the two architects of the don't ask don't tell policy in 1990, general colin powell and senator sam nunn have a both a revamped their own positions. it has to go through congress, and they want to build up the evidence and the case in behalf of repealing the policy, because there is resistance, in the military and also in the congress as well. >> that is the last word. thanks for being with us. see you next week. for a transcript of this broadcast, log on to insidewashington.tv. to providing service to its auto insurance customers for over 70 years. more information on auto insurance at geico.com or 1-800-947-auto any time of the day or night.

george shultz, henry kissinger, sam nunn, and bill paris.erstand the importance of moving to eliminating nuclear weapons while being sure that we have a deterrent that protect us and our allies. you are correct in saying that our scientists and engineers at 3 national labs deserve to be "applauded for the success they have achieved in extending the life of existing weapons." their work has led to important advances in the scientific understanding of nuclear explosions and obviated the need for underground nuclear explosive tests. that was what they said. they went on to argue that we will need to invest in our nuclear complex. i cannot agree more. i did my best as a member of congress to support the complex because i know like you do, whether we have 2000 weapons or 20 weapons, we will need if the personnel and infrastructure to keep our nuclear deterrence safe, secure, and effective. as you know, president obama's budget devotes $7 billion to maintain our nuclear weapons stockpile and complex. that is $600 million increase. a $600 million i

been out front in this campaign to push for a world without nuke weapons, which george shultz and sam nunnand william perry have been involved with as well. so i think he is having a little bit of a resurgence and he has met obama in the white house. so, i think his reputation will rise again as time goes on. let me take one over here. >> [inaudible]. >> well, he was younger for one thing. he was, the youngest member of politburo when he became the general secretary. so he has a different perspective. what made him different? i think, he recognized far earlier than others that the system itself was corrupt and that it could not go as it was and maintain the support of the people if he didn't, if it didn't undergo pretty drastic reform. and, you know, the soviet system was a very complicated place and i think, in many cases people pursued things that were basically in their own interests or in their own bureaucratic interest but not necessarily in the interests of the people as a whole. i think gorbachev recognized the longer that went on the more and more they would lose the support of the

not surprising long after senator sam nunn and yes, dave, his sideburns were quite long then gave thetcher in march 83. since then manfred woerner, lee hamilton, the duke of westminster among those who've given this esteemed lecture. perhaps you, admiral mullen can be persuaded to give a future one. as with this background i hope to have a better understanding how these traditions began. having left washington journal the family foundation on remain actively involved in two of washington's greatest institutions. csis led by the exceptionally talented john hamre and the center for the study of the presidency in the congress where i serve on the board of trustees. david continues to have an idea sometimes our board members the trustees will say to dave dave, don't you think we are doing a little too much, and i smiled to myself and chuckle inside, and i think got some things will never change. we have so much to address in the world today but we have some of the best and brightest at csis and ocs pc to do that. both organizations across the lessons of history to deal with today's challe

not surprising long after, senator sam nunn and, yes, dave, his side burns were quite long, nunn, gave the inaugural lecture in march of '83. since then lee hamilton, the duke of westminster among those who have given this esteemed lecture. perhaps admiral mullen can be persuaded to give a future one. i hope you have a better understanding of how these traditions began. having left washington to run our family foundation, i remain actively involved in two of washington's greatest institutions. csis, led by the exceptionally talented john hamre, and the center for the study of the presidency and congress where i serve on the board of trustees. there david continues to have an idea a minute. sometimes our board meetings a trustee will say to dave, now, dave, don't you think we're doing a little too much? and i just smile to myself and chuck can l inside, and i thank good that some things -- god that some things will never change. we have some of the best and the brightest at csis and cspc to do just that. both organizations grasp the lessons of history to deal with to the today's challen

george shultz, henry kissinger, sam nunn and bill perry. they understand the importance of moving toward eliminating nuclear weapons, while making sure that we have a deterrent that protects us and our allies. they are absolutely correct in saying that our scientists and engineers at the three national labs deserve to be, and ipo, applauded for the success they have achieved and extended the life of existing weapons. their work has led to important advances in the scientific understanding of nuclear explosions, and i've needed the need for underground nuclear explosive tests. closed quote. they went on to argue that we will need to invest in our nuclear complex. and i couldn't agree more. i did my best as a member of congress to support the complex because i know like you do whether we have 2000 weapons or 20 weapons, we will need the personnel and infrastructure to keep our nuclear deterrence safe, secure and effective. as you know, president obama's budget devotes $7 billion. that's a 600 million-dollar increase. that's a 600 million-doll

excuse me, president clinton's secretary of defense, bill perry and my friend and former colleague, sam nunnfor years the democratic chairman of the senate armed services committee. together these four statesmen called for eliminating nuclear weapons and called it a bold initiative consistent with america's moral heritage. during the 2008 presidential campaign both president obama and my friend john mccain, senator mccain supported the same objective. folks, we're going to continue to build support for this emerging bipartisan consensus like the one around the containment of soviet expansion that george cannon aspired. toward that end we worked tirelessly to implement the president's prague agenda. in september, the president shared an historic meeting with the u.n. security council which unanimously embraced the key elements that the president laid out in his vision in prague. as i speak, u.s. and russian negotiators are completing an agreement that will reduce strategic weapons to their lowest levels in decades. you they, it's verification measures are going to provide confidence that the

perry, former national security advisor and secretary of state henry kissinger, and former senator sam nunn also have stellar national security experience and credentials. they wrote together -- and i quote -- "nuclear weapons today present tremendous dangers but also an historic opportunity. u.s. leadership will be required to take the world to the next stage, to a solid consensus for reversing reliance on nuclear weapons globally as a vital contribution to preventing their proliferation into potentially dangerous hands and ultimately ending them as a threat to the world." president obama is willing and able to provide this leadership at this critical point in history. the administration is in the final stages of negotiating the start treaty with russia. this treaty would reduce deployed nuclear weapons in the united states and russia and would provide crucial verification measures that would allow a window into the russian nuclear program. while the start treaty has taken a little longer than expected to complete, i applaud the leadership of assistant secretary for verification, complianc