Things will kind of go not go away but kind of allow it . Like she said, when she was in the class with the lieutenants, they wasnt worried about oh, youre female. Maybe its more of a generation, as you said, generations before. I think i graduated the same year as you. I saw Different Things and probably the lieutenants coming out today. Thats my question. And is there research being done with maybe a generational gap as far as cultural as we change our culture . I definitely believe it is leaderships ability to change that and make a difference. Thats a great question. Anybody want to take a crack at it . Anything you researched about the generational question . I think there is research that indicates there is sort of a cultural gap and certainly with dont ask dont tell theres the same kind of indications. The problem is often that leadership is part of the generation that may be stuck in the old culture were talking about. So it may take some time for cultural change. So yeah. I certainly think that attitudes among new recruits, there is indication that especially around issues of gender and dont ask dont tell were very different. I think just to add quickly, the military historically is not great at quick culture change. It takes some time to come along. And while i do see huge differences between the generations of my parents and myself and the young men and women here in the audience, i think thats not good enough. And i think for us to be able to push it gently in the right way, in a thoughtful fashion, is extremely important. Thats why these panels and these discussions are important. It will happen on its own but not in enough time. Id just like to echo that. Ive been in so many conversations with Different Levels of command as well. Where the Younger Generation will say with all due respect, sir, to generals and then explain the fact that theyre already everywhere, theyre performing excellent, my wifes flying the helicopters, we go in with, et cetera, et cetera. Theres something tremendous happening in terms of generational shifts. So my name is Jessica Trisco darden. Im associate professor at the east school of International Service at American University here in d. C. Big shout out to my georgetown colleagues. I would just like to speak to this point a little bit about generational shifts and cultural shifts. Dr. Mackenzie brought up the Israeli Defense forces, and they have historically had women integrated into their operations. But even in pushing through some of their removals of genderbased combat exclusions theyre having an extremely difficult time. For example, women who operate unmanned aerial drones are allowed to deploy in theater but 99 infantry units. Theyre only allowed to stay back with artillery units. There is still even amongst the most advanced countries in overcoming these hurdles, hurdles still remain. So its a little bit naive to think that all these issues are going to go away immediately in part because a lot of these developments are tactically driven. And so im very excited that came up as a point of conversation. My own Research Deals primarily with irregular armed groups, rebel groups, et cetera. Insurgencies. And what weve seen is that a lot of the developments in developing world military, so for example the Sri Lankan Military formed an all womens unit in response to the high levels of female participation in the tamil insurgency in sri lanka. So the degree to which these developments are being externally driven from our engagement in conflicts like iraq and afghanistan versus internally driven through changes in American Culture or perceptions of the role of women in the workforce is something id like to see you speak on. Because there does seem to be this tension in the conversation with this panel about whether its about manpower and manpower shortages and getting full Staffing Levels or its about acknowledging as owen harding said earlier that were all people and were all equal and we should all be able to participate in these same roles. So your view on whether this is an externally or internally driven development would be very helpful. Thats an interesting question. Does anyone want to take a crack at it . I can start perhaps. It is a great question. And its but youre opening a pandoras box here as well. The short is its both. We havent talked at all about u. N. Security Council Resolution 1325, the u. S. National action plan on women, peace and security, which are you could say a more rightsbased arguments, that this is the right thing to do, we have to empower women, gender equality, et cetera, et cetera. But at the same time, those come from an understanding that the existing order isnt working and that we can improve the way we create peace, development, humanitarian affairs by high representativeness of women. So even there its a combination. Operational experience from the last decade is hugely important. Weve learned a lot of lessons there. So they all combine. So the way i try to avoid that issue of deciding whether its the right thing to do or the smart thing to do is to say that theres a difference between that sort of very difficult fundamental chicken and eggs sort of discussion versus how we sell this as an agenda to a highly reluctant organization. And there the rightsbased arguments to me simply do not work. They will acknowledge that it is really important with gender equality and improved opportunities for women. But were in the business