the swirling of the lava is the pressure trying to pull out. do you think drilling for oil and leaving big holes in the earth -- if you put coals and an apple, you will crush it. do you think that is because of earthquakes? -- do you think that is the cause of earthquakes? guest: the earth is a big place. the kind of pinpricks we deliver with drilling are probably not going to be significant from the standpoint of what you are describing. these are in its forces -- immense forces that are and least -- unleashed. the earth does go through big events. we do have these large, sudden

earthquakes. in terms of the volcanic activity as well, in terms of the human scale activities having a major impact on the, i think it is just a different scale. host: thank you for being here. you have given us some very interesting information. there is lots more information if you want to learn about the earthquake risk in your part of the country. there is a very interactive web site. they have a lot more there for you. we have a big weekend coming up on c-span. we have live cameras in a number of locations. our cameras will be live with an online exclusive today and over the weekend.

this weekend, we will be at the organization of american historians. there will be lots of different panel discussions across u.s. history. sunday night at 8:00 p.m., our guest is the president and ceo of the partnership for new york city. she is also a member of the federal reserve bank of new york. she will discuss the role of the federal reserve bank and other topics. thank you very much for being with us on an interesting friday morning. we will be back tomorrow morning at 7:00 a.m. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] [captioning performed by national captioning institute]

>> the turn of events in libya today, the country has declared a cease-fire in their attacks on anti-government rebels, possibly in response to the action by the u.n. last night. the security council declared a no-fly zone of the country, voting authorize all necessary measures to protect the libyan people, including air strikes. the associated press reported about one hour ago that libya's foreign minister announced a ceasefire and stoppage of all military operations, saying it will take the country back to safety and ensure security for all libyans. he also criticized the authorization of international military action, calling it a violation of libya's sovereignty. we're expecting remarks from obama this afternoon on the situation in libya. he is scheduled to leave on a five-day latin american trip today. we plan to have as cummins live for you on the c-span networks

and -- at his comments live for you on the c-span networks. the four were captured by forces loyal to colonel mullah omar gaddafi. they're expected to be released sometime today. british prime minister david cameron is announcing that the u.k. will send british jet fighters to libya within hours to help enforce the no-fly zone. we are expecting britain, france, and nato to hold emergency meetings today on the -- on the un no-fly zone. right now, we're going to show you the un meeting from last night that resulted in the agreement to enforce the no-fly zone to this is about one hour. i'm being told that the secretary of state may make remarks about the situation in libya. she is scheduled to speak to the press about 10:35, so we will be breaking away from our coverage of this un meeting to show you your comments -- her comments.

[gavel] >> [speaking foreign language] [speaking foreign language]

[speaking foreign language]

[speaking foreign language] [ speaking chinese ] [speaking french]

[speaking french]

[speaking french] [speaking french]

[speaking french]

[speaking french]

>> we take the measures necessary for the implementation thereof, authorizing also -- >> [speaking french]

[speaking french] merci. >> [speaking chinese] >> my understanding is that i shall now put the draft resolution to the vote now.

will those in favor of the draft resolution contended in the document -- contained in the document please raise their hand? put down your hand. those against, please raise your hand. abstentions, please raise your hand.

please put down your hand. the results of the voting is as follows, 10 votes in favor, zero votes against, five abstentions. the resolution is adopted. as an s/1973 (2011). i shall now give the floor to those members who wish to make

statements after the vote. i first give the floor to the representative of love and non -- of lebanon. >> thank you very much, president. we have witnessed the very rapidly unfolding events in the great -- and the great suffering which has struck libya today, this brotherly country, which suffers from acts of violence and the use of heavy ,eaponry, as well as aviation' against large swaths of the population. hundreds of victims have died. we have witnessed the displacement of thousands of libyan citizens.

faced with these risks and the great danger, the council has not remained on the sidelines. we have adopted a resolution 1973, which demands an immediate cessation of all acts of violence pitted the situation in libya -- . the situation in libya is transferred to the icc, given the great danger of these crimes. we suspend participation of libya and the participation of the human rights council. kerneled gaddafi has disregarded the wishes and year earnings of his people -- colonel gaddafi has disregarded the wishes and yearnings of his people. levanon launc-- lebanon launched a call to the security council

on the basis of the resolution dated march 12, 2011. this resolution stipulates that the security council must assume its responsibilities, faced with the the situation in libya -- with the situation in libya, and take necessary measures to impose a no-fly zone. and to establish safe areas, especially in those areas which have been struck by this aviation, to take measures to guarantee the protection of the libyan people and all foreign citizens. >> are resolution here today -- our resolution here today takes into account the calls by the people of libya and the demands of the league of arab states to see an end put to the atrocious crimes carried out by libyan authorities against its people.

these authorities have lost all their legitimacy. our resolution is aimed at protecting libyan civilians. we underscore the fact that this resolution will not have, as a consequence, the occupation of even an inch of libyan territory. within this framework, i would like to reaffirm the following elements. it is quite clear that lebanon, which lived through the atrocities of war, 11 non -- lebanon would never advocate the use of force or back war in any country, in any part of the world, especially in libya, this brotherly country.

lebanon chairs is the hope that this resolution which was adopted today will play a deterrent role to ensure that the libyan authorities moved away from the logic of violence, violence applied against their people, and seize all and every use of force. we would also like to reaffirm, just as we did during the negotiations which have led to the adoption of this resolution, the importance of the respect for the sovereignty and integrity -- territorial integrity of libya. this must be respected folly. the non -- lebanon of firms and reaffirms the importance of" operations -- of ferns and reaffirmed the importance of close operations -- affirms and reaffirms the importance of

close operations. this has been included in the resolution which we have just adopted. we understand that the provisions and the actions advocated by this resolution cannot guarantee stability in libya. for this reason, we reaffirm the importance of efforts undertaken to achieve a peaceful solution to the situation in libya. we back the mission of the secretary general's bon voyage -- envoy. president, faced with these words, atrocities -- horrors, atrocities experienced by the libyan population, faced with the loss of life and the great risk which remains, and even, if our resolution, this resolution falls beneath what we

had hoped for, it remains true that this resolution is passed with a great deal of hope for libya and its people. mr. president, i thank you. >> i thank you the permanent resident of love and non -- of lebanon for his statement. i now give the floor to their representative of the united kingdom. >> thank you, mr. president. the situation in libya is clear. a violent, discredited regime is using weapons of war against civilians. gaddafi's regime had aboard this council's demand in the resolution -- has ignored this council's demand in the resolution to stop the violence against the libyan people. he is now preparing for a violent assault on a city of 1 million people that has a history dating back 2500 years.

it has begun airstrikes in anticipation of what we expect to be a brutal attack using air, land sea forces -- air, land, and sea forces. he has publicly promised no mercy and no pity. we have seen a group test -- a grotesque promise of amnesty from a regime which has advertised its determination to continue persecuting and killing those libyans who want only to take control of their own future. the international community has come together in deploring the actions of the good of the regime and demanding that the regime and its violence -- of the gaddafi regime and demanding that the regime end its violence. the arab league has been particularly clear in its demands, including for the imposition of a no-fly zone. that is why united kingdom, in close cooperation with love and non -- love and non -- lebanon

and france, has pressed for this adoption. we have acted swiftly in response to the appeals of the arab league. resolution 1973 demands that colonel gaddafi implement an immediate cease-fire. it imposes a no-fly zone to prevent the gaddafi regime from using air power against the libyan people. it authorizes member states to take all necessary measures to protect civilians and populated areas under threat of attack. it rules out a foreign occupation force of any form on any part of libyan territory. it imposes a range of additional measures, including significant action to tighten the enforcement of the arms embargo and to deny the regime access to

funds. we, along with partners in the arab world and in nato, are now ready to shoulder our responsibilities in implementing resolution 1973. mr. president, the central purpose of this resolution is clear -- to end the violence, to protect civilians, and to allow the people of libya to determine their own future, free from the tyranny of the gaddafi regime. the libyan population want the same rights and freedoms that people across the middle east and north africa are demanding, and that are enshrined in the values of the united nations charter to today's resolution puts the weight of the security council squarely behind the libyan people in defense of those values. thank you. >> by bank -- i thank the permanent representative of the united kingdom for his statement

and i give the floor to the permanent representative of russia -- germany. >> thank you, mr. president. we have gathered today to address the serious situation in libya. our intention is to stop the violence in the country and to send clear messages to gaddafi and his regime that their time is over. muammar gaddafi must relinquish power immediately. his regime has lost all legitimacy and can no longer be in power. no. never cut is undergoing major political changes. -- north africa is undergoing major political changes. there are unique opportunities for political, social, and economic transformation. to achieve these goals, we seek

close cooperation with our partners in the region, in particular, the arab league and the african union. our aim is to promote the political transformation of libya. we see the need to stop the violence and to start a true political process. the basis for democracy and the rule of law in libya needs to be establish and broughton -- established and broadened. the people have expressed their need for democracy. we regard the interim council as an important measure. we welcome the secretary general's appointment of mr. mohamed al-khatib as a special envoy to libya.

we're concerned by the plight of the libyan people and the widespread and systematic attacks they are suffering from. it is therefore crucial that we tighten the sanctions against the gaddafi regime even more. we need to cut it off from the financial means that have helped it to remain in power. in our view, strong sanctions, backed by the whole international community, will be an ineffective way to end the rule of mullah omar gaddafi, thereby -- mullah omar bid off the -- muammar gaddafi, thereby -- germany fully supports the package of economic and financial sanctions in the resolution just adopted. mr. president, decisions on the use of military force are always extremely difficult to take. we have very carefully considered the options of using military force, its implications

as well as its limitations. we see great risks, the likelihood of large scale loss of life should not be underestimated. if the steps proposed turn out to be ineffective, we see the danger of being drawn into a protected -- protracted military, but that would attract a wider region. -- protracted military conflict that would attract a wider region. germany has decided not to support a military option as foreseen in the operative paragraph four and eight of this resolution. furthermore, germany will not contribute to such a military effort with its own forces. germany has therefore decided to abstain. thank you, mr. president.

