in a in a in do you know how you many mothers i meet on the and many mothers i meet on the in road who say i lost my son to suicide as he was waiting for treatment at the department of veterans affairs? another instance where our as a nation turns its back as lieutenant commander williams talked about -- trading in deserters for terrorists and making veterans wait for basic and making veterans wait for basic care is unacceptable. >> thank you, mr. chairman. you are a the chair recognizes and chairman smith, chairman of the subcommittee on human you are rights. you are >> thank you. in his i think this hearing and perhaps more than anything in else that has happened so far will give additional help to andrew and hopefully he knows the strong bipartisan support, and will a the concern and prayers that go out for him -- i would just say to mike is a colleagues that i am not -- is a to my colleagues that i'm you and not surprised and i am

not shocked. you montel williams made a and montel williams made a point about pick up the phone mr. president will stop this is a not calling -- this is calling a friend and ally with whom we and in and in have a robust an a trading relationship. in and a and it is a dereliction of duty on the part of the president that he has not made is this phone call and put the not a four -- put the full-court new press on the mexican government not to release andrew. and i was chairman of the veteran affairs committee and served in the committee for 26 years, including as chairman. and you ptsd -- this argument has -- even though and they care -- they have in a they care -- they have written the book on how to care for veterans suffering from in a in post-paramedics dress disorder. and delay is denial. in and delay is denial. of and i and a you

are in a delay is denial. it also needs to be pointed out that six months to any service connection disability be it physical or psychological causes that condition to fester and worrisome. -- to worsen. the appeal to the mexican government today is very simple and very direct. release andrew now so they can procure badly needed treatment for ptsd. he is a hero. he is a man that congress looks up to and he says thank you, yet he languishes in a mexican prison. we write law, we fund programs and to oversight. it is the executive branch that has direct contact and that phone has to be raised to his

ear and he has to not get off the phone until andrew is released. and that phone has to be raised to his ear and he has to not get off the phone until andrew is released. testimony andul to hear a mother make such an articulate and strong appeal on three of her son and has distinguished americans do so in a way that has to be heard, it has to be heard at 1600 pennsylvania avenue. it has already been heard by members of congress and my colleagues have done yeoman's work. you to duncan hunter and so many others who have done so much for so long that the president has to do his part. plane has to be on a getting the health care he needs. >> i would like to recognize the

former chairman of the full committee and a great american, the gentleman from loretta. >> thank you. to follow-up on a few things we discussed when we met in miami. i am aghast you have still not heard from the white house. do you play golf? >> no. >> i know you are a nurse at miami children's hospital. that's just walks away from the biltmore. should we invite him to play a few rounds of golf? mysk for a statement from constituent -- they are parents of a marine veteran, john

hammer, who similarly was arrested and detained for weeks and weeks in mexico it is an absolute shame, it is a disgrace that we need to be here. it says quite a lot about the priorities of this administration. it should not be up to the wounded warriors come in to the families and the friends and mr. tahmooressi has so many friends to wage this awareness campaign and press government the administration for andrew's relief -- release. i want to ask about the process you have to go through with the lawyers in mexico. i'm recalling some of the things olivia had to go through because it important we recognize the similarities between the cases.

turnoressi took a wrong and ended up in the twilight zone and we must get him back. that conflict is prohibited from advised -- from providing legal advice but does give some help in finding a suitable lawyer. to god olivia have through a number of lawyers before you can find a good and trustworthy one, is that correct? could you describe the process you went through to find your lawyers and the consulate provided you with a list, but was it a list of that at individuals or was it here's an abbreviated version of the old-fashioned yellow pages? finally, i would like to ask about andrew's health and his injuries from afghanistan. ask the panel for their recommendations on how we can better serve our combat veterans who return home.

andrew has suffered at least two separate concussions. they don't get the immediate attention they deserve. the alarming number of veterans who take their lives every day, we need to do more as a society and government to address this today. i will start with you. if you can tell us about the process of finding a lawyer. , iwhen i got the phone call did the responsible thing and reached out to my congresswoman, debbie wasserman schultz. rivas ande to george

he said go to the website will stop there is a website in tijuana mexico. andarted down the list reached out. he answered the phone and he spoke english. 10 miles away from san diego, yet there is a language barrier. this lawyer spoke english and was u.s. trained. he was listed as a criminal defense attorney. i thought ince -- was getting a reputable attorney and he was honorably the most scrupulous and exploitive person i've ever met in my life. he served in the disclosure statement before the judge as andrney and translator scripted a missed truth. he scripted a missed truth.

he perjured my son. he scripted a missed truth and told andrew that this is mexico, forget anything you know about american law -- i believe we sent $100 million to mexico in the past couple of years to help them reform their judicial system. this is an attorney that told andrew he must say that he just ,rrived in san diego that day he was rushing to meet a friend, he's never been to mexico before, and he got lost. when andrew called me that afternoon and said mom, where did you get that attorney? he just lied and he told the judge i've never been to mexico. i stood up twice -- the prosecutor was there, the defense attorney stood up twice to say no because he must have

attorney toldthis him to sit down and when i called up this attorney that night and said you said what? i said my son has been to mexico and my son never lies. my son has some faults, but .ighting has never been he is a man of integrity. he says you have to forget everything about america. we do not press upon the law. we do oral arguments. they are not going to check any evidence. they are not going to pull bank accounts -- i pulled his bank account and i see he's been in tijuana twice. i got validation he walked into mexico with his friend who is a purple heart who invited him to san diego. within hours, they were already in tijuana.

there must be a popular lace for marines to visit. he told me he walked out of mexico that day and when he got in his truck to head back north to san diego because he had stayed in a hotel the night previous, he was headed back because he got triggered in tijuana upon nightfall. he got triggered and thought i need to get out of here. with themy experience first mexican attorney. his original court day that she had to go into court and say judge, i request this attorney no longer represents me. receive with the lies. that was my experience selecting

an attorney. manhe grace of god, a great -- he heardlifornia me on a radio station or tv and he called me and said jill, you don't know how to pick mexican attorneys. we are going to pick an attorney. department,he state we met in their boardroom and we , ad lee's provide us a list rank list as we typically number one, provide is a short interviewing at least four to five different firms and selected mr. anita is the next day.

