definitive -- council to those who were responsible for this atrocity is definitive. you will be held to account for your actions. australia will do everything we can to ensure the arbitrators are brought to justice. -- the perpetrators are brought to justice. we have an overriding objective to ensure dignity, respect, and justice for those killed on mh17. we will not rest until this is done. we will not rest until we bring them home. >> thank you. it calls for a thorough investigation into the horrific downing of flight 17. when 298 civilians are killed, we agree that we must stop at nothing to determine who was

responsible into bring them -- and bring them to justice. are joined by the dutch in australian ministers. we extend our deepest condolences to those countries, the families of the people they represent an all the people who lost loved ones on that plane. today givese here even greater urgency to our call for the dignified return of the victims in our pursuit of truth and justice. as we reflect on the immeasurable loss suffered by the families around the world, we are not only outraged at the attack itself, we are horrified and enraged by what has happened

, by the clear intention of some to obstruct an investigation. even after adopting this resolution, it is worth asking if there is really consensus this crime merit an immediate and impartial investigation -- why did we feel the need to meet today in order to demand one? we came together because that everyone has been supporting a real investigation into this crime. if they were, international experts would have had unimpeded access to the crime scene and all wreckage would have been left where it had fallen. that has not happened. in stead, armed thugs have walked around the sites with little regard of where they stepped. we have heard the sound of debris -- all of this needing to be carefully preserved -- crunching beneath the. we have seen evidence carted away from the site. all around the world, the risk

similar reaction to the footage. stop, those are people. those are people's lives, we all said. the passengers aboard malaysian airlines flight 17 had nothing to do with the conflict in eastern ukraine. they were families on vacation. students returning home from abroad. researchers combating a deadly disease. they deserve to be treated with dignity and their families are crying out for closure. we condemn the actions of the separatist to control these sites. there is one party from which we have heard too little condemnation. russia has been outspoken on other matters. russian officials have publicly insinuated there has been too

little responsibility for the crash. russia has begun to blame ukraine for the missile itself, although the missile came from russian territory that russia knows well ukraine is not reclaimed. but even if russia believes that ukraine is involved, surely president putin would have told the separatist leaders to maintain a hermetically sealed crime scene? we welcome russia's support for today's resolution, but no resolution would have been necessary if russia used its leverage with the separatist on thursday. or friday or even yesterday. it turns out only this morning, coincidentally the very morning the security council was

meeting, did president putin order a public call to ensure the security of international experts. however, president putin still did not direct his call to the separatists who threaten the experts and over whom he has tremendous influence. resident poroshenko, by contrast, has done everything he can to allow access to the crime scene. he has been careful to allow investigators, hailing their independence. russia's muteness sends a message to the illegal armed groups it supports. we have your backs. this is the message russia since by providing weapons, massing thousands of troops at the ukrainian border. today, we have taken a step toward combating impunity.

the resolution provides clear directions to safeguard and uncover the facts, however inconvenient those proved to be. we are not naïve. if russia is not part of the solution, it will continue to be part of the problem. the last six months, russia has seized ukrainian territory and ignored repeated requests by the international community to de-escalate, all to preserve influencing ukraine, a country that has long made clear its desire to maintain constructive ties with moscow. russia must recchi knives -- must recognize that no zero-sum game battle with the west can justify the lives lost or the pain ukrainian families experience daily as a result of this needless conflict. today, three dutch investigators accessed the site.

investigators are trying to hold this up as proof of good faith, but this is an extremely complex and time sensitive crime scene. in that context, letting in a few investigators here or there simply will not cut it. access must the immediate and full, period. a staged managed approach is a form of obstruction. russia can and do this. russia can unequivocally condemn the tampering with the bodies that the site and demand that the separatists adopt the cease-fire in the area around the crash site, as ukraine has done. russia can sit down with president poroshenko, and russia can take back all of the surface to air missiles and heavy

weaponry it has delivered. these would not only be important steps to achieving accountability and achieving justice for the victims. it would constitute a long overdue sign that russia is willing to take steps to end this deadly crisis. thank you. you, mr. president. on behalf of the russian federation, may i once again convey our condolences to the families of all those who lost their lives. there needs to be totally impartial independence of the disaster. the is the target of resolution which we supported.

clarification of the context with the organized participation of all those ready to shed light on the truth. -- the blackvided box should be provided end on the ground, there needs to be necessary conditions created for access to expert teams. everything will be done to guarantee the full security of international experts at the crash site. buy them, there is the humanitarian corridors. there are already representatives from donetsk, the ukrainian minister or emergency situations, it but that is not enough. there needs to be a full complement of experts in line with the international commission. russia, for its part, stands ready to provide any assistance

in organizing and conducting international investigations. russian that bodies have been provided with the necessary instructions. we stand ready to provide experts. however, there can be no jumping to conclusions or political statements here. what is going on today is absolutely admissible. it seems that kiev has taken the opportunity to step up its punitive operations in the eastern part of the country. indiscriminate artillery and airstrikes are hitting cities and killing civilians. who in this room can confirm that kiev will be acting with restraint -- i am wondering what strange significance you would give to this? sir, we do understand how people

feel who have lost their family, because russia itself found itself in that tragic situation in october 2001. and antiaircraft missile downed a passenger flight. 78 people were killed. the circumstances became clear right after the accident, and were affirmed by international experts. to this day, ukraine has refuted its legal responsibility here -- to this day, ukraine has refuted its legal responsibility here. it would be frivolous to give kiev a leading role in the investigation. during the investigation, ukraine is going to have to answer a number of questions regarding the activities of its air controllers in the region, why one of ukrainian batteries

systems was -- ukrainian battery's systems was in an area controlled by the rebels, why, after the downing of the flight, was the battery hastily removed from that area, why, on 17 june, were ukrainian antiaircraft radars working at an all-time high? these are a number of questions which have been set forth by the ministry of defense of russia and which should be answered -- which the international investigators are going to have to know about. for now kiev is only providing [indiscernible] to the security council. for an example, they controversial recordings by the commanders of the rebels, which then seemed to be touched up negotiations which had taken place before july 17. the minister of internal affairs of ukraine put forth a video which somehow showed a

surface-to-air complex in russian territory, but which was filmed in ukrainian territory. that could not have been controlled by rebels. let us not forget that the reason for 17 july incident was an armed clash in ukraine in the area of the crash site. the priorities today are swift halting of classes and violence, establishing peaceful -- halting of clashes and violence, and establishing peace. sir, i was going to conclude here, but i just have a comment to make. it seems to me that today's meeting was not going to be controversial. however, the u.s. representative chose a literary track. perhaps washington does not know about those efforts which russia has undertaken in the frame of the context group, among other things, to ensure that international experts can come to the area of the crash site as

swiftly as possible. if that is the fact, then the american embassy should be better informed. indeed, there is no need to turn the discussion of a tragedy into a farce. thank you. >> thank you very much, mr. president, and thank you for allowing me to speak your today. we are here to discuss the tragedy, the downing of a commercial airline in -- and the death of yearly 300 people. men, women, and a staggering number of children lost their lives on their way to their holiday destinations, their homes, loved ones, or international obligations, such as an important hiv aids conference -- hiv/aids conference in australia. since thursday, i've been thinking -- how horrible must it have been, the final moments of

their lives when they knew the plane was going down. did they lock hands with their loved ones? did they hold their children close to their hearts? did they look each other in the eyes one final time in a wordless goodbye? we will never know. the demise of almost 200 of my -- of my compatriots has left a hole in the heart of the dutch nation. it has caused grief, anger, and despair. refer the loss of the loved ones, anger for the outrage of the downing of a severe he and -- grief at the loss of loved ones, anger for the outrage of the downing of a commercial airplane, and despair at the slow process of securing the crash site and recovering the remains of the victims.