>> i thank the permanent representative of germany for his statement. i now give the floor to the permanent representative of the united states. >> today, the security council has responded to the libyan people's cry for help. this council's purpose is clear -- to protect innocent civilians. on february 26, acting under chapter 7 -- chapter vii, the security council demanded a halt to the violence in libya and enabled genuine accountability for war crimes and crimes against humanity by referring the situation to the international criminal court. we adopted strong sanctions that targeted libyas leadership. we have also strongly supported all aspects of the un special mandate.khatib's

colonel gaddafi and those who still stand by him continue to grossly and systematically abused the most fundamental human rights of libya's people -- abuse the most fundamental human rights of libya's people. on march 12, the league of arab states called on the security council to establish a no-fly zone and take other measures to protect civilians. today's resolution is a powerful response to that call and to the urgent needs on the ground. this resolution demands an immediate cease-fire and a complete end to violence and attacks against civilians. responding to the libyan people and to bill league of arab states, the security council has authorized -- and to the league of arab states, the security council has authorized the use of force, including the

enforcement of a no-fly zone to protect civilians and civilian areas targeted by colonel gaddafi, his intelligence and security forces, and his mercenaries. this resolution also strengthens enforcement of the arms embargo and bans all international flights by libyan-owned or operated aircraft. the revolution -- resolution freezes the assets of seven more individuals and five entities including key state-owned libyan companies. the resolution and powers the newly-establish libyan sanctions committee -- empowers the newly-established libyan sanctions committee. the council establish a panel of experts to monitor and enhanced short and long-term implementation of the sanctions on libya.

the future of libya should be decided by the people of libya. the united states stands with the people of the libyan -- the libyan people in support of their universal rights. thank you, mr. president. >> i. thank -- i thank the permanent representative of the united states. i now give the floor to the permanent representative of india. >> mr. president, india has been following this area of concern, the developments in libya, which have led to the loss of numerous lives and injuries to many more. we're very concerned with the welfare of the civilian population and for the foreigners. we deplore the use of force to this is totally unacceptable and must not be resorted to. mr. president, the un secretary general has appointed a special

envoy who has just visited libya. we support his appointment and his mission. we have, however, not have the benefit of his report, or even a report from the secretary on his assessment. this would have given us an objective analysis of the situation on the ground. african union is also sending a high-level panel to libya to make a serious effort for peace will ian d. to the crisis -- peaceful end to the crisis there. mr. president, the council has today adopted a resolution that authorizes far-reaching measures under chapter vii of the un charter with relatively little credible information on the situation on the ground in libya. we also do not have clarity about details of enforcement measures, including who and what

assets will participate in how these measures will be carried out. it is of course very important that there is full respect for sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity of libya. mr. president, the financial measures that are proposed in the resolution could impact directly or indirectly ongoing trade and investment activities of a number of member states, thereby adversely affecting the economic interests of the libyan people and others dependent on these trade and economic times. moreover, we have to ensure that the measures will mitigate, not exacerbate, an already difficult situation for the people of libya. clarity in the resolution on any spillover effects of these measures would have been very important to mr. president, we have abstained on the resolution. i would like to emphasize that

india continues to be gravely concerned about the deteriorating humanitarian situation in libya and calls on the libyan authorities to cease fire, protect the civilian population, and address the demands of the libyan people. i thank you, sir. >> i thank the permanent representative of india for his statement. i now give the floor to the permanent representative of brazil. >> mr. president, brazil is deeply concerned that the deteriorating situation in libya. we stand behind the strong measures -- message of resolution 1970, adopted by consensus by this council to the government of brazil has publicly condemned the use of violence by the libyan authorities against unarmed demonstrators and have called on them to uphold and protect the right of free expression of the protesters and to seek a solution to the crisis through meaningful dialogue. our boat today should in no way

be interpreted -- our vote today should in no way be interpreted as condoning the behavior of the libyan authorities or as disregard for the need to protect civilians and respect for their rights. we stand in solidarity with all logan's in the region expressing a legitimate demands for better governance -- with all movements in the region expressing a legitimate demands for better governance. we condemn the libyan authorities disrespect for their obligation under the international humanitarian law and human rights. we took into account the arab league's call for strong measures to stop the violence through a no-fly zone. we are sensitive to their call and understand and share their concerns. it is our view that the text of the resolution before us contemplates measures that go much beyond such calls. we are not convinced that the use of force, as provided for in operative paragraph four of the

present resolution, will lead to the realization of our common objective -- the immediate end of violence and the protection of civilians. we're also concerned that such measures will have the unintended effect of the exacerbating tensions on the ground and causing more harm than good to the very sin civilians we are committed to protecting. many thoughtful commentators have noted that an important aspect of the popular movement in north africa and the middle east is the home grown nature. we are concerned that the possibility that the use of military force, as called for in the operative paragraph four, could change that in ways that may have serious repercussions for the situation in libya and beyond. protecting civilians, insuring and lasting settlement, and addressing legitimate demands of the libyan people requires

diplomacy and dialogue. we support the efforts being made in this regard by the special envoy of the secretary general and by the african union. we also welcome the inclusion in today's resolution of operatives paragraphs to manage an immediate cease-fire and a complete -- demanding an immediate ceasefire and a complete end to violence. we hope that these efforts will proceed and succeed. thank you, mr. president. >> i thank the permanent representative of brazil for her statement. i give the floor to the permanent representative of bosnia-herzegovina. >> mr. president, allow me to reiterate our great concern regarding the rapidly

deteriorating situation in libya. human rights must be protected. humanitarian law must be observed. the need for humanitarian assistance to libya as a matter of urgency. enabling the unimpeded passage of humanitarian aid is a prerogative. bosnia hercegovina -- bosnia herzegovina supports this. we call on regional organizations. it is crucial for finding solutions to the crisis in libya. mr. president, by fully supporting libya's sovereignty and territorial integrity, we have called on libyan authorities once again to put an immediate stop to all military and other violent acts against the libyan people.

we strongly believe that this resolution is for the benefit of the libyan people and their aspirations for peace and democracy. thank you, mr. president. >> we will levy's remarks from the un security council members and go live -- leave that these remarks from the un security council members and go live to a security -- state department briefing. >> welcome to the state department. we have an excellent discussion -- had an excellent discussion. there was broad agreement, as you might guess, between two such strong friends and allies. i am sorry i had to spend st. patrick's day away from the celebrations. i am delighted that we have so many common goals for the continued cooperation between our countries. we're obviously following what is happening in japan on a

minute-by-minute basis. ireland has generously contributed to the appeal for humanitarian assistance. we are also grateful for the offer of irish experts to assist in dealing with this. both ireland and united states know that japan has been generous in the past three timess' -- during others' of need. the conversation that we had about libya began with the passage of the un security council resolution 1973, which provides authority to the international community to take enforcement actions to protect civilians in libya. the libyan people have called for international assistance. this resolution paves the way for that call to be answered. colonel gaddafi's refusal to hear the repeated calls, up until now, to halt violence against his own people, has left

us with no other choice but to pursue this course of action. while this resolution is an important step, it is only that -- an important step. we and our partners will continue to explore the most important -- expected measures to end this crisis. we talked at length about the irish government's extraordinary support for ending global hunger, an area that we're going to continue to work on together. we will be, hopefully, traveling to africa at some point to highlight the joint project, the thousand-days campaign to improve maternal and child nutrition. priscian greatly ireland's support of the -- we appreciate greatly ireland's support of this very important effort which we kicked off last september, which has such pretended to protect women and children from death and illness by toxic smoke, and to protect the

environment. we talked about the ongoing peace efforts in northern ireland. we commend everyone on the progress that has been made. i will meet later today with others who are absolutely committed to working together to give a consistent message of support that the path to peace is the only piece. let me thank you again for coming and having this opportunity to meet with you again here in washington. >> thank you very much, secretary clinton, for your kind words and for your warm welcome. it is a great personal pleasure andlelelelelegeor me to have the opportunity to visit washington today and to have some extensive -- have substantive discussions with you on a broad range of issues. i am grateful that he would make time in your increasingly hectic schedule -- that you would make time in your increasingly at the schedule for this exchange --

hectic schedule for this exchange. it is useful to hear your impressions on these issues which are at the forefront of our concerns. we discussed the situation in japan and the ongoing critical situation there. our thoughts are very much with the japanese people, who are such good friends of the united states and of ireland. for my part, i updated secretary clinton on the economic situation in ireland and the steps which the new government intends to take to promote economic growth, restore confidence, fix our banking system, and support the production and creation of jobs. we are determined to rebuild irelands intonation -- ireland's reputation internationally and to drive export-led recovery. island and the u.s. have many areas of common interest -- ireland and the u.s. have many areas of common interest. your unwavering support is deeply appreciated by all of your friends in ireland, as is

your ongoing support for the international fund for ireland. i also want to thank secretary clinton for her strong support of the irish community here. we discussed the prospects for progress on immigration reform as well as bilateral visa our recent peer we discussed the popular uprising against autocratic regimes -- bilateral visas. we also discussed the popular uprising against autocratic regimes in north africa. i commend secretary clinton for offering support to those peacefully seeking change throughout the region. with regard to libya, i believe that crow gaddafi -- colonel gaddafi has lost all legitimacy to rule and should leave the stage. we hope that the adoption of resolution 1973 will help facilitate humanitarian access. we also spoke about the pursuits

of commons of peace in the middle east, the time and commitment which -- about the pursuit of peace in the middle east, the time and commitment with which you have dedicated to it. we continue to work together in developing food security. this is an issue of deep personal issuinterest to you. the new government regards this as a central element in our foreign policy. we look forward to working closely with you to build on what we have achieved so far and to explore new areas of cooperation in the future. i am very pleased to announce ireland's support for the initiative, in the amount of $500,000. i would thank secretary clinton for the very warm welcome extended to the toxic -- taoiseach yesterday.

