i said, my god, there are over 8,000 from the korean war. what is wrong with the korean war mias? why there isn't anybody advocating? following monday when i returned i picked up the phone, and the rest was history. that is how i got involved. i'm a korean war veteran. i have memories of carrying out of korea. i have lived with them for over 50 years. i have been advocating for the korean war mias, and if we don't do the right thing it sends a message to our men in uniform. a, once you're gone you're forgotten, and that is not what this country is supposed to be about. this issue was started in 1954 by a government commitment to the man who died for this country. we owe them for their commitments and the ultimate sacrifice to do whatever we can to get the fullest possible accounting from all wars. >> i got involved, like many other people, in the late '60's and early '70's by buying a pow/mia bracelets. i drew the name, it was luck of the draw, of a young army sergeant who had disappeared. back then in my naivete i believed that he was, you know, just one person. it was an isolate

he meets with bond north koreans very rarely.so we did not -- i did not ask to meet with him, and i did not meet with him. what it means when i say i am the message or i was the message i was conveying very directly to the north korean leadership and vision for the future which would be a lot different than the one than the present or past and ways in which we could improve both our bilateral relationship and improve north korea's overall relationships within northeast asia always provided they are prepared to move where the goal of the denuclearization. >> thank you. bg press. mr. ambassador how much did you discuss about peace treaty issue? did they demand that issue has to be resolved before they decide to return to the six-party talks and how are you going to handle the issue? >> welcome the commitment to move toward a new arrangement, a peace treaty on the korean peninsula is a commitment that all six parties accepted in the joint statement of september 2005. so when they say that they view that as an important element i can

let the koreans get together and settle the problems.he best thing in the world we can do is come home from korea, save another hundred billion. >> larry: ben, what do you think? >> kim jong-il is probably as evil a person as there is on the planet. he's made his entire country into a penal colony, a gulag. he starves people to death by the millions while he lives the life of an incredible international playboy. the idea that you can change him by writing him a letter is comical. and the idea that we should not be defending south korea against him is comical. i don't know where these ideas come from, but it's just comical. >> larry: i think the issue really is one of engagement. i think as ben well knows, his former boss, president nixon engaged with a really bad guy mao tse-tung who was running china. the issue is whether or not we are going to engage. is it whether writing a letter or picking up the phone? look, i'm not going to speak to what are the mechanics of how we engage with people we don't like. but we came up with a foreign po

professor cummings is a well known expert in modern korean history, 20th century international history.s. -east asian relations, economy, and american foreign relations. author of many books and influential articles. next year yale university press is publishing his book, a dominion from sea to sea, pacific ascendancy and american power. our third panelist is william wol forth, who is professor of government and chair of the department of government at dartmutsdz college. among his books is the most recent one, world out of balance. international relations theory and the challenge of american primesy. he is an influential interlock lar in a number of debates in international relations, including what it means to be living in a une polar international system. he is editor and chief of the journal security studies as well. so our first speaker will be mary elease serti. so i will hand it over to you. >> thank you very much. as john just said, i've just come out with this book, 1989, so i've got so many details and only 15 minutes in which to tell them. i will try to restrain myself and i

caller: i am reading "the forgotten," a book about the korean war.t includes stories in veteran'' own words. host: who is the author? caller: it is me. the book is not about me. i put the stories of the korean war together around these stories about the war. the subtitle is called "the forgotten flaccg." "the forgotten war" and "the forgotten her pro it has been out since june. i gave the first boat to the president of korea. i had three brothers in the war. one newspaper called it "for domino more -- forgotten no more," which was a tremendous lift for me. on the date the war started 59 years later. it has done a great reviews. host: thank you for calling. we can tell you about january and february. january 3, from noon until 3:00 p.m., three hours with michelle malkin. our february guest is paul johnson and his caucus on churchill. the will be on sunday, february 7. this is carol on our independence linemen. caller: my favorite book, i read the paper back, "the hemmings of monticello." host: she won a prize. caller: national book award. it is so wel

in terms of the reaction of the japanese and the koreans, i have no idea yet.e book has been out for only seven days and we will wait to hear, but i think once again, hopefully, they will look at it in think we would be better off in history if we had some democratic process is bringing like to these agreements. >> some of our roosevelt historians in the room would say you seem to imply that roosevelt may stem from some infatuation. one in the audience says that, weren't these the policies of cleveland and mckinley who preceded roosevelt and if it had not been roosevelt, wouldn't the president at that time, in the of the president's done the same thing? >> no. no. mckinley didn't know much about, much beyond ohio. [laughter] note, no really. if you read the history, mckinley was kind of rolled into the spanish-american war. he didn't want it and there was young bucks under him who pushed him into it. no, roosevelt was the president to look-out happenings in north asia and was very, very confident based upon his theories that he could see the future. when he wro

