the european union has capacity to put observers into the gaza strip.can we get resolution for those forces to be deployed? this is a political crisis, not just a humanitarian one. there should be a substantial political process toward the palestinian state. we will support all efforts on the part of the government to make the gaza strip the center for peace and the middle east. >> i am grateful to the foreign secretary for the support for what is clearly a bipartisan policy across the floor of the house and a concern for the people of the causes strep. -- people of the gossip strip. -- people of the gaza strip. ignoring the gaza strip will not work. this is a problem that must be addressed. i am grateful for the support he has given to the government's position and the argument that he makes that the israeli policy toward gaza titans the grip on the people of the gaza strip. he can tell that i am+ disappointed and dissatisfied with the israeli response. the reason i do not condemn them on the quickly is because there is a complicating factor which is t

how much more the european union can do. it is very important that we are able to stop the flow of arms into gaza just as it is so vital to open up gaza to humanitarian aid and more normal economic activity. >> i join my colleagues in condemning the actions that were taken by the israeli government. two of my constituents are currently in detention in israel. i agree with the foreign secretary that an international independent investigation is important notwithstanding, the undersecretary agreed to meet with my constituents who were there because nothing beats hearing it from the horse's' mouth. >> plans are being worked on to meet a group the answer to the question is yes. >> the call for an international, impartial element to an investigation. is it not crucial to ensure that if peace talks resume and turkey's role, which had been an important regional ally to israel, is supported and encouraged? . . &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& it is normally referred to as piracy. he is normally known for his blunt speaking. willie n

ireland is would beling and the european union countries have loaned money to each other. almost like being in a poker game and let's just say because of the overhead it's taken out by government. if we all sit down in a poker game and the house takes, let's say 45% of every pot, sooner or later, the people sitting around the table trying to exchange those dollars are exchanging i.o.u.'s. government has swallowed up too much of the proceeds and then they loan money to each other and the united states is borrowing money from around the world. in fact, the amount of money that's borrowed from the chinese is now approaching $1 trillion and americans have invested into american debt. but this debt is too hard a burden for us to carry. i put a poll up on -- polling question up on my website. and the news is full every day of the environmental calamenty in the gulf and -- calamity in the gulf and it's sad and we should shut off the leak and clean up the mess. but i asked, what is the greatest threat to america, the gulf oil leak or the debt and deficit that this country is carry

the speaker for the secretary of state appears to have ruled out a number of options within the european unionontext in dealing with israel. what exactly is the u.k. doing within the european unit to maximize diplomatic pressure to end the blockade on gaza? >> i do not conscience of ruling anything out, mr. speaker. i am not ruling anything out. i must stress that there is an enormous amount of pressure. i had dinner with many of the european foreign ministers in sarajevo last night and will see more today. they are all expressing themselves in very similar ways and very emphatically. if there is no doubt about the intensity of the feeling and the pressure from the european union. clearly, we will want to discuss as a body what more we can do about that and most importantly, what we can to working with the united states to try to give new momentum to the middle east peace process. it is up there on the agenda and on the minds of european foreign ministers and there will be a great deal of pressure. >> i have been to gaza twice. can i ask the foreign secretary to work -- -- it is exactly what t

guest: what we can do is we can try to contribute to the european union's position to be expressed in the g-20 framework. i think our basic national interest is that the global crisis be over and there will be european contribution to this. we know the european economy is now lagging behind. i would like to express my conviction and hope that the european economy can recover. we are all tied together in this exercise. the more we can achieve in the global area, the more helpful it can be for europe and the country. host: europe has a stake in a financial reform discussions because it was their real estate investments that affected the european nations as well. i'm wondering how closely your country is following what we have here and whether you have a point of view. guest: yes. we are following it very closely because we very much have the same problems. for us, it is not the mortgage. for us, it is the loans. many of my fellow citizens took in foreign currencies like swiss francs, or the bureau, are the japanese yen. and because of the revaluation of the currencies, these people have