we appreciate it. thank you. >> thank you. >> two questions. >> secretary clinton, libya, the resolution. what is the endgame of this resolution? >stop the violence against civilians, stop gaddafi's forces, get him out of office? should this continue until he is gone? the libyan government is saying that they're calling for a cease-fire. what do you think of that? would you engage with them about that? very briefly, these attacks -- the third question, yemen. snipers are firing from rooftops on people. what can you tell us about that? >> first, as to libya, obviously, the united states is very pleased with yesterday's vote. it sent a strong message that

needs to be heated -- heeded. the efforts by the international community to come together to make clear to colonel gaddafi that he cannot continue his violence against his own people, he cannot continue to attack those who started out by peacefully demonstrating for changes that are within the right of any human being to do so, and the fact that he now has received not just the message of those of us who have been calling for him to end and the fact of he has lost its legitimacy, but the arab league and a statement that they called for with respect to the resolution did we have seen press reports of a cease-fire -- the resolution. we have seen press reports of a

cease-fire. this is a fluid and dynamic situation. -- benot going to be rid impressed by words. we have to see action on the ground. that is not yet at all clear. we will continue to work with our partners in the international community to press gaddafi to leave and to support the legitimate aspirations of the libyan people. it is important that we take this one step at a time. the diplomatic effort that was required to answer questions and create a level of cooperation as represented by the resolution was very intense in the last week's. the overwhelming vote by the security council i think reflects a broad understanding

that, number one, stop the violence, and are two, we do believe that a final result in any negotiation would have to be the decision by colonel gaddafi to leave. let's take this one step at a time. with regard to yemen, our message remains the same. the violence since the end. negotiations -- the violence needs to end. >> next question. >> good morning, madame secretary. thank you for having us here again. on the question our colleague asked. is there anything short of colonel gaddafi leaving that is acceptable? did you seek or receive any support from ireland on military action that may follow? also, secretary clinton, the last time you are in dublin, you

were working hard to convince the president -- you were in dublin, you were working hard to convince the president to come to dublin. will you be there? >> with respect to libya, i want take this one step at that time. we do not know what the final outcome will be. the first and overwhelmingly urgent action is to end the violence. we have to see a very clear set of decisions that are operationalized on the ground by gaddafi's forces to move physically a significant distance away from the east, where they have been pursuing their campaign against the opposition. there will have to be an accounting of what has already occurred. there are many stories, as you now, of massacres, abortion --

abductions. until we know what has actually happened, it is hard to know what the results should be. the special representative -- we will want to have the international community involved in any dialogue with the opposition and with the gaddafi regime. we just pass this resolution last night. i think now we're going to be working to operationalize it. will see whatwe the next steps will be. we're delighted that the president will be heading to ireland. that is good news for everyone. i do not know how many irish- americans will believe they have to be with him, but i believe that number will be substantial. a triple be in the month of may. the government is working with their -- the trip will be in the month of may. government is working with the irish government to organize

that. i and excited. i never know where i am going to be, as has been evident in the last several weeks. i would love to be there. i love to be in ireland under any circumstances. i have a lot of good ideas about what the president would like to do that i will share with our ambassadors and others who will be planning this trip. in a time of very big challenges from the nuclear reactor dysfunction to the continuing strife in conflict, this is a very good news story. thank you all very much. >> thank you. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] >> the secretary of state hillary clinton commenting on the approval of the no-fly zone in libya and the cease-fire announced earlier today by gaddafi. they also addressed this issue

in japan. secretary clinton will be speaking this afternoon on u.s. relations with latin america. president obama is traveling there this weekend. that is beginning a 2:00 p.m. eastern on c-span. president obama is expected to address the developments in libya, speaking from the white house before leaving for his trip. we plan to bring you his comments when they happen on the c-span network and on the c-span website, c-span.org. we returned to the un security council meeting last night -- return to the un security council meeting last night. >> to the representative of bosnia-herzegovina. >> allow me to reiterate our great concern regarding the rapidly deteriorating situation in libya. human rights must be protected. human-rights and humanitarian laws must be observed.

the need for urgent -- this is a matter of urgency. this is our prerogative. we support the involvement our regional stakeholders seeking an end to the libyan crisis. we think that a coordinated approach by the international actors, the arab league, and african union is crucial for funding the most adequate solutions to the crisis in libya. mr. president, by fully supporting libya's sovereignty and territorial integrity, bosnia-herzegovina calls on libyan authorities once again for an immediate stop of all military and other violence against million -- against the libyan people. we strongly believe that this resolution is for the benefit of the libyan people and for the aspirations towards peace and

democracy. thank you, mr. president. >> [speaking chinese] >> [speaking foreign language] [speaking spanish]

[speaking spanish]

[speaking forgein language] [speaking forgein language]

[speaking forgein language] [speaking forgein language]

[speaking forgein language] [speaking forgein language]

[speaking foreign language] >> security for the civilization of libya is an immediate ceasefire. this, specifically, was the name of our resolution submitted on march 16, which are rolla -- relevant efforts. they underscore the necessity for a peaceful settlement of the situation in libya. the russian delegation propose the adoption without any delay,

the city numerous human lives. we enjoyed the support of a number of security council members, and we are grateful to them, however the passion of some security council members prevailed. this is regrettable. responsibility for the inevitable humanitarian consequences of the use of outside force in libya will fall fair and square on the shoulders of those who might undertake such action. if this comes to pass, not only the civilian population of libya, but the cause for holding stability throughout the region of the middle east and north africa will suffer. there is a need to avoid such developments. mr. president, i thank you. >> i think representatives of the russian delegation appeared out of the fourth to the representative of portugal.

>> thank you, mr. president. since the outset of the uprising, portugal has condemned and violence against civilians, perpetrated by a regime that has lost all its legitimacy with its own population and the international community. we have the view for the cessation of all violence, as well as for the few -- full protection of civilians in libya and their right to leave the country. we have an urgent need of thousands of refugees to flee the violence. due to these reasons, we voted for resolution 1970, which was adopted unanimously. the authorities in tripoli took

no note of this resolution and have failed to abide by it. on the 26th of february -- since the 26 the february, violence has escalated as as a crime against civilians. portugal has also urged for the need of a national political dialogue that would enable a libyan population to fulfil legitimate aspirations to build a democratic, modern state, based on the sovereignty of the people and on institutions that represent them effectively. for the international community, the regime that has ruled libya for over 40 years has come to a end by the will of the libyan people. it needs to be fundamentally reform through peaceful protest. mr. president, we voted for this resolution because we believed it fulfills the resolutions of establishing a ceasefire,

putting a end to violence, provide for unimpeded aid, and to continue a dialogue to guarantee the sovereign, and national unity of the country as desired by the libyan people. in this context, we support the mission entrusted by the secretary general in efforts to find a solution to this crisis. we support the efforts of the arab league and the african union in the same sense. >> i think the permanent representative of portugal for his statement. i give the floor to the representative of nigeria. >> mr. president, the resolution just adopted was necessitated by the persistently dire situation

in libya. not withstanding the clear expression of our common will and the comprehensive measure of resolution no. 1970, the libyans have continued to violate the resolution. the current state of affairs leaves an indelible imprint on the conscience. the magnitude of this disaster and is what indeed compelled nigeria to vote on this resolution. consistent calls for peace are rooted in the need to ensure the dignity and the availability of humanitarian assistance for a population in need, many of whom are nigerian nationals. the impact of the resolution on

civilians and the threat of attack would do much to address these concerns. the arab states and the african union have spoken in one voice in condemnation of the situation in libya, and rightly so as it is of regional import. nigeria maintain said foreign occupation is not an option to secure peace in libya. we acknowledge the language in resolution 1973 that specifically constrains the action of states figure into play a role in the quest for peace. moreover, we are guided by an overriding determination to respect the unity and integrity of libya. we are also encouraged by the

past that the resolution supports, underscores the efforts of the african union high-level committee, the special envoy, and others. today, we have sent an unequivocal message to the libyan people that the dignity of every man, woman, and child is paramount. it is important that when civilians in grave danger cry out, the international community, but undaunted, is ready to respond. hi thank you. >> i think the permanent representative of the -- of nigeria. i now give the floor to the permanent representative of south africa.

>> south africa is deeply concerned about the deteriorating situation in libya, which is becoming a full- blown civil war. it is our hope that -- a political solution must be found that will respect justice, human rights, and the social-economic needs of the people of libya. this solution must preserve the unity, sovereignty of libya. it is within this context, the south everett the -- south africa supports intensifying efforts to finding a lasting political solution to the crisis in libya in the interest of its people. we asked this committee

[unintelligible] to coordinate the first resolution in this regard. in adopting a resolution in 1970, the security council had hoped that the libyan authority would act responsibly and stop committing violence against their own people. they have defied this resolution, and continued to kill numerous civilians. with the belief that the security council could not be seen doing nothing in the face of violence committed against innocent civilians. we believe that by adopting this resolution, which south africa has voted in favor, it has responded appropriately and has

acted responsibly to protect and save the lives of the countless civilians were faced with violence. out by the libyan authorities. we believe that the establishment of this additional measure, including a ceasefire and a no-fly zone, constitute an important element for the protection of civilians, and the safety and delivery of humanitarian assistance to most -- to the most vulnerable and those in need. we have coupled the resolution with the necessary caveat to preserve the sovereignty and territorial integrity of libya, and to protect civilians. it is our hope that this resolution will be implemented in full respect, both in a letter, and spirit. this is in concert with the

african union decision, as well at its rejection for any foreign military intervention. in concluding, mr. president, south of africa will continue to work through this council, the african unit. union, and other platforms to seek a resolution to the libyan crisis in a manner consistent with the aspirations of the people. i thank you, mr. president. >> i think a permanent representative of south africa for his statement. i shall now make a statement in my capacity as a representative of china. a continuing worsening of the situation in libya has the great concern of china we support the security council adoption of appropriate and necessary action

to stabilize as soon as possible the situation in libya, and to hold -- halt act of violence against civilians. china has always and sit -- emphasized that the security council should follow the u.n. charter, and respect the sovereignty, independence, unity, and territorial integrity of libya, and resolved through peaceful means the current crisis in libya. china is always against the use of force in international relations. in the security council's consultations on resolution 1973, me and some other council members asked specific questions. however, regrettably, many of those questions sales to be clarified or answered. -- many of those questions failed to be clarified or

answered. china has serious difficulty with part of the resolution, meanwhile china attaches great importance to the position of the 22-member arab league on the establishment of a no-fly zone over libya. we also attach great importance to the position of the african countries and the african union. in view of this, and considering the special circumstances surrounding the situation in libya, china abstained during the vote on the resolution, resolution 1973. we support the secretary general's special envoy to libya, and the continuing efforts to address, by peaceful means, the current crisis in libya. i will resume my function as president of the council.

