a comparative look at tax systems around the world. >> i went to the imf and asked what is a good tax system, and they know. they say go to new zealand. here is what they did in new zealand. they used to have a tax code like ours, hundreds of exemptions and deductions and therefore very high rates, and they got rid of all of them. they sit your salary, that's income. if your employer pays health insurance, that's income. in new zealand, if you get free parking at the company, that is with $20 a month. they tax you on that. then no deductions. you want to give to charity, that's great, but they don't give you a tax break. if you tax everything and give no write-offs, you can set the

rates very, very low. night at 8:00 eastern on c-span's "q&a." >> for his first-ever overseas trip, president trump is in saudi arabia this weekend with senior white house officials. secretary of state earlier today held a newsn conference with his saudi counterpart. they also took questions on the recent election in iran. this is 30 minutes. >> good evening, everyone. are we ready? ok. good evening, everybody. i would like to welcome all of you to the kingdom of saudi arabia. it is a great pleasure and honor for me to welcome my colleague and friend, rex tillerson, on

his first visit to saudi arabia as secretary of state. while this may be your first visit as secretary of state, you have been here many, many times over many, many years. you know our country and region extremely well, and i believe your country is fortunate to have you as secretary of state during this period. we in the region field fortunate having you at the helm of the state department. today was a truly historic day in the relationship between the kingdom of saudi arabia and the united states, and we believe the beginning of a turning point between -- in the relationship between the united states and the arab and islamic world. president trump signed a joint strategic vision declaration, for thets the stage building of a truly strategic relationship between our two countries. our relationship will evolve into a more strategic

partnership. it will deal with ways to violente in terms of extremism, financing of terrorism, terrorism, increasing defense capabilities, working on defense architecture for the region initially between our countries and then looking at how other countries can join. the strategic vision also includes trade and investment, education, and working in all fields in order to enhance our deal witherests and the challenges that face our countries. this is unprecedented. we have not had an agreement signed by a king of saudi arabia thethe president to codify strategic relationship and where we want to take it moving forward. for your strategic efforts in this regard. in addition to the signing of this strategic vision

the two countries signed a series of agreements both commercial as well as government to government that investment, that involve infrastructure, that involve technology, that involve , that involve saudi investments in american infrastructure as well as american investments in saudi of buildinghe form up a defense manufacturing capability or other areas. the value of those investments is an excess of $300 million. i will not get into details because i believe our colleagues have briefed the media about this extensively. we believe these investments over the next 10 years or so will provide hundreds of thousands of jobs in the united states and saudi arabia and lead ofm nestle to a transfer technology from the united states to saudi arabia, enhance our economy, and also enhance the american investments in

saudi arabia, which already are the largest investments of any what -- anyone. good andrs had a very very wide-ranging conversation. they discourse -- discussed, of course come the challenges facing the world and began talking about the bilateral relationship and ways that can improve it in all areas. they discuss the scourge of terrorism, extremism, terror financing and how we can work together to eradicate it. they discussed the various activities of iran and the fact that action has to be taken in order to ensure that iran does not continue with its aggressive policies in the region and that iran adhere to the letter of the agreement made between it and the p5 plus one countries, that its support for terrorism, adheres to the human security council resolutions with regard to ballistic missiles, and ceases human rights violations. interference in the

affairs of the country of the region. they discuss the situation in syria and the importance of looking towards peace between israelis and palestinians. they expressed the kingdom's trumpsm that president can bring a conclusion to this long conflict. he certainly has the vision, and we believe he has the strength and decisiveness, and the king of a saudi arabia is prepared to work with the united states. they also discussed the situation in yemen and also trade and investment. where the great lunch conversation actually began before the meetings. as i mentioned, is a truly historic visit. we are honored that president trump chose to come to the

