About domestic issues including child care benefits. Order. Questions to the Prime Minister. Mr. Prime minister. And you, mr. Speaker. Im sure the whole house will with to join me in paying tribute to warrant officer ian fisher of the third battalion who was killed on operation in afghanistan on tuesday, the fifth of november. It is clear that he was a professional and well respected soldier. He made a huge contribution to the army over many years on a number of operational tours. Our thoughts and condolences should be with his family and friends. Mr. Speaker, this morning i had meetings with colleagues and in addition to my duties, i shall have further meetings later today. Us m sure everyone of in this season of her membranes, we remember their service to our country. There are grave concerns about the nightmare unfolding in the banks. Minister share my sense of disbelief that a person such as the reverend is responsible for such large sums of our constituents money, would ever be appointed to the position of chairman . What can he do to find out how on earth that happen . Importantnd makes an point. Hold, bondsle who who are very worried about what will happen to their investment. The First Priority is to safeguard this bank and make sure that it is safeguarded without using taxpayers money. That must be the priority. My friend will be discussing with the regulators what is the appropriate form of inquiry to get to the bottom of what went wrong here. There are clearly a lot of questions that have to be answered. Why was the reverend suitable to be chairman of a bank . Why were alarm bells not run earlier by those who knew . It will be important in the coming days that if anyone does have information, they stand up and provide it to the authorities. Ed miliband. Mr. Speaker, i join the Prime Minister in paying tribute to werent officer ian fisher. He died serving his country. All of our thoughts are with his family and friends. Speaker, can the Prime Minister tell us how his campaign is going to save the Children Center . I support Childrens Centers across the whole of the country. Decisionsf difficult that have to be made across the country, the number of Childrens Centers has reduced by around one percent. Like all numbers of parliament, i find it hard i fight hard for services in my constituency. Mr. Speaker, they are going around saying that Childrens Centers are safe and there is no threat to them. Bad, he isare so even signing a petition in his own area to save Childrens Centers. Is thearify petition addressed to his local council or is he taking it right to the top . There are more people using Childrens Centers than ever before in our country. , there are 3000 Childrens Centers. The point i will make is this, this government can hold its head up high because we are increasing the money that is going to local councils for Childrens Centers. That is what is happening under this government. Speaker, we all wish him luck as a local member of parliament. Imagine what he could achieve if he were Prime Minister of the country. I think we have established a double standard. Lets take another example. In torry ethics, the proposal i know they dont care about Childrens Centers, they can listen. Lets take another example. Their proposal is to close 11 37 withand downgrade the hours they stay open falling from 50 hours a week to as little as five. Your centers, fewer staff, fewer hours. How is that doing what he promised before the election, to protect and improve . Let me tell him what is happening under this government in terms of child care. Childcare for every fouryearold in the country. That ever happened under labor. For the first time, Free Childcare hours for every disadvantaged twoyearold in the country. That never happened under labor. Also, tax Free Childcare under this government. That never happened under labor. We have upgraded the Child Tax Credit by 420 pounds under this government. That is what is happening. Let me be clear. Is theicy we wont adopt policy of funding more hours through the bank levy. They have already spent in the bank levy 10 times over. The youth jobs guarantee, more capital spending, esther speaker, this isnt a policy. , lets talk about the people he associates with. Let the house compound. I am concerned about back benches, and backbenchers who want to speak should be accommodated. Call down and lets move on. He wants to talk about who he associates with. He has taken nearly 5 Million Pounds from michael spencer, whose company was about to be regained. He has a Party Chairman who operated a company under a false name. From taxken millions avoiders. They are just the people i can talk about in this house. Ministere planning have it right yesterday when he said this, the single biggest problem facing the conservative party is being seen as the party of the rich. On today of all days, he wants to talk about the people he associates with and takes money from. What we can now see is that this bank, driven into the wall by this chairman, is being given soft loans to the labour party. Theyre still advising the leader of the labour