>> the chair recognizes the gentleman from california. -- the gentleman in california. >> thank you very much to all the leaders who have divided their time and effort to make sure this hearing was an incredibly significant hearing that is happening and let me mr. tahmooressi for sending me a tweet the other day for something i did not even notice was going to happen for we are defining ourselves today. actionne ourselves i our -- andrew defined himself in a time of war. he joined the united states marine corps. i come from a green family. i know what that means. know andrew did not do

anything intentionally wrong stop i went to tijuana and i retraced his steps when i drove out of the parking lot and made a turn to the left, i can testify that it appeared i was going into california. when she make that turn, there was no going back until you were in mexico. any was not caused by intention to in some way not respect the law of mexico. that is very evident. today, mexico is defining itself. us.co is defining itself to i have a warm spot in my heart for mexico and i think i'm

speaking for most of us here mexico we look at as a friend. i hope the people of mexico are listening because if this thing is not cleared up soon, there will be hostility that they do not deserve being heaped upon them because they will be proving themselves to us that they are not our friend and we should not treat them that way. heroey treat an american like that, we can no longer treat mexico as our friend. i would hope in a very short time, we can celebrate together with the people of mexico, with you and re-cement a friendship. and it will all depend on whether they do the right thing we are defining ourselves, the president is defining himself shame on president obama for not making a

30 second telephone call to the president of mexico. he is the commander-in-chief. that means he's the commander of people who volunteer to fight our wars will stop if they don't think he cares nothing about him to make a phone call, are they going to feel betrayed? they are being betrayed. recommend -- i understand the president is in washington today. that we not wait for the president and we put a conference call into the president or that today, within the next half hour we call the white house and personally request each and every one of us go and see him and have a meeting to talk about this case. enough. gone on long

if the gentleman will yield -- i would just relate myself as , and meetingalmon with the vice president relayed that request that the president to make the phone call and its white appropriate for other members here likewise to contact the white house and make that request stop >> we went to the second guy and not time to go to the guy on top. would ask my colleagues to join us today in a telephone let'sill stop finally, hope and pray -- our thoughts travestyyou, this is a that a brave hero has been treated like this. the unitednt of states is not doing his duty.

let's act on this. thank you very much. like the gentleman from texas. sergeant tahmooressi, a marine. he exemplifies exactly what i believe ronald reagan said about the marines. there are two groups that understand the marines -- marines and the enemy. i think that's a true statement. hearing to me is more about the way america has handled this situation of your son. it is an example and a symptom of a bigger problem our marines and soldiers who have testified have talked about. idea that the government

release five terrorists who killed americans and are on the battlefield again doing the same , they are in guantánamo. you have been to guantánamo bay prison. people need to see what it is like. it is not a mexican jail, it's a lot better than a mexican jail and we have learned about the mexican cars -- mexican incarceration system. as a judge, i learned a lot about it at the courthouse will stop but a prisoner or marine being threatened and assaulted while incarcerated is wrong. no matter who he is, whether he's a mexican national or american. we know it has occurred, but still, months later, there he is. during that six months, this is not about president.

he has had the opportunity to make a couple of phone calls string that six months. 3 the men's july soccer team to congratulate them. he congratulated the san antonio had -- san antonio spurs had coach, so he can make those congratulatory calls. let's make one more and make a statement to the mexican president. i have sponsored along with the , sponsoredresolution by 81 members of congress that calls on the mexican government to release our sergeant. we hope we can get this by action adopt did before we have to take a vote on. maybe contacting the mexican president is something we ought to be doing.

that is one avenue we are going through legally to try to get something done. been excellent witnesses. you do not hedge on anything. i wonder why there is no witness from the state department, why they are not testifying about what they are doing or not doing about the marine we have been talking about? commentr williams, your going back to about this is bigger -- it is a symptom of other things. our veterans coming back, how they are treated, waiting in i am not very i.t. savvy, but i am getting constant tweets, i think they are called from citizens in texas complementing you and demanding congress to something about our marines. 37 young men and

women killed in iraq and afghanistan from all races and all branches of the service stop their photographs are on my wall here in washington as are many other members. we are not forgetting this marine. we are not forgetting any of whether they were killed whethern or wounded or they come back with the wounds of war as you have talked about all stop the american public stands with our military, all of them because as it has been said, the worst casualty of war is to be forgotten. forget thoseing to who come back and we are not going to forget sergeant tahmooressi while he is in a mexican jail. it is long past due to come

back. i think i am out of time. i have some questions, but i will ask you later. comment i just make one ? i want to thank you for bringing house resolution 620. 80 members of congress have signed on to this, but unfortunately, we need to get this to the floor. it would send an incredible message today to the president if the house and congress would at least call a vote on this. what you stated, the american public knows about sergeant tahmooressi, but i don't understand what's going on at the political level. two governors have set down with the mexican president and neither one has raised this question. i was in a meeting yesterday with an individual who is a grand funder of a lot of campaigns going on across this

country right now. he sat with the president of mexico three or four days ago when i said why didn't you tell me that? i would have called and asked you to do so but they will -- we are holding this hearing today, most of the american public has some weird idea that he must have done something wrong and that's why you are not backing him. when you talk about the fact he made a wrong turn, people have to understand submitted as evidence in the mexican court right now is the video of pulling uphmooressi to the checkpoint and they gave him a green light. he could have entered the tontry, figured out a way get one back every week. he could his hands up and said i made a mistake. that right there is clear enough for anyone to understand, this is not us -- some people claim

he had to do something wrong. this is not getting a soldier back to his done something wrong, this is getting a soldier back. >> the chair recognizes the gentleman from pennsylvania. >> i want to thank you all for being here. , to you and your family from my family, we pray for your family every day. i ask unanimous consent to enter into the you record a letter i dated july 10 of 2014 to the ambassador of mexico to the united states of america respectfully asking for the immediate release of sergeant tahmooressi. can i have this letter entered into the record? i did not receive a response.

assist thed i will chairman in any way needed or anyway they request to continue to work on the release of your son. as lieutenant commander williams son andu and your veterans deserve more and we need to see that is accomplished. i apologize for how inappropriately you have been treated and i apologize for the inappropriate letter of concern -- i am truly disappointed in that. the president said on numerous occasions that he has a henan the phone and he can do what he wants.

