the next century of the national park system. want to thank all the panelists that we're going to have with us today, and thank all of you for your attendance. and my colleagues for their attendance to what i believe is the first hearing in beginning to shape what our response is going to be as congress along with the national park system to the scrup coming cent tenal, which is a great achievement for the nation and also i believe a great opportunity to deal with some of the challenges that our park system is facing and will face in the future. natural and historic objects and the wild life in the marks and to provide for the enjoyment of the same. in such a manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations. in just six years, we will celebrate the ten ten yl of the signing of this act and the hundredth anniversary is an important opportunity to review the agency's past and explore the possibility for the future. the challenges posed by managing a system which includes a burial site fo

good afternoon 3 on behalf of the national park service and the staff and volunteers of the nationalure to welcome you to the vietnam veterans more apparent the national park contains some of the oldest monuments and the national park service. they promote unity and remembrance, and giving us a way to recognize those who served and those who continued to serve our nation. the more and now there's 58,267 names of men and women who died or who were named missing in action. i extend a special welcome to the families and friends of the six servicemen whose names of recently been added to the wall. we come to honor those who have served in the united states armed forces. as a more consistent four different -- different parks -- the wall behind me, the three servicemen statute, the "in memory" plight, and the vietnam veteran women's more. the three servicemen statue is undergoing restoration to restore the original patina of the statute. as he said, during this restoration period, it will be visible through the large full wing -- full length window. the vietnam veterans memorial fund and t

however only 17% of high school students are meeting this recommendation. national physical education and sports week highlights the benefits of physical education and sports in the lives of america's children. and highlighting the importance of such benefits encourages our children to begin healthy, physical activities and habits that can continue throughout their lives. i ask my colleagues to support this resolution. and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady reserves her time. the gentleman from new jersey. mr. payne: mr. speaker, i am pleased to recognize the gentleman from pennsylvania, the sponsor of 1373, mr. a.m.t. mire as much time -- altmire as much time as he may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for as much time as he may consume. mr. altmire: i thank the gentleman from new jersey. i rise in support of my resolution to honor national physical education and sport week. more han 1/3 of america's elementary school children are overweight or obese and more than 13% of america's high school childr

the same goes with the national army and national police. 500,000, the total number of national army and natnal police is projected. afghanistan not only now but with our resources, it will be difficult to sustain that sort of military and security force. civic revival and responsibility, the sense of duty and the government should initiate those things. people cannot do those things. afghans are the poorest people on earth. yet, we are running the risk of turningth country, the culture that is coming to have its grips onhat country is a culture of entitlement, a culture of handouts, a culture of drugs and war. we have to change that. >> i agree with you that one of the main points is parliamentary or reelection. one of the key points. you wil need more nato forces or military forces in ablorder o secure the elections? >> definitely. the short answer is yes, definitely. also, if nato does not participate in carrying its own burden in this alliance, nato is running the risk of putting all the burden on the united states and the uted states will suffer from fatigue, if nothing else. pub

i will miss senator byrd's passion and ardent defense of our nation's constitution. he was one of a kind and i feel privilege to have had served with him. i'll never forget the advice he gave me when i first sought his counsel when i went in in my first year. i he said, shelley, you need to be a work horse, not a show horse. he will be remembered as a work horse and also for his dedication in representing our great state of west virginia. i wish to extend to senator byrd's family my deepest sympathies and know he is at peace and at home with his beloved irma. i thank again mr. rahall for presenting this, senator byrd will certainly be missed and i want to pay tribute to his tremendous service, sacrifice, strength, honesty, and devotion to our state and nation. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from west virginia is recognized. mr. rahall: i'm proud to yield two minutes to the distinguished chairman of our defense subcommittee on appropriations, the gentleman from washington, mr. dicks. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. dicks:

the director of the national -- director of national oceanic and atmospheric administration. she has come here and shown us photographic evidence of shells, the little calcium carbonate sources of 40% of the base of the food chain. and she's shown us pictures of these little creares actually dissolving in water that will be acidic as it will be at the end of the century if we don't change things. now, there's no mystery about this. it's a scientific fact that the waters are becoming more acidic because of carbon dioxide and it's a scientific fact that large parts of the earth's oceans are dependent on this phenomena of taking calcium to form their life. so what does that mean to us? well, what it means to us and our grandchildren and grandchildren's lifetime is if we don't change what we're doing in an industrial basis we will have significant reduction in mankind's use of the oceans because 4,500 million people in the world depend on their protein from the oceans. two million americans make their livelihoods from the oceans that will be in jeopardy because of ocean acidificat

