Transcripts For CSPAN2 Key Capitol Hill Hearings 20140613

Midtier firms and or services to people in the Services Business . We are going to take take a look at this next year. For the pilot we literally went down our largest suppliers by dollar value to come up with a feasible approach here. But in doing that what doing that what does breakout is a lot of different size so you have the heavyweight against a lightweight and while we normalize all this through the system we would need to be careful that what we are not doing is excluding superior suppliers that are below that cutline that we establish so we will take a hard look at that. Sam with usni news. It seems like there arent organizations in alphabetical order here. What about the other 79 . Are there separate tiers that they are going to be informed of or theres going to be further disclosure on who the others are they wont be. As such but that information will be made available. In the blue shirt. Sometimes it seems like youre the only person with the ability to use pbls as to how you were going to try to push that. We are going to look hard at this. Its disappointing to me we are not increasing the amount we are doing and thats largely a workforce issue in capacity within the workforce. Pbls require more training more people. They are harder to implement contractually and harder to execute and administer contractually that we need to go in that direction. They work. What has happened to our workforce is the demographics are such that we brought a lot of junior people in the last few years others a training training process we have to go through for them. But when i got the recent data on pbls i was disappointed and im going to take a harder look at that in tracking that more carefully. Its the right way to do this assuming you can structure the deal and administer properly. Just a quick follow up. If you have data can you tell us what the percentages are . I dont have that handy. And then i know its offtopic but because its welling up all over the place with iraq is their are there possibilities for you to accelerate the weapons that have already been approved for iraq and get equipment there faster and to what extent are you able to be you know maybe more quickly cycle through additionaadditiona l requests . Im going to ask you to come back and talk to admiral kirby about that one. Hes going to be talking to the press this afternoon. He will deal with iraq and other current events. I would rather stay away from that right now. A year ago the court basically said the same thing about helicopters and other programs and a still need to be looked at. What have you found out in the past year on that subject . We dont have cause analysis yet on why thats the case. This is something we havent gotten to frankly. I dont know if the army has anything. They are the greatest purchaser of helicopters. Abe can you address that . The sequestration in the budget process has reduced our ability. This is looking back 20 or 30 years and is a class helicopters have greater class preaches and schedule breaches and other commodities. My experience with the armys mainline Program Going back to cheyenne many years ago and comanche is that ambitious technical goals perhaps too ambitious and then funding that was stretched out over a long period of time that was inadequate to get everything done but thats just based on experience. I would add we are estimating complexity. We went to the upgrades and underestimated complexity of that in between underestimating the complexitcomplexit y of that. Its been a challenge. You mention that you dont like the phrase acquisition reform at the hill hell doesnt share your reservation on that. So im wondering in the effort how much can you learn from the hell that you dont already know about acquisition issues and what is the role of the hill ers is the role of the pentagon . How seriously are you taking this effort and how much are you working on at . We are working very closely together on this actually. I prefer a more accurate description. Whatever the label i think we are talking about basically the same thing. What i object to is the idea that there is some magic thing we can do some Silver Bullet that we havent found yet thats going to dramatically improve the result. I dont think its that simple read i think we have tried most of those. Many of the things i mentioned in the testimony before in the Senate Armed Services committee recently. Many of the things we have tried from the data from the statistics from leicester to this here dont seem to be having much of an effect. Part of that is its hard for us to be consistent about what we do is leadership changes. One of the things i hope to do is to be in this position long enough to ask consistent policies over period of your so we can understand the implications of those policies whether things get better or not. Thats part of it read the data is very noisy. There are so many things that impact the budget situation like sequestration for example that impact. Its hard to pull out of the data results. My own view is that there has to be a professional asserted attempt to identify all the things that can be done with acquisition and address them. We tried to do a process where you look at the Different Things you could do and emphasize the things you think will have the greatest impact hopefully based on actual measurements and you focus on those and as you make progress on those then you go back and reassess and say okay how are they doing and other things we should be focusing on now to drive up costs and to improve performance. I think thats the right way to think about this. Thats a form of acquisition performance itself i think to approach it that way as opposed to hypothesizing that if we just do fixedprice contracts or write 5002 or create a new office that things will all of a sudden get better. I dont think thats the case. Assumed that the pentagon perspective which obviously is all you are given but what can they hell tell you that you dont art he no . What we have talked about a simplifying the rules so that they are more comfortable and easier to understand easier to implement and there are more straightforward. In 5002 last year it struck me how incredibly complicated and difficult it is for Program Managers to sort out all the requirements that he has to follow the read we should be a will to simplify that and not sacrifice the intent behind those rules. They have been built on layers ever since goldwaternichols. There have been layers of acquisition improvement of one form another. Many of them are very good and they are all well motivated that the total body is large and complex. The same is true with dfar. Im not doing this right now but there is an effort that we are working with the congress on to take a look at the dfar to see if we can simplify that as well. In addition to the challenges that you mentioned what are the programs you are offering to dfar . We have a list and as i recall there was a helicopter program. There is i want to say there is an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle program. We have a number of things in different stages of the process. I think we have a list of several i will tell you what we will get the current list so you have the right list. Can i ask you one thing . Huntington angles is not on this list. They are the biggest shipbuildes biggest military shipbuilder. Can you give us a sense wide than other units are on the list given their enormity . Let me go back to the basic method we used to arrive at the list. We went to the sea par so you start by taking a look at the programs of huntington angles industries and you add those up across the threeyear period read the size of the contract is not a determinant on whether or not they are on the list. Its the performance inside the contracts that is the weighing factor. Huntington angles performance over the last few years they are the biggest programs. We looked at the nine at the top end of the 80 companies are business use that we evaluated so the top nine in terms of our concerns with their performance we have been very direct with them where they have issues and by the same token we have also recognize where they have done well. In the aggregate they did not make the cut. Thank you everyone for coming. I will follow up with you later. If you want copy of the you. We will have another dod briefing expected at 1 00 p. M. Wall street journal reports that the Iraqi Government has been taking steps to protect the capital from advancing insurgentinsurgent s. Just a moment ago president obama spoke on the lawn of the white house. He is parting for north dakota to participate in discussion with native american youth. The president said in the face of isil the Iraqi Security forces have been unable to protect their interests. They need additional support. He said he would not send american troops with his National Security team is preparing options that he will review in the days ahead. He stressed that the effort must be joined by iraqi leaders quote we cant do it for them. They must make hard decisions to bring the country together. He said again at the end no military action will be taken in the absence of a political plan by iraqis to make the situation better. That is from the president speaking just a few moments ago on the lawn of the white house as he and the first lady prepare to depart to north dakota. The New York Times says that the president was actively considering american airstrikes against militant groups and we have a conversation on our Facebook Page about the situation. The question is, should the u. S. Intervene in iraq . Jorge herrera writes no, no ,com,com ma no let saudi arabia and the emirates defend the oil. They have billions to spend on luxuries resort cities that want us to send our young to die. We are still paying 3. 