decades, we have been proud to serve with you. when the chips are down,when th, britain and america at note that we can always count on each other because we are allies not just prepared to say the right thing, but to do the right thing and to do it in the right way. promoting our values, standing up for our ideals. the partnership between our countries, between our people is the most powerful partnership for progress the world has ever seen. that is why whenever an american president and a british prime minister get together, there is a serious and important agenda to work through. today is no different. afghanistan, iran, the arab spring, the need for trade in the world economy. the biggest issues in the world -- that is our agenda today. but what makes our relationship so vigorous and so lasting?

it is that it draws its strength from roots far deeper and broader than american -- and government. it is the meeting of kindred spirits. when the world's brightest minds want to generate the innovations we will make tomorrow more free and more fair, they look to our great universities like harvard and stanford. cambridge and oxford. but when the foundation's want to not just about charity, but to eliminate polio and other diseases so that no child in our world should die unnecessarily, they find partners across the atlantic in the british aid agencies. when a great innovator wanted a partner to make the world wide web a reality, he turned to america. why? because he knew it was in

america that he would find that same spirit of creativity, innovation, and risk taking that defines our unique approach to enterprise and to business. he is not alone. in 2010, transatlantic partnerships produced eight of the nine noble prizes in size. this creates an sustains around 1 million jobs each side of the atlantic. it provides a strong -- for bilateral trade. in fact, american investment in the u.k. is eight times larger than china. u.k. investment in america is nearly 140 times that of china. so, yes, the world is changing at a faster rate than ever

before. the ways we will influence events are changing with it, but one thing remains unchanged. the ceaseless back-and-forth between our two nations through shared endeavor. that is why, i believe, we can be sure that in 50 years times, an american president and the british prime minister will stand on this very spot just as we do now. they will stand here as we do for freedom and for enterprise. our two countries, the united states of liberty and enterprise. that is what i am so pleased to be here today. to celebrate an essential relationship that has never been stronger. and to work with you to make sure we deliver that and make our countries closer and closer still. thank you. [applause]

>> mr. president, this concludes the ceremony. mr. president, this concludes the ceremony. ♪ ♪

>> we will take yo ubacu to the white house in 10 minutes or so for the formal toast. marc mardell will take your comments shortly. the british prime minister was the guest at a state department lunch and made the following comments. >> i thank you for that warm welcome. it is great to be here on the anniversary of 2012 and i asked before coming on this visit, i

wondered why we not commemorate and recognize this rather embarrassing episode in our history. we are coming up on the 200th anniversary of the bottle of water live. more happy talking about that than the battle with our american cousins. it is great to know that there is a chef from birmingham, england. my political party did make the mistake of putting out a leaflet and they took off the internet the city seed of birmingham. they put birmingham alabama on this. it was a great shock and surprise when he was reelected. anything can happen in politics.

he also mentioned the exchange of gifts, i think i got this slightly wrong. he has given me a barbeque. it is quite clear that the person who needs the exercise is the british prime minister. and the person needs the barbecue is the president of the united states. [applause] thank you also for putting together such an amazing guest list. we were looking through it last night in bed and looking through this guest list, and the star from my favorite movie is going to be here. ben kingsley from "ghandi"? no, it is chevy chase from "caddyshack." thank you for this wonderful reception. some of that and i are thrilled to be with you and even more thrilled to be here in the ben

franklin room pyrrophyte " epitomizes so much of what is good about the character of our two countries -- passionate, diligent, a man prepared to stand up for his values and that his words with deeds. in the best tradition of our two nations, he was also a straight talker. he once said guests are a bit like fish -- they begin to smell after three days. you will be relieved to know having a ride yesterday, i am leaving tomorrow. [laughter] -- having our ride yesterday. i want to start by paying personal tribute to the mr. -- half -- by paying personal tribute to mr. vice-president. i remember in the 1990's when you spoke out for the need of military intervention to stop the ethnic cleansing in bosnia. your right to do that, and in libya, i believe we showed we learned a lesson. we were able to intervene and act and change the course of

that country's history, and we were right to do so, said today, courage. [applause] also, a word of deep gratitude to you, madam secretary. you have been a great friend to britain for 20 years, and no one will ever forget your contribution in northern ireland, your incredible resilience, and your conviction that he's really could be achieved after so many decades of conflict, and i hope, mr. vice-president, with your relatives are looking down, they will see that the relations between britain and the republic of ireland had never been better, and it is a testament to one woman, her majesty the queen, on her 60th year on the throne, that her visit to the

republic of ireland did so much two countries. in just three years, you've visited 95 countries. you have travelled over 700,000 miles. some people wondered how two british conservatives would get along with this great force of the democratic party. that is, we in britain say, quite simply, we have been bowled over. whenever we come together to discuss the most difficult issues, whether it is afghanistan, libya, syria, somalia, you always speak with the greatest precision and the greatest power. everyone of us is in all of the passion, the intellect, and the relentless energy you bring to every aspect of international affairs, and you also bring great energy and effort to something else -- to one of the greatest pieces of unfinished business in human history. the emancipation and the empowerment of women. [applause] there are a generation of young women out there in the world today who owe you much more than they will ever know because they can live safer, more

dignified, more fulfilling lives than the generations that came before them. you are also a great champion of smart power. that is why i wanted to just say a word about today. after two years of working hand in glove with the united states, i know we are at our best when we are not just strong but we are smart, when we deploy everything we have at our disposal. in a world of complex problems, there are no simple, easy solutions. take somalia where there is a vicious circle of state failure, economic collapse, piracy, terrorism, kidnapping, famine. as our conference in london showed last month, a credible solution cannot just be about military action or even aid and isolation. we will only succeed when we bring together all of our military, diplomatic, political efforts to achieve peace and prosperity. that is also why we in britain do not just see our increased spending on aid as doing the right thing morally, although we do believe that -- we also think

it is the right thing diplomatically and politically as well. it enhances our ability to get things done. this kind of smart power is one of the great strengths that britain and america have in common, and i think it is very much on show looking around the room today. this morning, once again, british and american men and women in uniform got up to serve to get there. in the persian gulf, afghanistan, the indian ocean, and we honor their incredible service and their sacrifice, but we are not just strong because of our military alone. we are strong, too, because of the power of british and american diplomacy. as secretary clinton put it, the tide of war is receding, but its troops come home, civilians

remain to carry out the critical missions of diplomacy and development. across the world, specialists are working to understand and influence countries in shaping the big issues, including in very challenging and very dangerous locations. minute by minute, hour by hour, there are phone calls between london and washington as our diplomats work together to assess the latest intelligence and work out the best ways forward. in fact, our national security advisers last year talked so often that i think the president was beginning to believe that there was someone called rick donovan who was just one individual rather than two working together. our smart power comes from more than our ability to defend our security. it is rooted in the intertwining of two people and two communities. britain and america continually shape the world because whether you are scientists, innovators, businessmen and women, athletes, or stars of fashion, art, or music, all of you look across the atlantic in both directions to find kindred spirits with the same big ideas and the same big ambitions. so at this, the home of smart power, in the midst of this memorable visit, let me end with a tribute to all of you -- to the people who day in and day out make this the essential relationship that it is today and what it will be tomorrow and the years to come, and let

me ask all of you, please, to raise your glasses to the vice- president, dr. baden, and the secretary of state -- the vice- president, dr. biden, and the secretary of state. [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012]

>> the president and first lady welcoming david cameron and his wife, samantha, topping off two days of discussions on afghanistan, and a trip to ncaa, and some lighthearted humor on the british soldiers who set fire to the white house nearly 200 years ago.

>> the obamas and camerons heading inside the white house. marc mardell is following this for bbc. thank you for being with us. >> we hear about this story, "special relationship," between the u.s. and u.k.

>> from one point of view, who doesn't want to be friends with the richest kid in the playground? there is a great sentiment behind it with british journalists and politicians, never worrying when the u.s. might not value it as much. certainly, in the past, it has been strong. other countries, the chinese said something rude, or the french or italian, we blow it off. if the americans say something, we take it personally. that is why there was the worry with obama. would he not look to britain or europe. >> let me ask you about this

visit. some say it is official. he is the head of government. it is the third state, or official visit by a prime minister. margaret thatcher came at the end of the reagan presidency. >> it is a state dinner. the president says it is a state dinner. the british prime minister is not a head of state. but those relationships, thatcher and reagan, an essential relationship. it shifted in the world war. the iraq ward bush, may not have happened without blair's support. this could be a good or bad thing. but you see why these

relationships are key. it is going to be at the forefront, it has been important in the past. >> we discuss this relationship between the u.s. and the u.k. on a night the white house is hosting a state dinner. if you live in the east or central time zones -- it is 202-737-0002. 202-eat britain,m i it is 628-0184. this is tempered from the discussions today. >> as well as the essential things -- it is based largely on military and intelligence

cooperation when you put aside the history. if you want to understand the special relationship, look around you, with what this means to people in uniform. the fighting in afghanistan alongside american troops, since the beginning of the war, and now they want to bring this to an end. they wanted to hear from the president that he would not pull any stunts during the election year. they were surprised when the defense secretary, last month, said that the handover to the afghans would begin -- it cost the jaws to drop in britain. part of the message was, no surprises, tell us what you will

do. they thought the end of the world was coming in 2014 but that there would be an announcement. >> a lot of the discussion in afghanistan, with leon panetta visiting afghanistan after the murder of 9 women and 3 children. and obama was asked if this affects the strategy in that country. >> there will be multiple strategies along the way, and in terms of pace i don't think we will be making any sudden and additional -- changes to the plan that we currently have. we have taken out 10,000 troops, and we will draw down

another 23,000 by this summer. there'll be a robust coalition presence during this fighting season to make certain that the taliban understand that they will not be able to regain momentum. after the fighting season, in conjunction with our allies we will look in how we a effectuate this transition that does not end at a steep cliff but instead is a gradual pace that accommodates the developing capacities of the afghan national security forces. >> that was the president earlier in the day. when it comes out bayview the involvement in afghanistan many people remember tony blair being remembered as a lapdog of george w. bush. >> david cameron said that they

wanted a strong relationship with america, and tony blair was and thatbush's poodle, he would go along with everything he was told to do. david cameron said he would not pursue that relationship. he said it is not something -- the temperature should not be taken a whole time. he wants to avoid the appearance of just doing anything that obama wants him to do, but -- in afghanistan, i think it is similar to the picture here. british people understood why we were there, but now more and more people are against this and want the troops to come home. that is the danger for the two men.

many, many gains have been made, but many people in britain -- the wonder what we are fighting for and just want to get out as soon as possible. >> he has been with the bbc since 1989. paulette is on the phone from new york city. guest: i have never felt such a part of this in my life. i like it. thank you for inviting us. i feel good. host: thank you for the call, and thanks for watching. 370 guests. guest: the actor from "the

wire," which david cameron likes, the baltimore police show, many people in britain love it. but not a lot of real stars. the journalists you'd expect. not a lot of glitter. host: the olympics, coming to your country. what does this mean? guest: it means a lot, in what feels like a recession, and friends have moved back from washington. people think britain is gloomy, so the olympics will buck up people's spirits. and the government is hoping it will help the economy. a lot of visitors spending a lot of money.

it has been talked about for years, but the atmosphere of economic gloom makes this all the more important. host: and the first lady will lead the delegation. mike is on the phone. caller: you touched on this subject that i was concerned about, tony blair being the pool of george w. bush. this is kind of a bad rap, but i think mr. blair is holding up the atlantic charter, that the united states and britain, the counterbalance to the continentals and anyone out there, i was just wondering how would feels to not be part of the euro.

host: it did come up today. guest: we discussed the differences and what would happen in the year rose zone. many people are still worried that this is not the end of it, and that greece will be under more pressure. a lot of people in britain would agree -- this was a very controversial decision at the time, a very political decision, he lost the election and it was thought that tony blair would take them into the euro. many people now looked back on this as a great relief that this happened. europe is still a very big trading partner. over't think that this is

for great britain, the economic troubles that sprang from the the euro. >> one of the questions from a british reporter about the cutbacks to try to reduce the deficit in great britain, and the parallels between your country -- >> this is a fascinating. many people in great britain are interested in this. why can't we do what barack obama is doing? put more money into the system, and this stimulus, that is what we need. the labour party is the main equivalent of the democrats. i said that obama -- he had

tried this stimulus to cut back the deficit. the british treasury said, this is very similar to what we are doing. they tried to stress that it was not that different. it does seem that they're trying very different courses. if you want to be technical, great britain has the automatic stabilizers, because we have these automatic benefits that go at the time of recession -- this puts money into the economy -- and this is like obama putting this in with other means. >> the president met with benjamin netanyahu, with an eye on the nuclear program. he was asked about the nuclear programs and the impact on the middle east.

>> do i have a guarantee that iran will walk through the store that we are offering them? no, and in the past there has been the tendency for iran, in these negotiations, to delay and stall and to a lot of talking but not actually move the ball forward. i think that they should understand that because the international community has applied so many sanctions, because we have employed so many of the options that are available to us, to persuade them to take a different course, the window for solving this issue diplomatically is shrinking. host: there was a sense of general agreement between these leaders on iran, and that israel

may strike if the threat to israel comes up in the next few days. >> there were tough words from both of them, with what some people have taken as the headline news, that the president says that the window is closing. but there is a kind of private agreement that it would be difficult this year. i know the british government is extremely worried, not just for the diplomatic ramifications, but even when -- brilliantly, with the israeli bombing campaign, even if they did not retaliate, they believe this would plunge the world into recession, possibly costing obama the election. they are hoping that obama has told the israelis -- letting

them know that further down the way, others will react if they pull this out. host: our guest is marc mardell. we have martin from troy, new york. caller: thank you for taking my call. two questions. what does the prime minister think of obama's domestic policies? host: on that point, domestically? guest: this is what they are being very polite about. great britain is not trying to stimulus in the same way that obama would like to do more of, they are not going to criticize this.

there were just saying that british circumstances are different. you act like there is a stimulus in britain you do not have in america. we not have the currency or the strength of the dollar, in the same way that needed saving. i think that they would just be polite and dodge the question. i have not spoken to david cameron but i am guessing that he is a conservative, with some right wing, fiscal ideas, and that is not say that this is necessarily the right thing to do. host: nick joins us from london. caller: as a british and american citizen, and a conservative party member, the big thing is that this is not a

state event. i don't know why he is getting a state dinnner that ier reservedr the head of state. it seems odd that he is putting himself in a position that breaks diplomatic protocol. i remember when john major did a against clinton and helped george bush, and there were problems -- and there may be problems if romney beats obama. if the president decides that this is a state dinner, this is a state dinner. this is not intended as an

insult to the queen. obama was bowled over by the reception at the palace and that the queen was exceptionally kind to them. they wanted to say, thank you. this is what they could get to honor the prime minister in that way. >> these are the scenes from last year of the president with the queen in london. is this typical, for the queen to honor a president? >> it was not unusual, but their experience, from what we have seen she was moved to the obama. initially, this was not about the special relationship, this

was about the friendship with david cameron. >> with reference to their grandfathers' in world war two -- thank you for waiting. guest: i will respond to the gentleman from london. i think it ws sparked by the closing window of diplomacy. we are at a point in history that is pivotal, and if the keystone pipeline issue -- host: where are we, to daniel's point? guest: i don't know that david cameron would have all lot to say.

there was not a lot to suggest this when you talk about the environment. this is part of the issues with the republican candidates. it was very different from last time, when gordon brown -- when gordon brown saw obama and hillary. then, there was the sitting president. the invication comes from them. we don't know who will be the republican candidate. that is what the official line s. david cameron -- is. david cameron backs gay marriage, he is strongly in

favor of it. and green environmental policies. i think he'd have doubts about the keystone pipeline. i think there are conservatives in britain and in the government who look askance at the republicans. host: there were politics in him taking him to ohio, no republican has won without ohio. the president, who is a fan of basketball and the ncaa, and some cricket references, what was the point of this? guest: it has all the feel of an election year, a crucial swing

state. someone said -- he's with a foreigner. does it win votes in ohio to come with david cameron, who most people don't know about? if anything is to be seen with a president being friends with a foreign leader -- you can imagine the headlines if it was the saudi king or other people well below the radar. with britain, you get it just about right with the president being statesman like. i don't think david cameron gives him many votes. host: when we look into the table tennis -- they gave the president? playedin london, the prsideny

table tennis and obama thrashed cameron. and there was a handmade grill that smoked wood and smoked and grilled. they flipped burgers at a garden party for injured soldiers. >> tim joins us. >> thank you. i wanted to ask if you could see any scenario in which any of the republicans could beat obama. i keep looking at the map and how bruised they will be and i can't see it. i wanted to use your perception from being in europe, if you had a different point of reference. >> there is a chance of obama

being beaten. the polls have fluctuated, from one of the best results, and plunging this week. two vectors -- who is the republican candidate? can they reach to independents. the longer it goes on, the more they damage themselves in the eyes of independents. this is not sure. the race will be over, sometime, and they can appeal and may be strengthened. the other vector is the economy. gallon, i, $8 a don't think he could win. he is not a shoe-in. i give you a prediction a month out, not now.