it is fitting that this august council should take positions on this matter, and i welcome the adoption of today's resolution of the united nations security council, which was tabled by australia and which netherlands cosponsored. i thank the countries which expressed support for it, and i particularly want to thank julie bishop, personally. julie, we are in this together. mr. president, for the netherlands, one priority clearly stands out above all the others -- ending the victims'-- bringing the victims' remains home. it is a matter of human dignity that the remains should be treated with respect and recovering the remains should be treated without delay. the last couple of days, we received very disturbing reports of bodies being moved about and

looted for their possessions. just for one minute, not addressing you as representatives of your country, but as husbands and wives, fathers and mothers, just imagine that you first get the news that your husband was killed, and then within two or three days, you see images of some thug removing a wedding band from their hands. just imagine that this could be your spouse. to my dying day, i will not understand that it took so much time for the rescue workers to be allowed to do their difficult jobs and that human remains should be used in a political game. if somebody here around the table talks about the political game, this is the political game that has been played with human remains and it is despicable.

i hope the world will not have to witness this again anytime in the future. images of children's toys being tossed around, luggage being opened, and passports, including passports of children, being shown on television -- they are turning our grief and mourning into anger of a whole nation. we demand unimpeded access to the terrain. we demand respectful treatment of the crash site. we demand dignity for the but them's -- the victims and the multitudes who mourn their loss. i call on the international community, on this security council, on anyone with influence on the situation on the ground, allow us to bring the victims' remains home to their loved ones without any further delay. they deserve to be home. as we are currently taking the lead in the forensic examination

of the human remains, i pledge that the netherlands will do its utmost to make sure that all remains will be identified and returned home, wherever that home may be. we will work intensively with all countries and international organizations involved to make this happen as soon as possible. mr. president, i also welcome the setting up of a proper investigation into the cause of the tragedy of mh 17 as envisaged in today's resolution. the netherlands has agreed to assume a leading role in such an investigation in close cooperation with the relevant countries, united nations, and i keio -- and iko. i'm fully aware of the great responsibility we not take upon ourselves, and i give you my personal -- we now take upon ourselves, and i give you my personal commitment that we will discharge this responsibility to the best of our abilities. as far as the safety and security of the site and the

international investigators is concerned, i underline the responsibility security council took upon itself with today's resolution, to take additional measures if circumstances so require. once the investigation ascertains who was response will for the downing of flight mh 17, accountability and justice must be pursued and delivered. we owe it to the victims. we owe it to justice. we owe it to humanity. please provide full cooperation so that justice can be served. we will not rest until all facts are known and justice is served. i thank you, mr. president. >> thank you, mr. president.

i wish to acknowledge the presence of the foreign minister of australia, luxembourg, and the netherlands. mr. president, i thank you for giving my delegation the opportunity to address the council at this point in time. i wish to also thank all the council members, in particular the delegation of australia, for their efforts in coordinating and presenting the resolution. we welcome the unanimous adoption of the resolution 21-66 by the council today. mr. president, as one of the countries most severely impacted by the tragedy of mh 17, malaysia attaches great importance to this resolution. for my delegation, this resolution lays the groundwork for the approach to be taken by the international community, in particular the united nations system and its mechanisms, to addressing the many questions raised from the downing of mh

17. i wish to underscore that no amount of measures will ever compensate nor assuage the grief and suffering of the families and loved ones of the victims who were on board mh 17. it is incumbent upon us as members of the united nations family to honor the victims by undertaking a full, thorough, an independent investigation into the downing of mh 17. mr. president, last friday during the council's emergency meeting on ukraine, i had informed the council that malaysia would immediately dispatch a team to kiev with a view to -- to assisting with the investigation. the team arrived on saturday, july 19. a malaysian team in tf has joined other international teams -- in kiev has joined other

international teams in the joint international investigation team. malaysia regrets to note that as of today the joint international investigation team has yet to begin in full access to the crash site -- to be given full access to the crash site. malaysia finds this lack of full access on acceptable and reiterates the call on all states and actors in the region to cooperate fully in the conduct of the international investigation, including being given immediate and unrestricted access to the crash site and for full guarantees to be provided for the safety and security of the investigation teams. at the same time, all parties must exert all efforts to preserve the integrity of the crash site with a view to facilitating the work of the investigation teams. such guarantees must also extend

to the dignified and respectful treatment of the body's and -- the bodies and remains of the victims. for malaysia, one of the key mission priorities for our investigation team is the recovery, identification, and repatriation of the bodies and remains of the victims. this is to ensure that their families and loved ones can have closure and that the victims are accorded the dignity of a proper burial. mr. president, flight mh 17 was a civilian airliner. if it is subsequently established that the plane was indeed shot down, we demand that those responsible for downing the plane must be held to account and be swiftly brought to justice. we believe that the present resolution paves the way for such efforts and, as such, we have given our strong support by

cosponsoring the resolution 21-66. we now look forward to its full implementation by all concerned parties. i thank you, mr. president. >> mr. president, distinguished members of the council, thank you for convening this meeting. ,istinguish under-secretary ,istinguished foreign ministers i would like to reiterate our deepest condolences to the --ends of family strip friends and family.

mr. president, we would like to thank the delegation of australia for proposing a draft resolution on the investigation of the downing of civilian aircraft, international malaysia airlines flight mh-17 in the donetsk region of ukraine, which is sponsored by the delegation of ukraine. we believe this resolution will help facilitate a full, thorough, and independent international investigation into the incident in accordance with international civil aviation guidelines. mr. president, having demonstrated maximum openness possible am a ukraine admitted after the crash, the same day, invited representatives of all countries who lost their nationals in this -- this tragedy to participate in this investigation, as well as representatives of the russian federation. some of them have already arrived to ukraine and started their work.

president poroshenko ordered that all military activities be immediately ceased in the 40 kilometer zone surrounding the crash site to allow for security and safety of the international investigation. we therefore call on the russian federation to use all its influence on the pro-russian armed groups operating illegally in the region in order to stop -- in donetsk region to secure the crash site. we assume the investigation should not only be allowed to establish the technical cause for the crash but also the other circumstances. namely, who actually fired the missile? how these weapons got into the hands of illegal, armed groups -- where did the weapons come from? mr. president, in accordance with the chicago convention as it was stated in --

in the report of the french delegation, ukraine has a right to have the investigation procedure. it has a right to share this leadership. the prime minister of ukraine, arseniy yatsenyuk, stated that ukraine is ready to transfer the role of court made it -- of coordinator to the kingdom of netherlands at their request. the minister stated today in his address. the prime minister, yatsenyuk, said in his remarks, as the side that suffered most, the netherlands may leave the investigation in" nation and cooperation with other parties -- in close coordination and cooperation with other parties. they are already involved in coordinating an all-encompassing

international investigation for the tragedy. mr. president, we strongly condemn the acts committed by illegal armed groups controlling the crash site. according to reports of local citizens, some victims were brought under cover of previously stolen car, where it they were boasting over their trophies. children's bags, suitcases, and foreign cash that they managed to collect and steal from the crash site. this demonstrates the in human nature of those who call themselves people's republic. -- the inhumane nature of those who call themselves people's republic. the armed groups have impeded the safe and secure access to the crash site for the appropriate investigating authorities. it is a demonstration they are trying to hide some evidence from the eyes of the international community. mr. president, let me quote the

president of ukraine, "having shut down the aircraft -- shot down the aircraft, they committed three crimes -- firing a missile at a civilian aircraft, offensive mistreatment of the dead bodies, particularly their removal, as well as mishandling of the evidence and hindering the work of not only of ukrainian commission of inquiry, but also the international experts." the so-called donetsk and luhansk people's republic must be recognized as terrorist organizations. not only in ukraine. they must be considered support for terrorists. mr. president, continuing illegal terrorist military activity has been possible only due to the russian federation's direct and indirect support come a despite calls by ukraine and the international community to stop. although moscow has been