60 for a gallon of gas. Issa haddad responds alqaeda is in iraq echoes of u. S. Intervention. Saddam hussein would never allow a faction to challenge his power. Let us know what you think at facebook. Com cspan. From the Washington Institute or near east policy we will have a discussion on the escalating violence in iraq live at 12 30 p. M. Eastern here on cspan. And again a reminder that another pentagon briefing coming out 1 00 p. M. Here on cspan2s. We will hear from rear admiral john kirby at 1 00. One of the things people dont always recognize is that during the war of 1812 it was really about america reestablishing its independence against the british. This was sorted our second American Revolution and this flag is the object for which Francis Scott key penned the words which became our national anthem. The image in i. T. 95 that the flag was made to look pole and restored and theres a whole section that was reconstructed. When the flag was moved to the space there was a deliberate decision by the curators not to do that again and what we wanted was the flag becomes a metaphor for the country. Its tattered and its torn but it still survives in the message is really the survival of the country in the flag and we are not trying to make it look pretty. We are trying to make it look like it has endured its history and we still can celebrate its history. Wilson Center Reports that u. S. Mexico goods and services reached a trillion dollars in 2011 making the u. S. Mexicos top trading partner. Next we will go Roberta Jacobson assistant secretary of state for western Hemisphere Affairs talks about u. S. Mexico trade and commerce relationships and its impact on the economy. This is about 40 minutes. Ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen sorry to yell in your ears. This is an authoritative english accent calling you to attention please. I will not antonio. I refuse. Im just not that kind of person. I hate to interrupt your conversations. Obviously its a very light grew. As i was saying to somebody the sign of a successful conferences when at the lunch hour its like a reunion and everyone is catching up. The thing that people remember from conferences is that dynamic presentation but in fact the thing that makes it a success is when people are talking to each other. As you can see we have had a conversation this morning all about infrastructure or much of it about infrastructure. We suffer from some of those infrastructure problems at the Wilson Center. We dont have enough space to accommodate all the people that want to do something good for the border so help us with their fundraising and give us money so we can build a bigger building for you next time i write . Thank you so much. As the director you have to get back out there but anyway im very pleased to be lets introduce to you our speaker for lunch lunch today assistant secretary of state Roberta Jacobson is very dear friend of the Wilson Center in general. A woman who is much loved on both sides of the border, a name which everybody recognizes in mexico and always whenever you talk about roberta you get the same response from mexicans a big smile develops on their faces. Anyway its testimony to the incredible job you have done. Im going to read her bio very quickly. Roberta jacobson was sworn in as assistant secretary of state for western Hemisphere Affairs on march 30, 2012. Previously she was the acting secretary since july 2011. She served as assistant secretary for western Hemisphere Affairs. The responsibility for regional political and Economic Issues of managing Regional Security issues. In addition to all of these roles roberta has had a longterm interest in north america covering canada mexico and nafta issues. She served with Mexican Affairs since 2002. She is a coordinator for Cuban Affairs and that is one of the issues which of course is so fascinating to talk about here in washington. At what point do we include cuba in some discussion of north america but anyway i will leave it at that. Not today, not today. Ms. Jacobsen holds a masters in law diplomacy from the Fletcher School of law diplomacy and for those of you who have come into contact with anyone from fletcher you know they are complete mafia. I was a wedding recently in mexico and there were at least 30 people from fletcher and they all think and talk alike. Its extraordinary. I swear they are some sort of Global Network with these people. A bachelor of arts from brown university. Ladies and johnson and please welcome Roberta Jacobson. [applause] thank you doug and that was great and i thought i kid eat the rest of my lunch if you started on my bio. That could take the rest of the afternoon. It is now very long unfortunately, which just shows my age but it is really really a pleasure to be back here to be at the Wilson Center. I have actually never been in this room and now i know why. Because as lovely as it is to look at its not the easiest to see all of you so i apologize. I will try and speak to the room without looking like im following a tennis match. [laughter] it is particularly nice to be here because it is a reunion of sorts with so many people that i know from jobs i have had before this from trips to the border, from trips to mexico, from so much of the work that we have all done together to work on order infrastructure, border issues back also to things that so many of you in this room and i have done over the years with the exception of the cohort that in this room that wasnt born when i started working on mexican issues. There are actually more of those than i would like to admit. So i am delighted to be here and to talk to this conference. The one other caveat i will make before i launch into remarks is that it is with some trepidation that i address you all because one of the mixed blessings about moving up into the position that i got a little over two years ago is that from having worked on things mexican for about 10 years, along with things in other parts of north america i now have everything from canada to argentina and dont get to spend nearly as much time as i would like focusing on the u. S. Mexico relationship and on the border. So im going to warn you in it and said some of the questions you are going to ask me i wont have the answers to. It is not that there arent answers to those questions. I just wont happen today and i apologize for that in advance. But i will skip the thank you to congressman cuellar for his introduction because he and many of our other congressional participants that i think you heard from or saw this morning are on the hill voting and thats good news for everything that we need to move forward in our congress. I think duncan and the Mexico Institute and the Border Trade Alliance in so much of the work that they do every day as well as from mexico and everything that has come together in this conference which reflects what we all want to do at the border and to see it move forward. And i know that we have congresspeople from mexico and we are really proud that we have the kind of participation today and the interest that is reflected in this crowd. I think with that reflects is not just an abiding interest that so many of you have had in this vital region, a region that really i have always felt is not like mexico city or Like Washington but very much its own region. But it reflects also a growing recognition by folks outside the border of the importance of the region to all of the rest of us. To all of the rest of us in the United States and mexico and really beyond in north america and the western hemisphere. You know the statistics far better than i do but im going to roll off just a couple of them because i find them particularly impressive to us. We sell more to mexico and United States we sell more to mexico than brazil india russia china combined. Its not a statistic that most americans realize. We sell more than 1. 5 billion in. Trade daily with mexicos supports millions of jobs in the United States and throughout the two countries. When we think about that from another perspective its about 1 million in trade crossing the border each minute. We are going to be here in this room or we will from the start of the program for about an hour and during that time the United States and mexico will have. About 60 million worth of goods and services. There is no other binational economic relationship more important than our border regions. Our governments are two governments recognizing the importance of the shared order and im really committed and i i think have renewed a commitment to making it stronger, easier to get across for facilitating trade and travel and to strengthen the Security Cooperation that we have. And i think you see that really in some both renewed partnerships, renewed energy and renewed energy and partnerships in some new partnerships that have taken place in the last couple of years. So let me talk about just a couple of them and then we can talk a little bit more about what you are interested in as we have some time. The highlevel economic dialogue i think has gotten a lot of attention over the last year or so. It was announced when the president went to mexico and it really was an important part of what president pena nieto discussed with president obama as rebalancing is what most people call it rebalancing the relationship. I call it balancing the relationship because what there was was a sense of what the relationship was still taking place on both the economic and security terms the public face of that relationship was often focused entirely on the security therefore what we needed to do together whispering the economic and commercial side of the relationship back into the public view and make sure that we were giving it as much attention as much profile as we possibly could. Highlevel economic dialogue was launched to focus on competitiveness