gness to kill millions of people and that's not a road i want to go down if there are policies which we can apply now to never have to get to that point. >> agreed. i would just add that the united states intelligence community does not have a great record on predicting or knowing ahead of time when a country is going nuclear. i can mention the soviet union and its time china, pakistan et cetera. so given all of the input that iran has had in the regime has had for all of these years from north korea, pakistan, russia china in the technical assistance and all kinds of expert assistance and so forth it's inconceivable to me that they do not already have at least warheads. again go back to the joint venture with north korea and the exchange in the presence of their officials in each other's

country at test sites and so forth. north korea is as far advanced as we do know that it is another failure of deterrence or containment and that iran does not have or is using north korea to test nuclear components or warheads for it. when iran finally decides to demonstrate its nuclear capability, whether it's out in the desert like the pakistanis and the indians did underground just a demonstration of we have this, or a mushroom cloud over tel aviv or something over kansas, it's a game changer and it's too kansas, it's a game changer and it's too late by that point. michael is absolutely right, we have to be ready now. we have to be ready to take steps that ensure this regime in

iran never has the most dangerous weapons. the only way to do that is to change the regime. currently we do not at the senior national leadership, no we do not. >> can i just throw my 2 cents in? if you come to the conclusion that we are where we are when i can stop this deal and iran is getting nukes and other countries are getting nukes, you have to think about it in a different way. i think about economic warfare. we have the ability to conduct economic warfare with these countries especially with energy independence. if you have have, throughout the middle east, all those countries have populations were 75 or 80% is under 30 years old 30 years old and doesn't have jobs. that's a revolution. if you could get those countries to the point where there economies are so stretched that they have to worry more about their own people, keeping their own, though be less worried

about the others. if you others. if you look at adversaries in the region, if they are going to get ballistic missiles that could reach the united states we need to have an adequate and central role best defense system. we need intelligence. if this is a world where they're going to be nuclear weapons in the middle east, we need to have a robust intelligence. we need to know who's doing what and who's coming here and we've been so by political corrections in this and we've been scared to do that. regime change does not mean war. the best means when you move things around when the people in that country decide they've had enough and they change the regime. any other regime change doesn't work. i think there are options that

we have but we would have to count on the national leadership to do that and hopefully it happens before summary set something off. >> placing things in a broader historic context, jfk and the joint chiefs of staff staff recommended an attack and he walked out of the room and said and we call ourselves the human race. shouldn't be working toward global nuclear disarmament against everyone. >> were going the other direction. i vote that iran goes first. >> if iran gets weapons but were going in a different direction.

>> first of all i'd like to strongly commend the most beautiful description of what this nation is facing and how little the american public appreciate what she does said and how little the american public really understands the nature of the threat. throughout all of this is one thing just touched upon that should be explored even more and that's the islamic ideology that is motivating what iran is doing. not only the history of iran as a persian nation and some concept to reestablish it, the battle with ices, the attempt to take over a rock and to expand this ideology regarding the return.

i think we make a huge mistake if we really think that once they do get one and it looks like they will, they will not use it. if we think containment will work at that point, forget it. they have said they would welcome death and destruction. yet we don't pay enough attention to the motivating factors of islamic ideology. above all of this we are in tremendous danger because of this. >> i think we all agree. you said it best. thank you. >> very well said. >> are there any women in this group who want to ask questions?

>> i'm john from the retired air force. why do we keep hiding behind the nuclear delivery system as being one of the components of our ability to protect ourselves right now. given the fact that we have tons of illegal drugs coming across the border every day and i can drive them all the way to des moines with no trouble or inspection, why wouldn't i put it in a container. fifty years ago we had gis driving around our country of west germany with a nuke called the davy crockett and they treated it like a hand grenade. the delivery system is not necessarily going to be a missile but containers, cars trucks etc. >> if i may just ask and answer, i answer, i agree with you. one of the problems we have in counterterrorism at-large's were always trying to defend against the last attack rather than recognizing that new attacks come in different ways that exploit different vulnerabilities.