constantly and tirelessly insisting that it was not involved in the situation in the region, the irrefutable facts clearly indicate the opposite. russian citizens are among the leadership of the terrorist groups. heavy armaments continues to be supplied from the russian side of the state order. just yesterday, at column of heavy armored battle vehicles attempted to break into ukraine through the border from the russian territory at a border checkpoint. russians are financing the terrorists. numerous provocations are happening at the russian -- crimean border. what russia is declaring does not comply with their actions. ukraine demands that the russian side immediately cease provocations on the borders of ukraine, stop hindering efforts of the ukrainian side and international community to put an end to terrorists and other violence in donestk -- in

donetsk and luhansk, and stop threatening peace and security in our country, our region, and the world as a whole. >> a couple of live events to

tell you about today on c-span-3. the senate finance can he will focus on the tax code with witnesses from the treasury department center for tax policy and national economic statistics group at 9:45 a.m. at 3 p.m. the senate veterans affairs can he will consider the nomination of robert mcdonald to be the next eterans affairs secretary. now transportation secretary anthony fox on highway and infrastructure spending. he was at the national press club for an hour. this is an hour. >> our guest today has been in his post as the top u.s. transportation regulator for just over a year. since he assumed the job of u.s. transportation secretary,

shipping oil by train has become a hot button issue. the u.s. suffered its first fatal commercial aviation crash in more than four years and the pot of money that pays for roads and bridges in this country found itself on the verge of running out of money. anthony foxx is the head of the u.s. department of transportation, which is sometimes overlooked, but which in recent months has been at the front and center of the news. when transportation runs smoothly, no one pays attention. but when bridges fall down, trains derail, or more people die in traffic crashes after years of decline, it's the transportation secretary who hears about it and has to try to figure out a solution. foxx previously was the youngest mayor of charlotte, north carolina, elected in 2009 and serving a single term. when the city slipped into financial crisis shortly after he was elected, foxx looked at transportation to revive the local economy and he later brought thousands of visitors to the city when it hosted the 2012

democratic national convention. the father of two won a rare unanimous confirmation from the senate, and he keeps a reminder at home, a carolina panthers helmet in his office. please help me give a warm national press club welcome to u.s. transportation secretary anthony foxx. [ applause ] >> angela, thank you very much. i also want to thank your current president for welcoming me here and to thank all of you for taking time from your busy schedules and days to be here at the national press club. you know, almost since i assumed the role of u.s. secretary of transportation, i have been ringing the alarm bell about the looming crisis with our highway trust fund. the federal source that is used to pay for highways and for

transit. it is unfortunate that it has taken months of ringing this alarm bell. traveling the country in april on a bus tour, putting up a trust fund ticker on the d.o.t. website, meeting with dozens of governors and mayors across the count country, putting shoe leather on capitol hill. to get to the point where just last week u.s. house of representatives passed a measure to avert the immediate crisis of our highway trust fund. and to pass in effect a ten-month patch on the system. later this week, the u.s. senate is expected to take up a similar measure.

if this short-term patch passes, it will not be time to celebrate. it's hard to imagine that congress will not push the snooze button on this issue again. until crunch time. come may 2015, if we're not careful, we'll be right here again with the shot clock set to expire, looking for an easy solution to patches for a few more months, leaving the real conversation for another time. and i can hear folks on capitol hill now, gosh, you know, this transportation thing is really important. but we just can't figure it out right now. so let's just do what we can and keep moving. well, today, and until congress passes a long-term bill, i'm urging the american people to

say no more delays. no more gimmicks. no more short-term patches or band-aids. build our country. put us to work. and get america moving again. and help future generations move forward in the process. because folks, if we're only building for the present, we are building for the past. that's just the reality. it's a sad commentary that we're in effect managing a declining system, a system that is crumbling before our eyes, a system that is growing potholes. a system that is creating longer commute times and a system that will cause us to lose jobs we have no business losing in america. why? you know, if this system were a patient, we would want to look at what the symptoms are and we would want to figure out what

the underlying disease was. on the surface, our system suffers from chronic underinvestment. an old project delivery system that makes projects take too long and cost too much. and a set of priorities that are more like model ts, a set of policies that are more like model ts than steslas. beneath the surface, the american people are confused about who to hold accountable, even as they sit in longer and longer traffic jams. even as those traffic jams are expected to get longer over time. what i am saying in effect is that america needs more than just an incremental adjustment. we need a transportation reset. and it's got to be big. so let me talk about the

symptoms. first, our chronic underinvestment in transportation feels normal. you know, we treat it like it's just the way it is, the way it's supposed to be. when we talk about the infrastructure deficit as if it's the normal course of things, and every year, the cost of catching up grows farther and farther out of reach. the american society of civil engineers, for instance, estimates that at current spending levels, we will fall almost $850 billion short of transportation needs nationally by 2020. but you don't have to just look at a big aggregate number like that. go to rhode island where i was just a couple weeks ago. and talk to governor chaffee and his d.o.t. director, and they can show you that at current levels, even if we get a patch,

even if we get 50 more patches, at current levels, over the next 20 years, roads in rhode island are going to get worse. and rhode island is not by itself. just a few weeks ago, pieces of the brooklyn bridge fell to the underpass below, closing the underpass. and i could go to nashville and point to three bridges that are doing the same thing. this is happening all over america, and we have no shortage of high-profile bridge collapses in this country, including up in minnesota and washington state. and as the president says, we have 100,000 bridges old enough to qualify for medicare. so we're piling up deferred maintenance, and it's not a surprise that our system is falling apart.

so i characterize the first symptom as we have a big problem that we're treating like a little problem. that's the first symptom. second, we are understating the cumulative effect of the short-term measures on the system. over the last five years or so, we've had 27 short-term measures passed by congress. so we get into the 11th hour, congress shuffles around, tries to find an answer. we patch ourselves together for a few months. everything is supposed to be okay. but it's not. you know, i used to go shopping as a kid, i would go with my grandmother a lot of times and she would take me. and i would get to a store and i would like a toy or something, and i'd say, let's get this. she'd say no, put it down. we're just browsing.

well, i learned later what browsing meant. browsing meant we have no intention of coming back to get that toy. right? that's what congress is doing. every time they do another patch, they're just driving another nail into the idea that america is going to solve our long-term transportation problems. creating less confidence at the state and local levels. this is something i know a little bit about. i was a mayor. and i can tell you that when you're trying to put millions of dollars on the table just to plan a project without knowing whether the federal government's support is going to be there, it gets harder and harder and harder to get those projects going. so instead of ramping up transportation construction, we're actually ramping down. and that has consequences.

without planning, you can't design a project. you don't design it, you can't engineer it. you don't engineer it, it doesn't happen. it doesn't happen, there's no relief. it's a big looming problem in america. and that's the second symptom. which leads me to the third one. in addition to stockpiling a huge infrastructure deficit, chilling activity at the state and local levels through short-term measures and indecision, the circus mirror in washington is started to make the most practical answers to these questions seem impractical. and the most impractical answers seem practical. it's like it's upside down. what's right is wrong, what's wrong is right. the american people are wise. when we explain the facts to

them, they make the right choices. but, and i have talked to them. talked to many of them over the course of this past year. you give them a choice between a temporary imperfect, more expensive solution and a real, lasting, cheaper solution, they're going to take the latter just about every time. now, that's exactly what we've tried to do with the grow america act. i'm sure all of you have read it. if you haven't, i would recommend it to you. it is a bill that we put forth in this administration to end the hand wringing on this issue and to put america on a long-term path to growth. let me describe the bill for you in summary fashion. it not only stablealizes the highway trust fund.

