Transcripts For CSPAN Capitol Hill Hearings 20130916

Problem. Sometimes it is part of the solution to international crises. Forlso have to recognize the un to have any credibility anywhere it needs to have the support of big states starting with the u. S. And in russia, china, the uk and france. They need to throw that diplomatic weight behind the un. Takese cases the u. S. The lead. Is iner cases, france the lead. Onetheless, you need overall go throughu have to the Security Council for all its faults. Thank you very much for your time. We will have to leave it there. Think you for watching on this monday morning. Enjoy the rest of your day. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2013] we want to update you on a story coming out of washington, dc. Shots have been fired at the Washington Navy yard. At least one person was injured in a shooting monday morning. Authorities search for an active shooting. Said therefficial was no are at least several injuries. Three shots were fired. Read thousand people work in the building. People are directed to shelter in place. Street in the area are closed. Navyis the largest of the s five system commands and accounts for a quarter of the navys entire budget. They build and maintain the navy ship summaries. Surrounded with sweat cruise. He has barricaded himself inside the building. Crews. He has been barricaded himself inside the building. President obama has been reefed. Halfis about a mile and a down the capitol building. Will continue to follow the story and pass along any updates. Elsewhere in washington, resident obama will mark the fifth Year Anniversary of the 2008 financial crisis. He is expected to speak at about 11 40 a. M. This morning. Our Light Program will pick up at 12 30 p. M. Eastern with the Supreme Court term preview. 2 we have more about the 2008 financial crisis with a Panel Discussion featuring hank paulson and barney frank tummy tuck. That will start at 12 30 p. M. Eastern as well. Looking at congress, the house has a short pro forma session. Later this week members are expected to pick up a management measure that would direct the department to establish the zone. It will consider the revised programs that were left out of the farmville when it was debated in the house. When it was debated in the house. The measure is aimed at helping manufacturers develop technology. Later signatures will consider and vote on to traditional nominations. Live tonight, our series on first ladies. She was a woman of combination. This symbolizes all of that. Inaugural gown. She marked her inching into the entrancee her into the white house. When she became the first lady to donate her down. She is the founding patron for the first ladies collection. She established the tradition that the first lady would donate the the inaugural gown to the collection. Meet helen taft, wife of william taft. While in iowa this past weekend, Vice President biden commended john kerry for negotiating a deal russia regarding syrias chemical weapons. HisVice President called former colleague when of the best secretaries of state in history. Also madetonio manner remarks to supporters. 36th annual harkin steak fry which is a large fundraiser that many candidates tend to make a stop at. We will show you as much as we can until president obama begins his remarks on the 2000 eight financial crisis scheduled for 2008 p. M. Eastern financial crisis scheduled for 11 40 p. M. Eastern. [laughter] [applause] thank you. Thank you. Welcome. We have not friday state yet. I do not know where the heck that name came from. I have an even better winning streak. 45 years and love the partnership with a lovely woman named ruth. Thank you. The only woman account in the courthouse at the time. I ran for congress. Ruth one. She is the only woman prosecuting attorney in the state of iowa. Iran two years later for congress. More than once i heard it said that if she is that good he cannot be that bad. A rotors curtails into office. Then she became the deputy general for the department of e. Ricultura she became the ceo of president clinton. Then a senior attorney was one of our nations top law firms which was headed by our former Democratic National chairman. And for whom both william and jowuin worked. She became senior Vice President for one of our largest manufacturers. She was studying french in high school. She coined a phrase that has stuck with us ever since when she described her mother. Petiteled her la generale. [applause] [laughter] that means the little general. You got it . To thespecial welcome Vice President of the United States joe biden. Ive got to tell you. I have a normas respect for the office of the Vice President. Him and address them as mr. Vice president. Having known him for so many it is just hard not to call him joe. No Vice President , disrespect. To everyone here into all of us here in iowa, you are our friend joe biden. You are right. He is just joey. Exactly. You would not have it any other way. Putting upll for with the extra security today. In addition to the secret service doing their security checks i heard that donald trump checking bursar civic its. Certificates. It is always good to have the Vice President here with us. A big deal to have mayor castro with us. I will tell you. Embody the strength and genius of our democratic body. He is young. One of our bright stars. Brightening the constituency of our party. Who President Biden embodies the sound judgment of our party which we need in these perilous times. We need both. Strength thatt we have as democrats. It is an honor to have him here with us today. Every year this marks the change of the seasons. This is been a scary summer. Think about it. It was an attack on the butter cow. Isnt anything sacred anymore . Do we start this off over the summer, we visits endured visits by rick santorum, rand paul, ted cruz. Governor perry is on his way. [laughter] all i can say is that the clown car is filling up pretty rapidly. [laughter] a couple weeks ago, i went celebrated the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther king jr. s i have a dream speech. [applause] we all remember Kings Mission for all of gods children. Earlier in the summer, the congressman made his lines with a very different vision. Badmouthing children of immigrants. I am the proud child of an immigrant mother, and i know king speaks for me. [applause] congress is back in session after five weeks, the august break. I have a couple things i want to say. Yesterday the announcement came through. Russia and the u. S. Have reached agreement to secure and dismantle the chemical weapons in syria by 2014. [applause] because of the strength, wisdom, courage of president obama. [applause] this guy right here, Vice President joe biden, and our great secretary of state john kerry. [applause] we reached this agreement with the International Community to dismantle them by 2014, and we did not lose one american life. That is leadership. [applause] that is leadership. Once again, republicans are threatening to shut down the government or default on the debt lest we dismantle obamacare. As the chair of the Senate Health committee, one of the principal authors of the Affordable Care act, i dont know whether to laugh or cry at that. Republicans have voted 40 times to repeal the Affordable Care act. 40 times. The good news for these republicans is that obsessive compulsive disorder is covered under obamacare. [applause] even better news is that the Affordable Care act is already working for all americans, and as we start our sign up next month, ending the denial of coverage based on preexisting conditions for all children, everyone by january 1 is outlawing abuses by Insurance Companies such as canceling your policy if you get cancer, allowing young people to stay on their parents policies until the age of 26. It is providing for prevention and Wellness Programs for all americans. In 16 days, millions of americans will be able to sign up on the exchanges for Subsidized Health care. [applause] at long last, every american will have access to quality, Affordable Health insurance that cannot be taken away. I want you to know that will include every american with a disability. No more segregation, no more exclusion, no more secondclass citizens for people with disabilities in america. [applause] i understand they will probably vote again on trying to and obamacare. Theyre going to fail. Theyre on the wrong side of history. Americans are not going to allow republicans to drag us back. Not on Social Security, not on medicare, not obamacare, and not on opening new opportunities for young people with disabilities. Were going forward. [applause] were going to build a reformed Health Care System that works not just for the healthy and wealthy, but all americans. I went to call in some special people. My dear friend joy milligan has been our deaf interpreter on almost every one of our steak fries. Thank you, joy. [applause] is susan here too . Lets hear it for susan. [applause] they trade off. Wasnt that a great job of singing the National Anthem . Thank you ray much. Very much. [applause] the ground crews spent days setting up for todays event. Our grillers, ted and john lewis. Joan lewis. Lets hear it for all those people who made this possible. [applause] and we had some wonderful rain last night and this morning, and now it is nice for all of us here. I want to thank the one responsible for that too. [applause] i want to have a round of applause for scott brennan, who answered the call to be our state democratic chairman. [applause] i last eye contact. Where is jim mueller . Thank you for leading our pledge, but thank you for your service in a rock iraq. [applause] our former state senator staci appel is with us. I have lost eye contact with staci. [applause] i want to recognize and honor all of our Democratic State legislature. Mark smith. Mark if youre somewhere. [applause] i want to especially thank our senate leader, mike grunts doll mike for doing the last session. Where is he . Thank you. [applause] those of us who call iowa home, those of us who care about keeping the state on a progressive course, nothing is more important than winning back the iowa house, getting more democrats in the senate and winning back the governorship next year for the state of iowa. Andplause] lets salute our fighting Second District on brisbane cumbersome and congressman. Where is dave . [applause] i want someone to come up here. Bruce brady. [applause] folks, you have been so kind and generous to me in all the years i have represented you both in the house and 30 years in the senate. I said when i announced my retirement that i wasnt going to sit back, that this was going to be a passing the baton, because im still going to work every day up until that day in january of 2015. I want you all to know, theres only one person i want to pass that baton to. Thats our next u. S. Senator, bruce braley. [applause] thank you. On with the show. You have had your steak. Now its time for some sizzle. [laughter] our first speaker, the mayor of americas seventhlargest city. He is new to iowa. Last summer he was picked by president obama to be the keynote speaker at our Democratic National convention in charlotte. The huge ovation that he got at the end of his speech and all the talk about him ever since reminded everyone of the ovation for a previous keynote speaker eight years earlier, an obscure state senator from illinois barack obama. [applause] the reason that there has been such an ovation and outgoing love and support is because many people see this young man as the future of our party. If you do this, you can try this at home or on your iphone. Google julio castro and rising star. At the convention, he was introduced by his identical twin brother of texas, who i introduced earlier. As joaquin said, for 18 years we shared a small room and big dreams. Raised by single mom, they went on together to stanford university, harvard law school. 2001, at the age of 26, castro became the youngest elected councilman in san antonios history. He was elected mayor in 2009, elected to a third term this year. He is the youngest mayor of a top 50 american city. There is much to admire about julian castro. What has caught my eye are two things. One is the phrase he used in his speech in charlotte last summer. He said, the American Dream is not a sprint or marathon. It is a really. Relay. Each generation building up and passing on that opportunity to the next. The second is what he has just done recently as the mayor. I have been trying for almost 20 years to get something done for Early Childhood education in america. This last january, it in Barack Obamas state of the union, he committed us to a huge program. A good, solid preschool program. We have not gotten that yet. The mayor of san antonio decided not to wait. He got the Business Community together. They passed a sales tax measure that is going to go for preschool, and justin august, the first of san antonios children are now enrolling in preschool and they are going to cover every single kid in san antonio with preschool education. [applause] lets give a rousing welcome again to one of our bright young leaders, courageous young man, mayor of san antonio, texas, boolean castro. Julian castro. [applause] thank you. Thank you. Hello, iowa. [applause] great to be here. First of all, let me say a huge thank you on behalf of all of the folks outside of iowa, and especially from the Younger Generation of folks. A huge thank you to your great senator tom harkin for being a leader, for being a true public servant, and a role model for so many who often wonder whether you can be in Public Service and still stay true to who you are and be a servant of the people. Tom harkin has said, yes, and shown it to all of us over the years. [applause] i know that he could not done half of what he has done without his lovely wife, ruth, right behind him, leading the way for the harkin family. [laughter] [applause] thank you all for having us today. President obama some time ago said that the best political decision he had ever made in his life was to selected joe biden as Vice President of the United States. I agree with him. [applause] mr. Vice president , we commend you on your leadership. Thank you for joining us. I did not have anything to do with the security here. It wasnt me. [laughter] the next great senator from iowa, bruce braley. [applause] i know we have a lot of folks from all over iowa. We have folks from waterloo here. We have folks from the butte, des moines, and indianola. [applause] i come from a city that google maps says is almost exactly 1000 miles away from here. San antonio, texas. It is americas seventhlargest city and one of the Fastest Growing cities in the u. S. Economically prosperous and vibrant, 1. 