colleagues never got the constitution ratified unless they provided a lot of oil for states and committees. our federal structure emerged and it's a structure that allows for diversity. it's very ingenious. you can do something in alaska. we don't have to do it in san francisco. they certainly don't want to do the same thing in new mexico. there's a difference. but the differences prevail. so we have these big problems and in a sense you look at them and say tactically how do we handle iran? how do we handle ukraine? how do we handle isis? it falls within this broader framework. >> i do think the biggest threat of climate change. it's national security aspect as has been described and that leads me to say the following thing. our problem is that not everything can be handled

militarily and we also have a shorter attention span. these are very long-term problems and also americans don't like the word multilateralism. it has too many syllables in it ends and an-ism but basically it's a matter of cooperating and if you look at these issues it will require american leadership within a system that other countries play a part in. otherwise i agree with everything both henry and george have said. but i do think short attention span and won't see lateral ways of dealing with it. >> i'm sorry mr. chairman. >> not at all. senator sessions. >> thank you all. it's time for us to think about it our role in what our strategy will be and what we can realistically accomplish in the future and the longer i've been around these issues the more or less dreaming i have become. dr. kissinger i think i'm

reading world order and i thank you for your contribution to the world without book. i think you quote bismarck and maybe you can get it correctly. unhappy as the statesman who is not as happy after the war as he was before the war or something to that effect. so we have just got to be careful about power and how we use it and sometimes long-term thinking can avoid short-term problems. i thank all of you for contributing to that. our subcommittee deals with nuclear weapons that i'm very concerned about proliferation and dr. shultz as you indicated worry that our allies are losing confidence and our umbrella and they may expand and of course iran will clearly likely kick off proliferation of dave per

seat -- achieve the weapon is one of the noted i think dr. kissinger you indicated we moved from iran not having a nuclear weapon to iran to get close to having a nuclear weapon but not having one. you expressed some concern about that? would you expand on that a little bit? >> yes. >> yes dr. kissinger. >> i am concerned as i pointed out a shift in the focus of negotiations from preventing iran from having the capability of building a nuclear weapon to a negotiation in which seeks to limit the use of that capability and the space of one year, that will create a huge inspection

problems but divers are my comment. but i would also emphasize the issue of proliferation. assuming one accepts the risk -- inspection as valid and takes account of the stockpile of nuclear material that already exists. the question then is what do the other countries in the region do and if the other countries in the region include that america has approved the development of enrichment capability within one year of a nuclear weapon and if they then insist on building the

same capability we will live in a proliferated world in which everybody, even if the agreement is maintained will be very close to the trigger point. i hope and i would wish that this proliferating issue be carefully examined because it's a different problem from not having the capability at all to having a capability that is then then -- within one year of building a weapon especially if it then spreads to all the other countries in the region and they have to live with that fear of each other that will produce a substantially different world

from the one that we knew and from the one in which the negotiations were begun. >> it should be pointed out that a bomb made from enriched uranium is much easier to make. the hero shema bomb was an ingredient that wasn't even tested. the plutonium bomb was tested but you can make it unsophisticated bomb from enriched uranium fairly easily. so the enrichment process is key. >> in the short term than dr. kissinger i think i hear you saying short-term meaning the next several years this could be one of the most dangerous points

in our foreign-policy this iranian nuclear weapon because it goes beyond their capability to creating proliferation within the area, the threat to israel and the danger that we don't need to be facing if we can possibly avoid it. >> i respect the administration's effort to overcome that problem but i am troubled by some of the implications of what is now publicly available of the implications of the objective on the future evolution of nuclear weapons in the region and the impact of all of this on an international system where everybody is within a short period period of getting a nuclear weapon.

nobody can fully trust the inspection system or some may not. that is something i would hope gets carefully examined before a final solution is achieved. >> we have historically tried to draw strong line between access to the technology to produce a nuclear power plant and access to enrichment technology. we have tried to put that line in there very strongly and we have cast that line the side already in the iran negotiations. >> senator cain. >> thank you mr. chairman thank you to the witnesses for the very instructive testimony. really just one question. a week from sunday we began the seventh month of a war the war on isolaz described by the president and by others in the

administration. american service personnel have lost their lives and coalition partners have as well. there has been no congressional debate or vote upon this war. i think all agree that it will likely last for some period of time. it was justified by the administration based on two authorizations for use of military force that were passed at different times under different circumstances under slightly different geographies under a different administration under vastly different congress. as former secretaries of state would you agree with me that it is more likely that the nation will sustainably support a war there is a full debate on it before congress and of congress in fact weighs in as constitutionally contemplated with respect to any war being waged by this country? >> my experience is as an

administration official to get a much better policy and you get a much better ability to execute out policy if it is discussed and there is consultation between the administration and the congress. as i said in my testimony our watchword was if you go on a landing including the takeoff. so i think the consultation will provide a better policy and a better execution. but i would say this war we are now talking about it started a long time ago. i read testimony from 1984. i was 30 years ago and i think this is a deep problem that goes beyond terrorism. terrorism is a tactic. the object is to change the state system and we need to understand what these people are up to.

that will help us design the policies that are needed. >> the president has asked in his state of the union message that there be a authorization of use of military force and i do agree that there needs to be discussion of it and consultation. i think it is very important for there to be more education of the american public as to what the stakes are. >> i agree with what my colleagues said. authorization should be sought but i will reemphasize the point i made earlier. we should not let this conflict with isis slide into the pattern of the previous wars which start with support and after a while generates a debate about

withdrawal especially since the existence of a territorial base for terrorists which have not existed before. a country that its global objective is the ratification of the state system. once america has engaged itself victory is really an important objective. >> thank you mr. chairman. >> thank you mr. chairman and i want to thank each of you for all that you have done for the country and your leadership. secretary albright it was a privilege to be in ukraine with you during the presidential election so thank you. i wanted to follow up to ask you about nato presence in the baltics and we had

dr. brzezinski before the committee the other day. he had talked about putting a small number of u.s. ground combat forces in conjunction with nato obviously is part of the nato contingents in the baltics to ensure there would be a tripwire that the force would obviously be of a size that wouldn't be one where we are trying to send a conflict message. i wanted to ask you what you thought about that in terms of nato's presence in the baltics and what you think we should be doing in addition to providing defensive arms to ukraine to help buttress nato? >> i do think when we were in kiev and ukraine generally together i think we understood because together we met with the leadership the importance of american support for what they are doing their. on nato and the baltics i agree with dr. brzezinski. i do think it's important for the baltic countries are members of nato and i think it is very

important to show that kind of support. the question is whether they are rotating troops or they are permanently but i do think the united states needs to be a part of a grouping which also requires other countries from nato to be there. i know dr. brzezinski spoke about the importance of the germans and the brits etc. being there but i do think it is an important aspect of our common approach to this through nato. i also do think that nato is at a stage where we were talking about organizations that have been started many years ago that our support for nato in getting the other nato countries to pay up what they're obligated to do under the 2% of the gdp for activities. as i have understood the new secretary-general he is talking a lot about the necessity of this rapid reaction force in

