this is alexander duchenne speaking to people in prague.this was the best time of my life because i was young and all of a sudden you could go on travel and i would hitchhike all over europe. we started to play rock music. so all of these things came together at the same time and we thought that the world opened up and it would be reasonable. i remember going in 1968, hitchhiking from belgium to england and arguing with somebody who was british army officer retired and he said you think russians won't come. i said they cannot do it because what would the whole world say about it? the big shock of 1968 when the russians came and of course i was in london on the first of august when the russian army came and i went to denmark for a month and it took me two months to come back to prague but in my book i took the liberty to sort of not explain it because it had become too difficult. i think today if i was not-- the russian tank complaints came i would would have left right there and would not spend another 15 years or something trying to figure

as president obama said in prague, "we cannot succeed in this endeavor alone."avor meaning a reduction and eventual elimination of nuclear weapons. he went on to say we can lead it and we can start it. that is what we are doing. some of my friends in both parties have many questions about various aspects of our approach i have just laid out for you. some in my own party may have trouble reconciling and investment of $7 million in our nuclear complex with a commitment to arms reduction. some in the are other party may -- some in the other party may worry we are relinquishing capabilities which have kept our country safe. with both of these groups, we respectfully disagree. as the only nation which has ever used a nuclear weapon, and as a strong proponent of nonproliferation, the united states has long embodied a stark but inevitable contradiction. the horror of nuclear conflict may make its occurrence unlikely, but its very existence -- the very existence of nuclear weapons leaves the human race ever at the brink of self destruction, particularly if the weapons f

division will be realistic or possible to read and likewise when president obama gave the speech in prague on april 5th and stated clearly and with conviction america's commitment to seek the peace and security of the world without nuclear weapons he also then followed the stigma of the vision with a series of proposals to take concrete practical steps to reduce nuclear dangers. so i think the cynics and supporters of the status quo focused on that in the goal, the division and it has drawn attention away from the wisdom and logic of these immediate and practical concrete steps. i want to bring back the focus and discuss a little bit the wisdom of those practical next steps as president obama outlined them on the treaty with russia of reducing the role and number of nuclear weapons beyond the new start treaty and finally realizing global verifiable ban on nuclear testing all of which in and of themselves are in the united states national security interest. let's start with the new start agreement. it is clear in my view 20 years after the cold war and many others lower verifiable elements

considering the president's speech in prague and its energy and animation about this issue, i would sayoing to be a more about document. we will have to see. >> anybody on this side? >> elaine rosman. -- grossman. i was wondering what the obama administration policy might look like in terms of dismantlement of the existing stockpiles of nuclear weapons that have been taken down. are you looking to take a deeper cut or faster rate of the settlement of the warehouses? >> that is a question for tom, who will be here later today. last year when i was in congress, in the house we increased the amount of money for dismantlement, specifically. so i think that is a better question for tom, since that is his responsibility. obviously, all of the pieces, all of the elements from cradle to grave of dismantlement or disarmament need to be addressed in funding. >> arms control t associationarmsom colino -- arms control association. can you classify the bulgaria missile defense situation that's been getting some play in the press recently? >> hart teams are in geneva. they're working hard to conform

but considering the president's prague speech and considering the presence energy and animation about this issue, i would say that this is not going to be a more abundant document. but we will have to see. mac anybody on the side? raise your hand. >> a link wasn't. i was one obama administration policy might look like in terms of dismantlement of existing stockpiles of nuke weapons that have been taken on deployment. are you looking to take a deeper cut or a faster rate of dismantlement? >> that's a question better asked to tom who i think will be here later today. last human eyes in the congress i know, in the house we increased the amount of money for dismantlement. specifically. so i think that's a better question for tom since that is his responsibility and bailiwick. but obviously, all of the pieces, all of the elements from cradle to grave of dismantlement, disarmament need to be addressed and funded. >> another question? >> thank you very much for being here. my question is is anything you can tell us about the new start negotiations and when they might be done? second question

toward that end we worked tirelessly to implement the president's prague agenda.n september, the president shared an historic meeting with the u.n. security council which unanimously embraced the key elements that the president laid out in his vision in prague. as i speak, u.s. and russian negotiators are completing an agreement that will reduce strategic weapons to their lowest levels in decades. you they, it's verification measures are going to provide confidence that the terms of that agreement are going to be met. these reductions will, will be conducted transparently and they will be predictable. a new start treaty will promote strategic stability and bolster the global effort to prevent proliferation by showing that the world's leading nuclear powers are committed to reducinging their arsenal and will build momentum for the collaboration with russia on strengthing the global consensus that nations who violate the npt's obligations should be held accountable. this strategy is already yielding results. we have tightened sanctions on north korea's proliferation

