she applied herself to her work with formidable energy and passion and continue to reflect on her faith and politics, related to one another. and the jury lecture,aid athristianity offers no easy solutions to political and economic issues. it teaches us that we cannot achieve a compassionate society simply by passing new laws and appointing more staff to administer them. she was very aware that there are positions which are needed to make market economics and democratic and two shins function well -- institutions function well. the capacity to cooperate. these dispositions are incubated and given power by our relationships. in her words, the basic ties of the family are at the heart of our society and our the nursery of virtue. such morals -- moralnd spiritual capital isumulated over many generations but can be easily eroded. life is a struggle to make the right choices and to achieve liberation from dependence, whether material or psychological. this genuine independence is the essential precondition of living. beyond ourselves. the word margaret thatcher uses , interdependence. she referred to the christian doctrine that we are all members about one and another, expressed in the concept of the church on earth as the body of christ. from this, we learn our interdependence. as she said, the great truth, if we do not achieve happiness, or stionn fr each other, but as members from society. her later remark about there being no such thing as society has been misunderstood. and refers, in her mind, to some impersonal entity to which we attempted to surrender our independence. it is entirely right that in the dean's bidding there was a reference to the lifelong companionship she enjoyed with dennis. as we all know, the manner of her leaving office was dramatic -- traumatic, but the loss of dennis was a grievous blow, indeed. and then there was a struggle , whichcreasing debility he has now been liberated. the natural cycle leads inevitably to dk. the dominant note that any ,hrist funeral svice after the sorrow and memories, is hope. tois almost as perplexing identify the real me in life as it is in death. the atoms that make up our bodies are changing all the ,ime, through wear and tear eating and drinking. we are atomically distinct from what we were and we were young. margaret of grants him with baroness thatcher? constitutes her identity? memories, aspirations, and actions which make up a character were carried for a .ime by the atoms of her body we believe they are also stored up in the cloud of god's being. in faithful relationships, when two people live together, they grow around one another. one becomes a part of the other. given the freedom to be ourselves and as human beings, to be drawn freely into an ever closer relationship with the divine nature. torything which has turned love in our lives will be shored up in the memory of god. there is a struggle for freedom and independence, then there is the self giving and the acceptance of interdependenc in the gospel passage read by the prime minister, jesus says, i am the way, the truth, and the likght. and that is the voice of divine being. jesus christ is not bring information warm your advice, advice. -- omere she embodies love. he gave himself to us in the person of jesus christ and became one of us. , makes oure end lives seem valuable? after the storm and stress have passed away and there is a great calm. the questions most frequently asked that such a time concern us all. how loving have i been? how faithful in personal relationships g? have i discovered joy within myself? or am i still looking for it in externals outside myself? margaret thatcher had a sense of this whixpre en her dress to the general assembly ofhe church of stland. withshe said, i leave you the earnest hopes that may we all come nearer to that other country. whose ways are ways of gentleness and all her paths are peace. ts eliot in the poem quoted in the service says, the communication of the dead is tongued with fire beyond the language of the living. in this easter season, death is revealed not as if full stop, but as the way into another dimension of life. as elliott puts it, what we call ,he beginning is often the end and to make an end is to make a beginning. the end is where we start from. rest eternal grant unto her, oh lord. and let light natural -- perpetual shine upon her. >> the address by the bishop of london. and now, one of lady thatcher's "in love dvivine, in love excelling." ♪ >> prayers led by sarah .instein, rose hudson wilson -- a short time to live. and is full of misery. he cometh up and is cut down like a flower. in oner continue with space. in the midst of life, we are in death. of whom when the -- may we seek but suffer, it is me, lord, for our sins art just did please. -- val knowest the secrets of her heart. shut not thy merciful years -- ears to our prayers but spare us, lord most holy. oh, god most mighty. oh, holy and merciful savior. now most were the judge eternal -- though most worthy judge eternal. cover us not in our last hours to any pain of death to fall from the. like the father, pities his own children, even so if the lord merciful unto them that fear him. 14 now with of what we are made. he remembers that we are but asked -- dust. he days of man are but as brass. he flourishes as a flower of the field. as soon as the winds go with it ist -- goeth over it, gone. and the place shall know it no more. but the merciful goodness of the upon them that fear him and his righteousness upon children, children. >> merciful god, the father of our lord, jesus christ, who is the resurrection of the light. in whom whosoever believeth shall live so he died. shallomsoever live with not die eternally. , not be sorryus as men without hope for them that sleep in him. to raise beseech the us from the debt of sin into the light of righteousness. that's when we should depart this life, we may rest in him as our hope is that our sister does. that at the general resurrection in the last day, we may be found acceptable in thy sight and received a blessing which by well beloved son sheldon pronounce -- shall then pronounce, come ye blessed the children of my father. receive the kingdom prepared for you from the beginning of the world. , we beseech thee over several father. through jesus christ, our mediator and redeeme amen. other of allod, mercies and giver of all comforts, deal graciously, we pray the, with those who mourn. that casting every care on the, they may know the consolation of by love -- thy love. jesus christ, our lord, amen. who inavenly father, thy son jesus christ has given us a true faith and a sure hope. to live we pray thee, as those who believe and trust in the communion saints, forgiveness ofs.thsurrtion to lr sting, and strengthen this faith and hope in us, the days of our life. through the love of my son, jesus christ, our savior. amen. , "may angelsthem lead you into paradise." ♪ >> i heard a voice to saying unto me -- from heaven saying unto me, they rest from their labors. now unto the king eternal, immortal, invisible. the only wise god. the honor and glory for ever and ever. amen. ♪ my country."thee, ♪ >> go forth upon the journey from this world of christians from. fill in the name of god, the father almighty, who created the. in the name of jesus christ, whose son who's covered for the. in the name of the holy spirit who strengthens thee. archangels,els and and all the armies of the heavenly host. may i portion this date the in peace and thy dwelling place in the heavenly jerusalem. >> all the day long of this -- [indiscernible] the busyning come, world is hushed, the fever of life is over and by work done. then, lord, in your morsi -- mercy, grant us safe lodgings, a holy rest and peace ever last. through jesus christ, our lord. amen. now unto him that is able to keep us from falling into present us faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, the only wise and our savior be glory majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. and the blessings of god almighty, the father, the son, and the holy spirit be with you . this day and always. amen. >> so, after the blessings, the bearer party comes back up the aisle and will process once down theh the coffin, aisle and out of the west tour. in that procession, insignia will be born, two. this time, not by the two granddaughters of lady thatcher, but by members of the cathedral staff. on once this coffin is bourn their shoulders, the choir will sing the recessional. sick by charles stanford -- music by charles stanford. they depart in peace. ♪ ♪ ♪ [bell ringing] >> hooray! hooray! hooray! ♪ out of steadman sinks, the west door. ♪ [applause] ♪ >> the crowd applauding as the coffin comes down the steps after pausing briefly. her son and daughter behind her two grandchildren. her majesty, the queen, came down the aisle. lines up to watch the coffin being placed back in the se. for its journey to the royal chelsea. ♪ [bells ringing] >> her majesty, the queen. watching as the coffin is placed in effect, the funeral is now over as the hearse drives from here down to chesley, to the royal hospital. a lesson from the bishop of london about her mother, making distinctions between the person and a politician. the queen -- two words printed on the front of the funeral service, "cherish freedom." >> prime minister's question time returns this wednesday. you can watch live on c-span 2 and again on sunday nights. watch any time at c-span of orbit, where you can find videos of past prime minister's questions and other british public affairs programs. ok anext new report on american perceptions of terrorism. after that, q and a. then another chance to see the funeral service of margaret thatcher. >> she was very bright, very political, which is why she and linkedin first got together in the first place. first gotln together in the first place. she spoke several languages. she had all these things going for her. she suffered a series of tremendous emotional blows. three out of her four children died, one in the white house and one shortly after her husband's assassination, sitting next to her at the funeral. the kinds of grief this woman were going through were amazing. she was demonized for that, people thought she was crazy. we found out she was not crazy. she was a very significant person. i hope some day we get a better view of the range of things that influenced her life, not just the tragedy. >> more on mary todd lincoln and our conversations with historians