feltman. i know the friends of syria, a meeting took place and that was very positive and i know we have a commitment of $10 million to the refugees and the idps, but i want to get a better sense of what was agreed to at tunis. speci specifically as it relates to humanitarian assistance and what the united states can do to address this horror. so if you could just walk through what's definite in terms of an agreement and what will actually lead to action. >> senator casey, thanks. in tunis, the discussion on humanitarian issues fell into two categories. first, how do we help those countries around syria that are hosting seyrians who have fled her country. easy topic. families have been generous. it's a question of helping hosts. there aren't large-scale, for the most part, large-scale refugee camps. for the most part they've gone to stay with friends and family outside of syria and it's getting help to those and a straightforward proposition. migration is working those areas. the second questi

feltman. i know the friends of syria meeting took place and that was very positive and i know we have a commitment of $10 million to the refugees and idps but i want to get a better sense of what was agreed to at ten tunis, specifically as it relates to humanitarian assistance and what the united states can can do to address it horror. if you can identify what's definite and what will lead to action. >> thanks. first, how do we hope those countries around syria and that's an easier topic. the families in those countries have been generous. there aren't large- -- for the most part large-scale refugee camps. for the most part people have gone to stay with relatives outside syria. it's a relatively straight forward proposition. the refugee and migration bureau is working that. and the second one is harder, it comes up internally. that's access inside syria. how do you real vulnerable pop layi -- populations inside syria. that's a muchrighnow the proble humanitarian deliveries in syria is not supp

beyond that, i think the statement that ambassador feltman made is quite good, and i'll stop there. thank you. >> well, thank you very much, mr. ambassador. that does give us an opportunity to get a good dialogue. we certainly appreciate it. let me begin by asking both of you if you would share with us your perceptions of the state of the assad regime itself right now. are there any fissures? there have been some defections, not at the highest level. there have been some excuses we understand of various military figures, maybe others, as a deterrent to any plots or defection. what is your judgment about the current fragility, if it is indeed that at all, of an alawite family enterprise that has a lot to lose, obviously? >> a couple of things i would say on that, senator. first, the assad regime is under greater stress now i think than it was even two or three months ago. this is in part because the military is more challenged. there have been a steady stream of desertions. the military has so far retained its cohesion. the security services have retained their cohesion, but they're

feltman. at least by our intelligence committee anyway. >> senator, i will have to respectfully disagree. the public statements from senior figures in the presyrian army speak about supporting a democratic state. we don't know yet what they would do were they in power. we only have their -- >> who would be in power, by the way? i think it's pretty interesting. who would be -- if bashar was gone, who would be the person that was leading the country there? who is it we are support, if you will, morally at least. >> we are supporting at transition, which the syrian national council has laid out in connection with the road map set out by the arab league. in a sense they're linked. out of that would be a process by which a leadership would be chosen. i can't give you a name. i can define the process for you but i can't give you a name. i think this is an important point, though, senator. the people who are doing the fighting, the people who are doing the fighting say they are fighting to defend the

jeffery feltman taking questions from senator ben cardin from maryland. the headlines here is the government is saying that the army is now in control of the rebel outpost and the assistance led by the red cross moving into the area tonight and tomorrow to help the people in homs. continued calls for president assad to step down. you are listening to "washington today." u.s. pro democracy flying out of egypt today after authorities lifted a travel ban. a move that is likely, for the moment, to diffuse relations with washington and cairo. the situation did lead to egypt losing potentially about $1.3 billion in military assistance. egyptian authorities had accused the campaigners, including ray lahood of receiving foreign funding and preventing them from leaving the country. that was a briefing today with victoria nuland. >> i'm wondering what you have to say about this? does it mean for anything for the aid? does it mean anything for u.s./egyptian relations? >> well, as matt has noted, we are very pleased that the egyptian courts have now lifted the travel

i'm pleased to welcome assistant secretary of state for near eastern affairs jeff feltman, and former u.s. ambassador of syria robert ford. i should say ambassador, but not currently in country. secretary feltman knows the region well, and having served as ambassador to lebanon, i think he understands as well as anybody the full implications this crisis could have. ambassador ford has worked tirelessly to engage with the people of syria during his tenure. ambassador, we want to all commend you on your courageous and important efforts that you made to distinguish between the clientitis that can sometimes embrace those abroad and your own connection to the values you represented. i think we all were very impressed by that. ambassador ford had to leave the country once in october because of threats to his own safety, but he returned and continued his efforts until the embassy finally had to close last month because of the continued deterioration in security. so we thank you both in advance for providing your insights, and look forward to your testimony. senator lugar? >> thank you very m

feltman. f r jerryeldman knows -- secretary feldman knows the region well and i think he understands the consequences this crisis could have. ambassador, we all want to commend you on your courageous, importance efforts that you made to distinguish between the clientitus that can affect issues of broad. i think we were all impressed by that. robert ford left the country after threats to its own safety, but he returned. so, we thank you both in advance for providing your insides and look forward to your testimony. senator? >> thank you, mr. chairman. i join you in welcoming the secretary feldman and ambassador ford to this committee. ambassador ford was on the ground in syria and deserves special commendation. the hearing today takes place amid the deadly violence and gross human-rights violations, the degradations of the assad regime continues to inflict on the syrian people. since our last hearing on syria in november, the death toll in this 11-month conflict has risen dramatically. we're con