3 Million People. I have been mayor for about them a years. Four years. A couple of months after i got elected mayor, i had a meeting with a woman in my office at city hall and i dont even remember what we were meeting about anymore. When you are an elected official, you get a lot of gifts. Most of them are treated sore t shirts. I think i have Something Like trinkets or tshirts. I think i have Something Like five. I was a rookie mayor, and this woman gave me this gift agate was covered with tissue paper. That was covered with tissue paper. I started unwrapping the tissue paper and i took the gift out. It was a prayer card. It was of st. Thomas more. I did not know that, but st. Thomas moore is the patron saint of lawyers and politicians. So, good luck, as mayor. Before she walked out the door she said, he was beheaded. Thats true. I thought to myself, what in the world by gotten myself into . I know there are many of you in this audience who have been soldiering away in the trenches in iowa as democrats for a long time. There are probably some folks here who were at the first front, folks who have been e mailing and facebook doing and letter writing. We still do that sometimes. You sometimes wonder, why in the world are we doing this . We gather here today at a very special moment in 2013, a moment when our world is changing at a faster rate than it has ever changed in human history. A time when it is easier to travel than it ever has been. Its easier to communicate with folks than ever before. Computing in an iphone is faster than a computer that costs millions and millions of dollars just a few years ago. The United States is engaged in a 21st Century Global economy that is more competitive than it ever has been, with countries around the world who are producing welleducated young people capable of learning and manipulating the new technologies that will define the century. A time in which brain power is the new currency of success in this 21st century. Its a time when the divisions that have often separated us, of geography, of creed, are crumbling at a faster rate than at any other time in human history. The question before us is, what is the blueprint in this world for the century . What is the blueprint that america should follow to ensure prosperity in the years to come . Our friends across the other side of the aisle say that the blueprint is this, that if everybody would just go on their own, we will all be fine. If everybody will just do their own thing and government leaves everybody alone, everything will be great. But i believe in a different blueprint. I believe in the blueprint of roosevelt, investing in the g. I. Bill, so that more isnt millions can get an education. I believe in the blueprint of johnson, shepherding medical care through congress, so millions and millions of Senior Citizens could get the health care they needed, and i believe in the blueprint of president obama and Vice President biden, extending medical care to all americans across the United States, and i know that this is the blueprint because it works like this. In the United States, we have always had a basic bargain. We expect you and your family to work hard, but when you do, we reward that hard work opportunity. I know that, in more than just words. I know that from my own life. In the convention, i spoke about my grandmother. My grandmother came over in the United States as a six yearold orphan from mexico. She dropped out in elementary school, and because of that, she ended up working as a maid and babysitter her whole life, and i and my brother grew up with my grandmother and my mother, and i remember on april 3, 1992, we got tito real packets in the mail, and these were from stanford university. We had gone through the Public Schools of san antonio, and we said, you know what . We are going to try to apply to the best schools in the United States, and on that date, we got that acceptance letter, and a couple of weeks later, we actually got the bill. And it cost 20,000 per person to be able to attend stanford university. And my mother was making less than 20,000 that year, and my grandmother was getting a few hundred dollars in a Social Security check, and here were those two women, birth of whom both of whom had worked very, very hard in their life, watching their son and grandson with enormous opportunity and wondering how in the world they would be able to pay for it, and i can tell you this. The only reason that i was able to reach my American Dream to go to college and become a professional was because i work hard, and my family worked hard, but because there were pell grants and loans and studies and sanford loans. In other words, because i invested in myself, but fundamentally, i reached my dream because you invested in me, because the American People invested in me. That is america. That is what is great about this nation. That is the blueprint for success in the 21st century. We know that in san antonio. Last november, for the first time ever, the voters said yes to educational initiatives. Over 22 thousand fouryearold in san antonio when now get a high quality fullday pre kindergarten indications that we have the best repaired and best educated, most likely to succeed kids in the whole state of texas. [applause] my grandmother, when i was young, she used to tell me stories about when she was a girl. And she told me that after she was pulled out of school that she used to go work the fields with her family. Now, this is the first time that i have really been in iowa. I have to admit, i lost in a game a few years ago, that this is really the first time i have been in iowa, and when we were coming in on the plane, i looked out the window on to iowa, and i saw all of the fields of the green state, and i thought how proud she would have been that she had been picking crops and her grandson would be here where you guys pick a president of the United States. That is the American Dream. [applause] and so we have the blueprint. We know what we have to do. We need to continue to elect great leaders, like president obama and Vice President biden, and, of course, congress and the soontobe senator, and keep working and keep phone call making, and i look forward to Election Night of november 2016. I will be san antonio. I will probably have the television on. I am sure you guys will be at some Election Night Victory Party somewhere. I look forward to watching cnn and cbs and nbc and abc, and i look forward to the moment when break here him on fox news calls bret bair and says this will be the democratic nominee. Thank you very much. [cheers and applause] that was great. Thank you, julian. Now, just remain standing for a second. Tomorrow, their birthday, so we are going to give them the best happy birthday. Happy birthday to you happy birthday to you happy birthday, dear castros happy birthday to you . [applause] we are truly honored to have as our keynote speaker the Vice President of the United States. I remind you, i am sure i do not need to remind you that he first ran for president in 1987 and 19 88. He spent so much time in iowa, he spent so much time in iowa that he has friends all over this state. I am pretty sure he is and i went at heart. He is an iowan at heart. So he does not really need an introduction, but there are a few things i want to say about my great friend. For years, joe was a powerful senator. Now, he is the second most powerful person in the world, but he is the same decent, unpretentious, approachable joe who was elected to the senate in 1972 at the ridiculously young age of 29. All the years he served in the senate, very seldom did you see him after hours in the washington social swirl. As ruth said, when the senate quit work for the day, he was over at union station. He got on the train, the ride back to wilmington, delaware, to spend the evenings with his family. And that has meant a lot to ruth and me, because the job pulls you in a lot of directions, and there is always demands on your time. There is always demands to do something in the evening, and la petite generale laid the rolled down, no more than two nights a week out, and we of bothered by that, and yet, here was joe biden, every night getting on that train, going back to his family. To me, that says just about more about a person than anything else, that he cared about his family most of all. [applause] he never lost touch. With his humble roots, he has always been a fighter area he understands, as i said, what it means to be middleclass. As we all know, joe has known tragedy in his own life, and i can tell you his eyes and his heart are always open to the struggles of others. And during his 36 years in the senate, there was always one place to find joe biden, at the center of the action. He chaired the Judiciary Committee during some of the most contentious Supreme Court confirmation hearings, clarence thomas, and he chaired the Foreign Relations committee at a transformational time in our u. S. Foreign policy, following the attacks of 9 11. He also made his mark on criminal justice issues, including the 1990 crime bill and the violence against women act. Joe bidens bill. [applause] and understand this. Last year, to his great credit, and our countrys, he lead our party and our country in recognizing the justice of Marriage Equality for all americans. Joe biden. [applause] so we all know why joe biden is so popular here in iowa wherever he goes. He is the real deal. President obama calls him americas happy warrior. A smart, witty, tireless comic irreverence, irreverent [laughter] did i mention it irreverent . [laughter] [applause] and we know he is also on silence a bowl unsilenceable. I wish we could put into words what joe biden means to me, coming to the house and the senate, and having him as one of my mentors and guiding me and in stilling in me his values, the great values he always has, of understanding why we are there, why we are there, not for our own glory, not to make the comfortable comfortable, but to help those that need a government so that they, too, have what castro said, the opportunities for advancement and growth in america. I just, as i said many times, i always want to refer to the Vice President , with all due respect as mr. Vice president , but i have got to tell you. It is hard for me not to just call him my good friend, joe biden. Thank you. [crowd chanting joe, joe, joe, joe ] it is good to be back in iowa. So many good friends. How are you . It is great to be here with tom and ruth and all of you, and let me start by saying that tom and jim, my son sends his love and support and affection, and he and jim served in iraq, and you continue to do what you do for our administration, taking care of vets, so they will not be forgotten, and i look forward to coming over and visiting you in your office. Folks, i know the mayor will find this as a shock, but it is amazing when you come to speak, the whole lot of people seem to take notice. I do not know why the hell that is. You have attracted the entire National Press corps here. And i just, i just have never quite understood it, but i am learning. Look, folks. When the mayor was talking about tom, he mentioned st. Thomas more, and he said halley did not realize thomas more the catholics refer to it as the patron saint of liars and judges of more years of attorneys and generals, and i do not want to turn this into a mutual admiration society, but i know tom and ruth very well, and when he made that reference, it reminded me that there is a play about that period when thomas more was taking on henry the eighth and refusing to change the loss of the could get married, remarried, and there is a famous scene in that play, a man for all seasons, where his soninlaw was a fellow named roper, and roper came over, it turns out, at the urging of the kings men to try to get him to compromise and overlook the law. There was a Famous Exchange that reminds me, and it will remind you, of tom. He said, responding to roper, roper, and if i cut down all of the laws in england to do that, what will you do when the devil turned round on you then, roper . These are gods laws, not mans, and he went on to point out you have to stand sometimes in spite of inordinate pressure. That is what i have watched tom do, and i mean this. It is not hyperbole. You have seen it also. I have served with a lot of great women and men in the senate, but none with the conscience, none with the north star, none with more certitude about why he ran for office in the first place then tom, and let me tell you, thoms work is obvious. Everybody knows about his work with americans with disabilities, the americans with disabilities act, but the thing that people do not realize, and tom and ruth and i were talking about it on the way over, and i said it earlier, first of all, few men and women get to see the fruits of their labor, especially when, in fact, that labor was in the face of overwhelming opposition, overwhelming competition. Tom took on the opposition and took on everyone, but not only did tom change the lives of millions and millions of americans with disabilities, in the same way with his program in schools that educate children to the degree to which they are educate a bowl educatable, he did something remarkable. We do not think about it erie it he changed all america. He turned able people into not looking at the disabled at all or looking at them with nothing but sympathy and pity, to having them look at them as equals, having them look at them in ways that value all that they had to offer. Tom, you have not only changed the state of affairs for the disabled in america, you have changed americas soul. Think how different it is than what it was 25 years ago. What people look for, a bold or disabled, is to be treated with dignity, treated with respect, and that is what tom changed. I cannot think of a handful of people, and i have served, and i am told it was supposed to make me feel good, it made me feel bad, all but 13 people of American History i have served longer in the senate. [applause] and so, it is astounding. But time does not leave it to just what happened here at home. Think of what tom has done and how loud his voice has been for those around the world, not only for the disabled, but the persecuted. Not only the disabled, but the people who, in fact, have no voice. Tom has never been afraid to speak out. From the war in vietnam to the death squads in central america, to the outreaches of everything from genital mutilation of young women in africa to what is going on in syria. Toms voice has had a profound impact on how we view ourselves, and today, he remains the conscience of the senate. Tom does not allow anyone comfort in the democratic caucus, and i mean this sincerely, comfort of denial. Tom does not permit because of his voice the willing suspension of disbelief that so many of us would rather engage in because, darn, these problems are hard, to recognize them, to acknowledge them on and it places a burden on us. The good news is we have tom for another time. Another effort your years. [applause] and the good news, and i have gotten to know ruth and caroline well. I campaigned with them. He won in spite of me in 2006, 2008, 2010, and i think in every one of your campaigns, i got to see him. I got to see him up close and personal, and i got to see the same