party. Along they know all knew about his past. Why did they do nothing to bring to the attention of the authorities this man who has broken a bank . Ed miliband. I think you can take it from that answer, he doesnt want to talk about his planning minister. Where is the planning minister . Where is he today . Early last january, he was praising him to the rafters saying he was leading the debate. This is what he says about the tory party. T works for private equity. Speaker, we finally found a Public Inquiry he doesnt want. He asked starr inquiry after inquiry into the culture and practices of this and that. When it comes to the coop banks, he is absolutely frightened of it. Also, an interesting week to talk about people on the front bench. This week, he has referred to his own shadow chancellor i am sorry. I hate to say i told you so but i have been saying this for three years. That is not the most interesting thing in this fascinating exchange. Labour party had a strategy, yes they do have one, replied back to the shadow chancellor, when did the last become part of our thing . I agree, their policies arent built to last. They are built to selfdestruct in about five seconds. What he has shown come principally today is he has no answers on the cost of living prices. That is the truth. His close friend, the planning minister, is right. Order. The house must calm down. Questions will be heard. Ed miliband. His close friend is right. He says this, there are many people who dont like the tory party and dont trust their motives. He says the Prime Minister is not the man to reach them. What he is really saying is, this Prime Minister is a loser. What this proves, mr. Speaker, he cant ask about the economy because it is growing. He cant ask about the deficit because it is falling. He cant ask about the number of people in work because it is rising. He cant ask about banking because he is mired his own banking scandal. What we have learned in the last fortnight the answer must and will be heard. What we have learned in the weeks tonight, two stand up to his bankers, too weak to stand up to his shadow chancellor. We all know it would be a nightmare and that is why we are dedicated to making sure the british people dont have to live through it. Is he as appalled as i am to hear that potential clients are encouraging sister unions to boycott . That this more evidence these tactics costs jobs, not save them. The honorable lady is absolutely right. Visiting the London Gateway Port is one of the most compelling things i have seen in recent years. It is going to be a huge benefit, bringing around 12,000 erect and indirect jobs. She is right about the dangers of Union Intimidation and bully boy tactics. That is why it is important we have a review and frankly, important that both unite and the labour party take part in that review. I am sure the Prime Minister will agree that the victims of terrorism deserve not just words of sympathy, but support and help. Statement by the attorney general of Northern Ireland overnight, made on his own account and on his own behalf without consultation, does he agree that there can be no question of an amnesty for any terrorist atrocities and crimes and that all victims of terrorism deserve truth and justice . Let me agree with what the honorable member says. The words of the Northern Ireland attorney general are his own words, not at the behest of anyone else. The government has no plans to legislate for amnesty for crimes that were committed during the troubles. Is consulting with all the Northern Ireland parties on issues from the past as well as parades and flags. That is the right for him which to discuss these issues. General synod is meeting today and will hopefully find a way to enable women to be consecrated as bishops in the church of england. If this is successful, well my right honorable friend and the Government Support amendments to the bishops act to ensure that women bishops can be admitted to the house of lords as soon as possible rather than having to new women bishops having to queue up behind every existing ocesan bishop di before we can see women bishops in parliament . This is an important question. I strongly support women bishops and i hope the church takes this key step to ensure it takes its place as a modern church. Raises, theem he government is ready to work with the church to see how getting women bishops into the house of lords can be achieved as soon as possible. Does the Prime Minister believed that the proposal from the conservative Free Enterprise group, supported by 42 of his own mps, can put food and childrens clothes shows the true face of the party he leads . I do not support that policy. Thank you, mr. Speaker. I recently joined the plowing Share Credit Union in my constituency. That will help a lot of people and sure a lot of people will not have to go to payday lenders. What can the government do to encourage credit onions and encourage everybody who has a few pounds to spare to put away, to take the trade away from awful payday lenders . I am grateful to my friend for raising this issue. The government strongly supports credit unions. We have invested 38 Million Pounds into credit unions. We want to see them expand. We are regulating property for the first time, payday lending, through a new regulator. We are prepared to look at all the steps i can be taken to sort this problem out. Is universal childrens day. The Prime Minister will be aware that save the children has highlighted the importance of every year in childrens development. Does the Prime Minister except that the closure of three sure Start Centers a week is undermining the life chances of needy children . I would challenge the figures. The fact is, whereas the pot of money for Childrens Centers was 2. 