a major assistance package has been established jointly by the european union and the international monetary fund for greece. to backstop near-term financing needs of its members more generally, the e.u. has established a european financial stabilization mechasm with up to 500 billion euros in funding, which could be used in tandem with significant bilateral support from the imf. e.u. leaders are also discussing proposals to tighten surveillance of members fiscal performance and improve the design of the e.u. fiscal support mechanisms. in addition, to address the strains in european financial markets, the european central bank has been purchasing debt securities markets that it sees as malfunctioning coming and has resumed auctions of three and six month loans of heroes of unlimited quantities to borrowers with appropriate collateral. to help these strains in u.s. funding markets the federal reserve reduced up ten per u.s. dollar liquid the swap lines with the ec and other major central banks. to date, the drongen somebodies lines are made quite limited and far below their peaks reached at t

>> in terms of european countries, they have agreed to similar agreements within the european union. i am confident that all countries that make these commitments will fill them. there will the pressure from the markets. there will the market pressure to fill this. in the case of japan, the declaration gives greater latitude to the japanese case. eight japanese debt levels are much, much higher than the rest of us and are entirely financed domestically. there's been some recognition that japan's targets may be different. i am firmly convinced that as we move forward these will be targets that are pursued and in most cases pursued s minimal objectives. in the case of canada, we will most likely meet these targets by next year and in both cases, the deficit and the debt target. others will take a closer to the deadline. >> good afternoon, mr. harper. everyone has their own story to tell. there's probably not enough margin, flexibility, and in the end everyone may do what they wish and this would damage this agreement. president sarkozy has said the targets are involuntary commitment. e

there are opportunities outside of the european union which are significant and important. we will continue to work and expand as opportunities and make new partnerships and arrangements. one of the reasons the president is focused on these discussions is multilaterally engaging in new discussions. hopefully congress can work on these and ratify them in the near future in panama, colombia and south america. there is a lot of trade opportunities outside of europe and we will continue to monitor and do business with them, but it is not dispositive of how we do if the european trade is off a bit. >> i would like to follow up with a trade questioned. the american taxpayers will be paying $147 million a year to brazil because the agriculture department was ruled illegal by the trade organization. what are you going to do about that? >> we have to educate people about what has been done about the credit export program that may be responsive to the concerns raised by brazil and the world trade auk -- world trade organization. it has been substantially less than the penalties that

i will offer -- i refer to the g-20 in the european union. the g-20 meeting in toronto cannot come soon enough. its expediency and arbitrage will help with the global cornyn strategy. are we expecting too much from the g-20? of britain's political, economic, and moral clarity to press other countries to press the agreements that they have made, including a drive against protectionism. we need to be pragmatic about the g-20. i run marathons, and you need a strong sense of patients as well as perseverance and stamina. patience is a virtue but we must keep up the pressure for progress. the other institutions which have been increasing say and all we do is the european union. chancellor, we welcome the public statement in your coalition agreement that the new government will bring a fresh approach to britain's engagement with brussels. this is very good news. we must begin engaging earlier and influencing the debate at the outset. too late we defended the hedge funds in the private industries. now we will pay the price of a new and unnecessary re

the european union. this is a very important of the. a couple of weeks ago with iran and brazil holding hands and the air in opposition to u.s. policy to iran. when we had the last war in iraq, they refused to let us use the territory. we had to go all the way around it. they are supposed to be our france. -- supposedly are friends. it used to be a good friend of israel for years, but now because they are becoming more islamist -- was a beautiful country, the people of great. change the country -- but i saw the pictures, almost all women now are being covered and they are going back. turkey, please do something about your government. don't let them bring you back to the point of being one of those backward countries in the middle east. host: from "the new york times" -- the israeli prime minister cancelled as plans to come to washington to meet with the present. the two men did speak by phone within hours and the white house recently released an account -- the li anne had this comment -- brad is joining

when we have done so working in coordination and in particular with the european union canada and in some cases some of these emerging markets. i think you do know that the issue of china's currency, at least has been reported in the papers, one that has been addressed not oy by the united states, but expressions of concern from the european union, korea, and other countries. i would have to defer to secretary geithner and the president to the extent of our foreign nations. >> if you would refer to him. >> yes. >> we welcome both of you. the conventional research. 15 percent and 20 percent of all products made in china are equivalent to 8% f china's annual gross domestic product. unfortunately this problem seems to be getting worse. i remember back in 1995. the chinese pledge to close down all large intellectual rights violators. that obviously did not happen. i also remember the chinese and the republican and democrat administrations. the chinese have even launched a yearlo campaign against piracy in 2005. i cannot discern any lon-term overall benefit from that particular exercise.