>> what is david cameron's standing in britain? guest: very odd for a british government, the liberal democrats -- it is not an insult, it is a party in britain. he is surprisingly popular, because of the levels of cuts they imposed that brought people onto the streets. the pension age has gone up and they made cuts in the public sector. changes to pension arrangements. ak. labor partur party was weekd damaginged suffered a defeat. he looks as if he'll be there a

while. host: jim is on the phone as we look at the u.s.-u.k. relationship. go ahead. caller: i have a question for marc. my question as an ex-pat that lived in the u.k. for 9 years in north yorkshire, part of the relationship they have -- how much does this boil to the people and not the politicians. when i lived in your country, i was treated amazingly, and 80% of my friends on facebook are from the u.k. i stay in touch and we have the same views, socially and

economically and politically. guest: many components of the special relationship. north yorkshire is a lovely part of britain. there is an understanding. what is it based on? language. the president. h, he made jokes of various british expressions. we do share a language. i worked until three years ago in europe, and i couldn't say "the czech republic." and here, they can do that. most people love a lot of american music. that is where our music comes from. you are right. there is a lot of cultural

sympathy. people talk about anti- americanism. this may be about culture and foreign policy. any anti-americanism is from bush's foreign policy. and previous presidents. host: the closeness of the relationship is legendary. winston churchhill and franklin roosevelt. margaret thatcher and reagan. how would you describe this current relationship? guest: those relationships are very important. part of me wants to say that this is about to close ranks between countries, and politicians are no different

than the rest of us. if you can trust them, more than anything else, this makes a huge difference. i don't think f.d.r. liked churchill but they were a good team in the end. obama and cameron do find each other relaxed, and they have an approach to policy that is not ideological, they will look at a problem and figure out the best way forward. he invests in obama, in the way he thinks things through and takes time. they are a similar age. i think obama can be a cold fish. he doesn't have great relationships with leaders -- and his team may say, let's develop this and see where it goes.

both in foreign and domestic policy, we know how warm he can be, but he doesn't always use the charisma to the best effect. >> a quick note on samantha cameron, her background? richt: very posh, a grea background. but the british people greatly like her. just as the blairs seemed like a young, modern couple, i think the camerons are seen like that with a young family. although the background is more privileged, they went to one of the most expensive schools -- i think they are seen as more ordinary and down to

earth. >> going back to afghanistan, ed milliban, we carry questio "question time," the issue was afghanistan. from question time -- >> does the prime minister agree that we must reiterate our reason for being in afghanistan, to ensure stability in the reason and ensure greater safety for our citizens at home. >> of the mission in afghanistan does remain a vital to national security. we're there to prevent the country from being a safe haven to al qaeda. the task is simple.

we have the capability and the capacity to take care of their own national security without the need for foreign troops on the soil. we are making progress in terms of the afghan national army. we are on target for 195,000. the afghan national police on target for 157,000 by the end of the year. this is absolutely essential for bringing the troops home. we have to say clearly why this is in our national interest, as both the commanders of the battalion said to me today, the men have high morale and know that they are doing a great thing for the future of the world and what our support as they go about this. host: from "question time" last week. this is the longest war that the

united states has been involved in. there have been 400 british casualties. >> this is very public and i don't remember this in any other conflict, coming home to one little village, having passed through there is very emotional. engine know that this is very lively. but these two men agreed that afghanistan has to be thought about. this is a broad agreement among the political spectrum. this is necessary to get the base of al qaeda. this does not seem to be coming right.

there are the road u.s. soldiers, what do you mean, if they pull out this will be chaos. they would run to the exit. >> what does he tell his children about why we are in afghanistan. jenny is on the phone. walnut, california. caller: thank you for taking my call. i have a question for marc. what do you see with the agenda of prime minister cameron and president obama. how close do you see the agenda we'll have with the mutual

investments for both nations? >guest: with foreign policy or the economy? caller: the mutual economy for both nations. guest: they both talked about that a great deal. host: the prime minister talked about the adjustments they have, -- guest: maybe it was the press secretary. we have the figures in front of us, and they do want to stress how important great britain is for america. they are very much for promoting british industry. america is still a very big and important market. and the president talks about

how he wants to buy american and make this as great as it once was. this is not quite sure in terms of policy, with britain and america. host: we have this scene from the south of the white house, with temperatures in the low 70's. how does this play out in your country? >> we have to tell the editors, "what's the reaction on the "washington post?"" it seems important. the relationship with america seems pivotal, and we have these comments about syria --

these pictures will be very important. -- in ohio.s lecutring i what's the one picture that tells the story? he would say this is a picture story. the picture is a conservative prime minister. with the man -- who is the liberal hero in the rest of the world and in europe. obama's ratings would skyrocket . being seen with obama is important for cameron. host: mark joins us from london.

caller: something mr. cameron said recently, he said the u.k. was the junior partner in the second world war with the u.s.a. it did not go over well. what i want to ask marc mardell, edition treaty,itio those who are in the american leagl system. david cameron siad before the last election, he would deal with this. guest: this is an interesting question. we thought that this would be the story that would overshadow what he had to raise.

downing street certainly had the reply rating, if they were off this question. they would be pushing for changes. there is a big review going on in britain. i think that it is time, they dodged the bullet. he would not have to be convinced that anything would change. a lot of people in britain were angry about this. caller: as far as the coverage last night of the primaries, the reason that i watch c-span is because this is a fountain for

information. i want to be informed and not entertained. this is a form of entertainment. how would the british foreign policy be affected if iran was 1,000 miles closer, and instead of israel as its target, they suggested they would like to wipe out england? guest: you are making a political. and you are absolutely right. if they said they would wipe out the united kingdom, we would take that much more seriously. >> you have indicated that the prime minister is back in the united states in may for a meeting in camp david. what is on the agenda? >guest: i don't know where we'll

be on the economy. moving it to camp david, it was going to be in chicago. it was going to be a more intimate discussion. the chance for the idea of a fireside chat between important leaders, wehrhere they can discs the issues of the world without papers and agendas. of course, afghanistan is going to be the main subject. but what will be discussed is what precisely happens in 2013, and what does this mean, handing over the combat operations to the afghan soldiers? does this happen in which areas? there will be a lot of detailed stuff there but there will be

headlines about dates, but not troop numbers. they will not put a number on this. >> as the president and the prime minister dine on bison wellington -- what is the conversation like? >> it is actually intere sting, i nthesn these affairs. you can't get politicians and journalists together, they will talk about politics. there will be a lot of gossip about what is happening with the republicans. and some other serious issues as well. there will be some polite conversation across the bison. host: we have the list. crosisp halibut, bison

wellington, a salad, and steamed lemon pudding as a desert. guest: he should say he prefe the hot dog.ed host: thank you focoming up latw you the toast that is taking place. this on the south lawn. the guests including george clooney. next, the news conference that took place from the rose garden of the white house earlier today. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] >> ladies and gentlemen, the president of the united states. >> good afternoon everyone,

please have a seat. it is a great honor to welcome my friend and partner, prime minister david cameron back to the white house for this visit. i know there has been a lot of focus on last night's game. i wanted to set the record straight. during my visit last year, david arrange for us to play some table tennis. as they would say, we got thrashed. when it came to sports, i thought it would be better if we watched. i am still trying to get david to fill up his bracket. we just finished up a very good discussion. it was a reminder of why i thought you david's leadership. david's've valued leadership. david shares my belief that it

is a time of change, leadership is more important than ever. we share the view that the future we seek is only possible if the rights and responsibilities of nations and people are upheld. that is because we advanced today. at a time when too many are still out of work, we agree we need to stay focused on grading growth and jobs that put people back to work. between us, we have the largest investment relationship in the world. we continue to explore ways to increase trade and investment. i very much appreciate his perspective on the fiscal situation in the eurozone, where both of our countries are deeply connected. we have moved on to discuss afghanistan. we are the two largest contributors of forces.

this continues to be a difficult mission. we have both lost extraordinary young men and women. what is undeniable, what we can never forget is that our forces are making progress, dismantling al qaeda, and training afghan forces so they can take away. the transition is already underway. about half of all afghans live in areas where security forces are taking responsibility. today, the prime minister and i reaffirmed the transition that we agreed to with our coalition partners in lisbon. specifically, in the upcoming nato summit in my hometown in

chicago. this includes shifting to 2013 and afghans taking full responsibility for security in 2014. we're going to complete this mission. we're going to do it responsibly. nato will maintain an enduring commitment so that afghanistan does not become a haven for al qaeda to attack our countries. we also discuss the continuing threat by iran to not meet its obligations. we are fully united. we're determined to prevent iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. we believe there is still time and space to pursue a diplomatic solution. we will work closely with our partners. at the same time, we will keep up the pressure with the strongest u.s. sanctions to date and the european union in preparing to impose an embargo on oil. they must understand they cannot escape or evade the choice before it. meet international obligations

or face consequences. we have reaffirmed our commitment to support the democratic transitions under way in the middle east and africa. i want to commend david personally for the leadership role he has played in mobilizing international support for the transition in libya. we also discussed the horrific violence that the assad regime imposes on the people of syria. we've agreed to keep increasing the pressure on the regime. mobilize the international community. provide sanctions. cutting the urging's revenues. isolating politically, diplomatically, and economically. just as the regime and security forces continue to suffer, the opposition is growing stronger. i will say it again. assad will leave power. it is not a question of if, but

when. to prepare for that day, we will support the legitimate aspirations of the syrian people. more broadly, we have committed ourselves, our leadership to the goal of global development. along with our international partners, we have saved countless lives from the famine in the horn of africa. david, you have done an outstanding job in bringing the international community to somalia. at the same time, we are renewing our commitment for preventable deaths of children and the beginning of the end of aids. let me say, as a tribute to david's leadership, the u.k. will be playing a leading role in the global partnership upon which human rights and development depend. finally, i am very pleased that

we are bringing our two militaries, the backbone of our allies, even closer. i can announce that next month we intend to start implementing our long-awaited defense trade treaty with the uk. this will put advanced technologies in the hands of our troops and it will mean more jobs for workers in both our countries. we're moving ahead with our joint initiative to care for men and women in uniform. for decades, our troops have stood together on the battlefield. now we're working together for them when they come home. partnership is to help our wounded warriors recover and to support our remarkable military families. so, david, thank you as always for being an outstanding ally, partner, and friend. as i said this morning, because of our efforts, our allies is as strong as it has ever been. michelle and i are very much looking forward to hosting u.s.

cement at tonight's state dinner. i look forward, as well, to welcoming you to camp david. david, welcome. thank you. >> well, thank you very much for that, barack. thank you for last month's sporting event. i thought there was a link between that and table tennis. i remember it well. i know america does not like being on the losing side so i'm trying to make up to you with a gift of a table tennis table. >> which like to play this afternoon? >> i certainly need practice. one day i'll get back at you with a cricket match and i will explain the terminology. it was great our teams joined those talks as well. barack, thank you. there are some countries whose

allies are a matter of convenience. ours is a matter of conviction. ande united for freedom enterprise, working together day in and day out to defend those values and devote our shared interests. that has been the fundamental purpose of this visit. we have made progress on efforts in four vital areas -- afghanistan, economic growth -- first, afghanistan. recent days reminded us just how difficult our mission is and how high the cost of this war has been for britain, america, and afghans themselves. britain has fought along america every day since the start. we have 9500 men and women still serving there. more than 400 have given their lives.

today, again, we commemorate each and every one of them. we will not give up on this mission because afghanistan must never again be a safe haven for al qaeda to launch attacks. we will not build a perfect afghanistan, but let us be clear. we are making more tangible progress with more markets open, more health centers, more children going to school, more people being able to maintain a basic standard of living and security. we can be sure that they're capable of their own security without the need of large numbers of foreign troops. we're in the final phase. that means completing the training of afghan forces. they can maintain the security themselves. that is well underway. next year, the president said, in 2013, this includes shifting to a support role as afghans to take the lead. this is an advance of afghan forces taking full responsibility for security in 2014. as we have always said, we will

not be in a combat role after 2014. at the same time, we back the president in working towards a political settlement. second, the united nations security council on libya. we believe we must maintain our support for the people of the arab world as they seek a better future. let me just say in response to it you said, i am very proud of the action that britain and france and other stock. let us be clear. none of that would have been possible without the overwhelming support and force that the united states provided in the early stages of that campaign. you did exactly to promised he would do to make that intervention possible and give that country a chance of prosperity and stability and some chance of democracy. in syria we're working to get humanitarian aid. at the same time, we must

properly document the evidence so that those guilty of crimes can be held to account, no matter how long it takes. above all, we must do everything we can to achieve a political transition that will stop the killing. we must maintain the strongest pressure on all those who are resisting change and all costs. but we are ready to work with russia and china for the same goal, including a new united nations security council resolution. which should be clear. what we want is the quickest way to stop the killing. that is through transition, rather than revolution or civil war. if it continues, revolution or civil war is the inevitable consequence. third, we have discussed iran's nuclear program. the president's tough, reasonable approach has united the world behind unprecedented

sanctions against iran. britain has played a leading role in helping to induce an embargo. this is increasing pressure on the regime. the regime has to meet its international obligations. if it refuses to do so, then britain and america along with our international partners will continue to increase the political and economic pressure to achieve a peaceful outcome. the president and i have said, nothing is off the table. a fourth, growth. both britain and america are dealing with massive debts and deficits. the measures we take in our economies reflect different national circumstances, but we share the same goals. delivering significant deficit reduction over the immediate term and stimulate growth. the eu and the u.s. together

account for more than half of all global trade. foreign direct investment between britain and america is the largest in the world. it creates and sustains about 1 million jobs. it provides a strong foundation for bilateral trade. the deepening trade and investment between us is crucial. barack and i have agreed to prioritize work on transatlantic trade and investment flow. we have had some very important discussions this morning. i'm looking forward to our talks at the g8 and nato summit. as barack has said, the relationship between the u.k. and america is the strongest it has ever been. together, i am confident that we can help secure the future of our nations. thank you.