instead, we got the korean war and 40 years of a cold war., the sinews of the global system were already in place. it just delays for reckoning with the inevitable. the was no way an isolated soviet or communist system could compete with the open systems that the u.s. helped to establish a elsewhere after world war ii. i think it is true that it was like going over niagara falls in a barrel for scholars and policymakers. things unraveled. things started happening that you could get predictions would never happen. one needs to be humbled before a classic case of the counning of history. we had our assumptions happily torn asunder. gorbachev was wonderful or hapless depending on how one sees him in relationship to the west. that is not a very good answer to your question. it is a tough question. i think we all need to constantly subject our own basic assumptions and concepts to the examination of the examination of the time. >> thank you for giving me a chance to talk about this war. i realize i may have been unclear in some comments that i mad

i've been energized from bad dad to the korean peninsula.been moved by your determination, wounded warriors of walter preed and bethesda fighting to recover to get back to your units and i've been humbled profoundly by patriots who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom. and the caskets coming home at dover, so the quiet solitude at arlington. after years of multiple tours of duty, as you carry on our missions in iraq and afghanistan, your service, your readiness to make that same sacrifice is an inspiration to us and to every single american. >> and so are your families. as first lady, one of my greatest privileges is to visit with military families across the country. i've met military spouses doing the parenting of two, keeping the household together, juggling play dates and soccer games, helping with home homework, doing everything they can to make the kids feel ok, as they try to hide their own fears and worries. i've met kids who wonder when mom or dad is coming home, grandparents and relatives who step in to care for wounded

stephanopoulo d a graphic behind himand he showed harry truman's number is going down becau of the korean war, lyndon johnson'because of the vietnam war, and george bush's because of iraq. >> i love the historical analogies, particularly wit vietnam. but we spe more than $1 trillion and 5000 liv chang a few shadowy figes and the bills for one reason, nlear weapons. in these earlieroris -- obvisly, in the cold war, we we worried about the soviet unio -- this is alabout new york and washington and n francisco going up in radioactive du because of jihadists getting nuclear weapons. it see likeuch distant, remote kind of ridiculous that. and yet the consequences are pret great >>. at is whyhis war ibout kistan, not about afghanian. ife abandon theegion, pakistan to lost, and the loss o pakistan to radical islam uld be catastrophic. but let me jt say aord about the politics of this. why are peoplsurprised? are we al suffering of and mia? for the last five years, the democrs have argued that afghanistan was the the good wa afghanistan w the central front in the war on terro -- remember that? th

>> caller: i'm reading the forgotten, a book about the korean war. it's the first volume of several including stories and veterans own work to events that happened to them on the ground. >> caller: into is the author of the forgotten? >> caller: well, it's me. but the books not about me or anything. i put the story of the korean war together around these stories about the war. now the subtitle is called the forgotten flag, a picture of the first raising of the american flag and the second subtitle is the forgotten war and then the forgotten victory. >> host: was published this year? are you waiting to get it published? >> caller: it's been out since june. i went to korea and gave the very first book to the president of korea and picked up my brother's medals for being in the war. i had three brothers in the war. but the daytona journal called it switched the title on me. recall that forgotten no more, which means that based on the book the war will not be forgotten, which is a tremendous lift to me when i came back from korea and saw that on the head

we sent some packages over there from the korean war veterans. we want to know what more we can do to help keep the morale up. host: a question about morale and what folks can do. guest: and that is a great question. i appreciate the support of the caller in trying to improve our morale. their morale is what keeps you cohesive and motivated and so forth. i was a couple of things about that. just like the caller, we are getting a flood of christmas cards and packages and so forth over year. literally, my office is wallpapered with cards and letters from the great american public. many of them are anonymous and just random "der souljah" cards. it does a german -- "dear soldier" cards. it does a tremendous job in motivating me and my soldiers here. it is a tough time to be over your during the holidays. we would rather be under the christmas tree and wrapping presents right now with our family members. i have cut two daughters and a son and my wife beckham in northern virginia. but what motivates me -- i have got two daughters and a son and my wife

my research in my career has taught me that to underestimate the north koreans at your peril. that happen when douglas mccarthy said he had turned back the north koreans with one hand tied behind his back a couple days after the war began in 1950 in a month later he said they have better artillery and service, tang formations and the japanese did in world war ii. it just goes on, but if you have an independent army of over a million men you have a garrison state dug into some 15,000 underground national security chambers or facilities of one type of another, and a leadership that believes that both the soviets and the chinese have screwed them in recent years, the soviets all the will of the other history, you can begin to appreciate why that regime has a collapse. there are not plus easy to pull on that regime. and we might discuss that evening -- discuss that question in the question and answer time. in my last minute i will tell you please read my last section where i quotes friedrich nietzsche on metaphor. and the way in which we human beings have a wonderful and terrible