thing that impressed his constituency. In 2006, it was not a certain thing, but i watched people react, like you watched people react. You have been engaged in politics. You can feel it. You can taste it, right . The thing i observed about how people respond, the same reason tom admires me and why i think he is going to be a great senator, he is absolutely authentic. He does not have a phony bone in his body. [applause] i told bruce i would come and campaign for him, or not, which ever would help him the most. [laughter] folks, look. When the president knew i was coming, he wanted me, and i mean this sincerely, i spend a freeware to six hours a day together, and we have become close friends. I am with him a lot. He is a hell of a man, and he wanted me to thank you. No, seriously. I know that he will ask me if i thank you, to thank you what you did for him personally, but also thank you for delivering iowa for us in 2008 and again in 2012. [applause] joe and michelle and barack and i would not be standing there if it were not for you. The heart and soul of this party, and this has been the key to our ability to govern. From that day of august 2008 when the ticket was announced, the president and i have had a laser focus on one thing, raising up the middle class. The middleclass has been battered, as you all know. It has been battered not just in the eight years that preceded us but really the decline began much earlier. I do not know how many times i walked the picket line. I do not know how many times i have been with you in your hometown as factories were being padlocked and jobs were being sent overseas, and the people who have had the ability to raise their families, decent income, watching it all evaporate before them. And i am being absolutely literal. One thing i have learned in america, no one ever doubts i mean what i say. The problem is i usually say all that i mean. But literally, and they kid me for using literally often, and i do. But, folks, literally, the president and i have a handshake when he asked me to join him. I asked him only one question. Was he as committed as he says he was to rebuilding the middle class, and i also told him there were two things i would not do as Vice President. I would not wear any funny hats, and i would not change my brand, and i have kept my promise, but he has kept his. He has kept his. Ladies and gentlemen, let me tell you how we will measure the success and failure of the administration. It will not be whether or not the gdp continues to grow, and it is growing. It wont be whether or not the stock market has returned and exceeded its highs, which it has. It will not be whether or not we create just any old job. The nature of our success, and it is absolutely the commitment unlike any other country in the world, we are uniquely a product of having the largest middle class. Thingddle class, the one they do very well and the president has demonstrated that shoe grow the economy like you always have, from the middle out, not the top down. He has acted on that belief. [applause] the president of the United States and i understand this and i will keep saying it, middleclass is not a number. It is a value set. It is about keeping your farm and not having to sell it. Living in a state with a decent neighborhood, sending your kids to a school where if they do well they have a chance of being admitted to college. If they get into college, having an equal chance to get their not based and your income but based on the fact that you earned it and work for it and you have a chance. [applause] that has been the american story. It is the story of the history of the progress of this country. Maybe your children will not have to take care of you if you take care of your own parents. Because your government friends fought on your behalf, not got in the way. My dad had an expression, and i know that so many of you . What it is all about. I will never forget someone asking me why everyone in delaware was so upset with the president. And he makes me sound like a kid and it was not that. My dad after the war in the early 1950s, i remember my father coming up to sit down he had this you have seen it, and i am moving them to wilmington come and and i will come back and bring jimmy and valle. It is only 157 miles and i will be home most weekends. And we believed it would be ok. It is not going on the bluray or losing a job, whatever reason and and he said . It is about respect. It is about being able to take care for a of a and of those things, legitimately or in the power of the government, could make it possible to enhance and all but and that is why the first in his and something he passed the afford and he decided that instead of seeing those factories padlocked, he them open. He began to fight im and hollow out the creating good jobs, creating good jobs for process. Manufacturing jobs brought back to the United States of america. 500,000 of them since is a novelist with Hightech Industries for which there are not trained people. In combination here arrested 2 billion in Community College and at the rescuer of the of a more real and mystery automobile industry, creating 300,000 jobs, saving millions. Energy costs, reducing the cost he passed the Affordable Care act. He decided that instead of seeing the block, he wanted to see more open. The first thing that he did was insist upon free trade. Ournning to say to opposition, our competition that we will be to on any ground as long as it is fair trade. If it is not, will intervene. E has, more than any president in the process he has generated 2. 2 trillion 2. 20 trillion in exports last year. In process,s manufacturing jobs brought back to the United States of america. 500,000 of them, 500,000 of them. Colleges,in community there are 600,000 good paying manufacturing jobs for which there are not trained people. With majorion conveyors, creating a belt from Community Colleges over the objection of almost everyone he rescued the automobile industry, putting his presidency on the line, saving a million jobs, creating 300,000 new jobs. Costy costs, reducing the for middleclass families, doubling as mileage standards of automobiles, saving 1. 70 trillion at the gas pump over the next 10 years, over 12 billion barrels of imported oil. Ladies and gentlemen, were now the worlds leading producer of oil and natural gas. Time, he has doubled Renewable Energy in this country. Ladies and gentlemen, college , we have increase the number of pell grants by 3 million since we have taken office. 9 million middleclass families keeping their kids in college because of a 2,500 tax credit. Ladies and gentlemen, we also made sure that Interest Rates in Student Loans will not double and a student will never have to pay back more than 10 of his income after he graduates. [applause] ladies and gentlemen, in spite of our republican friends, this was all done at the same time that we produced taxes for an average middleclass family. And we have reduced the deficit that we inherited by 50 since 2008. The largest reduction in history since world war ii. Average middleclass family. Ladies and gentlemen, this president and his leadership has reduced the debt by 2. 50 trillion. 7. 5he process has created billion new jobs. Folks, there is a lot more that we have to do. There is not a single reason in the world and we cannot have the most educated population in the world by 2020. Not a single reason why we cannot generate new teachers in the next 10 years. And we can cut the price of oil in half by 2020. Or we cannot achieve generate new manufacturing jobs in the next four years one of the things i resent about the Republican Party is that they continue, like they want to talk down the prospects of america. Ladies and gentleman we are on the verge of a fundamental change in this country. Mica said, the job is about dignity. You need a decent job to be able to provide that. Beyond how it goes we treat the people in our country. I know the lot of people criticized others for speaking out not long ago about gay marriage. I cannot remain silent any more. It is time that we stop talking. It is the civil right of our day. The issue of our day. It is amazing the president believes we have to take 11 Million People out of the shadows and give them the opportunity to earn their way to citizenship, treat them with dignity. That has strengthened this country all along. That is why the president eliminated doma, he came out against this notion that somehow marriage cannot be recognized in one state and then denied in another. When it comes to the rights of the president s phrase, which i will paraphrase slightly, everyone in america should have the dignity choose who they love and marry who they choose. He believes that. It is all about treating everyone with dignity. Look, when it comes to women it is not about just choice or equal pay. I am absolutely determined, the president is absolutely determined that my daughter and my four grandfathers four granddaughters will have every no solitary exceptions. Aboutabout Human Dignity, taking advantage of all that this country has to offer. Look, the thing we have been saying for the last four years, the American People are way ahead of their leaders. Did you notice that when we announced our position and gay marriage there was not a surprise . The American People agreed with them. Our republican colleagues had to figure out that the American People were always ahead of their leadership. It is time, it is time. Ladies and gentlemen it has always been the story of the history and journey of this country that the American People have been ahead. I know that i have been criticized for saying this, but that is what makes america exceptional. In the area of Foreign Policy the president and i were determined from the outset to reestablish that notion of a shining city on the hill, where we are once again the most respected nation in the world, where we are looked to not just for the example of our power, but for the power of our example. i ¿ that is why the world has repaired to america for so long. We told you at this steak fry in 2007 at opposite ends of the platform, but he and i said the exact same thing, coincidentally. We said the first order of business if either of us were elect and would be to and the war in iraq and we did. We ended the war in iraq. [applause] the president gave me the responsibility of coordinating the effort to end the war trade the proudest moment as Vice President was ending in this god awful gaudy palace of Saddam Hussein before american troops and iraqi troops and having the great honor of dismissing the american troops and saying like every american troop it for you, you are going home with nothing in hand but the certain knowledge that you did your job and you are coming home. [applause] ladies and gentlemen, we promised you we would end the war in afghanistan, and i guarantee you we will end the war in afghanistan. [applause] but what we believe from the outset, everybody says why have you become such good friends . I have Great Respect for everyone for whom with whom i ran into thousand seven. But if you go back and look at those 13 debates, the only two people who never disagreed on a single, solitary subject in those debates were barack obama and joe biden. The reason i tell you that is this this has been seamless. It has been a great honor to work for him, worked under him, work with him. Because from the outset in Foreign Policy, he was determined, as i was, that the best way to defend our National Interest was working in consort with the International Community, not at odds with it. Obviously every president reserves the right to act alone if american interests are at stake. But he knows we are much stronger when we act in consort with our allies in the International Community. That is exactly how he stepped up to deal with the atrocities of that were occurring in syria, with a fundamental violation of human rights by the use of gas for the first time without the world responding since early on at the end of world war i. Others have used it, but he was not going to allow it to happen on his watch. Yesterday, as the president said, the use of chemical weapons anywhere in the world is an affront to Human Dignity and a threat to the security of people everywhere. Let me note parenthetically that i think john kerry has been one of the best secretaries of state so far in the history of the United States of america. [applause] because the president charged him when the president when do the g8, he is the one who raised with Vladimir Putin why dont we jointly, why dont we jointly, since its not an either of our interests to allow the largest stockpile in the world to go unattended, why dont we jointly moved to the United Nations and jointly secure it and destroy it . A lot of cynics were of the view that putin would not respond, but he did respond, not because hes a good guy, because its in his naked selfinterest. The naked self interest of russia to see these weapons not fall into anyones hands. As a consequence of the incredible work of john kerry with his counterpart, the foreign minister of russia, we are going to the United Nations with a resolution this week that will in fact call on the United Nations and the world to put pressure on syria to have the confiscation and destruction of all those weapons. Ladies and gentlemen, as the president has said, while we made important progress, much work remains to be done. The United States will continue working with russia, the united kingdom, france, the United Nations, to ensure this process is verifiable and there are consequences should assad regime not comply to the framework agreed to. The president s vision is absolutely clear and absolutely straightforward. He in fact is the reason why the World Community is facing up finally to this hideous aspect of these largest stockpile in the history of chemical weapons being confiscated and destroyed. Ladies and gentlemen, we have a clear vision of america. It rest on a growing and prosperous middle class where the Playing Field is level, where the middle class has a fighting chance, and where again we lead the world by the power of our example, ending torture, ending the war, refusing to yield to the baser side of human nature. I am absolutely convinced i said to tom, he and i came into politics at about the same time. When i got elect it is a 29 yearold kid, i was referred to as the young idealist. Even to this day, even on the old guy in the white house, they talk to me of talk about me as the white house optimist. I am an optimist. I am more optimistic about americas chances today than when i was one i arrived as a 29yearold kid. There is not a single reason in the world why we will not leave the world of the 21st century trade the reason for that is really simple. Whenever the American People have been given half a chance, they have never, never, never ever let their country down. That is what my president is about, making sure the people have an even chance. As i told the president of china, who i know well, as i told