also shared pictures of what museum visitors will be able to see. nine of carpal lewis' olympic and world championship medals. the red 1978 eldorado cadillac that belonged to chuck berry. a trumpet played by louis armstrong. this is the dress rosa parks was selling on the day she was arrested when the refused to sit at the back of the bus during segregation in montgomery, alabama. you can watch the opening of the museum tomorrow here on c-span. ahead of the opening ceremony, we spoke with african-american members of congress about the museum. >> congressman , in your view, what is the importance of the new african-american museum to the country? mr. ellison: the new african-american museum is so esen torble any american identity, no matter what color or background you may have. you can argue that the revolutionary war, not just the civil war, but the revolutionary

war before it, had something to do with issues of race. in 1777, the british, under lord mansfield said they weren't going to allow slavery anymore on british land. the americans said, you might not, by we are, this is our economy. and the south, south carolina and other southern localities decided to break along with their northern counterparts because of this issue. you move up to the civil war. you know, some people argue today what the civil war or slavery -- whether the civil war was about slavery or not. 24e secessionists sure thought. so they wrote in their documents, even before president lincoln was inaugurated, they were leaving because the issue of slavery was so prominent. the civil war wasn't the first time the nation pulled itself apart. we all know that even well before that, the nation was

seizing at the seams because of this issue of slavery. so even after we end slavery with the 13th amendment, it took 100 more years to end second class citizenship for black people. so you cannot, i believe, you cannot understand america without understanding the history of african-americans. and everybody has a story in there. everybody has a place and a role. so memorializing the history of african-americans in this museum is one of the most important things we can do for all americans. >> what is your sense of the role that congress has played in this new museum? mr. ellison: i think congress has played an important role, as it should. ngress, after all, you know, passed laws that made second class citizenship and slavery the law of the land. congress passed the 13th amendment which outlawed slavery. 14th amendment

which guaranteed citizenship and equal protection. congress then passed laws to help maintain racial subordination and congress ultimately 14th passed the 1955 1964 civil rights act to help end american apartheid. indicate anddeeply therefore congress should be part of the story of erecting the museum. congress is part and parcel of our american racial legacy. >> the museum is located on the national mall. do you think that's an appropriate place? mr. ellison: the national mall is absolutely where the african-american museum should be. there was slay trading on the national mall, d.c. was a slave trading town. d.c. was part of the story when we did desegregation. when america passed brown vs. board of education, there was a companion case that had to do with washington, d.c., sec regated schools. the mall is where it should be because the small a place of

national honor a place of national prominence and also a place where so much african-american history took place, whether or not it's the building of the capitol, done by slaves, or the white house, also contributed to by slaves or slave trading which happened on the national mall. it's where it should be. >> the first african-american president is about to leave office. what's the significance of his opening of the museum? mr. ellison: my mom, who was born in 1940 in rural louisiana could never conceive of a black president. growing up in, you know, louisiana's seg regated schools, the seg regated south. to her, the idea of a black president is unimaginable to her as a little black girl growing up in that time and in that space. and so for there to even -- for a black person to exist at all is something that so many untold generations of americans, black

and white, it was just beyond their imagining, but yet america always exceeds expectationsing right? so you know, to have this first african-american president basically kristen the museum you know, i think is incredibly appropriate and very fitting and it is very, very apt way for him to salute the nation as one of his final official acts. i think it's a tremendous achievement and i think that anyone who is present will be lucky to have observed history in the making. >> last question for you, what does the museum mean to you personally? mr. ellison: you can read as many books as you want but to me the museum has a profound emotional connection. it's validation. the american slave, if anything, was unacknowledged. we weren't acknowledged as human beings, we were cows and

chickens and articles of merchandise and production. is now, to have a museum dedicated in honor of the people who toiled for over 246 year, this was a slaveholding nation longer than it was not. and so to have a museum dedicated to the dignity and contribution and history of these people, i think, is a tremendous commentary to the people themselves but also to america at large. how many societies in the history of humanity have seen people who were in servitude, because servitude is not unique to the americas, it was all other the world, but how many slaveholding societies have been able internally to overcome that system and establish legal equality? we've got a long way to go to rid ourselveses of american racism, but we have vanquished slavery and jim crow. that's an important achievement in the history of mankind.

and so for me, there's an emotional connection. it's about my mom. it's about my kids. it's about -- it has something to do with how police officers may treat me if they stop me. it has something to do with, you know, you know, people struggling for equality right now and off into the future. i just think it's a tremendous achievement for our nation and it makes me proud to be an american. >> the smithsonian national museum of african-american history and culture opens its doors to the public for the first time saturday and c-span will be live from the national mall starting at 10:00 a.m. eastern for the outdoor dedication ceremony. speakers include president obama and founding museum director lonnie bunch. watch the opening ceremony for the national smithsonian museum for african-american history and cull culture, live, saturday at 10:00 a.m. eastern, watch live

any time at c-span.org and listen live on the c-span radio app. >> president barack obama this afternoon vetoed legislation that would allow families of victims of the september 11 attacks to sue saudi arabia, saying the bill would hurt u.s. national security interests. in a statement, the president said the bill could lead to lawsuits against u.s. officials for actions by foreign groups that receive usaid. military -- u.s. aid, military equipment, or training and would hurt efforts to work with allies on counterterrorism and other issue. members of congress are weighing in. republican representative pete king sent this tweet. quote, terrible decision by president obama to veto. congress must override next week. 9/11 families deserve justice. democratic new york senator schumer said in a statement in part, quote, this is a disappointing decision that will be swiftly and soundly overturned in congress. senator shumer is considered a

co-sponsor of the 9/11 bill. >> tonight, michelle obama and former first lady laura bush talk about their support for u.s. service members, veterans, and their families. that's at 8:00 oom eastern on our companion network c-span2. the chair of the federal reserve, janet yellen, announced this week that federal fund rates will remine un-- remain unchange bud the case for a rate increase has strengthened. the 7-3 vote represents the most dissenting voices since december, 2014. here's the fed chair's news conference after the vote. it's about an hour.

ms. yellen: good afternoon. at our meeting that concluded earlier today, my colleagues and i on the federal open market committee discussed overall economic conditions and decided to keep the target range for the federal funds rate at one quarter to one-half percent. we judged that the case for an increase has strengthened, but decided for the time being to wait for further evidence of continued progress toward our objectives. our current policy should help move the economy toward our statutory goals of maximum employment and price stability. i'll have more to say about our decision shortly, but first i will review recent economic developments in the outlook. economic growth, which was subdued during the first half of the year, appears to have picked

up. household spending continues to be the key source of that growth. the spending has been supported by solid increases in household income as well as by relatively high levels of consumer sentiment and wealth. business investment, however, remains soft, both in the energy sector and more broadly. the energy industry has been hard hit by the drop in oil prices since mid 2014 and investment in that sector continues to contract through the first half of the year. however, drilling is now showing signs of stabilizing. overall, we expect that the economy will expand at a moderate pace over the next few years. turning to employment, gains averaged about 180,000 per month over the past four months, about the same solid pace recorded since the beginning of the year.

