us from doing that. we're supposed to somehow leave these people in the shadows. we want to take steps to ring them forward, have them pay taxes, apply for deferred action, and apply for work permits. so the only thing i will say about the case is this is what appeals courts are for. so what we say, what we must say to people in your communities who i have personally met with now: don't lose hope. as martin luther king said, "the mark of the universe is long but it always ends towards justice."

there are people who struggle towards something more than being just a second-class citizen, and know that there is justice on your side. here is what i asked. we have eliminated through our executive actions, one of our executive actions, the secure communities program. this was controversial legally and politically, and we replaced it with a new program called the priority enforcement program. in my view, working together with mayors, governors sheriffs police chiefs, so that we can focus our resources on criminals is a national and public safety imperative. that was the goal of the program

but it was legally and politically controversial. but the overarching goal, in my view is the public safety imperative. in many jurisdictions, there were restrictions placed on that jurisdiction's ability to work with our immigration personnel in the transfer of criminals for purposes of removal. since january 1 2014, over 12,000 detainers by our law enforcement personnel were not honored. frankly, in my view, this state of affairs puts public safety at risk. so we have done away with the secure communities program, and created a new program in its place, which in my view solves the legal and political controversy.

we are no longer placing detainers on individuals, except if there is probable cause to solve the legal issue. we are placing that with requests or notification, we are no longer putting detainers on people based simply on an arrest. we are now only seeking to transfer suspected terrorists felons, convicted felons, those convicted of aggravated felonies those in street gangs, those in significant misdemeanors, and those who get three or more misdemeanors. so here is my ask. we want to work with you to restore this relationship. we have replaced secure communities with a new program for the benefit of public safety, but i need a partner. those in this room and governors and mayors and county commissions and so forth, we have done our part to end the

program, and now i ask that you and others get with your city attorney, your city council your police could -- police commissioner your city chief and see how we replaced the secure communities program, for the benefit of all those we serve. and if you are one of those 177 jurisdictions, you will get a knock on the door with me, because we want to work with you to rebuild this relationship. in my view, this is a public safety imperative. elsewhere in our department, we are moving forward on our cyber security mission, and late last year, the administration has a new proposal for cyber security and this year we hope the congress will act on it. we are doing a number of things in which we do business in the department of security.

the department of homeland security. we have filled vacancies and we are building morale and we are moving in the direction of more transparency and so forth. so this is a good time right now for homeland security. we have a new budget and we are moving forward with our very important mission. but my overarching message here with all of you is that it takes a partnership with the men and women in this room for security at hometown security and public safety and for all of the people that we in public services represent a bit the last thing i will say to you is for my part, i recognize that holmes len -- homeland security is a balance. it is a balance between basic physical security and our american values. the things we value, are several

-- our civil liberties, our right to travel diversity diversity that we cherish, i like to tell audiences that i could build you a perfectly safe city. we could build higher walls. we could interrogate more people. we could erect more scanning devices. we could create a perfectly safe space. but it would not be a shining city on a hill. it would be a prison. so home and security must be a balance between the security of our people and the preservation of the things that we value as americans. i look forward to working with all of you in the days ahead on her joint homeland security public safety mission -- our joint homeland security and

public safety mission. thank you very much and they give are listening to me. [applause] host: secretary johnson, on behalf of the league of cities, i want to thank you for joining us today. i also want to thank you for all of the good work that you are doing to keep our country safe, our country strong, and her citizens protected. it is now my great pleasure to introduce the members of this afternoon's panel on climate change. at this time, let me introduce our panel and each of these panelists are incredible folks and what they do on behalf of all of us and their particular focus with cities. first, dr. ernest monez, the

secretary of the department of energy -- dr. ernest moniz the secretary of the department of energy, and the secretary of the under department of transportation, peter, think you for joining us -- thank you for joining us. so i am going to ask each of these panelists to give a brief comments, and then we are going to go into a series of questions around topics there are so important to us as cities as well as the realm of responsibility. mr. secretary, to you first.

mr. secretary, why do you start? secretary: thank you i am not good to get into things that you know very well, like the importance of cities and the context of our climate challenge, but let me focus on a few items in these opening remarks. of course, all of you have tremendously sponsored abilities in terms of managing a lot of the structure in this country. many say a word about our quadrennial energy review that we expect to have come out in a few weeks. this is a study that has been going on for over one year. this is across the administration looking specifically at the issues of energy infrastructure. transmission, storage, and

electricity, fuels, it includes looking at reliability, resilience, safety security of if a structure -- of infrastructure, and like i say we will be coming up with that shortly, and some of the findings in there, i will just note is analyzing risk from storm surges, for example, the modeling there showing that category one storms can affect about a vital -- can affect about 100 vital substations. heat waves degrading our infrastructure and also peak cooling requirements also, oil and gas supplies depend on reliable electricity to operate, but in turn, particularly our power section relies on natural gas.

we have to be careful about this. the other aspect of this is that by 2020, we need to fill about 2 million jobs within the energy industry, and of course, we need to therefore focus on some of the training areas, which we are doing. in addition, some of the outcomes of the qer are already in our 2016 fiscal budget. for example, we will have in there, a six to $3 million proposal for state grants for reliability and for energy assurance. hopefully the states and the studies -- and the cities will be working together for those planning activities, which is then in turn can lead to

eligibility, we hope, for what will be major if a structure -- major infrastructure support. there is also the local energy program to help cities and counties accelerate the investment and efficiencies and clean energy. so these are just some of the items that are in the budget. let me just mention two new things today. we are issuing now a notice of technical assistance for our 16 climate action champions. one of them is seated here at the table. so he is happy. maybe there are more out there out there who are happy about that particular grant but we are also pleased to announce $6 million through our clean cities program for alternative fuel market growth program. so this will support 11

community-led projects to improve buyer awareness of plug in electric and other alternative fuel vehicles. one such project will enable visitors in orlando, for example, to rent and receive information on plug in electric's, and a whole bunch of other projects i say that will be announced today. so those are just a few of the things that are moving forward in terms of clean energy, climate, and energy infrastructure reliability and resilience. thank you. post -- host: thank you so much and administrator? administrator: thank you so

much, it is so exciting to see all of the work that you are doing. [applause] so i thank you for being a great advisor to the agency. so first of all, thank you, and thanks for letting me be back again, i don't know what i did wrong last time, but maybe it is something right. i hope you know we all look forward to each and every one of them and let me be brief and thank everyone for letting me join. i just want to mention a couple of things. i know that communities across the u.s. are particularly have been wonderful partners for the epa. out in identifying how best to identify how state revolving funds can identify problems and continuing to support that and looking toward sustainability and how communities work. our fiscal budget this year at the president's request has really been recognizing how great you are and how we can