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and that is why in prague, president obama called for a new framework for civil nuclear cooperation as he put it so that countries can access peaceful power without increasing the risks of proliferation. the united states is taking steps to build that international framework in consultation with colleagues around the world. last october i traveled to beijing for a meeting of the global nuclear energy partnership that includes 25 members and 31 observers to discuss these opportunities. to be clear, the united states is no longer pursuing those aspects of the global nuclear energy partnership or g. knapp as it's commonly known that relate to the early recycling of reprocess plutonium and commercial airs. but we are still pursuing those aspects that seek to assure countries that they make in the bible that says to nuclear fuel services without developing their own uranium enrichment and plutonium separation capabilities. at the beijing meeting, the gnap executive committee agreed and i'm going for their documents, to explore ways to enhance the international framework for civil nuclear co

again, the emphasis on the homeland regional proven technology and as the president said in prague inly, i has to be proven and cost-effective -- it has to be proven and cost- effective. and flexibility, it cannot just be something that is outmoded if we need to be able to evolve as the threat matures, and more and more, cooperation with our allies and friends is very very important. today, we are working with about 20 nations around the world. we have a very mature program with the japanese, three of their four destroyers are each is capable and they have been over here -- that are aegis capable and they have been over here. and as you know, we have -- we are preparing a case for three thadd baters fobatteries for thr united arab emirates. i am ready for your questions. >> the -- you talked about abo moving to ddr & e. will they be not at [inaudible] >> will have enough funding now to maintain the aircraft -- we will have enough funding now to maintain the aircraft and some testing. the budget drops off in 2010, we have $100 million available. >> are there other tests? >> we have an

announced that the work on the treaty is almost done and it's prepared for signing, presumably in praguer reaction on the u.s. side about that? >> i think we are optimistic that with the start negotiations having reconvened this week in geneva, that it can be -- the remaining issues can be resolved and negotiations completed rather quickly. with that said, i wouldn't put a particular timeline on it. i think when it's done and when -- we can both reflect that this is a treaty that is in russia's interests and the united states interests, then we'll try to figure out how to -- >> no time, no place? >> [laughter] i mean, i think it will be an opportunity to celebrate and to recognize the important achievement as advancing our mutual interest in arms control and nonproliferation. but let's get across the finish line, and then we can figure out where we go from there. >> go ahead. >> go ahead. >> can i follow up on that? >> sure. >> is it going too far to say that an agreement of principles has been reached? >> i think the negotiations -- negotiators are still at work. >> on climate? >> yeah.

if -- we don't have to raise them a lot, just a little bit in a prague-based way -- in a broad-based way that would not have negative consequences the economists would suggest. i don't disagree with me philosophy with the philosophy, but what kind of taxes will raise? that will make all the difference at the end of the day. thank you, it is a pleasure. [applause] >> thank you so much. we promised not to shoot the messenger. we appreciate you taking the time to join nga. we will turn to someone who is an innovator in the private sector. i would like to introduce senator granholm. >> i suspect this introduction will lead you to a speaker that will be a little more optimistic than mark zandi did, because alan molly is a champion and positive force -- alan mullaly is a champion. he was the ceo of bellingham -- ceo of boeing, and was recruited to become the ceo of ford motor co.. many of you know that ford was one of the companies that did not require taxpayer assistance, and has done a phenomenal job of emerging and navigating a tough time. that is under alan's wonderful leadership. we a

as the president's stated in prague in april 2009, nuclear terrorism is the most extreme threat to global, our third release of visitor records will be made public. at that point, we will release the names of over 150,000 visitors to the white house complex. those will cover official events between november 1 and november 30 of 2009. earlier this morning, the president had a secure video teleconference with british prime minister gordon brown and german chancellor on the lumber co -- chance angela merkel. they talked about trade issues as well as the upcoming nuclear security summit. looking at the week ahead, the president has no public events tomorrow. on sunday, the president will travel to the national naval medical center in bethesda, maryland, where he will undergo a routine physical. afterwards, he will visit wounded warriors who are getting treatment at the same facility. just a quick coverage note on that -- if you are in the pool that day, please see katie. it will be a barely -- a very early movement on sunday. we will have a readout from the doctor sometime, hopefully, early t

so said president obama in prague. this january, a bipartisan group of american national security leaders came together to help guide our thinking on these important issues. former secretary of state george schultz, former secretary of defense william perry, former national security advisor and secretary of state henry kissinger, and former senator sam nunn also have stellar national security experience and credentials. they wrote together -- and i quote -- "nuclear weapons today present tremendous dangers but also an historic opportunity. u.s. leadership will be required to take the world to the next stage, to a solid consensus for reversing reliance on nuclear weapons globally as a vital contribution to preventing their proliferation into potentially dangerous hands and ultimately ending them as a threat to the world." president obama is willing and able to provide this leadership at this critical point in history. the administration is in the final stages of negotiating the start treaty with russia. this treaty woul