it actually increases investment in the highway trust fund to the tune of 37%. $22 plus billion over a four year period of time going into our system, creating jobs, creating the kind of activity we need. it's substantially investing in critical repairs, it puts in place money to build a national freight network so we can capitalize on the growth in manufacturing activity we're seeing. it would help deal with the complaint that projects take too long by streamlining the federal permitting process and incentivizing states to do the same. reducing costs and creating more value for the taxpayer dollar. it brings rail into the dedicated funding family along with highways and transit. it strengthens buy america and local hiring, and even helps by directing some dollars directly to state -- directly to local communities so they can get

projects moving. and the kicker is that congress can pay for the grow america act without raising deficits or rates. by just doing some commonsense pro-growth business tax reforms like preventing companies from moving profits overseas. so this bill or something like it ought to be a layup. it ought to be easy. but when you talk to members, essentially the argument against it is, we can't do it because we can't. ladies and gentlemen, the idea that congress can't pass a multi-year, forward thinking transportation bill is one of the biggest self-fulfilling prophecies in american politics today. and by the way, it is killing our transportation system softly. one of the building blocks of our economy.

so here we are, we're on the eve of another patch, another short-term measure, another cloud of uncertainty that will certainly grow our infrastructure deficit and roll the drawbridge up just a little more on the next generation. meanwhile, our congress is running out of mattresses, out of child seats and rocks to look under to patches for just a little while longer. and that brings me to the disease. and it's congress, but it's deeper than that. i said this before, but i really believe abraham lincoln was right. when he said that the american people, when given access to facts, will do the right thing. i'm paraphrasing. but when they don't have the facts, they can get stuck. well, on this issue, the american people need the facts.

now, in reality, they know something is wrong because they're stuck in traffic. they have been patiently awaiting the new biprasz or the new bridge or the new transit project or the new rail passenger service for years and years and years. and unfortunately for them, they can't put a finger on who to hold accountable. there's not like a sign on the freeway that says your commute would be shorter if congress just took action. the dots aren't connected. and it gets even more confusing. frankly, when you hear -- when they hear that congress passed a bipartisan measure to keep highway funding going, because it sounds like something that ought to happen. but they're not told to read the fine print. in the fine print, it says this fix is temporary. it's not really going to fix what's broken and it's not really going to do what we need

it to do. if they knew these facts, if it were put squarely in front of the american people, they would demand a solution. clearly, we need a moment of clarity and a moment of political courage. and that will not happen without the american people raising their voices. now, the good news here is it's starting to happen. we've got governors, 30 of them, who are republican, by the way, who are asking for a bill that allows them to plan more than ten months out. they are not alone. last week, 62 associations including the national association of manufacturers joined together, calling on congress for a long-term proposal. they are not alone. 11 of my predecessors and i are joining to push for a long-term

solution. secretaries lahood, peters, and mineta, slater, pena, skinner, card, burnly, dole, coleman, and boyd, taking together, the 12 of us have served 35 years standing watch over our nation's roadways and railways and transit systems. five of us served under democratic presidents, seven of us served under republican presidents. and while i'm sure there are issues on which we may not all agree, there is one issue on which we are united. and that is for america to reach her potential, we have to have a long-term transportation investment plan, and we need it as soon as possible. and so today, we're releasing an open letter to congress, calling on congress to do just that. if the 12 of us can stand together, congress can stand

together and get something done. but we won't stop there. i won't stop there. i'm not going to stop inside the beltway, pushing this issue. i'm going to do everything possible until this gets acted on to make sure the american people know they are in charge. we're going to convene leaders in all 50 states and make the case for ending gridlock on this issue. right now, washington is dictating outcomes to the american people. but in our democracy, it should work the other way. so we're going to let the american people decide whether their futures are worth fighting for. as a department, we recognize the trends and challenges that are coming around the corner in america. and we're going to work hard to make sure these trends and challenges are more clear to the american public and to policymakers. we have to look past our noses, and to do that, one of the tools

we're going to use is a 30-year transportation vision that's going to look at the trends and challenges and by the end of the year, we'll have that available to the american people. so we've got a plan for the future. and the american people, i believe, are on our side, particularly when they have access to the information that is so critical to this issue. and that's why i believe we're going to get progress on this long-term plan. i think the moment is in front of us. why do i believe it? i believe it partly because from lincoln's continental railroad to eisenhower's highway system, we are a yes country, not a no country. because we're not a country that looks backwards, we're a country that looks forward. because we're a country that is not stuck in our past. we're a country that is ever focused on the future. and with that, i want to thank

all of you, and i look forward to your questions. thank you. [ applause ] >> thank you, mr. secretary. as you can imagine, we have a lot of questions on a lot of topics. starting on the topic of surface transportation funding, are you confident that the $10.8 billion patch that's now moving will keep the highway trust fund adequately funded through next may as it's supposed to do? >> um, i think from a funding standpoint, the answer is yes. but again, i want to reemphasize that the system we have is really a system that depends on certainty. and while there is a patch potentially that congress passes, that's not going to really help the certainty issue.

we have a big project that takes multiple years to get done and you're in the middle of a planning process, do you go for the longer term or don't you? you know, with a ten-month patch, you don't know what's on the other end of that ten months. that's the problem we have on our surface system right now. >> you're releasing the letter today, the bipartisan letter with hopes that will spur congressional action. do you see any signs that this congress will work to pass a longer term transportation bill? or any signs that the congress likely to be elected in november would do so? >> well, let me say it this way. we really don't have a choice. i mean, honestly, the gimmicks and smoke and mirrors and the things that have been used in the past just to patch us along, we're starting to run out of those options. and we're reaching a point where, you know, we're going to have to do something big or

we're going to have to fold the tent. you know, knowing this country the way i know it, we don't fold the tent. we don't stop building bridges. we don't stop repairing what we've got because it was given to us by previous generations. they paid for it. and they bequeathed it to us, and we need to bequeath it to another generation following us. otherwise, our kids are going to be stuck. and not only as the transportation secretary, i'm duty bound to fight for this, but i'm a father, and i'm a concerned citizen, too. and we've just -- we cannot allow our politics to screw up a system that was given to us in good faith by previous generations. >> one of the things you didn't mention and that president obama has made clear he will not support is raising the gas tax. why has the obama administration been so adamantly opposed to raising fuel taxes for the

highway trust fund in the long term when the other solutions aren't getting passed either? >> well, what you've heard me say about this is that number one, we have a proposal that we believe is a 21st century bill. that is paid for through pro-growth business tax reform and can be done by congress without raising rates, without increasing deficits. we've also said that we're open to other ideas that emerge from congress. and have been very clear not to rule anything out. but let me say this, too. the gas tax itself has some challenges. no matter where you set the level, the curve of the gas tax is actually downward facing. and that's because vehicles are becoming more efficient, good reasons. but that is a structural challenge with the gas tax.