enhance partnership with additional dollars. so number one, the epa's funding goes directly to states and two tribes. we are looking for additional funds to continue to work together to provide resilience and so that we can provide you expertise and tools so you can address your changing weather patterns, the extreme weather events that you are experiencing. but we also know that climate change is significantly affecting our if a structure. so we are dealing with climate change and the old challenge with dealing with water waste and water infrastructure. what we did 40 or 50 years ago is now in meeting repair, as well as looking at new challenges with the drinking water side. so we are going to continue to work with you on planning, but also there is a significant

increase over last year's request and we are looking at new ways to continue to support wastewater infrastructure, not just in terms of helping resilience, but also green infrastructure and also the creation of a water and resilience finance center. and that is so we can have one place were can go to think about creative financing opportunities that could create those dollars to the table. we know that the money that we have in the public sector is not going to be able to get the job done that we are seeing, because there is $600 billion needs in water infrastructure problems out there. we need to pump it up and find it. we are also improving reforms

with creative financing with the transportation agency and we want to do it as well, so we are going to be building up that center as well. so hopefully we will be creating that center and enhancing it and we will support it as effectively as we can. and i think we will stop there. moderator: thank you. secretary: first and foremost, i want to express my apologies to a mayor who has recovered from the surgery, otherwise he would be here today, and i also want to echo gina's's sentiment that mayor becker is a great partner and i would just say that secretary moniz, whatever amount of money and support we have given him he has given us a lot more.

administrator gina mccarthy: if he give me more money i would win. [laughter] secretary peter rogoff: many of you know that last year was a $302 billion bill so we can get away from all of these incremental extensions that number some 32 separate extensions that have been milking the program along for the last several years. last year we submitted a $302 billion bill that will freeze funding for 10 months. under president obama's leadership, we are doubling down. we are going to be submitting a six year 400 $80 billion bill that will bring overall funding that is closer to 60% and we say

precisely what part of the tax code we would amend to pay for it, we would be helping the highway trust fund, and congress could say that they don't want to talk about it, we are to talking about others. but we need to act. we are doing it because we looked into the future and we can see what happens if we don't change our transportation policies and we don't change our funding trajectory. just a few weeks ago, we at the ot -- at bot released our traffic study, and i would encourage you to look stat it, it is at www.dot.gov, and it looks at all of the trends that we are going to experience, a population growth, the fact

that all of these people are going to be locating in some of the areas that have already gone over dramatic growth in the south and the west and already experiencing congestion. frankly, this study has taking on a residence with the american public the on what we have expected. we are expecting a quarter of a million downloads of people reading this study. we think it has taken on present is because people know something is wrong. they see it and the potholes we are hitting every day. they see it in the congestion. they are seen in the transit service that is becoming more and more unreliable in many areas despite the transit growth. and we will see these trends persist over the next 30 years. this is something that will absolutely drag our economy down, rather than something that

is going to grow jobs that will support those 70 million additional americans. we are not asking for increased funding just because we like investment we are asking for dramatically increased funding and improved policies because that what our country -- that is what our country is going to need going forward. thank you. [applause] and we do it and a lot of areas that are very sustainable, and support transit and rail, and it places like los angeles where mayor garcetti is in charge of, there is not room for additional highways. our partners in congress are looking to undershoot the target, some want to go into the tax code and only want to raise enough money to freeze funding for the next 10 years. the reality is, this is a frozen funding that will allow us to maintain the current infrastructure that we have, and some places the infrastructure

is 60, 70, and in some places 100 years old, they need to be replaced. in terms of policies, we are against policy and we are against politics. frankly, we don't understand politics. when you go into fund transportation for the first time in two decades, only to deliver to the public the existing deteriorated infrastructure, the existing challenge to be able to maintain our system, we think it makes a lot more sense if we dig into the tax code and raise the necessary revenue to really address transportation and what our needs are going forward, we need to raise enough revenue to provide the growth the economy needs going forward, and that is where we need your help. we need you to deliver that message to your legislators. there are many things in the american grow act that the community should like.

there are opportunities for increased funding to increase funding localities to at least 50%. there is more than a doubling of the tiger program that has served cities like salt lake very well, but we are turning down every 15 applications for everyone that we accept. so let me tell your local legislators that this is time to address the issue and not to tinker at the margins. we need to pay for transportation, we should raise enough to prepare us for our future. thanks. [applause] moderator: thank you, thank you so much to all three of you. isn't it refreshing to hear them talk about innovation, about creativity, about meeting the needs and partnering with our community? so really, that was just a fabulous set of three statements. but i have a few questions that

will allow each of you to maybe expand a little bit upon the things that you talked about in your comments. you have noted, of course, our infrastructure is failing, we are certainly feeling that very directly on our local roads and in our transit systems and the things that we are trying to do to meet today's needs. tell me what your thoughts may be, and i know this is true with your grow america act, and i have heard it in some of your comments, but had you think we can pay for this debtor, and maybe a little more detail? ideas that you have on to bring our costs down, and in working with cities on ideas that you may have to make sure that some communities are not left behind, for example, there was a reference to the tiger grant and i know we were incredibly fortunate and benefited from a tiger grant, but many smaller

communities would have the wherewithal to develop a grant application is a really intimidating. maybe you can comment on some of the work that you are doing and hopefully you can respond? thank you? secretary ernest moniz: should i start? first of all, let me start by expanding on a little bit of what secretary rogoff said, you mentioned tiger and the tiger grants are way over subscribed and the point that i really want to make is in our quadrennial energy review is that when we think of energy infrastructure we think about wires and pipes in fact associated infrastructure like docs, ports

inland waterways, these are all critical to energy today, and the energy boom that we have seen in the united states are severely taxing the infrastructure in many, many ways. so things like grow america and other initiatives that we hope to move forward on these related infrastructures will help us move forward. and just one thing about smaller communities, two points. one, as i mentioned earlier, we are putting forward to congress and again, we hope there will be action, in terms of these planning grants, and in these planning grants, 63 -- $63 billion, these are precisely to develop plans that can develop the fundable.