mr. Putin when i last had a conversation with him, it is never, ever been a good that tube that against the American People. God bless you all very god bless our president and may god protect our troops. Thank you. [applause] a™ [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2013] thank you again for showing up for the 36th annual harkin steak fry. We will see you next year. a™ a™ [dont stop by Fleetwood Mac playing] live pictures from the white house where we are awaiting remarks from president obama five years out in the 2000 eight economic collapse. Also expect think the president to make remarks on the Navy Yard Shooting this morning. About a mile and a half from the capitol building. Two point five miles from the white house. The reports are at least one gunman opened fire. Officials say several people were killed. The picture youre looking at is from the washington post. A shooter died, though not immediately clear how. Two other officials have said police were looking into the possibility of a second shooter. Other people set up gunman fired on them in the thirdfloor hallway. President obama has been updated on the situation. We expect the president to talk about that, along with a five Year Anniversary of the 2000 eight financial crisis. The president expected in just a moment. Live coverage here on cspan. Again, we are waiting the president to speak this morning on the fiveYear Anniversary of the nations financial crisis, and possibly to make remarks about the shooting at the Washington Navy yard. We are just being informed the president will be a halfhour late. We will bring it to you when the president does arrive here in the white house. The president. Back with steven gunn as a look at the week ahead for congress. They returned for the second week since the must month long recess. The immediate question the spending bills. The continuing resolution and the question over how congress will deal with the september 30. Eadline the basic spending. Basic spending for education, that sort of stuff. Every Year Congress has to reauthorize or respend all of the programs. Right now there is a big debate. Congress does not have any of the 12 individual spending bills. All sides agree they will do a continuing resolution resolution. Whatig question for this, writers, what extra stuff to republican sky onto that . A lot of republicans are tying in for health care. Essentially the issue of defunding obamacare. The government funded except for obamacare. They believe there will be a lot of legislative leverage. They think the president does not want to see a Government Shutdown. If they go ahead and give them a bill that funds everything in the government except for the health care law. They think they can force him to do that. The question is, who is willing to blame first . This has been standard stuff. Have a question of who is chiefly,o blink first which party is suffering blame at the publics eye at that point. That is relates the big fight going on. They realized they did not have a deal that could get the deal through. They said they hope to bring it up this week. The house was supposed to be off what are they eyeing they would like to delay the Affordable Care act. It would not have produced a final action. It gets a little complicated. House Republican Leaders, everyone is different for how it is debated. They will come up with a way that they will allow members to vote for a spending bill and to vote for defunding obamacare. Both bills would essentially be sent over to the senate. What matters is both bills would be sent to the senate. They would have to hold a vote on defunding obamacare. They would go ahead and vote on the basic spending that would fund the entire government. The government would go ahead and defunded regularly and essentially skipped on to the next crisis. And avoid a Government Shutdown. A dealid we can give you where we will avoid a Government Shutdown, and you get another obamacare. Und the republican rank and file said that is not good enough. Both of the deadlines at the same time means we have the perfect leverage and we think people like dislike it enough they will be blaming the republicans. That is the calculation. They think they can get there in the next two weeks. There is some sense that maybe this fight should have been done and may be better done on the next crisis we face a couple of us later on the debt will be met limit. The Government Shutdown is this too far. Our wingvernment was against the limit, that is a different situation. It can only spend the exact amount of money it is taking in. In the past couple of debt fights, that was a big problem. The government can only spend the exact amount of money it is taking in. In the past couple of fights we had, it was a real problem because the government was borrowing . 40 on every dollar, so you could be talking but instantly eliminating 40 of government. Now because the economy is doing a little bit better, and the tax increases at the beginning of the year and the spending increases, the government financial picture is actually not in great shape but much better shape. The government is borrowing only about . 20 on every dollar. Some republicans are saying that thinking, we are real willing to either take the funding of the healthcare law if we went on a dead deal or the instant 20 cut in government and make the Obama Administration have to decide whether cuts are. They would get blamed for the cuts, republican thinking goes, just as the sequester it not seem as bad as far. Republicans think they either win the cuts or they get to extract concessions. Host with all that laid out, what are republicans hearing yesterday from the president in his interview with George Stephanopoulos . Guest no deal. The president has been adamant that he doesnt want a deal on either of those things. This has been his position all along. His position in the past on negotiations. We should always be careful. Right now we are just the negotiation stage. Staring at the deadline, there have been deals in the past. Some have been big deals like the 2011 that deals that led to the sequester that reduce spending, which is one of the reasons why government finances are looking better. Some have been more political facesaving deals such as the last time we had a debt limit fight, the beginning of this year. Republicans allow the debt to float and basically said no specific debt limit. In exchange, they forced the senate to take a vote on a budget, with the full senate not done for three years. Some of facesaving symbolic votes he can get out of it. Sometimes there are actually real substantive spending changes you can get out of it. Host we have seen a test of the president s leadership with syria this last week. Some are saying that now it is House Speaker John Boehners turned detective on his leadership in this issue to be tested on his leadership on this issue. Guest one real question, with syria fading into the background as an issue for congress. It is certainly a major issue for the president. It remains something he will have to deal with. It will remain Something Congress will keep watching and well talk a lot about. It will take up a lot of oxygen here in washington. But there is no specific vote facing congress right now, with a lot of members of congress are relieved about on both sides. They are willing to let diplomacy take its course. Read, use all the president s Approval Rating stagnate and drop a little bit with first, use all the president s Approval Rating stagnate in trouble little bit and off also in his own base. Congress and the gallup polling, the highest in the gallup polling the highest in the year, went from 13 or 14 to 19 of 20. Host related to the reluctance to approve military strike in syria . Guest gallup said it happened to coincide. Whether correlation, we dont know. Congress without for most of the time, which could be one thing that helped their Approval Ratings. They were back home rather than here. I sont i dont think it is a surprise saying congress in particular you have bipartisan agreement in congress to fight another branch, congress looks like it is getting together and doing something. And their case, doing something very popular, which is opposing a syria strike. That does suggest well, we have to see what happens with the Approval Ratings, whether the president regains his political footing and whether Congress Returns to its regular low teen numbers and look like you cant get anything done. But specifically on boehner, it is absolutely a test. Three big test coming up. First, how he handles the continuing resolution and second, the deal on the debt limit. On the limit, he has long set a dollar of spending cuts for every dollar of debt limit increase. He won it and the 2011 debt deal, which is why we have the sequester and the spending path which led us in a better financial position. And the last go around, he did not win a dollar spending cuts. Everyone was symbolic vote on the budget. Whether he is able to stick to that logic and is one test of leadership. Continuing resolution and spending on obamacare, and then you the question of what happens with immigration and whether he brings that bill to the floor. There is a lot of pressure from outside and from democrats and from the Senate Senate republicans to bring the bill to the floor. But if congress does not want to see it on the floor much of an immigration fight on the floor. Much more messy fight. They are all big test. Host on Approval Rating, let me add this from a viewer on twitter host so the president has that going for him, his secretary of state is viewed as positive. Actor congress, though. What is actually going to be happening on the floor back to congress, though. What is actually going to be happening on the floor . Guest the senate is on an Energy Efficiency bill, but doing very little big debate. The amendment process is wouldve a freeforall. The senate has been bumping along with doing some big things like immigration, but generally tamping down on the big debate. The senate came through june and did immigration and they agreed to keep the debate on immigration because it was such a hot topic and there was pressure to get a bill done. Then they spent most of july and the middle of nomination fights. That is a different thing. We had basically three months or so. They were gone in august. There were three months where there were policy debates that built up that folks were eager to get amendments on and force each other to vote on. While it is an energy bill on the floor, most of the conversation right now is over amendments such as such we should we stop obamacare . A real push from republicans. Also amendments dealing with the Keystone Energy production, which is an energy issue but not really straight on Energy Efficiency. But there are a lot of big policy debates that folks want to get everybody up on board again. The other thing that happens in the senate and this is an interesting thing to note as president obama starts using the regulatory approach him and he says congress is working so is not working as i will take executive action to do what i congress, because it says that is our job, republicans offer amendments to disapprove of what the president did and have their say after that resident is acted. A number of other amendments are disapproval saying we disagree on this, this and this. You are likely to see a lot of housekeeping normal measures. The big thing is whether they do continuing resolution, spending. A lot of the big action will happen in committee. Morning. When the gentleman said we are borrowing 20 cents of every dollar that we spend, i would like to remind everyone that Ronald Reagans first dollars first budget bar of 25 cents for every dollar and the Republican Party has never looked back. He double the National Debt in the first term, tripled it in the second term. I do not like republicans. I have a blue streak in me. These republicans, six republican recessions i have lived through. These people are crazy. Shut down the government . You have to be nets. Guest his numbers are correct, that is exactly right. We have only had balanced budgets for four years, from 1998 through 2001, and then before that you have to go back to the 1950s or 1960s to find balanced budgets. This has been a continuing problem for years and years. One interesting thing that we are headed for, first of all we are about to have the first year of under 1 trillion deficits. Second, we are about to have the second year in a row where the government overall the had actually spent last minute did the previous year. The last time that happened was after world war ii period the previous time that that has happened since world war ii was the early 1950s. We are talking nearly 50 years where we had two years where Government Spending actually dropped. Host independent caller, texas, good morning. Host we are listening. Caller with all of these people hurting this way, if mom and pop do not go along, something will happen to the children. This continues to be our situation. If this spending situation is true, spending being cut the way that is, how can we afford to do the rose parties . The second question, what component is gerrymandering and redistricting . These people who are opposed to these things, if we are a government by the people, for the people . Guest those are actually really good questions. And gerrymandering, quickly, i think that has a lot to do with it. Both questions tie together well. For the last two decades or so, maybe even longer, we have essentially been playing with monopoly money. The government has been able to borrow, democrats get the spending they want, republicans get the low tax rates and military. We have been on the tab for the future. We papered over a lot of these differences. That time is over. The Tea Party Movement in 2010, the push back on the bush years and the first couple years of the Obama Administration, we all agree that we have to live within some sort of limits. It has made all the fights on capitol hill more pointed. Once we decided we could not just paper over differences, that is the reason we have these fights and, because suddenly those issues are a lot more pointed. Going back to the point about gerrymandering, for the last 2 1 2 years the speaker of the house has talked about the American People be ready for an adult conversation on spending and deficits, but i have not seen the evidence of that. American people still want Social Security, they want education spending, they want the spending comes out of washington and they like low tax rates. The American People are not ready for this conversation on spending. Members of the caucus are beginning to have that conversation, that is why you get the gridlock, when they said they want it all. Gerrymandering is where you stick a lot of one party into the same district so that the competitive for primary elections rather than the general elections, when you do that you do not have this conversation in the middle. You have the democratic conversation going on in 200 house districts. I would say that that winds up hurting the chances for an adult conversation, spending and lower taxes on the democratic side, the wealthy can pay more, there is no middle ground debate. Host let me add to that dynamic with this tweet guest that is interesting. I do not know that i agree with that. I mean health care was certainly them working for the president. He got a lot of what you wanted in the first two years of his presidency. He got a lot of the smaller parts of his agenda. What the last year and a half have showed is the honeymoon is over. He will no longer get what he wants just by being president. But that happens to every second term president. There was a point in the Bush Administration, right . 