secondly, historically, there's been an 80/20 split between transit and highways using the gas tax. and as we reach into the 21st century, it's becoming increasingly clear that this idea that surface transportation is just highways, just transit, without rail, is a question that i think we need to grapple with as a country. and that's one of the reasons why the grow america act actually folds rail into a trust fund. but the way we get there is that we use a different source of revenue and we add money to the pot, so to speak, so that we're not robbing peter to pay paul to get the system going. that's, i think, a conversation that needs to be had, and frankly, even our stakeholders sometimes get mired in the system we've had and aren't focused as much as i would like to see them focused on the

system we need in the future. >> shortly after ray lahood stepped down as secretary, he called for raising the tax gas, which of course he hadn't done as secretary. will we some day see a former secretary, anthony foxx, doing the same thing? >> i didn't hear the question. i really didn't. [ laughter ] >> oh, look. i'm going to say this a different way. when our system was built in 1956, there was only growth in the foreseeable future, in our revenue stream. we now know that that growth is actually changing because of the increased efficiency and so forth in our vehicles. and we're at a pivotal point where our transportation needs are here and our revenue is

there. so our proposal introduces the idea of a new way to pay for our transportation system on a long-term basis, but i think we'll continue to have these questions about how to do it long-term, and there are many ideas out there in academia and even pilots happening around the country that are interesting, but they're not ready for primetime yet. so i think -- i don't know what i'll say. i'm sure i'll say a lot of things when i'm not here anymore. >> what about vehicle miles, travel tax? as you said, vehicle efficiency is increasing, therefore gas tax collection is declining, but the amount of driving is not plummeting. would that be a viable option or at least something to consider for this administration? >> i think the crisis that we're in right now is one that has to get dealt with as soon as possible. and i think, you know, on the

scale of solutions that seem more likely or less likely, i think vmt is something that is not very likely. but at the same time, you know, there are pilots out in oregon and other places, and you know, i'm sure that in the future these things will be looked at. but right now, we need an answer. and we've got one that we think is tailor made for this congress to pass, and we want to see congress do it. >> moving on to the malaysia air downing. are there other areas of the world, given what happened last week with flight 17, where the faa should restrict flights by u.s. carriers? >> um, let me say this. we are constant ly in touch wit our intelligence community, with our national security team on these issues.

and when they're issued by faa, they're not coming out of a vacuum. they're coming out of credible information that is gleaned from sources that we trust. and there are no tams in other parts of the world that are active right now. and we continue to monitor the international situation to insure that u.s. commercial carriers are given the best guidance possible. >> when the u.s. banned commercial flights over crimea, why didn't it extend the restrictions at that time to other hostile areas in ukraine and at this point, do you regret that the u.s. did not do that? >> this is a point at which i figured you were going to ask me some of these questions about malaysia. and let me just say to your question that even when the no tam was issued back in april, there was also general guidance

that urged caution among u.s. carriers. but more generally, on these questions, let me just say a few words about it. the president spoke this morning and made clear that this is an evolving situation, but that time is of the essence. and our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families. at usdot, safety is our top priority, and we're working closely with our partners in the u.s. intelligence agencies and law enforcement communities on a continuous basis to monitor and analyze intelligence. when the agency receives specific and credible actionable intelligence of a threat to the national air space system, the u.s. civil aviation and its passengers, the agency provides guidance to carriers and/or institutes, flight restrictions, including notice to airmen or no

tams or special aviation regulations or svars. in april, the no tam warned about the hostilities generally and urged carriers to take extra caution, as i said. a number of operators chose voluntarily to alter their routes other than restrictions in the crimean peninsula. we also altered it to follow the eastern ukraine. my comments are confined to what i just said. so you can keep asking, but that's what i have to say. >> u.s. criminal investigators as well as transportation safety investigators through the ntsb have been sent to ukraine to lend assistance. is there a role for d.o.t. in the response and investigation as well? >> we stand ready to help, and i stand on what i just said. >> in the 2000s, the faa in

partnership with dhs spent millions of dollars studying the possibility of equipping commercial planes with counter man ped systems. what is the status of that effort and would these measures have been effective against the missile fired last week? >> this is obviously as the president has already said, a very fluid situation. there's a lot that we still need to know. the international community needs to be access to the -- to the site of this horrible crash, and you know, any kind of steps beyond that, i'm not going to comment on at this time. >> what about studying in general of the equipping planes with anti-missile technology? was that project ended in the previous decade or is that still ongoing, absent this particular

incident? >> i can't speak to a decade ago. but i can tell you that we continue to monitor the situation, and any statement of what we will do or not will do would be premature. >> questioner asks, when will a u.s. aircraft be mandated to be equipped with gps srs so they e located at all times worldwide? >> well, this is an area that sort of gets into our next gen effort domestically. we continue to make progress on next gen. i was in houston just a few months ago, weeks ago, and we just rolled out about 60 or so new functions that are next gen oriented functions that move us closer to the performance based

navigation system you're talking about. even if we get it deployed in the u.s., there's still a lot of work to be done around the world to see this technology advanced and deployed, but we are very bullish on this technology and look forward to working with the international community to see more of it get deployed worldwide. >> speaking of next gen, we heard the president mention air traffic control as a source of jobs if the system is modernized, is that a message we're likely to continue hearing out of the administration? >> it is, because we think next gen is really the cutting edge of transportation. the intersection of technology and the way our airplanes move hold a lot of promise to not only make the air space move more efficiently, make airplanes move more efficiently in air space, rather, but it has strong environmental benefits, and also huge fuel savings for our

carriers which hopefully would reduce costs and maybe some of those costs get passed on to passengers, too. the statistics i have seen show that next gen will reduce airplane delays for passengers by greater than 40%. but it is dependent upon getting us off of a world war ii radar system and into a 21st century kind of gps technology. >> moving from the air to cars. general motors has, of course, recalled 25.7 cars in the u.s. this year and the auto industry has recalled a record 40 million vehicles. should drivers feel safe, and are regulators doing enough? >> well, look, on the latter question, i have to say that the nhtsa has done an incredible amount of work over the last several years. i think over the last ten years, there have been about 1200 plus

recalls affecting 95 million vehicles. that's not counting some of the more recent recalls. that's pretty significant. and our toolbox has actually improved over that time, in the wake of the toyota situation a few years ago, we developed, along with ibm, some analytics that allow us to be more predictive in identifying issues before they emerge, and we continue to look to build a better mouse trap, so i think that when it's all said and done, nhtsa has done an incredible job over the entire trendline. in terms of the autos and whether they're safe, you know, look, we have through our work on the gm issue, if you're asking about gm specifically, we issued the most stringent penalty the agency has ever issued. and if grow america passes, we would be able to pass even more

stringent penalties because we would lift the cap from $35 million to $300 million. in addition to that, we were able to force gm into settling with us, with some additional requirements that allow us to focus them on changing the culture at gm and fixing some of the things that were broken, that a penalty or a fine won't solve. and so i have high confidence in our time's ability to make this work. and we'll keep working not only with gm but also with other automakers to insure that our system is as safe as possible. >> gm, as you noted, has come under harsh criticism for the recalls, and so far, 15 people have lost their jobs. has anyone at nhtsa been fired or reassigned for the agency's role in not connecting the dots? and if not, how do you respond to lawmaker whose last week

called the agency's inactions the, quote, nhtsa shrug? >> well, i think you could sort of cite my previous answer to this, but also, i would add that, you know, we and i are willing to check our own math here. i mean, i've asked our inspector general to go through and do an after action on this gm situation to see if there's anything that we didn't do that we should have done, or did that may have been done better. and we will learn from that report. and until that time, we have our team intact and we're continuing to not only focus on gm but the massive other automobiles out there that need our attention. >> the "new york times" reported last week that gm failed to assess the root cause of several deadly chevy cobalt and saturn

ion crashes in its correspondence with nhtsa. why did nhtsa accept what essentially was a no comment on the cause of the crashes? >> well, that's actually -- i disagree with the premise of the question because there was -- there was activity ongoing at nhtsa to see if there was a data-driven reason to step up the level of scrutiny. and as i have said publicly before, had we been given a t e timely heads-up by gm, that would have coupled with what we were already doing, triggered a heightened level of investigation at the beginning. i have no doubts about that. so i don't agree that nhtsa just took the answer for granted.