are we the kind of people that should be nationalizing more of our economy?? i have gone through this list and i can recite it in my sleep. this federal government rkts albeit started under president bush with the support of barack obbma all the way through and most of it picked up by him has nationalized -- and when i say nationalized, owned, managed or controlled of the sectors of the economy, three large investment banks, the three that have been ttken over by the federal government, a.i.g. nationalized by the federal government, freddie mac and fannie mae, the entities that the chairman barney frank saad he would neve+ support a federal bailout, only supported the federal take over of freddie mac and faverple. we have watched chrisler be taken over and a bankruptcy proposal pitched by the administration to the chapter 11 bankruptcy court that dictated the terms of bankruptcy and among those terms were hand over shares of the auto makers to the auto makers union. and while that was going on, the only term and i have it in my hand, the only bidder was the fe

a set of laws that our precursors to other laws that still are in debate in this nation today. but the fight didn't end there, which brings me to my second point. today we're reminded of the naacp's mission, to ensure quality of rights of all persons, eliminate racial hatred and discrimination. it's as important as relevant as it was decades ago. just this year a hate crimes law was passed, so it's not based on race, gender, sexual orientation, and the naacp was there in great support. the naacp has engaged in battles on multiple fronts on its 101st anniversary. the dedicated team is addressing issues that impact communities of color. it advocates for quality in education, influences the debate on environmental justice, works in disparities in the criminal justice system, racial profiling and other types of injustices and looks for equity and equality regardless of the issue for all americans. in addition, the naacp is working to prevent families from losing their piece of the american dream during this housing crisis by working with financial institutions to change the mortgage

of our nation's educators. you all make a world of difference in the lives of our students and families. i thank you. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from utah is recognized. mr. chaffetz: madaa speaker, we have no additional speakers. it doesn't appear that the majority has any additional speakers. if that's the case -- ms. watson: i have no additional speakers. mr. chaffetz: we'll yield back the balance of our time. thank you. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from utah yields back the balance of his time. the gentlelady from california. ms. watson: yes, i understand that we do have another speaker, madam speaker. it's mr. minnick from california -- excuse me -- the gentleman from idaho for two minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from idaho is recognized for two minutes. mr. minnick: madam speaker, i thank the gentlewoman from california and extend her an invitation to come to idaho anytime, madam chair. you'd be a good addition. madam spe

nation's wars. and has provided us with some of the greatest moments in our nation's history. you know, as a poor child growing up in texas, i never knew what existed outside of my neighborhood. however, when i joined the army and left south texas, the world soon opened to me. when i arrived in paris, france , as a military policeman fresh out of basic training and advanced military training, i knew that my life was changed forever. shortly after arriving in paris and a friend of mine from west virginia who had just finished basic and military police training, we headed down to see the eiffel tower. while walking around the city, we pulled over to the side of the road and a young woman, young lady stepped out of the biggest car i of ever seen in my life and approached my friend and me. she wanted to take a picture with us. two young sold -- -- soldiers fresh out of basic training, but it wasn't until six months later that we discovered that this woman was one of the most popular movie stars in france. but all she wanted was a picture with two young soldiers wearing the american

not that the objective is out of keeping with our character as a nation. ndeed, it is an integral part of that character. today, we meet that objective when we understand that the world's democratic movements in nations from egypt to iran have a legitimacy that ought to be recognized, not restraint, by their governments. we meet that objective when we support those movements publicly. we meet that objective when we recognize that our strgest alliances are those built not merely on our interests but on at the foundation of common values, such as our friendship with the democratic state of israel, such as our friendship with our european allies, such as our friendship with our asian allies in australia and others, who join with us in the common values, to present them to the world and to pursue them as international policy. a bond of generations that no momentary disagreement can undo. most importantly, we promote democracy when we live our democratic values here at home. torture is not a democratic value. extraordinary rendition is not a democratic value. ov

national security. what we object to is the equations of the current and projected pentagon budget with national security. you will hearrom a nuer of ve well informed experts. the identity there is a false one. i should note that this is an effort that is bipartisan in nature. the house and senate are voting today so my colleagues are not here but senator brown widen and congressman ron paul and walter jones have been stng supporters of this. we believe that america has substantially overextended itself militily far beyond what is necessary for our national security and with reasonab cooperation with allies that need us. a symbol of western eope. we continued to be heavily invested in western europe when their budgets are significant smaller pcentages of their gdp+ than ours. i do not know what it is we are protecting western europe from. i do not know why if ere was a threat, it could not collectively with their budgets and pulations defeed themselvesxcept for the fact that having read tom sawyer, which was apparently translate into of the nato languages, they are happy to have erica paint the fce and m