and you. >> now, a new report on american attitudes and concerns about terrorism. this "washington journal," is about 40 minutes. host: bill braniff is with the national consortium for the study of terrorism and responses for terrorism. thank you very much for being with us. what is the summary of this report? guest: this report looks at u.s. attitudes toward terrorism as a result of a literature review the generated the finding that there were no baselines about u.s. attitudes toward this. we wanted to document a baseline for american perceptions toward terrorism in counter-terrorism. some of the findings were somewhat surprising. one of the headline findings is that in the week leading up to the survey, 50% of individuals said they had thought about terrorism in the united states in that week. 10% had thought about being the victim of violent crime or hospitalization. so terrorism remains an issue on the minds of many americans. findingse some other with respect to counter- terrorism. thee about 87% of population felt that the government has been somewhat or very effective in the counter- terrorism realm, 69% feel there's been nothing that can be done to stop a terrorist attack if the individual or organization is dead set to do it. host: this tour was published last week by the new york times. it may surprise a lot of people. it basically summarizes where we have been in attacks. in the 1970's, as many as 400 terrorist related attacks. declinesee a steady over the years, and the number of deaths as a result of that. then the huge increase on september 11, 2001, but then a steady decline since then. until the boston bombings, there has been a sense of, some say, complacency. guest: the numbers are somewhat surprising. terrorist of incidents does decrease and in the last decade, the numbers continue to trend downward. the important caveat is that incidents are not the only measure of threats and the number of fatalities and injuries are also significant to take a look at. the boston bombing, if it turns out to be ideologically motivated, will be the fifth largest attack between 1970 and the current date. that is based on the number of casualties, injuries and fatalities. so this is a very significant attack. about 1% of terrorist attacks in the u.s. of the last 32 years has generated 10 are more casualties, that is fatalities and injuries together. host: this is the headline this morning. the city of boston tries to turn pe d move on to a sense of normalcyt as the investigation continues into dzhokhar tsarnaev who remains injured and intubated. guest: their travel is likely going to be key to understand whether or not this event was foreign inspired, or perhaps even concocted c with individuals abroad. the key questions will likely revolve around the older brother, and secondary questions, how it did this individual seem to lead such a double life? all the family and friends that have come forward have been shocked. that happens quite frequently in this type of case, but in this case he really does seem to have been quite well liked and well integrated and kept this other part of his life entirely separate. basedand again, this is on what we know so far. it seems like a lot of the questions into the older brother, the 26-europe, who spent six months in russia. there was a conversation over the weekend between the president and russian president vladimir putin. guest: right now there is no strong reason to think that this is directly tied to a foreign terrorist group. there is a catchall group for several different that were created first in the mid- 1990's. since then there has been a contingent of al qaeda-style jihadi groups and individuals fighting in the chechen insurgency. there have been responsible for some really spectacular attacks into russia primarily. there's currently no reason to suggest there is a hard linc. is,: one of the questions how you define terrorism? center claire mccaskill from missouri pose that question to homeland secur secretary janet napotano. >> based on the evidence at this point, is there any difference between sandy hook and boston, other than the choice of weapons? >> well, in terms of intent for death and destruction and injury, no. methodology, yes. we don't know the motivation certainly behind boston. we don't know whether was domestic, international -- >> or if it was identical to the motivation in sandy hook. >> we just don't know the answer. i think it is impossible for me to sit at the tadayblto and say they are identical, except in the effect of impact. >> as i look at the evidence that is available, you have destruction and violence and slaughter of innocents, and neither case do we note motive. the irony is, we are so quick to call boston terror, why are we not calling the man with a high-capacity assault weapon and a high-capacity magazine, why are we not calling him a terrorist? >> i don't know the answer to that question. host: bill braniff, do you have a response to that exchange? guest: the definition of terrorism is an often repeated estion. and p l kinds of circumstances. in this case, given that we don't know motive, we don't know if this is an act of terrorism in an academic sense. the use of improvised explosive devices suggests to lot