Transcripts For CSPAN2 U.S. Japan Korea Cooperation Panel 1 20180108

Are at isctrilat d. C. So my name is Alexander Evans and of the your master for todays event and i currently work as the research and Program Coordinator at the center for east Asian Studies within Johns Hopkins sais. Perhaps more important for todays event i am an alum of the 63rd japanamerican student conference back in 2011. I think in a lot of ways it was bad experience that really continued to motivate me to study japan put you on the path that i am in the creek of that experience. Particularly given that it was right after the march 11 triple disaster, an opportunity when japan was not open to many students to be able to go in and have persontoperson exchange with something that i would say it may sound corny but i changed my life. And so before we get started today will have a couple introductory marks so i would first like to introduce ms. Linda butcher, secular director of isc. Prior to this role she served as a director of Media Relations and Public Affairs at the current Economic Institute of america and legislative researcher for the congressional section at the embassy of the republic of korea in washington, d. C. She has written and spoken on topics related to technology, security, gender and the environment. So we look forward to having her. Welcome to todays event. [applause] thank you, alex, for the very kind introduction. And thank you all for joining us on this very cold morning. You being here is a testament to your support of the next generation of leaders who continue to strengthen relations between u. S. , japan and korea are coming up International Student conference is we would like to express our deep gratitude to his will to make this years weeklong forum possible. To u. S. Department of state and u. S. Embassy in tokyo, the u. S. Japan foundation, Korea Foundation, Japan Foundation center for Global Partnership, and Sasakawa Peace foundation usa. Because of these supporters isc was able to fly into when one of our distinguished executive Committee Members for the japanamerican student conference and admit for this time and muchneeded program. It is to and on working with you all and we look forward to continue to gather to empower and support our student leaders. In the course of this week the Committee Members met with key experts, Government Officials, media and the public who are looking to them to continue building relations to problem solve and to continue their search for the truth. A common question i was asked was how would you handle the situation, or what is your background on trilateral relationship that you feel you can continue moving forward in this . And although its only the fourth day of 2018, the worse a lot of discussion but use as you relations about what is going on in the asia region. There was a lot of discussion of fears or trepidation about what will happen this year and beyond. But as i they continue to obsee our student leaders interacting with these experts and his officials, id really felt at peace. I really felt that these are people taking into account the relationship between the three countries, building relationships and friendships that will last a lifetime, and that will continue to strengthen the relationship no matter how we may move forward. So for those are watching or not at conferences we are a nonprofit based in washington, d. C. Whose main goals are to prepare and support the future generation of u. S. Japankorea. Japanamerican student conference was created in 1934 and when relations between japan and america were declining. Im sure the two countries would go to work and students from american japan Work Together to serve as a bridge of understanding and friendship across the pacific. Now 83 years later its Mission Continues to be just a significant today as when it was founded. In 2008 isc launched a second student conference between although relations have been strong for decades, kasc was found when the alliance was facing several challenges and the need for improved cultural understanding and people to people diplomacy was vital in order to strengthen relations between the two countries. Now ten years later kasc has grown to identify and support future leaders who continue serving as bridges and ambassadors to their countries. So what are these conferences and this symposium so important . This is the major question i asked last to get as we share again and again use relations with japan and korea are stronger than ever and they are americas strongest allies. But allies is not only built by government. Their foundation is the people. It would be unwise for us to not only think shortterm. We must pass the torch and begin preparing the next generation. When looking at this years conference and this and this yr symposium we work with our student leaders to make sure were discussing topics of interest to them as we continue in the field. As i look at them i see whatever challenges our three countries may face we have about lifelong friendships, and will persevere through any obstacles that come our way. If you believe im painting a rosy colored picture, i recommend you to look at his ever conferences and how we shape the world views. It is so important we continue to carry conferences and symposium to provide opportunities for students to gain leadership skills and to expose people to outside cultures in order to gain mutual understanding, friendship and trust between the three countries. Thank you. [applause] thank you, ms. Butcher. We know that theres a lot of effort that goes into organizing the symposium and forum, and lively and enjoyable discussion will be no small part to your great effort. Next it is my great honor to introduce ambassador James Zumwalt who will give a final opening remarks. He became chief executive officer of the Peace Foundation usa and friendly 2017 before that privacy serve as the ambassador to the republic of senegal and the republic of guinea the sol from 2015 to general 2017. Initially responsible for policy towards japan and korea as Deputy Assistant secretary in the view of east Asian Affairs within department of state. When the great east japan earthquake and tsunami struck japan in 2011 ambassador somewhat was serving as a deputy chief in u. S. Embassy tokyo. He also has 36 your Foreign Service career spanning across the globe and was a great pleasure to have him here today. [applause] good morning, everyone. I wanted to start by thanking you all for coming today braving the snow and cold. I just hope how poor we all feel it is to talk about use japan korea relations. So its wonderful to see you all today. I, too, wanted to thank linda butcher because i know such a conference isnt easy to put on. Its really important but it requires a lot of effort, i want to thank you, linda, and i see for all the work youve done is simply such of august group of students who can, and talk together. Briefly, on Sasakawa Peace foundation, our mission can we also a nonprofit based in washington, d. C. At our mission is to strengthen usjapan relations through education and research, through programs such as this one. And were delighted to be what of the cohost of the fifth Trilateral Forum with the International Student conferences. This is the third time we are supporting this initiative to bring together korean, japanese and American University student leaders. I briefly wanted to talk about trilateral relationship between japan, korea and the United States, and some of my predecessors of here talked about u. S. Alliances with japan and korea. But from our perspective in the United States its really important to see the outline structure in east asia and how we dont have to bilateral alliances. We really have a web of contacts and a web of relationships that because its heavy would not be possible, for example, for the United States to meet our defense obligations to the republic of korea without access to u. S. Bases in japan and those bases are there because of our alliance with japan. So from the perspective of the United States, these are not two separate alliances. Its really one network of obligations and of responsibilities that we face together. But also its natural for the United States, japan and korea to Work Together and think together because we have so many shared values. The three countries are democracies. We believe in human rights, in the rule of law, and perhaps most important we have shared love of baseball. [laughing] we also have many shared interests, certainly the republic of korea, japan and the United States all want to see a stable and peaceful order in northeast asia and in the region. We really want to see growing Economic Prosperity around the world. My last assignment before retiring from the state of robert i was u. S. Ambassador to senegal and guineabissau, and we work very closely with our friends from the japanese and korean governments. Because we had a lot of shared interest. For example, the United States had a very large peace corps presence in senegal with 250 volunteers, but the two next largest country sending volunteers to senegal korea and japan, the quick volunteers were throughout the country doing many of the same things that