there are no more speakers inscribed on my list. the security council has thus concluded the present stage of its consideration of the item on this agenda. the security council will remain seized of the matter. the meeting is adjourned. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] [captioning performed by national captioning institute]

>> in response to this -- security council's approval of a no-fly zone and cease-fire, the libyan government announced an end to military operations. president obama will address the situation that during a press briefing. we are planning live coverage on the c-span networks and on line. his short time ago, british prime minister david cameron announced he had ordered british jet fighters into libya. they were expected within hours of his announcement. we will have his remarks later this afternoon. we are also expecting britain, france, and nato to hold emergency meetings of the no-fly zone, with british prime minister saying there will be further meetings tomorrow with france and a number of other arab members. right now, the libyan government's response to the security council's vote. this is about 10 minutes.

>> after having reviewed the resolution, we would like to explain the following. will try to deal with this resolution. my country will do its best to deal positively with this resolution. [speaking foreign language] >> we have knowledge of this resolution, and according to article 25 of the u.n. charter,

and taking into consideration that libya is a full member of the u.n., we accept that it is obliged to accept the u.n. security council resolution. therefore, libya has decided and immediate cease-fire, and the stoppage of all military operations. we take great interest in protecting all civilians, and offering them all necessary humanitarian aid, and respecting all human rights.

and, obliging to the international and the humanitarian laws, and is also obliged to protect all of the informants in libya and their assets. [speaking foreign language] >> in doing so, it is in accordance with the resolutions of the security council, and the articles of the charter of the un.

[speaking foreign language] >> we emphasize in the resolution 1973, for the year 2011, we emphasize and agreed to the article regarding the protection of civilians, and the territorial of unity of libya. [speaking foreign language] therefore, building on this, the libyan state encourages the opening of all dialogue channels with everyone interested in the territorial unity of libya.

[speaking foreign language] and, my country is very serious about continuing the developments -- economic, political, humanitarian, and social development of the libyan nation. we have indeed taken serious in continuing this development for the good of the libyan people. [speaking foreign language] we believe this will take the country back to safety and security for all libyans. [speaking foreign language]

>> we also express our sadness towards what the resolution has included. of against the libyan nation, such as the no-fly zone which includes commercial and civilian flights, which will increase the suffering of the libyan nation and the libyan people, and will have a negative impact on the general life of libyan people. [speaking foreign language]

>> the international community should have exempted civilians from the resolution to secure their quality of life. [speaking foreign language] >> also, it includes freezing of investments and assets, which will have a negative impact on normal libyans, and also negatively impact libya's ability to fulfill its contracts and agreements locally, and internationally. [speaking foreign language]

>> libya also finds that it is very strange and not reasonable that the security council allows it in its resolution and the use of military power. [speaking foreign language] >> and there are signs that this may indeed take place. [speaking foreign language] >> this goes clearly against the un charter. it is a violation of the national sovereignty of libya. [speaking foreign language]

>> it is also in violation of the article four-two of the charter. [speaking foreign language] >> finally, we insist and emphasized our request for all international governments, and g.o.'s, and others, to check the facts on the ground by sending fact-finding missions to libya so they can set the right position based on the general effect. thank you. >> in that video came to us at the of the al jazeera network. we are expecting president obama to speak to the press this afternoon and comment on the libya before leaving for latin

america this afternoon. we are planning live coverage on the c-span networks and unwind. british jets are headed toward the no-fly zone over libya. prime minister david cameron ordered them into service a short time ago. we will have the prime minister's remarks later this a afternoon on c-span and carol we are also learning there will be emergency meetings today on the no-fly zone, including britain, france, and nato. the prime minister also told the press there will be further meetings tomorrow but will take place in paris. the situation in japan remains a concern. japanese officials today announced that radiation levels are continuing to rise. up next, the japanese prime minister and his address on the issue. it is just over 10 minutes. >> the prime minister is sharing a message for the people of japan. naoto kan says one week has

passed since the end of the -- the disaster. he says that he offered his condolences to the victims and their families. for people whose family members remain unaccounted for, he says that he offers his condolences and fox. -- fox said. -- thoughts. the prime minister says that over the last week the japanese people have dealt with the situation calmly, and says the japanese public has placed an emphasis on community ties, and is working together to overcome this disaster. prime minister kan says that he

respects the way the japanese people have behaved. he says that the country faces two major challenges. one of them being the damage from the major earthquakes and tsunami -- earthquake and tsunami. the other challenge is the nuclear power plant crisis caused as a result of this magic earthquake and tsunami. prime minister kan says there was a great deal of confusion around the delivery of relief goods. however, obstacles are being overcome, and he says that he believes that the relief

supplies will be delivered to the disaster zones. as for recovery efforts in japan, the prime minister says that japan as a country will overcome this tragedy, and will recover. as for the fukushima power plant that the situation surrounding the accident is still very grave. in order to overcome this crisis, the police, fire department, self-defense

forces, and other groups are all working together, putting their lives on the line, in an attempt to resolve the situation. the prime minister says that he is determined to overcome this nuclear power plant crisis. he is fully determined to resolve the issue, and he is committed to working with the japanese public as well as the -- all of the stakeholders involved to overcome this crisis. the prime minister says that he is committed to bringing back reassurance for the japanese public, and with that resolved in mind, he says that he will continue to plow forward.

many nations have offered their condolences. 117 countries and regions, and 29 international organizations have extended their helping hand for providing support and aid. their support activities are taking place on the ground. we are much appreciative of this. after world war two, japan is facing the largest crisis, but we are gaining global support. inclusive of all of this, we do not have time to be pessimistic. a need to be resolved, and have a strong resolution for each and every one of the japanese people. they must have a strong resolve to move forward and overcome this. for the eve evacuees living in evacuation centers, i know it is

very cold, there is not enough food and water, and you are distant and -- is convinced by the shortage of water. i would like to send my condolences to those suffering these hardships. people who are not your acquaintances -- people are all living together in the evacuation center. the prime minister says that he hopes each and every one of them will help each other and hand- in-hand, help each other over come. the government will provide food, blankets, and not only relief goods, but he says the government hopes to provide support so that people will be able to live with the reassuring sentiments in their

mind, so they're taking all out efforts to do so. prime minister kan calls on the people who are living in evacuation. he says that he knows the evacuation will continue for some time. he says that he hopes they will take good care of their health, and hopefully they will be able to move to a place of living where they could feel a little bit more safely. so, he hopes the people will persevere and continue to exercise their patients. he says he will repeat this point again, and that is that for the japanese people, this is a great test of all of the people of japan. that is the current situation. he says in the past history of

japan, this small island nation, as so they say, we have made a miraculous economic growth thanks to the effort of every one of the japanese citizens, and that is how the nation of japan was built. with the tsunami and earthquake, we do not have any room to be pessimistic, or to not be encouraged. we cannot do so. we are going to create japan once again, from scratch. that is the strong resolve that we all must share. he says that he hopes that all of the japanese people will face this challenge together. prime minister kan calls on each and every citizen of japan within their family, within the

local community, within their workplace, and within their schoolmates, to work hands-in- hand, and do what they can't. he says they will think about what they can do to make a contribution and keep their wishes together and be united so they can overcome the crisis, and make a step toward rebuilding and recover in the nation. as one member of the japanese citizens, prime minister kan says he has that resolved and he will work hard. -- resolve and he will work hard. he says this is the message he wanted to convey to the people of japan in marking the seventh day after the earthquake. this is a question from media. regarding the nuclear plant in fukushima, the local residents

are not only concerned, but it is giving concern to the whole populace, and there is distrust that is spreading on the part of the citizens about the way the government is releasing information. how dangerous is it, how safe and reassured can we be, and what is the forecast? can you give a specific example? please give us that information of what you think. >> with regards to the recent action -- accident at the nuclear power plant, the facts that i know as prime minister, and also the facts that have reached the chief cabinet secretary -- everything has been disclosed to the japanese public we have shared what we know with the international community -- public. which is shared what we know what the international community, and i would like to

stress that point. the current situation with the nuclear power plant accident is that it is still very grave, and i will share that quite honestly. >> and this situation must be resolved with every effort, and to this end, the tokyo electric power company, the self-defense forces, the firefighting department, the police, all institutions involved, are making their utmost effort, putting their lives at risk to respond to this disaster. today, water dousing activities are continuing at the no. 3 reactor.

the situation is still very grave, but in the not-so-distant the overall situation will be controlled, and we will be able to emerge from this crisis. it is toward this direction that we are making every effort, and that is what i want to tell the public of japan. >> the japanese prime minister's comments courtesy of the nhk network in japan. if we will continue to follow that story and the libyan situation. a quick reminder -- sources say president obama will comment on the situation later today. and, secretary of state clinton is scheduled to talk about the

president's upcoming trip to latin america live at two o'clock p.m. eastern here, on c- span. in about 20 minutes or so, a discussion on the open the government initiative. that is live from the center for american progress. until then, a look of the situation of earthquakes, and how the u.s. might react to a situation similar to that in japan. applegate. he serves as the senior science adviser for earthquake and geologic hazards. could an earthquake of the magnitude of the one in japan have been in the united states? guest: i appreciate the opportunity to speak with you. we have two zonesf the united states that do have the potential to generate similar kinds of earthquakes. part of the pacific plate is diving down beneath north america. one part is off of alaska.