>> i wanted to ask you about cyber warfare. i think that is a primary element of the future. it seems so disparately distributed through our national defense establishment at this point in time. there are pieces all over. what strategies would you recommend with regard to aligning and organizing ourselves more effectively in that regard? you are absolutely right that the cyber threats and cyber warfare is one of the most serious threats facing this country. as you may know, just last year in november 2014, an american company published a report called operation cleaver. they had been investigation

investigating the iranian capability through cyber warfare to access and manipulate and attack critical infrastructure in 16 countries including our own canada, australia western european countries, israel, et cetera. they prematurely publish the report because they were so alarmed by what they found that they thought they couldn't sit on the results any longer and they put out most of the report devoted to the code to show people so they could take defensive measures but the iranians have the capability already to be inside of our critical infrastructure and to manipulate and attack that. it's an extremely serious threat. i talk about the threat that could take down our electric grid, lack of cyber cystic security is another big part of

that. that could also take down our electric grid and send us back overnight to little house on the prairie days minus the farm, the cow the chicken and any idea farm, the cow the chicken and any idea with what to do with what we have. when we think of cyber anything, the iranians were there too. >> if you want to look more in the english iranian news with regard to what they are planning to cyber and how they are exercising the capability, the unit that they guard for which is in charge of this capability is called the passive defense organization. if you google cyber warfare unit, you won't get it. if you google passive defense organization you will get it and you need to note the obvious there's already a unit within the islamic organization that is dedicated to this. >> the gentleman whose hand is up. >> i'm johnny long.

we need to get our relationship back for this country is in for a fall. i believe that with all my heart. i think i've been communicating with you in e-mail. >> the question was about israel and are we abandoning israel and what should we do? >> i would just point out, i agree with you. when we go back to the korean war, one of the reasons why north korea decided and believed they could get away with invading south korea is within

the truman administration there was an outline of what our defense perimeter would be. we excluded south korea from that and that only brought aggression. in the big picture i worry about israel but i also worry around the lope with regards to this. one of the other issues and going to throw out just very briefly, briefly, since i have the floor, when it comes to the snow deal versus bad deal dichotomy with which so often we hear in the news, one of the problems is it seems increasingly that the obama administration is really playing russian roulette with congress. you have to accept this or else it's going to be even worse. the key to successful diplomacy and successful plum policy is leverage. hillary clinton when she became secretary of state said if you don't talk to you to your enemies, who will you talk to. she pointed out that ronald

reagan's sat down with gorbachev but what she admitted to say was that came after five years of leverage so you could get a victory at the diplomatic table. unfortunately we've taken our eyes off the prize with regard to that and ultimately the chickens are coming home to roost. >> the lady with the bangs. >> then i think we have two more questions after that and we need to sum up. >> i'm with the heritage foundation as an intern. i have a question. looking forward at the relation ship, what new threats are we looking at should these nuclear capabilities be passed along to these types of organizations and how is the u.s. foreign-policy going to have to adapt to those changes? >> the question is would ran

past the lawn if it got these weapons to terrorist organizations. iran's preferred method is to operate via proxies, in particular has below which has an extensive network of operation all over the americas, the porter of north central and south. in terms of a nuclear capability, i do not think the iranians would pass that capability to hezbollah. they've passed an awful lot of everything else, missile capabilities and chemical biological capabilities to hezbollah. i think this is a nationstate capability and rather iran would use it if they didn't launch

upon acquisition essentially, if they did not do that, they would use their nuclear capability for blackmail and insurance purposes. in other words to blackmail the region around them into kowtowing to their agenda so they could more aggressively deploy their proxies or their partners, terrorist partners like al qaeda, into activities around the world with the umbrella of the insurance policy of a nuclear capability. a nuclear capability. i see it kind of that way that they would be more aggressive to deploying, feeling free to deploy and send out there terror proxies because they would feel protected by this nuclear umbrella. >> we have time for two more questions. the gentleman in the blue shirt. >> robert whelen, is there anything congress can do to

either stay or contain the lifting of sanctions,. >> congress ultimately if they're willing to put their next out on the line control the purse strings and that gives them a great deal of leverage. when it comes to the existing sanctions, sanctions, there's two problems. i'm saying this as an analyst, not as an advocate. number one, some of the most biting sanctions going back to the clinton administration in 1995 and 1996 were executive orders. that's number one. executive orders can be changed and can be waived. number two, it's been traditional in congress to provide waivers to the white house so that the president would be able to waive certain elements of sanctions. i'm not sure they ever expected that they would have a