3 billion in 201213, it is going up to 2. 5 billion in 2014 15. There are 3000 Children Centers open. Only around one percent have closed. The government has an excellent record on this front. Now that the changes to and and Maternity Services have been given a green , can the Prime Minister confirm that an field is getting increased memory care and the chase farm hospital is getting 24 7 access to urgent care . Let me pay tribute to my friend who has worked very hard on this issue for his constituents. The strategy has been approved and once implemented, chase farm hospital will provide a service which gives access to gps 24 hours a day, seven days a week. There are increases in primary care funding. That is part of our plan, not cutting the nhs at expanding it. Will the Prime Minister join me in congratulating the good people on winning the city of culture when the 17 . 2017 . I am delighted to join with the gentleman and everyone around the country in celebrating this great award to hull. It is an exciting opportunity. You will be able to celebrate the birth pace of wilberforce, the fact that Andrew Motion was lectured there and Philip Larkin was the librarian. Peter mandelson was the high sheriff. Every city has its burden to bear. Has a fantastic record. I remember the great house i am sure it will be a huge success. My constituency registered 600 new start up last year, putting it in the top 10 places in the u. K. For new business growth. In preparation for small rightss saturday, will my honorable friend meet with me to discuss a review of Business Rates to encourage future growth, especially in london where values are very high . I am happy to discuss this issue. She always stand up for business and enterprise. She refers to the number of startups. It is a real Success Story for our country. An extra 400,000 businesses are operating. My honorable friend will shortly be telling the house about the 10,000 start up loan, a government scheme that has got off the ground extremely quickly. There are concerns and i am happy to discuss those. Encourage all colleagues to take art in Small Business saturday. It is a Brilliant Initiative that worked very well in the United States where everyone can demonstrate how much they care about Small Businesses. Does the Prime Minister agree with his pining minister that when modern britain looks at the conservative party, they see an oldfashioned monolith . We have had some interesting interventions from front ventures past and present. I hope i can break records by explaining a tweet has just come in from tony mcnulty. The former labor security minister. The public are desperate for a pm in waiting who speaks to them, not a leader of the opposition indulging in partisan westminster village knockabout. Tweets ifst a up the you want to get on the right side of this one. I want to hear the words. At the moment, i am not hearing them. I will repeat my declaration. I refer to the house the registered members of financial interest. On both the israeli streets and in the tower, iran remains number one issue of concern. The french president is it it israel this week to discuss this matter with the israeli counterpart. He appears to have understood israels legitimate concern. When will our Prime Minister be visiting israel, our democratic ally in the region, to discuss the Iranian Nuclear issue and other regional concerns . Can i thank the honorable gentleman for his question. There are many people in his constituency who care about this issue. The visit i forget made as leader of opposition. I completely understand i do understand the very real concern that israelis have about the Iranian Nuclear weapon. That is why i spoke to president rouhani of a run last night to make clear that we want a good outcome to these talks. It has got to be an outcome that takes iran further away from a nuclear weapon. While agreeing with the member for Belfast North that there should be no question of amnesty, surely there are some merits in the proposal from the Northern Ireland attorney general. Rather than incurring enormous expenditure and effort are suing crimes committed during the troubles decades ago, where the evidence is difficult if not impossible to establish, the justified grievances should be addressed in other ways so the Northern Ireland can move on from its hideous past. I have Great Respect for his views on this issue. He served in Northern Ireland and knows