national security. this celebrates the anniversary of 17 african nations, recognizing that africa is a significant -- and important to the united states. to promote economic wealth. and to alleviate the burden of poverty that so many in the union continue to face. this is only the first step, mr. speaker, into africa's transition into a normal economy. this step is the right one, it is a long overdue transformation and our approach toward africa and our belief in the african people and in the african cootinent. with that i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentlewoman from california. ms. watson: mr. speaker, i have no further requests for time and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back? does she? does the gentlewoman from california yield back the balance of her time? ms. watson: mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back. the question is, will the house suspend the rules and agree to house resolution 1405 as amended. those in favor say aye.

it is a national security issue with implications for all instruments of national power. e department of defense and u.s. southern command will do its part to protect our great nation from elements wishing to do less harm in cyberspace. as i said at the beginning, it is a privilege and honor to be a member of our cyber team. now it is time for me to listen to your questions and concerns, i hope to broaden the dialogue that you at csis have promoted on cyberspace issues. i look forward to interchange and thank you very much for your attention. [applause] >> thank you, general. when you ask your question, please identify yourself and keep the questions. so we can respect the generals schedule. with that, we have one in the front row? [inaudible] >> hold on. >> one of the questions, how the streamlined -- how do you streamline obtaining permission for cyber attacks in times for it to be tactically relevant at home? >> that is a difficult issue. i think that your question, i think everybody heard it, how did you streamlined to counter attacks against attackers if they are stat

, to save our union, to defend against fascism and communism, i wonder what they would think of this nationwould think of this new generation of warriors. the forces of globalization have made the world cross which they must fight much smaller. and as the world are around us that shrinks, it need struggle halfway -- it means trouble halfway around the globe can and will visit us. pauour men and women in uniform know full well that the promise and peril of this time have never been greater, the threa to american security more widespread than ever before geographically. and the spread of weapons of mass destruction and dangerous disease, economic dislocations and the growing gap between the rich and the port, ethnic animosities and failed states. the challenges of freedom and security when facing a radical ndamentalism. this new generation of warriors stand watch, protecting america's interests against all of these new threats. and they will take, and it has taken, is equally great sacrifice as those who have gone before them. from fallujah to marja, from baghdad to kandahar, from home and to

this was supposed on the purpose of the national oil spill commission. instead, the members of this do not appear to be up to the challenge. instead of appointing independent experts with knowledge and expertise of deep water drilling, the president has packed the commission with people who lack ex-per cease in the issues we're confronting. first let me say, madam speaker, i am for this commission having subpoena power. i'm for them learning as much as they can learn. my concern is they do not have the members capable of understanding what they need to understand. there are no petroleum engineers in this commission nor anyone wells with -- else with experience in deep water drilling. if you're going to have a commission to figure out what went wrong in a petroleum engineering circumstance in deep water drill, you need members with expertise in those issues. if we don't learn from this, if we don't figure ut how to not rrepeat these mistakes, we're dooming ourselves to either repeat the mistakes or to have an energy future that's less than secure. it appea

national guard. so far, the level of use of the national guard dictates the desires of the governor at this point. >> admiral, i notice going over the mileage figures the past few days, and june 20 it it was 59 miles, then it jumped up to 173 the next day and 171 yesterday. is that a matter of reporting, or was there a lot of oil that hit in mississippi, alabama, and florida on the 21st? >> it tends to fluctuate. will we put that out, it is what we are dealing with in terms of impact control and what we are cleaning up. that could drop once the shoreline is cleaned up and could go back up if the beach is real oil. it is a snapshot of what we are dealing with any particular time. it can change dramatically with the concentration of oil. it will vary from day to day. >> thank you, everyone. that concludes today's breed. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010] >> our cameras recently followed members of the new orleans city council as they toured coastal areas affected by the gulf oil spill. they are joined by actress patricia clar

we have at least a special relationship with the nation of israel. it is a relationship of family. in some cases, very literally. in other cases and for this nation as a whole, we are family because we share so many values, some of the values that are incorporated into this building and into our documents, our judeo-christian values anwe owe a debt of israel -- gratitude to israel. and something that is all too often forgotten, we have the economic similarity, all three of these things make israel family. and we can't lose sight of this as investigations are undertaken, we can't lose track of that underlying fact, especially in a world where our family is at risk. and this room is full of fathers and mothers and we know what that means. i went to israel and saw how close and how severe the risk of hamas, an entity dedicated to the destruction of the state of israel, how that is not abstract. that is barely an arms' length away. hezbollah, another entity sponsored by iran and iran itself, not far away and help bent on the creation of weapons of mass destruction and leaving absolutely