in 1964, we have a magnitude 9 earthquake. it caused a significant local tsunami. the other is a small micro-plate linked to the pacific off the pacific northwest. we call this area cascadia. it runs from british columbia to california. a magnitude 9 earthquake is definitely possible there. ho: we have a chart of the united states. it has the hazard zones. we always think about the west coast of the united states, hawaii, and alaska as places more prone to it. but there are hot spots here. one is an area around missouri

and another is around charleston. talk about those. guest: one thing we emphasize is that earthquakes are a national housing. they are concentrated in the west, but some of the most significant hazards can be found in the central and eastern u.s. rhe hot spot in the lowes mississippi valley is in the seceded zone to the wabash zone. at last had a major series of ruptures in 1811 and 1812. we are coming up on the bicentennial of those earthquakes. the hot spot that you see reflects another historic earthquake in 1886. it may have been a magnitude 6 or 7 in charleston.

we do not think of the central u.s. as earthquake country, but it definitely is. host: we will put telephone numbers on the screens to take your calls. we will also take twitter and female comments. 75 million americans in 39 states face significant risk of seismic activity. 26 urb areas are at risk of significant seismic activity. the estimate of $5 billion in potential damages from a major quake -- $0 billion estimate. fema is estimating that the annual earthquake cost is about $5.6 billion per year. i would imagine that developing earthquake risk zones is a ghly political exercise.

so much is really at stake with property values, zoning, etc. how does this chart it put together? how is it finalized? how much does it change over time? guest: the hazard map itself that you have been showi is a marvelously non-political process. that represents the work of scientists. it is a broad consensus process of expertise. we're pulling together everything we have in terms of how things have happened in the past, the different ground shaking intensity away from faults. we can use gps to watch the plates move in real time. we also have the past earthquakes. all of the information goes into this.

we are part of a partnership with fema the national science foundation, and others, the mud develops designed maps. that goes into model building codes. it is a broad consensus process. this is where politics come in. the state has to decide whether they will adopt model building codes and how. that is very much a public process of trading off near-term and long-term risks. host: how has the science improved in the last decade? guest: gps is a wonderful new tool we have had. seisc networks remain the work force in terms of being able to rapidly detect earthquakes. gps has enabled us to see the earth's cst moving in real

time. it has given us a lot of additional information to understand these forces. the big advances have come in the wake of the sumatra earthquake in 2004. we will be room -- we were able to modernize a lot of our networks and stations to deliver information much faster and in a much more robust way. host: the deadliest earthquake in history from the u.s. geological survey. the china earthquake is lifted in 1566. it was 8.0 on the richter scale. china, 1976. syria had an earthquake in 1138

we are 230,000 people died. japan is not in this yet. we do not know the whole on this. how do we know about the events that happened in 1138? guest: that is a great question. that is where we are challenged in the u.s. we do not have a long historical record. the specifi records we know the exact date on which one occurred. it is not from our records but from the tsunami that struck japan and the careful monastic records for centuries. in japan, the precursor to this rthquake we just had, there appears to be one that struck in

1869. that is combined with geologic sleuthing to find the deposits that are indicators. there is a combination of science and history. host: you keep referencing the 200 year anniversary and records of the past. guest: earthquakes and defied the ability to do it short-term prediction. the notion that their interoperability to this that there is a repeatability is fairly well understood. that goes back to the plate boundaries. the vast majority of earthquakes occur where the tectonic plates are grinding against one another. some of the deadliest quakes have been in areas away from those boundaries. those are some of the ones we

worry about the most. they tend to be in areas where there has not been as much preparedness and experience that lead to building codes and mitigation measures. host: japan have loss of life fromhe earthquake, tsunami, and resulting nuclear issues. the u. has the largest number operating nuclear power plants. a number of these are coincidental with the fault lines in the areas we showed you. we will also have a discussion about nuclear safety. our guest is an expert on the seismic aspects of this. let's go to the first phone call from pennsylvania. sheldon is on the line. are you there? we will move on. next is lewis in baltimore. caller: i am wondering about the

reports we're getting from arkansas in the central part of the united states. the's one report o tremors in the great lakes region. last night, there were multiple minor sharks -- shocks in arkansas. they may be attributable to drilling for natural gas. the second question is, what about the atlantic? there is an area in the canary islands where volcanoes erupt. there was an erupti in the caribbean not long ago. if the canary islands iraq, they would create a tsunami that would be over 30 or 40 feet high. are we getting more tremors on the east coast in the central part of the united states? thank you. guest: great question.

with respect to arkansas, we have been tracking this. we've been working osely with the regional nwork based at the university of memphis. it has been measuring 900 of these very small earthquakes that have occred in an area in central arkansas. it has been going on since september. it is not the first time arkaas has had these. it has had a history of being sworn -- swarmy in this area. be a separate issue from another fault line. the big focus is an understanding -- the biggest event has been about a 4.7. it is to uerstand how it may be related to the gas development in that area.

the arkansas oil and gas commission recently had a moratorium on some of the deep injection wells to see if there is a linkage factor there. the atlantic seabrd and the canaryslands, the vast majority of salamis are generated by earthques. a small number are created by landslides, volcanoes. there has been research looking at the potential impact of a vector collapse. one of -- a chunk of one of the islands went into the sea. your rupturing several hundred kilometers of the earth's crust. the big line is jerking up and spreading out its energy into the ocean. it is hard to generate that same kind of way from a single point source. these are possible in dense, but very improbable events.

-- these are possible in dense, but very improbable events. host: we have a question about the effect of these on natural gas wells. guest: it depends. it has gone bust. both ways. in the 1960's, there was a deep injection into offers -- acquifers outside of denver that generated earthquakes up to a magnitude of five. there is no clear linkage to significantly larger earthquakes from this kind of man made activity. in terms of the impacts it would have on the development itself, we have seen changes in well water levels and the sorts of things. i am not aware of any specific cases where a major oil or natural gas field was significantly disrupted.

host: related news just came across from the associated press wire. it is from vienna. the diplomat says japan's radioactive fallout has reached california. the first levels are about a billion times beneath levels that would be health threatening. the diplomat has access to u.n. radiation tracking. he asked for anonymity on friday because comprehensive testing has not been made public. there are so many different organizations involved in the work that you do from the ological and seismic to the disaster prevention and response, to the diplomats watching this from abroad. how has your job in the years to have been doing it changed as the debate has become more public and there is more access to information via the internet? guest: one thing i really like

about the way we operate is that all of our data is made publicly available. it is immediately available. we have several hundred thousand people trying to get our earthquake alert. millions of people come to our website to get that. it is available to them as fast as to anyone else. we make sure we are informing the proper authorities. it is fairly -- jerry publicly open. -- very publicly open. one of the most important elements is the incredible interaction th now takes place. we have something where people can come into our website and describe what they have experienced in an earthquake. after a magnitude 5 earthquake in the u.s., we will get tens of thousands of people telling us about it. their human seismometers. human seismometers turn out to be good.

it helps to fill in the details of how the shaking disperses. one we are testing is how we can use twitter. when an earthquake occurs, their immediate reaction is to make a quick tweet. those can biggio located -- those can be geo-located. really trying to explore that. host: on thursday -- >> shame on us if we do not learn from their misfortune. japan is the most advanced nation in terms of seismic hazard. there earthquake early warning system saved thousands of lives. with our funding, usgs got a

huge leap of, were on early warning system -- leap up on our own of early warning system. the prototype is now caught up in the uncertainty of the 2011 project. we continue to plan for it when the funds to become available. host: talk to us about the united states early warning system for earthquakes and whe its stance. guest: as our director indicated, the ultimate test of the early warning system in japan. right now we are so focused on the tragedy unfolding and continuing trauma. we have to peel back the onion and look at what did work. the number of people killed by the earthquake appears to be in the hundreds and not in the hundreds of thousands as we saw in the case of haiti.

that is becau of two key factors. one is the building codes that have been enacted. the buildings did not fall down. the other part of that is prepared this report prepared -- preparedness. japan has a system sending electronic data ahead of the shaking. people in tokyo probably had about 60 seconds to get under desks, stop the train, it manucturing facilities into a safe mode. there are a lot of things you can do in that timeframe. japan has the best networks in the world. we are in a prototype phase. we're working to develop the algorithms and a protype system. we're still a ways away from being able to actually deployed such a system.