to use your pen in your phone to tell the american -- do you keep repeatedly telling the american people you're going to use. i am disappointed you have to be disappointed that vets have not receive the appropriate care they should be receiving in this country. the president needs to step up and show the proper attention. our allies in the mexican government need to step up and do the right thing and do it immediately. >> the other gentlemen from texas, mr. stockman, is recognize. congressman matt salmon and his efforts through all of this. ahave to say if your son is gun runner, he's one of the

worst ones i've ever seen. think he brought enough to make any money. it is so bizarre -- this whole thing is upside down. he is unbelievably over there and i sat with the counsel oferal and gave him a stack papers on your son and i said this is going to grow into something really bad for both of our countries and you continue to hold our hero. compassion. we all the time in texas -- we come across the border -- we have them come across the border accidentally and they were shooting 50 caliber machine guns at us and we let them go and. friendship i our

i ams is so disturbing and puzzled by it. i hope this committee in the future reconsiders the amount of money we are sending down there. i don't think we should keep investing in friends ike this. we have friends like this, we don't need enemies. as i seely frustrated the lack of compassion on their side and i see compassion on our side and we just want talents. there are some other people that have not been announced that have come up on the hill on your appear-- a marine can and spoke on your son's behalf, larry ward from special operations has been appear -- sam bushman has been appear with his organization on your behalf office hase from my

been pushing very hard and anna marie hoffman has been pushing. we tried to struggle and do something but it feels like we are pushing against jell-o sometimes. it seems to fall on deaf years. we talked to the president's people and it falls on deaf ears. we have nobody from the state heretment here -- you are and that's great, but there should be people here that can hearing this powerful testimony and they are not here. that is disappointing to me personally because of a long run, this will do damage to congress and to the institution of the presidency -- there is so much silence -- the silence is deafening.

are heroes from every standpoint and we continue to be silent and it's very disturbing. is there any more we can do outside of what we are doing right now that would move the process forward? i would like to see more than 81 signatures on house resolution 620. if you could reach out to all your colleagues -- i believe mexico would find that if therey intimidating , butore than 81 signatures thank you for all of your oforts and coming in out session to hear about andrew's fight for freedom in the fight of our veterans in america full >> the chair recognizes a former veteran and congressman from florida.

friend.ar >> thank you for holding this hearing. sergeant tahmooressi is an american era who fought for us with honor and distinction with accordance to the finest distinction of the united states marine corps. himself languishing in a mexican prison for six months. his imprisonment is unjust and his length of detention is a disgrace. beenitnesses here have phenomenal. i've sat through a lot of congressional hearings and i want to apply this to you because you have all brought tremendous insight into this issue and i think it will help educate the american people about andrew's plight. me -- is inexplicable to this should have been resolved long ago. people have mentioned we would

like to see help from the white house -- this is the law of the land right now -- whenever it is made known that any citizen of the united states has been unjustly deprived of his liberty by or under the authority of any foreign government, it shall be the duty of the president forth with to demand that government the reason of such imprisonment and it appears to be wrongful, in violation of the rights of american citizenship, the resident sat -- the president shall forthwith demand the release of such prisoner. the president shall use such means not amounting to acts of war or otherwise prohibited by law, as he thinks is necessary and proper to obtain or effectuate the release will stop all the facts and proceedings relative thereto shall as soon as practicable be relegated by the president will stop i am not aware of the president taking any action to bring our marine back and i don't think we have

received any information in congress about actions that have been taken. president, we have a man down. pick up the phone and do your job on behalf of our marine. [applause] i think it could be solved very quickly, but i do think even though it is the president duty ended all on him, we do need to not justcongress and in press releases but in actual votes. means we call up house resolution 620 and we voted out of the house of representatives say to mexico we send you hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign assistance. that money stops until our marine is brought back to the united states. [applause] we need to stop talking in this

town and start acting. i am glad you called this hearing. like to see more action and there are more things the president could do. we have a lot of leverage we can use to secure our marines release and needs to happen as expeditiously as possible. >> i would like to say for the record that when we go back into session, if our man is not back him we will be moving that bill and we will be moving it out of the subcommittee. to workvery intention with leadership to get it expedited on the floor as quickly as possible. i have a sneaking suspicion and an optimistic view that good things are going to happen very fromand, congressman florida, i know we have heard that before, but i have reason to believe maybe some optimism might the in vogue right now.

i recognize the jarman from florida, mr. young. but i want to thank you, chairman and mr. hunter for the stellar work you have done. thank you all for showing up -- i agree with everybody appear that you guys have done a great job. -- the storyssi you are telling exemplifies only the love and concern a mother or parent can have for a child will the things you have shared with us are great. i did this, mom i scheduled my solo flight, and you went through this whole list of stop the last one i cannot read because it's too disturbing, but to hear the excitement of our kids, mom or dad, i did this and then to have this turnout, to me

it is unconscionable we have gotten to this point. throughng we've gone with our relationship to mexico and it has been brought up, they get $300 million a year in foreign aid. they are a trading partner and ally and eight don't send their young to defend freedom as we do. interesting how you s and turns the path we make in life often lead us to the wrong direction. how many of us have may wrong term that has had this consequence in our life? had thisturn that has consequence in our life? i see a young man that went down there who made a wrong turn, realized he made a wrong turn, goes to the security guard and

says i've made a wrong turn, i want to go back to america and, by the way, i have three guns. i'm telling you what i did stop if you were doing that to smuggle them in there, you would not say that. was a mistake and a wrong turn. i need to let him go and for our up, tont not to stand heand his release, negotiated and released -- i of the illegally, five all-star players in the taliban and team for one of armoring. i'm always happy to get one of our soldiers home of a but if we can do that and he can do that, he can do this. just ask for him to be returned. we do not want to make an international incident out of

this. we want our son, your comrade home. i as a u.s. congressman apologize that one of our citizens came into your country and made a wrong turn i apologize he made a mistake and i hope you find in your heart the ability to forgive him and .elease them i just want to thank all of you that have served. we are well aware of the suicides that happen every day in this entry and we need to get them back and get them treated all stop i thought it was statedting that it was it was a medical emergency.

if it is true then, it is true now. the president should use his pattern and bring this man home. we are with you and we will do whatever we can. >> i recognize the john from california who is a veteran who has worked tirelessly on behalf of sergeant tahmooressi, a great guy and good colleague, duncan hunter. >> thank you, everybody for coming out. we don't call it the marine corps, we call it america's graincorp. marine who fought for .very single person they say it is your marine corps, america's marine corps.

frankly, i'm tired of the lip service. i watch the president give speeches. is just lip service. he does not care. secretary kerry does not care. the state department, for all the little things they have done, they do not care. people in this room care. when they trust or lives to the u.s. military, you gave your son up for your country and he did it illegally and probably -- he is a stud. he is a young killer and that's why he joined the country. see what they have reduced

him to in mexico and read the excerpt where he was tied red eagle and beaten and threatened, that is appalling. this is not yemen or somalia, this is supposed to be one of our number one neighbors, mexico. i would advise everybody we don't allow our marines to go to mexico. in san diego, not allowed to go to mexico. ,exico is more than rosa rita cozumel, and it's not a. in mexico, they make five dollars a day. that is their new minimum wage. it is not a first world country and there's a reason we do not allow our marines and sailors to san diego.o from they do not get leaves therefrom and pendleton. andrew does not just deserve this. he has earned it.