of these lives. with demand sgt information about access to all u.k. nationals involved. our top priority at this time is our support of the families who are very worried. we are concerned about the seizure of british nationals and it -- in international waters. this aspect of the israeli operation is forming a key part of the investigation. the prime minister has spoken to the israeli prime minister, i have spoken to the foreign minister, and the undersecretary of state has been in close contact with the is really our ambassador in lebanon. i am grateful to the hon. members who have been in contact with the foreign office in relation to their constituents and families and have provided information. we recognize the concern for those involved and the need to keep members updated. israel has told us they want to vote as quickly as possible to deport those people from the flotilla currently hold in israel. they could be deported very quickly. those who remain on willingly, will be a 72 hours in detention. our understanding is that after that, they will be deported. is our un

now that the objective is out of keeping with our character as a nation. ndeed, it is an integral part of that character. today, we meet that objective when we understand that the world's democratic movements in nations from egypt to iran, have a legitimacy that ought to be recognized, not restrain, by their governments. we meet that objective when we support those movements publicly. we meet that objective when we recognize that our strongest alliances are those build not merely on our interests but on a foundation of common values. such is our friendship with the democratic state of israel. such is our friendship with our european allies. such is our friendship with our asian allies and australian and others who join with us in common values to present them to the world and to pursue them as international policy. a bond of generations that no momentary disagreement can undo, and most importantly, we promote democracy when we live our democratic values here at home. torture is not a democratic value. extraordinary rendition is not a democratic value. overw

the language of condemnation is used very sparingly and its national relations. is our view on this side that the loss of innocent civilian lives should always be condemned and we have done so since monday. the language was repeated in a statement monday night which said the security council condemns the acts. we welcome this. the foreign secretary and prime minister have not used this language themselves. we call on them to say loud and clear that the british government does condemn the loss of innocent civilian lives and if he will not do so, i say he is setting a very dangerous precedent and sending a bad message. fourth, the government's intentions going forward. we note the when's calls for an independent investigation and welcomed them but there are outstanding requests for investigations into incidents during the gaza war 18 months ago. whether the majesty's demint argued for a u.n. investigation now and if not, why not? bridget majesty possible government -- majesty's government argued for a u.n. investigation now and if not, why? that actually damages is

the contributions of arab- americans help to this nation become what it is today. they serve as police officers and teachers and civic leaders, strengthening their local communities and country. we must remember this and we must also, i believe, remember the wisdom of the engraving on a statute that sits next to the department of justice, and it reads, "what is past is prolonged." our past reminds us that we are a nation of immigrants, reminds us that when we get together across identity and background, we can advance souder policies and promote safer communities, and our past reminds us that if we are to prosper together, we must start working together. we have no other choice. the era of us versus them that some of you have experienced must end. in some ways, at long last, it has ended. [applause] together we can make sure that it is replaced by a new era, one that recognizes the truth is reflected in this organization's name, that regardless of our faith or backgrounds, we are all americans. i am grateful to this committee and i am grateful to all of you for your

of science and technology policy. i thank them for supporting the fcc's national broadband plan. i know julius genachowski had wanted to be here. some of his key staff is. it is gone to take a team effort to move these issues to the top of the nation's economic and technology agenda. larry summers hardly needs an introduction. for the record, he serves as assistant to the president for economic policy and as director of the president's national economic council. previously, he has served as secretary of the treasury under president clinton, as chief economist at the world bank, and as president of harvard university from 2001 till 2006, where he continues as a tenured professor. let me turn this over to you. [applause] >> thank you. i am glad to have this opportunity. the story of the subject that i'm going to talk about is that -- is one that should give inspiration to researchers and academia. this idea started, at least to my knowledge, with work that ronald did in the late 1950's. in the aftermath of his work suggesting that spectrum be auctioned or allocated by the market, tw

