>> we are working on a long view in terms of troop drawdowns between now and 2014. we are still having those discussions and cited the u.s. government. we will consult with our isaf partners. the important thing, we believe, is to sustain the progress that we have made, and i >> we are not going to let the advance of the past week, which are regrettable, unfortunate, and tragicomic influence the long-horizon view that we are taking with respect to our partnership with afghanistan. barbara? >> to go back to the original question, is, in fact, trust, strained right now between the u.s. and afghanistan? where is it strange?

can you trust them? >> john, feel free to comment on this as well. i will offer my perspective. when we learned of the incidents last week involving the sacred text of the koran, we took immediate steps to apologize to the afghan government. when our officers were killed over the weekend that -- afghan officials apologized to the secretary and others. they pledged to take immediate -- ofto curtail byron's violence in the country. the measure of trust in a rush of like this, and it is a strong relationship -- a strong partnership with the government of afghanistan, is when something like this happens, when we have tragic events, how quickly do we respond? we have taken responsibility for what we have done over the past week.

the afghans have taken responsibility as well. i think that was a key measure of trust. we are going to continue to work together. we will continue to work in ways to further the partnership. i think that is the essential ingredient. john, do you have anything to add? >> no, george. i think that is right. trust and confidence are the keys to coalition warfare. there is going to be issues. there is going to be tension. there is going to be some disagreements. as we have seen throughout, there will be some very dreadful, regrettable, lethal incidents. but i can tell you, at the leadership level, everybody here is focused on maintaining that trust and confidence and continuing to work together. it has been in daily contact between general allen and his counterparts in the afghan government.

>> do believe the government did and not to stop the violence in the initial day? and as we all sit here today, could leon panetta walking to the ministry of defense in cobble and be safe reject -- in kabul and be safe without protection? >> we believe that afghan officials clearly understand that the violence threat the country -- they have pledged to us that they do recognize that issue. they're taking steps -- let me finish, if i can. >> following the initial outbreak of violence. >> feel free to weigh on this. we were in partnership after the karan incidents. -- koran incident.

we believe they are committed. we look forward to seeing violence abate in the coming days. i'm sorry, john, do you have anything to add? >> no, george, nothing to add. >> i want to go back to the incident of the minister of interior. are you 100 percent sure that the issue is related to the koran issue? and you think that senior afghan officers could be involved in this incident?

to both of yourr question is, quite honestly, we do not know. we do not know what the motivation was behind the murders. frankly, she was able to get out as quickly and easily as she did. we just do not have that level of detail. >> a couple more questions. >> can you update us on the status of the investigation into the koran burning itself? has anyone been placed on leave pending the outcome of the investigation? and where is that? we were told last week there would be some preliminary results within 24 hours or something. we have not heard much about that.

and what was the decision making about, calling advisers from the ministry in kabul and around, what is the distinction there and why you think advisers around the country are sick? >> john, do you want to take that question? >> on the status of the investigation, it is ongoing. it is not yet complete. i would be a load to get to a specific deadline here, but i can tell they're working very hard on this. the work is going on and they are working very hard at it.

i just cannot have a better feel for it beyond that. the other question, this was such a very specific -- they saw what we knew at the time and the hours after. the most prudent thing to do was to get everybody back inside of the compound. we did not have any indication that the threat was anywhere other than in kabul. he also, and i made this clear earlier, that he made clear to all the regional commands that they need to take whatever measures they felt they needed based on the committee -- based on the conditions on the ground and what they were. without getting into the cells

of what everyone did or did not do, i can take it took that guidance to heart. >> can you tell us if those forced measures included separating armed afghan security forces from u.s. forces and any of those areas? also, could you give us an update on this food tampering business this morning? was it intentional to poison u.s. forces there? >> to your first question, as i said, we just concluded a successful operation. we are still out there in very connecticut operations.

as i said earlier, partner operations and training continues today. we are investigating this right now. i do not have all the facts. there could have been some tampering of the food. they immediately closed the facility. the food did find high levels of chlorine in the coffee and on some fruit. what we do not know right now, and again, this is why the team is looking into it, if this was

a deliberate act to poison or whether it was just an inadvertent mistake using more clorox in the cleaning process than they should have. we just do not know right now. >> do any of the commanders, particularly at the upper levels, considering the levels of last week, consider u.s. forces in the field, a fighting side-by-side with armed afghans, at greater risk today than they were one week ago? >> again, i would not want to speak for operational commanders that i have not spoken to. what i can tell you is that all of the r.c. commanders are continuing operations every day. it is not just the field operations. it is the process of transition

training. they all outlined their ongoing efforts. they take whatever measures the team approach prepared it affects the mission itself. >> it is hard to escape the conclusion that the wheels are coming off a little bit here. since last week, we have the border still close with pakistan. understanding you are focused on the taliban, the relationship with partners is in crisis. i think that is fair to say. are you ruling out any changes in adjustments to strategy? are those under consideration? or are you saying it is business

as usual? >> on the long view here, and to take stock of what has happened. there has been no shift in the strategy. our strategies are always evolving. they tend to be living. that is what we recognize. there has been no fundamental change. >> have there been any changes to the way that advisory and partnering are taking place other than what is happening with the ministry? you said that commander alan had given them -- to make their decisions. >> i will throw that to capt. kirby. >> none that i am aware of.

but, again, i do not have my finger on each r.c. command. the guidance he gave was that they needed to be vigilant and take whatever appropriate measures they needed to take. he did not order them to change the mission or the strategy. as i said, it was a very successful operation down south. i am not aware of any operational changes as a result of this. again, i am not in contact with each of the r.c. commanders. i cannot speak to individual details, the daily operations. i will tell you, in general, across the country, everything is continuing. the mission does continue. the affect is largely and almost solely felt here in kabul,

specifically with the advisory mission to the ministries. >> i think everyone wants to ask a question should get one in. >> ok. all right. we will take one or two more. >> john, you talked a lot about the situation being tense. you talked about control's going down. i want to ask what this says about counter insurgency. we spent 10 years trying to win hearts and minds in afghanistan. the fact we're at this point and that afghans are not accepting the u.s. apology. the afghans that i have talked to say they call this an attack on faith. what do you say to those that suggest that the mission to win hearts and minds and has failed. >> well, a couple of things, nancy. you said 10 years. and yes, we have been there 10

years. but you know, as well, it has only been a strategy in the last couple of years. i think it would be wrong to try to extrapolate from the events of the last few days. some sort of broader declaration about the failure or gaps in the strategy. these events are troubling and worries some. they have everybody's attention. tensions are high in cobble right now -- kabul right now. the number of protesters just since saturday dropped from what we estimate was 11,000 total to roughly 4000 out of 3.5 million

afghans. i cannot speak to each and every individual afghan about how they feel about this. as george said, we recognize that our forces mishandled the holy koran. we apologize for that. it certainly is not emblematic of how we respect the religion of islam. i think it is really making a lead appeared to try to extrapolate from what has been happening in the last week for so to some sort of failure in the strategy in general. the mission continues. that mission essentially is a counter insurgency strategy and we are still productive. >> quick one here. did general allan or any other commanders there, leaders, reach out to president obama asking him or suggesting to him that he

should apologize to the president as he eventually did? about >> the decision to apologize was the president's. general allan supported that decision. >> just a couple more now. >> in the nato video released, after the second and third deaths, they urged troops not to take revenge. from your perspective on the ground in afghanistan, are these killings having an affect on troops' morale? what is being done to make sure that morale does not degrade? >> well, general allan was very clear with the troops about the need to continue on and to not let this affect the relationships that they are building with security forces.

it would be hard to speak to every person here in afghanistan and how they feel about this. i can tell you-the force is that the work is really important. we want to continue it. i contend that many of the advisers i've spoken to here just in the last day and a half have said, and uniformly to me, that they want to get back out there. they have important work to do. they are doing it remotely, obviously, right now. that will happen. it will happen in due course. >> we will wrap it up. >> following up on the earlier questions about the difference between the security situation in kabul and elsewhere. what does that say about what

you know but the security situation in kabul? is there a group there that is x -- that is suspected? what in kabul is unique? >> well, again, what started the pullback was this murder inside the ministry building in a secure space. i think it was a prudent thing to pull back there. again, i say it again. things are still tense and kabul -- tense in kabul. there is a peaceful protest with no violence whatsoever. >> thank you everyone. appreciate it. take care.

>> thank you, everybody. question looking at the u.s. capitol here were both the house and senate are in session today. two bills including one addressing eminent domain concerns. those will take place at 6:30 eastern. lawmakers will begin with the annual reading of george washington's farewell address before considering a judicial nomination later in the day. watch the house live here on c- span and the senate on c-span2. a little later today on booktv.org, we will have more

on david brock's "the fox affect." you can see that live online at booktv.org. our road to the white house coverage continues later today with rick santorum. live at 7:30 p.m. eastern on our companion network, c-span3. >> this is a seven what solar panel with a little battery pack. this collects the power and you can charge for iphone, cell phone, all of that directly. >> what you are seeing here on this chip, you are seeing an area that has 165 million wells. each of which can sequence a small piece of dna. >> the technology itself is using two gears. one that looks out and one that looks at the eye. so we know exactly what the person is interested in in what

they are saying. >> tonight on "the communicators." a fifth and final visit to the consumer electronics show in las vegas. the latest innovations coming out of the industry. that is at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span2. republican presidential ron paul spoke this past weekend to a group of small business leaders and supporters. his topic, the economy and his plans on reducing the deficit and entitlement spending. he also spoke about foreign policy and border security. he is at michigan state university today as michigan voters head to the poll tomorrow to vote in that presidential primary. from hudson bill, this is just over one hour.

>> i will be an see tonight. we have a wonderful program this afternoon. there are things we need to know. i want to make sure everyone is aware of these things. michigan is a primary state. i know you for a lot about delegates and how the media is manipulating people. but michigan is bound by the primary. we can win this primary on tuesday. we're going to make sure that every ron paul supporter knows. number 2, we need every ron paul

supporter to know that this by which to hear from the media, michigan has an open primary. if your register to vote, if you can vote on election day. the polls open at 7:00 a.m. and the polls close at 6:00 p.m. we can win districts and perhaps even the entire state for ron paul. here is what you can do to make sure that actually does happen. number one, make a list of everybody in michigan you know. that is not to the people you're spoken to this week, the people you to high school with, the people you are in the service with, everybody. and you call them on the phone. you ask them to vote for ron paul this election on tuesday. if they say yes, then you make sure they know to vote on election day. if they say they're undecided,

persuade them. you talk about their issues on their terms. if by chance they are more concerned about the squabble between mitt romney and rick santorum, point out there is not a dime's worth of difference between those two attendance and doesn't really matter. [applause] i am proud to of had some say in the events we put together here. one of our speakers is a member of an organization called union conservatives. union members or not -- who are tired of not having a choice to pay. that is important in michigan where indiana has just been given that choice. please welcome terry bowman. [applause] >> good afternoon, everyone. i am so excited to be here. such a great day in hudson bill

for ron paul. in a uaw member. in a founder of an organization called union conservatives. the first the police at every union member has a right to voice their opinions without persecution or ridiculed. a lot of you may be asking, union conservatives -- that's a contradiction. is it? 40% of union members do not vote the way their bosses demand them to vote. they vote their own conscience. that equates to over 6 million union members in the united states alone who are harassed, ridiculed, and persecuted because of their police. we formed in 2010 with our principles which is basically strengthening unions through conservative principles. building true voices and bridging the gap between the

union members and liberty. they do not have liberty. we are dedicated to bringing unions back from what is putting them to the edge of destruction. one of our biggest issues is the right to work issues. we believe that all workers -- union workers and all workers should have the right to choose whether or not to financially support a third party as a condition of employment. we're pushing the right to work issue in michigan. we are out there fighting for people to choose for themselves whether the freedom of association or freedom to not associate with unions. if you're a believer in freedom in michigan, if you're a believer in liberty in michigan, right to work is where you need to go. we are so thankful that the ron paul campaign fights for this all around the country.

one thing you can do is to contact governor snyder because even though he has said in the past that he would sign a right to work bill if it comes across his work desk, he is backpedaling say he doesn't even want to see it come across his desk. u.s. the grass roots part of michigan need to contact governor snyder's office and say, we believe in the first amendment, we believe workers should have the right to choose. it is a job issue and a choice issue. the ron paul campaign. let's have a great day with the ron paul campaign. thank you so much. [applause] >> our next guest is going to introduce small business owners for ron paul in michigan.

i am proud of this organization because for all their talk, it seems that they usually answer to big business at the end of the day. please give up. [applause] >> off some. it is great to be in a roomful of liberty loving folks and friends. i am thrilled to be here. in the president and founder of the company. [applause] i like to say we have been enjoying liberty. thank you so much. i am here to officially endorse ron paul today. i am here with some of my friends, small business owners in michigan. you can applaud them as they're coming up and give them the kudos they deserve. there on the front lines here in

michigan. i will call their name. you can give them applause or wait until the end and then we will get onto a. we have zach from remix. kevin. tim. ann webster. june cambridge. engineering.kory, david. ryan. melanie, about face media. richard, communications group. last but not lease, sean miller from the performance institute. [applause]

the good doctor is up next. we're going to exit stage right here. >> please give it up for the congressman. [applause] >> thank you. what an outstanding crowd. i know many of your hear from the third district. let's help send a ron paul to the white house. [applause]

i had the honor and privilege of introducing ron paul lsi at an event featuring our military veterans and service members who are supporting ron paul. how many of you know that ron paul has more support from service members that all the candidates combined? [applause] >> i think there's a good reason why the service member's support him. ron and i swore an oath to support and defend the constitution just as they did. [applause] they understand the importance of a constitutional foreign policy. they understand that when we go to war, we have to declare war. that congress must be the one

that authorizes war, not just the president. [applause] they understand the importance of protecting our civil liberties. they understand the problems with the unpatriotic a patriot act. like ron and me, they are opposed. [applause] our government should not be allowed to lock you up without trial. they should have to go through a constitutional process. [applause] one of the things i admire most about ron paul is his consistency. for those of you ever been watching the debates, do you see how many times the other

candidates have to apologize for their past votes? it seems like every debate someone has to apologize for something new. why the date support government- run health care? child left behind? cap and trade? while they opposed to right to work? why did they vote to increase the debt ceiling? [applause] every time we have one of these debates, they have to apologize. ron paul has never had to apologize for his voting record. [applause] and you may have recently seen that a nonpartisan group did a study of the budget proposals from the republican candidates. three of the four offered budget proposals that would increase the debt. only one of the four had a budget that would decrease the

debt. do you know who that is? >> ron paul! >> he has had a real impact on the republican party. it is really changing the fabric of the party to look at young people. more young people support ron paul than any other republican candidate by far. [applause] and these young, liberal-minded republicans are the future of the republican party. i want to now welcome ron paul to the stage. he is here with his wife. let's give it up for ron paul. [applause]

[chanting "ron paul!"] >> thank you very much. thank you. i am so glad to see some many people here. it sounds exciting. it sounds like we have something going right now. [applause] before i get started, i do want to recognize that very nice introduction. he makes it so much less lonely in washington these days. [applause] justin has been there since the first term. i met him four or five years ago. the country is changing.

congress is changing but we have a lot more to do. the people are way ahead of the congress. now it is our job to wake of congress. [applause] also, it is a pleasure to be in the home town of my brother, dave paul. .e is a minister i he is with me here today. he has some of his grandchildren and i have one of my grandchildren here. linda is with me today. this is linda. [applause] i brought my wife along. i think a few of you have met my wife. [applause] it is so nice to see such a nice crowd. in washington, i would occasionally give speeches on the house floor.

i have never gotten applause. it is much more fun out here. [laughter] like i said, the country is much further ahead. i think it has been true for a long time. i figured congress is about 20 years behind. we need to turn the clock up. speed it up. we need changes quicker than ever before. [applause] four years i used to say, and a lot of people still say it, there is some truth to it. we cannot keep spending this money or we're going to pass this a debt onto our children. i do not say that as much anymore because i think the next generation that is going to get this debt, i think we are the generation that has inherited the debt of the past four years and we have to deal with the problem right now. [applause] if i were to simplify our

problem, i would say we got into this mess because we sent to many people to washington who have not taken their oath of office seriously and have not done what they should have. i think people keep getting reelected. it is not all just the congress. the people have been lax as well. we need to change this by changing the people posey added to about the government should be doing. let me tell you. the government, under our constitution, is not supposed to be running a welfare state or eight warfare state. it is there to protect our liberties. that is what the job is. [applause] i think most people recognize the crisis now, mainly for economic reasons. four or five years ago now, the

bubble burst. the austrian free-market economists were right on their predictions. they predicted this would come. it did come. most of the people realize, not only in this country, but around the world. this is not a u.s. problem. we are living with a problem that has been developed differently than ever before because we have been the issue were of a currency called the dollar. it has been used as a reserve currency as if it were cold. therefore, the inflationary problems of the world and all the distortions and all the debt crisis is is worldwide. therefore, we are facing a crisis bigger than ever. the recognition is there. this is not all that bad. it is when people live with their head in the sand that we keep doing the same thing over and over again. right now, people are waking up and sing you cannot solve the problem of too much spending,

too much borrowing and too much debt by doing the same thing over and over again. that is what i am optimistic that the people know now that we cannot continue on the same course we have been doing for at least the last 40 or 50 years. [applause] the economy is obviously the big issue. certainly, in a state like michigan, that is the big is he -- the big issue. some states do better than other states. there are states in the south that do better than states in the north. it is not all an accident. confederal government does a job providing the government necessary to be competitive and be able to compete throughout the world. they overtax and over regulate and distort the economy with inflation and distorts the interest rate.