well, in terms of european countries, they've already agreed to similar commitments within the european union itself. i'm confident that all countries that have made these commitments will fulfill them and will need to full if i am them, because there will be market pressure, not just peer pressure, but there will be market pressure to fulfill them. in the case of japan, as you know, the declaration gives greater latitude to the japanese case, japanese debt levels, much, much higher than the rest of us, are also entirely financed domestically. so there has been some recognition that japan's tarrets may be slightly different, but i am firmly convinced that as we move forward these will be targets that are pursued, and, in most cases, pursued as minimal objections. in the case of canada, we will, in all likelihood, meet these targets next year in both cases, both the deficit and the debt target. others will take closer to the deadline. >> good afternoon, mr. harper. here i am. everyone has its own story to tell, but probably there is not enough margin, enough flexibility, and in the end, everyb

howre other afghan leaders getting that acrossto some of the leaders, not only in nato but the european union at large? i would like to build on one of the other questions. the question i have, can afghanistan transformed to where you would like to see it be with karzai at the helm? >> i think -- i would be very straightforward with this answer. we have to create an opportunity for afghanistan, for the people that personalities do not matter. democratic systems should not depend on one or two or three individuals. they should come and have their chance and play their role and if they succeed within the confines of the role of law and what ever the constitution's this country -- those countries have, they can do their thing and move on. we cannot allow afghanistan to become a new dynasty of brothers and sisters an cousins and warlords and druglords. the u.s. and europe countries have this opportunity in the islamic world and impoverished countries. afghanistan is the manageable project. a large majority of that population can say ok, this new world experiences working. the rule of law, people'

european union leaders adopted new sanctions against iran today over its nuclear program. the restrictions are designed to block investments in iran's oil and gas sector, and limit its refining and natural gas capability. the e.u. penalties go beyond those approved by the u.n. security council last week. the u.s. imposed its own new penalties yesterday. israel has eased its blockade of gaza. a spokesman for prime minister benjamin netanyahu outlined the new terms today. they include letting construction materials for civilian projects into gaza. >> the government of israel took decisions to liberalize the system under which civilian goods may enter the gaza strip. to expand materials for projects inside gaza that are under international supervision, but, of course, we must remain with the security procedures that prevent the import into gaza of weapons and more materials that could strengthen the hamas military machine. the militant group hamas rules gaza and a spokesman called the israeli move nothing more than "window-dressing." the chief negotiator for the palestinian a

a major assistance package has been established by the european union and the international monetary fund for greece. the backstop near-term financing needs of its members more generally, the eu has established a stabilization mechannsm. addressing strains in the european financial markets, the european central bank [unintelligible] it has resumed auctions of three months and six month loans. dollar funding markets, the.-%- federal reserve has established a u.s.-dollar equity lines with banks. they are providing an important backstop. more generally, the ongoing international cooperation sends an important signal to financial markets that we will take the actions necessary to ensure stability and continued ecooomic recovery. the actions taken by european leaders represent a firm commitment to resolve the stresses it and restore market confidence. the recent fall in equuty prices and economic prospects in europe willlleave some imprint in the u.s. economy, [unintelligible] it the federal reserve will remain vigilant. ongoing developments in europe point to the importance of maintaining

the united kingdom has played its full part in the european union and united nations and agreeing on the need for a full, credible, impartial, independent investigation into these events. our goal as a process -- is a process that ensure is full accountability, and wheat what the confidence of the international community. further discussions are taking place and other international forums, including nato and the human rights council. we will take the same principled stand across all are difficult -- all of our international efforts and stressed the need to the israeli government the need to align with its international obligations, given that its actions appear to have gone beyond what was warranted or proportioned. we need to know what more should have been done. -- what more could have been done to minimize the risk and the injury. these should not be viewed in isolation. they are rise from the un accessible and unsustainable situation in gaza. as long been the view of the british government, including the previous, that restrictions on gaza should be lifted, reflected in the unite

