every time we fill up our suv with gas the oil comes from wonderful places like kuwait, saudi arabia,nd the united arab republic. i am sorry but these are all despotic regimes. every time that you do that it goes to charity in the hands of al qaeda. host: john boehner last i said this, "i hope the the obama administration will not try used toocut -- a crisis for political points on the backs of americans living and working on the gulf coast." dennis, upper marlboro. your next. caller: thank you for taking my call. thank you for c-span. first i wanted to say that i appreciate the president's management style in a crisis like this. bush shooting from the head, looking in the eyes of vladimir putin, seeing his soul in all of that kind of crap. through his eight years of running this country, all of these problems were building up. now they are falling in the laugh of this great young president. i am an african-american male. 60 years old. one thing about this nation, they seem to think that african- american men are emotional. not as cool under pressure and in a crisis. here comes obama.

. -- the emir of kuwait. i was wondering if anything what the administration or department of done on behalf of the case. >> let me take the question. . >> from carnegie mellon university, this is about 45 minutes. >> ladies and gentlemen, the president of the united states. [applause] >> thank you. thank you very much. thank you. thank you. >> let me begin by thanking the entire community for welcoming once again and for the wonderful work he and his faculty and staff do here each and every day. i also want to acknowledge your outstanding mayor who does not look any older than the last time i saw him. [applause] >> it is great to be back in the beautiful city of pittsburgh. i love to be in a great sports town. last year, i told -- i tapped them ready to serve as my ambassador to ireland. i invited both the steelers and the penguins to the white house to celebrate their championships. [applause] seeing how the black hawks are headed to philadelphia tonight with a 2-0 lead in the stanley cup finals, i am glad

i was director of the iraq- kuwait apart from the state department.uld take a different point of view on that. president george h. w. bush's decision to use u.s. military forces to liberate kuwait was a critical step not only in and of itself but also in establishing that the united states would be decisively engaged in the post- cold war world, not a new world order as it turnedut

i have many friends in the military after being to iraq and afghanistan and kuwait and those places.et with jim clyburn and barney frank. it was very educational. i did get in a little trouble with a moron named michele bachmann. go ahead. act like i'm not your guest. you're acting like you're having an out-of-body -- >> larry: michele bachmann is a very strong conservative person. >> oh, boy, i didn't know it was be kind to bachmann day, because my word is "idiot." i got into a couple little words with her. >> larry: tiff? >> a little tiff with michele bachmann. and i sort of got kicked out of my first senate hearing because i said something to saxby chambliss that she didn't like. and i didn't know the hearings weren't interactive. i thought they were more like a q&a situation. not so much. >> larry: well, it is. >> but not for me. >> larry: you now throw fancy dinner parties. i've never been invited by the way. you have a-listers at your house last weekend. jackie collins, suzanne somers, lily tomlin, chris bodie and sidney poitier. >> in your face, king. that's got to hurt. that'

we have been accused of liberating kuwait to steal their oil, iraq to steal their oil. this is not true. it will not be true in afghanistan. we are working to create stability in that region to protect the people of america. there can be economic benefits, but it should be for the people of that country. host: a skeptic sends this twitter -- guest: again, it is a southern country. there should be competitive bid and then royalties showed benefit the people. u.s. companies that are involved, this should be international. host: john on the independent line. new york city. caller: thank you, c-span. my question has to do with stanley mcchrystal's policy, once they defeated the taliban. we defeated them but the reports are that they are creeping back in and people trust the taliban more than they do the karzai government. how are we going to make that strategy work in kandahar, when it is not working, by all reports coming in to color -- reports, -- guest: again, and believe we have the best counterinsurgency forces in the world, but it will take time. the resources can be

two in afghanistan, one in iraq, and one in kuwait. he truly lived to serve our nation. to his fellow soldiers, he was one of them. but to the students of elizabeth forward high school in elizabeth, pennsylvania, he was known as coach hoover. bryan was the assistant cross-country and track coach at his alma mater where he had graduated in 2000. bryan loved sports and was a talented athlete himself who particularly enjoyed hockey. he earned a degree in sports management from california university of pennsylvania. for his bravery in the field, sergeant first class bryan hoover was awarded the purple heart. bryan is survived by his father melvin hoover, his brothers richard and ben, his sister samantha, his grandfather ray bradford, his stepmother, and his fiancee ashley tack. his mother deborah jean preceded bryan in death. it is my sad duty to enter the names of sergeant first class robert fike and staff sergeant bryan hoover in the record of the united states house of representatives for their service, sacrifice, and commitment to our country and to our freedom. while we