in the longer run, that's well above the pace that we estimate is needed to provide work for new entrants in the job market. but so far this year, most measures of labor market slack have shown little change. the unemployment rate in august, 4.9%, was the same as in january and a broader measure of unemployment has also flattened out, a measure that includes people who want and are available to work, but have not searched recently, as well as people who are working part time but would rather work full time. the fact that unemployment measures have been holding steady while the number of jobs -- grown solidly shows that presumably in response to better employment opportunities and higher wages have started

actively seeking and finding jobs. this is a very welcome development, both for the individuals involved and the nation as a whole. we continue to expect that labor market conditions will strengthen somewhat further over time. ongoing economic growth and an improving job market are key factors supporting our inflation outlook. overall consumer price inflation, as measured by the price index for personal consumption expenditures, was less than 1% over the 12 months ending in july. still short of our 2% objective. much of the shortfall continues to reflect earlier declines in energy and import prices. core inflation, which excludes energy and food prices that tend to be more volatile than other prices, has been running about 1.5%. as transer to influences holding

down inflation fade and as the job market strengthens further, we continue to expect inflation to rise to 2% over the next two to three years. our inflation outlook also risks important -- rests importantly on our judgment that longer run inflation expectations remain reasonably well anchored. however, we can't take the stability of longer run inflation expectations for granted, and we will continue to carefully monitor actual and expected progress toward our inflation goals. indeed, we are fully committed to achieving our 2% inflation objective. let me turn to the economic projections now extending thru 2019 that were submitted for this meet big the federal open market committee participants. as always, participants condition their projections on their own view of appropriate monetary policy, which in turn depends on each participant's

assessment of the multitude of factors that shape the outlook. the median projection for growth of inflation adjusted gross domestic product, or g.d.p. is 1.% this year. this figure is somewhat lower than projected in june as a result of the weaker than expected growth seen in the first half of the year. in 2017 and 2018, the median growth projection is unchanged at 2%. somewhat higher than the median estimate of longer run normal growth. in 2019, growth edges down to 1.8% in line with its estimated longer run rates which has been revised down a bit since june. the median projection for the unemployment rate stands at 4.8% at the end of this year. a touch higher than in june.

over the next three years, the median unemployment rate runs near 4.5%, modestly below the median estimate of its longer run normal rate. finally, the median inflation projection is 1.3% this year and rises to 1.9% next year and 2% in 2018 and 2019. returning to monetary policy, recent pickup in economic growth and continued progress in the labor market have strengthened the case for an increase in the federal funds rate. moreover, the committee judges the risk to the outlook tore roughly balanced. so why didn't we raise the federal funds rate at today's meeting? our decision does not reflect a lack of confidence in the economy. conditions in the labor market are strengthened and we expect that to continue.

while inflation remains low, we expect it to rise to our 2% objective over time. but with labor market slack being taken up at a somewhat slower pace than in previous years, scope for further improvement in the labor market remain and inflation continues to run below our 2% target. we chose to wait for further evidence of continued progress toward our objectives. this caution approach to pearing back monetary policy support is all the more appropriate given the short-term interest rates are still near zero. which means we can take strong inflation pressures in the future by raising rates than to a weak vening labor market and falling inflation by cutting rates. achieve and

maintain our objectives. that's based on our views that the neutral, nominal federal funds rate that is the interest rate that is neither expansionnary or contradictionnary and keeps the economy operating on an even keel is currently quite low by historical standards. with the federal funds rate modestly below the neutral rate the current stance of monetary policy should be viewed as modestly accommodative, which is appropriate to foster further progress toward our objectives. but since monetary policy is only modestly accommodative, there appears little risk of falling behind the curve in the near future and gradual increases in the federal funds rate will likely be sufficient to get to a neutral policy tance over the next few years.

the median projection of the federal funds rate rises only gradually to 1.1% at the end of next year, 1.9% at the end of 2018, and 2.6% by the end of 2019. compared with the projecks made in june the median path to the federal funds rate has been revised down a quarter to one-half percentage point. most participants also mark down their estimate of the longer run normal federal funds rate with the median now at 2.9%. as i noted on previous occasions, participants projections for the federal funds rate including the median path are not fixed plan for future policy. policy is not on a preset course. these forecasts represent participants' individual assessments of appropriate

policy given their projections of economic growth, employment, inflation, and other factors at particular point in time. however, the economic outlook is inherently uncertain and any assessment of the appropriate funds rate federal will change in response to changes to the economic outlook and associated risks. finally, we will continue to reinvest proceeds from many, many -- from maturing treasury securities and principal payments from agency debt and mortgage backed securities. as our statement says we anticipate continuing this policy until normalization of the level of the federal funds rate is well under way. maintaining our sizable holdings of longer term securities should help maintain accommodative financial conditions and should reduce the risk that we might have to lower the federal funds rate to zero in the event of a

future large adverse shock. thank you. i'd be happy to take your questions. >> steve leesman, cnbc. critics of the federal reserve have said that you look for any excuse not to hide that the goal posts constantly move. and it looks like new goal pest ps -- posts now. you said looking for further evidence, evidence that labor market slack is being taken up. could you explain what for the time being means in terms of a time frame and what that further evidence you would look for in order to hike interest rates and also this notion that the goal posts seem to move and that you've indeed introduced a new goal post with this statement. thank you. ms. yellen: i'll try to respond to those questions. let me try to set out again how

the committee sees the economy and what we're looking for. we're generally pleased with how the u.s. economy is doing. growth was weak in the first half of the year, we're seeing evidence that the economy is now expanding more strongly. as i mentioned, payroll gains in recent months have been solid, averaging around 180,000 per month which is less than the pace in 2015, but as i mentioned, it's well above what's needed to provide jobs for new entrants into the labor force, over time. the unemployment rate is pretty close to most estimates of its longer run equilibrium value. but as i mentioned that rate and other measures of labor utilization are little changed since the beginning of the year. i don't see that as bad news because it may reflect that the

strong labor market is attracting people from outside the labor force back into employment. the labor force participation rates increased on balance since late last year. it is on a declining demographic trend and the fact that it increased shows substantial number of people that are being attracted into the labor market. the employment to population ratio is also continued to increase. now we were not really certain that this is something that would happen as the labor market strengthened and it is good to see that development has taken place and that is some news that we've received in recent months that the labor market does have that potential to have people come back in without the unemployment rate coming down. so we're not seeing strong pressures on utilization,

suggesting overheating, and my assessment would be based on this evidence that the economy has a little more room to run than might have been previously thought. that's good news. remember that inflation continues below 2%, although we expect it to move up over time. so the committee agrees that risks to the outlook have become roughly balanced. we expect labor market conditions to continue strengthening. and we are generally agreed that gradual increases in the federal funds rate to remove what is a modest degree of accommodation will be appropriate, but we dent see the economy as overheating now. my colleagues and i exchanged views at this meeting on the appropriate timing of the next step in reducing policy stimulus

. most of us judged that the case for an immediate increase in the federal funds rate is stronger, but it would be sensible given the finding of a bit more running room to wait to see some continued progress evidence that we continue to progress toward our objectives. so for the time being, we're going to watch incoming evidence report can see from the that most expect that one increase in the federal funds rate would be appropriate this year and i would expect to see that, if we continue on the current course of labor market improvements and there are no major new risks that develop and we simply stay on the current course. >> howard schneider with "reuters."

