be turned into action and tangible results. real reductions must be part of the solution. as a business person, i'm used to getting things done. i came here to accomplish something, to help solve the very serious problems facing our nation. i also came to washington with a deep reverence for the genius of our founding fathers, what they passed on to us, and what they hoped we would preserve. their fight for freedom, their belief in the power of the free market system, and their vision of a limited government is what has made america the greatest nation in the history of mankind. it is our honor and our duty to be worthy stewards of this legacy. it is our turn to act responsibly. thank you. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] >> you are watching c-span. it

>> a discussion on the future of the u.s. space program as the shuttle program comes to a close. first, remarks from president reagan from the night the shuttle challenger exploded. >> ladies and gentlemen, i plan to speak to you tonight to report on the state of the union, but the events of earlier today have changed those plans. today is a day for mourning and remembering. nancy and i are paid to the court with the tragedy of the shuttle challenger. this is truly a national loss. 19 years ago, almost to the day, we lost three astronauts in a terrible accident on the ground. we have never lost an astronaut in flight. we have never had a tragedy like this. perhaps we have forgotten the courage it took for this crew of the shuttle.

the challenger 7 were aware of the dangers come overcame them, and did their jobs brilliantly. we mourn seven heroes carmichael smyth, dick scobee, judith resnik, ronald mcnair, gregory jarvis, and christa mcauliffe. we mourn their loss as a nation together. to the families of the seven, we cannot bear as you do the full impact of this tragedy, but we feel the loss and we are thinking about you so very much. your loved ones for daring and brave and they had that special grace, that special spirit that says give me a challenge and i will meet it with joy. they had a hunger to explore the universe and discover its truths. they wished to serve, and they did. this are all of us. we have grown used to wonders in this century. it is hard to dazzle us, but for 25 years, the united states

space program has been doing just that. we have grown used to the idea of space and perhaps we forget that we have only just begun. we are still pioneers. today the members of the challenger crew were pioneers. i want to say something to the schoolchildren of america who were watching the live coverage of the shuttle's takeoff. i know is hard to understand that sometimes painful things like this happen. it is all part of the process of exploration and discovery. it is all part of taking a chance and expanding man's horizons. the future does not belong to the faint hearted. it belongs to the brave. the challenger crew was pulling us into the future, and we will continue to fight. i have always had great faith in and respect for our space program. what happened today does nothing to diminish it. secrets and cover things up. we do it all up front and in

public. that is the way freedom is, and we would not change it for anything. we will continue our quest in space. there will be more shuttle flights and more shuttle crews and yes, more volunteers, more civilians, more teachers in space. nothing ends here. our hopes and our journeys continue. i want to add that i wish i could talk to every man and woman who works for nasa for work on this mission and tell them, your dedication and professionalism have moved and impressed us for decades, and we know of your anguish. we share it. it is a coincidence today, on this day 390 years ago, the great explorer sir francis drake died aboard ship got off the coast of panama. in his lifetime of great frontiers were the oceans, and a historian later said he lived by the sea, died on it, and was buried in it.

today, we can say of the challenger crew, their dedication was, like francis drake's, complete. the crew of the space shuttle challenger honored us with the matter and which they live their lives. we will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepare for their journey and waved goodbye, and slipped the surly bonds of earth to touch the face of god. >> it has been 25 years since president reagan delivered that speech remembering the crew of the space shuttle challenger. we will now show you a memorial ceremony held in remembrance of the anniversary earlier this week. from the kennedy space center in florida and courtesy of nasa tv, this is 50 minutes. >> challenger sts-51l launched on january 28, 1986, carrying

seven astronauts, including the first teacher scheduled to go into space. tragically, 73 seconds after the launch, challenger was destroyed, and of the astronauts on board lost their lives. today, 25 years later, we gather here to remember and honor those astronauts. appropriately, we do this at the site of the memorial designated by the united states congress as the national memorial john of those astronauts who have sacrificed their lives for our space program. please rise for the singing of the national anthem by suzy cunningham, a nasa employee.

[singing the national anthem]

♪ >> thank you. please be seated. we will begin today's program with an invocation presented by a member of the amf board and a prominent author, dr. mick ukleja. >> today we are here to honor

and remember, but also to celebrate, seven lives that were lived well. these individuals had families and have families, and we also remember the families and the great sacrifice of releasing their loved ones to such an intense profession to better mankind, and even greater sacrifice of losing those that they dearly loved. these individuals were able to combine their passions, their talents, their competencies, as well as their vacation into one focused. for this, we honor them today, remember them, and we are also inspired by the lives that they lived. join me in prayer. our father, you have created us to excel, to be all that we can be for the purpose of serving other people. we are created in your image, and so we find that we also love to create. we subdue and manage our

environment, and would love to explore. to understand the wonders of your creation, we are called to do this, and for a rare few, even becomes dangerous, even to the point of risking their lives. is to those rare few that we come to honor today, the risks are all well thought through. they are not reckless, but they are dangerous. we accepted along with the promise of a better life. so we honor them today, not only because they serve us, but also because they inspire us. like the great exports of all, magellan, columbus, and all the rest, they explore new worlds and it was a world without completed maps or foolproof manuals, because they were creating them. we are reminded today that there is a time for everything, a season for every activity under heaven. the time to be born, at the time to die. a time to plant -- a time to

pluck up that which is planted. in the spirit of these heroic leaders, the greatest we can honor them is to not simply live for ourselves, but to live and plant well as we serve those around us. father, knowing that all of life is on loan from you, we thank you for loading us this is incredible lives -- loading us these incredible lives, and we thank you get there safely back in your incredible presence. amen. >> we are honored to have with us today members of the amf board of directors and trustees, after not, nasa officials, corporate executives, military officers, and perhaps most important to us, family members of those astronauts whom we honor. the commander of challenger and its true leader was dick's kobe.

his wife, june, has since become -- it surely it was dick scobee. her original books about the challenger was truly inspirational. she wrote a book about motivating young people to study science, technology, engineering, and math, and her most recent book, an update of "silver linings" and really her autobiography is really inspirational as something for all of us to admire. she also is a founding chairman of the challenger centers for space science education. she earned a ph.d. degree from texas a&m university and has taught every grade level from kindergarten through college.

it is a pleasure to introduce our keynote speaker, dr. june scobee rodgers. [applause] >> thank you, very much for those nice words. it makes me feel like i am somebody, and it was not even my own funeral. it is a nice, cool morning here. the chamber of commerce did not get the message to make it a beautiful day for us to talk about florida. good morning. to so many of you that have joined today, thank you for coming out on this cool, brisk day to help us honor the challenger crew, and in fact of those names that are behind me on this beautiful memorial. on behalf of all the challenger

families, i am happy to be here. we are represented by the resnik's family as well. thank you for being here to help us honor our loved ones and the spirit of the mission of the space shuttle challenger. it is hard to believe that 25 years has passed since that fateful day, january 1986. we know when we looked at our kids, how they have grown, and we have nine grandchildren. like everyone watching around the world, we were stunned to see the unspeakable unfold right before our eyes. could this really happen? no one believed it could happen. what should have been a day heralded for education turned to tragedy and a split second. our loved ones were gone. a nation grieve, and our future looked uncertain. years later after we lost the

beloved columbia crew, my daughter wrote a letter to those children. she said everyone around the world saw how the challenger crew, my dad died. they all wanted to say goodbye to american heroes. me, i just wanted to say goodbye to my daddy. she help those children to realize that their lives had become very public, but that they could keep the memories alive of their parents. ask people that need them to tell you stories about your dad. i remember being at the memorial service at johnson space center shortly after this accident. watching this missing man formation flyover, one plane pulls up and climbs to the

heavens to symbolize the loss but the other planes continue on to carry on the mission. that is when it dawned on me. challengers mission is a mission to teach, but it was incomplete. lessons were left untaught. scientific and engineering problems left unsolved. but the sad reality was the impact on the children, the chance to really touch a child and inspire a new generation of explorers. the families of the challenger 7 realized something very profound. we did not -- if we did not somehow continue challengers mission of education, then our loved ones would have died in vain. certainly that entire crew embraced christa mcauliffe and was known as the teacher in space mission. we cannot let that happen, that

they would be forgotten. so we began to turn this unimaginable tragedy into a monumental triumphal. the entire world knew how the challenger crew died. we wanted the world to know how they lived and for what they were risking their lives. we all banded together to create a cause greater than ourselves that would not only take us into the future, but help us to feel our hearts and the hearts of those in our nation. one night only weeks after the accident, while sitting around in my living room in my home in houston, we conceived the idea of the challenger center, a living tribute to our loved ones. a place that would provide america's students with access to outstanding space science

educational opportunities. we envisioned activities were children, teachers, and citizens could touch the future, manipulating equipment, conducting scientific experiments, solving problems, working together, immersing themselves in space like surroundings and growing accustomed to the space technology. our hope was to spark an interest and joy in science, a spark that could change their lives. our vision became reality. when you visit a challenger center, you will see children climb aboard a child's size space simulator with their teacher and fly a simulated space mission in the future. there their challenge to apply skills in math and science while working together as a team to complete a successful missions. they learn critical skills needed for the 21st century. team work, dealing with adversity, solving problems, and the fundamentals of human interaction. we launched our first challenger

center in houston. we have grown to a network of 48 centers throughout america as well as canada, south korea, and england. later today i will join those folks that the challenger learning center in houston to celebrate that memory, which i do every year. i go to a challenger center to see children doing what our beloved challenger space crew love so much. each year, more than 400,000 school students visit one of our centers and experience the thrills and excitement of space exploration. with our new chairman, i think that number will double in no time. in the past 25 years, which averaged more than four million children. we have strong partnerships with nasa and other federal agencies, numerous universities and aerospace contractors who helped us keep our curriculum current throughout ongoing evaluation

and consultation. leadership on our board of directors has laid a solid foundation for growth in numerous directions. so you see? challenger was not the final chapter in the book of space exploration. just a transition chapter. nor is space shuttle the final chapter. as i wrote, and like any good schoolteacher, and i brought my propped along, as i wrote, we are not a nation of naysayers. we are a nation of believers. we are innovators and problem solvers, and yes, risk takers, with a pioneering spirit that began with our forefathers who sailed from europe to establish an colonize alternation, and then boldly expanded west, exploring, discovering, and

building our country. technology gave us automobiles and locomotives. then we slipped the surly bonds of earth into airplanes and built the rockets to launch us on the highway to space. we as a nation are indebted to the space pioneers who blazed the trail of exploration and discovery. here at kennedy space center we have witnessed decades of -- successes -- decades of launch successes. the gym i excitement of john glenn and the historic days of apollo and moon landings, 1 we were all glued to the flickering black-and-white televisions to watch the first deaths of armstrong and aldrin upon the moon. -- the first steps of aldrin and armstrong upon the moon. a plane with sparkling white wings designed by creative

engineers to launch like a rocket toward the heavens, orbit the earth, building the international space station, launch satellites, collect astonishing images from hubble, made discoveries and grow our knowledge and then glide safely back home to earth. after it dick scobee and his fellow astronauts were selected in the first class of 35 shuttle astronauts, i no longer watch the launch of space vehicles from afar. i watched them standing right here with him at kennedy. we watched the engines ignite and felt that the thunderous roar as the first shuttle columbia lifted off, carrying brave astronauts john young -- john young and my dear friend bob crippen is here today.