we know that this is where the president signed documents committed american troops to the korean warit's also where he made the final decision to fire mccarthy. it was the scene of many famous midnight poker games. there was a time president truman and this was the primary and dining room. this is where they had dinner with princess elizabeth and stritch tolchurchill and countl. >> sometimes, i would have dinner alone. i walked into the dining room. necktie. would pull out my chair encourage bring me a fruit cup. takes away the empty cup. they bring me a plate. they bring me a tenderloin. margaret brings me carrots and beets. i have to eat alone in a candle lit room. >> this is another special room. this is trimming's officuman's . the portrait of chairman we have is by the painter who painted the official portrait of the president. she copy of the original work for blair house car during the reagan and renovation of the 1980's. ♪ the mantle in this room that was installed in the white house during the 1901 renovation and then the treatment renovation was brought to blair house sutra

there have beeyoung, beautiful,orth korean women to someone from indiana in 1933 blowing up planes. we cannot rely on profiling d intelligence bause we've proven that er the last 70 years 's failed. hardware is our last linof defense, and can be etty close to 100 >> what abouthat visa issue? if perhaps seone had taken seriously the father complaint, isn that something that could have caht before he even got to a chine? >> absolutely. it could have been caut. it should ha been caught. ce again, that points out th possibility of han failure. d that was pointed out, the government knew these watc listwere a problem as early as this summer. there was a reporto congress. it has been classified. it's on the internet, r heaven sakes, that there was a real problem. this was the se thing we saw 8 1/2 ars ago on september 11th, 20. weren't even sure who these people were. some had visas, some d not. whenever you rely on nad-based system, which is what the wat list is, that can also be circumstance crumb 7d by pho documents and trading off documentonce you're in a erile area. >> did schanzer,

instead, we got the korean war and 40 years of a cold war., the sinews of the global system were already in place. it just delays for reckoning with the inevitable. the was no way an isolated soviet or communist system could compete with the open systems that the u.s. helped to establish a elsewhere after world war ii. i think it is true that it was like going over niagara falls in a barrel for scholars and policymakers. things unraveled. things started happening that you could get predictions would never happen. one needs to be humbled before a classic case of the counning of history. we had our assumptions happily torn asunder. gorbachev was wonderful or hapless depending on how one sees him in relationship to the west. that is not a very good answer to your question. it is a tough question. i think we all need to constantly subject our own basic assumptions and concepts to the examination of the examination of the time. >> thank you for giving me a chance to talk about this war. i realize i may have been unclear in some comments that i mad

have been involved in the korean war.was a tragedy. will redoing there? what we're doing in vietnam? -- what were we doing there? what were we doing in vietnam? to come down hard on china and say is their fault, a if they were -- i think we should be honest about this because they killed a lot more vietnamese than the americans did. host: next call from pennsylvania. caller: would like to read a quote from harper's magazine in 1922, titled "industrial activities and improving conditions despite various factors in that situation, general motors is better at this writing early in june that it was at the beginning of the year and the of look is more promising than it has been over the last two years. in consequence of the severity of the depression and the necessity for drastic liquidation continued over many months, the improvement that has developed thus far has been more pronounced in the conditions surrounding money and credit and elsewhere -- a than elsewhere. but it has been found in the numerous departments of commerc

for example, you remember a few months ago the north koreans working for a poorly behaved and presidentobama made a speech that there will be dire consequences for the north korean violation of our agreements. there will be economic -- heightened economic sanctions against north korea. and my students understood this is just like saying blah, blah, blah. we don't trade with north korea. what will we sanction them with economically when we don't do business with them? is just babble. on the other hand, sometimes when a president says there will be dire consequences, as with president obama has threatened sanctions against iran for its nuclear program, which i will come back to, that can have real effects. that's a costly signal. not just because it costs the iranians something if we cut back thank transactions and other activity business activities that the iranians do, but because it costs some of our friends money. because they do business with iran. if they abide by the sanctions that we threatened, that's costly to them, which means they will be a little annoyed. and so the president

unlike many other koreans, you do not really what very far. if you'd like many other courtrooms. your seated right next to the podium. you just stand up and slide over a few inches. for me is about taking a deep breath and saying mr. chief justice, may it please the court. and then you are off, and have a few sentences that you have chosen to deliver to the court, but you will start getting questions usually within the first minute or two. >> each of the justices has their own unique style about questioning. we have some people who have deep rapid-fire style. others like to spend out long hypothetical. >> would you explain again why it was irrelevant? was that if the gun was inoperable or not? >> there are nine people up there, and i am with them, and we are talking. it is a conversation. i have no awareness of the court room, the people in the courtroom, any physical movements that may be going on. it is really quite remarkable. it is this physical closeness, proximity. there is something about the p a system in the course that is very sensitive. from the justices, if they whisp

