the entire federal family. >> is working in terms of information sharing? you have your fusion centers. it is the information flowing

up and down the change? -- the chain? >> i am smiling. of course not. we have so much information, it feels like we have no information. i have all this information, but i do not have the information that i need. we do need to be better at sharing and we need to do it in a way that protects our civil liberties. we also need to understand the action implications of what we know. this is a very fundamental, not only in our counterterrorism strategy, but in building a resilience society able to face all risks and hazards. do we have individuals who knoo what to do and know what they are confronting and can act on

the information that they have been responsible ways? capable communities to know their constituent members. we need a response a federal system, one that understand its value proposition and this whole enterprise. . .

will they continue to have those resources or will they decide something else is more important? i can't give those couple of people at the fusion centers, for instance. >> oneeof the things that i learned at the department of home insecurity is how different it is. national security is strategic, centralized. foments security is operational, decentralized -- homeland's security is operational and decentralized and driven from the grassroots. it would presumptuous to say whether they have the rights resources that they need. what we know it in the department is that we have to do everything we can to strengthen their resources.

for the grant programs in the department of justice, in gauginggfor the fusion centers for establishing standards in the area of resilience, so that communities know what they need to do.. >> is there possibility of grant funding actually increasing? >> can i see the possibilities? of course i can. >> will that happen? >> we are extraordinarily stringent in financial times. everyone knows that. the department has benefited from an investment from congress over the past several years. that is affecting the department as well. we cannot act as though this is a surprise. we have to do business differently, but we still nude -- need to do business together. >> a lot of money has been spent on technology.

the net to protect the southern border has not worked as designed. machines employed in airports did not work in a real world environment. devising new nuclear detection+ equipment. what is the problem here? why has so much money been spent on technology that knack -- that has not worked? >> technology is only part of a system and solution, whether at the border or at the airport. technology is a very beguiling thing. people are on a constant search for the silver bullet. looking for silver bullets is like looking for dinosaurs in manhattan. there are no dinosaurs. we should stop looking for the single point solution.

technology improves our ability to detect and interdict and prevent things from happening, but it does not exist along. we're trying to improve >> is it doing a good risk benefit analysis when it comes to technology? >> governments spend money in three ways. you invest the money, and you place bets like we all do, will this work? in many areas of homeland security, we're trying things that have never been tried before and on a scale that have never been tried before. we're trying to address problems that are really problems up at first impression for all of us. how do we do this to ensure our security without sacrificing our liberties and privacy? technology is a piece of that. we're learning every day. are we getting some things right?

we're getting a lot right. are there still challenges? of course. >> let's talk about those. would one of the scanners have caught the christmas day bomber had he been put one -- for one of them? >> would have detected -- possibly. are we looking for absolutes? my answers would be disappointing for you. but if we're looking at a whole layered approach, does it improve our ability to detect? absolutely. >> is it worth the amount of money we'reespending for that degree of improvement? >> that marginal question is one that we are asking ourselves. compared to what? we believe in this technology that it enhances our ticket -- detection capability. but it is not the only link in

the chain. >> penetration technology. true security transportation checkpoints in the past. what are the current test showing you? >> i cannot go into any detail about our current technical capabilities. we see improvement all the time. >> significant? >> significant improvement -- i would say that the answer is yes. as the challenges involved, our strategies have to evolve and our systems have to of all. >> another one of the lawyers -- air marshals. do you have enough of them? should they be on every flight? >> the feeling is that we could use more air marshals. we do it risk-based, because you will never have enough to put on every single flight every single day.