commander-in-chief who would become so disassociated from the national security protection of the united states that he would waive those willy-nilly. ultimately that is willy-nilly. ultimately that is what we are seeing. ultimately the question is what lessons learned will congress have so when new sanctions are put in place at such waivers aren't there. the last quick point i would mate is just the irony that the sanctions which president obama and the statehouse now praise and now seek to take credit for they opposed and the congress had passed 100 to zero over their opposition. >> we have time for one more question. the gentleman the back. >> hi my name is constantin and i study political science. i think one of the key questions

that i'm interested in is what is the iranian state right now? are they had a crossroads? are crossroads? are they republic trying to go onto the world stage and into legitimate talks? connected to that i think both of you said you're open to diplomacy with iran and this deal. what specific criteria would have to be in a a deal for it to be a good deal? >> number one, and this also picked up on what he said, there is a naïve belief in the iranian system. if you wanna analyze the power structure with greater decision, you're not going to have a regime change led by the iranian people until the islamic guard fractures. one of our big intelligence holds as we do not have good insight into the factional station within the islamic

group. 75% of iranians may not care for the rule that was ushered in but again it's the guys with the guns that matter and so that's where our our focus needs to be. any regime change be. any regime change isn't going to be us-led. the way i would put it is instead of the intelligence community spending $20 billion trying to figure out ahead of time who that chinese guy was in the square standing in front of the line of tanks, what's more important is to enable a template so someone feels they can stand up and step in front of the line of tanks. when it comes to what would be in the deal when you teach military strategy, and this is the waves taught in the u.s. military academies they talk about a diamond paradigm where every strategy should have a diplomatic, and informational

military and economic strategy to it. the whole is actually greater than the sum of the parts. after the last five years ago we have started sequencing are strategies where we tried diplomacy first, if that doesn't work then economic stations, stations, if that doesn't work then military strategies which by the way, don't simply mean bombing as a last resort. it's important to go back and see what has worked with regard to leverage and for this we can look at 2003 with qaddafi coming in from the pole or we can look at the ronald reagan era. this is a whole history center if you want to have it and it's a cheap advertisement that we talk a great deal about with american diplomacy going back 60 years of terrorist groups. >> would like to recommend to you a series of nine points drawn up by my colleague at the center for security policy.

he drafted a set of nine points that should be our redline absolutely, must be included for any deal to be considered a good deal. no enrichment. all sites open to inspection. i'm not going to remember all on nine of them but let's see how many i can remember. the enrichment must be a halted completely and the stockpiles must be destroyed or verifiably destroyed or taken out of the country's. missiles have to be on the table. american hostages have to be released. iran must give up their support for terrorism. i forgotten at least one but center for security nine points.

>> i like to take the opportunity to make my concluding remarks. i remarks. i think from what everybody said, there are couple of things. when these negotiations started out a a year and a half ago, it sounded pretty good. we would lift sanctions and return they would dismantle or rollback its nuclear program. as a result of that rolling back there nuclear program, nuclear arms race would be averted. this deal doesn't do that. we have not gotten to the point where the president has said no deal is better than a bad a bad deal and he is now to the point where any deal would be fine. the way they presented is this is a a strong argument, it's either this deal or war. one who wants war? so everyone is then forced into the position of saying okay, not a perfect deal and maybe this okay, not a perfect deal and maybe this isn't okay but it's a deal.

what everybody seems to be saying, if i can summarize is that there is another option. it's not no deal or war. there is a third option and that war. there is a third option and that is regime change, after economic pressure and all the other things we have used previously in our history with great effects particularly in the reagan administration. the other point to make is what's being perceived in the region is that the united states is choosing side. there is a growing conflict between the shiite and the sunnis. they said it would burn itself out ultimately but it will be very bloody in between. looks like the between. looks like the united states is playing sides in the cyber choosing is a ron. the deal with iran, iran is not dismantling its nuclear weapons. as not being asked to stop support for terrorism. it is being rewarded with a signing bonus of a hundred or hundred and $20 billion on day one as assets are unfrozen.