American Peace corps volunteers were doing. And as a traveler in senegal i really enjoyed meeting with young koreans and young japanese who were sacrificing to use otherwise to go volunteer overseas to try and make the world a better place. It was really gratifying to see that but it also reinforce to the other three countries share common values and how young people in japan, korea and the United States earlyseason success of global citizens wanted to make contributions outside their own countries. I think its important for us, i know we love good conversation today and we are already having some good conversations but its important for us to acknowledge while we may have differences, our commonalities are more important than our differences. Or submit its potential for partnership as we Work Together to advance our common interests around the world. So programs like this one where youre going to be discussing some important issues like digital diplomacy and challenges in the workplace, i hope overly create a foundation for Even Stronger trilateral relations going forward. I look for to hearing your conversations and remarks today, and i wanted to thank you all for inviting the and give me the chance to talk. Thank you very much. [applause] thank you, ambassador zumwalt, think again to Sasakawa Peace foundation usa for their support of todays event. I would now like to ask all the speakers for the first battle to head to the stage. So this first panel today will focus on digital diplomacy. And while i think in a lot of ways digital diplomacy is changing, take a look at todays upper level of government, we certainly have a new revolution and political rhetoric on services such as twitter. But i think it also expands much more than just from the high level. I hope with the payment i think what the panel will talk about today is looking at how this change in technology and connection it impacts us on a persontoperson level. Obviously before once the great barriers to Communication Exchange was the distance between all these countries involved in todays trilateral summit. But as we decrease distance to the mix of new Technological Advancement and services, that really paved a new way to change how we interact not only those around us immediately but across the world. While they are finalizing the prep id like to introduce a moderator for todays first panel. Ms. Waltzed into the is a graduate in the Public Administration and Public Policy program at auburn university. As an american delicate of the globalization and Economic Development roundtable during the 68th japan america student conference didnt weigh 16, she became interested in trade policy and Economic Development and will continue to pursue these throughout her graduate career. As he stood she several years working, especially working universal influence be a development both for University Wide giving and targeting constituencies for pictures currently and Interviews Department of state virtual student federal program or supervise Research Support for womens Economic Empowerment to the Global Entrepreneurship program. We look forward to the panel. Thank you. So thank you, ambassador zumwalt, and linda, for those remarks. Thank you as well. To begin the panel on digital diplomacy im going to introduce again myself and a five panelists and then allow first the Student Panelists and that i guessed to talk about their own expenses and perspectives about digital diplomacy in the 21st century. After that we will open up the floor to questions and discussion. When we open up the floor to questions and answers, id like to ask the audience members these went to be called on and we will bring your microphone and then we ask a question please state your name and your affiliation with for the question. Thank you much. Again my name is wallis and im a graduate student at auburn university. A cohesive as a interest for the department of state, and i was also 60 japanamerican delicate and i can definitely say that i would not be on the path duty to without that transformed the experience. Some like to thank isc again for that. Our Student Panelists are rebecca anderson, the chair of the 11th koreaamerica student conference American Executive Committee that she completed her undergraduate studies at Johns Hopkins university and is a u. S. Fulbright scholar pursuing masters at the graduate school of International Studies in seoul south korea. Our other Student Panels is ayano sasaki, vice chair of the seventh japanamerican student conference is japanese executive committee. Shes a sophomore at University State law. She is correct to go to korea as a representative. Im not going to produce our professional, the professionals on a panel. Julie chung has been the direct of the office of Japanese Affairs since august last you. Shes a career member of this Foreign Service with the rank of men as a counselor and a of positions including the deputy chief of mission in cambodia, the Economic Council in thailand, the chief of staff for concision in baghdad chording civilian military for assistance, and economic officer in tokyo, and chording programs with a Development Organization for the korea desk in washington to name a few pictures eat a bachelors degree in Political Science from university of california san diego and a masters from columbia university. Our next panelists is karl friedhoff. He curses as a fellow of Public Opinion and foreignpolicy of the Chicago Council on global affairs. He served as Korea Foundation u. S. Korea nexus skull and is member of the foundation trilateral working group. Karl has, was basins away as Program Officer in the Public Opinion city program. He received his bachelor screen Political Science at Wittenberg University and his masters degree in International Commerce at Seoul National university. Unless professional on the panel is shanti shoji, kizuna across cultures which aims to put dash before linkages are virtual cultural and Language Exchange program. Before cofounding kizuna across cultures in 2011, tracy worked in japan for the Teaching Program as a manager for the International Exchange foundation in tokyo. She also served as a Cultural Affairs chordata at two Japan Information Cultural Center with the embassy of japan in the United States. Shanti received a a bachelor screen japanese and initial studies on university of oregon at a masters degree from the American University school of international service. So id like to let rebecca began, and if she could, can you tell us about your viewpoint of government actors excising digital diplomacy . Not only in korea and the United States and japan is will but across the globe. Other anyways we can approve the coordination and cooperation of these Communication Strategies . Well, first of all id like sorry. I would just like to thank isc so much for this opportunity. Its kind of a surreal moment to be sitting at the amongst such distinguished speakers who are much far more qualified to speak on the subject that i am, but when we talk about digital diplomacy, talking about new approaches to diplomacy and to changing International Policy agendas, this is the world that we as student leaders, i think its a very relevant that we are part of the discussion and happy to be a today. So even though i am not south korean myself, as a representative of the koreaamerica student conference, i will do my best to come speak from a a south koren perspective and to do it justice in the discussion today. So going back to just about digital diplomacy in todays governance, in terms of our south korea is out today, you know, this country is very much seen as a very advanced pics i think moving forward, south korea as a nation very much uniquely positioned to take advantage of these new approaches to diplomacy. I think theres a lot of area just to thrive moving forward. We have definitely seen over the past few years effort towards this. You know, i for one am very appreciative of the fact that i can take a 40 minute subway ride and be connected to be free wifi the entire time. In terms of things like Internet Speed and connectivity, social media ownership these the thing south korea is a leader in. I think moving for it will be very interesting to see how south korea really takes up the mantle of digital diplomacy and incorporates it into its traditional approaches of reaching out to the rest of the world. I think that at the current moment we have president moon the rant of a Successful Social Media Campaign during the election process. We have a new admission of Foreign Affairs was background at the u. N. Pics of these a very highlevel officials who are position to take me into this next stage. And moving forward into this new kind of air were digital diplomacy is not just novel. It will become a norm. I think i have a few actual suggestions for how south korea can make some changes moving forward, just for my own perspective again, by no means an expert. But i think would be very pertinent for the government go, you know, beyond just south korea, its important to clearly defined objectives for digital diplomacy. Its not just about jumping on the bandwagon. Its about taking advantage of these Natural Resources that are already