of people that this is not an actor of just wanton violence. manyoks like terrorism to people, but that is an emotional reaction, i think, to a spectacular example of violence. not necessarily an academic one. host: bill braniff is a graduate of the military academy at west point and is now the executive director of an organization called the national consortium for the study terrorism and responses to terrorism. what is the history of this association? where's your funding come from, and what is its mission statement? anst: it is interdisciplinary research center based at the university of maryland. we are primarily funded through the department of homeland security. excellenceenters of around the country. we look at the human and behavioral sciences as they relate to terrorism in counter- terrorism. the organization has been around for about eight years now. the director could not be with us today. i just want to thank you for having us and thank you for letting us have a voice here. we do a lot of objective work. we are a data driven we tend to generate large datasets. beingwe thank you for with us and we welcome you taking our viewer calls as well. good morning. caller: as an american, my feelings toward terrorism and violence -- i am aware of what is going on. i am a news junkie, so i keep up with everything, but i don't let it dictate my life and that kind of thing. i am in the landscape business and i am more terrified of getting run over by a car than an act of violence by someone walking up to me in hurting me more than something like what happened in boston. i amoing to a big event here in north carolina this coming weekend. i have never thought i'd n going to go to that event because of what happens in these situations. that is my feeling towards it. host: thanks to the call. that goes directly to your study. guest: it is anpoint. between 1970-2012, there been 20069 terror events in the united states. terror events in the united states. most of those happened in the first decade of that time frame, the 1970's. when you get into the current day and age, it is quite rare political phenomenon. it is important for people to continue to go about their business. those who were aware of it thought it was an effective way to address the issue. if we see something suspicious, we should report it, but we should continue to go about our lives. host: you can get more information at dhs.gov. ohio, joining us from republican line. caller: it seems like the war on terrorism is still hot. you look at these people, and i believe what they are really trying to do [indiscernible] all the people that were killed when morsi took over egypt, the christians were crucified. look what happened at fort hood. thepresident called workplace violence. as far as guns in school, when the american civil liberties union came out in the 1960's the took our morality, are foundation out of our schools. scripture says you reap what you sow. back then kids chewing bubble gum and running in the halls where the problems. now it is kids bringing guns to school. guest: terrorism is intended to generate an emotional response. it is meant to be a provocative kind of violence beyond the immediate target of the attack. qaedak in this case, al and groups like it who have conducted these abominable kinds of attacks, they are meant generate a response. they are meant to polarize society in many cases. unfortunately, as a tactic they are somewhat effective in doing that. that is one of the consequences of terrorism. host: let me share with you a comment from the editor of the daily telegraph, a british newspaper. he refers to the president who talked about in the state of the union address, the core objective of defeating al qaeda. once again, bring the nagging uncertainty of terrorism back on the american main street. guest: i think what boston reminds us is that while you can get a greater frequency these attacks over time for counter-terrorism campaigns, we are not going to be -- there will not be a time when there will not be any terrorism. terrorism is a fact of life, albeit it happens infrequently. thecould argue that strategic campaign against al qaeda has been successful, yet there will still be attacks. it is worth mentioning that we don't know if this attack had anything to do with -- they could have largely acted independently of any organization. host: another look at the new york times. jr. is joining us from texas, democrat line. caller: thank you very much for giving me an opportunity to express a couple of questions i have. in view of the fact that our nation has seen to have lost its moral values and ethics and we have celebrities and institutions above and beyond the law, how can we deter al qaeda terrorism when we support the opponents that are overthrowing beat syrian government? those opponents are made up of the al qaeda forces. most recently, the obama administration's stated that week are giving them $123 million, and the opposition stated they wanted more than that. how can we defeat them when we are supplying them? at the same time, we have issues like benghazi and helicopter that had a hard crash landing in south korea this week, and nobody has covered that at all. is west, texas connected to the boston