this would go to communities in all of the states. in developing this qer we had many many representatives of state, local, and tribal governments, and we are hoping that we are going to be working with you in allowing us to move forward on infrastructure. a second point that i will just make, and this is a very small community, in toledo, ohio, for example, where the city's plans for downtown rebirth are very much tied in to developing novel ideas around energy and combining power and renewables etc.. those are areas again that we are very happy to talk with communities and provide technical assistance in terms of

developing proposals that are forward-looking and providing infrastructure that is good for the economical growth, but also good for resilience in the face of the threats that we see ahead. administrator gina mccarthy: let me mention a few things, because i think all of you know that epa does not have the zeros on the end of our budgets that these guys do, so we have to work on it. [laughter] so what are the things that i think that the epa does very well is provide technical assistance to local communities. we have strong relationships with our local communities. we don't tell them what our vision is, we go in there and ask them how we can help them make their visions succeed. what we do with sustainable communities, it is amazing what they $15,000 or a $20,000 technical grant can do to get a

community coming together that is struggling and get good steps moving forward and how to change their dynamic and how they make it more vibrant and use some of the funds that the other agencies can bring to the table and then get a tiger grant. it doesn't take much to build a bike path, but when a community decides that they want to build it, we can help with that, and then it changes the dynamics of that community, and it makes them vibrant, and all of a sudden, other things happen. so this is one of the things that the epa is trying to learn letter is to learn lessons from local communities and we are going to be learning more from technical experts in these regions where they are actively working with communities and with our regional partners. our partners from hud, from d.o.t., from other agencies that can work with us and go in and do exactly what they want us to

do. it is to listen to them and then identify opportunities for funding. and that we are going to track those communities and then come back and track the success of those. you would be amazed what a grant does for planning and for cleanup. the planning of local communities can dramatically change from the result of one small cleanup of a small lot and that makes people feel better about their community, makes it safer, makes it vibrant. so we are looking at how to expand these opportunities and track it. one of the other things i wanted to mention is that we have a bunch of work that is going on on infrastructure. and we try to figure out how we build green infrastructure that makes communities more livable and more vibrant in and of itself, and make it a whole lot better than concrete and building take pipes. -- building big pipes.

so this is a way that is tremendously cost effective and can also build up local economies and build jobs at the same time. believe it or not, i firmly believe that climate efforts are exactly the same thing. that is exactly why as we look at our carbon strategy for power plants, we are opening up opportunities for states about flexibility to how to work with you to bring advantages in opportunities for job growth and how to reduce carbon pollution. they can do it if they want to. so get active with these conversations in these states. $25 million directly to the states to just help them with the planning and the implantation piece. the budgets -- the president has proposed a $4 billion line item

budget that would establish an incentive for states that want to go faster and further that want to build the kind of infrastructure that you need to make to see climate change work. these are things that you need to do together. [applause] epa needs to be focused on providing you the technical assistance to know how you can meet your environmental challenges in a way that actually promotes your economic growth and your job growth. if we can keep an eye on both of those prizes at the same time, we would be the partners that are public demands, we would be the partner the keeps them safe and keep the actual infrastructure moving, keep them healthy, and continue to grow the economy. that is what we are working towards. none of us are in our little own stovepipes. i wish i were, because these guys bother me a lot.

[laughter] but that is what you want and we are delivering it. [laughter] [applause] moderator: she is from new england you can tell. secretary peter rogoff: let me just address this, and we have partners in the epa who help us in this review process, and that is the whole series of statutory provisions that all allow us to speed up the environmental process in the review process while getting better results for the environment. it is not all that hard but some of it doesn't take statutory change. some of our reviews coincidentally are at the same time rather than concurrently while someone is going through the file for many months while handed it to the next agency who hands it to the next agency.

we want to make more progress. projects could just get 30% or 40% more expensive just because of the passage of time, and initiatives that were affordable quickly become unaffordable sibley because the passage of time, so if we could take time off the process, we can get more projects for the money. so we have a series of initiatives in our bill to address that issue head on. you also asked about communities that were struggling to get a tiger grant, and we are also hearing that message loud and clear, because we have a mayor as a boss who struggled to be able to get together dollars locally to match federal funds at time, and hit a very prosperous city. so you will see a difference in the funding availability for tiger this year, whereas we have always prized overmatch by local

communities, but we will continue to do so, but we will also recognize those communities that cannot provide an overmatch , so that is a change we are making this year. administrator gina mccarthy: can i mention one thing that i forgot to mention? i also forgot to mention the water infrastructure system, and that is a partnership with the usda, so i should mention that they have significant funds for role -- for rural infrastructure , and the question would be to how to bundle small community projects together to allow them new opportunities for financing? the usda is really on top of this issue. if you are interested in this kind of work that we are going to be doing, we are happy to reach out to give them the right connections whether it is the epa, the usda, or others.

secretary ernest moniz: let me just mention something, but the power of these grants that can allow good planning are a great example of what we were involved in. we were with new jersey and it involved a novel approach to a micro-grid to support a resilient transportation program. we did some cost sharing to develop the plan, and that was successful at d.o.t. for literally hundreds of millions of dollars to rebuild that infrastructure. so these are the kinds of creative ideas that we certainly are looking for in terms of new approaches to resilient energy in the structure in our community -- energy infrastructure in our community. secretary peter rogoff: that is

a very good example, because that grew out of the relief effort after hurricane sandy but many, many of the transit tunnels and highway tunnels that flooded after hurricane sandy had just flooded a year earlier after hurricane i read, but that was less newsworthy, but that makes the point that we have an increasing frequency of club conditions -- frequency of climatic conditions, so we need to build the infrastructure so it can be stronger and withstand weather issues in the future and it will not be reliant on power lines that they have been reliant upon over the last 70 years. secretary ernest moniz: there are also policy actions that

congress needs to take to rebuild something only for the way it was before instead of rebuilding something for the future. [applause] moderator: so it is hard for me to believe, but we are just about out of time. administrator gina mccarthy: what happened to the questions and answers? [laughter] moderator: do we have time? no? i guess not? can we have yourself a numbers? -- your cell phone numbers? that way we can follow up anytime, actually, we will have the e-mails of safe and follow-up with these folks in each department, and i will just say this, actually, isn't it refreshing to have this kind of

direct conversation and this kind of direct discussion about climate change or infrastructure and know that we have within these agencies folks that are genuinely looking for ways that they can improve their partnerships to help us do our jobs locally. so to each of you, thank you so much, and we really appreciate you being here. [applause]

moderator: all right, thank you they were suggesting that i just give all of you myself phone number -- my cell phone number and we can just pass it along. [laughter] it is now my pleasure to introduce sally jewell. as secretary, she leads an agency of more than 70,000 employees. the department of the interior serves as the steward of approximately 20% of the nation's land, including national parks, national wildlife refuges, and other land. the department also oversees renewable and conserving energy resources over land and water. it upholds trust responsibilities to 566

federally recognized american indian tribes and alaska natives. prior to becoming secretary, sally jewell served in the private sector, most recently as president and ceo of the company, rei, and she joined rei as chief operating officer in 2000 and was named ceo in 2005. during her tenure you -- tenure, it was consistently ranked as one of the best 100 country -- companies to work for in 2015. we know she has become a great partner with the national league of cities and with our agreement with the department of the interior to further a program to connect kids with nature, which she has made her special mission, i think, as secretary.

