division, which carries out most of what little interior immigration enforcement is done are 50% lower now than in june 2011. the decline has occurred despite the expansion if ice is removing so few people, how can they have a record number of duplication? >> i do not know how she does her math. i know how i do mine. i look at removals of the country. we have removed more people from the u.s. than any prior administration. i cannot respond to an individual and how she cooks her books. i can tell you what i look at. i look at implementation and how many convicted felons we are removing. i ok at how many repeat violators we are removing. i get complaints from the other side who say we are removing too many. -i guess i get

it from both sides. we are very committed to the rule of law where immigration is concerned. are we counting border control turnarounds as part of the deportations rather than that criminal on the interior? border control pieces, the turnarounds as part of the deportation? >> if there is a removal. into the statistics. the plain fact of the matter is .ce has been extremely active i will tell you, one representative miller talked about this window of time and immigration, this is the window of time. we need to be looking at our worksite enforcement.

that is a real driver of immigration. we need more tools. the statutes governing how you issecute someone continually incredible. we need to unclog the visa process. i'm familiar with cases in my hometown and outside my hometown or criminal aliens have been caught and turned over by local police. omg au or grlt charges and they are let go. r edo not know who they were who has that record that we have will be a priority l. >> i got another case recently. or thiss a warrant man's arrest in new york city. he was let go. i will disagree that we are deporting people or apprehending the people that are being turned over and they're being deported.

will take issue that comprehensive immigration reform that has been proposed will make our borders more secure. i could not disagree with that more. i believe we have now made our borders less secure because millions of people not being encouraged to come to the united states illegally with the hope of getting amnesty in the future. we saw in 1980. it turned out to be 3 million. we have seen in testimony last week i border patrol chiefs were there seeing an increase at the border. he believes some of it is due to this. me be clear on this. it is an important public message. under any immigration reform proposal, you need a cut off date. completely answer,

december 30 1, 2011 was chosen ida gang of eight as a cut off date. we are working with state department and others to get that message out so we do not have any repeat. this bill and the bills being considered that i have seen are very different from 1986. >> we all know anyone can use. humans to claim the are h here any day they want to sa they are here. that is not accurate either. >> the gentleman's time has expired. .> thank you, madam chair the boston tragedy reminds us that the threat to continues to be real as far as what we face with respect to terrorism whether it is domestic or international terrorism. i have to say that in light of what we had seen whether it is the blogosphere for the twitter spirit and the rumors that are

out there, i think the administration and you have done a very fine job and have a very measured response. having been a former prosecutor myself and a family of law enforcement, it is very important in these early stages of investigation to simply let length horsemen do its job. there is so much to learn right now. i appreciate that dhs is focused on that. i have a couple of questions based on my expense as a prosecutors. there was something created called urban shield. it was full-scale training exercises. they could check and evaluate the region's responsibility response to any national or man- made disaster. inditi s a

ruuranso .e continue to work on this i weow from that program know from attacks in our country and across the world that we are only as good as our game on the ground. that means local law enforcement will be the first responders. as we are looking at the next budget, what is dhs doing to publicize the training effort or encouraging other areas to develop programs ike this order system? --like this system yucca system? >> there was an urban shield program. as you say our ability to respond and to do it with as minimal chaos as possible in the wake of a terrible event like boston.

yes, we work with major city chiefs and the sheriffs association and others to encourage her to sedation and design -- to encourage participation and design of things like urban shield. i believe these facts magnified -- nine >> i read an article this week in politico. i have circulated a letter asking for robust fundingsit set program. it is administered by the feemerncy in fiscal year01 in that letter, i explained why i believe there are transit risk in the bay area. also known as bart. what is the department of homeland security due to step up security around mass transit?

this congress needs to do a better long-term job as far as trepidationg in areas. , the sequester has not been helpful in a number of respects. with respect to boston, we have increased our security around working with state police in the state of massachusetts. we have viper teams that have been deployed into that general area and up to the new england quarter. inhave put the coast guard some areas. it is also in san francisco bay. all of those things have been increased for the time being. >> great. my final question has to do with immigration. the number of removals have increased under this demonstration. i liour bo a me cu as we move forward contents of

immigration reform in my district, we have a very diverse area. when you looking at criminal removals, there is a broad range of types of criminals. you mentioned the convicted criminal is much different than the person who is arrested for driving with a suspended license. however you could classify both of them as a criminal. as the department taken steps to prioritize so we are removing violent and serious offes of the lower class offenders who pose a lesser risk? removed atnot being the same rate? >> yes. one of the adjustments we made to secure communities in response to comments in that regard was to remove the automatic issue of a notice of detainer for low level misdemeanors and others who do

not pose safety threats. >> thank you. i'm confident that we will find the persons responsible. we all need to be patient and trust that law enforcement will do its job. >> indeed. chair recognizes the gentleman from north carolina. >> thank you, mr. chairman. good morning, madam secretary. thank you for all of the personal idea just who are working tirelessly in boston and in west, texas. there were several victims in boston from charlotte, north carolina. we are watching with a personal interest in really appreciate what you folks are doing. cho thewanted i go -- e border metrics discussion we dp, i understd how important refming our

immigration system is to our economy and our national security. i cannot support immigration reform if we cannot be satisfied we have secured the border. getting that chicks were we can talk about how we are doing -- getting the metrics were we can talk how we are doing will be critical to getting my support and others. we look forward to working with you to come up with a definitive metrics. chairman of the transportation of security and subcommittee, i'm interested in the tsa budget. i will direct my questions in that direction. it seems logical as we are moving toward risk-based security with the tsa. the thing i have always supported. i support that. it seems to me we have moved theres security and should be significant costs saving for the taxpayer as he do risk-based screening and focus

more on threat that ought to free up resources. we can look at the high-tech baggage screening. we would need a lesson screeners for baggage. software upgrades. the gun, we should be able to resource -- redo some of the workforce there. -- again, we should be able to reduce some of the workforce there. those costs savings will be more long-term than immediately. you are seeing some vings for example, they have basically been installed. we do not have to buy as many. and the basicage equipment that has been installed. there are continual upgrades. i do believe as you move to more risk base, those long-term savings will improve.

it is hard to say they will happen in italy. >> what are the costs do you think that can be regained by expanding pre-checks and implementing some other risk- based policy decisions? what types of savings are we looking at? .> i think it all depends in a pre-check regime, you do before ans manytso's adividual -- as many tso's foreign individual gets on the plane. on the other hand, we have to fund the project row graham itself and our ability to background check and so forth on members -- fund the project program itself and our ability to background check and so forth by members. >> what is the timeframe on that

when we talk about pre-check? >> i would defer to the administrator on that. th we have set an aggres gl hin one in four passengers be in some by theeeded program end of the year. if we meet that goal, i think we will start seeing some in growth and personnel shortly thereafter. >> i appreciate that. and issue we have talked about in private, my concerns a looking long-term at threats, one of the things is a me look at them repaired to move into the new dhs headquarters. my concern is that we're are spending a lot of money on that facility, but not sure where doing what we need to do to harden the electric grid there.

any thought put into that? it ishat question, itortant that the question, is important. , iif you have that time itld like to say that given , we reallyfth year need to headquarters. it is difficult to efficiently manage a department as diverse as ours when you're at 50 plus locations around the capital region. i hope that is something this committet. >> i'm writing at of time. to say ain running out ofime. i want to say ain that we look forward to following up on that with you. this is a long-term situation. i think we need to be working on

it together when we look at threats. >> indeed. >> i yield back the time i don't have. [laughter] >> i think the gentleman for giving back what he did not have. the dental lady from new york, ms. clark. -- the gentle lady from new york, ms. clark. .> thank you, mr. chairman i commend you for your leadership, madam secretary, for responses to the multiple national disasters we have been experiencing of late during your tenure for the boston bombing and the texas vent explosion. it is becoming more clear to all americans the critical mission of homeland security. i think your leadership is

emblematic of how robust we need to be as this agency grows from strength to strength. that is why it is challenging to us who recognize to speed go through a painful period when sequestration has become a binding of hands. i meeting these very critical missions, i want to move to the area of cyber security. we are really understanding what it means to protect ourselves in the virtual world. i guess the bandwidth of understanding can go from a person using a flip phone to a child using an ipad in the public sphere. what i recognize is that in this

to cut the cyber education program, i recognize that einstein beat is a very important will, i noticed that were kind of trying to rob peter to pay paul in order to manage the sequestration. can we meet our commitments to the public with such a drastic cut to the one area that we have that educates the public? is there no way to slightly increase funding for priority programs to fully fund .> i understand the concerns i do not know how i can addre i think hitting einstein against

education is probably not the way to go. einstein is a fundamental system we are putting in place across the federal government for continual monitoring and diagnostics. it is critical to cybersecurity. i understand your concern. maybe there is a way through some other area for cyber education even if we cannot significantly increase that account. >> we recognize the vulnerabilities that we all have. civil society makes it more difficult to use the tools you're establishing. it is a delicate balancing act. i think the more that americans become more sensitized to the battle ahead of us the more that we can all be at the wheel.