making nato more capable to deal with the kinds of problems that are evident in the region. >> thank you. dr. shultz, secretary shultz and want to follow up on what you said about iran's program particularly their icbm program. i wrote a letter with others on this committee to ask the president to include a negotiation of the missile program because their estimates are they will have icbm capabilities and what we heard from her defense intelligence leaders perhaps by this year. so i wanted to get your thoughts as we look at these iran negotiations do you believe their missile program their icbm capability should be included as part of a result that important in terms of our national security interest? >> certainly. i think the support for terrorism should also be on the table. if you get a weapon you are

going to use it. >> that's how i look at those negotiations. those two pieces are missing and in their important house also interested to hear what both you and secretary kissinger have said in terms of concessions have been made on enrichment that make it difficult outcome for a good result that doesn't lead to some kind of race within the middle east in terms of a nuclear arms race if we are going to allow a certain amount of enrichment. >> you have to remember the iranians are not known as rug merchants for nothing nothing. they are good bargainers. they have art across lines and outmaneuvered us in my opinion so we have to watch out. >> secretary kissinger wanted to follow-up on something something that you had testified before the senate foreign relations committee on the new s.t.a.r.t. treaty and you had called attention to the disparity between russian and american tactical nuclear weapons at the

time. i want to get your thoughts on what we have learned according to the state department rushes developing a new mobile nuclear ground launch cruise missile in direct violation of the 1987 the imf treaty that secretary shultz has referenced as well and this missile was likely a development even during these new s.t.a.r.t. negotiations if you look back in the time window. i wanted to get your thoughts on what our response should be to the development of this ground launch cruise missile and as i look at this in our response it's not just a matter for sponsors of a treaty violation but what are the russians interest in developing this type of cruise missile? >> the russian motivation for developing the weapon base?

as i said in my statement i said the least threatened borders the border of russia. but it has a huge inequality population and a long border with the jihadi regions of the world. so the motivation undoubtedly is to use nuclear weapons to balance the inferiority of russian forces along many of its borders. but to the extent that it is incompatible with signed agreements the united states even if it theoretically understands the motivation cannot accept nuclear arms

control treaties are violated because a new strategy develops. so i believe we have to be very thorough in insisting on carrying out these agreements. >> thank you all. >> i want to say to the witnesses and ask you to stay longer than i originally bargained for and i apologize for that. this has been a very important hearing not only for this committee but also for the members of congress and the american people. for the benefit of your many years of wisdom and experience you have provided us with important not only information but guidance as to how we should conduct not only this hearing but our national security policy policy. we are honored by your presence and the thank you and this hearing is now adjourned.

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[inaudible conversations] >> this week, house democrats are meeting in philadelphia at their policy retreat and vice president joe biden will be speaking to the group at 10:30 a.m. eastern. we'll have that live here on c-span. and democratic leaders will be holding a news conference as they lay out their strategy for the next two years. look ahead to the 2016 elections elections. we'll have that at noon eastern also here on c-span. on the next washington journal, a discussion about the obama administration's call for more authority over international trade agreements with linda dempsey at the national association of manufacturers and robert scott of the economic policy institute.

then rob morrison executive director of the national association of state alcohol and drug abuse directors on heroin use in the united states. and a look at the well-being of young adults today compared to the 1980's with jonathan vespa the u.s. census bureau and aaron career of the pugh charitable trust. join the conversation with your phone calls and comments on facebook and twitter. washington journal live at 7:00 a.m. eastern on c-span. attorney general eric holder and f.b.i. director james kobe marked national slavery and human trafficking month today. they talked about efforts to combat the problem with two survivors of human trafficking. this event is 50 minutes. comey spoke about how to combat the issue. this is 45 minutes.

my name is christina rose deputy director for the department of victims of crime. i'm honored to serve as your emcee for this event today with attorney general eric holder acting deputy attorney general sallie yates f.b.i. director jim comey assistant attorney general carol mason and acting assistant attorney general gupta. i would like to welcome the many special guests we have here from other federal agencies and from outside the department and we're incredibly fortunate to have with us today two women, evelyn chumbo and elizabeth qarry who lived throughout horror of human trafficking and not only survived but showed remarkable resilience and strength in their journey toward freedom and independence. today, you're going to hear about the many remarkable accomplishments of your d.o.j. colleagues and how their passion

and commitment to justice has led to significant advances in our fight against human trafficking. from the prosecution and conviction of traffickers to the development of successful collaborative partnerships between law enforcement and victims' services to cutting-edge research on the nature and extent of human trafficking d.o.j.'s contributions span across multiple disciplines and are impacting lives all over this country and even the world. human trafficking is a complex often misunderstood crime and it knows no boundaries no boundaries in terms of age or race or sex religion or social status. and traffickers use violence. they use threats and die sention sention -- deception and other manipulative acts to lure their victims. human trafficking whether it's sex trafficking or labor trafficking is pure and simple modern-day slavery.

i would now like to introduce a three-minute video that was specially edited for this event. it's from a new training series on human trafficking that will be released by the officer for victims of crime in april april -- office for victims of crime in april. this void video was created by video action, a d.c.-baseded production company under the direction of robin smith and produced by andrea pollenbella. we call this segment the faces of human trafficking. robin smith. we call this segment faces of human trafficking. >> my trafficker was my husband. there was no way i could reach out to anybody for help. >> we're scared.

we're scared to run. we're scared to tell anybody what's going on. >> it was an incredibly violent situation. i felt like there was no way i could get out. >> human traffickers can be just about anyone from any walk of life. a lot of trafficking involves domestic servitude. >> i love you and if you love me you're going to go out and have sex for money. it can be kind of psychological like that or more overt and physical. it can be hitting, abusing, keeping them away from any support systems. >> trafficking doesn't know any

boundaries. the victim can be female transgendered, anyone. then it happens all over america. >> i still see this attitude of it's just immigrants or it's just people in other countries. it happens to u.s. citizens. >> the natural stakeholders in this issue are law enforcement advocates, social service providers. there's other players involved as well. >> it's important to engage the community because victims often don't self-identify. they don't come forth to law enforcement. >> citizens in the community are the eyes and the ears. >> it's medical workers.

it's educators. it's personnel in homeless shelters. >> we can't do this alone. no one has the capacity to provide every single thing that a victim or survivor of human trafficking needs. >> there has to be a support system within the community psychological counselling, shelter and vocational education so they can reintegrate and become a healthy individual. >> there's an intentional effort to get everyone together so we know how to share resources and work together and make sure at the end of the day a victim becomes a survivor. >> i'd like to thank video action as well as gene and lindsay from ovc for their incredible work on this video. there's a lot more to come too. now i'd like to welcome to the podium the assistant attorney general for the office of justice programs carol mason.