i was wondering if you could comment on the apparent tension between the steady drift down in the long run rate and the steady drift down in some of the projections and the seeming march toward a rate hike? if the neutral rates coming down over time and continues coming down and you're eating up accommodation that way anyway, why not wait for the dust to settle on that before moving on. >> it is true that our estimates have been newt -- of the neutral rate are coming down and that's what is largely responsible for that shift. at the same time, we generally agree that the stance of monetary policy is somewhat accommodative. so 180,000 jobs a month is a faster pace of employment growth and is -- than is sustainable in the longer run. we have seen people come into the labor force and making more than what would be expected

which is why the unemployment rate hasn't fallen because that's not something that is possible without the economy overheating on an indefinite basis. so policy needs to be forward looking, we don't want the economy to overheat and significantly overshoot our 2% inflation objective. that's one risk that we need to address. and i think we generally agree that some gradual increases to remove that accommodation will be appropriate if we stay on this course. but as i emphasized, it's not that much accommodation and the economy has shown evidence that there are more people who are being attracted back into the labor force. so in that sense, infield characterize it as the economy has a bit more running room. nevertheless, we don't want these the economy to overheat

and if things continue on the current course, i think that some gradual increases will be appropriate. mainly what we discussed today were issue affecting the timing of such increases. marty critzinger with associated press. last week you seemed to raise expectations that there could be a rate hike in september. other fed officials talked and seemed to support that. the fed question -- there were comments that sent the markets plunging, governor brainerd seemed to draw back. is this hurting the fed's credibility, do you think? or is this just a normal thing we should be looking for at this time, this uncertain -- uncertain time with the economy.

ms. yellen: i did say at jackson hole that the case for a rate increase had strength and that assessment is included in today's statement. i think most of my comments agree with that assessment. i think we are trying to understand some difficult issues , there is less disagreement among participants in the committee than you might think listening to speeches and commentary. i think we all agree that the economy is making progress, that we are close to an unemployment rate that is one that's sustainable in the longer run. we all agree we are undershooting our inflation goal and that we want to make sure we stay on a course that raises that to 2% and we're struggling with difficult set of issues about what is the new normal in

this economy and in the global economy more generally, which explains why we keep revising down the rate path. and it's very important that in a body like ours that a whole range of views are expressed, that we have independent-minded people who gather together and discuss these issues. my colleagues do explain in their individual speeches, their own perspectives. these are complicated, complex issues and it took this straightforward, how to interpret what is appropriate policy and exactly what is going on in the economy. my sense is that market participants in the public -- and the public more generally learn more about the issues that

we're grappling with as they listen to this set of speeches and i think it's a very good thing that the fomc is not a body that suffers from group think. you see that's one of the, you know, real worries in an organization that everybody thinks identically. but there's a lot that we share in common and express both in our statement and our speeches, and we're debating and discussing issues pertaining to iming. >> chair yellen, donald trump, the republican presidential nominee has charged that the fed is keeping interest rates artificially low to support the obama administration. i'd like to hear what you have to say to that charge. oen a related note, i want to ask you about the fed's next policy meeting, which is in

early november, a week before the election. given that the case for raising rates has strengthened, should the public see that meeting as a meeting where rate action could happen? ms. yellen: i think congress very wisely established the federal reserve as an independent agency in order to insulate monetary policy from short-term political pressures. and i can say emphatically that partisan politics plays no role in our decisions about the appropriate stance of monetary policy. we are trying to decide what the best policy is to foster price stability and maximum employment and to manage the variety of risks that we see affecting the outlook. we do not discuss politics at our meetings and we d not take politics into account in our decisions.

as i said, we're generally pleased with the progress of the economy and the decision not to raise rates today and to wait for some further evidence that we're continuing on this course is largely based on the judgment that we're not seeing evidence that the economy is overheating and that we are seeing evidence that people are being drawn in in larger numbers than at least i would have expected into the labor market and that is healthy to continue but nevertheless we do need to be forward looking and if we continue along this course, it likely will be appropriate to raise the federal funds rate. and november you asked about as well, every meeting is live and we will again assess as we always do, incoming evidence in november and decide whether or

not a move is warranted. >> madam chair, craig torres from bloomberg. what observable data would convince you and the committee that this neutral federal funds rate is starting to move up? there's a popular piece of research by one of your colleagues that suggests that it's at zero right now and second, i'm struck by our opening remarks, that the economy is -- isn't overheating. but does that mean the committee sees this global reach for yield going on right now as very low cost to its policy? thanks. ms. yellen: you asked first what evidence would suggest that the neutral rate is moving up? i think if you saw us revising up our growth forecast, revising down our estimates with an unchanged path for policy, if you saw this you would see revisions in the funds rate path.

but if unemployment were moving down faster than we had anticipated, if we saw faster growth or upward pressure on inflation that would be suggestive of the appropriateness of re-evaluating whether or not the neutral funds rate had increased. i mean, the downward revisions reflect the fact that while the economy has made a lot of progress, it's only made that progress in the context of a monetary policy that has been characterized by extremely low interest rates and negative real yields for a very long period of time. let's see. then you asked about global factors. so global factors, capital flows -- >> i ask about the global reach for yield and whether the committee saw that as a cost to

its accommodative policy right now. ms. yellen: so in most advanced nations now, we have highly accommodative policies and they seem to be necessary for countries to be able to achieve their inflation and employment bjectives. and that's characteristic of an environment in which the neutral rate, interest rates, both here and in advanced countries around the globe, appear to be very low. and that is an environment that if we do have to live with that for a long time, we have to be aware that it does give rise to a reach for yield as individuals seek to perhaps take on risks or lengthen maturities to seek higher yields

and i think we should be concerned about that to the extent it creates financial stability risks and we are very aware that those are possible. we engage in regular assessments of financial stability factors that bear on financial stability . overall, i would say that the threats to financial stability i would characterize at this point as moderate. not -- i mean, so, we characterize it as moderate, in general i would not say that asset valuation are out of line with historical norms but there are areas my colleague president rosenghrin is focused on real estate where price ratios are high or cap rates are low. that's something that has caught our attention.

we have a variety of tools other than monetary policy to address such risks. we have recently issued new supervisory guidance pertaining to commercial real estate. i would say in the area of commercial real estate, while valuations are high, we are seeing some tightening of lending standards and less debt growth associated with that rise in commercial real estate prices. but more generally, we're not seeing signs of leverage building up or maturity transformation in the way we saw in the run up to the crisis and we're keeping a close eye on that. >> two quasi-related questions. one, bill dudley earlier this year suggested that a political uncertainty in the u.s. may be one of the depressants on business investment at the moment.

i wondered if you'd seen further evidence that election risk was one of the reasons businesses are holding back at the margin. the second was a fol owe -- followup on your jackson hole speech where you presented a fairly optimistic speech. you did raise the question of automatic stabilizers in the u.s., however. are you concerned that there is insufficient fiscal backup to the fed, it's being lumped on the shoulders of central bank if there is a fresh downturn? -- downturn? >> starting with the issue of political uncertainty and investment, investment spending really has been quite weak for some time. and we're really not certain exactly what is causing that. part of it, of course, has been the huge contradiction in drilling activity associated ith falling oil prices but the weakness and investment -- weakness in investment spending ex-pends beyond that sector and i'm not certain of exactly what

explains that, whether i'm not aware of evidence that suggests that it's political uncertainty but it's certainly, i would agree with the finding that it has been weak. consumer sentiment is perfectly solid. we're seing a lot of strength in consumer spending and consumer sentiment certainly seems to be solid. you asked about scope for further monetary policy action. i was careful in jackson hole, i indicated we have a number of tools that we've used before and could use again. i did indicate that i do have concerns about the scope for monetary policy, nevertheless, at this point, our balance sheet is large and we're not at what we see as the normal level, longer run level of interest rates so at the moment the funds

rate is very low. it's below that normal level. so at the moment, i would say the zero lower bound is a concern and we have less scope than i would like to see or expect us to have in the longer run. now, i think it would be worthwhile for other policymakers to think about what role they could play in addressing negative shocks should they come and i mentioned specifically automatically -- automatic stabilizers because i think that's an important way in which fiscal policy serves to cushion shocks to the economy and it would seem to me without getting into specifics that there are ways in which the responsive fiscal policy to shifts in the economy could be strengthened which would help take some burden off monetary olicy.