>> caller: the book is not about me or anything, but these stories of the korean war to get their, stories about the war. the subtitle was called the forgotten flag, the picture of the first raising of the american flag and the second subtitle is the forgotten war and then the forgotten victory. >> host: so is this -- is published this year, are you waiting to get it published? >> caller: its been out since june. i flew to karachi and gave the book to the president of corrine and picked up my brothers medals for being in the war. three brothers in the war. but the daytona beach journal called it switched the title me. they called it forgotten no more which means based on the buck the world will not be forgotten which is a tremendous lift to me when i came back from korea and sold them on the headline on the day that the war started over there 59 years later. it's gotten great reviews. >> host: thanks for calling. on the evens we are covering on the in depth programs we can talk about january and february, january 3rd next year from noon until 3:00 eastern three hours of michelle malkin and

the civil war, the world war i, world war ii or all the korean wars and so forth, but the war in bosnia, the war in iraq, the war in afghanistan is not really a war as i see it. it's more of an invasion. would you comment on that? >> well, there's no doubt that, you know, the united states certainly invaded iraq. in a certain sense of the term, i guess, you could call its actions in afghanistan an invasion. as you could also in the case of kosovo and that there was forced entry. and so, yes, this was a form of invasion. there's no question that at least the iraq and kosovo actions were violations of international law in the sense that they were done without getting help from the u.n. security force. in the case of afghanistan there was a security council resolution in that case and in the other cases there were not. and so with the exception of the iraq case, these interventions were illegal military actions. i think its illegality have been recognized. there's post-talk analyses that acknowledged that it's technically illegal but defended as serving a higher moral purpose that goes bey

it was good to work with the koreans.big question about whether or not the war can be mistaken is whether or not we can maintain the will of the american people to understand the sacrifice and service of these men and women, that it is worth it. to make sure that we finish and complete this war in iraq in a sustained and successful manner. that is important. the other critical part of a sustained, a protracted conflict in these particular wars, is to maintain the all volunteer army. even though we are 18 years into this global war on terrorism we are still maintaining 100% reenlistment rates for the young men and women, this 9/11 generation that understands what is going on and elected to volunteer to serve their country. so far i am impressed with what i am seeing. host: "usa today" has an article about the fort hood tragedy to increase the challenge for muslim american arab american service members. did you have them in iraq with you? guest: yes, i did. a couple of them were actually born in iraq and as soon as they cam

has been the most narrow, the most detailed, the most methodical review i have ever participated in korean president obama himself shared numerous meetings, and we had meetings with the principles and death duties common and we're going to have another one -- with the principles and duties, and we're going to have another one. the consensus of this discussion over and over again was that you could not separate taliban from outside--- al qaeda. if it weren't just another group with certain for the view we do not agree with, it would be a serious problem, but it would not justify our commitment of what will ultimately be 100,000 american troops and a good number of allied troops numbering in the 34,002 35,000 at least. the separation of the taliban from al qaeda is not currently on the horizon. the leaders are deeply international, as are certain other groups, which are critically important, so if the taliban succeeds in afghanistan, they will bring back with them to afghanistan. out keitel will have a larger to rain, and they will have the largest victory imaginable to inspire more of the k

three days of meetings with north korean officials wrapped up and stephen was war, special envoy to northays he is encouraged. in moscow to of a russian officials he remarked in a briefing earlier that north korean officials acknowledge the appearance of the six-party talks and a joint statement of 2005. in a statement and calls for the north to end its nuclear an update on the climate some of this hour. developing countries are refusing to produce a bit in working groups, putting it talks in copenhagen into disarray they are demanding that rich countries raised pledges for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. meanwhile, a senior official says the meeting by five world powers on iran's nuclear program has been counseled. to china's opposition. the u.s., china, russia, britain, and germany plan to meet on friday in brussels. those are some of the latest headlines on c-span radio. >> head of the u.s. enmr!y information administration announces projections for u.s. energy supply, demand, and prices for the year 2035. live coverage begins at 9:30 eastern on c-span3. the peterson-2 commission on

aid is around 3,000, and most of them are in the korean war area, so we do need that to be searched. in addition to that, we are looking at scrubbing bead the deb. each group has a different language that they used to account for their numbers, it is very important in any common operating picture to standardize the language. that needs to be done this year. ambassador bray and i are proposing putting together a working group of just the people who do the numbers, sitting down in one room and scrub that information and after we get the common operating picture endpaper then our recommendation would be to automate the back with some kind of middle where that goes into the legacy software so that everyone can see what the other person is saying with family reference samples. >> is there an area in which jpac should have a larger role in this? >> we work on it in a process improving group so i don't see it as a larger role. i think that the stumbling block was in diffusing the services with more money for their genealogical work. >> and i might add madam chairwoman the joint staff recent

caller: i'm a marine veteran of the korean war. i get me my care at the v.a.. it is the best medical care i've received in my life, bar none. my wife has a government-run medical system, and she is happy with her service. it is not true. if it were true, why would we turn over all the important functions in our society to the government like defense, like education, like the courts. it is not true. government can do things correctly. host: thank you for the call. running for the u.s. senate, republican in california, and she delivered the republican address yesterday, and her focus was on the health care debate in congress. >> there is a reason women with breast cancer in the united states have a higher rate of survival than in other countries with government-run health care. unlike those countries, government doesn't limit the tream a person can get. my experience with cancer tells me it is wrong. cutting down on mammograms might save the government some money that it will then spend on something else, but it won't save lives. isn't that what health care refor