how important these issues are. I do think it is important to allow richard to do his work and operates and flags and doing with the past. Dealing with the past is the most difficult of the three and the most difficult to unlock. We are all democrats who believe in the rule of law, who believe in the independence of the police and prosecuting authorities. They should be able to bring cases i think it is dangerous to think that you can but some sort of block on that. All interested in ways in which people can reconcile and come to terms with the bloody past so they can build a viable future. People and businesses of suffolk are driving Economic Growth in the east of england. They are increasingly fearful that the proposed a 14 will put some folk at a serious disadvantage compared with other counties. Could i ask my right honorable friend if he will seriously reconsider . We will all listen carefully to the representatives made by suffolk. We have all received presentations. We want new roads to be built. We all know there are shortages in terms of the Capital Expenditure that we can bring forward. That is why the idea of having tolling for some new roads is an idea that is properly worth looking at. We will listen carefully to colleagues in suffolk. Coming to terms with their many of them are forced back to work far too soon after the death of a child. Will the Prime Minister amend the act to give british parents the legal right to grieve . The honorable gentleman raises an important issue. I am happy to look at that. Having suffered this experience myself, it is possible to take a little bit of time to stand back and come to terms with what has happened. People are ready to step in and do what they can. I will look at this and get back to him. Closed question. Prime minister, as i told my honorable friend, if we want a proper functioning determined, we need to have the best. That means a permanent submarinebased posture. That is what a conservative government will deliver. Dr. Julian lewis. Assure my friend that excellent answer will remain up on my website for as long as it takes for it to be fulfilled. I noticed he used the words conservative only. Will he reassure the house that never again will liberal democrats be allowed to obstruct or delay the signing of the main gate contract . Will he undertake to sign those contracts at the first possible opportunity . All, investment in our Nuclear Deterrence hasnt ceased. We are taking all the necessary steps to make that possible. We have had the alternative study which i dont think came up with a convincing answer. Wouldnt satisfy entirely my honorable friend even if i gave him a nuclear submarine. [laughter] i rather fear that is true. Having known my honorable friend or 30 years, mr. Michael meijer. According to the economist, 159 lowest in the world in terms of business investment, just behind paraguay and guatemala. Can he please tell the house when under his esteemed leadership and that of the chancellor, we can expect to catch up with mali. I can only conclude that the right honorable gentleman has been out for a night on the town and substances have taken effect. In the First Six Months of this year, britain has received more investment than any other country anywhere in the world. Mr. Stephen obrien. Thank you, mr. Speaker. As my honorable friend taken the advice of the Party Opposite, what would have been the impact on the cost of fuel and the consequences this would have had on families . My friend makes an important point. If you look at the cuts and freezes that we have made, it would be 30 pence a liter or higher. It would be a nightmare. His own Education Department 578 he has closed Childrens Centers. How is this protecting . Hei gave him the figures but wants to alter his question and think on his feet. There are 3000 such centers open. Only one percent have closed. Thank you very much, mr. Speaker. My constituent has invested 10 Million Pounds. The oecd has upgraded the forecast, downgrading the global forecast. Is it his view that reducing debt is a way to get the economy moving, not actually more debt from the Party Opposite . I am grateful to my honorable friend and what he says. If you look at the oecd forecast this week, you see a massive increase in the forecast for u. K. Growth over the next couple of years. The Party Opposite doesnt want to talk about the economy. They told us we were going to lose a million jobs. We gained a million jobs. Growth is growing in britain. That is what is happening. The nightmare of the shadow chancellor when it comes to debt, let me just remind him of this important point. This is directly relevant to the issue of debt. Livingston said this, gordon brown was borrowing 20 Million Pounds a year at the height of the boom in order to avoid increasing taxes because he wanted to increase public spending. It was an act of cowardice. Were are also hearing ranting of the nightmare. [inaudible] order. The honorable lady has a right to put her question and to be heard when she does so. That is what is going to happen. Thank you, mr. Speaker. Recentlyng association