they have a lot of responsibility. in particular, there is one group of people we should deal with. i'll talk more about that. that is that group that is located in the federal reserve building that we have to deal with. [applause] [chanting, "end the fed!"] now that you want to talk about the federal reserve system, it has been around for 99 years. they literally destroyed 99% of the dollar they inherited. they're doing a wonderful job. one of their mandate is a stable dollar and stable prices -- in nothing to have done a good job. the other mandate is low unemployment. the have not done a good job there, either. the problem with the federal reserve and with the mandates

and the regulation and all that, that is the big thing. some states suffer more because some states put a greater burden because of local regulation. this is a big issue. that is the cost of labor. the cost of labor should be competitive. people should be able to negotiate. the contract is supposed to decide how workers come together and business people come together. there should be no laws prohibiting the organization of labor. fish have the right to organize and a talk. -- they should have the right to organize and talk. [applause] they should negotiate and labor should come together. who knows? in a truly free market, you might have competitive unions for all the we know to try to compete for the best job and the best workers.

in 1935 when they did not understand the depression, they claimed the depression came about because of free markets, capitalism, and the gold standard. what did they do? they destroyed the gold standard and brought up a lot more regulations and destroyed the free-market and gave us this intervention that we have been living with for a long time. in 1935, they gave us the national labor relations act. this distorted the balance. they did not deal with the right to organize and contract. they said if you want to get together, you have special power. when they talk about getting workers' rights that, i think they are misleading. they are not rights to get a cloud from the government. big labor is not supposed to get bigger powers. states have tried to get around it by having a right to work law

to compensate for the special powers that have been granted to the unions. this distorts the market. the states have suffered the very most. therefore, it has to be addressed. i support a national right to work law. some of the other candidates do not support that even though they are conservative republicans. the first question that should come is, how can you support a national lot if you do not believe in these national laws? actually, it is not a new law or process. it is to remove a special power and clout that was given in 1935. that would be a big help for a state like this if you want to get the economy moving again. just think if the companies got into trouble in this break down just four or five years ago, the

auto companies, there were a lot of automotive companies in the south and they did not have the same problems. to put our heads in the sand and say this had to happen -- even the bailouts of the company. once again, governments are supposed to be there to guarantee and protect contracts and in force them. what did the government do when they bailed out? they took money from people that they should given money to any given money from the bailout to protect individuals who did not deserve the protection. the government should be restrained from protecting these things and reduce the amount of regulations and get with a sound currency. that is what would help our economy today. [applause]

bb the other major problems we have faced these past five years is the inability of politicians to allow the correction to occur. when mistakes are made, you're supposed to have a correction. nobody wants to go to the correction, so they say, what we have to do is bail out companies and various things because the correction is too painful. if you don't have the bailout, there will be a depression. there was some truth to that. the people who had overextended, especially in the housing bubble, abused it. the got into the derivatives market and were gambling with all these derivatives. they're in big trouble and the banks are owed them. the banks were very much involved, so they said there would be a crisis. they are too big to fail. the truth is, the free market tries to correct the problems of government. they should have failed. they're the ones that should have failed. [applause]

but instead, what happens is congress, as well as the federal reserve, went and bought all the bad debt. they did not liquidate the debt. if we get into trouble and we are in over our heads with debt and we want our own economic growth again, we have to get our debt out of the day so we do not have to keep paying interest or essentially we cannot borrow any more money. the country has to do that too. but when they build up these countries, the debt was brought up. japan did the same thing 20 years ago and they are still in trouble. what happened to the debt? what did the companies who make the debt are they stuck with it? no. it is on our shoulders. that is why the middle-class americans are suffering. guess what? they're the ones who lost their jobs and houses.

they're suffering the consequences of the inflation now. government intervention, government planning does not work. the people have to plan. the people have to decide how the money is being spent -- not the government. not the politicians and not the bureaucrats. [applause] today, though, we have not resolved that. this debt is still hanging. not only that, our secretary of the treasury as well as their reserve have traveled quite frequently. the talk to the europeans all the time. they have essentially promise that we will bail out europe because we have the reserve currency and there is still some trust in the dollar. they have essentially said that we will be there. we will not let these things fail. guess who the banks are? they're big bang so we have to

have. they're intertwined and global. guess what? guess what they bought? they bought debt from greece and portugal and spain. they say, well, the debt is illiquid now, what do we do? that means it is worthless. they own it. they do not want to go bankrupt. we're over there promising we will bail them out by printing more money. but the tough part of this, and a better wake up and understand it, is you cannot do this forever. eventually it destroys the confidence in the dollar. right now, i think that is happening. the money is starting to circulate. it is in producing in the last few years. one place in florida gasoline prices hit $6 the other day. what does bernanke tell us? he tells us there is no inflation. [laughter] he is a different definition of

inflation. inflation, technically, in the free market, is when you pre- print money. that is inflation. and then one of the consequences of inflating the currency are higher prices. so, over the years, we had high prices and the nasdaq baubles and in the housing bubble. we get high prices were ever government gets its fingers involved. education is much higher -- the cost of living. medical care is very high. and then they tell you that there is not any inflation. even if you use the old , it istion for the cpi going up 2%. what he is telling us is that they are allowed to steel to percent of our money every year and then not be charged with a crime. [applause]

as a matter of fact i have asked both greenspan and bernanke about the morality of the economics of it. they say, we have to keep interest rates low to keep the economy going. we have to look to the big picture. some people are just going to suffer. that is not very nice. guess who suffered? there are people living on social security. and their cost of living is going up a lot more than 2%, so he said that is a consequence it could be six or seven or eight%. the other thing when the fed gets involved, people do things they should not be doing. they invest because they think

there is going to be a lot of savings. they may build too many casinos in las vegas and all the different things, so this is the mischief of the federal reserve, and eventually, it will be dealt with. when they finally destroy the currency they have to go back to somebody people know about and they trust. they have run away inflation, but only gold and silver can be legal tender. [applause] [laughter] they also said you could not emit hills of credit, which is paper money, and they also said we give you no authority to establish a central bank. there was a debate between jefferson and hamilton. in the early years they started to get rid of the national bank, but they suffered over the

last several hundred years. i am hoping we have a bill but we can pass it says we are going to repeal the federal reserve act. [applause] [chanting, "end the fed!"] the other major flaw with the monetary system like this is it enables governments to grow in a sinister manar. if state taxes for everything they do, and we had to send a check every month, this would end quickly, because the people would rebel.

why should the businessman be a slave and collect all these forms. [applause] the real benefit would be the people would know how much you are paying for the government and there would be a quick rebellion that would get us back on track again. [applause] because the borrowing can become monetize the ball and congress would have to quit spending, because the more they spend, the higher interest rate, so we have the federal reserve who just prints the money when they need the money, so it hides things, and the victims are sometimes unknown. they can get away with that until the end point when the

currency is destroyed, but you might have decades of this. these last 40 years have been nothing but a big bubble, but just think about what has grown. the entitlement system, the military is alive and well. they are spending money. even though i have studied this for a long time, i know how many of you feel. they are living with their head in the sand. there is oblivion. if people thought this was 1/10 as serious as i thought it was, they would quit spending. that is what they should do. [applause] the whole system is fed on itself. the entitlement system is alive and well. politicians did quite well by

promising what the people wanted. of we were the wealthiest nation ever because we were the freest nation. we are not the richest nation anymore, but the entitlement system got way off base because entitlement sounds like a good word. we would like to say we are entitled to our life and liberty, but we are not entitled to somebody else's money. [applause] entitlements have become to what people demands or insist on common -- or insist on, and i imagine more than 50% still think an entitlement is a right. good we get our lives and

liberty from our creator. we get it in a natural way. we do not get its from the government, and if we have a right to life and liberties, and we ought to have the right to keep the fruits of our labour arrogant -- the fruits of our labour, which means there would be no income tax, if you could live with that. [applause] a lot of people will challenge me, because i want to start of the first year with one trillion dollars, and frequently the questions are sincere because they have studied only keynesian economics. i did they say what happens if

the government which spending -- they say what happens if the government quit spending one trillion dollars? is that the government would quit spending it and the people would spend one trillion dollars. [applause] i am very frank about what i think the philosophy ought to be pure good -- ought to be. the president should not be running the economy. the president does not know what to do. the congress does not know what to do. only the people know what to do on how to run the economy. [applause] i do not say we can get out of this mess by snapping our fingers, but what we are doing wrong is prolonging the agony, and it is going to get worse if we do not change our ways, but what we need to do is not scare

people with what the correction is all about, because i do not think we should propose our viewpoints by not saying, i have a problem as long as you are willing to sacrifice. how would it be if i said, i want to deregulate you. i do not want the federal government having a mandate. i do not think it is a sacrifice to have less regulations from the federal government. [applause] how wouldn't be a sacrifice to you if you could trust the currency. how many of you are saying, i am going to save and know that i haven't -- but i have currency power later.

what if you could save money and be confident you could take care of your future? why would it be a sacrifice to us if you did not have any income tax? i would think this would be wonderful. not only do we have to change. people have to change their attitude about the role of government, and that is important because no matter what we have in washington, they will reflect the views of the people. we have to change people's attitude about the role of the government, but there is another attitude we have to address, and i believe we have to change to get this over with. that has to do with what we are doing overseas irritant --

overseas. the dod budget is not that big, but there are a lot of other things we are doing overseas, the cia, our troops, it is costing us over one trillion dollars. our wars in the last 10 years has added four trillion dollars worth of debt to our national debt, but what if we had this money in the economy? what have we gotten for all of these wars? we have gotten nothing but

grief. we are spreading of viewpoint that i do not think is a good view point. a lot of people believed they have a moral obligation starting with woodrow wilson but we had to prove to the world we were the most moral and wise nation and been had the obligation to teach other people. this does not work. using force to force our goodness on anybody cancels out the goodness. america has been a great country, the freest and the richest, and we have a lot of wonderful characteristics, but why don't we focus on our free market economy, a sound currency, protection of civil

liberties, and then we can be a nation where other countries will want to emulate us and follow our lead? [applause] unless we change our attitude about how much we should be involved overseas, it is not going to happen. my position is it should be a lot easier for liberals and conservatives and independence to come together and cut overseas spending and cut these wars. that should be the easiest thing to cut. which simply means we bring our troops home. [applause]

the other thing about this isn't as a way to work our way out of it. if we do not work our way out of it, everybody's check bounced, and then we problems, but if we do this sensibly, what about all these efforts with the border between pakistan beaumont -- between pakistan? what about our own borders to the south lebanon and returned to the south and? there is the responsibility for the federal government. we can do a lot more, and in the last five years it is

estimated 50,000 people have been killed on that border, and it includes our failed policy on the drug war. [applause] we once again would have to change our foreign policy and adapt a policy the founders gave us, and even until the mid parts of the century, many endorse that we ought to mind our own business, but they will come up with all these arguments. there is a civil war going on, and people are getting killed. they have no idea who the good guys are and the bad guys are. we have to get involved. how many times did we get

involved with the most vicious dictators? they killed millions, yet we did business with them. this idea there is more propaganda, and war drums are beating. they are ready to go to see regal. we do not need a war in syria, and we do not need a war in iran. [applause] >> ron paul, ron paul! >> the big advantages what i am working to do.

if you cut back you do not have to cut child health care or benefits to the elderly. some of those should never have been started. on practical grounds, this kind of spending overseas, and the people have become dependent on the federal government, and they can work their way out. one thing on my deal is to take care of the people who are dependent and need help, but i would offer a chance to change the social security system, starting with anyone over 25. let them take care of themselves. [applause] that of course would not work unless you do the cutting, and that is why you have to change

foreign policy, but the founders were very clear on this, and they advised strongly, do not get involved with this. do not be the policeman of the world, but their advice was to trade with people and talk to people and not try to solve all of their problems, but today we do the opposite. one of the most foolish examples of sanctions was not at the time but now. don't you think we have had sanctions on cuba long enough? [applause] other countries are doing business with them. communism is dead. what i am worried about is the inflationism and we have today. that is our real threat. good evening -- besides, the countries we do end up trading with, the french and americans killed 1 million or more, the vietnamese lost 60,000. we said if we lost that

communism would spread around the world. it did not happen. now we do business with the vietnamese. think what has happened since we left there. wire we so determined to think it is necessary -- there is an economic theory which is dangerous. the claim was that the depression came because of the gold standard and capitalism, but we did not get out of the gold standard until we had world war ii, but that is foolish thinking, because the board never helps the economy. it -- because war never helps the economy. it never helps. a lot of people argue about my 1

trillion dollars of cuts and spending, because they have been taught government is supposed to spend more money when they are in trouble, and if they do this, won't it hurt the economy? if you have one trillion dollars and you cut it, the people will be able to cut it. after world war ii, 10 million military people came home. taxes went down 30%. that is when the depression ended. that ended the depression. when we come around to understand we do have responsibility for strong national defense of the founders tried their best to protect us against the kings

going to war, but unfortunately the president's we have had in recent history have acted like kings, have not gotten permission for voting for the war. if we had not gone to war, they would come home [applause] the iraq war was fought as a consequence or sequence of 9-11. it had nothing to do with 9-11, because there was no outcry done -- noam al qaeda there. they said the president can do whatever he wants. if you want to go to war, fine. if not, you do not have to. it upset me of debt.

-- it upset me a bit. i introduce a substitute regular -- resolution. i said, i am offering resolution of a declaration of war. i am not going to go to war, but if you want it, you vote it. i am going to make your record and now that you voted against a declaration of war. [applause] it was explained to me by the committee chairman that they were trying to explain to me the constitution. he said, the part of the constitution is anachronistic. we do not follow that part of the constitution any more. that tells you why we are in

trouble today, because the constitution does not mean a lot. the courts over rule it, and it is a real mess. we got in this message by not following it. we can get out of bed by sending only people to washington who can obey the constitution -- we can get out of it by sending only people to washington who can obey the constitution. the other serious consequences of big government, the bigger the government gets, the smaller the people get. a less liberties we get. it is characteristic under war that civil liberties are compromise. people accept this idea that under special emergency conditions we have to give of all little bit of liberties. let me tell you, you do not have to give up liberties to be safe. today they said we have a perpetual war. it is worldwide, and we are in

a 130 countries, 900 basis because we are fighting a war on terrorism. the taliban are just people who want us out of their country, but the war is world wide. therefore, we should expect a continuation of the attack on our civil liberties, much worse than the path. on 9-11 i voted for the support to go after an outcry done -- to go after al qaeda. we did not even get bin laden for 10 years, and we occupy two countries and a country that have zero to do with that, but what did they do to the american people? we suffered from the consequences of that.

within two weeks they have a bill they had been trying to pass for a couple years, and that was called the patriot act. >> boo! >> i was sitting with a member of congress, and he was voting for it, and i was voting against it. [applause] why are you voting for this bill? and you know it has only been on the floor for an hour. we do not know what is in it. i said, you know there is going to be bad stuff in there. why are you voting for it? >> he said to tell the people at home i did not vote for the patriot backed off after 9-11, that would be difficult to explain.

i said, go ahead and explain it to them. almost always if you look at of bill's name coming out of congress, it is almost inevitable it is going to do the opposite, so it was a very unpatriotic killed. if they had called in the repeal fourth amendment act, nobody would have voted for it. next year when we get a chance to appeal this, we will call it restore the fourth amendment act. and of course the tsa could assume they did not have the right to search us and take away all of our liberties. a year ago the president announced it is a proper procedure for the president of the united states to assassinate american citizens on his say, and to prove his point, he has

done it three times already, but congress has not done much better. congress passed a bill. the president signed if this year, because he was as positively opposed to it as i was. [applause] this bill repeals keeping the military out of state and civil laws. it is not -- it allows the military to arrest any american citizen if they are associated with any group. no charges, no trials. he could be arrested, put in a secret prison indefinitely, and we put that on the books. that has to be reversed.