>> thank you, david. we have questions from each respective press corps. we will start with npr. >> thank you, mr. president. given the extraordinarily difficult circumstances in afghanistan in the last few weeks, i wonder what mr. coffin said two years from now to leave it will be better than it is today. and i wonder if you can talk about the pace of withdrawal. whether you see something more gradual or speedier. and mr. prime minister, you and the president take different approaches to economic growth. you have more austerity measures. the president focuses more on stimulus measures. i wonder why you think your approach will create more jobs than the president's. >> first of all, on the afghanistan, i think both david

and i understand how difficult this mission is because we have met with families whose sons or daughters or husbands or wives made the ultimate sacrifice. we visit our wounded warriors. we understand the sacrifices they have made their. as i indicated, we have made progress. we are seeing an afghan security force that is getting stronger and more robust and more capable of operating on its own. our goal, said in lisbon, is to make sure that over the next two years, that afghan security force continues to improve. it will be prepared to provide for that country's security when we leave. we also think it is important that there is a political aspect to this. that all the various factions inside afghanistan recognize it is time to end a 30 years of war.

the president there has committed to a political reconciliation process. we are doing what we can to help. ultimately, it will be up to the afghans to work together toward peace. we cannot be nice about the difficulties that are involved in getting there. if we maintain a steady, responsible transition process, which is what we have designed, then i am confident that we can put afghans in a position where they can deal with their own security. and we are also underscoring what we anticipate to be a strategic partnership before we get to chicago that the united states, along with other countries, will sustain a relationship with afghanistan. we will not have combat troops there, but we will be working

with them both to ensure their security and to assure their economy improves. there will be multiple challenges along the way. in terms of pace, i do not anticipate, at this stage, that we will be making any sudden, additional changes to the plan that we currently have. we have already taken now 10,000 of our troops. we are slated to drawdown an additional 23,000 by this summer. there'll be a robust coalition presence inside afghanistan during this fighting season to make sure that the taliban understand it will not be able to regain momentum. in conjunction with all of our allies, we will continue to look at how we affect with this transition that does not result in a steep cliff at the end of

2014, but rather is a gradual pace that accommodates the developing capacities of the afghan national security forces. although you asked this to david, i want to make sure that i comment quickly on the economic issues. we have been asked this for years. the united states and britain are two different economies in two different positions. their banking sector was much larger than ours. their capacity to sustain debt was different than ours. as a consequence, each of us will be taking different strategies.

we want to make sure that we have governments that a lean, affected a efficient, that are properly paid for so we are not leaving it to the next generation and, we want to make sure our citizens are able to pursue their dreams and opportunities by getting a good education, being able to start a small business. so, this notion that somehow two different countries are going to have identical economic programs does not take into account the differences in position. the objectives, bowls, of values, are the same. i am confident -->> that we are both confident -- objectives,

goals, values are the same. i am confident that we are well- positioned to succeed in this economy. i agree with that. there are differences because we are not a reserve currency. >> we have to take a different path. it would be wrong to think that britain is just taking measures to reduce its deficit. we are also taking measures to promote growth. we try to unblock a housing market. we have cut corporation tax to show it is a great destination for investing. a series of steps are being taken. there is a difference between the states of the two economies and the circumstances we face. we are both heading in the same direction.

if you look at the u.s. plans for reducing the deficit over the coming years, it is deeper than what we are going to be doing in the u.k. different starting points but the same destination and a good challenge. i have joey jones from sky news. >> can i ask you if you have any information about a car bomb in this afternoon? the general afghan question, why do you think it is that people talk a good game but people do not buy it? why do you think people look at a situation, they see a mess, they see sacrifice, they see two men who are unable to impose their will, they are not persuaded by your argument. >> on what has happened, very

early details still coming through. we want to investigate exactly what has happened. security of our people, our troops, both forces is the priority. if there are things that need to be done to keep them safer, we will do them. on the broader issue of afghanistan, i would make a thispoint, if you compare where we are today to where we were two years ago, the situation has improved. the additional u.k. troops had a transformative affect. the above all of the insurgency is down. the level of security is up. the capitol is now fully transitioned over to afghan lead control. the markets are open. you are able to take part in

economic activity. it was not possible several years ago. it is still a very difficult situation. there are many challenges we have to overcome. what is happening today is quite different to the situation we had three, four, five years ago. do i think we can get to a situation by the end of 2014 we have a larger afghan army, police force, both on track, and they are -- capable of taking care of their own security and that country is not a threat in the way it was in the past? yes, i think we can achieve that. it has been hard work. the sacrifices have been great. we have to keep reminding ourselves what we are doing. we have to remember that the vast majority of terrorist plots that were affecting people in the u.k., the u.s., came out of

that region. that is why we went in there. that is why we are there today. it is not some long-term strategic interest, it is that we want afghanistan to be able to look after its own security with its own forces so we are safe at home. that is the message we need to keep explaining to people. i think what we are trying to do is achievable and doable. >> i concur with everything he said. the only thing i would add, you ask why is it that members indicate that people are interested in ending the war in afghanistan? it is because we have been there for 10 years. people get weary. they know friends and neighbors who have lost loved ones as a consequence of war. no one wants war. anybody who answers a poll question about war saying, enthusiastically, we want war,

probably has not been involved in a war. as david said, i think the vast majority of american people and british understand why we went there. there is a reason why al qaeda has been decimated. there is a reason why osama bin laden is not in a position to be able to execute plots against the united states or great britain. there is a reason why it is increasingly difficult for those who are interested in carrying out transnational operations directed against our interests are not able to do that. the space has shrunk. their capacity to operate is greatly diminished. as david indicated, this is hard work. when i came into office, we had

spent a lot of time focusing on a rock instead. over the last three years, we have refocused attention on getting afghanistan right. would my preference have been restarted earlier? absolutely. those were not the cards that were dealt. we are now in a position where we are making progress. i believe we are going to be able to achieve our objectives for 2014. >> thank you, mr. president, mr. prime minister. switching to iran -- >> can i point out he gets to ask a question on behalf of the u.s. press corps. are you upset about that chuck? [laughter] it is a special relationship. >> the believe the talks

represent a last chance for the country? prime minister, on syria, how are you approaching the russians to get them on board for a fresh resolution, do you believe the president ought to be tried as a war criminal? >> as david said, we have applied the toughest sanctions ever on iran. we have mobilize the international community with greater unity than we have ever seen. those sanctions are going to begin to bite even harder this summer. we are seeing significant effects on the iran in its economy. they understand the seriousness with which we take this issue. they understand there are consequences for them.

i have sent a message to them publicly that they need to seize this opportunity of negotiations to avert it even worse consequences for it iran in the future. do i have a guarantee that they will walk through this door that we are offering them? no. in the past, there has been a tendency for iran to delay, to stall, to do a lot of talking. i think they should understand that because the international community has applied some of the sanctions, because we have employed so many of the options

that are available to us to persuade them to take a different course, the window for solving this is shrinking. i am determined, not just to contain iran, i am determined to prevent iran from getting a nuclear weapon. it would trigger a nuclear arms race in the most dangerous part of the world. it would raise nonproliferation issues. it would carry significant risks. it would emboldened terrorist in the region.

this is not an issue that simply in one country's interest or two countries interest. this is important to the entire international community. we will do everything we can to resolve this diplomatically. but ultimately, we have to have somebody on the other side of the table. i hope the iranian regime understands that. this is their best bet for resolving this in a way that allows iran to join and prosper and to feel secure themselves. >> thank you. on syria, when you see what is happening in homes and elsewhere, i think we need to appeal to people's humanity to stop the slaughter to get aid and assistance to those with an affected. and to ratchet up the pressure on this bridging. in the case of russia, i think we should appeal to their own interests. it is not in their interest to

of this bloody, broken, brutal regime nightly on the television screens. the people in syria often felt that the russians were their friends. many in the west there were more suspicious of. now they see people in the west wanting to help them. raising their issues, calling for the world to help them. we to make sure russia helps with that. it will take a lot of hard work. i think it is in russia's interest that we deal with this. what is being done in homes. i have spoken personally to one of the photographers who was stuck there when he got out to the u.k. what he witnessed, what he saw was simply appalling and should not be allowed to stand in our world.

that is why we send people to the turkish border to document these crimes and write down what has been done. so that no matter how long it takes, people should always remember that international law has a long reach and a long memory. tom from itm. >> mr. president, it is great you agreed to learn about cricket. it is going to be a long trip. [laughter] on a serious subject, syria. the city wants assad to go. you wanted gaddafi to go for a long time, but he did not. have you discussed a no fly zone? have you discussed how you might implement it? have you discussed any of those issues? >> what i would say is that our

people are incredibly close together on this issue. the focus right now is trying to achieve transition, not trying to foment revolution. we think the fastest way to end the killing, which is what we want to see, is for assad to go. the way to bring that about is to provide diplomatic pressure. that is where our focus is. of course, as i put it, push the system, asked the difficult questions, where the other options? it is right we do that. but they're not without their difficulties and complications, as everybody knows. the focus is transition and all the things we can do to bring pressure to bear. that has been the focus. >> i think everything that david said. our military plans for everything. that is what they do. but i was very clear during the libya situation that this was unique. we had a clear international

mandate. there was unity around the world on that. we were able to execute a plan in a relatively short time frame that resulted in a good outcome. each country is different. as david mentioned, with respect to syria, it is a complicated situation. the best thing we can do is to make sure that the international community continues to unify around the fact that what the regime is doing is unacceptable. it is contrary to every international norm that we believe in. we provide strong support the kofi annan to continue to talk to the russians and others about why it is they need to stand up

on behalf of people who are being shelled mercilessly and to describe to them why it is in their interest to join us in a unified international coalition. that is the most important work we can do right now. there may be some immediate steps we have discussed to make sure that humanitarian aid is being provided in a robust way. and to make sure that an opposition unifies in a way that provides a clear platform for the syrian people to be able to transition to a better form of government. but, when we see what is happening on television, our natural instinct is to act. one of the things that both of us have learned, and every one of these crises, is that it is

important for us to make sure that we have thought through all of our actions before we take those steps. that is not just important for us, it is also important for the syrian people. ultimately, the way the international community mobilize itself, the signals we send, the degree to which we can facilitate a more peaceful transition or a soft landing, rather than a hard landing that results in the civil war, the people who are going to be most affected by the decisions are the people in syria. thank you very much. enjoy the day. we will see some of you tonight. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012]

>> prime minister david cameron took part in several official events today. right now, he is the honoree at a white house state dinner. a short while ago, in a short while, we will bring you the speeches from the dinner. a little later, at today's senate hearing on the crisis in south sudan. george clooney was a witness at the hearing, he is also a guest at the state dinner.

meanwhile, here is another of the day's events with prime minister cameron. he was invited to a luncheon at the state department. this is 25 minutes. >> ladies and gentlemen, the vice-president, dr. jill biden, and the secretary of state, accompanied by the prime minister of great britain and northern ireland and mrs. samantha cameron. [applause]

>> thank you all very much. please be seated. welcome to the state department. we are thrilled and so pleased to host this luncheon for our very special guest, prime minister and mrs. cameron. it is wonderful to see all of you celebrating spring with us and knowing that our relationship -- it is always spring. it is always being renewed. it is always curable. it is a cornerstone of both of our nation's foreign policies, and it has such a great resonance between our two people. i want to recognize our chefs today, a native of birmingham, england, not alabama. who made herself a home in new

york city as the executive chef of a couple of very hip restaurants. one, the spotted paid. the other the breslin. it is really a delight to have april with us. she was just talking with the prime minister. [applause] it was a very timely introduction because when the prime minister and president obama exchanged gifts, president obama gave the prime minister a barbeque. i mean, a real, down-home, american barbecue with a smoking compartment and everything else. april stands ready to help, prime minister. we joke about the special relationship, but that is because we are so comfortable with it. it means such a great deal, not just because of a wide range of

shared interests, but our deeply-rooted history and the unbreakable relationship between our country. of course the president did remind the prime minister at the white house that we are at the 200th anniversary at the war of 1812. [laughter] i was pleased to tell my counterpart and friend, the foreign secretary, that it was my predecessor in one of my other lives who actually saved the extraordinary portraits of george and martha washington, having received word from her husband, who has truly been a commander in chief in the field, that unfortunately, the british truly were coming. so she rushed from the white house, taking some treasures with her, leaving behind e-mail that she had prepared for her husband and his officers, and the british officers ate the meal before they burned the white house. [laughter]

we are looking forward, but nevertheless, there are certain memories that are also of significance and how wonderful it is, here we are today, working together on so many important parts of the world, helping to bring peace and stability to afghanistan, helping to promote successful transitions and democratic reforms in the arab world. we worked alongside each other to end a dictator's rule in libya. we are now focused on helping the people of syria to help them realize a better future for themselves. recently, i was in london for a conference that they sponsor. no matter what the issue, we stand together.

i know, prime minister and samantha, that this is just a small measure of hospitality she tried to demonstrate our commitment and appreciation for this relationship. we were so well treated when the president and in our teams were on a state visit last year, sponsored by the government. it is now my great pleasure to welcome a dear friend, a great american, and a superb vice president, joe biden. [applause] >> madam secretary, thank you very much.

mr. prime minister, mrs. cameron, like you, we host a large number of dignitaries, but sometimes, we are greeted with challenges that require us to forge a whole new relationships, and sometimes, we are preoccupied with henry out agreements or producing what the policy wonks refer to as the liberals -- deliverables. this one is easy. the diplomatic engagement with the full agenda of critical issues, but there is also something like a family gathering with very little disagreement. we sat in the cabinet room today, and it was like a cabinet meeting, not like a meeting with foreign dignitaries. together, we the united states

and great britain, have the deepest international partnership. the bond between our countries and people hast with this test of time -- has stood the test of time. we have weathered the political fortunes in each of our countries, and nothing changes. mr. prime minister, we are honored to welcome you on your first official visit to washington. we are also always anxious to welcome a british prime minister back to washington, even on the anniversary of the war of 1812. i want to tell you, in my family it was not the war of 1812 that bothered anybody about the british. the biden's immigrated from liverpool in 18 05. but the other side of the

family -- the senate and side of the family -- [laughter] they had a different problem. -- the then again -- the finnigan side of the family. to my grandfather, ambrose finnigan, please, things are fine. mr. prime minister, we are truly honored that you are here. you wrote, "what makes our relationships special, unique and essential asset, is that we join hands across so many endeavors. put simply, we count on each other, and the world council on our alliance." that is absolutely true. the united states and united kingdom cooperate on a breathtaking array of issues, none more important than the six military campaigns we have waged alongside one another just in the last 20 years.

as you said, the world counts on us. it was true in libya, and mr. prime minister, i would like to personally commend you for your leadership in championing an international effort to help drive the adoptee from power and give the libyan people a better future. no country made a greater sacrifice than yours in that endeavor. it is true as well in the fight against al qaeda -- together, we have substantially degraded al qaeda, and we will continue to work toward its destruction, dismantling, and ultimate

defeat. it is true that our efforts to strengthen the global economy after the deepest financial crisis since the depression had been remarkable. i remember when we first took office, with in the first weeks when the g-8 was meeting and then the g-20 was meeting. the question was could we get an internationally coordinated effort, and i remember the president said the brits would be with us. mr. prime minister, you are always there. your country has always been there. to keep our sacred obligation to military veterans and those who have served us so well, you have been a stalwart, and we will see a strong symbol of that

shared sacrifice when the british wounded warriors compete alongside american counterparts in the wounded warrior games in colorado in may. i commend you, mr. prime minister, on the new u.s./u.k. service personnel and veterans joint task force, which is helping our troops transition to civilian life, which has been a difficult circumstance for many of our veterans who have been deployed multiple times into got awful circumstances. the quiet american said and wrote french it is something in the soul. it is a thing one feels. it is not a return for something. i think that is the simple best definition of the relationship between the united states and great britain, so to honor our friendship, please raise your glasses when you get them.

please raise your glasses to the prime minister of great britain. [applause] >> thank you so much for those speeches, and thank you for that warm welcome. of course, it is slightly embarrassing being here on the 200 anniversary of 1812, and because of that, i asked in a story and friend of mine before coming on this visit -- i said, "andrew, why is it that in britain, we do not properly commemorate and recognize this rather embarrassing episode in our history?"