voted its chief executive a noncontractual redundancy payoff of 397,000 pounds. Will the Prime Minister join me concerning the boards action and asking for it to be retained . I am happy to look at the case. Some of these payoffs really are completely unacceptable. We need to make sure that local authorities properly take responsibility for stopping such high payoffs. In terms of other parts of the economy, we are making sure that if people are reemployed, having taken these payoffs, they have to pay back the money. That is vitally important. Is my right honorable friend agree that a key element of the success of the plan for the if he couldld be join together with the leader of the opposition and inspire employers that the success of this fan there is no plan b is in the National Interest . I completely agree with my right honorable friend. This is an Important Program for the future of the country. Concerns, i understand about this. If we pass the amendment in the name of the honorable member, that would simply stop us investing in our reserves and improving our reserves rather than changing the overall stance. I have noticed that labor are saying, they put out a Statement Today saying we are not calling for the reforms to be reversed. We are not saying the reforms should be shelved. If they vote against the government, one can only assume it is naked opportunism. Can the Prime Minister explain to this house why he wanted to lead cuts to Public Services . Is that wepromised wouldnt cut the nhs. We havent cut the nhs. We made absolutely clear for the last election, we would have to take difficult decisions. It is because of those difficult decisions that the deficit is coming down. Employment is growing. There are one Million People more in work. Our economy is doing better. If we follow the advice of the Party Opposite, we would have more spending, more borrowing, more debt. Order. Point of order. Mr. Speaker, as you will have heard and everyone else in the house heard, i asked a perfectly reasonable question. It was based on clear documented evidence as i indicated. Is it parliamentary for the Prime Minister to respond by accusing another right honorable member of sounding as if he has been taking mind altering substances . Is that is that order. Order. The right honorable gentleman will complete his point of order. The Prime Minister has indicated a readiness to respond. That is how we will proceed. Patience is all that is required. I ask whether it is parliamentary to ask use such an unjustifiable, rude and offensive raise about another honorable member. I completely respect the right honorable gentleman. I try to answer the point about inward investment into britain. I made a lighthearted remark. If it caused any offense, i will happily with draw it. I think it is very important that we can have a little bit of lighthearted banter. A sense of humor on all sides. You have been watching Prime Ministers questions from the british house of commons. On con time airs live span 2 every wednesday at 7 00 a. M. Eastern. Again on sunday night at an clock p. M. Eastern on cspan. You can also watch any time at cspan. Org. Late on saturday it was announced that the u. S. And five other world powers had reached a deal with iran regarding its nuclear program. The announcement came after a second series of official talks between the countries. Under the agreement, iran would stop enrichment of highgrade uranium in exchange for the easing of international sanctions. Among those who took part in the talks was secretary of state john kerry. He was on a number of talk shows this morning. Here is some of what he had to say on cnn. You dont do this on the basis of somebodys statements to you. You do it on the basis of actions that can be verified and moreover, we have kept the basic architecture of the sanctions staying in place. There is very little relief. We are convinced that over the next few months, we will really be able to put to the test what irans intentions are. So you at this point trust ronnie Hassan Rouhani to be able to follow through. Are you convinced that he has the power to do so . There are hardliners in iran singing a different tune than has been sung at the negotiating table. Absolutely. Absolutely. We are well aware of that. The simple answer to you is, none of this is based on trust. It is not a question of trust. It is a question of having the verification and the Intrusive Inspections and the insight into the program and the commitments that can be held accountable so that you are in fact creating a failsafe mechanism by which you are making your judgments. None of this when youre dealing with Nuclear Weapons, it is not an issue of trust. Ofthe old saying goes gorbachev and reagan, you dont trust but verify. Verification is the key. President obama and i have said since the beginning that we are not just going to verify, we are going to verify and verify and verify. We have to know to a certainty so that israel, gulf states, ourselves, nobody can be deceived by what is taking place. I dont think it is possible until we solve the nuclear problem. Is