. >> we have the ambassador to pakistan and syria, kuwait and lebanon in the 1990's. we have lesley on the independent line. caller: hello. >> you mentioned the threat of hezbollah. an i am not certain the term -- the term that you used. term be dealinghould with hezbollah. i know that the coury of lebanon on has been financially in better shape than almost here. i am wondering what exactly you are saying that the u.s. -- how the u.s. should be engaging with hezbollah becau our relationsh with love and on would be a friindly one. what exact are you saying and how should we be relating to hezbollah in engagent? are you talking about the george bush pollcy which is non- engagement ann military force? or are you talng about diplomatic sit down, let's talk? gut: thaa gives me a chance to expand on my earlier comments. i think we need to do a number of things. first, we have to have a strong and efctive relationship with the lebanese government and with the llbanese armed forces. they are a series institution i the country. have had an uneven relationship over time. we now

called about the problems at city center, i thought that i should do something i called the emir of kuwait when i was contacted by owners of nevada properties, they told me of an issue that was unfair in the tax code that would prevent them from recharging their businesses. it stopped many of those companies from filing for bankruptcy. for those of you who are in rural nevada, taxes are a big deal, but from the time that passed, the state of nevada is 86% owned by the federal government. and we are fully funded for five years. it is a big shot in the arm for rural nevada. i have pushed for a law that is the law of the country wishes for travel promotion. we will have people coming to america. asked one of our auto dealers if "cash for clunkers" helped. you bet it did. all of these people who bought a home and got a tax credit for it, we were able to sell millions of homes in america, thousands of homes in nevada because of that tax credit. it will expire at the end of this month because the republicans turned down an extension. anyone that talks about the stimulus not working, remind them

. -- the emir of kuwait who is part of that budget. i was contacted by representatives of properties and they were talking about the issue of the unfair tax code that would prevent them from recharging their businesses, called debt forgiveness is. we got that done and it's got many of those companies from going into bankruptcy and they are doing pretty well right now. in rural nevada, pavement was a big deal. from the time that past, the state of nevada is 80% on budget from the federal government. we are entitled to money. but we've never gotten our money. we got it. i got it into that bill. it will be fully funded for five years, a big shot in the arm for rural nevada. america is one of the few countries that does not promote itself for tourism. we will now because of a lot that i pushed very hard that is not a lot this country. it will last for people to come to american -- will ask for people to come to america. as one of our auto dealers, did cash for clunkers help? of course it did. how will that there are people in this audience

the kuwait stock exchange data and trouble because they had delayed arrangement. some have uelievably long settlement period. i could of hired the 50's smart as ph stays out of the mit to prepare some type of report that would tell me the risk i was very and i what am not gotten any answer. it was impossible to fit your mi around that. i had ninthcounterparties and i could not print out thnames of some of them. there is such integrity of our balance sheet, and it was dependent on all these people behaving, strong ought to almost 100 years. i could not design a system that would enable me to know what the hell was going on. that was my problem, 23,000 of them, i had passed ay -- i heard about vastly greater numbers at bear stearns and women. i don't think it is a good day for the system, particularly if there are not a lot, society gets disrupted and a major way. >> following up on that notion, i think you stated in 2008 that the federal reserve rescue of bear stearns because the counterparty risk posed by its enormous position in derivatives would have created "a

officials approved nad kuwait spill response plans, and -- nad kuwait spill response plans. but what is the most damaging is that the president and senior officials knew on day one that the blowout preventer was not working and knew of the potential spillage. while bp shoulders of -- much of the responsibility for this spill, the lack of effort by the administration to contain the spill has doomed the wildlife and gulf coast from oil an spill which could have been contained. now drilling moratoriums will furt devastate america's energy production. thank you. i yield the a balance of my time. hairman, i yield the balance of my time. >> thank you. i next turn to vice chairmanf the subcommittee, opening three minutes sir. >> mr. hayward, you're not going to get a lek schur from me today and you're not going to get an apologies. quite frankly the people who live along the affected area of the gulf coast deserve answers from you. we were in louisiana last week and we had the opportunity to hear from a variety of individuals whose lives have been devastated by this oil disaster an

i called the emir of kuwait who was a partner in that operation, and i think those phone calls helped. when i was contacted by representatives of harrah's and other nevada properties, and they were telling me about an issue, an issue that was unfair in the tax code that was going to prevent them from recharging their businesses called debt forgiveness. got that done t. stopped many of those companies from going into bankruptcy, and they're doing pretty well right now. for those of you from rural nevada, payment in lieu of taxes is a big deal, but from the time that passed, many years ago, payment in lieu of taxes, state nevada's 86% owned by the federal government, we're entitled to money that the federal government says in a law we passed, but we've never gotten our money, but we got it because i got it in a bill. first-time payment in lieu of taxes was fully funded, and it will be fully funded for five years, a big shot in the arm for rural nevada. america is one of the few countries that doesn't promote itself for tourism. we will now because of a law that i pushed very hard that i