she's going to introduce our first speaker. care she's a try champion for the work that we do and we're so grateful for her leadership, for her unceasing une inging enthuseiasm and her strong support of the work we do. please welcome assistant attorney general carol mason. >> good afternoon. thank you, chris. i'm pleased to be here. i'd like to say thank you to chris and joy frost for their terrific leadership. i want to recognize them and their wonderful staff. it is my pleasure to introduce first speaker. jim comey was sworn in as the 7th director of the fbi in 2014.

that's not right. that's right. yeah. he has served as an assistant u.s. attorney and is deputy attorney general. in all those positions he worked for justice on behalf of victims. now as the head of the fbi he's helping to lead the fight against human trafficking operations. under his direction the fbi participates in state, local and other federal law enforcement agencies in human trafficking task forces and fbi victim specialist work closely with victims to provide services and to ensure rights are protected. he's been clear in his commitment to building on this critical work. every time i hear him speak i come away inspired. we're so lucky to have his lead ir ership at the fbi. join me in welcoming director comey. >> thank you, carol and good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. it's a pleasure to be here with

you today to mark the great work that's been done and the vital work that's been continued. benjamin franklin said justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are. it is 2015 and people in this country and around the world are being sold as if they are things and not human beings. it is well, well past time for out rage. many of those victims are lured to this great country by promises false promises of employment or love of opportunities and better lives. then they are beaten and starved. they are forced to work in the sex industry or factories or on slave farms. most people in this great country believe that kind of thing couldn't happen here. this is a america after all.

these are our communities. we are here to tell you that it does. if that wasn't bad enough it's hard to imagine that isn't bad enough, but what's worse is this trading in human beings as if they were things filled the coffers of criminals and terrorism terrorists. our efforts fall into three areas. first, if our zifrl civil rights units we investigate adult servitude, child servitude and adult labor and international adult sex trafficking. in our violent crimes against children we focus on the commercial sexual exemployeeation of children within the united states through sex trafficking. last and importantly we focus in our office for victim assistance through our herculian

victim specialist on trying to offer a holistic approach to the people who are terrified victimized by this scourge. these are the folks who participate and help the victims get to safe places and move on with their lives. they are the people who not only offer the medical care health care, opportunity to house and to find shelter and food but also legal support and many many more long term needs. all of you know that many victims of human traffic are people with histories of poverty, abuse. they have been foster children, neglected. they have been subject to violence. they often are people who either have or don't believe they have someone to turn to. excuse me, that doesn't have someone to turn to and doesn't believe they have someone to turn to. our victim specialists fill that void. they are more than just a source

of information. i believe they are a source of hope. through the task forces that we participate in we work to find and stop traffickers and then to rescue their victims and help them start new lives and importantly we're trying to project that effort beyond our borders to work with our international partners to stop trafficking as it aims toward the united states. we do all of this with a victim centered approach. we believe the victims are be priceless article in this trade. i wish i could stand here and tell you that the number of our human trafficking investigations is going down or will go down, which it won't. working these cases alone also makes no sense to us. we succeed only when we work together with our federal partners, state partners local partners and especially with our victim specialists and also outside the government with our

private sector. i believe there is no more important work that the fbi does. provide hope and healing to those damaged. we can send a message this is criminal conduct with severe consequences. we will recognize that it's not our only our responsibility, it's our privilege. i would like to introduce someone who has been a pioneer and a leader in a whole lot of respects but with respect to human trafficking where as a prosecutor and then as the u.s. attorney in the atlanta u.s. attorney's office she has created a culture and a record of responding both to the criminals behind this and the victims who need our help to not only locking people up and helping victims but providing

training that makes all around that great u.s. attorney's office better. i hope very much she's swiftly confirmed because she will be a great leader of this department of justice. ladies and gentlemen, sally yates. [ applause ] >> thank you jim. so much of what we are talking about here today really couldn't be realized without the fbi's commitment to bringing to justice the perpetrators of the horrific crimes that we're talking about here today. this is my first opportunity to speak here in the great hall of justice. it really couldn't be more meaningful to me that this opportunity comes as we are

focused on the department's commitment to combat human trarveg trafficking. i've only been on the job a little over two weeks now. human trafficking has been in my focus for some time now. in atlanta where i served as u.s. attorney, fortunately atlanta has been an epicenter for human trafficking and for child sex trafficking. some have ranked atlanta as number one. some at number six or seven. i think it's hard to kwaunty fi the numbers and know contactexactly what they are. one thing we do no is it's way too much. in at than as is happening all over the country we built a robust human trafficking program that included not only aggressive prosecution but importantly community engagement, law enforcement training and the work with victims of human trafficking. all of this requires really strong partnerships.

partnerships with law enforcement, partners with the civil rights division. as well as partners with the communities whom we serve. atlanta was chosen as one of six act on team cities. to take advantage of the resources that are available and expertise across all of federal government and as a result of the discoordinated effort that was speared by our civil rights division, we have seen these efforts all over the country. in the first three years there was a dramatic increase of 114% in the number of defendants charged for human trafficking offenses. we also know it's important as vigorous prosecution is it's not a complete solution. it's important that we train law enforcement to deal with some of the unique issues in human trafficking cases.

in atlanta we found that often time street cop who is were the folks most likely to encounter human trarvegffic victims. they weren't trained to recognize the signs and they were willing to treat the victims. in georgia there was a concerted effort to train local officers and recognize the signs of trafficking. i believe it's paying dividends not just in georgia but all over the country. he had recently been to one of these trainings. he recognized that this young girl seemed kind of frightened

of the guy she was with. he learned she was supposed to separate the two of them and talk to them independently to find out what was going on. when he talked to this teenager by herself he learned she had been trafficked for three years since she was 14 years old and her pimp had been moving her around to different states for the last three years. she told the sheriff's deputy she had been praying to be rescued and she felt like that deputy was the answer to her prayers. the pimp in that case was sentenced to 11 years in prison. i believe our communities can play really important role in this process. i believe there are many out there who are so troubled that

they are hungry to be part of the solution and hungry to do something about it. these are things they were unlikely to have encountered. to say they were shocked by what they learned that day is an understatement. this group of citizens decided they wanted to do something about it. they asked how they could help. we told them one of problems we have in atlanta is there are not enough facilities to be able to house the juvenile victims of human trafficking.

they raised over $5 million in dlesz than two years. $5 million to expand a local facility for juveniles. they built a 65,000 square foot facility that houses over a hundred kids. many of whom are victims of human trafficking. they have special counselors and services for them. that's just one example of the kind of partnership that can literally change lives. as important as the work is that work pales in comparison to the courage and tenacity of the women who have been subjected to these unspeakable crimes and who

have come through to the other side. two of whom we will be honored to hear from today. now it's my honor to be able to introduce to you the attorney general. as you all know here in the department, attorney general holder set as one of department's key priorities the protection of vulnerable populations. i can't think of a more vulnerable population than those who were victims of human trafficking. those children and young women or workers who come to our country under false pretenses and find themselves in horrific forced labor conditions. the successes that are being recognized here today are a direct result of attorney general holder's leadership and his unwaivering commitment and demand of all us to have one goal and that is to seek justice. without further ado i introduce

the attorney general of the united states, eric holder. [ applause ] >> thank you. thank you for that kind introduction and for your strong leadership of the department's anti-human trafficking efforts in atlanta and far beyond. it's a distinct pleasure to welcome you here to your first address in the great hall. i'm sure there will be many more good ones on behalf of our colleagues. it's an honor to join so many outstanding leaders including mayor's reed bell and assistant attorney general mason. deputy director chris rose.