1% of the u.s. population who has served in the .ilitary he has earned this attention today. he has earned this. this is what we are here for. this is why we are in congress, to represent people like him some -- to represent people like him so we can fight for him when the president won't. what kind of low margin we have to set for this president when we have to ask them to make a phone call? he ought to go to those mexican golf courses and get him out in person. a commander-in-chief should go to hell and back for one of their men or women who has been left behind. i have a question for the panel. would you allow your marines or

soldiers to go to mexico today? no, congressman. >> negative, congressman. >> would you allow your son or any of your friends or kids to go to mexico? >> it is too dangerous. i would not stop fax in 2011, when afghanistan was raging, you likely to bes more killed in mexico than afghanistan. afghanistan was safer than mexico was. this does not sound like a good neighbor. it doesn't sound like a neighbor with all of our corporation so they can have i've dollars a day laborer in mexico. still am -- still andrews chance and i think montel that

that right on the head. they stole his chance. by getting rid of this case and they at least, set him on a slow uphill path to being healed. montel, you are dead on. this is much worse than half of the stem. you probably want to serve two or three tours in the most horrible, dirty combat face onerous than sit in a third world country jail. thank you for what you are doing. god help us if we cannot get one of our own back out of the clutches of a not so great government like mexico. [applause] i like to recognize the german from florida, mr. jolly. i think each of you for your service. myself withsociate

the comments of mr. hunter. we are elected to work and actually get things done. panel haser of this run against the dysfunction of washington. when we are elected, we don't have the luxury of resigning ourselves to dysfunction. we have to work. that means putting your name on important pieces of legislation like house resolution 624th. the issue is leadership and the facts are as clear as they can be. we have established we have to get andrew homan the president has not enough. israel.tly, pts about getting andrew home, but we've talked about a very important condition, and that is pts. walk us through very briefly because i have a couple what youons, as a mom,

noticed in andrew as pts began to progress in him? >> he got out of active duty in october of 2012. he pretty much immediately enrolled in emery riddle and was accepted in gender -- accepted in january. it is hard to acclimate from the battlefield into a college environment, especially when you have a difficult time relating to your peer group. having a difficult time relating to the peer group, he would see a classroom full of people his age will stop they were disrespectful and got up and left. as a marine, you definitely bow down to authority. he started getting aggravated and frustrated and was having flash backs, having a difficult time sleeping and would wake up screaming. we would hear him wake up

screaming. restless nights and agitation ansys mission. and progressed he did cap hypervigilance of self-defense. called ahad what i hunter, pray system -- syndrome. to me, he was always .ypervigilant 13 is when he purchased his concealed weapon. wenthotgun in 2011 when we to alaska but then felt the need to have himself armed with a handgun. being a marine, he carried a rifle and was responsible for the biggest gotten on the battlefield, the fifth he caliber. so when he made his third -- second purchase which was his third firearm, the rifle, that made sense to us.

we knew that was his tool of the trade and kept him alive. this. me posit we know we have the waitlist. i have had a conversation with a mother like you. theweighted treatment and waitlist. what do we need to do more to go ? >> as the congressman said, the late care is the nine care. it is great if you can get in but if you cannot get it, you did not get the treatment you need. we have to hold leaders accountable. we have to hold transparency. we need to give veterans a choice. if they cannot be seen in a timely and are, why can't they go to a private facility? introduce a little competition. >> one last russian. me made ans extremely powerful statement in

your opening statement. that you could not counsel your son. this appears to be a failure and with fashion leadership. my question for you is what do you need to see changed to find yourself in a position to say yes to your son dr. to say it is ok to put on the uniform and carry the flag? i have beencourse extremely vocal. i am not going to let up. i have given the president and the last bill the 90 days requested. apb my mouth shut for another 34 days. at the end of the 35 days i am not going to stop. all the claims in the bill passed, so far i do not believe they are being implemented. just the fact that our shall the

shoulders were supposed to have the right to go and visit outside the hospitals and get assistance we cannot get it. that is not happening as quickly. giving a car to go say cs civilian, each one of days -- to go see a civilian, we need to be with our brothers. the simplest and this body could do, authorize the veterans to go to dod facilities. those facilities to see the troops. this is where we grew up being treated. why should we not be treated by the then people right now. empowered the people to stay with their guys if they want to, but if they need immediate assistance elsewhere, but the individual in charge of their own health care. thank you. i yield back. >> i think the gentleman. this hearing has been a

fantastic hearing. i noticed a few short hours ago you were in mexico setting out by the courtroom as ordered by the judge in order to support your son and now here au suck -- here you are as tireless advocate and wonderful example of what an american mother is all about. thank you. god bless you. all of you panel members, your service is truly humbling. think the consensus of the panel discussion, which focuses on a brave soldier who gave his country his everything, it is a lot broader. it is about do we stand for those who stand for us or not? do we stand for them? to thee reference

veterans administration. we checked $17 billion. on herly pat ourselves back like we have done something stupendous. in the past 60 days the calls have not stopped. not in my office. not with caseworkers. i do not see anything changing and i do not see anything better and i am dubious it will get better until major changes happen and a major change within our country that we really do care about those that care about sent into harms way. this is a case of a young man who served our country crowd place who is suffering -- probably who is suffering from ptsd and now suffering in a mexican jail. i implore what the commander-in-chief should do and that is to use everything he has

got to get this young man home. i for the government of mexico to do the right thing. laws are there to provide safety for its citizenry and to enact justice. we know what justice would be. justice would be to have this young man home and being treated. that is justice. that is compassionate and justice. i thank you for being at the hearing. members-- thank the from coming from around the country. this hearing is concluded. god bless. [c [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014] [captioning performed by national captioning institute]

in just a few minutes, we will bring you discussion on the ebola outbreak in west africa. it is hosted by the atlantic council. that will be live in about five minutes at 3:00 p.m. eastern here on c-span. thistle bit later afternoon, defense secretary chuck hagel will hold a joint briefing with his french counterpart. we are expecting an update on