>> in the run up to the brexit vote earlier this year, several policymakers cited it as a reason they were reluctant to raise rates in june. in the run-up to the presidential election i have not heard any fed policymaker give that as a reason to delay raising rates in november. could you explain why the fed regards brexit as a greater danger to the american economy election. le and there were three disagreements on the vote here, could you explain those three disagreements? ms. yellen: we are very focused on giving, given the way the economy is operating, on fostering our goals. i'm not going to get into politics. those are factors we don't consider and i'm not going to

get involved in commenting on the election. i erms of the dissents, as indicated, the notion that we do have some accommodation if we continue on the current path, it's something that we will need to remove over time. there's general agreement among participants on that, but the precise timing of what is the right, what is rethe right timing for removing that accommodation is something on which we had active discussions and there are a range of opinions and the dissents represent a judgment on the part of some of my colleagues that it's important to begin that process now. i certainly agree, and i've said myself, that there are risks in waiting too long to remove acome

dation. we need to take a forward looking approach. i've always advocated making policy based on forecasts of where the economy is heading and taking account of risks. and there are two particular risks that we need to think about and balance, one is the risk that the economy runs too hot, that unemployment, the labor market tightens too much, that unemployment falls to a very low level. that we need to tighten policy in a less gradual way than would be ideal and in the course of doing that, because that is very difficult thing to accomplish, to gently create a bit more slack in the labor market, which could -- we could cause a recession in the process. that's something my colleagues and i certainly wouldn't want to be responsible for.

we would all like to have a very long expansion with the labor market operating well for many years to come and the prospect at we could create -- create downside risks for the labor market is something we would like to avoid and taking a stitch in time might be essential to avoiding that. on the other hand, inflation is running below our 2% objective and it's also important that we make sure we get become to 2% and i have routinely indicated a number of measures of inflation expectations that are running at the low ends of their historical range and we're watching that as well. and there would also be risks from not seeing inflation move back to our 2% objective and exactly how to balance these two risks, which is more serious, which is a more serious risk can

affect one's judgment about the appropriate timing. we're all struggling to understand the magnitude and nature of those two risks. >> rebecca jarvis, abc news. chair yellen, at a time when the american public is losing faith in many institutions, did the flmc discuss this as an opportunity to dispel the thought that the fed is politically compromised or beholden to marks. ms. yellen: the federal reserve is not politically compromised. we do not discuss politics in our meeting. i can't recall any meeting i have ever attended where politics has been a matter of discussion. i think the public if they had been watching our meeting on tv today, would have felt that we d a rich, deep, serious, intellectual debate about the

risks and the forecasts for the economy and we struggled mightily with trying to understand one another's points of view and to come out at balanced place and to act responsibly and that's my commitment to the american people, that i want to lead an institution that is not political and is -- that we are striving to do our very best to pursue the goals that congress has assigned to us, which are important ones of price stability and maximum employment. >> does it concern you, given what donald trump has said at this point about the federal reserve, that he could go back, if he were president and look at the minutes and look for signs of the fed being politically motivated and find them? ms. yellen: i have no concern that the fed is politically motivated and i will assure you that you will not find any signs

of political motivation when the transcripts are released in five years. we -- it is important that we maintain the confidence of the public and i do believe that we deserve it. i know that these are difficult decisions and everybody may not agree with them, but i hope the public will understand that we're striving to do our best to pursue these goal it's a do matter to all of us. >> nan sis marshall with marketplace. you mentioned commercial real estate. are you worried -- worried that bubbles could form in the economy because of our prolonged low interest rates? >> yes, of course we are worried that bubbles could form in the economy and we routinely monitor asset valuations. while nobody can know for sure what type of valuation represents a bubble, that's only something one can tell in

we are monitoring these measures of valuation and commercial real estate valuations are high. rents have moved up over time. these but still valuations are high relative to rents and so it is something we have discussed, we called this out in our monetary policy report and in other presentations and we are in our supervision with banks as i indicated, we have issued supervisory guidance to make sure that underwriting standards are sound on these loans and we're aware, this is something also that we look at in stress tests of the larger banks to see what would happen to their capital positions and to make sure that they hold sufficient capital. of course, i think the soundness and state of the banking system

is improve -- has improved substantially. but of course we are focused on such things. >> chair yellen, over here. quick question on regulation and the scandal at wells fargo over phony customer accounts. i know that there are other regulators that have looked into this but you all are also a regulator of wells fargo. has the fed opened a separate investigation into these practices at wells fargo? and wouldn't you because they do involve issues of consumer protection, potentially of risk management and corporate governance and are you looking at -- broadly across the banking system right now? >> in this specific case, the abuses that occurred took place in the national bank the comptroller of the currency has

responsibility there, and on the consumer side it is the cfpb that has responsibility. but we work cooperatively and closely with those organizations nd in terms of our overall supervisory responsibility for wells and other large banking organization well, are very focused and this will be a particular focus of our supervision. going forward over the next year or so on the compliance environment to make sure that the controls that the senior management oversight, that the involvement of the boards of directors, are appropriate to control these kinds of risks. we have been distressed to see banking organizations responding when a particular problem arises

and what we'd really want to see is robust procedures that ensure that employees are always acting in a legal and ethical manner and that the incentives put in place in these organizations are appropriate and don't serve to foster behavior that could harm the public. and this has been and will be a ocus of our supervision. >> over the past year we've seen american policymakers begin to have maybe our most serious discussion about tariffs in the last several decades. if tariffs were to be enacted in the coming year or so, does the fed have an opinion on what that would do to growth in america? ms. yellen: that's a political issue that's currently being debated that i really don't want to get into. you know, i'm going to pass on

hat one. >> john healthman, american banker. back to wells, or related to wells, one of the questions that this scandal has raised is that the bank itself says it doesn't know what was happening and and there are thousands of employees involved in this. some are calling for a breakup, saying the banks are too big to manage. do you think that, leaving aside the question of wells specifically, do you think it's possible for a bank to get so big that it can't be managed and perhaps the best prudential step would be to break it up? ms. yellen: so, we have high expectations for what we expect to be in place in a large organization or in any banking organization. we expect there to be robust

systems of risk management, strong audit functions, a board of directors that is monitoring and supervising and holding senior management accountable. for things that happen throughout the organization. and a strong compliance environment. and i don't think that these are impossible standards to meet. they may be challenging but i wouldn't at this point arrive at the conclusion that just because an organization is large it can't live up to those standards and those are our expectations and we intend to hold banking organizations responsible for putting in place that kind of risk management and compliance environment. so i'm not endorsing a general conclusion that banks of that