[applause] [chanting "ron paul," "president paul"] you think that was pretty bold what they did, but there was one other provision coming out of the senate, but the provision said if you are are arrested and charged and you have a trial and you are found innocent, they can still keep you in prison.

the man from kentucky got the removed. i think you knew about all those problems. i am not giving you anything new, but you have given me enthusiasm, because i know you are out there. the numbers are growing by leaps and bounds. the revolution is alive and well, and there are a lot of young people wanting to lead the charge and and that is great with me. there are a lot of others in an

older generation that had been rather frustrated, and they are being energized. they realized the end stages getting closer, and that should encourage all of us. there are sound principles. at least in this crowd are would not expect anyone to boo me because we apply a golden rule to the policy. [applause] john adams said what we need is a tireless are raised minority. you need a minority because they energize the rest of the people. when we have today you do not

have 51% voting for this. it is a high ranking minority that influences this. worried though r the scott moving about four years ago. i meet people in representative offices that are all over the place. it is wonderful. ultimately, if these ideas are to prevail, they will not be

republican ideas. they have to be pervasive. that is what we are facing today. nixon said it all when he claimed that the reason we had to get off of the gold standard was the we are all keynesian's and now, but we have to reverse that. we all have to agree in the free-market and sound money now. it has been said that an idea whose time has come cannot -- cannot be stopped by anything military. i really do believe that these ideas, their time has come. it is a part of our american tradition, a tradition that has been going on for years. these ideas have only been

tested in a small manner. the largest middle-class ever. but it is shrinking. we are getting poorer. our test is going to fade unless we pick up those pieces. we do not have to go back to anything, to the 19th century gold standard, because there is a better understanding of economic policy systems. this is the reason that we put this together and bring people together. it will work. that is what freedom does. we will never agree on how to use our freedoms. we will never agree in a room like this. there might be 50 different religious values involved. freedom answers the question. we do not impose ourselves on other people. you do what you want. [applause]

and this should be true, not only for religious values, but economic values. protect us from ourselves, finding people that fall through the cracks. the more they prevent people from falling through the cracks, the more they fall through the cracks. that is what the problem is. does that mean that some people will not do a good job? it will incite people to do more for themselves. there will be a family and community responsibility. a local responsibility with greater wealth in the country. there is no doubt that history shows that the freer the country, the more wealthy the country. we have given it up to people who have said no, the only way to spread fairness around the world and the country was by

government force, by redistributing wealth and regulating. on why the marketplace works and why you have sound money. it will change. that is all there is to it. we should be optimistic about it. we should not say that it is going to be easy. those of the people in charge and who have control of the money system and the financial system. and yet this will end, like i said the other night on television. the opposition will not accept the moral argument. they will not be able to get away from the economic argument. we will not have the funding to pursue these policies. [applause]

benjamin franklin once said that those who expect to enjoy the fruits of liberty must undergo the fatigue of supporting it. there is fatigue. i do not like to call a sacrifice. there is some effort. in many ways, those of you that would come to a meeting like this have a greater responsibility. the masses out there will not understand the same things the you do. you must bear the burden of doing something about it. if you believe in it, that is what has to happen. my answer is to do what ever you want to do. do what you want. [applause] and everyone will have a different role to play. some will run for congress and other offices. some will make a lot of money

and encourage us. who knows what people will do. i think that the most important thing that we all do, which i have tried hard to do and continue to do, which i've learned very on -- early on, is how to compete with the arguments. it is education. ultimately, education is the test. look at what we have on nightly television. i get frustrated because i never get asked questions from an austrian dewpoint. education is important. then what do i do? that is what is so wonderful and it really does bring people together. everyone will use their freedoms in a different way. socially, economically, people should come together. we should come together to fight

for the principle which we can all enjoy in a principled manner, and joining the liberty that we have gotten in a natural, god-given way. thank you all for coming today. [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012]

♪ >> following his remarks at the small business rally, ron paul spoke with supporters on what sets him apart from other candidates and his upcoming stops in the states. this is about 10 minutes. >> we will take questions. >> hello. >> you talked about cutting a trillion dollars out of the budget. what do you cuts in order to not spend that trillion dollars? >> we documented in our plan. about half comes from overseas and cuts back on militarism, but not defense. we close down all the bases and we just come home. that is a big hunk of money. we go back to 2006 budget line. instead of having automatic increases, ours is to do the opposite.

lower the trend line and go back to 2006 and get rid of five departments. this will get you a trillion dollars. >> if you cut spending by a trillion dollars, how long does it take you [inaudible] >> that probably will not shrink thedebt itself. it gets your budget balance in three years but that is how big the problem is. it stops the bleeding. they are only proposing to tinker around the edges on the proposed increases. now that we have the statistics that are gdp per capita is worse than greece. nobody wants to cut anything.

they have been taught that cutting is bad when you are in a recession. >> you have been asked about this a couple of times now. given that you and mitt romney are different in so many anyways, why aren't you going after him harder? >> most of that has been concocted. my first ad was directed towards them as a flip-flopper. he and i do not agree on foreign policy or monetary policy. i think it is best for my campaign to go after people who are the so-called anti-romney votes. there used to be nine and now there are only four of us. >> you have had to very large rallies so far. will you come to ohio and

campaign the same way? >> i am not the best one to ask my exact schedule. it is possible, but i do not know where it is on the schedule. we are thinking about three or four more states that our caucus states. i know i am going back to the state of washington. i am going to alaska. we have to go where we can pick up delegates. so far, we are doing quite well. >> nato and u.s. have pulled all personnel out of the embassies. [inaudible] how do we reach an agreement with a government that we do not trust?

>> there really do not exist. karzei is hardly the government. he could not win an election. it is chaos and we are responsible for much of the chaos. the sooner we get out of there, the better. >> we do not need a strategic partnership? >> someday, they might be more stable and want to talk to us. to think we are going to keep using troops over there until we get the guy in government that somebody wants, it is not going to work. >> [inaudible] your thoughts on that?

>> on virginia? >> you are going on tuesday, aren't you? >> for the rally on tuesday night, yes. that is the case. nobody else is in virginia. it is a tougher job to spend a lot of money state wide. we will go and we will work, but to what extent, i do not know. >> there was a strong showing for you in michigan. >> i have not come up with a number. just so we get some delegates. >> [inaudible] what is your argument? >> of the appeal and the authority given to the unions

under the national relations act. it is called the national right to work act. it is appealing the artificial authority given to unions to have an automatic close shot by a 51% vote. >> [inaudible] what sets you apart as the other candidate? >> most people do not have much trouble figuring that out. first is for a policy, dramatically different. the foreign policy of non intervention. civil liberties, and nobody else is talking about the national defense authorization act or the patriot act. a distinct difference between the other republicans and democrats as well. the parties are exactly the same. monetary policy, the one that addresses the serious flaw in the monetary system. there is a lot of difference.

>> how will those things impact to michigan? >> if they hear the message and understand it, they will be super supportive. i did not see any way we can get out of this mess other than this way. >> [inaudible] gingrich has suggested that mitt romney should drop out. what are your thoughts? >> i do not think it is my place to tell mitt romney when he is supposed to drop out. that is political talk and i do not do too much of that. >> [inaudible] you were pretty clear during your speech, but just thinking about it, it seems like a daunting task. generations of people are used to this one. >> the daunting problem is continue to do what we do and have run away inflation.

the fed is popular and i talk about the fed. my position is not quite that way. the fed will self-destruct and it will disappear sunday. i advocate competition with the fed, allowing parallel currencies to operate the way they do worldwide. you can do that domestically. it loses value, they could save in a gold bond. this is something that allows a transition period it. if we were serious and wanted to move more quickly, you could look at the history after the civil war. they went off colds in 1861 but they had a restoration act in 1875. they quit printing money, they did not have debt. the gold price went from $200 an ounce to $20 an ounce. bring the troops home and have

a different foreign-policy. right now, the best thing is to allow people to use constitutional money. when people try to use gold and silver, they can get arrested. there is no legal definition of a dollar. it used to be defined in terms of gold. if you start using gold and silver as money, you get arrested. ok, very good. he had a church in detroit for 20 years or so. he was an assistant pastor. he is with me today. >> that is not why you decided to campaign in michigan? >> it was nice that we could come. he does not live too far from

here. we have three events tomorrow across the state. >> do you stay with your brother? >> yes, we did. >> good seeing you again. >> thank you, dr. paul. >> looking at the campaign calendar this afternoon, arizona and michigan go to the polls tomorrow. washington state holds caucuses on march 3. super tuesday is march 6. later, the wyoming can -- wyoming, kan., and guam caucuses are coming up. >> this particular phone only rings in a serious crisis. keep that in the hands of a man who has proven himself

responsible. vote for president johnson. >> bush supports the death penalty for first-degree murderers. dukakis not only opposes the death penalty, he allowed first- degree murderers to have weekend passes from prison. >> the accusations that john kerry made against the veterans who served in vietnam was devastating. >> we can all point to an outrageous commercial or two, or three, or four. but on average, negative commercials are more likely to be factually correct and more likely to talk about issues. >> will 2012 go down as the most negative campaign cycle in history? watch this and past panels on campaign ads online, at the c- span radio library. it is what you want, when you

want. >> some political news this afternoon. after saying that he would not run earlier this month, bob kerrey has said that he will enter the race to replace the retiring senator of nebraska, ben nelson. harry reid has been informed of the plan. the filing deadline in nebraska is this week. the u.s. house comes back at 2:00 eastern today. we will have live coverage when they began. remarks from sam brownback. he stopped by our studio this morning to talk about the national governors' association winter meeting, which wrapped up here in washington today. host: gov. sam brownback joins us. thank you for being here this morning. guest: happy to be here this morning. you always have an interesting show.

nice to be here. >> here for the national governors' association meeting. what are you hearing from other governors compared to past times when you have met with colleagues when it comes to the feelings about how local economies are doing? guest: mixed. a lot of it depends on the manufacturing you have in your state. agriculture has done well the past several years. oil and gas we of a nice start of a lateral do and where the drilling boom is starting to move into place. ours is doing pretty good and other places it still lags. there is a nagging long-term unemployment that is still there. you say by this point in time in this recession, we should be pulling out and we're still holding onto it like mud.

>> while the national and a plumber rate enginery was 8.3%, kansas was 6.3%. >> we have been doing better than the national average. it is still this nagging -- there is still a lot of long- term unemployment. there is a lot of listeners -- if you want a job, come to kansas. we have work. we have a number of places that are advertising. not every place, but we a lot of places. things are starting to pick back up. host: we have a line for republicans and democrats and kansas residents. that number for residents of kansas -- what are the top issues as you head into 2012?

>> on a federal level, i think it is this fear that the country is not going in the right way. from a standpoint that -- not so much about who was leading at this point in time, just this idea that we have an enormous deficit. it feels like things are languishing, like we're losing the leadership position. if you went to a crowd of 100 and said how many of you are scared about the future of your country? you would get 80 percent of the hands shoot up. i am concerned it too much debt, the economy is not moving forward, i am concerned and scared about the future of my country. that would be the over arching

feeling that you get from a number of people. >> you had endorsed rick perry for the presidency. what made him a candidate you could stand behind come into are you looking at now? guest: we go back a long way. we were at commissioners years ago. i thought that with what he has done within the texas economy would be the standout feature, because the economy was the key issue and remains, i think, one of the top issues, and into the fall. i thought the message of economic growth and cutting taxes of someone who has done it would really sell, but debates are difficult for him and did not make it through the debates. kansas will have the crop is coming up shortly, and i think i will wait until after that to say you i will endorse. it has been an odd election cycle. we have had seven republican

leaders to a bid at the top of the polls. it reflects the idea that people are very concerned about the future of the country and are really casting this to see who has the plan to help bring this back to where america should be. host: you will wait until after the caucus? guest: that is what i am planning to do. host: jan bruer is bleeding on endorsing him. she also chose not to go to a meeting with the white house. i am looking at a story that she declined the president's dinner last night. did you go to that? guest: i did. it was a pleasant occasion and a chance to talk through with the cabinet officers and other governors, things we're working on. it was an enjoyable event, but i know there gets to the conflict

at times, and sometimes it is just easier to avoid it. host: let's go to john, an independent scholar. -- caller. caller: i have never in a primary seen such negative ads in terms of fear. you commented earlier that one of the former governor's wrote a book on jeb bush. when you live in the south east here, that someone would go as far as literally scary people, we are going to take your social security -- this guy is going to do that, there must be some reason of sanity to fear

tactics, and i have never seen the republic kids use more fear, literally fear, things that are unsubstantiated. this president is a food stamp president. you scared all the people who are giving subsidies. i was just curious as to what did you think of not only the advertisements, but the town? no one on the republican side has said anything visionary. host: let's get a response. jeb bush made a comment that he thinks candidates are appealing to people's fears and hopes the changes before the election. guest: that sounds more like jeb bush. i think the people are looking at the debt crisis in europe and the turmoil in thing we're not far behind. if they are falling off this

cliff, why are we seeking to follow the same model, or if we are on the same model in much regard because of our debt, why not get out? let's start dealing with the debt. here is where a lot of people really are very critical of the president's having a chance a year ago to really engage in a debt and deficit reduction debate and discussion with the congress, have the simpson polls report out. i sat next to the executive director last night. here you have a bipartisan effort that says here are the places to cut. put a flat tax in place to get growth, and the president says it no. everything freezes and goes into a political campaign cycle when the country is saying deal with the debt.

get the economy going. that is not taking place. i think that is what really has the sense of urgency on people that we really need to start doing something. i look at it, and to me, the federal but joke here is starting to let air out. -- federal bubble is starting to let air out. we have government spending 41 cents of every dollar it is far road. people say this cannot last. it is starting to deflate the bubble. hopefully it can be done in a controlled fashion, and not on a very rapid fashion. >> since you brought up simpson boels, there is a new article out. he is trying to take steps and recommendations. >> and that is good, but look at how slow this is taking place. >> i stood up and said you have an historic opportunity. a democrat president with these massive debt and deficits we have come and republican house

of representatives that willingly wants to take the issue on. this is the sort of mix you can get at for this thing. i am glad to see pieces of this starting to come into place, but he proposes a 1.4 trillion dollar deficit? of four trillion dollar deficit a year in a row? this is nothing compared -- it is 14 trillion dollars total, but compared to medicare and social security. it will be 50 trillion dollars before it is done. we're facing a massive amount

of federal debt. no significant plan in place to address this. >> we have a kansas calller. host: we have a kansas caller. guest: i am from parker. my brother still lives there. good to hear the name lacine. caller: i am very concerned about a story i heard where they are denying benefits to the children of undocumented workers. those children that were born, they are not here of their own volition. they did not come here themselves. i am extremely concerned that denying milk to little babies, as winston churchill put it, i am very concerned about that.

if i do not have a right, i would like you to correct me and what our decision is in dealing with these persons come up because it seems to me like we experience a great deal of positive work, and if we are inviting these people in, it looks to me that, it seems to me like what president bush did, i am hearing that rumbles that the thing was for scott at 75 miles per hour on 199 street, that that was created, helped be billed by undocumented workers. >> i do not know about that. here is the issue, and here's what is presented to me. if you have a household with two people, two documented adults, a book of the incomes are considered on whether or not

a household qualifies for food stamps. we of a second household where one has a documented worker and the other is undocumented. and of the system we had, the undocumented worker and adults, their income was not considered for whether or not the house will qualify for food stamps. you favor of the household with undocumented workers over the one with documented workers. what i said is they should be treated equally. if you are documented or undocumented adults in this household, your income should be considered on whether or not the household or not should qualify for free stamps. otherwise it is an equity issue, and you were favoring a household that has undocumented workers in it. we're running this through the system to find common people it

has impacted. it really became an equity issue of whether or not you should favor the house so that has undocumented workers or treated equally to the household that has both adults in the household as documented. host: an editorial from last month says -- guest: food stamps is a federal program for one thing. it is not about balancing the budget. it is about being fair and equitable on whose income you consider. the total 2000 is not off of the policy issue. people come and go off of food stamps. generally the food stamp numbers go down.

we have been a very high levels. the unemployment rates have gone down. that has been the thing that has driven us far more than any sort of change in policy. should you consider household income, whether it comes from someone who was documented or undocumented? what do you think? host: let's hear from our listeners. cornelia in idaho. caller: it is kind of early out here? [laughter] i would like to make a quick comment that u.s. the governor about when you opened the program, and that is, i have noticed that the economy is slightly improving, but i attribute it to the republican governors that got in in 2010 and had improved the economies in their states, and that reflects a nationally, but i

give credit to those states that are being the lead up -- being led the right way by conservative republican governors. i think the president should not take credit for any improvement in the economy. it should be the states that have individually improved their economy. anyway, the most important point is that i agree with newt gingrich's that our president is unfortunately a very dangerous man went and administration can dictate to any religion that they have to provide things that go against their conscience to their employees, and next year -- or in 2014, it is said they will have to pay for providing abortions. host: bringing up the issue

whether or not religious organizations would cover birth control descriptions and such. the white house pivoted on that and said the insurance companies would cover the cost. happy with the compromise? >> i am not happy. i would like to go back to her earlier statement about republican governors. the last decade we lost 1000 private sector jobs. we have put to come in my state, a big emphasis on growing private sector jobs, recruited heavily bearded companies trying to improve the business climate, taking taxes off. really trying to incense and grow the economy and many republican governors. i am glad you noticed this issue.