host: the next call is from greenville, south carolina. caller: i am a first-time caller and longtime viewer. you have always been my favorite host. i have a quick question about the characteristics of the zones on the west coast versus those onhe central and east coast. what are the characteristics of the central and eastern charleston area zones? are they based on some of physics -- similar physics? guest: in the central and eastern u.s., we're looking at the reactivation of old structures. the east coast and entire eastern part of the u.s. used to be very to comically --

tectonically exciting. the plates closed the ocean between europe, africa, and the americas. it opened again to form the atlantic basin. it would make the himalayas look like a small range. there are a lot of these older structures still there. we're no longer an active boundary here. some structures that propagate from the edges of e boundary may for >> you can see this discussion in its entirety at c- span.org. we're going to a discussion on open government. it is from the center of american progress. live coverage here on c-span. >> we are pleased to be hosting this event for the third consecutive year in pleased to be working with the

opengovernment.org mission. we know from experience that government is smarter, more responsive, and more ethical when its actions are open to public scrutiny. as supreme court justice brandeis famously said, sunlight is the best of disinfectants. the digital age provides the opportunity to let the sun in as never before. the obama administration deserves credit for taking advantage of this opportunity through web sites like recovery.gov, and dataogov. but we're just scratching the surface. i am looking for today's discussion and hearing ideas about how we move forward and where we go next. the president and ceo, john podesta, put a few ideas on the table this week at a hearing before us at the judiciary committee. he called for updating the way we approach the freedom of information act. first by requiring automatic electronic disclosure of

specific data and records, so the public is not support the blast forced to request should be public information. second, by building a search of all online database for the public can troubling or the request and the agency responses. because of the work of openthegovernment.org and coalition members, these objectives are in reach of the past year, the coalition recommended an openness for identifying information that all federal agencies should automatically disclosed. the coalition has successfully pushed for better tracking of requests and public notification about their status, laying the foundation for a searchable online database. of course, openthegovernment.org has made many other contributions, from preservation of electronic records to excess of classification to the administration's open government initiative. openthegovernment.org provides essential leadership on government transparency and accountability. it is my pleasure to now to

reduce the director of openthegovernment.org patrice mcdermott. she has a long history of working in government issues, having previously served at the american library association and omb watch. every year for the last four years she has pulled together and even for sunshine week, and they have all been great and have helped to guide us forward. this event promises to be no different. patrice. >> thank you. that was a wonderful introduction to the event. and for me as well. thank you for the kind words about the coalition. hello, and welcome to actually our sixth annual national discussion. you have been involved in four. to help and a successful sunshine week, i am your moderator, patrice mcdermott. are co-sponsors are listed on the program that you picked up and on the screen. i am grateful to them for their help in creating this event and in making it a success.

this year, we are again at webcast king live from the center for american progress in washington, d.c. i want to thank john podesta, president and ceo of the center for graciously hosting the event for us this year, as it has for the last several years. the center is a partner in openthegovernment.org and is on our steering committee. the staff have been helpful in helping us put on this event. as always, we thank all of you for joining us live from the studio and for those of you watching us in your communities or from your commute -- computers. audiences can call in or e-mail questions. we have a sign on the tables with the e-mail address. it is questions@ openthegovernment.org. or you can call. please be aware that we cannot get to all of you, but we will do our best. two years ago, president obama committed his administration to

creating an unprecedented level of openness in government. the administration has issued important policy changes. a new memorandum of freedom information act in the attorney general guidelines. a new executive order on classified national security information and on controlled and classified information. to help meet the goal of imbedding openness in the government, the administration has also taken steps to make information more available and usable by the public, including setting up data.gov and drawing up plans to hard wire openness into the way the government operates. agencies have taken up the challenge, but more needs to be done. during this event, transparency experts from inside and outside government will decide how these initiatives are put into practice, from both the policy standpoint and a technical standpoint. what more we can do and should

expect the administration to do to meet its goals. we are honored to welcome today david ferriero, the tents are contest -- are convinced of the united states. he is still fairly new at the job. you have the biographies of all the panelists in your program, so i will not go into detail. we are honored to welcome steven croley, special assistant to the president for justice and regulatory policies with the white house domestic policy council. and gary bass, executive director of omb watch and chief executive of the family foundation. to what for joining us here today. i am going to move over here. david, let's start with you today. the national archives and records administration is the key agency and the world of access to government information. but truth be told, it is not

very well known in the openness and transparency world at large. could you tell us about the many roles that nara place in the role in of bring government and what you understand to be openness in government? >> yes, i would expand the concern about what the archives is all about to the larger community in general, because the question i get most often since i have taken this new job is, so, does that mean you're the librarian of congress? the national archives is responsible for the records of government of that is the purview, meaning that we have, under the federal record act and the president records act, the responsibility of ensuring that the records are created, maintained, and transferred to us at the appropriate time and accessible to the american public. that is what the mission of the archives is all about. three units with the national archives play an important role in that, and maybe those are

less well known, but let me just take them off. you have heard a lot this week about the office of the government of the information services. a member of that group is in the room. that office has been described by congress as a service for the american public for resolution of problems that they may be happening in their requests. it also has the responsibility of providing recommendations to the president on changes in the faya legislation. so an important part of access to records and open government. at the end of december, 2009, the president issued the national declassification executive order. that is a center that has been established within the archives with the responsibility of reviewing. for the classification, more than 400 million pages of

classified content by the end of 2013. a huge responsibility. a massive amount of material going back to world war one. the third is the information security oversight office, which has responsibility of reviewing classification divides, security, are arrangements for classification of information across the federal agencies. you may not know that there are more than 2400 different classification guides in operation at the moment. one of the responsibilities of that office is reviewing the number of classification guides and coming up with a reduced number. >> the president mandated the creation of the national classification center and the declassification of 400 million documents the house that

progressing? we have heard about problems in the past with the e-mails of presidents and vice presidents from across party lines. there's also evidence that government lied, e-mail records of the work of our government are not being appropriately managed -- government-wide. what is nara -- how was the declassification going, and what is nara the government doing to address the real concerns about preservation of these records and particularly e-mails in the government. >> let me talk about the status report on the national the classification center. there is a great report on the archives web site that has for more detail about the work that has gone on to prioritize and reviewed the categories of content to be reviewed. but as of december 31, 2011, we have reviewed more than 14.5

million pages. and of that 14.5 million pages, 13, roughly 13 million pages have been made available to the open shelf. we have made initial progress, but let me clarify that by telling you that the focus has been on the easiest stuff first. and a question about it. while we work out the details of how to review the rest of the material and the process, the categorization is driven by user interest, a user requests. so we have had several opportunities for the community to participate in open discussions about what is most important. and our own information about what is most requested in terms of the classification requests, foia requests. >> the second part is e-mail and e-records. >> let me tell you that in my 16

months on-the-job, the electronic records issue is certainly the most important one that i have been dealing with. i must tell you this story. i come from the research library community. the libraries at mit, duke university, and the new york public library. each one of those institutions at some point in my life, an administrator faculty member can to me and said, what are we doing about electronic records, electronic mail? and i said, you do not have to worry about that because the national archives is creating a facility to take care of that. [laughter] here i am. we do have some because the electronic records archives. it is live and being used by about 40 agencies now. we are concluding development on that at the end of this year. we will migrate the rest of the agencies to the electronic record archive. there is a presidential instance of the electronic records archives, so that is where we will be capturing

presidential records. my concern has to do with what is the way on in the agencies. a self assessment that was done by a records management unit indicates that 95% of the agency's self identified as being moderate to high risk around their electronic records. we have a huge challenge ahead of us in working with those agencies to ensure that the records that are being created are captured and are going to be available, as our paper records are, in perpetuity. one of the challenges has been a discovery that i made as i am learning the ropes of the job. we have something known as the cio council. we have another group known as the records management council. these two groups do not talk to each other. they do not meet together. so in my conversations, we have

actually brought together the two groups for the first time to start talking. it is impossible for cio's to create new systems without thinking about the records of locations. those records managers and those agencies need to be involved in those decisions, too. it is a multipronged approach to how we get our heads and around the electronic records. >> thank you. i do not have further questions at this time, so i will move on to our next speaker. we want to allow a lot of time for some exchange among the panelists and also for questions from both our lives and our remote audience. so we will go to steve next. steve, you're one of the lead persons at the white house on open government. what, other than the white house laws that use deployed as success, do you see as a major administration is accomplishment to date, and how does the

administration plan to make openness in the whole of the federal executive branch -- you cannot change congress or the judiciary, a reality? focusing on the open government side would you have described as the overlap of foia and open government. in that context, i ask you, why open government? why is the administration doing this? >> thank you. several questions there. >> yeah. [laughs] >> i am to one of quite a few people working on open government, and each member of that large team is important. you asked me i think about the agenda in the open government space for the next year. there are several things under way. some of these our continued progress on early initiatives. others are new work initiatives that will take some time and

energy and creativity to see through. the agency's spent much of 2010 developing open government plans, and they did so based on feedback from outside groups, like your coalition, feedback from the inside as well. agencies have begun to implement those open government plans. the next year will involve increased implementation of those plans. that includes getting data that the public cares about, providing useful applications of raw data. one offshoot of that effort, which we're very excited about, and we will use friends in this room to help us with, is to bring together outside information developers and entrepreneurs to help render some of the data from more of a whole self format to more of it resell format to make sure that is useful to ordinary citizens.

at the end of the day, that is our main mission, to use of government as a tool to improve the lives of our citizens. takes a lot of time and energy to see that through. in the category of new our initiatives, as many of the know, the president issued a memorandum on january 18 of this year, instructing agencies to make available to the public their regulatory compliance and regulatory enforcement activities. that will be an ambitious undertaking. the president further directed the federal chief of permission officers and technology officers to work with their counterparts in the agencies to make sure that that information is accessible, searchable, centralized, and ultimately, could be used to perform

searches across different agencies whose regulatory jurisdiction is overlapping. those are just a couple of too many plants that i could summarize in a few brief minutes here that we're looking forward to working with others on in 2011. >> ok. the administration at's foia record over the past year or so has had a pretty thorough going over in the press this week. could you talk about your take on what the record is and what needs to be improved or just simply changed about foia, the process, and how it is implemented in the agency? >> yes, and thank you for that question. our foia record has received some scrutiny, appropriately, during sunshine week. and i would like to report that we have a lot of good news that

i want to summarize quickly and more importantly, . our audience to something. their two large sources of information about agencies and records concerning foia over the past year. i would like to draw your attention to two. one is a quantitative presentation of agencies, foia track records basically, that is now available at foia.gov, a website just launched this week. that website allows for searches of various sorts. of the more quantitative nature. agencies also provide a kind of qualitative picture of what they have done with respect to improving the implementation of foia and cotheir foia

