the number of homeless veterans by 47% nearly half. , we have just about cut veterans' homelessness in half. we've helped bring tens of thousands of veterans off the streets. but we're not slowing down. we're going to keep up the momentum. this fall, michelle will bring our partners from across the country together at the white house to share best practices to figure out what has worked, what hasn't worked. because we will not stop until every veteran who fought for america has a home in america. this is something we've got to get done. and finally, we've got to keep fighting to give our troops and veterans and your families every opportunity to live the american dream that you helped defend. with our overhaul of the transition assistance program,

hundreds of thousands of departing servicemembers and their spouses have received training to plan their next career, and find a job or start a business. we expanded the post-9/11 g.i. bill to reservists and national guard members and families, including gold star spouses and children. and then we expanded it to vocational training and apprenticeships. we've empowered veterans with new tools to find the schools that are right for you, or to get the support you need to succeed on campus, to make sure you don't get ripped off, to cap your student loans, to make sure you and your families get in-state tuition-now, which is true now in all 50 states. and so far, we have helped more we have helped 1.6 million veterans realize their education. an investment that will keep

paying off for generations to come. we are doing more to help you find jobs worthy of your incredible talents. if you can lead a team and run logistics and save a life in a war zone, you can do it back here at home. i call for states to recognize the training and skills of veterans for issuing credentials for civilian job, licensing. before, less than half the states made it easy for military spouses to get credentials, today all 50 states do it. loopholes to prevent predatory payday lenders. [applause] today, all across america, more veterans are at work,

on-the-job, beginning the next chapter of your service to our country. veterans who are physicians and nurses have been hired by community health letters. and towns are hiring veterans as teachers, firefighters, first responders, because we made it a priority in the federal government, hiring hundreds of thousands of veterans including disabled veterans. nearly one in three disabled workers is now a veteran. i challenged america's companies to hire veterans. and in case they were listening sicced jill -- i and michelle on them. have 1.2 million veterans and military spouses, so we have cut veteran 4.2ployment down to percent, which is actually lower than the already low national

average and it is way down for post-9/11 veterans. it is one of the reasons we have been able to help more than 3.6 million veterans refinance a home. i'm going to keep saying, if you want talent, if you want dedication, if you want to get -- hiredone, hire a fat a vet. they don't fool around. we have made a lot of progress. it is not always focused on because understandably, the news a lot of time focuses on what is still not working. that is ok. it keeps us working. is every once in a while it good to remember the progress we have made because that tells us when we focus on it, we can do

right by our veterans. as this new generation joins your ranks, we have got to keep givingping up our game, veterans the resources you need, transforming the v.a., delivering health care you have anded, reforming appeals, helping you share the american dream. i know we can. over the past eight years, i have seen the spirit of america. and time againe the strengths of our veterans, the unbreakable will of our disabled at her and. teach us better than anybody that we may take a hit sometimes. we may get knocked down. but we get back up. we carry on. when we take care of each other and uphold that sacred covenant, there is nothing we cannot do.

like that soldier i told you before -- army ranger, veteran corey rensburg, nearly killed in afghanistan, who learned to talk and whod walk again recently stood up and walked into the oval office and shook my hand. we all have to keep on rising. recipient of honor kai carter, who struggled with post-traumatic stress and is helping others stay strong. we have to keep on healing. like the wounded warriors and vets.ed t -- disabled charlie lynn velde became the first amputee to reach the top of mount everest. ,e have to keep on striving

like the veterans taking care of each other including here at the dav. s, marine corps veterans, who say helping veterans gives a sense of purpose. that is something we all have to recognize. like air force technical sergeant jason miller, who consider taking his own life but wrote me a letter. after i put him in touch with team rubicon, he went to work rebuilding communities after national -- natural disasters. we have to keep building this country we love. or the ranks of our military veterans, black, white, young, old, gay or straight, whatever their faith, men, women, we have

to keep on uniting as one people, one nation. us. is what you have taught the disabled veterans of america know what it means to be one team. i am grateful for everything you have done for this country. i am grateful for having had the opportunity to work with you. god bless you. ,hank you for your sacrifice thank you for your patriotism, we honor and appreciate you. godbless our veterans and bless the united states of america. thank you very much. [applause]

[no audio] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy.

visit ncicap.org]

>> civil war historian and virginia tech professor emeritus james robinson discusses his book "after the civil war. " >> state allegiance was very deep. it went back generations. inhink one has to keep that mind. i'm not belittling slavery -- it is the major cause of the civil war. but you can explain the decent

-- the actions of decent men. virginiat because needs them, not because they support the cause. next, singapore prime talkser lee hsein loong about his country's relationship with the united states. during this event, the prime minister spoke about the importance of the transpacific partnership trade agreement.

>> ladies and gentlemen, please join me in welcoming his ,xcellency, lee hsein loong prime minister of singapore. [applause] >> good evening, your excellency. i am the president and ceo of the u.s. business council and on behalf of our partners in the chamber of commerce, i would like to welcome you to this great hall as we honor prime minister lee and his visit to washington. prime minister lee hsein loong and mrs. lee, welcome back.

we are always glad to see you. thank you for making time in your busy schedule and thank you for your long-term support of american business in singapore and southeast asia. we are thrilled to have senior members of the singapore government with us tonight including minister of foreign , minister. vivian -- ngh, and in si addition we have three members from singapore including welcome to desousa, washington. representing the u.s. government, we are honored to have the united states secretary of commerce a bridge to her -- eddie bridger.

we couldn't be here today in were it not for the efforts of singapore ambassador and his embassy team. i want to thank them for all the to make thisy did evening possible. i also want to recognize united states ambassador kirk wagner, who is with us and we appreciate all leadership you have shown for american business in singapore in your role beyond single or -- beyond singapore. backo am proud to welcome former ambassador chanting she chan hing chi, we have ambassadors from brunei, laos, and the philippines.

we also recognize our sponsors, which we could not have had tonight without their support. those sponsors are aig, cma group, micron, philip morris international, proctor and gamble, and visa. , your visiter lee to the united states marks the 50th anniversary of u.s.-singapore diplomatic relations. singapore is the only southeast asian country to be welcomed to the u.s. with a state visit during the obama administration. with only -- over 179 billion cumulative investments as of 2014, the united states is the largest foreign direct investor in singapore. singapore is tied with australia fdi than home of more anywhere else in asia.

singapore free trade agreement has been described as the united states most successful fta globally. since the fda took effect in 2004, u.s. exports have increased over 50%. fourpore was one of the p -- tpp.t initiated ttp i don't want to steal too much of tom, secretary pritzker, or the prime ministers thunder. ties, the economic relation has important security and military dimensions. singapore air force pilots train in the united states and u.s. combat ships rotate through singapore. as a result of these strong political, economic, and defense ties, singapore served as an

anchor to asia. it is my honor to introduce the president and ceo of the u.s. chamber of commerce, tom donahue. leadership,of his he has played a dominant role in preventing -- in promoting free enterprise in the united states and. thank you for all you have done and thank you for your partnership tonight. [applause] thank you very much. good evening everyone. welcome to the u.s. chamber of commerce. i would like to join alex in thanking all of you for being here and thanking our sponsors this evening. your support in every way for this meeting and this relationship is very important. we gather to celebrate the friendship between the united states and singapore and our

robust commercial partnership. just think. last year, we celebrated the 50th anniversary of singapore's independence. the 50th, we marked anniversary of diplomatic relationships between our countries. some of the most iconic u.s. brands have been in singapore since well before its independence. tonight, we look forward to remarks from our honored guest, the prime minister and a thoughtful discussion of the challenge and opportunity facing the asia-pacific region. i have said this many times before but it bears repeating especially during this unusual u.s. election. american leadership and commercial engagement in asia security,al to peace, and prosperity across the globe.

the chamber is vigorously opposing any proposal that would see american influence in the region to other powers. we are leading proponents of the transpacific partnership, an effort we can't and won't give up on because of the stakes being just too high. we know how important the pacific region is to the united states and indeed, to the entire world. america has both strong, strategic, commercial interests in the asia-pacific. the u.s. has always looked to singapore to help us navigate this important area of the world. its wisdom and insights are invaluable to us. as is often the case, progress and bilateral commercial relationships are driven by the private sector. but not without great partners

in government. the american business community has such a partnership in commerce secretary penny pritzker. she is the voice of business within the u.s. administration and the bridge between business in and outside the administration. she not only listens carefully to what business has to say. when she agrees, she acts on it. as president obama's chief commercial diplomat she has been a strong proponent of the u.s. singapore relationship. she clearly understands that it is based on shared interests, values, and objectives. and i will get this to come up there. she has built strong ties with the prime minister. the two have held many important discussions and meetings across the world's.

california inin the u.s. asian leaders summit hosted by president obama. secretary pritzker has run a business. she understands tpp as the linchpin of america's future influence and engagement in the asia-pacific reason -- region and she is fighting harder than anyone i have seen other than the people working in this building to make this happen. foreigns the u.s. relationships is one of america's strong enduring anchors. she has been a good friend to business and an excellent commerce secretary and a great supporter of the partnership between our two countries. it is my pleasure to introduce her tonight. please join me in welcoming secretary penny pritzker.