>> the u.s. house is about to gavel in and then immediately recess and return for legislative worked at 4:00 p.m. and now live to the u.s. house on c-span. the speaker pro tempore: the house will be in order. the chair lays before the house a communication from the speaker. the clerk: the speaker's rooms, washington, d.c. february 27, 2012. i hereby appoint the honorable jeff denham to act as speaker pro tempore on this day. signed, john a. boehner, speaker of the house of representatives. the speaker pro tempore: the prayer will be offered by our chaplain, father conroy. father conroy: let us pray.

compassionate and merciful god, we give you thanks for giving us another day. let the members of this people's house as they return from busy days away from the capitol, give them strength, fortitude, and patience. fill their hearts with charity, their minds with understanding, their wills with courage to do the right thing for all of america. in the work to be done now, may they rise together to accomplish what is best for our great nation and indeed for all the world. for you have blessed us with many graces and given us the responsibility of being a light shining on a hill. may all that is done this day be for your greater honor and glory. amen. the speaker pro tempore: the chair has examined the journal of the last day's proceedings and announces to the house his approval thereof. pursuant to clause 1 of rule 1, the journal stands approved. the pledge of allegiance will

be led by the gentleman from south carolina, mr. wilson. mr. wilson: everyone, including our guests in the gallery, please join in. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the speaker pro tempore: the chair will entertain requests for one-minute speeches. for what purpose does the gentleman from michigan rise. >> to address the house for one minute. revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. today i rise to commend my alma mater, detroit catholic central high school, for winning michigan's 2012 division i state wrestling championship. mr. mccotter: it is the team's ninth state wrestling championship. after winning the catholic high school league title, c.c. dominated the district in regional meets and in the

finals defeated oxford to cap a 25-3-0 season. the coach not only claimed their second title in three years, they are sending 10 shamrock wrestlers to the individual state finals. truly the toil and devotion of every c.c. teammate is inspiring and well reflects upon the entire catholic central family who celebrates the student athlete's achievement. mr. speaker, i ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing the coach and the sham rocks for having earned the 2012 state wrestling title. and for exemplifying the father's teachings of goodness, discipline, and knowledge. live and die for c.c. high. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from south carolina rise. mr. wilson: i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one min. mr. wilson: mr. speaker, last week i was grateful to be part of a congressional delegation

led by chairman david dreier that established a partnership with the plarlment of kurdistan. -- parliament of kurdistan. we traveled as -- kurdistan. we traveled to build stronger legislatures. following parliamentry elections in 2010, they completed the first peaceful transation after an open and competitive election. the new president is committed to parliamentry democracy. under the leadership of speaker hasselbeck, the parliament and the h.t.p. will work together to strengthen committee operations, budget analysis, constituent relations, and other institutional reforms. it's a bright star in central asia with a growing economy, dedicated president, the prestigious american youth of central asia, and a dynamic

parliamentarian membership working with an engaged population to establish a democracy. in conclusion, god bless our troops and we will never forget september 11 and the global war on terrorism. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas seek recognition? mr. poe: request permission to address the house for one minute. revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. poe: mr. speaker, when the president took office, gasoline cost $1.96. now it's almost $4 a gallon. spring breakers in disney world can expect to pay nearly $6 a gallon to fill up their individual cars. but americans have no choice but to pay the higher price because the government is stonewalling a domestic energy policy. i go to work to make money to pay for the gas just to get to work. the president's energy policy is nothing from below, nothing from below the ground, nothing from below the sea. we are the only nation in the world that places most of our

offshore territory off limits to oil and gas exploration. meanwhile, the government continues to subsidize failed green energy projects. we should be saying yes to all types of american energy. yes to more offshore drilling. yes to anwr, yes to faster approval of permits. and yes to the keystone x.l. pipeline. let's make gasoline affordable for diana and all americans. that's just the way it is. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from tennessee seek recognition? >> to address the house for one minute. revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. cohen: thank you, mr. speaker. this weekend many of us watched the oscars and among the winners was a documentary film called "the undefeated. " it was about a football team in memphis, tennessee. high school, manassas high school. and a gentleman named bill who was a volunteer coach there. and went to manassas during the 2009-2010 season to try to help the kids and help them get through and a better life.

it's a tough part of the city, a lot of poverty, a lot of one-parent households and things to overcome. they had a football player named o.c. brown, an outstanding offensive tackle, he got a scholarship to go to southern mississippi. a great ballplayer. the coach worked with him and others to make sure that he got that opportunity to advance. it's a lot like i guess the "blind side" except it was a story about coach courtney and o.c. brown of manassas. it won an oscar and deserved it. it's about people not giving up and making a success of things. in just -- under one half a semester o.c. brown was able to achieve a 3.0 grade average and get that scholarship. manassas' -- is filled with talented people. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from tennessee seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute.

the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, i rise today to honor the memory of a great man who lived in my district, charlie peteyhouse was born in detroit and raised in ray county,town temperature temperature. a committed methodist, he earned his associates degree from tennessee wesleyan college and mainedtained -- maintained a lifelong relationship with the institution. he also received degrees from east tennessee state university and vanderbilt. mr. fleischmann: after completing his feags, he went to work as a teach -- his education, he went to work as a teacher and principal. he touched many young lives in his career. as an educator, which included serving as principal at bachmann and falling water elementary until his retirement in 1990. i got to know charlie through his work in local politics. charlie was always a presence whether at the hamilton county republican party chair, a campaign manager, or a delegate

to the republican national convention. he also served as tennessee's wildlife commissioner under two governors. last april i joined many in chattanooga to pay tribute to a man who inspired so many to serve. i was honored to call him my mentor. charlie passed away february 19 and is survived by his wife and daughters. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from mississippi rise? >> unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> mr. speaker, i rise today in support of h.r. 1433, the private property rights protection act of 2012. this bill represents a return of basic property rights to the american people. rights we are guaranteed in the u.s. constitution. in 2005, these rights came under attack when the u.s. supreme court ruled in favor of a corporation taking individual homes in the name of economic

development. mr. palazzo: as a result, people lost their homes to false promises of jobs and tax revenue. now instead of a booming business, there is only a city dump where the homes once stood. i agree with supreme court justice clarence thomas when he wrote in his dissenting opinion, something has gone seriously awry with this court's interpretation of the constitution. those citizens are safe from the government in their homes, the homes themselves are not safe. that is why i supported an eminent domain amount to the mississippi constitution, mississippi initiative 31, with 73% of michigan voters approved last november. i urge my -- mississippi owners approved last november. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? >> ask unanimous consent to rise and address the house for one minute. revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. burgess: thank you, mr. speaker. this week is rare disease day which takes place on february

29. i want to acknowledge the work of the national institute of health and their effort to bring down rare diseases. i also want to acknowledge the thousands of americans who are afflicted with diseases whose symptoms are so complex they simply remain undiagnosed. the majority of these disorders have genetic causes and over half affect children. the national institute of health has joined a worldwide effort with more than 40 countries to recognize and seek better ways to diagnose and treat patients. on february 29, the n.i.h. is observing a fifth annual rare key seize -- disease day. in conjunction with that, n.i.h. director will announce the launch of genetic testing registry. this is an online tool developed by n.i.h. scientists, providing health care providers and patients access to information on genetic tests. i also have legislation that would expand on these efforts. this wednesday, february 29, the rarest of days on the calendar, would cause pause to honor those working hard to

research and diagnose patients with the rarest of rare diseases. i want to acknowledge the work of n.i.h. and grateful they are organizing an event like rare disease day. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from oregon rise? without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. defazio: last december the speaker told us the republican signature jobs bill was going to be the surface transportation re-authorization. yet under pressure from the extreme right in his caucus two weeks ago he said in the republican caucus, this is not a jobs bill. this transportation bill. they wrote for the first time since the founding of the national highway system a purely partisan transportation bill in the hope of jamming it through. it's falling apart now. yet there are 150,000 bridges falling apart in the federal system. 40% of the pavement on the

national system needs to be restored. $70 billion backlog for critical equipment in our transit system. these could be jobs. made in america. but you need to work together. transportation is not, never has been, and should not be a partisan issue. by trying to make it partisan, they have stalled and failed. it's time to go back to the drawing board, put together a bill that's good for america. we don't have to have partisan politics on every issue. and transportation investment should not be one of those. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from california seek recognition? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i rise today to pay tribute to dr. lawrence newman, a beloved educator, writer who passed away on jewel 4, 2012 -- on july 4, 2011. he distinguished himself as a

talented and devoted teacher. becoming the first deaf person to be awarded the california teacher of the year award in 1968. mr. calvert: his contributions exsend far beyond the classroom. as a two-term president of the national association of the death, he was a tireless public advocate for deaf students, raising awareness of their unique needs and fighting for reforms in the law to support residential schools. he also fought for change from within the deaf community, encouraging sign language and total communication. for what purpose does lawrence's most important role, however, was that of a father of five and husband to betty, his wife of 61 years. he is missed and will always be remembered for his contribution to the deaf community. with that i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. pursuant to clause 12-a of rule 1, the chair declares the house in recess until approximately 4:00 p.m. today.

>> members taking a break to allow their colleagues to return to washington. they are expected back at about 4:00 p.m. eastern. they will have two bills to consider, when dealing with property rights and eminent domain. we have a more booktv programming to tell you about.

join us for like the coverage of a speech by author david brock about "the fox effect." he will be at politics and prose store in washington and you can see his talk at 7:00 p.m. eastern. rick santorum is campaigning in michigan. the live coverage picks up at 7:30 eastern on our companion network c-span 3. >> this is a seven-what solar panel with a little battery pack. you can charge your iphone, a cellphone, all that stuff directly. >> would you see here, you are seeing and area that has 165 million, each of which conceit with a small piece of dna. >> the technology is using two cameras, one that looks out, one that looks at the ice.

-- eyes. >> tonight on "the communicators," a fifth and final look at this year's computer electronics show. 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span2. >> president obama called on state governors to invest more in education today at a white house meeting with the national governors association. he warned governors that the out- educating us today will out-compete us tomorrow. his remarks are about 25 minutes. >> to the members of the president's cabinet at the white house staff, i want to tell you how much we governors appreciate your being here. we look forward to these meetings, because all of you, as well as the president and vice-

president, in the same spirit as we do, which is that at which unites us is so much more important and so much bigger than that which divides us. we cannot be any more fortunate to have as head of the national governors' association the governor of nebraska, who has absolutely a body that in nebraska and in his leadership. he has got a great job blowing us together. it is a great pleasure to introduce -- great job of bringing us together. it is a great pleasure to introduce gov. dave heineman. [applause] >> thank you very much. most of you know that jack and i served together 10 years ago as state treasurer. we are good friends and have great respect for each other. we want to thank the president of the first lady and vice president and dr. biden for an exceptional evening last night. jack and i decided that the reason we are here today is not to hear from jack or i but to hear from the president and vice president.

we agreed that we were going to keep this short. it is my pleasure to introduce the vice president of the united states, joe biden. [applause] >> hey, folks, how are you? hey, sit down. thank you all very much. the good news is you will not have to share much of the vice president. we will get you the president. folks, look, one of the things -- first of all, i had a great time last lead at the dinner. i got a chance to have real conversation with a bunch of you. for all the differences we have politically, i think there is a sense of inevitability about america. my dad used to say that no matter who's in charge, no matter how law, the american people are so much bigger, so much better, so much more capable than anybody can be that there is the inevitability of us

coming back. a lot has changed. when we came in office, and indeed he came in the same time we did, we were in free-fall -- many of you came in the same time we did, we were in free- fall. the middle-class was and still is clamoring to hang on and. a lot has changed. what most has changed is -- it is not all better, but we're at 23 consecutive months of private sector employment, over 2.5 million jobs, after losing 8.5 million jobs. we disagree on some of the policy prescriptions, but there is two points i want to make to you. i had a chance to be in a number of your states, democrat and republican. some states are faring better than others, some are doing just fine. it varies from state to state, and based on your economies and is about what you relied upon in

order to generate economic growth in your state. one thing i heard from my whole bunch of you, a democrat and republican, that certain things are coming back, manufacturing is coming back in the united states of america, for real. there is a reason for us to disagree on policy, but i don't think there's any reason for us to be doubtful that there is an inevitability to america to regain its strength and leading that 21st century economically. the governors have heard me say this, when we were out in california with the vice president of china. we are in a situation in the and this is where our economy is three times as large as the next nearest economy in the world. we are better positioned than any nation in the world to dominate in the first half of the 21st century.

[applause] we are just better position. if you look at the hard numbers, the problems that each of the countries and regions of the world face a relative to ours. secondly, we are also in that position that if we keep our folks a fighting chance -- i was saying this to the president -- i think the american people are tired of being tired. i think the american people are tired of being tired. they are tired of being told how bad things are, they are tired of having to deal with what they have to deal with. they are looking to all of us to let them know that we think as well at it is time to just get up. just get up and start to move. ladies and gentlemen, we are going to disagree on a budget things, but one of the things we all agree on, we need a better education system in america.

we rank 16th in the world right now. the idea that we will be that way, the idea that we can sustain that position and lead the world in the 21st century is not possible. we have made great strides in terms of being less reliant on foreign oil than we at any time in the past 16 years. a long way to go, long way to go. but we ought to figure out the places we can cooperate here. the american people are looking for us to cooperate. you cooperate with one another and you know you have to get things done. ladies and gentlemen, i want you to know that in terms of cooperation, we are open for business here. the president is open for business, i am open for business, you are open for business. you got a better idea? we will push that idea. the american people, they are ready, they are convinced we are able to take back what we lost, it convinced we are able to lead

the world. i would like to introduce the guy to you lose leading our effort and looking forward to working with all of you on an effort to do that, president barack obama. [applause] >> thank you, everybody. thank you. thank you so much. thank you. everybody have a seat. at a seat. thank you, joe, for the outstanding work you are doing on behalf of the american people every day. i want to thank all members, by cabinet, i want to thank dave heineman for the outstanding leadership -- they co-chaired the nga. i am glad to see that everybody recovered from the well time we had last night. it was wonderful to have you all

here. i always look for it to this event, because governors are at the front line of america's recovery. you see up close what is working, what is not working. the thing that takes all of us, no matter what part of the country you are from, certainly no matter what party we belong to, is that we know what it means to govern, what it means to make tough choices during tough times, and hopefully to forge common ground. we've all felt the weight of big decisions and the impact of those decisions have on people we represent. i first address to this group three years ago, and it was a moment, as joe mentioned, when the economy was in free-fall. some of you were just coming into office at that time as well. hundreds of thousands of americans were losing their jobs or homes every month. businesses were closing their doors and a heartbreaking pace. our entire auto industry was on the verge of collapse.

all told, the prospect of less going into a full-blown depression were very real. today, there is no doubt that enormous challenges remain, but over the past two years, american businesses have created 3.7 million new jobs, manufacturers are hiring for the first time since the 1990's, the auto industry is back, our recovery is gaining speed, and the economy is getting stronger. we have to do everything we can to make sure we sustain this process. that means we have to strengthen american manufacturing so that more and more good jobs and products are made here in america. it means we have to develop new sources of american energy so we are less dependent on foreign oil and the yearly spike in gas prices. and it means we have to make sure that every american is equipped with the skills, with the education, that they need to

compete for the jobs of tomorrow, as well as the jobs of today. that is what i want to talk to these governors in little bit about. no issue will have a bigger impact on the future performance of our economy than education. it will determine in the long run whether or not businesses stay here. it will determine whether businesses are created here, whether businesses are hiring here. it will determine whether there is going to be an abundance of good middle-class jobs in america. today, the on the planet rate for americans with at least a college degree is about half -- the unemployment rate for americans with at least a college degree is about half the national average, their incomes are twice as high as those who only have i high school diploma. this is what we should be focused on as a nation, what we should be talking about and debating. the countries who out-educate

us today will out-compete us tomorrow. if you want america to be number one in stay number one, we have work to do. the good news is we have made important progress working together. we have broken through the traditional stalemate between left and right by launching a national competition to improve our schools. i think arne has done an outstanding job of saying we've got to get past the old dogmas, whether it is on to the liberal side or conservative side, and figure out what works. we have invested, we have invested in reform. for less than 1% of what our nation spends on education each year, almost all of us have agreed to raise standards of teaching and learning. that is the first time that has happened in a generation. we also worked with all of you, democrats and republicans, to try to fix no child left behind.

we said that if you are willing to set higher, more on this standards, we will give you more flexibility to meet those standards. earlier this month, i announced the first 11 states to get a waiver from no child left behind, and i hope that we are going to be adding more states soon. i believe education is an issue that is best addressed at the state level. governors are in the best positions to have the biggest impact. i realize that everybody is dealing with limited resources. trust me, i know something about trying to deal with tight budgets. we have all this and start choices over the past several years. -- we have all faced stark choices over the past several years. to many states are making cuts to education that i believe are simply too big. nothing more clearly signals what you value as a state and the decisions you make about where to invest.