they were looking for data to suggest that there was a problem, and had they had the information from gm, it would have been material to the outcome. >> this questioner asks, does d.o.t. and nehtsa now consider stalling to be a safety issue for vehicles? if it does, what prompted the change? if it doesn't, why not? >> clearly, it's an issue. and it's one that we -- that our recent experiences giving us even more information on which to look across the industry to insure that these issues are being addressed across the system. so it's absolutely something that we're focused on. >> the pace of technological change in the automotive industry is getting faster. model life cycles are shorter, they're significant in the areas of safety.

how does nhtsa remain relevant as a standard setting and driver of safety standards in this new automotive environment? >> i think nhtsa is actually really focused on this. and let me add another footnote to that. this whole idea that vehicles in the future will communicate with each other is a really big deal. it's a big deal for safety. and it's a big deal to our team, because it's an opportunity to engage the automobile in the work of insuring collision avoidance, not only between automobiles, potentially, but also with pedestrians, and there's even technology that allows the automobile to communicate with the infrastructure around it. a few months ago, we announced that we're going to be doing a rule making on vehicle-to-vehicle technology, and we think this will be pace

setting in terms of rule making because it will basically provide the ground rules on which industry will then enter in and do what they do best, which is to innovate. so this is not an issue that we, you know, we think there are lots of opportunities for our nhtsa team to engage in, not only following the trends in the industry but also setting the pace and setting the bar high for safety in the future. >> in terms of that rule making, you have said you would like to issue it by the end of president obama's term. is that still the plan in terms of the timeline? and what needs to happen to make that rule making possible? >> i would like to issue it tomorrow. but you know, the process is what it is. we're on pace, and i feel like we'll keep working as hard as we can. if we can beat it, we'll do it.

>> at nhtsa, are you concerned about the perception of a revolving door where top officials have left jobs at the agency to go work for the automakers that they were regulating? do you think there should be a ban on that practice or at least a cooling off period? >> we have fairly strict ethical requirements in this administration that really put a silencer on folks coming back into the agency and trying to influence outcomes immediately after they leave. and i think that's an effective way of dealing with the problem you're identifying because if the concern is undue influence over the agency itself, we have ethical requirements that really guard against that. >> moving over to rail, rail executives have expressed concern about an upcoming crude by rail rule making that is

rumored to include speed limit restrictions as low as 30 miles per hour. is that provision included, and given the rising volume of crude sent by rail, how do you meet the needs of commercial shippers with the need for increased safety? >> are you asking me to comment on a rule before the rule is issued? >> yes. >> okay. look. i think it is undeniable that we are in a country that has a chance to build a new economy on our energy production. it's really one of the drivers of our economic growth today. and really will probably be so for the near future. but one of the things we recognized as an agency and had my full attention since i came in is that in order to realize that future, we've also got to step up our game on the safety

front. without getting into details, i can tell you that what i know about this issue is that it has to be dealt with comprehensively. it can't be dealt with, you know, so many folks out there are saying, well, just figure out what the tank car would look like. that's one piece of it, but you know, speed is an issue, and you know, there are several other components of this that matter. and we're working as hard as we can in promulgating a proposed rule so the public can comment on it. and i hope we get that done very soon. >> as part of the rule making, will you require that producers of oil from the balkan region take steps to stabilize their product before it is shipped? >> i'm not going to comment on what the rule says or doesn't say. i will say that what we're

finding in places like the bakken, unlike in parts of texas, let's say, where there's an industry built up around oil production, refining, separating material, using all the pieces of the material that are separated. we basically have infrastructure in north dakota that's excavating this material. and so the question of stabilization is an issue that is at the forefront of my mind, but i'm not going to comment on what our approach is going to be on that yet, but it is an issue that i'm very well aware of, and that we as an agency are very well aware of. >> how is the oil industry responding to d.o.t.'s request for more information on the chemical properties of the bakken crude, and has d.o.t. been satisfied with the response and the amount of chemical data

that is available? >> well, the information that we've received from industry has gotten a little better. we've gotten some information that is consistent with what we've -- what we've seen in our own studies. we've seen some information that is entirely inconsistent and isn't apples to apples, the same type of study that we would have undertaken ourselves. there is a fair amount of confusion, i think, that's generated when the industry says, well this is just the same type of stuff that's being pulled out of some other part of the country, because there are a couple things that are different. number one, you pointed out in some parts of the country, there's more stabilization that occurs before it's actually transported.

secondly, there's also the fact that these trains are moving in huge units. sometimes 100 at a time, and so the sheer scale of the impact of these trains can be a bit of a challenge. so we are very focused on this. we're pushing as hard as we can. everybody in the administration is working hard on this. and i look forward to getting something out very soon. >> on biking, this questioner asks, how do we make american cities more like copenhagen for biking, and do you think that is a worthy goal? >> um, okay, so true confession. i have been trying for the entire year to figure out how to bike to work. and i finally got it figured out so like two weeks ago, i finally biked into work. i was very proud of myself, and

i just wanted you all to know how proud i am of myself. [ applause ] thank you. thank you. let me say this. when you have 100 million more people to move around over the next, i don't know, 35 years, we're going to see more congestion if we're not careful. a lot of that population is concentrating in metro areas, which usually has a city in the middle and suburban rings and rural areas around it, but i really believe that this -- bicycling is part of the transportation ecosystem that we're going to need. part of th transportati transportation we're going to need this. if you look at folks younger pan

me when will aring this communities and many are trying to locate in central areas so they can use bicycles more. i was with the republican mater from indianapolis. his city is is boole oit. he was invited to speak to portland, oregon's community. one of the things the mayor said to me, i think is instructive. he said there was a company that insisted on being near the bike path. you will find out that it's happening more and more.

i think it's happening. that's one of the things i'd like to dos secretary is help with the growth this but also ensuring that folks are as safe as we want them in other modalities to be. >> a recent report said the faa won't be able to incorporate the use of unmanned air vehicles into air space by the 20 -- 2015 deadline. what will you do to make sure the faa reach reaches its deadline. >> as i understand it wur on track to meet our 2015 deadline. we will keep work towards that. it's a convergence of technology

and we got to figure out thousand do it safely and that's what we're working towards. >> passenger rail. any comment on amtrak removing them from high speed next gen procurement. >> that's an interesting question. i would have to get more clarification on that question because that's mixing rail and air speed to me. that's an interest convergence. >> we're almost out of time. before asking the last question i got a couple of house keeping matters to take care of. i would ask the audience remains

seated before the program conclud concludes. second, i'd like to remind you about upcoming speakers about the national, we have the doctor at the center for disease control who will address key disease issues. we will have the press of congo who will discuss peace, security, and oil investments in his country. on august fourth we le have his excellencive jacob zuma, president of south africa. >> i would like to present our guest with the traditional national press secretary mug. it can go in your office right next to the panthers helmet.

finally, one last question. i understand that your daughter is kwie the constructive krit ri, critic when it comes to transportation. i'd like to here what useful ideas she's given you lately. >> very interesting question. so my daughter is ten. i brought her to work one day and she went off into another part of the office while i went and did meetings and she came back and she said, daddy, you know, do you think that you can a bill? . she knows this because she's seen the school house rock stuff on how bills get made. i see maybe, i don't know.

she said well, i have some ideas for you. >> we had just come back from a vacation in baton rouge. she said here is my bill. number one, airplanes should not have first class the everybody should should big seats. number two, the bathrooms need to be cleaner. three, when you land they need to come up with a technology that prevents your ears from popping. that's the advice she has given me. thank you very much. it's been great to be with you. [ applause ] >> thank you mr. secretary. we are adjourned.