there. I think it will really help south korea fully realize its global potential. Another area i would personally really like to see, i would like to see an expansion of english social Media Presence and also really dedicated staff across all platforms. We have twitter, always twitt, facebook, youtube, unit, the list goes on and on. I think there had been some inroads made, doing very well in facebook. Theres a Korea Foundation initiative in a restaurant guidebook app. Just that update works now in english but also very much appreciate that. But i think this could be an area moving forward when we can see, has a more growth in. In my last kind of point, i would like to try phone is that it may be a bit for sumptuous of me as as a young person speakin this panel, but it do think we are talking about digital diplomacy there is, young people do seem to go hand in hand with that. To us, these Digital Tools are not so much new. We grew up with this. We have different way of viewing how these things can be used and we are very familiar with it. So i would like to see for south korea taking vantage of the generation gap, putting more trust in younger people. I think thisll be, just based on the Higher Society that account has but theres a certain amount of risk taking and trust that has to come along with digital policy. I think moving forward, south korea is positioned to be a leader in this field and very excited to see moving forward and i think this could also be very pertinent to the discussion of trilateral relations. To make use of for example they made a social media policy and its based on those kind of policy they have allowed an account now. Like youtube an instagram. So like if you added our government to your friend, you can get a message from your government. For example last december. [inaudible] and adduction problems between japan and north korea. Our government sends an image so we can gather information directly from our government now. I am convinced that it can be used for our country progress. I guess now in japan, we are sharing information among japanese people and also the people who are interested in diplomat issues. So from my perspective i have some, we can improve the some things. [inaudible] what they want to tell people all over the world or they can promote things like diplomacy by using this properly and they can collaborate. [inaudible] for example, like i joined the program between japan and korea last summer. [inaudible] when i put the picture about the problem they ask us to use the so if we can collaborate with the diplomacy and cultural diplomacy, we can expect more in our field. From my personal experience. [inaudible] so like i feel like we have diplomacy and we can make the issue more known to come and people. I guess the cultural social diplomacy and people to people still have a body. My suggestion is to collaborate between diplomacy. [inaudible] fantastic. Thank you. I think collaboration is deftly important in bringing those two messages together, especially going into the 21st century and with all the technology we have today. Julie, i would like to ask you, how can we, as current public administrators and government representatives, how can we create and maintain relationships of integrity and transparency in arc medications with the public whether its crosscultural communication or things like that. Is it possible to do this through Digital Media what is left to come across as impersonal . Where can we go with this . First i want to say thank you for the organizers for organizing this event. Were talking about shared values here. This personally peaked my interest. As a korean american born in seoul korea, this trilateral form is really a great place for me too participate and be a part of. Thank you for writing me. I will talk more about the state department view on how weve adapted to the changing environment of medications. Medications in the 20th century, diplomacy as we know it was really restricted to how governments communicated to other governments. There was no government indicating to other populations, to the public directly. What changed all that . Radio. And there was a huge expansion of radio and the popularity of radio. People could communicate directly. Fastforward and we were not only focusing on the messaging of radio but the people to people ties and developing programs which some of you have been involved in the past. Now fastforward to after september 11, after those attacks. Secretary colin powell established the tax force on e diplomacy. Following on his steps created a transformation of diplomacy. Something she pulled the george georgetown crowd is that this requires the modernization of the state department. We need to trust our people to manage risk, get our people the best technology to liberate them from embassies and offices so we can work anytime and anywhere. We need to be better at fostering an rewarding creativity and initiative. This really spurred a lot of the programs at the state department. Jared , 24 years old came into the state department as secretary on e diplomacy initiatives. When i met him in iraq, when he brought jack dorsey from twitter to see how we could engage very Young Audiences and using technology to affect change. Following that, to get to the next level, how to use social networking with video and social media to reach large numbers of people that we otherwise couldnt . We did things like text message reminders so hiv patients can know when they have to go in for check up. How to develop public works in the most remote and rural countries in africa and elsewhere. We were leapfrogging from communities, from using a cash culture to mobile banking. How do we do this diplomacy are happening very rapidly. When you look at the obamas administration. Now under President Trump the use of twitter as a way of direct messaging. Just for comparison, in 2013 the state departmento its visor. Mobile devices are the way we connect, we learned, we date, we shop and thats the way diplomacy must adapt and using that to deliver messages. Recently during President Trumps visits to asia, were not just depending on media outlet but twitter and facebook we are trying to get our message across. When we look at how were using it strategically, one example how we want to exchange usjapan student exchanges. We would like to double the amount by 2020. One of the things we are using is social Media Analytics productive tool we did not have in previous years. We can look at college teens and address their specific concerns. We also can do decode what diplomacy means to the average american. We now have how each state in the United States contributed how the state department can contribute to the development and economic growth. When you have this marketplace of Free Exchange there are challenges because anybody can pose anything at anytime. We have false information and things that are not true. That is one of the challenges so we have to dress and encounter right away. In my own career, ive seen digital the diplomacy and ill give you two example. When i was in hanoi vietnam in 2004 we had our first web chat, live web chat. It was unheard of at the time. In vietnam the sensors are very strong in terms of what we could interview, what programs we can organize, what cultural music programs were allowed to be performed. This live web chat where we didnt have any previews or censorship where the investor could talk directly to the audience in vietnam was really lifechanging. I think it was just the start of how we were using digital diplomacy in a country like that. Second example is cambodia. I just spent three years in cambodia. Its a Poor Development country with gdp. Capita of 1200. 69 people. Two thirds of the population is under 30. Its very ripe for digital diplomacy. This is where the cambodians access information mainly through social media. Thats where they seek youth and other entertainment information. Facebook started off with maybe a thousand followers in the first year. Within the few years has jumped incredibly to over 1. 