of war. So we cant deal with that within the military. Is the response you get. But if you do explain it with examples, scenarios that indicate where it has an impact on operational effectiveness, you will have their ear for a little while and you can sort of crack a door or at least gain access to the organization and explain yourself. I find that that argument always gets their attention at least when youre focused on operational effectiveness. So i would encourage to you do that not because its the real reason why were doing this but because its the most effective in terms of organizational change, which is what were approaching. But youre also touching upon a number of how questions. So how do we go about this integration process . And you asked a really good question to the last panel about the female Engagement Teams, cultural support teams, et cetera, et cetera, that are necessary capabilities. I think most would agree with that these days, that were never going to fight a war where those capabilities are irrelevant. So how do we do that . Now, we can create female moss. We can create female Engagement Teams with those specific functions that fills the gaps of the existing organization. But this is the panel on unit cohesion. We all agree that unit cohesion is a very important thing for military effectiveness and unit performance. So if you have ad hoc solutions, if you bring in a woman to the special operators or if you add a female Engagement Team to an existing platoon when they go out on a patrol, thats always going to be a liability because they will not be as cohesive and trained together as they will be if that platoon has those functions baked into it. So i would always say first of all get the women into the units if they need them rather than add that as a specific sort of addon to the units. Apart from the fact that having female moss, et cetera, will always then create the risk of feelings of different standards, for example. So if you have a ranger platoon where you hypothetically have physical standards that no women have so far passed and you add a few women because they need, it its always going to be seen as a secondrate ranger even though they might be performing extremely well. So i would avoid that. But again, as they highlighted in the last panel, they have to look at all these standards and rethink them. Unfortunately we have to wrap up the conversation so we can move on with our program. I would encourage everyone to continue it outside where the cliff bars and the cocacola are. But thank you very much to our panelists for joining us. And thank you to all of us for being part of this conversation. [ applause ] American History tv looks back 50 years to president johnsons signing of the medicare bill. An idea that president truman inspired a generation earlier. Before signing the bill in trumans presence on july 30, 1965, lbj said it was designed to ensure every citizen against, quote, the ravages of illness in his old age. Starting at 8 00 p. M. , lbjs daughter Linda Johnson robb, lbj special executive counsel and lbj Library Director on the battle to pass medicare and medicaid and why president johnson succeeded where others failed. After that, white house recordings of phone calls between lbj and his aids swell members of congress who talk about the politics and strategy behind the bill. Then at 10 00 p. M. , the medicare bill signing on july 30, 1965 at the harry s. Truman president ial library in independence missouri, including remarks from president johnson, and former president truman. All of this tonight on American History tv on cspan3. Tonight op the communicators, author and president ial pioneer on the wright brothers. They werent the first people to have the idea of building a flying machine and they werent the first people to try. So why did they succeed where everybody else failed . And the answer is, they understood the problem they were trying to solve much better than anybody else. And at the end of day, being creative is not about having ideas in the shower or ahha moments, or lightning bolts of inspiration. Its about solving problems one step at a time. So understanding the problem with a piece of paper, which is a problem of balance was the key for the wright blot brothers starting on their course that ultimately led to them flying. Kevin ashton tonight on the communicators on cspan2. Now a congressional freshman profile interview with republican Elise Stefanik who represents new yorks 21st district. Born on july 2, 1984, shs thee congress. She previously worked for the romney president ial campaign and for the bush administration. Elise stefanik, the youcnges woman ever elected to congress. What was that like . I didnt know that until i won my primary. I went in not knowing ant the historic nature. The media started covering the race. What was interesting for me was at campaign rallies, particularly towards the end, parents started bringing their elementary schoolaged daughters to events. These were nonpolitical families, republicans, democrats, unaffiliated voters. So its something i take seriously as a role model in this country. For all women who want to break glass ceilings for whatever role theyre in, whether its politics or business or the arts, i think its very important as a country that we be examples for our young women to see what they can achieve. We have women coming tlour our office, whether its young candidates. I had a mid school age