2003, when president bush ordered congress to pass a Prescription Drug bill as part of medicare, a tough vote for republicans who did not want to do that, that was sort of the last free vote that president bush got. President obama is now in that aposition as well. The same thing has happened and it is interesting to watch. Host baltimore, republican caller. Caller yes, i am a republican in a very, very blue state. I get very little representation in congress. I guess my the congressional agenda, the president is not going to get everything he wants or a lot of what he wants in a continuing resolution or a debt ceiling situation. When he says he is not going to deal with anybody . That just gives resolve to the republicans in the house and the senate. It gives them enough ammunition to say that this guy will not do what needs to be done. He is still trying to push through his agenda, which would be wonderful if we had unlimited money, but we do not. Guest the key question there is what sort of deal he is willing to deal at the end. His arguments are two fold. First, if the spending levels that were agreed to in the previous year, those are in law, so the question is why should we attach other political fights to that . He made it clear that he had won the obama care fight and did not get unseated in the last election, the Senate Remains the autocratic and the argument was your votes have not gone anywhere. If you want to stop obama care the way to do that is to win over the mind of the public and win more elections, not to hold hostage the rest of Government Spending. On the debt limit, there are a lot of capitol hill folks that make the same argument, that is money that has already been contacted. They have already decided they are going to spend at and they have already set the tax levels to give the funding that comes in for less than what they are spending. It is simply a matter of saying that we will pay the debts we already ran up. He says there is no reason to negotiate with that. One of the thing that should have mentioned is the problem for the leadership, the bill but they put on the floor last week came in 20 billion higher than where it was supposed to be set with sequesters. That was another problem out there. It was not just that they had this tricky way of allowing evoke, but they also had different funding levels that angered a lot of republicans. Senator tom coburn last week issued a letter to his colleagues saying we made a commitment in the debt deal on the level that we would be at. If they will not do that, they will have a major fight. Host here are some headlines about what is going on with the Republican Party and capitol hill. Guest what youre seeing there is sort of the perfect storm. Leadership always has this problem. Their job is to get the basics of government done. In this case it means spending and keeping the government moving at some level. The rankandfile, they want to win and are not necessarily as interested in process as they are in victories. We have got to do some basic things to show the show the we can govern this place. Showing our conservative voters that we are succeeding in stopping the president s agenda and are rolling it back. That is the crux of the fight youre seeing right there. Host remind me how to pronounce your town, caller . Caller [indiscernible] host go ahead. Caller congress, the way they are acting in the constitution, their political agenda as far as republicans and democrats, do you think this congress will be like the 112th . As far as this benghazi thing that they are going back to on their agenda, is it going to be just for the way in the side they just do not want to get together to make america strong echo benghazi is an interesting issue the mayor to strong . Guest benghazi is an interesting issue. Congress trend challenging whether the consulate was safe enough. There were a lot of questions in the beginning about something bad happening. These arguments have frayed as the questions get more political around unfortunate mistakes. When Congress Acts together, that is when congress is thus popular. Real quickly on the first point, putting partisanship aside, that is not in the minds of many of to leave thisg discussion for live coverage of president obama. Coverage expected momentarily. Live coverage here on cspan. Good afternoon. Please have a seat. Before we begin, let me say a few words about the tragedy unfolding near here. The naval yard. I have been briefed on the situation. We still do not know all the but we do know some have been shot and killed. We are confronting another mass shooting. It happened on a military installation in the nations capital. A shooting that targeted the military and civilian personnel. These are men and women going to work, doing their jobs, protecting all of us. Patriots. They know the dangers of serving but today they face the unimaginable violence that they would not have expected here at home. So we offer our gratitude to the navy and local law enforcement, federal authorities and the doctors who respond with skill and bravery. As this investigation moves forward we will make sure whoever carried out this act is held responsible. In the meantime, we send thoughts and prayers to all at the navy yard that have been touched by this tragedy. We thank them for their service. We stand with the families of those who have been harmed. They will need our love and morert, and as we learn about the courageous americans who died today, lives, families, patriotism come a we will honor their service to the nation that they help to make great. Obviously we will be investigating thoroughly what happened, as we do so many of the shooting sadly that have happened. And do everything we can to provide to try to prevent them. Weeks, much of our attention has been focused on the events in serious. Chemical weapons used on innocent people, including children. Events in syria. Over the weekend we took an important step in the direction towards moving towards syrias chemical weapons under National Control so they can be destroyed. InterNational Control so they could be destroyed. I want to be clear that even as we have dealt with the situation in syria, we continue to focus on my number one priority since i took office. Everyone that is willing to take responsibility for their lives has a chance to get ahead. It was five years ago this week that the financial crisis rocked wall street. Sent an economy already in recession into a tailspin. Is hard sometimes to remember everything that happened during matter ofhs, but in a a frightening few days and weeks some of the largest investment banks of the world failed, stock markets plunged, banks stopped lending to families and Small Businesses. The auto industry, the heartbeat of American Manufacturing was flatlining. By the time i took office, the economy was shrinking by an annual rate of more than eight percent. Where shedding 800,000 jobs each month. Perfect storm that would rob millions of americans of jobs and homes and savings they had worked a lifetime to build. For longso laid there erosion of the middleclass that for more than a decade has had to work harder and harder just to keep up. In fact most americans who have known Economic Hardship do not think about the collapse of Lehman Brothers when they think about the recession, instead they recall the day they got the gut punch of a pink slip or the day the bank took away their home. The day they got sick and did not have Health Insurance or the day they had to sit their daughter or son down and tell them they could not afford to send them back to college the next semester. So those are this door is that guided everything we have done. It is what in those earliest days of the crisis caused us to theso quickly, to stop downward viral and put a floor under the fall. We put beef old to work repairing roads and bridges. Teachers in the classroom and First Responders on the street. We health responsible homeowners modify the mortgage so they could keep their homes. We help to jumpstart the flow of credit to help Small Businesses keep the doors open. We saved the American Auto industry. As we work to stabilize the economy and get it growing and create jobs again, we started pushing back against the trends that had been battering the middle class for decades. We took on the growth broken healthcare system, ended our addiction to foreign oil, place new rules on big banks. Roles we need to finalize before the end of the year to make sure we job is done rules need to finalize before the end of the year to make sure the job is done. Tax codehanged the that was too skewed in the favor of wealthiest americans. We locked in tax cuts for 98 of americans. We asked those of the top to pay a little bit more. So if you add it all up, over the past 3. 5 years, our businesses have added 7. 5 million new jobs. The Unemployment Rate has come down. The Housing Market is healing. The Financial System is safer. He sell more goods made in america than ever before. We generated more Renewable Energy than ever before. We generated more natural gas than anybody. Health care costs are growing at the rate in 50 years. They will finally have a chance to buy quality Affordable Health care on the private marketplace. We have cleared away the rubble from the financial crisis and have begun to lay a new foundation for Economic Growth and prosperity. And our personal lives. People have refocused on the things that have really on this fiveYear Anniversary we should take note on how far we have come from where we were five years ago. That is not the end of the story. Yet where we need to be. That is what we have to focus on. Thathe remaining work needs to be done to strengthen the economy. We need to grow faster, more good paying jobs, more broad based prosperity. We need more ladders of opportunity. Even though the businesses are creating more jobs that have broken record profits, the top one percent of americans have taken home 20 of the nations income last year, while the average worker is not seeing a raise at all. That understates the problem. Most of the gains have gone to the top point 10 of one percent. In many ways the trends that have taken hold over the past few decades of a winner take all economy where if you do better and better while everyone else treads water or loses ground hum that those trends have been made worse by the recession. That is where we should be focused on. That is where i know americans out there are focused on. As Congress Begins another budget debate, that is what congress should be focused on. The economyow faster . How do we create better jobs . Do we create better jobs and income . How do we increase income for those that have been locked out of opportunity . How do we create better Retirement Security . That is what we should be focused on, because the stakes for the middle class could not be higher. In todays hypercompetitive thed, we have to make investments necessary to attract good jobs that pay good wages and offer high standards of living. Although ultimately the success will depend on all the innovation and her work of the private sector, all the grit and resilience of the American People, government will have a critical role. And making sure we have an Education System that prepares workers for global economy. The Budget Congress passes will determine whether we can hire more workers to upgrade transportation and Communications Networks were fund the research and development that has always kept america on the cutting edge. Here inhappens washington makes a difference. What happens on capitol hill what willdetermine happen for the average american. I say at the moment because i am still hoping that a lightbulb those off here. Ideas revolveget primarily around even deeper. Uts to education even deeper cuts that would gut the Scientific Research and development. Even deeper cuts to americas infrastructure investment. Roads, bridges, schools, energy grade. These are not the policies that would grow the economy faster. They are not the policies that would help grow the middle class. In fact, they do the opposite. Up until now, republicans have argued the cuts are necessary in the name of fiscal responsibility. The deficits are now falling at the fastest rate since the end of world war ii. That, deficitst are going down faster then any time since before i was born. By the end of this year [applause] by the end of this year we will have cut the deficit by more than half since i took office. That does not need we do not still have some longterm fiscal challenges, primarily because the population is getting older, and they are using more health so we still have changes we have to make, and there is not a Government Agency out there or program out there that still cannot be streamlined, become more customer friendly come a more efficient. So i do believe we should cut the programs we do not need. Noteed to fix ones that are working the way they are supposed to or have outlived the initial mission. We have to make government faster and more efficient. That is not what is being proposed by the republican budget. Instead of making necessary changes with a scalpel, so far republicans have chosen to leave in place the socalled sequester cuts that have cost jobs, harmed growth, hurting the military , and top independent economists say this has been a big drag on recovery this year. Our economy is not growing as fast as it should and not creating as many jobs as we the sequester is in place. That is not my opinion, the opinion of independent economists. Sequester makes it harder to do what is required, to boost wages for american workers. So the economy is still slack. If republicans want the economy to grow faster, create more jobs faster, they should want to get rid of it. Irresponsible to keep it in place. If congress is serious about wanting to grow the economy faster, the First Quarter of business must be to pass a sensible budget that replaces the budget with a balanced plan that is fiscally sound and Funds Investment like education and research and infrastructure that we need to grow. This is not asking too much. Job is passing a budget. Congress needs to get it done without triggering another crisis. Without shutting down the government or worse, threatening not to pay this countrys bills. After all the process, the