the bombing campaign against isis in iraq and syria. we will also have that here on c-span at 5 p.m. and coming up, coverage of campaign 2014 debates. it is the oklahoma governors debate between democrat joe dorman and republican incumbent mary fallin. that will be live starting at 8:00 p.m. eastern here on c-span. debatean2 at 8:00, a tween nebraska's governor's -- governor -- gubernatorial candidate. the c-span cities to work those two book tv on the road. this year, we have partnered with comcast in boulder, colorado. x my book is called "the beast in the garden," because it is

about a large animal in ancient times we would have called a beast, the mountain lion, in what is really a garden, and that is, boulder, colorado. inis a beautiful place, but many ways has been altered by human kind. and when you get this wild animal coming into an artificial landscape, you can cause changes in the behavior of that animal. a mountain lion favorite food is venison. they eat about one year of week. and then the deer living on the outskirts of this beautiful, where we have irrigated gardens and lawns, the city attracted the deer. intothe lions moved back the area. they were first in open space area where there were lots of deer and then they discovered the deer move near to town. an alliance discovered they could eat dogs and cats. that is -- then the lions

discovered they could eat dogs and cats. that is food for them. --y are learning bit learning that they can certainly find food. there's lots to eat in town. >> generally a beautiful place for enrichment, enlightenment, entertainment, and coming together. the people who were intended to be the audience of the chautauqua were really what we would call the middle class. the programs at most of the ship -- chautauquas were very similar. the speakers of the day offered a variety of what we would consider both highbrow and lowbrow entertainment, opera, classical music, and probably what would be considered the vaudeville of that day. >> watch all of our events from boulder saturday at noon eastern tv and sundayook afternoon on american history tv on c-span3.

this weekend on the c-span networks, friday night at 10:00 eastern on c-span, a conversation with retired u.s. supreme court justice john paul stevens. on saturday night at 9:00 eastern, the former chair and founder of microsoft's bill gates on the ebola outbreak in west africa. and sunday at eight :00 p.m. on q and, the director of the smithsonian is a chewed of art, dr. genetical. 10:00 on book at tv's afterwards, author heather richardson on the history of the republican party. >> historians and authors talk at ut world war i. saturday

5 pm eastern, fbi agents on catching the unabomber suspect. sunday 6 pm the anniversary of the panama canal. let us know what you think the programs you are watching, by the numbers on the screen. join us on facebook or follow us on twitter. >> we are life this afternoon with a panel on the ebola outbreak in west africa. are here with the director organization

the first case in the us.

>> and again we are waiting for the start of the panel discussion on the evil outbreak outbreak in west africa. law enforcement has been posted do not sure that people go outside. texas officials to about 100 out people. the center for disease control and prevention director that only a few individuals have been identified so far, who will be closely monitored. just a get underway in coverage here our on cspan.

>> good afternoon. my name is peter fall, and i'm the africa r of on the behalf of is my fred kemp, it welcome all of you, both those with us here in washington and those joining us around the country through c-span's coverage of the event. we would like to discuss from ebola and prospective suggestions for an international response. welcome to r word of his excellency, the ambassador

leone, who honors us with his presence. sierra leone, at from panama to freetown, has a place in my own thanks l history, so my go to you. i would like to also representatives of the diplomatic community. we are also honored to be joined by the first us ambassador to the republic of following the civil as well as my old friend the us ambassador to central african republic, and recent chargé d'affaires in freetown.

before introducing our panel, we are deeply grateful, i would like to speak a little africa center. it was established in 2009 with the mission to transform us and policy approaches to africa emphasizing the building of strong geopolitical partnerships with african states and to strengthening economic growth and prosperity continent. we want to educate policymakers and the public both globally and in the american and european interest in particular. atlantic ntext of the to promote rk constructive engagement, the africa centered supports and public and s with

private sectors in forging practical solutions to the and opportunities in africa. it is the spirit of this mandate that i am pleased able -- we are able to host this particular discussion. at the africa leaders summit we the privilege of organizing events with l side cabinet ministers and presidents, celebrating the ties between united states and one of the world's fastest-growing regions. we all must do our part in such as the llenges ebola virus which offers a threat not only to the economic

prospects of the region but is also a growing threat to regional and international security. done, and i as been expect our panels will highlight the response both domestically and remains as ally, the president noted last week a significant gap between where we need to be. e this is not like the situations in which we have found ourselves in the recent past, the response to in 2010, s in haiti refugee situation in which multiple actors are complex o manage situations, and which continue is have impacts. this panel

not only about epidemiology, of the ntifying some lessons we have learned or need in relearn. so join us in the ng our panel. interest of maximizing for the on, apologies these introductions. donald lu is the deputy coordinator at the us department of state, having recently served at the embassy of new delhi, he is reunited with his old boss, ebola for the state department. he began his career as a peace corps volunteer in sierra leone, so i know he is personally invested in this.

next panelist is experienced in both the legislative and judicial branches. we also have the civilian lead pentagon's response to the ebola outbreak. col. nelson michael is the unitary hiv army am at the walter reed institute. a leading authority development, his team is exploring the possibility of

really makes dence a difference. offer a few to reflections on the work that cdc does.

the west african epidemic is really unprecedented in scope and scale. action is needed to undo its course. we need to implement global health security agenda that president obama and 40 other global leaders announced last friday at the white house. the current us may ation. as many of you know, our director completed a press conference which started at 1 o'clock today, and which i hope supplied answers to many questions you might directly involved

in the domestic response, but i will say a few words about cdc's involvement in the united states. we do have people who were to texas this week infection out control. more broadly, the cdc is working with public health and clinical officials around the country in preparing for potential nce is la patients. finally cdc to king with issues related airlines. as you know, it has been widely have ted there that there been more than 7000 reported and thousands of deaths.

there are alone cases and reported 2000 deaths. health care have been disproportionately impacted, which has had significant consequences for the response was already an t acute needed to recruit health workers to the region. right now the epidemic is doubling in scope every two weeks and the exponential increase is not slowing. epidemic is likely to get gets better.as you knowthere will be large the health s outside care sector, including economically and socially. but there is good news. a are putting together

rapidly that will and isolation control practices. i would like to say a few words about what cdc specifically is doing, and unprecedented this response is. i need to say that i have been with cdc for almost 20 watched respond hiv epidemic, to sars, to pan flu, and this has a unique and distinctive flavor. it is had in which we have really to mobilize in ways we never have before. i'm struck by the commitment courage of these people as evidenced by how quickly they come forward to volunteer. the same is true of volunteers around the world.

