i think judd gregg makes very eloquent point and i would say as a quick aside that barack obama will be passing up a huge opportunity if he doesn't try to enlist the advice and council of senator gregg in some way. but i... over the long run, his optimism may well be justified. that's certainly history of america. but i think short-term when they... the rubber meets the road as you put it on the debt ceiling and some of the other budgetary issues, i think they're going to have a great deal of friction. >> rose: what is it you think the rest of the world is looking for from the united states at this time? >> i think it's very simple. the question, charlie, is can america actually take radical decisions and really impose some painful measures on the population without a market crisis? because in many ways if you look back in the history it's taken a bond market crisis, taken a financial crisis for tough decisions to be made. this time around america has had a period of grace because invest have been very forgiving in the markets. but the question now is can congress get its act together

but to go to judd gregg's good point, the senator may be right in the long run but when you look at simpson/bowles, that's the perfect starting point and it is the middle ground and yet since senator gregg and some others courageously voted for it since then all house republicans and i'm excluding congressman mccotter because i don't want to take a position for him-- almost all the others have opposed it. the white house has said very little about it. and i think that judd may be right that eventually we'll get to something like that, but we certainly aren't even close to there yet. >> we don't have too many options, unfortunately. this financial situation is no longer over the horizon, it's closing fast. we're getting all sorts of warning signs. we know the international community is becoming very antsy about our debt and our deficit situations. major rating houses are doing the same. and when you get a financial meltdown where you have a... where the dollar's value becomes in question and the ability to sell debt becomes seriously limited, that happens as a flash. i mean, it just occurs,

and i've served with him a lot on our committee, senator judd gregg of new hampshire. senator gregg can be a very effective and persuasive partisan for the conservative causes he holds dear. he also has a strong new hampshire independent streak and is willing to buck his party what he thinks it is wrong. for example, when voted against president bush's medicare prescription drug benefit bill because it was unpaid for and would add hundreds of billions of dollars to the debt. indeed, as rangerring member and former chair of the budget committee, senator gregg has been one of the senate's leading champions of fiscal discipline. i especially admire senator gregg's capacity for reaching across the aisle, building bridges, and getting important things done. on that score, he has represented new hampshire and the united states at its very best. this quality has made him a stand-up member of the health, education, labor, and pensions which i chair. he forge add very productive working relationship with my predecessor as chair, senator ted kennedy. for example, he played a key

ted kennedy and i as well as judd gregg and boehner and george miller, these are both democrats and republicans, worked at introduce accountability into the public school system. many of you lived under no child left behind and you probably didn't like being tested. nevertheless, i don't see how you can solve education -- educational mediocrity unless you test. and so that was a landmark piece of legislation. and finally, stem cell research. now that issue was not one i campaigned on but it came up during my presidency and i gave a speech out of crawford, i think august, 2001, on stem cell research. so those are three areas of pretty consequential decision- making that took place prior to 9/11. but no question 9/11 redefined the presidency because it made it abundantly clear that my most important job was to protect the country. and i took a -- i made a lot of controversial decisions to do that, many of which i describe in the book. and the truth of the matter is if i had to do them over again, i would have done them again. because i think one of the largest accomplishments of my administration

helped on the communications with, watching them negotiate no child left behind but john boehner, judd gregg and george miller. the meetings for president bush in the white house. the campaigning needed for al gore and john kerry for some of the things that come to mind. >> hi, my name is andy card from yale university. ever a question regarding the communication and things you did. yesterday was her up on capitol hill were very impressed with how point of a lot of the alleys where and how very almost practiced their responses for what they said and they didn't even bother touching on basically because they felt like they did note they were talking about and i would rather not comment because i'm not a professional. i'm wondering if you could speak a little bit on the offices you for time and how they transpacific people all the way up to your job and to anybody else. >> there was training? i didn't get no stinking training. i was hired 20 years ago in george mitchell's office for my ability to work long hours and work well together. so i didn't get no stinking training. but on a more seriou

helped on the communications with, watching them negotiate no child left behind but john boehner, judd gregg and george miller. the meetings for president bush in the white house. the campaigning needed for al gore and john kerry for some of the things that come to mind. >> hi, my name is andy card from yale university. ever a question regarding the communication and things you did. yesterday was her up on capitol hill were very impressed with how point of a lot of the alleys where and how very almost practiced their responses for what they said and they didn't even bother touching on basically because they felt like they did note they were talking about and i would rather not comment because i'm not a professional. i'm wondering if you could speak a little bit on the offices you for time and how they transpacific people all the way up to your job and to anybody else. >> there was training? i didn't get no stinking training. i was hired 20 years ago in george mitchell's office for my ability to work long hours and work well together. so i didn't get no stinking training. but on a more seriou