ideas of her first think the progress because of an unwillingness to compromise or an ideological agenda is the height of irresponsibility. Not what the American People need right now. These folks standing behind me. These are people that are Small Business owners on the people who almost lost their home. Young people trying to get a college education, and all of them went through tough times during the recession, in part because of the steps we took and primarily because of their courage and determination and hard work, they are in a better place now. The last thing they are looking for is for us to go back to the same kind of crisis situations we have had in the past. The single most important thing we can do to prevent that, is for congress to pass a budget puts us on a that ,ound past work growth, jobs better wages, better incomes. Look, it has never been easy to get 535 people here in washington to agree on anything. Battles and debates, those are as old as the republicans. Right now the house of republicans reject right now the republicans controlling the house. Democrats controlling the senate. So this is always going to be tough. Having said that, i cannot remember a time when one party promises economic chaos if it cannot get 100 of what it wants. That has never happened before. That is what is happening right now. You have some republicans in the house of representatives are promising to shut down the government of the end of this month if they cannot shut down the Affordable Care act. If that scheme does not work, some have suggested they will not pay the very bills that congress is already running up. This would create massive economic turmoil. Those kinds of actions are the kinds of actions that we do not need. The last time the same crew friend this course of action mayors2011, even the suggestion of defaults slowed Economic Growth. It was not that long ago. Keep in mind, and initially the whole argument was we are going to do this because we want to reduce the debt. That does not seem to be the focus now. How the focus is obamacare. If passed both houses of congress. It was an issue in last years election. The candidate who call for repeal, lost. Who called for repeal, lost. [applause] republicans in the house have tried to repeal or sabotage it several times. They failed every time. The law has rad helped williams of americans. Young people were able to stay on the parents plan up until the age of 26. Seniors getting additional discounts on the Prescription Drugs. In smallfamilies businesses getting rebates from Insurance Companies because they have to actually spend money on peoples care in stead of on administrative costs and ceo bonuses. A lot of the Horror Stories predicted about how this was going to shoot rates way up and there were going to be death panels come in none of that happens. The Affordable Care act will help millions of more people. There is no serious evidence that the law, which has helped to keep down the rise in Health Care Costs to the lowest level in 50 years is holding back Economic Growth. So repealing the Affordable Care , making sure 30 Million People do not get Health Insurance and people with pre existing conditions continue to be locked out of the healthcare market, that is not on the agenda for Economic Growth. You will not meet an economist who says that is the number one priority in terms of boosting jobs in this country. At least not a serious economist. I understand i will never convince some republicans about the merits of obamacare. I understand that. And i am more than willing to work with them where they have specific suggestions that they can show will make the Health Care System better. , initially this was like repeal and replace the replace thing has gone off to the wayside. Now it is just repeal. Asked r point is after all that we have been toough, after all the work come back from the depths of a , are some of these folks really still beholden to one extreme wing of the party that they are willing to take the entire economy just because they cannot get their way on this issue . Are they really willing to hurt people just to score political points . I hope not. But, in case there is any confusion, i will not negotiate over whether or not america keeps its word and meets obligations. I will not negotiate over the full faith and credit of the United States. This country has worked too hard of ao long to dig out crisis just to see the elected representatives here in washington purposely cause another crisis. Lets stop the threats, political posturing, keep the government open. Pay the bills on time, pass a budget, Work Together to do what the American People sent us here to do, create jobs, grow the economy, expand opportunity. [applause] that is what we need to do. And, as far as the budget goes, it is time for responsible republicans who share the goals, and there are a number of folks out there who i think are decent folks. Theme disagreements with on some issues, but i think genuinely onto the of the economy grow and want what is best for the American People. Time for those republicans to step up and decide what they want to prioritize. Said they wanted deficit reduction. Deficits are falling fast. The only way to make further longterm progress that does not slow growth is with a balanced plan that includes closing tax loopholes at the expense of the middleclass. The only way to do it. [applause] they said they wanted entitlement reform. But the leaders have not put forward serious ideas that would medicare or salsa security. I have put forward ideas for sensible reforms to medicare and Social Security and have not gotten a lot of feedback yet. Reformid they wanted tax. Remember, this was just a few months ago they said this would be a top priority, tax reform. Six weeks ago i put forward a plan that serious people in both parties should be able to support, a deal that lowers the Corporate Tax rate for businesses and manufacturers, simplifies it for Small Business owners, as long as long as we use some of the money we saved. O in dust in infrastructure position is is folks in this town once a grand bargain, how about a grand bargain for middleclass jobs . So i put forward ideas for tax reform. Have not heard back from them yet. Has a couple of weeks to get this done. If they are focused on what the American People are focused on, i am confident it will happen. Once were done with the budget, lets focus on the other things we know will make a difference for middleclass families. Lowering the cost of college. In addition the job of immigration reform. Taking up the work of tax reform to make the system fair and promoting more investment in the United States. If we follow the strategy i am laying out for the entire economy and is washington will act with the same urgency and common purpose we felt five years ago, then our economy will be stronger a year from now, five years from now, a decade from now. That is my priority. All of these folks standing behind me and everyone out there who is listening, that is my priority. Have run my last election. My only interest at this point is making sure the economy is moving the way it needs to, so we have broadbased growth that has always been the hallmark of this country. As long as i have the privilege of serving as your president , i will ask every moment of every day. And to give everyone a chance to get ahead. Thank you, everybody. God bless you. God bless america. [applause] thank you. President obama covering a number of issues in the briefing, marking five years since the collapse of the u. S. Economy. Use ing chemical weapons serious. Also covering the shooting at the naval yard. Ia. Chemical weapons in syr here is the latest on the shooting. A report says at least six people are dead now and several wounded as we look at this tweet from a person named tim hogan who apparently works in the area. Department ofthe defense official said the shooter had died. Washingtons police chief said police are looking at the possibility that two other shooters are on the loose. At least one gunman opened fire inside the building at the navy yard today. Officials said several people were killed and as many as 10 wounded. Schools in the area are on lockdown. Security at the pentagon tightened. The press secretary George Little has released a statement that said everyone here at the 10th economy here at the department of defense is saddened by the incident of the Washington Navy yard this morning. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims. Secretary hagel has assured the navy will provide any resource or capability needed to get the community through this event. This is a fluid situation. Officials are looking here. They begin the investigation. We will continue to take us on this. That we arender. Xpecting remark ban kimoon for 12 50 p. M. We will have it when it gets underway live on cspan. On thehen, a discussion Un Peacekeeping force. We take a look at how your tax dollars are being spent. Richard is joining us from new york this morning. He is an associate director for new york university. Lets begin with the purpose of human peacekeeping for our topics of our viewers this morning. It is worth keeping in mind that the un does not have a single peacekeeping force. It has around 100,000 troops and police and civilian experts around the globe and operations from haiti to the congo to the middle east. Those operations are doing very Different Things. They are watching the standoff between israel and syria. They are helping keep law and order sustainably in place. They do very Different Things in very different places. Talk about a bit more about how big this peacekeeping force is. 100,000 personnel, mainly troops but also Police Officers and a core of civilians. The troops mainly come from africa and asia. A the middle east to have significant number serving on the command. Many from india, pakistan, china. An operation that the u. S. Funds vary significantly. The u. S. Pays nearly a third of the Un Peacekeeping budget which is now over 7 billion. U. S. Troops are not really present. That americak leads to its allies, especially allies from africa and asia. The United States picks up about a third of that. The overall budget 7. 25 billion. There has been about 68 of the current operations. There are about 16. Lets talk about the history of this. How did this peaks peacekeeping force start and why . Guest it began in the 1940s and 1950s in the middle east. The first peacekeeping operation of any size was set up in 1956 in the sinai to help end of the suez crisis. The first big peacekeeping operation in africa was in the congo in the early 1960s. Belgium had been the colonial power there and it pulled out and the country fell apart and the un sent in troops backed by the Kennedy Administration to try to bring order to the congo. Peacekeeping began and the cold war but it only really took off at the end of the cold war. The big operations of the 1990s that you will remember were those in bosnia, somalia and other places. Those missions were sometimes very unsuccessful. I think we all recall the massacre inrwanda and un peacekeepers could not stop those atrocities. That has a lingering effect on the reputation of peacekeeping but the un is an organization that learns from failure and Un Peacekeeping today in places sudan or mali is more efficiently run and much more effective than those missions in the early 1990s. Host what does the United States get for its 2 billion . Guest the United States gets an immense bargain from Un Peacekeeping. You got to understand that Un Peacekeeping sounds expensive, 2 billion for the u. S. , nearly eight lien dollars overall, but it is much cheaper than deploying nato troops or u. S. Troops. It has been calculated that it costs 20 per soldier. If you compare the cost of nato troops in afghanistan, that is vastly greater than a u. S. Mission. The un is deployed in places that are direct concern to American Security and americas world vision. One example is haiti where the un has helped maintain stability to rebuild the country after the earthquake in 2010. Another example is lebanon. Un peacekeepers have been in lebanon since the late 1970s. They maintain some stability and avoiding a return to work between israel and has below. Dad and has the law. And has below hezbollah. It is a cheap option for providing security in places the u. S. Cares about. Host what other countries contribute . Guest financially, it is the european union. E Member States provide 40 of the budget, around 10 more than the u. S. Europeans only really send troops to the middle east to operations like lebanon and the golan heights. In terms of soldiers, the biggest contributors are india, pakistan, and then african countries such as south africa, tanzania, ghana. It is mainly troops from the global south that carry the burden of Un Peacekeeping. In the haitian case, it is slightly different. It is actually brazil, argentina, and chile. For those latin american countries working through the un and haiti, it is a way of showing greater international responsibility. That is something the u. S. Has always welcomed. Host according to the Un Peacekeeping website rochar gowan is joining us from new york. Richard gowan is joining us from new york. The Associated Press reports this moments ago i read a story earlier that said un peacekeepers are preparing to go into syria. What sort of preparations do peacekeeping forces have to go into a country like syria . What needs to be done . Guest the un has already sent one peacekeeping force to syria. It was sadly shortlived and a Small Mission in syria in the first half of last year. It provided some pretty effective reporting on the scale of the fighting and the savagery of the Syrian Government. Sadly, it was much too small a force to actually hold the violence. The un has been planning for some time for peacekeeping options in syria in scenarios such as a ceasefire or the collapse of the assad government. In many situations, the un does not have very much time to plan. It does not have very many resources to plan with but syria is an exception. You have had un personnel working very hard on military options, different scenarios, and mediation options. That does not mean the deploying of peacekeeping forces to syria would be easy. In fact, it is a terrifying prospect. It is the idea of sending in troops to a country that has been so badly ravaged by war and where are there are so many different militia groups and terrorist groups active. But the un does not always have a choice. If the Security Council decides it will send more peacekeepers to syria, they will go, whatever the risks. Host what type of people as part of this peacekeeping force would be sent into syria . What kind of professionals make up the force in general . Guest in a case like this, you have a range of options. In the first instance, you might send in a fairly small group of military observers or possibly troops with the responsibility for guarding chemical weapons inspectors. If you were looking at a larger