and connectivity to foster Economic Growth productivity entrepreneurship in particular and to partner, to focus on partnering for leadership both in the region of the western hemisphere and globally. And so the ahl eddie has met when the Vice President went to mexico and it will be meeting again. I am optimistic, focusing this fall that there are particular areas of highlevel economic dialogue that i think are relevant to the border. The mexicou. S. Entrepreneurship and innovation counsel is fostering crossborder entrepreneurship and i know that you have seen the meetings that have taken place on that in the border region but that has launched to border Regional Economic Development Strategies and that is critically important the master plans that are being developed, the launching of these new Economic Strategies i think are designed to make sure that we continue the focus on technology, innovation hubs entrepreneurship as engines of growth in the southeast United States and in the border region. In april the United States and mexico agreed to connect the mexican Small Business Development Centers with similar u. S. Centers so that we could make sure that Small Business owners owners and nonsprinters in both countries have the resources that they need to be able to talk to each other, get advice from each other and tap into each Others Networks to do the exporting that they need. One of the reasons i think that is so critical is when the president launched a Small Business network of the americas and the summit summit of the americas in 2012 mexico was one of the areas in which the Small Business Development Centers took off the fastest. There are more Small Business Development Centers located in mexico than any other countries in the western hemisphere. We all know that Small Businesses really are the engines of growth and in particular the engines of job creation in our economy. But those Small Businesses in each of our countries in general dont export. Even in the United States less than 2 of Small Businesses export. And when Small Businesses think about exporting, the first step that they are going to take is most likely going to be with neighbors. Its more comfortable. Its going to be either with canada or with mexico and that is what the Small Business Development Centers when linked together can really help our Small Business entrepreneurs do. It can help them take that First Step Towards exporting which really can make them take a big step in their own businesses beyond just their local community. We completed five of six border master plans to talk about Infrastructure Development and the last one is on track for completion by mid2015. We Health Care Exchanges on traffic and freight modeling to coordinator by nationals or t. J. Crate plans. Tourism officials formed a working group to collaborate on data joint marketing opportunities and promoting trusted Traveler Programs. You all know better than anybody have critical it is for us to continue to expand those trusted Traveler Programs and as our president s have agreed to make sure that we can merge our trusted Traveler Programs to the greatest extent possible all throughout north america making it easier for our trusted travelers to travel freely throughout the north american continent. And we talked a lot as part of the highlevel economic dialogue and the whole rebalancing and will continue to talk aggressively about education and this is really a passion of mine in this job that i think this Mexican Government certainly shares. It is central to our vision of competitive order and to competitive countries. The workforce that we need for the Global Environment and for the 21st century has to have different skills frankly than my generation did certainly and it doesnt get necessarily. President obama launched 100,000 strong in the Americas Program in 2011 to increase the flow of University Level Exchange Students between the United States and latin america and the caribbean and this program was modeled on the 100,000 Strong Program in china which is hoping to bring 100,000 u. S. Students to china. It wasnt necessary to create a twoway program as we had no trouble attracting more than 100,000 Chinese Students to the United States. What i like to call global learners. They are people who have had experience in more than one culture. They are people who speak more than one language. They are people who can operate in the multinational environment. Whether theyre doing so in government, in the private sector, in the ngo world, or academia. We are all going to be able to operate in that environment. There is a huge amount we can do with mexico. Happily when the administration came into the power there was a real desire to move aggressively on education, complimentary to the 100,000 strong in the americas, the Mexican Government has sought to create binational structures that really go further than that program to do things together with the United States. We created our Bilateral Forum on Higher Education and innovation and research to be able to expand Educational Opportunity between our two countries and in particular to be able to expand research and innovation opportunities with national labs, with technology, with incubators, so we could do more to develop that workforce in these two countries. And i know that you understand exactly why thats important. In march the university of texas at el paso host Ad Working Group of the u. S. Mexico Bilateral Forum on Higher Education to explore the specific potential of the border region to increase the bilateral collaboration in this area so i think this is a particular area where the border will be able to help us and show us how this this kind of interaction, exchanges, educational potential is possible. On infrastructure im going to speak really briefly because i think youve all had a conversation about that and probably know so much more than i do i dont want to actually insult you but i do think that one of the things i hear when we talk at meetings like this over and over again is that the government perhaps still doesnt get it on infrastructure. That we still are not doing enough and we dont understand as well as we should the infrastructure deficit that we have at the border. All of the efforts that weve been undertaking to make the border more competitive will not actually mean much if people and vehicles and goods cant get acrosstheboarder. Obviously this studies that we have looked at have shown border congestion and traffic delays, cost the u. S. And mexican economies an additional 7. 2 billion in gross output and more than 62,000 jobs. Of. Given where the u. S. Economy is right now, we cant afford that. No economy can afford those kind of losses. In 2010 we launched the 20 First Century Border Management initiative and acknowledged that our shared interest in creating a border that promotes rapid economic, proposes competitiveness, enhances security and promotes rapid and lawful movements of good and people will take a lot of effort by all of us. We have made progress on infrastructure at the border. We have been coordinating a number of ports of entry projects. I know many of those are moving forward creating huge headaches in the interrim but getting us to a better place at the end. Obviously the busiest Border Crossing in the world, san yes seed drove, is undergoing a ysidro, threeface renovation. That will be a huge boon when it is completed. Phase one is proceeding and were beginning phase three. Construction started on the mexican side of the border at crossborder facility at tijuana airport which i think is a unique project and im exciting by that one. Construction is underway and nearly completed for the Guadalupe International bridge. Expansion of the international bridge completed between brownsville and matmaros. Were working on modernization of the nogales port of entry. All of those additional capacities were going to have, mean we need to collaborate to find other ways in addition to that to reduce border wait times because were going to be helped by the additional capacity but that will also bring greater expectations. One of the things i will say when i started to work on mexico in 2003 i will tell you there wasnt, it seemed to me and dennis will help me on this, but it does seem to me there werent nearly this many projects going on. I know that at the towards the beginning of the Obama Administration and many of these had been in process for a long time before there were 3 00 new crossings that opened in a period of about two owe three years. That was the first time we had that in a decade, new crossings opening. There is the sense some of either very slow processes are coming to fruition and initiatives are beginning to take hold because people have demonstrated the utility of them, we convinced people, weve gotten money, whatever the reason. I think there is momentum for things moving in that direction and that is incredibly important to begin, as i say, to make up some of that deficit that we face. On the Security Side i think there has been a lot written, let me say quickly, about the pause on the Security Side that the United States and mexico underwent at the beginning of the pineto administration. It has been overplayed to a certain extent. For the administration to say we would like to take a look what is going on and we like to look at our own priorities and insure that the projects underway fit our priorities and talk to you a little bit about making sure that the things that we think are important have projects that reflect that. That was undertaken, as was coordination changes within the Mexican Government, over the last couple of months, last six months or so, we have seen a Rapid Movement on the bilateral security projects with the Mexican Government, and i think we have moved ahead on 85 or so projects under the initiative that