over down the road the course of the next six months while we work to try to solve the nuclear program. If it can be solved, hopefully establish a basis for proceeding forward on other things. Right now we have made it very clear that the International Community requires a resolution of the United Nations resolutions that have been passed. The questions that the International AtomicEnergy Agency has, all of these things need to be answered. We are trying to set up a process by which we can verify, know what we are doing, restrain the program while we negotiate the comprehensive deal. That was secretary kerry on cnn talking about what many are calling a first step in the agreement over Irans Nuclear program. On our facebook page, you can weigh in on the conversation, post your thoughts and see what other people are saying. Tomorrow, the Cato Institute looks at Nuclear Weapons policy in the u. S. And how attitudes toward Nuclear Weapons have changed since the cold war. We have that live at 12 00 p. M. Eastern on cspan. I dont think anybody would have looked into a crystal ball and thought somebody on a College Campus would be streaming netflix onto an iphone to watch a movie. I think that this is what is happening out there. That thehis huge issue remembery again, i in ohio, it depended on the day that the antenna on top of the house was working right. You got to channels and maybe one channel. Sunday you didnt get any channels. It depended on the wind and everything else. The industry has changed so rapidly. Sure we havee things out there, laws on the books that spur this innovation. Anhink we have created industry of about 3. 8 million jobs. Technology issues in front of the current congress, monday on the communicators at 8 00 p. M. Eastern on cspan 2. During the president s historic trip to china, this is what accompanied him. Was looking at a package of cigarettes. They have pandas on them. She was admiring that. He said, i understand you also admired the pandas at the zoo. She said yes, that is a darling. He said, we will make sure you have pandas always. It was important for her to uphold, to support her husband. It waseing there at the end of the trips were News Reporters would come out and talk about the president but they would always say what a wonderful job that nixon did. First Lady Pat Nixon monday spant live on cspan and c 3. Also on cspan radio and c span. Org. Kentucky senator rand paul spoke about Foreign Policy at the Citadel Military Academy in charleston south carolina. Some of the topics included u. S. Aid to other countries. His remarks are just under half an hour. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I understand you have a big game on saturday. Who is going to win . All right. All right. I am glad to see there is no debate on that. It is an honor to be here today at citadel. I want to thank general rosa for inviting me and having me at citadel. I want to a knowledge mike steele of the board. The Regimental Commander from the core. I am assuming that was a pause of some sort. [laughter] on a more serious note, some of you may one day be called to defend your country. If you choose to serve, you will do it willingly as a volunteer. Our military is second to none. Our excellence stems from having professionals who serve voluntarily. Yourself3, cadets like have been coming from said adel and answering your nations call. And last years class, 40 of you chose to serve. You accepted commissions in the armed forces. You will serve bravely and with purpose. You follow in the footsteps of graduates like colonel Myron Harrington in the u. S. Marine corps from citadel class of 1960. During the offensive in 1968, he led a courageous assault against the heavily fortified enemy stronghold, disregarding extreme personal danger. He led his marines in overrunning the enemy position. For that action, colonel harrington received the navy cross. The second highest military award for valor in combat. Colonel harrington is with us today. I would like to thank him for his service. All of us should thank him for his service and bravery. [applause] some people in washington think war is a chess game. If you ask colonel carrington, he would tell you differently. Those of us in washington must make decisions. You will fight the wars of we have to make decisions about whether we go to war. We owe you something. We owe you something that i think is lacking in washington. We owe you a full and proper consideration of the pros and cons of war. We owe it to you to follow our constitution. For congress to debate and authorize all wars. We owe it to you to clearly show our National Interest he for we go to war. We owe it to you to have a sound strategy, and achievable goal, most of all an exit plan. So we dont get stuck in quagmires for decades on end. Demand a, we should formal declaration of war before and ask ouro risk soldiers to risk their blood and lives. I have taken an oath to defend the constitution against all enemies. It the primary duty of congress to defend our god given liberties. As a senator, i will if i have to not hesitate to vote for