>> what an extraordinary introduction. it is wonderful to be here at the chamber. us, butu for hosting the chamber of commerce and the business council. tom and alex, you have been great friends and great supporters and him so much for our relations around the world and i thank you for hosting us this evening, but frankly for all the great work that you do every day. ambassador waiter -- ambassador wager, you are an excellent ambassador. we are really thrilled to have you here in the u.s.. ladies and gentlemen, it is my

pleasure to introduce tonight nice honored guest, prime minister lee hsein loong of singapore. in our first meeting two years ago, to the conversation we shared shortly before we came into this room, it is clear to me that prime minister lee and i both agree that the united states and singapore's economic partnership is indispensable. both the prime minister and i know that are strong commercial relationships have helped promote security and security -- and stability across southeast asia. our deep trade and investment ties have helped deliver prosperity and opportunity for both our peoples. engagementater u.s. in southeast asia is good for the united states, good for the people of singapore, and good for countries across the entire region.

i am also pleased to see that the prime minister's wife is here with us this evening. among other things. ho's ceo of a world class business, whom i have great admiration for. -- happens to be a fellow stanford graduate. i'm member our conversations at aipac several years ago and it gives me great pleasure to welcome you and the prime minister here to washington. in recent years, we have celebrated important milestones in the u.s.-singapore relationship. 2014, we marked 10 years since the completion of the free trade agreement. in 2015, we celebrated the 50th anniversary of singapore's independence.

and we have admired your progress, raising singapore's per capita gdp from $516 per 1965 to $52,888 in 2015. are honored to welcome the prime minister and madam ho to commemorate another milestone. 50 years of diplomatic relations. is anow's state dinner opportunity to rejoice in our five decades of friendship and reaffirm our shared hopes for more prosperous future. as everyone in this room knows, asia is anced cornerstone of the obama administration foreign-policy and singapore has been an indispensable partner in the

region. worked closely together to complete the negotiations of the transpacific partnership, to promote greater regional integration across us e.on. and to confront terrorism and violent extremism. from a purely economic perspective, the importance of the relationship is difficult to overstate. the u.s. singapore free trade agreement was our first bilateral trade agreement with an asian nation. it has been a resounding success for both of our countries. since the free trade agreement was completed, our total bilateral trade has doubled to $47 billion. singapore, a nation of around five and a half million people,

is now our 18th largest trading partner. today, the united states has a $10.4 billion surplus in its trade with singapore. singapore receives the majority of direct investments from the united states into the entire region with a total investment stock of $150 billion. it is hard to overstate the importance of this relationship. these investment statistics should come as no surprise. more than 3700 american companies have operations in singapore. many of our businesses opt to place in the country their regional headquarters, a testament to the confidence in singapore as the ideal platform for greater engagement throughout southeast asia. that minister lee knows

high standard trade agreements like our bilateral free-trade ,greement promote shared growth prosperity, peace, and stability. mr. prime minister, thank you for your steadfast leadership and support of the transpacific partnership. vocalve been a consistent advocate for tpp and you make a very good case. i want you to know that president obama and his entire administration remain committed bipartisan congressional approval of this critical trade agreement. prime minister lee is an outspoken advocate for increased trade, for international cooperation, and for technology as a tool to improve people's lives.

intakes great pride singapore's smart nation initiative, which aims to improve national well-being by embracing cutting edge innovation. just moments ago, the department of commerce and singapore's ministry of trade and industry signed a memorandum of understanding to increase trade collaboration on smart cities and infrastructure. featureember, we will singapore at our smart cities conference in chicago. we are encouraging u.s. companies to participate in singapore's first ever tech festival. dynamic,ngapore has a innovative, 21st century economy that reflects the energetic and practical leadership of prime minister lee. prime minister lee understands

all the benefits that are profitable for our peoples when we work together to create enforceable, mutually beneficial rules for global commerce. ladies and gentlemen, please join me in welcoming prime minister lee. thank you. [applause] >> secretary pritzker, mr. tom donahue, alex feldman, distinguished ladies and thankmen, first i want to mr. donahue and their -- and

secretary pritzker for their kind introductions and taking the time to be here with us. i also would like to thank the chamber of commerce for hosting this reception. this is the third time i'm here in four years begin to this forum and i'm glad to see many familiar face is. -- familiar faces. since singapore became independent in 1965, america has played a major role in our development. heavily innvested singapore, developing infrastructure, creating jobs, transferring technology and ge wasent practices, once the largest employer in singapore and it still has 3600 people there. drives, which makes disk , at one time made more than half of the world's disk arrives in singapore. it is still important to us.

many other u.s. companies have found singapore to be a good springboard into the region. economy,le, in the new we have lucasfilms, which has got a building in singapore which we call the sand crawler building and it looks like one. first -- outside the u.s.. both sides have taken advantage of our fta to develop our relationship. that a gold standard fta has promoted trade and investment between our countries and exports have increased substantially an american banks have been able to expand in singapore because of the fta. as singapore continues with our next phase of development, we companiesome the u.s.

to come and invest in singapore. in one of the areas, we are interested in, is to develop singapore into a smart nation using data, technology, census, the lives, to improve of our citizens and create a knowledge-based economy. leaders inone of the this new economy based on innovation, collaboration and critical inking. -- critical thinking. singapore is seeking to attract a new wave of investment. we are introducing coding in secondary schools, helping to and we welcomes, american companies to continue helping us with our transformation, to take advantage of the many opportunities and the talent in singapore. depends not only on our remaining competitive but

also on our region staying stable and prosperous. although there are some dark somes on the region, economic and some strategic uncertainties, asia is still a in the economyot and a peaceful region and the world. it accounted for two thirds of global growth last year. are the largest economies, second and third biggest in the world in india is another large economy. southeast asia is a promising emerging-market. not just 10 separate countries community, athe more integrated single market. it has 600 20 million people, most of whom are young, eager, and hard-working.

by 2030, on present trends, we will become the fourth largest market in the world. the major economies in the region are already seeking to develop this. china has launched its oneworld initiative to develop infrastructure. , and amongstolicy ourselves, we are also seeking to spur growth through further economic integration. have an afghan, china, free-trade area. we are further negotiating a regional comprehensive economic partnership, including parts of north east asian countries and south asian countries -- india -- and us trail -- australasian countries.