were on hold. Other projects i want to underscore throughout this period. The pause was never a suspension of all perhaps. With hundreds of millions of dollars of fund moving ahead and the outline of emphasize sees with the Mexican Government remains the four pillars under the merit initiative. There is a focus on Police Professionalization both at federal and state level. There is a focus on Strong Communities and working to prevent crime. There is a focus on the border around security at the border and making sure that we never see security and efficiency as zero sum, but as things that have got to be working together to end up in a more efficient and secure border that reinforce each other in a positive way. So i think that we are in a position right now where the relationship has moved ahead very well and where the security situation as tough and as difficult as it is for the Mexican Government and the mexican people, you have seen significant victories against very senior drug leadership in mexico in recent months. The detention of guzman being the most heralded in the papers but very significant targets. Many numbers of them have been detained. I think this is the result of renewed commitment to the and the kind of Law Enforcement goes on every day in particular at the border between professionals on both side. We are grateful for our partners and the way we Work Together on that. The phenomenon just as our economic and commercial relationships are intertwined and binational, for better or worse, criminal activities are transnational and none of us can confront them alone. That is recognized on both sides of the border as well. This relationship is going fairly well. I have not spoken to the particular reforms undergoing in mexico. Weve seen Extraordinary Movement what some call 20 years of reform in mexico. Things that we think will have very positive impact on the economic relationship with the United States. So we are very, very excited about the relationship and very positive about the relationship and believe that that will, as always, be reflected and initiated at the border itself, thank you very much. [applause] thank you so much, roberta. The assistant secretary agreed to take questions from the public here today. Im only taking easy questions, right . We have a deal. Before we move on i would like to say say special thank you for sponsoring this hundred. These guys are ones that footed the bill for it. Thank you very much. [applause] while youre thinking of questions i have one question here. Let me just say that i have studied mexico for now 20 years and so often it has been a negative conversation about mexico. What is extraordinary right now how positive it is and constructive, more importantly than positive. When you recently gave testimony in congress the number of people who actually now come out can i, that is amazing point. I did give testimony on the hill recently, on the house side which can sometimes be the thing im most afraid of, just saying. And this is House Foreign Affairs committee, it was a full committee hearing. And i have never in my career had 33 or 34 members show up for a hearing. Not all at once. Bus that would have really scared me but, there were all there for much of the time. Certainly as you all know, not all from the border. It was amazing because everyone was interested in what is going on in mexico. It was very, not every question was all positive but, it was terrific yeah. Its a really good point. Roberta, from the sadd tijuan region. Thank you for your san diegotijuana region. What is your opinion on what the role of the border communities with the new list . It came out on the federal register we could send comments. We centcomments from san diego, it is important to have good border voices as far as the age list, what we want to find out what it means to border communities along the border. What is the best way to communicating whats happening, highlevel, economic dialogue with the local crossborder issues . I think the most important thing is to make sure that washington is understanding or, aware of, let me start this again. Washington is famous for the law of unintended consequences, right . For taking decisions which are not intended to hurt parties on the ground or have effects in local communities but do. Or are intended to have xbenefit, right, but have yeffect on people, in making things more efficient, reducing paperwork, moving to electronic forms, whatever you know, what it might be were trying to make more efficient, the effect on a local community or how a border Infrastructure Project may be affecting a local community is far too often invisible to many of us here. We try for it not to be both being in touch with organizations on the ground and visiting but it is not always good enough. So i guess the first answer is, be as loud as you possibly can. The second through elected representatives who are aggressive on your behalf and should be. You know, i guess the other thing is, he and one of the things, and i have said this before and i apologize to those who have heard it. One of the things that has frustrated me on occasion, i have seen common interests on the northern and southern border. It is not the same. Im really truly, im well aware of that. But there are some things that border communities in the northern border and the southern border of the United States actually, i hear echoes. If Community Organizations in both places could occasionally Work Together on things you would be powerful indeed because the number of congressional representatives you would have would basically win. But i have yet to see, and i dont know whether, congressman reyes would agree with me on this, but, i have yet to see southern border caucus folks on the hill really work all that effectively with northern border congresspeople on things because, everybody, and this sort past our system, unfortunately. Everyone sees it as zero sum, right . If you get money for the northern border and takes it away from the southern border and vice versa. Instead of saying hey, we have some of the same issues. We as border folk ought to basically beat out everybody in the middle. I wonder whether some of it couldnt be done. Whether there might not be some economies of scale that could be done on both borders. I dont know. I mean those are, those are some of the ways you have to try and continue to get our attention. Obviously events like this are really important, really important to bring visibility to the issues. An to make sure that we know what some of the most pressing problems are that youre facing. And every time i go to an event like this, or my folks staff does, we go back with something we hadnt heard before, honestly. That is both good and bad. You dont like to be surprised at something. You dont like to think you havent been paying enough attention but that is good because obviously that is the point, right . We go back and say, we werent paying any attention to this environmental issue or this agricultural issue or whatever. Center for north american studies at american university. I am glad you took the north american approach used to say, we frequently do the bilateral ad nauseum. He would be so proud. He would be so proud that youre channeling him here. Exactly. You will be glad to here im doing my disproportionate share of mechanic can students here. I have three daughters at various universities here in the u. S. Welldone. One is pursuing a second doctorate at stanford university. But that is spied the point. What is your opinion, having worked on mexico for some years, that, your pet project has been stalled for whatever reason . What frustrates you as by the way, the my pet project, mexican minister of Telecommunications Said over his dead body. Fortunately he is dead now. Yikes i hope it doesnt take my death to do something. You know, that is a very good question. Im not sure i have seen a project that i wanted to move ahead stalled. I have a huge commitment to the education stuff. I am a little bit worried, honestly, that im a little bit worried about forces outside of our control, okay . Im a little bit concerned that, and i do think that this is changing. My concern had been that the security perception in mexico has, it is clear, right, it has inhibited u. S. Students from going to mexico, in some cases legally, physically prohibited them. There were schools that stopped doing their exchange perhaps. I think that is changing a little bit with the perception that there are plenty of places in mexico that students can go to study and have wonderful experiences. The state department tried to do its part in that by insuring that our consular information sheet and all of the travel advisory were much more specific than anything we normally put out in noting where violence has been a problem and where it is not. We dont normally do that. That was somewhat controversial in the state department but we felt it was enough with our closest neighbor that people dont have a misimpression of the whole, right . I know this from my own teenage kids and their cohort i work on these issues every day, right . So i hope i have a little bit better understanding that the front pages of american newspapers, i hope. But if you dont, right, if that is your perception of country x or country y, for a while you werent going to send your kids to the place where all you saw were pictures of the morning after the latest attack. In that respect i do think that. In that, i think the changing public focus on the full range of things going on in mexico has been very, very good good for both the bilateral relationship and mexico and the potential to send students back to mexico and tourists back to mexico because there is so much more that is going on. And when you talk to parents of students about going to costa rica, you have a very interesting