one was a particularly personal joy after my husband piloted a successful mission. now is that to see the shuttle story approaching the close of its chapter in this money history book of space exploration, but the book will continue with new, exciting chapters about space programs and more advanced space vehicles to carry us into the next chapters of exciting adventures, discovered, and achievements. it will benefit and advance the people of our planet, and a new legacy of challenger center students will be there to accept the challenge of space exploration and new. why? because we have whole planets to explore, and we have new worlds to build. in my book i brought together the rich history of the space

program from my teenage sputnik days into discoveries made by nasa astronauts and scientists, to the exports of today, including this interesting emerging role of private space travel. returning to our day of remembrance, perhaps president reagan said it best 25 years ago when in place of his scheduled state of the union address, he spoke to a grieving nation. he took care to speak to the children who were watching the live coverage of the shuttle's launch. he said, i know it is hard to understand, but sometimes painful things like this happen. it is all a part of the process of exploration and discovery. it is all part of taking a chance and expanding man's horizons. the future does not belong to the fainthearted. it belongs to the brave. the challenger crew was pulling

us into the future, and we will continue to follow them. the president concluded his remarks, we will never forget them, or the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye, and slipped the surly bonds of earth to touch the face of god. that was then. their names are beautifully emblazoned on the mirror. but this is now. it is time for the next 25 years to unfold. let us boldly look to the future with a vision build upon our rich heritage of space pioneers. what is on the next horizon for our nation and planet? well, in 48 cities today, school children will fly at a space simulation challenger mission

that inspires and motivate them in the sciences and technology, engineering, and math. these children and others are our future engineers and scientists who will build new vehicles to fly in space. physicians and teachers who will take -- make scientific breakthroughs to improve our lives, and they represent future space explorers who will create the highway to our plants and beyond. they will travel to the unknown to make the discoveries that expand our knowledge and build a better world and keep it safe. recently i wrote a series of young adults science-fiction books about star challengers. these books are fun, and with famous science fiction authors, they are well received. it is about kids to discover how important is to learn the skills of science and math to advance

space exploration and keep our planet say. they are a lot of fun because they have a mysterious commander who takes them into the future. it is here at kennedy that we stand beneath this astronauts memorial mirror inscribed with the names of our loved ones. challenger as well as those of columbia and apollo, names that represent people who gave their lives serving the country they loved. we honor them with our presence at this ceremony, and you honor yourselves for paying tribute to them on this day, 25 years after their loss, on this, their silver anniversary. thank you very much. [applause]

>> thank you. mike mcculley is chairman of the board of directors of the astronauts memorial foundation. he is also a former astronauts and shuttle pilots. he is also retired navy captain and test pilot. he went on to become an executive at united space alliance and ultimately became president and ceo of that corporation. it is my pleasure to introduce mike mcculley. [applause] >> my first words this morning we are going to be i am triply blessed to be here this morning, but i am going to add something. as we looked out of the audience, there is 25 years of center directors in this audience, seven of them.

i would suggest that you guys get together afterwards and get a group photo, because you never do this again, i don't think. as a relative and win new after not in the mid-1980s, -- relatively new astronauts, i was blessed to work with the shuttle crew. i began to understand more about the system and the program and the sacrifices and what we had to do, and in those days, i spent a lot of time in washington. my favorite thing to do in the mornings was to go jog around the memorial hall. i would get to the lincoln memorial and i would stop and run up the steps, turned to the left, because the gettysburg address is on the wall to the left. i would sit down on the granite and read aloud the gettysburg address. the guards thought i was weird

for a while but they got used to be after a while. tourist would look at me and point, but i would read it. then later on, the second lesson came when i had the opportunity to fly the space shuttle. the space shuttle that i flew was far more effective, far safer, far better than the one that had gone before me. the sacrifice of these seven contributed greatly to me being able to fly in a far safer, far better, far more effective space shuttle. today, as the chairman of the board of the astronauts memorial foundation, is an additional privilege in blessing to be here with you today to do this. as i was thinking about what my message ought to be as the chairman, i could have made a long speech or i could make almost no speech, but in those days when i was in washington and would sit up there and read the gettysburg address out

loud, there was a certain part of it that began to take a different meaning for me during the return to flight days. in closing, i want to read that part of the gettysburg address. it is for us, the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here thus far so nobly advanced. it is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us if from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion, that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain. thank you, and god bless. [applause] fax bob cabana is director of the kennedy space center and provides leadership to all the personnel at the center.

he is also a former astronaut who has flown into space four times, twice as a shuttle pilot and twice as the shuttle commander. he is a retired marine corps colonel and a former test pilot. it is my honor to introduce bob cabana. [applause] >> is really an honor for me to be here today to help honor those behind me on this mirror. those of us who are old enough to remember, we can probably tell you exactly where they were or what they are doing the morning of january 28, 1986, when we lost the space shuttle challenger and her crew of seven. much like the assassination of president kennedy, the apollo 11 landing on the moon, september 11, 2001. all of these are moments that

define our history. i was a newly selected astra noncandidate with seven months of training under my belt, taking a class -- and newly selected astronaut candidate, when we lost challenger. when our class was interrupted to tell us what had happened, there was sheer disbelief. we were unwilling to accept the news that had been given to us, that we had really lost an orbiter and its crew. surely they had aborted. they had it wrong. we did not lose the crew. but watching the launch over and over again on tv, reality set in. it was really bad day. as an astronaut candidate, five of us in my class shared an office next door to the challenger crew. one of my absolute fondest memories -- there is nothing

lower than an astronaut candidate. and a son crew member a few months from flight surely does not have time to dedicate to any of us, but he did. he made me feel welcome early on. he took time from his busy schedule to talk with me and help me get settled in the office and in the community. i met him at the top of the stairs one morning and he said if you ever need to work on your car, bring it over to my car. i have all the tools you need and i will help you. that is a memory that i will treasure forever. once we accepted the loss, the long process of understanding what happened and bringing us back to flight began. as we recovered the vehicle from the sea, the story started coming together.

seeing the pieces of the crew compartment laid out on the cement here at kennedy space center come out in the open, recording the switch positions of the consoles and the crew compartment was a sobering task. it is no way to bring the space shuttle home. unfortunate, it was not the last time would have to do it. we learned many lessons from the loss of challenger. the vehicle the return to flight 2.5 years later may have looked the same, but had hundreds of changes to make it safer and more reliable. the challenger crew will be forever young in our minds. their legacy is the challenger centers, and in the inspiration that motivates our children to learn and aspire to careers in math, science, and engineering. that showed us that exploration is not without risk, but that we can learn from our mistakes and be better for them in the end.

they continue to urge us forward to explore and to never quit, just because it is hard. we are better for having on them. they are a part of us for ever, and we will not let them down. we will continue to strive to be better, to explore, to expand our knowledge of our universe, and to reach beyond. thank you. >> the astronauts memorial foundation honors those astronauts who have made the ultimate sacrifice for the space program. we did this with the space mirror memorial, but also with our educational initiatives which serve as a living memorial to those astronauts. alan shepard was the first american in space. he was one of only 12 human

beings to have walked on the moon, and he was one of the early members of the board of directors of the astronauts memorial foundation, and a very active and important member. upon his death, which established the alan shepard technology in education award, which is presented every year to a educator who has made a contribution into -- the 2009 winner of the allen sheppard rick soria.ick's kore he created an innovative initiative that motivates students to major in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, by having them experienced hands on aviation

and aerospace activities. it is a pleasure to introduce a winner of the alan shepard technology in education award, rick soria. [applause] >> good morning, ladies and gentlemen. a few years ago and engineering friend of mine told me that we were short over 60,000 native- born engineers in the department of defense. we did some research and found that we lose many of those students at the fourth or fifth grade. our initiative targets that student population. the okaloosa county school district has partnered with the u.s. air force armament museum to develop experience for students based on the aerospace exhibits that are on display at the museum. the allen sheppard award has helped us advance our efforts greatly. first in november 2009, the astronauts memorial foundation parted with the to perform the at p.s. 125 -- sts 221 l

foundation. d -- the team taught his students how to create movies on dvd for their schools. last year the national science teachers association included an article describing our state initiative and methodology in their national newspaper. as a result receive e-mail from teachers across the country asking about our experience and how we went about doing them. last july, the stem sort of folks were kind enough to recognize our efforts with their improved student outcomes award, followed by an article in a florida monthly magazine identified me as one of florida's intriguing floridians. the allen sheppard award and our collaboration with the astronauts memorial foundation is making a difference in the