-- increasingkind cooperation and developing mechanisms to work socially together. at the same time, wanting to stay in open region, with the world. so there is potential and promise in asia and americans have always understood this. your long-standing security presence in asia has been a bedrock of our peace and prosperity. during the cold war, your economy was the dynamo that propelled our development and your leaders understood the desire for a better life in asia will turn people to peace and ambitions worked the of the communist states in asia. america upheld the principles of andomic liberalization

free-trade and it was the global leader in these principles. japan, korea,d and the philippines after the war, sending aid and technical experts. tradingpen the national system, which multiplied trade and investment. you opened your markets to your friends in asia and the rest of the world. fueling the east asian economic boom. , buts growth through trade not war, that made the difference. these countries became more conflictndent and became a remote and unattractive option. america has a unique opportunity to act as an engagement in the pacific with the tpp. you know the facts but they are worth repeating.

there are 12 parties. we represent 40% of global gdp, a third world trade, 800 million people in one market. the tpp will be a game changer for the u.s. because improve market access will mean cheaper product for consumers, more exports for manufacturers. tpp will incorporate in the provisions for human rights, intellectual property protection, safeguards for labor and environment. there will be strong standards to support innovation and benefit many technology giants. but those are just the economic benefits. there is strategic significance vital tose the tpp is america's engagement in the pacific.

it'll add substance to america's rebalance which can't be just about the military. it will enable the u.s. and its trade partners to shake the norms -- shape the norms of regional exchange by setting a high bar of future trade agreement. tpp and bringing , the obama administration clearly understands the tpp's role in securing america's future. we know this has been politically difficult. it is a very tough election-year. american people are wary of global engagement and economic uncertainty has led to concerns about jobs and competition from overseas. these are all understandable. but we hope that all parties

will focus on the longer-term bigger picture. because there are no winners, only losers with protectionism. economic development across the world will be blocked, less interdependence means a clear advantage of cooperation and independence. over conflict and war. will be weakened. regiona-pacific represents a important growth region for businesses including american companies. going to be more impactful than any of the existing regional trade agreements and if america wants to secure its interests for the future, it has to take and ratify the tpp -- tpp or lose the opportunity. you have to be at the table or on the menu.

[laughter] >> for america's friends and partners, ratifying the tpp is a litmus test of credibility and seriousness. every one of the tpp cigna terry's -- signatories has made sacrifices. nobody wants to reopen negotiations. everybody would like to have something better but nobody with to reopen the process no prospect of doing better and every chance of having it fall apart. america tonies want be engaged. we need to know this engagement will be sustained, and we need to know that agreements will be upheld. and that asia can depend on america. tpp,ratification of the

therefore, will be a clear statement of your commitment and confidence in our region. of you here who have a vested interest in the success of the tpp and in america's friendship and cooperation and trade with them -- with asia -- will lend your voice is to support us. america has helped to create and sustain the current world order and the international rules which we all have in all countries. no other country has the economic capacity, political strength, or the soft power to play this role. responsibility, preeminentle as the global power. thank you very much. [applause]

>> mr. prime minister, thank you very much. please join me in welcoming susan schwab to moderate the q&a. [applause] >> mr. prime minister, thank you very much. that was terrific, as expected. welcome again. on behalf of the business , madam, the chamber

secretary, let me add the thank you's that everyone else has added. to tell you, i first met the prime minister when i was and was called on him totally blown away, as we got into a conversation i thought it was one of these courtesy calls and we started talking about trade and he started talking about trade. i had obviously done my homework, i read the bio, and the prime minister has served as trade minister and finance minister. all of a sudden, i am talking to a policy wonk, and i say this -- awe. utmost o

i saw you in action again at the yoursummit in australia in prime ministerial capacity. i saw you not the sox off the other leaders talking the broader matters. most of the people in this room who are trade policy and geopolitical specialists, -- the from that ridiculous to the sublime, we are going to keep the questions somewhere in that middle. you am going to start but should be thinking about the questions that you would like to ask prime minister lee. he has graciously offered to respond to questions from the , and there is no smarter, wiser, and more knowledgeable leader that we

on thesed anywhere matters related to trade and economics and the asia-pacific .egion just anything else you would want to ask about, thank you. i'm going to start. you were very diplomatic about the current state of trade politics in the united states. i don't recollect trade politics being as unpleasant as they are now in the united states. we have always been proud of the fact that trade politics in the united states was bipartisan. it is bipartisan but not in the direction that most of us would like. and many of us are hoping that while you are here, you will be saying to our leaders on both sides of the aisle the kinds of things we like to say to our leaders.

when it comes to singapore, singapore clearly stands out, by any measure -- whether it is world banks doing business, innovation ranking, singapore stands out at the top of the class. one of the questions that consistently comes up when you mention singapore at the top of this list, at the top of the other list, and you point out that singapore is market oriented, singapore is a very small country. that growth trajectory is an anomaly because singapore is such a small country. hear yourve to observations on the lessons that of transferable in terms singapore's economic development and trajectory. you talked about moving into the knowledge economy.

clearly, these are lessons transferable to other countries that are facing competition. >> we are very wary about teaching other people how to run their countries. it is complicated enough to run our own little place. we have been successful so far in our journey and we are not always up but mostly up. the world has changed and we have changed with it. the first thing that matters to us is our people should understand that our lives depend on the rest of the world, being relevant to them, being effective and making a contribution. it is perhaps easier for us to do that because we are so small, we can see that if you just look across the water and it is another country upon the horizon. it is hard to do that when you are a big country from best big

country like america. the east and west coast are very far away. it is a different perspective. and yet, the world matters enormously to you and somehow people have got to understand. is a world which changes regularly and as it changes we have to follow on and track that. we have started off doing economic development based on manufacturing of labor intensive pajamas, wedsheets, andmbled transistor radios, as we want to keep on clapping, we found that we had to change. .e had to emphasize skills we had to emphasize technologies. we had to upgrade our peoples education and had to teach

people need jobs. that many times because after the first time it changed again. ,e are in the midst of that now because growth may be slow but change is not slow. technologies are taking over new jobs. jobs, itm them to new is not just the person on an assembly line who has got a problem. the lawyers may have a problem a youngthey don't send lawyer anymore. and itease an ai program comes through and it comes through in mrs. fewer things than your young men are young woman. we have to keep changing with the world. thirdly, what we have tried to to reconcilere is

the needs of economic growth and development -- which means being rational and efficient and competitive -- with the needs of building a nation, which is ,here you have to work together have safety nets and a willingness to work as one nation. we are both a city and the country. so in one place, you have the dilemma where if it were new york in america, new york can be very dynamic and you have a ballast all the way through the .idwest and the south london is the same with great britain. london prospers, britain not quite so, and so in brexit, london voted for staying and england voted to leave.

we are both in one place and we can't leave. righte to find the balance and sustained growth and maintain confidence in the system and in our ability to change with the world. it is very broad but these are the things we think about. >> a lot of the topics we have been talking about -- i wish we were talking about more -- can i ask you about tpp? the negotiations were actually launched at the end of the bush administration. the obama administration picked .t up and did the deal we now have two candidates that are not terribly friendly about tpp. one of the arguments that has been raised in favor of tpp has

, if we don't do the transpacific partnership them "china will write the rules." that is, perhaps a euphemism for others will write the rules. it has been taken to be anti-chinese. it plays into the geopolitics. i would be interested in your thoughts because one of the things that i think a large number of people in this audience are hoping is that in your travels, you will be talking more about the benefits of the transpacific partnership. that a lot argument of people have used here and there has been some pushback on that. with chinaationship -- you compete but you also cooperate. if china gains, you gain too.

people in america often talk about the threat from things made in china, so cheap at walmart, but in fact your exports to china have grown has been a plus for any number of american industries from boeing to cars pharmaceuticals to insurance services. it comes to the tpp, you can see it gives america a head start because you are in on a major trade agreement which includes a big part of the asia-pacific and a significant part of the world. looking for is a longer-term where you have free-trade in the whole of asia pacific. the idea was to do it in a pack .- aipac

that was the goal, trade liberalization. china came in early after two or three meetings and you want to have a free-trade in the ,sia-pacific, but obviously with the great ambition that is too hard. you want to have japan, china, america and all the other countries in, the first three would be reconciling their difficulties before the rest of us that a word in. you do want to move and you can move piecemeal. overlapping but it covers the ground and hopefully, our grandchildren will have the wisdom and the basis on which to take the next and rationalize, simplify, expand, and make a less imperfect cooperation.