it means the islamic economy will boom. it will be like the california gold rush as companies and companies rush to do business in iran. they are getting nuclear weapons, they will have an economic boom in the region and the other countries in the region aren't buying this. they will embark on their own nuclear program. it is program. it is a region where money will be no object. they can buy the programs. when that starts happening which we fill will be in the next several years, you will see nuclear weapons introduced into the most dangerous and unstable part of the world. a part of the world where people shouldn't even be allowed to play with matches and i'll now have nuclear weapons. it we've also seen in the last 18 months governments long time governments can fall overnight. overnight. what takes their place is not

freedom and democracy and human rights. what takes their place is g heidi chaos. we could potentially be looking at the nightmare scenario that people like me have studied and written about and dealt with nuclear weapons my hope career. it's a nightmare of nuclear weapons in the hands of crazy people who want to use them. throughout the cold war, the soviet union did not want to die in nuclear compensation. we are now up against an adversary who has pointed out is happy happy, willing and eager to destroy themselves as long as they can take others with them. our conclusion in all of this and i think this, and i think i can speak for everyone, is we find this agreement to be unverifiable unenforceable, and probably, to your point, unconstitutional. the argument that no deal is better than a bad deal, a bad deal, we have now gotten to a point where this is a very bad

deal. we all would encourage members of congress, members of the international community in the united states intelligence to stand up and stop this. this is a deal were not only iran gets nuclear weapons but other countries in the region gets nuclear weapons. once that starts happening is not a matter of nuclear weapons being in the hands of people who overthrow their government. i've been impressed by the quality of this audience. we've all listen to a lot audience. we've all listen to a lot of congressional hearings and the questions to the congressmen and the aides to the congressman, the questions that you've asked are really profound. you've gone to all aspects of this issue and i think they speak to the great common sense and intelligence of the american people or at least people who come to the

>> will talk with michael buckle about political advertising for the year before election day. less a conversation on beef, pork and poultry sold the united states. life on sebring on 7:00 a.m. eastern. -- c-span at 7:00 a.m. eastern. here are some of our featured programs this weekend. the supreme court justice ruth bader ginsburg on race relations in america and the production of a new movie about her life and career. on sunday night, a profile

interview with ted cruz. on book tv, this morning at a :00 a.m. eastern we are alive for the roosevelt reading festival at the er presidential library and museum. -- fdr presidential library and museum. and how books help our morale. on afterwards, the sexual revolution in the middle east. c-span3, we are live from lincoln or college civil war institute for their summer conference . saintsunday morning we

continue with the summer conference with history professors. get our complete schedule and c-span.org. >> this weekend the c-span cities to our partners with comcast to learn about the history and literary life of key west, florida. ernest anyway wrote several of his novels of this home. >> he bought it for $8,000, and pauline converted this hayloft into his first formal running studio. he followed love with fishing, the clarity of his writing, how fast he was producing the work. he knocked out the first rough draft when he moved here.

when you really want to write to start with one true sentence. >> each book should be a new beginning where he tries again for something attainment. he should always strive for something that has ever been done, or that others have tried and failed. >> key west is where president harry truman sought refuge from washington. >> president truman regarded the big white house as the great white jail. he felt he was under everyone's eye. by coming to key west he could come with his closest staff, let down his hair, sometimes some of the staff of the therapy or row for a couple of days. they used off-color stories, and could have a glass of urban -- urban and visit back and forth without any scrutiny from the press.

a case of hawaiian shirt percent to the president with the thought that if the president is wearing our shirt, we're going to sell a lot of shirt. president truman warned those free shirts the first year, and then organized the lower shirt contest. -- loud shirt contest. that became the official uniform of key west. >> want all of that on our cities to her. >> president obama discussed the recent shootings and eight carolina church when he spoke at the meeting of mayors in san francisco. he also talked about the economy of u.s. cities and climate change. this is half an hour.

[applause] president obama: hey! thank you. thank you so much. thank you. thank you. thank you. thank you so much. thank you, mayor. thank you so much. everybody, please have a seat. thank you. thank you so much. i love being with mayors. [laughter] it is great to be here, although i did worry a little bit that dennis johnson would introduce me again. at the white house, he had the old bulls theme song. it set a very high bar, as if i were michael jordan coming out.

