it's a special honor for me to have the opportunity to host and introduce federica mogherini because i knew her before she was famous. by only about five minutes, actually. we had a wonderful meeting in splendid palace in rome before she was appointed as foreign minister in the new italian government, and pretty soon after that, she became the high representative of the european union foreign affairs and security policy. in short, the e.u. foreign minister. but i remember that meeting very well. i was just in the process of departing from the state department in my last role as the special envoy for israeli/palestinian negotiations and we had a wonderful discussion about the problems involved in trying to promote reconciliation and peace between the israelis and palestinians and i was immediately impressed by her understanding and knowledge of a complex issue that i had spent 35 years trying to master, and she seemed to have got hold of it. so welcome. ms. mogherini was previously italy's minister of foreign affairs, before that a member of the italian parliament from 2008 to 2014. s

it's a special honor for me to have the opportunity to host and introduce federica mogherini becauseve minutes, actually. we had a wonderful meeting in a splendid palace in rome before she was appointed as foreign minister. in the new italian government. and pretty soon after that she became the high representative of the european union for foreign affairs and security policy. in short the eu foreign minister. but i remember that meeting very well. i was just in the process of departing from the state department in my last role as special envoy for israeli/palestinian negotiations. we had a wonderful discussion about -- about the problems involved in trying to promote reconciliation and peace between the israelis and palestinians. and i was immediately impressed by her understanding and knowledge of her complex issue that i had spent 35 years trying to master. and she seemed to have got ahold of it. in that moment. so, welcome. ms. mogherini, as i said previously italy's minister of foreign affairs. before that a member of the italian parliament from 230008 to 2014. she was the head

policies, and i say that because we feel a special relationship because of the fellowship that federica mogherini did in 2007. my co-chair is sitting here, and he asks what is the impact that she does? sometimes it's very obvious and it's wonderful to see -- >> i had incentive. >> if you pull up your cv, you have a line around the general martial fund, so it's something you're very proud of and you've been a wonderful supporter of gmf since, and i thank you for that. also your commitment to the transatlantic partnership are not only true in the words you just spoke but also in the fact you're here in washington. of course, you've traveled extensively stepping into this job, but it has been within europe and the immediate region. so this is the first longer trip that you've made. and i think it shows also your commitment and the commitment of the eu to the transatlantic partnership, which certainly we at gmf agree is so important and as you said, in the increasingly complex world we live in. when i think about transatlantic partnership, you reference ds the -- referenced the attacks of 9/11. that