the tpp is one big part of what is happening but there are other we call thell that regional comprehensive economic partnership which encompasses countries on the western side of the pacific including china and japan and korea. china and korea are not in the tpp but other members are. -- it is a messy patchwork but it covers the whole of the asia-pacific. -- you setting the rules have hoped to set norms and expectations that will cover many economies and one day, others will be able to join you and if you ask whether the the tpp, theyoin are looking at it quizzically. they are skeptical but not hostile.

they are trying to understand what will it take. they are not averse to the idea of being a part of this group. i think they believe they want to set high rules and make sure to blowance fee is not but i don't think they rule out being part of the party. i think it is not a bad thing to do. >> thank you very much. now, there are individuals with microphones out there for questions for prime minister lee. let me ask that you keep your question brief, keep them questions rather than statements , and identify yourself before you ask in your affiliation. since we have these lights in our face it may be hard for us to see you at first but i need a

first question. >> welcome back, mr. prime minister. since susan mentioned geopolitical issues, could you comment on the south china sea in terms of the recent decision, next steps, particularly whether you think there is a fundamental change on china's part about how their policy is playing in their region or just a tactical pause? do you think there has been a change in china's basic policy as a result of the decision policy to more nuanced to reduce tensions or do you think it is just a tactical pause until the g20 meeting? don't think the chinese have changed their policy as a result of the decision.

they have rejected it vehemently. they said so before and after. aboutave made a decision what they they said they have a claim that is historical and indisputable. they have not quite exactly specified in legal terms what it is that is being claimed but they said, this is ours. and the others, we can talk but what is ours is ours. i think that the ruling of the tribunal has been -- well, has made a strong statement on what the international law is. ideally, international tribunal rulings set the order for the world because ideally when you

have this between countries it is much better to have him arbitration and adjudication based on acknowledged principles than to fight it out and see whose guns are more powerful. speaking from the point of view of a small country, this is all the more fundamental important principle. but we have had disputes with our neighbors we have done that. we have gone to arbitration or adjudication. sometimes we win, sometimes we do not. sometimes before the matter is adjudicated we reach a settlement and, well, it's an impartial, objective, peaceful way of resolving issues. and ideally, all problems in the world could be settled like that but the world is not like that. and big powers particularly have interests which lead them sometimes not to follow this path.

for example, the u.n. convention on the law of the sea, under which the recent tribunal rule, america signed it but hasn't ratified it so america is not bound by un clause so that makes it harder for to you take a position when other countries follow or don't follow the provisions of the u.n. convention so when you look at china and see the stance they're taking, you wish it were otherwise, but it is for a big power not an unprecedented thing to happen. i think it south china sea, they want to push it to the brink. they have interests, they have claims, they want to maintain them but nobody wants to go to war. and in particular, i think the southeast asian states, philippines, brunei, vietnam -- all of them have substantial bilateral accounts with china. trade, tourism, investment, aid.

therefore, while this is a thorn therefore, while this is a thorn in their relationship, it is not the whole relationship and therefore it will be a problem not solved for a long time but i don't think it's going to lead to a complete souring and complete breach. it needs to be managed. there are things you can do to calm things down, to make it less likely that you have a mishap which goes out of control. we have a declaration of conduct on the south china sea. it's just a declaration of good intentions. we are negotiating a code of conduct on the south china sea with china, which is going to be binding but therefore will be more complicated to attain. we hope to make progress in small steps like having a code

on unplanned encounters at sea. what happens if two ships come almost eyeball to eyeball, how do i avoid physically bumping into one another or exchanging fire or spraying each other with water hoses which has happened before. and to have a hot line between the capital so can you talk and defuse issues. i think these modest measures we can do but solving the problem, to have countries having taken possessions, claiming sovereignty, claiming right to maritime sea bed resources, to have countries walk back from those and say it's not so absolute, it wasn't quite clearly mine after all, i think we have to wait a long time to see that happening. very few countries do that. ms. schwab: thank you. is that the media table?

i am not allowed to -- oh, yes. ok. then i will come back to you. >> dennis wilder, georgetown university. how do you respond to the trump supporter who says the free trade agreement with singapore didn't do me any good. the free trade agreement with korea didn't do me any good. why do you think the t.p.p. is anything i need? the singapore citizens got the benefits. prime minister lee: singapore? >> the singapore citizens got the benefit of the free trade agreement from their point of view and this is a very serious position held by serious people

in the midwest. they're not just people who are crazy or under-educated. if you look at the median income of these people, all of these free trade agreements didn't help them. so how do we respond to that? prime minister lee: well, there are a couple of injuries to the question. the old textbook solution answer was to say trade is mutually beneficial. i buy, you sell, obviously i wanted to sell to you or i wanted to buy from you and you wanted to sell to me so at the end of it we both must be happy otherwise we wouldn't have done it and if we're prevented, than an opportunity has been lost. it's a bit of an over-simplification because we're talking about two people and here we are talking about two countries. so if my company sells to you, my company benefits, your consumer benefits, but your company competitor may lose out compared to me, who was making the same thing. so question is, how are the net benefits distributed within the country?

there are winners, there are losers and somehow in the process you have to make good the losers so the benefits are reasonably widely distributed. when countries negotiate trade agreements, i think this political process comes into play. when the usdr negotiates trade agreements, i think their internal process, talking to different states and different senators and congressmen, what their interests are, who has chewing gum, who has airplanes, who has i.t., who has pharmaceuticals, the usdr knows all about that. if he or she is not an expert in domestic politics, he can't do his job. and when the foreign party negotiated, when the chinese negotiated with you, not a free trade agreement but just a trade agreement, bilaterally, before they joined the w.t.o., and the prime minister who did that on

the chinese side, premier who did that with you. i can't remember who was your trade rep then. he knew exactly which states made which things and he negotiated a deal with you which made sure every state got something. this is a political leader in a communist state who has no votes to worry about. he knew what needed to be done. so when you negotiate with singapore, i have no doubt that your usdr knew exactly what needed to be done and did a good job protecting your interests and advancing your interests. and it may be in pharmaceuticals. it may be in media, the new economy. it may be in access for your airplanes or automobiles or banks. it doesn't mean that every single american was party to every single item on the deal but the usdr has done a good deal, you got something out of it. the other side got something out of it, sure.

but that's what win-win trade is about. so if you say i didn't get something, i think if you take a very narrow approach, you might be able to establish that. you might also be able to argue that within america, you could have done a lot more to make sure that the winners and the losers shared the benefits and the rust belt had more help becoming less rust belt and the midwest particularly which has not got a -- doesn't get a direct benefit, gets something out of this. that's necessary, it's part of making the political economy of trade work. but if we abandon that and say we don't want to have free trade, let's go back to the days when we had the united auto workers dealing with general motors and the big two or three

and that's how cars shall be made and americans will be better off, well, it may be detroit will be better off but i think america is worse off. i think america is better off with doors open and america is big and wealthy enough to be able to make good detroit. and should. i mean, i'm not taking sides but there will be those who benefit less or those who don't benefit and i think that that your political system should look after them. ms. schwab: thank you. well said. yes, sir? >> good afternoon. my name is proser sterling from oracle corporation. thank you for honoring us by your visit today. singapore has an established itself as a regional services

hub, a regional research and a regional data hub. data has become increasingly important for all of businesses in the way businesses function. specifically the way businesses function across the pacific and what that has to do with transpacific valued change. as data has this importance, it is important to know what singapore's approach is to data. what its approaches to smart cities and smart nations. can you talk about the pathways you see where the u.s. and singapore can collaborate in this area? prime minister lee: we just signed an agreement to collaborate. it is a catch-all term which is a buzzword.