a and 79, a veteran of the korean war, and i refuse to go out to the veterans administration hospitalve had nothing but negative treatment from them. what you get is a medical student, perhaps a resident learning to look at you, scratched their heads, saying, "take a little of this and go on home." the resident expert awful lot of the urology department -- there has been a big kerfuffle about the urology department, things like that. that is what scares me the most about the government involvement. they are certainly involved in the va. as i drive around new jersey, i notice that about half the people are obese. god help us if they started charging extra premiums for people who are obese. i smoke. i am almost 80 years old, so it is not -- it does not worry me too much greed va-type -- medicine to a -- and not worry me to -- doesç not worry me too much. va-type medicine -- forget it. w3>> the vmt is a different type of system from what most peoble are -- guest: the va is a different type of system from what most people are talking about. whenç people talk about single payer, they're

professor cummings is a well known expert in modern korean history, 20th century international historysian relations, economy, and american foreign relations. author of many books and influential articles. next year yale university press is publishing his book, a dominion from sea to sea, pacific ascendancy and american power. our third panelist is william wol forth, who is professor of government and chair of the department of government at dartmutsdz college. among his books is the most recent one, world out of balance. international relations theory and the challenge of american primesy. he is an influential interlock lar in a number of debates in international relations, including what it means to be living in a une polar international system. he is editor and chief of the journal security studies as well. so our first speaker will be mary elease serti. so i will hand it over to you. >> thank you very much. as john just said, i've just come out with this book, 1989, so i've got so many details and only 15 minutes in which to tell them. i will try to restrain myself and i will be ha

have been involved in the korean war.it was a tragedy. will redoing there? what we're doing in vietnam? -- what were we doing there? what were we doing in vietnam? to come down hard on china and say is their fault, a if they were -- i think we should be honest about this because they killed a lot more vietnamese than the americans did. host: next call from pennsylvania. caller: would like to read a quote from harper's magazine in 1922, titled "industrial activities and improving conditions despite various factors in that situation, general motors is better at this writing early in june that it was at the beginning of the year and the of look is more promising than it has been over the last two years. in consequence of the severity of the depression and the necessity for drastic liquidation continued over many months, the improvement that has developed thus far has been more pronounced in the conditions surrounding money and credit and elsewhere -- a than elsewhere. but it has been found in the numerous departments of comm

have been involved in the korean war.it was a tragedy. will redoing there? what we're doing in vietnam? -- what were we doing there? what were we doing in vietnam? to come down hard on china and say is their fault, a if they were -- i think we should be honest about this because they killed a lot more vietnamese than the americans did. host: next call from pennsylvania. caller: would like to read a quote from harper's magazine in 1922, titled "industrial activities and improving conditions despite various factors in that situation, general motors is better at this writing early in june that it was at the beginning of the year and the of look is more promising than it has been over the last two years. in consequence of the severity of the depression and the necessity for drastic liquidation continued over many months, the improvement that has developed thus far has been more pronounced in the conditions surrounding money and credit and elsewhere -- a than elsewhere. but it has been found in the numerous departments of comm

you to the first in a series of diplomacy briefings that we will be hosting at the state department korean -- state department. i want to thank all of you for being part of this because it is in keeping with our efforts to reach out, to have a dialogue about what we are doing and how we are doing it and to seek your ideas as well. i want to go thank p. j. crowley. later you will hear from the assistant secretary, and you will be hearing from our undersecretary from what are called the g family, which has to do with human rights, democracy, when the rice, oceans, environment -- women's rights, oceans, environment. it is a large agenda, and i walked in with a long time friend of mine -- ambassador romero. thank you 4 coming verio we have our newly confirmed ambassador -- thank you for coming. we have our newly confirmed ambassador. thank you for being here, and i had better stop because i have so many friends and familiar faces in this audience. i want to share a few words with you this morning about our approach to our neighbors, friends, partners in the western hemisphere. the purpose of t

and south korean military plans in the case of a war on the korean peninsula.he iranian cyber- army are claiming responsibility for briefly blocking access to twitter. users trying to reach the service were instead directed to a web page with the claim of responsibility. there is no evidence that the hackers are actually linked to iran twitter says the problem has been fixed and it is investigating. those are some of the latest headlines on c-span radio. >> "washington journal" continues. host: on your screen is senator tom coburn, republican of oklahoma. there is a dana milbank column in "the washington post." "senators may be home for christmas only in their dreams." would you be here for christmas? guest: rather not be, but that is up to the majority leader. as far as i'm concerned, we are in a little bit of a charade right now. host: senator debbie stabenow, a democrat from michigan, was on the senate floor yesterday, and here is what she had to say. >> out of 40 weeks we have been in session here, 36 of those weeks we have at filibuster's, or stalling tact