please join me in giving a very warm welcome to secretary sally jewell. [applause] secretary sally jewell: well high everybody -- hi everybody! are you awake? crowd: yes! [laughter] secretary sally jewell: it is a little bit after lunch so i know it is hard to stay awake, and i just want to start by thinking you all for your public service, whether you are a mayor or a city council member or a commissioner or whatever they call you in your public service i have come to appreciate just how to your jobs are and how important your jobs are, so thank you for everything that you can do. yes, if we could give you a round of applause, that would be

good. [applause] i also want to thank clarence anthony, when i met with clarence, we were talking with a partnership that i will talk about in a little bit, and it is clear that you are very important to this country because you had the president of the united states, a good chunk of the cabinet and it is great. so i want to talk to you about a bit different dimension than some of my other colleagues. i want to start by asking you to just close your eyes for a minute and picture the most special place from your childhood. would you just humor me and do that for a moment? ok, you got it? how many of you for that special place, was it outside? ok, that is what i figured. a pretty good chunk.

so when you think about that special place, it probably has something to do with where you grew up or trips where a loved one took you to. for me, often times a special place would be romping around in the hobo jungle behind my house. we called it a hobo jungle because it was a homeless encampment, i used to camp out in the backyard, which was a great stepping stone to a life of enjoying the great outdoors. my parents took me to city parks and state parks and national parks. i used to sail little sailing dinghy's and camp -- dinghies and camp all the time. when i think about that and i think about the trajectory of my career much of what i have done and where i have chosen to live has had to do with the quality of life of those communities. and that is something that you will care about.

he is whether you are from a large city or a small town, or a large county with few people or a small county with lots of people, you want your future generations to stay. you want them to come back. you want them to say, this is my special place. you want them to have their children have those same kind of experiences that you had when you close your eyes and imagine your special places. when we create an environment around our cities, that has to do with parks and open spaces and public lands. so when i was preparing for this, i asked a couple of my colleagues what their special places were and what their parks and colleagues -- parks and spaces were to them. my colleague david is the only child of only -- of immigrant

parents, and so parks are where he learned to speaking with. my other colleagues, emily, is in her mid-20's, and she said she played in the creek and i can remember if it was her house or her grandparent's house near king of prussia, pennsylvania. rei looked at putting a store there because of the retail magnet, but like so many of those places like the hobo jungle where i used to play, they are now a partner complexes. when i made my decision to move after college, i looked at where to live, and i decided to move to a rural place in oklahoma after college. i also went to the wichita -- the want to talk mountains --

uach -- ouachita mountains, and that was the first time i saw longhorn cattle and when i went to put my feet in a creek to cool them, i pulled my feet out and there were leeches, and i went to the buffalo river out in arkansas, and then i moved to denver and it was about community and theater, and then we moved to seattle, and it was about the outdoors and the community, and that is always a powerful time. these are special places, and i think for all of us, as we try to create a future for our families where they choose to live by us, i am going back to seattle after this job, i have my first biological grandchild, and my two step grandchildren

there, so the biological time is very strong, but what is going to attract your kids to come back to your communities? i think that is something that is very relevant to the national league of cities in very apparent. when i was running rei, we thought about where we were running stores, and we put a store in places like greenville south carolina. why? because greenville is turning its face to the river when it used to turn its back to the river like so many communities did, and it has made the communities so much moral livable -- much more livable. you can go outdoors and you can go out to the little shops and you can buy a doughnut, which i did, and so when you work at rei, you think about that.

putting an rei in pittsburgh was something like that, we put it in a complex and it turned it into a retail complex. it turned its face to the river and it put a bike path along the river. people would test out their bikes on that bike path. so you can learn a lot about the livability of a city on these rivers. these really help to define quality of life in these communities. it helps to distinguish one community from the other. but we all have a challenge. and that is that job and are growing up more disconnected from nature than ever before. the millennial generation, young adults, say age 18-33, they are a larger generation than the baby boom generation by more than 3 million, and they have grown up very scheduled and

trying to juggle school work with competition and organized youth sports that sometimes went year long, and video games which are a powerful draw, and very little time exploring the natural world on their own. parents were afraid. afraid of strangers. chastising other parents for letting their kids walk home from school alone. all of those things that many of us did and thought were normal, today's kids are not getting to do. get it is those kinds of activities that help to build creativity. build independence. although it is. -- build independence, build self-confidence. this is working with all of the bureaus of the department of interior to say, let's be part of the solution here. the first step is to let children play. how about that? [applause] let's let them play.

i was at a tribal school, i have been to a lot of native american schools here lately and we talk about reforming education, and i will get down with little kids and i say, what is your favorite part of school, and they inevitably say recess, but i understand because that was my favorite part too. when they are playing, they are playing in, i think, the finest classroom in the world, and that is the classroom that has no walls. that is mother nature. and of course that can be nurtured and supported by adults. adult like my colleagues and interpretive education at the national parks services or the wildlife management offices, or the teacher ranger program and taking skills learned as a ranger during the summer and taking it back into the classroom. so it is a place to learn.

let kids play. let them learn in the up doors. -- in the outdoors. when rei opened a store, we would go into a service project. when i was in pittsburgh and we got into kayaks and we floated on the river and paste garbage out of the river. on the martin luther king jr. holiday, we went down with 450 people, many of them young, many of them from the community near the anacostia river, and we picked up garbage and we made the community feel more safe. and it guarantee you that children felt a connection to that community that they had never felt before, and he felt a pride tour the community and had a different attitude toward themselves and cycling and open spaces and allow them to change that behavior in their friends.

some of them are going to want to work in jobs like mine and jobs like your parking racks -- your parks and rec folks. we need them. we need them at every level, i suspect, of government. 40% of my employees are eligible for retirement in five years. who will replace them? people are not clamoring to go work for the federal government, i can tell you that. we can say we have done a pretty good job of putting down federal employees, yet they are very good at what they do. the national league of cities promotes the nature project, so thanks so much, and thanks so much for working with the jbb project, because at a local level, that is the first experience to nature.

