for practical purposes, it involves writing down very precise numbers. we are also trying to be transparent about the uncertainties that are here and trying to encourage everyone who reads this document or many of the things that we write to recognize that there will be a fairly large band of uncertainty. yes? >> one-and-a-half questions -- one technical, one general. the fed said they will be holding steady for another two years. was that inc. in your forecast? also, the discussion about long- term unemployment, that they may hurt job skills, equal employment in the future, so one -- where do you guys stand in that debate? >> we did not take on board with our reserves recent announcements. that is i think one of the

reasons why markets interest rates are lower than what we have in this projection. we continue to think hard about the role of cyclical forces and structural forces in the high level of unemployment that we see, and we have in this report offered some quantification of those factors. if you want to check later, this is on pages 45, 46, and 47 of the report. what we say there is that, after emphasizing uncertainty, is our assessment is that total increase in unemployment, about one percentage point, stems from structural factors with the remaining roughly four percentage points now rising from cyclical factors, and we talked about some of the specific structural factors we have in mind. one is the effect of the

enhanced unemployment insurance benefits. another is the difficulty of -- i guess we figure the mismatches between the skills and locations of available workers and the requirements of particular jobs. and we talk about the difficulties that the long-term unemployed have in finding work. we wrote in issue brief last year about the effects of job loss during recessions, and it is a discouraging story. people who lose jobs, especially in recessions, would focus on -- have difficulty finding work. when they do find work, they often earn much less money than they did in their previous jobs, and not just in the short term, but for many years to come. in this projection, we think there is a fair amount of unemployment due to structural forces now, but much more due to cyclical forces. over the next 10 years, we

expect that the cyclical unemployment will come down. we also think that much of the structural unemployment will fade. the unemployment insurance benefits are -- the extra ones are in the course of expiring. these mismatches between skills and locations of job seekers and the requirements of jobs will tend to be worked away over time as it has been in past expansions by retraining and moves and so on. we do think by the end of the decade there will be some lingering effect of people who have lost jobs and have been unemployed for a long time having difficulty finding work. so even by the end of the decade, the unemployment rate that we have in this projection is a little higher than what we have traditionally thought about as the longer-term level. >> i believe about this time every year, there are

projections on the highway trust fund. is it getting worse, getting better? >> i think the particular issue is the authority to collect the gasoline tax and the authority to spend money out of the highway trust fund expire at the end of next month. i do not know if we have more specific projections of the balances in the trust fund available or not. i do not have available in front of me -- i am not sure if we have those available. we will certainly check for you. >> another question -- [inaudible] >> our baseline projections incorporate effects like that. i do not think it is one we have

isolated, and it is a separate, quantitative way. i am sorry. are there other questions i can answer? >> overall, would you say this is a better or worse amount, the same amount? >> let me talk about the economy first, and then the budget. i have sat here now twice a year for a few years, and had discouraging economic news every time that i have come, including today. we have a picture in the update of the gap between potential output -- that which we could achieve with a high rate of use of labor and capital, and actual output. the cumulative gap since the recession began now stands at about $2.50 trillion of lost

output because we have not kept our labor and capital resources more fully employed. the projection of the under current law and if our forecast is right is for a cumulative gap between now and 2017 of another $2.50 trillion. so the losses in economic output from this downturn are just in that. moreover, those losses are not shared evenly. they are born very disproportionately by people who lose their jobs or have businesses fail or have been thrown out of their homes, and you see a very similar pattern, which is that a tremendous amount of extra unemployment over the past few years, a tremendous amount still to come. a great deal of the pain of this economic downturn still lies ahead of us. and whether that forecast is a little better or a little worse than it was in january or a

little better or worse than it was a month and a half ago, is, i think, a lesser point than recognizing just how discouraging the economic outlook is now and has been on many previous occasions when we have sat here together. on the budget side, the budget control act makes a difference in the budget outlook. we have marked down projected deficits over the next decade by about $2.10 trillion because of the budget control act. that is a very substantial amount of money, even by the standards of current -- the current federal budget. so i guess that is good news. i think the challenges that remain, though, are very large. part of that is that a very big chunk of those savings from the budget control act have not

really been worked out yet. they are rising from instructions to a deficit reduction committee and a fallback plan, but there is not really a set of policies that the members of congress have all agreed or even the majority have agreed to in specific terms. so that is still a challenge ahead for the congress to decide just what policy changes it wants to use to achieve those savings. the cutbacks in discretionary spending are more specific. we have specific levels set by law, but the actual appropriations to meet those levels have not been decided upon. we have a proliferation near the end of the budget chapter in the report about some possible paths for defense spending and non- defense spending that are consistent with the overall caps. be on those first few years, they're set in overall terms for all discretionary funding. we do not know -- nobody knows

yet -- how that might play out, but we tried to offer some alternatives just to illustrate what the possibilities are. however, those -- the allocation of those savings, what parts of -- what the federal government is currently doing that it will not do in the future as a real spending comes down has also not been specified and remains as a challenge to this and future congresses. and beyond that, of course, there are -- this expiration of very large pieces of our tax code. some at the end of this year. some of the end of next year. where many members of congress have been very public in their view that we should maintain current tax rates and current tax rules rather than following current law in which those provisions expire, and as we show in the report, extending

all of those would widen the budget deficits relative to our baseline projection by trillions of dollars. so there are just a tremendous number of issues that are unsettled that already look important in this document. beyond that, we still have debt which is higher relative to gdp than it has been at any point in my lifetime. that creates dangers for the economy, and we have a trajectory beyond the coming decade where the further easing of the population and further increases in health-care costs per person will make the budget even harder to bring into alignment and put on a sustainable path. so i do not want to diminish what has happened. at the same time, there is absolutely no doubt that there are profound budget challenges and economic challenges that remain.

>> [inaudible] one of the members put out today that the supercommittee should be looking at -- i know you do not feel they should -- should be looking at $4 trillion in reduction to make a real debt, but when all is said and done, the $2.10 trillion is really nothing. i know you do not want to get into a debate with politicians, but just in terms of real impact, you know, real reduction -- is this package large enough? coupled with what has already been done. >> i would not call $2.10 trillion nothing, but, as i have

explained, even taking that on board, if we continue current policies on both the tax and spending sides of the budget, we will end up with much larger deficits than would occur under current law, which underlies our baseline. so there is a good deal of work left to do, and it just is not our place to say how much any the dealer committee or congress should do differently. >> [inaudible] >> yes. i mean, you look at this picture of the unemployment rate on the bottom of the cover, and look at where the volume line is between

the actual history and what we project. there are other pictures one could use and other numbers one could look at, but i think that makes the point. >> [inaudible] is there any room for policy in the short term to have a significant positive effect on that, or is that something will just have to work out and weather the storm? >> we think that fiscal policy could boost output relative to what would otherwise have been. we did leave the analysis in

january 2010, looking at a range of options and tried to estimate the affect those options would have on output and employment. we have not begun an analysis. it would be a little different if we did it today because the economy has shifted in some ways, but i think the basic lessons of that report basically stand, and we think there are a number of ways in which congress could reduce taxes or raise spending relative to current law that would raise output and employment. as i said before, the challenge then becomes what to do be on that. the extra debt with ray on the economy in the future unless future policy changes are made, and it is possible to make those changes. in some ways, we need to make those medium and long-term changes because under current policies, the deficit is on an unsustainable path. one can combine short-term stimulus and longer-term restraint in a way that would boost the economy in the near

term and not prove to be a drag in the medium-term and long- term, but it requires somewhat complicated policies. what may look like a paradox at first glance is not really, and i think is consistent with the consensus of economic thinking that our analysis shows. guest: [inaudible] -- >> how significant with the short-term effects be? >> it depends on what one does. what we looked at in that report was general policy in a sense, meaning not focused on the housing sector in particular. there were many of ideas proposed, and number of ideas tried to resolve some of the problems in the housing and mortgage area. we have not done a comprehensive analysis. i think the general point to

remember is that we have an economy that, although small, is still very big. output right now is about $15 trillion at an annual rate, so it will be hard to move that very much without applying fairly large change in spending or taxes. but the specific effects of specific policies we would have to look at. >> with medicare being a huge driver of future debt, is there any change in your projections of medicare cuts in the next decade? >> we have changed our medicare projections a little bit. if you look at -- well, if you look at appendix a, which talks about the revisions, it talks about the revisions to medicare over the coming decade. i do not know if we know the number -- yes, they are not particularly large. they are downward revisions, but not to delay large ones.