a and 79, a veteran of the korean war, and i refuse to go out to the veterans administration hospitald nothing but negative treatment from them. what you get is a medical student, perhaps a resident learning to look at you, scratched their heads, saying, "take a little of this and go on home." the resident expert awful lot of the urology department -- there has been a big kerfuffle about the urology department, things like that. that is what scares me the most about the government involvement. they are certainly involved in the va. as i drive around new jersey, i notice that about half the people are obese. god help us if they started charging extra premiums for people who are obese. i smoke. i am almost 80 years old, so it is not -- it does not worry me too much greed va-type -- medicine to a -- and not worry me to -- doesç not worry me too much. va-type medicine -- forget it. w3>> the vmt is a different type of system from what most peoble are -- guest: the va is a different type of system from what most people are talking about. whenç people talk about single payer, they're talki

and as i continue to walk, if you continue to walk, i went down to the korean war memorial. that was one that my family personally has experience. my uncle 12 years before i was born was killed in 1952. so my grandmother and grandfather always taught my family of the sacrifice that veterans make, particularly the sacrifice they made in their oldest son in the korean war. as you cut across the mall, there's abraham lincoln and the gettysburg address, which a lot of us -- the gettysburg part but it was dedicating a cemetery and the words of abraham lincoln and the words to our nation. and i walked by the vietnam wall. as you see families at the vietnam wall, a lot of them will take a piece of paper and take a pen pencil and sketch out the name of someone. i was standing there going, is that a husband that didn't come home, is that a father for a child they never met? and you just try to figure out what people are thinking as they're hong our veterans and then turned to head back for an evening meeting. as you head to the capitol hill -- capitol building, you notice the dome ov

according to the "washington post," when adjusted for inflation, world war ii, korean war, interstate, race to the moon, iraq war, vietnam war added up to $6 trillion. we are now at $12 trillion. the government will borrow $9 trillion over the next decade. let's go to a bill that just came up. called the omnibus. whenever you hear that word, shudder your children's eyes and ears. american families are hurting. 10% unemployment. democrat leadership responds with a massive spending bill last thursday. last thursday this came forward. and let me talk to you about that bill. 2,500 pages. 2,500 pages, nearly half a trillion dollars in spending, half a trillion, 5,000 earmarks on hundreds of pages and we under the democrat leadership, we in the house of representatives, you know how much time we were given to read it? i'm not evelyn wood, i'm not a great speed reader, two days to read the bill since the conference report was filed. two days, half a trillion dollars was spent, 5,000 earmarks and we were given two days. the omnibus contained appropriation bills, $446.8 billion, so half a tril

i have clients who are disabled in the korean war, and there receive medals for their service. they trusted this government and they worked as honest, law- abiding citizens. they worked in professions, they built up businesses, and when they reach retirement age, they retired and they put their money and an entity that had been blessed repeatedly by the sec. mr. madoff bragged to potential investors that jealous funds had complained to the sec about his results, and he had been repeatedly investigated and always come out clean. these are people, of whom we should be proud and who should be protected, and instead these people have been victimized by the government since december 11, 2008. the sec a tsunami that hit my clients was the announcement by sipc, with the blessing of the sec, that the statute that this committee played a key role in drafting in 1970, that statute does not mean what it says. my clients relied upon the promise of sipc insurance. as required by the securities investor protection act, they invested in madoff, knowing that the first $500,000 in their account

the korean peace talks, they spent some time talking about the size of the table. >> literature aroundu? >> yes. >> so nothing particularly that foments great argument in the room? >> no. when you get into the building, why is it that we have an elegant, astonishingly beautiful, imposing, impressive structure? is it so that we feel important? i think not. it is to remind us that we have an important function and to remind the public, when it seized the building, of the importance and the centrally -- when it sees the building, of the importance and the centrality of the law. the building is magnificent enough so that you can think of adjectives as you come in. >> do you have one activity with you? >> i would like to say timeless. there are a lot of greek architectural features to it. there is the shape of the windows. it is smaller the top then it is at the bottom. it looks like a rectangle. we found out to our grief, when we ordered new windows, they were measured wrong. it is not a rectangle. it is a quadrilateral structure. it is designed so that it looks durable, elegant, imposing,

we sent some packages over there from the korean war veterans.t to know what more we can do to help keep the morale up. host: a question about morale and what folks can do. guest: and that is a great question. i appreciate the support of the caller in trying to improve our morale. their morale is what keeps you cohesive and motivated and so forth. i was a couple of things about that. just like the caller, we are getting a flood of christmas cards and packages and so forth over year. literally, my office is wallpapered with cards and letters from the great american public. many of them are anonymous and just random "der souljah" cards. it does a german -- "dear soldier" cards. it does a tremendous job in motivating me and my soldiers here. it is a tough time to be over your during the holidays. we would rather be under the christmas tree and wrapping presents right now with our family members. i have cut two daughters and a son and my wife beckham in northern virginia. but what motivates me -- i have got two daughters and a son and my wife back ho