3 million followers. Thats in a country where 4 million are using the internet. We have captured the audience of those facebook users. Thats where we can relay information. Again, without any censorship or interference. Also without a former people can comment on the facebook page. Some are negative but many were positive. It allowed Democratic Free speech to flourish. We have a former we accept criticism and praise and a form for all. That is to the ways that ive seen that the state department has used digital diplomacy to really empower, connect to people and listen. I think that would be a huge range of tools that will continue to revolutionize and we will continue to adapt to the flourishing development. With your expense abroad, was facebook the best digital diplomacy tool that you seem to work best for your organization at times or live web chat . Does that seemed like the best way to do that . Do you think technology has improved diplomatic relations, especially overseas for our government. I think so, yes. It provides an avenue for people to connect to people where they otherwise wouldnt. If you look at it twitter following of President Trump or the pope, you have average everyday citizens who feel like they can connect with those people. I can tell you how many times ive met people on twitter and mentor months or years later in person and it makes you feel closer to that person and what they stand for what i said in the past. I know they have their challenges as well we cant rely on it purely, the facetoface exchanges are important but i do think it does help as a tool in diplomacy. Im gonna turn now, do think there is the best digital platform for diplomacy . Is there best strategy to approach how we absorb and use information that we receive digitally and in diplomatic ways and how can you relay that to others as well . Does it apply domestically or Cross Cultural medication. We are getting the message out. Its always twitter. For me theres been a Natural Division and what ive seen, the personal down facebook and the professional sizes friendly for twitter. But as i think about it, something always comes to mind. Theres been a lot of positivity about digital diplomacy. It will stick with us. Offer a little different take and people are in Public Opinion dont often think highly of social media. Everyone has the idea that yes theres a big effect of your out there but as far as affecting the vote, thats not exactly been shown in a number of countries where it hasnt carried over. The thing i think about a lot, if you seen the movie a space odyssey getting a lot of play flux on guessing maybe a little too old for this crowd, but in the beginning theres a scene called the dawn of man. Hes kind of idling around with it playing it around and he starts to hit things and break things and then he realizes that this bone can be a tool and as hes doing it hes smashing things and envisioning all of the things he can hunt in the food he can have and so then its this unlocking the power of civilization. And then in the next scene i tried comes up and he has this tool in his hand and then he murders some with with it. That to me is like twitter. It has the power to bring people together but you get on there and within one minute someone gets murdered. Its the goblins law. Any kind of conversation will trend toward comparison to hitler. You see that all the time. Now to go back to the element that julie brought up, digital diplomacy is going to be with us and its important but the Human Element will never go away nor should it. That is incredibly important just as weve mentioned you have that context for the person. All of these social tools are really what you make of them. Too often i think they get away from us and they take us in a very bad direction. Not to follow up, this is probably not a great followup thing is taking us in about direction, but the president tweets, when we do polling at the Chicago Council and not only our polling but other places of polling, the public does not want the president to tweet. That comes out very clear. Thats democrats, republicans, even when we divide republicans into courtroom supporters and non trump republicans, basically minorities say the president should stop tweeting. Its not seen as effective, if not see seen as furthering u. S. Strategic goals. Coming back to the Human Element, i think thats why these conferences are so important and especially at a young age. To meet people that are going to share some of the same interests, and then i think youll find that over time your lives will intertwine inandout of each other. Was mentioned how you meet someone on twitter, you followed him and a month later years later you actually meet them in person. People that are here now will in the interacting with them very unusual ways, ways you never would have imagined in the future. Youll see them move up into new jobs and youll move up in your comments contact. I think this kind of thing will be the backbone of diplomacy of the future. Fantastic. If you can speak to this, how can we decide and filter what statements may be made on digital platforms tools and things like that, how can we filter out what statements were what concerns are legitimate concerns. What one speak authoritatively and which might not speak authoritatively. My approach is to listen to nothing. I have a very strong filter so anything that comes out through twitter, facebook i take with a grain of salt because i think its just all pr usually. Of course theyre trying to get their message out and thats what needs to happen, but you have to be much more dedicated if youre trying to look at some these problems so you take one piece of information from twitter and then you have to go look at the news, look at the analyst, look at the experts. The fact that its going to be big and its fun to be there, we have to be dedicated about how we use it who we listen to and do our due diligence. Absolutely. I was wondering if you could maybe speak to this as well. With your Educational Program experience, crosscultural costs medication experience, can you add onto that and see what your perspectives are not personal, think is a much to linda and everyone for having casey as we go by for sure. Its part of this important discussion. Thank you so very much. So, it was the tsunami in 2011 that happened in japan and that was kind of the impetus or what brought about our organization and our program. I am a former jet participant so the Japan Exchange Teaching Program so myself and some other former jet and our japanese friends really wanted to do something for those in japan when the tsunami shot. We were all here in washington d. C. Basically we came up with an idea to connect students the of the internet. We didnt have a lot of money and we wanted to do a project that would bring more than just what our donation to give to basically what we created now and have been doing for five and half years is our virtual cultural and Language Exchange called global classmates. We take a group of High School Students in the u. S. Studying japanese and those in japan studying english and we can stem the a e classroom that we create for them. It looks a bit like facebook but its on a social, and educational website platform is monitored and secured. For six months they post messages to each other. Due to the time difference its more asynchronous, posting messages, they talk about fund fund things that they like to talk about like music or what food theyre eating are whats cool. We do fun topics like whats on your bucket list or, if you could be anyone for a day who would you be and why. So, students write in both english and japanese allowing them to practice what they are studying and allowing the other side to learn from a native speaker of the language they are studying. It is very collaborative. So, its been interesting to hear more from the government, the policy sector and Public Opinion. Repent of taking these down and brought it to an educational level. I think whats been hit upon is really important, your thing called the Human Connection, everyone sang the Human Connection is so important. We dont see digital diplomacy as a digital verses in person but rather a pipeline to in person. We all have had an experience in our life that somehow sparked interest in this and aflame to really want to be curious about International Things are learn a language. There is a program in japan that does International Exchange programs for students in japan and have a large amount of data about the students going on the program. The big thing they found is that everyone had that moment. For one kid it was the new International Student from the u. S. That he fell for and all the sudden he wanted to speak english or learn about her culture. For someone else its when they were in school someone came and talked to them about another country so i think its really important that with digital diplomacy we kind of, or these Digital Tools we think about creating touch points for students, especially our youth, to somehow get interested in furthering and opening up their world. And all of these things are really important and i think that you were talking about, right now we only work with the u. S. And japan but having south korea, with all of their technological advances, i think having something thats in an educational way, into each school or classroom would really help. With our program the majority is six months of writing messages online but we do have an exchange of, a Gift Exchange and we also do a video competition and we currently, as of this past summer, we are very excited sat on a summit so the global classmates summit which the u. S. Embassy in tokyo and center for Global Partnership was free thanks to them. The virtual exchanges also free so students, teachers pay nothing. U. S. Embassy foundation are also big funders. I think having both resources and funding is important to get the youth really energized but with the summit, when we brought people in person, they had already talked to each other for six month online those kind of this you met in the twitter online sphere and then you get to know each other and when you meet each other its like youve never met but you have so this is awkward like do we hug or what we do but our students only had eight nights together here in d. C. But it was amazing