the european union had to come in to bail them out. why? greece was over 100% of their g.d.p. there is an acronym they call pigs, portugal, ireland, italy, greece and spain. they are all in a financial crisis. they are very close to the breaking point. and if you look based upon g.d.p., if you put america in there and the protectory of where we are going, we are very close to where greece is to be. the i.m.f. came out to say in 2015 america will be where greece is. and it will actually be worse. the president put together a debt commission where there are people on both sides of the aisle. they recently had an communist in. he took the entire amount of debt from government and others for the united states. his percentage comes to 90% of g.d.p. his numbers come out and say when you hit 90% you lose 1% of growth. now think for a minute, 1% is not a lot. if america is protected to only grow at 3% you are losing a third of your entire percentage of growth. we are in the middle of a recession. you need job growth. so why i layout before we have our communication and our town hall,

greece is in the news and causing a whole lot of trouble in the european union and its deficit as a percentage of g.d.p. is 9.4%. these are not good numbers. it's healthful to compare to -- united kingdom is worst off. if you go debt, this is the larger term, year after year after year, united states is at 99% and you got greece and italy that are worst off than we are. that is not a good sign when we are in third place. this rate of spending just does not work. this is a path -- this is a glide path. i use the analogy of the old -- the guys of world war i that used to fly those airplanes, whatever it was that snoopy. they get in their spiral and head down to the earth and what happened is -- because of lousy economics, we're in essentially a grave yard spiral in economic and you, my friends, know what the solutions are to fix this. and there was a solution to the graveyard spiral. but from a pilot's point of view, their instinct is to pull the nose up but the counterintuetive thing is to pont the nose down. and there's the same kind of thing in our economy which we have to do or this economy

banks could not borrow money, so the european union had to draw them out. why? this was over 100% of gdp. there is an acronym that as portugal, ireland, italy, greece, and spain. they are close to the breaking point. if you look at g.d.p. and put america in with the trajectory of where we are going, we are very close to where it should be. the imf recently said in 2015 america will be were greece is, and it will actually be worse. the president put together this debt commission where there are people on both sides of the aisle. the recently had an economist in. he took the entire amount of deaths from governments and others. -- of debt from government and others. his numbers came out when he said you hit 90%, you lose 1% of growth. you may think 1% is not enough, but if america is projected to only grow at 3%, you're losing only 1/3 of your entire percentage abroad. in march they had over 18% unemployment. you need job growth. before we had our town hall, i wanted to give you exactly where rearm. i believe this is an biggest crisis before us, and we cannot ignor

there is a lot of trade opportunities outside of the european union.ost: you can see the entire interview on "newsmakers" at 10:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. let's take a look at other news right now going on. this from the associated press, two new jersey man who allegedly intended to kill american troops were arrested saturday before boarding flights on their way to joined a group in somalia. this looks at the star-ledger of newark reported that two men were arrested at jfk international airport before they could board separate flights to egypt and continue on this about. officials familiar with the details spoke on condition of anonymity. also, looking at the "miami herald." looking at the news from there. bp bosses on likely to face jail. well they can expect heavy fines from the oil spill, past catastrophes show that company officials rarely face criminal charges. they are following that story very closely as it relates to florida's shores. they have a photograph -- beach patrol workers bag tar balls a long casino beach in the florida panhandle. we will s

with the support of the high representatives of the european union. the statement reads as follows.we, the foreign ministers of china, france, germany, russia, the united kingdom and the united states would like to take this opportunity to reaffirm our determination and commitment to seek the early negotiated solution to the iranian nucle the adoption of the united nations security council resolution 1929 while reflecting the international community concern about the iranian nuclear program and reconfirm and the need for ira to comply with the u.n. security council and iaea board of governor requirement keeps the door open for continued engagement with iran. the aim of our efforts is to achieve a comprehensive and long-term settlement which would restore international confidence in the peaceful nure of iran's nuclear program. while respecting iran's legitimate rights to the peaceful use of atomic energy. we are resolute in continuing our work for this purpose. we also welcomand commend all diplomatic efforts in this regard. especially those recently made by brazil and turkey on the