marathon bombing? was that a cover-up so they could do what they wanted to do in west, texas? how much fertilizer was taken away before the explosion occurred? does anybody have any control over that? i just don't see how we can defeat al qaeda and terrorism if we continue to put everyone on frites welfare without giving any drug test and saying you have 30, 90 days to get on welfare and get off and get you a job, things like that. we just need to bring back our moral values and ethics and hold our politicians to a standa make em up and do what they said they would do. host: thanks for the call. we will let his comments stand, unless you want to respond to anything he said. fort: is not uncommon national security, national interest to put the government in really odd places. could case of syria, it be that in a specific context, the interest of the united states aligned with interest of some actors in this case who have ties to violent jihadism. in some cases, national interests -- it is a highly complicated realm. host: she says there is a weapon to incite fear in victims unknown when targets are not chosen in anger or revenge. these are some of the words you heard from more than 1500 adults you surveyed. guest: the survey was geared toward looking at issues related to violence. there is a lot of concern with these issues, more so than the amount of violence that has come out of these organizations post 2001. it is a topic that generates a large response because of the nature of the violence, even though the frequency of the tax is not higher. host: if you are interested in the legal challenges facing suspect in the boston bombing, there are -- the suspect remains hospitalized this morning. nothe moment he is communicating with anyone because of his serious condition. if you are just tuning in, we are joined by bill braniff here at the table to talk about the issue of terrorism. republican line, good morning. caller: my feeling on this is, have lived in newtown, connecticut and new york city, and not far from boston. we always fall short. we don't do enough. we treat everyone was so much respect, but people have less respect for us. we have to smack down people like this so they will not come to our country and treat us like this. i cannot afford to send my kid to the schools they went to. reaught,hould be brought right to trial and then executed. we are too soft. we do so much, and then we stop. it's out of control. we don't do enough in this country. guest: i don't have a lot of facts or figures to talk about prosecution rates. based on work we have done, funded through the systems division, prosecution rates remain fairly consistent pre- 9/11 to post 9/11. i can't say definitively much about prosecution rates. they appear to have been consistent. in terms of terrorism, it's important to understand that terrorism is not just emanating from overseas. if you look at the attacks in the united states between 2001 and 2011, the environmental and animal liberation front have been the two most prolific movements in the united states responsible for the 1984 attacks over that decade. they target businesses, as opposed to targeting human life, but they are highly active, highly american, not necessarily coming from abroad. behind that, you get groups such as al qaeda. if you look at 84 attacks coming out of those groups compared to four from al qaeda, how do you compare? a lot of terrorism and the united states is born and raised here. host: based on your background in this, are there any parallels to what happened in the oklahoma city bombing, to what we potentially could see 19-year-old dzhokhar who is about to be charged probably later this week? guest: it certainly well within the cards. if he is convicted, what will ofthe fifth largest act terrorism in the united states, then went on to be involved in the murder of another law enforcement official, and then went on to throw improvised explosive devices out of two cars, one of which was a carjacked vehicle. this is an extraordinary example of violence. depending on evidence, which i certainly have no inside knowledge of, this has the potential to go to trial. host: one day after the bombings took place, the other was killed in that shooting in watertown, massachusetts, the center public and later mitch mcconnell had this to say on the senate floor tuesday. [video clip] >> these attacks are a grim reminder of the hatred and contempt of the many continue to harbor in their hearts not only for our nation and its freedoms, but for innocent human life. on 9/11 we were forever disabused of the notion that attacks such as the one that brought boston only happened on the field of battle or in distant countries. with the passage of time and the vigilant efforts of our military intelligence and law enforcement professionals, i think it's safe to say that for many, cplacency that prevailed prior to september the 11th has returned. we are newly reminded that serious threats to our way of life remain. today we recommit ourselves to the fight against terrorism at home and abroad. susanmitch mcconnell and crabtree were reporting this morning that some members of congress want the suspect to be tried as an enemy combatant. that debate will continue today on