And that is the involvement of Security Experts in development of the Design Excellence program. I know there were some who were on the commission to develop it. But ms. Munaz and mr. Green, if you could address the actual input of the Security Experts into the program and setting standards in the program, and whether theres an ongoing effort to keep the Security Experts involved. Beyond what the state department comes up with on its own. One of the criticisms that has happened has been that the state department has underestimated the security needs and the security threats. And i want to make sure as we move forward and build these embassies that security considerations are part of that ongoing process of assessment. So if you could sort of address that, starting from who was on the initial commission and whether that involvement and security continues and mr. Green, if you could gives your assessment as a security expert yourself. Im not really a security expert. You led the committee that was asked by the arb and i think that you have some very valid comments that i would like to hear about in terms of security in the Design Excellence program. But i like ms. Munoz to start, if you dont mind. As i mentioned earlier, the founding commitment with this program as with any other programs that would evolve over time relating to embassy and consulate yux is we meet all the security standards. They increase them and they change them over time. Whatever they throw at us, were going to implement because thats our responsibility. I want to make that point very clear. Our goal with this process is also to improve our coordination with the dip maltic security. So to have them more involved with us and have them more involved earlier to make sure that they see everything that were doing throughout the development of the project. So i would argue that their involvement is going to increase and that the key commitment that i know is important to them is that we continue to meet all of the security standard. And i have assured the department, i assure this committee well continue to do that. Mr. Green . I dont know what the interaction today is between ds and obo as they develop new plans for embassies and consula consulates. What i do know and recognize, this report was done now more than a year ago. Maybe theyre all joining hands and singing now. But when we interviewed people who were concerned with security. Not just ds but people from other parts of the government also, they were not happy, the people we talked to, were not happy in their role with their role in the Selection Process and felt very strongly that the pendulum has shifted from security to design. I mentioned and theres several examples of our observations as i said before didnt come from the six of us. These were based on the interviews that we did with more than 100 people. Not all of them, obviously, opined on obo and security. But many did. And so those observations that are in there, its not my opinion. Its what we got from people who work on a daily basis or hopefully, work on a daily basis with obo. Thank you, im out of time, mr. Chairman. If the gentle woman will yield so she could reclaim some time and respond to this. Yes, i yield. Mr. Green speerhead this is effort and puts together this report which was an offshoot and started because of the accountability review board, ms. Munoz, has the state department accepted in . Has this been approved . Is there anything under your mind thats been that did they disagree with it . As mr. Green pointed out, the ds Management Review Board really looked at dss organizations. I dont know the status of the response or the implementation of the recommendations. I could take it back to my colleagues. Thats my kin. Let me finish. With respect to the questions relating to obo there was one recommendation that we look at the cost umm approximately occasions or the security implications of this program and we have affirmed time and again, that there will be no security implications to this program. Were dedicated to meeting all of the security requirements that ds establishes, that are established in law and in working with ds to innovate better and better products every year that better meet those security standards. If it takes longer to build something do you consider that a security implication . As i explained to the committee, from the time of award, which is how obo receives its funding annually, the time to build the facility, because were doing construction only, will be the same or shorter, which means that well have in safer facilities, faster than using the design build methodology, in particular, when we have advance time to plan. And i hope and Ranking Member and colleagues on both sides of the aisle, this report was done. We asked for a kwoip. The state department has thus far refused to give us a copy. Al jazeera are has it. They minuted it out on their website. We dont have one and youre in the United States congress. Even though im holding one that i got off of al jazeera are. You have Patrick Kennedy in off significant post go on cbs news and say he disagrees with this report. I think its part of our business to understanding with what does hi disagree with and what does he agree where . If the very person thats implementing this office isnt totally familiar with it, isnt necessarily implementing it, theres a problem. Theres a problem. Again, i would like to restate. It was a ds management report. It hit and touched on ds Diplomatic Security would be better positioned to answer that question. I think they would be in a great position to answer