i want to raise the question of the new office proposed in the president requesting 27 million dollars. iss e office ofyber infrastructure analysis. protection and the office of cyber can indication was tt can you talkw is considered ceary? to help ussigned get ours is abilities under the executive order. sharingthat information of the private sector and with the government. other parts is in of the department. we want to centralize and give our central role that analytics involved in cyber.

it'll probably larger, but we want to make sure that we have it. >> do have a timetable? we're moving on implementation. we would like to form the office as soon as we have a budget. >> very well. i yield back. >> thank you. the chair recognizes the distinguished former u.s. attorney of indianapolis, the gentle lady from indianapolis. >> thank you. i thank you, madam secretary, for your service to the federal government and to your state. it has bn 10 years since the department was stood up. there has been so much to bring

all of the different legacy agencies together and continue to train. i remain concerned as a ranking member of my subcommittee but of the consolidation of all of those that have been so critically important in the last 10 years to train our local and state law enforcement and first responders. a bit concerned that the grants that currently go to states serving various courts and so forth that the new national preparedness grant program as i understand it will step away from a terrorism focus to an all hazards approach. could you comment on that? i'm very concerned we are not focusing on both, quite frankly. we remain very focused on terrorism. by the consolidation, it isinuis ensuring that

this type of proposal that has been brought forth in the past would not go forward. what is different now than what has been proposed in the past? i'm all for efficiencies and so forth, but what can you share with us more specifically about the details as to how this grant program is going to make sure that we are getting the funding for the agencies that need it most question mark -- need it the most? >> there are over 70 stakeholder outreach meetings and conferences in the last year. we did make some adjustments to the proposal in response to that. if we areproblem is cover risk and we want to do that in the best po way i'm continuing to

administ aidgrant that ought to be looked based h state doing their own threat and hazard and risk assessment and ability to identify gaps and fill in those gaps, etc. it is difficult to do that when everything is kind of isolated in its own program. plus, the administrative overhead. everyone has their own grant and so forth. the notion is, let's based more on risk. let's do more of gap analysis and fill in gap analysis. let's try to get rid of some of this legacy overhead and make this a more streamlined consolidated proposal. andddition to the outreach adjustments adjustments we have made in response to that end hoping what is different now i think could be more persuasive. >> could you please share with

bio program. no funding has been put in the budget. as we continue to see that it has been 11 years since we had a terrorist attack of this nature , biological,ical radiological, these are all things we need to continue to be mindful of. can you share with us what is systemng with the gen 3 and why we should be pulling back as technology and people become more savvy? what are we doingak c protect ourselves from things tt are chemical,

biological, and radiological? >> gen 3 is undergoing an assessment as to whether it will ultimately be it for the money we are putting into it. rather than head into a large aqueous vision -- a large acquisition, there are enough problems with it that our acquisitions review board has asked for an individual assessment that is on a timeline. there is carryover money that can be deployed. it is really a matter of let's make sure that he forward to a large acquisition, we really know what we are doing and what we are getting. or have been problems with the gen 3.tages of jen --

one i would point to is a major whicht by the president is that national bio facility in kansas. we have been for a long time we knew -- need a new level for lab. they kansas legislature has agreed to put in roughly $300 million. we put in 700 million or so for the facility. -- if this is approved and appropriated, we can begin to structure and of a major lap and be done by 2020. i think long-term infrastructure, that will be very important. by kansas? have they appropriated it yet? >> i do not know if they have apprrimademi to those millions to partner with

the federal government. >> thank you. i yield back. >> the chair recognizes the gentleman from pennsylvania. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you, madam secretary. will probably revolve mostly around immigration and maybe some of the metrics. i know we have kind of beaten that horse. i want to get my mind wrapped around some of the text are. the security fence act of 2006 stated that the department must for all actions necessary control of the border. operational control means of ies to that u.s. comeawfen including entrance by terrorists and other unlawful aliens and

narcotics and contraband. it is my understanding that the department has said this definition is not attainable and i think the dent has asked foritional agents we're countin on you to know the accurate number. we are assuming that is correct. i was a commander of a task force in enemy territory. whether i would tell my troops that we're are going to secure our permit others up to 90% -- secure our perimeters of to 90% or to tell the tubers -- troopers that 10%, we will make sure that 90% of you, tom is unattainable. >> -- that is unattainable. >> i think you're mixing apples with oranges.

are talking about on 90% is a number that the gao uses as an effectiveness ratio. it is a chelation of apprehension -- calculation of apprehension of the thames. technology is the part that will help us more confident in the -- in apprehensive. obviously everyone's when hundred percent of everything. wants 100% of everything. it will not happen. someone who has lived at the border the whole time, you can make it safe and sas can w h the forces you have. ththe at is al that we strive for. the 3500 additiol personnel for the ports of entry -- are

for the ports of entries themselves. the ports have become so clogged and the lines get so long. that becomes an incentive to go around and try to sneak in through some other way. the 3500 and designed to meet what we need to accurately staff the ports. isthe 90% that the gao describing is the u.s. and border whether it is north, south, over water, or land, just the land period. >> those are the numbers from a recent report. >> i want to be sure i am clear. >> i understand. >> just to clarify for myself, the department is still seeking 100% even though we know it is hard to be perfect for thousands and thousands of border whether

it is over the oceans are the coast lines or the desert or the ports. will we ntinue to seek 100%? well, the question is difficult. if i were a police chief and you are asking me am i tseek elimi, i could say, yes, but eryone would know that is not going to happen. some crime will happen. we try to do the maximum we can. that is probably not the best way to address the problem. >> wow. i understand it may not be practical to get to 100%. like i said, i'm picturing myself in my own circumstance where i'm trying to safeguard lives and get folks home and make sure none of the bad guys get in the water with us.

100%.ove for our goal was always 100%. >> let me make an important point. we want to focus our resources on those who are trying to get border for fat activities like terrorism and human snuggling and narcotics. major drivers across that the overalle -- bees the process is so screwed up. that is a technical problem. >> i understand. >> when the congress takes up c ir, and you look at those two drivers, that freezes up where we should be focusing on, which are the bad guys, as you would describe them. i hope that as you think about this, it is not the border

isolated by itself. >> it is a matter of prioritizing asian. -- prioritization nancy. >> -- tha you. i think the gentleman. -- thank the gentleman. one of the issues that was raised was rules of engagement. i do not completely understand it, but they would apprehend people at the border and as soon as they went back, they would put a toe in the water they were free to not be further engage. what you arere referring to. maybe i could follow up with you. >> i could put you directly in touch with our colleagues.

it surprised me. the question is rules of engagement. what can be done with regards to people who are effectively on the river line or on the borderline. there are rules of engagement with respect to the dod deployment at the border. there are reasons for that. we will be happy to follow-up with whatever you suggest. >> i would love to put that together. . the gentleman from new york. >> thank you. ,nd your 2014 budget requests there was an item in their relative to the northern border. can you provide some background with respect to that? -- and the look of that line at a specifically for you. the issue of the northern borders need to be paid

attention to in terms of the trade and commer that up there. i never of things underw canada -- there are a number of things underway with canada. we are also doing some pilot projects. one would be in new york. i do not know whether that particular town is intended and for that were elsewhere. i will follow-up on that. by kenexace bridge --falo to southern ontario it was built 84 years ago with three lanes. , you're down to one lane for all of that traffic. .t causes obviously delays it has an adverse impact on the environment as well.

is to expand the american plaza, but also pursue span.bridges fan -- new yorket in buffalo, we southern ontario are -- need capacity. w want emphasize that we are trying to remove barriers to access, both physical and in tolls. when you look at the situation with the peace bridge, a lot of tolls are being used to support expansion of the plaza to promote traffic between the united states and canada. this is something that would be

of concern. my sense is that it would be a new agency imposed toll compared to the ones that are already in place. help iniate all of your helping us address the issues and the peace bridge connecting buffalo and southern ontario in particular. i yield that. >> thank you. i turned to the gentleman from utah. thank youecretary, for your services. this is probably a long hearing. you do not know the line of questioning, so it requires you to be an expert on everything. things i would like to ask you quickly if i could. >> sure. >> as a former air force pilot,

uncomfortable handling a weapon, whether -- i am comfortable handling a weapon whether it is one that i flew or handling a handgun. after 9/11, i think that is true. i'm sure you're familiar with the federal deck officer program. it has been in place for i guess seven or eight years. it has been quite effective in training a large number of pilots to carry handguns in the cockpit with them in order to protect themselves and their passengers. yet it is my understanding that the program has been entirely defunded in the latest budget requests. that troubles me. i'm wondering if you could help me understand your reasoning for not condoning funding for what i thought was very cost-effective programs. >> two things, congressman. we have offered training and guidelines -- if the airlines

would pay for it. the question is, should the taxpayer favorite -- pay for it? it air carriers want to pay for it, we are open to that. it is not a risk-based program. where we look at flights and risk and where we have concerns before we have an qualified, if a person have the demented flight, so be it. we approach it from a risk-based approach. ster.program did not pass >> if you deem that this is not the highest priority -- the one thing i really have trouble with is the idea that the airlines would be the burden -- the burden would be placed on them.