budgets are about choices. today i'm calling on all of you to invest more in education, invest more in our children and in our future. that does not mean you have to invest in things that are not working, that does not mean it doesn't make sense to move aggressively on reform. but the fact of the matter is we don't have to choose between resources and reform. we need resources and reform. there are two areas in education that of our immediate focus. first, we have to get more teachers into our classrooms. over the past for years, school districts across america lost over 250,000 educators. 250,000 teachers, educators, have been lost. think about that. a quarter-million educators responsible for millions of our students all laid off when america's never needed them

more. other countries are doubling down on education and their investment in teachers, and we should, too. each of us is here only because at some point in our lives, a teacher changed our life trajectory. the impact is often much greater than even we realize. one study found that a good teacher can increase lifetime income of a classroom by over $250,000. one teacher. one class for. -- one classroom. a great teacher offers potentially in a state for child who is treating the on his circumstances. teachers matter at all of us have to recognize that. we want to help you every place that we can. at the federal level, we have provided billions of dollars in funding to help keep hundreds of thousands of teachers in the classroom. a cornerstone of the jobs plan i put forward in december,

a chunk of which has gotten done but a chug remains undone, is to provide more funding to provide further layoffs. i would like to thank those of you in this room who voiced support for this effort. congress is in the position to do the right thing. they can keep more teachers and the classrooms, but you have to keep pressure on them to get this done. second area we have to bring greater focus is higher education. jobs of the future that are increasingly going to those with more than a high-school degree. i have to make a point. when i speak about higher education, we're not just talking about a four-year degree. we're talking about somebody going to a community college and getting trained for that manufacturing job that now is requiring somebody walking through the door handle a million-dollar a piece of equipment. they cannot go in there unless they have basic trading. -- basic training beyond what

the bank received in high school. we want americans to get those jobs of the future. it starts, by the way, with just what kind of expectation and ground rules we are setting for kids in high school. right now, 21 states require students to stay in high school until they graduate or turn 18. 21 states. that means 29 don't. i believe that is the right thing to do, for us to make sure, to send a message to our young people, you graduate from high school at a minimum, and i urge others to follow suit of those 21 states. for students that are ready for college, we have got to make sure that colleges affordable. today graduates who take out loans the college allowing an average of $25,000. that is a staggering amount for young people. americans owe more in student

loan debt and they to any credit card debt. they are saddled with debt before they start out in life. it puts college out of reach for far too many families. this is a major problem that must be fixed. i addressed it at the state of the union. we have a role to play here. my grandfather got a chance to go to college because american and congress decided every returning veterans from world war ii should be able to afford it. my mother was able to raise two kids by herself while still going to college and getting an advanced degree because she was able to get grants and work study it while she was in school. michelle and i are only here today because of scholarships and student loans that he was a good shot at a great education. -- that gave us a good shot at a great education. it was hard to pay off loans, but not as hard as it is for

students today. my plant puts students before banks by increasing aid with pell grants, allowing students to cap a monthly loan payments at 10% of their income, which means that their repayment schedule is manageable. congress still needs to do its part by, first of all, keeping student interest rates low. right now they are scheduled to double at the end of july if congress does not act, and that would be a real tragedy for an awful lot of families around the country. they need to extend the tuition tax credit for the middle-class to protect all grants and expand work study programs. -- to protect pell grants and expand it work study programs. it is not enough to focus on student aid. if tuition is going up faster than inflation, faster, actually, then health care costs, then no matter how much we subsidize it, sooner or later

we are going to run out of money. everybody else is going to have to do their part as well. this is not just a matter of the federal government come up with more and more money. that means the colleges and universities are going to have to help make their tuition more affordable. i put them on notice -- if they are not taking concrete steps to prevent tuition from going up, and federal funding from taxpayers is going to go down. we have got to incentivize better practices in terms of keeping costs under control. all of you have a role to play by making higher education a higher priority in our budgets. over 2/3 of students attend public colleges and universities, where traditionally tuition has been affordable because of state investment. that is something that every state takes pride in. that is the crown jewel, in fact, our economic system, that by far we have the best network of colleges, universities, and community colleges in the world.

but more than 40 states have cut funding for higher education over the past year. this is just the peak of what has been a long-term trend in reduce state support for higher education. state budget cuts have been among the largest factor in tuition hikes at public colleges over the past decade. my administration can do more, congress to do more, colleges have to do more. but unless all of you also do more, this problem will not get solved. it can be done though. jack?'malley -- where is martin. sorry. >> i told my son -- [laughter] >> martin in maryland is doing outstanding work on this front. you are seeing a real impact. from the flight to the

university of maryland all the way down -- the flagship university of maryland all the way down. we cannot allow higher education to be a luxury in this country. it is in economic imperative that every fami ando -- every family in america should be able to afford. frankly, i don't think this should be a partisan issue. all of us should every american who wants a chance to succeed at chance. [applause] let me wrap up by saying that a few weeks ago i held in this room, the adjoining room, one of my favorite events, the white house science fair. we'd buy distance from a lot of your states -- we invited students from a lot of your states, and we showcase projects that included the full range of scientific discovery. we had a group of kids from texas, young latino women who

came from the poorest section of texas, and yet they are winning rocket, additions, and they were so good because they could only so good because they could only afford one rocket, and they had to get it just right. their parents grant takes else just so they could travel to these events -- their parents ran a bake sales and just so they could travel to these events. you had a young woman who wants to be an oceanographer, and the intel science award, while she was homeless -- the family had lost their home and she was living out of a car, out of her family -- on their family's couch, and still was able to stay focused and chief was just remarkable. there was a kid, the kid who got

the most attention, a young man named joey from arizona. that is because joey let me fire off an extreme marshmallow cannon. it almost hit that light. i thought it was a lot of fun. while the cannon was impressive, joey left a bigger impression because he had already printed out his own business cards. [laughter] he is on the short list for a cabinet post. [laughter] under his name, and each car, was a simple motto -- "don't be bored, do something." don't be bored, do something. don't be bored, make something. across this country,

there are kids like joey doing things and making things. they early to work hard, they are willing to dig deep to achieve. we have responsibility to give them a fair shot. if we do, our future will be as bright as all of us want. if you have ideas on how we can make our education system work better, i want to hear them today, and arne duncan will want to hear them for the rest of the time that he is education secretary and the rest of the time i am a president. thank you very much, everybody. [applause] >> president obama's remarks earlier today it to the nation's governors. up next, the closing session. nga concluded the session with a series of the votes on policy positions.

leading the vote was nebraska gov. dave heineman. >> on this final session we will focus on our association and committee policies. this year, as we've talked many times, we redesign our policy process to more closely align our policies with gov. priorities. we are asking each committee to provide a report today on its policy, and we will be voting on those policies. the packet in front of you reflects those policies as adopted by the executive committee and standing committee, and recommended by the special committee. they will require a vote of 2/3 of those who are present. we will first go to the chairman of the economic development and commerce committee, governor brown bacback. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. it is of pleasure to serve on this committee, and jay nixon,

who chairs it, does a fine job. we have the three areas, commerce, transportation and infrastructure, and public finance. the committee recommends adoption of the three policies. edc-1 focuses on congress and entrepreneurship, tax and regulatory matters. edc-2 addresses transportation and infrastructure in 8 modal- neutral manner. we as a group can speak out on this. edc-3 confirms the importance of public finance, the state authority, a financial-services regulation, consumer protection and financial regulation. this is making sure that we don't get moved out of this area, nor our ability to do public financing harmed by federal laws. on behalf of the committee, i

move the adoption of our policy recommendations. we would be happy to answer any questions. >> is there a second? >> i second-rat. >> any discussion. all those in favor, please say aye. ayes have it. it has been adopted. we go to the chair of the egyptian, childhood, and work- force committee, governor beebe. >> in an effort to keep this on time, i'd move for adoption of the report we talked about yesterday. >> is there a second on that one. is there anyone who would like to ask governor beebe any questions? seeing it not, all those in favor please say aye. opposed, no. good job, governor beebe.

we now move to the chair of the health and human services committee, governor branstad. >> we moderated at a session on innovative and sustainable strategies states may pursue on improving overall health of our citizens while improving service delivery. we have the opportunity to discuss these items with two very distinguished guests, the assistant secretary for health at the u.s. department of health and human services, and ms. laurie jackson, executive vice president of wal-mart blue cross blue shield, each of whom provided insight on steps they can take to meet the increased health care needs of our citizens while reducing health- care costs. i guess i would challenge other states to join iowa with the goal of becoming the healthiest state in the nation. the committee approved interim

policy hhs-2, which has to do with temporary assistance for needy families. i now move with the policy hhs- s2. >> is there a second? any discussion? all those in favor, please say aye. those opposed, no. ayes have it. we will now move to the chair of the natural resources committee, governor malloy. >> we have a three policies, environmental protection policy, energy policy, outlining activities in the energy arena, calls on congress to enact environmentally responsible, efficient, affordable production and use of energy, and finally, at a policy that lays out our

governor's priorities for the farm bill, let water conservation fund, the community self-determination act, the cleanup of federal facilities. all of these issues may be acted upon by congress and we will now have a policy to take positions and support of what governors have previously allied. >> second? >> second. >> any discussion on the natural resources committee. all those in favor, signify by saying aye. opposed, no. policy is adopted. we move to the committee on public safety and homeland security to gov. o'malley, governor meade.

>> yesterday we had a very good discussion. we discuss three items, hhs-3i, hhs-4i, hhs-5i, and we had nearly if not all the tax on the country with great representation. we had most of the governors who served on the council of governors there. i will turn it over to gov. o'malley. >> we had a great conversation yesterday and we will no doubt continue that today. governor branstad, governor gregoire, others on the meeting with dod friends. the policy matters are fairly straightforward and simple. one of them and the outlines the principles for the homeland security management, another

with regard to armed forces, another one on public safety. our ability to make real, interoperable communications -- i move all of those policy matters and i ask my co-chair for a second. >> motion in the second. any discussion? seeing none, all those in favor please say aye. policies are adopted. we will now move to the policy report of the executive committee. >> nga as a law extending permanent policy that focuses on the relationship between states and the federal government, and it highlights the limited authority of the federal government under the constitution and the fact that all other powers are reserved for the states, and the executive committee reviewed the permanent policy and highlights

the issues that are important to us. that serves as the cornerstone of the work that the nga does for all of our other policies. the executive committee is recommending adoption of a health policy to reflect principles that guide our decisions on national health policy. i move the adoption of the permanent policy and health policy. >> is there a second? discussion? seeing now, all those in favor, please say aye. opposed, no. the policies adopted. we are moving at rapid speed here. we move on a major step towards aligning our policies. there is one final motion we need to make. i would ask governor jack markell, our vice chair, for

that motion. >> i can speak very slowly if you like. i want to thank all the committee members for working to improve the process. i want to thank gov. heineman for doing a great job leading us to this effort and the months leading up to it. with the adoption of these new policies, which incorporate many of our longstanding priorities, i move that they officially replace all of our existing nga policies. >> is there a second? thank you. any discussion on this one? all those in favor, please say aye. opposed, no. policies adopted, we are in much better shape i believe that governor gregoire with like to give us an update on the council of governors. >> i want to remind council members that we do at the pentagon and we will have a

meeting at the senate room at 2:00. it is obviously a very important meeting. mr. chair, if i might come in light of our conversation over the course of the last couple of days, once we have concluded that meeting, i am going to suggest that gov. branstad and myself report back to the body as a whole with regard to the issues that we bring to the attention of secretary panetta at that point. >> we now have over 40 governors who signed that letter and there is an opportunity -- at this stage in the key we are trying to get the governors were not present, so the numbers will climb before your meeting this afternoon. governor branstad? add.don't have anything to i am really proud to see all the governor's standing together on this important issue of the national guard. >> all right. any other issues while we're moving at this warp speed? this is great.

ok. neil, you didn't want anything to say there? ok. now, we're -- [laughter] he is going to invite us all to hawaii, and that will be good. let me just say, i did not dissipate we would get done quite as quickly, but i did tell the staff at it is entirely possible, and what we were going to do if it occurred, let me make sure everybody understands, because we do not want to be late for the president, ok? we do need to proceed from this room directly to our buses, and we will leave fairly promptly, probably sooner than we anticipated. i would ask all those who are present here in the audience to wait for the governors to exit before you move out, because we have a policy trying to get everybody down to the white house on time.

with that, i want to thank the nga staff and all of you for attending. it was very destructive the last few days to get your comments in everett -- tended -- a very constructive the last few days to get your comments. we are adjourned, and it is time to head to the buses. thank you very much. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] >> the u.s. house is in recess right now as members are returning from their holiday break. they are expected back by about 4:00 p.m. eastern.

members have two bills on the agenda, including one to dealing with private property rights and and and and domain. -- eminent domain. later today, booktv.org, we will have live coverage of a speech by author david brock on "the fox effect" at politics and prose bookstore in washington, d.c. former pennsylvania senator rick santorum is campaigning in michigan on the day before that state's primary. live coverage at 7:30 p.m. eastern on our companion network, c-span3. >> this collects the power, and then you can charge your iphone, cellphones, all that stuff directly. >> what you're seeing here, you're actually seeing and area that has 165 million wells, each

of which can seat as a small piece of dna. >> the technology is using two cameras. we know exactly what the person is interested in in what they are seeing.>> tonight on "the communicators," the sears consumer electronics show in las vegas, with the newest innovations -- this year's consumer electronics show in las vegas, with the newest innovations out of the industry. 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span2. >> despite an apology by president obama, at the attacks in afghanistan continue. this is just over half an hour. [laughter] >> he is always looking over my shoulder. well, good morning.

i will open with a few remarks on afghanistan, and i'm joined by my fellow spokesman via video link from kabul. since we third last week that isaf forces mishandled religious materials, including the holy koran, political and military leaders from the president to the secretary of defense move quickly and forcefully to express apologies for this incident. american and afghan leaders have met with a muslim religious leaders over the past several days to elicit support in conveying that message. tragically, many in afghanistan have been killed or wounded as a result of a violence there. extremists have killed four americans, including two officers within the confines of the afghan interior ministry.

these are tough losses, andthey demonstrate that we will experience challenges within the course of this campaign. let me be clear -- first, secretary panetta and chairman dempsey are fully committed to a strategy in afghanistan. they believe we have achieved significant progress against the taliban's momentum, and they believe the fundamentals of our strategy remains hundred nd.ondsou second, we will not allow recent events to allow us to lose sight of the core objectives, including denying al qaeda the ability to maintain a safe haven in afghanistan.

at third, we are away for a in are committed to achieving the transition to the afghan -- unwavering in are committed to achieving the transition to the afghan security lead on the timeline agreed to at lisbon. fourth, we join with president karzai and other afghan leaders in the call to calm and an end to violent protests. fifth, we appreciate the steps karzai is taking to quell violence in the country and we commend at the hard work and sacrifice of the afghan security forces, who have suffered casualties attempting to quell the violence. we respect the right of all afghans to peaceful protests. further bloodshed serves me the collision or the afghan people, who are falling victims to the violence. finally, our relationship with our afghan partners remains strong. we continue to strengthen the mutual trust between isaf and the government of afghanistan as well as afghan forces and

civilians. every day, our forces together with our afghan partners face a enemy. afghan security forces are parham with isaf forces in 90% of situations. together they fight in difficult situations, building trust and mutual respect despite recent incidents. we know that the spirit of american coalition and afghan forces will be tested throughout the campaign in afghanistan. anyone who believes they can weaken our resolve through these cowardly attacks is severely mistaken. let me repeat that. anyone who believes they can weaken our attacks is severely

mistaken. our coalition will emerge far stronger and as determined as ever to provide security for the afghan people. there's much at stake in afghanistan. in the our commitment to our mission and strategy will not waver. with that, i will be happy to take your questions, unless captain kirby from kabul has any further comments. >> no, thanks, george. you covered that very well. i am ready for the questions. >> george, with respect to general allen's move to move all advisers from the ministries, what has to happen before going forward with that partnership? he said the fundamentals of the strategy remains sound. the partnership and the trust you refer to seems to have deteriorated, to put it mildly.

is this business as usual? is he going to proceed with the strategy without any particular consideration? >> with security for personnel and isaf, that is something we work on together. the fundamentals of our strategy to remain sound. the mission continues. we continue to fight the enemy, and we will do that. we work alongside thousands of afghans every single day to ensure a better future for the afghan people. nothing that has happened over the past week will deter us from that goal. we're making progress. we have put the enemy on its heels in many part of the country. it does not mean there isn't work to be done. but let's not let the events of the past week steer us away from the reality that we have made significant progress throughout the country.

on the first question, let me turn it over to john. >> thanks, george. general allen has made it clear that the advisers will go back into the ministry's when he is ready for them to go back. he has not put a deadline or timeline on that. he is in discussions every day with the minister of the interior and the minister of defence about what we are doing to improve security in the ministries so that he can get to that decision point. pointdn't really at this

want to go into any specifics on that, because we want to preserve a little bit of force protection measures. suffice it to say, he is not ready right now to have the advisers go back. but this is february. the other thing i would say, and he made this very, very clear yesterday in meetings, is that he wants to work to go on. the advisers are still remaining in contact with their counterparts in the ministry's. the contact is still there, the work is continuing. it is just that they are not physically at the ministry buildings. >> has isaf taken any additional measures about pausing or departner in the patrols or routine contact with personnel as a course protection measure? how can isaf personnel be confident that in the wake of these protests, they are not vulnerable to attack by the very people they are mentoring? >> john? >> well, look, great question, but as you know, we've talked about green-on-blue incidents in the past.