a lot of sunnis want to be smart cities and i think a lot of cities are smart in different ways. some of them have got central nervous systems you can actually see a control center where you track what is happening in the city and you respond in real time to a traffic jam or incidental or crisis. some of them have got intelligence built into their public services, into their public transport systems so the flow of the commuters is able to move people about more efficiently. some of them are able to have censored networks so you can know what is happening and you

can make use of that information to respond to either to serve people or emergencies. and i think others have become centers where you are developing the industry. either you have data gathered and analyzed at they are or you have companies which are innovating, generating new products, services, and names like you have in silicon valley or like you have an tel aviv or jerusalem and israel. so we want to be a bit of each of this. we have a natural advantage because we are a city as well as a country. so it is a disadvantage when you talk about having a stabilizer, having to trade off between economics and social aspects. but an advantage when it comes to making a smart city because i have only one level of government and we can make everything happen whether it is

health care, transport, urban planning and transportation, whether it is making use of the government information in order to mine the data and the tact -- detect either social or medical needs. i am able to do it as one central intelligence. and i think we also have a natural advantage in doing this because of our people. naturally switched on to data. we have more they and -- we have more in the en one for an account -- we have more than one foreign account purports in the in singapore. everyone finds it useful, a lot of us. when young people grow up, this is natural. we all have access to the internet. almost the whole country. anything you need, you do online whether it is accessing the government to pay your taxes or texting your family or employer

for friendship or for work. so i think that we can move. there are models we can do another countries or cities and we can't pick up from different cities and put the pieces together in singapore and we would like to do that. susan: mr. prime minister they -- thank you for being here. think you for joining us here today and spending time with our business community. they q4 your visit. thank you for all of the wisdom you're going to share with our politicians while you are here. we appreciate that, too. and for your leadership in international economic holocene and geopolitics in the asia-pacific region and in the world. please join me in thanking prime minister lee. [applause] >> i would like to welcome you

in honor of the singapore state dinner. it is the third state dinner of 2016. you'll get to hear about the

meals and hear from all of our wonderful colleagues. the national security council. we are five but we represent many. all of us could not be here. but i want to thank you to all of my colleagues here at the white house. let me turn it over. >> hello, everyone. as you can see, the inspiration behind this, yellow symbolizes our friendship. singapore is known for its incredible orchid that are growing with much patience and care. likewise, the united states is known for its world-class gardens which we have showcased. both of them together, it represents the harmonious connection between both countries.

>> good morning, everyone. i am senior director for asian affairs. state business and state dinners are an opportunity for the united states to reaffirm our friendship with america's closest partners around the world. singapore is one of our strongest, closest, and most reliable partners.

when the prime minister visits the white house, we will be celebrating the 50th anniversary year of one of our most important bilateral relationships in asia. it will present an opportunity for president obama to reciprocate the hospitality the prime minister and the singapore people showed to him in 2009. it will allow the president to demonstrate the close professional and personal relationship he has with the prime minister. singapore serves as host to our military forces in the region. it has been a strong proponent of the climate agreement and home to more than 3700 u.s. companies.

the president and prime minister will discuss a range of issues, including law enforcement, cyber security, and >> our two leaders will highlight the importance of the transpacific partnership. it represents a crucial opportunity to revitalize the global economic architecture and strengthen america's influence at the center of it. it will eliminate more than 18,000 tariffs and insurer partner countries follow the same standards that we follow in the united states. tpp will be good for the united states, the region, good for the world. cpp will eliminate more than 18,000 tariffs on american exports. it will ensure that partner countries follow the same standards as the united states.

the prime minister's visit reflects the important role that singapore plays in the rebalance to the asia-pacific. the united states is engaging more people across southeast asia. it is absolutely central to the region's peace and prosperity. both our nations are committed to building a regional order where all nations play by the same rules. thank you very much. >> good morning. i and the white house executive chef. the singapore state dinner is a celebration of america's bounty.

incidentally, for our first course, we are serving our famos maryland crab, which is from cambridge, maryland, accented with an asian hybrid of citrus, a cross between lime and kumquat. for the second course, we want to celebrate summer. we are highlighting tomatoes from farms in ohio and our marrying this with some wonderful asian glaziers, green papaya and green mango pickle. it is a wonderful, tropical, rental fruit. for the main course, beef garnish with roasted yams from

california and garnished with baby kale and lemongrass demi-glace. i would like to introduce you to our executive chef. >> good morning everyone. my name is lucy morrison. i and the executive pastry chef. i would like to present a festive gathering. in my left hand is a play to desert, a handmade creation of peach sangria cake layered with accents of coconut milk, palm sugar. bright yellow peaches from california and virginia farms

are marinated with a variety of american red wines. included is orange and pomegranate juices and a glaze with dried chamomile from the white house garden. last, garnish with honey from the white house the house made into brittle. in my right hand is a handmade creation. it is made of a common lost caramelized almonds nougat. pineapple, coconut, white chocolate truffles, passionfruit , sesame cherry tart, black cherry macaroons, and finally -- what did i forget? oh, the triple layer, and cake. thank you very much. have a nice weekend. >> the singapore prime minister

is in washington this week permitting the transpacific partnership trade agreement. the national park service celebrates its 100th anniversary. headxt, we hear from the of the national park service, jonathan jervis. morning's washington journal we will talk about progressive politics and the presidential elections. washington journal is live each morning at 7:00 eastern. later, president obama and sycamores prime minister will have a news conference at the white house.

>> next, national park service director jonathan job is talks about the anniversary of the national park system. he talked about park maintenance , concerns, and park fees. this is one hour.

>> now it is time to introduce our table guests. from your right, dylan brown, a reporter. technologiesof bbn and a longtime national parks volunteered. cio.a rescu bill suffer on. elizabeth miller. ,he honorable john warner former secretary of the navy and senator from the commonwealth of for tenure. [applause] >> medical device reporter and a press club or member --

board member. tom crosson, chief of public affairs. a reporter at the los angeles times. slaton. andy fisher, director of communications for the pew trust. thank you all. 40 years ago, our speaker put on the uniform of national park service and want to work on the national mall. the national park service was a mere 40 years old. later this month, the park service turns 100, and he is still wearing the uniform. no longer a temporary summertime employee, he is the leader of

some 20,000 employees to maintain the system of the park units across all 50 states and most u.s. territories. the park service faces multiple challenges of congress cuts the budget while demanding the agency to more. oftivating a new generation younger sisters and volunteers. change ino climate the parks. dealing with the effects of energy, mining, and other developments in the proximity to the parks. in his career, travis has one at the parkvery hat service, even though every hat looks alike. i would like to personally thank

jervis, who agreed to swear me in as the new press club president. that was before we knew about the storm that covered washington. thankfully today we have slightly better weather. please welcome jonathan jervis as he tells us about the plan for the park service. [applause] >> welcome, everybody. thank you, tommy. it is good to be back in a bit warmer weather than last time we were here. senator, thank you for joining us. as was mentioned, this year, the national park service will be 100 years old and i will have

served for 40 of those. let me start with an excerpt from the atlantic magazine. the president wanted all the freedom and solitude possible while in the park. even the secret serviceman and his private secretaries were left at gardner. he was evidently hungry for the wild and aboriginal. a hunger that seems to come upon him on his trips to the west. on the morning he stated his wish to go alone into the wilderness. his security detail to not like the idea. no, set the president, let me go alone. i will surely come back. and, back he came. it was about 5:00 when he came down the camp.

he came back looking as fresh as .e had started this is john perls account of traveling with teddy roosevelt .n the spring of 1903 in 2013, i was hiking at the same wilderness with my son. we were to sending an open forest in the ground began to shake. charged hill behind us a stampede of place and -- bison. so close i could have run my fingers through their mates. as the director of the national park service, i have a privilege to not only have some wild experiences but to put them in context. , for a moment, if this

nation decided that such extraordinary places like yellowstone could be set aside for future generations, that concept that you and i can have a similar experience that teddy roosevelt had over 100 years ago. even matter, a mining company director, observed conditions.g a secretary responded and said, if you do not like how the parks are being run, come to washington and run them yourselves. -- yourself. in order to support the establishment of the national nknew that, matter

if he got people into these landscapes, they would become converts. the highparty into sera. the party included writers from the saturday evening post, the ranking congressman on , and thetions publisher of a newspaper. there was one park ranger and two chinese cooks. the chinese cook was considered the best camp coast in the west. he proved it every day with sitters of soup, salad, fried chicken, potatoes, apple pie, and hot sour to this kids warmed sweaty mule.f the

for two weeks they camped and reveled under a starlit sky. bonds reform not only with each other but with the land. aboutight, they talked conservation and the future of .he national parks he said, i must convince why i ,ave asked you to come hopefully you will take this

message and spread it to the style. your own think of the vast areas that should the preserved for the future. he said, unless we can protect the areas already held, we may lose them to selfish interests. found toing, they provide their support to the national park service. they vowed that they would march promiseand fulfills the . timeress coverage at that