he said were coming up on the 200th anniversary of the battle of waterloo kim was so much more enjoy talking about defeating the french -- and we so much more enjoy talking about defeating the french. it is great to know that the chef from birmingham, england, is here cooking our meal today. my political party did make a mistake at a recent election of putting out a leaflet, and the person who designed it took off the internet the city scene of birmingham, but not being a native, actually put the city scene of birmingham, alabama, and the big shock and surprise was when the city councilman was reelected. so anything can happen in politics. you also mentioned the exchange of gifts between president obama and i. i think we got it slightly

wrong because i had given him a table tennis table and he has given me a barbecue, but when you see us standing next to each other, it is quite clear that the person who needs the exercise is the british prime minister any person who needs a bar-b-que is the president of the united states. [applause] thank you also for putting together such an amazing guest list. we were looking through it last night in bed and looking through this guest list, and the star from my favorite movie is going to be here. ben kingsley from "ghandi"? no, it is chevy chase from "caddyshack." thank you for this wonderful reception. some of that and i are thrilled to be with you and even more thrilled to be here in the ben franklin room pyrrophyte " epitomizes so much of what is good about the character of our

two countries -- passionate, diligent, a man prepared to stand up for his values and that his words with deeds. in the best tradition of our two nations, he was also a straight talker. he once said guests are a bit like fish -- they begin to smell after three days. you will be relieved to know having a ride yesterday, i am leaving tomorrow. [laughter] -- having our ride yesterday. i want to start by paying personal tribute to the mr. -- half -- by paying personal tribute to mr. vice-president. i remember in the 1990's when you spoke out for the need of military intervention to stop the ethnic cleansing in bosnia. your right to do that, and in libya, i believe we showed we learned a lesson. we were able to intervene and act and change the course of that country's history, and we were right to do so, said today, we applaud your vision and your courage. [applause]

also, a word of deep gratitude to you, madam secretary. you have been a great friend to britain for 20 years, and no one will ever forget your contribution in northern ireland, your incredible resilience, and your conviction that he's really could be achieved after so many decades of conflict, and i hope, mr. vice-president, with your relatives are looking down, they will see that the relations between britain and the republic of ireland had never been better, and it is a testament to one woman, her majesty the queen, on her 60th year on the throne, that her visit to the republic of ireland did so much to restore relations between our two countries. [applause] in just three years, you've visited 95 countries. you have travelled over 700,000 miles. some people wondered how two

british conservatives would get along with this great force of the democratic party. that is, we in britain say, quite simply, we have been bowled over. whenever we come together to discuss the most difficult issues, whether it is afghanistan, libya, syria, somalia, you always speak with the greatest precision and the greatest power. everyone of us is in all of the passion, the intellect, and the relentless energy you bring to every aspect of international affairs, and you also bring great energy and effort to something else -- to one of the greatest pieces of unfinished business in human history. the emancipation and the empowerment of women. [applause] there are a generation of young women out there in the world today who owe you much more than they will ever know because they can live safer, more dignified, more fulfilling lives than the generations that came

before them. you are also a great champion of smart power. that is why i wanted to just say a word about today. after two years of working hand in glove with the united states, i know we are at our best when we are not just strong but we are smart, when we deploy everything we have at our disposal. in a world of complex problems, there are no simple, easy solutions. take somalia where there is a vicious circle of state failure, economic collapse, piracy, terrorism, kidnapping, famine. as our conference in london showed last month, a credible solution cannot just be about military action or even aid and isolation. we will only succeed when we bring together all of our military, diplomatic, political efforts to achieve peace and prosperity. that is also why we in britain do not just see our increased spending on aid as doing the right thing morally, although we do believe that -- we also think it is the right thing diplomatically and politically

as well. it enhances our ability to get things done. this kind of smart power is one of the great strengths that britain and america have in common, and i think it is very much on show looking around the room today. this morning, once again, british and american men and women in uniform got up to serve to get there. in the persian gulf, afghanistan, the indian ocean, and we honor their incredible service and their sacrifice, but we are not just strong because of our military alone. we are strong, too, because of the power of british and american diplomacy. as secretary clinton put it, the tide of war is receding, but its troops come home, civilians remain to carry out the critical missions of diplomacy and development. across the world, specialists are working to understand and influence countries in shaping the big issues, including in very challenging and very dangerous locations. minute by minute, hour by hour, there are phone calls between

london and washington as our diplomats work together to assess the latest intelligence and work out the best ways forward. in fact, our national security advisers last year talked so often that i think the president was beginning to believe that there was someone called rick donovan who was just one individual rather than two working together. our smart power comes from more than our ability to defend our security. it is rooted in the intertwining of two people and two communities. britain and america continually shape the world because whether you are scientists, innovators, businessmen and women, athletes, or stars of fashion, art, or music, all of you look across the atlantic in both directions to find kindred spirits with the same big ideas and the same big ambitions. so at this, the home of smart power, in the midst of this memorable visit, let me end with a tribute to all of you -- to the people who day in and day out make this the essential relationship that it is today

and what it will be tomorrow and the years to come, and let me ask all of you, please, to raise your glasses to the vice- president, dr. baden, and the secretary of state -- the vice- president, dr. biden, and the secretary of state. [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012]

>> later, the white house held a state dinner in prime minister david cameron's honor. the dinner included billionaire warren buffett and richard branson. reichert andrew sullivan an actor george clooney. here are the traditional toast's offered by the president and prime minister. ♪ >> ladies and juggling, the president of the united states and mrs. obama, accompanied by the prime minister of great britain and mrs. cameron. ♪ [applause]

♪ >> good evening, everyone. please have a seat. welcome to the white house. i was just telling the prime minister at that so far, the evening has been successful because i have not stepped on michelle's train. my main goal this evening.

michele and i could not be more honored that you could join us as we host our great friends, the prime minister of the united kingdom, david cameron, and is remarkable wife, samantha. give them a round of applause. why not? [applause] as i said this morning, this visit often gives us an opportunity to return the gracious hospitality that her majesty, queen elizabeth, as well as david and samantha and all of the british people showed us during our visit to london last year. i know michelle looks forward to returning because, as she announced yesterday, she will be leading the u.s. delegation for the opening ceremonies of the summer olympics in london. [applause] i am jealous.

now i am so grateful for all of the time that david and i have had together. as we have learned, you can never tell how things will get reported as a consequence of our interactions. when we met two years ago, we exchanged beers of our home towns. one news story said david cameron and barack obama cemented their special relationship by hitting the bottle. [laughter] when we had a barbecue for some of our service members, a few -- we decided to roll up our sleeves and flip some birders ourselves. one reporter called it a brave and foolish move. another expressed surprise at our confidence. michelle remarked the same way. when david and i got beat badly in table tennis by some london

kids, one newspaper asked the head coach of the british olympic women's team to critique our performance. they said obama talked a lot and david overhits the ball. both of them look a little confused. [laughter] but in moments like that and in all of our interactions, including today, i have learned something about david. in good times and in bad, he is just the kind of partner you want in your side. i trust him. he says what he does and he does what he says. i have seen his character and i have seen his commitment to human dignity during libya. i have seen his resolve and determination to get the job done, whether writing our economies or succeeding in afghanistan. i will say something else. all of us have seen how you,

have a -- as a parent, along with samantha, have shown a measure of strength that few of us will ever know. tonight, i thank you for bringing that same strength and solidarity to our partnership, even if you do overhit the ball. we are by no means the first president and prime minister to celebrate the abiding bonds between our people. there has been no shortage of words uttered about our special relationship and i was humbled to offer my own last year when i had the opportunity to address parliament in westminster hall. i would like to leave you tonight with two simple images from different times and places, decades apart. but there are moments that reveal the spirit of our alliance and the character of our countries. the first is from the blitz. month after month, the british

people breeze -- braved the onslaught from the sky. one of the enduring images from those days is of the london skyline, covered in smoke with one thing shining through, the dome of st. paul's cathedral. tall and proud and strong. the other image we know from our own lives. that awful september day, the unforgettable picture of the manhattan skyline covered in smoke and dust with one thing shining through, our statue of liberty. tall and proud and strong. in those moments, i think you see all you need to know about who we are and what brings us together tonight. in war and in peace, in times of plenty and in times of hardship, we stand tall and proud and strong together. as free peoples committed to the

dignity of all human beings, we will never apologize for our way of life nor labor in its defense. that is why david's grandfather fought alongside us yanks after d-day. what my grandfather march across europe in patton's army. that is why both american and british soldiers are getting ready to go on patrol in afghanistan like generations before them, shoulder to shoulder. it is why our diplomats and development workers are side by side, standing with the activists. for the right to save a child from drought or famine. while leaders of our countries can embrace the same shared heritage. the promise of our alliance, even if we come from different political traditions, even if the prime minister is younger than nearly 200 years of his

predecessors. even if the president looks a little different than his predecessors. and that is why tonight, our young children and children across the country, can sleep well knowing we are doing everything in our power to build a future that is worthy of their dreams. i intended to make history tonight. i thought i could be the first american president to make it through an entire visit of our british friends without quoting winston churchill. then i saw this great qwuote and i thought, come on, this is churchill. it was december and the attack on pearl harbor had thrust america into war. these were the words that winston spoke to his american partners. "i will say that he must indeed

have a blind soul who cannot see that some great purpose and design is being worked here below of which we have the honor to be the faithful servants." i would like to propose a toast. to her majesty, the queen, on her diamond jubilee, to our dear friends, david and samantha, to the great purpose and design of our alliance. may we remain, up now and always, faithful allies. cheers, everyone. david. [applause]

>> and president obama, the first lady, ladies and gentlemen, it is a tremendous honor to be here this evening. i want to thank you for putting on such a great dinner and for making our visit so special over the last two days. thank you also for all of those strong and beautiful words that you have just spoken. michelle, i am sure that, like sam, you wonder what happens when your husband goes out for a night with the guys. maybe i should come clean about last night agreed we went to basketball and we had a man-to- man chat. barack try to confuse me by talking about bracketology but i got back at him by running for the rules of cricket. so often we find we are completely overshadowed by our beautiful wives carried -- and

by our beautiful wives. [applause] as i rolled into bed last night, i said, samantha, and do you want to hear what i was of two on the guys night out? she is not too impressed by these things. she said, everything you did was on television. you were surrounded by the presidential bodyguards so presumably, you did not get up to anything. both barack and i have set a lot about the importance of the relationship between our countries and people. like my predecessors, i am proud of our essential relationship and of britain's strong national bond with the united states of america. i feel it in my bones. there is a great history of close relationships between u.s. presidents and british prime ministers. importantly, these have been regardless of the political parties that happen to represent.

her majesty, the queen, is a great authority on the matter. she has seen, and she likes to tell me this, of no fewer than 12 british prime ministers and 11 u.s. presidents during her time on the throne. i am sure everyone would want to pay tribute her incredible service and selfless duty in this, her diamond jubilee year. [applause] her majesty's first prime minister was winston churchill, a regular guest at the white house. i am not going to quote from churchill but about churchill. it seems his visit -- his visits were not the easiest for the american hosts. "he drinks like a fish, smokes like a chimney, he has a regular routines, sleeps days and is up

at night and turns the clock out that -- upside-down." for those who know that the prime minister does not stay at the white house, we all know the winston churchill was found naked in his back by president roosevelt. [laughter] for every genuine presidential- prime ministerial friendship, there have been some total disconnects. edward heath and richard nixon took personal issues with each other to new heights. richard nixon arranged for someone to pay for the swimming pool at the prime minister's country residence of checkers. incidentally, this summit will now has eight serious and possibly terminal week. -- leak.

i hope you will not find it a myth, as i say here in the white house, for the first time in 40 years, it is time to call in the plumbers. turning to obama-karen -- obama- cameron, michelle and obama have been very kind to sam and me. we have struck up a good partnership. we talked through issues and do not need to remind each other of the basic threats that we face. but there are three things about barack that really stand out for me. strength, moral authority, and wisdom. strength because he has been strong when required to defend his national interest. under president obama, america ,bin laden -- america got bin

laden. [applause] and together with british and coalition forces, america has fundamentally weakened al qaeda. the president says what he will do and sticks to it. i will never forget that first call on libya when he told me exactly what role america would play in libya and he delivered his side of the bargain to the letter. we deliver our side of the bargain, too. let us all agree that the world is better off without bin laden, and gaddafi, too. [applause] moral authority because barack understands that the means matter every but we do every bit as much as the end. america must do the right thing, but to provide moral leadership, america must do it in the right way. the first president i studied in

school was theodore roosevelt. he talked of speaking softly and carrying a big stick. that is barack's approach. in following it, he has pressed the reset button on the moral authority of the entire free world. wisdom because he is not rushed into making flights, but has started america's resources of hard and soft power. he has taken time to make considered decisions, drawing down troops from iraq and surging in afghanistan. he has found a new voice with the air of people. he has realized that in america, as in britain, the future depends on making the best of every citizen. both our nations have been held back by inequality. now there is a determined effort in both of our countries, most notably through education reform, to ensure that opportunity is truly available for all. 50 years ago, the amazing

courage of rosa parks, the visionary leadership of martin luther king, and the inspirational actions of the civil rights movement led politicians to write equality into the law and make real the promise of america for all of her citizens. in the fight for justice and the struggle for freedom, there is no end. there is so much more to do to ensure that every human being can fulfil their potential. that is why our generation faces a new civil rights struggle, to seek the price of the future that is open to every child as never before. barack has made this one of the goals of his presidency, a goal he is pursuing with enormous courage. it is fitting that a man whose own personal journey defines the promise and potential of this unique nation should be working to fulfill the hopes of his country in this way. barack, it is an honor to call you an ally, a partner, and a friend. you do not get to choose the

circumstances you have to deal with as a president or a prime minister. and you do not get to choose the leaders that you have to work with. but all i can say is that it is a pleasure to work with someone with more strength, clear reason, and with fundamental decency in this task of renewing our great national alliance for today and the generations to follow. with that, i propose a toast to the president, to the first lady, and to the people of the united states of america. cheers. [applause]

>> tomorrow on "washington journal." joan lowy on the senate transportation bill. it then diana and gary discussed income inequality. after that, mental health in the u.s. military and out has been treated. plus, your e-mails, phone calls, and tweets.

>> congratulations to all of this year's winners of the c- span video documentary competition. a record number entered a video on the theme of the constitution and you, showing which part of the constitution is important to them and why. watch all of the videos on our website and join us as we showed the top 27 videos on c-span. we will talk with the winners during "washington journal." >> the african nation of south sudan declared its independence following decades of civil war. south sudan is fighting violent groups internally and has seen clashes with the army over the disputed border. the senate foreign relations committee held this hearing about the humanitarian crisis. they heard from special envoy princeton lyman and actor and activist george clooney. this is just over two hours.

>> members of the press, please. >> first will be the state department special envoy for sudan. thank you very much, everybody. i appreciate it.

thank you. mr. ambassador, we are delighted to welcome you here today. one of the privileges and responsibilities of our committee is to shine attention on important issues when they are not part of the daily drumbeat of the news cycle. we all remember the famous moment in charlie wilson's war, when having achieved the objective of driving the soviets out of afghanistan, charlie wilson is stunned to see how quickly his colleagues have moved their attention elsewhere, despite, as wilson said, "the ball keeps on bouncing." we know what came next. tragically, too many policy makers only return their attention to afghanistan after 9/11. i believe our committee would

fail the test of history if we allowed attention today to drift from the critical situation in sudan and south sudan. i have the privilege of being in sudan a number of times over the course of the last few years, and particularly, for the referendum. i saw the expressions of hope for the future and watched the difficult birth of a new nation. i was privileged to be there with ambassador lyman, with george clooney, and john prendergast. we would do well to remember that you can have a vote to have a new beginning for a nation or for any number of things, but you can lose the future when the tough choices that follow are denied, when they are deferred, or when collective attention is somehow

diverted. that's why at a time when the world faces a lot of competing crises, we need to wrestle with and understand what steps the united states and our partners should take to help sudan and south sudan resolve the complex challenge before them. make no mistake. it is the leaders in khartoum and juba who must choose between a future of conflict and poverty, or a future of security and prosperity. we must not abdicate the important role the united states can take. there are some signs that are cautiously encouraging. on january 9, president bashir made the right choice in allowing the south's referendum. on july 9, he made the right choice in recognizing its

outcome, and even i am traveling there to welcome it. yesterday, he announced he would travel to juba for the first time since independence in order to meet the president. for every step forward, there has always been a step backwards with patterns of violence and repression of sudan's passed. in the last year, bashir has waged war on his own people. he has arrested student protesters. he has rejected viable solutions to outstanding issues in favor of aerial bombardment. the past has again become prologue. for its part, south sudan has established itself as a new nation. the president has named a diverse cabinet and leaders in juba put forward serious proposals. the country has also experienced wrenching ethnic violence.

there are allegations that it has supported proxy fighting in the north. in the act that may be justified, but may also be self-defeating, it has cut off the flow of oil. for all these struggles, we cannot devalue the progress that we have seen. peacefully creating a new state was an accomplishment of historic magnitude. in abyei, peacekeepers have helped to bring a critical measure of stability. it has to be said that a came after an enormous amount of the movement of people in the killing of people and really the cleaning out of the whole population in that area. "the new york times" recently titled an article, "hope for darfur." i would ask you, when was last time you saw "hope" and "darfur" in the same sentence?

the sudanese government and the liberation and justice movement signed a peace agreement last year. i look forward to hearing today whether these steps, if implemented and supported, could in fact become the foundation for a more lasting resolution in darfur. at a time when there are those who want to cut the international affairs budget, i want to point to sudan and south sudan as examples of the power of diplomatic engagement. the cpa was signed because of diplomatic engagement. the birth of a new nation took place because of careful, sustained diplomatic engagement. we can and must continue to put our shoulder to this wheel, even as we of knowledge the fate of these countries lies with their people and their leaders.

sudan must escape its fatal cycle of conflict, not as some next chapter in the arab awakening, but because it's the only way to forge a viable political and economic future for its people. the bombing and humanitarian blockade in blue nile has to stop. south sudan has the opportunity to avoid the corruption that has too often plague oil-rich countries. it has the opportunity to create an inclusive government that encourages ethnic diversity. last december, had the privilege of standing with president kiir here in washington. at that conference, he spoke eloquently about the long road to freedom. i know that journey came at a tremendous sacrifice and blood, sweat, and tears. a long road to freedom. it was never intended to be a track to perpetual conflict and poverty and violence. it was always a journey to hope

and prosperity. that journey continues. two fragile states emerged on july 9. we are all here today because it's in the vested interest of the international community that those two countries become partners in political and economic stability, not volatile adversaries in an already troubled region. we are also cognizant that this region extends south to the lord's resistance army, somalia, and many other dangerous players, all of which could create confirmation that could even eclipse the longest war which was the longest war in sudan. we're privileged to be joined by the president's special envoy to sudan, ambassador princeton lyman.