>> a couple of live events to tell you about today. at 3 p.m., the senate veterans affairs committee will consider the nomination of former proctor and gamble ca eo robert mcdonald. you can participate to facebook and twitter. >> this weekend, on book tv's .fterwords

>> i thought it would be compelling to tell the story of a white family and lack family who came from the same place and follow them through the civil rights movement up until today. to compare and contrast. hisor chris tomlinson on family's slaveowning and how the legacy still affects america's society. he speaks with a football player about his family's history as slaves. that is tomorrow on c-span's "afterwords." >>

could morning everyone and welcome to the council. tom delighted to welcome you the council to what i am sure will be a thought-provoking conversation on the state of syria and iraq and the broader situation. we really want to push this dimension of the overall question. i am particularly least to welcome the ambassador. thank you mr. ambassador for coming. one of the best twitter ambassadors i have ever seen, by

the way. iraq is at a point, many of you know there are daily headlines on the conflict. syria continues on its conflict. isis appears to be making significant gains in various ways. morete efforts for a inclusive government, which many see as the key to helping to stabilize the country. it does not seem like it is heading in that direction will stop it seems like it is heading towards a more sectarian war. isis continues to challenge forces and has been successful in taking key territories, including the city of of mozilla as many of you know. battle for ongoing parts of creek as we speak. so, the iraqi government no longer controls all of its territory. -- is certainly taking on more dimensions.

announcing a referendum to pursue independence. deployed its own forces .o secure two large oriole for the startling advances of isis across iraq have prompted many regional and global layers to assess their policies in the middle east. fluxis is a big time of among the outside players as well. is why we wanted to have this very important discussion. we share certain selected interests in defeating isis. clear that the commonality will have very significant limits and we will see if it can even an able collaboration in this great challenge. officials recently

signifying a guarded willingness to cooperate to avoid an intensification and expansion of this conflict in iraq and we have seen even in the past two weeks arends deputy minister beginning a tour of the golf to seek possible solutions for the races in iraq. here in particular we look at it as indicative of a more and do make, that is the continuing of a broad range in key regions across the world. we are seeing the headlines in eastern ukraine as yet another example of this trend. so the trend bears out the specter of individual empowerment that the national trends report highlighted. which is certainly a central focus of my centers strategic foresight in initiative will aop the fact that a group in

remote part of the world is able to deny sovereignty and claiming each as its own with no immediate challenge is one very concerning development, but there will be a range of others that will surprise all of us we next equally over the several years. back to the specific issue of the coalition between the countries i talked about him obviously present enormous idiomatic challenges and so we are here to discuss the viability of potential partnership, and what these partnerships might mean for global issues for regional security and for geopolitics. event builds on a lodge of work at different centers and the atlantic council and is part of a larger effort we are undertaking to understand the challenges and threats and in some cases the opportunities and impact on the regional and global order.

i would like to stop talking now and introduce the ambassador. before i do, please notefirst, s on the record -- we are tweeting heavily already. #aciraq. the key account here that is theting is acscowcroft, twitteroft center account. he was iraq's of a sitter to japan. before that, he was investor of the iraqi ministry of foreign extensiveth experience in the information technology sector, and even in our small meeting, i got a lot of hints from him about managing my e-mail inbox and a number of other things that make me want to hire him as a consultant. he has vast experience in that sector, which will obviously prove helpful in a number of ways for his duties here. he previously held senior

management positions in major american companies and a broad range of other accomplishments. i think with that, i will thank him once again for coming, and i look forward to your remarks. i will let you guess my age now. [laughter] of all, good morning, everybody. your excellency, thank you for the opportunity, and i think this is my first event at the atlantic council being on the other side, so it is interesting the vast workk, that the scope croft center has done. thank you for the opportunity today.

i also would like to thank you for focusing on this important issue. , if you dol use isil not mind, as that is my preferred name for it. before i go any further, i want to thank the american people for the great sacrifices that you have made to help the iraqi people free ourselves from the brutal term of saddam and put us on the path of democracy. our democratic half has often been rocky and uphill. but we have persist -- we have persevered. the iraqi a nation is now at a difficult and dangerous point as we confront terrorism that is transnational in nature. i cannot understate the gravity of the current situation. threatces an existential , the likes of which we and our neighbors in the region have not

seen before. that the united states did not abandon the iraqi people during the darkest days of the war, and we are hopeful that you will not abandon us now. as we struggle against the very same forces of violent extremists that now have so much with so ambitious goals in their on thend the extent be middle east and on to the rest of the world. as we meet this morning, the iraqi people are under direct an unholy alliance of al qaeda-inspired jihadists and diehard saddam loyalists. country, to what some would have you believe, this is not a sunni rebellion against a shiite government. insurgencyall-out

led by isil extremist who are committed to creating a terrorist safe haven in the heart of the middle east that stretches from the mediterranean theon the syrian side to iraqi province of diyala. this much is clear, isil targets everybody and anybody, whether muslims or christians, sunni imams or model shia. with the recent establishment of , isilroclaimed halafa has declared that its objective is to fight people everywhere, religiously, regionally, globally. the current crisis can only be quelled with a comprehensive strategy that includes military

action and also political, economical, humanitarian, and democratic -- diplomatic efforts by all parties concerned. isil is the enemy of the iraqi people, our neighbors, the united states, and united states allies. and we must make a common effort to defeat them. this is a dangerous new development in the middle east that requires a new doctor to combat terrorism. on the military front, with its indiscriminate destructiveness, creating its own eventual defeat. experience. from however, until then, ethnic cleansing and systematic destruction of unique altars and heritage will suffer irreversibly. hasccupied muslim, isil destroyed shia mosques, sunni

shrines, and more. just last week, they issued an ultimatum, ordering residents to convert to isil, deviant versions of islam. if they do not comply, the ultimatum that clears then they will literally face the sword. along with iraqi christian minorities, thousands of other minority communities have been forced to flee their homes, often leaving all their belongings behind. a recent report by human rights works said isil has systematically killed and shia andchristians, making them an example is crude -- crusaders and heretics. notwithstanding major setback on forcesitary front, iraqi have been reenergized. in part by the country' is most

senior religious person who urginga fatua able-bodied iraqis to join iraqi security forces and defend their homeland. thousands upon thousands of iraqis, young and old, shia and sunni, are answering the call to fight back against isil. such a fatua has not been made by any grand ayatollah since the early 1920's. he rarely speaks out about government issues, and when he does, he is a force of national unity. more.mocracy and a mosque intack on at for samarra, he spoke unity among shia and sunni. now he is working with other religious leaders to quell the sectarian tension, tension the

ties between the sunni and shia communities everywhere in iraq. this is a critical time we are all facing. this is truly the time to remind all iraqis that our enemy is not those who worship in different ways. our enemy is those who are attacking us all. alluse isil is are getting iraqis, their beliefs, their culture, and their physical existence, whether they are sunni, shia, or any of our diverse nations or any of our unique cultures and groups on a we are seeking to unite all iraqis against these extremists and fanatics. even in times of crisis, the democratic process does not as it should,idly but ultimately, the representative government and the rule of law do offer ways to

ensure everyone has a voice and no one feels excluded. following the free elections in which approximately 60% of the people of iraq participated, the process of forming a new government is moving forward. , in process is underway line with constitutional framework and must not be undermined. speaker ofn of the parliament and his two deputies last week was a significant breakthrough and showed that iraqi political leaders can put their differences behind them and come together for the sake of our country unity during this time. iraqi council of representatives is expected to elect a new president who is likely to be a kurd.