we could do for some of those costs to the customers of the client. we do not do that. >> cybersecurity is a great industry do not want to be regulated and mandated. they were now involved in a public involuntary process with them. they will have to pay for security. >> i understand are examples of course. this is a federal responsibility. it is a governmental responsibility. the government should pay for it. let me shift if i could for a moment on an unrelated, but still important topic. i used to be president of the environmental group that worked with many different agencies and groups that had interest in that. becamethe things that i aware of is that there are

examples in the southwest where environmental concerns seem to outweigh the concerns of border security. there are areas where agents are limited in what they can do and how they can patrol because the desire to protect species or habitats. it seems to me that opens a door. can you comment on that policy and whether you think that is egg good idea and whether you would continue to support that? -- theree a very good are a number of federal protected lands along the order, as well as indian country. -- we arevery good able to patrol into pursuit on those lands. we do not need to stop and ask for permission and the likes. i'm an operational standpoint, we have dealt with the issues.

there are protected lands in that arena. >> none of us want to endanger species, but there are certain priorities. what is that greater risk. there's some frustration and maybe even more than some with some of the agents and their relationship and how they feel like they have become constrained because of environmental concerns. my time is up. thank you for your time today. i yield back. >> i think -- thank a from utah and i say thank you to the secretary r her ofsial ism as she brings the department inhomeland security plans facing the challenges we do. symbol of those who are on the front lines each and every day in protection of

our homeland and the resilience encourage of those seen in boston. we say mercy to all of those on the front lines. thank you to the witness for her very valuable testimony and members further questions. members may have additional questions for the secretary. we ask you to respond to those in writing if they are submitted. the hearing record will be open for 10 days. without objection, the hearing stand adjourned. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2013] [captioning performed by national captioning institute]

>> next on c-span, president obama joins the intith rvice fobost victims. andhe sea for suspects on the boston bombing. later, the senate so-called gang of eight hold a news conference on the immigration proposal. after that, senators introduce their own immigration proposal. coming up on the next "washington journal" rebecca journalrom the national talks about the immigration legislation put out by the so- called gang of eight.

and the look at the developments following the boston bombings. our guest is colonel randall larsen. reader, an examination of trends in renting and homeownership in the u.s. -- later, an examination of trends in renting and homeownership in the u.s. liveington journal" is every morning at 7 a.m. eastern on c-span. patrick donahue talks about financial issues facing the post office. he is the featured speaker at the national press club on friday. live at 1 p.m. eastern on c- span 2. >> when the war began, congress came into session in july and it issued a statement known as the clinton resolution. it articulated the consensus or goals of the united states. it is very simple.

it was very clear. the purpose of this war is to restore the union. todoes not -- and it is not drop the social institutions of the south. everyone knew what that meant. it meant not to disrupt slavery. >> evolution of president lincoln's viewon slavery. university of texas, austin's request or on emancipation. lectures in history saturday night at 8 p.m. eastern on american history tv. during thursday's session of the u.s. house, and members a moment of silence in honor of the victims of the texas fertilizer land fire. -- plant fire. >> i rise today in the wake of two great tragedies in our nation. the terrorist attack in boston

and the tragedy in west, texas. they remind us the risk that modern life resents. i asked that all americans rate for each of the communities and to hug your families a little tighter tonight. we gather on the house floor. i want to take a moment to remember those effected by the explosions and the plast and those injured or killed and their families and loved ones. i like to recognize the bravery of first responders and volunteers of our communities. from all over texas for those who have come to those in need. i want to say missy to my colleagues who have offered support. i also asked for a moment of silence. -- i want to say they and you -- thank to my colleagues who have offered support. i also asked her a moment of silence. president obama joined

massachusetts governor deval patrick and boston mayor and interface -- interfaith service in boston to honor the victims of the bombings. following the service, the president and first lady visited with victims who are still in hospital. the service from the cathedral of holy cross in south boston is 90 minutes. >> ♪ but now i'm found ♪ [congregation sings "amazing grace"]

♪

♪ ♪

>> welcome to a special presentation, "healing our city." boston braced together.

you're watching live images of the interior of the mother church diocese in boston. this is an opportunity for the committee to come together. the president in the cathedral, the archbishop of boston, president barack obama, governor deval patrick, mayor thomas menino, and alsoh als, and ers of committ is around stonrea. networrkand thent of catholic returning us with this special presentation, "healing our city." , d interfaith prayer service boston prays together.

the opening hymn for today's service, "praise to the lord, the almighty," based on a german chorale, published in 1680, a magnificent hymn of praise to god. ♪

the music of today's service is pred by e cathedral, joined from a number of choirs from around the boston area, as well as the boston children's chorus, and a musical selection by yo-yo ma. the service today will be read by a former anchor of a tv station in boston.

♪ >> you may be seated. there are age-old questions that rise up far too often these

days, questions we all ask no matter what our fate condition or our station in life. --no matter what ouraithra tion tion in life. how can a good god allow bad things to happen? where was god when evil slithered in and planted the horror that exploded our innocence? someone this morning may have answers -- i do not -- but this is what i know -- god is here in the midst of this secret gathering, in this sanctuary, and beyond. different faiths, different races, strangers downed first by loss and pain, but now clinging together and growing strength in a city that has always faced the darkness and on. -- head on.

we are members of one another, our community of resilience, hard-pressed, but not defeated, unfounded, but not consumed. we are gathered in community, and through the blur of each other's tears, and the breaks of so many broken hearts, we will rise in community and face whatever the future holds resolutely as one. this is what is demanded of us, and this is who we are. god is here in our resilience. the grit that gets us back up again, and nothing taken will be forgotten or lost in vain. this is how god works. good morning.

ood mornin >> i am reverend liz walker froa i welcome you as we gather in community to help heal our beloved city and this violence- weary world. let us pray. creator god, in the beginning, you said let there be light, and the light shone, piercing the darkness. help us find our way through the darkness now. you taught us we belong to each other. help us hold each other now. we pray comfort for those who have lost loved ones, courage for those who are struggling to the trauma of physical and psychic pain, and tenderness to those for whom the world no longer makes sense. lord, bless this broken hearted

until sir head back toward the sky. open our eyes to your presence this morning. open our hearts your grace. restore us so that we can see and be tall light once again. and all that we hold holy, for me that is jesus christ, but the people of god together say amen. >> amen. >> reverend liz walker offering the greeting. the greek orthodox bishop. >> it is my privilege and high

honor of representing the greek orthodox community of boston and new england at this interfaith service at healing. this past monday, a day rich with symbolism, a terrific actor of terrorism wounded the heart and soul of our city and our nation. thousands from throughout the world were in boston as participants and spectators of the marathon, which, as we all know, recalls a run from the ancient city of marathon to

athens to announce the victory of greece over the forces of an empire that devalued freedom, human dignity, and democracy. the boston marathon always coincides with patriots day, when we commemorate the battles of lexington and concord, the first of the american revolution. sadly, it was on patriots day when we celebrate the values of freedom and democracy and a fiercely independent spirit of america -- it was on that day that evil reared its ugly head once again and countless, innocent men, women, and children fell victims to a senseless and unspeakable act of brutality. but we know that bombs of terrorism may kill and injure, but they cannot crush the american spirit. today we thank cardinal o'malley for opening the embrace of his cathedral to all of us, to

president obama, to governor patrick, to mayor menino, to all who are in public service, to the religious leaders of the commonwealth, to every citizen regardless of creed, we gather as a community, as brothers and sisters in the household of god to bow our heads in silent prayer for the repose of the souls of three innocent victims whose lives were violently taken and for the countless victims who will bear painful wounds for the rest of their lives. we come today to thank god for the police and firefighters, the national guard, for the and nurses, for all who

responded selflessly and courageously. we pray our gracious, loving, and compassionate, our merciful god, the healer of our souls and bodies, watches over us and comfort us in our pain. and may he who is the prince of peace, may he bring peace to our souls and to our community, may almighty god bless us. >> the greek orthodox leader, spiritual leader of boston and new england. speaking now, mayor thomas menino, the city's longest- serving mayor, recovering from some recent leg surgery.

it is great to have the mayor with us today. you are watching live coverage of "healing our ty," an interfth sce from the cathedral of holy cr >> good morning. >> good morning. >> this is a good morning, because we are together. we are one boston. no adversity, no challenge,

nothing can tear down the resilience in the heart of the city and its people. hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all sins. since the clock struck that fateful hour, love has covered this resilience city. i have never loved it, this people, more than i do today. we have never loved it more than we do today. we love the brave ones who felt the blast and still raced through the smoke, [indiscernible] to answer cries of those injured.

this was the courage of our city at work. we love the fathers and brothers. we took shirts off their backs to stop the bleeding. the mothers and sisters who cared for the injured, the neighbors and the business owners, the home owners all across the city, they opened their doors and their hearts to the weary and the scared. they said what is mine is yours.