he is a great friend, and i appreciate him, as i do so many of the mayors here. i saw a lot of you in washington in january. i had such a good time, i said let's meet this summer as well and this summer i thought i would come to you. i want to thank our host, san francisco mayor ed lee. [applause] he was just in the white house for the san francisco giants championship visit. [applause] i know how excited the mayor is over the golden state warriors championship. [cheers and applause] i want to thank two outstanding public servants -- governor jerry brown and leader nancy pelosi, who are here with us today. [applause] and i want to thank this year's leaders of the conference of mayors, kevin johnson, stephanie rawlings blake, and oklahoma

city mayor mick cornett. [applause] i also want to mention a few outstanding mayors who are getting ready to step down. michael nutter of philadelphia has done outstanding work. [applause] greg ballard of indianapolis, an outstanding mayor, doing great work with my brother's keeper. [applause] annise parker of houston. loving it. [applause] and my dear old friend, michael coleman of columbus, ohio. [applause] and finally, a great mayor, one of my favorite people, and i know one of the people all of you admire so much, a great mayor, joe riley of charleston. [applause]

joe's back home doing one of a mayor's sadder, more important duties today. obviously, the entire country has been shocked and heartbroken by what has happened. the nature of this attack in a place of worship where congregants invite in a stranger to worship with them only to be gunned down adds to the pain. the apparent motivations of the shooter remind us that racism remains a blight that we have to combat together. we have made great progress, but we have to be vigilant because

it is still lingers, and when it is poisoning the minds of young people, it betrays our ideals and sets our democracy apart. but as much as we grieve this particular tragedy, i think it is important, as i mentioned at the white house, to step back and recognize that these tragedies have become far too commonplace. few people understand the terrible toll of gun violence like mayors do, and whether it is the mass shooting like the one in charleston or individual attacks that add up over time, it costs you money and costs you resources, it costs you dearly.

more than 11,000 americans were killed by gun violence in 2013 alone. 11,000. if congress had passed some common sense gun safety reforms after newtown, after a group of children had been gunned down in their own classroom, reform that 90% of american people supported -- we would not have prevented every act of violence, or even most -- we do not know it would have invented what happened in charleston -- no reform can guarantee a limitation of violence, but we might have some more americans with us. we might have stopped one shooter -- [applause] some families might still be whole. we all might have to attend fewer funerals.

and we should be strong enough to acknowledge this. at the very least, we should be able to talk about this issue as citizens, without demonizing all gun owners, who are overwhelmingly law-abiding, but also without suggesting that any debate about this involves a wild plot to take everybody's guns away. i know today's politics makes it less likely that we see any serious gun safety legislation. i remarked that it is very unlikely that this congress would act, and some reporters, i think, took this as resignation. i want to be clear -- i am not resigned. i have faith we will eventually do the right thing. [applause] i was simply making the point

that we have to move public opinion. we have to feel a sense of urgency. ultimately, congress will follow the people, and we have to stop being confused about this. at some point as a country, we have to reckon with what happens. it is not good enough simply to show sympathy. you do not see murder on this kind of scale with this kind of frequency on any advanced nation on earth. every country has violence hateful, or mentally unstable people.

what is different is not every country is awash with easily accessible guns. i refuse to act as if this is the new normal or to pretend that it is simply sufficient to grieve and that any mention of us doing some thing to stop it is somehow politicizing the problem. [cheers and applause] we need a change in attitudes among everybody. lawful gun owners, those who are unfamiliar with guns. we have to have a conversation about it and fix it. and ultimately, congress acts when the public insists on action. and we have seen how public opinion has changed. we have seen a change on gay marriage.

we have seen it beginning to change on climate change. we have got to shift how we think about this issue. and we have the capacity to change it. but we have to feel a sense of urgency about it. we as a people have got to change. that is how we honor those families. that is how we honor the families in newtown. that is how we honor the families in aurora. now, the first time i spoke at this conference in 2008, i said that americans can be succeeding in spite of washington. i made it a priority to partner with mayors like you. that is why i named reformer

-- 3 former mayors to my cabinet. that is why i asked the former president of this conference jerry abramson, to be one of my top advisers. [applause] that is why my staff and i work with mayors like you across the country every day on just about every issue under the sun from school, community policing business development, veterans homelessness. because mayors have to get the job done. if you are mayor, it is not sufficient to just blather on. [laughter] you actually have to do something. it is not enough to figure out -- how do i position myself on a particular issue to minimize the possibility that i might get in trouble or criticized? because people expect you to trim the trees and pave the road and pick up the garbage and educate our kids and police our

streets. whatever the problem, large or small, you have got to do everything you can to solve it. you do not let partisanship stop you, you do not let cynicism stop you, you are always on the hunt for good ideas no matter where they come from, and i'm going to embarrass jerry for a second. he took his wife, madeline, to paris a few years after they got married, and she took in all the splendor, the charm, and he took photos of garbage cans. [laughter] that is a mayor for you. so she teased him about it. there is the eiffel tower -- he said, "those are some beautiful garbage cans." [laughter] soon enough, downtown louisville had garbage cans that looked an awful lot like the parisian garbage cans.