has submitted its second request to the european union for specializzd equipment to contain the oil seeping into the gulf of mexico. they accepted the canadiaa offer of 9,480 feet of bone. they are soliciting bom and others skimmer's from other countries. eagle river, wisconsin, democratic caller, go ahead. caller: i usually lead democrat but i am fading quickly on that. we cannot trust the oil companies to tell us what is really going on or tell us the truth. they basically of the government. we cannot expect our government to do anything about this except to sell us out. the last guy from kansas should click his heels and get back to kansas because he does not have a close. this is not about cleaning up the mess now. this is about what we will do five years from now, 10 years from now, 20 years from now. host: does this oil disaster make a demarcation line in u.s. energy policy? caller: this has to set the demarcation library there is no other way around this. we have known this would happen since the early 1970's that we would have problems with energy. companies and oil lobbies and boug

it looks like turkey is not going to get into the european union.is more democratic than it ever was before. all of those changes are driving a divergence in foreign policy. it has translated into a very different approach to the nuclear challenge and a different view on a whole host of issues. in many ways, the turks are beating washington. the prime minister is very host: if that is true, what does it mean for president obama: ford? caller: it puts the united states in an awkward position. he came into office hoping to restore and reestablished and build on relations with turkey and it had a variety of assets that could be used in the pursuit of u.s. interests in the middle east. it has not quite worked out that way. my sense is that we need to understand that the turks are not going to cooperate with us on a number of issues. we have to work around them or work against them. but they have done this already. they struck a deal with the iranians in resilience to transport uranium to turkey. this was an agreement that the united states rejected. the

>> in terms of european countries, they have agreed to similar agreements within the european union. i am confident that all countries that make these commitments will fill them. there will the pressure from the markets. there will the market pressure to fill this. in thh case of japan, the declaration gives greater latitude to the japanese case. eight japanese debt levels are much, much higher than the rest oo us and are entirely financed domestically. there's been some recognition that japan's targets may be different. i am firmly convinced that as we move forward these will be targets that are pursued and in most cases pursued as minimal objectives. in the case of canada, we will most likely meet these targets by next year and in both cases, the deficit and the debt target. others will take a closer to the deadline. >> good afternoon, mr. harper. everyone has their own story to tell. there's probably not enough margin, flexibility, and in the end everyone may do what they wish and this would damage this agreement. president sarkozy has said the targets are involuntary commitment.

moving forward you will see stronger measures coming out of the united states and the european union. the big question is if these measures will alter their nuclear calculations. we have three decadds of empirical evidence that sanctions have not really altered -- it is because this regime has a long history of having shown itself willing to subject its population to economic hardship rather than compromise. host: president ahmadinejad referred to the resolution as nothing more than a used tissue. >> no amount of pressure and mischief will be able to break our determination to pursue and defend our legal and inalienable rights. host: officially joining iran in support is brazil and turkey. why? guest: somewhat unexpected in the sense that brazil and tuukey, eeks before this resolution was passed, made a diplomatic gambit to tehran. they tried to resuscitate a deal that had been offered last october. i think that there was certainly some kind of disagreement or miscommunication between the united states, turkey, and brazil. personally i do not think of the united states bought the this

get a resolution passed by the middle of june, it would be difficult to get one passed by the european union before they go on their august recess? >> we do not have a specific timetable. the president has indicated he would like to see this action taken by the end of spring. we are now at june 1. the end of spring is approaching. [laughter] >> did the president's letters to brazil and turkey come up in the meeting? beyond that, there seems to be miscommunication at least on the surface about how much the u.s. understood what turkey and brazil were doing. >> i do not think there was a miscommunication at all. the issue that was discussed during the meeting was not so much what was in the trr proposal but what iran has chosen to do and continue o do outside of the trr proposal. i think from our standpoint, the statements by the foreign minister both in new york and also back in tehran that the trr deal in essence does not matter. iran is prepared to continue to enrich, which means that iran is stating that it is prepared to continue to function outside of international obligations, its respon