how quickly they could bond with each other and learn and help each other so i think looking at digital diplomacy as a pipeline in a way to really allow our youth to gain those touching points and opportunities despite their socioeconomic background or if they live in rural u. S. Immediately have access to International Chains it really allows for that. Fantastic. Absolutely, i agree with keeping it across cultures and programs like this, it certainly way we can inoculate and train young people to interact with other people. Again to get more involved in politics and international relations. I guess id like to open up the panel, i have a question. I just lost the question but how much of an impact is cultural diplomacy having conflict mitigation whether its through education, cultural exchanges or any other type of exchange and in what way, is it insufficient by itself or how can we supplement the strategy . Is it just by combining digital diplomacy with people or the other methods and strategies. Thats one piece ever got, an important piece ever got to mention, but the impact is that our virtual exchange, we do a very robust exit survey. The teachers agree they will do it so we have about 90 return rate. Last year we had over 1100 surveys from our students and it shows that 90 of the students are more motivated to communicate in the language theyre studying. The more motivated to study abroad and engage with International Things. So if online or these digital exchanges can be incremented correctly, they have a huge impact. We showed with the summit, it just moves on to them wanting to do further things so i think it has a big impact if its implemented correctly. What youre talking about is essentially whats known. [inaudible] in the academic literature, that is not proven. If you come into contact with someone, theory is you will grow fondness for them but the other opposite is that you can go to hate them more. In within the academic literature its very controversial. This idea that you will interact with someone doesnt mean you will grow this fondness predicate speaks to you, its really about how you engage in the type of people you engage with. Again, that Human Element of surrounding yourself with likeminded people can be important even though that will run the risk of creating that bubble, but we should get ahead of ourselves and assume that were just interacting with someone will predispose to like in the more. Undertake the opposing view and say anything helps. Any other type of diplomatic interaction, people to people, culture to culture, students to students, we think that all contributes to greater understanding. Ill just give one quick example. In the 1990s, i dont know if you recall there was a huge riots in los angeles after after american student was shot and killed by a korean american grocer. It fueled intense tensions between those two communities. At the time my father set up program to have exchanges between innercity after American Students and korean students and this continued for several years. It did create a much greater understanding and appreciation of the various cultures that we are dealing with. Im a big believer in those types of interactions having a positive effect. Another question, in what ways can civilian and Government Entities operate and coordinate digital diplomacy programs . How are we able to coordinate and cooperate . I think from someone in the field, we are a nonprofit and we look for anyone who wants to fund us so the u. S. Embassy in tokyo was great. Theyre the ones that i went to the Masters Office in augus august 2012 and said we tried a pilot, we had all these papers with maps, these were the schools were to work with. It was awesome, how can we support you so i think having that energy within the government of willing to take risks that we talked about is important to try Different Things. We work with the private companies who also fund our programs. I think theres organizations i can kinda bring those together but definitely i think theres a lot to be said for the program. I know its not digital diplomacy but private and public coming together can do a lot of good. Fantastic. I had one last question on messaging. What are some ways in which government can maintain consistency, speaking about the increased traffic that the state Department Website has received an individual actors in their own messaging, through their own digital platform, how can you maintain consistency and if we cant maintain it, how can they correct their mistakes and messagings and conflicting points of view. I think hes correct when he says you cant base everything on a once read on itself. Policies and strategies are not really through one tweet but it is a part of it. Its a Government Official tweet something and then he follows up with a statement from the state department or white house. Then we have a press conference and then we have an interview so its all part of a larger piece so the tweet becomes part of that messaging to make that consistent. I would like to open up questions to the public if anyone has them. Again we will go around with microphones so ill let you, please state your name and your association. My name is ethan, im a recent graduate and im currently serving as the american vice chair. My question is while technology has made information more assessable, its also becoming incredibly easy to weapon i social media by spreading false and misinformation. As we are learning from the current investigation into russias interference in the 26 election, its now possible for foreign entities to run calculated, targeted misinformation campaigns across the globe. What effect does it have on global diplomacy and does the panel believe we should regulate these means of munication to prevent additional tax. That false information is really widespread now, more faster and more than ever. Terrorists actors also use social media to recruit so it is not always a positive influence. There are negative aspects of social media and twitter as well, but i think despite all the laws, it is overall a positive tool and we should correct those errors, cracked the messaging and again, as carl said, do your homework. You have to havent hear integrity in terms of seeking out information from a wide variety of sources. Dont rely on one source. We need broad Tech Knowledge and sources for information. I think it also shows how important it is for us to get to know each other and gives even more way of why digital diplomacy is so important. This festival is largely free so i think we need to better harness those tools and understand how to incorporate them into our Education System or use them in ways that allow us to further get to know each other regularly hear things we can say is that really true rather than just. [inaudible] another question from the audience. Did you have a question . My question is for carl. I appreciate the 2001 reference. I have seen the movie. My question is about the use of twitter and the polling data. And the use of it. Wondering if the issue you are finding is more one of content versus medium but if its actually the medium then what does that say about digital the policy . Im happy i reached at least one person. Thats a success in and of itself. On the content versus medium, i think it specifically the content. We didnt include a lot of information about that. And we had a list of do these approaches as effective ways to achieve u. S. Foreign policy goals and the long list, i can remember all of them, the one that sticks out was twitter and we had done this on the advice of one our Foreign Policy Advisory Board members who come in and it was specifically content on that. Other things we are seeing is effective and all have to go back and review and talk about that later. I dont think there are any problems with the medium, specifically just what is being put out there. Next question. My names jenna gibson. When i was going to Journalism School five or ten years ago, everyone was really excited about everything we could do with the internet and social media, a way for people to interact with the media, respond to the content that they are saying. And now we are seeing a lot of newspapers online shutting down those sections because its just turned into a huge fight and theres no actual value to that that they are seeing. Im wondering, from the diplomacy side, that was another thing people were excited about, we can hear back from the audience we are trying to reach. Wondering if you are seeing a similar thing and if there is value to that conversation or if its just what carl saying, people ultimately ending up in fights and being trolls. I dont know if this will get at your underlying question, but one of the things, this goes back to the question about limiting free speech and if we have to go into some of these things but ink really use a real name system. If you have content in a log on to things basically you have to go in through a real name policy by entering in some of the numbers. I think youre in america we tend to the think highly of free speech and we protected at all costs, thats great but we also need to look at other options. Not everyone has that freespeech policy and they