unlike many other koreans, you do not really what very far. if you'd like many other courtrooms. your seated right next to the podium. you just stand up and slide over a few inches. for me is about taking a deep breath and saying mr. chief justice, may it please the court. and then you are off, and have a few sentences that you have chosen to deliver to the court, but you will start getting questions usually within the first minute or two. >> each of the justices has their own unique style about questioning. we have some people who have inothers like to spend out long hypothetical. >> would you explain again why it was irrelevant? was that if the gun was inoperable or not? >> there are nine people up there, and i am with them, and we are talking. it is a conversation. i have no awareness of the court room, the people in the courtroom, any physical movements that may be going on. willit is really quite remarkable. it is this physical closeness, proximity. there is something about the p a system in the course that is very sensitive. from the justices, if they whispered, one could h

i guess you could have a circular table -- the korean peace talks where they talked about the size and shape of the table? ours happens to be a rectangle and it works out well. standard portrait. >> nothing in particular that foments great argument in the room. >> know, although when you get into the building, why is it that we have an elegant, astonishingly beautiful imposing, impressive structure? is it so we feel important? i think not. it is to remind us that we have an important function. to remind the public when it seized the building -- when it sees the building of the importance and centrality of the law. sometimes i teach a high school class and say, give me one word to describe this building. kohl? warm? opulent? arrogant? inspiring? durable, stable -- choose an adjective. and the building is magnificent and not so that you can think about some adjectives. >> do you have one that did it that you would use? >> i would like to say timeless. it takes from the greeks, of course. there are a lot of greek architectural features to it. the shape of the windows, rectangles? no. they

he was a veteran drafted in the army during the korean bill and used the g.i.bill to enroll in new york university. he also earned a masters degree. mr. mccourt taught in staten island and at new york city technical college and at the university of new york. it was in his 60's that he sat done and chronicled his childhood memories. despite his insistence that it was a modest book, modestly written, "angela's ashes" became an overnight word of mouth success. it became a motion picture. he received an award for his work. he passed away this past july 19 and today we honor the contributions he made not only to the educational system but to american culture and literature. with that, mr. speaker, i'd like to reserve the balance of our time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from utah reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from massachusetts. mr. lynch: thank you, mr. speaker. the measure before us, as eloquently reported by the gentleman from connecticut, mr. courtney, and also co-sponsored by chris murphy, honors francis "frank" mccourt, who was born

thank you korean thank you -- thank you.thank you, everybody. >> president obama is attending a u.n. summit on climate change in denmark on december 18, when bargaining on u.s. reductions is expected. now the opening of the climate change conference. this is about an hour and 20 minutes. >> distinguished delegates, honored guests, warm welcome to copenhagen and the united nations climate change conference, 2009. [applause] today we are honored to have with us his excellency, prime minister of denmark, the president of the conference of the parties of the 14th session, the minister for the united nations climate change conference in copenhagen, her excellency, mayor of the city of copenhagen, and the share of the intergovernmental panel on climate change. distinguished delegates, ladies and gentleman, this climate change conference will be followed closely by people from all over the world. many have already raised their voices in their host countries platform. to begin, we would like to assure you are short film about this.

i have been energized by your dedication to duty, from baghdad to the korean peninsula. michelle and i have been moved by your determination. when it warriors at walter reed and bethesda fighting back to get back your companies, and i've been humbled by family and p streets of me the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom. the caskets coming home at dover, the quiet solitude of arlington. after years of multiple ports of duty, as you carry on our mission, your service, readiness to make the same sacrifice, is an inspiration to us and every single american. >> and so are your families. as first lady, one of my greatest privileges is to visit with military families across the country. i have met military spouses doing the parenting of two, keeping household together, juggling play dates and soccer games, helping with homework, everything they can to make the kids feel o.k. even as they try to hide their own fears and worries. i have met kids who want to know when mama's coming home, grandparents and relatives who stepped in to care for wounded warriors and folks trying to carr

we know that this is where the president signed documents committed american troops to the korean warit's also where he made the final decision to fire mccarthy. it was the scene of many famous midnight poker games. there was a time president truman and this was the primary and dining room. this is where they had dinner with princess elizabeth and stritch tolchurchill and countl. >> sometimes, i would have dinner alone. i walked into the dining room. necktie. would pull out my chair encourage bring me a fruit cup. takes away the empty cup. they bring me a plate. they bring me a tenderloin. margaret brings me carrots and beets. i have to eat alone in a candle lit room. >> this is another special room. this is trimming's officuman's . the portrait of chairman we have is by the painter who painted the official portrait of the president. she copy of the original work for blair house car during the reagan and renovation of the 1980's. ♪ the mantle in this room that was installed in the white house during the 1901 renovation and then the treatment renovation was brought to blair house sutra