the president announced three weeks ago when he was in chicago announcing the pull the national monument that we were launching every kid in the park, and that was focusing on fourth-graders and giving every fourth graders and their family starting next school year a free pass to national parks and national lands that have a fee. we are going to blend that with the kind of program that you have and we will collectively get every kid in a park, because that will shape their lives in a really positive way, and it will shape the way they think about your community so they will choose to come back there and live as they go to school. so it is about partnerships in a time when there is not enough money to go around. how many of you have let you money for your parks and open spaces? [laughter] ok, i do feel a single hand. -- i don't see a single hand.

how many of you have had good experiences putting parks initiatives on your ballots? people love their parks and open spaces. so how do we get creative and smart about spending our money? last april, mayor becker who i will say early in his career was a park ranger at grand canyon national park, and yes, give him a hand for that. [applause] and the st. paul mayor at the time was the head of his organization chris:, who did his summers during college as a bartender and a waiter at glacier national park and grand teton national park, yes. [applause] so it is probably no coincidence that they are great partners for us and perhaps leading this organization as well because they care about these places,

these special places that make the united states stand out among countries around the world. if you have hiked in the alps there is no wildlife. you can did appear on the trail and maybe a fluffy bed -- you can get a beer on the trail, and maybe a fluffy bed, but there is no wildlife. but for us, the wildlife and the national spaces is our individuality and our commonality. so in the announcement in september with mayor becker and mayor:, we had -- mayor coleman we had neil nichols and we have been scheming with him for years because he was the head of ymca,

and he said that they had very few programs and 9 million people under the age of 18 involved in the ymca program doing camp programs, and 40,000 people that we employ in our camps, and over 500,000 volunteers that serve us every day. i thought, bingo, let's work together where we have cities that really want to support parks and open spaces, we have the ymca who can help harness volunteers and you've got the federal government and the department of interior in specific that has 20% of the land in the united states, so let's blend this together and see if we can make magic together so that is what we are doing. so we are launching later this week the beginning of a 50 cities campaign, which is taking a strong federal presence strong support from the local

community, and strong ymca leadership, and we are blending that with a -- with a financial contribution that we are announcing a later this week and we are going to be getting many, many more kids out in the spaces and playing in the parks. what i know we are going to do is we are going to learn. we are going to learn what works and our cities are going to teach us a what works and we are going to do a better job i working together. the national league of cities is going to be providing great technical assistance the ymca is going to be orchestrating a lot of these efforts, and we are out raising private money to do it, so we have support already for many of our programs to engage young people on services for public lands like american eagle outfitters, coca-cola camelback, north face, and another big announcement coming later this week, and the great thing is we don't have to do it all on a budget, we don't have

to do it all with their own employees, we can do it by working together in partnership. we can be so much together than we are a part. so i want to thank the leadership of the national league of cities. clarence, mayor becker mayor: -- mayor coleman, so let's give you guys around the plazas well. [applause] -- guys a round of applause as well. [applause] we want our young people to stay. we want our young people to come home. we want them to build careers and raise their families and have as much fun growing up as we did and we all have work to do that. but if we do it well, it will be the gift that keeps on giving because young people will have a connection for a place that will never leave them, committees will be more fun and more livable, and there will be an

environment that people will want to raise their families and that will hold upon itself. so i want to end by saying thank you for your leadership, thank you for standing up for the things that make your community more livable, and thank you for standing up against the big federal government bureaucracy in collaborating. thank you so much because we want to be your partner. thank you. [applause] >> secretary, thank you so much. you think about her job she is looking out for our kids and how we can connect in our communities to better our lives. we have one more special presentation to round out the afternoon. before going to that, i want to let you know what is in store for tomorrow. we will begin our day with two

sets of concurrent sessions, followed by a luncheon and general session. joining us will be julian castro, secretary of the department of housing and urban development, former mayor of san antonio. tom perez, secretary of department of labor, and if you have not had a chance to visit with him, you will really enjoy him every we will include a moderated discussion featuring donna brazil, ed gillespie, and one williams. please make sure you join us tomorrow. also we will hold a town hall session, real talk which will feature two different panels and focus on issues -- issues of leadership. then we will have a performance by capitol steps. so we will end on a fun note there. as most of you are aware by now,

we will be heading to nashville this november for the congress of cities. i am really looking forward to this and i know that all of you are as excited as i am to spend some time in the music city. here with us today to make a personal invitation to come to the conference in november is the national mayor, karl dean. mayor dean, come on up. [applause] >> thank you routh for that introduction. i also want to express my appreciation to clarence anthony and his outstanding staff and to all of you delegates. i want to thank you again for awarding nashville the big honor of hosting the congress of cities later this year. the llc has a great reputation for studying the conversation about how to link that our nation for stronger cities and communities. that role is clearly evident

today with president obama's participation in the discussion and his message to you all. we were fortunate to have the president visit nashville in december but he decided to highlight the importance of welcoming new americans into our society. he knew nashville was the right place to be. six years ago during the same week that the president was first inaugurated nashville was at a crossroads. a proposal to require our government to communicate in english only was on the ballot in a special referendum. this was a very poor idea, one that would have sent a terrible message to many of our citizens, people thinking about moving or visiting nashville, business owners and many people around the world. but nashville voters overwhelmingly defeated that proposal with 57% of the vote. [applause] since then our city has continued to show how much it

found his new americans and the diverse set of ideas and backgrounds they bring to the table. we were on and that president obama recognized and celebrated that fact. there are a lot of good reasons to come to nashville. it is a city with a very diverse economy, great universities. the reason people, is because it is music city. we have a tremendous music industry. nashville rights creates records and performs for the entire world. there are so many of the violent agreement -- ingredients to the success of the -- vital ingredients to the success of the industry. in my view the real magic is delivered by the songwriters. these are the people who are able to create songs to make us laugh, cry think, and dance. here are some important things for you to know about her city's songwriters. nashville is home to more songwriters than any city on the planet. it happened because the grand ole opry became very popular in

the 1940's. it was broadcast on the radio with a very powerful signal. people throughout the midwest and southeast have listened to the station every weekend and on the evening. if these guys were clear, people as far away as california could turn the dial on to ws him and lincoln to -- listen to the grand old opry. young and talented songwriters began migrating to the city. the industry began to grow larger and larger. the success of songwriters such as willie nelson, kris kristofferson, hank williams and others lord songwriters -- leeward songwriters to nashville. it's not just country music anymore. the national scene is very different with artists like the black keys, kings of leon,

top-selling gospel, christian bluegrass, and rock bands now calling nashville home. you have heard enough from me about nashville's music scene. i brought her friend with me who can show you what i mean. jimmy robbins moved to nashville from raleigh, north carolina in 2012 and has already written five number one hits, including songs for blake shelton, keith urban, and miranda lambert. he has won the top songwriting awards in the industry. nlc open registration today for november 4 through november 7. please show them why they need to come. [applause] >> he's right, nashville is a very special place. this is a good song for nashville because two of biggest stars we have came together and saying this song and it was a

big part of changing my life. this is called we were us and keith urban and miranda lambert sang this. ♪ ♪ ♪