size are too big to manage. i believe they can be. but it may be challenging and that's what we expect. >> madam chair, thank you. i have a question about the rate trajectory the fed outlined today, that while there's clearly a wide range, the median expectation if is for the feds fund target to rise by a half percentage point in 2017, three quarters of a point in 2018 and a further three quarters of a point to 2019 bringing us to 2.5% to 2 and three quarters percent. at the same time the median forecast for g.d.p. growth is 2% for the next two years and 1.% thereafter. and i should add the most optimistic projection is for greth of 2.5% of all the projections outlined here. if economic growth is going to be that slow for that long, where will the inflationary

forces emerge that would require tightening of 250 basis points from where we are now, and if not inflation, is there some other explanation? ms. yellen: so, the projections, i agree the projections for growth are slow. we have further written down our estimate of the longer run normal growth rate and what that reflects is an assessment that productivity growth is likely to remain low for an extended time although it doesn't -- it does embody the expectation that it will pick up from the miserable half percent pace we have seen over the last five years. now, why we would never -- and slow growth is a factor, slow product iity growth is a factor that influences the longer run

normal level of interest rates and writing down the likely pace of productivity growth is one factor that is responsible for the downward shift in the path that you see for the federal funds rate. that's an important reason for revising down the neutral rate. but now let's go to your -- the part of your question about inflation. in spite of having such slow growth, disappointing productivity growth, we have labor markets that last year generated an average of about 230,000 jobs a month and so far this year, has been generating about 180,000 jobs a month and that is a very solid pace of job growth and a pace that likely is not sustainable in the longer run, although we've been pleased to see people come back in the

labor market, so it certainly is sustainable for some further amount of time. but i think what ultimately drives inflation, both wage and price growth is that tightness in the labor market and pressure on resource utilization and the sad fact is that we are getting that healthy pace of job market growth with very slow growth in output. so this is -- i don't think it bears on the inflation outlook. it has prompted a downward shift in the projected path for the neutral and actual federal funds rate, but it is a huge concern because slow productivity growth ultimately means slow growth in living standards and that's a big concern that policy make -- policymakers should be focused on. >> hi, victoria with politico.

back to wells fargo. obviously this is more of a consumer finance kind of a question but i'm wondering if you think it does pose safety and soundness questions if something like this is widespread across banks. you mentioned this would be a supervisory focus over the coming year. are there any adjustments you can speak to that might be warranted given these revelations? ms. yellen: as i mentioned, we'll be focusing on compliance, risk management, and board oversight, not only at wells but also across bank holding companies. of course, consume issues and issues that involve consumers can become safety and soundness issues and if there was at least one of the lessons from the financial crisis, i think, is that abuses of consumers of the sort that we see -- that we saw

in subprime lending ultimately did become -- become safety and soundness issues and so of course we need to have that concern and we'll focus there. i think i can't really at this point give you specifics beyond hat. >> ar large number of congressional democrats as well as the campaign of hoipthoipt would like bankers removed from the boards overseeing the fed banks and reformers would like to see the private ownership -- the bank ownership of the feds and be brought fully into government and i want to know what you think of those two proposals. ms. yellen: we have a system that congress set up in the federal reserve act in which the governance of the reserve banks involved banks contributing

capital and are serving on the boards of directors. we have long recognized inside the federal reserve that when we're charged with supervision of banks, having bankers involved in that obviously presents conflict of interests. we have put in place very strong measures to ensure those conflicts of interest are not allowed to play out in any way and bankers are not allowed to be involved in supervision. dodd-frank changed the arrangement so only the class b and c nonbanking directors can participate in the selection of the president as well. so i think i want to make sure the public has confidence that in spite of the fact that we do have this banker involvement in our boards of directors that it

is not giving rise to any conflicts in our actual conduct of policy. w that set up -- did if that setup is changed, it raises -- it's up to congress to decide what to do here. it raises complex issues about the whole governance arrangement in the reserve banks and the federal reserve and the fed has looked at it that they think through of the ramifications of making changes would be. >> market news international. you mentioned in a previous answer the need to be forward looking but you pointed to the economy not overheating as a

reason you could hold off raising rates. monetary policy is operated with long and variable lags. do you think this time line has changesed since the financial rice crisis or due to the use of unconventional tools that the fed used and how does that factor in? ms. yellen: it operates with long and variable lags, that statement is do to milton freedman one of the things to understand about monetary policy and has not changesed at all and that is why i believe we have to be forward looking and i'm not in favor of the whites of their eyes sort of approach. we need to operate based on forecast. the u.s. economy has changesed a

lot. history doesn't exactly replay itself. many of those of us sitting around the table, we learned the lessons that if policy is not forward looking that inflation can pick up to highly un desirable levels that expectations can be dislodged upwards and the consequence of that higher inflation takes place, which is it is very costly to reduce and absolutely none of us want to relive an episode like that. and so i believe and my colleagues, that it is important to be forward looking. we aren't going to make that mistake again. but the structure of the economy changes. things do change. the nature of the inflation process has changesed since the bad days of the 1970's when the

fed had to face this chronic problem. we have seen inflation respond less to the economy, less to movements in the unemployment rate and the flips curve has become flatter and we have seen less of a response and something we need to factor into our decision making. they seem to be a bit anchored and perhaps that has been the result of a long period of low and stable inflation. it's something that we didn't have in the 1970's and we have to be attentive to the fact that inflation is undershooting our 2% objective and we see some signs -- and i would conclude inflation expectations are anchored at 2%. we are seeing possible slipage

there and we are a long way of facing the problems that japan faces, but there should be a reminder to us that we would not want to find ourselves in a period where inflation is chronically below our objective. inflation rates are slipping. things are changed, but the principle of forward looking absolutely. >> cnn. you mentioned one of the economies problems. low productivity growth. many economists say that some workers are standing on the sidelines because they lack job skills to help them better employment. the fed doesn't have the authority to run an apprenticeships but would you want that authority but is it

frustrating that you and your colleagues know one of the major issues of fixing the economy but can't take the concrete steps to solving that issue? ms. yellen: i think job training and job skills are important. we do work in community development trying to in the local communities where the reserve banks operate to try to foster broader understanding of what kinds of programs work and how community organizations and state and local governments can put in place programs that will be helpful. i recently visited a program that was very impressive in philadelphia. i visited some in chicago and other places, so i do believe it's possible to design programs that will help people overcome

obstacles in getting jobs that are available. but i definitely think that while we can play some role in facilitating of what works and doesn't work that can be helpful, it is certainly worth while for policy makers at the federal level, state and local levels to be focusing on this because it is an area that would be helpful in making progress. >> last question. mark. >> as we have gotten to this 4.9% unemployment rate through this year's long recovery, we have yet to see substantial pickup in wage growth and seems the american middle class expresses some disappointment about that. is there better news on the horizon? do you think it could come in in 2017? if not, when? ms. yellen: so, i think we have seen modest pickup in wage

growth. it's running a little bit higher than it was over the last two years by a number of important measures and we have seen income growth pick up recently. i think the census report was encouraging, showing that there are income gains both because of more jobs and higher-paying jobs and that is occurring throughout the income distribution and helping families. i do expect -- we expect the unemployment rate to decline further. we expect labor market conditions to continue to improve and my hope and expectation is that we will see some further pickup in wage growth and it will be broadly beneficial to american households. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2016] [captioning performed by tional captioning institute]