people have questions, and we can talk more about that, but the thing i would emphasize is that the number of people over the age of 65 in this country would be about 1/3 larger 10 years from now than it is today. the most important factor driving of medicare spending over the next decade is a greatly increased number of beneficiaries. given the current law for medicare, including both the sustainable growth rate mechanism for payments to doctors, and the reductions in payments to providers and active in last year's health legislation, medicare spending per beneficiary was not growing fast under current law. whether that current law remains unchanged is a different question, but in our basement projections for current law, medicare spending for beneficiary is not growing very

fast. what you are seeing mostly is a surge in the number of beneficiaries from the retirement of the baby boom. this is, of course, not news now. this is the sort of thing that the cbo has been writing about for its entire existence, but it is now of one us in force. yes? >> i know that this is in the paper work, but i hope you can describe it anyway. can you describe the difference in size we are seeing in the expiration of tax cuts that might happen and the deficit reduction that was agreed upon? basically, if the tax expires or does not expire [inaudible] >> there are two numbers in the report i will highlight for you. we estimate that the budget control act reduces deficits over the coming 10 years by about $2.10 trillion. another number in the report is that most of the expiring tax

provisions were extended, and we describe which once all in the report. if the alternative minimum tax was indexed for inflation, and it medicare's payments to doctors were frozen rather than falling sharply as under current law, the deficits over the next decade would be about $5 trillion larger than in our baseline projections. if all those changes took effect, all of those policies when on indefinitely rather than inspiring -- rather than expiring, they would widen the deficit by about 2.5 times. >> this without changing the 2010 tax act? >> that is what i mean. these are 10-year numbers, and

we explain exactly what that means so you can read the details, which are important, but, yes, it means extending what most people think of as the 2003 tax provisions. this is discussed in a number of places in the report. at the end of chapter one, there's a table which looks at a number of alternative policies and our estimate of the budgetary effects, and we do this in every outlook and update, and one could look at the pieces of that and see which are large and small and how much they matter. other questions? >> quickly, is the gap between output and, you know, what could happen, what could be the output -- is that largely because of big corporations sitting on

piles of cash? >> it is because of all the factors that caused a sharp fall in gdp and have led to a weak recovery. if you look at this, this is the first chart in chapter two of the report. it is an estimate, not something we know is a fact, but we think it has continued to rise. actual output fell below that and has risen, but roughly in line with potential. we have not closed that gap in any important way, so why the gap exists is really the same question as why the recovery has been so weak, and that is a hard question that we obviously give a lot of thought to. again, though, i think the empirical evidence suggests that weak recovery with these following financial crises that we have had are not surprisingly, -- are not surprising, but that is not the same as knowing all the causal

mechanism is. part of it is probably loss of household wealth and household desire to save more. part of it is typical concern about the amount of debt they have and trying to be leverage or reduced their debt. part of that is businesses being concerned about how much debt they have. an important part of it is probably households and businesses not being confident of future income or futures sales and thus being cautious, which is an individually sensible strategy perhaps, but for the economy as a whole, if i'm cautious in buying things from you, you have less income, which makes you koches of buying things from me. that can weigh on the economy as a whole. we have continued credit constraints relative to the situation before the financial crisis, although large firms can borrow at low interest rates, and mortgage rates for households that qualify for fannie and freddie and other

guarantees are low. some households do not qualify now that would have before. some smaller businesses are having trouble getting credit. we also have a very weak housing market. if the level of home construction and other pieces of residential construction in income accounts were at the level it would be in a sustainable way for this country -- so, a level that kept place -- kept pace with the growing population, the gap between where it is and what it would be on the sustainable base is itself about 2% of gdp, all else equal. but all else may not be equal. that is not an estimate of the effect. it is meant to show just how much weakness in housing alone can matter for the economy. there are a lot of factors that may be at work, and how involved they are relative to each other and how quickly the factors will wane is, of course, the important question, to which we

have tried to give one general answer here, but we wish we understood that better. >> [inaudible] where you get your numbers for troop reduction. >> table 1-8 is the one that looks at the budgetary effects of selected policy alternatives, and apart from the caps on discretionary spending, the way the cbo is generally instructed by law to discretionary spending baseline is to take the latest level of funding provided by the congress, assuming that continues with adjustments for inflation. that is what we do normally on a discretionary baseline. the caps do not apply to war funding. funding for iraq and afghanistan

or related activities are not covered. for that sort of funding, what we have done in this report is to follow the traditional approach of growing with inflation. some people, of course, have noted that we do not expect to be fighting in those places at the same level of intensity in years to come, so one of the alternatives we have tried a number of times to illustrate is how much difference it makes it -- if the level of funding for that type of overseas operation goes down, so we picked a hypothetical path here. this is not meant to correspond to any particular strategic approach. it is just trying to illustrate how much difference it makes it the level of the funding comes down. i think this is the same scenario we did previously. again, do not take the specifics as analysis by us of defense strategy. it is just meant to illustrate how large those numbers are.

of course, we have been doing a good deal more funding, so if one tapirs that off, one can save a good deal of money relative to our baseline projections. this particular scenario we look at reduce discretionary spending by $1.10 trillion over the decade with about $200 billion of debt service. we also note in the report that there are a variety of ways in which the levels of spending we would project with inflation would be lower than maintaining current government policies. we talk about health grants, veterans' benefits, and so on. people should understand these discretionary benefits are really very mechanical extrapolations of current funding. it is not meant to reflect the need for funding or the cost of maintaining specific current policies through any part of

discretionary spending. this operation is one example. with the rest of spending cap, it is the only part of this report as a discretionary spending that is growing with inflation. in general, our projections, and the discretionary caps, of course, are not specific about what the money will go to and what that will mean in terms of programs or services that will be available, including for defense. >> for your protection, you assume current policies continue? >> for the war projection, yes. for the overseas contingency operations for these wars and things like them, the caps do not apply, so we follow our traditional method specified by law to grow that funding with inflation. for all the rest of spending, the caps apply. we show in the report what projections we would have had if the caps did not apply so that people can see how much difference the caps make here

projections for everything else fall of the levels. even for defense spending, it is complicated. we did an analysis a few months ago of the cost of implementing the policies -- the actual national security policies, the defense department in the future years defense program earlier this year, and that would be more expensive than our baseline projection. they have set up specific plans for things they want to build and to do, and we have a full report, which is our independent estimate of the costs of that, and that program would cost, by our estimate -- they would be in the inflated baseline. again, an example of how the regular baseline projections that we do for discretionary spending do not necessarily correspond to any particular set of programs or plans in the future on the defense or non-

defense side. ok, is that enough? thank you very much. if you have other questions later, you know where to reach us. please give us a call. thank you. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] >> a look at part of the martin luther king jr. memorial, which is being dedicated this sunday in washington near the jefferson memorial. a number of events we are

covering ahead of the dedication, including this evening at 7:00, with a gala for global leaders for peace. among those speaking this evening -- ron kirk, the on thursday we will bring you a tribute to the civil rights leaders, past and present. among tomorrow will be the attorney general getting underway at noon. all of this ahead of sunday's dedication to the martin luther king, jr. memorial getting underway at 11:00 eastern. we will have coverage on here due to the hurricane that is expected on the east coast the project says it plans to hold the dedication rain or shine but is making preparations in case plans have to change.

as of now our plans begin at 11:00 sunday morning. 8:00 eastern tonight book tv primetime all of this month. in the lineup tonight for the tucson festival of books an author panel on women in leadership. for politics and public affairs, non-fiction books and american history, the c-span networks all available to you on television, radio and online. we are on the road with our c-span local content vehicles bringing resources to local communities and showing events

from around the country. it is washington your way. created by cable, provided as a public service. from earlier today libya, the expected hurricane and the president's job speech coming up in september. this is about 0 minutes. >> he talked to the president on a couple of issues. overnight development to libya and updated the president on the preparations underway several days at d.h.s. and fema in preparation for hurricane irene. as you know fema has been in close consultation with state and local officials all up and down the eastern seaboard to

make sure that communities are prepared. in addition the president also was briefed this morning by the deputy director of the national economic council. brian updated the president on developments in the international market and talked to the president, the report that was released today that includes the projections. and brian updated the president ottogoing policy process at the white house in preparation for the major economic address that the president will deliver shortly after labor day. a couple of you asked for a photo of brian greeting the president. that has been put up the flicker site. the president conducted a conference call today with american express c.e.o. and

general electric. they are the co-chair and chair of the president's council on jobs and competitiveness and discussed a number of proposals the job council has been developing. a couple of things the jobs council flagged for the president, a couple of initiatives they are reviewing. looking for ways to increase the number of engineers that graduate from american institutions of higher learning. they also spoke with the president about some different initiatives that involve putting more construction workers back to work, putting them to work to make them more energy efficient. they are actually a couple of job council meetings that are coming up on august 1st in portland, oregon with the

c.e.o. of intel where they will talk about the engineering issue. on september 1 in dallas, texas a conference about investments and infrastructure. they had that conversation today. with that i will open it up for questions. >> what is the latest information the u.s. has on gadhafi's whereabouts? >> we are monitoring the changing conditions in libya and the developments that occurred there overnight. certainly one of them is by monitoring the good work that your colleagues in the media are doing who are reporting live on the ground in libya and tripoli and across that country. we are monitoring open source reporting methods, twitter,

facebook, organize social media tools. and then we have also and probably most importantly have been in close touch with them about what is happening on the ground. we have been in close consultation for some time. that has continued. i can tell you the developments we are seeing that the regime's 4 -year grip on power in libya is flipping. that over the course of the last six months they have made significant progress on that front and that has been aided by the efforts of nato and our partners in the region who provided significant support.

>> where does the u.s. think he is hiding? >> there is no evidence to indicate that he has left. all right. there are reports of 1,000 to 2,000 strong bridging forcing together. >> i don't have any information to provide you on that front in terms of that kind of support. you know that there is an effort the u.s. is working on to free up some of the libyan assets that were frozen as part of the embargo the united states put in place. they are working to free up about $1.5 billion in those

resources to provide assistance and support to the tmc that is in the early stages of putting together governmental infrastructure in place there. that is meaningful support that would be helpful to them. in terms of any additional commitment of resources i don't have anything for you on this point. >> there are some concerns with weapons from the gaddafi armory, shoulder-mounted stoufers air missiles falling into the wrong hands. does the administration have concern busy it? >> that is something we are monitoring closely. we are closely consulting with them about. ok. >> are there concerns about their ability to really carry out this transition in a peaceful way and effective way? is there any concerns at all?