kingdom of saudi arabia on his first visit, and we look forward the arrowo hosting american summit, which is ,istoric and unprecedented bringing the islamic world with the united states into a partnership and beginning to change the conversation from one of enmity to one of partnership. the president is to be commended for his foresight and vision in taking this very bold, very historic step, which has the potential of changing our world. if we can change the conversation, we stand a chance of changing from enmity to partnership to the u.s., and if we can change the conversation in the u.s. from enmity toward the islamic world to partnership, we will have truly changed our world and drowned the voices of extremism, and we will have drained the swamps from which extremism and really.m in i cannot overstate the importance of such a gathering,

and i believe after this visit, the president will go to israel and the vatican where he will essentially address the jewish world and the christian world and try to bring together the three major monotheistic religions in the world into a partnership so that we move from any discussion of a conflict of civilization and move towards a discussion of a partnership of civilization, and i want to stop thank my friend rex tillerson for indulging me for taking up so much time. welcome to the kingdom of saudi arabia. thank you or all your efforts, and congratulations on an extremely proactive and historic visit. mr. tillerson: thank you all for being hit his evening. we have known each other for , when our years facial features were much younger. we remember those days, but we have remained friends for all

these many years and now colleagues, and i'm really proud to be here today with him to talk about this new strengthening of the u.s.-saudi partnership and relationship. as he just described it, today truly is a historic moment in u.s.-saudi relations. america,d states of the kingdom of saudi arabia, are really dedicating ourselves to a newstrategic partnership, for the 21st century, and charting a renewed toward a peaceful middle east where economic development, trade, diplomacy, are hallmarks for regional and global engagement and something we will be working closely together on. this growing partnership is really grounded in trust. trust between our nations that we are pursuing the same objectives -- cooperation and a shared interest. the elements of this declaration that were signed today, the joint strategic vision -- there

are many, many elements, and there is a lot of work now to implement those elements and really put them into motion, so that is going to require significant ongoing engagement twodialogue tween our nations, so i think you will find that we will be meeting with a great deal of regularity in order to review how the things are progressing, and that is only going to serve to further strengthen, i think, our cooperation, and also, i think, sends a very strong message to our common enemies. it strengthens bonds between us and does chart a new pathway forward and will guide our path forward. at the core of our expanded relationship really are our shared security interests. america's security at home is strengthened when saudi arabia's security is strong as well, and the united states of america and the kingdom of saudi arabia are embarking on a number of new initiatives to counter violent extremist messaging, as you just heard the foreign minister

described. we will also be pursuing new approaches to disrupting financing of terrorism. and advancing defense cooperation. andy, the united states saudi arabia are conducting vital new expansions of security relationships that really spans over seven decades, but i think one of the real hallmarks of today is the economic cooperation. if you have strong economic engagement between two countries, that really is foundational to a strong security relationship as well. foreigneard the minister, today, we have announced 23 foreign investment export licenses, leading to upwards of more than $350 historic direct investment. $109 billion of that is in arms sales to bolster security of our saudi partners. going to result in literally hundreds of thousands

of american jobs created by inse directors investments purchases of american goods, american equipment, american technology, but also investment into the kingdom of saudi arabia as well. i think it is important to note that this is an indication of the confidence the kingdom of saudi arabia has in the united state's investment climate. i think as they evaluate the future investment climate of the united states, what they see already a positive impact of president trump's actions to improve the business climate in the u.s. for investment and job creation, and they intend to be part of that with these investments. this is a great vote of confidence in the united states in the business environment in the kingdom of saudi arabia as they continue to advance in their own reforms and seek new opportunities for their own people to create jobs as well. strong economic relationships are the nation for strong security relationships as well.