that is a mayor right there! somebody who is always thinking about how to make his or her city better, even on vacation in paris! and stops at nothing to get it done. now as president, i am constantly thinking about how we together can keep growing the economy and growing new pathways of opportunity for the american people to get ahead, and across the country, the good news is we are making progress, and you are seeing it in your cities. more than 12 million new private sector jobs in the past five years. more than 16 million americans who gained health insurance. more jobs creating clean energy. here in california, solar is going crazy. we have 10 times more solar power today than we did when i came into office, 10 times. three times as much wind energy. double the amount of energy. [applause] more kids graduating from high

school and college than ever before. i'm proud of that. and by the way, we have done it why we are divested by 2/3. you do not hear that much, but let me just point that out. [applause] and i am proud when particularly it is hard to get anything through congress, even when we are talking about issues that most americans outside of washington can agree on. but that is why we also partnered with many of you over the past couple of years, to make real progress on the economic priorities that matter to middle-class families. we are working with many of you to help working families make ends meet and feel more secure in a changing economy. so far, 19 cities have enacted paid sick days. five states enacted paid sick days or paid family leave, oregon is set to join them soon.

17 states have raised their minimum wage. 27 cities and counties have taken action to raise the wage as well. we are working with many of you to help working families earn higher wages down the road with skills and education they need. seattle, a city with a democratic mayor, ed murray, just passed universal pre-k. indianapolis, a city with a republican mayor, greg ballard is starting citywide public scholarships. even more young people getting the early education. three months ago, i initiated tech hire to train for the high skilled, high wage jobs of tomorrow. we are looking to double the number, so if you're town has jobs that need filling, and people want to fill them, come join us.

we are working with many of you to generate more high wage jobs for our workers to fill. 11 cities have joined a new innovation to help start of employers started business in just one day, cut the red tape. we are working with high-tech manufacturing hubs to keep america at the forefront of innovation. the first stop in youngstown ohio is doing cutting-edge research and 3-d printing and has already attracted tens of millions of investment in the region. so we are creating jobs, we are training folks for jobs, we are also working with many of you to make our streets safer and our communities stronger. more than 230 local and tribal leaders have joined the my brother's keeper initiative, and are taking meaningful steps to change the odds for young people in tough circumstances. [applause]

together, you are working to curb juvenile arrests, reduce absenteeism, and you are helping these kids imagine a bigger future for themselves. today at the lawrence livermore national lab just down the road, more than 100 students from oakland and san francisco are participating in the first mbk day at the lab where they can learn about s.t.e.m. careers. in the meantime, police holding impromptu barbershop meetings in charlotte, training young people on the job, cities like yours are striving to rebuild the trust between law enforcement and communities. making sure police have the resources they need to do their jobs, and making sure that every police officer who has an incredibly tough job is trained in making the kinds of

connections with communities that engender trust and ensure that everybody is treated equally under the law, which makes for smart law enforcement and vindicates our values. these are just a few of the examples of the work that is being done, and i could name everything we are doing to work together, but we would be here all day, so here is the bottom line. on america's most important economic priorities from supporting working families to improving education to creating good new jobs, getting people to those new jobs, to improving a ffordable housing, to dealing with homelessness, cities are not standing still. you are moving forward. so i want to say two things to you. number one, thank you. thank you for your leadership and your vision. and i particularly want to thank

you because more than just about any other office in the land those who occupy the office of mayor are approaching it in a practical way. democrats are not clinging to dogmas and are partnering with businesses in any way they can and republicans are not clinging to their dogmas. they are recognizing the government has a role to play in helping make for a vibrant city and expanding opportunities, and that common sense problem-solving, can-do attitude, you know, that is what the american people are looking for. that is what they need. i want to say thank you to all of you. you are setting a good example. secondly, i also want to say do