feltman. jerryeldman knows -- secretary feldman knows the region well and i think he understands the consequences this crisis could have. ambassador, we all want to commend you on your courageous, importance efforts that you made to distinguish between the clientitus that can affect issues of broad. i think we were all impressed by that. robert ford left the country after threats to its own safety, but he returned. so, we thank you both in advance for providing your insides and look forward to your testimony. senator? >> thank you, mr. chairman. i join you in welcoming the secretary feldman and ambassador ford to this committee. ambassador ford was on the ground in syria and deserves special commendation. the hearing today takes place amid the deadly violence and gross human-rights violations, the degradations of the assad regime continues to inflict on the syrian people. since our last hearing on syria in november, the death toll in this 11-month conflict has risen dramatically. we're confron

feltman.ryeldman knows -- secretary feldman knows the region well and i think he understands the consequences this crisis could have. ambassador, we all want to commend you on your courageous, importance efforts that you made to distinguish between the clientitus that can affect issues of broad. i think we were all impressed by that. robert ford left the country after threats to its own safety, but he returned. so, we thank you both in advance for providing your insides and look forward to your testimony. senator? >> thank you, mr. chairman. i join you in welcoming the secretary feldman and ambassador ford to this committee. ambassador ford was on the ground in syria and deserves special commendation. the hearing today takes place amid the deadly violence and gross human-rights violations, the degradations of the assad regime continues to inflict on the syrian people. since our last hearing on syria in november, the death toll in this 11-month conflict has risen dramatically. we're confronted

>> i'm agreeing exactly with what ambassador feltman said. we understand the earnest desire, the need, for people under siege in a place like homs or in a place like dae when they're homes are being attacked. we understand that. it's human, i mean to protect your family. we can't criticize that. however, senators kerry and lug irbo ar both spoke to us about finding a durable solution. and that is why we have been -- that is our thinking, too, and that is why we've been so strongly in support of the arab league initiative and the transition process that it laid out. if i may just add one other comment, senator. we, too, have noticed the increase in support from religious figures in some arab countries for taking up more arms against the syrian government. we have seen statements by various religious figures across the arab world. we have cautioned the opposition that if they declare some kind of big jihad, they will frighten many of the very fence-sitters still in places like da plass ki damascus and it will make ultimately finding a solution

isn't saudis aren't going to give up easy in the americans aren't going to give up looking jeffrey feltman statements today in washington you know they've just begun to fight this issue but the fundamental reason is the iranian american competition for influence in the middle east and the strategic importance of syria in the states takes a very hard being many international analysts are bringing in the whole iran issue here but frankly larry i wish we had more time we really turns out the rector of the energy zero americans concern for middle east peace thank you very much for coming on arts and i pleasure thank you our pleasure about. thousands of construction workers in the united kingdom have discovered they were placed on a secret employment blacklist which enjoyed police support the illegal files being the victims many of whom had complained of safety standards to left wing and troublesome and letter their sackings and made reemployment near impossible our correspondent laura smith reports. banned from working for speaking the truth these trade unionists and whistleblowers all fightin

. >> brown: in washington, assistant secretary of state jeffrey feltman predicted the syrian people will not give in, despite their suffering. he spoke at a senate hearing. >> large numbers of syrians are living every day under siege, deprived of basic necessities including food, clean water and medical supplies. women and children are wounded and dying for lack of treatment. innocent people are detained and tortured, and their families left to fear the worst. yet, despite the regime's brutality, the people of syria demonstrate enormous courage. their determination to continue protesting for their rights, mostly still peaceful protests, is an inspiration and a testimony to the human spirit. for de. >> reporter: earlier today i met with haitham maleh. we spoke to him from istanbul where he's helping to lead the syrian national council. i began by asking him if the sireian opposition was united and able to speak with one voice >> all the opposition in syria has only one view for future. they want to finish this regime. they want to build democracy regime. they want to build a regime ruled

i join you in welcoming ambassador feltman ambassador for it. ambassador ford and his team on the ground in syria were especially courageous and they deserve great credit for documenting evidence that the steering government aggression against his people, despite substantial personal risk themselves. the hearing today takes place amidst the deadly violence, the gross human rights violations and degradations at the assad regime continues to inflict on the syrian people. since i last hearing on syria in november, the death toll in its 11 month conflict has risen dramatically. we are confronted by horrific images of the depths to which assad would go to preserve his power, including targeting civilians, journalists, that yours and workers, women and children. i welcome a meeting last week of the friends of the syrian people that brought together 60 nations and international organizations. we should continue to focus attention on humanitarian needs in syria and the absence of russia and china was an abrogation of their responsibilities in my judgmen

beyond that, i think the statement that ambassador feltman made is quite good and i'll stop there. thank you. >> you can watch that hearing and lots more from this week from capitol hill in our video library at cspan.org. c-span's road to the white house coverage continues later today with a pair of events. here on c-span, we'll show you rick santorum speaking in ohio. that's live at 7:00 p.m. eastern. meanwhile, mitt romney is also in ohio speaking at a rally in cleveland. he'll be joined by his wife ann romney. that's live also at 7:00 on c-span ii. this with super tuesday right around the corner on march 6. seven states go to the polls, oklahoma, tennessee, georgia, ohio, virginia, vermont and massachusetts. while three states host caucuses, alaska, idaho and north dakota. so make cspan.org your clearinghouse for panel discussions and social media comments. the candidates on the issue section, you can compare the candidates' pogs in their own words. >> louisiana governor is scheduled to reveal his proposal for balancing the state budget for the next fiscal year to date, a budget