war. If war is needed to defend the United States. Once war is declared, it is the duty of the commanderinchief to fight and execute victory. America can shrink from its role in the world. We have been and should continue to be a shining example of good ending times a superpower of last resort to maintain peace and prosperity. America must be engaged with the world commercially, diplomatically, and when necessary, militarily. Mean togaged doesnt always be engaged in war. Reagan believed in peace through strength. His defense secretary presented a doctorate that insisted that war occur only as a last resort. Only when a Vital National only whenas at stake, our objective was complete victory. For inspiration and guidance, i look to americas greatest military leaders. Some of our best observations on war and diplomacy come from the president , who is one of our most decorated generals, white Eisenhower Dwight eisenhower. An author writes him i believed with good reason that once the violence begins, everything changes. You can throw your plans in the trash. In washingtonwar doesnt heed his advice today. A military coup that this Administration Says was not a coup. In a highly unstable situation, our government continues to send f16s and tanks at american teargas to egypt. My guess is that those protesting for freedom in egypt who are on the receiving end of ,eargas made in pennsylvania dont harbor warm Fuzzy Feelings about us. We sent f16s and tanks and aid to a government they just overthrew. The president morsi and the government Muslim Brotherhood. Before that, we sent millions to mubarak him a dictator who we called our ally. Common sense tells us that we shouldnt be sending dictators or the Muslim Brotherhood our money, our treasure. Common sense tells us that we shouldnt be delivering advanced weaponry into unstable situations where the outcome is completely unpredictable. I will tell you one thing. One thing of which i am certain. We shouldnt be sending foreign aid to nations that burn our flag. Without question, it is a mistake. [applause] in 2012, i introduced a bill in the senate that calls for halting the transport of weapons to egypt, to pakistan and to libya. In february of this year, i introduced an amendment that would prevent the shipment of these weapons to the Muslim Brotherhood. I think the American People are with me. They realize we have limited resources and shouldnt be sending weapons to people who hate us. The senate defeated this legislation. I introduced another bill to prevent the sale of weapons to egypt after the military coup. We shouldnt even require another bill. U. S. Law states that all foreign aid must be suspended when there is a military coup. What did this administration do . It simply pretends there is not a coup. It continues to send weapons and arms to egypt. Butregimes keep changing our system of foreign aid stays the same. After several months of ignoring the law, the president finally did. The administration agreed to stop the military aid. I say, too little, too late. We are either a nation of laws or we are not. Unlike eisenhower and earlier generations, we do often not think before we act. Iny in washington do things our Foreign Policy to accomplish shortterm goals. They heard our National Interest and our allies. As we continue to aid and arm despotic regimes, we are sending weapons to iran rebels in syria. To rebels in syria. 70 of americans are against arming rebels in syria yet the administration continues to arm is islamic rebels. This is unacceptable. The assad regime is no friend of ours. But it doesnt mean that the enemy of our enemy is always our friend. There are currently many rebel groups in syria including extremist forces such as hezbollah and al qaeda. Those in washington are eager to send these weapons, they say they are not going to fall into the hands of the enemy. Do you believe that . Does anyone believe that . We have trouble telling friend from foe in afghanistan. We have had 100 of your fellow fire,rs die from friendly from people we cant figure out whether they are friend or foe. Do you think we can figure out the difference in syria . It is 1000 fold more chaotic in syria. Even our joint chief of staff swarms it is becoming increasingly difficult to tell friend from foe. What eisenhower buy into this nonsense . Regardless, the United States government should not even indirectly be arming al qaeda. This administration is moving ahead with plans to do precisely that without any authorization. The president says he is going to arm the syrian rebels. How can we ask our brave young man to fight around the world against al qaeda while in some countries, arming al qaeda . It makes no sense . I am not inclined to make america the air force for al qaeda. There is also a possibility that these weapons may be used against christians. There are 2 million christians in syria. They are protected by assad. We have no legitimate National Interest in syria. It is not in our interest to arm extremists who might use those weapons against americans or to kill christians within their country. Why do we arm