hundred have several people in atlanta working in our field offices supporting those staff and providing needed services. everything we service e clear, is in to the response of the host countries in which we work. we working separately for -- m. the use of instant in these managers three countries is essential we support. the provides assistance with laboratories and surveillance, the understanding and characterizing and track the disease so that we can smartly respond health promotion,

health communication, which means getting culturally to ropriate messages out people through trusted messengers. we do contact tracing and infection control, and we hope we can return to this subject of infection control because it tends to be be a bit hich tends to neglected, and i think this crisis highlights its we also need to have a clear structure of incident managers. we also are supporting global partners to with the world bank and ngos in the private who have come forward in recent months with extraordinary commitments. it to overstate the role that these entities have

played and how important they the medium to long-term. inside the us government the collaboration has an excellent. -- has been excellent. we have to sleep in working with the of state, the fda, and cih all of which have critical roles. despite the potential for this crisis to get even worse there national grounds for hope, a few d like to mention of them. the in country leadership of the affected is committed to action. they're open to input eager for assistance. more than 90% of and health care

workers working on ebola are local units staff. third, all international assistance really has been appreciated at all levels of society were there been pockets of resistance but they have been readily overcome with professional services and with better communication. does not spread easily. spread by the stopping the practices by which this virus spreads. but success on it not just speed and but critical intervention, and the of isolation and treatment facilities. just a on global health security.

the ebola epidemic is really a tragic illustration of the need improved global health security and the necessity to advance the agenda. the global health security for every country forward better biosafety measures so that they can measures so that they can >> as the cdc director has thisd, had components of agenda been in place already, beenbola would likely have detected earlier, and the outbreak substantially controlled. closing, i just want to scaleup ishat rapid essential if we're to bend the

curve. and second, we really to have an unprecedented opportunity to future infectious disease threats by implementing themeasures described by president last week. thanks. much.nk you very turning now to... >> thank you. gentlemen, good afternoon and thank you for the opportunity from the atlantic panel. to serve on this in particular with my agency colleagues from the department whom we,and cdc, with the department of defense, are now working so very closely with. as tuesday's announcement from reinforced, this epidemic is not something from which the united states is going to be able to isolate itself. and it underscored what we knew need for ae concerted and coordinated u.s. government, international and private sector response. it has become all the more

urgent. risks posed by infectious new.se are not but in our interconnected world, they are intensifying. i'd like to share dod's efforts to contain and mitigate the ebola epidemic in the context of the whole of that'sent effort underway. i would emphasize that the department of defense is efforts in its support of the civilian agencies, usaid, who is tasked to lead the u.s. government the ebola ep deemic in the field, as well as working closely and in coordination with the department of state and the cdc. president obama has identified -- e epidemic as the national security priority for the united states. of defense is engaged because it has unique capabilities to provide interim

only allowhat not agencies to expand and deploy their own capabilities, but they also reduce the terrible suffering and other regional we are seeing in western africa. as the president has announced, the department of defense is deploying u.s. troops as well as capabilities, including command and control, logistics, engineering, and to west africa. in addition, our cooperative threat reduction program is resources andue expertise to strengthen surveillance in the region. second hagel has approved falling activities under four lines of evident -- effort. the first line is command and control. 15, secretary hagel approved operation united u.s. military

response to the ebola outbreak. the commander of u.s. army africa, the service component of u.s. africa command, is the commander for united assistance. the general has already been mon rove ya for prafl two weeks. the department announced that secretary hagel had approved the deployment of 700 soldiers from kentucky. become the headquarter staff for the joint force monrovia. and the army is sending an additional 700 from various units to supervise the construction of ebola providet units and engineering expertise. about 200 military members have deployed, with the

overwhelming majority in liberia. force willask consist primarily of engineers and other units that can best the dod. ensure close coordination agency partners, we've embedded planners, with the in monrovia, and liaison officers here in washington. we're coordinating closely at international level with the united nations and partner contributing are to the response. the second line of effort is logistics support. we have already -- the department has already initiated assistance with the commitment 25-bed hospital which will provide a local treatment monrovia for health care providers should they become ill or injured. the hospital arrived in liberia

weekend. it's being prepared for construction. ace it is designated, location has been prepared and are expecting it to be built within the coming weeks. it will be manned by health care professionals from the united states public health service and will be operational once the public health service t within the provided hundreds of cots, more than 150 tents to house ebola patients, significant amounts of personnel pro-- personal protective equipment and other provided hundreds of , more than 150 tents to house ebola patients, significant amounts of personnel pro-- personal protective equipment and other medical supplies. we've also begun planning to withde, in concert international partners, the development of an intermediate senegal within possible establishment of liberia, the full team. we other logistics hubs to support logistics efforts. that will include the development of air transportation capabilities to personnel and equipment and the further provision of medical and other supplies with the planning now for up to six months to sustain and maintain

facilities developed by the and the region. the third line of effort is engineering support. will establish, as i just mentioned, the joint force monrovia and are currently planning to support of construction approximately 17 ebola treatment etu's in liberia to deliver care to patients. as you may have seen in the engineers are facilitatingberia the site selection. our military engineers are with engineers of the armed forces of liberia committing their efforts as well. we estimate 2345 th -- that the etu's will be constructed in the next few weeks with a steady progression facilities after the first one. the final line of effort is training. we are establishing a training site in liberia to train up to 500 health care providers per

week, enabling them to provide direct support, medical care to ebola patients. these trained health care workers, who are not dod will then serve as the first responders in the ebola treatment are units throughout liberia. time, we'd like to get to a point where we're not only workers the health care to create --rs training trainers to create a sustainable capacity there. is not. military providing direct patient care to .bola patients p in that regard, the department attaches particular importance to the safety of our personnel. faced withare exceptional circumstances, because of the ebola outbreak we've identified and are addressing proactively special our planning efforts, whether to mitigate the toces' exposure

wela-infected patients, continue to develop the measures necessary to project the force. finally, with respect to our lines of activity, we are expanding the efforts of the existingts already cooperative biological across theprogram broader region. enhancementsrobust for biosafety and biosecurity bordering countries in west africa. the program will seek to partnerships,ing to bolster regional capacities required to mitigate the threat current andith this also potential future ours. ours -- outbreaks. in one example, the program has already two mobile labs in liberia just recently, in addition to a lab that had been