and then sam gerdano of the national banking institute joins us. "washington journal" is live every day starting in 7:00 p.m. eastern on cnn. tomorrow, a look at new orleans in the wake of the gulf oil oil spill. our coverage is under way at 1:00 p.m. eastern on c-span2. his government broken? the brookings institute is hosting a panel tomorrow asking that question. it talks about current challenges to good governance and ways to strengthen democracy. this gets underway at 1:00 p.m. on c-span. all next, our reason number of commencement speeches. leigh ann tuohy, the mother of baltimore ravens football player michael oher. she was betrayed by sandra bullock in her academy award winning performance in the movie opened "the blind side -- she was portrayed by sandra bullock in her academy award winning performance in the movie: "the blind side." >> it is my privilege to introduce for the first time dr. leigh ann tuohy. >> it's good to have some women appear instead of men helping me. i am truly honored to be up here today. when cbu called, our schedule

there have been reports of local nationals being abused for the u.s. government.working such events are being recorded in afghanistan. and unlike iraq, where it involves contractors whooare u.s. citizens, in afghanistan, many of the guards are reportedly afghans. the question can be asked -- is the problem that d.o.d. is using contractors to perform the critical function of armed security or is the problem that p.o.d. is not effectively managing contractors and holding them accountable? for analysts who believe that contractors should not be contracted out, we need to rethink current force structure or choose not to engage in certain contingsency operations. for -- contingency operations. for those who think it is poorr management, we need to develop an effective strategy, and enhancing oversight.anning d.o.d. has taken steps to improve its management of p.s.e.'s. according to many analysts, they have improved the + management oversight and the course of p.s.e.'s. they maintain that more needs to be done. the extent to which d.o.d. plans for the use of

americans do not have a clear sense of our national security priority. our an enormous military of the last two decades have secured the need for any. -- obscured the need for any. we have lost our ability to differentiate between those threats that must be addressed by the united states and those that can and should be addressed by others. washington has allowed our military posture to determine our security requirements. as opposed to the other way around. this must change. in the report back then and i wrote, we called for a more restrained strategy that capitalizes on the unique advantages. this includes our strong dynamic economy and open political culture and an abundance of potential partners are around the world. we should encourage other countries to play a larger role in their own defense. such a strategy which he does say at far less and cost. -- would keep us safe at far less a cost. we all agree that we must revisit the purpose of our power. the mismatch between our means and ends is growing wider by the day. we must begin to close the gap. i

guard deployment of 6000 national guardsmen was part of it. in many ways, the national guard is an easy political gesture, too. they are easily deployed and you can show immediate action. it isn't necessarily going to make a big impact on the border. even with the 6000 troops deployed under operation jumpstart. the first thing people have to realize is when you deploy in number of national guardsmen, there is an average for every man in the field, there are three behind them in the supply chain. it in the case of national guard deployment and jumpstart, we saw deployment of maybe 4000 actually on the border at any one time and then you had units, and to and from the border, people staffing the depots and equipping the units, people performing headquarters functions to manage the logistics. when you say 1200, you are not really talk about seeing 1200 on the border. when you then factor in shift work, the fact that you are looking at eight or 10 hour shifts for these guardsmen, really you may be seeing a third of that at any one time at the borde

that is why just after the rig sank, i assembled a team of our nation's best scientists and engineers to tackle this challenge -- a ttam led by dr. steven chu, a nobel prize- winning physicist and our natioo secretary of energy. scientists at our national labs and experts from academia and other oil companies have also prrvided ideas in and buys. as a result of these efforts, we have directed bp to mobilize additional equipment and technology. in the coming days and weeks, these efforts should capture up to 90% of the oil leaking out of the well. this is until the company finishes drilling a relief well later in thh summer that is expected to stop the leak. already this oil spill is the worst environmental disaster america has ever faced. and on like the earrhquake or hurricane, is not a single event -- and unlike an earthquake or hurricane, it is not a single event that does its damage in a matter of minutes or days. the millions of gallons of oil that have spilled into the gulf of mexico are more like an epidemic. but mecca -- but make no mistake -- we will fight this spill with eve

with us again of the national law journal. wearing your second hat of the day. you covered the supreme court. >> this morning. >> woodruff: you were here in the senate office building for the kagan hearings. we did hear elena kagan today, marcia, say she would be impartial as best she could keep an open mind. how much of that is in reaction to what she heard today and in anticipation of comments from republicans that she is as much a political creature as she is a legal one? >> i think she knew before she came in today based on comments that some senators had made to the press earlier. she definitely knew after hearing the opening statements that republicans put forth a major concern that she is more political than legal . relying primarily on her years in the clinton white house which is really in terms of documentation all they have to go on to learn about her. so i think she wanted to lay to rest as much as she could before the questions began. that she also has a reputation honed in her years in academia for open mindedness and an ability to bring together d