.nfluence congress this year, the national geographic society devoted every issue to some aspect of the parks and on the 100th anniversary released the full issue of the yellowstone battle for the west. by the way, the preview coverage has been unprecedented. i believe we are now over 8 billion media impressions for the centennial. thank you for all the coverage we have gotten. futureot take the conservation for granted. in many ways, this centennial year has been a mountain party

by inviting every american to find their park. that place that rejuvenates them and builds some patriotic pride. our centennial goal has been to create the next generation of supporters and advocates for our parks. if we don't, then, in the words of my predecessor, we may lose .hem to selfish interests i want each of you, for the moment, to take a bit of patriotic pride that our nation created this idea of national parks. today, that system embodies our highest ideals and stands frankly as the best national park system in the world. they also tell the american story through place.

beauty likeeat yosemite or the grand teton's. thees of awe like everglades. there are places of great ,istory like fort mckinney bannertar-spangled an wage and inspired francis scott key. there are also places of great public health. americanther of men and women,id

bewould -- this is a quote -- prone to disorders such as softening of the brain, or roast this, melancholy, and rest ability. a rest ability in washington i wonder people need a prescription for parks. just before hitler's invaded europe, marian anderson said, my country to assist the to a crowd of thousands on the mall. at the same time, martin luther king delivered the "i have a dream" speech. you can go and stand in the very footsteps of dr. king. their sentiments of dr. king's

speech that speak to people in different ways. i find a connection to his closing he spoke of freedom to ring from every mountainside. these lands, believe or not, are national lands. these are parks and public lands where the wells on freedom are anding us to come experience the transformative of our history. they are also calling on us to live up to the values of our nation. you know, the national park othere is unlike any public service. we recognize the american narrative is not just one

narrative that many. it means telling the story in its entirety. ,hen i became director in 2009 with the encouragement of many individuals in this administration, we recognize there were gaps in the american narrative. we must recommend to the president's new designations to fill those gaps, to realize inclusiveness and the quality that have been part of the american vision. we needed to start from the beginning. shipummer day, in 1619, a of. in the english port overlooking the chesapeake they. that later became known as the mayflower. by the time of the civil war, point comfort had become known as fort monroe, the only fort to

through the civil war. in the middle of the night, three escaped slaves appeared, looking for think shape. general butler was at the command and when the slave owners demanded the return of their property, he refuse, acting only on his own. his reasoning was that the slaves were confederate contraband and could be confiscated by union troops. this became known as the contraband decision. abraham lincoln traveled down to fort monroe, and spent the evening with butler, probably two.a brandy or the first draft of the month patient proclamation -- emancipation proclamation. the monroe bookends beginning and the end of slavery in the united states. a number of her first --

november 1, 2011, president obama designated for on row inmate at part of the national park system. during the struggle for independence in the colonial nation put the itself on a course unprecedented in the world. delaware ratified the constitution, the first to do so. in march 2013, president statedesignated the first monument as part of the national park system. no one knew this better than tubman who led

slaves to safety on the underground railroad. in 2013, president obama designated harriet tubman a national monument. the third african-american to attend an academy -- his career took him from the unit known as the buffalo soldiers to the pursuit of poncho villa and to cemetery.arlington on march 20 5, 2013, president designated the tomb of

charles young as a national monument. home impact cars with african-americans, especially slaves. he train them, provided them a living wage, give them a uniform and a code of conduct. speed up the growth of the black middle class. they were also organized by a .oung philip randolph his organizational skills would be applied to the civil rights movement that swept the nation in the 1950's and 1960's, rockding those at little

nine. president obama designated pullman a national monument. all of us know that the struggle for some rights just limited to african-americans, but others who have been discriminated against because of the color of their skin, religion, sexual orientation. 75 years ago, next year, on the outset of world war ii, president roosevelt issued an order for all of those of japanese ethnicities to be rounded up and put in internment camps. over a few days, 120,000 people, most of them american citizens, with were forced to leave behind their homes and businesses and most of their possessions. they were transferred to remote where they were

imprisoned for three years. recognizes the5, tragedy of facial profiling during wartime, as obama designated another monument as part of the national parks service. theher figure rose to carry banner of civil rights, says that chavez. enduredt for those who unsafe working conditions. the more life this great man sacrifice for farmworkers, as designated cesar chavez national monument. here in washington, a group of women led by alice paul determined the liberty and opportunity granted to citizens

of this nation should be applied to the other 50% of the population who are seen mill. there, the national moment party changed thearty status of women in america. in april twice 16, president hall aesignated belmont national monument here in d.c.. at stonewall inn in greenwich lglage, an event shaped the movement. rates, the crowd held their ground in demanding civil rights and refused to disperse. the protest expanded to neighboring streets and the nearby christopher park and grew to as many as several thousand

people. it marked a turning point in the struggle for a gpt q rights -- lgbtq writes. on june 20 fourth, twice 16, president obama designated stonewall inn a national monument as part of the national park system. these 92 national monuments represent people who believed in the aspirations of our country and the places where they acted spirit, andth, convictions. their stories are now part of the national park system where they will carry on the message that the lessons of liberty must be defended from all threats whether external or from within. our centennial amounts to a promise that we will keep not only sacred places but the memory of the most defining

moments. i shared withgo the poet laureate of the national park surface. she reminded us of truth. quote. the more i learn, the clear my view of the world becomes. you with theof press and in the country to come to the parks and gain a clearer view of the world. thank you. [applause] >> thank you, director travis. we have a lot of questions. thank you for not making us the

national park, by the way. you talked about new designations, this backlog. with all the new added designations, the new area, the hundreds of thousands of acres added to your portfolio, does it benefit the park service or does it become a challenge because you are to have a backlog? arvis: let me clarify, we are up 22 units to the park system. that is through congress and presidential acts. in almost every case, we have minimized our footprint. the actual amount of land or resource that we need to take care of. and, we have brought in, particularly through the park system, philanthropic partners

to assist with that, and have been quite successful in raising funds. it does add to our overall responsibility, i think we have been very judicious in ensuring it does not add significantly to the backlog. >> how will you tackle the backlog? we have roaming roads and bridges, outdated electric and sewage systems. how will you tackle the backlog? we understands: excruciatingt detail. about half of the backlog is in what i would call the transportation side. that is the roads and bridges peace. that is not an easy thing to raise money for. that is the responsibility of appropriators. we do get a significant amount

of funding out of the transportation bill. there is now a five-year bill to address high-priority roads and bridges in the park system. other half, which is what i would call not transportation assets. about half of that of what i call non-parity assets. the lincoln memorial, for instance. nice asset the you would consider of the park service. in some cases of those we can raise philanthropic dollars for. certainly you know we have had contributions like from david rubenstein. steady also need a supply of federal appropriations. we have asked the congress to respond to that. we have centennial legislation before them that would give us greater flexibility with

revenues such as these, and generate some new revenues that we could address the backlog. >> let's talk about the public-private partnership. how do we ensure that we do not end up with the exxon tram and the disney whatever trail of sort. with these partnerships had you for the situation were congress may say, you have private money from corporations, we may not give you as much. director jarvis: as a young woman spoke to me earlier about the railroad industry, we have always had relationships with corporate america. from the very beginning of national parks, it was the railroad that built the old c lodges.blo

we've had long-term relationships with corporate america without selling out in k brought tohis part to bu you by." us thatyou should trust we are protecting these assets labeling.ing and what we try to do is modernize our philanthropic capability, both for the service of the national park foundation and the friend groups who raise money for us. of that isnd part what if congress says you are getting a lot of money from corporate america, we will not give you as much. : we have always drawn a line in the sand between what is the responsibility of

the federal taxpayer of the u.s. appropriations process. we believe that the basic operation of the national park is the responsibility of appropriators and philanthropy gives us the margin of excellence on top of that and they are not th replaceable. >> what about user fees? to see a reason to raise fees thehelp whittle down backlog? : we raise about 220 million per year. we have the authority to retain all of that money in the national park service. a fee collecting park retains 80%. theis col for

non-fee park. we never want our fees to be so exclude some part of the american public. parks are for everyone, not just the rich or elite. in europe, where some of our ancestors came from, those special places which is for the rich, and not here in the u.s.. >> you will not say whether we will see in the next couple of years? director jarvis: let me back up for a second. 2009, i put a moratorium on fee increases. in 2015, i allowed parks across the system to consider and go into public commenting for the increasing.