do just fine. It doesnt prevent fights, theres still a lot of these things going on but theres still a measure of accountability. I think thats whats missing. I think its important to create the rules of the road. Facebook pages, many of them, we have rules on users and if you oppose something that is deemed as dangerous or inappropriate we remove them so i think people are aware of that caveat. Having said that, i think robust debate whether or not, i think it is healthy to see what people have undermines in terms of a certain policy or certain viewpoint, i think that is useful in this day and age. Hello. My name is troy lee and i am on the 70th japan america student conference committee. My question is for the two Student Panel is that we have today. Ive experienced a huge innovation gap like rebecca mentioned using social media compared to how my parents and my grandparents use social media and how we consume information. I was criticized by my grandparents for always getting news from twitter a while back but now i can say that im getting information directly from the president. My question is, how do you see, how are we, as young generations, unique and using social media. How is it different than how we interact with it different from older generations and how is that affecting the future of social diplomacy and social media and how information will be consumed in the future. I absolutely agree with that question. I think thats kind of at the core of this entire discussion is that digital diplomacy and young people, adeptly goes handinhand. Moving forward, we kind of take up the mantle. Theres a lot to be discussed. From my discussions here, its very interesting to see that how we consume Information Online has already established this connection and this trust , especially between south korea and japan and Popular Culture being very much portrayed through the digital means. Theres a connection there. Theres something to work off. I think its very exciting, moving forward with the new means that we have and how familiar we are with that, as we grow up as these tools develop, how that will in florence relationships moving forward. I think my generation, our generation, we are so flexible but personally, i think before going into career, i was just exposed to information. If i am living in japan, we are exposed to the information from media so we have a lot of information about career and history. I was kind of bias by the media made by our generation. After going into the career, i noticed that this is a real career. Its different than what i expected so i just focus on that historical part or. [inaudible] or the food and culture, everything. I could not get a whole picture from the media. We can get a lot of information but still we need to know in that country in real meaning. Its kind of difficult to express. Still we need to keep our attitude on. Is another question . Alexander evans. One of the themes that is really, cross in this panel is the importance of technology and Digital Media as a catalyst, whether its for good or bad. I will give an advance warning that this is related but not as close to some of the other questions. What is it mean in terms of the Education System in these three countries . If this is a catalyst, if these tools are important and can be used for incredibly good and incredibly bad things, how are they educating their citizens about the use of technology. Are some countries doing better than others. Maybe from both the professionals and the students, what have you seen that indicates where the future is going in terms of educating citizens on how to use Digital Media. I have expense only with usjapan so i can only speak to that, but with our program, for example this year we are working with 31 high schools in each country so 62 high school altogether. I think the past cycles weve worked with at least a hundred high schools in each country so im gaining my response from that experience. The u. S. , from comparing the two, much more open to the Technology Idea and allowing students to use it and learn from it than japan is. The u. S. , a lot of school have google classrooms so theyre using that. In japan i havent heard of anyone using google classroom or things like that. It was also difficult to find a platform that would be able to be accessed through the japanese firewall that they had heard youtube isnt available, facebook an and skype isnt available. I think the u. S. Has a lot of work to do as wellin regard to that but i think one really important thing is allowing used to understand what the internet can do, both good and bad. We all know of bad things that happen when people tweet things they shouldnt have, adults, theres a lot of things i have an online that are really not great things, but students wont be able to figure out what they can do until they can kind of play around with a bit so i think its really important that we teach our youth how to be digital citizens in a way and do that safely and do it well and understand how to read information and take it in and that its not all real. Anyone else. Okay. Is there another question . Exchange student from japan. I am currently studying Political Science. I understand this kind of diplomacy can promote students to connect with each other and then with our in country enjoy high level of technology but i want to think about a serious situation that we are in the threat of north korea launching missiles and i want to know how can we use this kind of diplomacy to deal with those kind of threats to our three countries. I think similar to what weve done before, utilizing all three governments, are statements that make sure we are continuing on the maximum pressure campaign, making consistent press statements and publicizing those. I think when we have trilateral meetings amongst our countries we make sure we have good press conferences and interview that we have a reunited front and are ultimate goal is denuclearization of the peninsula. I think we can use powered diplomacy tools to help do that. Another question. My name is joe. Im the student. [inaudible] people have money can buy more company and devices but people who do not have money do not have that. What do you think about the situation from the educational cost perspective. And thats why its really important that schools offer their students, all schools offer a chance to interact with the internet and with online tools and understand what that is. Especially in those areas where kids dont have smart phones. They may not have laptops. They dont have ipads. Schools might be their only option so its important have the schools connected, have devices available, have classes that teach them different tools that are available. There are great Online Learning tools for learning languages that are free. Theres great translation devices and websites that are downloadable that can help for free. I think its really important for governments as well to make sure their schools are connected. If you graduate and you dont know how to search online, its going to be hard. Led. My name is nicole. Thank you for coming to speak to us. Im currently serving as the recruitment chair on the executive committee of the japan america conference. I am just wondering, all of our countries are world powers. We have a big responsibility when it comes to using Digital Technology and enacting digital diplomacy. I think that allowing politicians, especially the president to use twitter freely is, as you said, sometimes extremely unhelpful and sometimes extremely irresponsible as well. Im wondering if you think, in your opinion that it would be a good idea for the government to enact restrictions on individual politicians in social media, and if that would be just or what the implications of that might be. I seem to be the one who is more skeptical of twitter and digital, but i would oppose that. Just because we have someone now in office who is not using it in the best way, i dont get a good reaction to go in and say no one should be able to do that and take it all way predicates really important to politicians, especially at the local level, but my suspicion is that politicians and local levels really are able to use it and speak directly to the constituents. He has american constituents but how many of us actually talk to him on a regular basis but our local constituents, that could be very helpful for them. I agree with that. Being able to use social media and digital diplomacy platforms, especially on Election Officials and things like that, local and state government, thats probably one of the best ways they are able to reach out to their constituents and the people they know in their state. Are there any other questions . Thank you all for speaking. Im a consultant here. Im curious what you all think if theres a consensus, at least in the u. S. There is about the greater responsibility for Companies Like google, facebook, twitter to take a more active role in shaping the conversations happening on their medium. I think the conversation has been somewhat stunted because they just went through days where their Intelligence Services were trying to influence online discussion and several were ended up put in jail. I