it'll be the first meeting of foreign ministers for the new eu high rep, lady ashton. and in addition to the european council meeting, which of course was the summit meeting. and as i said, they discussed afghanistan. but they also discussed iran. because we expect that the iranian issue will be addressed in the eu council meeting. and there will be a brood discussion on next steps in that meeting. i also have an announcement regarding travel of undersecretary bill burns. he will travel to beijing december 8 and the 9. he will then travel to indonesia on december 10th and 11th, for consults with senior indonesian officials on expanding cooperation on areas of mutual interest as discussed during president obama's recent meeting the indonesia president. he will also lead the u.s. observer democracy forum, which is an important indonesian led initiative to promote reform throughout the region. and that's all that i have. i have your questions on this friday afternoon. >> about how long were the meetings that the secretary have? sounds like they couldn't have been very lon

ashton carter hit the nail on the head and i commend him for his vision in saying that the industrialase issues are completely legitimate, because having the best defense industrial and technology base is not a birthright, it's something we have to earn again and again. and as america's only large airlift production line, if we were to end the c-17 production, it would risk our nation's long-term opportunity to produce the aircraft we need. it will also keep the scientists, engineers, designers, and dedicated workers who can turn out the future aircrafts we need. madam president -- mr. president, rather, excuse me, i'm going to -- i see my colleague from texas has joined me but i do wish to add very quickly, the commendations and congratulations to the northwest missouri state university football team on their most recent victory in the ncaa division ii championship this past weekend. their journey to the game and their performance in it testifies to their dedication and perseverance. the bearcat football team has been -- has had much success and disappointment over four seasons. it's