the is the compassion of city at work. we never loved the heroes who were our uniforms more than we do this hour. boston's finest in their blue, they carried kids to safety and calmed the city in crisis. emt's performed miracles. we love the national guard, our service members and who brought -- to our streets. the volunteers, the nurses [indiscernible] as the victims of the grave injured arrived. this was the strength of our city at work.

we have never loved the people of the world and our great country more for their prayers and wishes. we even love new york city more. "sweet caroline" played in lower manhattan. it gives us more strength to say prayer after prayer for the victims still recovering in hospital and at home. it gives us the strength to say goodbye to the young boy with a big heart, martin richard. we pray for his sister and mom, his brother and his dad, and it helps us to say we will miss krystle campbell who brought herself to the marathon, and lu lingzi, the student who came to the city to search for education.

we will never forget her. i am telling you, nothing can defeat the heart of this city. nothing will take us down, because we take care of one another. even the smell of the smoke of the air and the blood on the streets, tears in our eyes, we triumphed over the heat on monday afternoon. it is a glorious thing, the love and the strength that covers our city. it will push us forward next year, because this is boston, a city with compassion and strength that knows no bounds. [applause]

>> mayor thomas menino, the longest sitting mayor of the city of boston, speaking about the indomitable spirit of this city and a great convolutions of the police, fire, and emergency personnel who heroically assisted victims and the dying this past monday. thering a reflection now, reverend nancy taylor, who serves as minister at the old south street church in boston. ♪ >> the choir now leads us in the

hand "my life flows on in endless song." ♪

♪ >> located at the finish line of the marathon, old south church in boston has developed a ministry to marathoners and they a scial. uiltf sturdy stuff. as we do every year on marathon sunday, the day before, we

invite the athletes to worship, and they come in the hundreds. during the service we asked to stand, and we raise our arms in blessing over them, and in the words of isaiah, we supercharge them, saying may you run and not grow weary. may you walk and not faint. this year, in the midst of all, in the midst of a peace-filled international competition unlike any other, explosions, chaos, terror. ism the church's tower, this what i saw that day. i saw tough people run toward,

not away from, toward the explosions, toward the chaos, the mayhem, toward the danger, making of their own bodies sacraments of mercy. and in the minutes and the hours that followed, i saw with my own eyes good samaritans taking off their coats and their shirts, wrapping them around athletes who were shivering, quaking with cold and whose limbs were stiffening, fed,samaritans who clothed, and sheltered runners and families, assisted families, shared their cell phones, opened homes and stores, and, not least, guided strangers to boston's cow paths. today, from our tower overlooking the finish line, we

continue to fly our three marathon banners. today we fly them first in memory of those whose lives were taken that day, and, second, we fly them with prayers for those who were harmed and those who grieve, for there is still much, much pain in the world today, and we're very far from being healed. and we fly them also in thanksgiving, for first responders who made of their bodies sacraments of blessing. here is what i know today. we are shaken, but we are not forsaken. another's hate will not make us haters. others' cruelty will only redouble our mercy.

amen. >> reverend nancy taylor, minister, old south church. and the senior rabbi at temple israel in boston. >> president and mrs. obama, governor and mrs. patrick, and mrs. menino, we're all grateful for your constant and inspired leadership, your compassion. it is a signal of the triumph of order over chaos, of love over hatred. the gifted columnist anna quindlen wrote "grief remains one of the few things that has the power to silence us.

it is a whisper in the world and a clamor within. the landscapes of all our lives become as full of creatures as the surface of the mind." we would wish and our prayers this morning to hold not only this city and its souls in our embrace, but to extend our reach to kindred spirits in and west, texas. our arms are wide enough to you as well. as a rabbi once said -- [speaking in hebrew] the entire world is a narrow

bridge, but the important principle is to transcend somehow your fear. as we share our grief with those who have lost life or limb and for the constellations of families and friends who surround them, we turn to these words taken from psalm 147, verse 3 -- [speaking in hebrew] god, healer of the brokenhearted, and binder of their wounds, grant consolation to those who mourn and healing to all those who suffered loss and pain. endow them with strength and courage and restored to them and to all of us who grieve with

them the sense of life plus goodness and purpose. fill their hearts and hours reverence and with love that we might turn to you again with hearts restored to wholeness and committed to the re-creation of well-being and peace. >> god heals the brokenhearted. we will now hear a reflection from the chair of the new england interfaith council and the civil rights outreach director of the american islamic conference. >> in the name of god, the most compassionate and most merciful, mr. president, governor patrick, mayor menino, and citizens, we are gathered

together to mourn the loss of life in a criminal attack on our community. what happened on monday has shocked and horrified us, but it has also brought us together. i ask you to share the message of my community's culture. i want to cite a passage that i studied when i was 7 years old. i was living at the time in damascus, syria. one afternoon while walking back home from school, i experienced the terror of a car bomb that exploded on my route. i will never forget the sound of the blast, the rush of humanity, and the anger and the fear. these feelings returned on monday.

it is a line from the muslim holy scripture, the passage declares it is inspired by the jewish tradition, that "whoever kills a soul, it is as if he had killed mankind entirely, and whoever saves a life, it is as if he saved all of mankind." on boston streets on monday afternoon, next to a great public library that bears among the many names that of the prophet mohammad, peace be upon him, we saw souls murdered, but also lives saved. one month ago, i was at another ceremony in boston. i stood in faneuil hall with 400 other people before a bust of frederick douglass and john

adams that came from 77 different countries and all kinds of villages and background. a lonely immigrant from mauritania took the oath of citizenship. born americans may not be aware of what naturalized citizens pledge when they join the citizens of america. i was profoundly struck by the words they recited. we pledged to defend the constitution and all laws of the analysis of american against all enemies, foreign and domestic. i could not imagine the work of national importance would be required so soon, but now all of us need to take the pledge. we are all moved by the thousands of people to step

forward in a moment of tragedy and to serve. , want to salute everyone everyone who gave blood, everyone who volunteered. i want to salute members of law enforcement who are protecting us as we speak and to thank the people around the world sending messages of hope and solidarity. no one was to take a formal votes. formal oath. makes usity is what all americans, one nation under god, and now a prayer. arden

merciful one, and welcome in heaven those that were taken and ground their family members to heal their loss. heal the wounds of bostonian. rededicate ourselves to the great task before us. region rededicate ourselves to the great task before us. dedicate ourselves to the great task before us. >> this morning the words of the

somme had agreed president the words. the righteous may not stretch out their hands to do wrong. as we have confirmed so graphically, wickedness does but we areis world, reminded god has put a hedge around it. in maine and of those for a moment, but it has to relinquish in thegher, nobler power ultimate control. together towe come go beyond the immediate dimension of terror, the death, , and to elevate to the

sacred seizure, to please the tragedy in a context that can redeem it and to infuse it with hope, love, annad unity. we cannot gravitate to livthat those who have lost life and limb, then perhaps evil would have achieved a victory it , but weo fruitlessly are people of faith. we believe in a benevolent god. he allows hatred and fanaticism to have its moments,

in the end, and goodness will and yes, weeping may stay for the night common but joy comes in the morning. us we inhabitind where aerious world, loving god sometimes allows dark energy to penetrate our domain, andonly to ennoble us extract greater amount of generosity. level of evil is uneven and now, but it always ends of strengthening could.

-- good. by the all been inspired images and and the goats of heroism and could this have emerged -- goodness that have emerged. this crucifixion house released -- has released much good. we of been inspired to pray for others. we have extended consolation. in our diversity, we have been united. again toeen led remember how strong or areessful we may be, we

children of paternity, able to onlya true hope and solace in the realm of prayer and spiritual humility. and the paradox of weakness we have entered into, we can become more gracious and powerful, a better channel for the grace of god to enter into this world. thoses a small force for who live in the hospital bed, contemplating allies that has been changed or grieving the loss of loved one. they receive the grace to look beyond this moment of suffering and to believe their life is far from over. beyondy couldn't rise their pain and loss to become more spiritually -- that they

could rise beyond their pain and loss to become spiritually agile. they they never allow bitterness a hatred to linger more than brief moment. me they received copies. may be able to translate reassuring words of the apostle paul. us from loveeparate o ?f christ killed allke, we are day long. all these things, we are more than conquerors.

god love will have the last word. forsaken our nation. he weaves a tapestry of goodness. my faith that we will achieve self darker pfizer and striving don't know was only briefly interrupted but snow continues richer than ever. they are faced be strengthened. and god bless us all. a man. amen. ♪

mountain ♪ to the ♪ , overuse you ask me to the clouds to where the sky was blue. i can see all around me, -- i can see all , everywhere ♪

♪

♪ and they never get their -- i may never get there here in this lifetime ♪

♪ go ♪re i will boston children's chorus mountain." to the [applause] courageous president, to our compassion and governor,

to our mighty mayor, to all of 5., matthew chapter he wentsaw the crowds, on a mountainside and set down. his disciples came to him, and sayingn to tetoach them, blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. lasseter are the meek, for they will inherit the earth -- blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. but some are those who hunger for righteousness, for they will

be filled. blessed are the merciful, for they will be showed mercy. blessed are the pure of heart, for they will be showed gone. blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of god. who areon are those persecuted because -- less of are those who are persecuted because of righteousness. blessed are you when people insult you, and persecute you, say all kinds of evil against you. rejoice and be glad.