>> congressional leaders plan to hold override votes and supporters of the legislation say they are confident they can succeed in overturning the president's action. it would be the first time during obama's presidency that andress has overrode a veto

overwhelmingly supported by the american people. over the next hour, we'll watch a few speeches from the u.n. germ assembly that has been meeting in new york. we'll hear from the presidents of brazil and mexico. first up, british prime minister may. she addresses the members for the first time, saying that the united kingdom's commitment to the u.n. remains strong after its referendum to leave the european union. >> i have great pleasure in welcoming the prime minister of great britain and northern island, and i invite her to ddress the general assembly.

prime minister may: mr. president and deputy secretary general. ladies and gentlemen, it's a great honor for me to address this general assembly for the first time and to do so as prime minister of a country that has always been a proud and proactive member of the very heart of this united nations. this united nations was formed because leaders across the world knew that they could only deliver security for their citizens at home if they could cooperate as a community of nations to deliver security across the globe. some of the threats that we face together today are familiar to those founding leaders, war, political instability, abuses of human rights and poverty. others are new, global terrorism, climate change and unprecedented mass movements of people. we gather here today because we

know that such challenges do not respect the borders of our individual nations and it's only by working together shall we overcome them. as a new prime minister to the united kingdom, my pledge to this united nations is simple. the u.k. will be a confident strong and dependable partner internationally true to the universal values that we share together. we will continue to honor our commitment to spend 7% of our gross national building on the achievements we have made to reduce poverty, deal with instability and increase prosperity the world over. and we will drive forward the implementation of the sustainable development goals. we will continue to champion the rights of women and girls, making sure that all girls get

the education they deserve. and tackling horrific abuses such as sexual violence in conflict. we will continue to be a steadfast permanent member of the security council, meeting our nato commitment to spend 2% of g.d.p. on defense and making a leading contribution to u.n. peacekeeping efforts where we have doubled our commitment including new deployments to somalia and south sudan. we will continue to stand up for the rules-based international system and for international law. as i join other leaders in condemning the outrageous bombing of the aid convoy in syria yesterday. we will continue to play our part in the international effort against climate change. and in a demonstration of our commitment to the agreement

reached in pars, the u.k. will start its domestic procedures to enable ratification of the paris agreement and complete these before the end of the year. and we will continue to strengthen our existing partnerships from this united nations to the commonwealth of nato seeking to resolve conflict across the world from colombia and somalia and yemen. we must never forget that we stand here at this united nations as servants of the men and women that we represent back at home. and as we do so, we must recognize that for too many of these men and women, the increasing pace of globalization has left them feeling left behind. the challenge for those of us in this room is to ensure our governments and global institutions such as this united nations remain responsive to the

people we serve, that we are capable of adapting our institutions to the demands of the 21st september try and ensuring they do not become irrelevant. so when it comes to the big security and human rights challenges of our time, we need this, our united nations to forge a bold, new multi lateralism. because as we have seen in the past week, no country is untouched by the threat of global terrorism. and when extremists anywhere in the world can transmit their poisonous ideologies directly into the bedrooms of people vulnerable to radicalization, we just need to work together but globally to disrupt the network terrorist groups used to finance their operations and recruits. when we see the mass displacement of people at a

scale unprecedented in recent history, we must ensure we are implementing the policies that are fit for the challengeses we face today. and when criminal gangs do not respect our national borders, trafficking our fellow citizens into lives of slavery, we cannot let those borders act as a barrier to bringing such criminals to justice. in each of these areas, it is a convening power of our united nations that gives us a unique pportunity to respond. by preventing conflict and instability from developing. for example, through our permanent membership at the security council, britain has

played a leading role in the fight against al-shabaab. since 2010, with huge support from across the region and critically the commitment with somalis, al-shabaab is being driven from the major cities. it is vital as an international community we continue to support countries in the region that are contributing thousands of troops and we continue to build the capacity of somali security forces. that is why the u.k. is now going to increase further our security support and we will be calling on others to do the same, hosting an international conference on somalia in 2017, to maintain this vital mow mement umh. missions like this must remain central to the work of this united nations, but on their own, they are not enough, because the terrorist threats we

face today do not come from one country, but depisses in a different space. the global network they exploit require a different kind of global response. these organizations are using our own modern banking networks against us, so we need to look at our regulations, our information sharing and using our technological capabilities to get ahead of them. they are targeting our airlines, exploiting the fact that no one country can keep its citizens . fe when flying in multiple to ensure that every country implements the standards we need to ensure that no country is the weak link. they are exploiting the internet to spread an ideology that is recruiting people to their cause all over the world so we need to

tackle this ideology head on. that is why the u.k. has championed the work the secretary germ has led to develop a strategy for preventing violent extremism. now as an international community, we must work together to adopt and implement the most comprehensive national action plan to tackle both the causes and the symptoms of all extremism. it is not enough merely to focus on violent extremism. we need to address the whole spectrum of extremism. violent extremism as nonviolent extremism. hate and fear in all of their forms. just as we need the united nations to modernize to meet the challenges of terrorism in the 21st century. we need to adapt if we need to fashion a global response.

that is the equivalent to the entire population of the united kingdom. it is an unprecedented figure, one that has almost doubled in a decade and yet u.n. appeals are underfunded. host countries aren't getting enough support and refugees aren't getting the education, aid and economic opportunities they need. we must do more. and as the second largest bilateral provider of assistance, the u.k. remains committed to playing a leading

role. in the last five years, the u.k. has invested over $9 billion in humanitarian assistance. the london-syria conference in february raised $12 billion, the largest amount raised in one day in response to a humanitarian crisis and that money is being used to combine both urgent umanitarian conflicts. clearly, we need to continue our efforts to bring an end to the conflict and the appalling slaughter in syria and get aid to those who need it. while these efforts continue inside syria, we need new efforts to support refugees and host communities in neighboring countries including through education and opportunities to work. this is being assisted by

financial institutions and access to european markets. and through our trading relationships and direct engagement with businesses, we are mobilizing the private sector to create new jobs in the area for everyone. and while there is more to be done, it is this approach to financing both humanitarian support and economic development that i will be championing when i announce a further u.k. financial contribution of president obama plan later today. in addition to refugees and people fleeing persecution, we are seeing an unprecedented movement of people in search of greater opportunities. this affects all of us and it is the responsibility of us all to take action. we cannot ignore this challenge or allow it to continue unmanaged. e need to do better.

for the countries they leave, for the countries they move through and the countries they try to get to. better for the migrants and refugees themselves. this grants have died year than any other. we have to use the opportunity afforded for an honest global debate to address this global challenge. in doing so, we should be clear there is nothing wrong with the desire to go to a better life and also control legal safe migration brings benefits to our economy. but countries have to be able to exercise control over their borders. the failure to do so erodes public confidence, fuels international crime, damages economies and reduces the resources for those who

genuinely need protection and whose rights under the refugee convention should always be fulfilled. there are three fundamental principles that we now need to establish at the heart of a new approach to managing migration that is in the interest of all of those involved. we must ensure that refugees claim asylum in the first safe country they reach. the trend where refugees reach a safe country can expose refugees to grave danger. we need to support countries where the refugees first arrive and provide the assistance for refugees swiftly and help countries adapt to the huge economic impact that refugees can have, including on the existing population. as we are seeing in jordan, lebanon and turkey, when the