we know you are just back from ethiopia, mr. ambassador. believe me, for all the members of this committee and for all of us, we thank you for all your tireless service and your efforts. we also welcome nancy lindborg from usaid. i also want to welcome our first u.s. ambassador to south sudan, susan page, who is in the audience today, as well as the senior adviser for darfur, ambassador smith. on our second panel, george clooney and john prendergast will join us. i want to thank both of them. i was there with them last year. i saw the focus and attention

that their efforts have brought to this issue. they represent the satellite sentinel project, which has given us a window in to events in blue nile and elsewhere. they are just back today. i am pleased they were able to get here. i know they will be talking with secretary clinton and president obama and others. i think today we will have a good opportunity to really get some insights. we welcome it. on a note of sadness, as many of you know, congressman don payne passed away last week. he was a tireless advocate for the people of sudan and south sudan. his funeral service is taking

place today. this morning, our committee remember sam for his dedication to the cause of peace. senator lugar. >> thank you, mr. chairman. by join you in welcoming our distinguished witnesses. we look forward to their testimony. we appreciate their good counsel. i join you in a tribute to don payne, who has worked with us on this committee and in the house and has been such a champion in africa. the foreign relations committee has been very well informed about sudan and now south sudan. unfortunately, due to the amount of genocide and other crimes against humanity, that the tribal conflicts, and now border clashes. the extreme violence and deprivation that characterized

much of that conflict has recently been brought home to millions in this country through the viral youtube video that the picks of the cruelty inflicted by joseph kony and the lord's resistance army. the impact of the bloody fighting in sudan and south sudan has been brought, and another way. the comprehensive peace agreement, signed in 2005, finally achieve the separation of south sudan from the north last july. it was hoped that the petroleum wealth that they share would be deemed too precious for either side to forgo. instead, oil exports have stopped, putting upward pressures on oil prices globally, even though the united states no oil from sudan, oil is traded on the global market. any major loss of supply affects

all prices and the crude america imports and they buy at the pumps. that's why i've stressed the importance of improving transparency and governance in oil-rich countries. stability in oil-rich regions leads to stability in gas prices here. i have appreciated the leadership of senator cardin in that effort. events in faraway lands can affect to the u.s. security situation. besides influencing the cost of fuel that feeds our homes and cars are vehicles, there are conflicts in places like sudan, somalia, or the arabian gulf can place strains on our humanitarian resources and require us to maintain and civilian capacity is to respond to crises. the administration should redouble its diplomatic efforts

with the international community, including the african union and the arab league, to help bring about a stable and productive south sudan, and a more responsible republic of sudan. the most egregious violence and violation of international law, again, emanate from khartoum, as the al-bashir regime engages in crimes against humanity, including starvation as a method of war. i expect our witnesses today will describe the humanitarian and human rights atrocities that have occurred since the two countries separated in july. i am particularly interested in learning about the displacement of more than 120,000 people from the nuba mountains of southern kordofan and the blue nile state. i am also concerned about the

genocide of dozens of violent conflicts that have erupted in south sudan. this is a country where people fought for years to be free. we had hoped that independence would lead them to set aside differences. the united states has played an important but carefully defined role, which must continue. from senator danforth's efforts to secretary powell efforts to secretary clinton's recent engagement at the u.n. thanks primarily to the actions of the government in khartoum. the united states should work to galvanize an international

response in conjunction with the arab league and the african union to preclude further catastrophe. this means leveraging our diplomatic -- our diplomacy to press china, sudan's major oil customer, to live up to its responsibility as a world power. i look forward to the testimony. >> thank you very much, senator lugar. mr. ambassador, we will lead off with you. i do need to announce -- unfortunately, we just got word that there may be as many as three votes in the senate at about 11:30. we may have to have a small hiatus and then recess and then come back. if that happens, happens.

we will try to proceed. mr. ambassador. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. thank you for all your leadership. senator lugar, a great pleasure to see you. for all the members of the committee, thank you very much for the opportunity. i do ask that the full written testimony be made part of the record. >> without objection, it will be. >> i want to join you in recognizing the passing of don payne. we will miss him very much. i want to talk about several aspects of the situation in sudan and south sudan, which you and senator lugar have mentioned. the relations between the two are deteriorated. the continuing violence in southern kordofan and blue nile is continuing.

both countries are struggling with internal challenges, to which you referred, senator lugar. turning to the crisis in southern kordofan and blue nile, since last june, this conflict has taken place and it has created an enormous humanitarian emergency, as well as a serious political problem for sudan and for the relations between the two. you will hear more about the details of the humanitarian crisis from the second panel. mr. clooney and mr. prendergast are just back from that area.

let me talk about what we have been doing in the efforts to control this situation. from the beginning, we have said that there is no military solution to this problem. it has arisen from political issues that were not resolved in the final stages of a comprehensive peace agreement. it will not be settled militarily. the two sides must return to the negotiating table. our immediate concern is with the humanitarian crisis. nancy will talk to the details of how many people have been displaced and how serious the crisis is. since last october, we have been saying to the government in khartoum that this crisis is coming, that you could see that

by the nature of the war, the bombing of civilian areas, and all the things that have been taking place there that a major humanitarian crisis was going to occur in this area. we said that the government of sudan must allow international humanitarian access. and that the world cannot stand by and certainly the united states could not stand by and watch such a crisis unfold if the government did not take action. recently, and this refers to something that senator lugar mentioned, a proposal to the government from the united nations, the league of arab states, and the african union to carry out an international humanitarian program. members of the committee, i can say that since last october, we have contacted virtually every country in the world who would have any influence on khartoum to bring pressure to the government of sudan to allow such a program.

we were delighted when the league of arab states, along with the african union, and the u.n. joined in this. we had a unanimous resolution of the u.n. security council. china, russia, and all the rest calling for immediate humanitarian access. we have not received a reply yet from the government. we have some hopeful signs about their reaction to that proposal. we have not yet received approval. should they approved it, action must be taken very quickly. we have a very narrow window before the rains come and make all the roads in passable. if humanitarian assistance is going to come to those areas, it has to come soon. if a program is not carried out, we have ways for the u.s. to provide indirect support to the sudanese to reach the most

vulnerable people, but it is not the most efficient way. the most efficient way is for the international access that has been proposed to the government. i would like to turn to some recent events, gentlemen, that have occurred since we submitted the written testimony. in the written testimony, i described the relationships that had been deteriorating between sudan and south sudan. the conflict in kordofan and blue nile was contributing to that. the shutdown of the oil that has been referred to, because the two sides could not agree on the financial of arrangements. the government of sudan in khartoum began diverting south sudan oil. yesterday, we received word that the two countries decided to step back from the brink. they looked at each other and

said, "we are going in the wrong direction. the papers would put on the table will not help the situation. we have to step back." we have to go back to the concept we all claimed we were committed to a two viable states taking care of our mutual security and economic needs. they have set a new path for that would include another summit meeting with president bashir coming to juba. it would set a new tone for the negotiations. it would set out a new timetable for dealing with the issues of oil, abyei, and the others. while we take a great deal of hope from this, a lot can depend on what happens in the next several weeks. i want to salute the african union, led by the presidents, who inspired the two to take a different approach. i want to congratulate the

parties for stepping back from the brink of what was a deteriorating and dangerous situation and began to look again at how each of them has been trying to destabilize the other and each of them are heard in the process. senator, i would also like to turn briefly to the situation in south sudan that has been raised here. time does not permit me to go into much detail. as you mentioned, there are a lot of challenges in south sudan. while they have made a lot of progress in setting up the government, it's an extraordinarily poor country with very poor infrastructure. there are deep fissures within

the society, as was revealed in the crisis, which nancy will talk about further. and the loss of oil revenue only aggravate this problem by depriving the government of badly needed resources. we have to look very carefully and work very closely with south sudan and with sudan to resolve the oil crisis and to help the government deal with those problems. in darfur, in sudan, as you mentioned, mr. chairman, there's a little bit of progress, but a long way to go. as long as there are 1.7 million people still in camps and another 280,000 in refugee camps across the border, we cannot say we come far from the situation of a few years ago. wholesale violence is down, but there is still a great deal of insecurity. the government signed a peace agreement with just one of the rebel movements. we recognize the limitations of that agreement. on the other hand, it contains a lot of the elements that led to the conflict in the first place. we will see if the government and its partner will actually implement some of these programs.

we have talked to the movements that did not sign the agreement. several of the armed movements have refused to do so. they did say that if any benefits come from these agreements for their people, they would be happy to see it. their focus is elsewhere right now. just another comment about the situation in sudan itself. in sudan, they are also facing an economic crisis. a loss of oil revenue has taken away 70% of their revenue. food prices are rising. foreign exchange is very short. they are fighting on three fronts. southern kordofan, blue nile, and still somewhat in darfur. as we have said previously on many occasions, the fundamental challenge in sudan is the governance of the country. there is still a system where the center dominates the peripheral, where there's a deprivation of human rights, where wars are fought with terrible violation of people's rights and protections. until that changes, until there is a new political situation in

sudan that is inclusive, that is democratic, that brings all the people of the country to gather, they will not come out of the problems they have. they will not resolve their differences, not only with the united states, but with many other countries of the world. that is the task that all the people in sudan have to turn to. that is true of the people who are fighting. the sudan revolutionary front, which is taken arms up against the government -- they, too, have to protecting image of what they want sudan to look like, what they want. until that happens, sudan will be in difficulty. we urge them to rise to this challenge, as well. mr. chairman, i'm happy to answer questions on these and other matters.

i hope this gives you a general picture of where we have been working. thank you. >> very helpful. administrator lindborg. >> thank you. i would echo -- the passing of donald payne. the donald payne fellowship was just launched. we are ordered to help foster his legacy. as you noted, only eight months ago, we celebrated the peaceful separation of south sudan from sudan. despite the positive momentum,

these two nations, as we knew at the time, faced considerable challenges. a legacy of 50 years of conflict, a set of unresolved issues, the stresses of severe under development in south sudan, which ranks as one of the poorest countries on the earth. while there has been progress, we are deeply concerned that the conflicts in the region are creating grave new humanitarian crisis. we're focused on the challenges and solutions in southern kordofan and blue nile and abyei. the challenges of sorting out nationality and status after one country becomes two and the not yet resolved eight-year crisis in darfur. i written testimony has details on each of these flash point,

as well as some of the challenges resulting from the oil revenue shortfall and austerity measures. for today, in the interest of time, let me focus on two critical issues. the two areas and the rising conflict in south sudan. i would be happy to answer any questions. in the two areas, heavy fighting between the sudan arms forces and the splm has resulted in 130,000 refugees. in south kordofan, another 60,000 in blue nile. we've seen heavy aerial bombardment and long-range shelling that has terrorized communities and cut off people's access to food, health care, livelihood, trade. the last planting season was disrupted.

international humanitarian access has been largely blocked since the beginning of this conflict. the government of sudan continues to prohibit aid from many people in need. we're continuing to provide assistance to the government of sudan-controlled areas in south kordofan and there is some progress reported there. in the areas controlled by the splm north, the outlook is worsening. current predictions are that up to 250,000 people in those areas now face a serious emergency, which is one step short of famine by the end of april if the violence and the restrictions on humanitarian

access continues. it is imperative to have immediate humanitarian access to all the communities affected in south kordofan to stave off an emergency situation for a quarter of a million people in the coming months. blue nile is facing equally devastating impacts. as ambassador lyman said, we are very hopeful the government of sudan will sign the agreement and allow negotiated access, as proposed by the u.n. and its partners. if necessary, we will examine ways to provide indirect support to ensure the most vulnerable received assistance. if the government of sudan signs, we stand ready to immediately deliver food and humanitarian assistance to those in need.

let me briefly highlight the explosion of violence that occurred recently in jonglei in south sudan. these incidents really underscores the fragility and fledgling nation of the new state. we were able to respond with emergency assistance in jonglei state. we're standing ready to provide assistance to those across the south. resolving these issues aand conflicts in the long term will require sustained engagement by the government of south sudan. without their pledge, donor help will not be sufficient to achieve stability.

coming so soon after the celebration from south sudan, this confluence of crises is very alarming to us. there has been progress. just to note, with u.s. assistance and the commitment of many of you on this committee, we have been able to help transform the government of south sudan from a concept to a government. more than 1 million people now have access to clean water. childrens enrollment in schools is up from 20% to 68%. these are accomplishments to celebrate. the referendum on south's determination was a success and of itself. we're seeing how long it takes to emerge from half a century of conflict. with even a sturdy peace agreement, the perniciousness that that will continue as we look at what will be a long- term effort. thank you for the focus of this committee for your continued

intense attention. it is needed. this will be a long journey. we must stay engaged to enable success for these two nations. thank you. >> thank you very much, madam administrator. let me begin, if i may, by asking you, ambassador, first of all -- do you have a date or do know when this visit of bashir to juba will take place? >> we're hoping it will be two weeks. we were hoping juba would issue an invitation to president bashir. they do want to do a lot of preparations so the summit has concrete results. they will have to do a lot of work. they will also do shuttle diplomacy during these two weeks. we are hoping it will take place in about two weeks.

>> at this point, do you know what the agenda will be, the specific topics of discussion? >> the idea is to ratify two agreements that were signed. one i was very happy to see signed and that is on the nationality question. that is, the protection of southerners living in the north and northerners living in the south, that they do not become stateless. procedures were set up and agreed to. they signed an agreement on borders and how to deal with that problem. those will be ratified by the two presidents. they will recognized the needs of both sides and reach an agreement in that context. how specific those instructions will be has to be worked on. it will deal with oil, but also

how to deal with issues like orders. >> given that is a north-south issue, obviously, resolving the old thing would be a huge step. what the southern kordofan and blue nile issue be on that table? >> it will be on the table in two ways. one, because you cannot get to the atmosphere if they do not make progress in southern kordofan and blue nile. it is simply poisoning the situation. ons forcing them to clash the borders. both have a security concern in those areas. we have to make progress before the summit to create an atmosphere. then the two have to say, we are both working to destabilize each other. how do we get out of that box? southern kordofan and blue nile is part of it. itt we're hoping is that will lead not only to a quiet

scene of the hostility, but hopefully the atmosphere the political talks can start. that would change the atmosphere. is there a strategy under way? do you have a thought on how that can be implemented? >> it has been a tremendous effort on everybody's part to do just that. the government was so angry and bitter over this with their own perceptions of how the war started that it was very hard to get through on those matters. we have urged the african union, the chairman of the african union commission, china,

the arab countries, south africa, other countries, the arab league, the african union -- everybody we could talk to -- to send that message to khartoum. >> who do you think would have the greatest impact? >> the arab countries are very important. i'm very delighted the league of arab states is joining in this. china has become very active but i was in beijing last august. our two governments agreed we would work more closely on sudan. their new envoy is now traveling in khartoum and juba. i think those countries are important, because they are important to both sides, but they have particular importance to sudan. i think another factor, quite frankly, mr. chairman, is the realization, the growing realization in khartoum that there's not a military solution

to this problem. going on with the fighting and facing a humanitarian disaster is not in their interest. i think all these efforts have contributed to that. i am hoping that we will get better news in the days ahead. >> one other quick question. when we chatted a number of months ago and i subsequently chatted with president kiir about the oil shutdown issue, one of the concerns which you raised and others did was this question of what the cost of starting up would be and what the damage might be in the process. have you assessed that? can you share with us what our knowledge is about how difficult it might be to bring that oil production back on line? >> the feeling now is that if you started production tomorrow, by the time you got the pumps going, by the time you sent the oil through the

pipeline, made the contract, sent the oil, it would be four months before the first dollar would come in. that is worrisome, because both sides are facing deep economic problems. that is the latest. >> my colleagues may follow up on that. senator lugar? >> ambassador, i just want to get some sense from you as an experienced diplomat, it's been apparent in khartoum for a long time with regard to starvation that's occurring in the south, maybe even with some of their own citizens. what makes a difference -- and in other words, they have faced for a long time the statistics we for today of tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of people dying in the process. the pressures of that situation