girl running for student council. Its really a humbling experience for me. At what point did you say youre going to run for congress . Thats a great question. I decided after the election. I was very disappointed in the outcome of the 2012 election, but i had spent a lot of time thinking about how the Republican Party needs to run new generation candidates and needs to pass our message along to younger voter, and particularly young women. And in new york state, i had grown up in my family, a Small Business, which my parents started when i was a kid. Its gotten harder to build a business than it was 20 years ago. After 2012, i started working in my familys business which i grew up around. I started as a completely noname candidate i met with community leaders, local elected officials, Business Leaders to ask what they were looking for in kwon congress. And at first blush, i think many were shocked by my age. I was 29 at the time. That was an impossibility for a 29yearold to remotely win an election, a primary and a general election. I turned my youth from a weak nls into a strength and just really embraced the fact that i was a young candidate and it actually worked. The district that borders vermont and canada. How big is it . Its one of the biggest districts on the east coast. Its over 16,000 square miles and its very mountainous terrain. The Adirondack Mountains are right in the middle of district. The population is in a circle around the district. It goes from the Saratoga County to the border. I spent a lot of time doing retail, grassroots politics. I put over 100,000 miles total on the truck i drive, which thats a lot of drive time. Thats a lot of hard work getting around to local events with five, ten people. Especially at the beginning. What did you learn about you in the process . I think any candidate that has the courage to put their name on a ballot and step into the arena, i think you learn a tremendous amount about yourself. You really have to turn inward and question why are you doing this, what can you bring to the table to make your case. Particularly early on in my campaign, i was going alone to events and was introducing myself to strangers. And that takes something within your kwut. And that tiner drive. And a sense of doing it beyond yourself for a greater purpose and having a sense of mission in the campaign. So i learned a lot. There are highs and lows on every campaign. It really tests your inner self. You talk about your mom and dad, the plywood business that they still operate. Where did you grow up . I was born in albany county. My family has had a home in essex county since i have 3. I spent a lot of time between albany and essex county, up and down norway. My dad actually started off in the plywood and lumber business after he graduated from high scoop 3 he worked his way up in the warehouse. He ended up managing a local branch of a plywood distribution company. And when i was 7, my parents started their own business to local on the local Small Business customers and bringing the highest quality products with the best customer service. So 20 years plus later, we have over 1,000 Small Business customers. My brother is deeply involved in the business. When you see your parents risk everything we had as a family to start a business from skach, its very, very difficult. There are tough times and there are times when its a bit easier. You see how it pays off and you focus on customer service, because a lot of what we do in congress is constituent services. I try to treat that in the sense that its customer service. But i really credit my parents with that. My parents didnt have the opportunity to graduate from college. Theyre both very smart and very accomplished and they are from big families and it just wasnt economically feasible. And they made sure that they invested in my education and wanted to give me opportunities that they had. What does your little brother think of his big cyster . He would be laughing if he heard that question when hes watching this. Hes a big supporter of me running for office. He really enjoys golfing. Hes doing a great job at my familys business. Were opposites in many respects. I was proud to have him on the stage when i won. What about your mom and dad . Did they talk politics . Did they talk about growing business and taxes and government regulation and the best in. Theyre active citizens. I think theyre very typical of Small Business owners in this country. They pay close attention to how policies affect their business. Even infrastructure issues because were a contribution company. Our trucks are on the road five days out of the week. Were not a traditional family in the sense that neither of them have ever won for office. They are strong voters, they always voted is and theyre civic minded. But we did talk a lot about the challenges of running a business and government overreach. New york state is not a particularly friendly state to do business. In fact, we rank 50 in friendliest states to do business. That was something growing up that i didnt necessarily hear the specific political implications about, you know, we like this candidate or the other candidate. It was more of, we ought to be supporting policies that will help Small Businesses grow. Why are you a republican . Im a republican because i believe in limited government. I believe that the best way to grow the economy is by Small Businesses and entrepreneurs. I believe that individuals