think thats where the conversation is inquiry array now. Next question. Im currently serving on the america committee. My question revolves around Mental Health. Recently i my high school weve had a lot of suicide and just by going to college, its disturbing to me that social media has become a way for people to avoid a conversation or by more information and thats become a disconnect between people to people. I think moving on, its really important to bring back the positive aspect of just in person medication because i think when people look at social media that information has been skewed so in terms of the Younger Generation and the government, how does social b affect the future of our Mental Health in our country. Thats a very big question. I dont think its only social media that is driving this kind of, or as estimates the Mental Health issues, its any kind of messaging that will separate people out and make them feel more alone which social media helps to drive. One of the examples, in seoul theres a bridge thats become famous because people jump off of it into the river. As an effort to combat this the government put signs across there that read youre not alone, there is hope. What happened with suicides increased after they put that on there. Anytime theres this kind of messaging that takes people away from people will fuel that. I would actually like to add another observation or example from my own experience, but very recently, a very popular member of a korean boy band committed suicide. Actually, from what i saw was the response on social media was incredibly collaborative. I had people messaging classmates saying if anyone wants to talk im here. It was actually a very optimistic and good thing to see. I think in many ways social media can actually be a place for people to come together to talk about these issues but yes, as you mentioned they are very important. Going into career,. [inaudible] i exchange my instagram address with korean friends and we can share our pictures and i dont know what they are doing so i really kind of feel closer to her so it is true that social media some people makes people feel lonely and separated from their group or Something Like that but if we can change the way, it can be connecting people to people. That depend a lot about how you feel about humans overall. Yes, youre right. Another question. I am studying in south korea. My question is many koreans cannot use social media because they thought it was a waste of time or its hard to catch up the trends because in korea there are faster and faster changing trends. Another reason is they are worried to hear the fake news. What is the way to promote the future. [inaudible] just to clarify, your question is, with all the tools that are out there and with the fake news how do we go about understanding the tools that are available or . [inaudible] so with what weve been doing, the one issue with you use our students connect on the e classroom that we provide for them for six months. Then after that we say okay you should connect with each other and you can talk on facebook or whatever, but in the u. S. We found that in japan basically no one in high school is using facebook. In the u. S. High School Students are using facebook far less than my generation. The best commonality that they have is twitter but in japan everyone is using line but in the u. S. No one knows what line is pretty think theres also this issue of where we connect. I just had a friend yesterday who said texting apps were the banner might existence and had a screenshot of his phone and he had five different texting apps with all these different messages. My friends from japan we use line. Other friends i use whatsapp. My mom i use iphone text. Others i use facebook chat. It does get to be too much and things kind of go by the wayside because we all tend to move with one thing or several things, but i dont really how the world how to go about, i think it is naturally happens and in an explosion right now of apps and Different Things that we can use but for us, we just found something, the online tool we are using is free. We just found something that was free that works at both schools and we iran with it. We are using it in a way thats not meant to be used but we dont have money to create Something Else right now so i think thats another thing. Find something that works for you and use that one. If you need to switch to Something Else you can but trying to do everything is too much as well. None of that really answer your question. I think what we will see in the future is we will see something and merge that everyone has to be verified. That way you know youre dealing with the person that they say that they are. We deal with this alltime in Public Opinion polling. So if you sit down with someone, let me back up, if you sit down with someone they are more likely to express opinions that they think are socially acceptable. The further and further they get away from people, the more other opinions come out so if youre sitting with someone, their opinions will be closer to what they think is socially acceptable. Call them on the phone less so but it still there. But when you totally remove the Human Element than all of these other opinions come out like weve seen and there is some value in knowing what people are actually thinking, even if they been hiding for long time i think eventually we will see some kind of fully verified thing emerge where people can communicate with the people they know and that will hopefully bring some stability back. Next question. This woman are here. Theres a microphone behind you. Thank you. And with the japan u. S. Friendship commission. First congratulation to the organizers. This is a fantastic program and panel. The future is bright. I am encouraged. Im listening to the discussion and im wondering about the ability to use digital diplomacy a little bit beyond the education area that chante spoken about an more to the Public Policy round. I really specifically am interested in this trilateral discussion and mechanics of it and did all of you take advantage of and utilize any of these various digital platforms available prior to this panel . It seems like it could be an opportunity to start a conversation in a dialogue on a variety of topics, and then collaborate to bring together people facetoface for further conversation that could advance whatever the issue is is being discussed. Im curious about the mechanics of not just this panel but how the conversation with your different conferences have worked and if you havent done it, have you considered doing it, is there place for utilizing some of these different platforms to advance some of the other policy issues we are seeing . I think actually this is a prime example. We participate in a conference together, we are elected to become executive Committee Members and over the course of the entire year we are connecting through facebook, through gmail, through Google Hangouts, were collaborating and planning together and then we get to come together and meet in person. But i really do think that at the youth level we really are utilizing these Digital Tools and in our own way we are acting as digital diplomats. Thank you for the question, but yes i think thats kind of where were at. I would agree with that. Kind of having that experience of being accepted or attending the conference six months in the future but already laying the foundation of friendship like months before the through Google Hangouts and skype and things like that. It kind of has that thing where you meet six months later and its like to be hugged, i feel i can know you really well but weve never met. I know exactly. [inaudible] i think its a really great idea in terms of you have these exchanges in Google Hangouts and meetings online and how do you take it to the next level . Again, institutionalize that. Were thinking about it for both organizations. Just one example, this morning i was wondering about the snow and i checked the twitter account and it said yes it still on, please come so that was very helpful in terms of how you go through your planning and the branding of all the organizations involved i think thats something that step really worth taking a closer look at. Another question from the audience. The gentleman in the back. Seems like there is a danger of the World Wide Web being split up into regional webs for various reasons. Do you think that is a real possibility, and if so, what do you thank you all could do to prevent that from happening and keeping the World Wide Web worldwide. I dont think i can really talk about that. I think thats beyond the scope of my work. I think in general english has been the language of choice for the internet. I think whether those aspects are growing or not, i think thats why we promote english learning and a lot of our cultural exchanges and Educational Program. It really brings a lot of the regions together anything that will continue to be the trend. Another question speaking to that point, i think locally what does happen in terms of the sec in the Net Neutrality repeal, i think its interesting because now we almost, for a while weve seen the internet as a public sphere