the kuwait stock exchange data and trouble because they had delayed arrangement. some have unbelievably long settlement period. i could of hired the 50's smart as ph stays out of the mit to prepare some typ of report that would tell me the risk i was very and i what am not gtten any answer. it was impossible to fit your mind around that. had ninth counterparties and i could not print ou the names of some of them. there is su integrity of our balance sheet, and it was dependent on all these pple behaving, strong ought to almost 100 years. i could not design a system at would enable me to know what the hell was going on. if that was my problem, 23,000 of them, i had passed away -- i heard about vastly greater numbers at bear stearns and women. i don't think it ia good day for the system, particularly if there are not a lot, society gets disrupted and a major way. notion, i think you stated in 2008 that the federal reserve rescue of bear stearns because the counterparty ris posed by its enormous position in derivatives would have created "a financial chain of unpredi

the kuwait stock exchange data and trouble because they had delayed arrangement. some have unbelievably long settlement period. i could of hired the 50's smart as ph stays out of the mit to prepare some type of report that would tell me the risk i was very and i what am not gotten any answer. it was impossible to fit your mind around that. i had ninth counterparties and i could not print out the names of some of them. there is such integrity of our balance sheet, and it was dependent on all these people behaving, strong ought to almost 100 years. i could not design a system that would enable me to know what the hell was going on. if that was my problem, 23,000 of them, i had passed away -- i heard about vastly greater numbers at bear stearns and women. i don't think it is a good day for the system, particularly if there are not a lot, society gets disrupted and a major way. >> following up on that notion, i think you stated in 2008 that the federal reserve rescue of bear stearns because the counterparty risk posed by its enormous position in derivatives would have

this year's cohort is a diverse group representing algeria, bahrain, egypt, israel, and jordan, kuwait, lebanon, libya, morocco, oman, syria, tunisia, the west bank, and gaza, and yemen. george mitchell to set a date with the u.s. delegation in the palestinian investment conference, part of our effort to support their economic reforms and institution building efforts. during the course of the day, he had the opportunity to talk with president abbas about the pic, and i think they are attending dinner as we speak. he will have other meetings this peek with both palestinian and israeli officials. so the schedule is still being worked out. today in the dominican republic , they are hosting the world summit for the future of haiti -- solidarity be on the crisis. this is the first time that the owners have met since march 31 when the donors conference in new york pledged more than $5 billion to haiti over two years for the nation's most immediate rebuilding needs. senior officials from the department of state and usaid are part of this delegation that includes cheryl mills, counselor to sec

my son was killed in iraq when the liberated kuwait. i don't understand why we don't protect our own borders and secure our own borders to protect this country sooner than go to other countries and tried to secure their borders. guest: first of all, especially on father's day, i want to say thank you for your sacrifice. i personally appreciate it and i know the country does as well. the point that to make that we need to be careful about restricting foreign adventurism is valid. as we talk about afghanistan, ww are no longer in a position in the u.s. where we can isolate it as a foreign-policy issue. we operate in an ra of constrained resources where we have a deficit and social problems at home and the reality is that we have to make hard choices. we do not have the luxury of being the 800-pound gorilla involved in an economy that is so dynamic we can do anything we want. it is a well-placed concerned that we need to be thinking about the trade off we are making in terms of where we want to invest our resources, abroad or at home. that

host: ryan crocker mansion he was ambassador to pakistan, syria, kuwait, and 119. -- and lebanon. tecumseh, mich. caller: dimension of the threat of hezbollah. i am not sure the term you used. -pmaybe you could epeat the tem dealing with hezbollah. i know the countrr of lebanon has been financially in better shape than allost anywhere. i am wondering what exactly been you are saying that the u.s. -- house at the u.s. should be engaging with hezbollah since our relationship with lebanon, i would think, would be a friendly one. what are you saying we should, and how, should we be relating to has a lot in engagement? are you talking about george bush policy which is a non engagement? or are you talking about the downs?atic set down -- sit%- guest: great question because it gives me a chance to expand. i think we need to do a number of things. indeed, we are doing these things.. first, we need to have, as you ssggest,,a strong and effective relationship with the lebanese government and with their armed forces. they are a serious institution in that country. armed forces over time. we

jim baker, in the days before we went into kuwait was talking to saddam hussein to see if the matter could be resolved. on the one side, as i said, is that policy of engagement. this engagement reveesed years of diplomatic silence during which iran's nuclear program grew. it showed the world our patience, tested iran's willingness to negotiate in good faith and built international support for sanctions. sadly, the time limit for engagement has come and gone. it is time to pursue the second prong, pressure. the international atomic energy agency tells us that iran has now enough low-enriched uranium for two bombs. iran has attempted to hide nuclear facilities and refused to cooperate with the demands of the national atomic energy agency and the u.n. security council to suspend enrichment. let's be clear, iran has defied the will of the international community. this is unacceptable. that is not a partisan position, it is an almost unanimous position of the administration and of this congress. that is why this is the right time to bring strong economic pressure to bear on the iranian re