we did allow some increases. we will probably hold it there for a while. when you you do get pushback but i am not planning on raising them again anytime soon. reporter: i always know general public is allowed at these so if you hear applause it's not always going to be by the press. is the pass still $10? >> yes. this shows my age. i have one of these. this is the senior pass. it is $10 for life. i would say it's a little undervalued. [laughter] but in price was set by congress. i don't have the authority to change it. we do have a proposal before congress to increase this pass.

it's still lifetime but to make it equal to the america the beautiful pass you pay that pass once for life that's between $10 and $08 would generate about $35 million for us, because we sell a lot of these, and that would all be used for the maintenance backlog. >> for most of the park service 100 years and preserving wilderness, national land marks and natural wonderers with strong bipartisan in recent dwhrears support seems to have nal raveled. of here going to be a fix the political riff and why is there a 34ril8 riff? >> when i go on the thoil meet with members of congress. here has been historically

bipartisan support, long tradition but sometimes different priorities. but -- and you know, when i go and testify before a committee, there's a lot of sort of finger pointing and accusations made about the national parks but when i go into the office for individuals i they pull down the shades and pull out their park pass and want me to sign it and part of the shi issue in miest smation there's a sort of a political agenda around that there's nothing in government is good, and it's hard to admit that if you say that, that there's this aspect of the government that they actually like which is the state -- national parks so what we are trying to do is re-introduce

ourselves to the american people, they don't know the depth and breath of the work we complete and! that translate into support across the hour, something we enjoyed for much of our first 100 years and something we hope to -- reporter: i'm not going ask you to name those members of congress. i was noting that i planned to go to the national park later. what are you doing as paurt of the celebration to control the overcrowding we are sneeg some of the national parks? >> so we are experiencing visitation, s of the outreach and media coverage an all that, so this past year, 2015 which was the last year we pt records we surpassed over $300 million visitors. that's more than all of disney

or national baseball, basketball, football, soccer, nascar combined. so -- [applause] and we do it on the budget of the city of austin, texas, which we did fact check, and that's correct. so the way i view this is that when the public come to national parks, something happens. yes, it can be somewhat overwhelming for our employees, and that's sort of the state of the art right now, but you're deepening that connection. and that connection translates to into support. as a volunteer, as an advocate. through our variety of advocacy groups back there, fringe groups at the local level and

scupt to congressso i think there's an up side to the visitation side. and it also is invite allege generation that perhaps didn't know about these places. our goal is not just trays numbers but to increase the diversity of that visitation as well. reporter: thank you, sir. so when the centennial is over, what is in the works to tie to keep this energy and excitement about the parks going past the centennial? >> well, we have been having a loft discussions about what we do when we blow tout candles because there has been a big push and many of my staffers e like, whew, we're they through. but our game has been to connect with this next generation and inspire them, and i think the next phase is e78 powering them to bring the concept of conservation and

historic preservation back into their own communities and back to within their social networks. to give them tools and the power to execute on that from what they have learned about the national parks as well. so many of these initiatives we have launched, the theme studies we have launched around groups have been carrying on to new groups so i don't see a lot of 24 stuff just ending. >> reporter: the smithsonian for african-americans is there an effort to educate visitors about such history at national parks especially around washington and the northeast corridor? >> well education has always been a core of our mission and we say come to our national

parks, have a good time and learn something and as danny would say, don't fall down either. and the -- yes. absolutely. and in partnership with the department of education programs we've cheated like teacher, ranger, teacher where they serve as park rangers during the summer and go back to school and teach during year and whether it's endangered species, you can learn something in the national parks and in some ways it may stick with you longer than when you 4r5er7bd in the classroom. reporter: this is of particular interest to my home state of utah but what's your thought on turning federal land other to some western states. 1078 say this could open up land to mining and drilling an some say they could manage these federal states better. >> well, i think we have to

look back at the portfolio at how the states were established and the goals of establishing really the four big land management agencies. there's four big land management agencies that the national park service, bureau of land management, u.s. forest service and u.s. efficient and wildlife service. and we each have a different mandate. and particularly the forest service and the blm have a multiple use mandate and they provide for energy development, -- gravel, timber as well as the u.s. forest service as well, so these lands are already working landscapes, and they are already benefiting the entire american people, not just one specific state. and so i think we've got to think very vaccine hard about retaining the public land and for the benefit of all the

people and not just those within one state boundary. reporter: do you is a specific reaction to some states saying they can notwithstanding national parks better than the government can? >> well, off lot of friends who are state park directors and many of them are struggling significantly financially that hey have lost a lot of state legislative appropriations as well, so i would say the public land estate is being well managed and would continue to be best managed under the federal government. reporter: there were a number of high-profile wildlife attacks and what message do i don't you have tore people visiting national parks and that involve wildlife?

>> well, the thing about wildlife is that they are wild, and i think there's on one hand, we try in the national park service to let the public know that, that bison laying down over there is not tame. it's not behind a fence, and it can outrun a horse, and you really shouldn't go over there and pat it on the head. and there are risks in these wild plateses and we want to public to be educated about those risks, and learn how the experience them which, can be a fantastic and incredible experience to be in those environments. but there is a risk and we are working very hard to help educate the public about them. reporter: they were investigating 10 cases of locally transmitted zika virus. as the summer continues do you see the virus spreading and to the point where you may have to close some parks in the

southern united states? >> well, we certainly haven't gotten to the point of considering closure, but we definitely feel zika is going to be a significant problem in the everglades, biscayne, big thicket. a number of of these areas, all southern tier parks that have large mow ski tow populationings. this particular species is not really a species that breeds in the waters of the everglades. it's much more of a human contact species. and -- but we have been working with the center of disease control and prevention specifically for information for the public and for our own employees that work in that area. reporter: and there's only one james -- why isn't the government pushing on the historic views of james snoun >> i know whose question that

was [laughter] well, i tell you one thing i'm pushing back really hard on it and there are a number of those this room pushing hard on that. you're absolutely right. there's only one james town, and it 140u8d not be marred with a transmission line. reporter: there's a -- gas exploration in some parks, the everglades and do you believe seismic testing and those with exploratory testing cause no harm to the ecosystem? >> well, i don't think it causes no harm. i think there can be harm from any of that type of activity, and we are in litigation over that right now so, i really can't go into the details of that specific case, but it is something that when we have a split estate and individuals have rights to explore that state, it puts us in a bind. reporter: on the same subject,

what threat does mining or any threat if at all does mining pose to the parks system for example golden uranium exploration near grand canyon? >> well, as you may know secretary salazar withdrew about a million acres adjacent to the grand canyon for a 20-year withdrawal for uranium mining. without getting down in the weeds too deeply, the concept of how you mine for uranium is you drill down, and as you do, you penetrate impermible by the logical layers and -- you stand at the demand canyon and look across, you can see spring springs and seeps where water comes out and the potential for uranium mining is that radioactive o re-could come out into the colorado river and

potible water systems for millions of people in the of ado rivers so it's significance to us. so mining can have effects and we work a lot with those individuals to mitigate those concerns. reporter: this is also happening in maine and often ck recalls hostile towards new parks. what would you tell them that about this being a benefit rather than a debt meant? >> well, there was a fight historically over all of the parks. there was a fight over the grand canyon and the president had to use the antiquities -- to protect the a grand canyon. if you look at mist history in