stabilization force, it would involve infantry, engineers, it would be a fairly standard military deployment. In a case like syria, the troops would probably come from a range of countries are it i think European Countries would probably deployed troops because syria has been such a great concern for europe. A number of arab countries would come forward with soldiers. This would be a slightly different sort of force to those that we see in african cases like mali where the bulk of the hard work is done by african contingents. In a case like syria, you will need armor, probably air assets and helicopters to move around. It is mainly European Countries, americas nato allies, that can provide those assets. Host when you take a look at the un field workforce, avid as of july, 2013 what kind of training do these people get him a kind of military assets do the un peace forces have . Guest the training is very mixed. In some cases, there really is not very much time to train peacekeepers before they deploy. When france went into mali, african peacekeepers were sent in to support the french but they had to be deployed in a matter of days and what is not much time for training. The un likes to ensure that all the units that get into Different Countries are trained in working with communities and respecting human rights. Some countries are better at that than others. The un secretary in new york has put in place various programs to raise the quality of its peacekeepers. You mentioned the civilians. It is often civilians that really guide commission. Its the military that it into the media. You have a group of civilians who have worked in un missions now going back to the early 1990s, even the late 1980s, people with a great body of experience in cases such as cambodia and bosnia up till today. They understand issues like elting up legal systems, training police, monitoring human rights. They have a very wide body of expertise. To your second question what sort of equipment does that un have that is sometimes a problem. In todays world and especially in complex environments like Saddam Hussein lycos udon or mali, you need helicopters, drones, the full at rate of military technology and the un does not always have the military assets it needs. It has a particular problem finding enough helicopters to send to trouble spots. It is only just starting to experiment with drones. It is years behind the u. S. And nato. The un is still slightly too reliant on infantry units that lack mobility and that is a problem for its forces. The difficulty is that helicopters cost money as well as drones in countries like the u. S. And european powers dont necessarily want to throw lots of cash at bringing un forces right into the 21st century. Host we are talking about Un Peacekeeping forces as part of our your money series. We contribute to billion dollars to the Un Peacekeeping forces. Our guest is joining us from new york. He is from the center on international cooperation. From twitter guest that is variable. When you deploy a un force into a country that has been broken by civil war war, the citizens are often delighted to see the blue helmets arrive. They place a huge amount of trust in the un. One problem for the un is some of the missions go on for years, in some cases decades. The longer the military are there, the less respect they get from the local people. In cases such as the congo were the un had significant forces since 2000, it is quite hard to maintain good relations with the population. They wonder why the un is still there and they wonder why the un has been unable to solve their problems. The respect starts to corrode overtime. Host ryan is up worst with a phone call from illinois, independent caller. Is up first. Caller my name is ronnie. Ive got one quick question and five quick comments. In my own opinion, how much credibility does the un really have . They dont pay their own parking tickets. They those thousands of dollars. Youve got china as the a most favorednation trade partner,really they lock up people for being christian. The former iranian leader gets up there and blasts the United States and we just let him. Hugo chavez gets up there and blasts the United States. Finally, un resolutions are ignored by everyone. How many resolutions by the un did Saddam Hussein ignore . Guest un inspectors did a good job of helping break on Saddam Hussein plus nuclear arsenal. It was unfortunate the Bush Administration did not leave they had done that job or it after the u. S. Invaded iraq, they discovered the un had been more effective than they thought. Some of those points are very good indeed. There are real tensions inside the un. The diplomacy in new york, especially around the opening of the General Assembly which happens later this month, can be pretty ludicrous. It is difficult to look beyond the crazy diplomacy in new york and see the good the un is doing out in the field. The un is doing a huge amount of good out in the field. Most of the peacekeepers in places like haiti or liberia dont really care about all this posturing back in new york. They want to get on and do the job of maintaining stability and building up functioning states. Their work is not really affected by what Mahmoud Ahmadinejad or the late hugo chavez says to the General Assembly. Host in the 68th session of the United Nations which opens tomorrow, president obama is expected to travel to new york and actually to address the un assembly. We have learned that Vladimir Putin will not be attending. Ohio, democratic caller caller it seems like the un peacekeepers would be too little too late. It seems like assad makes sense if you want to look at the devil you know. He says its us or the terrorists and i can see the russian position. They are scared to death of al qaeda and the chechnyans. Host what do you think about peacekeeping forces in syria . Does russia have a say if they can go in . Guest absolutely, the Security Council provides all the mandates for peacekeeping forces. Over the last few years, russia and china were able to veto any Security Council resolution they dont like. Equally, the u. S. Can veto resolutions that it does not like. To put peacekeepers back into syria, you need full agreement between russia and the u. S. About what those peacekeepers are going to do. I think russia has an interest in eventually putting peacekeepers in syria. That is because russia does not want to see the communities that have supported president assad massacred by his opponents. One of the first jobs of any Un Peacekeeping force in syria would be to try and secure all the different communities and ensure there are not revenge killings as the work comes to a close. I should also say this is a fairly distant prospect. Fighting is going on, the diplomacy last week in geneva has not affected the level of fighting on the ground. Its very hard to tell exactly what circumstances peacekeepers might deploy to syria. Host fargo, north dakota, independent caller caller my question is with regard to the peacekeepers in hte rc were alleged to have committed rape among civilians. I dont know if that has been addressed at the un. Host that is a tweet as well guest i think its worth saying that all military forces deployed in difficult countries do make mistakes and sometimes units do stumble into committing atrocities. We have seen that with nato forces in afghanistan and western forces in iraq. Its a real problem and the un does have a track record of soldiers going bad, committing sexual abuse, and courage and prostitution and some signs of getting involved in corruption, trafficking. I think there have been cases of that in the congo. It is difficult for the un to ensure 100 discipline amongst its forces. In fairness, since 20 2004, the un has strengthened its systems for dealing with sexual abuse. The un doesnt system sending home troops who have been found guilty or accused of sexual abuse. There is more of a zero policy them there once was. The un struggle sometimes to keep up with all of these Different Cases of malpractice in Different Countries. That certainly does have a corrosive effect on the organizations reputation in the effect it countries and more generally, worldwide. Host here is another tweet have there been efforts to cut our contribution to the United Nations . Guest there are often debates in congress about cutting the un budget and especially the peacekeeping budget. It has grown quite large. It is approaching 8 billion. Although republicans in Congress Like to bash the un, when you have a republican president in the white house, they actually quite like working with un peacekeepers. Most people think of george bush is a antiun president but they deployed tens of thousands of troops to the conger and them darfur and it was a priority for president bush to get u. S. Un peacekeepers to get troops into darfur because there was pressure within the u. S. To do something about that slaughter. Although there is a split in rhetorical terms between the democrats on the republicans over the value of the un, in practical terms, both democratic and republican administrations see the advantages of Un Peacekeeping. Host chantilly, virginia, democratic caller caller thank you for taking my call. Each soldier in the u. S. Costs 2000. Why cant they send in their own people and train their own people and give them the same amount of money rather than send in our troops to pakistan or some other country . They are not even effective where you send them. The un misuses the funds and abuse the people they send them to to protect them. Name one country where un soldiers have done something good. They go out there and watched like a vacation. They have not done anything for anybody and its a waste of money. Guest i think i can name and number of countries where the un has done some good. If you look at places like sierra leone, liberia, east timor, haiti, the un has played a central role in restoring order to countries that would otherwise be utter wrecks. I think the uns record is deeply imperfect as we have already discussed but overall, Un Peacekeeping forces do save lives and bring stability where the alternative is chaos. Why dont we give money to the people in the countries affected by violence . After a civil war or during a civil war, you cannot simply find hundreds or thousands of men of goodwill who would be prepared to restore peace. People have been fighting and they need to be taken apart. They need to be given time to work out their political differences. A Un Peacekeeping force is can provide a Security Force for that process. There are places where Un Peacekeeping forces have been deployed for too long. Troops have been on the ground for an unnecessarily lengthy. Of time. In those cases, it might well be possible to draw down un forces and put more funds into training local Security Forces. In some cases, un missions are doing precisely that. They are really focusing on building up local capacity and maintaining security. In the immediate aftermath of the civil war, you cannot just magic up an army that will maintain the peace domestically. Host as part of our weekly your money sequence, we are talking about Un Peacekeeping forces. The u. S. Contributes 2 billion. This topic comes on the eve of the opening of the 68 session of the United Nations starting tomorrow. It continues through september. The president is expected to go there next week. Massachusetts, independent caller caller thank you for accepting my call. What can be done to change the un Security Council arrangement where one negative vote can hold the 193 countries hostage . Can they change the number of Security Council members perhaps 27 and say a vote of 61 or 52 would allow a religion to be passed . Guest the Security Council is difficult to reform. I think there are literally hundreds of proposals for changing the way the Security Council works. Diplomats in new york spend thousands of hours every year discussing this issue to very little affect. The u. S. , china, russia, britain, and france dont really want the Security Council to change fundamentally. Because of the way the Council Works and is embedded in the un charter, it would take a Massive International negotiation process to deliver any formal change to Security Council procedures. However, there are a range of proposals for countries to commit to restrain themselves from using the veto in situations like syria where there is massive loss of life, crimes against humanity, and human suffering. France is now pushing the idea that it will not use its veto in those circumstances in the future and the rest of the Security Council should also refrain from using that veto. To be honest, it will be difficult to presented to persuade russia and china to accept that proposal but it is out there and some western countries are pushing for a more responsible approach from the Security Council to future crises. Host heres a story from reuters in august guest that may sound like a rather technical difference to a lot of viewers but its very important. In the cold war era, peacekeepers tended to go and simply keep watch over cease fires. They did not really get involved in the process of building up selfsupporting states. In africa especially, the un is now following much more ambitious mandates that are all about moving from civil war to good governance, the rule of law, to sustainably democratic societies. For example, through building up police forces, building up judiciaries, even working on prison systems. Mali, where the un has been peacekeeping since the summer is a good example. The challenge there is not simply to ensure that there is no return to violence. It is actually to try to create a political framework and a governmental framework that makes the tuareg population in the north especially feel they are equal numbers of the mali estate and to do that, you have to work in a wide range of governmental issues. That is the challenge the un faces. Host washington, dc, independent caller. Caller thank you for taking my call. I am also very skeptical about the role that the Un Peacekeeping mission is playing and how effective it can be. I want to take the case of the congo where the Un Peacekeeping mission stood by and let forces crossed the border. What exactly can the Un Peacekeeping mission do in a special way . There has been perpetual warfare there and the peacekeepers are helpless in front of an invading movement. Host there is a piece in the guardian. Guest the congo is one of the single biggest tasks the un has ever taken on in terms of peacekeeping. The un has now been involved in the congo for i think nearly 14 years. It has gone through repeated crises. It faced repeated challenges. It is working with a congolese government that is still very weak and sometimes follows fairly dangerous policies towards its neighbors. In the meantime, many of the congo neighbors including rwanda are still interfering in internal in fares in the country. The u. S. Has a massive task in trying to maintain some sort of stability especially in the eastern