it and i think next time we have this panel, we should include Diplomatic Security. If i had to do it over i would include Diplomatic Security here as well. Would the gentle lady yield to me . Yes. Thanks. One question, mr. Green. Again, trying to get to the bottom line, security. When you did your surveying, what exactly exactly you said you talked to 100 people surveyed 100 people. Can you tell us a little bit about that process . So we can fully understand and appreciate what it was that you did and what you were telling these people and why you were asking because thats significant. You went to people whose interests whose interests would be to make sure that they were secure. Am i right . Well, yes. We interviewed more than 100 people. We had them come in and they spread across the all the bureaus in the state department and some from outside of the state. We interviewed some of the people that were on the review board. We asked different questions of different people. Some were organizational questions. Does the assistant secretary for Diplomatic Security have enough of a role within the running the organization . There was a lot of emphasis on highthreat posts. Post benghazi to establish a special cell for highthreat posts. Not all of the people that we talked to, did we ask about the relationship with obo and others, but many of them we did ask that question to. And out of those questions, came these observations we laid out in our report. And the final recommendation, as i said before, we didnt make a determination that Design Excellence should be tossed out the window. All we said was before you go a lot further with this, we recommend that the state department do an indepth analysis to look at the security implications of this program. And it seems to me that, you know, a lot of times we have the departments and individuals disputing issues in government. And the people suffer during the dispute. You know, at some point weve got to figure this out so that our people are protected. I think members of congress and certainly the public, when they hear the debates, you know, not necessarily interested in watching this being made. They want to make sure that people are secure. That the costs are reasonable and that the facility is functional. And that were doing whatever we do effectively and efficiently. I just think sometimes, you know, it seems as if we feel like weve got to argue this and argue that. But at the same time, the people who need what were supposed to be yielding, theyre not getting it. What they get theyre not getting it in a timely fashion. What our report, obviously, focused on security. I understand. And as i said early on, if someone can show me that we can do it just as inexpensively, just as securely, just as fast, using Design Excellence, i will sign up tomorrow. Thank you, gentlemen. Thank you the lady for yielding. Thank the gentle woman. Ill now recognize myself. I want to ask the cobb sent to enter into the record, its called the guide to Design Excellence including the message from you, ms. Munoz. The question for you is without hearing any objections, so ordered. Well enter it into the record. Who at state department, has approved this . The director of obo approved that document before i was director. It was adam mann. I want to make clear that this was a development that was widely briefed with security and on the hill and briefed publicly and was provided widely. So while its within obos authority to innovate and to develop programs that help us build the best buildings that we can that are Cost Effective and efficient, that is the and the question that we have long term is Diplomatic Securitys feeling about that. Well come back to that. In response to cbs news, state department put out this statement. There has been no evidence that excellence projects take longer to build. In fact, under the Excellence Initiative, from the fiscal year award to akpan si, facilities will be delivered occupancy facilities will be differented on the same if not shorter schedule. And in response to cbs news it says all facilities will be delivered on the same if not shorter schedules. Theres no evidence to the contrary. Help me understand, then, why this unclassified document help me understand whats going on in maputo. It started as a Standard Embassy Design with an estimated development of 39 months. And, yet, now the says that on march 28th of 2014, they were changing to Design Excellence and that it was going to take 46 months. I dont have the document that you have. Id like to be able to respond to that but i need to be able to go back and look at detailed budgets and schedules. But this is something this is the frustration. We request this type of document formally and you play hide 567bd seek and dont provooid ide it and you make all therepresentat that everything is ahead of schedule. You put that out to the world and you gave that to cbs news and you let everybody know, no, no, no. Nothing is behind schedule and yet i find document. Why is that . Because i said id like to as i said id like to look at the case and the document youre holding to speak knowledgeably about that. Do you dispute what im Say Something. Im not sure what youre saying. Im saying that in maputo you went from a 39 a month project to a 46month project and if youre in africa and dont have the proper security youre going to feel the effects of that. Again, ill have to go back and look at the details of that project. Tell me tell me about oslo. Is it ahead of schedule or behind schedule . Oslo has a new contract working on that project. Is it behind schedule