there is every possibility that the new government will be formed within the stability constitutional timeline. , in to remind you all recent history, this process took nine months and six months. this time, we are about only six weeks. violence has created not only a security and political crisis, but also a humanitarian crisis. gloriesle -- while isil in murder and mayhem, the iraqi people are trying to ease the suffering of those who have found themselves in the terrorist's lines of fire. 600,000st month, some -- 650,000 people have been forced to flee their homes in mosul. in total, an estimated 1.2 million displaced iraqis

across the country, 1.2 million. the extremists are using violence to vandalize what had been one of the world's fastest-growing economies. thaterrorists understand the economical opportunities denies them support and that increasing joblessness and hopelessness offers them a pool of potential recruits. if isil succeeds in expanding the current conflict to southern provinces, the potential impact on the international oil markets will be disastrous. conflict, ourrent oil production had increased by 50% since 2005. we were expected to emerge as the world's second-largest energy supporter by 2030. this had been a critical factor in keeping global economy

markets stable, despite increased tensions in iran. why theone more reason world community has a stake in afeating isil and in securing stable and prosperous iraq. make no mistake, the current conflict in iraq is not only a threat to iraq alone. isil and the very elect and violent players threatens the entire region and the entire world. here, the united states also has a stake in turning -- turning the tide against the transnational terrorist. we welcome president obama prossor yes decision to -- president obama's decision to send the advisor to iraq. however, speaking as a friend and admirer of the united states, there seems to me to be an additional option to consider

at this difficult that urgent moment. u.s. counterterrorism coordination should be expanded to include air strikes. that would serve to protect iraqi borders against the further influx of terrorists from syria. second, you should offer air support targeting terrorist inps and supply convoys remote areas. us to in order to enable effectively conduct counterterrorism operations in urban areas that have been occupied by isil terrorists am a we need a precision u.s. airstrike. the effort i just outlined is not new military concepts for the united states or for iraq. working together before him a we implemented a similar strategy that defeated al qaeda back in 2005 -- onward. during these difficult days,

iraq as trojan the united states as its preferred strategic partner -- iraq has chosen the united states as its preferred strategic partner. our relationship is one we do not have with any other country. our government has purchased ofe than $10 billion worth necessary military equipment from the united states, and we y billionsng to bu more, and we are this with our own funds. still, there are some confusions about american intentions. there are some in iraq who are skeptical about the administration's response to the crisis in iraq. the administration wants us to believe that they are providing --ited support to help now to us now. and they are using the prospect of u.s. air support and other military assistance to encourage political reforms in baghdad. however, i have to tell you that

not everyone in baghdad believes this. we have skeptics who believe -- who do not believe this is -- who believe this is a u.s. strategy for doing very little, that the intention of washington is to create preconditions that we probably cannot satisfied, and then move the gulf coast if necessary to ensure that we do not satisfy them. such suspicions are highly corrosive to american's relations with iraq and its people. do not believe that meaningful u.s. assistance is forthcoming, then they will have -- they will not have enough incentives to adopt and stand by the political reforms that the united states is urging us. the u.s. administration needs to refute these suspicious by making clear that the united thees will, in fact, give democratically have an elected government of iraq air support

and other essential military assistance. game changes that can turn the tide against isil. if iraq political leaders make significant headway in formation of the new government. in a nutshell, clarity is crucial. now more than ever, the united states needs to be careful not to send mixed signals about its intentions. these mixed signals will create a vacuum that will be filled by others. the ground ison developing rapidly. it threatens the territorial integrity of iraq with attentional regional implications. much has been said about the regional effects of the spillover of the violence from iraq, but a spillover from to its neighbors in jordan, saudi arabia, and elsewhere would have unsurmountable consequences.

consequences that do not bear thinking about. let us all deal with the isil ofl now before no amount catch up with the u.s. and allies can address the isil trail of devastation and chaos. time is not on our side, nor for our neighbors or the united states. further delay benefits only the terrorists. but decisive action against common threats. our common interest and secure iraq, striving to build an inclusive democracy after decades of divisiveness. united states and iraq are forever tied together because of authorized and treasures expanded by both of our countries of the last decade in our common fight against terrorism and extremist him.

now that the iraqi political forces are going toward solution, we hope our american allies on move forward with a robust security assistance package during our time of need. together, we can defeat the transnational terrorism who are our common enemy and build a isure and stable iraq, which our common goal. thank you, america, for everything that we have done together and everything that we will do together. if we act decisively at this crucial moment, then years from now our children and grandchildren will read about terrorism in the air -- and their history books and peace and prosperity in daily newspapers. this is our goal, and i know this is yours, as well. let me thank the atlantic council again for giving me the opportunity today. thank you, again. [applause]

ambassador,, mr. for some really -- not just start, -- stark, but also heartfelt remarks. they are appreciated and they address many important issues we will be addressing. let me injured is my other three panelists. you have their biography so i will not spend a lot of time on them. i will introduce them in the order in which they will be speaking. first to the ambassador to the immediate left is michael singh, managing director of the washington institute, and he was a white house official from 2005 two 2008 where he spent a lot of his time and response abilities coordinating u.s. helices toward the region stretching from

morocco to iran with an emphasis theran nuclear activity, israeli conflict, syria, and other minor duties such as those. that was clearly a joke in light of what is going on today. to his left, we have senior fellow at the rafik hariri ,enter here, frederic hof appointed to the special adviser for transition in syria by president obama on march 28, 2012. he previously was special coordinator for regional you hear that the -- affairs at the u.s. department state office of the special envoy for middle east peace and has decades of experience in the region. if you do not follow fred hof's views on syria, then you are not really following syria, in my opinion. at the end of the panel, but not the least important at all, is thel saab, senior fellow in

brent scowcroft center here, and he covers a range of issues regarding the middle east with a particular focus on defense policy posture and industrial base issues in the arabian gulf. he has more than 12 years of research and analysis and management experience in middle east affairs. availablegraphies are in the handout. with that, i would like to turn to michael singh for his views on the issues that we have been broaching. >> great, thank you, barry. real, let me say it is a honor to be here at the atlantic council. i have tremendous admiration for what has been built here, and i consider myself a friend of the arctic council. it is honored to the on the panel with the abbasid or and with fred and bilal who are among the most respected analysts in these issues in washington. i will say that i have my phone here -- i am not live tweeting my own comments, but i have my

notes on my phone, so excuse me. -- try to to generate speak briefly about the u.s. and iran in iraq and the prospects for cooperation, because it has been a hot topic as this crisis has unfolded. one thing that you will hear a lot about the u.s. in iran and iraq is that we have the same interests or that we have overlapping interest in iraq. i do not think this is correct, and i will explain why. first and foremost, most position? i think that we in iran, the united states and iran, has had similar positions on ice is -- i am going to say isis because it is easier for me to say. we are in similar positions. we're both opposed to isis, but does that flow from a commonality of interest? i would say no. i will use an example to illustrate how i see the difference between positions and interest. it has nothing to do with the

middle east. it is about nafta. if you have taken negotiation 101, you will recognize this example. north american free trade agreement was opposed by both labor units and environment groups. they had the same position, they were against it. why they were each against it was certainly not for the same reasons. environmentalists, obviously, environmental concerns. labor unions because of their own certain concerns. i think we can see is simpler day, the -- simpler dichotomy between the u.s. and iran and iraq. we talk about overlapping interest that the u.s. and iran have in iraq, and people will say that iran is opposed to sunni extremist groups. i am not sure that this is really right, that this is really an interest of iran per se. why do i say that? because we have seen plenty of support going from iraq to sunni extremist groups in the past,

including from time to time in iraq itself. but the most telling example of this would be iranian support for hamas. the conflict right now in gaza, for example, is made possible by the fact that iran ships weapons to hamas, as well as the palestinian islamic jihad, both of which are sunni it stream is groups. we have also seen iranian support for sunni extremist groups in places like lebanon, alia, as well as even for qaeda and the taliban in a more limited way, which you would think would be enemies of iran and our innocence, but iran has rounded in hits interest to provide limited amounts of support to those groups from time to time. when it comes to this issue for the united states, the u.s. opposing isis am a it is about many things, but one thing is about counterterrorism, our general