education of students and teachers. today almost 100 teachers and 3000 students have been to the museum to perform our experiments. teachers report that students are genuinely engaged in learning the concept and demonstrate improved academic achievement after their museum visits. the war has especially encouraged or sponsors. we are funded exclusively by grants. the sheppard award has been instrumental in attracting sponsors such as the boeing company, the national defence industrial association, target stores and other, to present -- to present us with bunning. we are working to get our lessons on lines of teachers everywhere can have access to them. clearly the allen sheppard award has provided us a great deal of attention and resources awards, and we are grateful. john rodgers once noted, all

students can fly, some just need a longer runway. we are helping build longer runways for many students. on this day and we remember the challenger crew and those who made the ultimate sacrifice in our nation's exploration of space, it is fitting to pause and challenge each other to become more involved in the stem education of our students. in the 1980's, nasa scientist, astronauts and engineers collaborated with educators by inviting a teacher into space. today the astronauts memorial foundation collaborates with educators by supporting stem initiatives, and together we remain committed to the stem education of our students. by this continuing collaboration, we believe the challenger mission, vision, and memory live on in each of our students. the allen sheppard award will continue to be instrumental in helping us achieve our stem

goal, but we need your help, too. we each need to do our part to ensure america's continued technological and defense supremacy. every teacher knows that there are few endeavors more rewarding than the next generation -- education of the next generation of american exports. we need to start today, because the future beckons. thank you. [applause] >> thank you. william gerstenmaier is the associate administrator for space negotiations at nasa. he has programmatic oversight for the international space station, space shuttle, space communications, and space launch vehicles. he has been a close friend of the astronauts memorial

foundation and has attended every ceremony of any type we have had for the past decade. it is my honor to introduce william gerstenmaier. [applause] >> thank you very much. i am honored to be here to speak with you today. this is the most difficult speech that i give. this speech becomes much more than words, as i reflect on the failings of the human space flight team. i was present at nasa and involved with the space shuttle and space station at of the challenger and columbia disasters. today remain an active part of the human space flight team, and the lessons learned from those tragedies are not academic or simple lessons, but are lessons that must be implemented and learned every day. it is not easy to look back and

reflect. the crews lost for my friends, co-workers, and i saw an engineering team that i love fail. after challenger, i dedicated myself to never allowing another tragedy to occur. however, columbia occurred. i failed, and the team failed. the seeds of columbia's failure or present with s t s-one, and we missed them. we learned that the little things that seem harmless can become catastrophic events. we need to be ever vigilant and remember that we are human. as humans, we will make errors, and we need to ask for help and check and double checked our work. we cannot let the fear of failure stop us from doing the challenging and risky work of discovery. i see the courage of the families. i see the good work that can come from the tragedies such as

the challenger center and their efforts with student education. i also know the wonderful and almost impossible things that this human spaceflight team can accomplish. the human spaceflight team has learned tremendous lessons from these events. there is no better team in the world then the human space flight team, and we are no better than when we full -- pulled together and stay focused. the ability to come back from adversity gives me strength to work with the teams and press on and see things such as the international space station come to life. 130 years ago the world's first purely scientific exploration set sail from england on a 70,000 mile journey. during the course of the voyage, the discoveries of the scientists and crew form the basis of the current knowledge of the oceans that cover three- quarters of our planet. including the deepest section of the notion that was ever discovered and was named for the ship that discovered it.

these discoveries were not free. these discoveries were part of the hms challenger, who returned to port without a large portion of their group. these discoveries were not easy , and we pressed on. 25 years ago, another ship nine challenger left port, fated not to return with the crew that she sale. this crew, our co-workers, friends, teachers, mothers, fathers, boarded a ship named to honor the legacy of expiration with the goal of accomplishing the same. their sacrifice was a stark, brut reminder that our knowledge, technology, science and dreams are often paid for in the dearest possible way. this has been the case throughout human history and will be the case as long as we are willing to push the boundaries of our capabilities

towards destinations of which we can only dream. what we do as exports is not easy. michael, dick, rommel, ellison, krista, gregory, and judy knew this. they accepted the risk. we remain on the ground and ask them to fly failed them that day, as we would fail crew of columbia 17 years later, and as we felt the crew of apollo 119 years before. the only possible compensation we can offer is our renewed devotion to the jobs we have been asked to do by the nation to explore the universe that surrounds us. we seek to ensure the most difficult questions imaginable and formulate new questions. the hubble telescope is rewriting astronomy text books every day. the farthest seen galaxy was just reported yesterday. the space station is providing insight into basic biological processes that would change the way we understand biology and

affect our health care on earth. apollo, challenger, and columbia were not the first ships to carry those names, and they will not be the last. every generation stands on the shoulders of the generation that came before, not on the shoulders of giants, but of ordinary men and women who performed to the best of their knowledge and abilities, and often fail. the legacy of those we have lost will be in the dedication to net it -- to never repeat the mistakes and learn from those mistakes and learn to anticipate future problems that are yet unknown. do not only listen to my words today, but stopped today, reflect on the events of the past, digest, analyzed, distill the real learning from these events. top this learning away in your heart and use it every day in all that you are doing. do not be afraid of failing. do not foolishly press on, but rather rededicate yourself to

expanding the frontier of knowledge in a manner that is fitting of the huge sacrifice made by those who have gone before us. thank you. [applause] >> we appreciate the fact that all of you have taken the time to be with us today, to honor and remember the great men and women whom we lost on challenger. as we look up at this wall behind me, we also remember the crews of apollo 1 and columbia and the t-38 accident, as well as all the other astronauts who made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation and our space program.

we pray that the successes of all our future astronauts to continue to lead us into this last frontier. to conclude today's ceremony, of like to ask june scobee rodgers and bill gerstenmaier to place a wreath at the base of the memorial under the names of the challenger crew.

>> thank you all for coming, and have a safe trip home. thank you. [applause] [captioning performed by

national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] >> we hear more now about the u.s. space program and how nasa's mission is changing because of the closing of the space shuttle mission. from this morning's "washington journal," this is 40 minutes. host: mark matthews joins us to talk of the future of nasa. we are on the 25th anniversary of the challenger disaster. what has nasa learned in those 25 years that will propel listen to the future and hopefully not have to relive that kind of disaster ever again? guest: there were a lot of tough lessons that came out of challenger. a lot of them were not learn until there was another disaster 17 years later with columbia. i spoke with columbia university

few days ago and she discussed one of the difficulties in the culture. in the drive over ambition about safety kamenetz is a very much "get this done agency -- nasa it is very much a "get this done agency." some early warnings were ignored. this happened in the challenger explosion. by the time columbia happened again, let the same concerns were raised that the culture had come back. i will not say it launched at all costs, but maybe perhaps to that listening to some of the safety concerns. nasa is trying to balance that with trying to find a rocket that will work cheaply and effectively. host: whether the future of manned space flight by nasa,

particularly the wrote two weeks ago about the constellation program. nasa might waste $215 billion on cancelled programs. this was the headline in "the orlando sentinel." guest: not to sound like chicken little, but nasa may be facing its most of the go time in its history right now. they're looking to return the space shuttle by the end of this year. it has maybe two or three more missions depending on funding. it is anyone's guess. in october, president obama and covers canceled the constellation program instituted a new plan to build a new rocket. the difficulty is that nasa essentially told congress a couple of weeks ago that they did not have the time or the resources to be able to do that. we may be looking for six,

seven, even maybe years later before nasa is able to launch another rocket. host: you say an investigation by the nasa inspector general paul martin, falling in december report, confirms that nasa is forced to continue funding the constellation even it was canceled in october after spending $12 billion during five years. the article goes on to say that even though the program has been canceled that they are still finding it. guest: maybe with the super bowl coming up next week, nasa has been a snake pit. they usually talk about football teams. they have been hurt which is the shelby provision. senator richard shelby, a big fan of the constellation, because they built the areas rocket in alabama, put

incentives into a massive budget bill that essentially said the administration could not cancel constellation unless they approved it in an upcoming budget bill. they did not pass one. they just extended it into march. they got caught up in all of these other issues, they were never able to get the cause out to the head to keep funding the constellation. they ended up wasting $215 by march. and it could be as much as $600 million by october on october that will not go anywhere. they may be able to use a lot of that money toward a new rocket, but a lot of this is uncertain and i think we are still looking at this and we do not know. host: where is the money going

into? guest: it is going to ground operations and training. it is called the areas -- ares 1 rocket. that are essentially training for a rocket that will probably never fly, or will never fly. host: last april, the president was talking about more funding for nasa and how this might be used. we will study with the president had to say and get the response from mark matthews. >> restart by increasing the nasa's budget by $6 billion over the next five years. i want people to understand the context of this. this is happening even as we has

instituted a freeze on discretionary spending and have had to make cuts elsewhere in the budget. nassau, from the start several months ago, is one of the areas where we did not maintain a freeze but we actually increased funding by $6 billion. by doing that, we will ramp up robotic exploration of the solar system including a probe of the sun's atmosphere. we will include mars, other destinations, and in advance telescope allowing us to look deeper into the universe than other before -- ever before. we will increase earth-based observations from the sites that will garner tangible benefits allowing us to protect our environment for future generations. host: what is the president's strategy?

will he get support on capitol hill? guest: his upper jaw nasa is very interesting. in the state of the union this week, he mentioned that nasa, but he mentioned the nasa 50 years ago. he said we needed to respond to "a sputnik moment." he talked about getting ready to respond with our own space program. when he did not mention is the nasa of now and the plans for this. . nasa was exempt from the across- the-board spending freeze. whether that continues this year it is still uncertain and we will see what happens. while getting an increase is still relatively flatlined at about $19 billion, it sounds like a lot, and i know people like to say that nasa has of

this money and it is often wanted to extremes spending examples of people years when complaining about the government, but you have to look at this in context. right now, nasa is getting roughly -- the look of the budget as $1, nasa gets about .005 cents. there is a significantly decrease the amount of money being spent on nasa. someone told me once that this is bridge building. you cannot build half their rocket. it will be ineffective unless you can do the whole thing. >> we are talking about the future of nasa with marketeers of the "orlando sentinel." if you would to get involved, the numbers are on your screen.