security council approval of resolution 1929 and european union endorsement of additional energy and financial measures on iraq. the president of the united states is clearly setting the stage for what we all hope are strong, targeted and effective multilateral and multilayered pressure on tehran. these measures are not ends but merely a means to an end. first and foremost, to suspend iran's illicit nuclear program to protect israel and our other friends and allies, to combat tehran's proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and express support for human rights in their country. i see my colleague from arizona. i believe it was his suggestion that the human rights effort be a part of this revolution. i thank my colleague from arizona insisting that this sanction's proposal includes very strong language and a message to the iranian people. this is not about them. this is about their government. it's very important, i think, in all of us with our remarks here today to make it clear that we are tremendously sympathetic to what they are going through, and therefore part of our propos

look at how much the former vice president of the united states, al gore, has made like in the european union. i yield back. mr. gohmert: i'm going to mention the former vice president gore, he has a global warming problem of his own now, so i'll leave reference to him out of it entirely. apparently his planet is warming. but it is interesting, too, when i heard the president talking previously about this cozy relationship between regulators and the big oil, here it is back again to the cynicism and all those days as a judge, you know, it hit me. and i asked my office to check and sure enough, they found a press release from the department of interior dated june 18, 2009. and i'm glad my friend was enlightened as i was to find out just how cozy british petroleum and the white house and the global warming advocates here on capitol hill and at the white house have been. there is apparently a very cozy relationship, which obviously, made it difficult for him to condemn b.p. because they are the oil company that was jumping out there saying we support this global warming stuff. well, let me read

and as you know around that table, canada and the european union are involved in a trade deal between our part of north america and europe. we will continue to look for ways to move do-hai forward. i would never say it's dead, i don't think it's true. we have to find a path over time to get to a successful conclusion. at the same time those of us who favor liberalized trade won't stand still. we will make sure that we work through all avenues to advance that objective. >> chris hall, cbc. >> sorry, you asked me an afghanistan, david, i almost forgot. afghanist afghanistan. everyone recognizes that the challenges there remain significant. we are under no illusion, almost everyone around the g-8 table is involved with afghanistan directly or indirectly. we realize that challenges remain pretty severe. that said i think there is general recognition around the g-8 table that we have to continue to put our shoulder to the wheel to ensure that what we leave behind is a stable afghanistan. that will be a positive contributor to the world security. and not a potential source of terrorism or a

an additnal $50 blion in loan guarantees for bailing ouother fincily irresponsie members ofhe european union. and, agai it's going to crea -- this bilis going to create unnecessary programs. already under tarp 1, th gank bailout treary created these programs, as mr. mcclintock pointed out,o it' a ear dication that rp 1 was a failure. if drats havto bri th bk ancreate $32 billion more to do what the $700 blion tarp wa't able to do. so what we're eings ur friends on the other side of the aisle crtingore taxpayer-funded jobs at the federal level, job for average amecansnd n money foll businesses. and yeou unemployment rate when they promisedwihe fit stimulus bill tt it would never go above . bert eitein is credit the same thing er and over again andxpecng rults. the americanpl a righ question why ar our fries onhe oth side of the aisle dointhe me tngs over and over again and expecting differe results fr wt they've gottn the past. d wi ti reserve the balan of my te. the spear pro tempe:he gelady reserves the gentlelady from maine ms. pingree: thank you, mr. eaker. my colleague from north carolin

cada and the european union are involved in a very important discussions on a potential free- trade deal between our partners in north america. we will continue to look for ways to move forward. i would not say that doja is dead. at the same time, those of us who favor legalized trade are going to make sure that we work through all possible avenues to advance the objectives. me about afghanistan. on afghanistan, look, everybody recognizes tt the challenges there remain significant. we are under no illusion. just about every country around the table was involved in afghanistan. we realize the challenges remain pretty severe. that said, i think there is a general recognition around the table that we have to continue to put our shoulder to the wheel to ultimately ensure that what we leave behind is a stable afghanistan that will be a positive contribor to the world, to world security, and not a potential source of terrorism or a failed state. we all agree that this remains an overriding, essential objective fo all of the countries in the world. >> now we will go to cbc. >> i wanted to ask y