foundation for strong security relationships as well. border security and counterterrorism, maritime and coastal security, air force modernization, air and missile defense, cyber security, and communications upgrades, and i think you can surely add in a fight in all of these the importance of all of those areas to u.s. national security as well. along with these will go a lot of training and support to strengthen our partnership with saudi arabia's military as well. it just further strengthens our military relationship. iranian threats exist on saudi arabia's borders on all sides. additionally, it bolsters the kingdom possibility to provide for its own security and contribute into town --

counterterrorism operations across the region. the important part of this is this huge arm sales package united the burden on the states to provide the same equipment to our own military forces and will strengthen saudi security forces for the future so saudi arabia is more capable of carrying a greater share of the burden of their own security, which, as i indicated, is important to u.s. national security as well. it lowers the demands on our own military and also lowers the cost to the american people of providing security in this region, so extremely important to the future of the relationship, but also to the cost of providing security for american citizens in this region. it does demonstrate the commitment to our partnership ith saudi arabia, as indicated, expending hundreds of thousands of new jobs. i think the other important announcement, which i will just mention, was the new

counterterrorism initiative, the new global center for combating extremist ideology, which will be opened in riyadh. it will be a saudi-led have -- for defeating extremism. as you have heard this is their recruiting tool, the have a message lone wolf's and this willld, concentrate heavily on how to enter that space from the standpoint of experts who live in this part of the world and understand how the message to those who might influence by radical messaging. partners in the cooperation council, including saudi arabia will be signing a new agreement to close gaps in many of these areas, including the financial which terrorists can't exploit.

-- can exploit. we are calling on all countries to crack down. all these new initiatives will bolster joint efforts to deter recent threats from iran and syria, iran, and yemen. these new steps will serve the national security interest of .he american people we are proud of this relationship we are embarking and we are very appreciative of the leadership of his royal highness king solomont. have had a productive day today, a truly historic day in this relationship.

>> my question is the slogan of the summit is -- earlier saudi arabia and the united states share objectives. are there any crucial and solid actions that will be announced toward the quality of expanding in the region? >> we are closely coordinating our efforts and how to counter inn's extremism and particular its support for foreign fighters, it's payment of foreign fighters. operating on just in yemen but in iraq and syria.

it's not just between ourselves and the kingdom of saudi arabia, we have a group of like-minded that is focused on the mn, a coalition of countries focused on syria. the leadership starts in the kingdom. certainly the foreign minister, they have been wonderful and very strong conveners of others who are like-minded in terms of alsorism broadly but supporting extremist organizations. >> will you ever pick up the phone and call iran's foreign minister? yemen, hud eun

actually -- and can i get your reaction to the reelection of hassan rouhani. ? >> in terms of whether i would pick the phone up, i never shut off the phone to anyone. at this point i have no plans to call our counterpart in iran. in terms of the situation in yemen, our emphasis is finding a political solution. we viewed as a tragic situation. the brinkf people on of starvation because of the impact of the fighting. important to it is

put the pressure on artists to come to the table and talk. we have efforts underway on both fronts. rebels in yemen and those who have taken over the thernment and overthrown government have to know they cannot sustain this fight. they have to know they will never prevail militarily. they are only going to feel that when they feel the resistance. it's important we keep the pressure on them. many of the armaments we are will help them be much more precise and targeted. keptimportant pressure be on the rebels in yemen. at the same time we are actively engaged with others in the fancy to see if we can't process by which we can bring this thing to a halt politically.

we have a lot of work ahead of us in that regard. >> with regard to the reelection who they choose as their president is their business, as it should he. from our perspective we judge iran by its actions, not by its words. there are the past have said something, they want to have better relations with us. the plant terrorist cells in my country and countries allied to us. they want to destabilize countries like others in syria. they intervene and meddle in the affairs of countries. they support terrorism, the created world's foremost terrorist organization has been a.

with al qaeda leaders living in iran. they had a relationship that destabilize afghanistan. in 1996 -- with the iranian military behind and the control officer. sinceave been living ever this living in iran ever since. this is not behavior of a country that wants others to treated with respect. this is a behavior of a state sponsor of terrorism who is deservedly on a list of speed -- list of state sponsors of terrorism and who is sanctioned by the international community. if iran wants to be a normal country and others to treat us like a normal country it has to act in accord with international law.