you can also send us an e-mail or a twitter message. our first call comes from cleveland, taxes, on a line for republicans. -- texas, on the line for republicans. caller: i have been watching rocket's takeoff for a long time, but i still have not figured out what good it is doing the world. the only thing i can see is that a hand people -- a handful of people to go up there and see what is going on. i have never seen one thing that has benefited the world. can you explain that to us please? guest: a lot of people do share that view as to what exactly we are getting out of human spaceflight. indeed, there were a few researchers to came out with the study, i believe two years ago,

who said that a lot of ways, using robotic missions is the better thing to do. they can go farther. it is cheaper, safer. that is putting -- it is not putting human lives at risk. we are pushing new boundaries and we will get something out of that. it is hard to deny the significance of putting someone on the moon. it is unbelievable when you walk out at night and you look at the moon and you think that we put someone there. there have been a number of innovations about technology and i know we talked about tang, but there have been true advancements that nasa has put forward. we looked at this on the 40th anniversary of apollo a couple of years ago.

this comes down to something that is not scientific. it is hard to put a dollar figure on that. host: next up in st. augustine, florida. caller: the best thing nasa can do is to develop a car that gets 100 miles to the gallon and can therefore make is independent from these foreign wars we get into over natural resources. the best thing i think that nasa can do is to work on saving our planet. we have the technology to be so independent in this country, yet we are shooting of space shuttles and all this other stuff. why is it not part of nasa's budget to start at looking and helping our planet itself? we have the technology to the point where all we really need oil for is the rotation. why does nasa not think about doing something to help the people that are on the planet now?

guest: a couple of responses to that. the mission of nasa is often a footnote on capitol hill. we have to do human exploration. others say that they would agree with your point of view that science is the focus. nasa has done some work in terms of earth monitoring. they keep an eye on the polls to see how global warming is affecting the earth. they have not done as much work in terms of pure research, as you say. i do not think that is the mission of nasa. some of the things they're looking at is not to get a car to go 100 miles per gallon, but be able to do a space expedition beyond pluto. host: north carolina on our line for democrats. go ahead. caller: it is kind of like the oil spill down in the gulf.

if we're going to clean it up, we are going to clean it up. host: do you have anything to talk about nasa? caller: i think they should do away with it. host: we will move on then. on our line for independents. caller: nasa should continue funding constellations. we should focus that's been done aspects of the project should have the vehicle. we're trying to act responsibly in this situation by spending the money wisely. host: are you working on the product in huntsville? caller: yes. i am a contract in officer. i support shuttle and support ares as we look towards the

future. host: as money comes in for the project that the president wants to cancel, where is the money going? are you building anything? caller: yes. have to set priorities within the contract, but we focus on those aspects that should have applications to the next vehicle so that the money is not simply wasted. the way gets to trade at time is that we're just spending money on its something we will turn around and throw away. that is not the case. we have good people working on this. i have worked with these people and we have our standing people working on this. they are struggling to deal with this in the best way that they can. i guess i am being defensive to a degree, but i'm trying to point out these are responsible people and they are dealing with this in a responsible manner. is not just here in huntsville.

host: sorry for cutting you off. we are going to move on. if not constellation, what would be in the pipeline? what is next that these people would work on? guest: to address this point before we go on, to put this in the context, he does make a legitimate point that the inspector general did save nasa would be wasting $200 million by march that it would only be a fraction of the overall multi- billion dollar program. there is a lot of what they're doing it could be transferred to the next vehicle. to get your point about what nasa would do next, that is a very difficult question. right now, the constellation program has been canceled their looking to build a new heavy lift rocket that could launch. it is like the apollo capsule.

crude. dishes kind of falls. the heavy lift rocket, what it would be able to do is hopefully be able to launch a mission to an asteroid by 2025. the problem is that what the nasa officials told congress earlier this month is that we cannot do it. we cannot have the time or resources. we will keep studying how we will be able to do this. the requirements that he put forward will not let us build this rocket in time. another point of context is that the funding for this new rocket that nasa wants to build is going to get less money over the next three years in a consolation would have gone. one of the reasons that constellation failed is because it did not get enough money. host: our next call comes from

ryan beck, n.y.. caller: i appreciate your reporting. in terms of the future of nasa, can you put in the context the tension that is in place between the old guard of nassau, from -- f nasa from 'the right stuff" to the current administrator? guest: i cannot speak as well to the tension in the agency, but one of the definite tensions going on now is between this old-guard, those who saw the mercury program, the apollo program, and a lot of the advocates of this new commercial space flight venture. there persian to launch a new rockets outside of nasa. -- they are fishing to launch new rockets. there are working outside the agency. a perfect example is in

california. it is headed by a former internet tycoon and is a big personality if you have ever met him. he is the gung-ho about it. i visited their facility in florida last year. it is amazing. you have guys in shorts and bandanas working on a rocket. it is like a scene from "american chopper" going on. that is different than the guys you have in bodysuits walking around the kennedy space center. the difference between what they're trying to do and what nasa is trying to do is really interesting. we celebrate. and they became the first commercial company to logic capsule into space. then they returned safely. this is the first time in history. this happened in december. they have a duct tape the problem.

it was a crack to be fixed. they saw off the offending piece and a large. we always complain about putting nasa in a difficult position here. we want them to be like space x, but at the same time we want them to be safe to avoid another challenger or columbia. to get rid of this tension, you have to put some faith in both. host: greenwood, ark., on our line for independents. caller: the sputnik moment for obama should be getting back to the moon before we go to mars and start mining that. there is this illusion. helium free is easily accessible

for nuclear fusion. guest: being on the moon does not make it accessible. that would be difficult to do. host: we could establish mining colonies on the moon. -- caller: we could establish mining colonies on the moon. host: what exactly is he talking about? guest: helium 3 has been theorized to be able to be used by future spacecraft. what is the the gold is the weight of the fuel. if you could find a way to have a fuel supply outside of earth's orbits are you did not have to blast off from the ground, it makes it cheaper and easier to go further. if we were able to do that on the amount potentially, it makes a mission to mars easier to do,

cheaper to do. whether actually setting up a colony on the moon in order to go to mars is "cheaper," i am not sure if that is true. host: our line from idaho. i cannot pronounce it. caller: thank you so much for c- span. it is informative and it provides me with the source of information that i cannot get from newspapers or other television programs. i would like to make a comment about nasa. first of all, i would like to apologize to you and other persons of color for the racial remarks that was made by the individual earlier. i am so sorry for that. speaking of nasa, the lady that

spoke from cleveland, texas, that was talking about how there was no contributions to the world from nasa, of would like to let her know that the research and development of nasa has brought us so many different products. for example, the advancement in teflon, survival foods, and many other areas. nasa has been such a very, very important role for the united states as far as the world goes in remaining at the forefront of this program. i did not think that we can afford to allow the chinese, japanese, or the indians, or any other part of the country or the world, to become at the forefront of this important program. host: think you for your call.

your thoughts? guest: there has always been discussion on capitol hill about a second space race and what that would me. the caller was correct that a number of countries to rub the world are developing their own space programs. -- countries throughout the world are developing their on space programs. what do we do? do we try to compete or do we try to enter into some sort of agreement like the international space station in order to get humidity together for a common goal? host: a tweet from c-spansnark, "i want more mars rover-like devices." our next caller. go ahead of. caller: why did not nasa and space reporters talk about the

immediate short-term and long- term goals and the rationale for those goals? the public seems to be very ignorance about the need for a space exploration program. guest: the goes right now are up for debate. under the constellation program, the next shot was trying to put astronauts on the moon. one of the things that president obama has pushed for is to try and put astronauts on a floating asteroid. we have already been on the moon. let's try something new. part of the confusion is because these issues are still up for debate. host: is there a particular reason why it other than the fact he says we have already been on the moon why we should go on a floating asteroid? guest: the intent is to help them develop new technologies to

go beyond the moon. if you try to land on an asteroid, it forces nasa to build a space craft that can travel further. it is a very esoteric place called the lestrange point. it is being called by some in different directions and it can just sit there. the science is very exciting and most people in the public think, "what are you talking about?" host: by the crew saw that in the neighbors willis movie. our next caller. -- i think we saw that in a bruce willis movie. caller: i support the last two callers' comments. i support nasa. i think we should give them the resources.

guest: i think a reason why a lot of people really care about nasa is because what it represents. in a lot of ways, it is the spear point of american society. it is the pinnacle of what we do in terms of the people and the astronauts we produce, the technology we produce, and the priorities we have in funding. people get so concerned about whether nasa will be able to the continue to do what it does because it represents what this country does. host: daytona, fla., you are on "washington journal. caller: i wanted to comment on the lady from texas. all of our modern technology stems from nasa in some way or form including the fact that we all have computers sitting on our desks and in our laps.

before the apollo program, computers were only in universities and research labs. they took up the size of this giant building. nasa does ibm and told them to make the computer fit in the little box. the other thing is that we have thousands and thousands of private-sector jobs from nasa. . are all across the country. obama is shooting for an asteroid does. we should not go to the moon. it is a misunderstanding of space flight in general. it is much more cost-effective to use the moon as a staging area to go to further locations. and cost a lot more energy and material to launch from the earth than it does the moon.

nasa's plan with the constellation program was to set up a moon base so that we could launch deep space missions from the moon, where it would be cheaper. that is my comment. guest: again, to be able to launch from the moon to go further, which is true that it is easy, you have to launch from the earth to get to the moon in the first place. it becomes a neutral sum game. this may be a good point to talk about some of the discussion that is going on with nasa and the competing bills of the administration and congress last year. one thing that president obama did when he unveiled his budget in february of last year but that he put nasa on a new course. rather than spending money on constellation, he wanted to help nasa focus on technology development.