the sunday morning programs. john is joining us from virginia. caller: you mentioned that your organization is doing quantitative analysis. ch monm in mbers and money, how the assumption that this latest attack was motivated by the religion of islam. andmuch money does the fbi department of homeland security, if they divided the budget in this manner, do they spend specifically on targeting islamic motivated groups who targeting america, that are currently operating or living inside of the united states? in my following question, is it worth having immigration system that allows muslims into the country? there is 5 billion people in the world who are not muslims. we can still be a country of immigrants, but we don't need to allow people in the country -- is the juice worth the squeeze? it's dangerous. host: bill braniff, your response. guest: i do not know how much is spent on targeting specific groups in the united states. the task forces are led by leads of suspicious activity that comes in and they track those leads down. they respond to international events and work with immigrant communities, etc. if there is something going on abroad that might impact things domestically. i do not think that they think about their portfolio in the terms that you outlined. in terms of immigration, if you look at immigration only through the lens of terrorism, you might come to certain conclusions. if you look at it through a broader lens, i think use immigration as a key to national security. it's a key to our economic well- being. i think people look at immigration more holistically and not only through the lens of terrorism. you might make an argument that john just made. i wouldn't agree with the argument, but i understand the point of view. i think immigration has a lot of other facets to it that involve national security. host: the other question in terms of how you define terrorism. this is from one of our viewers. let me go back to the study from the national consortium for the study of terrorism & responses to terrorism and the response to terrorism. when you ask the 1500 people across the country what worried them the most, job loss, 18%. a terrorist attack, 7.9%. about half said they are somewhat worried. hospitalization and careers and jobs a higher level of concern. guest: that goes to those who had thought about terrorism in the last week. largera subset of the example. if you compared terrorism just to job loss for the totality of those surveyed, 15% said they thought about terrorism in the week leading up to the survey. i believe only 16% had thoug about job loss. we drove down into one of the subsets in that category. that means that people are thinking about terrorism as much as they are thinking about job loss even in the current state of the economy. this is from fall of 2012. we will see if that changes post-boston and if those numbers go up. this goes to the earlier segment that you aired, this idea that the united states is compcent with respect to terrorism. i think the survey demonstrates it is among the things that people think about your it i also think that the law enforcement community is certainly not complacent when it comes to terrorism. the boston event was a security event. there's a lot of individuals covering that event, from federal, state and local. i don't think that boston happened due to complacency. i don't think we necessarily are complacent. m asink we have accepted ew facet of our reality, albeit one that does not happen that frequently. host: if you want to look at the numbers, you can go to start.umd.edu to get more information. bill braniff, from the national consortium for the study of terrorism & responses to terrorism. caller: good morning. i think these two crimes are quite separate. the man in connecticut was angry concerning his disease. he shot his mother first. he ended up with the unspeakable crime of killing children. the other young man is possibly emotional unstable, but it was a terrorist attack. the other man didn't have any terror. he just wanted to get even with the whole world. the fellow in boston, he was overwhelmed by his own ideas of what should be in the world, and he must be held responsible. they are both based on hatred, but emotionally unstable people. the two fellows that came to watertown were brought up in this country. i think it's just a dreadful thing. host: is it different, the fact that they were born here versus someone who came here legally and became a u.s. citizen? caller: i don't think so. i think the older brother had ideas about america which were quite awful, and he wanted to get even. i think he thought he would do it by making up a bomb. i think the terrible thing in the school was motivated by anger, and the fact that he killed his mother first, i think he thought that she knew what was wrong with him. why is it considered a sport anyone to go out and kill a rabbit or bird or duck? that's not a sport. i think it imixed up in this country. thanks so much. guest: let me take up on her point. host: that we have no link whatsoever to what is happening in boston. this: i'm not suggesting was a terrorist incident initiated by groups in chechnya. any use violence for instrumental purpose and they use propaganda for an