architecture. it is available at that website. and the justice department web site. they summarize some of the agency-specific initiatives over the past year. there is plenty of good news to report, and i am happy and eager to report some. let me get a couple highlights in response to your question. many people focus on backlogs of foia requests. not to throw too many numbers at us, but since it is a factual question about backlogs, the cabinet agency has reduced their backlogs over the past year by 10.9%, which was over the target. all of the federal government agencies taken together, 97 agencies that are subject to this foia, reduced their backlogs by 10.1%. another metric that those interested in foia often

emphasize its disclosures. agencies increased their percentage of full disclosures over the past year by about 6%. taking full disclosures and partial disclosures together, agencies disclosed, made responsive disclosures in at 93% of all processed foia request. i hope we have time in the q&a to talk about other parts of this. gary's came out a little bit higher, 95%. so we can talk about that. >> and you talk about what the administration is planning to do, less about what the agencies have done? >> well, those are very much related. because what the administration has done, and these figures are responsive to our effort, is to provide help and support and encouragement and emphasis as agencies undertake improvements to their foia architecture. one theme of this past year in

going forward will be the proactive disclosure of information, so that agencies are putting up for the public's benefit information that otherwise would be soft through the mechanism of the foia. many agencies have been very active in doing this. the department of agriculture, the epa, the department of commerce, and many others. we will encourage and promote that over the course of the next year. the administration, i think as a team, the agencies and the administration, certainly the executive branch agencies, will continue to promote the importance of will working foia systems. next monday will be the first of a series of request round tables, something we are excited about, where members at the requester community will be convened with agencies to engage in an informal dialogue about thoset yer needs and how

needs can be met and how foia can be most effectively targeted. and these series of round tables are open to the public and anyone can register and participate, and it will take place over the course of the next year and as demand for this kind of thing demands. again, it is one of the number of examples of initiatives we are taking to continue the president's goal of making foia a well-working system. >> great, thank you. >> thank you for the questions. >> we're going to move on now to gary bass. i want to remind our remote audience to e-mail us at questions@openthegovernment.org, or you can call us. please tell us who you are and who your question is directed to and from where you are participating. gary -- >> yes? >> you have spent several decades pushing the federal government to be more open and

holding the seat of government officials to the fire. my first question to you is, you know, out of those many years, why do you care and why should we care about transparency? >> well, even before i answer that, i think we all want to give a little round of applause -- patrice mcdermott won the james madison award for her advocacy and openness. so congratulations. [applause] >> thank you. >> i think it is an indication of what we all do care about transparency and openness. for me, and for each of us, i should say, we each have different definitions. but for me, their three kinds of reasons. the first of why i care about this is to empower people. when we make information like the toxics release inventory available, we need better choices. when we make data about consumer complaints from the camp crude -- consumer products to the

commission, again, people have a better informed decision. the second reason i think is for greater government accountability. when we start to make the inspectors general reports available, when we start to have much more transparency about the functions of what agencies are doing, we then can build the trust back into our government to the government has functioned well. the third reason why i think we all care is really to have a more informed and better democracy. when we start putting out information around elections, when we have a better understanding of how to involve and participate in our government, which is equal to the notion of transparency, then we again rekindle the notion of "we the people." those three reasons are critical. i would also said that it makes it much more difficult for my colleagues in government to respond to the notion of are we improving transparency and openness, because everyone has a slightly different take on it. what's right.

and regardless of what they do, we asked for more. >> absolutely. that is the job. >> omb watch has been analyzing recently how the administration has responded to the 70 detailed recommendations that were endorsed by over 300 organizations and individuals back in 2008 and your predecessor used to say he carried them around the bible. what are the results of that analysis? in building on that in your experience, what more can be done to strengthen government openness? >> well, i think he did not quite call it a bible. i think he called it a blueprint. >> blueprint. that is right. >> but whatever. the point is that many of us from the left and right came together. and when i say many, there were over 300 organizations and individuals that supported detailed recommendations. the effort was led by shawn

molten of omb watch. he was put into the national freedom of information act collophane this week. so congratulations to him. this report which has just been released today, this morning, is apparently on your screen here, and you can get to it through ombwatch.org. it lays out almost in an encyclopedic fashion how the administration is doing and is detailed 70 recommendations. i must say, as i read the report, i was impressed by how many of those 70 the administration either has been addressing or has addressed. yet, i must say also, at the centcom -- at the same time, while i was impressed with the effort and commitment made, i think some of the 70 recommendations do not add up to something greater than the whole, which is what we do want. that is, when you go this far,

what you really want to see is a more transparent government. i am not sure that adding all these specific items equals that yet. >> ok. so i am going to ask a question of steve, actually, and i invite you to ask questions among yourselves here, and then we will open it up to the audience for questions. thank you for all staying on your allotted time so we have lots of time for questions. steve, you heard the archivist talk about problem with records management, particularly electronic records management. this is something the people in our community have talked with the white house about numerous times. can you tell me if there are initiatives planned or what the take of the white house is on what needs to be done to preserve our electronic records? >> i think there would defer on

that. it is not something i have worked on it myself. i know there are -- there is a fresh report out with some recommendations, and we will obviously take a close look and are taking a close look at that. i know someone in the community are interested in that, and we are interested in sitting down with the view that is a very recent report. not to duck the question. but i have not had an occasion to focus on that yet. >> let me tell you a little story about how prepare for my confirmation hearing. robert connor was the very first part of this step the united states from the university -- the very first archivist of the united states. he did an assessment of the state of the records in the federal government at that time, and we're talking about during the roosevelt administration. he discovered a horrendous situation where records had been stored in attics and garages and flooded in fires and stolen and

destroyed. and in reading all of this and thinking about taking over this new job, the analogy became very clear to me that we're in the same kind of situation around electronic records, that we have a variety of practices going on across the agencies, and that my situation is very similar to what connor faced. i also discovered that he had trouble convincing cabinet members to part with their records. legend is that fdr had a cabinet meeting where he laid down the law on records. it would be very nice to have presidential support, such an initiative around electronic records. >> i got the first question in from outside. it is somewhat related. i am not sure anybody at this table will be able to answer it.

the open government directive, our questioner says, provided the executive department and agency should diplomat transparencies in government and take published government information online and the provision of preserving and maintaining electronic information consistent with the federal records act and other applicable law and policies. this person is concerned with two things. about the preservation of all nine postings on web sites -- online postings on web sites in the white house site that can be here today and gone tomorrow, and what has been the experience with this? the second question was, the e- mails of john the worked in the office of legal counsel, most of them disappeared when he left office. 500 were left in his file, and the department eventually found

another 15,000. this person asks, were those the most ever recovered? at the queen of the 15,000 were. i do not know it has ever been determined what exactly, why they were not still on his e- mail account. can you answer that? >> i do not know about that situation. i cannot answer that question specifically. not because i cannot tell you, but because i do not know. >> right. i think another 15,000 were recovered. but the 500 that were there are only speaking engagements. >> i think there is a principal in the question that picks up from where steve left off. he said a fundamental principle is an affirmative disclosure requirement in government. it seems to me that complement to that is permanent public access. that is the notion that no records should be destroyed and there needs to be an easy method for the get -- for the public to get to that. >> exactly.

>> i can respond to the first part of that, the website. it is an issue that we're very concerned about, also for media, as a matter of fact, and we have issued guidance on what agencies should be doing, what kinds of questions they should be asking about a reinterpretation of what a record is. it is another opportunity for me to mention the failure of the federal records act to even recognize electronic records. we're still in a print and save mode. this is 2011. we really have to do something about that. >> exactly. and i will put in a plug now for at the end of the obama administration, whenever that is, that a snapshot of the entire government at that point be taken like happened at the end of the clinton administration. it has been very valuable. one of the initiatives that the administration is taking, i

know, in the upcoming year with the agencies, and is one that was asked for on our openness forum, which was mentioned when we started out, our calendars. can you tell us a little more about that? >> no, i do not have anything to report about that. the openness floor, maybe we did not -- >> it was part of the monday announcement. >> what we announced on monday, no. >> i am sorry. >> it is ok. we announced that the agencies will begin to coach on opening each agency's own open government web said. agency directories. so citizens will know who to contact with then each agency depending on what their needs are. >> right. >> in addition to that, agency, final congressional testimony required, a congressional report, and that sort of thing. many agencies have done this

already, but there was not uniformity. >> i guess i just convinced myself. >> i do think though, petraeus, the point you're making is one of the areas where i think we have to take the next step in the improvements and that we need to be talking about the right information being made available to the public. that seems to be breaking down in many ways. we do need to have common standards for all the agencies to disclose, so you're not getting a patchwork quilt and going from one agency to the other we need a better definition of what high-value information means that the nerve -- that the administration has put an emphasis on. the last thing is we have to start talking about high-quality information. it is timeliness and accuracy. >> and steve, we have a remote question say, how are you determining what information is that the public hears about? >> that is a great question. we have asked agencies to be in touch with their constituents

and stakeholders and those interested in agency business to solicit information about what the public considers high value bidata to be. on the one hand, we want to encourage agencies to provide to the public information that is useful to the public. on the other hand, we do not want to micromanage the agency's decisions about that data, much less interfere with the quality of that data. >> right. >> so we have intentionally left aboutagenciey's discretion what kind of data to make available. that is a dynamic process that the agencies are engaged in with their stakeholders about about this stakeholder needs. >> are there questions from the audience? >> i have something to add to that. i think that one of the great successes of the whole open government initiative is the fact that this was not a top-

down situation. each agency was expected to create their own open government plan, which gave a lot of local control, local participation in crafting what this thing looks like. >> and their people who might give the counter to this point of view. i think that the top-down model is dangerous. i'd knowledge that. by the same token, when you leave it to the agencies, you do get this patchwork quilt of some agencies doing some very good things and some that are laggards. i think the white house has now got to begin putting down some beginning standards. your regulatory compliance memo that the president did on january 18, the notion of putting up directories of employees, the notions of congressional communications are in the right step, and i think we have to go further to have some certain standards. >> and if you have not notice, on the archives website, the archivist calendar is up.