in the same way they persecuted before you, and jesus taught that to perceive the kingdom of heaven, you must see the opposite. when you see loss, it see reward. when you hear a cry of pain, hear a prayer. sacrifice, see a sacred offering. for those of you who have saying,, the lord is never lose sight of your future. you mourn, you will be comforted. broken, you will be

healed. you have suffered loss, and you will be rewarded. the massachusetts license plate says "the spirit of america," and i pray they will look at us and see the true spirit of america. >> cardinal o'malley in his own church. >> my dear brothers and sisters, i wish to welcome all of you to the cathedral of the holy cross.

to have ouror presidents, our governor, and our mayor with us this morning. we are grateful for governor patrick for commemorating this. delightful the many .eaders could join us today our holy father pope francis out as to communicate his sentiment of love and support. the holy father of folks peace upon did, consolation of suffering and continual relief vendor response. inpraised we will be united the resolve not to be overcome byevil but to combat evil good, working to build a just,

for, and secure society generations to come. the patriot's day celebrations were marred by an act of senseless violence that does cause the fall pain. is a reminder of september 11 and the evil that can produce -- and what can produce such evil. the generous response of so many assures us of the goodness that is selfless. events,moned by great we could be committed to the well-being of others, even total .trangers

we become a more noble people. passers-by do not hesitate to put themselves in harm's way. is and i act of solidarity with those who lost gratefules, and we are the family is with us. solidarity and wish to support a family and loved ones. shakes as out of our andlacency and indifference helps us focus on a society with love and justice.

we do not want to risk losing those patriots who gave their lives for the greater good. we have a profound respect for each and every human being made in the image and likeness of god, and we must cultivate a desire to give our lives in service of others. last week i was with 30 priests from boston on retreat. we prayed and listen to the gospel read to us this morning. the sermon on the mound is gathered by those. often we can see the contrast between those on the ground and the community. the crowd is made of self-

absorbed individuals. is where people toe to value each other, find their own identity and to be part of something bigger than working for theo greater good. jesus gives us a new way to deal with offenders, the reconciliation. jesus gives us a way to deal with violence, by non violence. he gives us a new way to deal with money, by sharing with those in need. jesus gives as a way of dealing with leadership, by drawing upon the gift of every person, each one the child of god.

we must ask ourselves what kind of community do we want to be in? what kind of ideals to we want to pass on to the next generation. hatred,t be violence, and fear. the jewish people speak of repairing the world. thehas entrusted us with task to repair our broken world. collectiono it as a of individuals. we can only do it together as a community, as the family. events are a challenge and an opportunity to work together with a renewed spirit and solidarity and with firm conviction but love is stronger than death. they are is the descendant of

francis of assisi, who prayed, lord, make me an instrument of peace. where there is hatred, make me love. where there is injury, a pardon. where there is doubt, face, where there is darkness, light, were there is sadness, joy. grant that i may not so much seek to be canceled us to consoled, and -- to be understood, to be loved us for it is in giving we are received, it is in pardoning we are pardon. it is dying we are born to eternal life. amen.

and ♪ ♪

♪

♪ >> the governor of th ♪

of the overnor commonwealth of massachusetts,

deval patrick. >> in my faith tradition, scripture teaches in everything, give thanks. that is not always easy to do. on monday afternoon, i was not feeling it. ust i felt, what so many of felt then, was shot in confusion and anger. the nature of faith i think is learning to return to the lessons, even when they don't make sense, when they defy logic. as i return to those lessons this week, i found a few things to be thankful for.

i am thankful for the firefighters and police officers and the emt's whn toward the blas not knowi w lunteers who helpede. attack wasver, the i amhankful fothe mecal profal from the doors d trma nses and ngtaekeepi thon and kept ruing to hithe agents from the fbi andtf the officers andteolice, from the ldrs from the natial guard and l other law othorcemenpersonwho methodic wk piecing tother what happ and w[applaus r monday morningrustrated that heould not be at t fis line ahe alws did, and le atftnoonostal to help this genloodo the face dn is of consotion from alovam tnk fod

stast pport of theidand first lr ny f thank you. pptered to us today an i am thankful r the live o krystle and li at surviv people who are hurt and still woke up today with the hope for tomorrow. i am thankful, maybe most especially, for the countless numbers of people in this proud city and historic commonwealth who, in the aftermath of such senseless violence, let their

first instinct the kindness. in a dark hour, so many of you showed so many of us that darkness cannot drive out darkness, as dr. king said. only light can do that. how very strange that the tower is unleashed on us should come on marathon day, on patriots day, a day that marks both the unofficial end of our long winter hibernation and the first battle of the american revolution. and just as we are taught at times like this not to lose touch with our spiritual faith, let us also not lose touch with our civic faith.

massachusetts invented america. [applause] america is not organized the way countries or usually organized. we are not organized around a common language or religion or even culture. we are organized around a handful of civic ideals, and we have defined it those ideals over time and three struggles. equality, opportunity, freedom, and fair play, an attack on our civic rituals like the marathon, especially on patriots day, is an attack on those values. just as we cannot permit darkness and hate to triumph over our spiritual faith, so

must we not permit darkness and hate to try for our civic faith. that cannot happen, and it will not. [applause] so we will recover and repair. we will grieve over losses and healed. we will rise, and we will endure. we will have accountability without vengeance, vigilance without fear, and we will remember, i hope and pray, long after the buzz of boylston street is back and the media turned its attention elsewhere, that the grace this tragedy exposed is the best of who we are. fellow citizens, i am honored and humbled to welcome our friend, our leader, our

commander in chief, the president of the united states. [applause] >> hello, boston. scripture tells us to run with endurance the race that is set

before us. run with endurance the race that is set before us. on monday morning, the sun rose over boston. the sunlight glistened off the state house dome. in the commons, in the public garden, spring was in bloom. on this patriot's day, like so many before, fans jumped onto the t to see the sox at fenway. in hopkinton, runners laced up their shoes and set out on a 26.2-mile test of dedication and grit and the human spirit. and across this city, hundreds of thousands bostonians lined the streets to hand the runners cups of water, to cheer them on.

it was a beautiful day to be in boston, a day that explains why a poet once wrote that this town is not just a capital, not just a place. boston, he said, is the perfect state of grace. [applause] and then, in an instant, the day's beauty was shattered. a celebration became a tragedy.

and so we come together to pray and mourn and measure our loss. but we also come together today to reclaim that state of grace, to reaffirm that the spirit of this city is undaunted and the spirit of the country shall remained undimmed. to governor patrick, mayor menino, cardinal o'malley and all the faith leaders who are here, governors romney, swift, weld and dukakis, members of congress, and most of all, the people of boston and the families who've lost a piece of your heart, we thank you for your leadership.

we thank you for your courage. we thank you for your grace. i'm here today on behalf of the american people with a simple message. every one of us has been touched by this attack on your beloved city. every one of us stands with you. because, after all, it's our beloved city, too. boston may be your hometown but we claim it, too. it's one of america's iconic cities. it's one of the world's great cities. and one of the reasons, the world knows boston so well is that boston opens its heart to

the world. over successive generations, you've welcomed again and again new arrivals to our shores; immigrants who constantly reinvigorated this city and this commonwealth and our nation. every fall, you welcome students from all across america and all across the globe. and every spring, you graduate them back into the world -- a boston diaspora that excels in every field of human endeavor. year after year, you welcome the greatest talents in the arts, in science, research. you welcome them to your concert halls and your hospitals and your laboratories to exchange ideas and insights that draw

this world together. and every third monday in you welcome people from all around the world to the hub for friendship and fellowship healthy competition -- a gathering of men and women of every race and every religion, every shape and every size -- a multitude represented by all those flags that flew over the finish line. so whether folks come here to boston for just a day or whether they stay here for years, they leave with a piece of this town tucked firmly into their hearts. so boston is your home town, we claim it a little bit,

too. [applause] i know this because there is a piece of boston in me. it welcomed me as a young law student across the river. you welcomed michelle, too. [applause]