>> sure. the effort that is underway there is not one that would be easily implemented. i can tell you that we do have confidence. to recognize them as the proper ruling entity. we are encouraged by the way they have conducted themselves thus far. we intend to be a partner and be supportive of their efforts. >> how far along is the plan in terms of reaching ideas and so forth, how far along is he? >> there are detailed discussions and evaluations being made at the white house

in considering the types of things considered into that plan. it is fair to say that they are detailed discussions. the president is in the loop on those discussions, that he is aware of the progress they are making and weighing in and offering feedback. that is an ongoing process. i don't have anything to add in terms of the details that might be included. it is fair to say that they are making progress and that they are reviewing those plans. >> would you say that there is a framework for proposal that he will be unveiling? >> other than to say that the process is ongoing i don't have anything towles add to that. >> you mentioned the president did a report saying he -- economic growth, slow growth for the next several years.

>> there are a number of things we have done that are already beneficial to the economy in the recovery act and the jobs created and supported. the efforts that the president took to strengthen the automobile industry, that the number of jobs protected by that effort is significant. there are also a number of proposals the president has laid out that we have been urging congress to act on. this is everything from trade deals to patent reform to some proposals related to an infrastructure bill. it would create jobs. and also enhance our economy. there are a number of things that the president has put in place that could help the

economy. what the president is talking about doing are additional measures that could be put in place to get it done. >> the report has some good news for short-term. as a candidate in december 2008 then president bush had how would you characterize adding that much debt? it would be unpatriotic? >> let's talk about how the debt was put on the backs of the american people. you basically had two wars unfunded, a prescription drug benefit unfunded and a tax break for million and billionaires unfunded. >> we also had the stimulus that was nearly a trillion. >> that was in reaction to the

types of the impact of some of those economic policies and a country that was on the brink of a great depression. those are the type of policies we had to put in place to pull us back from the brink. the report indicates that some progress has been made based on the deal that democrats and republicans struck earlier this month that it is having a tangible impact on the deficit. the report makes it clear that there is a lot more we have to do. one of the things the president will talk about next month in addition to some of the new ideas about creating jobs is a suggestion and ideas about how the super committee can go beyond their $1.5 trillion deficit mandate to do even more to address the long-term fiscal challenges facing the country. i think the report validates the progress that has been made. and it validates the

president's assessment that there is even more to do to address this challenge. >> vice president made a comment about the u.s. economy and he said i didn't come to explain a damn thing. what did he mean by that? >> i was on the vice president's trip so i didn't see the full context of his remarks. one of the reasons the vice president went to china and mongolia and japan was to underscore the interconnected nature of our world and our economy. one of the reasons he spent so much time in china is because the u.s. and china are the world's two largest economy. it is important to continue to build or the understanding and good working relationship because there are significant economic consequences for that back here in this country. in terms of the comments you are citing i haven't seen the full context of those remarks.

>> with respect to the hurricane, even it is a state by state and county reaction it is a big storm all the way up the east coast. does the president have a plan to personally look at where shortages might be and where evacuations might be falling short, water shortages and food shortages and is there a chance that he cuts short his vacation? >> i don't have any scheduling updates to announce at this pakistan. i can tell you the fema administrator is a jiu-jitsu -- legitimate expert on these issues. he was the top emergency management official in the state of florida and responsible for leading the response effort to a number of hurricanes in that state. he was appointed by governor jeb bush. he was a legitimate expert on

these issues. it is an important part of this effort. this is why we are in such close communication with state and local officials. i can tell you that there are a couple of teams fema has done. predeployed incident response teams to virginia and carolina and have some commodities in atlanta, bottled water and food rations and those types of things. they are looking at the detailed lo jest cal effort to insure we will have the proper resources deployed here. i will be honest with you, the president has complete confidence in him to handle those responsibilities. the president has been briefed on these issues every day since monday. he had an opportunity to talk to the administrator yesterday on the phone where they were talking primarily about the earthquake and they also -- at

the end of that call had a conversation with the preparations underway to prepare for hurricane irene. two other things i say about this is that the first is that we would strongly urge residents of these communities that are in the line of the storm to pay very close attention to state and local officials and the advice and instructions they are offering. state and local officials will be the ones to make determinations about evacuation orders. we would not just listen to the instructions and orders given by state and local officials but to follow those instructions. there are people out there wondering what they should be doing to get ready for the storm, they should visit ready gov. >> one of the jobs and one on libya. it seems obvious the president

has focused on it and he will suggest additional spending. he will say the first plan did not work. stimulus is a dirty word in washington. why even put in a new plan? >> well, what will be included is reasonable ideas that could have a tangible impact on improving the economy and creating jobs. they will be the types of things republicans have to support. even the ideas that i cited earlier in terms of an infrastructure bill, payrole tax cut for middle class americans, the trade deals and all of these are the types of things that will have bipartisan support. so there is no reason that the good ideas the president will put forward to strengthen our economy and create jobs, no reason it should be bogged down. >> you have been saying that for six months.

>> the president has pointed out to the american people voted for divided government. it is time to put our partisan affiliations aside >> the president said humanitarian aide is going. the president made a long-term commitment, helping the nation building again. can you tell the american people how long this country will be involved in helping libya get on its feet and how much it will cost the american taxpayers? >> i can say that even the resources that are being unfrozen and that will be released, this $1.5 billion in assets. that is actually a significant start. so, we are going to remain --

the truth is that it is an easy way for us to stand on the side of the libyan people and to be supportive of their efforts and put in place a government that will acknowledge freedoms and democracy. that is something that will be committed to. in terms of predicting the future, i won't get into that from up here. there are things we can do like releasing these frozen assets that be can beneficial to them and does not involve taxpayer assistance. >> should the american public be ready for a 5-10 year commitment? >> i would point out one of one of the things different about this severt that there is no american military presence in terms of boots on the ground in libya. the president was able to provide the leadership and support and in close coordination with our nato allies and allies in the region that we made that commitment

without putting boots on the ground there. that does distinguish it from the situation that exists right now in iraq. >> many american citizens probably think once gaddafi is found or killed that america is done. that is not the case. this is a long-term commitment to the people of libya from the united states. >> it is a strong commitment to the people of libya as they build the infrastructure that is needed to have a free and democratic libya. >> the last estimate that i saw placed the rebel control of tripoli at 80-95%. >> i am not in a position from this podium to offer any play-by-play about the dynamic conditions underway in libya. it is clear the rebels made a lot of progress. but it is clear that there is fighting going on in locations

there. it is not a safe place right now. >> there is obviously a lot of chaos we are seeing right now in the streets. top officials are meeting on thursday. do you know what message diplomats are giving to the rebel forces to help them bring order in the short-term? >> you know we have been in close consultation. i can't speak for the diplomats from other countries. we have been closely coordinating to offer them the support and guidance we can. there is a nato mission underway in offering civilian protection and enforcing an arms embargo. and there is also, as we talked about, releasing $1.5 billion in frozen assets. there are a number of things the united states can do as they are engaged in what will be difficult work to put in place. and for the governmental infrastructure that hasn't existed for the last four decades.

there is hard work ahead of them. >> what is your estimate on the ground? beyond that i know you said there won't be any troops on the ground. does the white house believe there should be boots on the ground each if is not u.s. troops. >> the one thing that jumped out at me first in terms of the timing here. i think it is important to remember that gaddafi was a tyrant that ruled his country with an iron fist for 4 years. and in the space of the last six months we have seen a group of rebels with the support of the international community and the united states overthrow

haregime. it is remarkable to see a regime in place and power in 4 years overthrown in six months. i think that is significant. the pace of the change is remarkable. in terms of the way forward, it will be a difficult -- there are difficult days and months and years ahead. but had is -- i should say that as a tyrant in libya, gaddafi used the resources of his country to perpetrate terrorist acts against americans and people around the world. i think that there is a tangible interest that we have in putting in place and supporting the libyan people as they put in place the type of government that will support freedom and democracy and allow them to be a constructive member of the international

community. i think that there is an important reason why we would stand shoulder to shoulder with the libyan people as they continue to move through these significant changes. i would say as i pointed out earlier that the significant changes in libya with the support of the international community have all taken place without american boots on the ground. the pool that some of you were probably in yesterday did not move. obviously the president did not change locations. >> on the jobs portion of this -- >> there is an ongoing policy process.

>> i will have to check on that. yobble so. as you know there are a number of proposals that the president weighed in terms of his conversation with the speaker about a bargain that would have led to a larger deficit reduction package. i don't have the sense now that policy idea or policy proposal is locked. >> there is still a good chance that congress will wind up having to pull the trigger. how is the president's desire to exceed that? >> we said throughout that process that just because the

dollar number is smaller does not mean it is necessarily easier to move through the congress. in the view of the white house there is a significant benefit for members of congresses to move off of their preliminary negotiating positions to seek out common ground that will mean making sacrifices and supporting something that you would not otherwise support. by reaching a compromise we will reach something significant for the deficit. that is what democrats and republicans and independents, the american people will do. they want congress to act decisively and differently to deal with the long-term fiscal challenge. if there is an opportunity to do something bigger i think you can make an argument that doing something bigger is actually something many members of congress would be more easier

voted more than something smaller. it is fair to say the white house and president will layout specific idea busy how to enact something >> i think that it is pretty evident from the reports we are seeing and the situation on the ground that he is -- he certainly is not ruling in the way he has. we have seen that he is -- his compound has been overrun on the ground there. there are a number of developments indicating that his grip on power has slipped. >> has the president been briefed on this meeting and has their been any contact with the

russians? >> i don't know the answer to that. we will get back to you on that. >> sure. well i think it is fair to say the president has been dismayed by the frequency which the people on capitol hill have tried to take the argument and turn it into politics. puts politics ahead of the legitimate debate we should be having. i suspect there are some that will dismiss the president's speech as politics. i can tell you what the president is aiming and committing to doing, putting aside politics and putting in

place the policies that will strengthen and create jobs. that is what the economic team is working so hard to put together. we are hopeful, and the president made reference to this last week, he is hopeful that there will be members of congress who after a few weeks back in their districts will come back to washington, d.c. with a greater willingness to put the political interests ahead of their own. i think they will find lots of things in the president's speech that they will like. >> on libya, a couple of quick questions. are you stepping back from what the president said the other day that gadhafi's control had unwraveled ask his power came to an end. and you seem to be kealting today that he still has some authority. >> i don't mean to suggest.