conversation about how great costa rica is, as if nobody actually understood the geography of central america, right . That is not to disparage in any way costa rica, that is a wonderful place. There are problems on the it must, that of affect the entire isthmus. That is not spin but important to project the reality of the in mexico. That is what the Pena Nieto Administration want to do. We help our partners do a better job conveying what is real. My hope we can now advance on the educational side. But i also hope this, is big thing of mine and im not sure what the structural impediment is here that i need to get rid of, if we continue to have the same socioeconomic groups of students who have come here forever, right, whose parents and grandparents came here to school, who can afford it, if those are the same kids who keep coming i will not have succeeded and you wont either. We have to broaden the pool who never thought they could come here. So the kid not coming here with all do respect to your obviously successful daughter, kids not coming here to stanford but coming hire to Community College and coming here to Technical Schools and coming here to learn how to operate the computer machinery in a production plant that is really what im trying to expand. That is hard. Were working with Miamidade College and others. That is really hard. Those kid may be older. They may have families. They may have jobs. Theyre not coming here for junior year in spain, right . Maybe they come here for months if i guaranty a job at the earth end or the private sector guaranties a job at the other end. That is it what were really talking about. How do i expand the pool to the kid who havent had that opportunity before both in the United States and overseas. That is what i want to get at. Im not sure what is stopping me but i still have trouble. Let me give my personal thank you. For a more formal appreciation i will hand a microphone over to lavio from mexico. Thank you very much. I was listening to you and thank you for all attending these beautiful chats, i was just listening to roberta just an hour ago saying that she was, she didnt come prepared. You know, in the sense of preparation. It is questionable but despite how questionable it is, but i think her message reaches out in these very semicircle room and, i just can not express how thank you, how lucky we are. From mexico wanted to have bagels with which to express how good partners we are. And listening to your your speech about security and what is it that you have done, security and what is your view on security, seeing your speech, listening to your speech about education which nothing less than emotional, when you think people understand the issue you dont want to see medical doctors, you dont want to see engineers, you dont want to see lawyers driving taxicabs from time to time in countries of latin america you see quite often. Everywhere from mexico to buenos aires. You can see that and sadly realize that is a waste of economic resources. So what the pertinence of location that you are talking about is exactly what we are really, we have to focus on. We did it, remember . We did organize a university that didnt exist because the industry asked for that university. The industry was the one who asked for, the subjects to be taught by that university. It is the, the university which was formed to House Aerospace business in kurato. The more i hear you the more im convinced that Education Needs to be pertinent. And your emotional linkage between girls, boys, coming to the states to Community Colleges as opposed to big ones, the universities is nothing but necessary, not even real, necessary for the industry, otherwise we will still continue to have people that are highly unsatisfied in their lifespans because of the lack of connection between what they think they know and what the industry or the Society Needs from them. So i am very, very happy. I thank you all for coming, from mexico feels that this is the job that we have to do, together with the u. S. You have graciously and supported an initiative of select usa partnering with from mexico to do things together so we can show the world, yes, we can become a power place, a place to do business together. So no other words than my appreciation to you once again, thank you. I am thrilled about and we are solidly backing you up on education and thank you all for coming to this wonderful occasion. This wonderful hundred. Thank you. Thank you. [applause] ladies and gentlemen, i think well reconvene across the hall. There is no rest for the wicked. [inaudible]. And a look at at pentagon Briefing Room now as we await a briefing from Defense Department press secretary rear admiral john kirby who will brief reporters. A likely topic that will come up will include the escalating violence in iraq. Well have that live for you here on cspan2. The president just a short while ago, speaking about iraq. President obama announcing that he would not send troops to iraq but has asked his National Security team, quote, to prepare a range of other options, end quote, to counter the growing threat posed by radical islamic insurgents who seized territory in Northern Iraq and are threatening the capital. He spoke just before leaving for north dakota. Obama told reporters that iraqi leaders would have to reach a political solution to the sectarian divide in their country by making compromises with their opponents. That from the washington post. We have a conversation going on Facebook Page about the situation. The question is, should the u. S. Intervene in iraq. David says, question, should we, our area leave, leave the area iran to assist and should give everyone chill and concern. To brief reporters with a likely topic being the escalating violence in iraq. We are looking on the room for just a moment. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] while we wait for the briefing to begin, more of the headlines coming after president obama speaking just a few moments ago. Front page of the New York Times up at the top a shiite cleric calls iraq to arms. The senior shiite cleric issued a statement on friday urging all to assist the fight against the sunni militants who have seized broad stretches of territory. Another headline by president obama said friday that he would make a decision in the days ahead about whether to use American Military power to help the Iraqi Government. The president speaking a short time ago said they must meet a sincere efforts to address the sectarian differences or else u. S. Military help wont succeed in curbing the insurgency. He said we cant do it for them. The president spoke before leaving the Indian Country and the president said that the u. S. Wont send troops back into iraq but he has asked his National Security team to prepare a range of other options and says we will review those in the coming days as the moving insurgency has taken over the citys and a look at how it is being reported in the New York Times at this hour. Back to the pentagon Briefing Room while we wait for the rear admiral john kirby to brief reporters on the escalating violence. This is live coverage on cspan2 [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] waiting for the briefing to begin covering live on cspan2. To join us later today when Hillary Clinton recounts her tenure as the secretary of state from the recently published memoir hard choices. She will speak with a former speechwriter for mrs. Clinton and the coowner of politics and prose. The programs being held in washington, d. C. We will have that live at 6 p. M. On booktv on cspan2. Back to the pentagon Briefing Room we expect a briefing to begin shortly and we will look now. An audible conversations do we need more chairs . [inaudible] it gives more space. Do you want to start to warm up . [laughter] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] just turn it on. [inaudible conversations] turn your phone to vibrate. An audible conversations [inaudible conversations] waiting for a pentagon briefing where the topic will likely be the escalating violence in iraq. While we are waiting you can watch live on our companion network cspan a discussion from the Washington Institute for near east policy on the iraq situation thats underway now and while we wait here we may have time to show you a few of the president s words from a short time ago about the situation in iraq. Good morning everybody. I want to take some time to give you an update about the situation in iraq. Yesterday i convened a meeting with my National Security council to discuss the situation and this morning i received an update from my team. Over the last several days we have seen the gains made by the terrorist organizations that operate in both iraq and in syria. In the face of the terrorist offenses, the iraq he Security Forces have proven unable to defend the number of cities which is allowed terrorists to overrun on iraq the secretary continues to monitor the situation there as the defense of military leaders in the pentagon. At the last 36 hours theyve met a number of times with senior military leaders to discuss events on the ground and prepare options for the president s. I wont detail those options that i can tell you they cover a wide range of military capabilities and will be designed at the president says to break the momentum of the progress and bolster the iraq he Security Forces but clearly any decision to employ these breasts so even with the commander of chief. I think its important to remember that for several months weve been working with the state department to augment. Theyve been increasing their capacity to fund themselves and their people and remain responsible for taking on the threats over the longterm. In march we delivered 100 on an expedited timetable bringing the total to some 300 thats in addition to the millions of rounds of