♪

♪ [applause] >> thank you, guys. all right, i'm going to play one more song. i've played a bunch of songs that have been on the radio today. this is a song that has not been on the radio but will be on the radio this your area a band actually is recording this this

year. i have never played it before. ♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪

>> thank you, guys. [applause] >> all right, thank you, so much. mayor dean, thank you so much. thank you to all of you for being with us today, for joining us for what was an incredible opportunity for us to get exposed, be informed, be entertained. we will look forward to seeing you tomorrow, and we hope tomorrow is as good as today. thank you all so much.

[captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2015] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] >> the national league of cities finishing of the afternoon part of the conference. they heard from a number of members of the president's cabinet. president obama himself talk to the group this morning. he talked about jobs, the u.s. economy, and he used -- introduced a new initiative. this is 20 minutes. president obama: thank you! [applause] hello, mayors! everybody have a seat. thank you so much. thank you. thank you, mayor becker, for the wonderful introduction and the great job that you are doing every single day.

everybody have a seat. audience member: i love you! president obama: i love you, too. [applause] it is great to be with the national league of cities. we have about 2,000 local leaders here. we've got mayors, we've got councilmembers. we've got republicans, democrats, and independents. we've got some small town leaders, we've got some bustling city leaders. but you all have something in common, and that is that every day you wake up ready to solve problems, and you know that people are depending on you to make sure your streets are safe and your schools are strong, trash gets picked up, roads getting cleared.

you have to spend time thinking in in very practical terms about whether people are getting good jobs and whether they're able to support a family. so you don't have a lot of time for gridlock. you got to get the job done. you don't have a lot of time for hot air. [laughter] people are expecting you to deliver. and you're part of the reason why america is coming back. [applause] last month, our economy created nearly 300,000 new jobs. the unemployment rate ticked down to 5.5 percent, which is the lowest it's been since the spring of 2008. and all told, businesses have now created over 12 million jobs over the last five years -- 12 million.

[applause] and the good news is the pace has been picking up. our businesses have now added more than 200,000 jobs a month over the last year, and we have not seen a streak like that in almost 40 years. [applause] so we're well-positioned, we're in a good spot to take advantage of not just next year or the year after, but decades to come. and we've got to keep positioning ourselves for a constantly changing global economy. that's something all of you understand. it doesn't matter whether you're the mayor of a big city or a small town -- you understand that the economy is dynamic now, and you can't just stand still you can't rest on your laurels. and you also understand we've got to stay focused on

middle-class economics -- the notion that our country does best when everybody is getting a fair shot and everybody is doing their fair share, and everybody is playing by the same set of rules. and i have to say, the national league of cities has been a great partner in this work. a great partner. [applause] we've worked with many of you to lift the minimum wage while we're waiting for congress to do something. and over the past two years, more than 20 cities and counties have taken action to raise workers' wages. [applause] you've passed sick leave laws, you've answered the mayors' challenge to end veterans homelessness. [applause] nearly 200 leaders have stepped up to answer what we're calling my brother's keeper, the challenge to create more pathways to success for our young people.

some of you are supporting our efforts to secure new agreements for trade that's free and fair in some of the world's fastest-growing markets, because you know that there are businesses large and small in your communities that can be impacted, and we want to make sure our workers and our businesses can compete on a level playing field. [applause] so there's a lot of work we've done together and a lot more we can do together to make sure that more americans benefit from a 21st century economy. and nobody knows for sure which industries are going to be generating all the good-paying jobs of the future. what we do know is we want them here in america, and we want them in your town, we want them in your cities, we want them in your counties. [applause] that's what we know. so today, i want to focus on something very specific, and that is how can we work together

to build a pipeline of tech workers for this new economy. now, this doesn't just apply to san francisco. this doesn't just apply to boston. it applies across the board in every part of the country. right now, america has more job openings than at any point since 2001. so think of it -- that's good news, we've got a lot of job openings. here's the catch: over half a million of those jobs are technology jobs. a lot of those jobs didn't even exist 10, 20 years ago, titles like mobile app developer or userface designer. now, we tend to think that all these tech jobs are in silicon valley, at companies like google and ebay, or maybe in a few

spots like austin, texas, where you've seen a tech industry thrive. but the truth is, two-thirds of these jobs are in non-high-tech industries like health care, or manufacturing, or banking, which means they're in every corner of the country. see, there's no industry that hasn't been touched by this technology revolution. and what's more, a lot of these jobs don't require a four-year degree in computer science, they don't require you be an engineer. folks can get the skills they need for these jobs in newer streamlined, faster training programs. what's more, these tech jobs pay 50 percent more than the average private sector wage, which means

they're a ticket into the middle class. and you all know better than anybody, this is an economic development issue -- because when companies have job openings that they cannot fill, that costs them money. it costs them market share, it costs them exports. so they go looking for where they can find the people they need. and if we don't have them, that makes it harder for us to keep and attract good jobs to our shores or to your communities. when these jobs go unfilled, it's a missed opportunity for the workers, but it's also a missed opportunity for your city, your community, your county, your state, and our nation. and here's something else: if we're not producing enough tech workers, over time that's going to threaten our leadership and global innovation, which is the bread and butter of the 21st century economy.