combining a risk-based approach and a number of personnel, they are importance will. >> what kind of increase which like to say? >> again, this as a single element of an entire process is weighed against the other elements in that process as well. rather than pop off with a 20% increase, what we want to see is a system that the traveling public can have confidence and and give them a safe air travel experience. one of the things we learned about the christmas day bomber, we learned a number of things. we learned frankly that if you can access the global aviation system from any part, if you have access to the entire system. this individual bought his ticket and one plus, boarded a plane and another, transited at third location, headed for a

fourth, and you can put in the city on the mac into those four locations. in the immediate wake of that, the secretary asked me to travel arrund to the aviation ports around the world. we went to 12 countries in 12 days on six continents. we talked about the elements to put together to ensure the traveling public that they are safe. if al qaeda is putting its affiliate's and their best minds into this problem, we certainly need to do the same. and we are. number one, we confirmed that we need to do better information sharing. >> internationally? >> internationally in this particular case. it is one thing to do with the individuals that you have identified as non suspected terrorists. it is another thing to do with the relatively unknown. this individual was not totally

unknown, as we all know, but relatively unknown. we must do more at information sharing. that requires a commitment for standards of information that we can gather on travel so that we can expedite. the second thing we look at is technology and systems in place in airports. do we have the right kinds of technology deployed? are people using it? at the last port of departure to the united ssates, where we satisfied that the systems were in place in these locations meeting the standards that we think have to be mad? and third, we know that the half the help the weaker tostem raise the level. >> looking at the international situation, you found some agreement, is the world as a whole where they need to be? >> this is been a major agenda of the secretary over the past six months.

>> how much progress? >> enormous progress. she has been in every nation run the world, with commitments going into a major gathering in september to address this question. >> what the specifics in those agreements? >> does of the issues that i spoke about. higher standards for information gathering and sharing, better uses of technology, and the exchange standards and technological information, and practice -- again, it is not ink -- any single piece of a quick uphold system that we have in place in an airport that makes for a secure system or not. in a mutual commitment to raise those weaker parts of the system to a better standard. >> we've mentioned a christmas day bomber couple of times. a similar bomb had been used against italian officials. a u.s. official had gone over and got a briefing about that particular type of bomb. it does not appear that that information was disseminated to

the gsa. so that there was any adjustment in between. am i correct? why did not work better? >> what i will tell you is that tsa every single day as a robust playbook of measures that it uses and dynamically employees those measures of that we do not give a potential adversary the benefit of the disability. and in partnership with many countries around the world, it is constantly updating our knowledge base on what kinds of threats exist, what kind of explosives, what kind of technology, what kind of strategy or percentages -- r procedures terrorists may attend. >> but better intelligence was needed about this kind of bomb. in the kind of material -- not at particularly exotic --

>> by using it in the underwear was something that we had seen before. >> without going into the specifics of the case that you're talking about, the information that we had, we knew about this kind of material and the potential threats that post. we are constantly working to that we prevent that kind of danger from happening. >> another part of tsa's mission is to protect mass transit. 33% of terrorist events have been against mass transit. is the department of voting to resources and the attention and the time it should be to that particular problem, or are those systems quite fundamentally and protect -- unprotectable? >> i would not say that they were that. first of all, the department has

a very dynamic dialogue and relationship not only put the major ities were these manse -- mass transit system concentrates, but they extend nationwide, and also with the private sector in whose hands many of these mass transit system why. we're committed to a program that engages the public, informs the public to be aware and be alert for potential dangers, and employed best practices that reduces the potential vulnerabilities. we are in dialogue with the private sector and the minister polities and the city's on ways to strengthen the protection of mass transit's systems. can we do more? of course we can do more. >> that money is allocated based on risk, one area gets a small piece of the pipe. explain. >> you almost explained it yourself with your statement. it is true. is there enough money to go around for everything that needs to go around to?