we applaud the decision of the united states to ask general petraeus to serve our nation again. e think there is no one more qualified or eight more outstanding leader then general petraeus to achieve successful conclusion of the afghan conflict. we praise the service of general mcchrystal and thank him for service to our nation and wish him well, every success in the future. we are confident that general petraeus's leadership will of a positive effect on the situation in the region. we still have concerns about the civilian side. in fact, we might suggest that consideration be given to reunited crocker/petraeus team. i may never be forgiven for that because crocker is enjoying retirement. the military and non-military side of this will enjoy the relationship between general petraeus and president karzai. the hearing for general petraeus' confirmation will probably be the fastest in history of the armed services committee. it will be done very sen. the concern that we have and the issue that will be raised in the confirmation hearing is exactly what is meant by withdrawal in the

he's also a member of the national petroleum council. and has ssrved as chairman of the american petroleum institute. rewelcome you, mr. mulva. whenever you feel comfortable, pleese begin. >> thank you, chairman markey, ranking member upton and committee members, thank you for the opportunity to appear before you this morning. all of us at conoco phillips extend our condolences to the family and friends of the 11 workers lost on deep water horizon. thoughts and prayers are with those injured or who have been impacted by this spill. the deep water horizon incident is a matter of national urgency. as americans we have a long history of joining together in times of need. we've got work to do to find observations in our national interest. in that spirit and in support of the people on the gulf coast whose lives and livelihoods have been affected, conoco phillips is providing manpower, materials and resources to responders and emergency personnel there. we will do so until the spill is contained in the affected areas have been restored. we are

california has 12% of the nation's population, but with 32% of the nation's welfare population. we get 25% of our entire budget from 144,000 people. that is in a state of 36 million people. we cannot sustain that if we say that if you are a wealth creator we are going to push you out, but if you want assistance, we will give you more than other states and create an incentive to come here. texas has 2% of the welfare population. look at tiger woods. he is a good golfer. he could have gone to any college. he closed -- he chose to stay close to his parents and went to stanford. the day he left california was the day he went professional. look at the williams sisters. they grew up playing in the parts of california. they no longer live here. we cannot drive that out and think we are going to create jobs. we cannot sustain that if we do not have the job creation base to be able to help people. 7% of all new jobs are created through small business. when you put a severance tax on small business, it is not going to help it grow. california needs to pull some regulations back. we live in

national press club speaker and head of the national government agency at a relatively young age compared to a lot of the people we have speaking here, no commentary on them and no commentary on you. you worked for the gates foundation. ufr for the u.s. department of agriculture as a chief scientist. you are the head of usaid but for some people in this room that is not enough. the final question, development experts have said they usaid chief position should be elevated to cabinet status or to a seat on the national security council. do you agree? [laughter] >> i thought we were going to a different place without question. in case anybody wants to know i really wasn't running for president at all. [laughter] look, i think it is incumbent upon us to get this reform agenda enacted into make usaid the most effective and strategically significant development enterprise anywhere in the world. i have now seen what our people are capable of and i know we can be successful at that and i'd know in this administration we have a huge amount of sup

forces, tripling the number of substantial funds that you all have authorized for the national security forces. and also a message of urgency, the urgency was the july 2011 peace, noting that what happens issa beginning of a prooess for transition that is conditions based and the beginning of a process of responsible drawdown of u.s. forces. >> when you said you continue to support the president's policy both in terms of additional troops and also the setting of that date to begin the reduction for the reasons the you just gave in terms of laying out the urgency for the afghans to take responsibility, is that represented of your best personal professional judgment? >> in a perfect world, mr. chairman, we have to be very careful with time lines. we went through this with iraq, as you recall, and i did ask to set a time line ultimately in iraq. testifying before this body, i said we would start the drawdown of our search forces in december. based on a prediction of projections that we will establish. we are assuming that we will have those kinds of conditions that will enable that by that

it is a national security issue with implications for all instruments of national power. the department of defense, u.s. cyber command, will do its best to protect us from all elements wishing to do was harmed in cyberspace. as i said in the beginning -- to do us harm in cyberspace. now, it is time to listen to your questions and concerns. i look forward to the interchange, and i thank you very much again for your attention. [applause] >> great, well, thank you, general alexander, and congratulations. if i could ask, could you do two favors? could you keep your questions brief so we could respect the generals a schedule? he does have a few other things to do -- so we could respect the general's schedule? you get a free microphone out of this. >> one of the questions i keep getting asked is how to use streamline -- how do you streamline obtaining permission in time for it to be tactically relevance -- relevant? >> that is a difficult issue. the question, i think everybody heard, is how do you streamline your counterattacks? i think i would enlarge it to say how do you do th