and a public product and personally thats how i believe it should be. It should be this tool thats there for public use but now with Net Neutrality repeals we are now moving into an age where we can almost privatize these lines of communication, and i think thats sort of really interesting and not necessarily in the best light. I think it goes back to the question in terms of the economic that now people can charge higher access to highspeed internet and it affects our ability to communicate because now again if you want to say communicate at the highest rate, you have to pay the highest for it. So, its really interesting that if this is happening in the United States, i dont know how it is in japan or south korea in terms of these kind of roles but i think its really interesting to see how these things are being shaped not only by the users but by actual policies and also corporations. Too that. I feel like we are sort of seeing a compartmentalizatio compartmentalization, almost at least within the United States, i think that might be where were heading if these Net Neutrality guidelines are put back in place. I would also say that we tend to think of this as policy driven that we will see these web breakups. We also have to remember that people in Different Countries like seeing things designed in different ways and thats what also drive some of this where if you go to a korean website, its design much differently, the way scrolls, where the content laid out, all those things matter. So you have a tiered system. Theres one where everyone will access in google but also they will continue to have others that will be laid out in very different ways. This tiered system will continue to exist some not that worried about seeing websites breakup into different regions. I think thats almost natural. Is another question or comment. My name is bridget. I work at the department of state and the office of diplomacy and i want to think jewelry for mentioning how diplomacy is now embraced by the state department. You mention one the programs that they had launched was the virtual student Foreign Service and we are now at 35 agencies so weve rebranded to become the federal Service Center moderator is the current. [inaudible] i wanted to ask you a question , how do you think that students being involved with the work of their government contributes to digital diplomacy when you see that going. And its obviously a very good thing if these students want to get experience in the public sector, Networking Opportunities with different individuals across the board and all these different departments so i think thats a really great thing. It connects sony people, had a meeting with the state yesterday talking to one of our interns and she said theres about 1200 interns which really is down spread across the different departments doing different types of research for government representatives and Foreign Service officers different individuals like that. So i have nothing but positive things to say about it and how we connect, we can do google, skype and use different Digital Media platforms to do research or provide research. Theres ssos and government representatives for them to go and compile the information or put it in such a way to where they can distill in their location, whether its domestically or internationally. Its just a fantastic program. Going into 2018 and beyond, i think its important for sure with the rise of technology and how we are approaching digital diplomacy to keep that up and to just ensure that at the highquality level of munication being used by state actors and nonstate actors, by student interns and how that goes. Another question . The german over here. So going back to what pearl said about his projection to a verified system or more creel like system for the internet, i wonder how you view that as negative negatively impacting the usefulness of this form. Look at it as a twoway thing rather than a oneway were telling you what we think or what we want you to think, but essentially if you are reinjected not civility into it, you are losing the honesty honesty which was very helpful for predicting things like brexit and trump selection. Maybe if you can speak to that and also julie. I wasnt just talking about the internet as a whole but one social networking site where people can go on and eliminate all the trolls and people were trying to start trouble who just want to argue. In terms of that. I do think you are right, there is a lot of value as julia pointed out, getting real opinions and understanding exactly where we are as a country. A lot of the racism that has come out, these are things we knew were there were always under the radar and now some of these have bubbled out into full view. I think right now that has not been positive but has been making us deal with it as a country. There has been some things good that come out of it. Anytime youre talking about the real name system, verified systems, it can be problematic because inevitably that social bias will tend to suppress what people are really thinking. All the risks are there with this amazing great tool in diplomacy and we have to accept the bad along with the good. When i was in bangkok, we had several trolls trolling our investor there and some of the tweets really got to a high level and we had to utilize and have Police Security services investigate, but these are things we have to live with and adapt to and again, i still believe in that conductivity, as you said. Its got to be a response pretty cant just be one wake medication so whatever risks there are, you have to find ways to adapt to that. I think we have time for one more question. Whether any more from the audience . I am serving as a chair for a japan site. My question will be how do you organize information. There is too much information on twitter and youtube and its really hard to organize myself. Its really chaotic and information goes fast and it keeps going on and moving and theres all the information flows and flows and flows so how do people, we watch news or how do you organizing your brain. You have any tools for using that were, im just curious, how do people organize information . For me, number one is to accept the fact that you cant read everything. Youre going to miss a lot of stuff and thats how its going to be. I love twitter. Twitter is great. If you use it for the right people. As much as i know there are all these other things that go on twitter, i really see any of that. I have a very curated list of people i know who will put together news outlets and provide commentary and for me its a great way to stay in touch with what people are thinking outside of what theyre writing. So what they write, things that are just breaking our before they have a chance to formally write down its a great outlet. I think you just have to be careful about who your following and be ruthless about cutting people. They might be your friends but if not providing some of that content, just cut them and connect them in person. All of our speakers, i want to thank them, julie, rebecca for the information and discussion and answering your questions. It was really wonderful. Id like to give them a round of applause if thats possible. [applause] today, the center of munication leadership and policy takes a look at how cities can combat violent extremism. We have the state Department Policy advisor for countering terrorist recruitment. That live at noon eastern on cspan. Also, this afternoon, we will hear from former Federal Reserve chair ben bernanke, former treasury secretary Larry Summers about inflation and monetary policy. That is life from the Brookings Institution at 1 00 p. M. Eastern on cspan three. You can also launch watch online at cspan. Org or on the free cspan radio app. This weekend congress, the house returns today for the first legislative business of the second session of the 115th congress. This weeks agenda includes a resolution tuesday supporting the right to the people of iran to Free Expression and condemning the Iranian Regime for its crackdown on legitimate protest. Members will also consider legislation thursday to reauthorize provisions of the foreign Intelligence Surveillance act. That is set to expire on january 19. The same day current government funding runs out. The senate also returns today at 3 00 p. M. Eastern. They will consider the nomination of William Campbell to be a district judge for the district of tennessee with the vote to advance at 530 eastern. For the rest of the week the senate will take up other judicial nominations for courts in tennessee, georgia and texas. As always you can follow the house live on cspan and the senate live here in cspan2. Noun Education Department summit on new strategies and tools for improving elementary and secondary education. Betsy devos talks with educators from across the country. Of morning. I thought i would have to get everyone quiet but you got everyone quiet with no direction. My name is jason with the department of education and the office of elementary and secondary education. Welcome and thank you for coming to the recent k12 summit. We appreciate you being here. In just a moment the secretary will, but before she does