the values of the international system that have existed for centuries. we welcome in iran the lives in peace with its neighbors. we welcome in iran a dozen or fear -- i ran that doesn't interfere. question,me back your we want to cds, not words. we will continue to judge based on deeds and continue to base our policy based on iran's deeds. something, the perception is we're fighting in yemen for a reason for that we have no objective or goals. people forget how this started. created the transition. yemen was in a transitional

period. which includes elements of all walks of yemeni life. people,tudents, tribal different religious sects did they came up with the blueprints of what they look like, the federal system. then they staged their coop. they attacked the city, they seized the governments. it is quickly important to the security of the region. in possession of ballistic missiles and an air force that has taken over a friendly government. the family government asked for support. from day one we have said there is no military solution.

and implement the outcomes of the national dialogue in yemen. million it isf 28 unacceptable that they would be allowed to seize power. we have been fighting to restore the legitimate government of yemen. mistakes.de we have been charged with things we didn't do. we were supposed to have armed field city. we're supposed to have destroyed cranes which we didn't do it they were not correct. aggressiveing an border for the country. they were me to look like their victims.

it was they who loved 40 ballistic missiles. who violated thousands of cease-fire arrangements. it is they who have made 70 agreements, more than 70 and are an egg done every single one of them. nagged -- and reneged on every single one of them. the areas under government control have no problem -- they steal the eight and they fund their war machine. the starvation exists because they will not allow supplies to get in. that is why people are starving. starvation is because they steal ships coming in. like i said, so products to fund their war machine.

we have distributed every area of yemen we can. the hospital that the kingdom built 30 years ago has been operating ever since in order to help the m&a's. we have no -- we will not allow iran to fall prey to a radical militia. we know what that ends up looking like. appreciate the position of the trump administration in terms of providing support. we appreciate their understanding of what is at stake here. support we will be able to put enough pressure

and bring them to the negotiating table and make an agreement based on the outcomes of the dialogue. >> the vision we mow -- we both mentioned earlier, truly historic. signing a declaration that outlines a vision for how we want to elevate an already strategic relationship to an even higher level. we want to intensify the consultation whether it is counterterrorism or defense.

whether it is education or trade. we want to create a mechanism that is headed by both a custodian and a president of whoever they designate that ordermeet periodically in to see how we can implement a lot of the visions or the strategies or the initiatives that we have. the expectation is the united the largest investor for the kingdom of saudi arabia. the secretary's former company is the single largest investor in saudi arabia. haskingdom of saudi arabia been a good home for american investment in american companies have been good partners who have transfer technology to the helped and who have small and midsize businesses

gain work in technology and jobs. the division and the economic agreements we spoke about increase american investment and will provide more opportunity for saudi individuals and businesses to benefit from those investments. the american people would benefit from saudi investment in the united states, which would provide hundreds of thousands of jobs. this is a truly historic summit. point in thening relationship that will take it from a strategic relationship toward a truly strategic relationship and partnership.

>> we will take our last question. say if the election will change anything? ifo would you be up the city the white house know who this person of interest is being >> i want to turn it to the foreign minister. i do not have any information to this person being referenced. i'm a comment on their rainy and elections as well, but what i would hope is that rouhani has a new term. and we begin the process of dismantling our ends network of terrorism. dismantling his financing of the terrorism network. the logistics and everything they provide, these

destabilizing forces that exist in this region. we also hope he puts an end to the ballistic missile testing. we hope he restores the rights of iranians. the freedom of organization. what we hope this election will bring. i'm not quite a comment on my expectation. if rouhani wanted to change iran's relationship, those are the things he could do. >> is a sign of how true strategic partnership is.

>> president trump's visit to saudi arabia includes a banquet dinner with the saudi king. first lady melania trump and white house officials were also in attendance. here's a look at the ceremony that took days ahead of the dinner.

♪