i'd like to begin today by recognizing assistant attorneys general of the civil rights division. leez leslie caldwell of the criminal division. the divisions that they lead really stand on the front lines of this critical effort. the tireless work of all of these committed public servants here at main justice and offices around the country has been really vital in accomplishing the record of progress that we come to celebrate today. it's only with their continued leadership that we'll be able to build on this progress as we look to the future. i also want to extend a special welcome to the survivors who have come to share their stories with us today. you honor us with your presence

this afternoon. your strength is humbling. your courage is inspiring and you're resolved to transfer experience offense pain and horror into powerful forces for healing. really gives hope to countless survivors, advocates and law enforcement leaders, all whom are proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with you today and always. it's because of these remarkable individuals and so many others that we have come together to mark this year's national slavery and human trafficking prevention month. here in the heart of an constitution that's dedicated to the cause of justice. each year this solemn observance presents an important opportunity to shine a light on the powerful and promising work that so many you have are leading. it offers a vital chance to rededicate ourselves to the challenges that remain before us. challenges of a scope and an astonishing global scale that

are almost without rival. challenges that demand that we can you believe our efforts to reach more and more survivors, millions of whom are in desire need of our assistance right this very minute. it is almost inconkoncon receivable that today, 2015, a century after the emancipation proclamation that these bondage endure. it's unacceptable that millions of people toil in the shadows even as we speak.

who's separate plight is a stain on the soul of our civilization. let us declare today, here and now, that we are determined to stand in shame no longer. it's helping to lead the way. the justice kept department's commitment to this work has never been stronger nor our strategy more effective.

it's never been more robust. that's why with the continued leadership of everyone, everyone in this great hall and engagement of our allies around the world i've never been more confident that we can take this effort to a new level. in conjunction with our u.s. attorneys nationwide human trafficking prosecution unit, we prosecuted record numbers of labor trafficking, international sex trafficking and adult sex trafficking cases. 56 56% more than in the previous five years. having an impact on the lives of thousands of people on a regular basis. there remains far too many victims in urgent need of our

help. that's why the justice department is taking action to support efforts to identify and stop trackers and help victims heal and rebuild their lives. it's why we're doing important work to bring new allies into this fight into improved coordination with agencies and every level of government. sally noted in 2011 htpu and the executive office for u.s. attorneys partnered with the fbi to launch the anti-trafficking team. this enabled us to streamline working relationships among federal prosecutors and federal agencies both on the front lines and the national level. since the inception our six phase one pilot act teams have developed significant human trafficking cases. sally saw and as you heard first hand in atlanta phase one has proved highly effective. based on this demonstrated record of success i'm proud to

announce that the justice department in our outstanding partners, the fbi and the departments of homeland security and labor are actively preparing to proceed to phase two. we are laying the ground work for launch which will begin with a competitive nation wide selection process to identify phase two at team sites. we're going to continue to reenforce key relationships within and beyond america's boarders. it's only by rallying a broad coalition of international partners that we can combat human trafficking in a truly global scale. this is the vision behind our collaboration with department of homeland security the fbi and our mexican law enforcement counter parts to ensure that human traffickers are brought to justice. these ground breaking advances have had a really significant impact on efforts to dismantle trafficking networks on both sides of the border. in so many ways the results that

we obtained are emblemmatic of what we can achieve through the collaboration that must drive our commitment moving forward. to support all who is lives have been touched under the leadership of a truly special person, a person who we all appreciate and treasure director joy frost. offering services to survivors and engaging them.

these brave people come from all backgrounds and walks of life. they are u.s. citizens and foreign nationals. they're men, women and children who are subjected to sex trafficking or forced labor. they're helping us to ensure that every survivor every survivor is stabilized and supported and empowered to participate fully in every step of every process because nothing is more important than making sure that their needs are met. their voices are heard and they're futures belong to them once more. going forward we will continue to draw on the wisdom, strength and resilience of these survivor advocates to enrich our expertise and redouble or resolve. for instance in the lead up to

this administration's launch of the strategic action plan for services for victims of human trafficking obc provided strong leadership on behalf of the justice department and work closely with the department of homeland security and health and human services to shape a five-year strategy for strengthening capacity and streamlining collaboration among federal agencies and key nongovernmental allies. i believe we can all be proud of everything this department is doing to raise awareness about and to directly combat the global crisis of human trafficking. as our nation's attorney general and as the father of three children, advancing these efforts has been both a personal and professional priority for me for many years. from our office of juvenile justice and the national institute of justice i've been gratty fied to see every office take new ownership and display strong leadership in some aspect

of this important work. together we're realizeing the commitment we have made. like all of you, i also recognize we will never be able to make the progress that we need on our own. we must striver to enlist the people who are hiding in plain sight.

by recommitting ourselves to the pursuit of a more perfect union. from this moment on let this be the creed that pushes us forward and let this be the call that we answer and the cause that we serve where ever our individual paths may take us in months and years to come. i want to thank you all once again for your leadership partnership and your determination to help make the difference that we seek. i'm always going to be honored and humbled as colleagues and partners where ever i am. i look forward to everything this department and this great nation will achieve in the critical days ahead. thank you.

>> thank you attorney general holder. especially on behalf of the career employees when i say that we're going to miss you. you've been a strong and steadfast leader who has been fiercely in your promotion of justice and fairness for all. thank you. we have learned that integrating survivors voices into our work is critical for achieving success. survivors of human trafficking provide valuable and insightful contributions to our policy discussions, our program development and our response protocols. that's why we made survivor involvement a core value in

federal strategic action plan and wove it through each and every goal. both of our next two speakers participated in the very first ovc survivor forum that we held last january here in d.c. i'm so happy to have them back here with us again today. it is my distinct privilege to introduce evelyn. she endured labor trafficking as a child. she's a passionate advocate and has testified before congress on the trafficking victims protection act and on the issue of child victims of labor trafficking. she has spoken before numerous groups. the d.c. stop modern slavery walk and the national freedom network conference. from maryland university college where she is studying humanitarian work and homeland security.