have not been adequate, really, to bring about much of a change. although, you give us hope again today that some negotiations may occur. in part because they could have khartoum the revenue have -- they could have the revenue of khartoum itself, quite apart from the south. as it has been suggested, a large majority of funds from both governments come from this oil, which is now stymied, as you say, at best, for four months. when we talk about international pressures, what are the pressures that make any difference here? how can we anticipate any difference in the future, as opposed to hearings we may have this time next year and the year after? >> the immediate situation and the fundamental situation. the arguments and i think the

resistance that has come out of khartoum has been that they see the situation and the calls for international assistance as a plot to get inside sudan and eventually take these areas south. they see a repeat of the cpa -- then the international community will come in, that they will set up camps, they will set up a peacekeeping operations, and pretty soon, the government will lose control of more of its territory. i have heard that argument on many occasions. there's a deep suspicion of the motives of the international community. they see this as -- we are not going to go down that path again. we will keep our country together, even if we have to do it militarily. it has taken a lot of time and effort to say, you're looking at it in the wrong way and in a way that will hurt your own interests. to deal with this deep

suspicion about motives, to have the african union and the league of arab states joining the u.n. helps a great deal. that part of it. another part of it is this fundamental question of how they will govern the country. how do they treat areas around the periphery, if you could call it that, different ethnic groups, etc.? they have not got their guests. they have not determined how to do that in a democratic, open way. they see a challenge. they respond militarily. we've had to work against that mind-set, frankly, for a long time and with a great deal of effort. >> our dilemma, clearly, mr. ambassador, we are attempting to be of assistance a lot of places. for example, a great debate rages about our policy in egypt, which has supposedly moved into democracy. suddenly, to pick up ambassador lyman's thoughts, we are interfering with the evolution

of egypt. we have this debate over our own humanitarian efforts now, the efforts of america to be of assistance in this transition. i raise this not because we can solve this here today, but it so fundamental in what we're talking about with sudan. americans do want to help. i feel we are being stymied. there is a debate going on as to whether starvation, someone should not only be allowed or they be encouraged as another form of warfare. this is really a fundamental

foreign policy problem we are going to have to face. despite our very best attempts, we are now being rebuffed by those who say this is just interference on your part and we are not one to allow it. if we're going to start, we are going to start by ourselves or starve each other. having made the pronouncement, i appreciate so much, ambassador lyman, ambassador, for your work on the ground. >> senator cardin. >> i, too, join in thanking are two witnesses. i also want to thank those on the second panel for bringing a spotlight on this issue that is otherwise difficult. with so many issues in the world, you are helping us focus

on this humanitarian disaster. you set this up with three fronts in sudan. we're dealing with the sudan and south sudan issues and we are dealing with darfur. as i have listened to the testimony, it reminds me of testimony eight years ago with what was happening in darfur. darfur happen under our watch, which was a failure of the civilized world to take appropriate action and the disaster against innocent people. are we going to go through the same thing and the two areas? basically talk about this for years and see thousands or hundreds of thousands of

people's lives ruined forever. it's very frustrating for all of us. is there a lesson we've learned from darfur that we can use? what mistakes did we make in darfur that we don't want to repeat again? can you help us on this? there is an emergency. i understand getting humanitarian aid in there. we talk about it and talk about it and talk about it, and people die. >> senator, you've put your finger on the situation. what have we learned and how we prevent them from repeating themselves? and extremely upsetting were some. -- worrisome. there's a pattern in a way government of sudan fights

their wars that produces -- produces that kind of human rights violation. >> could you pull the mic down? >> i think there's an opportunity to bring this war in southern kordofan and blue nile to a close. i think it's there. i think, in part, because they cannot win a military victory. they do not want, and nobody wants, huge camps of people who have moved from their homes. the government sees this as threatening their whole internal security. it has taken a long time for them to see it differently. i cannot promise you that we will get out of this war soon. i think what we did learn from darfur is that organizing and mobilizing the international community early on, a concerted and united pressure, until

recently the u.n. security council was not united on sudan. the statement that was made recently it was a very strong united statement of all 15 members. it makes a difference. having the league of arab states, as well as the african union, makes a difference. hope that we have learned lessons. i share your frustrations. >> i just point out that until we change the way the sudanese government conducts its security issues, there's little hope that we will not see a repeat of these disasters. failure to bring the government to account for their violations of international law -- we're paying a heavy price for that. every time we take a pass on enforcing crimes against humanity, it makes it more

likely we will see a repeat of this in the future. one last question. you mentioned the impact as it related to sudan and south sudan. is the conflict in the two areas also having an impact on what's happening in darfur? >> it does in this way. the splm north, which is fighting the government in southern kordofan and blue nile, has teamed up with three of the darfur rebel groups to form this sudan revolutionary front. it has become a wider coalition of anti-government forces. they are cooperating more. what is happening with the groups in darfur -- they are focusing more on national issues and, from their point of view, regime change. it is having an effect on the darfur situation and linking the two in the way i have described.

>> i join with the chairman in thanking both of you. >> thank you. neither of us could do this job without the extraordinary focus of president obama and secretary clinton on sudan and south sudan. they follow it very closely and are heavily engaged. that makes all the difference. >> there has been strong u.s. leadership in this region for a long time. still, the humanitarian disasters continue under our watch. >> thank you, senator cardin. >> mr. chairman, i think the testimony has been outstanding. i think the first three senators expressed this very well. i have limited abilities, but one of my strengths is math. i can see that if we continue

this, our second panel, like understand have been through a pretty harrowing experience in getting here, will have a pretty disruptive session. i'm going to pass. thank you for calling it. >> thank you very much, senator. senator menendez. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i will try to be brief. i will not pass. i do not always have the opportunity to have some of our experts here before the committee. i want to follow up where senator cardin left off. i'm wondering what it is we can do that we are not doing, working with our allies to

create the pressures that some of the atrocities that are taking place can stop? when sudan continues to turn to other countries, china, russia, qatar, for assistance when they look at the sudanese pound appreciating more than 50% since mid 2011, that is an opportunity, and economic opportunity in which we can use that necessity to try to change behavior. i do not get the sense we are doing this. what is it that we're not doing that could do, particularly with our allies to change the course of events that senator cardin talked about? >> i think the opportunity is coming up as a result of the agreement that was reached, because what it focused on, more specifically, was the

recognition on the part of the negotiators from khartoum that they have a major economic problem, and the only way out of that is not just an oil agreement with the south because the south can only provide so much. and therefore, what matters, is the kind of assistance they can get from their friends in the arab world, china, etc. and what now we can do -- and i think is important that we do -- is work with those countries on the kind of support they offer to khartoum -- that is, to encourage khartoum exactly in the way you say, that you cannot have a big investment and donor program in the middle. but also to give them encouragement if they do the right things and do make the right kinds of agreements, that the support would be there for them to deal with their major

economic problems. that is what i think we have to work on a great deal more. a colleague of mine will be visiting the middle east later this month to talk with the countries in that area. i have been in close touch with the chinese government on this. and i think we can do more to bring that part of the international community together because sudan does face some very serious economic crises and there is no one way out of it. >> offering financial assistance -- to leverage the financial assistance to create a result, the crisis dispute, the resolution to the crisis? >> you know, they have some interests. some of the countries have stopped giving sudan considerable assistance. so, we have to gauge exactly how they perceive this situation. i think that is one of the tasks we have to engage in the next few weeks.

>> finally, let me ask you -- second panel, mr. clooney and mr. prendergast will talk about their satellite sentinel project, to generate a rapid response. does the state department review this as an opportunity, a model that can be used for monitoring conflicts in other parts of the world in the midst we are in several locations -- in syria, to name one? >> yes, thank you. there is a lot of focus in looking at how we can better predict and understand the possibility of coming atrocities. and there is an initiative that president obama put forth that puts a focus on identifying and whole lot of ways in which we can gather information that helps us prevent humanitarian crises, so we are very interested in this as one of the models. >> thank you. >> i am not about to not follow

the leadership of our -- i am aware of the long line that formed at 9:00 was to see -- not to see johnny isakson, but george clooney. [laughter] you have done a phenomenal job. bob corker and i have traveled to darfur, and i want to acknowledge a special envoy williamson, for the great work leading to the peace agreement. and what that, i will defer to mr. clooney. >> i heard people saying, have you seen johnny isakson? >> senator udall? >> i think i will follow the lead also of our republican colleagues and try to move as quickly as possible, if we can. let me just thank the ambassador for your testimony and leadership on this issue. you have mentioned that president obama and secretary clinton have been actively

involved and we also appreciate their assistance. with that, i will yield back. >> we have bipartisan agreement it is time to move on. thank you very much for your service. >> i think we have to schedule this around a really controversial vote. >> i would not say, all of us, just for the audience -- we have the ability to ask questions of these officials. that is why moving on makes sense. >> before we excuse you, i want to ask if there is anything that you feel you wanted to say and did not have a chance to -- or, ambassador? >> i just thank committee very much. i do not think the crowds were out there -- were out there to see us, either. >> we are going to work with you as closely as we have. we will try to support you in

any way we can. i do think that saudi arabia, qatar, china, could particularly play an increased role here and i hope over the next days we can talk about how to perhaps leverage that a little bit and see if we can't move on this. i know everybody wants to move -- just one last quick question. do you believe that the signals you are getting and this movement of yesterday, etcetera, is there any indication of a greater willingness to try to provide access to humanitarian assistance and actually get the political solution? >> nancy and i were on the phone this morning with the minister of social welfare asking that. she has said they are meeting tomorrow. we are hoping we can get an answer as soon as tomorrow on that front.

once we open the door, once we have food going in, it is going to affect the fighting going on, and you have to protect the humanitarian workers. and that, we hope, is going to create an atmosphere where political talks start to happen. we are hoping that. it has not been agreed yet but that is the direction we want to go. >> this is a tricky question but an important one -- are there indications of the south's direct support for proxy efforts in that area? >> we have -- from the government of south sudan, the fighting is very dangerous and we can see the results -- retaliation, bombing across the border. and we have had very candid talks with them about it, and part of the reason they are going to this summit is to discuss it frankly between the

two governments. so i am hoping that will be on the agenda. >> thank you very much. as appreciative as everyone has said, it is a tough task and we are really happy to have your expertise, you're still, and the commitment of both departments. wheat think the secretary and a present for their focus on it. let's try to move seamlessly, if i can. i would ask george clooney and john prendergast and john temin to come up.

[laughter] >> evidently, moving is a very interesting thing. let alone, sitting. folks, if we could ask the member of press if they would give us room to proceed? thank you very much. john, is there an order you guys have? george? go for it. thank you. again, we are really have to have you here. we know you turned up over night to get here and we look forward to book your testimony. as well, i think you have a video. >> thank you, senators. thank you for the opportunity

to appear before you. i understand how busy you are. i will try to be brief and to the of point -- and to the point. i want to set some boundaries and separate what is fact and what is fiction for us. we will start with some of the facts. the government of sudan, led by omar al bushehr -- and the defense minister, the same three men who orchestrated the atrocities in darfur have turned their bombs on the people. they are not military targets. they are innocent men, william, and children. -- men, women, and children. that is a fact. three days ago when we were in the mountains, 15 bombs were dropped on a neighboring village. we got there we found children filled with shrapnel, including a nine-year old boy who had both of his hands blown off. as we travelled further north, we were greeted by hundreds of

villages carrying signs reading, stop the -- as we met with the leaders we were also met with three, 300- mm rockets fired overhead. we witnessed hundreds of people running to the hills to hide in caves. these people are not the cave people of nuba, but they actually live in farms, and are the old society in the world, but yet they are forced to hide in caves. it is a campaign of murder and fear and displacement and starvation. and that is also a fact. religion is not an issue. in the camps you will find christensen muslims fighting together -- it is ethnic in nature. -- hiding together. it is ethnic in nature. the indiscriminate bombing of innocent civilians is defined as a war crime in the geneva convention. in january of last year, i was

in south sudan with senator kerry for the referendum which gave us the world's newest nation, south sudan. amid all the excitement of self-determination, we warned the world of the danger of leaving the four border regions out of the referendum talks -- darfur, south kordofan, blue nile. the government of khartoum accused us of rhetoric designed to insight and anchored the north, or anger against the north. we visited in january of 2011 and at the time this place had 120,000 inhabitants -- today, none. they are either dead or bring refugees all because they have the bad luck of being born on the border, being born in oil- rich land or being born black. that is a fact. these three men are all charged with war crimes further actions in and now they are proving themselves to be the greatest war criminals of this century, by far. so, the average question is, why should we care, what does it have to do with us?

we have our own problems -- jobs, housing, debt, and now we see our gas prices going up. as senator lugar said and as president obama said in a press conference last week. he talked about three reasons why we are paying more at the pump -- speculators, uncertainty in iran, and south sudan shutting off its oil. as you know, the south has all of its oil and the north has a pipeline and refineries. for years, the north has been taking the oil and keeping most of the profits, flying bombs and rockets and using them on darfur, the blue nile, and the nuba mountains. the south shutdown of production to stop it. overnight china lost 6% of overall oil imports, which means that have to go elsewhere, and that raises the price of oil. what happens in sudan matters very much to us now -- economic. that is also a fact.

but what can we do? we are not going to use our military. we are not likely to see a nato no-fly zone. that is probably not going to happen. so this is where we all come in. we need to do what we are best at, real diplomacy, starting with china. china has a $20 billion investment in oil infrastructure in the sudan and right now they are getting nothing for it. we need to use this opportunity to work in tandem with the chinese to solve these cross- border issues. not by using guilt, not by appealing to a humanitarian interest, but simply for good, solid, economic reasons for both of us. let's send a high-level envoy to china to work together on this. let's use the techniques we learned from chasing terrorists and find and freeze the offshore bank accounts of these war criminals. they are not buying these weapons with sudanese pounds. let us work with the international community to toughen the sanctions and a cartoon a very lonely place. -- khartoum a very lonely place.

there is a lobbyist here in d.c. paid to lobby for khartoum, let us make sure he is paid in sudanese pounds from here on. the accountability act addresses many of these subjects and we hope the senate will introduce an equally robust bill. there is a long list of things we can do that will not cost lives or much money. there are no two sides to these core issues. we cannot gives the lot -- giving the lives that, we cannot replace this young boy's hands, but we can put an end to it if we work together as a nation and an international community. and it can start here. i know this -- if we work together, all of us, we can't fail. that last part is just opinion. i thank you and i forbid the remainder of my time to senator kerry. -- forfit the remainder of my

time to senator kerry. >> there is a trend here. john -- for better or for worse -- jonathan temin? >> chairman kerry, ranking member lugar, committee, it is an honor for me to be here today. but also express my condolences to the friends of family of congressman donald payne who was a great friend to the people of sudan. i direct this to dan program at the u.s. institute of peace who has been working on the ground in sedan for 18 years. the views i expressed are my own and not exactly those of the u.s. institute of peace, which took not a policy provisions. mr. chairman, i intend to focus my remarks on two broad issues i believe are critical to the future of these two countries -- governance and economic viability. the reemphasize that the issues already addressed the but especially immediate humanitarian access to sudan and blue nile states should art

-- be vitally important -- access to south kordofan. for decades, sudan has had one crisis to another. also, sudan's leaders have employed a model of governance that is ultimately not sustainable. this is not a coincidence. rather, this model of governance is a central cause of sedan's contina was the stability. it concentrates wealth, power, resources at the center to the detriment of poulson -- purple areas. it is exclusionary and riddled with corruption. under the current government, the model -- to impose arab islamic identity throughout sudan and a result has been a serious rebellion from peripheral areas seeking more equitable sharing of resources and resisting the imposition of identity or religion. the government has often responded to these rebellions with a brutal and this poor senate force. -- disproportionate force. international community has worked decades with some

success. but the international community continues to chase the conflicts around the periphery where really making a concerted effort for the sudanese to deform the flawed government model at the center. it is time for that approach to change. it is time for a more comprehensive strategy for addressing sudan that the challenges rather than a piecemeal approach to often adopted. this will not be easy. the government of sudan has showed little appetite for self reflection of reform but given the dire economic situation, mounting internal resistance and climbing -- climate of change, they may have little choice. one opportunity lies in the process of developing a new constitution. that process is a natural than you for dialogue by the nature of the sudanese state and how to be governed. but the process must be inclusive, four support, transport, the transparent and consensus based. the international community should draw attention to the importance of the process and

work to convince a wide array of sudanese political entities of its value. usip have been working to help sudanese civil society organizations. concerning south sudan, it should be noted this out sudanese leader should did an impressive job navigating their country toward independence. but since independence, there has been growing concern about the government of south sudan that a commitment to good governance and tackling corruption and the ability to stabilize a fledgling nation. the united states has an important role to play helping to arrest and reverse those trends before they are fully ingrained. the united states have been a friend of south sudan for years, and it should continue. but it is now time for south sudan to be held to the same basic standards of governance and transparency of any other independent nation. it while recognizing the limited capacity of the government of south sudan, the united states should be clear and articulating these standards and candid with south sudan when those standards are not met.