liberia for some time, in monrovia. labs provide diagnostic capabilities. these are critical components directing efforts in disease ours and our government's response to it. in closing, i'd just like to efforts areat dod's part of a closely coordinated u.s. government effort to the outbreak. dod is working tirelessly with our interagency partners, i would like to flag not an overnight process. we are working hard but we can't do this overnight. as quickly asng we can. it will take time to get all of our people and equipment on the ground to support this extremely important mission. will yield to the next speaker and be more than questions.ke your >> thank you very much. and now turning to colonel

michael. >> ladies and gentlemen, all protocol observed, i'm going to today as someone entire lifet his working against another thematized disease called aids infection. in my experience, there's always room for hope. i think there are epidemics of alsose, but ebola and hiv have tended to become epidemics of fear. for us to's time concentrate hard on what we can do in terms of good public and theesponses intonation to us to look at that may not be as news worthy as infection control, understanding that this disease has struck east africa, where my program has worked for nearly a times.ion multiple there has been a public health response, and that response has been effective. will get there again. as part of a public health toponse, an ultimate way

bring a viral pandemic to its knees is the development of a effective preventive vaccine. this is something that we have partial success with in my field and colonel kim, wasing in the second row, our person in thailand who actually made that trial work on over 16,000 individuals there. we'll get back to that at the discussion, because as we say in the defense department, amateurs like to talk about tactics, but talk aboutls logistics. at the end of the day, it's going to be logistics that's public healththis development ofe an effective countermeasure transparent.fe and let me talk briefly about what is being done in the context of developing vaccines for ebola. for well over ten years, there has been an effort in the field with my stakeholders that have brought us to the point where we are today.

nature of the largely west and central african epidemics, i would say that the pace of development of these steady, but iten has not been accelerated. that has changed. it's changed because of the healthof the public emergency that you've heard from other speakers. there's two vaccines i'm going to tell you about. impression has fueled from the fact that on monday and tuesday of this week, i was in geneva, having arrived home just yesterday evening, where there a world health organization consultancy on ebola vaccines. i would direct you to their website where a summary of that meeting is posted on the w.h.o. website. are two vaccines that are the farthest forward in ebola.ment for one has come to us from the public health agency of canada, a variety of stakeholders, to include at various times academic groups

around the world as well as the u.s. national health.es of this vaccine is based on ves vesicular rurs. vesicular -- virus. beenparticular vector has modified so it produces a virus, of the ebola which means that vaccine itself cannot give an individual injected with it ebola. if you think that's an easy concept to accept, if you are a person in an endemic country, don't underestimate how thatcult it is to get to particular message. these vaccines cannot cause disease. they contain a portion of the virus that we hope will provide effective immunity. beenther vaccine has developed largely by the national institutes of health my very specifically by good colleagues at the vaccine research center at the national

institutes of allergy and infectious diseases. working with that 2008, because my has vaccine sites all over africa. we have actually tested an earlier generation of the in uganda. there's now a new prototype. we expected to start testing vaccine again in uganda, just to see if it was safe and expected, in march of next year. we now expect to start studies in about four weeks. i'm telling you that the pace of this development has now been accelerated. so let me just tell you a little bit about each of those vaccines. i think the most important thing i can leave you with is they have not yet been tested to be shown that they are safe and in humans. of those vaccines have been

shown to be effective in what we call animal models, and particularly when you test these vaccines in a model using monkeys, where monkeys are of thesed with either vaccines and then exposed to of ebola amounts virus. these vaccines, even giving very large doses, can be shown in animal groups of around six, to protective. that sounds like it's pretty good news. is whether or not those results will convey to when we vaccinate ourselves and not that protection will then convey to exposure the field. in i can tell you that the initial vaccines began initially at the vaccine site at center's national institutes of health. again, i would refer you to full website to get a description of this. these are additional studies beginning both in the as well as around the world. and i already told you about the study that we would eventually

just in a few weeks in uganda. get toa of being able to understanding whether or not this vaccine first and foremost safe. i will remind you that a study vaccine2008 of an hiv not only showed that it didn't itk but it showed that actually increased the chances that you could become hiv vaccine,if you got the not exactly the result the world was looking for. so i just want to put that in as caution, when it comes to how one does these kinds of studies overseas. lots of debates precisely one should andhese kinds of trials whether or not it is ethical to use an active control arm or a placebo or other sorts of tests where you actually look to see whether or not the vaccine works some individuals and another individual gets a shot but it vaccine.e active i'll tell you, at the end of the day, in order to be absolutely certain and to get the quickest

results, the world health organization -- again, i would refer you to their website -- endorsed the concept of continuing to explore what we randomized controlled trial. that means testing specifically vaccine works in that kind of environment. not to say that there are other ways to test the vaccine. you could give it to some people and not give it to others. that brings up lots of issues in terms of justice and fairness, that weues of bioethics could talk about. i will say, at the end of the day, and this was critical input partners, especially , that probably the dot efficient way is to those kinds of studies in africa. that thereell you are -- there's a very large inrmaceutical company based belgium that has been working very closely with the vaccine

research center. there's a much smaller geneticsalled newlink in iowa that's been working with the product. that back to the comment mr. lou made about interagency --orts and everyone tworgt together, i have seen a tremendous response in terms of uniformorgetting which they wear and who pays their paycheck, both within our government and within governments outside. these are your positions that are actually most involved with efforts in your countries. but let me just get back to two issues, and earlier you spoke powerfully about this, when you talked about logistics. this when iack to talk about epidemics of fear. first and foremost, in order to these kinds of controlled studies, you need to be able to people to places where

are at risk, you need to be able to secure the biological integrity of the vaccines which require something called a cold have to being they kept at a very low temperature. collect to be able to quality information to bring people back. this is an incredible logistics effort, something that colonel kim, when we sent him partially with his consent, to thailand to fix some significant problems with -- we had with thai study -- in order to do that right and get quality information, it requires the good logistics, of just for the maintenance good order and discipline in countries, but in order to scientifice kinds of questions. we're going to have to get the sharp pencils out and think very it. about

the last thing i want to leave you with is the issue about epidemics of fear. have learned in our field, over nearly a generation, that something called community engagement isn't just a platitude. published ae document called good participatory practice guidelines in 2011. to theirefer you website to look at this 89-page document that shows a way us thatfor those of tol be testing vaccines actually do it with complete community involvement, meaning that the community is involved during the entire life cycle of the project, from sitting on study teams to actually thinking about the designs of these sure that when volunteers in these studies are given informed concept, that understanding, that their own native language is to actually do it with complete community used, so that there's transparency between researched individuals and between those volunteers. i will tell you, with lots of