she is currently interning at the law firm baker and mckenzie. please welcome evelyn chumbeau. >> thank you. i am a survivor of child labor trafficking. i was trafficked from the age of 9 to 17. after i escaped i was put into foster care and i don't think i had all the services i really needed. i was taken from my family and brought to the united states to be a child domestic worker. i was physically abused, beaten and i will go days without eating. i did not have a bed to sleep

on. i took care of two kids. never went to school myself and no one noticed me. i finally escape and went to a local church. then i got placed into foster care in d.c. after i was identified as a trafficking victim i got help through a local organization. even with all that i am now a full-time student of university of maryland. i will be graduating this year finally. [ applause ] >> with a bachelor in homeland security. i had to work really hard in school to get there. i am now married and my husband just joined the military and we have a beautiful 2-year-old son named malcolm. what was most helpful to me were the people that worked in the

non-profit organization. that was very helpful to me. there was one person in particular that i wish was here which i was very grateful she was there. she was my lawyer. she understood me and understood my situation. she did her job and did it with passion. my strength comes from knowing i was sent to the u.s. for better education. that was the reason my mother decided to send me to my trafficker. now i'm getting the education i wanted and deserve. i would like to thank the department of justice for your continued effort. as a survivor i know that you we have a large impact when you take your time to get to know the victim and remember he or she is precious for family that is missing them. when you take your time to get to know the victim to

understand their fear, their culture, their consent their priorities they back part of team. thank you. [ applause ] >> thank you, evelyn. our next speaker is elizabeth corey. she received her msw from virginia commonwealth university after 20 years in information technology and project management. she is a survivor of family controlled child sex trafficking and sex abuse she advocated for sexual

violence survivors through her blog and her virtual forum. she writes about the biological, psychological, social and spiritual aspects of trauma recovery from complex post-traumatic stress disorder. she's worked in the family services division the virginia department of social services and the virginia office of the attorney general. her goals are to provide trauma recovery techniques to adult sexual violence survivors body education to children and sexual violence awareness to the general public. please welcome elizabeth corey. [ applause ] >> when people here that i am a trafficking survivor they don't understand. i don't look like the stereotype

of a trafficking victim. i was never transported across borders. i'm not an ethic minority in this country. my family was never poor. we lived only minutes from here in a beautiful northern virginia suburb. trafficking doesn't look like a stereotype. trafficking doesn't pick and choose victims like we think. my parents and grandparents were my traffickers. they sold me for sex when i was as young as eight years old. when i tried to ask for help they stole my voice with threats and brainwashing. my life was defined by my trauma. i was not able to escape until i left home at the age of 18. i avoided recovery for most of my adult life. i tried to run from it but there was nothing i could do to stop the traumatic influences in my life. nothing other than facing it head on.

there was only one motivator for that. the birth of my 8-year-old twins. i inherently knew there could be no safe childhood for my children without my own recovery. i started a painful path to work through my entrenched trauma. i found an amazing trauma therapist who has redefined my understanding of human relationship by establishing trust and boundaries with me. i found therapeutic groups. i researched trauma. i earned a masters degree in social work after being inspired by my own therapist and i learned that body work was also critical to moving past my trauma. during the past eight years with the help of some amazingly patient people i have transformed myself, my life and my children's future. now i write and speak about

trafficking. i breakthrough the stereotypes. i tell others about the connection between sex trafficking, child sex aboous and domestic violence. i build awareness in communities about how it height look inow it might look. i also help survivors of complex trauma the trauma that's inescapable and chronic. i write about hope. i write about mindfulness and i write about beating trauma through our awareness of our own inner world. i write about recovery because there is no six-week program that fixes a childhood of pain. the journey that helps us leave our past behind an nobody tels us that when we start and that's probably good thing. survivors of trauma need know we're not alone. we have already been isolated for far too long. we can heal together and honestly it's the only way we

will heal. as i work with survivors on my blog and forum i find there's another problem we face. how do we parent children when we never had a childhood. i am developing a workshop and i'm also writing a book to help survivors cope with parenting children after a lifetime of trauma. using mindfulness we can bring wareness to our triggers and develop sustainable parenting approaches leaving our traumatic world behind breaking the cycle of trauma for our future generations. as i continue to work i hope to also expand my education up for efforts to recovery partners by conveying trauma informed information about working with clients. my perspective as a social worker and survivor can be invaluable to them as they work to heal others. i have a new life through the work that i have done. i see it as my responsibility to

spread the word. the word that is hope for a better future and escape from the past that is more than just an exit from the horrible world and escape from what holds us down on the inside because everyone has a gift to bring to the world which is hidden underneath our pain and survivors are no different. thank you. [ applause ] vice president joe biden will be speaking to the group at 10:30 a.m. eastern. democratic leaders will be hold agnews conference as they lay out the strategy for the next two years and look ahead to the 2016 elections. we will have this at moon eastern also here on c-span.

keep track of the republican led congress and follow its new members through its first session. new congress, best access on c-span. c-span2. radio and c-span.org. steve king and citizens united cohosted the iowa freedom sill mountain in des moines. c-span covered more than nine hours event. watch them all online. including several republican leaders and potential 2016 candidates. carly fiorina spoke. the chair of the american conservative union foundation.

>> great to be with you here. when i was a little girl my mother gave me and the rest of her sunday school class a little plaque and it said what you are is god's gift to you. what you make of yourself is your gift to god. i didn't feel very gifted as a child. but i went on to college and i graduated with a degree in medieval history and philosophy. [applause] so with apologies to ever ofry lawyer here i went off to law school. i hated it and quit after a sing the semester. to earn a living i went back to doing full time what i had done part-time to put myself through

school. i was a secretary and i was hired by a little nine person real estate firm to type and file and answer the phones. i have traveled and lived all over the world. and i know that it is still true in 2015 that it is only in the united states of america that a young woman can start as a secretary and become the chief executive officer of the largest technology company in the world. [applause] that is only possible in the united states of america because you see our founders knew when my mother taught me. all of us have god given gifts. every one has potential. and our founders believed that here everyone has the right to fulfill their potential. mow, i know how proud all of you were the other night to see your senator joni ernst stand up and

deliver the response to president obama's state of the union. [applause] >> immediately after her response emily's list the proabortion women's group emily's list described senator ernst, a mother, a soldier. a sitting senator. as window dressing. let us talk, please, about who is winging a war on women -- who is waging a war on women. [applause] the next morning, the very next morning, valerie jerrett was on tv talking about o equalpy for equal work. i was on the same program. and i asked her why there was a wage gap between men and women in president obama's white house as measured about it very numbers that he has used to politicize thish somehow and i asked her further why if she was

so concerned about equal pay for equal work why the white house was not tackling these seniority system which is in place in every federal government bureaucracy and every union shop. the senior i system widows not reward performance or merit or hard work but rewards instead time in grade. the seniority system which disadvantages women. it is this hypocrisy of liberals that enrages me most. [applause] while president obama urges us in his state of the union to invest in infrastructure, he is unwilling still to support the keystone xl pipeline. [applause] and while the administration cheers when 7 million people sign up for obama care they ignore completely that more than