the tank ammunition fire rockets and late last year we addition had additional arms helicopters to the Iraqi Armed Forces and a few weeks ago we notified congress of an additional 1 billion in funding the military sales. Its imperative that iraq and neighbors have the security in the evolving threats and its spilling over certainly from syrias borders we are committed to that effort but in keeping with that we continue to provide counterterrorism support. That has included isr capabilities and we have intensified this support in the recent dates at the request of the iraq he government. I also think its important to remember that we have some 30,000 u. S. Military personnel and forces worked closely each and every day with our partners to defend against external aggression and terrorist networks that threaten america. Before i take your questions i do want to say a few words about the meeting this morning with the prime ministers of austral australia. They discussed the agreement that he and the president announced yesterday and this is an agreement that will provide a framework for the initiatives the governments embarked on november 2011 that includes rotational presence of marine corps and air force assets as well as partnerships on space and cyber. We are grateful for the Defense Force and we look forward to discussing the cooperation of the australian United States ministerial consultations later this year in australia and with that i will take questions. Can you provide more detail if they are heading at this point or even in general can you say when they would be likely to get their and can you give any broad assessment of the numbers or capabilities that usb leaves they may or may not have . On the first question i have nothing to announce with respect to the force members in the central responsibility. They remained in the region and ready for any tasking the general austin cares to give them. But as we speak right now there are no carriers merging into the gulf. On the other question look, i mean weve been watching the events for some time and watching the movements and development capabilities. But they are well resourced and what we are seeing is a not unsophisticated degree of cooperation on their part and of course momentum and the president spoke to that earlier today about the need in the near term to help iraq break that momentum. This is a militant Extremist Group and we do know that as the Security Forces have pulled back or left the bases we certainly have reason to believe that they have benefited from that with respect to some captured equipment and systems but we dont have a perfect sense on what theyve got but weve seen the video and you see that they are driving some of these vehicles but we have a really solid sense of what theyve got. This isnt an army. Any estimate of numbers would be in perfect but i do think it is in the thousands and we know and we said foifweve said for quite they continue to gain the substance and reinforcements from the foreign fighters but if you were to characterize it in the thousands that is accurate. I would just say stay with the thousands. Its not the kind of force thats easy to put down new miracle he. This isnt an organized nationstate army but i think if you left it you would be fine. What are you realistically looking to do if you are not clear on what they have . What i said is we dont have a perfect indication that we have been watching as i said at the outset we have been watching their growth and development and their activities inside iraq. Its not that they havent been mindful of the threat that they posed or what they are capable of doing and im just simply not going to detail options that. But you are confident that they have good options to take them out if you were told to do so. Our job is to provide the commander in chief options and we are doing that and as we have been in so many other places in the world we are confident that we will be able to provide options to be as flexible as he should want to be. Giving the intelligence that the United States are you confident that these options that the pentagon is working on to provide can give the opportunity to retake what they have lost . Your question gets to the objective and im just going to point back to the commander in chief said. There is a nearterm objective to help iraq to break this momentum and we are going to provide options that try to me to the commander and im simply not going to go into much greater detail than that but i think its important to also make it clear that this is a sovereign state of iraq. They have Security Forces. This is ultimately a threat and a challenge to the government of iraq have to be able to rise to meet. Theyve spent special forces inside iraq and if they did so what is the reaction on that . That press reporting on that i have nothing to confirm and im not going to get into hypotheticals. The only thing i can say is that we encourage all of the neighbors including iran to play a constructive role in iraq and given the challenges we are facing but also in the region. The president said that it wasnt under the consideration to defend their groups take into combat in iraq. Does that imply that it would be under consideration to send american soldiers or civilians to do other things like advising support under the drc . I would remind you that we already have and have since 2011 a small number. Again, im not going to get into the hypotheticals about what options may or may not be sent over for the president to consider. I think that he was pretty clear about today what he didnt want to do and our job is to provide him an option to consider but im not going to speculate about what they are. You mentioned in the recent days can you add in response to this crisis can you tell us anymore about what youre doing and to follow up on that question if the pentagon cant determine the fighters on the ground what is the quality of the intelligence if there are so many holes in the intelligence . I didnt say there were holes in the intelligence. Lets go back and impact this a little bit. At the request of the Iraqi Government we have been providing some support. Its not like we havent seen them in spite of the country. In the recent days if you need to set a time this week we got additional requests from the Iraqi Government for additional more intensified support and we are providing that. We typically dont talk about the methods that we conduct and we certainly dont talk about Intelligence Matters publicly that i can tell you that lets not forget the larger point that we have been sharing information with the iraq he government and the Iraqi Security forces since we left the country so this idea of the information sharing arrangement isnt new. But yes it is intensified this week in conjunction with the activities. The lack of the precise on the ground intelligence if you cant confirm that there are Iranian Forces in iraq how can you give the president of Viable Options when you dont have the picture . Intelligence is never perfect. Its never has been and it never will be. Its an important capability that we continue to develop with the iraq he Security Forces, and as i said to the question im comfortable ani amcomfortable as secretary that the options that the military will provide for the president will be robust enough for the commanderinchiecommander inche needs to make. Isnt it important to know if they are there . We are working on this as hard and as fast as we can with our partners in iraq. I dont have anything to confirm the special forces inside of iraq but weve also been clear not just this week but consistently clear iran needs to be a partner in the region and we continue to urge them to do that so you said you want them to be responsible but they should play a constructive role. What could that be . They could stop supporting extremist networks. Thats one thing. Im not going to write an action plan for the government to play in the region. We have been clear about what our expectations are for iran and ive certainly been clear today that we want all of the partners to play a constructive role as they face this challenge but iraq and iran are sovereign states and the degree they talk to one another and make decisions that is between the leaders of those sovereign states. But this is a threat inside of iraq. Certainly a threat in the region and i think this is a time for everybody to make deliberate and measure its decisions. Based on the assessment of the situation do you envision any scenario where the u. S. Can provide some kind of assistance in the government without getting directly involved to break this momentum that youve been talking about . Thats why hes reviewing the options. Its not like the premise of the question is we just walked away from iraq and we didnt. There has been since 2011 a small number of u. S. Military personnel working in the embassy to help continue to advise and assist. But its important for people to remember that the Security Forces work for the government of iraq and there is a limit to how far the advice and assistance can go in the course of three years. Some of what we have seen from the Security Forces in some parts of the country speak to deeper challenges inside of the Iraqi Government to include political differences. I will remind you of something we said back in 2011 the best safeguard against a return to violence is to continue the commitment of iraqi leaders to resolve the differences through politics and some of what we are seeing now with the iraq he security stand from the ongoing political challenges that remain inside of iraq. Are these forces based on the assessment capable at this moment to break that momentum that you are speaking about . The president made clear that in the midterm he wants to have options of a bubble to help break this momentum so she had us help