right assistance is provided, opportunity to refugees and opportunity for those countries hosting them can be found. this is good for the refugees, because the closer they stay to home, the easier it will be able to return and rebuild after the conflict. second, we need to improve the ways we distinguish between refugees fleeing persecution and economic mige grants. we need to provide protection and reduce the incentives for them to use illegal routes. this will help target support for the refugees who need it most and retain the support of our population for doing so. third, we need a better overall approach to managing economic migration which recognizes that all countries have the right to control their borders and commit

to accept our own nationals when they have no right to remain elsewhere. by ensuring a controlled international response and at the same time investing the underlying drivers of displacement, we can reject isolationism, achieving better outcomes for all of our citizens and particularly for the most vulnerable. finally, as we gather here today to bring the values of the united nations to bear on some of the most pressing global problems, the likes of which we haven't seen before, so we must also face up to the fact that some of the worst human rights abuses that we thought we had confined to the history books have re-emerged in new personishous forms. the new declaration of human rights conveeped by the germ assembly saying that all human

beings are born free and equal but no one shall be held in slavery and that the slave trade should be prohibited. yet nearly 70 years on, we are presented with a new form of slavery, modern slavery. organized crime groups who are largely behind this slavery dupe innocent men, women and children into extreme forms of ex exploitation. victims are forced into living the kind of inhumane existence which is too much for our imagination. these criminals have global networks to help them make money out some of the world's most vulnerable people. victims are held captive under the constant shadow of violence and forced into sex and labor exploitation. if we are going to succeed in

stamping out this crime and bring the perpetrators to justice, we need to confront the reality. they work across borders and jurisdictions and use internet to recruit, transport, control and exploit their victims all the while staying ahead of legal systems that are constrained by traditional boundaries. so we must take action. we must use our international law enforcement networks to track these criminals down wherever they are in the world and put them behind bars where they belong. we need to be smarter and even more coordinated than the criminal gangs in our efforts to stop them. in the u.k., i'm setting up the first task force for modern slavery bringing every relevant department to coordinate and drive all our efforts in the battle against this cruel exploitation and using our aid

budget to create a dedicated fund focused on high-risk countries where victims are trafficked to the u.k. and yesterday, i committed the first 5 million pounds from this fund to work in new jersey to reduce the vullnerblet and step the fight who seek to prove -- profit from this crime. we need to go much further. security relationships have developed between so many countries to deal with counterterrorism, cybersecurity and wider intelligence sharing, but we don't have a similar relationship for this fight against modern slavery. we need our law enforcement agencies to work together with joint investigation teams working across multiple countries. victims will only find freedom if we cultivate a new and

coordinated approach to defeat this vial crime. together we must work to preserve the freedoms and values that have defined our united nations from its inception. together, we must work tirelessly to restore these freedoms and values to the lives of men and women and children who are exploited for profit and held captive with little or no chance of escape. from the declaration and the atlantic charter forged by winston churchill and president roosevelt to the first meeting of this general assembly in london in 1946, the united kingdom has been an outward facing global partner at the heart of international efforts to secure peace and prosperity for all of our people and that is how we will remain. for when the british people voted to leave the e.u., they

did not vote to walk away from any of our partners in the world. faced with challenges like migration, a desire for greater control in our country and mounting sense that globalization is leaving working people behind they demanded a politics that is more in touch with their concerns and bold action to address them. but that action must be more global, not less, because the biggest threat to our prosperity and security do not recognize or respect international borders. and if we only focused on what we do at home, the job is barely half done. this is not the time to turn away from our united nations, but it is the time to turn towards it. only we, as members of this community of nations can act to ensure this great institution becomes as relevant for our future as it has been in our past. so let us come together, true to

our founding values, but responsive to the challenges of today and let us work together to build a safer, more prosperous and more humane world for generations to come. [applause]

>> secretary germ of the united nations. distinguished heads of state and distinguished heads of the delegation. ladies and gentlemen. brazil brings to the united nations her natural vocation of openness to the world. we are a country that is built on and by the strength of that security. we believe in the powers. we strongly advocate the principles that govern this organization. principles that today are more needed than ever before. the world today shows signs of uncertainty and instability. the international system

currently experiences what you might describe as in deficit. reality has moved ahead than our collective ability to deal with it. from regional conflicts to violent fundamentalism, we face old and new threats that we have not managed to campaign. in view of the tragedy of refugees or the upsurge in terrorism, we cannot avoid, but be taken by a feeling of perplexity. hotbeds of tension show no signs of fading away. a virtue political inaction leads to prolonged wars without a solution to them. the system's inability to react

further worsens cycles of destruction. the social vullnerment of so many countries is exploited for fear and entrenchment. here is a return to xenophobia nents gster tower in all bring about serious risks. even in the economic arena, the world today lacks standards that n otherwise lessen the assem met try of globalization. we cannot possible apply shrink or step back. we must be united to transform it and i mean transform it through pelosi.

a firm diplomacy. full and determined. and a diplomacy thirsting for change. this is how brazil has acted in ur region and beyond it. country that has her sued its interests without giving up its principles. what we wish for the world, mr. chairman is exactly the same that we wish for brazil, sustainable development and respect to human rights. these are our societies' values. these are the values and aspirations that also guide us in the international scene. we want to have a world where law will prevail. we want to have rules that will reflect the plural is particular

nature of the community as nations. we want a results-on the parted united nations capable of facing the billing challenges of our time. our debates cannot be confined to these rooms and hauls but re er they should perhaps verb rate. the united nations cannot be posts to going down condemn. rather the united nations should assert itself as a source of effective solutions. . ose who s ompwmp the seeds for decades, brazil has warped that it is key and essential to make the global governance structure more representative,

many of which have aged and disconnected from reality. the united nations security council must be reformed. we will continue available to overcome the current impasse around this issue. mr. president, many of the challenges that go beyond national borders among them drug and arms trafficking which is seen in our cities, in our schools and felt in our families fight organized crime requires that we work hand-in-happened for the safety of our citizens depends on the quality of our collective actions. it remains the source of unacceptable society. the main victims being women and children.

a political solution can no longer be postponed. we urge to respect the agreements that have been endorsed by the u.n. security council and to guarantee to humanitarian aid to the civilian population. we are concerned, mr. president, about the rack of peace between israel and palestine. brazil currently supports and supported the two-state solution formula in peaceful co-existence with the agreed and internationally recognized borders. it is the responsibility of all to ensure a new momentum is given to the negotiating process. and yet another reason for concern, if i may so is the lack of progress on the nuclear disarmament agenda. today, there are thousands of nuclear weapons in the world.

that is thousands of threats to international peace and security. actually, the most recent nuclear test held in the korean peninsula remipeds us of the danger stemming from nuclear proliferation. brazil can speak with the authority of a country where the use of nuclear energy for solely peaceful purposes is an obligation and written into our federal constitution. not all news is bad news. there are well known examples of mentioned on different occasions. and during the recession of what we can achieve. we celebrate, frips, the recent victory of diplomacy and its successful treatment of the

iranian nuclear dos smp iers. we encourage full understanding and full compliance with the agreement reached. the recent agreements reached between the colombian government and the farcs -- i would like to congratulate the president and ll colombians. resumption of diplomatic relations is a clear cut that there is no such thing as animosity or insurmountable impasse. we hope this will bring about new break throughs to include the economic and trade ajeopardya. we wish and we hope that the resumption of bilateral

negotiations will be fold by the end of the economic embargo against cuba. this year, ladies and gentlemen, brazil and argentina have celebrated the 25th anniversary of our nuclear materials accounting and control agencies. the agencies are the bilateral organizations, applying and employ nuclear safeguards. this is an inspiration for regional and global efforts. mr. president, confidence building between brazil and argentina on the nuclear arena is at the very origin of our for not us and if

not only governance policy. and a permanent top foreign policy priority. as we all know in our region of the world, governance of different political organizations co-exist. the key point here is that there be mutual respect and be able to converge around basic objectives such as economic growth, social progress, safety and freedom of ur citizens.