that have lost their coverage or no longer have is good coverage as they once had. [applause] liberal will decry cronie capitalism but pile on the rules and regs in dodd frank and 10 banks too big to fail have become five banks too baying to fill and community banks the place where family owned businesses and families and small business owners get their credit, community banks are struggling. they are struggling because community banks like small and family-owned businesses aren't big enough, aren't powerful enough to hire all the accountants and the lawyers and the lobbyists to understand all these rules and regs or to influence them. liberals call us the pert of big business but then they continue

to uncrease the burden and complexity of taxes and regulations until only the big and the powerfulnd the wealthy and the well-connected can survive. i ran a big business. i didn't like the regs but i could handle them. i could hire accountants and lawyers. that little nine person firm that i started out in, they can't handle it. and so now for the first time in u.s. history we are destroying more small businesses than we are forming. and that is terrible because when small business is crushed and it is being crushed all across this country by big government, small business is the engine of economic growth of this country. it creates two thirds of the new jobs and employs half our people. small business is being crushed because only big business can handle big government. [applause]

i once lived in the state of california. my husband and i moved back home to virginia three years ago but in the state of california that is a state as you well nowhere liberals have been in charge for a very long time. and the result -- the highest poverty rates in the country. income inequality is soaring. the devastation and exodus of the middle class. the worst business climate in the nation. and in california, liberals expend enormous energy to protect frogs. [laughter] >> and fish. and yes even flies. and it is on the issue of life that the hypocrisy of liberals it at its most breathtaking. liberals believe that flies are worth protecting but the life of

an unborn child is not. [applause] >> the platform of the democratic party the platform of the democratic party asserts the right to an abortion at any point in a pregnancy for any reason. and there are are now people in the democratic party pushing to allow these abortions to be performed by nondoctors. barbara boxer once commented that a life is only a life when it leaves the hospital. we know that science supports those of us who believe in the sanctity of life. [applause] when i married my husband frank 30 queers30 years i go i learned that

his mother had been tooled to abort him because her life was in danger. show bore him. she spent a year in the hospital after his birth but her son, my husband was the joy of her life and he is the rock of mine. and i have thought very often how different my life would have been if my mother-in-law had made a different choice. a woman any woman who faces a difficult choice or a prenatal diagnosis this woman deserves our empathy and our support. never our judgment or our condemnation. she knows she will face difficulty and struggle. but none of us can predict the future. none of us can predict the struggles we are going to face. i know this.

i know thission having watched our younger -- i know this, having watched our younger daughter elector are you consumed by the demons of addiction which ultimately took her life. i know from my own battle with cancer that sometimes the greatest blessings in life come from times of struggle. and that the quality of a life is measured in love and in moments of grace and in positive contribution. i know it that everyone has god-given gifts and every life has potential. [applause] we know what separates liberals from conservatives. we know as conservatives that no one of us is better than any other one of us.

liberals don't believe that. liberals actually think that some are better than others. some are smarter than others. and so some are going to have to take care of others or decide for others. we know, we know that work, work brings dignity. and family brings purpose. and faith brings meaning to our lives. we know. [applause] we know a that every person has the capacity, has the desire to live a life of dignity and purpose and meaning. and yet, despite these clear differences, we get frustrated when these clear differences don't seem to translate into a

different direction. government has gotten bigger under obama, that is true. but government has grown year after year after year under both republicans and democrats for 50 years. i serve as the chairman of a christian-base the organization called opportunity international. we have lent over $6 billion to people in desperate poverty so that they could build better lives for themselves and their families starting with loans of $150. todayion i can deliver a loan to a woman in malawi over a cell phone. and yet a veteran returning from the battlefield with grievous wounds, a veteran must spend months filling out paperwork and then spend many more months waiting for a bureaucrat to check that paperwork and determine that this veteran has -- deserves the benfiesfy benefits

that they have ever earned and then they have to wait months more to be treated. we can't tinker around the edges of h problem anymore. but knowing that that problem has existed for decades and that is just one of the problems of our government, the veterans administration has been a problem for decades, knowing that these problems have existed for all this time the sad truth is that legislators from both parties declared victory. not when they were able to guarantee a veteran the care in this have earned. they declared victory when they did something that they should have done a long time ago. they passed a bill allowing senior v.a. executives to be fired if they weren't doing their jobs. [applause]

[applause] >> really? really? is this the best we can do? the majority of americans and the majority of women agree that abortion after five months for any reason at all is extreme. and yet, politics apparently intervened to prevent the pain capable unborn child protect act from being brought to the floor for a vote. this is disappointing because what it says is that, once again, politics has triumphed over principle andion and eck eck expediency has triumphed over courage. this is not leadership of the house. i am remind of the difference between management and leadership. between managers and leaders. you see, managers do the best they can within existing constraints and conditions, within the system.

leaders change constraints and conditions. [applause] leaders see possibilities and leaders mobilize others to seize possibilities. leaders do not accept what is broken simply because it has always been that way. [applause] you know, in every profession there is a hazard. there is a hazard that you are so concealed by your profession -- so consumed by your profession that you don't see anything else and so you start to lose perspective. your judgment is clouded. you cannot see the forest for the trees. you cannot see the principle for the politics. you cannot recognize the dysfunction all around you. in business, people can become obsessed for example with making the quarterly numbers and they fail in that environment to see the long-term investments that need to be made or they violate

ethics or the law to make the numbers. in politics, people can become obsessed with the back and forth with the tactical advantage, with the vote in front of them, with the press coverage about them. they fail to see the principle at stake or what is truly broken in our system. people who have been in and around government and politics for their entire lives pay no longer be able to -- may no longer be abe to see the truth. our government must be fundamentally reformed. [applause] the system has to be changed. our politics can no long her tinker on the edges. because you see and you know this, the bureaucratic monster

that our government has become is not simply inefficient or ineffective or corrupt, the truth now is that our government size, its complexity, its cost and its power over our lives now work against the interest of the people. the potential of america is being crushed by the weight of government of america. [applause] only citizens, only citizens like you and me can see what must be done. and this will take courage and common sense. it will take character and it will take commitment. ours was always intended to be a

citizen government. our founders actually never envisioned a professional political class. they envisioned that people, that leaders would emerge from agriculture or commerce and would serve their nation when he she called them to do so. to accomplish fundamental reform, it will take an understanding of the technology that is driving this century and changing our world. it will require an understanding of how the economy actually works. it will require an understanding a knowledge of how bureaucracies function and how real change can be accomplished. fundamental reform will take a return to the values that have always been the bed rock of this nation. [applause] we must understand our role in

the world. which is to lead. and the nature of our allies and especially the nature of our adversaries. like hillary clinton, i, too have traveled hundreds of thousands of miles around the globe, but unlike her i have actually accomplished something. [cheers and applause] you see, mrs. clinton, flying is not an accomplishment. it is an activity. [laughter] >> i have met vladimir putin and i know that it takes far more than a gimmicky red rebet button to halt his intention. i know that china and north korea and russia are state