we were going to mix of different pieces of a shuttle and make a new rocket, but let's figure out a new rocket. let's look at comparable should and all these new ways that we may be able to look at -- let's look at ion propulsion. obama's plan a more or less cut toward the trend by congress in many respects because a lot of the people on the hill are representing districts with nasa centers who would benefit by some continuation of the shuttle program and the contractors who build a lot of these schaeuble pieces. -- shuttle pieces. i do not what to say the constellation was built on pork, but there is a lot of interest in protecting home state jobs as it relates to nasa. host: we are speaking with mark matthews, a reporter from "the orlando sentinel."

we have a tweet that says it is a good idea to move congress to an asteroid, otherwise this is nothing but a money machine to keep endless wars going. you wrote a little bit about the contentious nature of the things in congress and their divergent issues or interests regarding the funding of nasa projects, analysis. "nasa flails as forces pull on it from all directions." they are still going in different directions. guest: they are all trying to stay together under this compromise that was approved last year. this nunez a compromise to build a new rocket -- this new nasa compromise tries to persuade everyone on capitol hill. for the utah delegation, they will continue work on the solid rocket boosters.

for the kennedy space center, there is supposed to be able to do some more commercial development. for alabama, they want to keep the heavy rocket going to make senator shall be happy. they are still working with human space flight to make senator kay bailey hutchinson happy. the compromise was more political science than rocket science. that is the difficulty facing nasa right now. host: next up in georgia, on our line for independents. caller: good morning. this is a great subjects that you are bringing up and i think the main difficulties with the question that you have asked is that there really is no resolution that has been found between one administration and the next. nasa is a political football and it is being used as such

basically since kennedy made his statement that we needed to go to the moon. that was an awesome goal, but there was no follow-through. they had not established with the next goal should be. guest: the caller makes a very good point. one of the major difficulties with an asset is that what it does are multi-year projects that take longer than four years or eight years. they stand administrations. what ends up happening is when there is a switchover in the white house, it is not able to continue with the last guy did. it is a legitimate program -- problem that faces the nasa about the turnover in the white house and the congress. host: biloxi, mississippi. caller: think you very much for c-span. i want to celebrate today the

40th anniversary of apollo 14 in the three heroes who went to the moon that day. we as americans must remember that these are the heroes that make america giant. we must also remember that only 12 men have walked on the moon safely and six have been around the moon. these are the elements that make america great. we have no more heroes. we have given our heroes to china and other countries. a hero in america is money. host: we have another tweet that says, "nasa also give us the memory -- memory from of beds, cloud mattresses keep track of you while you sleep."

on our life for democrats, you are on "washington journal." bethany? caller: i have a question. rather than doing, like, they are always worrying about going to the moon. why have they not made a ship or a rocket that can hold, like, electric power like a battery or another one with the gas that they use? why have that -- why have they not used one or made one that can use electricity? they would always have a second while they are out there. guest: trying to be able to find

fuel for these spacecrafts' is a very difficult engineering question. when there is a presidential committee in 2009, i believe, they look that nasa and one idea that came out of that, potentially, was an orbiting fuel depot, basically a gas station in orbit said that nasa could send missions up there and fill up the gas station so that future run -- future rocket ships could just feel up. energy and fuel issues are a legitimate engineering concern that nasa is still wrestling with. host: james dean of the "florida today" roetz this article. the kennedy center has requested space industry input on how those facilities could best be used to support government and commercial launches after the shuttle program's final flight expected

this summer. what are they talking about here? shutting down part of kennedy space center and renting it out as a commercial real-estate? guest: it comes with the giant stipulation. if we needed, we will take it back to. some of the things that have out there, such as the vehicle assembly building, and that is the iconic try building that you see at kennedy space center. i did not know if you have been there, but it towers over the landscape. this may be one of those signs of a potential transfer to the commercial rocket companies. host: looking at a shuttle liftoff as we take our next call from connecticut. on our line for independents. caller: good morning. could you please give me a good argument as to how shooting off into space is not upsetting our atmosphere?

look at the heavy snow and we have never had this through the years. since the space program has started coming in seems to have had quite a connection, with me, and i am wondering that they're going up to study global warming, but how they thought about what this is doing in upsetting the earth's atmosphere? guest: i imagine the energy it takes to launch a space shuttle into orbit or some of these other sites rockets probably is not that good for the environment. if your goal is to make the earth to greener, then you may want to focus on traffic and all the cars on the road rather than the shuttle flights. host: our last call from staten island, n.y., on our line for republicans. caller: i am very in to nasa.

there is the idea of plausible deniability and the idea of extraterrestrials. i believe that we should study earth and understand our history because there are things like art imitating life. i know it is controversial, and do not get me wrong, but at the same time if you have disclosure as an idea of making space so you do not wish to go in space. host: mark matthews, you have the last word. guest: the search for anyone else is out there is really another driving mission for nasa. one of the goals of the agency is to try to find water on other planets thinking that life will be up there. to go back to something i said at the top of the program how nasa is facing its most

difficult point in its 50-year history is not limited to only its space flight program. the hubble space telescope, which i would argue is probably one of the other marquee projects that nasa does, they just found the most distant cluster of stars in the known universe, which is fantastic, but it will start to fail in a couple of years. the telescope they want to replace the hubble with is running into some of the same problems. the james webb is over budget, coming into problems for mismanagement, and right now is looking at being at least $3 billion over budget and maybe three or four years late. this is a >> mark matthews, talking about the future of nasa. thank you for being on

"washington journal." >> sunday, greg crawford on the situation in egypt and how the problems could affect president obama's legislative agenda then, tom ridge. he will look at how this could complicate u.s. efforts to combat global terrorism. after that, john gage on government employees and how much they are paid and the size of federal agencies. plus, your e-mail and phone calls. that is at 7:00 a.m. eastern on c-span. >> still to come to night on c- span, former president bill clinton attends the world economic forum in dollars, switzerland. -- davos, switzerland. then nicolas sarkozy talks about

the europe. after that, the inaugural ashen- the inauguration of the georgia gov. -- the inauguration of the georgia governor. >> this sunday, we will spend an hour talking with former president bush about his life and his new book, "decision points." >> you are through with politics? >> yes. >> i do not want to campaign for candidates and i do not want to be on these talk shows giving my opinion and second-guessing. i think it is bad for the country to have a former president criticized his successor. it is tough enough to be president as it is without a former president undermining the current president, plus i do not want to do that. i do not want to be on tv.

>> it is about over. >> it is. one of the interesting sacrifices -- i do not think that you sacrifice to run for president, but you lose your anonymity. i like the idea of trying to regain anonymity to a certain degree. being out of the press is something that makes me very comfortable with it is somewhat lower rating. >> see the entire interview sunday night at 8:00 p.m. eastern and pacific on c-span's "q&a." >> earlier this week, former president bill clinton talked about relief efforts in haiti, the political situation in tunisia and others. he spoke with klaus schwab for almost an hour. >> thank you, bill, for being able to join us again here in bottles -- davos.

you came first in 2009. i would say that we cannot believe this is just around 10 years ago that he left office. i would say that you have given a new significance to the world lost to the word "retirement." when i look at what you have done in between, of course you have created the clinton foundation did we are all familiar with the clinton global initiative which you set up in

i just would like to mention the four areas that you are particularly involved in in the clinton global initiative at this moment because you change focus -- you changed focus to in winning powell -- women and girls. -- in in powering -- in empowering women and girls. one area where the clinton global initiative has been able to work together is the situation in haiti. i would draw your attention to a publication that we just published this week with your

help and your support. it is called "private sector development." we took a very positive approach to haiti and we will hear how you feel about that. i would like to thank you on behalf of those of us and members that have been involved in this project, companies like coca-cola, mackenzie, at&t, microsoft, and of course the international organizations such as world bank, ifc, and the international development bank. i am asking the first question.

when you look at haiti, where do we stand today? are you satisfied that what has been achieved in the belief that what has been achieved is sustainable for the future? >> first of all, thank you for having me again. thank you for continuing. we will begin with haiti. is this sustainable? yes, if we emerge from the current political situation.

let me explain what i mean by that. after all the emergency work had been done, in the basic things were taking care of, the government of haiti, with its supporters, decided that we should have a mechanism that would enable the reconstruction to begin to rebuild the economy and deal with the housing and other challenges on a long-term basis. while the government itself built an agency that could supervise this for several years. so, a very unique mechanism was set out.

-- was set up. it was half international donors and participants. the world bank and united nations. i would like for you to, my friend. -- i would applaud for you to, my friend. venezuela is there and we have the cuban observer status and they have -- all the people that fight are the united in trying to help haiti. every sector of haitian society is represented. what we are attempting to do is what we did in indonesia after the summit -- after the tsunami. if you get all the non- governmental organizations to

get their projects approved, this commission has the mandate to do the building consistent with the economic plan and the social development plan adopted by the government of haiti. keep in mind that 17% of the government work force was killed on earthquake day. we had to create a whole new agency. it took us until about august to get going. we had a lot of help from price waterhouse and others. many countries have given us staff people. many people have been willing to go home and work. since then, an enormous amount of work has been done. i think that we have a better strategy for how to get rid of all the rubble. we are going to have a housing expo and i think that you will see a lot of movement out of those camps and into housing.