his grip on power has slipped. there is no doubt about that. our assessment is the same when the president delivered his remarks on monday. >> what makes the administration and those that have been in convict them think that their vision of democracy will be the same as our vision. >> i suggested that we have established a good level of coordination and good working relationship with the tnc. we are optimistic about what they are saying that they would like their government to look like. the types of values leave us with a lot of optimism about the future there. we are committed to working closely with them as they work to put in place the type of government they would like to see.

is there any chance that the president intends to make a speech that week? >> i don't have any greater specificity about the timing of the president's speech but that it will be delivered after labor day. this is something that the president believes is pretty important and it will be an opportunity for him to layout proposals and initiatives that should garner bipartisan support to strengthen our economy and create jobs. i don't have any additional details for you at this pakistan. -- point. >> i don't think there is any doubt who'll be putting the schedule together that you and your colleagues from the news media will give that the appropriate level of attention.

>> are there new stimulus ideas or -- >> there will be ideas the president will layout in his speech that i expect you and others will consider to be new ideas. it doesn't mean the president is backing away from some of the things we already talked about that already have bipartisan support. there are a number of things out there that would do good for the economy. this speech is an effort to offer up new suggestions about how to strengthen our economy.

>> i don't know that he has had any of hose conversations. he spent a good portion of the summer talking with republican leaders on capitol hill about our long-term fiscal situation. it is fair to say that he had extensive conversations with them. i certainly would not rule out future conversations. but it is our goal here -- our goal here is to put in place policies that will strengthen the economy and create jobs and that should earn bipartisan support in the congress. it is in our interest to make sure we have a good sense of what republicans would like and could support. that will be reflected in the speech the president gives after labor day. >> is the president considering a proposal that would require all new or renewed federal contracts, contracts to the

federal government contained a job creation clause? one specific proposal that would involve a net increase of 1% of payroll or have you ruled that out? >> i don't have any information on those. we will see if we can get you information on that. >> and are those being discussed as part of what the president would roll out in his speech or completely separate? >> well, these are proposals that the jobs council is reviewing. the president gave them this charge to go out and explore new ideas. the president will certainly incorporate the work of the jobs council into the ongoing policy process related to the speech. i can't say whether or not they will be included because that process is ongoing. it is fair to say the president expects to draw on the work ask

expertise of the people serving on his jobs council into that policy-making process. >> we know two of the proposals he may be considering talking about are the two that you mentioned. >> sure. he is taking input from the jobs council as he puts this economic plan together. >> can you tell us that in addition to that who else he is talking to. is he talking to governors? basically who else is he talking to on a regular basis? >> at this stage the most important thing is for the professionals at fema to be in contact with their counterparts at the state and local level. that is where this preparation effort is being administered and where the recovery and response effort will be administered. there are a couple of teams

predeployed to north carolina and virginia. there are commodity stocks predeployed to make sure that they are in the area and can be available quickly if they are needed. and so that consultation ask coordination is going on between federal and local emergency management officials. i don't have anything specific that the president has done on that. >> can you tell us other than the read outs we see some names or business leaders or celebrities who the president bumped into or spended time with on his trip? >> one of the -- i can tell you one of the reasons the president wanted to spend downtime with his family is the opportunity to get away from the limelight a little bit. certainly he can't do that completely. he had important decisions and conference calls to participate in but i think that seeking to

find other people in the limelight hasn't been the objective of the last week. >> how much time is he spending on the things you are talking about versus the actual vacation time with his family? >> i can't give you an up to the minute read out. as you can tell from what we offered he spent a decent amount of time dealing with the day-to-day responsibilities of being president and the emerging situations with the developments from libya and earthquake and preparations for the hurricane. there are things that intervened. it is fair to say that he got an opportunity to spend time with his daughters before they have to go back to school.

if you wanted to address the question to the state department or the department of defense. he was not aware of the earthquake? >> the president did not feel the earthquake yesterday. he was told soon after. in terms of how haoccurred and who told him, i don't know that. i wasn't the one who told him. i am not sure of his reaction. >> the president changing his vacation plans, is it something that has been discussed that the president might go home early? >> at this point i don't believe it has. we are obviously watching the weather reports closely for a variety of reasons. if there is an indication that it would factor into the scheduling changes we will take the appropriate measures.

but i don't know any conversations that occurred like that at this point. >> you talked about the white house has been watching the developments unfolding. has the president himself watched any coverage of what has been going on over the last 4 hours or so? >> i don't know if he has seen any of the television coverage. he is keenly aware of what has been reported. sources of information we got is from the good work of the journalists putting themselves in harm's way to get the greater clarity about what is happening. he is certainly aware but i don't know if he has seen those television reports firsthand. >> has he been watching fox? what do you think heading into the re-election, economy is the big issue.

what do you think his environmental legacy is so far? >> i think one of the hallmark achievements of this administration and something that will have a tangible impact on the environment and of our economy are the cafe standard agreements the president reached with the manufacturors of large trucks and buses that some of the advancements put in place in close consultation with the private sector are the types of things that or the long-term will impact our environment for the better. truth is that it will have an impact on the strength of those manufacturing industries, too. when people look back that is probably one of the most significant things.

>> president talked about the influence of money and politics. you seem to have that millions and millions of dollars. do you have any concern of that some >> what the president said is that the president does believe that in the interest of good government that disclosure is what we should be looking for here. as a prince -- principle who is bankrolling the outside groups is something that the american people should need to know. why those donationings might have been offered up. what i can tell you is that again, this is short of the campaign finance reform, something that fell victim to political wrangling on capitol hill.

that we are in a position where because democrats and republicans are unable to find common ground on the issue, the result is a policy or environment not in the best interest of the american people. the president is interested in working with republicans to try to resolve these issues. you know we will see if we get a similar corresponding effort on the other side. >> during the vacation with libya and the earthquake, what is the president's reaction to folks saying you should be back in warblet? >> my sense is that he is going to be focused on doing his job. it is a job responsible doing wherever he is, in the oval office or out on the golf course. he has been satisfied with his

ability to do his job each in these unusual locations. he has convened these calls to insure the response efforts are be confident that the preparations fema place are moving along at the rate that they should be. so, you know. the president on a number of occasions dismissed the notion of cable chatter and i think he is focused on trying to do his job. he recognizes that he always has to do it. but also taking advantage of an opportunity at the end of the summer to spend time with his wife and daughters. i think he is satisfied he can do both of those things. is there a final question that i will take? way in the back.

>> off the top of my head i can't think of a former member of congress the president consulted with. one of the things we are committed to doing is putting in place the types of proposals that republicans should be able to support. there are a number of ideas out there that would be good for the economy ask create jobs. the only thing holding them up is partisan wrangling on capitol hill. the president said it repeatedly. the american people voted for divided government and not dysfunctional government. it is our hope that members of congress will come back from the august recess and act in the best interest of the american people and the best interest of the economy. >> i don't have any additional updates to provide in terms of the venue.

when we have that i will make sure you are among the first to know. >> the martin luther king jr. memorial open this is sunday. ahead of that the m.l.k. national memorial foundation is hosting a dinner tonight honoring leaders in peace. we will have that live in about 45 minutes from now at 7:00 eastern here on c-span. and tomorrow on washington journal forbes president and c.e.o. steve forbes on the u.s.

economy and future job creation. marc ginsburg talks about the current situation in libya and the impact on u.s. form policy in the region. and george washington professor brian biles discusses the growing cost of medicare and what we expect from the deficit reduction committee. earlier today a report was released by the pga to say china appeared on track to building a modern military by 020. we will hear more about that now at this defense department briefing. it is 35 minutes.