instrumental purpose. they may want to distance themselves from these two boys because they know it's not in their best interest. that would work against them if united states started to look at that as a region of interest akin to yemen, somalia, afghanistan, pakistan. factually not that's accurate, i don't know. it's not unusual for organizations to think instrumentally about this violence and use it when it's useful for them and distance themselves from it when it's not. that being said, there are groups in the caucuses that have an anti-american bent, anti-semitic bent as well as anti-russian bent. their concern is autonomy. there are actors within that environment. for them, had this been directly tied to have these two individuals been directly tied to those groups, i would be surprised if they didn't want to claim it. there are anti-american sentiments. host: what surprised you the most as you go through this data? guest: one of the positive surprises was the willingness the american people and working with law enforcement and department of homeland security in a way similar to the administration strategy for preventing violent extremism. a community-oriented approach that will increase communication between the community and government, and prevent radicalization from happening in the first place, and if it does occur, allowing the government and community to deal with it in a positive way before a terrorist plot is hatched. 57% of respondents indicated a willingness to work with law enforcement and dhs to establish those relationships ahead of time. it is a positive story. i see a lot of value in a community-oriented approach towards these counter radicalization. host: national consortium for the study of terrorism & responses to terrorism, bill braniff, thank you for being with us. guest: thank you to dhs, who funded the survey. host: we thank you. >> on the next "washington journal," the author of the closing of the american border looks at the effects of the bombings in boston on the immigration debate. then, a discussion about federal and state health care exchanges. of moreelimination than $40 billion of tax breaks to oil and gas companies in the president's 2013 budget request. live atgton journal," 7:00 a.m. eastern on c-span. >> katherine wang and timothy zhou are second prize winners in c-span's student cam competition. they attend eastern middle school in silver spring, maryland. in their video, they asked the president to make the economy and deficit reduction a priority in 2013. >> we face the greatest challenge of all. a massive debt that is smothering growth and is exceeding the entire size of our company. >> we see now a fiscal mess that affects all of us. >> the nation is on the road to bankruptcy. >> balance the federal budget now. >> these are very big, very political and policy decisions. >> those create large ongoing deficits into the future. >> we must reduce the deficit, which is strangling our economic growth. >> it would affect a lot of different people in a lot of different ways. >> well, there is change and then there is change. >> it is time that we raise the bar. >> the deficit? >> the deficit is how our economy sucks. >> next question. >> i'm pretty sure it has to do with the economy and the government. >> lack of something. >> the debt. >> the deficit is the debt in our country. >> it is debt that is owed to other countries that we can't pay. >> i really have no idea what the deficit is. >> although much of the younger generation is unaware of what exactly the deficit is, the issue is still an enormous factor in the nation, economy, and our future. >> dear mr. president, in order for the united states to continue sustaining the life of freedom and liberty, amending the growing deficit and debt shou issue to consider in your presidential term. >> at the moment, our future is constantly on our minds. from school to extracurriculars like athletics and art most of what we do is part of our preparation for a better future. it is important to us. >> in the united states, the economy is a significant part of our society. buying, selling, trading, borrowing, and using money to fuel economic growth locally and nationally. it eventually leads us to stability and prosperity of our future. >> the economy is the most important activity in any society. when you buy stuff, when you go to work, school, when you buy a house, when you go to the bank and deposit your money -- it is all part of economic activity. >> however, the economy is recently weakening due to heavy deficit and debt. the federal deficit is at more than $1 trillion. the resulting national debt is at more than $16 trillion. stephen bell, a senior director of the bipartisan policy desk says that the debt has been accumulating so much that the economy is at a high risk. >> our debt is the percentage of gdp. in the last 30 or 40 years, it has been less than 40%. it is only in recent years that we have seen it climb. the fact is we are entering dangerous territory. >> deborah solomon of the "bloomberg view" says that the policymakers are arguing and debating over causes but missing the main culprit -- a shellshocked u.s. economy. >> joshua gordon says that the deficit is continuing to expand because of job