this is something -- it is a challenge we are dealing with all the time. in each of the regional commands, and general allen urged them to be vigilant, but he made clear that operations must continue. we just wrapped up an operation to date, a three- or four-day operation down there, with over 900 afghan national security force troops up part of this operation, nearly half the number total of troops have participated. it was what they call a spoiling mission. they wanted to get ahead of any spring offensive by the enemy down south, and they tremendous work together. it was a very successful mission. over 200 palace of explosive home eight captured, 29 ied's

taken. they expected over 5000 vehicles on highway one. that is just one example. the work continues throughout the country. partnering continues. the growth and development, training of the afghan national security forces, that has not been impacted. clearly, everybody is going to be little more vigilant right now. that is the right thing to do, it is appropriate to do. the mission itself continues. >> hi, captain kirby. please give us your best assessment of what is happening on the ground right now. how widespread are these protests? how often are they happening? how dangerous is the atmosphere? what, if any, additional steps can you tell us about to protect americans in general, troops and civilians? >> right now all that has been done in kabul -- nothing has changed over the last couple of

days. the advisers are not in the ministries. movement here is restricted. especially anything outside of the green zone. obviously, it would be less than honest if i said that things are not tense in kabul. they certainly are. but it is getting calmer here. on saturday we had 24 protests. a majority -- not a majority, but a great number of them were filing. yesterday, only nine protests, and they were not throughout the country. four in the north, if you are in the east, only one out west. today, there were only three protests, and two of those were about the koran issue, one was about land disputes, none of them were violent. it seems that things are

calming down. there has been called by religious leaders, certainly by president karzai and others, for calm and peaceful protests, and we're seeing the results of that effort to urge restraint. >> captain kirby, craig whitlock. could you give us an update on the status of the investigation into, as george put it, the murders of the two officers in the interior ministry? why haven't the perpetrators been caught? why has it afghanistan said publicly that this was an afghan? >> well, i am not going to speak for the afghan ministries are saying or not saying or why. that is something they should talk to. this just happened, so the investigation is just now under

way. the afghans are also investigating it as well. we are working together with them on that. the killer fled, and there is an active search to find him. i would be loath to go into any more details than that. believe me, craig, what happened the other day as everybody's attention here and a sharp focus. the real tragedy -- our thoughts and prayers go to the families of the two who were killed. the larger point, and george said this very well -- as tragic as this was here, and certainly a shock to isaf personnel in kabul, everybody wants to continue the mission and get back to work, and that is what we're focused on. >> can you tell us, reviewing the entire afghan strategy, we heard that you asked general allen to do our review for the post-surge strategy, and the

pentagon is getting together to look things over. where do we stand now? what is expected? when we get the report from allen, if that is why we are waiting for, and out as anything that has gone on this week change that planning? >> we are working on a long view in terms of troop drawdowns between now and 2014. we are still having those discussions and cited the u.s. government. we will consult with our isaf partners. the important thing, we believe, is to sustain the progress that we have made, and i think that, as i said, the fundamentals of the strategy remained sound. >> we are not going to let the events of the past week, which are regrettable, unfortunate, and tragicomic influence the

long-horizon view that we are taking with respect to our partnership with afghanistan. barbara? >> to go back to the original question, is, in fact, trust, strained right now between the u.s. and afghanistan? where is it strange? can you trust them? >> john, feel free to comment on this as well. i will offer my perspective. when we learned of the incidents last week involving the sacred text of the koran, we took immediate steps to apologize to the afghan government. when our officers were killed over the weekend that -- afghan officials apologized to the secretary and others. they pledged to take immediate steps to curtail violence in the country. the measure of trust in a rush

of like this, and it is a strong partnership with the government of afghanistan, is when something like this happens, when we have tragic events, how quickly do we respond? we have taken responsibility for what we have done over the past week. the afghans have taken responsibility as well. i think that was a key measure of trust. we are going to continue to work together. we will continue to work in ways to further the partnership. i think that is the essential ingredient. john, do you have anything to add? >> no, george. i think that is right. trust and confidence are the keys to coalition warfare. there is going to be issues. there is going to be tension. there is going to be some

disagreements. as we have seen throughout, there will be some very dreadful, regrettable, lethal incidents. but i can tell you, at the leadership level, everybody here is focused on maintaining that trust and confidence and continuing to work together. it has been in daily contact between general allen and his counterparts in the afghan government. >> do believe the government did and not to stop the violence in the initial day? and as we all sit here today, could leon panetta walking to the ministry of defense in kabul and be safe without protection? >> we believe that afghan officials clearly understand that the violence threat the country -- they have pledged to us that they do recognize that issue. mey're taking steps -- let finish, if i can.

>> following the initial outbreak of violence. >> feel free to weigh on this. we were in partnership after the koran incidents. we believe they are committed. we look forward to seeing violence abate in the coming days. i'm sorry, john, do you have anything to add? >> no, george, nothing to add. >> i want to go back to the incident of the minister of interior. are you 100 percent sure that the issue is related to the koran issue?

and you think that senior afghan officers could be involved in this incident? >> the answer to both of your question is, quite honestly, we do not know. we do not know what the motivation was behind the murders. frankly, she was able to get out as quickly and easily as she did. we just do not have that level of detail. >> a couple more questions. >> can you update us on the

status of the investigation into the koran burning itself? has anyone been placed on leave pending the outcome of the investigation? and where is that? we were told last week there would be some preliminary results within 24 hours or something. we have not heard much about that. and what was the decision making about, calling advisers from the ministry in kabul and around, what is the distinction there and why you think advisers around the country are sick? >> john, do you want to take that question? >> on the status of the investigation, it is ongoing. it is not yet complete. i would be a load to get to a specific deadline here, but i

can tell they're working very hard on this. the work is going on and they are working very hard at it. i just cannot have a better feel for it beyond that. the other question, this was such a very specific -- they saw what we knew at the time and the hours after. the most prudent thing to do was to get everybody back inside of the compound. we did not have any indication that the threat was anywhere other than in kabul. he also, and i made this clear earlier, that he made clear to

all the regional commands that they need to take whatever measures they felt they needed based on the committee -- based on the conditions on the ground and what they were. without getting into the cells of what everyone did or did not do, i can take it took that guidance to heart. >> can you tell us if those forced measures included separating armed afghan security forces from u.s. forces and any of those areas? also, could you give us an update on this food tampering business this morning? was it intentional to poison u.s. forces there? >> to your first question, as i

said, we just concluded a successful operation. we are still out there in very connecticut operations. as i said earlier, partner operations and training continues today. we are investigating this right now. i do not have all the facts. there could have been some tampering of the food. they immediately closed the facility. the food did find high levels of chlorine in the coffee and on some fruit.

what we do not know right now, and again, this is why the team is looking into it, if this was a deliberate act to poison or whether it was just an inadvertent mistake using more clorox in the cleaning process than they should have. we just do not know right now. >> do any of the commanders, particularly at the upper levels, considering the levels of last week, consider u.s. forces in the field, a fighting side-by-side with armed afghans, at greater risk today than they were one week ago? >> again, i would not want to speak for operational commanders that i have not

spoken to. what i can tell you is that all of the r.c. commanders are continuing operations every day. it is not just the field operations. it is the process of transition training. they all outlined their ongoing efforts. they take whatever measures the team approach prepared it affects the mission itself. >> it is hard to escape the conclusion that the wheels are coming off a little bit here. since last week, we have the border still close with pakistan. understanding you are focused on the taliban, the relationship with partners is in crisis.

i think that is fair to say. are you ruling out any changes in adjustments to strategy? are those under consideration? or are you saying it is business as usual? >> on the long view here, and to take stock of what has happened. there has been no shift in the strategy. our strategies are always evolving. they tend to be living. that is what we recognize. there has been no fundamental change. >> have there been any changes to the way that advisory and

partnering are taking place other than what is happening with the ministry? you said that commander alan had given them -- to make their decisions. >> i will throw that to capt. kirby. >> none that i am aware of. but, again, i do not have my finger on each r.c. command. the guidance he gave was that they needed to be vigilant and take whatever appropriate measures they needed to take. he did not order them to change the mission or the strategy. as i said, it was a very successful operation down south. i am not aware of any operational changes as a result of this. again, i am not in contact with each of the r.c. commanders.

i cannot speak to individual details, the daily operations. i will tell you, in general, across the country, everything is continuing. the mission does continue. the affect is largely and almost solely felt here in kabul, specifically with the advisory mission to the ministries. >> i think everyone wants to ask a question should get one in. >> ok. all right. we will take one or two more. >> john, you talked a lot about the situation being tense. you talked about control's going down. i want to ask what this says about counter insurgency.

we spent 10 years trying to win hearts and minds in afghanistan. the fact we're at this point and that afghans are not accepting the u.s. apology. the afghans that i have talked to say they call this an attack on faith. what do you say to those that suggest that the mission to win hearts and minds and has failed. >> well, a couple of things,

nancy. you said 10 years. and yes, we have been there 10 years. but you know, as well, it has only been a strategy in the last couple of years. i think it would be wrong to try to extrapolate from the events of the last few days. some sort of broader declaration about the failure or gaps in the strategy. these events are troubling and worries some. they have everybody's attention. tensions are high in kabul right now. the number of protesters just since saturday dropped from what we estimate was 11,000 total to roughly 4000 out of 3.5 million afghans. i cannot speak to each and every individual afghan about how they feel about this. as george said, we recognize that our forces mishandled the holy koran. we apologize for that.

it certainly is not emblematic of how we respect the religion of islam. i think it is really making a lead appeared to try to extrapolate from what has been happening in the last week for so to some sort of failure in the strategy in general. the mission continues. that mission essentially is a counter insurgency strategy and we are still productive. >> quick one here. did general allen or any other commanders there, leaders, reach out to president obama asking him or suggesting to him that he should apologize to the president as he eventually did? >> the decision to apologize was the president's. general allen supported that decision. >> just a couple more now. >> in the nato video released, after the second and third deaths, they urged troops not to take revenge. from your perspective on the ground in afghanistan, are these killings having an affect on troops' morale? what is being done to make sure

that morale does not degrade? >> well, general allen was very clear with the troops about the need to continue on and to not let this affect the relationships that they are building with security forces. it would be hard to speak to every person here in afghanistan and how they feel about this. i can tell you-the force is that the work is really important. we want to continue it. i contend that many of the advisers i've spoken to here just in the last day and a half have said, and uniformly to me, that they want to get back out there.

they have important work to do. they are doing it remotely, obviously, right now. that will happen. it will happen in due course. >> we will wrap it up. >> following up on the earlier questions about the difference between the security situation in kabul and elsewhere. what does that say about what you know but the security situation in kabul? is there a group there that is suspected? what in kabul is unique? >> well, again, what started the pullback was this murder inside the ministry building in a secure space. i think it was a prudent thing to pull back there. again, i say it again.

things are still tense in kabul. there is a peaceful protest with no violence whatsoever. >> thank you everyone. appreciate it. take care. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] >> the u.s. house is back today after a one week long the president's day break. members are in recess preparing for this afternoon's legislative session, expected to start in about half an hour from now. there are two bills on the floor, dealing with property rights and eminent domain. but scanning at 6:30 p.m. -- vote scheduled for 6:30 p.m. a live the speech by author

david brock @ politics and prose here in washington. that will be live online and don booking -- and on booktv.org. wrote to the white house coverage later today with rick santorum in michigan. live coverage beginning at 7:30 p.m. on our companion network, c-span3. >> this is 7 kilowatts and you can charge your iphone, cell phone directly. >> what you are seeing here, this is actually an area that has 165 million wells that can each sequent it's a piece of dna. >> this is using two cameras. one that looks out and one that

looks in the eye. we know exactly what that person is interested in. >> if fifth and final visit to the consumer electronics show in vegas with a look at the latest innovations in technology. 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span2, " the communicators." >> the house return that four- o'clocks for legislative business. now the loss in accounting and federal processes from this morning's washington journal. host: we put the spotlight on the special missions, who was involved, and what it costs. we're looking at improper payments to the government, how it works, and our guest is with the government accountability office. good morning.

guest: improper payments are those that were made in the incorrect amount. the definition also includes payments due to insufficient documentation, so i could elaborate a little bit more. if i were to be paid as a beneficiary of a federal program, i may be paid an inaccurate amount of payment. the $10 difference that i would be overpaid, that is one situation which is due to lack of documentation. there was some misinformation and it did not provide my social security number, the number of beneficiaries that i have.

and it is things that may have been missing in miny improper payment. might -- i might have been there legitimate perception of that money, because of the lack of the petition, it is classified as improper payments. host: howdahs this specifically happen? is it on the end of the federal agency, the person trying to get the federal money? how do these things slip through the tracks? -- through the cracks? guest: there are many root causes of improper payments. action has been taken to identify categories of improper payment route causes. the agencies are now trying rather aggressively to their root causes into three categories. i might mention that last year in 2011, the total amount of government improper payments was $115.3 billion.

some of that might include improper payments that are strictly due to lack of documentation. this was somewhat good news because the year before it was $5.3 million more. so there actually was a reduction last year in the improper payments. host: let's look at improper payment by agencies last year. health and human her services at -- and human services $65 billion. the department of labor, $14 billion per social security, $9 billion. agriculture, $5 billion. guest: the health and human services areas -- medicare, medicaid, those comprise more than half of the one under $15 million of improper payments. -- of the $115 million of improper payments. 1.2 $5 billion was recovered through audit programs, and of

more than half of that, 7 and 79 million was due to medicare. host: we're talking about improper payments that the government has made with our guest, beryl davis, who just mentioned federal agencies spent out a hundred $15 billion in what are known as improper payments -- about $115 billion in what are known as improper payments, last year. if you would like to call in and talk about this topic, here are the numbers -- let's look at high-error programs. you mentioned that medicare and medicaid come into play here. medicare fee services, $29 million but the $29 billion last year.

host: dig into these numbers here. what does that actually mean? guest: if you look at the top 10 programs responsible for improper payments last year, they comprised about 1 1/7 million dollars, 1 1/7 -- they comprised about $107 billion. the unemployment insurance number is due to people who go back to work but they continue to receive benefits. many of the top 10 programs are -- you will see there are documentation errors, administrative errors, someone might not have put the data in the computer correctly. as i mentioned earlier, someone may have left off information from their application regarding a specific situation such as the previous employment, the number of children they have, etc. so many of these are due to administrative verification eras -- errors, it may be that

information got on the application but the agency was not able to support that through an independent database. so there are a number of reasons. this is why a government accountability office is focused on drilling down to the root causes of improper payments. this is critical to be able to identify the course of action plans and identify preventive means of avoiding the pay and chase way of doing business, where you pay somebody and go after the money after the fact. host: anthony joins us from annandale, virginia, democrats line. heard a reporter 60 pitches, an outline for an affidavit -- a report, 60 pages, an outline for affidavit, and they set me back a report -- now 2012, and since

then, since i never followed up on it, they also submit the exact same 60-page information to the gao, and they never even acknowledged my sending a letter to them. i finally called them, and the person there was to convey to death person -- was a tone-deaf person. i'm mad -- i wonder how you recruit -- how you accrue your losses. guest: if you would like to send that information, i will do some research and find out what i can for you. i would be happy to look into it. host: does the government find out about cases of abuse or

error or fraud from tips? is that a way that information comes out? guest: certainly tips are one method of identifying part -- improper payments. the agencies have their own programs, such as data analytics, where you look at trends come and take these huge databases and data and look at trends that might indicate fraudulent payments. you also have opportunities to share information between agencies. a good example might be the pell grant. the pell grant is looking toward the treasury department to assist it in the sense that they can pull up the irs data. when an applicant fills out an application, either he or she or their parents can actually pull information from the air -- from their tax database and put it in the loan application. you see a lot of agencies trying

to make better use of sharing information, and that is really critical. another example might be, as i mentioned earlier, unemployment insurance. the $5.3 million reduction, the largest piece in that was due to a reduction of $3.8 billion in unemployment insurance due to the lower program outlays. that program, again, because it has people that go back onto the payroll and are no longer needing unemployment insurance, they are looking at associating with health and human services, which has a new database, comparing their database with the health and human services database to try to find potentially people who can come off the payroll. host: beryl davis, with the government accountability office. this is our "your money" segment. james, independent line, in common, mississippi.