one is we have ears and don't hear, eyes and don't see and then first of all i'm an 80 year old koreand and what shuck me was the statement from the senator the other day if a child molester murders the kid and he doesn't have money, we'll give them a free lawyer but if a person gets sick we won't give them a free doctor. that struck me. i'm a palled all the republicans who are apposed to the wild money given to get votes. where were they all the years of their life? it costs millions to become a president and senator and billions and money just to become aboard committee member.% don't you think you have to pay favor? this is a system we live under. in a dream world we have more money than politics. we have to live with the reality about contributors and i feel for the bill in any form that it comes the way it was for social security. medicare and medicaid and tweak it's a time goes on. i think about a single mother with a child that works at mcdonalds. how does she handle this. i think of people affording it. making $250,000 a year. we live in a country you should have the right to h

one is we have ears and don't hear, eyes and don't see and then first of all i'm an 80 year old koreand what shuck me was the statement from the senator the other day if a child molester murders the kid and he doesn't have money, we'll give them a free lawyer but if a person gets sick we won't give them a free doctor. that struck me. i'm a palled all the republicans who are apposed to the wild money given to get votes. where were they all the years of their life? it costs millions to become a president and senator and billions and money just to become aboard committee member.% don't you think you have to pay favor? this is a system we live under. in a dream world we have more money than politics. we have to live with the reality about contributors and i feel for the bill in any form that it comes the way it was for social security. medicare and medicaid and tweak it's a time goes on. i think about a single mother with a child that works at mcdonalds. how does she handle this. i think of people affording it. making $250,000 a year. we live in a country you should have the right to have

caller: i am a disabled veteran from the korean war and i get my medical care in west virginia -- the best muckle care i have had in my life. two reasons. no written records, the are computerized. an awful lot of nurse practitioners and nurses everywhere during the routine work. i think they just make a better division of labor there than anyplace else i have ever been. i think both of those things are very important. host: professor? guest: hi, bill. banks for your call. i'm glad you brought that up. i think the va system did a bad rap in this country. we only hear about things that happened at walter reed and we hear about our servicemen, home with ptsd and problems and our resources are limited and all of that. but you are exactly right. the va has been a model when it comes to patients' safety efforts. they were one of the first to advocate an early disclosure and compensation model, and they have had great success with that. they have an electronic medical record that has been held up as a standard, a model for the rest of the country. and i couldn't agree with you more about the

the korean war, we had higher taxes.npopular war, at the height of that war in 1968, not only did we pay for it, we actually balance the budget. the point that out here. one of the things president johnson did was to cut base line or regular defense programs because you're saying, look, we've got to spend this money and the wars are more important, so let's focus on what we have to do here and now. host: you make the claim that if we make cuts to 10 different areas, it could save some $40 billion in the next fiscal year, so immediate savings. guest: right, in other words, we say pick 30 out of the 40 because that is the cost of extra troops. this should be the beginning of the us beginning to pay for these wars. host: if you raise or save about $40 billion, that gives some leeway with about $20 billion to play with. if you escalate the troops by 30,000, it is around $1 million per trip. guest: that is right. host: you also talk about how much afghanistan and iraq has cost over the year. let's put that up on the screen fo

he and other north korean officials had exploratory talks on how to get the stalled six nationñr.afghanistan and pakistan. he is a senior fellow at also interesting, he was born in 1960 in tehran. i wanted to start because the president of pakistan has written an opinion piece that was published this morning about how to mend fences with pakistan. he writes that it is useful for americans and pakistani is to consider what has brought us to this point and what the conflicts true endgame must be. in the eyes of the administration, what is the endgame of efforts in afghanistan and pakistan? >> to bring peace and security the south asia. creating a circumstance in which afghanistan can have a normal government and its people can live under peace and security. also helping pakistan with its challenge of extremism. tell them that country to have a prosperous economy. host: as we attempt to do this i want to go back to this piece. it has some interesting observations about the challenges for both countries. "there is deep suspicion in one country toward the other. many americans still wo

has been the most narrow, the most detailed, the most methodical review i have ever participated in korean president obama himself shared numerous meetings, and we had meetings with the principles and death duties common and we're going to have another one -- with the principles and duties, and we're going to have another one. the consensus of this discussion over and over again was that you could not separate taliban from outside--- al qaeda. if it weren't just another group with certain for the view we do not agree with, it would be a serious problem, but it would not justify our commitment of what will ultimately be 100,000 american troops and a good number of allied troops numbering in the 34,002 35,000 at least. the separation of the taliban from al qaeda is not currently on the horizon. the leaders are deeply international, as are certain other groups, which are critically important, so if the taliban succeeds in afghanistan, they will bring back with them to afghanistan. out keitel will have a larger to rain, and they will have the largest victory imaginable to inspire more of the k