documentary competition that encourages middle and high school students to think critically about issues that affect the nation. students were asked to create their documentary based on the theme "the three branches and you" to demonstrate how a policy or law has affected them or their community. justice best is one of our second prize winners. her entry focused on animal conservation. >> it affects us all. we are all going to be affected by this. we live in a beautiful state like nevada. the health of our state is the health of our land. if our land is not healthy, how can we as a people be healthy? it impacts us all, the actual

health of our wildlife population and these ecosystems. >> to many, the endangered species at is an excellent act but is that going to be what is best? that is what we set out to discover. >> the greater sage grouse is another declaring species. a century ago, there were over 16 million of these birds. today, there are fewer than 200,000. the number continues to drop. >> the current situation with the sage grouse, the numbers for the bird are down to about 5000. the amount of habitats have been reduced by half since the early 1900s due to development ranching wildfires, invasive species. they thrive in the sagebrush

habitat and only have half of what they originally had. they have enlisted on the threatened species list. last case scenario is they will be placed on the endangered species list. if that happens, that could harm the economy in nevada. >> wildfires or invasive species. >> wildfire is number one, which is driven by an increase of -- invasive grass. >> based on the sage grouse needs, many believe lacing it on the endangered species list may hinder its recovery. there are still those that advocate for its listing. >> one way it might help is it will bring it more into the spotlight for the general public. people tend to pay more attention when a species is imperiled and it is obvious, it

is listed. that might generate more conservation activities. >> if the bird is listed, the bureau of land management will have to do consults with the u.s. fish and wildlife service on any management activities that occur within areas determined to be sage grouse habitat, which is a large percentage of northern nevada. this will slow down the process of doing habitat restoration. it will also slow down the process of doing any other type of activity such as grazing mining etc., on the lands managed by b.l.m. there are conflicting opinions on whether or not this will help the bird or hampered the bird -- hamper the bird because it will slow down the process of restoration. >> i think looking at a species a single species, i think the worst and we can do for sage grouse is to list it under the

endangered species act. in the 11 western states that sage grouse is in, in the last four or five years, there has been an unprecedented amount of cooperative conservation happening across the board between federal agencies, private landowners, state agencies and there is huge momentum built up. my fear for the wildlife populations in general is a listing of the sage grouse as endangered will set that conservation a generation, maybe two generations. we have made such great strides in learning how to get along, communicate, and work cooperatively.

i would hate to see that lost. >> the species is now the focus of unprecedented conservation efforts to turn its status around and prevent it from being listed under the u.s. endangered species act with the next three years. the usda's conservation arm has spent over $100 million to conserve this species. >> i think you need to establish some habitat zones. that is the problem. the problem is finding the money to do it. we have the nature conservancy. they have rehabilitation projects that would be designed to prevent wildfires to restore areas that have been burned, and protect some areas. statute -- especially areas where nothing is going on, no mining and grazing, to protect those areas. >> the number one problem we

have with the systems is they are surrounded by the pionion and juniper trees that have encroached. i believe we could have a larger impact by removing the trees around the wet meadow systems and reducing the impact creditors would have on these hens and improving the meadows to produce more food for the hens. >> we all work together. we communicate could we collaborate. we don't set distinct boundaries. we each help each other out to do multiple conservation projects for the sage grouse. i have worked with other species that have been in decline. i have never seen this kind of collaboration i see with the sage grouse, so i think it is a really positive thing. i think it is something that needs to continue no matter what

the listing decision ends up being. if that happens i think that is good news for the sage grouse. >> there are currently huge conservation efforts being made to preserve the greater sage grouse species. if listed on the endangered species list, these efforts may be halted or stopped completely. the people and economy of nevada will be impacted greatly. >> it will end up on the list if we don't do something. >> watch all of the winning videos and learn more about the competition. also, tell us what you think about the issue this student addressed in their documentary on facebook and twitter. >> in the weekly address president obama talks about the recently announced agreement on iran's nuclear program. the republican response is by senator burr. he talks about the growing

threats to cybersecurity. president obama: this week together with our allies and partners, we reached an historic understanding with iran, which if fully implemented, will prevent it from obtaining a nuclear weapon and make our country, our allies, and our world safer. this framework is the result of tough, principled diplomacy. it's a good deal -- a deal that meets our core objectives, including strict limitations on iran's program and cutting off every pathway that iran could take to develop a nuclear weapon. this deal denies iran the plutonium necessary to build a bomb. it shuts down iran's path to a bomb using enriched uranium. iran has agreed that it will not stockpile the materials needed to build a weapon. moreover, international inspectors will have unprecedented access to iran's nuclear program because iran will face more inspections than any other country in the world. if iran cheats, the world will know it.

