thank you so much for being here mrs. ghani. it is truly an honor and it is delightful to get to know you over the course of these days. it is interesting because your predecessor, the previous first lady was a doctor, a professional woman, but never seen in public. you have become quite visible in the past month. and have been accused of making waves, as we like to hear. [laughter] let's start with that. what is your vision for how you want to be first lady? rula ghani: first, i would like to say i am very glad to be with all of you tonight. i hope that i will not disappoint. [laughter] and i would like to say a word about mrs. karazi. -- mrs. karzai. she is indeed a doctor and an accomplished person. she was in her childbearing and child-rearing years during the time her husband was president. i remover when i was in my child rearing and childbearing years. i did not have time for anything else. -- i remember when i was in. if she chose not to have a public life, i think it is your choice, and she should not be blamed for that

. >> mr. ghani is not just one person who makes a decision. he is not the only decision maker. two leaders with two deputies and in total, there are six people. so they talk a lot on everything. two different mentalities. how can they work under one umbrella? >> reporter: this has had an impact beyond parliament. provincial governors have all been told they're only acting in their posts until their new appointments. here in jalalabad, elders med to try to encourage their governor not to stand down. one said that he was one of the only people who was taking on the criminal mafia. but the ex-governor said he could not remain acting. he was powerless. >> we request the president to end the system of people acting as soon as possible. the longer it goes on the damage will go on. the country will slide towards instability. people will lose faith in government and corruption will increase. building a democracy that works after more than three decades of war has proved hard to do and enormous challenges of poverty and conflict and international donors whose patience cannot last foreve

only the troops but authorities and president ghani talked about air support, i think that will be crucial. so carry that message, will you, sir? >> thank you, mr. chair. gentlemen, thank you very much for being here today. and also to your staff. thank you for your many years of combined service to the united states. general votel, i just want to mention, in your testimony today, i would like to thank you for mentioning not only our active duty forces, but the reserve and national guard components. your operators, your lodgist ises and analysts it is one team and one fight and i appreciate you acknowledge that today. and something you brought up and others have brought up is stress and suicide with our active duty members and with our veterans, those who are off active duty and it is important that we continue with resiliency programs and making sure that not only are they physically fit for the fight but mentally fit as well. so thank you for bringing that forward. a number of us are working on initiatives to make sure they are well cared for. i would like to address my question and thoughts. general austin and general votel, last week was th