i also want to note how much i have admired our former ranking member, judd gregg. i know you and he had a great relationship. i think his leadership was particularly valuable. people listen to it. they trusted his judgment, and i hope that i can come close to being as effective as he has been in this position. i'd like to share some thoughts and concerns. i know that when the mortgage crisis hit and the economy was whacked, a lot of people got together and tried to make some decisions. mr. chairman, it would've been better i think had we seen the mortgage crisis two years in advance and taken action, it would have made the crisis less real. and i say that -- i say that because we are to be humble about where we are today. i don't think anyone fully understand this magnificent world economy we are a part of. i don't think anyone or is it, whether the fed reserve, secretary of treasury, even congress, can have a little meeting and be sure that the action we take is going to have certain impacts on this massive economy of which we are a part, when you're confused in t

i also want to note how much i have admired our former ranking member, judd gregg.he had a great relationship. i think his leadership was particularly valuable. people listen to it. they trusted his judgment, and i hope that i can come close to being as effective as he has been in this position. i'd like to share some thoughts and concerns. i know that when the mortgage crisis hit and the economy was whacked, a lot of people got together and tried to make some decisions. mr. chairman, it would've been better i think had we seen the mortgage crisis two years in advance and taken action, it would have made the crisis less real. and i say that -- i say that because we are to be humble about where we are today. i don't think anyone fully understand this magnificent world economy we are a part of. i don't think anyone or is it, whether the fed reserve, secretary of treasury, even congress, can have a little meeting and be sure that the action we take is going to have certain impacts on this massive economy of which we are a part, when you're confused in the and you need

ted kennedy and i as well as judd gregg and george miller, democrats and republicans, were to introduce in the cat -- accountability in the public school system. many probably did not like being tested. i don't think -- i don't see how you can solve educational mediocracy unless you test. that was a landmark piece of legislation. and finally, steam so research. -- stem cell said research. i did not campaign on that became of during my presidency. i give a speech in august of 2001 on a stem cell research. those were three areas, consequential decision making before 9/11. but no question, 9/11 to find the presidency. it made it clear that my job was to protect the country. i met a lot of controversial decisions to do that, many of which i described in the book. if i had to do them over again, i would have done them again. one of the largest accomplishments of my administration was that there were no further attack on the country. >> mr. president, i am a freshman from texas. in your book you talk about pakistan-u.s. relations and the war in iraq. where you see our relations with pakistan

i also want to know how much i have been mired our former ranking member, judd gregg. i know you and he had a great relationship and his leadership was particularly valuable. people trust his judgment and i hope that i can come close to being as affected as he has been in this position. i like to share some thoughts and concerns. i know that when the mortgage crisis hit and the economy was whacked, many people got together and tried to make some decisions. it would have been better, i think, and we see in the mortgage crisis two years in advance and taken action to make the crisis less real. i say that because we should be humble about where we are today. i don't think anyone fully understands this magmas and world economy we are part of. i don't think anyone weather is the federal reserve, the secretary of the treasury, or congress can have a meeting and be sure that the action we take will have certain impacts on this mass of the economy of which we are a part. when you are confused, you have to return to the fundamentals of paying your bills on time and create some

helped on the communications with, watching them negotiate no child left behind but john boehner, judd greggmiller. the meetings for president bush in the white house. the campaigning needed for al gore and john kerry for some of the things that come to mind. >> hi, my name is andy card from yale university. ever a question regarding the communication and things you did. yesterday was her up on capitol hill were very impressed with how point of a lot of the alleys where and how very almost practiced their responses for what they said and they didn't even bother touching on basically because they felt like they did note they were talking about and i would rather not comment because i'm not a professional. i'm wondering if you could speak a little bit on the offices you for time and how they transpacific people all the way up to your job and to anybody else. >> there was training? i didn't get no stinking training. i was hired 20 years ago in george mitchell's office for my ability to work long hours and work well together. so i didn't get no stinking training. but on a more serious note, agai

i also want to note how much i have admired our former ranking member, judd gregg.now you and he had a great relationship. i think his leadership was particularly valuable. people listen to it. they trusted his judgment, and i hope that i can come close to being as effective as he has been in this position. i'd like to share some thoughts and concerns. i know that when the mortgage crisis hit and the economy was whacked, a lot of people got together and tried to make some decisions. mr. chairman, it would've been better i think had we seen the mortgage crisis two years in advance and taken action, it would have made the crisis less real. and i say that -- i say that because we are to be humble about where we are today. i don't think anyone fully understand this magnificent world economy we are a part of. i don't think anyone or is it, whether the fed reserve, secretary of treasury, even congress, can have a little meeting and be sure that the action we take is going to have certain impacts on this massive economy of which we are a part, when you're confused in the a