if we see something suspicious we will inspect it. so this deal is not based on trust, it's based on unprecedented verification. and this is a long-term deal with strict limits on iran's program for more than a decade and unprecedented transparency measures that will last for 20 years or more. and as a member of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, iran will never be permitted to develop a nuclear weapon. in return for iran's actions, the international community, including the united states, has agreed to provide iran with phased relief from certain sanctions. if iran violates the deal, sanctions can be snapped back into place. meanwhile, other american sanctions on iran for its support of terrorism, its human rights abuses, its ballistic missile program, all will continue to be enforced. as i said this week, many key details will need to be finalized over the next three months, and nothing is agreed to until everything is agreed. and if there is backsliding,

there will be no deal. here in the united states, i expect a robust debate. we'll keep congress and the american people fully briefed on the substance of the deal. as we engage in this debate, let's remember -- we really only have three options for dealing with iran's nuclear program -- bombing iran's nuclear facilities -- which will only set its program back a few years -- while starting another war in the middle east -- abandoning negotiations and hoping for the best with sanctions -- even though that's always led to iran making more progress in its nuclear program -- or a robust and verifiable deal like this one that peacefully prevents iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. as president and commander in chief, i firmly believe that the diplomatic option -- a comprehensive, long-term deal like this -- is by far the best option. for the united states. for our allies. and for the world. our work -- this deal -- is not yet done.

diplomacy is painstaking work. success is not guaranteed. but today we have an historic opportunity to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons in iran, and to do so peacefully, with the international community firmly behind us. and this will be our work in the days and months ahead in keeping with the best traditions of american leadership. senator burr: hello, i'm senator richard burr from the great state of north carolina and i'm honored to chair the senate select committee on intelligence. as i'm sure you've noticed over the last year, your personal data has come under increasing threat from a range of cyber attackers, from sophisticated hackers and organized criminals to agents of foreign powers. it could even be all three. in the last year, companies like target, sony, jp morgan and anthem blue cross blue shield have been hacked, leaving millions of customers' personal and financial information vulnerable. maybe even yours. this means that data about your

life and your family could be out in the open. cyber attackers, often in other countries, are cracking into the vaults of our companies and our government. they're stealing your personal information as well as the intellectual property that makes our economy the most creative and vibrant in the world. when asked why he robbed banks willie sutton simply said "because that's where the money is." in the same way, cyber-criminals and our foreign adversaries are probing our computer systems and stealing our data. as a result, your social security number, addresses, date of birth, financial information, family history and more is available to hackers. many estimate the direct financial loss and theft of intellectual property costs our economy hundreds of billions of dollars every year. but it doesn't have to be this way. there are steps congress can take to help both government and the private sector understand these attacks better, and warn each other about them.

that's just what my colleagues and i have worked to do on the intelligence committee. over the last several years, we have listened with increasing alarm to the testimony of senior intelligence officials and private sector experts about the growing cybersecurity threat to our nation. as criminals and other adversaries grow more capable, our nation becomes more vulnerable to cyber-attacks every day. our biggest cyber weakness is that our citizens and private entities don't have accurate or real-time insight into the damage that's caused by cyber-attacks. today, i want to propose a first step in addressing this growing problem. the bipartisan cybersecurity information sharing act of 2015 is sponsored with me by dianne feinstein and senator john mccain. it creates a cybersecurity information sharing environment that works much like a "neighborhood watch" program -- allowing all participants to get

a better understanding of the current cybersecurity threats that may be used against them. and while we're ultimately trying to keep your information private let's also talked about how we will keep your information secure. let's also talk about how this bill is going to ensure that's the case on the government's end as well. information sharing's covered by the bill and its 100-percent voluntary. no one is forced to share information in any way. the bill requires that a company removes private data before sharing anything with the government. no company is allowed to share data unless it is directly related to the cyber-attack itself. after hundreds of calls with the government, and business immunity and civil liberties , groups, i am confident that senator feinstein, senator mccain, and i have put together a balanced approach that will