turning to economic issues, the shutdown -- as the shutdown of oil production continues, both countries are under considerable strain. in sudan, a key question is whether it will receive economic assistance from friendly nations. this will be the sovereign decisions of other countries but the united states should encourage any assistance provided closely linked to progress in key priorities -- such as fundamental government reform and implementation of the dole hot document for ps new darfur. in south sudan, the decision to suspend oil production had well-received by the subsidies populations of four. but one wonders how it will be viewed in six months or a year if there are substantial budget cuts. it talks of building a new oil pipeline through east africa in 18 months is exceedingly optimistic. the government of south sudan should be straightforward and candid to the population of the implications of the continued shutdown of oil production. the silver lining is the

difficult economic circumstances in both countries create leverage for the international community. both countries desperately need on-site assistance. international coordination of an economic assistance will be crucial, so it is clear for both countries that the assistance provided is contingent on certain steps each government must take. i want to again ask -- express my appreciation for the opportunity to address the committee and i look forward to any questions you may ask. >> thank you very much, mr. temin. important testimony particularly regarding the quality of accountability. and i think it is something we are going to have to think about. george, if i could ask you -- we talked earlier about your trip and what you observed. i know you brought a video, i think, from that. but can you describe and give us a sense of what you really saw on the ground and what you see perhaps from that as the most critical, immediate first step emergency that we need to

take? >> in general, what we saw was the nuban people were incredibly vulnerable. the issue the ambassador was talking about, there is a rainy season coming and there are a great many people who could starve to death. this has been done intentionally. these people usually are forming and would have planted by now. they are hiding in caves. what you see is a constant drip of fear. every single day they fly overhead. these are not particularly accurate, they are big airplanes with bombs and they just throw them out. if they were aiming for you, that is probably the safest place you could be. but what it does is create this environment of fear. every time you hear the sound of those engines -- it takes about five minutes to get there

-- and a circle. every time you hear the sound, everybody runs to the hills. it creates fear to keep them from doing anything, really, their ability to do anything. and they are there without any protection. one of the roads we went up recently was taken by the north, and the splm fought through it -- a lot of dead bodies on the side of the road. we were in one village where we heard in the missile attack. they were standing there holding signs saying stop attacking us, stop. these people every day in their lives have to deal with fear, not just the future in terms of stock -- starving to death but being killed. what we are here to do -- i am here to talk about the dangers of these people particularly and the specifics are that the exact same people who did this

in darfur are the people doing this again. and the signs, as the ambassador said, are ominously similar to what happened in darfur. that is the problem and that is what brings us pause. >> i gather you have a video. are you going to show that? i beg your pardon? i think it is important. i heard your description, and i think it would be helpful to the committee -- that is as first hand as it gets. but it is your choice. how long is it? let's do that. [drumming]

>> you can see where it hit. over here. yesterday, 10:30 a.m. in the morning, 15 bombs. this is an unexploded bomb.

that is what you do with unexploded bombs? this is where it hit yesterday. here, here, and here, and they are hiding in there. this is yesterday? this was taken out of that young man's leg. you are a very brave boy. targeting civilians.

these are bullet wounds. does she know who it is? this is not a war of retaliation. this is simply trying to clear people out ethnically because of the color of their skin? and how long have your people been here? >> creation of the world. >> this is a civilian protection crisis. we talk all the time about their responsibilities --

responsibilities. right here is ground zero for responsibility. >> he says he wants muslims to have a freedom to go to a mosque, he once christians to have the freedom to go to church and those who do not have religion, let them be free to do what they want. >> i am glad we did show that, i am glad you brought that.

i think it was an important part of the testimony, so i appreciate very, very much you bringing it before the committee. those images are obviously powerful and important. i think it underscores what has been said here today. if i could just ask you -- and go around here. you listed a number of things, george, were immediate steps. what they think of the most compelling, and for an immediate step, the united states together with the international community that we can do? >> senator, there is a popular feeling that the shutting off of oil by the south is damaging to both. and there are very good arguments before that. you could argue that if it was the united states and we were at war with canada and sending them oil and it were buying bombs with it, we would probably stop. but the truth of the matter is,

what we really need to do is, we can take this moment and engaged with china, i think, for the first time. i have gone to china and tried the version of, hey, you've got an olympics coming, maybe it would not look so good if you are supporting the attacks in darfur. it does not really work. guilting people often does not. there are economic reasons for both of us. it seems like we could use this opportunity, this window, before it gets too late, by sending a high-level envoy, and i do believe we should absolutely focus on where their money is, because they are spending a lot of it, and they are hiding a lot. even if you cannot freeze it -- transparency itself, we see how it works and other countries, during the arab spring, when you find out how much money they actually have taken from their own people and hidden in

banks, it tends to create insurgents inside. i think those of the two major steps that could be done. that is our belief. there are many others. >> senator lugar? >> george, i noted down as you gave your first testimony, the envoy to china, and banking sanctions or however we disrupt -- we are starting to start that with iran and with good reason. we had some experience in north korea -- in those cases, nuclear devices they were developing. one could argue this is equally serious for different reasons and the diplomacy with china, is, as he suggested, unfortunately not just humanitarian -- although it ought to be mentioned. for the chinese, the oil is extremely important and they are prepared to fight for it

eventually it they can't get its. so, we have somebody to talk to there. i want to endorse your idea and hoped the administration might pick up on the testimony and some of the things today. likewise, mr. temin, although, as you say, it is far fetched to think of an alternative pipeline in a short period of time, perhaps it is not a pipe dream to think about it fundamentally with regard to south sudan. this could be repeated. even if we move through one crisis. and it seems to me that in terms of our humanitarian effort, it also might be concentrated on an investment record to see really what investors are involved potentially and such an alternative. i just wanted to pick up that suggestion as something that may be fundamental to the economics of it down the trail, and a follow-up, at least, to

the temporary or immediate measures we have to take. i thank all three of you for your testimony and for these practical suggestion the policy that i think a very useful. >> senator menendez? >> thank you, mr. chairman. i want to thank all of you for your insights. where you are at, mr. clooney, in terms of seeking a practical economic leverage for a worthy result is i think is what i was trying to elicit from the previous panel. how is it that we influence the behavior of others who can influence sudan? in that respect, as someone who has -- sanctions on iran, actually believe we can in fact use leverage in a way, in this case, for a worthwhile

humanitarian purpose. and when the chinese have such an investment that is not being productive, it seems to mean to be how we work with the chinese to both get them to understand their own economic interests, if nothing else, and at the same time, look at that as the opportunity for how do we ratchet down -- you talked about the accounts. we do that quite often. i am hoping the president could look at an executive order -- it may be possible under his abilities. we would have to look under the treasury department. but i hope that we will take some of the insight that you talked about, which is how do we create the leverage to change the on the ground reality. i think when the chinese have a multi-billion dollar investment that is not being productive, when you can create economic consequences that will move people to a different course of

action after -- out of pure necessity, when they did not do it for a higher calling, those of the ways we can change the realities on the ground. as someone who has been a bit -- big advocate for sanctions for certain purposes, i think they can work. but often the united states has to lead in order to get the rest of the world to follow. i appreciate those insights and i hope our friends in the state department are listening and that we can take it into action. i certainly will be looking forward to doing that as well. >> thank you very much. i note that ambassador lyman and the administrator still here and indeed listening and they also talk to and worked closely with john pendergast and george clooney. >> i want to thank you again for the attention you bring to this issue and the reality we have seen through the production

this morning. those of us who travel to countries like this just cannot bring the attention to what that people like you can, so i thank you for that. i thank you for the suggestions you may not only here but in the back room and hopefully we will follow up on those. but again, thank you very much. it has been very moving. and for mr. princeton lyman -- prendergast, what you are here, since there has been a discussion about the satellite sentinel project, maybe you can explain to the rest of us and the others here exactly how it works and how it might be utilized in conflict areas like this? >> thank you, senator. it is a partnership between digital global, a satellite imagery company, harvard, and the enough project -- george's idea, frankly, we wanted to try

to drive attention to deterring the war crimes before they have been rather than bemoaning the fact that they do afterwards, and to create capacity -- and this is what happened over the last year. if you find, okay, you have soldiers in a particular area, you have air assets moved into position -- attack helicopters, atinovs and other things -- and we know where the areas are being targeted and we can raise the alarm bells that particular people are vulnerable and we need to have action. and if there is not action taken, then the attacks do happen, at least we have the visual evidence, at an empirical evidence, to present to the international criminal court and others for hopeful prosecution in the future. >> i know the first panel acknowledged this is a useful

tool. are there ongoing discussions between you and the state department and other agencies and our government to utilize this more fully? >> it is very important to say as a footnote to the testimony, the at the station's policy and strategy is the right one. we support very strongly ambassador lyman as a special envoy and think he is doing an extraordinary job. we are in touch of the time. and by the way, a very bipartisan strategy and it has been through the last three administrations on sudan. and of course, congressman payne was one of the incubators of this bipartisan effort, so we wanted to note him as well. but i think there are a few opportunities right now, to put a fine point on what this moment does present, with the cut off of the oil is president obama and president hu will meet soon. this is a chance to put the

issue high on the radar screen of the two leaders to talk about how specifically the united states and china can forge this kind of partnership we are talking about. ambassador lyman and others are already having conversations. i think having a high level, real strong endorsement of the need to deepen the partnership will be really helpful. and also -- and you are going very soon, senator kerry, to qatar to talk to the emir. a lot of these guys are billing these guys out. it is easy for them to be in transit if they are getting soft loans that they will never be back -- it is easy for them to be intransigent. for president obama to say this is not the right time, hold it, and use it for leverage for a comprehensive deal to address all of these problems. and finally to on the unilateral level the united states has, we have plenty of

sanctions. it as many know, we are not enforcing them. so getting the treasury department, the office of foreign asset control, the capacity to enforce, having a couple of people on the staff full time chasing the assets. as george said, even if we can freeze them work in another country to freeze them, by exposing them -- what was the root of the explosion of popular sentiment during the arab spring in the middle east and north africa? the popular resentment against corruption. all of these guys packing the oil well in private accounts, these international companies they are investing, let us find the money and exposing them. it would put them in deeper hot water. it is their own people who at the end of the day will solve the problem. >> mr. clooney, mr. prendergast, and mr. temin, thank you very much. >> thank you much. senator cardin, three votes

started. we have about 15 minutes. then i will limit myself to two and a half minutes -- >> i will limit myself to two and a half minutes. let me underscore the point on sanctions. they are important if they can be reinforced internationally. the united states has to show leaders sit -- leadership -- not only enforce the sanctions but use it as a high priority with their diplomacy. but you are right on the asset issue. the united states can have a major impact because these world leaders are hiding their money. and they come across u.s. banks. so, we can have an effective remedy here. some of us have joined together what is known as the -- bill, over human rights in russia. we think it would be a great way to bring them to justice. bashar was arrested as a war

criminal. he is a known abuser of human rights and has violated international standards. the defense minister, an arrest warrant was issued last month for his arrest. so, these are criminals. i think we are on very high authority to impose the type of financial sanctions which could have a major impact. the government should not be afforded the legitimacy of the international community when their leaders are scheduled to be at the hague to stand up for the crimes they have committed. so, i just really wanted to urge us to keep focused. we cannot allow under our watch another darfur humanitarian crisis to emerge in the same

region of the world. >> i don't want you to feel watch -- rushed. senator coons has gone, i will go and quickly vote and come back. >> well then, would you like to respond to what i said? >> i think your message, mr. clooney, about the importance of international respect for sanctions and the nine banking, the individual is makes the decision. we can deny bashar the opportunity to hide his wealth. it would have a major impact. >> i think it would, senator. the secret to this is just tightening this noose around khartoum, around the people charged with war crimes. they should not be allowed to

have a ton of money stuffed in a malaysian bank, which is what is going on. we need to be able to track it down and find it. they are also using the money to buy weapons to hurt innocent people. it is a cowardly act, what we saw over there. these were not acts of war, they were war crimes, and they are funding it. and they are not funding it simply with sudanese pounds. so i think chasing the money is a very big issue, not just to stop the actual act themselves but to put pressure on them internally. omar al bashir in his home has five tanks surrounding him pointed out word. that is not a very secure leader, quite honestly. we feel as if the more you expose his corruption, more inclined to people in khartoum

would be to perhaps have someone else lead the country. >> as senator lugar ♪ pointed out, the transparency bill to require these companies to disclose their contract so we can try to track the money. we know the sudanese government has received a lot of income from oil wealth over the years, and we know a good part of that has been diverted, not going to the people. so, tracking that money, tracking that wealth, would have a major impact on the comfort of their leaders. and it is something the united states can do. it does not require a lot of countries to work with. we are a major banking center of the world. if we of london going along with us -- we can do a lot without worrying about china or wearing about russia. who at times and not always follow our lead on the human- rights front. >> senator issakson?

>> when i went to darfur -- there was a gender-based violence against women, rape. is that going on as well? >> it was a very big issue, still. in the same patterns we sell in darfur. we saw it last year. we saw it used an employed again here in the nuba mountains in south kordofan. you may have more? >> only to say it is still happening in darfur. there are still mass atrocities being committed against civilian populations. when we talk about a holistic solution in the sudan, we need to talk about dealing with all of these problems

comprehensively that we have been coming back to this committee over and over again to talk about, rather than stove's piping them individually and playing into the hands of khartoum, which wants to buy the international community. >> on that point, there was mention the possibility of a tripartite agreement, the u.n., eric league, an african union -- the arab league and african union. is there a possibility he would do the same thing in south kordofan darfur, kicking out the ngo's indiscriminately? >> i think the government of sudan learned its own lesson in darfur, allowing international aid to come in early in the crisis and then become the fact of businesses. saying at the outset -- out said the military preparations, they were not allow witnesses.

there are no aid groups operating now, so it is an access crisis for all of the people as the clock ticks inexorably toward the rainy season. in the first instance -- and ambassador lyman and usaid of work hard to get an access agreement, so working behind the african union and the arab league and with and a proposal, so that is where the attention needs to be on and it is to stop the use of starvation as a weapon of war. it must be ended. >> thanks to all of you for your advocacy. i will turn it over to senator udall. thank you very much. thank you, senator isakson. i can't tell you how important it is, george, for you and john, to have gone over there and brought these images back. i think chairman kerry was right to say i think we should play them and have them up on

the screen, because i think as painful as the rtc, and the thing that this does -- as painful as they aren't to see them, the thing it does is give the american people and people around the world to engage, saying we did not want this to happen again. one of the things that you have mentioned -- and that is what i wanted to question a little bit on -- and i think john mention this, but i am willing to hear from both of you -- the idea that satellite -- satellite sentinel could be used by prosecutors -- i was a former prosecutor so i relish the idea of having bad guys that know something is going to be done to them -- something at the hague. have you visit with prosecutors at the hague, are interested in your technology, have you talked about the kinds of things that maybe can be utilized to

strengthen cases and those kinds of things? because if there is anything out there that is going to prevent this from happening again in other places of the world is that people know we have an international justice system that is going to work and eventually bring people like you described, george, just terribly murderous individuals, bring them to justice. >> i will let you talk about the hague for a second. i do want to say one thing. there is an interesting thing that happens when you get involved in these. you think that the minute people know, then it will stop. your assumption is that everyone just does not know. and the truth is, even when you know, it does not stop. it requires a constant drip of information. it requires you to keep

compiling it on. at the very least it can be used later as evidence in a trial. we are trying to continually -- we would like to use this information at the security council, because a lot of the times what happens at the security council is someone -- we know the players -- will veto any raising of the mandate of protection because they will say, well, this is just rebel in fighting. well, we have imagery that shows -- we have imagery yesterday that shows an atinov flying over plumes of smoke where it bombed village and villagers. that is not rebel infighting. our hope is not just to use it at the hague but our hope is to use it as something to pry the security council toward raising

the mandate, trying to move along. and john can speak about talking with the hague. >> the current international criminal court mandate only involves darfur -- crimes committed in. so basically, as the arrest warrants have been issued for three of the key regime leaders, they are greeted internationally with lots of skepticism. there are still in number of government to believe a lot of the evidence is manufactured and there are still a lot of divisions internationally about whether the crimes are is terrible as they are alleged to have been. so, part of the purpose of having the satellite sentinel project is to create their tight evidence for future arrest warrants and prosecutions based on the crimes being committed now, which are the same kinds of crimes by the same

people orchestrating them as was the case in darfur, so it is creating the evidentiary base for future prosecutions and we hope that at least the three that have already had been indicted will actually come to justice one day. >> i know that there are others who are involved with you who are your partners and you may want to mention them in terms of who has worked with you -- >> on the satellite sentinel? the biggest if we got was the satellites themselves -- digital globe, for no other reason than the goodness of the heart, donated millions of dollars worth of imagery. it is hard to explain how important it is because there is only really one satellite company that is in that area that can do this for us. they have been an incredible partner to us and continue to be. we have gotten shots of mass

graves, we have gotten shots of tank movement and truth movement and all of these things. remembering and understanding for the reason this can work is because of the typography. this would not have been that if -- as effective in the condo because it is harder to see from the sky with all of the trees. harvard? >> and once he gets the imagery, you have to have an analysis of it. there is a team at the harvard humanitarian initiative dedicated in real time to analyzing the imagery, producing independent nonpartisan reports about what they are seeing and what they are assessing these images to mean in those reports get put out and we try to generate the attention of around them in order for them to act as a deterrent. >> and they stay up all night working did they are young people and they are doing it -- all heart, those good kids.