>> good afternoon everybody. i am the deputy assistant secretary of defense and i am here this afternoon to talk to you all about the report to congress on military ask security developments involving the people's republic of china that we delivered up to capitol hill today. i will offer a few broad plots on the report. a couple of points about the administration's overall approach to china and walk you through in detail, hopefully not too painful, what is in the report this year and we will have time for whatever questions that you may have. the report, as many know, is a report from the secretary of defense transmitted to congress. it is a report that we coordinate across the agency

and across the entire u.s. government so that even though it is a d.o.d. report it does reflect the views and perspectives that are held broadly by the u.s. government. we very much intend this report to be something that is factual, objective and analytical to provide inputs and information for policy makers both in the legislative and executive branch to consider as they contemplate the development of u.s. policy and the bilateral relationship between the united states and china. this year's report contains new information on a number of topics, including new sections on china's evolving maritime strategy and the growing military involvement and engagement with other countries. let me first offer a couple of general comments on u.s.-china

relations and then the overview of the report itself. as you know from statements that numerous senior u.s. government officials made the united states government welcomes a strong china that contributes to international rules and norms and enhances security and peace in the asia pacific region and around the globe. united states is pursuing a comprehensive relationship with china capable of addressing challenges and advancing our shared interests. china's expanding headlight capabilities are able to contribute to the therefore of international public goods. however the pace and scope of china's sustained military investments have allowed china to pursue capabilities we believe are destabilize to regional military balances, increasing the risks of misunderstanding and

miscalculation and may contribute to regional tensions and anxieties. such capabilities could increase beijing's options for using military force to regain military advantage. this very much speaks to the logic that we see for sustained and reliable military to military dialogue and military security dialogue between the united states and china so that we can gain the transparency and strategic understanding that is necessary to forge that positive and comprehensive relationship. in fact in many ways i would suggest that the report can be best read not just simply as a piece of analysis but the questions and issues that we would like to be able to engine

in dialogue and discussion with in our chinese counterparts about. these are the questions and the issues. we think it is important for us to be able to understand. we know our chinese questions have about us. that is the sort of dialogue and discussion that we welcome and think contributes to regional and global security and stability. over the next decade from 011-00 we believe that there will be a number of critical elements in play as we look at chinese military modernization as they attempt to integrate a number of new and complex platforms and to adopt modern operational concepts, including joint operations. indeed as the report discusses

there are a number of new chinese platforms and weapon systems that reached maturity in recent years and others we believe will be soon operational. these are new systems that are on par with or exceed global standards. but these efforts to integrate across systems and platforms will be a key marker in china's continued military modernization efforts going forward. we believe they are on track to achieve their building a modern military by 020. china's ability to sustain military power at a distance today remains limited. as many know and many of you reported on august 0th of this year china commenced sea trials with the aircraft carrier it purchased from the ukraine in

1998. our report which was written and coordinated conveyed our expectation that sea trials would commence this year. the aircraft carrier could become available to china's navy by the end of 2012 but without aircraft. it will take a number of additional years to achieve the minimal level of capability aboard the carrier that will be necessary for them to start to operate from the carrier itself. china invests heavily with undersea warfare. it is complemented by china's investment. the p.l.a. completed construction of a major naval base. it is large enough to accommodate a mix of ballistic

missiles and large surface combatants. china invests heavily in air cape amounts. -- capabilities. the past january as many of you reported, china conducted a flight test of the next generation fighter prototype that highlighted china's ambition to produce a fighter aircraft with stealingt attributes. china is also investing in space programs. they conducted 15 space launches in 010, civilian and military systems. turning to another issue that i know is of interest to you all, , as the report assesses in the political and cultural field

relations have continued to improve over the past few years. despite the political warning china's military shows no signs of slowing efforts. in addition to planning for taiwan contingencies, china places a high priority on strengthening its maritime claims. increased naval presence in the region and possibly one or more of china's future aircraft carriers would provide the p.l.a. with enhance extended range capability with all of the implications for regional rivalries and power dynamics that that implies. the p.l.a. has demonstrated the capability to conduct modern forces outside asia. this includes multiple counter piracy deployments to the gulf of aiden.

investments in large ships and a new hospital ship and improved logistics made these missions a practical reality. these time of peacetime operations provide them with valuable experience and share diplomatic objectives. on march 4th of this year beijing announced a 1.7% -- 12.7% increase in its military budget. the p.l.a. made improvements in transparency in recent years, but there are uncertainties that remain. we continue and continue to encourage them to openness, act in ways with diplomatic

interest of the region and of the international community. the complexity of the global security environment and advances in china's military capabilities and expanding operations calls for continuous military dialogue between our two defense and security establishments. this is a dialogue that we believe will help us to expand practical cooperation where our national interests converge and provide us the opportunity to discuss those areas where we may have disagreements. such dialogue and engagements we believe is especially important during periods of frictions and turbulence in the bilateral relationship. during the january 2011 summit, president balm and the p.r.c. public said a military to military relationship is a part of a shared vision for a comprehensive u.s.-china

relationship. we believe and we will continue to use military engagement with china as one of several means to the asia pacific region, encourage them to play a constructive role in the region and partner with the united states and address common security challenges. let me wrap up by offering that we hope the report, which we think has a lot of interesting and useful information and analysis in it will contribute in a responsible fashion to the many debates ongoing with respect to the military dimension of china's military modernization. let me turn now to your questions. >> you said at the beginning that the chinese military build up was destabling -- destabilizing and you went through a long list.

can you say which part of that build up you consider destabilizing? >> i think i said it was potentially destabilizing. that speaks again to the importantance of having and engagement between our military and security establishment so we can better understand china's intentions, china's thinking and approach so that they can better understand ours. i think absent that and it given the lack of transparency even with the improvements that i cited still persists, that is where you have the potential to run into situations where there can be misunderstandings or miscalculations were you have the potential for anxiety,

destabilizing dynamic. >> so it is not the actual build up of the stealth fighter or aircraft fighter, it is the fact that the chinese are not transparent enough and talking enough? "i think it is a combination of the lack of could understanding that is coming out that has been created by the capacity of their system. it is also because there are very real questions given the overall trends and a trajectory in the scope and scale of charred opposing military monetization efforts. i would not put it on any one particular platform or system. there is nothing particularly magical about any particular item. when you put together the entirety of what we witnessed over the past several decades

and we see these trendlines continuing off into the future, that raises questions. as i said again, that is why we think it is important to have a dialogue and discussion that will allow us to understand each other better and will help to contribute to regional stability. >> the military balance has a shift to tell -- china's favor. in this report, is there a tipping point we are anticipating like 2020? the second question is, was it here in washington? information there was no disappointing of china according to time on across the street. i do not know from this report

what the u.s. estimates for evaluation. >> i would offer i do not think there is -- there is not a particular tipping point which i know make, as something of a disappointment for the perfect newspaper headline. but there are trends to the magic that the report points to that continue to point to a very challenging military. that is a set of challenges we are working to address under the taiwan's relations act. that is something that continues to be a concern of the

department of defense and the entire united states government. i will let general chan try to clarify his own comments and what he intended and what he meant. >> you mentioned aircraft carriers in your report. there have been reports says the compilation that china has begun building its own indigenous carriers. can you comment on that? >> we do think that china is undertaking an effort to build its own indigenous aircraft carriers. our expectations are that we will see chinese indigenous aircraft carriers. i would not speculate on the numbers.

>> what was your message to them? were they able to obtain any information from the helicopter tail left behind from the osama bin laden right? >> so for the report has been the briefed to congress and now our second most important office -- audience which is you all. we have a number of engagements with a range of people in the diplomatic community both in the united states to provide briefings of the report. he will excuse me if i take a pass and going into any of the details on the messages we will be delivering in any of those

discussions. are you -- i would not comment on the pakistani issue ended the helicopter tell. did >> is there anything in this report that you feel as a professional student of capability -- >> luckily i am not a professional student. it gives me a pass on your question. there is no question -- i do not think it is a secret to anybody that it is a challenging security environment across the street. the report discusses this and

similar detail across a number of different dimensions. we are working very very closely with taiwan as we make sure they have the self defense capabilities that they needed we will continue to do so. >> as the pentagon rejected the sale of the new f-16s? there have been reports out of the region's debt affected? >> yes. what can you answer what the status is on the issue -- have you made a recommendation to the white house saying we do not recommend it? >> i will simply offer that there are no decisions that have been made on sales to taiwan. as i said before, this is an issue that we continue to work in my office on a daily basis.

it is consistent with our obligations under the taiwan relations act that the united states will give to taiwan the self-defense that it requires pre >> what you see a possible contradiction shouldn't the department of the u.s. government decide later on that f-16s would not be sold at two to one on one hand, on the other hand, it is featured in their report that the mood is continuing to move to the advantage of china. you see a potential contradiction there or concern? >> as i said earlier, this is a challenging kids -- a challenging security environment to cross on any different dimensions. not just one and not just a security environment to take one question and turn it around

where there is a silver bullet that will all of a sudden change everything. we are committed to working consistent with the taiwan relations act with taiwan and the taiwan-china policy to make sure they have the soft defense capabilities that it needs across a range of dimensions. >> could you detail any military exchanges going on between the united states and china in the interest of transparency? in the case of the helicopter, is there any interaction between the two science first high- profile -- yet to be made more transparent? >> we have engaged in a number of working level discussions and meetings over the course of the year. i would be happy to make sure we

can provide you or anybody else interested in the full list. since secretary gates went in january of this year, we had defense talks which are held at my level -- we had a working group meeting of the maritime agreement. just this last week there were a number of people here in the pentagon and the joint staff that were in beijing and have been working on discussions about transparency in a number of other related issues. >> something that secretary

gates had called for when he was in china in january to allow us to discuss sensitive issues. those things that might be most troubling for stability in the bilateral relationship in a setting that brings together leaders on both sides at a fairly senior level. that is not strictly a nil nil engagement, but it does speak to our efforts to deepen and these sort of dialogue and discussions with the people's republic of china. >> where do cyber capabilities in that you call potentially destabilize? >> we have some analysis of where we think the chinese are going in the cyber rolm in the report. i guess i should do the

commercial here that says this is really a report. i say this with all sincerity, we do like it to speak for itself. there are a lot of very good stuff in here. it is no secret again that cyber is a realm where deeper engagement between the united states and china can work on common rules of the world going forward. we have some concerns about some of the things that we have seen, and we want to be able to work through that with china. >> do you know this is a report that is subject to a lengthy agency review but it was also due in march agreed to give us insight on why it took so many months and why there were no internal discussions on this? >> i realize a good conspiracy

is a lot more fun than just the simple but all truth of bureaucracies grinding away. this is a complex and important set of issues as i know you all appreciate. to turn out a good product and it to turn out a good product we were able to accorded across the united states government. we think it benefits greatly from that kind of coordination. it simply took time. i wish that it had not. i wish we had been able to turn it out quicker, but i think the results when you have a chance to read to the report speak to the benefits of taking that time to really turn out a product that i think -- i don't to say this because i am paid to say it -- i think it has a lot of the very good khodzhent content and