also includes our african brothers and sisters who are linked by the atlantic ocean and also by a long standing history. azil will host the summit of portuguese-speaking communities. six are african. and sense of friendship and respect. with the clear-cut determination to undertake projects that will bring us closer together. mr. president, development is more than an objective, but it is an imperative. a developed society is one where all are entitled to high-quality public services such as education, public education and safety and a society where they are guaranteed in society where

access and decent work opportunities is not a privilege is a few, only in sum, it tanta mount and the dignity of human beings is the foundation as provided for. and i for one follow the constitution. mr. president, the agenda is the u.n.'s endeavor to foster development and materialize and will require more. support for developing countries will prove decisive to help materialize the sustainable development goals. prosperity and well-being today should not impair the future of humankind. more than just possible, it is to go in a friendly manner.

we live on one planet. there is no plan b. we should take measures under the principles. in that regard, tomorrow, i will formally deposit brazil's ratification agreement for the paris agreement on climate change. brazil, as the world's most diverse country, a country that ss plays as an environmental powerhouse one that has a commitment to the environment. development depends on trade. n times of economic crisis, it is often on the rise. it must be curbed. it takes away jobs and opportunities and makes men and families around the world and

brazil to fall victim of unemployment and hopelessness. the multi trade system is against this evil. of particular importance to development is the end of agricultural protectionism. we can no longer keep back tracking on the w.t.o. commissions. it is urgent to provide sanitary measures keep on being used for protectionist purposes. have domestic support. zill our modern -- bra contributes to food safety, food security. we produce food to the world and we help feed the world. mr. president, the full

enjoyment of human rights unfortunately remains an unaccomplished expiration in today's world. every human being has the right to live freely according to our beliefs. this fundamental freedom is disrespected every day in olitically behavior that are occurring in many countries. we should turn to minorities. and that is what we have done in brazil through income and housing as well as education programs. including financial aid available to the students coming from poor families and backgrounds as well as by advocating gender equality as presley in our constitution. it is incumbent to ensure e's rights are guaranteed.

refugees and mige grants are victims of human rights and vicks tims of poverty and terrorism and they capitalize on some of these matters. brazil is the work of immigrants. we repudiate all forms of racism and other forms of intolerance. we provide shelter to refugees as i had a chance to emphasize in yesterday's meeting. in a world that is marked by hatred, the rio games show that are nations can get together. for the very first time a delegation refugee was able to compete in the games with a sport in promoting peace fighting sclaugs. mr. president, ladies and gentlemen, finally, i bring to he united nations a message of

uncompromising commitment to democracy. brazil has just gone through a ng and complex process conveeped by the brazilian supreme court which led to an engagement. everything took place and unfolded fully in line with the most constitutional order. the fact that we gave the world that example is a clear cut token there can be no democracy without the rule of law. it is a standard that is applicable. and that is what brazil is showing the world and it does so during a process of cleansing of her political system. we have an independent judiciary an active prosecutor's office

who fulfill their duties. and the will of institutions under the careful oversight of a plural is particular society. our task now is resuming economic growth and ensuring that brazilian workers will gain the millions of jobs. we are clear on the path. it is a path of simple responsibility and social responsibility. trust is being established and a most prosperous horizon is being on the future. our process involves investment partnerships, partnership in trade efforts and technology. and our relations with countries will prove decisively. mr. president, i do not wish to close my remarks without addressing a word to our secretary germ who will soon be

leaving office. he has quoted the last 10 years world life to a tireless of peace. we highly appreciative and thank you for your efforts. ladies and gentlemen, in this second decade, we can no longer have dealt that our problems are global. ere can be no room for isolationism. ours is a common destiny at the united nations more than anywhere else we come close to the ideal that drives us all. bout 60 years, my fellow countman said if there is a world, from is no one that wishes to see the doors of the u.n. close. without the u.n., the shadows of war would descend upon humankind

and eclipse indefinitely. it is the assembly of nations that we nurture our hope, the hope that is achieved in dialogue through mute tall respect to our children and grand chirp. thank you. [applause] >> on behalf of the general assembly, i have the honor to welcome to the united nations president of the united states of mexico and invite him to ddress the assembly.

president nieto: ladies and gentlemen, heads of state and government, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen, it is an honor and a privilege to stand here once again before the supreme body of the united nations, the home of universal peace, cooperation and brotherhood. mexico has always been a staunch ally of the united nations and the nation that firmly believes in its powers. here, vital, collective efforts have been undertaken in pursuit of humankind. for more than seven decades, the world's diverse voices have spoken out for a better future. every generation has resolutely taken on the challenges of its times. it shows to us to continue in that spirit and to confront the

enormous challenge of making sustainable development of the planet a reality. we have taken the first step in that direction reprisely by defining the sustainable development goals. the 2030 ajeopardya, which we formulated and agreed on within the united nations is without a doubt the boldest, noblest and most demanding action that the international community has adopted in recent history. the road map for national and subnational governments as well as for all of society stakeholders that have the mission of improving the lives of billions of people with no one left behind. because of its scope and objectives, the 2030 agenda is the framework which harmonizes

the agreement reached last year in the area of human rights, environment and sustainable peace. what has mexico national efforts been in these areas? first, we have taken on implementation of the 2030 agenda as a commitment of the state. in line with that work is under way to establish a high level 2030 agenda compliance council headed by the president of the republic. its purpose will be able to coordinate the work of the different stakeholders involved including authorities, lawmakers and representatives of civil sector. nd the private mexico has already a specialized technical committee composed of the main federal institutions which is tasked to monitoring

the ajeopardya's indicators. we are building a public monetary dashboard toll divulge in a transparent manner the progress made and the challenges that remain. as part of this commitment to openness and accountability on july 19th of this year, mexico was one of 22 countries that presented its "national review" documents to the high level political forum. mexico is also committed to promoting the implementation of .he 2030 agenda at the regional next april, we will chair the forum on sustainable development. for its part, given that human rights are a cost-cutting element in the 2030 agenda, my untry has adopted a national

social inclusion strategy ensuring that the full exercise of human rights and by this means, reducing poverty and increasing equality. we further applaud the fact that e 2030 agenda recognizing as subjects of rights and violateal allies in the development of their countries of destination and origin. as i said yesterday at the plenary meeting, mexico will work actively on the construction on the compact of refugees and we have in fact offered to host an international meeting for the global compact on safe, regulated and orderly in the face of these challenges, we must promote actions by the

international community that are based on shared responsibility and solidarity with migrants and refugees. of the close cutting issues of the 20 30th agenda is gender perspective and the empowerment of women. in fulfilling the commitment reached at last year's meeting of global leaders for equality, mexico now has a stronger institutional framework. the national system for equality between women and men. this system is headed by mexico's president, thereby ensuring that the quality policy is unknown at the highest level and is reflected in the national governments various actions. a second area driven by a sense of urgency, mexico has adopted the paris agreement of climate change. a few days ago my