the answer is no. if does that mean that we're without any means to protect ourselves, our mass transit system, to protect the travelling public? this is something that we look at not all from the perspective of counter terrorism but in terms of building a national resilience to understand all risks and hazards can't understand how we as a federal department together with other federal agencies can add value to what the private sector is doing, to what citizens are doing on their own behalf, and other. >> we're doing a quick tour of the waterfront because a lot of these issues will be ddalt with in more depth in later sessions. but i have to ask about cyber. the department, and security and the inspector general recently did a report which said you dealt with the manpower and capabilities, but you're not up to the job. >> there are good things in that report. >> there are a lot of bad things. >> one of the things with

seifert -- it was the department tech called out injuring our cyber security as a core mission of what it meann -- it was the department that call out thht our cyber security was the core mission of what it means to be secure. i cannot tell you how many the department who worked at the state and local level and said, we've always known cyber has been out there but we have not given that the attention -- we know now. that is an essential element. we need to construct a cyber security system which is about tw of things -- protecting your information and protecting your identity. it means that you can't teach in -- you can engage in procedures.

sending a rise to the person to whom you're sending a. we certainly cannot do it alone. we not only need to engage the american citizen who rightly feet rig rightfully feel that they owned their information and identity, and we need to engage the private sector as we are, in a committed partnership. >> according to the reports, about half of the positions are unfilled. why is that? >> there is great competition for highly skilled cyber capabilities. we aim to become -- charged with the security of the .gov and .com space, to become a home for the best professionals. that will take some time. >> how you get there?

>> you get there by -- >> how do you attract them from industry? >> kulick track them the same way all of us are attracted to public service. you're attracted to work on something that is bigger than ourselves and a mutual commitment to this country. can we ay them the money that private industry can pay them? of course we cannot. but we can reward them with opportunities to explore and develop and create a safe and secure cyber environment that will benefit us all. >> but then we read this report and others had been written and they say that dhs now have the skills to deal with this problem. >> and we do, sometimes. rebates -- we base our life's decisions on a single report or a single thing that we hear. but of the government to become engaged in a centralized way to

fill our value propositions, and i feel certain that cyber security will not mean that the government has not taking charge of ensuring the security of everyone's computer or ipad or whatever mobile device that they have. we will have to have a distributed system in which people understand their security needs. we have to create a new ecosystem entirely in cyberspace. the department will be at the center of that activity together with partners. and the attraction is that we're convinced as well as the commitment to the working environment is that we will -- the best and brightest. >> the secretary said she thought that government might be more tools to monitor the internet to keep track of privatisation. -- radicalization. what tools he needs?

>> we know that the internet has had an extraordinary effect. there may not be such thing as a minority anymore because you confine your affiliation on the internet, and you can bypass the barriers to being a party of one or two feeling alone or isolated. and we need to understand the means by which people who feel disaffected are motivated to violence. it is that connection to violence that we're determined to get at. the internet service in some cases as an accelerant for that. we saw this with hate radio in rwanda in the 1990's. you do not blame the internet or radio, but what you understand that it is an accelerant to violence. and we need to learn more about that to prevent violence from happening. >> what tools is she talking

about that we need to monitor? >> we need to understand -- tools are not just technology tools. tools are also understanding processes and procedures. and guided by our norms and our values and our sensibilities. what tools do we get our children's when we raise them to be responsible citizens? we give them tools -- macros, i suppose, to deal with everyday life. we need more tools to understand how the internet functions as an excellent. children that color-coded system came to be quite the joke. there was a group formed that was going to take a look specifically and make recommendations about that

system, and they came back to the secretary and said, simplified. make it easier. it still could have an important function, but it needs some work. had you were on the recommendations. >> i should say that we have been implementing measures but as a department and part of the federal family together with state and locals in response to increased circumstances of concern, possibilities of threat, the color coding system has not been the mechanism that conditions how we respond. we have put into place and activated a number of measures to respond to dynamic threats as they have arisen. the secretary is still looking very closely at those considerations -- at those recommendations, mindful of again, how do we put into place

a system that is value added to our ability to ensure our protection against a the threats. >> when are we going to see some changes? >> when i said, when we are done. no one has been standing still for the past 18 months. there has been a generation of learning and conversation at home and security over the past 1.5 years, building on the work that had been done previously. we know now what it means when we talk about a secure homeland. we know the five mission areas that we need. and the americans expect us to do three things. they have a right to expect that we can execute those missions, that we can run ourselves as apartment, and that we can account for the resources that have been entrusted to us. this is an operating department. there are 210,000 men and women in the department of all insecurity, off 207,000 of ttem in the operating compooent.