>> thank you, thank you very much. thank you for these words of welcome and thank you for hosting us that the national press club here today for a very special occasion where i have the privilege later on in my

introduction to announce the establishment of a new venue thed and based on cooperation on the arctic issue. i know sometimes here in washington, the arctic looks up for away. it seems to be a hidden part of the world and to us it was in the beginning of the 20th- century. our knowledge of that countriesod of those was very limited. and in fact remain so into the first decades of the 20th century. however -- itas brought this territory into the military concerns, not only nato, but also every country in the arctic was part of the military buildup in our part of

the world. with the end of the cold war, we saw an enormous transformation in the arctic. it certainly turned from being a highly militarized, confrontational part of the world, into a very very successful demonstration of positive and constructive cooperation. courtg the clinton- administration, the eight arctic countries decided to make it our arctic, so to speak. the eight countries with geographic position came together in the arctic council. startedt yearsit has to agree on treaties and further stin cooperation. but now in the second decade of the 21st century, we have suddenly seen that what we thought was our arctic becoming

the global market -- arctic. many want a seat at the arctic table. in every meeting i had with leaders of asia, weather was the prime minister of china, the prime minister of south korea, the leaders of singapore, and now last week also with the prime minister and the foreign minister of india, in every one of these meetings, the first item they wanted to discuss was not if but when they would require a seat on the arctic council. for the eight countries, i do not know what concerns us more. ours -- we might

ask ourselves why is it the countries in asia, global player in the 21st century economy, haveuddenly this erest in what we thought 10 or 15 years ago was exclusively to our arctic? there are many reasons. one is that with the melting of the arctic sea ice, we will see in the near future and i emphasize the near opening up of new shipping routes, linking asia to america and europe as did the suez canal and it's time. why china hassons such a strong interest in the arctic is that they are already planning for a world where china will be the preeminent trading country in the world, and if they send their cargo ships through the northern route to to

europe and asia, the distance will be shortened by more than a 40%. china is already building ships for this purpose. they are already formulating plans to indicate the number of cargo vessels that will in this decade and sailed through this route. angapore has already got arctic ambassador, with the primary mission of finding a lotion f big singapore ere in the arcti region. like the suezanal, it indicated a transformation of the 20th century, the opening up of the northern sea routes will indicate up fundamental transformation of the global trading system in the 21st century. is second reason of course the melting of the sea ice with its impact on the global weather

systems. one of the reasons why the chinese polar institute sends the icebreaker from shanghai to iceland, the first time in history china goes from shanghai to an arctic country through the northern route, was that they discovered in the summer of 2007 and the following winter that the melting of the arctic sea ice has tremendous implications for the extreme weather events that occurred in china the following winter. as a result of the expedition last summer, the chinese authorities could prepare for what happened in january and february of this year. where china experienced many destructions of the trinfrture of towns and communities and of the economic operations, perhaps greater than

storms caused here in the united states at few months before. also partly caused by the melting of the arctic sea ice. if you will remember, this symbolic picture of gov. christie of new jersey and president obama embracing a few days before the presidential seen isl, an event surprising, it was the melting of the arctic sea ice which actually brought them together. [laughter] but the third reason is of course the enormous resources in the arctic. it has been estimated that one quarter of the untapped energy resources can be found within the arctic. in addition to various metals

and minerals and other important items for the 21st century economy. it is one of the reasons why the prime minister of south korea visited green on last year with a big delegation and why you have a long list of global cooperation -- global corporations wanting to engage in new agreements. for alhe rnsnd becomehe crucial public shall be -- a crucial political and economic theater of the 21st century. that withinremember the arctic there are people who have lived there for thousands of years. ,eople who have made the arctic the neighborhood of the ice, their homes. of relatively

recent arrivals in this neighborhood so the interrelationships between what happens to the people and the disappearance of the ice and the development of the arctic could be up fundamentally political and even judicial concern. what are the legal rights of the people who live there for thousands of years compared to the claims made by states and corporations? but there also similarities between what is happening in the arctic regions and what is taking place in the himalayas or you also have countries like china and india and russia and the united states in the arctic and theofcoas well, and we increasingly see the development of the arctic cooperation being

a model for the countries in the himalayas. our arctics in neighborhoods is not just of consequence for us in the arctic and the countries that want to be with us in the utilization of the arctic, but can also serve as a model for the part of the world were almost 2 billion people depend on the water system and the melting of the glaciers on their economies and their livelihoods. what happens in the arctic has also global consequences beyond our own corporation. -- cooperation. when i started speaking about this in the first years of my presidency, arctic issues were still peripheral in that theater of political dialogue and international conferences. i was sometimes ask why was i spending my time talking about

these issues? but i realized that within in near future my country and others would have to deal with this in a significant way. in recent years we've seen a number of countries coming together on arctic issues. experts, think tanks, and others. but there is a need in the light of the importance of the issues i have outlid re today to enhance this dialogue. peooreiore effectively and more productively together to discuss the future of the arctic. i have an open invitation where everyone within the arctic countries and in other parts of the world can come together. that is why alison scott and i and a few other started thinking about it last year, how we could do this. and in cooperation with a number of arctic leaders in other

countries, i have decided to announce here that we are forming what we have decided called the arctic circle, other than news somewhat a plea of words. in the case to court geographical location as well as the democratic condition of everyone coming together around the table in the same way. where there is no distinction of who is important and who is not important but everyone who comes arctictribute to the dialogue. the essence of this initiative is not to create yet another organization in order to replace others. on the contrary, the essence of the arctic circle is that it will be in open tent or public square where different organizations institute --

governments, institutes, think tapes, other organizations can come together in their own name with their own agenda. and through their own decision making, making use of the great number of people who come there in order to deliberate. it will be hopefully the preeminent event every year where all those major players that have an interest in the arctic can come together for dialogue and discussion and we're also the country's in faraway places like china, india, south korea, singapore, can come and present their case , why they are so interested in the arctic. what is the chinese agenda and the arctic? why this india want a seat at the arctic council? and also, the big corporations and the world, whether they are the oil companies or the mining companies and others, come to

present their case. but also a place where the indigenous people, those who live in the villages and the small towns can also be a part of the dialogue. willrctic council therefore hope to facilitate a new type of dialogue with in the arctic, and why are we announcing this in washington? oy the great tradition of the national press club, but because within a few weeks, the presidency of the arctic council will move to north america. froma will take over russia and those of us and in northern countries, we have been responsible for the presidency of the arctic council appeared this will be the first time since this cooperative

organization came of age that the two arctic countries, canada and the united states, will become responsible for its leadership. and after two years of the canadian presidency, the american state and barack obama will takeover of the presidency. that will be a testing time for the united states in terms of the engagement of the bearishness cooperation, the think tanks, and the others. it will be a testing time indicating how the united states seeing the future of the arctic. what i not only to the other countries but also to india, china, many of the european countries and others, that also want to be a part of the arctic of the future. that is why in addition to the

great tradition of this institution, we were both honored and pleased to use this venue, the national press club in washington, to announce the establishment of the arctic circle. mentioned ins was the introduction in this world. we do not realize how dependent we are on the ice. but it is melting. and melting fast. that is why the chinese are already preparing. that is why singapore has a special division and its foreign ministry looking for a harbor. weome from a country where do not have to go to international conferences to areize this, that they melting fast. and our neighbors see now every

year that the big lakes and rivers created on the greenland ice, their villages in the northern part of russia and alaska as well as in green land, that now face survival tests because of the rising sea levels in the melting of the ice. is in america's backyard. about half of that melting in the coming decades, together with a small part of an arctic out, we could see sea level rises of 3 meters. the severe storms in this nation indicate what could happen. if it were only for the security

of our cities, with that they are in florida or along the west coast, or even if they are in china or bangladesh or india, it is absolutely clear that no threat apart from a major military catastrophe of the nuclear kind will be as disastrous for the future of our cities and our nation's all over the world in every continent as the melting of the ice. and the arctic is the primary area where this is taking place. so with that message as well as the need tonhance our dialogue and cooperation on this new arctic future and be ready to enter the dialogue with nations in faraway places, they are already engaged in the future of our own backyard and our own territory, it is necessary to try to find new ways to enhance

the dialogue and cooperation in the arctic. those of these -- those of us together with a distinguished political leaders in parts of the world have come together to launch the arctic circle hope that through this effort we can bring many more people to this table in a constructive and cooperative way. because it is not just our arctic. it is the global arctic. what happens there will have a fundamental consequences for every nation in the world. thank you. [applause] >> thank you. can you clarify how the arctic circle will differ from the arctic council? what will be the role of the two

group's? ofarcc counl i formal government organization of the eight arctic countries, states, russian, and others. it isn't intergovernmental organization where you have to be a diplomatic person to speak. it has a few observer states including france. but as my good friend, the former prime minister of france, said in paris and his meeting, because he has been in the seat of the permanent observer, he has not yet been allowed to say anything. in paris a few weeks ago he said in a public forum, france is not accustomed not to be allowed to speak. [laughter

the arctic circle, everyone will be allowed to speak. everyone will be able to come there whether they are concerned citizens, whether they are non- governmental organizations, whether they are scientists and researchers representing universities or think tanks, together with government leaders and cooperations -- corporations and others who either want to be there to be a part of the dialogue or to hear what people are saying, or because they have a special message and a special agenda. while it might take awhile for the arctic council to decide which countries will be given the status of permanent observers and what will be the role of permanent observers within the arctic council, these countries can already send representatives and spokes people to the meeting of the

arctic circle to demonstrate their case and be part of the dialogue. in that sense, it is an open democratic tent. everybody who wants to participate will actually be welcome. the group'se will funding come? >> first of all, many of those who are coming to the arctic circle will come through their own funding. there will host their own meetings and sessions and irresponsible for the chances of those sessions for those meetings. but we will seek a collection of support from foundations and others who have an int in the arctic. itill nobe a public it -- other initiatives because it hopes to be a facilitator. of apes not to be a part big organized effort of great financial needs. from ample, we know

meeting this morning that google is interested in being present. there those responsible for other discussions that have decided to be there. the northern research firm has agreed to organize meetings. but we hope to collect a number of foundations and sponsors who will provide the necessary seed money and we've gone positive response from those quarters. that will be announced in due course. they will be small on the scale as you might hear in the united states in terms of funding. addressed the relationship between iceland and other arctic countries and china. how would you in your own words describe iceland's relationship with china? what you want in return for china?