>> ah, no, i have not. i think we have at least one question over here. >> yes, jim snyder from iso. my question is for david and stephen on the implications of clout computing for open government. it is the big things that you seek, and it is a paradigm change. we talked about cloud computing dramatically lowering the cost of information technology, and news services and maybe more standards. that is the open government theme. but what are the implications? i think this is a very important technology that is going to completely change the possibilities for open government. one of the most important areas this would conflict of interest management, were agencies have always been able to create and control the records.

suddenly at the point of creation, it can go directly to the national archives. and forget about this two-step process and it is taken out of the hands of the agencies, so avoiding all the high-value data sets. from the moment is created, it is going into the national archives are some other deposit of standards. it has profound implications of the whole notion of the public and on line and the next step. how can we do this if you think it is in a important technology for open government? >> i certainly agree with you. my conversation -- i had -- i have breakfast with one of the members once a month, and we talked the potential of cloud computing. it is clear to me that the national archives news to be much more involved at the creation point than we are right now. one of the ways of doing that is ensuring that the folks in the

agency's head the appropriate training and support in order to do the work that they are doing. cloud computing, we are experimenting with it already. it is the solution to our storage problem. i am looking at terabytes of content that we are going to be responsible for, and cloud computing is the only way we are going to be able to provide for the future. >> i will respond to part of your question. you mentioned information technology and spending in that area. there's a great white board entry as part of the white house blog and the sunshine week series explaining some of these, which recommended it is a fun one. >> and i think he wanted to ask gary a question. >> thank you, yes. gary confessed, as he should, that his job is to advocate for more. that is at an inappropriate -- obviously, a crucial role in our system. omb watch issued a report about

the administration, 's foia record this past year. i want to put in a pitch for his report. it has not gotten the attention i think it deserves. it indicates many of the findings that i very quickly reported. i wanted to give gary the opportunity in highlighting some of omb watch's findings about foia success is over the past year. >> it is always nice to get referred to a report that applauds the administration, doesn't it? actually, the report is both a pat on the back and then a kick in the chin. it appears that 2010 is a turning point in terms of openness indicators under foia. the kick is we have a long way to go. we're not even back to the level of the bush administration, and that was a time of what i would

consider intense secrecy. so i think we have a long way to go, but you deserve, meaning not only steve, but you david in you, the administration, deserve a pat on the back for doing good work on this. >> we have one more question in the audience over here. >> i am john from hri. it is wonderful for you to try to open the taps a little wider on the delivery system. but we really have a lack of pressure. one of the problems is how the information is created. fundamentally, we have the same infrastructure problem we see with transportation. the building blocks, the case management systems of all the agencies have been under-funded for decades. we have seen massive amounts of money going to homeland security to improve systems. but if we look in the prior regulatory programs, epa, dot,

the others, we have a huge amount of systems that do not talk to each other and are not organized. and i hear that many of these agencies are being instructed to reduce their budget requests by 10% to 15%. epa, in particular. how can we turn this around and better build systems that create the delivery of the information we want instead of pushing against these agencies to actually cut back on the permission being produced? what's in 30 seconds. [laughs] >> well, there is no short answer to your question. collaboration is one of the legs of the open government stool. the agencies and the administration have worked to enlist the next -- the best expertise or we can find it, the greatest amount of energy wherever we can find it.

there's no short answer to your question. but agencies are doing more, as i say, to approve their information and openness architecture. i can direct you to the innovations gallery at the white house, the website, which does collect success stories about how agencies have relied on a new technologies, and agency's needs are different from one from another. but how they have employed new technologies in order to improve the lives of ordinary citizens, which ultimately is what we are about. >> the question -- >> no follow-ups, i am sorry, but we're out of time. we have another panel coming up. i would really like to thank our panel for their time and for lively and thoughtful dialogue with us. [applause] ourwe're going to bring on next panelists. so thank you very much for coming.

and i apologize for those of you who had questions in the audience or remotely that we did not get too. we're running a tight ship here.

>> we're going to look at the use of government data to better inform the public. we have four practitioners to help us think about what can be done and what perhaps needs to be improved to make government did a more useful and usable. we are fortunate to have a great mix of perspectives on the panel. a government provider of data, two representatives of nonprofits, and an internationally -- excuse me, intentionally nonprofit journalist, all of whom are extensive users of government

data. we're very pleased. you have all this information in your program. we're very pleased to welcome todd park, chief technology officer the department of health and human services since august 2009, tom lee, director of sunlight lapse at the summit foundation. sheila krumholz, executive director of the center for responsive and politics, and jennifer lafleur, director of computer assisted reporting at propublica. we're going to start with todd. you came to hhs about two years ago to help harness the power of data, technology, and innovation. you have been a leader in work on open government. part of the open government working group. what do you see as the major changes, particularly at hhs, in the deployment of data and its

use both inside and outside the government? and i am going to come back to you after the other panelists speak and ask your response to their critique of government data. suu kyi the first answer short. >> from my perspective -- so keep the first into a short. >> yes, this is best exemplified by something that we're calling our health initiative. it was born about a year ago. what was happening was that we were trying to think about how we can maximize the power of the data that we're sitting on. medicaid, medicaid services, nih, and others. an unbelievable amount of data. and used for varying services. so what can we do? we actually looked to our left and saw an agency which

publishes data on line which can be downloaded for free to anyone. other people turn to the weather channel our nightly newscasts and more. that is awesome. we want to do that. >> they have been doing it a long time. >> so we want to be like that. we basically pulled together a group of really innovative thinkers. it included the health care rock stars and deep tech rock stars. they said that this is a really good idea. start withht, let's datasets focus on community health and providers. we put that out, easy-to-use, easy to download. a week from now, can you turn it into a bunch of cool

applications for us? just shows what we can do. june two, there was a big meeting with these innovators debuted 20 + to their brand new or upgraded applications. to help with transparency to health care and help consumers with physicians. it shows the power of american innovation. so what was happening since then as we mourn the health did that initiative. -- we put them together. we want to publish it so it can be downloaded. it is community health data, a provider quality data, a provider directories, consumer product data, pricing data, medical and scientific data, and i could go on and on and on. everything from the first ever

medicare spending files made downloadable for free to the public to a giant new health indicators warehouse. it enables you to sit at the national, state or regional, county level, public health, health care utilization. includes about 150 indicators of medicare performance and quality. never been published before. a available not just on the web site to be down loaded it but with web services. we take existing data. we got suggestions. on a data publishing rampage. it is actually kind of overwhelming to absorb. we have created a new community on data that we launched two weeks ago where all this stuff is published.

it is a lovely well-categorized, along with the apps expo. a forum where you can complain about the data. request new data. >> i think you could go on. >> that could go on and on. i am sorry. we think the best way to actually take advantage of our data is to have other people take advantage of it. no matter who you are, you have to remember that was the smart people in the world do not work for you. the trick is, give them the data. they will figure out what to do with it. they will approved society and do incredibly cool things as a result. >> agreed, thank you. that is a little overwhelming. [laughs] tom. and i have been around todd before, and and his energy does not go away. tom, you have worked a lot with

data. not just government data, in your career. from that perspective, what do you see as the good and bad in government data and in the efforts by the obama administration such as data.gov to make data more usable in navy combat that to what hhs is doing. >> the agency deserves an immense amount of credit for setting the right norms around this question. the efforts like what is happening and hhs represent an understanding that this data has been paid for. it belongs to the public. and it has value. but economic and social value. we can get a more vibrant economy, and we can get better policy outcomes. information technology makes it possible to distribute this that basically is your cross. we have to get over the last time but breaking down the silo and publishing it. ultimately, the benefits will be worth it. there's a broad understanding

within the administration and throughout all parts of government that this is the direction we need to be moving in. some of the most exciting work is happening at the agency level. hhs is a great example. what they're doing is very exciting to you can tell that. and other agencies have always been in the business of releasing data like a census or bos. other systems are perhaps a little bit older because they have been around for so long and have been releasing data for such a long time, they're now receiving the attention they need to get updated for modern technologies. in terms of sort of the centralized effort to release this data by the administration, i think that data.gov has been a rallying point. it has been useful from that perspective for agencies. to identify the high-value data sets and publish them through this mechanism, internal processes have had to be made to grapple with this question of

open data. the last panel addressed exactly what a high-value data set is being a problem. i think that is something that we are going to have to pay more attention to. but it is clear that data.gov has been useful in getting this process started, to get open data plans proposed and get people thinking about this problem across the entire and ministers in. the value to the public of data.gov is more of an open question. it is updated catalog. it is sort of like the old .ahoo! . back when the weather was taking off, there was this hierarchal ordering of your experiences on the web. that is not help people discover information on the web. the use search but are in this the way, i am not sure a lot of people are faced with a problem and thing, i need some data to solve this problem. instead, they think about what the problem is at the above what

agencies might be working on it, and they go from there, kind of figure out what the landscape is. data.gov is so far fulfilling its promise as a useful tool for open data and the government. but there's still work to do to figure out how it can be made with the public and research communities that should be engaged with it. i think that in general, we're doing much better at releasing data that is already collected by government and by agencies about private actors and about our society than we are at releasing data about government itself. the couple reasons. one is that the systems for the government -- the system is the government uses to track the activity are old and in many cases. and there stakeholders involved in these processes are created to can get a seat at the table. it is easy enough to mandate disclosure from the industry. they then just have to figure out how they're going to justify that disclosure requirement.

within governments, if you start talking about, well, we're going to put the budget in a structured format or we're going to track treasury outlays, both of those are disclosure requirements that are rapidly going to be turned into processes that satisfy the political incentives of the people in charge of those systems. that is what we see. there's no way to map from the budgets to the checks at the treasury cuts. it is just a problem. the reason for that is this tangle of incentives. there are a lot more examples like this, where i think that government needs to do a better job. last week, there was an opportunity to participate in the hearing related to our clear spending product, and that analysis of spending data. it is an example that is emblematicof the tension and pre see. it is not good. it is not good. we