sponsors of cyber warfare. i know that china has a strategy to steal our intellectle with intellectual property. i know netanyahu andbibi netanyahu, i know that when he says iran is a threat to his nation and our own that we must listen. [applause] unlike hillary clinton, i know what difference it makes that our american ambassador in three other brave americans were killed in a deliberate terrorist attack on the anniversary of 9/11 in libya. and apparently, unlike hillary clinton and barack obama, i know

our response must be more forceful than the arrest of a single individual one year later. i am a conservative. after a lifetime of experience in all kinds of places and all kinds of environments, i still know that our principles work better to unlock potential in others. i also know that this is the highest calling of leadership. i have had the great privilege to travel all across this nation and the state of iowa. americans fear we are losing

something, and they know we are missing something. we fear we are losing the essence of who we are. we fear we are losing that uniquely american sense of limitless possibility, for ourselves, for our children and for our grandchildren. all of our nation's wound are self-inflicted. all of our problems can be solved. every american can live a life of dignity and purpose and meaning. we have everything we need to make this time the greatest time in american history. [applause] what is required now is

citizenship and leadership. so let us, together, rise to meet the challenges that confront us. let us together truly reform our government and our politics. let us together restore the promise of this, the greatest nation the world has ever known. may god bless you all and may god continue to bless the united states of america. [cheers and applause] thank you so much. god bless. >> on the next "washington

journal," a discussion about the obama administration's call for more authority in the immigration agreement. then, rob morrison, executive director of the association of alcohol and drug abuse directors on heroin in the united states. and they look at the well-being of youth today compared to the 1980's. you can join the conversation with phone calls and comments on trope -- on facebook and twitter. >> the chair of the federal regular tory commission -- regulatory commission spoke last year. the epa says it will finalize the plan midsummer.

this is one hour. good afternoon and welcome. i am president of the world press club. we are committed to our profession through programs just like this and we work for a free press worldwide. for more information visit our website and to donate check out our journalism institute website. on behalf of members worldwide, i would like to welcome our speaker today. and those of you attending the event, our head table includes guests of the speakers as well

as journalists who are club members. members of the public are here, so any applause you hear is not necessarily a lack of journalistic objectivity. [laughter] you can follow the action on twitter. after our guests speech concludes, we will have a question and answer period. i will ask as many questions as time permits. now it is time to introduce our head table guests. i ask each of them to stand briefly. from your right, the editor and chief of plats. the bureau chief for argus media.

the senior writer for green tech media. the co-chief of staff to cheryl lafleur and a guest of our speaker. the senior business at her for npr -- business editor for npr. the husband of our speaker and a guest of our speaker. [laughter] the washington bureau chief of the buffalo news. jerry is the chair of the speakers committee and a formal press club -- former press club president. speaking over our speaker reporter of the editor wire of ep publishing and the man who organized the event. the co-chief of staff to cheryl lafleur and a guest. the editor in chief of the

foster national gas oil report. the senior reporter with xml financial. and the senior principal at bracewell giuliani. [applause] >> the presence of so many people here today says volumes about how the regulatory commission or ferc as many of us call it has emerged from the bureaucratic shadows. the commission's job is to regulate national gas pipelines and electric transmission lines. ferc plays a central role over how these industries should evolve in a 21st century. there are questions about what if any role ferc should play in

epa's plan to curb greenhouse gases. should ferc and sure the plan does not harm the reliability of the grid? questions such as that show why the commission's profile has never been higher. in the center, is our guest speaker today, cheryl muffler. -- cheryl lafleur. she was nominated to the position by president obama in 2010 and has been acting chairman since november 2013. she joined ferc after a career as a senior utilities industry leader in the northeast. she retired in 2007 as acting ceo of national grid usa which delivers electricity to 3.4 million customers. the first person in her family

to go to college, she holds an undergraduate degree from princeton and a law degree from harvard. according to the national press club archivist, she is the first chairman of ferc to speak at a national risk of -- press club luncheon. join me in giving a warm welcome to cheryl lafleur chairman of the federal energy regulatory commission. [applause] >> thank you so much for that generous introduction and hello to -- you have introduced everyone at the table and i'm happy to see so many the mill your faces and new friends. i am deeply honored by the opportunity to be the first chairman or commissioner to speak at the national press club. i see at least one

commissioner in the audience who we should book for next month. [laughter] i would also really like to thank you for organizing this. when i was nominated five years ago i definitely learned that i wasn't exactly a household word because i spent most of my time explaining to people what was this acronym to which i had been named. i thought i would just take a minute for those who might not be familiar and speak a bit about what our responsibilities are. we are responsible for -- because the energy world is very complicated, in terms of the number of people who have responsibility for different elements. our responsibility is to the interstate transmission and the natural gas pipelines as well as simplified natural gas facilities. we are also responsible for wholesale rates and wholesale

markets, as well is the licensing of hydro facilities across the united states and the pricing of oil pipelines and the reliability and security standards that govern the system. so, a bit of an eclectic mix but all mostly about interstate or wholesale work in the energy space. and i forgot to say, that although we have already had the head table introduced, with a whole group of folks from my office and senior staff in the back of the room and i would like to acknowledge them as well. since i was in the industry for more than 20 years, i know, and those days i did not read very many ferc orders. [laughter] maybe 888 or some of the real biggies. so, where did i get my information on what ferc did? from the people in the front of the room.

what energy daily or plasse or ene said first is what they did as far as i know. and so that's why press clips are the first thing i read when i get in the morning, because i figure that that is the record of what happened. i am not a washington lifer. i have been here a relatively short time than most of the people in the room. i am more or less an energy lifer because i have been in this world for more than 30 years. in that role i was able to be part of the major transformations that have happened in energy over the past few decades. i cut my teeth on the battles to get nuclear license in the past few decades. and i built utility conservation programs. i was very much in the midst of

industry restructuring including generation the vestige or and competitive markets. i have been closely involved in adapting to several environmental changes at the local and state level. -- federal and state level. at ferc for the past five years, i get to respond to today's energy issues. especially the growth of domestic natural gas, and its increased use to generate electricity. the introduction of new technologies across the whole spectrum generation, transmission storage and end use technologies. new threats to security from cyber and physical security the natural threats like geomagnetic disturbances. and the growing awareness of the impact of energy on our climate leading to what is i think, the

most challenging environmental issue we have faced together. from everything i have looked at in the last 30 years, all energy issues come down to the same three things. that is balancing three values. reliability, cost and the environment. no matter the issue they are usually buried somewhere in the discourse. there are tradeoffs between the values, and because different people value different elements differently, it's hard to get agreement on where to strike the balance. perspectives are graced on a number -- based on a number of different factors. as the late great tip o'neill said, all politics is local and that is true of everything we are facing with ferc. so weighing these factors is

complicated by the fact that we have a fragmented and disaggregated system of decision-making. which can make finding a forum a challenge. there are lawmakers and numerous federal agencies. i know ferc is not the whole federal government, not even close. there are divided branches of government that work on the same issues. so, there's a cacophony of different voices, and it often seems like they're not even having the same conversation. but making progress, particularly on balancing tradeoffs -- for better or worse i feel like little old for has been thrust into the forefront.