past practice. i was recently in alaska. those of you around during the a.f.c.a lands act days, the city passed a resolution in total opposition of the national park, and here recently the city council rescinded that resolution unanimously in support of keni fiyords national park. so if you look at estes and forks washington outside of olympic, you will see communities that have benefited economically, quality of life, the kids can find work all from the establishment of national parks and adjacent. reporter: this questioner wants to know the organization he or she works for represents the parks service with over 200,000

signatures with citizens who feel the order will overcommercialize our parks. if you can quickly explain what that is and when will the parks service make a final decision? >> the directors or ther 21 is the policy document that governs the relationship with private philanthropy, both corporate and individual philanthropy and how that is recognized. off citizens advisory board, and i commission them to essentially give us state of the art report on how philanthropy has done in this country today and how donor recognition is done and they made a recommendation to me for a revision of the 021 so that the park service could consider a range of options to increase the potential for philanthropy but do it in a way that is respectful of the stewardship

that we have for these places and they have doneso. we have taken public comment on that, and we are in the process of finalizing that, and we will have the 021 completed and signed by the end of the year. reporter: thank you, sir. members of congress on both sides of the aisle have criticized the park service for complaints about sexual misconduct and other unethical behavior. what actions specifically have you taken to regard to that? >> i think most of you know the grand canyon district where there was a horrible sexual harassment by our park service employees. we fully recognize and admit to that and there have been other cases that have emerged in other parks around the system so a couple things we have done right away to address this. in the canyon specifically, we

have a new superintendent on the ground, chris len rds. first woman in the history of grand canyon is the new superintendent, and i traveled out there with the secretary last week and introduced her to the staff. she was 2 former superintendent at golden gate and will do a fantastic job there first and foremost in the canyon how they both route this out and re-start relationship with the community and their employees. service wide we have engaged a number of other organizations that have been dealing with this, specifically the department of defense, who has had both its own troubled history around harassment and abuse. and so we have learned a lot from them. and first and foremost we need to establish a baseline of establishing how prevalent this is in the park service. i honestly don't know and we're not going to know until we do a

well-crafted survey of all employees that's done with the protection of anonymity and once we establish that baseline then we can understand more specifically how to take action. we are jumping on top of any reports right now and i set a standard with my senior leadership of what i expect how to implement a zero tolerance policy in terms of quick action, protection of the victim and zero tolerance for this work for this horrible component. ly say that our employees will be stepping up once they see that we are taking action. i expect the number of reported incidents to increase. not that there are more case they think employees are now feeling more empowered to speak up and step up and i expect. that to occur not only in the national parks service but within other agencies that are seeing what's happening to the

park service and following our lead. reporter: a follow-up on that. are there protections and have you communicated those protections for whistleblowers and those who have been victims of this so they can raise their concerns to those higher up? >> we are establishing a hotline that will allow individuals if they are caught in a situation where if the rasser is their direct superadvisor or in the chain that they can get imimmediately response. reporter: about writing a book about the national parks to be sold in the national parks gift shops as apparent conflict of interest own though you were not benefiting why did you not go through the ethics department? >> good question. and i have apologize to the

department of the interior and my employees for that laps in judgment. nd you know 20/20 hindsight is often perfect. i would ask next time. reporter: can you talk about the perceptible effects of climate change on any specific national parks and what can be done if anything to address those concerns? >> so i've said many times climate change the probably most treaning aspects to the national parks and we are already seeing direct effects to specific parks and i can give you an example. i was the superintendent at mount are near national park and that's the cascades right outside of seattle and typically, historically if you look at climate records for mount ray knee, it's a lot of snow, one of the snowiest places in the near 48 and usually you would get snow in

the fall and rain in the spring and the rain would come down like a big sponge on the snow and let it out in the spring. it's shifted now to snow starts and then it con strortse rain in the fall and so you get rain on snow in the fall. you don't have enough snow pack to absorb it and it creates flood. nd so we had about $35 million of damage in one event in the fall of mount ray near just sweeping down one of the values and wiping out a campground that had been there for 100 ears and glaciers disappearing in the national park and fires burning a month longer on either end of the season. much hotter. we're seeing post fire situation with vegeation not coming back in the same way as well. migratory species arriving

earlier or later. species moving up the mountain to be cooler, so we are seeing effects across the system. reporter: thank. sir, if you had a magic wand or a magic hat. there you go. would you what would you ask for? rangers? scientists? maintenance? money? what would you ask for? >>i would ask for public summit. i think all of those things that you mention come from public support. and i want the public to love their national parks. i want them to see their national parks and to be -- feel that their story is represented in the national parks, and if they feel that in a deep way, that will translate into funding, advocacy support for our mission to be accomplished in the second century.

reporter: before i have the final question i have a few announcements. the professional organize ization for journalistses for more information about the club visit our website at www.press .org. on thursday the national press club will hold its annual awards dinner to honor journal ists best reporting. i'd like to present our guest fort national press club mug. [applause] > thank you. >> i'm going to give you two options for your last question so you can't walk away just yet. one is a tough one. out of your 44urks or so units, name your favorite national park or you've been with the park services 40 years so i would like to know if not naming your favorite national

park, what was your scariest moment at a national park? >> i love all my children, so i can't name my favorite. but i will tell you a great scary moment. so i worked in alaska. and i was a captain at my last national park and if you've seen the pictures with the bears and water falls, there's only two places in alaska that you can go to see it and one is brooks falls. it was late in september. i was above the falls. in the river. fly-fishing, which i like to do. and i had a fish on, and one of those gigantic coastal brown bears jumped out of the bushes on to my fish. and i snapped my line off and that bear took a very strong

interest in me. [laughter] and for about the next two hours i was probably never more than about 15 feet from that bear. it followed me through the woods. i crossed the stream. three or four times. i wound up swimming across the mouth of the lake. and the bear swam right behind me. the whole way. um, and i finally got to my -sided, ich was hard fortunately. and sort of crashed through the door and my brother was sitting inside by the fire reading a book, of course and he said, completely soaking wet and out of breath and he said what happened to you? and i said come here and i said look out there and the bear was standing on the porch. [laughter] [applause]

>> well, thank you director jarvis for being here. thank you-all for being here and thank you for watching and thank you to the instead of of the national press club. we are adjourned. [applause] >> on saturday, c-span's issue spotlight looks at police and race relations. we'll show president obama at the service for the five police officers killed in dallas. president obama: when the bullets started flying, the men and women of the dallas police. they did not flinch and they did not react recklessly.

>> and tim scott giving his speech about his own interactions with police. >> but the vast majority of the time i was pulled over for nothing more than driving a new car in the wrong neighborhood or some other reason just as trivial. >> also including one family's encounter with police in washington, d.c. followed by a panel. >> most people get defensive if they feel like you're being offensive, so being very respectful, and in encounters or qus if it's not a crisis or dangerous situation, request versus demands, those things change the die no, ma'am anxious little bit. >> watch our spotlight on police and race relations on c-span and c-span.org. "washington journal" is next.

we'll take your calls and look at today's news. president obama will hold a joint news conference with singapore's prime minister this morning. live coverage at 11:40 eastern. this afternoon the heritage foundation holds an event on school vouchers. that's at 3:00 p.m. eastern. this evening the white house will host a state dinner for singapore's state minute 12er. watch for live coverage here on c-span. >> coming up our, we will talk to stephanie taylor about the progressive campaign. author edrvative morrissey of "hot air" will discuss republican presidential nominee donald trump.

you can join the conversation on facebook and twitter. ♪ good morning, it is the washington journal for august the second, 98 days before election day and primaries in several states. several key republicans and veterans groups are calling out donald trump overstatements made asut mr. khan and his wife he called out donald trump over his view of mr. trump's proposed temporary ban on muslims in the united states. we want to get your thoughts on the back-and-forth that has been going on, on this topic between mr. trump and mr. khan, g