>> kroft: until february of 2009, retired admiral mike mcconnell was the nation's top spy. hief of national intelligence, he oversaw the central intelligence agency, the defense intelligence agency and the national security agency. few people know as much about cyber warfare, and our dependency on the power grid and the computer networks that deliver our oil and gas, pump and purify our water, keep track of our money, and operate our transportation systems. >> mcconnell: if i were an attacker and i wanted to do strategic damage to the united states, i would either take the cold of winter or the heat of summer. i probably would sack electric power on the u.s. east cost-- maybe the west coast-- and attempt to cause a cascading effect. all of those things are in the art of the possible from a sophisticated attacker. >> kroft: do you believe our adversaries have the capability of bringing down a power grid? >> mcconnell: i do. >> kroft: is the u.s. prepared for such an attack? >> mcconnell: no, the united states is not prepared for such an attack. >> president barack obama: it i

may the priorities and the work of this congress reveal your goodness to the nation and make all aware of divine providence behind every problem and obstacle as well as every delightful gift for you are our life and our salvation now and forever. amen. the speaker: the chair has examined the journal of the last day's proceedings and announces to the chamber her approval thereof. pursuant to clause 1 of rule 1 the jouunal stands approved. the pledge of allegiance will be led by the gentlewoman from north carolina, congresswoman foxx. ms. foxx: please join me in the pledge to our wonderful flag. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the speaker: the chair will entertain up to 10 requests for one-minute speeches on each side of the aisle. for what purpose does the gentleman from ohio rise? mr. kucinich: good morning, madam speaker. i ask permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. kucinich: what if the b

next, remarks from the ceo of the national rifle association. after that, president obama nominates a new director of national intelligence. later, federal response coordinator thad allen hold a briefing on the gulf of mexico oil spill. sunday on "newsmakers," the secretary of agrrculture talked about farm policy. he is interviewed by ellen ferguson of "congressional quarterly." watch "newsmakers" tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. eastern on c-span. the new british prime minister and conservative party leader david cameron fields questions from members of parliament as the head of the coalition government. sunday night at 9:00 on c-span. next, remarks from the ceo of the national rifle association. he spoke last month on his support for arizona's new immigration law and issues related to gun control. from his organization's annual meeting in charlotte, north carolina, this is 35 minutes. [laughter] [applause] >> are you ready to speak out for freedom? do you want to make a difference for the future of your country? it is great to be back here

we applaud the president's decision in defense of our nation. we think no one is more qualified than general patraeus to achieve a successful conclusion of the afghan conflict. we praise the seevice of general mcchrystal and thank him for his service to our nation and wish him well and every success in the future. we are confident that general patraeus' leadership will have a positive effect on the situation in the region. we still have concerns about the civilian side. in fact, it might -- you might suggest that the consideration might be given to the reuniting the crocker-patraeus team. we still have concerns about the civilian side of it and the non- military side of these equations. relations between the ambassador and president karzai, whether there is a sufficient civilian side on the ground. the hearing for general patraeus' confirmation will probably be the fastest in the history of the armed services committee. it will be done very soon. the concern that we have and the issue that will be raised in'general confirmation -- raised in gener

morage bankers assiation, the national association of home builders and the national association of realtors, not just the california divisions of those entities but entities that representhe entire countr i don't tnk the ohio realtors would be here opposing this amendment. ion't think the nebraska realtors, i don't ink the national association of realtors would be here opposing this amement if it hurt major s.w.a.s othe country. or if e amdment was ing to help major s.w.a.t.s of this country they wouldn't be opposing it. the fact is, the f.h.as current prram helps california witho hurting hose other states. it helps the washington, d.c., area, the new york area, much of virgiia, c. theorst tnge can do for this economy is cause a precipitous decline in the price of homes in the major metropolitan areain this country. our recovery is fragile. the program the wayt works now allows middle class families in both loangeles and in ohio to be able to finance homes. we ought to vote down this amendment. so please join with cirman frank, chairman wters, the na