experience in africa and doing these kinds of studies, despite well you think you can do community engagement, you can it.r do enough of and having a document from a body like the world health think, is going to be incredibly helpful for us, make sure someone in the village doesn't say i got the vaccine from the westerners and i have ebola. it didn't work or maybe they gave it to me. these are critical questions that have to be worked with continuously with the community. just urge all of us to take a deep breath as we go forward into developing countermeasures, if they're going to be tested in these with vulnerable populations, we need to be extremely diligent about engagement. thank you. christie rogers. >> and i do want to thank, and theourself, atlantic council, and commend you for showing, again, such

leadershi leadership in commeng iss panel while the crisis ongoing and while the international aid effort to unfold. i think that's unique. i think us talking about the coordinated effort and lessons learned allows everybody sitting up here and for everybody in the audience to highlight what we're areas to identify those where we can make significant improvements, and also identify focused on yet. i think that's really unique, to talk about lessons learned while aid effort is unfolding, i think the atlantic council and yourself need to be commended. so thank you. and i'm here today obviously perspective.ique private sector. i want to thank all of my colleagues and friends sitting here today for their ongoing response. the we have been on the ground in

june.a since we actually entered the country client of ours, looking to improve their -- the health services that they were getting. we ended up taking over and failing clinic due to the partnership, not its services. able to through the strength of our team, able to the clinic, improve the services, upgrade the doorsent, and keep the open since 1 july. recommend this in terms of a business model, in taking over a clinic while an ebola outbreak and crisis is because we have such a dedicated group of western-trained doctors, intensive care andmedics, a local nurse other staff, we were able to do commitment.of the

just a little bit about us, a global company with a global footprint in west and central africa. provide the full range of medical and health services to governments, to ngo's. working with the local national rs and local communities in which we're placed. the full range of medical and health care services ranging from everything from midwifery specializedof staff, training of lpn's and rn's, training of first aid responders, to staffing, operating any size clinic, whether it's an urgent specializedor a clinic, to providing ambulance air medical evacuation, which i will highlight momentarily. while the ebola crisis has

unfolded, and yes it is a public health crisis, for the countries affected, it's also an economic crisis. and that will linger much beyond the public health crisis. we'rebola is contained, going to have the impacts on the that are going to be deep and they're going to be long lasting. i think thatings the international aid effort, been very generous, has overlooked, that is the involvement and the existence of companies who are operating now. localies who employ nationals, companies who have unique skill sets to be able to be quickly, rapidly mobilized, to assist in the effort. got on the ground in june, if you recall, ebola ofn't on the front page

every newspaper. the localtact all of international organizations that were operating there. door of alln every of the embassies, saying we're here, we're a u.s. company who has taken over a clinic. we have western-trained doctors, nurses and paramedics and we're help.o we continue to say that. we are currently serving about 500 individuals through our clinic. offering care right now to ebola victims, but we are andsing on urgent care general health care. i think that is critically rightant as well, because healtht of the public care facilities in monrovia, in liberia, are shutting down. 100% on thesed overwhelming crisis that ebola is. but what happens to those individuals afflicted with malaria? what happens with those who have

appendicitis? what happens to mothers giving birth in the streets right now? that's alsoblem and a travesty. ouran quickly mobilize with current capacity to about 4500 that we're seeing. we're able to mobilize along with our partners and along with topanies that are similar facilities,edical medical mobile units, to actually focus on the remainder of the population that hasn't been affected yet and also to isure that public awareness increasing and that those individuals who are working to of thekeep some companies open and trying to of thee exodus of a lot western companies who are there, to try to give them the security your workers are going to be fine. don't leave the countries now. more thanyou now ever. that's what we're looking at as our role as well.

we say, along with a lot of other companies, u.s. companies and international companies that in liberia and sierra leone and guinea, we're there to help. of my colleagues in the audience from pae and exxon mobile. we've all met, we've all had these conversations. we're there. people on the ground as well. we're concerned about their health and safety also. if we also understand that we leave, it's going to even be more of a travesty to those economies. and we're there to help. we can rapidly mobilize. said, the forum today was about -- totalk highlight, yes, the coordination international aid effort. but also lessons learned. fori've been involved in, almost two decades now, a lot of the stabilization efforts and thatisaster relief efforts we've embarked upon in this

country. and one thing that is similar is what about the private sector? what about the companies that operating on the ground? why aren't they involved in the planning stages? do to help?y not take over, but what can they force multiplier, to really help improve the situation, because they can rapidly mobilize? have a unique skill set. and yes, they are generous. one thing that we're doing with a lot of the companies for whom we're working is coordinating their cooperate social responsibility programs. many of you know, a lot of these when they go into countries, they have huge responsibilityl programs, giving back to the communities, training local nationals, training health care workers, doing cancer screenings, increasing public awareness. and without a coordination, a lot of these companies don't know where to focus their efforts. involving theh private sector and some of the international aid effort, aside

from just donations, i think it's something we can improve. to ank it is happening extent. but i do think we can improve it. two things i will highlight regarding the dedication and commitment of some f to our staff. our staff. we are partnered with a local extraordinarily well-trained, an incredible dr. phillip ireland. he's a partner of ours in the clinic. he was one of the first doctors to contract ebola while he was taking care of his very good hospital,king at jfk dr. brisbane, who was one of the first doctors to die. dr. ireland was taking care of his friend, he contracted ebola. he self-quarantined very early, because he knew the symptoms. his wife and his children left the home. him to an ebola treatment facility where he could be taken care of. since recovered. convalesced at home, he is now

and he israntine fine. he wants to go back to jfk and he wants to continue taking care victims. we have several staff who are the same. individuals, u.s. citizens, on their way to liberia now. sending two more in, in about two weeks, to continue to help with this effort. primarily focused right now on the general and public health care but we can rapidly expand. we do evacuations as well. that peterthings highlighted in the beginning was we had an extraordinarily in auguste case early where we had a 24-year-old u.s. an infectedhad shunt in his head. he had an ebola test. tested negative. he needed a neurologist. we didn't have one at the clinic. there wasn't one available, because most of the public facilities had shut down in liberia. to get him out. we couldn't. i had our plane ready.