yes, it is sustainable. in the midst of all this, there has been an election for a new president and a new parliament and a dispute about the presidential election which the government of haiti has tried to resolve with the help of interested parties. if we could have an election which is completed on time for both the new parliament and a new president that is perceived by the people of haiti to be an honest, transparent process that is in power into them -- in powering -- empowering to them, then i think that it is sustainable. i have a very high regard for the man who is my code-share in this commission -- code-share --

co-chair. . i hope that we can make some changes in the laws and procedures of the country to make it more competitive. i just left an annual conference in saudi arabia and stopped off in brain -- behrain. it improved their competitiveness. that is what i have urged the haitians to do, to keep pushing themselves. that is something you can keep score on. i think it is sustainable. no, i am not satisfied. a lot of good things have been done, even in the aftermath of the cholera academic, doctors

without borders have set up clinics to deal with cholera, but they left as the skeleton of the national health system. the private sector has committed more than $100 million in a country or 75% of the 9 million people live on $2 a day. we just cut the ribbon on the restoration of their iron market. i urge you to go online and find it. you can find it on our haiti website. you can also probably find it on other web sites because it was .inanced by dennis o'brien they rebuilt and 18 and one market -- the 1891 market. it stands up like a breath of

fresh air against haiti. it is one of the most beautiful buildings. is this up and going again. if our supporters will stay with us, we can manage the politics during the rebuilding. >> so, it was a good demonstration of public/private partnership. >> very good. >> the millennium development goals, the deadline is 2015. you are involved with your practical work and your conceptual works. are you satisfied with the engagement of business in making those goals a reality? >> i would say that the answer

to the second question is that i am very satisfied that there are more businesses more involved in trying to find a sustainable way to not only meet, but to maintain the millennium development goals than we could have predicted 10 years ago. that is the good news. i am concerned about something else. i am concerned that both businesses, in this difficult environment, and government in this difficult environment will see the necessary investments in meeting these goals as somehow optional or one of those things that need to be cut. you and i were talking backstage about whether this will happen or not. i think it depends on how central businesses and political

leaders throughout the world see the meeting of the millennium development goals. if you believe in markets and you believe that they promote democratic freedoms as well as economic prosperity, you have to be concerned about the continuing inequality in the world. not only because it makes you feel bad, but because it imposes very severe constraints on future growth. you should be concerned about the pace of climate change because if you look at australia alone, it imposes very severe constraints on future growth. we have to integrate creating these kinds of measures of shared progress into the basic business plans. these things are not not what you'd call economic solutions.

i am very worried, in the aftermath of these congressional elections, that the majority party in the house seems to believe that the most important public policy can possibly have is to give me another tax cut that the best thing that we can do is pay for it by getting rid of all foreign assistance as if that were not part of our more responsibility, but our own economic and social well-being over the next unforeseeable. a ton -- unforeseeable time. i hope there will be thousands of conversations about this. everybody understands that if you cannot afford to keep doing this for a year were too, but if you abandon this as a core part

of making the global economy work in the 21st century would be a terrible mistake. >> i would formulate in the following way, interbreeding external costs into the business model is not just a question of being socially oriented, it is a question of competition and of survival. but let me shift to a more political issue. you were so close to reaching an agreement between israel and palestine. now, matters may become much

more complicated and much more dangerous. would you like to share your ideas with us? >> i think that we do not really know how the tunisian process will play itself out. but it is a manifestation of yearning for change and accountability and shared progress moving throughout the world. particularly throughout the middle east and north africa. the street demonstrations in cairo, i feel differently about what happened in lebanon. lebanon -- i hope i will be proved wrong, but it looks to me like a crass reaction to an international body during an objective effort to determine who murdered the prime minister.

i feel differently about that. i just want to make sure that the lebanese have some real dominant role in controlling their own destiny. i see the -- what happened in tunisia, and the smaller protest that you see in the streets in cairo, i see it as a yearning to be part of a modern world that works. in that sense, to me, it is part and parcel of the modernization movement manifest in saudi arabia to build four new communities and the university that doesn't major surgeries and research. current and the way he having

nyu -- de uae having in why you build a building. this is a city that is completely carbon neutral. the university in qatar. they play football in 110 degree temperatures. dubai recently hosted -- i feel all the way to do by -- dubai to talk about the alarming rise in diabetes and what could be done about it because of the project that we have in united states. this is a huge deal, all of

these countries wanting to adopt common policies to restore health to their countries. all of this is exciting to me. we have to try to give the conditions a positive way forward -- the two nations -- tunisian a positive step forward. i recently spoke to the cairo egyptian chamber of commerce. it was exhilarating. the people that you see in the street on television and do not feel like they are part of that. there will be a lot of fits and starts. if i had any influence, i would want to make that deal, now. all of these countries have offered israel a political, economic and security

partnership, not just peace, but a genuine partnership. israel could be the first country in the world to put 100,000 electric cars on the road. can you imagine what the synergies of economic and social development that could be claimed if the palestinians were given their state and they have got the best partner in the west bank that they have ever had? i think that all of these things that are going on should make peace more likely. i realize that there are all kinds of arguments against that, but just look at where we will be in five years, 10 years, 15 years, 20 years. can anyone imagines that either the middle east or the israelis and palestinians will be better off if we do not do this now? it has to be worse, not better.

i hope that what you say on television will animate the party is to make a peace agreement, but it should be done because of the positive future they can build together, not just out of fear. >> i would like to -- [applause] -- open dialogue with you. i see someone sitting over here that has served how many presidents? five or six? >> since grover cleveland, actually. >> yes, i thought he was always an to be known as my token republican in the white house, but he was so promiscuous, it turned out he would work for any president. he just wants to prove that he

can outlast us all. [laughter] >> mr. president, it is good to see you again. i know that i speak for a lot of folks here that is good to see that you look so fit. that is really good. [applause] >> two questions. we have many young global leaders here from the civic sector and the public sector. what advice would you give them about how they might be affected leaders in the 21st century. the second question, about whether america is in decline. we have elections light meal for this and -- we have intellectuals like knew ferguson -- neil ferguson.

the you think the implications are for america and the world in relationship to china? finally, how does america get itself back on track? thank you, again. first, to the young leaders, i would say that the challenges you face depend on where you live and how will your activities are. -- how will your activities are. -- how global your activities are. i think you should focus on the interconnection to everything that is going on in your country and the world. i believe that there are two

things that i would like to see you focus on. one, i talk about like it is a broken record. that is, don't just talk about the challenges we face, do something about them. do not just say that you wish the people in your government would do this, that or the other thing. figure out something that you can do to change things in the direction that you would like them to go. the world is so hungry for examples of things that work. a lot of people talk about what does not work. it is quite another thing to be able to do something, no matter how small it may seem. in the second thing i haven't talked much about. i have been getting a lot of thought to this.

most of us believe that personal freedom, market economics and political democracy are pretty good things. but, we need a little more sophisticated analysis of how you manifest that. as i always tell people in areas where there is an election for the first time in a long time after bloodshed, that true democracy is more than majority rule. it is also minority rights and rule law. -- the rule of law. i am struck by how the peculiarities of political systems continually produce governments that will not make decisions that all public opinion polls show are supported in the country. i will give you a couple of ideas.

if you took a poll in israel and in the palestinian territories today, you could get big majorities in both places for a peace agreement that nearly everybody would consider hon. and it would be close enough to the one that the king of saudi arabia got all the arab muslim countries and the middle east together with. offering partnership with israel if they take it. but if you look at how people actually get elected and why, and you look at the political pressures that you see played that you see playing out in lebanon, you could see that sometimes, what is a perfectly honest election has been put

through a democratic forum, and this will not produce a government that reflects the majority rule. this is frustrating. and this brings me to your other question about america. do i think that america is in decline? i do not. but the relative position is changing. we would talk about this when i was in the white house. i would tell everybody that at the end of the cold war, we had a brief moment where this was the only military and economic superpower. china was larger than we were, and india was larger, and they would continue to unite economically and they were bigger than we were. and you can never -- these are the benefits of their

imagination and it would not be long before others would have this as great as we did, and whether the military superpower remained unique, depending on how they would be spending their money. the political influence depended on how they decided to exercise their influence, and whether we could remain true to our own values. what i believe is that relatively speaking, the 21st century will belong to a lot of countries. the world will be much better off if america is a positive force. we cannot be a positive force in politics unless we have a strong economy. i do not like the people who have given up on us.

so far, everyone betting against us has lost money. we had the remarkable ability to keep coming back. and on the other hand, i do not like what i have seen as one of the main themes, that the new republicans are trying to set up in the 2012 elections. that they know america at is an exceptional company and the -- country and the democrats do not. achmann said that we have the greatest health care system in the world, but this is factually untrue. this is not true. you can get the best health care in america if you are bill clinton or david gergen. but this is not the same as having the best system, that works for everybody.

what america needs, as much as anything else, is to stop conducting the politics in a parallel universe that is divorced from reality, and i say this because -- i would make every american here angry, if we did what i thought should be done. it is a lot of things -- is there good that the states are re-examining this, and i think that this is terrible, that the states and local governments were pretending for decades that they were running on balanced budgets. i think that there are a lot of things that the conservatives are saying that need to be heard. i think that the idea of addressing the americans deficit problem during a time of no growth, saying that we will not deal with medicare, and we

have to pay interest on the debt, and we will focus on 15% of the budget that is the pathway to the future. this is crazy. we have to be in the business of the future. my answer to you, about the future of america is this. you go all the way back to the sumerian civilization, you will see that every successful civilization had institutions that work, and lifted up the talented people and rewarded them for their productive efforts. we have to do this in haiti. if you look at every one of those countries, where the roman empire, you can see that at some time, all of those institutions were benefiting people, but they get along in the tooth and they become -- the people running

them have to hold on to the relative power rather than advancing the purpose. they become -- the people who are the constituents will not put their benefits and risks to build a better future. in the public and private sector -- this is for a genuine bipartisan cooperation. we have to modernize the american system so that they will build the purpose to which they are established. the way that we produce energy, and provide credit and investment, there is more than enough work that can go around. this is about being slight -- slightly right of center or slightly left of center.

where we are depends on where we are now. the people who say that we are down and out, and those who say that we are all goal -- always going to be on top are both wrong. where winston churchill was -- roosevelt was not coming into world war ii. he said that america always does the right thing. after every other alternative. i believe that we have to be finished with this alternative phase, and get the show on the road. do not bet against us. we will come back again. [applause] >> i would like to take this a little bit further. you just mentioned the deficiencies in the democratic

election process. the feeling that many people have of the united states at this moment, and the united states is extremely polarized. my question to you, what could be done to overcome this polarization? is this part of human nature, or something that is driven by the system? what is your recipe? >> we will look at the political system, my party was going to lose a number of seats in the congress. we had some very emotional seats because of the unpopularity of the american military involvement.