are the best people to make their decisions. I think republican principles help the vast majority and all americans achieve the american dream. And i believe in the constitution. You went to harvard to study what . I went to harvard and i studied government. I was very involved at the institute of politics, which is an undergraduate organization found in the memory of president john f. Kennedy, and its bipartisan, or nonpartisan. It wants to the mission is to encourage young people to get involved in Public Policy and be engaged civically. I spent a lot of time outside of the classroom working with other students at the institute of politics, and when i was a freshman, ploorly amazing experience i had, the institute of politics host fellows at the harvard. One of the fellows was ted sorenson, john f. Kennedys speech writer. You could apply to work with them for a semester. I was one of six liaisons that got to work with ted sorenson for a semester. For someone like me or for any student, frankly just to be able to work with someone and hear them tell stories of such an historic time that i had grown up reading about in history books, it was a very informative moment for me, particularly because he worked for a very young president. In giving the words to john f. Kennedy, the inaugural address, profiles in courage, and many of the most famous speeches that president kennedy delivered. Absolutely. You came to washington to work in the bush administration. How did that come about . I didnt have a job until the week i graduated. Im sure that made my parents very nervous at the time. I graduated in 2006 from college, and many of my friends went the route of, where you get recruited very early in finance or consulting jobs, and that just wasnt the right fit for me. I knew i wanted to do something involved in Public Policy. So i interviewed at think tanks in washington. I interviewed in various parts of the administration under president george w. Bush. And actually a friend of mine who had graduated two years earlier than me, a great role model. Shes still a very good friend and definitely my mentor in college, she told me about a staff assistant position at the white house that was open. I actually didnt get the first staff position assistant. I was passed on. The second one opened up. I was waufr offered the job a few days before i graduated. And my first day of work, i went in to meet the new head of the domestic policy counsel who had been appointed a month earlier. I was goinglowest member right college and he was looking for a west wing aide. Particularly before you worked in the west wing, you had to work your way up. And those jobs werent for people right out of college. He took a huge risk on me. Hes from upstate new york. And interestingly, hes an amateur word worker. I talked to him about my family business. We hit it off. I worked with him for a year and then i moved down stairs to the first floor of the west wing and i worked for the deputy chief of staff for policy joel kaplan until the end of the administration. First time you walked into the white house as a staff assistant, what was your reaction . I was very nervous. Even when youre on staff, particularly the first day when i was going to meet my boss, you sit in the west wing lobby. Anyone will tell you this who has sat in the west wing lobby for a Job Interview or any type of meeting, its a nerve wracking experience, was its an incredibly awe inspiring experience. I remember thinking to myself, i cant believe im sitting in the west wing of the white house. I wouldnt have imagined that a year, or even two weeks earlier. So its a moment where you pinch yourself. And ken duberstein, who i interned for when i was in college, and he was obviously president reagans chief of staff, he gave me a great piece of advice. He said that no matter what youre doing in life or what job you have, pinch yourself every day you go into the west wing because its the peoples house, and its a true privilege to work there. And i did that and it was a very informative experience for me. Hes now your colleague, but in 2012, you helped prepare paul ryan for the debates, the one debate he had with Vice President joe biden . So that was probably one of my most challenging jobs ive ever had. It was a real privilege working for someone like paul who no one knows more about the budget, for example, than paul ryan. And as a staffer, what was interesting for me is president romneys team not president romney, thengovernor romney, the president ial campaign, he had gone through many debates. Theres only one Vice President ial debate historica y historically, and he hadnt had a debate since his first race. So i worked to make sure that paul had the preparation that he needed. But what was interesting was it was very different from the way they prepared governor romney, just in terms of the briefing materials. And it was a lot of time spent with paul. It was eight full mock debates where we would work for the standin for paul. It was eight mock debates. Ted olsson, we would prep him and have specific questions and scenarios and play them out. But paul was very hands on. He edited all the materials. It was a con stand work in progress. By the end we had a 40 pound briefcase. And as we were flying to the various campaign stops, he would practice different parts of the debate, review materials. He was younger than i was when he first ran for office. Truly inspirational. And pauls