or ahead of schedule . At this time, its behind schedule. And its a Design Excellence project . No. Its not. What is it . Oslo was a project that was developed and could not be done as a Standard Embassy Design because many cities, in particular in europe, have zoning requirements that require us to develop buildings differently. Thats the case in oslo. It seems very convenient that you toggle between is it Design Excellence, is it Standard Embassy Design . Is it or is it not . We dont have that clear definition. Theres a lot of people and i believe some documents out there that say it is Design Excellence. So help me with whats going on in the hague. Is it ahead of schedule or behind schedule . Id have to look up details about the hague. Again, the hague is like an oslo project. The hague was a project that was developed based on it had to be an adjusted design based on city requirements. Based on Design Excellence . No. Not based on Design Excellence. Is it design in the bill . Sfwhooer i believe the hague is a design and build because the requirements in those cities force a very Extensive Development of the project in a way that indicates that design been build is the better option. Thats a condition that we find in very many cities in europe in particular. We have that issue. We had that issue in london. We are had it in oslo and we have it in the hague. But those are projects that were started before the Excellence Initiative. The way in which they were developed yin may very well be responsive to the environment in a way in which the Excellence Initiative would have. Lets go to kiev and the ukraine. What happened there . We needed more seats. We needed more personnel . What did you do there . Usaid aed an next in key zblooef so we added how many seats . I dont have that more than 100 right . More than 100 seats . Youve that at my fingertips. I do. It was Standard Embassy Design and we add more than 100 additional seats. We added annex. Still, seats. Let me go to mr. Jones. Youve been so patient. You were the one in youre testimony here, let me ask you. If it takes longer to build an embassy, we have people in harms way. And it takes longer to build it, do you think that that puts people in harms way or not . In the case of this . Yeah. Is that the question . Yeah. The situation in port morsiby is we had a increase in the number of people who would be located on site and the addition of u. S. Marines. So for those of you that arent as familiar, we had 41 personnel. And that number was going to go up to 71 personnel, correct . Right. But under law, were required to colocate the mission and would north have been able to do so had we only built a building for 41 people. So there is a way, though so theres awe way to build under standard ill design, an increase in the number of personnel. Lets go back as to why why was the number of personal increased. We started with what was essentially a standard yooem design. It was a mini standard design. When we got increase to add the marines, we were unable when did that decision that marines were going in become when did you get that in. I believe it was in march of 2013. And you have documentation for this . Can you provide that to the committee . Yes. When we provide the other documents you requested well include that among them. Okay. So there are no marines there now . And i think the public in general has a misconsengs as to what the marines actually do and dont do. They dont go outside the wall. Theyre there to protect classified information. In port morisby theres an exxonmobil project, multibillion dollar project being developed to support chinese. The chinese have a 20year contract. So i still dont fully understand or appreciate, and youre not necessarily the right person to answer the question want i dont want to put you on the spot, as to why we had to suddenly have this surge in the number of personnel. But nevertheless, the occupancy date for port morisby was going to be may of 2014, correct . That is correct. And the cost of that embassy was estimated to be, what . I believe the cost of the original facility was to be somewhere around 79 million. My understanding is it was going to be less than 50 million. The cost to construct the facility itself was 49. That includes the number i gave you include site costs. So we have the site, whether its Standard Embassy Design or Design Excellence, i happen to go there in february. The chief of mission has no clue that any of this is going on. None of discussions, he had no idea. He was still anticipating and understood there was a delay but still thought that during his tenure they were going to be able to in. What is the new date that theyre going to move in . I believe the new date will be in 2018. So and what is the estimated cost . We dont have a final cost yet because we dont have a completed design. Because its not a Standard Embassy Design, correct . No. Thats not the issue. Are you telling me that this is not Design Excellence . That this is under standard ill design . No. What im saying is that the compound in port morisby began as a standard facility. And it experienced an significant increase in staffing which prevented us from being able to use a standard design. The facility was not capable of being modified because it was so small. So it required an anext and it is the addition of the people and the annex and the marines that are making the delivery date of 2018. That is based on a costbenefit analysis that the department has done. That is the fastest time that were able to get the folks from that mission colocated on the compound with the