analysis. >> i did not see any discussion of at china holding america's death. -- america's debt. >> those sorts of issues are not included in this report. that is at least how art current mandate reads, outside the scope of the report and outside the scope or the expertise of the department of defense. i will simply say this is obviously a very complex economic relationship that we have with china. it is an extraordinarily complex relationship that creates challenges on both sides. that has received a lot of high- level attention from both our leadership, including vice-

president joe biden on his trip the other week, and china's leadership. >> you mentioned humanitarian relief work that they worked in. how much of an emphasis d.c. them placing on that? the seat them placing as much emphasis as the united states? >> china is still in the relatively early stages of engaging fully in the region and with the international community as a provider of those goods and services. as i said, this is something we view as a positive development. we want to encourage china to join with the united states and our other allies and partners in the region and around the world in providing those sorts of capabilities and assets. a china that helps respond to

the threats of piracy, a china that helps to respond to humanitarian assistance in a disaster needs, and plainly that positive, constructive role in global affairs. that is a good thing for the united states and in the region. >> are they interested in the same regions as the united states are? are there diversions there? >> this is a question that frankly, you should address to focus on the chinese decided to get a better sense of their current thinking. they are still in the relatively early stages of developing their own thinking as to how they are going out into the world and conducting these operations. i would point out that i think they have something close to 18,000 folks who participated in peacekeeping operations in recent years. it is a sizable contribution.

>> the aircraft carrier that came back, how big a deal is that? can that development be seen in a positive light? >> you know, i think this is something, as i said, does not come as any surprise to us. this was a development that the chinese have been working on for a number of years and it is not at all out of character or out of the norm for the sort of development given the trajectory of chinese military monetization over the past couple of decades. whether or not this proves to be a net plus for the region or the globe proust's to be something that has destabilizing effects and it raises blood

pressure in various regional capitals remains to be seen. not to sound like a broken record, but underscores the importance of being able to have those dialogues that allow us to reach greater strategic understanding and in for a degree of strategic trust. not just between the united states and china, but china and other neighbors as well. >> the report also talked a great deal about naval capabilities that the chinese are developing. what do you find the most nor were the or most troubling of concern? >> again, there is no single capability that i find to be either most ignore -- noteworthy or troubling or most of concern. it is the overall trajectory of

chinese military monetization efforts and the fact they are working across a number of different dimensions of power in the maritime domain that is something that i think we need to keep an eye on. we need to assure that we in turn have the capabilities in place to safeguard our national security interests, need to work with our allies and partners on their capacities and their capabilities. we need to engage with china so that we can have better and a deeper understanding of how we are each approaching issues in the naval and maritime domain. let us have one last question. >> in past years are any guide, chinese will react angrily to this report. they resent the enterprise itself along the contents. as china mistaken in thinking

this report is against china, and have you received more nuanced feedback from china at with regard to these reports? >> by expectations like yours is that our chinese friends will very likely have some critical comments to say about the issuance of this report. as we try to explain to them and our military to military engagements, the report can be read -- and i hope they do look at it as an encapsulation of the issues we have questions about -- we would like to be able to engage and discuss and dialogue with them on. it is our sense that if we are able to have that robust, continuous military to military dialogue, that will lead to a more positive relationship between the united states and china. thank you very much. i hope that was helpful.

[captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] >> we are live at the washington convention center where we will honor leaders in peace. participants include former secretary of state madeleine albright, and ron kirk. this is one of the events leading up to the martin luther king, jr., a moral which opens this sunday. c-span is covering many of those events live, including the dedication at 11:00 a.m. on sunday. a bit of background -- the ceremony was moved out of the

museum because of earthquake damage from yesterday to hear at the convention center. we will be back life when things get under way. until then, we will see what viewers this morning had to say about dr. king's legacy. host: the thing that drove us is a special section in "the washington post." takes a look at what he saw going into the show this morning, the shots of martin luther king, jr., taken from the moral. questions about or details about the moral including testimonials as well. as far as details, here are some that come from the paper this morning. the sculpture is called the stone of hope. it gets its way from the " i have a deram" speech. "the stone of hope."

a single wedges pushed out and from there king's form the emerges. you can see the example right there, also information as far as the wall of quotes, a total of 14 " says that span his career are in the granite none from the "i have a dream" speech. compare that to the lincoln monument. they make that in comparison to the average six-foot man. we're looking for first 45 minutes with the release of disinformation, the dedication ceremony this sunday. the impact of martin luther king on you and the lines will be on your screen.

we go to louisiana, sabrina, go ahead. >> i think he paved the way for me to be where i am today. i am a senior in college and i will always be grateful for him. i think that monument is a wonderful thing. >> do you plan to come visited any time soon? caller: not send but i will come visit because i like my children to see it. host: what you think of the design? caller: it does not look exactly like him. i would prefer it to be more like him. someone said that it did not have none of the quotes from the "i have a dream" speech. i would like some of that. i am just glad that they have the monument, period. host: on the independent line.

caller: i was fortunate to be in a few marches with him. he made me understand as a young man how important the environment -- non-violence was. it is such a historical thing that a statute to them. -- to have a statue of him. we are all americans and he did a lot of great things and brought us such a high spirit among young people. he was triple teamed and when he died, he did not have all the fortune that they claimed he had feared he was not doing it for money. he was a dedicated man. i am so proud of him. host: video from the side of the

memorial. if you want to find out more affirmation, some of the history, saying that in september 1996, the u.s. house of representatives passed joint resolution 78, authorizing a memorial in washington, d.c. to honor dr. martin luther king jr.. the senate followed on october 3, 1996. in 1998, president clinton signed a joint congressional resolution authorizing the building of a memorial. in 2006, lee ying was the sculptor of record. construction has commenced, completion of the memorial, it

depends on the campaign. wisconsin, sherry, the democratic line. caller: i wanted to say that the statute is ok. statute is ok. i do like a legacy. i am a lifetime democrat and i believe that his principles and philosophy is were to lift up poor people. it wasn't so much about racial things, although that was part of it. but it was more lifting of the people so that they have dignity in their work, paid a fair wage, given opportunities in lead this country, and right now, i believe some of our politicians have lost touch with that.

they have gone away from policies to help poor people and there are more poor people do to the economy. host: clinton township, rhode island, you are next. caller: i am from michigan but that is ok. i was just a little kid when all of this was going on with martin luther king. but i studied history, and that changes he cause they were all for the better, and i think he would be upset with the way that things are going on now. he said the judge a person by the content of their character, not the color of their skin. me being a republican and the vanity party person, we are not racist people and we always get labeled that. maxine waters said that we can all go straight to hell. the way they treat us like we're some sort of that person because we do not agree with policy.

we are not racists and we should not be judged by that. because we do not agree with policy. host: what do you think about the memorial? caller: i think it is great. it is right on time. we could use something like this. host: 11:00 is the dedication ceremony on sunday. because of hurricane irene, this is from the "l.a. times." the latest projection shows the eye of the storm hitting washington about 8:00 a.m. sunday. that just hours before crowds are scheduled to descend on the national mall for the formal dedication. as of early tuesday afternoon, no decision had been made about the ceremony. they had monitored the situation and they have from the beginning. the real bottom line is no decision has been made. there is a huge amount of trauma injected here.

wiser heads and cooler heads need to prevail. riverside, california, you are next on the impact of martin luther king. caller: i have a different perspective and i hope you'll be patient with me. give me one moment please. i do not agree with none of the legacy of martin luther king at all. honor your husband, on your wife, about your parents, and do the right thing. the bottom line is, all of this legacy stuff, the only reason that they celebrate him is because he was a man. he told brown man to let races people come up on them and do as they wanted. that is why brand men are not -- brown men are not respected today and their children have no self-respect. i am a brown person, and i do

not call myself like. black persons are negative. it is going to be a blight pay. host: vivian shepherd's son off twitter. twitter is one way you can reach out to us this morning. a couple of news stories taking place. this from "usa today." the nation section.

pennsylvania, go ahead. the republican line. caller: i think this is a very well deserved honor for this man, who dedicated his life to just causes, especially as blacks were treated in that era, and we have come a long way. i like to refer people to "letter from a birmingham jail."

it is so referent -- moving to refer to that. this one has a lot of quote from jesus. the reason that he is doing the non-violent demonstrations, and he says in one that he agrees with sand and dust and who says, an unjust law is no lockout all. in my own personal life, i am working at a pro-life crisis pregnancy center because i believe that the roe v wade law that says is a ghost came -- it is ok to kill unborn baby is an unjust law that needs to be overturned. we offer money, a sum of $3,000, for abortion-minded women to choose life. women to choose life. host: the park service reports that the lincoln memorial, the washington mall morial, and others were closed after an

earthquake struck yesterday. it is on the front page of several pages this morning. this is a picture from the "washington times." we're talking about the impact of martin luther king's legacy in light of his dedication -- the memorial dedications sunday. caller: my comment is along the lines of, we have carved up the stone into martin luther king. wouldn't he be happier if president obama would take the time to put an end to the stones being harvested against civil rights? i think that is a fair question.

i think that is his ticket to the next round. there is no more racism in america. i think that we have become very -- let's go to the gray areas and put a stop to it. host: washington, d.c., david on the democrats' line. caller: those of us that have managed to learn to read and write would greatly appreciate the sacrifice that kine made. he was the embodiment of what needed to change in america. he let himself -- and made himself a sacrificial lamb so that america could see that the constitution that this country bestowed upon as people would be a living evidence of what the

country needed to stand for. he would be very proud of what barack obama was able to do, becoming the first african american president, and he would be greatly happy to see how the country has come together in some many ways on some many levels. we are all americans and in the event that something happened to this country, we would all come together, regardless of political persuasion. king would be so happy on so many different levels. host: another comment. the the "telegraph" of london

talks about this. more than 150 brand of blocks, they were shipped from china to the port of baltimore, and reassembled by a team of 100 workman.

that is from the "daily telegraph." we have video of the memorial, with a live dedication taking place on sunday. greensboro, n.c., robyn on the democrats' line. caller: the statue of dr. martin luther king is ok. it would be better to see blacks, whites, asians, and indians surrounding him holding hands. there is still racism. the republicans against democrats, nothing going on. still there is nothing for the poor people. if you are not rich, and you do not even qualify as an american. that is wrong. we have a lot of work to do. we need to keep going forward and get rid of the republicans

and democrats. there should be one union for one nation for the people. host: georgia, even on the independent line. caller: i think the taxpayers money should be spent on something more than the tax year. i know that martin luther did some good, but he would want to help out the people of the nation. host: turley savage in the kit you new york times." -- in the "new york times."

wichita, kan., good morning on the republican line. caller: i like the statute. it reminds me of bringing people together. and that is what we need today. we have been divided by or political beliefs.