congo. That has made some progress. There was a very unhappy moment when un peacekeepers were unable to stop rebels seizing the city of goma in the east of the country last november. The un peacekeepers stayed in the city to protect civilians and their presence did save lives but nonetheless, it was humiliating for the un to see the peacekeepers pushed aside by the rebels in that way. What the un has done response is quite bold. It has set up a new brigade within the peacekeeping force. The peacekeeping forces around 20,000 personnel. This brigade is just 3000. Those 3000 troops have a special mandate to go and attack the rebels, to neutralize the militias, and try, through force, resulted problem of militias and disorder in the eastern congo. That is a risky mandate. It is one that is not popular with many un officials. The un has been in action in the eastern congo over the last month and the results remain uncertain. It does show that the un is prepared to learn from its mistakes. They want to take risks to restore order when it faces very vicious challenges. Host let me have you respond to the latest on syria and the chemical weapons. Here is a quotation from the un secretarygeneral what do you make of that statement . Guest i think sadly that statement shows however much good work the un does on the ground, but still right pretty convoluted press releases. The challenge for the un in serious that in investigating the use of chemical weapons, it is been charged with finding the fact about whether chemical weapons were used and identifying the scale but not placing the blame. The un is being very careful to avoid getting into a situation where it is seen to take sides against the Syrian Government. That may sound inhumane or politically cowardly but it is just pragmatic. The un has eight agencies working inside syria, getting food to syrians, getting some relief to suffering syrians. Ban kimoon has been very careful that he does not write off relations with the government in damascus. That would stop the humanitarian program from working. Host there seems to be conflicting reports about this un inspections report that the un inspectors would assign blame for the chemical weapons attack but then we see this statement that says they use the word the ongoing conflict between the parties. Guest i have not seen the report for it i think the report is being released today. There are still some speculation whether whether the inspectors will place blame. To be honest, everyone knows and recognizes now that the Syrian Regime was guilty of using chemical weapons. The Syrian Regime has not admitted that but has finally owned up to holding chemical weapons for the first time last week. In a sense, the evidence in this report will damage the Syrian Government whether or not un inspectors say explicitly it was the government was responsible for the attack on 21, august. Host we have learned that the un will put this report on its website and ban kimoon will be briefing the Security Council on what the weapons inspector had to say and he will address the media around 1 p. M. Eastern time. Caller hi, good morning. I would like to apologize for a couple of prior colors. Not all americans are like that. The way i see it is that the un is between a hard place and a rock when it comes to these skirmishes and wars. 100 of all of these wars are they support either minerals, precious gems, or gases or oil or whatever. Then you have the military Industrial Complex of socalled Security Council countries. They all want to sell weapons. They want to sell armaments so how do you do that . You start a war. You have the same Security Council who has the single veto vote power that could not only start the war but make it long lasting to their benefit. How do you get around that . The crux of the problem is the socalled Security Council. The if the United Nations is to be united, they have to vote on what their mission is. Majority rules. Guest i fully agree with your first point that a lot of these conflicts are driven by economic interests that un peacekeepers struggle to understand let alone control. If you look at the eastern congo, for example, one reason disorder is so persistent there is there is a number of minerals and mines that very many regional actors and multinational corporations want to get their hands on and they are not always very moral in their approach to getting their hands on those minerals. The un cannot simply and force the system to ensure that the men are managed properly and that involves politicking with the government and other groups. You look at a case like sudan the un operations there have often been complicated by the fact that it is a major supplier of oil to china and other asian countries. Those countries do not want the un to put too much pressure on andgovernment in khartoum. I think we sold that in syria. They cannot agree what to do with resident assad. Do this. Did was i fully agree that this is part of the problem rather than part of the solution. We have to recognize for the un to have any credibility anywhere and needs to have the support of big states starting with the u. S. And then russia, china, the uk and france. The need to throw that diplomatic weight kind the u. S. Thank you for your patience for waiting. Step inrks a necessary the f4 a call that to combat chemical weapons. It has concluded that the chemicalapons weapons were used on a relatively large scale on august 21, causing numerous casualties particularly among civilians. I submitted the report to the Security Council. They have this online for all the world to see. Deserves highrts praise. They face dangerous including as sniper attack. They did their job in record time. Working with experts from the organization for the prohibition it is thel reference best. The report makes for chilling reading. The testimony from survivors and medical personnel and First Responders. They have collected biomedical andence and dozens of soil environmental samples. An impartialed and independent account. The results are overwhelming and indisputable. 85 of the samples tested sarin. E for wereajority of the rockets were found to be carrying sarah and sarin. And a graver crime violation of the 1925 protocol and international law. Most significant use of chemical weapons against citizens since Saddam Hussein in 1988. Them the International Community has a responsibility to ensure that are never useds as an instrument of warfare. Is a chemical weapons convention. This comes with strict obligations. I urge the council to act to ensure the enforcement and compliance with this land. Now is the time for the Security Council. Exercise is a political responsibility. There must be accountability for chemical weapons. In the use of chemical weapons by anyone anywhere is a crime. Our message must be more than more than that. There must be no impunity for the crimes. They reported last week on horrors being committed in the. Ountry the humanitarian situation is differing. Choices between riskisk remaining and the taking flight. One third of the countries ,eople have fled their homes causing instability across the region. The killing must end. The fighting must and. Canre doing everything we to bring this to the negotiating table. I stand ready to convene the International Conference on syria in geneva as soon as possible. I hope we will be able to celebrate for the conference at that time. The mission will return to syria as soon as they can. This will serve as a wakeup for more f4 efforts to enter the unbearable suffering of the syrian people. Thank you. Thank you very much. ,ased on the Delivery System some of which have signatures, have you made an assessment of who is to blame . How do you propose to hold them accountable . They have been able to to sarin was used on the relatively largescale. It was to determine to what extent they were use. It is for others to decide whether to pursue this to determine responsibility. This was a grave crime. Must besponsible brought to justice as soon as possible. They gave one week to clear all the sites. Will you be sending inspectors soon to syria . There are other areas for a final report. They have all confirmed the revenues to support to this. Thank you. You have spoken repeatedly of the need for accountability and ending impunity. What are you first doing to use tools available to you . I have repeatedly said that the use of chemical weapons in the future. This is the principle of the nations. How to promote this. There are ongoing discussions. I do not have a clear incentive. Thank you very much. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2013] the un secretarygeneral just leaving a Security Council briefing a short time ago discussing the un report on chemical weapons. Reached an agreement over the weekend. Fox news report the un report cites commencing evidence of a chemical weapons attack in syria. The report confirmed that anmical weapons were used in attack that killed hundreds in a damascus suburb. Looking ahead of Congress Amid the house gets back to work tomorrow. Today they will gavel and 40 set foro forma session nine minutes for now. It would rebuy this that were left out of the farm bill. Atyre traveling and again 2 00 p. M. Eastern. Later this afternoon senators will vote on to judicial nominations. For a 2 00mbling in p. M. Pro forma session. Until then, a discussion on the professional agenda. Were back with the Political Editor of the times. They return for their second week what awaits them. The immediate question is spending bills. And how congress will deal with the deadline by which the basic spending not the entitlements but basic bending like education and Health Programs runs out. Every Year Congress has to reauthorize or respend all the programs. Right now there is a big debate, congress has not passed any of the 12 individual spending bills they have to pass each year. All sides agree they have to do a continuing resolution, which continues the current year funding in the fiscal year 2013 funding, and to his of your 2014. The big question is, what riders, what extra stuff the republicans tie onto that . And this case, there are a lot of republicans pushing for tie ins to health care, essentially the issue of defunding obamacare. They want to see all the government funding except for obamacare and they believe they have a lot of legislative leverage here. They think the president doesnt want to see a Government Shutdown if they go ahead and give them a bill that funds everything the government did except for the health care law. They think they can force them to do that. The question is, who is willing to blink first . This has been standard stuff when you go into both debt deal as pending bills, you the question of who is willing to blink first and say, no, the rusher is too much of the consequences are too bad. That is the big fight going on. The house was opposed to take the fight up last week. They realized they didnt have a deal Republican Leaders could not get the deal through the house so they went back to the drawing board and they hope to bring it up this week. The they already told their members the house was opposed to be off on location last week. The caller district work, not in washington working on the stuff you would think they would be working on. The leadership has already told their members we may have to cancel that if we dont get it done. Host what are they hiding . Tell viewers a little more about the deal that fell apart last week and then tom price yesterday on Fox News Sunday talk about the initiative to keep the pressure on on these negotiations, that they would like to delay the Affordable Care act. Guest last weeks was the crazy parliamentary move that would allow a couple of symbolic votes but would not have produced final action. It gets a little complicated. House Republican Leaders, every bill that comes through the house floor comes under special leave rules for how it is debated. Different from the senate. Republican leaders have, with essentially a way they would allow their members to vote for the spending bill and to vote d forefunding obamacare. Both would be sent over to the senate. A little more complicated than this. Both will be sent to the senate. Senators would vote. They would have to vote on defunding obamacare but all sides expected them to defeat that, and then they would be able to go ahead and vote on the basic spending that would fund the entire government. And when they defeat the obamacare funding, part of that, stripping it out, the government would go ahead and defund it regularly and we would skip ahead to the next crisis. And avoid the Government Shutdown, a key thing. Republican leaders to republican members saying, we could give you a deal where we would avoid the government shut down, we ll not get blamed, and you get another vote to defund obamacare. Republican rankandfile says it is not good enough. We need to see action here. A couple of things going on. First, the october 1 deadline for the setup of the health and Health Exchanges with the law sides with the deadline for getting the spending bill done. Coincides with the deadline for getting the spending bill done. The big part of it going into effect, we cant let it happen. Both happening at the same time, we have the perfect leverage and we will the American People dislike this law a not that they are willing to blame democrats for the Government Shutdown rather than republicans this time. The polling suggests it is not necessarily the case yet but that is their calculation, that they could get there and the next two weeks, and they are trying to stiffen republican spines. One thing on that, there is some sense, sort of from leaders but also a growing sense that maybe this fight should have been done or better done on the next crisis we face a couple weeks later on the debt deal or limit that we about to bump into the government into the Borrowing Limit again. The Government Shutdown is tied sort of specifically to the cr, but that is what funds all the basic operations. If the government runs up against the Borrowing Limit, it is a different situation. The government can only spend the exact amount of money it is taking in. In the past couple of fights we had, it was a real problem because the government was borrowing . 40 on every dollar, so you could be talking but instantly eliminating 40 of government. Now because the economy is doing a little bit better, and the tax increases at the beginning of the year and the spending increases, the government financial picture is actually not in great shape but much better shape. Right now we are just the negotiation stage. Staring at the deadline, there quacks we will lead this discussion now. We will go live to the u. S. House of representatives. Now live to the floor. The speaker pro tempore the house will be in order. The chair lays before the house a communication from the speaker. The clerk the speakers rooms, washington, d. C. , september 16, 2013. I hereby appoint the honorable thomas j. Rooney to act as speaker pro tempore on this