originally led by the competing labor governments, prime minister bob hawk and prime minister bill keating. led to the community of apek, the community of stations in asia pacific. under my prien ministership, we sharpened that focus, for having a whole of nation policy paper, calling australia in the asian century, looking across the 100 years to come, the original growth in our region of the world and its rising economic power. we were very conscious of the strategic weight of the world in which we live and the australia's place for that and the great opportunities that can flow from it. >> do you think australia has a lfn lesson to teach to the united states as it talks about tilting towards asia, refocusing not necessarily away from europe but taking a wider view of the world? china is a big player now. and i think america's associations are still very heavily pitched across the atlantic. >> i was very happy as prime minister to welcome president obama to australia. he spoke in our parliament house. and he spoke at the time that the united states was first articulating the doctrine of

bill keating of massachusetts. would you like to have the last question before we recess? >> thank you, mr. chairman. a couple of quick questions. number one, nato secretary general rasmussen has said the alliance plans to intensify its cooperation with ukraine. can you give us a more detailed description in terms of nato's plans. if the ukrainian government were to request member ship action plan, would the administration consider that, possibly support it? that's question number one. the other one deals with imf reform. would that improve that to make sure our dollars are more effective live used and we don't have squandered money, important taxpayer money for the u.s. and money from our european allies. will that provide more ability to maximize the use of that? those are the two questions. mr. singh can take the second. mr. rubin, if you want to take the first. >> certainly, congressman. the question of nato cooperation, ukraine has been a member of the partnership for peace for two decades. we have very extensive positive experience working together with ukraine on tr

bill keating of massachusetts. would you like to have the last question before we recess?thank you, mr. chairman. a couple of quick questions. number one, nato secretary general rasmussen has said the alliance plans to intensify its cooperation with ukraine. can you give us a more detailed description in terms of nato's plans. if the ukrainian government were to request member ship action plan, would the administration consider that, possibly support it? that's question number one. the other one deals with imf reform. would that improve that to make sure our dollars are more effective live used and we don't have squandered money, important taxpayer money for the u.s. and money from our european allies. will that provide more ability to maximize the use of that? those are the two questions. mr. singh can take the second. mr. rubin, if you want to take the first. >> certainly, congressman. the question of nato cooperation, ukraine has been a member of the partnership for peace for two decades. we have very extensive positive experience working together with ukraine on traini

bills, then maybe i need to hold off on hiring. they need to come together and address them. >> governor keating, at the treasury department you had the responsibility for the alcohol, tobacco, and firearms department. you've also had the oversight immigration and naturalization issues. i wonder if i could throw you a curve ball. vladimir putin and president obama have been tossing sanctions back and forth. i wonder what your perspective andbout naming individuals singling them out, whether they be americans or russians. >> it depends on who the individuals are. to have the russians retaliate and put john mccain and harry reid on their list, i mean, that is really risible. if you're going to go after individuals, go after individuals who are thugs and bureaucrats. by trimming their sales, you will have, hopefully a profound impact on the chief executive on the other side. obviously, the options are limited here. did afterjimmy carter the soviet invasion of afghanistan. the mujahedin, the wheat embargo, he really went after it. everyone thought that jimmy carter was a wet rag president. up, i hopeto ratchet we can ratchet up where

along with representative keating of new york, he is chief sponsor of hr1565, the house version of the expanded background check bill that our organization is working so hard to support. on behalf of our one million members and supporters and all of the victims and families that you see here today and across the country, we appreciate your leadership. [applause] >> thank you. thank you very much for what you do. sarah, thank you. carolyn, you are such an important voice. thank you for your public service and courage to come out and do this. it takes a big person to be willing to stand up and speak out on this issue. leader pelosi, thank you. she has been fantastic. if it were speaker pelosi, we would not be here. this would have already been signed into law. for all of the families, you call yourself survivors. you are just absolutely fantastic. the courage that you show is important. we hear too often the numbers, 12,000 people killed by someone with a firearm since sandy hook. those numbers are numbing. the fact of the matter is, those numbers stand for the people and families we see standing with us today. it aff

keating, for introducing this bipartisan legislation and i urge all my colleagues to support this bill and vote yes for religious freedom. mr. speaker work that, i yield back the balance of my time. mr. levin: i reserve. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from illinois is recognized. mr. schock: thank you, mr. speaker. i now yield a minute and good friend from illinois, mr. davis. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from illinois is recognized. mr. davis: i want to thank my friend from the great state of illinois for introducing this important bill. as somebody who has the only christian science college in the nation in his district, this is a very important issue for religious freedom and religious rights. the college in elsa, illinois, has 550 students and they sent me this. this was a card that has much more artistic talent than i do and it say, thank you, we're so grateful of your defense of religious freedom and hope you will continue to advocate for this bill until it passes. this is -- this is the voice of those who need this exemption. this is the voice of those who need