-- how or political beliefs. it brings out this hatred-type thing on each other across the country. which is really disturbing, because when king march, he marched with everybody, blacks, whites, mexican. whites, mexican. that is why i really appreciate the saatchi there. -- the statue there. caller: i liked the design. it looks real good, the way they have the statue. the guy from north carolina said a while ago, i agree with what he said. i want to ask one thing here. the bush administration.

host: we will leave it there. you can also ask a question on facebook in response. >> more about dr. king and his legacy now as we go live to a dinner honoring leaders and peace ahead of the dedication of the martin luther king jr. memorial, which officially opens this sunday. the event tonight is one of several we are airing leading up to the dedication. before the ceremony on sunday, the rev. al sharpton, founder and president of the national action network, plans a rally and march to the memorial site of the national mall. about 250,000 people are expected to attend. president obama will be the keynote speaker. that starts at 11:00 a.m.

eastern, which we will have live here on c-span.

>> participants tonight are scheduled to include desmond tutu, former secretary of state madeleine albright, and also, u.s. representative ron kirk. it was scheduled to get under way at 7:00 eastern time. it is running late. any event we are covering tomorrow will honor pioneers in civil rights. some people we will hear from at

that event include attorney general eric holder. also the rev. jesse jackson, represented its sheila jackson lee of taxes. -- representative sheila jackson lee of texas. that happens at noon tomorrow live.

>> this dinner honoring leaders of peace is getting under way a little late. the dedication of dr. king was a memorial in the national mall

is still scheduled for sunday. forecasters promise the weather from hurricane i mean, which is scheduled to reach the washington, d.c., area sunday morning. eking foundation sent out a tweak this afternoon saying there has no agenda has been no change to the dedication plans. we plan live coverage of that, the ceremony at 11:00 a.m. eastern time.

>> ladies and gentlemen, we ask that you take your seats at this time. our program will begin momentarily. please take your seats at this time. thank you. >> this dinner honoring leaders in peace is happening at the dedication of the martin luther king, jr., memorial. as we wait for it to start, we will take a quick look at the memorial. the 30-foot sculpture of dr. king is built on four acres next to the jefferson memorial's title base. it is the first monument on the national mall honoring an african-american. the only one that does not memorialize a president for a war.

>> we saw there in the invidious some of the 450-foot granite wall that has more than a dozen of dr. king's quotations. we will have live coverage of the dedication ceremony of the memorial on sunday. some of the guests and people

speaking -- president obama. also interior secretary can salazar. the president of the children's defense fund, and also rev. al sharpton. our live coverage getting under way on sunday at 11:00 a.m. eastern time here on c-span and also on c-span radio. right now, we are waiting for this event to get under way. a dinner honoring leaders and peace. >> our program is about to begin. please take your place at this time. thank you.

>> we are hearing that this is expected to get under way momentarily. wanted to again mention another event we are covering tomorrow honoring pioneers and civil rights. some of the participants include the rev. walter fauntroy, and the rev. otis lost jr., attorney general eric

holder, and representative sheila jackson lee. our live coverage is tomorrow at 12:00 p.m. eastern time here on c-span. >> ladies and gentlemen, we ask that you please take your seats.

our program will now begin. please take your seats at this time. thank you.

>> ladies and gentlemen, please

welcome our mistress of ceremonies for this evening -- nbc news chief foreign affairs correspondent and host of msnbc 's "andrea mitchell reports" -- andrea mitchell. [applause] >> good evening. good evening and welcome to this very special occasion. just want to say to all of you who have moved from the building museum and created this beautiful space here, which was less than 24 hours ago, i just want to say -- congratulations to all for all the hard work. [applause] funny thing happened while we were all -- i was anchoring the news and other people were gathered and doing their business in washington -- an earthquake. but as harry johnson says, when

dr. king comes to town, things really shake, rattle, and roll. [applause] good evening and welcome to the first event in celebration of the dedication of a martin luther king, jr., memorial. i cannot tell you how humbled and honored i am to be with you this evening. as our city, our nation, and people from around the world come together to remember a profit, a preacher, a man of peace, and to dedicate a stirring memorial which will remind us forever more of his lasting legacy. for many people of my generation, dr. martin luther king, jr., was the defining leader of an era. his dream was our awakening to the crucial, political, and moral questions of our time. he taught us, as he said in his nobel prize acceptance speech --

civilization and violence are antithetical concepts, and non- violence is a powerful moral force for social transformation. in my home town, one of our most beloved high school teachers was ann schwerner. our school grade as a community, black and white together, when her son mickey and his friends, james chaney and andrew goodwin, were murdered by the klan. so on this beautiful august night so many decades later, it might be easy for those of us who were not dr. king's brothers and sisters in the march to forget just how radical his ideas were 40 years ago. after all, at the end of the 20th century, dr. king was one of the most admired people in america. according to gallup, he ranked just behind mother teresa and

ahead of john f. kennedy, albert einstein, and helen keller. but that was not the case years earlier when he delivered the speech at riverside church entitled, "beyond vietnam: >> in that riverside church speech, and dr. king told a crowd of more than 3000 people that many persons had asked him, why are you speaking in about the war? why are you joining the forces of dissent, peas, and it civil- rights do not mix. those questions greatly saddened him because they meant that the inquires had not really known him, his commitment, or his

calling. that is why this memorial that will be dedicated this weekend, that is why this memorial matters so much. not only for our generation, but for future generations. through his gaze, we can all try to know him to better understand where he was trying to lead us, to a revolution still unfinished a half century later. now it is my honor to present some of the gas who have come to pay tribute to dr. king's and other global leaders for peace. first, i would like to recognize his excellency and members of her cabinet.

[applause] also with us tonight, the prime minister of trinidad, washington, d.c. mayor, vincent gray, the ambassador from the state of israel. and it to deliver the invocation tonight, please welcome dr. suzanne at johnson cook. secretary clinton has described ambassador cook as sen passionate advocate for people of god everywhere, no matter which got. ladies and gentlemen, ambassador cook. [applause] >> mr. johnson and all of the organizers, i bring you greetings from president obama and secretary clinton.

we traveled throughout the global promoting his peace nonviolent techniques. mrs. king was my second mom, it would be so happy that you are all gathered here today and for this weekend. i ask in that spirit if you might take the hand of the person around the table next to you. if you might hold at hand as a circle and symbol of peace in strength and love, let us pray. we thank you for this day your hands have made. we asked your blessings for those who celebrate to this season and goes all around the world who have come to join together to celebrate a man and a mission and a mandate for peace. we asked blessings upon this time we share together. we thank you for organizers who had a dream for this weekend it to happen. we ask for your blessings everyday this weekend.

we ask you to bless the food, friendship, and the time was spent together. amen. >> i still have a dream that one day this nation will rise up, let up the true meaning of its created. we hold these truths to be self evident that all men are created equal. i have a dream that one day on the red hills of, the sons of former slaves and the slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. i have a dream that right there in alabama little black cowboys

and the black girls will be able to join hands with white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers. i have a dream. >> take your seat at the table on august 28. >> ladies and a gentleman, please welcome eric peterson. [applause] >> thank you. i have to tell you that i am very honored, but humble to be up here this evening to represent the men and women of chevrolet, of the gm foundation and general motors. when i did my research to decide what i wanted to say, i ended up keep coming back to detroit. i do not know many of you who have followed dr. king if you would know he spent a lot of time in detroit.