america is where entrepreneurs come to start the greatest startups, where the most cutting-edge ideas are born and are launched. but, historically, that's because we've got great universities, we've got great research, and we've got great workers. and if we lose those assets, they'll start drifting somewhere else, companies will get started somewhere else, and the great new industries of the future may not be here in america. now, i refuse to accept that future. i want americans to win the race for the kinds of discoveries that release new jobs -- whether it's converting sunlight into liquid fuel, or leading a new era in personalized medicine, or pushing out into the solar system, not just to visit, but to stay. we've got just this incredible

set of opportunities, but we've got to have the workers for us to take advantage of it. so, today, i'm announcing a new initiative that we're calling techhire. [applause] and it's going to be driven by leaders like you. so there are three big components to this. first, we already have over 20 cities, states, and rural communities, from louisville to delaware, who have signed on to fill tech openings -- they've already got more than 120,000 of them -- in bold new ways. let me give you an example. employers tend to recruit people with technology degrees from four-year colleges, and that means sometimes they end up screening out good candidates

who don't necessarily have traditional qualifications they may have learned at a community college or they may have served in our military. they've got the talent but employers are missing them. so techhire communities are going to help employers link up and find and hire folks based on their actual skills and not just their résumés. [applause] because it turns out, it doesn't matter where you learned code, it just matters how good you are in writing code. if you can do the job, you should get the job. [applause] and while four-year degrees in engineering and computer science are still important, we have the opportunity to promote programs that we call, for example, coding boot camp -- or online courses that have pioneered new ways to teach tech skills in a fraction of the time and the costs. and these new models have the potential to reach underserved

communities, to reach women, who are still underrepresented in this factor; and minorities, who are still underrepresented in this sector; and veterans, who we know can do the job; and lower-income workers, who might have the aptitude for tech jobs but they don't know that these jobs are within reach. understand, within the tech sector, there are going to be tiers of jobs, all of which are tech but they're not all the same. there's still going to be the place -- we still have to produce more engineers and advanced degrees in computer science at the upper tier, but there's all kinds of stuff that's being done within companies at different sectors that can create great careers for a long of people. and so what techhire is going to do is to help local leaders connect the job openings to the training programs to the jobs.

and if you're not already involved in this, you've got to get involved, because your community needs this just like everybody else does. so that's the first component. the second thing we're doing -- we've got private-sector leaders who are supporting everything from scholarships to job-matching tools. so companies like linkedin are going to use data to help identify the skills that employers need. companies like capital one are going to help recruit, train and employ more new tech workers -- not out of charity, but because it's a smart business decision. all of this is going to help us to match the job to the work. and the private sector will be involved in this out of self-interest, but it means that you, the leaders at the local level, are going to have to help create these platforms and facilitate this kind of job match. finally, we're launching a $100 million competition for

innovative ideas to train and employ people who are underrepresented in tech. [applause] at a time when we all lead digital lives, anybody who has the drive and the will to get into this field should have a way to do so, a pathway to do so. so my administration is committed to this initiative. we've got a lot of private and non-profit sectors leading the way. we want to get more onboard. but ultimately, success is going to rest on folks like you -- on mayors, councilmembers, local leaders -- because you've got the power to bring your communities together and seize this incredible economic development opportunity that could change the way we think about training and hiring the workers of tomorrow. and the good news is these workers may emerge from the unlikeliest places. so let me wrap up with just the

example of one person, a woman named lashana lewis. where's lashana? she's here today. i hear she was here. there she is over there. there's lashana. [applause] now, the reason lashana's story is so relevant is lashana grew up in east st. louis. she had a passion for computers. but because of circumstances constraints, she wasn't born with a silver spoon in her mouth. she wasn't able to get a college degree, and because she didn't have a college degree, she couldn't even get an interview for a tech job, despite her coding skills. so she was working as a bus driver, and she was working in entry-level jobs. but lashana apparently is a stubborn person -- (laughter) -- which is good.

sometimes you need to be stubborn. [applause] so she refused to give up on her dream, and she used her free time to teach herself new computer skills. and she started going to a coding “meetup” that was run by launchcode, which is a non-for-profit that finds talented people across st. louis and gives them the training and credibility for the tech jobs employers are desperately needing to fill as we speak. so lashana had the skills. launchcode went to bat for her. and today, she's a systems engineer at mastercard. [applause] now, lashana -- it's a great story, but understand this -- mastercard wants to hire more folks like lashana.

moreover, 40 percent of launchcode's first class came in unemployed. ninety percent of its graduates were hired full time, with an average starting salary of $50,000 a year. [applause] so that's what's already happening, but it's happening at a small scale. and what we need to do is expand it. and in each of your communities, there is an opportunity to find talent like lashana, help them get credentialed, help them focus the skills they've already got, work with non-for-profits work with businesses, match them up. next thing you know, you've got a systems engineer, they've got a good job. companies are excited, they're able to expand.

your tax base is improving. you can reach out and train even more folks. you get on a virtuous cycle of change. and it doesn't require huge amounts of money. it requires some planning and organization, and coordination in the federal government is going to be your partner in this process. so we've got to create more stories like lashana's. [applause] and if we do, then we are going to more effectively capture what is the boundless energy and talent of americans who have the will, but sometimes need a little help clearing out the way. help them get on a path to fill the new jobs of this new century. and that's what middle-class economics looks like. i said this weekend that americans don't believe in

anybody getting a free ride, and americans don't believe in equality of outcomes. we understand that we've got to work hard in this country. you don't just sit around waiting for something to happen, you've got to go get it. [applause] but we do believe in equal opportunity. we do believe in expanding opportunity to everybody who's willing to work hard. we do believe that, in this country, no matter what you look like or where you come from, how you started out, if you're willing to put in some blood and sweat and tears, you should be able to make it, and get a decent job, and get a decent wage, and send your kids to college, and retire with dignity and respect, and have health care you can count on, and have a safe community. [applause] we do believe that. and that's what i'm committed to doing these last two years. and i'm going to need the league

of cities to help me do it -- work with you to build an economy where everybody shares in america's prosperity, and everybody is contributing to america's prosperity. [applause] thank you very much, everybody. god bless you. [applause] ♪ >> also today in washington vermont independent senator bernie sanders spoke at the national press club, talking about the decline of the middle class.

he answered a few questions about a possible 2016 run for the white house you can see his comments tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern, here on c-span. tonight on the communicators the founder and ceo of media communications corporation on the challenges facing media companies and the fallout from the latest fcc decision affecting the internet. >> i have no doubt it will increase rates to consumers. there going to impose regulatory fees, taxes at the local level i think utilities they are going to get into the act. i have not found one government that does not want to raise more money and this will give an opportunity to raise more money. >> tonight at 8:00 stir on c-span2.

>> tomorrow on washington journal, matthew lee of the associated press discusses the ongoing negotiations over iran's nuclear program. in christy lenard of the coalition for public safety looks at what is being done to reduce the number of u.s. incarcerations. then, jobs in the oil, gas, and coal mining industries and how they affect falling u.s. crude prices. washington journal, live tuesday and every day at 7:00 am eastern, here on c-span. china's foreign minister held a news conference yesterday in beijing during the 12 annual national people's congress. he answered a range of questions . at the top of his remarks, he outlined the foreign-policy priorities of 2015 and acknowledged the one-year anniversary of the disappearance of malaysian airlines 370.