>> the relationship between china and iceland is in many ways an interesting example of how china it is gradually playing in my opinion a constructive role in the world. i've often said as i indicated to you in my speec that due to the relationship between the melting of the arctic sea ice in my neighborhood of the world in the extreme weather events in china, china has a legitimate reason to study and research the sea ice. at the meeting that was taking place earlier today in china where they were the first -- where we were the first european country to sign a free-trade agreement with china, it was also announced at the meeting that we will continue our

dialogue and cooperation on the arctic. the other reason why they are interested in cooperation is r. green energy, especially geothermal transformation. iceland was in the early decades of my life dependent on imported oil and coal like most countries. now for a number of decades, one under% of our energy production has from -- has been from clean energy resources. geothermal is a bigger part o at now we are engaged in one of those agreements was signed this morning in china between the cineplex venture and c, so that they can replace other energy sources

would yield far more. we have also had academic relationships and on hold i have found our dialogue and meeting with the chinese leadership's the well my presidency to be very constructive and positive. >> given the environmental record of china, are you concerned the agreement might open the door to the exploitation of icelandic resources by the chinese? >> no, i am not afraid of that. inre pretty independent iceland. [laughter] i think we can be trusted to govern our own resources. stumbling blocks in our discussions with the europe 01 union, our desire to control our own resources. and quite frankly i have to admit in all the many meetings i

have had with every chinese i have never ever seen any indication of their desire to control over the icelandic resources. afraid that this will happen. in addition, we fought for our independence for 100 years. the republic was founded in 1944. we had to fight a war with the british to keep control of our own fishing grounds. so we're not going to surrender these rights to the chinese, don't worry about that. [laughter] >> several questions about members of the arctic council. is icelandic willing to take new permanent participants? what about applications for permanent observer status?

being a about china permanent observer or participant? >>hinas t only country wanting to be a permanent member. india and south korea has applied, and a number of european countries have applied. there is a relatively long list of countries that want to have a seat at the arctic council as permanent observers. still have to decide within the arctic council how we move forward in this respect. we of the reasons why it hesitate a bit is that the arctic council has turned out to be in the last 10 years an extraordinary successful instrument for cooperation. let's not forget that 25 years ago the nuclear confrontation in

the united states and the soviet that was so overwhelming and most of us have been influenced by this cold war threat. and i've sometimes said to my american and russian friends, it would be interesting to add up how much expenditure both countries put into military buildup in the arctic from the 1950's until the 1990's. so, within a relatively short time, we have transformed the areahat was among the most militarized regions of the d intone of the most successful constructive examples of cooperation in the 21st century. and one of the reasons this has happened is that the council has been sufficiently small to develop its own cultural

cooperation, and it has helped that the countries that have cooperated among ourselves for over 50 years play a big part of those eight. so within the arctic council, there has developed this positive, constructive culture of cooperation. and if you enlarged it toward more traditional international gathering, there is a certain race with that positive spirit and culture that might not be waived. and there, of course, had a there has to be some ground rules. what are the rules of the permanent observers? as my good friend indicated, he has not been allowed to say anything so far, he's not happy about it. and this needs some deliberation, and also because the list of countries wanting to apply keeps on getting longer. india decided last year to apply, and now we have a situation which is kind of

paradoxical, that as yained and china do not cooperate he glaciers in the him lay i can't say, they want to cooperate on glaciers in my part of the world, which, ocourse, might be welcome and necessary, but it's somewhat paradoxical. but other countries have announced that we are positive towards these applications, but we want to do it in a constructive way. >> in your speech, you cited as evidence of global warming the unusual photograph of president obama and governor christie right before the election. however, here in the united states, there's still a large contingent of climate change doubters. what do you say to that part of the u.s. to persuade them that limate change is real? >> well, my simple advice is

take a look again at the picture of president obama and governor christie. according to the ground rules of u.s. presidential campaigns, such an embrace three days before election day was an absolute taboo. and talk to the people in new jersey or new york that had their homes destroy,ir commundestd, due to the extreme weather events. look at the reports on china in january and february. one example, just to give you a visual image, is the melting of the arctic sea ice in my part of the world, the consequence that 180,000 caffles froze to death out in the field in china. so whether we call it climate change or not, i mean, that is

a political concept which i know has positive or negative connotations, but the ice melting is a reality. and the consequences of the ice melting in my part of the world is extreme weathers in the united states and in china. this is the overwhelming scientific evidence to include -- to prove that not just from the chinese, but also from your universities and research institutes in the united states. we can have all kinds of debate about climate change as such, but it's a scientifically proven relationship that a melting of the arctic sea ice has consequences within a few months, not 10 or 20 years in the future, but within a few months, on the -- in other parts of the world. and therefore,hashould b in my opinion, a sufficient reason to have a serious debate

on this. i don't care what's the trademark, whether we call it climate change or the melting of the sea ice or weather partners. it is a reality which we have to deal with, a reality that many of the insurance companies that are no longer willing to take insurance policies for private homes in florida have concluded is a serious reality. the insurance companies stop being willing to insure your homes. i think that is a suffocation that at least they think that this issue of the melting of the ice and the extreme weather is a fund mental -- is a fundamental business reality. >> this questioner says, iceland is currently in the miths of a war because climate change has driven fish populations north ward f. iceland cares so much about

climb change, why are they increasing their mackerel quotas? >> well, one of the advantages of having to fight for elections in iceland is you have to know something about ish. nobody gets elected in my country without knowing something about fish. and it's true. the mackerel was not something that we uto talk about. it delno sething that we usedt. it was more of a kind of mediterranean or atlantic type of fish. but like i said before, the ice is melting, and you might debate whether the political establishment of different countries is willing to recognize that change. the mackerel has decided that the oceans are warming, and

that is why it has moved up in the north atlantic into our fishing grounds, into the fishing grounds of the islands. this is an example of what is happening to the oceans and how the species like the mackerel is indicating that fundamental hange is taking place. so no company put any effort into fishing mackerel, now we have this wealth of resource coming into our territorial waters. and actually feeds within our territorial water. but some of the european union countries still want to operate the fishingime reg t basis that the mackerel has not decided the oceans are getting warmer. they want to maintain the same quotas as they had when the mackerel was closer to their own waters.

but we have said let us have science as a basis of these fishing policies. that is fundamentally the icelandic viewpoint. we have not up a productive fishing sector in the last 30 years primarily by scientifically-led decisions every year on the quota from each species, and we have said to our partners in the dispute, we should do extensive research on the moment of the nature and how it plays out, so we ca make sure that we treat this in a responsible way, the same we we have done with other species, whether it's the haddock or some of the other species. but the mack recommend dispute is one of the early warnings about the fisheries in the oceans, in the arctic, they're changing financed mentally due to the warming of the climate. >> we do indeed have a lot of questions on fish. this next one is on a mammal. it's from a 9-year-old in our

audience who said she was in iceland recently and noticed on a lot of restaurant menus that they were serving whales. she asked, is there a plan to stop hunting whales? >> what we have done in recent years is a very limited, also ientifically based whaling which is primarily to allow us to estimate in a more rigorous way is actually the state the whaling stock. but traditionally in iceland, like in alaska, possibly united states, and definitely greenland and canada, the whaling is part of the traditional national culture.

and i'm not sure where i'm correct in this, but i think the number of whales that the government of the united states allows to be hunted on the basis of indigenous whaling is in fact bigger than we actually do in iceland. it's mosted the tourists we offer the whale to in our country, and it's not on a big scale. it's kind of a curiosity that does not require big whaling. so i don'thi it wi be a threat to the stock. i respect the feelings that many people have toward the whales. but they're also a part of our marine environment and have been a part of that since iceland was settled. >> taking a step back and looking more broadly at the two things we've been talking about, climate change and fishing, has global environmental change been a net benefit to iceland's fisheries

or a net detriment? >> well, it's very difficult to answer that question. let's indeed one of the big issues if we look ahead a number of decades. because traditionally over the centuries, this has been the key part of the exporter of an icelandic fishing sector. of course, some other species as well, but some people are arguing that due to the warming of the north atlantic, could be changed in the moment. it could lead to more arctic cooperation is, in fact, to study what's happening to the fisheries and the fish stocks in the northern oceans of the world, including the arctic as the ice melts.