and afghanistan now is a failure and that's causing a lot of friction in the national security team. >> suarez: well, professor, allegation we saw today, the commander of u.s. forces and nato forces in afghanistan serves at the pleasure of the president . but doesn't that person also have many other constituencies? is there repair work that now has to be done with nato, with the countries that were derisively talked of in the "rolling stone" article? >> well, you bet. the nato coalition is frag, and the intemperate remarks about some of our nato partners that were attributed to general mcchrystal's staff certainly aren't helpful. the other question is the one person in the af-pak account that had a decent relationship with president karzai was, in fact, general mcchrystal. and it will be interesting to see what approach general petraeus takes to dealing with karzai. one could argue that karzai's been more of a problem than the solution. and so it seems to me that what we ought to hope for is not a continuation or better implementation of the counter-insurgency strategy but, rather, so

sort of nationally? and in addition to that, what is the government's sort of role broadly in terms of ensuring privacy protection as it tries to get a better handle on the sflob >> ok, well, a couple of parts. let me handle first my role with respect to the military's networks and how we get situation awareness there. in a war zone i said we have three cases. in a war zone, commander has to have confidence in his command and control system. increasing our our intelligence, our operations, our weapons platforms are all being brought together in cyberspace. we have to have confidence that that space is secure and whoever's running that space for that commander in that area has to know that's secure. you can't afford to lose it. tremendous vulnerabilities. so my responsibility if that regard is help articulate the requirements in the wartime effort. if you think about the defense department networks globally, in the department defense networks. that's my role. if you look at the rest of the government, that

people of a nation should have. not only in daily life but also in terms of security. in order to create a good army, where do you regret that army from? from the people. if people do not have a culture, how do you turn regional individuals -- to think about the religious devices into a3 you have to instill a national culture and i can only happen if you have a leadership -- that can only happen if you have a leadership that inspires people towards that end and we have not had that yet. everything in afghanistan from then until now has been created based on allegations. we have to give this group that many seats. you cannot create a government that way. everything should be based on professionalism, performance, dedication, and credibility. that we have been lacking in that, in my opinion. the same goes with the national army and national police. 500,000, the total number of national army and national police is projected. afghanistan not only now but with our resources, it will be difficult to sustain that sort of military and security force. civic revival and responsi

i depend on the director of national intelligence. as dni, dennis blair continued the extraordinary service that defined his entire career. during his tenure, our intelligence community became more integrated and agile. i will always be grateful to him for his sense of purpose and his sense of service. today, i am proud to announce my choice for the next director of national intelligence, james clapper. with four decades of service to america, jim is one of our nation's most experienced and most respected intelligence professionals. as undersecretary of defense for intelligence, he has successfully overseeing the military and civilian intelligence personnel and budgets that make up the bulk of our 16-agency intelligence community. his improved information- sharing, improved support to our troops in iraq, and played a key role in our effort to update and reorient our intelligence community to meet the threats of our time. as director of two critical organizations -- including the defense intelligence agency -- and during a distinguished

the former director of national intelligence talks about u.s. security issues and the nomination of general james clapper to be the next head of the department of national intelligence. michael tomasky xamines president obama relationship with the of progressive and liberal wings of the deeocratic party. ryan crocker, former ambassador to iraq and pakistan, discusses recent sanctions against iran

it is dangerous activity that hurts the people of the coastal nations. that does not mean that we do not focus on what you referred to as the root causes. that is, the inability of governments to deliver public benefits to their people. the inability of governments to protect their own resources. the inability of the governments to give citizens what they need, which is daily security and a adequate access to the resources. off the coast of somalia, one of the major working groups of this 48-nation consortium is focused on building the capability of nations to work for themselves on addressing root causes. under the auspices of the united nations, there's a major international contact group focused purely on somalia. with respect to nigeria, there's a great deal of international attention going to that area of the country. speaking for americans, we understand and empathize with the people in africa who are trying to do so much with so little. you did not even mention other places that are also suffering. i do not think we are ignoring the root causes, bu

it is a national security issue+ with implication for all instruments of national power. the department of defense, u.s. cyber command will do its part to protect our great nation from elements wishing to do us harm in cyber space. as i said at the beginning, it is a privilege and honor to be a member of our cyber team. now it's time for me to listen to your questions and concerns, and i hope to broaden the dialogue that you at csis have promoted on cyber space issues. i look forward to the interchange and i thank you very much again for your attention. [applause] >> great. well, thank you, general alexander. congratulations. if i can ask when people raise their questions, could you do me two favors. could you identify yourself when you ask them, and could you keep the questions brief so we can respect the general's schedule. he does have a few other things to do. with that, we had one over right in the front row there. >> you get a free mic out of this. >> how do you streamline obtaining per mig for cyber attack in time for it to be tactically relevant, particularly again