whether they are in our jurisdiction a little bit or a lot. they are on our doorstep. one of the most polarizing energy issues we're facing today is how our electric sector will respond to the epa's clean power plan under section 111d of the clean air act. i will devote the rest of my remarks to talking a little bit about ferc's role in that response and i hope it will not be too geeky so you will invite people back. [laughter] over the past several months at ferc, we've had a steady stream of visitors to our door from groups across all segments, and all regions have a wide range of views. for those who say the lights will go out to those who think that epa did not go far enough and everyone in between. i am honored to lead an agency

that is bipartisan and independent by design. because of that independence and credibility, people for and against the clean power plant are looking to us to publicly validate their views. i've taken a pretty firm line that i don't think that's ferc's role. ferc is not an environmental regulator. blessedly, we're not tasked with writing the final rules. epa is reviewing their millions of comments and they will put out the final will. make no mistake, i think ferc will have an essential role to play. i believe that we as a nation can achieve real environmental progress including climate change. only if we are willing to build the infrastructure, both gas and

electric and build the energy markets to make that possible. both infrastructure and market changes will be necessary if the values of reliability and cost are sustained. that is where ferc comes in. i think we will have responsibility across three areas. infrastructure markets and to be an honest broker for the discussion. starting with infrastructure, i think additions to both the gas and electric infrastructure will be needed to carry out the clean power plan. in the case of gas pipelines and gas compressor stations, ferc does the environmental review, permits them and decides the rate. a plan calls for substantially increasing the utilization of the natural gas plant that exists around the country.

now, i believe based on everyone i've talked to, that meeting the goals of the clean power plan will also lead to the construction of a lot of new gas generation. most of the people i've talked to said that can be one of the most cost-effective ways to meet some of the goals and the epa has given flexibility to meet each state role in the most cost effective way. we are very fortunate to have both abundant and relatively affordable natural gas. if we were where we were 20 years ago, the gas was in the ground -- if we were there, our climate goals and climate aspirations would be much more difficult if not impossible to achieve. but, utilizing that gas to meet climate goals will require the expansion and construction of gas infrastructure, both

pipelines and compressor stations to get it where it needs to be to keep the lights on. pipelines are facing unprecedented opposition from local and national groups including environmental activists. these groups are active in every ferc docket as they should be as well as my e-mail box, twitter feed demanding to be heard and literally at our door. we have a situation. we take the views of all stakeholders seriously and try to really consider issues that are relevant to the decisions we are required to make. but ferc's responsibility is to consider an act on pipeline

applications after ensuring they can be built safely with limited environmental impact. under ferc's regulations and policy, there's market demand and contractual commitments for pipeline capacity that determine what is needed. the days when ferc went in and said here is the need -- we evaluate the needs for the project based on market demand. we go in and look at the environmental and safety aspects in detail of the project. we are blessed to have a wide range of engineers and scientists and we look at a wide range of environmental issues, water, soil, geology, fish and wildlife, and others. we also look at air quality

including greenhouse gas emissions. our view is project specific and confined to the information in the docket. speculating about unquantifiable impacts is not part of that process. i think that our nation is going to have to grapple with our acceptance of gas pipelines if we expect to achieve environmental goals. as far as ferc, i think our work will be essential to the successful implementation of the clean power plan. i am dedicated to ensuring that the process is there and transparent. the worst place we want to be is closing down the old stuff and not being able to build a new stuff as we are not willing to do the work to get it there. we will also have a role to play on electric transmission that is built to support compliance. here we are not responsible for

siting. we're responsible for funding of interstate transmission. the grid was built support what is out there now. mostly you put an coal or nuclear power plant -- power plant a mile or two from the city and connect them. that is not where we are anymore. building block three of the clean power plan is the increased reliance on renewable generation, like the wind that's on my cookie, i thought i saw solar somewhere too. renewable generation is highly population dependent. wind and central solar is best cited where the resources are the most plentiful often far from cities. the lines require are often long and require a lot of coordination to get planned and

built and are expensive. they don't always benefit everyone they go by or the people who live next to the resource because of all those factors, transmission is very controversial. not only does it face landowner and environmental opposition, but sometimes ratepayer opposition as well. one of the core responsibilities of ferc, we are working hard to help the transmission that the nation needs get built under our landmark order 1000. we are requiring broad transparent, competitive transmission planning processes not locally but across big regions so they can determine what they need and what is the most cost-effective transmission to be built. we are explicitly requiring them

to take public policy requirements into account. we are only a short way to fully achieving that but we are also asking regions to sit and coordinate with each other. in addition to the planning, we are responsible for the transmission rates and we are trying to ensure that there is enough of an investment incentive for investors and enough protection for consumers to make sure they are just and reasonable. and, while we're on it, and i'm on this infrastructure bully pulpit here, i just want to add that power plants are not the only thing that need infrastructure. the fourth building block of the clean power plan is energy efficiency. what we used to call conservation load management.

also distributed generation. those distributed resources need infrastructure of a different sort. any delivery -- it took us a long time in new england to build up the industry to deliver conservation programs that have one national awards. -- won national awards. as someone who ran efficiency programs, i can tell you they might be very cost effective but they are not free or self executing. a lot of the work is being done at those 50 statehouses, but ferc has a role and we have to work to facilitate precipitation of those resources in the markets we have jurisdiction over. speaking of the markets, that is our second take challenge.

two thirds of the nation's population is served by competitive, regional electric markets. i have tried to keep acronyms out of the speech but they are rto's, regional transmission operators and ito's, independent transmission operators. these are bodies that work over a multistate region to plan and operate the transition grid independent of the owners and dispatch the power. they work regional capacity markets and real-time and day ahead energy markets that dispatch the power. they look every five minutes and dispatch what is cheapest at that time you they dispatch by merit order according to cost. that's how it is been done since before there were regional companies. those markets that they operate are regulated by ferc, and we

have worked hard, and those markets have made some adaptations to support state environmental initiatives like the portfolio standard to try to i just the standards to environmental issues. -- i just this -- adjsut the standards to environmental issues. now we will have 49 states coming up with limitation plans that, by their very nature, will say what resource is most used? that is how they will build up their plan. that may not automatically be compatible with the way the power is planned and dispatched now, so we will have to change the formulas the way the markets are to survive and customers will have to change the way they work to support the state plans to reconcile these objectives.

it will be a lot more than tinkering around the edges. if you look at t km, the largest operator in the country, they have all of some 13 states and if each of those different states as a different plan, you can imagine they're trying to make sure they can dispatch our each of those new states if it requires significant changes in the way we run our market. your mind goes to the obvious solution, why don't they get together and agree, then you don't have to run state-by-state. you could give extra credit regional operation and regional cooperation will help regional markets make adaptations to the clean power plan. that itself will require considerable change and copper mise. you've seen some success with