particularly in iraq. on the other hand, we did this because there was a very well- financed effort to drive every alienated person crazy by comparing the president and the leaders of congress to socialists who were driving the country off of the brink. and what i mean about the parallel universe, one more time they rewarded the policies that they say that they are against. ever since 1981, when the republican party departed from traditional conservatism, demonizing the government by saying the most important thing that you can do is to cut taxes and government, america has been dominated by them.

we had eight years, and they had 20 years. this was until president obama was elected. the conservatives -- they had quadrupled the debt when i took office and after i left, and four of these were surplus to. this is not what it seemed. but they had a great campaign. i lost the congress, because the national rifle association decided this on guns. and began this out to the individual members of congress. we did not know that you could have a bucket -- a presidential campaign in a non presidential year. we ran this and we won for the first time since 1982. we lost in 2002 by president

bush was up from 2011. in 2010, we rewarded to the strategy of 1994. with $1.6 billion. we did not spend any of it to tell the american people what they have done. basically, we had no national message and they did. this was amplified by rush limbaugh, and fox news, and the paid advertisements. i do not blame them. they are in the business to defeat us. we had no national message. everyone is discouraged and thinking of polarization. this is what i think will happen. there will be skirmishing, and the conservatives and the tea party movement will try to force

the president and the democrats to obliterate the future budget, and the obligations to the world. or they say that we will not raise the debt limit. and one side or the other is going to blink. and then we will get through this. and then, if we are lucky, it will be like when we were working together with bob dole. but we will have to do this with a little bit of uncertainty, for a little while. i do not know how this will come out. most of us genuinely love our country. even those who disagree with me, to move the country forward.

i think the president did the right thing in the state of union -- state of the union not to say some of the things that i have said. he did the right thing and i do not know how this will come out. the new members by not have a lot of experience, but i believe a lot of what he has said is factually untrue. they are energetic. i think that they love their country. i think that they will see a way through this. i listened to many debates about health care, but nobody ever talks about the cost of continuing the status quo. none of the competitors are closer than 10.5.

the closest is 11.5. the reason that we are here in davos is because there are challenges in bring health care to these villages. you have 10 or -- 10 and a half of these, the united kingdom at nine and a half, and we are spotting these competitors and no one talked about this in the last election. i want to be there on both sides, getting people to get back into the world of -- the fact based world. >> we are living the nature and we have to live in a state of this, but on the other hand, if

everything is included, that the real rates of job seeking people is 16 or 17%, if you are adding the unemployed people, the relatives come to a figure that is probably close to 40% of the people, directly or indirectly affected by unemployment. the next election, this will be determined by this issue. now, what would be your advice to become more protectionist? what would you do? >> let me make a couple of observations. one of the tragedies of the last

observation, they were dealing with the size of the debt because of the stimulus program, and this was a deal that was brought in because the economy was contracting and there was no private investment. there was no additional economic theory. we never had permanent deficits in america before 1981. and you can go back and look at this. this was not working very well for president bush. there is only so long that you can just keep borrowing money. the american people voted against borrowing money when the economic circumstances did warrant this. this does not have to be all bad. because unlike the depression, the way back to 1937, we finance

our own deficit. people like my grandfather kept andr money in a coffee 1tin they would try to get bonds. and now we are aggravating the global imbalance, and on the other hand you can look at the challenges that europe is facing. iceland is not part of the euros zone -- eurozone. this is coming back quicker because they were not subject to a level of distraction. you would not have had this in conventional economic times. you would have to have found out how to get money.

the that states has interesting dilemma. the american people say that they want them to start showing restraint right now. the bipartisan committee recommended that we not do this until next year. what is the way out of this? can we become more protectionist? in general -- i was happy to see the president during the trade agreement with panama. in japan, one reason that germans -- they maintain an unemployment rate two points below the united states, even when we had recovered more of the gdp than germany.

one reason is because we did a better job of penetrating the chinese. the other reason is because the germans, partly because of the relationship between labor and has a much better way of dealing with under-employment than we do. before you pay somebody full unemployment, in germany, you can get some of the money from a trust fund that you pay into, to keep people employed at your firm, so you do not have to go to the trouble to train everyone again and do that. the third reason, this is one of the four countries in the world, who promised to make specific targets under the kyoto climate change theory. all four of these -- before the

financial collapse, they were outperforming the american economy, with tire business rates, and less and equality. this is because they change the way that they produce and consume energy. so this -- this is an indication that the rich, developed countries, if you want your economy to grow and you do not want to shut this down, you do not want to have to do this every five or eight years. the other thing that i would say is china joined the world trade organization. we want for them to be able to help the poor -- poor people. we do not want to see a major political crisis. there is a record number of millionaires and billionaires. we have people who live on less than $2 per day.

on the other hand, the relative position of the united states, this is different than the others now. and we have suffered now. and we have 9.5% unemployment. and if you count the discouraged workers, this is about 16.7%. we do believe that the trade policy has to reflect this. you have to be open, whether you have any sense of parity, with the markets and whatever. we have to recover our own economic strength or we will not be able to do any good for anyone else. we will not be able to implement this, and i think that we will

be adamantly opposed to some kind of protection. i did not agree with the immigration position. i think that america would be more likely to get jobs and more likely to help their income, if we had more economic activity generated. this is what i believe. i believe that we have no choice right now. we have to focus on the american economy. >> we're having a session during this meeting, for the scandinavian countries. and if you look at the competitive form, the more inclusive countries, these are the most competitive countries. and this is a lesson that every

country needs to learn, -- >> there are no external things in economics anymore. the political philosophy when it comes to economics is humanitarianism. not necessarily to the right or the left, the private sector has to do this. but the feeling that we are all in this together, and we have the shared benefits, the shared opportunities, and if we have too much inequality, this will limit your growth potential. i think that you're absolutely right. i do not mind as having an argument about the best way to do this. but to pretend that the only thing that matters is to keep the taxes as low as possible, in

the private sectors of individuals, strangle the government and this will give you a good result. there is not a single example of a truly successful economy that does not have a nice private- sector and an effective government, and strategies to increase the level of opportunity. america -- we have permitted, and i blame us. we had an election that was conducted on a false premise. the international fame -- the interesting thing is that everyone did this differently. germany was leapfrogging japan, in solar power. in germany, the sun shines on average as much as in london.

they had a lot of subsidies, and this was green peas, not deutsche bank. the swedes have adopted a very sensible and unique carbon tax, in 1991 under a conservative government. you should talk about this on your television program. they adopted a carbon tax and they said that we will tax you, so that you will know the real cost of carbon. and then, we are going to give you back the money. 100% of the money. and if you want to spend this the way that you did, and maintain the system that we have, you will be free to do this. they gave back all the money. and people wanted to send the money on something else. they are the only country to meet the targets of the kyoto

protocol. and then, the market in the united kingdom are different stories. you can argue this now or left. i appreciate what you said. the conservatives and progressive debate that we have will have to do with how we have shared responsibility. this is the debate that the world needs to have. >> i think that this is a good way, and a good message to be ending this session on. but i have one last session. you have achieved such a lot during our presidency, in a different way, over the last 10 years. i think that there is a

remarkable example of engagement, global engagement. what do you want to achieve in the next 10 years? >> i would like to live. i would like to be a grandfather. and i would like to have a happy wife, and she won't be unless she is a grandmother. something she wants to be more than she wanted to be president. all -- i will tell you what i would like. i consider every day a gift. and so i would like to maintain enough health and mental capacity to keep learning about the world as it is, and keep trying to change this for the better. and before i die, whenever this is, i would like to believe that my own country and the world had at least embraced the right

paradigm, because we will never have all the answers and we will fight over the details. but the best is to be thinking about this. the primary benefits will be, 50 years of all of these meetings, and the millions of conversations that have taken place. people kept reaching out for each other and reaching out for each other. just consider this. the hubble telescope has been out in the air, for a dozen years. they may have found the world's first galaxy. 13 billion years old. last year, we found a planet in another galaxy in the milky way that seems to have the same conditions of planet earth, such

that there may be life out there. last year, we discover that unless you are 100% living in subset area -- living in sub- saharan africa, a large percentage of the genome comes ls.m neanderthal i she was not surprised to learn that i was, but she was surprised that she was. and most importantly of all, switzerland is now home of the sixth largest superconducting supercollider on earth. this has moved from the state of texas to switzerland after the 1994 budget. but we have some smaller ones in the united states. the first significant discovery came out of this last year. and it may offer the key to how

life began after the big bang, and also how we can finally do what einstein thought could be done, a unified theory that encompasses biology and chemistry, and physics. we were all taught that at the subatomic level, the positive and negative elements have to be in equal value, or we would all fly apart. and, they discovered that the smallest subatomic particle, based on their findings, which can be confirmed or contradicted -- it turns out that they are slightly more positive in all of the atoms. and this would justify the faith of all of the believers of the world, and it would make you more optimistic, and it would

give us an explanation for how we may have all come to this moment. this is an exciting time to be alive. we do not have a level of consciousness and understanding that is broadly enough in the south -- the society that is therefore a good decision. and you ask me what i want in the next 10 years, i want to believe that this is the case. so that i can feel that -- 100 or 1000 years from now, people on this planet are going to wake up with the same feeling of wonder that i feel every day. >> thank you so much. >> thank you. [applause]

[captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] >> we have more from the world economic forum in davos, with

remarks from nicolas sarkozy, and his statement that germany and france would never let the currency failed. and he also talked about the economic responsibility of the g-20. >> this is a pleasure and privilege. to be able to welcome you here, to welcome you for the second consecutive year. last year, in to sized your capacity for innovation. and these qualities are more necessary than ever. we need these to face the challenge of the modern world. and there is the unfailing will to make the voice of france heard among the community of nations.