he argument was that the first disputes that would alert new nations would be disputes over fisheries, that the melting of the arctic sea ice and the transformation in the northern oceans would challenge the traditional partners of fisheries, but also bring nations from far away parts of the world, nations that do fish all over the world back to the arctic in a way that we have never seen before. so we might see fishing police not just from the arctic countries, but from dominant fishing coming up to the arctic because of the melting of the sea ice. that is why the future of the fisheries in the arctic is among the issues that we have put on the agenda for the arctic circle meeting in

reykjavik next october. i think i announce in my speech that the date is in the middle of october, and the location in the capital of my country, and you can also go on arcticcircle.org to see many of the issues that will be discussed during this meeting. >> looking to russia, the questioner says, russia recently adopted a new strategy for the arctic region. does devopmentthe rion e arctic council? >> on the whole, i think russia has been very constructive within the arctic council. in fact, the agreement on search and rescue, which i think clinton clen was among those who signed that agreement when she was secretary of state, the negotiations were in part led by the russia representatives within the

arctic culture. similarly, the new agreement on oil spills, they have the u.s. and russian experts that work together in the negotiations on that issue. president putin has taken a very active interest in the arctic. the russian geographical society, which is very old and distinguished, is in the middle of the 19th century. , they have hosted two conferences in recent years, the first one in moscow and the second one in the africas. now president putin came to these conferences and gave and detailed speeches on the russian policy towards the arctic. and if i may say so, in the capital of this country, i think it will similarly be ver

interesting if president obama came to arctic conferences and gave a policy speech on the emphasis that the united states president and the arctic culture will be from 2015 to 2017 because the chairmanship of the arctic council will be, in my opinion, the primary chairmanship responsibility that the u.s. will hold in international institutions in the second half of the year, obama's second term. and in those speeches, president putin has offered many constructive ideas, including how to plan both in terms of infrastructure and regulation for the opening of the northeastern shield linking asia to europe along the russian coast. but one of the reason why the chinese authorities are planning to go straight across the north pollin stead of along the russian coast is that then hey can more or less decide to

-- decide on their own. but i believe the russian parliament last year approved the first law on the northern shield indicating the legal frame work for ts new venue of transport in the world. so on the whole, it is very interesting that confrontation characterized the relationship between the u.s. and russia in the second half of the 20th century within the arctic council, together with the other six countries. they have cooperated very constructively in recent years. >> now, the arctic council, as you said, is intentionally kept small, but even within that, iceland is a small country compared with the u.s. and canada with the upcoming chairmanships and, of course, russia. how much clout do you see iceland as having and wanting in the resources debate?

>> during the cold war, my country had a strategic position in the military system in the northern region, so that's why the united states has a military base in my country for over 50 years. the bush administration then decided six years ago -- no, seven years ago, to close it down. some people were saying at that time that that might indicate thatnd geographically, itally was no longer an interest of consequence. but the emergence of these arctic issues has demonstrated that iceland is now placed in the middle of this new highway that characterizes the future of the arctic. anything that's a basis for a

new relationship with the united states, with canada and also with russia, and as i said before in my introduction, has become a regular item on the agenda of our meetings withed leaders in asia and european countries. one of the items i discussed with the president of france, president hollande a few weeks ago. and as i mentioned in this dialogue, this is not just the opening up and how to out lies the natural resources, but also scientific cooperation, research, the training of scientists and informers about the environment of changes taking place, and so increasingly, the arctic cooperation has become a financed mental pillar of our 21st century foreign policy. and there's no disagreement about that in my country, that parliament passed last year

unsl a policy, a resolution which def the icelandic objectives in the arctic. so together with the other countries, we hope to play a constructive part, and evidence of this was that a few months ago, one of our april civil servants and officials was chosen as the first director general of the secretary of the rctic council. >> the icelandic is coming out of financial turmoil. what would you consider the future of the krona, and are you at all considering any alternative currency for iceland? >> i think it's a positive indication of how we have moved out of the financial crisis, but i can come here to the

national press club, and only when six minutes are left, i get that question orkt financial issue. nobody would have believed that four or five years ago. but that is the state of co together again and talk about how we recovered from the financial crisis and how we dealt with the crisis in a different way from many oer countries, how we did not follow the established orthodoxies of the financial world, so do you deal with a financial crisis, how the i.m.f. act nonled -- how the i.m.f. acknowledged how they learned more. and how beverage dealt with this situation than many other european countries. for example, we let the banks fail. we introduced capital controls. we didn't introduce the same austerity measures as most other european countries.

but whereas you could argue that our own currency, the krona, was part of the problem leading up to the collapse of the banks, it has certainly been helpful as a part of the solution. in devalue the currency and it includes the tourism sector much more profitable as one of the reasons why every year sense the financial crisis tourists in iceland -- tour nism iceland has increased by 50%, whereas in southern europe, it just deteriorated every year. what would be the future of the currency is, of course, hotly debated in my country. therar different views this. some people want iceland to be a part i a larger area, some people argue the euro, the u.s. dollar, the canadian dollar. others are saying that for the foreseeable future, there's no alternative except to have our own currency.

my personal view has for a long time, including when he was a nister of finance, been that a stable currency is not the aim in itself. the aim of the economic policy should be to create prosperity and economic growth for our people. and if you have to devalue the currency in order to get that prosperity, it might be a useful tool. but you will have to invite me in a few years' time to give you a more comprehensive answer to that question. >> we'd be happy to have you back. today we are almost out of time, but before asking the last question, i have a couple of housekeeping matters. first of all, i'd like to remind up of our upcoming speeches. we have the director of the office of natural drug control pole. on april 19, we have the postmaster general of the u.s. and on may 7, we have chris evert, the tennis legend and

publisher of "tennis" magazine. second, i would like to present our guest with the traditional national press club coffee mug, lso suitable for eatg. and one last question, back in the 1970's before you were a president, you were a journalist like many of us in this room. you hosted a very successful television show. what was the secret of your success, and what advice do you have to today's news professionals? >> i was very young when i was in television and reporting -- i had a discussion program on television. i was sufficiently young and sufficiently arrogant to ask questions that nobody wanted to answer. so i'm not sure i don't like

that debate. but on a serious note, i think you need to stick to the issues. and you have to respect the people, the ordinary people and their interest in the real issues. i've often been asked, what have you learned from your long public career? and my simple answer is that you can't fool the people. you have torue way and an honou thei concerns. morrell againly in his time, as abraham lincoln said this we all know, that you can fool some of the people some of the time, but you can't fool all the people all the time. too much of modern media is rhaps based on the fact that maybe you can fool some of the people some of the time. but these issues are so serious, including the ones we have been speaking about here today, that we need the media that deals with them in a serious, detail way, and that's one of the reasons why we

decided to establish the arctic circle, was to give the proper media and the national media a venue where they can come every year and report on what's really happening in our own arctic neighborhood. thank you very much for being with us here today. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2013] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] >> thank you for being our guess tosmede i'd like to thank the national press club staff for helping organize today's event. finally, you can find more information about the national press club on our website, at www.press.org. thank you. were arned.

>> secretary of state john consider i today releases the 2012 report on human rights practices in countries around the world. we'll bring it to you live starting at 2:15 p.m. eastern here on c-span. coming up today at 4:00 p.m. eastern, a discussion on japan's economy. japan's finance menster will be the featured speaker at the center for strategic and international studies, live here on c-span. >> she was very bright. she was very political, which is why she and lincoln sort of got together in the first place. she spoke several languages floontly. she was extremely well educated, so she had all these things going for her, but she had suffered a series of tremendous emotional blows. three of her four children died. her four sons died, one in the white house, one shortly after

her husband's assassination, sitting next to her at the theater. , thinds of ief th woman was going through, amazg, but thought she was crazy for that. well, we found out she wasn't crazy, but mary todd was a very significant person, and i hope someday we get a better view of the range of things that influenced her life, not just the tragedies. >> more on mary todd lincoln in our conversation with historians and you, live monday night at 9:00 eastern on c-span and c-span3, also on c-span radio and c-span.org. >> thursday, the senate's so-called gang of eight senators who joined forces to offer bipartisan immigration legislation said their product isn't perfect, but it is comprehensive and valid. the group is made up of senators mccain, schumer, durbin, graham, menendez,

rubio, blake. this news conference on the legislation is 50 minutes. >> good afternoon, everybody. and we are here to announce that eight senators from opposite sides of the political aisle are coming together on a common-sense immigration reform proposal that we believe can pass the sat i want to thank my seven other colleagues here today. each one of us is strong-willed, each one of us has strong beliefs, differing beliefs. but when you -- if you would have seen that room in any of our 24 meetings and seen everyone argue strongly, but then come together to realize that we had to pass the bill and not everyone was going to get each thing he wanted, it was a sight that would give you some faith in the future of our democracy, especial on the a

morning like this. now, we all know that our immigration system is broken, and it's time to get to work on fixing it. immigration reform is vital to securing our borders, jump-starting our economy, and ensuring fuller access to that great american dream. the current status quo on immigration makes no sense. we turn away people from entering the country who could create thousands of jobs and let people cross our borders who take away jobs. our approach is balanced. the border security ther curity triggare strong, but hievle yes, our bill does security border fst. but it treats the situation of those living in the shadows as an equally urgent priority. this is by design.

we believe that americans will support sensible solutions to dealing with the undocumented and future legal immigrants, but only if they are convinced there will not be future waves of illegal immigrants. when the 11 million who are here, the shadows, it will not only imp