good morning. caller: i wanted to ask her -- in the case of the government, with housing and the usda department and development for complexes and things like that, you know that you participated in the program correctly, and over several years you begin to see a deterioration of the complex or apartments that you live in, and you report these issues to the people that you represent and they sort of like put it on hold because you know we're living in the low-income areas, and the federal government assists in these programs and you speak out about

these commissions and you ask a more the money is going for the repairs, for upkeep of the complex and they give you 500 or 600 different pages to fill out, and then you are being persecuted for speaking out, what do you do in cases like that? for several years we have been speaking out about the slumlord's coming into these apartments, especially here in call-in, mississippi, and they just keep giving us the run around and also harassment. i have spoken with the usda department about it, and they are looking into it, but what did you do when you know it is wrong and they are holding you up and say we cannot -- you know it has been going on for 10 or 25 years? guest: the best thing you can do is work with the agency itself, and there are proactive people within the agency, advocates for individuals such as yourself who

may be able to help you. i would not be able to specifically assist you in this particular situation, looking toward the agency and asking for their assistance might be the best vehicle for obtaining help. host: the gao did an analysis of improper payments. explain what the role of the gao is when it comes to policing this or keeping tabs on that money that was paid out and should not have been. guest: the gao is considered the congressional watchdog. it is responsible for looking at how federal moneys are spent, looking at programs for effectiveness and efficiency across the federal government. it produces probably around 1000 products appear in the form of reports said testimonies. report -- spend testimonies. we are partial, fact-based, not partisan. we have high professional

standards we have to comply with. host: democratic caller bank in atlanta, georgia. caller: my concern is about fraud and medicare. my mother is on medicare and i want to care for her but i worry about all the fraud. she goes into the hospital for a few days ed they bill anywhere 20,000 -- and they built from anywhere from $20,000 to $40,000 a visit. she has a nurse come to the house once a week. they are charging something like $70 an hour. i note they don't paid nurses that kind of money. multiplied at time -- multiplied that by the hundreds of other

people who are on medicare, i wonder if anything is being done to crack down on. guest: i think we have two issues here. what is the amount of the payment. sometimes there are billing rates that are higher than what the government pays. again, i am not an expert in the area of healthcare services so i cannot piece is a big as to whether or not the payments are too high. -- i cannot be too specific as to whether or not the payments are too high. the other issue of fraud, we are looking at the different reasons for improper payments across all of the agency's. there are 79 programs in the agencies that contribute to that $150 billion figure each year. we look at that, but there were relatively few cases of fraud. that does not mean that fraud doesn't exist. there are actions that are being taken now to identify fraud, and

once fraud is identified, to put a stop to it. on twitter direct us to a story in "the washington post." $77 million computer system to detect fraud before it happens a prevented just one suspicious payment by christmas, saving taxpayers exactly $7,591. senator tom carper delaware wonders, did they leaeve out some zeroes?" guest: i cannot speak to that specific issue you are talking about. the agencies are looking at how to better align their huge databases with matching

databases and, as i mentioned, these analytic techniques where they can identify patterns of fraud. in this particular case, it may be that the software is been -- has not been in place long enough. there is reason to ensure that any investment on the part of the government is made wisely. when you poke your hardware, software, anything you think is going to have a benefit down the road, there should be a good cost analysis to determine if that will be a meaningful benefit. host: the director of medicare's anti-fraud program suspending and that itone way is unfair to a great technology on ua single statistic." david, massachusetts,

independent, good morning. caller: good morning, libby. what is your role as far as auditing government spending? second, based on the amount you put out as far as improper government payments for last year, how much of that is inappropriate spending cuts congressional salaries -- towar congressionalds salaries? guest: i think i can help to understand and answer your question by telling him how the payments -- the estimates, about. these are estimates reported by the agency. i might digress for a moment and say that the government accountability office has a number of programs now and audits that are taking place related to reviewing improper

payments in the area of medicare, medicaid, the department of defense. to get back to how the estimates are comprised, the different agencies are required by law -- there has been a lot of that legislation the last decade that is moved forward in identifying improper payments. they have to be developed using a statistically valid samples. it is an estimate of estimated payments that, again, are due to statistically valid samples. host: beryl davis, we're talking about $150 billion of improper payments last year. on the scale of government payments in general, we're talking about a success-failure rate of how much? guest: 4.7%. the total outlays for those programs is $2.50 trillion.

host: 95% perceived success rate? guest: correct. host: phil, republican in fort worth, texas. caller: good morning. i don't see under chart how much money we are wasting an illegal aliens, wasting what food stamps and all the free stuff they get at the county -- host: philip, are you concerned about the law itself or people breaking the rules? caller: i am concerned about people breaking the rules and taking benefits from our kids and our citizens. they take our jobs, they take our kids' jobs. our kids' on a planet rate is way higher than the regular unemployment rate -- kids' unemployment rate is way higher than the regular unemployment rate. host: one caller talked about

congressional salaries and how those can be improper payments. guest: correct. there is definitely a difference between what the law states is an improper payment and what some people might consider to be improper payments. looking at what the agencies are doing to mitigate improper payments, they -- the law requires an agency that has activities of more than $1 million annually it to have our recovery audit contractor program in place, where the program is required to go out an audit and find if improper payments have been made. they are required to report improper payments if they meets certain threshold by law. they are required to perform a risk analysis to determine which programs are susceptible to the improper payments. the more recent legislation passed in 2010 now requires

inspector general of each of the ies to look at what the improper payments might be in and to determine whether or not there has been compliance with the act of 2010 regarding the identification of improper payments. host: michelle asks us on twitter whether the gao has oversight of the defense department. maybe you could talk about when it comes to a proper statemenspg -- improper spending. guest: it is important that you raise the question, because this past year there were commercial paper programs with the department of defense that were not included in the government- wide estimate. they worked -- they were developing their estimating methodologies. this year, there were nine new

programs that were added to the total of the programs that had estimated improper payments. one of those was fairly significant, the drug program that added $7 billion to the total. host: mark, democrats' line. caller: good morning. i have a question for ms. davis. what is your view of obamacare? does she think that law has to do with the medicare fraud thing going on throughout the country? i am just wondering, does that needed to be repealed in order to make things better for the rest of us throughout the country? guest: because i work for the government accountability office, we have a very strict standards about auditing and sharing in reporting information. we report to congress, we report

to various agencies. our records are public. you can go to our website at gao.gov and see all of our testimonies and reports. i cannot speak specifically to that break any statement i make needs to be relevant to the work we do have the government accountability office. host: the recent analysis of improper payments in 2011 shows there were $150 billion set out improperly. can programs accounted for about $7 billion, -- $107 billion, 90% of the problem. delaware, brandon, independent line. caller: great show again, c- span. i wanted to speak on the point

of improper payments. i don't think anybody disagrees on what an improper payment is. i think where the disagreement comes in, like you said, what the government says is improper payments, because there is no doubt that just about every american citizen has given an illegal immigrant money or something that an own american citizen cannot get is an improper payment. according to the government, it is and not. that is what we need to fix first, what is an improper payment. also, when people get improper payments from unemployment, they can pay that back with unemployment. what sense does that make? host: you raise the question of how improper payments are paid back. we talked earlier about this idea of the law and whether or not improper payment is something people want to see, objective or not.

let's take the second part of what brandon had to say, how do you get the money back? guest: if the individual is continuing to receive the benefits, a feature benefits can be reduced. it is more difficult -- an example would be a contractor that received payments for it services or products provided. the payments can be withheld. but it is more difficult with an individual paid in -- it is up to the agencies to determine how best to retrieve the money. there are contract audit agency's that they pay a contingent fee to to recover the fund. host: should someone be sent to jail, fined or penalized if they were given improper payments? that gets to the question of whether or not it was intentional or not on the part of the recipe, but if they were ignored, could they get in trouble? -- if they were ignorant, but

they get in trouble? guest: absolutely, that they could. host: ed joins us. where are you calling from? caller: lowell, massachusetts. host: you are on the air with beryl davis. caller: i have one area of what i consider to be fraud that is very difficult. i happen to work in real- estate and i go to houses where people are receiving assistance. they get appliances. appliances that are supplied to these people, washer and dri er, it was like $205,000 for a washer and dryer is applied to these people on assistance. the average american cannot afford that.

it is just throughout the whole system like that. people administering these programs have as the philosophy that we are going to get as much money as we can and they over do it on anything. guest: that is a very difficult question to answer, but i would like to take it to a much higher level. we are talking about stewardship of taxpayer dollars. a lot of questions, your question, other questions that have come in, address that need. the government accountability office is looking carefully at that. we've done many reports over several years with the goal of encouraging agencies to reduce and eliminate improper payments to the extent that they can. but yes, the government takes taxpayer money and has responsibility to spend those dollars wisely.

that is one of the important objectives of the government accountability office in helping to identify areas where programs can be more effective, efficient. host: virginia, democrat, go ahead. caller: yes. er about theain medicare program. i will be 85 this year. i remember when lyndon johnson and the ama was trying to get the law passed for medicare. so many government programs are run by the federal government, so mismanaged, it is unbelievable. i remember the ama was so deadly against the medicare program being put into law. the doctors and most of the republican senators at that time. i remember clearly.

i will be 85 this year. so many programs that are mismanaged in the federal government. i was at the doctor's office last year. i don't take any kind of prescriptions. right away the doctor says, "you have not been here in about nine years." i had knee >> we are live to the u.s. house. they will be working on two bills, one dealing with private property rights. live to the house floor. poped question will be taken tomorrow -- on the postponed question will be taken tomorrow.

the speaker: the chair will clarify, record votes will be taken at 6:30 today.

the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? mr. smith: mr. speaker, i move that the house suspend the rules and concur in the senate amendment to h.r. 347, the

federal restricted plgs and grounds improvement act of 2011. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 347, an took the correct and simplify the drafting of section 1752 relating to restricted buildings or grounds of title 18, united states code, senate amendment. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from texas, mr. smith, and the gentleman from georgia, mr. johnson, will each control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from texas. mr. smith: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous con sent that all members may have five legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous materials on the senate amendment to h.r. 347 currently under consideration. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. smith: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. smith: mr. speaker, h.r. 347, the federal restricted buildings and grounds am pro. s act of 2011, introduced by congressman tom roony, makes commonsense improvements to an

existing federal law that prohibits unlawful access to the white house, the vice president's residence and other restricted areas. current law prohibits unlawful entries upon any restricted building or ground where the president, vice president or other protectee is temporarily visiting. however there is no federal law that expressly prohibits unlawful entry to the white house and its grounds or the vice president's residence and its grounds. united states secret service must therefore rely upon a provision in the district of columbia code which addresses only minor misdemeanor infractions when someone attempts to or successfully climbs the white house fence or, worse, breaches the white house itself. h.r. 347 remedies this problem. it specifically includes the white house, the vice president's residence and their respective grounds in the definition of restricted buildings and grounds. the bill also clarifies that the

penalties in section 1752 of title 18 apply to those who knowingly enter or remain in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority to do so. current law does not include this important element. the house passed this bill one year ago by a vote of 399-3. earlier this month the senate passed the bill by unanimous consent. the senate also collarified that the revised law applies to individuals the secret service is required to protect by statute or by presidential memorandum. h.r. 347 ensures that the president, the first family, the vice president and others had are protected whether they are in the -- and others are whected whether they are in the house -- whether -- protected weather they are in the white house. this enjoys overwhelming bipartisan support. i urge my colleagues to spoffer -- support this bill and reserve the balance of my time.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas reserves his time. the gentleman from georgia is recognized. mr. johnson: thank you, mr. speaker. i rise in support of h.r. 347 as amended by the senate. which will assist the secret service in performing their duties. or their protective duties. the bill before us today will help the secret service carry out its role in protecting the president, vice president and other dignitaries. current federal law prohibits individuals from entering or remaining in areas cordoned off as restricted because of protection being provided by the secret service. this bill would simply clarify that the prohibition under the existing statute only applies to those who do not have lawful authority to be in those areas. the bill also would add the white house and vice president's residence to the definition of restricted areas protected under current law. the senate made minor changes to

the bill including expanding the bill's protections to areas in which the secret service is protecting a person by direction of a presidential memorandum. i support this amendment. this bill will assist the secret service which did not have this protective function when it was created. the role of the secret service has expended greatly since it was established in 1865 to fight the counterfeiting of u.s. currency. the service became part of the treasury department in 1883 and took on many additional investigative responsibilities with respect to safeguarding the payment and financial systems of the united states. it wasn't until 1894 that the secret service first started protecting our presidents and that protective role with respect to the president, vice president and other dignitaries has grown substantially since

that time. the men and women of the secret service conduct themselves with valor and professionalism while carrying out the protective function of their agency. they provide protection for a variety of people and events including the president and national special security events. the secret service has other important functions which also deserve recognition. for example, the investigative role of the secret service has expanded greatly from protecting the currency against counterfeiting to investigating a wide variety of crimes related to this country's financial institutions and credit systems. i commend the gentleman from florida, representative tom rooney, for his work on this bill. and i urge my colleagues to support h.r. 347, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from georgia reserves his time.

the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. smith: mr. speaker, i yield as much time as he may consume to the gentleman from florida, mr. rooney, who is the sponsor of this legislation, also a member of the armed services committee and a former member of the judiciary committee. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from florida, mr. rooney, is recognized for as much time as he wishes to consume. mr. rooney: mr. speaker, the protections provided by united states secret service are vital to assessing security threats and providing a secure environment for our nation's leaders. one key aspect of the service's mission is to secure buildings and grounds where our leaders work and live. including the white house and the naval observatory. my bill would explicitly protect these residences of the president and the vice president from intruders and would clarify -- clarify current law to distinguish between those two are able to enter the grounds lawfully like the secret service and those who are enter without permission. this bipartisan bill would

improve existing criminal law, to ensure that the secret service can continue to implement strategies that prevent potentially catastrophic security breaches. i urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this commonsense bipartisan piece of legislation, to protect our nation's leaders and national security. i thank mr. smith from texas for his leadership on this issue and the judiciary committee, as well as mr. johnson from georgia. and with that, mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from texas reserves. the gentleman from georgia is recognized. mr. johnson: if the gentleman from texas is ready to conclude, then i will have an announcement. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from georgia is recognized. mr. smith: mr. speaker, we're prepared to close and have no further speakers. mr. johnson: in that case, i

will waive the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from georgia yields back the balance of his time. the gentleman from texas. mr. smith: mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time as well. the speaker pro tempore: the question is will the house suspend the rules and concur in the senate amendment to h.r. 347. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative -- mr. smith: on that i request the yeas and nays. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested. all those in favor of taking this vote by the yeas and nays will rise and remain standing until counted. a sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20 further proceedings on this question will be postponed.

pursuant to clause 12-a of rule 1, the chair declares the house in recess until approximately 6:30 today.

>> this is a solar panel with a little battery pack. this collects the power and you can charge your iphone directly. youwhat you are seeing here, a are seeing an area that has 165 million wells. >> the technology itself is using two cameras. we know exactly what the person is interested in. >> tonight, a final visit to this year's consumer electronics show in las vegas. 8:00 eastern on c-span2.

>> the continued violence in afghanistan over the burning of korans was a main focus of today's white house briefing. this is about 50 minutes. >> good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. thank you for coming to the white house for your daily briefing. i do not have any announcements. once i get my papers in order, i will take your questions. >> we have heard a lot about how the united states [inaudible] i am wondering how you explain to the average american [inaudible]

how do you explain it when the people we are training turned their guns on us? how do you explain that? >> i would say two slayings. there is no doubt this is a difficult time in afghanistan. -- i would say two things. there is no doubt this is a difficult time in afghanistan. what the president did when he reviewed u.s. policy in afghanistan was insist that we focus our attention on what our absolute goals in the country should be. and prioritize them. the number one priority, the reason why u.s. troops are in afghanistan, is to disrupt, dismantle and to feed al qaeda. -- defeat al qaeda.

that is why the u.s. sent forces appropriately to afghanistan. under the previous administration, the mission had become mottled and on clear and lacked the proper resources to achieve the executives -- goals. that includes eliminating osama bin laden. in support of that goal, we have as an objective the stabilization of the afghan government to allow afghanistan and its government the space and time to take over security of its own country. that process is well under way, as you know. the president has made clear

that we are drawing down our forces in afghanistan. we have been drawing down from the surge level already and we will continue this process. he will continue to have discussions with our nato allies in this effort at the nato summit in chicago. as the president has made clear , the mission is difficult. in a phone call led general allan this weekend, the president expressed his condolences for the loss of the officers in the interior ministry. he thanked the general for his efforts in protecting and making secured american personnel in afghanistan. we cannot forget what the mission is, though.

the need to disrupt comment dismantle, and defeat al qaeda remains. we will continue in that effort. >> [inaudible] it is important to stay the course. i am wondering what you do about the attitude of the american people. people that we are going to war with are killing us. why should we still support this war? how do you make this case? wilted erode the american public support? >> -- wilted erode the american public support? >> it is important to remember that 95% of the missions the u.s. forces embark on in afghanistan, they do so with their afghan partners.

thousands and thousands of operations that proceed successfully without anything like this happening. these are isolated incidents. it does not mean they are not troubled -- terrible and are being investigated, but the overall in portents of defeating al qaeda remains. that is why we need to continue the focus on that. we need to continue the process objectives,dent's transferring, security lead over to the afghan so that american troops can come home. the president has already laid out a process by which american troops will come home as a turnover security responsibility to afghan forces.

as we do that, well be unrelenting in our pursuit of al qaeda and in our efforts to remove leaders of al qaeda from the battlefield. >> you mentioned the troops are coming home, that transition will happen through 2014. does the white house worry about diminishing public support? >> the president made clear when he was a candidate for this office that prior to his taking office, because of the focus on iraq, the original war in afghanistan had been neglected. the strategy there was not clear. it was not properly resources. he was very clear about what he

would do as president and has been cleared about executing his vision since he became president. he is very sympathetic to the sacrifice families in america who have send members to both iraq and afghanistan have given to their country. it is both the men and women who serve in these wars and their families that sacrificed tremendously. he does not want american troops to be in afghanistan any longer than they need to be to complete the mission. that is why he has been very clear in putting forward a strategy that included the surging of forces at the drawing down of u.s. forces as the transfer of lead authority over to the afghan security forces. it is a clear policy with very clear goals. it is a policy that is very

about what ouryed objectives are. >> one other topic, quickly. [inaudible] it helps pay for eight new york counter-terrorism efforts -- it helps pay for a new york counter-terrorism efforts. i am wondering if the president is aware that the money went to that purpose. >> i have not had this discussion with the president. the office of national drug control policy is a policy office that has no authority and does not conduct or supervise any law enforcement operations. funding is provided to the

program of new york and new jersey. i would refer you to that program, which is the place that makes money available to law enforcement. this is not an administration program or a white house program. >> you are aware of it? >> i would point you the concerted efforts that this administration has made to reaching out to the muslim community. the fact that we made very clear that we consider muslim americans partners in the effort to combat radical extremism. we have made that clear again and again. >> thank you. made an apology'

to president karzei last week about the koran burning. has he been in touch with president karzei again to calm the situation? >> as i said, the president spoke with the general over the weekend. he is the commanding officer there. i want to be clear about one thing. the president wrote a letter that was quite extensive about many other subjects, in which he did include his expression of condolences and his apology for the inadvertent burning of religious material. what we have seen is a very helpful statement from president karzei and others in an effort to calm the situation down. the defense minister has apologized to secretary panetta.