not stop now because we still have got a lot more work to do. we have got to keep pushing to grow our economy so that more americans who work hard feel like their hard work is paying off, which is why i am working with congress to pass new 21st century trade agreements with higher standards and tougher protections than past agreements, and i appreciate the help of many of the mayors here to get that done because you know it is important to your city. [applause] i believe it is the right thing to do for american workers and families, or i would not be doing it. i want to thank all of you for helping you make that case because this matters to your cities. we have got to keep pushing to put people to work rebuilding our infrastructure. there is not a mayor here who cannot reel off 10 infrastructure projects right now that you would love to get funding for, and it will put people to work and help businesses move their products and help people get to their jobs. [applause]

we can keep paying the cost of passing over our existing infrastructure. more expensive, less efficient leading the higher commute times, more waste -- that is an option. or we can create tens of thousands of jobs right now building a 21st century infrastructure that makes us competitive well into the 21st century. that is what we have got to do. we just have to convince congress to make it happen, and i need mayors to help from all across the country. put some pressure on congress to get this done! [applause] we have got to keep pushing to prepare for the impact of climate change because it is science. it is fact. like gravity. [laughter]

it is. a lot of cities have gone far ahead on this issue, along with states. they are making a difference right now. you are not waiting for congress. mayor roy bureau is here. they have set a target to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions from 50% from 2003 levels by the end of the next decade. this man was governor, jerry brown, he was talking about how california, which so often has been a leader on environmental issues, is looking to partner and make a difference internationally. today, my administration

proposed fuel standards for buses and tractor-trailers and other heavy-duty vehicles, another important step toward reducing harmful carbon pollutants affecting our planet. a lot of this does come down to congress. i know many of you are worried about congress cutting programs that are important to your cities' economic growth, but the battle we should be having with congress is not just about individual programs. it is about the foolish, self-destructive cuts in washington known as the sequester. with the sequester, the whole pie is smaller, so protecting one program means cutting another. that is why you are facing cuts that do not make any sense to things like tiger grants, which you all know are so important to putting people to work rebuilding our infrastructure. that is why it is so hard for us to get the funding we need to get homeless assistance grants which helps our most vulnerable neighbors, gets them off the streets.

that is why it has been so difficult to fund the preschool development grant, which help educate our children, which we know if we make better investments will pay off for your cities, for your states and for our country. i have been clear -- i will not sign bills at the sequestration level. i will not sign bills that seek to increase the fed spending before addressing any of our needs here at home. [applause] and i need your help. i need your help, mayors. talk to your members of congress, get rid of this sequester once and for all because it is harming our city and harming our country. there is no business -- no successful business -- that if it needed to reduce spending

would simply lop off 10% of everything, or 15% of everything. that is not how any of us would run our household budgets. you would cut out things you do not need, but you would still keep the college fund going. you would still pay your health insurance bill and your mortgage note. there are things we have to do as a country to stay ahead. once again, mayors understand that if there is a conflict between ideology and reality you should opt for reality. [laughter] [applause] reality is a stubborn thing.

facts, evidence, reason -- so, thanks for your partnership. i want you to know that as long as i am in the white house, i have got your back. i love the country. i love the suburbs. but i am a city guy. [laughter] and i know that when cities thrive, suburbs thrive. when cities thrive, farmland thrives. when cities thrive, states thrive. when cities thrive, america thrives. you guys make it happen. i enjoyed you taking pride in what makes your hometown unique. you may be proud and your people or your barbecues, even though everybody knows chicago has the best pizza.

[laughter] you may be proud of your city's victory parade, even though we have a blackhawk parade that is pretty good. i am sure you are all very proud of your parks. we have got nice parks. or the number of sunny days you have got, which we enjoy half the year. [laughter] chances are you have got a few superlatives ready in case someone asks you what makes your city so special. that is what mayors do -- you are boosters. yet as unique as your cities are, as proud as you should be of your cities, we always remind ourselves we are also americans. and we all wanted america to be a place where our zip code does not determine our destiny.

[applause] where every kid in whatever city, whatever hamlet, whatever town has an equal shot at life no matter where they grow up. no matter who you are or where you come from, you can make it. that is what america is about, that is what you are fighting for every day, and i will fight right there alongside with you. thank you, everybody. god bless you. god bless america. [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] >> washington journal is next with your phone calls. in 45 minutes, and look at recent comments about the economy from fed chair janet yellen. we also speak with howard schneider.

the house recently voted to repeal country of origin label requirements on beef pork, and poultry. we will talk about that with the secretary of agriculture.