marines. So this is so amazingly frustrated. The paperwork i have, not from you, but it said are said this facility costs in excess of 200 million. Were going to spend 3 million per seat per seat in port morisby, new guinea. Average per capita income is like 2500. Id like to take some of these questions. Well im not asking you. Im asking mr. Jones. Ill come to you. Ill give you plenty of time. So were going to spend 3 million per seat and theyre not going to be there for a good four yourself. You dont have a final design. What are they supposed to do for security there for the next four years while they wait . We are attempting to get safe and secure facilities open the fastest time schedule that we can. Were doing everything in our power to ensure that weir delivering safe, secure and function alpha si functional facilities. We add moed more than 105 de in the ukraine. Here were talking about 30 and it cost us about 24 million. And now were looking at a project that was less than 50 billion to build and estimated to go north of 200 million in papa, new guinea and the consequence to this is, theyre going to be in harms way for a longer period of time. Were going to have less money to build other facilities in other parts of the world. It is behind schedule. And these poor people are working in some of the most difficult situations ive seen, in a very when i was there there was an attempted cash jacking of u. S. Diplomatic personnel. While i was there we also had two people who showed up at the door trying to represent themselves as somebody that wanted to come see me and come see the this was on a saturday dressed in garb that represented that they were there to meet people in the embassy. Because you can walk right up. Right across the street multiple times a year, very close, the pharmacy there, Armed Bandits come in and try to rob that place. And there was no communication with that facility there in port morisby. The chief shouldnt have been getting that message from me, thats for sure. Ms. Munoz, i think you wanted to Say Something . I wanted to point out that as we explained earlier, the forces causing the change, the design, are outside of the bureau. We talked about iraq earlier. When youre in any environment when things are changing rapidly you have to adjust to these changes. There are costs related to those changes. A decision was made two years into a construction contract to add marines to a facility. To add significantly to the staff. To add classified capacity. That adds an extraordinary amount of expense in an existing contract. I think that when we have detailed information and you have received the detailed information that youve asked, we can go over those costs in detail but i think given the location in new guinea and given the fact that we learned that all materials and labor need to be shipped into the new guinea and given the environment, the discovery of Natural Resources there, have led to greater competition in a small market. Those Cost Increases can be explained when a mission doubles in size. I have gone way over time. I have more on this issue but ill recognize the Ranking Members comments. Mr. Green . Where do we go from here . I mean, really. You know, i think unfortunately, where we go is we need to see the dollars and the time that its going to take to do Design Excellence. We dont have that. Were comparing apples and oranges. Im not so concerned, personally, with the appearance of embassies. The state ig did a report in 2008 and the key findings were essentially that people were happy with the appearance. And the host countries of those 12 embassies that they looked at were happy with the appearance. So thats not what im worried about. What im worried about and i think what ds is worried about from a security standpoint, is can you actually produce these things in the same amount of time with the same security at the same cost . And until we know that and i dont know how you get to it before you do some of them, but i think the chairman raised an issue, what is cost per desk . What is cost per desk. Under Standard Embassy Design . We have some good figures on that im sure. What is cost per desk under Design Excellence . Until we can compare apples to apples, you know, i think theres going to be continue to be a lot of skepticism that you can do this as fast and as cheap. Im listening carefully and im concerned and i think we all should be concerned when we dont get documents. And it becomes very frustrating. Time is valuable. And you know, i listen to ambassador pickering when they talk about the r b report. You know, it was some of the most, i think it was ambassador pickering that said i asked him why was he why did he agree to do that, to get on the board . And he talked about the fact that the review board. That he felt that he owed it to his country. And to those who died and their families, to make things better so it didnt happen to anybody else. And in some kind of way, when i listen to you, mr. Green, it makes sense that if ive got something thats already designed and i mean, ive got something that im working with and i guess youve had years to make any adjustments that you see, right . Is that right . In other words, its like you got this house. You use the same pretty much the same materials and same structure, over and over again. And then in the meantime, if there were problems you can make those adjustments or and correct me if time wrong, im trying to put in simple language for the American People. Or, if you want to if youre in a country where theres unique situations where you need a different kind of door