are other afghan leaders getting that across to some of the leaders, not only in nato but the european union at large? i would like to build on one of the other questions. the question i have, can afghanistan transformed to where you would like to see it be with karzai at the helm? >> i think -- i would be very straightforward with this answer. we have to create an opportunity for afghanistan, for the people that personalities do not matter. democratic systems should not depend on one or two or three individuals. they should come and have their chance and play their role and if they succeed within the confines of the role of law and what ever the constitution's this country -- those countries have, they can do their thing and move on. we cannot allow afghanistan to become a new dynasty of brothers and sisters and cousins and warlords and druglords. the u.s. and european countries have this opportunity in the islamic world and impoverished countries. afghanistan is the manageable project. a large majority of that population can say ok, this new world experiences working. the rule of law, peop

speaker, abt the ewe roe zone those countries of the european union, 27 of them, i guess 23 or 24 are members of the euro zone, they have te going on there in regd to, is well thecronym is pi, stands for the countrieof portug, italy, spain and greece. i' forgetting one i, but in anyegard, the -- grce got this masve bailoutf somethingike $1 billion and the euro zone from the internationamotary fund work the pledged, i think, another $750 bilon worth of bailout becausthese counie that constitute that acm piigs, their debt ratio to e gross domestic product is so high. when u look, look in your own eye, don't curse the speck in someby else's eyewhen off plank in your own, as e bible says. that's essentlly what we are doing, the united states of america, that's whawe're doin our debt so g.d.p. is what, olags, you can tell meit's close to 90% and by 2020, it will be well over 100% ifot 150%, i'll yield back to let y discusshat further. mr. ak: actuallyi you a few dollars for helping me get tough the slide because i have a picture of where greece and itsly and some othe nations -- and ily an

canada and the european union are involved in a very important discussions on a potential free- tradeeal between our partners in north america. we will continue to look for ways to move forward. i would not say that doja is dead. at the same time, those of us who favor legalized trade are going to make sure that we work through all possible avenues to advance the objectives. me about afghanistan. on afghanistan, look, everybody recognizes that the challenges there remain significant. we are under no illusion. just about every country around the table was involved in afghanistan. we realize the challenges remain pretty severe. that said, i think there is a general recognition around the table that we have to continue to put our shoulder to the wheel to ultimately ensure that what we leave behind is a stable afghanistan that will be a positive contributor to the world, to world security, and not a potential source of terrorism or a failed state. we all agree that this remains an overriding, essential objective for all of the countries in the world. >> now we will go to cbc. >> i wanted

it's the dynamic member of the european union. in conclusio god bless our troops and we will never rget september 11 andhe global war on terrorism. god bless bulgaria. e speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlelady from pennsylvania rise? >> to address the house for one minute and to revise a extend. the speaker pro tempore: withut oecti, so ordered. mrs. dahlkemper: mr. speake checks ll go out in t mail to 189,000 seniors across pennsylvia, including thousands in my district in western pennsylvania. this will help them pay for prescription drugs. ese $250 chec are on their y to seniors who fall victim to the prescription drug doughnut hole in medicare. the $250 checks are just the first step in reducing prescription drug prices for seniors under the new health care reform. next year seniors ithe doughnut hole will get a 50% discount on name brand prescription drugs and a 75% discount on generics. the averagpennsylvania senior will save $700 next year on prescription drugs because of the health care reform bill. this

at our first meeting, we had an official from the european union testifying about his findings and researchd i asked him about smaller sizes. he said that there is no correlation between doing well and the size of classes. i did not ask him about sizes of the school, i asked about class size which went against everything that i have ever thought or belief or observed. the less kids you have to teach, the better off they will learn all the things that they need to. teachers who are leaving after two or three years, i have talked to many of them. the ones that have 12 or 13 kids, they love it. those that have 20-25 kids, they cannot stand it. how about class size? is this an important factor that we should consider? what is the size of the class that the teacher is teaching? it is that an important factor? >> you have to hold all of the other factors equal. the most important factor is the effectiveness of the teacher. i've never met a parent who would not want to have her kids in a class of 10 with an average teacher than a class a 25 with an excellent teacher. we have lots of children who g