them in the near term break this momentum and im not going to be cute about it. We were disappointed by the performance of some of force units with respect to the challenges that they have faced. But over the long term these are threats and challenges that the government and the Security Forces have to meet for themselves. A given that you have been sharing so much information since 2011 all of the training that has gone into building up the force and equipment thats been sold to help them perform their duties house appraised were you or were you not at all the way that the forces performed so poorly when push came to shove . As i said before we were disappointed in the performance of some of these units and i think its fair to say that we didnt expect for those units to not have stood up to the threat. We certainly didnt expect that level of performance, but again the president said over the near term we are going to look for ways to help them break the momentum here and then we will do that. Some of the iraqi commanders may have been feeding information or in other ways undermining the performance of the unit . Ive not seen any information to that regard. As we know the original army was disbanded after the invasion of march of 2003 and the new army was constituted and train trained. Is the response in the last week or so in other areas is that kind of a poor commentary on the training the United States provided to the Security Forces . Absolutely not. When we left in 2011, we left the forces at a level of competencies particularly on counterterroriscounterterrorismd was appropriate to the threats that they faced and i would remind you probably not that i dont need to but there is a lot of blood that went into giving them that opportunity. A lot of young men and women didnt come home giving them the opportunity. And i know the secretary believes that that is exactly what we did, but that was three years ago and to a degree the government has to speak to the proficiency of their forces. Yes we have a small group that has stayed to help them advise and assist but its not an overactive training regiment. Weve got him to believe what we believe was an appropriate level of competency and the threats changed, too. But as i said earlier these are sovereign armed forces and while we are going to key up the option for the president to consider a nearterm break and this momentum alternately over the long term this is the responsibility of the iraq he government and the iraq he people and their security forc forces. [inaudible] it was seized by these people. As i understand the Iraqi Government is investigating the events of the last couple of days and as i understand, they are looking into the scope of captured equipment and systems that belonged to th belong to te government, but by what not judge how that is going to come out can we provide any support i dont understand the question. Is there either some support to control do you have enough intelligence to avoid massacres im not doing hypotheticals right now. That isnt very helpful at this point. The policies in afghanistan on the iraq model how can we show when you draw the troops. They are not built on the model. There is no iraq he model and its a completely different situation. The president has made some decisions about what the president s would look like in afghanistan after the end of this year assuming that we get a sign that the bilateral Security Agreement and what the mission would look like in both size and complexity over the next two years. I fail to see the comparison to this regard and i would remind you that we had remained open to discussing a followon presence assuming that we could get the same sort of agreement of Legal Protections which the Iraqi Government was not able to produce. What steps will you take to ensure that they are forced and not to defend any kind of cover band attack i think we can stand pretty well on our performance in the last two or three years in terms of helping to develop the competency and capability of Afghan Forces that are doing quite well and if you need proof, go back and look at the security. So nothing changes about our commitment to that end they have a Resolute Support commission at the end of the combat mission thats all about furthering their competency and capability and we are committed to execute that. [inaudible] three years after our mission and did in iraq we believed then and i will say it again that when we left iraq he left with Security Forces that were competent but the threats they were facing. Frankly the Security Forces changed over three years. The government should be able to speak to their organization and their training and equipping of their own forces over the last three years. As i said we are going to provide options to see if we cant help break thicanhelp bree near term but over the long term this is an iraq he government challenged. And as we said back then the best safeguard is for the continued commitment by the leaders to resolve their difference through peaceful politics and in closer government and i think its fair to say that that process is far from mature right now. The president said and you repeat it in just about every one of your answers break the momentum. Momentum can easily be regained so are we talking about a longterm military commitment . Im not going to i think the president was clear stop them from shooting today, tomorrow, the next week and then we stop whatever i think we need to let this decisionmaking process work its way through. We are providing options to the president who is going to make decisions based on the options that hes provided and its a whole interagency National Security team reviewing the options for the consideration. Its not all about the military. The president was clear and we are going to provide options that achieve that. Thats what it sounds like the u. S. Is making a commitment to in fact support the Iraqi Government for a period of time in any one of these advancements reforms that they plan to pursue but in the meantime they arent just going to pick up and leave. We are committed to helping to achieve the objectives and im going to leave it at that. I have seen reports that in addition to the force there are some other former insurgent groups that are adding to the momentum of the campaign. Do you have any evidence at this point that the threat is multifaceted beyond this one particular organization . It is not a monolithic organization. I dont have any particular insight into their makeup. Clearly there are a lot of the foreign fighters involved here. On the numbers it is a fluid number and its not a hierarchical organized nationstate force. And it matters less to us what kind of a card they are carrying or who they belonged to and more about what they are doing and what we can do to help iraq Security Forces again in the near term. Buwhat we have is an armed militant group and network threatening the internal security of iraq and im not going to put bumper stickers on it. I think everybody is aware of the threat that has been posed, and again we are committed to doing what we can and many returned. Does the president have any information that you can share with us on who is in the financing come and do you agree with a lot of the analysis here in washington, d. C. Mainly some of the things saying that the religious movement in saudi arabia but could you say on that . I dont have a lot of insight into the way they are funded and supported but as i said at the outset, they are funded and they are getting support and they do have resources and i am not in the position to qualify or clarify where it is coming from. Again what matters is what they are doing inside of iraq and that is what our focus is on. Do they have the forces to hold baghdad . I will let the prime ministers speak for his forces and their capability in and around baghdad. The whole National Security team is focused on and thats the spirit in which the options in the military perspective that were proposing but lets focus on what we need to do right now and i would rather not hypothesize about what the iraq he Security Forces will or will not do. As i said earlier, certainly we were surprised and disappointed by the poor performance of some of the Security Force units up in the north. I would be less than honest if i said that performance instilled a love of confidence certainly there are americans there so what are we doing to protect them specifically at the embassy . This isnt about blaming anybody. I think ive made it clear theres been a lot of factors that have played where the Security Forces are three years after the departure. Thats interesting history that we have to focus on what we can do in the near term to help the Iraqi Security forces meet this threat. On your second question, we know that there are Many Americans in iraq and certainly in the operational embassy in baghdad that embassy is still operational. There is no request by the state the government to move them out of the country and for the colleagues in the states to speak to. Yesterday there was a video that came out on the social media that showed a long line of prisoners that have been captured. It reports today that half of those numbers may be 1700 of them were killed in a mass killing. Do you have any information to support that there was a mass killing of the soldiers who had been captured . I do not around the same time yesterday there was a news report that cited to letters that were written in under captivity. Do you have any information to verify that those letters were legitimate . I cannot confirm the authenticity. We are aware of the news reports about the letters, but i cant confirm the veracity of them. You gave up the opportunity that the iraqi forces can hold baghdad. I would like to ask again does the United States military thi think, does