>> thank you. it has been very, very helpful. >> thank you, senator udall. i think you have time to go over there. senator coon? >> thank you, senator kerry, and for your discipline than engage the leadership on sudan and what do all you have done around a challenging issue. i would like to thank ambassador lyman and administrator, and for george, john, and to john, thank you for what you have done to give some of focused, engaging, and effective attention on the challenging issues of darfur, the nuba mountains, and the ongoing and strategic challenges we face an engaging people in paying attention to the real challenges in bringing peace and development to south sudan and the whole region. later today, senator isakson and i on the africa

subcommittee will be joined by senators to introduce a regulations -- induce a resolution that specifically supports the efforts all of you have talked about today and it calls for the government of sudan to allow immediate and unrestricted access to south kordofan and other areas and calls on sudan and -- in the north to enter mutual agreement to end their conflict. it is just one thing we should be doing to continue what long has been a bipartisan tradition of engagement leadership on these issues. george, be closed by referencing the folks who stay up all night, the energetic young people who process the images from the satellite project. just in the past few weeks, we have seen a flood of interest in the kony 2012 campaign, and be enough project has been working with invisible children on that. you have both been very effective in getting americans

and folks around the world to pay attention to this great team monetary crisis and is fairly remote corner of the world. what advice do you have for all of us who want to sustain engagement of americans and folks more broadly in actually continually to be concerned about a humanitarian crisis such as exist in darfur, such we see emerging in the nuba now, the jungles of the drc and central african republic with joseph kony. how do we get people of all ages excited and engaged? we rarely hear millions calling for more engagement in africa. what should we do about it? >> john will have some ideas. he has been doing it a lot longer than i have. i would say -- we are going to fail a lot. we will fail in our attempt to help people in these very difficult regions and we will fail a lot in trying to keep attention in a certain area because of other news stories are going to bump us off -- there is going to be an arab

spring and we will not be paying attention to what happens. and a lot of people use that as a moment to do some pretty terrible things. the trick is going to be coming in sustaining it, is to be able to find moments that you can point to and say, this is a turning point, good or bad, and let us and amplify it. and finding several of those a year, to be able to keep it up -- you cannot have a constant drip every day on television because no one would care, quite honestly. there is not just donor fatigue, but there is misery fatigue, and people get tired of it at some point. our job is to find those moments -- 100 days before these people vote for their referendum for their own states -- so, let us focus on that. there is an election. let's focus on that. there is a brand new state.

there is a good possibility of people starving to death in the next couple of months. let's focus on it. part of our job is to try to pick through all of the news cycles, find areas where we can keep it up. but young people and church groups have been the real -- they have been doing all the hard work for us. they have been carrying this thing for years. they were -- they have been keeping the message out, fundraising, keeping the pressure on, quite honestly, all of us in this room. so, i would not worry too much about the sustainability inside the hearts of all of these young people and all of these church groups because that just continues. it is just more about finding moments we can draw attention to move the pin forward a little bit. i find that to be the issue. >> the only footnote i would add is the good news is this is

such a bipartisan event -- venture so we do not have real opponents, except indifference or ignorance -- we just don't know. what i find exciting about the first 10 years of the 21st century of activism is the chance through social media, and other forums, to create real partnership between all of these wonderful non- governmental organizations who are working so diligently on these issues. they partner with groups in africa -- because remember, it is on the front lines in place of light sudan and combo and northern uganda, have been doing most of the work to resolve the problems and we can only just come in the margins to try to help them. it is on the front lines where africans and the places like sudan and the condo have been doing most of the work and try to resolve these problems. we can only come in on the margins and try to help them. members of congress like yourselves -- senators who have taken a stand, one time after

another, in supporting positive engagement around the world. that helps to give political support to the administration, whatever party is in power. for president obama, the way he engaged in advance of the referendum in the latter half of 2010, every person we talked to said that was, perhaps, along with china's support, the most important international aspect in getting a free and fair referendum in 2011. it is that change. it starts on the ground. women's groups and others, struggling to get the word out. partnering with you guys who then gives support to the administration. when i started in the 1980's doing this kind of stuff, that did not happen. it is a very exciting moment.

having george, frankly, can make that larger. having the invisible children video, despite the different opinions about it, makes this kind of partnership even more real or possible. >> if i could, just in closing, i am grateful for your sustained engagement in this. there are lots of six groups of all backgrounds. there are lots in africa, the united states, and around the world who do the work on the ground. making the world aware of these crisises. the one challenge here is sustaining support for america oppose the use of diplomatic and developmental resources around the world. the united states has a lot of power. military, diplomatic, developmental. making sure they have the resources for us to be engaged

in northern uganda, in south sudan, in the region. in providing the framework for peace, progress, development. that is very highly contested here in congress just for the past year. i urge folks may be paying attention or tuning in for the first time that that is something on which there are sharp disagreements. i think we should continue to invest 1% of america posted total budget to make sure we have the resources to be an effective voice for justice. i am grateful to you. >> i want to thank you for your tremendous commitment. terrific. senator? >> thank you. thank you all very much for

being here. i want to follow up on his questions about how to sustain interest and get action that will help bring that international pressure to make a difference in south sudan. whether you are contemplating, or anyone you know of is contemplating a "stop kony"- like video, or whether there are other ways, that kind of energy really makes a difference. and for any of the three of you. >> we landed yesterday. we were gone for eight days. in that time, the kony video hit. by the time we landed, everyone was asking about it. i did not know what happened. it is an incredibly effective tool. social media can be a big deal now. youtube, twitter, all of those

elements are a way to keep young people involved. we're going to put the videos and the things that we put together, we will make that available to people. the sudan, in general, has an infrastructure that is better for most charitable organizations. there are some groups that have been working there a long time in this area. we will continue to do that. understanding that in an election year, political will is the most important thing you can get. what i think is so terrific about being here today is this is truly one subject matter that both sides agree on, but

have actively worked hard on. they have had successes and failures. they understand one another. this takes a little less political will. this is one where you do not come off on the wrong side doing the right thing. we feel heartened by the idea. we felt heartened that this is something that is not a polarizing. yes, you need political will. we will continue to push as much as you can to get as many people as you want involved. the louder it is, the harder it is for these people to commit atrocities. we also thank you, here, for your sustained involvement. and know that not only do we appreciate it, we are well aware you will continue.

>> i think, including the first panel, you have made the fact that this is a bipartisan effort and it needs to be. that has been very important. i do think that as the senator has pointed out, public support for international assistance and our foreign aid budget, which is important to address and what happens on the ground in sudan, is not always that bipartisan and not always as robust. i guess i would urge, as you are thinking about social media and getting people to act, thinking of out how to address that foreign aid piece as part of that action. that will be critical as we

sustain the efforts we make on the ground. thank you all very much. >> thank you, senator. a couple quick questions and i think we will close out. jonathan, you have talked about political reforms in the north. just the very quickly, if you can, how you see that? i mean, these guys are not exactly as reformers, number one. how you envision that? >> thank you, mr. chairman. it is an uphill battle. i do not want to be a pollyanna about this. 1/3 of their country just voted unanimously to leave. they are under unprecedented economic stress right now. there are signs of internal dissent within the leadership

that we have not seen much in the past. those are things that could add up to some sort of change. as i said, there's not a lot of evidence of it so far. i also think that the alternatives are ugly. >> i agree with you. certainly, the conversations i have had with members of the government, we have tried to make the point that this really is a major opportunity for them to move in a different direction. i worry that the three some that has been well-named tier, linked to darfur, seems to be moving in a totally different direction. that makes all this much more compelling.

we really need to refocus in a lot of ways. if i could ask both john and george, quickly, the southern part of it. you have made it very eloquently clear here and compelling about the need to deal with the -- to avoid a disaster. the long run here is the need for a political solution. what do people share with you or express to you about that political solution through those two areas? >> well, i think the difference is that people learned from darfur that if they allowed their region to be isolated for a bilateral deal between the government sudan and them, in the long run that is

unsustainable. there needs to be a deal that addresses the big root cause of the problem in the sudan, which is the problem john was talking about. a problem of governance in the center. so, for the first time, we have really seen in the north, in sudan a broader effort, armed and unarmed. it has sort of formed an association of a number of these unarmed groups. by the way, the darfur actors who were so divided are now under the same umbrella and working together. and then there are on armed groups that have their own objective. the bottom line, people want to see a democratic transformation. i think that is one of the things for the united states can be helpful in providing support to some of the unarmed

groups are struggling every day to try to figure out a way. i know the discussion is internal in the administration. how can we be helpful here? i think there are a lot of things we could do to help facilitate power. to a certain their democratic rights in the future. >> well, we are now starting on a second vote. this is on a 10 minute vote. we're going to try to wrap up. let me say to you endorsed how much we appreciate what you have done here.

this is a tremendous example of a citizen activism. obviously, george you have lent your celebrity star to this initiative, which has its risks. but it also is critical for the ability to get people to focus. we thank you for being prepared, nevertheless, to just engaged. take eight days, go over there, and not without its risks, i might add. i was an activist before i came here to be a senator. i vowed i would stay an activist senator. i am proud to have people on this committee who feel the same way. so, i can tell you that we are

going to absolutely stay focused on this. continue to work with you. do everything we can to try to leverage the outcome we would all like to see. i am an optimist, but i have learned around here not to be naive about it. but i still do believe, i think the ambassador believes this to, there is an avenue. but we do need to increase the leverage. we do need to reach out to china, saudi arabia, others, and get them to share some of this sense of urgency. and frankly, humanitarianism is not always a compelling rationale around the world. i think we have a great affect around here.

your sense of timing about where those moments are that you need to kind of pushed is important and well taken. i express the gratitude of a lot of people. we have a lot of work to do. there is a long way to go. but this has been helpful. i just would say to you and others who follow this who are interested in it, and i hope the sudan embassy -- in to ensure they are following it, i hope they realize that there is no easy out. there is no way here that we are not going to continue to stay engaged. it has made it impossible to do that. is is really his choice -- their choice.

they will decide, to some measure, where we are going to go. we are prepared to offer open opportunities to go on a different direction. i know that president obama and the folks -- his security advisers and secretary clinton are greatly focused on this. you have an opportunity to meet and talk with them the next day. all of us need to work, as we have, in a very cooperative -- across party lines, across branches of government lines, in a constructive way to try to get the job done. thank you of helping us today to do our job better. if i could ask everybody here to just let them come back. ambassador, and administer, but we thank you all for coming. we keep the record open until one week close of business on wednesday march 21.

we stand adjourned. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012]

>> on c-span tonight, a review of british prime minister david cameron's visit to washington. we will show you this morning's washington arrival ceremony, then a joint news conference with president obama, followed by the white house state dinner held in his honor this evening. >> tomorrow on c-span, a senate

hearing looks into nuclear plant safety one year after the accident at the fukushima reactor. the regulatory commission will test the senate environment and public works committee. that begins at 10:00 a.m. eastern time. at 1:00 p.m., a panel of defense scholars discusses u.s. national security and policy on syria, iran, north korea, and afghanistan. the event is hosted by the american enterprise institute, the new america foundation, and the center for new american security. it will be live on c-span. >> if there is anything that concerns the american family today, it is this. our government has not caught up with the new fact of american family life. families have changed so why can washington? moms working, nearly 65% of all

mothers are working part-time, full-time, all of the time. keeping a family together, making ends meet, making america more prosperous. working mothers need affordable day care and the pay they deserve for it so often, they cannot get either. >> this saturday, she will become the longest serving female member in congressional history with nearly 13,000 days in congress. she will surpass the record held by edith rogers, who served in the house from 1925-1960. watch her speeches from the senate floor and other c-span appearances, all archived in searchable online at the c-span video library. >> when the president and first lady officially welcomed british prime minister david cameron to the white house, president obama

said the relationship between the united states and britain is the strongest it has ever been. this was the first out of a day of official events for the british leader in washington. ♪ >> ladies and gentlemen, the president of united states and mrs. michelle obama. [applause] ♪

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>> ladies and german, the national anthem of the united kingdom of great britain and northern ireland followed by the national anthem of the united states. ♪

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[applause]

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>> nice to see you. how're you? >> nice to see you. >> how are you, sir? >> good morning. ♪

>> troops and review. -- troops in review. ♪

>> good morning, everyone. the relationship between the united states and united kingdom exceeds tradition. last night i shared with the prime minister a uniquely american tradition of bracketology. [laughter] march madness. he has learned to appreciate one of our great national pastimes. he has told me he has decided to install a hoop. [laughter] today we carry on another tradition. an official visit from one of our closest friends and dearest allies. from mr. cameron, mrs. cameron, members of the british delegation, on behalf of the american people it is my great

honor to welcome you to the united states. [applause] david, samantha, on behalf of my shell -- on behalf of michelle and myself we welcome you to the white house. we are delighted that you have made america your first official foreign trip. [laughter] [applause] it has now been 200 years since the british came here to the white house under somewhat different circumstances. [laughter] they made quite an impression. [laughter] they really lit up the place. [laughter] but we have moved on.

and today, like some of the presidents and prime ministers before us, we meet to reaffirm one of the greatest alliances the world has ever known. this visit is also an opportunity to reciprocate the extraordinary and gracious hospitality shown to us by her majesty, queen elisabeth, by david and samantha, and by the british people during our london -- during our visit to london last year. we are proud of her diamond jubilee celebrating 60 extraordinary years on the british throne. [laughter] -- [applause] it is remarkable to consider for decades we have seen nations rise and fall, wars fought, peace defended, the

city's divided, walls come down, countries behind the iron curtain and then liberated. we have seen the demise of the cold war and the rise of threats transition from an industrial revolution to an information age where new technologies and power our citizens and our adversaries like never before. our world has been transformed over and over. and it will be again. through the grand sweep of history, through all the twists and turns, there is one constant. the rock solid alliance between the united states and the united kingdom. [applause] the reason is simple. we stand together, we work

together, we believe together, and we built together in good times and in bad because when we do, our nations are more secure. our people are more prosperous. the world is a safer, better, and more just place. our alliance is essential. it is indispensable. for the security and prosperity that we seek not only for our own citizens, but for people around the world. that is why, as president, i have made strengthening this alliances and our alliances around the world one of my highest foreign-policy -- one of my highest foreign policies. because we have, i believe with david's agreement, this relationship between the united states and united kingdom is the strongest it has ever been.

[applause] so, on the summit of this beautiful morning, with children from both nations in attendance -- [applause] we reaffirm the enduring values in which our alliance is rooted. we believe that every person, if they are willing to work hard and played by the rules, it deserves a fair shot. deserves a chance to succeed. on these tough economic times, we stand united in our determination to create the jobs that gets people back to work and expanding trade that is both free and fair and fighting for a global economy where every nation plays by the same rules. we believe that our citizens should be able to live free from fear. fear.