the european union threatens to collapse under the financial stress that they have because they have loaned money -- it's almost like they're sitting at a poker table playing for chipping that are writing each our i.o.u.'s around the table. at some time you have to pay fo- the drinks and the food that's coming along. those chickens are coming home to roost in europe. we don't need to be there in america. we're a different kind of people. we have a unique vitality in our character, in our soul. one of the things that is part of that vitality is that we've skimmed the cream off of the crop of every civilization in the world. everybody that were immigrants to the united states, they didn't get people who were sitting out there on the porch that didn't go to work. these were the entrepreneurs, the creative ones, the ones that had a dream, that were frustrated because they had the shackles of a dictator that kept them from using freedom to grow their own lifetime success. can you imagine if you couldn't worship freely, if you couldn't go out and get a job, if you couldn't start a business

clients defraud third parties or the public, such as the swaps and that goldman used to mislead the european union. i believe that we have found a way to regulate our financial system while protecting main street businesses and commercial users who are the lifeblood of our economy. we looked at users who used these swaps to be able to manage the risk of 100% of their commercial revenue. that means we do not allow them to use it for speculation, but for commercial and rest. this retains a core of both bills. we target the largest, the riskiest players and i expect more of them, as we should. we walk through it thorny jurisdictional disputes and send a message to our regulators that they must cooperate and focus on the market and not each other. we provide robust, real-time transparency. these markets cannot work without trade information. we retained the 716 and ask the banks to get back to banking. for those that are hedging commercial risk we provide flexibility for the regulators. we increased anti-fraud and anti manipulation authority. we tightened upon regulations on swaps and swaps dealers so

i would like to know your comments on the european union about the speech in cairo when he talked about the constitution. thank you. >> as i said, he has been kind of all over the map in terms of trying to test the entire spectrum of potential reforms in libya that i think he would like the country to go in. the constitution, as far as i know, as been worked on foo the past several years. they started with -- has been worked on for the past several years, starting with scholars from the united tates and europe. they came to a document that seemed to be almost ready for prime time. there was a delay. i expect that, as he makes the decision as to how he will either take this new position or not take it, we will again seek talks and hopefully action about putting a constitution in place, as well as other reforms. >> and i asked you to go back to the question -- can i ask you to go back to the question about the briefing concerning the counter-terrorist program and the efforts the country has made in the reeducation of radicals and that whole aspect of what is going on in the country? if yo

banks could not borrow money, so the european union had to draw them out. why? this was over 100% of gdp. there is an acronym that as portugal, ireland, italy, greece, and spain. they are close to the breaking point. if you look at g.d.p. and put america in with the trajectory of where we are going, we are very close to where it should be. the imf recently said in 2015 america will be were greece is, and it will actually be worse. the president put together this debt commission where there are people on both sides of the aisle. the recently had an economist in. he took the entire amount of deaths from governments and others. -- of debt from government and others. his numbers came out when he said you hit 90%, you lose 1% of growth. you may thin 1% is not enough, but if america is projected to only grow at 3%, you're losing onl1/3 of your entire percentage abroad. in march they had over 18% unemployment. you needob growth. before we had our town hall, i wanted to givyou exactly where rearm. i believe this is an biggest crisis before us, and we cannot ignore it. w

are other afghan leaders getting that across to some of the leaders, not only in nato but the european unionat large? i would like to build on one of the other questions. the question i have, can afghanistan transformed to where you would like to see it be with karzai at the helm? >> i think -- i would be very straightforward with this answer. we have to create an opportunity for afghanistan, for the people that personalities do not matter. democratic systems should not depend on one or two or three individuals. they should come and have their chance and play their role and if they succeed within the confines of the role of law and what ever the constitution's this country -- those countries have, they can do their thing and move on. we cannot allow afghanistan to become a new dynasty of brothers and sisters and cousins and warlords and druglords. the u.s. and european countries have this opportunity in the islamic world and impoverished countries. afghanistan is the manageable project. a large majority of that population can say ok, this new world experiences working. the rule of law, peopl