i believe other senior officials of the afghan government expressed similar sentiments. we will continue to work with the afghan government in an effort to help calm the situation and continue with the implementation of our policy. >> the afghanistan troop drawdown strategy has involved shifting -- [inaudible] is there any deliberations on changing that? but in view of the threats -- >> i would point to the comments of the general.

the actions that he has taken to withdraw all servicemen and women from the ministry. the policy remains one that is designed precisely to stabilize the afghan government to the point where it can take over the security lead responsibility in its own country. that allows u.s. forces to withdraw. that strategy is the right one. it remains in place and when we will continue to implement. i would plead to that statements -- it is important, as terrible as the incidents that happened over the weekend, to remember that we are in cooperative partnership with the afghan government and afghan forces.

it results in engagement between our forces and there's every day on hundreds of missions that take place without incident. >> germany and france have pulled their advisers out of the ministry. . it seems like hundreds of people essentially. if we cannot work with them or trust them, how are we going to train them to stand up when u.s. forces leave? >> i will give you the answer that i have given out, which is this incident in particular being investigated by both the afghan government and of course i staff -- isaf, the fact is, the way to wind down this war is the way that has been made clear by the president and that is to

transfer responsibility to afghan forces. that allows us to draw down our troops and bring american men and women home. we will be continuing in that effort. it remains absolutely a national security priority of the united states to ensure that we defeat al qaeda, which is why we are in afghanistan to begin with. and in furtherance of that goal that we stabilize the situation in afghanistan enough to allow the afghan security forces to fully take over lead security responsibilities in their country. that process has begun. it will be completed no later than the end of 2014 as a matter of nato policy established at lisbon and a matter of nato policy that will be further discussed in chicago in may. >> what about plans to draw down forces? >> again, i would refer you, as i said earlier to match, to specifics about the return of advisers to the ministries or

the continued efforts in combating and basically waging the battle with afghan forces to the defense department and to isaf. but the policy is in place, and it is important to remember, because we are focused on decimating al-qaeda. that is why we are in afghanistan. that is the clarity that the president insisted on when he revised our strategy. and everything else we do there is in support of that effort. and that includes a process by which we turn over security and responsibilities to the afghans so that we can draw down our forces. >> i know that you called it an isolated incident. but 10 of the 58 coalition forces who died this year has been killed by fellow afghan

soldiers, four of them just this past week, from my understanding and so they're not isolated incidences. >> i will simply say that these are tragic incidents is. they are unacceptable. and they will be investigated again by both the afghan government and the u.s., working with isaf. i mean, using your own numbers, obviously we are in an exceptional time in the wake of the unrest over the inadvertent burning of religious materials, and four of the deaths have been in the wake of that, 40% of the 10 that you mentioned. overall, as i pointed out, we conduct, i think, 97% of our missions with afghan security forces, collaborative lee. it is essential to the fulfillment of our objectives there that we're able to transfer security lead to the

afghans gradually over the course of the next months until no later than the end of 2014 that the table -- take over full security. that is the policy that will ensure we're able to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat al qaeda and ensure that we draw our forces down and bring american men and women home. >> i interviewed then cia director leon panetta a few years ago. he said there were fewer than 100 al qaeda operatives in afghanistan. how many do we think are there now, about the same amount? >> i do not have a specific number for you. the point you raise was, i think, discussed in the public arena at the time. and i think that it goes to the

reason why the president is focused -- has focused his afghanistan strategy on the original objective. the original objective was not or should not have been to build a jeffersonian democracy in afghanistan. the original objective, the reason why we send u.s. troops to fight and in some cases to die in afghanistan is because the united states was attacked in a plot that originated in afghanistan with the al qaeda leadership on september 11, 2001. the president was clear that he wanted to make sure our policy, the reason why we are there remained the same and that we're focused on al-qaeda. >> [inaudible] u.s. troops in afghanistan killed anybody associated with al qaeda? >> i refer you to isaf and the defense department's for that information. our efforts in the afpak region, the region covered by the year overall strategy that the president put into place, that

we have aggressively pursued with significant success al qaeda's leadership. everyone knows, of course, of the osama bin laden mission. but there have been, as you know, because you cover this closely, numerous other successes in this policy which has resulted in significantly depleting the numbers of al qaeda's leadership. it is because of the president's policy, which includes allowing for space for the afghan government as this transition takes place with the security leak. that gives us the capacity to implement the policy. >> how much does the white house think that the incident of the four u.s. service members killed by afghan security forces, -- and of the protests going on throughout the country. how much does he think that these are just because of the quran burning incident and how much do they think it was just a

tipping point for an overall exhaustion and a your about things that have happened with the american presence? >> those are very important questions. i have not had that discussion was the -- with the president are members of the national security team. but in general, we are keenly aware of concerns expressed in the past by pass president karzai and others about the way that we operate their and the need to be sure that we operate in a way that enhances our cooperation and does not detract from it. we work very carefully to try to do that. this is not an easy situation. our objective is to defeat the entity that attacked us on the september 11, 2001, and part of how we do that is working with the afghan government to help stabilize the situation in that country, to allow them to have the security infrastructure they need so that they can prevent al

qaeda from returning and applauding again against the united states and its allies. this is an issue that obviously predates the most recent incident, and we work with president karzai and the afghan government to try to mitigate some of the tensions that understandably exist in a situation like this, but only in so far that they do not compromise our national security interests. >> [inaudible] last november, and it was interesting for me to learn that when it was set up, it was actually safe enough in the area that troops could go to local markets and shop. last year when i was there, it was is that it is that you cannot even drive down to the local ana headquarters. you would have to fly. this morning, obviously, there was a suicide bomber there, and

nine individuals were killed. we're still waiting to hear who they were. this is a fully resourced, fully manned, more dangerous. explain that. how does that work. >> well, i thing most of those questions are best directed to the defense department. because i do not have the map in front of me or the information i would need to address. i certainly understand and appreciate the concept. i think it goes to the point that we have a specific mission which is not to secure every inch of territory, but to achieve an objective, which is to disrupt, dismantle, defeat al qaeda, and to stabilize the afghan government and helping build up afghan security forces so that they can take over the security of their own country. i understand, and you see stories much different pockets the were pacified, if you will, and have become less so, and i

think there are other stories that indicate areas of the country which are much more under control than used to be the case. thank you. >> can you explain -- [inaudible] what elements of our objectives have not been completed in february 2012 that the president is anticipating will be completed by 2014? >> we are still in the process of fulfilling the objectives of the mission the president laid out. primarily, it is to this thread, dismantle, and ultimately the the dow al qaeda. al qaeda, while its ranks have been diminished by our efforts and the efforts of our allies, remains a very serious threat to the united states and into

our allies. and we need to not let up in the effort to fully defeat al qaeda. and then meet -- remains a very important. in service of that effort, we need to create the time and space for the afghan government and the afghan security forces to be built up and trained so that they can take full security leader of the situation in their country. that is outlined in lisbon by nato, and made clear by the president of the united states. it will be complete by the end of 2014. the meeting in chicago in may of nato well i think be focused a great deal on the implementation of that policy, of making sure that we can turn over security lead by the end of 2014. it is a very focused and a deliberate strategy that is being implemented and has met

with some significant successes, especially as it relates to the fight against al qaeda. >> being flexible about may be revising that timetable if need be? >> we have some questions about the implementation of a strategy which would have the security lead turned over by the afghans by the end of 2014 and the pace of the drawdown. the pace will depend on discussions with our nato allies and with commanders on the ground about how the drawdown should be implemented. the president will have these discussions, and you'll have them leading up to nato in may in chicago, and the highest level, the discussions will be held in chicago.

>> i want to ask about keystone. i saw your statement about construction on a portion of the pipeline. i am wondering why the white house is so supportive of a pipeline and the argument has been that this will bring new oil into the u.s. and lower gas prices. and ship accessorial at of the u.s.. >> i will make a couple of points. one, it is global oil market. two, we made clear back in january, in the president's statement, that pushing the public -- the pipeline from crashing to the gulf could potentially be important, precisely because there are bottlenecks in cushing right now that prevent a glut of domestically produced oil from getting to market. that exists in part because of

the increase in oil production domestically in this country over the last eight years. we are at an eight-year high, as you know. it violates the and little known fact that pipelines are approved and built in this country all the time. it because the bottleneck that exist, the glut of oil that exists, and we need to get that oil to the state of the refineries in the gulf and get it to market. that is an important process, and we will make sure that any federal permitting that is involved in the pipeline will be acted on very quickly. >> will it be reviewed? >> everything will be done by the book, as it always is. confusedhese issues get and the political debate. the reason why keystone xl

required to review that it did is because -- of that pipeline crossed an international boundary. the state department, by tradition and rule reviews those requests for permits and was in the process of doing just that when the republicans forced it -- forced us to deny it because they tried to compel the administration to grant the permit to a pipeline, the route for which did not even exist. i think the statement went on to say that trans canada indicated that they had some plans to submit in the pipeline route, and that will be reviewed by the book without prejudice, because it is a decision the president made earlier and had nothing to do the merits of the pipeline proposal, because of the decision by republicans to play politics with this, it forced

the administration to deny the permit request, because there was not even a pipeline route identified. >> [inaudible] the security leak transferred to the afghan government will be completed by 2014. are these incidents considered a setback? or do think everything is still on track? >> it is hard to characterize it that way. these are individuals whose lives were lost, and they need to be looked at not as, at least in the first instance, not as how they affect the overall mission, because to say that the mission continues regardless in some ways might diminish the tragedy that the loss represents, and in what not want to do that. what i made clear and what general allan and secretary panetta and others have made clear is that the mission

remains vital and the implementation of the mission remains and continues to this moment. because we need to defeat al qaeda. we need to complete the mission. part of the mission is creating a situation that allows for the transfer of security lead to the afghans so that we can bring american forces home. >> an unrelated topic. [inaudible] about the president being a snob because he thinks everyone should have either a college education or further training? >> a couple of things. one is, i do not think any american -- i do not think any parent in america who has a child would think it is snobbery to hope for that child the best possible education in the future, and that includes college. as you know, the president has always made clear that he

believes higher education is important for everyone, and that includes, if not a four-year degree, bachelors of arts degree, then a two-year degree from a community college or vocational training for a community college. in fact, his administration has aggressively promoted agreements between community colleges and a local businesses to have programs in those colleges that allow folks to be trained specifically for the jobs the those employers have open, and that is very much the kind of service that community colleges can provide. to use a phrase we have used elsewhere, it is and all of the above approach when it comes to education. i got your going to be gentlemen. i do not mean to embarrass you. i did call on you. >> thank you.

[laughter] >> i am sorry. i caused that. go ahead. >> on the same point, i know everybody likes to read into the president's says. to be clear, when he was talking to the governor a short time ago and saying that i want to clarify that not everyone has to go for four years, there are different ways to do it. was the president reacting to santorum are is that something he was going to say? >> i do not know. i think he was making clear what his position is. as he made clear fairly recently at an official event where he talked about the need for community colleges to link up with local businesses to provide this kind of training service. i think it is a general point he wanted to make. i do not think it was specific to that statement. >> on afghanistan, since he repeatedly said the the vision is clear, and it is to decimate,

dismantle, disrupt al qaeda, there are already some of the president's campaign surrogates to say he has already dismantled al qaeda, including killing bin laden, -- >> i think to be fair, as i just said here today, we have said that al qaeda's leadership has been greatly diminished. his leadership has been decimated, but it has not been defeated or eliminated. no one associated with the president, either he or the administration would suggest that al qaeda has been finally defeated, because it has not. >> but my question is, you say is still needs to be defeated as a reason to stay and finish the job of this morning, a democrat that is supportive of the president was saying basically that you have already succeeded a lot on that front with al qaeda. and it is the sooner the better to get out and do it more quickly. what these two fellow democrats who say you have largely

dismantled al qaeda? maybe you have not fully defeated them, but you have largely dismantle them. >> i would simply say that there is an agreement, i think with the folks you mentioned, but broadly the american people that we should not stay in afghanistan one day longer than is necessary. the president has a policy, not a slogan, not a political opinion, but a strategy in place that ensures we will do just that, ensuring we will transfer securely to the afghan security forces by the end of 2014, no later than the end of 2014. he is in regular discussions with his counterparts, and you have this discussion at the highest levels in chicago in may, as his defense secretary has those discussions regularly with his counterparts. we have had success in the fight

against al qaeda in removing al- qaeda leaders from the battlefield. but we cannot let up and will not let up. and one of the reasons why the policy that the -- the strategy the president has put into place is so important is because it allows for a situation where we can continue the fight against al qaeda, even as we transfer security responsibilities over to the afghan security forces. because that is absolutely in the united states national security interest and in the interest of our allies. >> i am sorry. >> that is always a gentle man, may i say for the record. in my experience. >> question. [laughter] >> on their way out of the white

house, a number of governors, democrat and republican, said that they agree with the president on education and his approach to education. i wonder if the president thinks that santorum is actually out of step, not just with the american public but also with his own party on the issue? >> i do not want to engage do much in -- i heard a little bit of what senator santorum said. i would simply point out that the president's priorities and education are very clear. with regards to the specific issue that i understand senator santorum raised, the president is focused not just on making sure that higher education is not a luxury but that dizzy available for everyone. and that includes not just four- year bachelor degrees but two- year degrees and the kind of specialized vocational training that community colleges can provide. it is so important to local employers. i have visited programs with the

president or there is a great symbiotic relationship between local community colleges and a local employers where they can basically design a course that local folks who may be employed but have a certain set of skills, designed a course that they can take that allow them to step into high-paying jobs in the committee. that is an important connection the the president has worked hard was secretary duncan and others to establish. >> on health care reform, usa today said it could be troublesome for the president because of vast majority of the american public find health care reform is probably unconstitutional and a plurality thinks it is unlikely to make things worse or make no difference. is this, the white house's view, is simply a communication failure? >> i think, to go back to a time that must be covered and all of

you probably remember, during the debate over health care reform, tens of millions, hundreds of millions of dollars were spent trying to defeate it and sort of undercutting the essential nature of what was being accomplished here, but the president was trying to accomplish. one, i need not remind you now, health care reform was built on what was once considered a very conservative idea. in fact, it has its origins in a conservative think tank called the heritage foundation. it is practical implementation origin in the state of massachusetts. what is most important to this president, as we continue to implement health care reform, with regards to the political debate, is that the choice here is going to be, do we continue implementing health care reform that insures that if you have a pre-existing condition, you cannot be denied health insurance? or do you go back to a situation where insurance companies get to

decide for themselves whether you get insurance or not or whether they can kick you off when you get sick? do we accept an approach that the president's opponents might adopt, or at least that they have so far, that we should eliminate health care reform, and thereby kick, i think, 2.6 million young adults off the insurance coverage they have gone because of health care reform, even as it is in the process of being implemented? or the millions of seniors in the st. hundreds of dollars on prescription of drugs because of the reform. we understand that a lot of money has been spent in an attempt to make health care reform and popular. we believe that it is constitutional and that it continues to be implemented and americans get to enjoy the benefits that it brings, including the security that it brings, that it will become more and more clear that is the vital thing for the american people.

>> on issues of religious power and acceptance. what is the status of president obama's outreach prior to what happened? >> the status of it? well, i think that the president's administration has been very clear and transparent in its efforts to, a, demonstrate the administration's and the american people's respect for religious beliefs of american muslims and muslims abroad. and with regards to the question i had earlier with american muslims, but we want to make it clear that we believe the partnership with muslims is a vital in the effort to combat domestic radicalization. so that is the approach this

administration is taking. that is the approach the president has taken from the beginning. >> [inaudible] >> none of that i am aware of, no. >> with this happening, and we have seen things happen in prior administrations, is there a thought in the pentagon and at the white house that there may need to be some kind of permanent cultural religious tolerance kind of class for military personnel? because many do not know if there rotated out of afghanistan or another country. >> i do not really have a specific response to that. i would point you do general allan's comments in this regard. you know, being sensitive on this issue is obviously important to our efforts in that part of the world. but the general has made clear that already, in the wake of the inadvertent mishandling of

religious documents and religious texts in afghanistan, that further training is being implemented. again, this is, because of the respect that we have for their religious beliefs of afghans and also because it is in our interests, the interest of the security of our personnel to make sure that that sensitivity exists and that is a widely shared. >> [inaudible] >> i would refer you to the pentagon. >> [inaudible] >> let me get some others. >> as you know, there is a tragedy unfolding this morning in ohio. there were some really tens or uncertain moments this morning with the president being briefed about the situation. does he have a reaction? >> i am sure he is aware of .