loss, causing less revenue and more spending on aid programs. >> you have a large deficit for four years because you have low revenues and people don't have jobs, or they're getting paid less. but also we have this mandatory spending program, which grow on autopilot. unemployment compensation, food stamps programs, medicaid-- they spend more when the economy is bad. >> bethany mcllean, author of "all the devils are here," says that the entire financial crisis is unclear. >> i think that the underlying issues of the financial crisis have not been fixed at all. indeed, there is no easy fix. >> but there are still fixes to consider. >> if we want to lift the cloud of debt that is hanging over our country -- we will not solve the problem of our fiscal imbalance overnight. what we can do is avert the cliff in a manner that serves as a down payment on, and a catalyst for, major solutions enacted in 2013 that begin to solve the problem. ♪ >> if you can reduce and then eliminate the deficit through two ways. one is incasing the ount of revenue coming through tax policy, or reduce the amount of expenditures by cutting back on expenses and spending or some combination of those two. i believe that t most credible way is through what we call a balanced approach. republicanhner, speaker of the house, emphasizes that spending cuts are the most important and effective way to solve the debt problem. >> republicans want to solve this problem by getting the spending line down. the chart depict what i have said for long time. washington has a spending problem that cannot be fixed with tax increases alone. he wants to keep chasing higher spending with higher taxes. this chart will look a lot worse. our kids and our grandkids are the ones who are going to suffer because washington was too shortsighted to fix the pr wille younger generation suffer from this issue in the future. >> if we don't solve the naonal debt eventually they're going to cut more government services, and one of the cuts will be education. >> we should invest in education. it has to be a continuing priority because number one, we owe it to the american people to make sure that each individual can obtain and attain their full potential. but also we need as a country to maintain it. it is important to allow people to pursue their dreams and achieve their potential. >> so the kids will get affected. we will not be able to hire good teachers. our class size may grow. and we won't be able to provide a good education. then they will not really get skills for them to get better jobs down the road. then they are not able to pay their income taxes, getig paying jobs, pay higher income taxes for the government. that goes into a vicious cycle. >> if we don't have the money, we cannot buy textbooks and supplies for our students. >> college seniors who graduated in 2009 carried on average of $24,000 in student loan debt, up 6% from 2008. >> it continues growing. today, student loan debt has climbed to an avere of $27,000 nationwide. >> if they don't go to college, how they're going to afford a place to live, and once they get out of college, how they're going to pay back these student loans that are so huge. >> i just think everything is just up in the air and nobody appen.from year to year whats >> we inherent the nation and therefore the debt and the economy. if our nation is unable to support our futures, how will we be able to pursue our own happiness and dreams? >> the economy supports the people. >> from small businesses, to jobs, to income -- >> and as a younger generation -- >> we hope to begin our lives in a nation -- >> that creates many opportunities -- >> for a brighter future. >> congratulations to all of the winners in this year's student cam competition. to see more winning videos, go to studentcam.org. .> next, q and a then the funeral service for margaret thatcher. after lote -- after that, a look at last week's events and the congressional agenda. the senate judiciary committee holds its second hearing on immigration policy, including the so-called gang of 8's proposed legislation. live coverage on c-span. >> tax is always evolving. for the financial services sector, we have seen distributed denial of service attacks, a way of plua twk wit information requests that cause a slon or stoppage of service. cyber criminals are after money. >> there have been some attacks on the system. they are not publicized because it is, until intermission. you do not want to many people to know how the air traffic control system works. every day on as tax from various sources. so far, the major attacks that we have had on customer information systems or things of that nature, they have not been a tax protecting critical u.s. infrastructure from cyber attacks. monday night on "the communicators." on c-span2. >> this week on "q&a," rajiv chandrasekaran discusses his story describing the f-35 fighter jet, the defense department's newest and most expensive weapon system. >> rajiv chandrasekaran, you did a front-page piece on a sunday about the f-35. what is it? >> it is the most expensive weapons system in the history of the united states. history of mankind, quite frankly. it is an advanced warplane that is to be used by the air force, navy, and the marine corps.