it was very humbling as he looked at his "i had a dream speed"stet was made here in washington, he had a preliminary one he had an detroit that attracted hundreds of thousands of people because the man and a message resonated with the people of detroit. when i compare both speeches, and i also look at a letter from birmingham, the one thing i did found the to do what thing i did find out as i understood our leadership, the general motors leadership, the issues they had to address and how they address them. i think a historic fact that is important, especially for general motors, is that our chairman at the time stood on the top of the general motors building and watched a city burning, which was the tour, during the 1968 riots. at that time, he made a

decision. he said, this has got to stop. we cannot let this happen to our beloved city. by him taking that step, general motors decided that we had to bring leaders and that would help us either from the private sector or from the government to help us. that led us to bringing leon sullivan onto our board. the significance of that was that rev. sullivan was the very first african american, the very first black to be on our board but most importantly on any corporation in the nation. he was the very first one. that was important. [applause] you know, that feeling that we have by our leadership at that particular time, i will tell you it has permeated the route our organization as we move forward. i have to tell you that it is not by chance that general

motors started the first minority supplier organization within the automobile industry. it is not by chance that general motors started the first minority dealer program within the automotive industry. and it is not by chance that are then the chairman thomas murphy stood with reverend and sullivan and give the support and commitment that general motors would stand with him in regard to the sullivan principles. i think that any of you who have followed rev. sullivan knew that his principles helped with the abolishment of apartheid in south africa. that was very important to us of not just being a good corporate citizen but a community citizens. [applause] the one thing i continue to remember as i think of dr. king is that with him locked arm and arm with people he was representing. he did not know a lot of them,

but he represented for a cause. i have to tell you on behalf of general motors and to the moral board, we at general motors are committed to lock arms with you as we move forward. if the celebration at stops this weekend, then the dream that fails. from our perspective at general motors, this has to go forward. from our perspective at chevrolet, this has to go forward. we have to educate our children as to the significance of this event. and on behalf of general motors, we are willing to do that. we are willing to commit ourselves because as part of our dna, that is part of what we do. we are committed to work with the board to move this forward. on behalf of chevrolet, general motors, and the gm foundation, we are pleased to be here this evening. we ask that you enjoy the weekend, because it will be a

great weekend. [applause] >> please welcome guy vicors. president of the tommy hilfiger corp. per >> good evening. it is an honor to be here this evening. i will be very brief. i am going to wear two hats tonight. what is vice chair of the mlk the moral corporate i would like to welcome everybody to these festivities and to a wonderful weekend of activities that we have planned for you. on the other half, as vice- president of the tommy hilfiger foundation, i am proud of how our company can be involved in this occasion. tommy hilfiger and i go way back. we have known each other since we were 10 years old. it is kind of cool to be able to

run the corporate foundation. what i became president of the foundation in december of 1999, i will never forget in march of 2000, they called me and said, we have got to be involved. i want you to research how we can get involved in this organization in building the moral for dr. king. one of the things that stay with me that i am very proud of of my company, the thing they emphasized was, it is about dr. king did, not tommy hilfiger. not the company. it is about dr. king did. i am very proud that my company has been involved a little over 11 years. it has been a labor of love. i really cannot express how wonderful it is. i want to say to here johnson and it to the staff, the very small staff of the moral, very

wonderful. unbelievable. they bring everything they have every day. i salute you. on behalf of the corporate foundation, we just say thank you and got less. -- god bless. [applause] >> good evening. first of all, we are very honored to be here with you tonight. we are certainly thrilled to be gathering to commence five days of celebration of a life, dream, and legacy of dr. martin luther king, jr.. on -- i am a board member of medco health solutions, which is the world's leading pharmacy benefit management company. we are thrilled to have the

medco foundations serve as this evening's platinum sponsor. on behalf of the board of directors, our chairman and ceo david snow, our executive team and over 20,000 associates, we welcome you to this historic night and it to this week's landmark commemoration of one of history pose the greatest leaders, the rev. dr. martin luther king, jr.. [applause] he challenged us to become a better nation and a better world honoring and respecting each other's humanity and by eliminating injustice wherever it exists, whether that is an education, health care, housing, employment. medco strives to honor the vision of dr. martin luther king

by providing the highest quality and most innovative drug therapy and the management services with over 60 million members. we do this by addressing health- care disparities and also by helping people manage their chronic health care conditions. we also address the health care needs of the most vulnerable populations and support high performing, low-income students and that reaching their goal to become nurses, doctors, and pharmacists. we are very proud that -- very, very proud -- to be tonight's plan and sponsor and to be a part of celebrating the life, a dream, and legacy of an extraordinary man. thank you so much for joining us in this honor and celebration of dr. martin luther king. i hope you truly enjoy this

moment this evening. thank you. [applause] >> thank you for your support for this moral and for this evening's celebration. archbishop is at the forefront of world leaders who followed and dr. king's footsteps. the first black south african bishop of cape town, south africa, he spent his life in defense of the oppressed. like dr. king, a man of faith, and down the kurds, and a nobel peace prize recipient, he received the presidential medal of the freedom from president obama in 2009. while he cannot be with us in person, he spends a very special message for this occasion.

>> welcome to the first of the event celebrating the dedication of the martin luther king jr. memorial. i regret not being able to attend in person, but i am honored to be able to bring you greetings to share on this historic occasion. i am one of the millions who owe their freedom to dr. king's advocacy of democracy, justice, hope, and love. inspire a teachings new era of civil rights in america. his spirit has encouraged the new democracies and around the world including here in south africa. the power of his legacy continues to inspire and guide people searching for freedom and

the quality. this wonderful memorial will permanently stand in the heart of american's capital city, but the ball used it represents will reach and resounded around the world. for those who stood with dr. king and heard him speech -- speak as prophetic words, it must be hard to believe that 48 years have passed since he shared his dream on the steps of the memorial for america's great the emancipated. we have waited a very long time for this moment. if there is one lesson of dr. king's we must always remember, is what is good and what is right will always 1 day prevail.

this lesson has kept hope alive and many of the world's darkest corners. it has encouraged those are following in his footsteps to continue his commitment to resolving conflict without violence. thanks to dr. king's of wisdom and sacrifice, the world is a freer and more peaceful one. every day we see the legacy of this hope and vision as people and around the world seek freedom, equality, and opportunity through nonviolence. this magnificent memorial to dr. king is well deserved.

god bless you. [applause] >> he inspires us with his gentle strength and courage. our next speaker is a south african who follows in the footsteps of dr. martin luther king. he has known prison and house arrest and his social and political involvement happened faith driven. recognize with numerous honors and rewards for his humanitarian leadership and achievement, he founded the world for all operation. it is my great honor to introduce the hon. ambassador to the united states from south africa. [applause]

>> thank you very much. it is difficult speaking in the shadow of the archbishopric almost five decades later, we all gather in washington to moralized in stone the values for which martin luther king stood and died. this is a long time in the memory of some, but it could not be more obvious that we do it in this era to memorialize those lawyers. we did in the world where the bodies of peace, compassion, rick consolation, and so forth are seen as witnesses.

they are seen as an untreatable bodies. bodies of pragmatism, and harshness military's them seem to be on the out. these volumes of three consolation, peas, truth, forgiveness, and compassion are the values for which martin luther king. many others were produced in the cauldron in the fight against apartheid. they confronted the violence with a non-violence and practice by martin luther king. they countered desegregation of

apartheid with the reconciliation that martin luther king did not see the fulfillment of, but south africa today tries to hold up in a world that is polarized in so many other ways. week confronted the conflict of apartheid with the notion of peace and coexistence that martin luther king dropped of and saw on the mountaintop, and others would start building on the southern tip of africa. after this, the values of truth, the values of gondi, martin luther king, nelson mandela, and to to saw a commodity to compromise, hence the trees and wreaths

conciliation commission that if he told the truth, but you would be reconciled with the truth. it would set you free. south africa is regarded as a miracle. our transition and our transformation was divinely inspired, but not a miracle out of reach of ordinary human beings. south africa and at the life of martin luther king has to confirm for us that human beings are capable of being the good. human beings are capable of acting for values that are powerful. [applause] the example from asia third

gondi to north america through martin luther king from africa to a number of leaders culminating in nelson mandela tells us that faith is not only the rituals of worship nor the polarizing claims, but that faith is the constant that are vertical relationship with god must translate into horizontal relationships to benefit of humankind and goodness to all human beings. [applause] that faith and religion in the works of dawn the, martin luther king, and of nelson mandela -- ghandi, not to understand yourself as chosen and others as frozen, but to understand that

underdog's canopy, the canopy of compassion and mercy, there is theunder god's canopy, respect of many other things that mark the difference between people, the difference is the reason to engage, not the reason to polarize and not the reason to isolate. [applause] and as a south african ambassador, as i stand almost every day, the statue on massachusetts avenue, and as we roll today in the next week officially add to the moral of washington, the one outstanding more of martin luther king, we are challenged that the golden triangle of peace, compassion, non-violence, and struggle

against adversity, the third point must be completed. we pledged that in the year 2012, the third step of that triangle will be completed outside the embassy of south africa to build the golden triangle by completing the memorial to nelson mandela. washington is the place. it determines so much, where we stand between peace and war. where we stand between reconciliation and revenge. where we stand between compassion and harshness. if the golden triangle can guide the leaders who make decisions, 50 years is not a long time to wait for a statue and a moral to martin luther king. thank you very much and maybe celebrations began. [applause]

>> thank you for setting the tone for inspiring us. enjoy it your dinner. we will be back later. [applause] >> as the audience has dinner, we will take a break from our coverage. we will be back here and about one hour four more speakers including former secretary of state madeleine albright and ron kirk. more live tomorrow when pioneers

of civil-rights are honored. participants include eric holder and sheila jackson lee. all of this leading up to the dedication of the moral to dr. king, the monument in which you see there, stands 30 feet high. we will have the dedication live on c-span starting at 11:00 eastern. according to an annual survey on teen attitudes in drug use, teens to spend time social networking haven't increased use of smoking, drinking, and using drugs. findings were released today from the organization's 16th back-to-school report. >> good morning.

this morning we are releasing the the annual back-to-school survey. the 16th annual back-to-school survey continues the unique effort of the national center of a disk -- addiction and substance abuse to track attitudes of teens and those parents to influence them. for more than one decade and a half through this survey, we have identified factors related to an increase or decrease in the likelihood that a 12 to 17- year-old will abuse substances. armed with this knowledge, parents, teachers, clergy, and other responsible adults are able to help our nation's teens or up drug free and healthy. we regard this as