this is a department where every single day people wake up at the borders and the airport, where they run a secret service details, on the coast guard in doing search and ressue, for oil spill response -- every single day operating on the behalf of the safety and security of the american public. they are our most precious resource, and every day we're doing things to create system and processes to support their work. judy and yet surveys consistently show that there are some unhappy people in this regard. >> and they are the most committed and passionate about the mission. they are a number of them who said to me -- this is something i feel very strongly about. there are a number of them who said, i went into the army -- in fact, tomorrow i will have been out of the army more than i was

in the army for my adult life. it was not a great time to be in the army. and it was extraordinary, that feeling, that the non-arab feeling. i've had people tell me that phat is how they feel in our department from the american public. and we have to change that. these men and women are every bit as committed as our men and women in uniform. they are extraordinary, the contribution that they are makingg it is my privilege to be their leader but it is my greater privilege to be one of their number. and what we have to do is give them the conditions, the tools, the leadership, and the working environment that they did serve to match the passion that they get to the job. to get a lot of americans interface with your department at the airport. that bill like that their purpose when they walk into a

screening line at an airport. -- a lot of people feel like they are perps when they walk into a screening line at an airport. in the vast majority are committed professionals who have one job alone, to ensure your say air travel, and they do it with a professionalism and commitment. >> one last question on personnel issues. visibility. people have secret clearances to want to come for your department are put through an additional screening for suitability. why did they have to go through that? doeen't the secret clearance do that for you? and does and its slow the filling up positions and keep people away frommgovernment service? >> we are streamlining the process. there is a lot less suitability checks being done. it is a requirement of federal

service elsewhere. the department of defense takes your security clearance as evidence of suitability, and we're moving in that direction, but we're also the largest law enforcement agency in the federal government. adding a security clearance does not clear you to work in a law enforcement job. but it certainly does slow it down. anybody who is been in the federal hiring system knows that we don't need any help in slowing down. >> up quick question on border since that is one of the priorities that you brought a. a lot of concern about how porous the southern border in particular is. do you have indications of that being exploited by terrorists, people coming across the southern border? for the northern border? >> as secretary of palatine of, of border governors, and who is

driven every mile of the southern border, the southern border has never been more secure than it is today. >> but it is not one under%. the southern border certainly is not. >> and our borders are as secure as they have ever been, and we have to create a system that keeps dangerous people and goods out, but also a system that expedites legitimate trade and practice. we have to find ways and we are finding ways working with industry to expedite that legitimate trade travel so that we can focus on those who might be dangerous. >> the fbi in that did not deliver as promised. the personal, you have a lot more people at the border. but a human chain across the border does not cure it. >> and even that, someone goes off shift. there is no question that did we

cannot daisy chain our way to security. it is a question of working from the federal government's point of view that this is our responsibility, working with personality -- personnel and technology in procedure to strengthen those areas of the border where weneed strengthening, working with state and local officials to develop a good situational awareness and an ability to interdict. but equally and ability to extradite legitimate trade and travel, to get its on its way in these times. >> i want to open this up to you guys. i love to get some questions here and please identify yourself and your organization. -pi see a hand up -- but start with a one in the back. that's the mike to you. >> i am just a citizen. there was a report i saw nearly two weeks ago from a local there

is a lot television station, reporting that there were hundreds of people from nations that sponsor terrorism, including afghanistan, egypt, or iran, iraq, pakistan, and yemen who had been detained as they illegally crossed into the southern part of the country. and a follow-on question from what you were commenting on, is that a likely number that there are hundreds potential people from terrorist nations who are crossing unregulated across our borders? >> i have not seen the report. i am afraid i cannot comment on it. what i can tell you is that we're working every day to ensure the safety and security of the southern border. knows this area well, knows arizona well, knows the border extremely well. this border has never been more secure. secure.