the secretary think that the forces can hold baghdad . That i didnt give up the opportunity not to answer its a serious question. Im trying to answer and i will try again. The question about his ability is a question that he and the government are best able to answer. Clearly they are facing a significant threat and not every unit in the Iraqi Security forces have risen to meet that threat and its not lost on anybody at the force is real and thats why the commanderinchief has asked the military leadership here in the pentagon and the secretary of defense to provide him some options to review. That is what we are focused on right now. Whatever the commanderinchief decides, it shouldnt include military options to assist them in breaking the momentum to execute those and if there is a decision and should there be when there is, we will speak to those at the appropriate time. They are a force facing a threat and not all of them uniformly have in certain places with just call it like it is they havent met the threat capably. Is the military making any preparations are moving in a forces in case the state department does request and also who was moving the contractors that were in Northern Iraq . All of the regional commanders have assets at their disposals and resources should they be required in any country that falls under his purview and we have an outstanding plans to conduct the missions but we are not there yet and i would also remind you that when we are talking about the noncombatant evacuations the state department makes those decisions and military assets are not always the first to tool choice for that. He has capabilities should he need them and should they be required there is no such request for that right now. On the other question about the contractors, they are contractors and my understanding is and i dont want to speak for the company for which they work but my understanding is that the company is arranging for their departure from the airbase and i would refer you to them to speak on how they are doing that. Its not a u. S. Government commission. You painted i for the portras not a high article state actor or state military at a significant threat you dont know the numbers but in the thousands how does that complicate the military options, it doesnt seem like they have a center of gravity that the airstrikes could take out or break the momentum. How does the fact that they are fluid versus the 600,000 man ministry of defense and interior force how does that complicate the options . I think the options that are being prepared will cover as i said at the outset a wide range of military capabilities. And guess, one of the capabilities that we are tasked to provide options for wouldbe kinetic strikes which can be incredibly effective and powerful when they are done the right way to achieve objectives. Im not going to get ahead of decisions the commanderinchief hasnt made yet. Im not going to prejudge that. So look they are not a nationstate army but they are interested in the geographic as well and we have seen that happen and i just think there is a whole swath of military capabilities that could be useful depending on what decisions the president wants to make. I have a standing this doesnt seem like a set force to employ the traditional the Security Forces are, that is an army and whatever the thrust would be to assist the forces in meeting this threat. The president has been clear about his intent in that regard in the near term to break the momentum and to assist the forces as they continue to meet this threat. In the coordination. It would be in coordination with the Iraqi Government and the Iraqi Security forces and certainly i dont want to get into a lot of hypotheticals. Our job is to provide the commanderinchief options. That is what we are doing now. Is that an armed . We are intensifying the support to be Security Forces and im not going to qualify any further than that. Does that mean simply preventing them from taking down baghdad or does it mean reversing the game that they have made so far . It isnt helpful at this early stage before the president has even made any decisions to go into great detail in describing what tactical effect. He was very clear in the near term we are going to try to help the forces and break his momentum. This momentum that they had built. In just the last several days i think that is what the focus of the players here in the pentagon and the secretary focused on and i would leave it at that. It is and just a short term fix. It sounds like you are committing to a longterm solution. It is a longterm Strategic Partnership with iraq and the iraq Security Forces and the Security Forces that are competent and capable of defending their people into defending their territory and their country. They are under a threat right now and the president was clear we have an interest in helping them in the near term to combat thabut over the long term and i will go back what needs to happen inside of th in spite ofs and in the government is an inclusive and peaceful political process that allows for the capability of the Iraqi Security forces to be sustained. Theres been some challenges with respect to that and again thats something that problem, that issue is something the government needs to solve. Thanks everybody. Appreciate it. Some reporting now from the la times on the president s statement a short while ago. The u. S. Is ready to provide additional military assistance to iraq. Although he ruled out the sending troops he said the aide was conditional oaidwas conditii government willingness to make reforms. We are not going to be able to do it for them. Before leaving washington for a trip to north dakota and the west coast a look at the la times. Here in washington a statement from the chairman of the house Armed Services committee the white house has a history of considering all options while choosing none there are no quick Fix Solutions and i will not support a oneshot strike that looks good for the cameras but has no effect. That is from the churning of the house Armed Services committee. Our conversation about iraq continues on facebook. You can join later today when Hillary Clinton recounts secretary of state from the memoir hard choices. Mrs. Clinton will speak with a former speechwriter and coowner of politics and prose bookstore. The program is held at George Washington university in washington, d. C. And we will have it at 6 p. M. Eastern on book tv on cspan2. One of the things people do not always recognize is during the war of 1812 it was until after 1814 and it was about reestablishing its independence against the british. This was sort of our American Revolution and this is the object for which they penned the words that became the national anthem. It was made to look whole and there is a bottom section that is reconstructed. There was a deliberate decision not to do that again and what we wanted is that the flag becomes a metaphor for the country. It still survive survives into e message is the survival of the country and the flag and we are not trying to make it look pretty we are trying to make it look like it has endured its history and can celebrate its history. This marks the 200th anniversary of the naval bombardment of the fort mchenry during the war of 1812. To learn more about the flag that he wrote about while we toured the smithsonian starspangled banner exhibit sunday night at six and 10 p. M. Eastern. Part of American History tv this weekend on cspan three. Homeland security secretary johnson spoke this week about the federal governments response to the increasing influx of immigrant children at the u. S. Southwest border with mexico. Joining him were the administrator on which officials from the office of immigration and Customs Enforcement and health and Human Services department and the executive associate director and health and Human Services acting assistant secretary greenberg. We are here to update you on the steps that we are taking to address the surge along the nations southwest border focused in the rio grande sector. Last years cdp encountered over 24,000 unaccompanied children crossing the border. By may of this year, the number has already doubled to just over 47,000. This correlates with the rise of the migration principally by what weve referred to as third country nationals. Those from guatemala, el salvador and honduras that represent three quarters of its population. I saw the situation vividly for myself on may 11 which happens to have been mothers day when i visited the station Processing Center and i approached a 10yearold girl and i asked her where is your mother and she responded by dont have a mother i am looking for my father in the United States. I returned it the next day determined to do something about the situation. As i testified to the congress yesterday this is a problem of humanitarian proportions in the Rio Grande Valley sector. Here is what we are doing about it. Number one on may 12 i declared a level of readiness in the department of Homeland Security which is a determination that the capacity of the cdp to deal with the situation is full and we need to draw upon the resources of the entire department of Homeland Security. I appointed the deputy chief to be the coordinator of that effort for the response to the situation. The president pursue it to the Homeland Security act directed me to establish a unified Coordination Group to bring to bear the assets of the entire federal government to deal with this situation. This includes dhs and all of its components, hhs, the department of defense, the department of justice and the department of state. I. E. Have appointed the administrator crag fugate to serve as the official said that u. S. Government wide effort. Working aroundtheclock to address the efforts. Number three, we are looking for more space for processing and