>> friends from the press, good morning. today is the international women's day. i wish to extend send -- sincere greetings to all chinese women who show understanding for and support china's diplomacy. on this day year ago the 370 flight went missing. a year has passed and the plane has not yet been located but the search efforts will continue. today must be a tough day for the next of kin of those on board. our hearts are with you. malaysia airlines has started its compensation work. we will provide service to every next of kin and help you uphold your legitimate interest. now would like to open the floor to questions.

[speaking foreign language] >> mr. minister, you once said that 2014 was the year of all-out progress in china's diplomacy. could you elaborate on that, and what can we expect from china's diplomacy in 2015? what are the keywords we need to watch?

[speaking foreign language]

[speaking foreign language] >> indeed, 2014 was a your harvest for china's diplomacy. it was also year of forging ahead and breaking new ground. under the leadership of the cbc committee we successfully hosted a summit and the aipac meeting in aging and left a deep imprint of our own on their history. we took an active part in the resolution of global hotspot issues and play china's role in

international and regional affairs. we make energetic efforts to expand external cooperation and our initiative to establish a 21st century maritime code while -- with support from a lot of countries. it is particularly worth mentioning that in 2014 we focused on building a new type of international relations. we are taking a new of external relations characterized by partnership alliance. by the end of last year, we had established different forms of partnerships with over 70 countries and the number of regional organizations. and basically established a global network of partnerships. so one can say that china's circle of friends and partners has widened and will continue to

expand. [speaking foreign language] question 2015, we will continue to forge ahead and continue to expand all around diplomacy while steadfastly safeguarding our national interest. we will work to expand the interests that we have in common with other countries in the world. the keyword of china's diplomacy in 2015 will be one focus and two main things.

[speaking foreign language] >> our key focus in 2015 will be making all around progress in the initiative.

we will expand the convergence of our shared interest and explore effective avenues of corporations. the emphasis will be on promoting inter-structural connectivity and building overland economic core doors. we will promote people to people and cultural exchanges and cooperation and speed up relevant fta negotiations. we are confident that the initiative will win even more support and deliver even more early harvest. so as to catalyze the revitalization of the eurasian continent as a whole. [speaking foreign language]

>> and 2015, we will do a lot under the two themes of peace and development. we will work with the international community to commemorate the 70 at anniversary of the end of the world antifascist war, to draw lessons from history, look to

the future and make china a stronghold for peace. the 70th anniversary of the founding of the united nations this year will be a good opportunity for us to take an active part in the u.n. summit and international corporation -- cooperation on climate change. we will play a constructive role in helping to secure a post 2015 development agenda and a new international regime for addressing climate change that are in the interest of the developing countries. thank you.

[speaking foreign language] >> beijing used, in recent years, more and more chinese citizens make outbound visits and we see a good example of that in the just passed chinese new year. what will the chinese foreign ministry do to facilitate the outbound visits of chinese citizens and protect their legitimate rights and interests overseas? [speaking foreign language]

>> this is a very good question, and i think many journalists may be interested in knowing the answer. last year, for the first time, chinese citizens made more than 100 million visits abroad, making them the largest floating population in the world. there are also more than 20,000

chinese enterprises who have established a presence of broad and millions of our compatriots are working and living in different parts of the world. so that task and responsibility of protecting their rights is heavier than ever. we are always concerned with the safety and well-being of every one of our compatriots and we will do everything in our power to protect and assist them. [speaking foreign language]

>> last year, the chinese foreign minister is global emergency call center for consular protection set up a hotline. the hotline is a 24/7 all time zone communication between

overseas chinese nationals and their loved ones back in china. no matter which part of the world you are in, if you run into trouble, you can dial this number and get prompt assistance from the foreign ministry and our diplomatic and consular missions abroad. in the half year since the launch of the hotline, we have received over 30,000 phone calls. many of our compatriots say the hotline is very reassuring for them, because they can feel that the motherland is always by their side. we hope more of our compatriots can know about this hotline and make good use of it. when in trouble, please call 1 2308. [speaking foreign language]

>> in 2014, we also made important progress in these of facilitation. we signed visa simplification agreements with another 24

countries, equal to the total of the previous four years. nowadays, chinese citizens can visit more than 50 countries or territories without a visa or by obtaining a visa upon arrival. you may all remember the reciprocal visa arrangements announced by china and the united states last year. it means that if a chinese are american person has a visa, then for up to five or even 10 years, he or she can travel easily between the two shores of the pacific ocean with just a passport and in -- and eight ticket. with a validity period of up to 10 years. that agreement will go into effect tomorrow.

[speaking foreign language] >> the effort to protect and assist overseas chinese is always a work in progress. it is never a mission accomplished. wherever there is a chinese footprint, consular service must step up and cover that place. we will continue to work hard to include the value of chinese

passports to let our compatriots more directly feel the dignity of being a chinese and will find it easier to travel abroad. we hope more and more of our countrymen can go abroad at any time they wish and that they can have smooth, safe, and worry free travel.

>> some people have compared china's road initiative to the marshall plan, and they say that china is trying to pursue geopolitical military, and security interests. what is your comment?

>> china's road initiative is both much older and much younger than the marshall plan. comparing one to the other would be like comparing apples and oranges. the belt and road initiative is older because it has embodied the spirit of the ancient road which has a history of over 2000 years and was used by the peoples of many countries for friendly exchange and commerce. we must renew that spirit and bring it up to date. the belt and road initiative is younger because it was born in

the age of globalization. it is a product of inclusive cooperation, not a tool of geopolitics, and must not be viewed with the outdated postwar mentality. [speaking foreign language]

>> we are advancing the belgian road initiative. we will act according to the principal of consultation, joint contribution and shared benefit. we will carry out equal footage consultation, and respect the independent choice of other countries. we will be sensitive to the comfort level of other parties ensure transparency and openness, align the initiative with the development strategies of other participants and create synergy with the existing regional cooperation mechanisms. the vision of this initiative is common development and the dole goal is win-win progress through cooperation. if i may use a musical metaphor, it is not just china's solo but

a symphony performed by all relevant countries. [speaking foreign language] >> russia today, and ria, against the background of western sanctions on russia and the sharp depreciation of the ruble, how will china carry