dictators and the Muslim Brotherhood . Why do we arm affiliates of al qaeda . Why do we reward pakistan with our tax dollars . They continue to imprison the man who helped us catch bin laden. He was given 33 years in prison. I said no more aid to pakistan unless they release them. The first and primary function of our government is a Strong National defense. [laughter] [applause] [applause] so much of what we do in washington is more like an irrational offense. Foreign aid tog egypt, syria, pakistan help our National Security . Does it make us stronger, doesnt make it less likely or more likely that we get drawn into some were in the middle east . In egypt and pakistan they riot and burn our flag. I say, no more. Not one penny more to these countries that are burning our flag. In egypt, the mob was on top of our embassy. Where was the Egyptian Military to defend our embassy . It is inexcusable. In libya, we used to oppose the dictator gaddafi. He killed American School kids. Someone had the genius idea, lets make him an ally. There were members of the senate who flew over and said, lets give qaddafi weapons. Those same members not long later were now supporting giving money to the rebels to overthrow qaddafi. Which is it . Why are we only arming both sides . We have a tragedy in libya. Our ambassador and other diplomats are murdered in the streets of benghazi. Was this done by some of the rebels that we assisted in overthrowing kennedy . Why did we get involved with this . Why did we ever help qaddafi . Most importantly, when Hillary Clinton was asked for more security, she turned the ambassador down. Under crossexamination, asked her she said she never read any of the cables. She says, dont blame me. Somebody beneath me should have been reading those cables. I find it a dereliction of duty. A clear dereliction of duty. She wants to blame it on somebody else. It is a responsibility. Her failure to provide our ambassador and his mission with Adequate Security should preclude Hillary Clinton from ever holding high office again. [applause] amidst the chaos in the middle east, we have always had one friend. A friend that never leaves our side, israel. As an ally, israel has never wavered. One thing you can know for sure, you will never see an israeli burning an american flag. America has never backed down from a fight but we should never be a nation that is eager to get involved in a fight. The veterans i have talked to arent eager for war. When you have more veterans in congress, youre less likely to have war. President eisenhower said, i have one yardstick by which i test every major problem. That is, is it good for america . Is our current Foreign Policy good for america . Is our engagement in egypt and syria and pakistan to our benefit . I think we must have a strong military. Not because we are eager to use it, but because no one would ever dare to challenge us. I think reagan got it right when we said he said as for the enemies of freedom, those who are potential adversaries, they will be reminded that peace is our highest aspiration. We will negotiate for it. We will sacrifice for it. But we will not surrender for it, now or ever. Our forbearance should not be misunderstood. Our reluctance for conflict should not be misjudged as a failure of will. When action is required to preserve our National Security, we will act. We will maintain sufficient strength to prevail. If we do so, we have the best chance of never having to use that strength. Sake,r countrys certainly for our soldiers sake, for the sake of every veteran who ever donned the mission americas should always be to keep the peace, not police the world. America that does not seek to become involved in every conflict around the world would do things that can make us safer at home and abroad. We could modernize and strengthen our military. In a few weeks, i will be announcing a task force to do just that. To bring together great minds from our National Defense and modernize our military so we have the most modern capable the lee terry. Military. I like the military. I want to cut out waste and fraud and make the military stronger and direct resources where they need to go. You have to have the strength to look at military spending and say, nobody gets a blank check. With the savings from modernization, we will do something that we are failing at right now. We will take better care of our nations greatest resource, our service members. We will train them better, equipped them better, and fix a broken the a system v. A. System. I was profoundly impacted by the young men and women close in age to my own kids receiving care for injuries sustained in battle. It reinforces my worldview about the need to prevent conflict unless it is absolutely necessary. Those injured in our most recent conflicts will require a lifetime of care. We must Work Together to provide for that, to protect those who have affected us. [applause] we must be more prudent in our Foreign Policy. Eisenhower was right to observe that little wars can lead to big wars. Reagan was right that americas purpose is to promote peace through strength