to be more in fold, in a multilateral forum. in which the world economic forum is one example. you said that you would return to davos. you have been true to your word. but this is also, above all, the president of the g8, and the g 20, that we are welcoming here today. this is an immense task, that is facing you. and as you have emphasized on monday, at your press conference, there is no shortage of challenges. however, you have chosen, and you may explain this to us in a

moment, to focus on three subjects which concern us. for example, monetary imbalance, the issue of the volatility, and the matter of reforming global governance. you can rest assured, that you can rely on all of these participants, at this summit, and the entirety of the communities of the world, to nourish your reflection, and these debates. in order to, together, tangible and innovative solutions. and the world economic forum, together, with the chamber of

commerce and the incorporation with the employers, this is at your disposal for this process. mr. president, this session will be divided into two parts. first of all, we will hear you, with this outline. this current policy. and the second part, we will have an open dialogue, moderated by a member of the world economic foundation. a number of individuals from the audience. and we will be oriented along the priorities. this is during this press conference on monday. this is for the initiation of

the g 20. once again, thank you for replying so willingly to this invitation. this is a genuine pleasure. mr. president of the republic. [applause] >> my dear friend. how 94 have been honored me by inviting me, today. thank you for giving such an international positive image of france. it would not be any problem that i would return. but this was not the most difficult promise i have had to keep. especially with such exceptional weather, as we are enjoying today here.

above all, it is very important for me to be here because there are financial and economic actors from all over the world. and i have a message to put across. the problems and the issues that we have to tackle are of such complexity, and are of such difficulty, and are so numerous, that we must, at all costs, refrain. we must refrain from getting brought down in misunderstandings, or ideological issues. i would say that we should refrain from reacting simply by virtue of the way we were taught to think in the 20th century.

because things have moved on. these are no longer ideologies and we should be looking to tangible, concrete results. we should come up with new ideas, to issues which are unprecedented in the complexity and scope. and we should put our heads together to think about solutions and come up with the solutions. there is nobody sitting at the g 20 table who could do this alone, and who could imagine what they could do, solving single-handedly the kind of things that we're facing. these are things i deeply, passionately believe. i have learned in the press, the positions adopted by the head of state, or others. we should stop reacting on the

spur of the moment. we should stop looking at the different years between europe and the anglo-saxon world, with the north and south divide. we should try to adopt a different angle. there is another preliminary remark that i would wish to make. last year, i spoke very freely and very openly, because i spoke as the president of the french republic. and of course, as the president of the g8, and the g-20, this will be as open and as free, and we will also take into account the people's red lines and interests, and the objectives of the g 20.

this is to try to bring the policy between people who should listen and talk to one another before they react to one another. this should be said and done, and put in the interests of last year. we were pulling out of an unprecedented crisis. the forecast, this was very pessimistic. this is for 2010. and now, we will try to keep a cool head, and we will look at the things that have been forecast, and what has actually happened. i know how difficult that this

case is. they're capable of revising this forecast. for 2010, the forecast -- there is the possibility of reviewing or revising, or updating the forecast until november 2010. this is on the brink of the end of the year. we have the actual results. there was no double dip recession. there was growth in the order of 5%. we have seen this for the last 10 years. the average world growth rate was 3.5%.

there is a much unemployment to put this behind us. the young people and people over 50, there is a lot of risk that will need to be overcome. we have the 5% growth rate, throughout the world. we have the status already and these are the most serious roles that are imagined. the year of 2010, but this is not what has happened. ultimately, i cannot prevent myself from thinking that the effect of coordinating, the financial and economic policy -- this did not exist a couple of years ago. there was no mention of this. this is the youngest.

the fact that 20 countries around the table, coordinating their policies. this is representing 85% of the gdp of the world. this was of the essence. it was the ability to coordinate, to put an end to the crisis, simply boiling on. we have to strengthen the plea and protect, and this is what we are determined to focus on. over the past couple of years, let's say the last couple of months. the g-20, and this may shock you, this has been relatively easy because we did not have the choice. we had no choice because we were on the press of this -- pressed

this -- precipice. some people may imagine that we have a matter of choice. this is where the risk is. the legitimacy of the g-20 is depending on the ability to take a position. this is not taken a decision -- this is the g-20 that will lose their legitimacy. and some may imagine that the worst of the crisis is behind us and we can all go back to the way that we were before. i am passionately against this position. this is extremely dangerous. however, the storm of the

crisis seems to have been written. and this seems to be less urgent, because they believe that these things will sort themselves out. we identified three major risks, for this year, 2011. even though we may be far more pessimistic than we were. we have to cut down or implement the reform, and the world will not continue. and the world will not continue to monitor these debts, without thinking of the imbalances that they engender.

this is the second part of the rest, the monetary imbalance, the financial imbalance, and this has include fivefold over the last few years. and which one of these days, they will bring down everything unless we attend to this very swiftly and very strongly. to put this in another term, the context of who weighs heavily on the situation, the monetary system will remain exactly as it was. this did not need to adapt, because we have not had an international monetary issues since 1971.

is this good for those of us who are calling for growth? i have many different views on this subject. my third point is something i will give you an explanation about. we have a crisis of commodities, with the extreme volatility of this with the cost of raw materials, one year ago, in six months, a barrel of oil dropped from $140 all the way to $40. this is not in the interest of anyone to see this for the different countries because people cannot feed themselves or their families. in the interest of those who are

producing commodities, with fossil fuels or food commodities, this is the agenda that we have set for the g 20. i completely see the risks, but i think that there is more risk in addressing these issues than spending the entire year to deal with this instead of what really matters. i have been saying this. all that i am is saying is applying the rules. your companies, the companies that you run, you'll abide by this day after day. and we cannot afford to turn a blind eye to the issues that are threatening the economic future of the world. this deeply-held belief that france is going to try to organize a youthful presidency -- i do not want for this to happen, so i will answer whatever questions that you may

have, and frankly -- [applause] >> mr. president, thank you. thank you for outlining those issues. i will begin immediately with a question. you say that global growth is around 5%, and there is a return for optimism. does this make your job more difficult, and you mention the fact that if your back is against the wall, you have no choice and this is easy -- but now we have to build the future. under these circumstances, do you believe that there is the

political will to involve yourselves in these things that you are looking to undertake? >> we entered into the 21st century 11 years ago. and we are still functioning. according to the rules, -- i decided that this was madness that this should not be a single african country holding a permanent seat in the u.s. security council. this represents 1 billion people, this represent 2 billion inhabitants. this is a way of thinking that has to do with the 20th century,

not the 21st century. this is part of the south american continent. this has undergone an extraordinary demographic growth. and the 500 million inhabitants, they should not have the security council. in 20 years, this will be the most populous country. but they are not holding a permanent seat at the security council of the united states. like brazil or south africa, or mexico. this does not make any sense. in the second half -- aftermath of the second world war, there was a one-year meeting, that was held in order to set up a monetary system, at the time

there was only one economy. and this is not insulting anyone from the american economy. there was only one currency. and this was the dollar. and who would be so bold as to tell me that in 2011, as we are standing here today, the world that we face as anything to do with the world that we were facing in 1945? and who could possibly say this? i say this to the friends across the and planted, and how deeply i am attached to the partnership and the friendship with the usa. nobody wants to wait for the dollar. nobody is wanting to weaken the dollar. we will continue to be the world's number one currency.

62% of the world's currency is in dollars. the 82% of the trade is in dollars across the world. and let me ask you this question. the dominant currency does not necessarily talk about the single currency. and you can consider, if you were open-minded and open to the world, this would have no importance and this would not exist. if this is not natural, i am thinking of the japanese and chinese and the americans, and how they should act in terms of their currency, in many ways, unilaterally if there is no multilateral system. this is a way of handling the currency and this cannot be criticized.

there is a place where currency is discussed. where this is not about the central banks. the currency is not simply an economic issue. in the most true sense of the world, this is a political issue. ever since 1975 -- this issue was discussed with the g-7. i have had to challenge the legitimacy of the g8, to talk about these currencies. china is the other member of the u.s. -- of the g8. you are not aware of the value of the currency, and they are not even present or representing this to discuss the issue. i will be corrected by my minister of finance.

he will be dissipating with the finance -- and this makes no sense. this was traded 40 or 42 years ago, something like that. the basket of currencies, will there be the chinese currency in there? of course not. is this the way that we should continue? her since 1990, the world has undergone 42 different crises, 42 times since 1990, the countries have literally seen their capital flight out of the window. and we are not interested in that and we will not do anything. in order to counter these risks, the countries will build up huge reserves with huge

costs. and are we going to do nothing? in terms of the image, the misunderstanding, at least a part of the media, and the decisions and what came out of the media between the china -- between china and the united states, was this good or bad for the united states? is this how we should continue? pointing an accusing fingers at each other? with the currency reserves? and how could we possibly criticize the country for wanting to export? because this is exactly what we want to do. we want to increase the exports. i am putting my money on the intelligence of my colleagues, their ability to understand that if these imbalances continue,

this will be the detriment to the restructuring, but they will have to move towards this position, for the 21st century. i know that we are not going to go one year to have a new economic system. but we should lay the foundation. nobody is wanting to return to the exchange rates. we will discuss these issues, and we will put an end to instability. you will do what you need to do, and happen to possibly have this without the framework to achieve this stability. this is all the more urgent and indispensable, and i think that if this is the way that we address this issue, we will enable everyone to make a contribution to building this. if all we do is accuse each other and criticize one another, then we will come to a

halt, and we will see the fallout. g 20 is attracting between eight and 10,000 journalists over a couple of days. is this really reasonable that, with 10,000 journalists, who are watching us, it is reasonable to spend two days discussing just about nothing, and coming up with just about nothing? i have known for years that the situation is actually -- >> mr. president, as we saw in these discussions yesterday, there are people -- they are dealing with the long-term effects of the euro. how would you be responding to this, those who have doubts about the capacity oe