or you may have some height requirement our whatever, but still, eyesing the basic same model, is that right . Yes. Logic tells me that if im using the same model, then its just logic, that it would be quicker if i didnt go to another country and use that model. Thats basically what youre saying, right . Thats the logic that makes sense. And so i think for the state department, listen to this, it becomes a difficult argument to sell not only to us, but to the American People. Because the American People, they dont know everything that you know. So youve got its easy for us to and i can understand because its your expertise and what you all do, but sometimes you have to break this stuff down so the people get what youre talking about. Because to them it makes no sense. And im not saying im saying, with the limited knowledge it makes no sense. With all of your information, it probably makes a lot of sense. And so, we find ourselves in a situation where youve got what mr. Green said and yao got what youre saying and the bottom line is going back to what mr. Green has said if he had the data to show that we could get the same security costs and time, all those factors pretty much the same, that he would sign on the dotted line, am i right . Thats correct. So why cant we get the information . There seems to be reluctance and i dont know what that is. Can you help us with that . Because see, one of the things that happens here, and ive lived long enough and seen enough and been up here long enough, we can get distracted in the mission by getting caught up it doesnt allow us to do what were exposed to be doing and that is, providing security. They are legitimate questions. Theyll really are. But at the same time thats time that we could be taking our energy and focusing on making sure our folks are safe. Thats what the American People want. So, go ahead. I think thats absolutely right. And id be happy to explain in more detail why it is that if we award 100 design on the date of award, the period of performance is shorter. And we can have people into safer facilities faster. What it means is that if we know that our appropriation is fixed, we know which buildings were doing, it might take us longer to do the design. Were going to be looking closely at the requirements. What are the materials that are going to work in that environment . How do we put the building together in that environment . From the date of award, when we award that project, its not going to include any design time. It will be no longer than it would be with a design build Standard Embassy Design and it will likely be shorter. I could go into more detail. We could provide the one little thing, whoa, whoa, rewind. Theres one little thing that bothers me and that is why . In other words, if ive got my model and if its working, i know what its going to cost, i know how much time its going to take. Am i missing something that i have to go to Something Else . So, like, okay, let me run and do Something Else when ive already got this ive got it. Finally. You follow me . Yes. I think its a fair question. And what ive tried to lay out is that the Standard Embassy Design was a fixed solution based on an average hypothetical size embassy or cannes what. We build yaerms and consulates in every environment. Whether thats because its very hot. Whether its because its very cold. Whether because some systems are going to work there on the sea front and other systems are not going to work in a completely different environment. Were looking at the real requirements of missions and thinking about how do we build the best buildings for those missions. The Standard Embassy Design was a good fixed solution but it also required us to build freestanding warehouses regardless of the location. Theres some place wes dont need a warehouse. Why build a warehouse if we could get then you take it off, right . I mean, you take it off. If i dont need a garage, if i got a house with a garage and i dont need a garage, i take the garage off. And by the way, its not just one design, right . Theres several designs, rite . Theres one. One Standard Embassy Design. So you take ta garage off. All of those things taken together and if i could try to sort of put or describe the Excellence Initiative in a nut shell. Its really to say that were taking those Lessons Learned from the Standard Embassy Design. Were taking those modular pieces of it but were providing a lot more flexibility in how those could be put together in a way thats meaningful. Again, you build a very large embassy. Having these two bars is not efficient. Youre u crowding two with buildings as opposed to one. Youre securing two separate buildings as opposed to one. So i think that using architects, engineers and folks within the department. Our security professionals, we look at each case and come up with the best and the most efficient solution. In many ways, what the Excellence Initiative is doing, is exactly what youre suggesting, right . Its taking a sort of base line and modifying that baseline in a way that is sensible for the mission. Right now the Standard Embassy Design or the Standard Embassy Design were moving forward from was a very nixed solution. Again, very horizontal. Februa ten acres. Warehouse. Thats not always the best solution in all environments and id like to also state that the cost per desk, we use that costp costperdesk to develop our budget so we have a costestimating office in o bureau. When we build a budget whether its a standard design budget or an excellence project. They tell us, you know what youve spent historically in this environment . This much. Thats what your budget is. Were going to work to that same budget under the Excellence Initiative or under the Standard Embassy Design. Ms. Munoz, let me tell you something. You helped me. What you just explained. Now im finally getting it. So in other words, you know, what i thought you were going to say is that circumstances change. We have new technology. I thought thats what we were going to hear. That new Technology Better use of certain in other words, better materials, all those kinds of things, might go into it. And i dont know anything about building. But all of those things might go into changing the box. And what youre saying is that you may help me if im wrong yao may look at the box but youre forever changing the box. Not that you dont look at it. You dont take it into consideration. But it may be changed substantially. Is that or are you talking about just a brand new box, period . I would say it depends. So again, if were looking at a very large mission, to have these the Standard Embassy Design and put that in place would simply not be efficient. London is a good example in the case that not only are we building a cube which is much more efficient than sort of two separate box that go up which would wrooiv twice as much but were using materials that make the building significantly lighter. That reduce the size, the weight and the expense of the foundation that needs to be put down. The occ curtain wall reduces the weight which influences the foundation and its all able to go up faster than a traditional concrete building would have been able to go up in that place. So both materials and base building in certain cases. Last question. Is it your do you anticipate being able to take, say, that box london is very unique. But other perhaps, the creation of another box or something that you can use in more than one place . You follow what im saying . As youre developing. How does that play into that . Do you follow me . Yes, i think i do. In other words, if you build a embassy and you do all the things you just said and now weave gth a great design and weve got security and this. This is the best bang for our buck, time, everything is straight. Do you anticipate being able to use, say, for example, that model . A model like that somewhere else . Aye follow me . Yes. Let me use an example which may be too common but i think it sort of demonstrates the point. There was a time when most people who drove had a model t. It was a great car. A simple car. As we evolved, cars got better and better. They evolved. And they separated it out into the different types of cars. So today wrooisht than going with a model. The you could go with a much more secure and safe but you could also choose to have an aston mini or an suv but they defend on where you are. You want to be in a small urban environment. You can go with a smaller size and still meet all your requirements and be more efficient to run but theres the other times when youre going to need the larger solution. Youre going to need youre going to need the suv. And i think that being able to put the aappropriate solution with the mission and to consider those things and to make sure that were appropriately spending the money the taxpayer gives us and considering all the longterm costs, i think thats what were talking about doing. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you all for being here. I recognize the chairman of the committee . Thank you. Thank, chairman and Ranking Member cummings. I appreciate your questioning and fortunately, i came back in just in time to have you talk about automobiles. And i agree that sometimes i actually dont think the fiat 50 oor the mini is ever appropriate from a safety standpoint for our men and women in the state department. I understand the difference in size and scale and some of the urban versus rural considerations. But mr. Green, those considerations really arent what were asking about today. What were asking about is do you to the greatest extent possible, use a mass production concept which is what standard build is . Its about do you build a oneofakind formula race car thats beautiful and fast and has unique characteristic and each one is different . As a matter of fact, the see yets arent even shared between formula racers. Are do you build a toyota camry in order to get or a ford focus or a ford 500. Do you build a massproduced consistent reliable, understood, bugs worked out, repeatable product so you get a highly reliable product, that can be maintained throughout the system . Standard windows, standard other characteristic, if possible, in order to get a good product at a better price . Good afternoon, everybody. I recently discussed the important actions that were taken today in smort of ukraine before i do. I want to take a few minutes to update the American People on pressing Foreign Policy challenges that i used with secretary kerry this afternoon. First of all i thanked secretary kerry and ooir outstanding civilian and military leaders in afghanistan for their success in helping to break the impasse over the president ial election there. Thanks to the their efforts and, of course, thanks to the afghans and the courage of the two candidates, both of whom i spoke to last week, the candidates have agreed to abide by the results of a comprehensive and international internationally supervised audit of all the ballots and perform a unity government. If they keep their commitments afghanistan will witness the first transfer of democrat power in history of the nation. Honoring the candidates who put the interests of a united afghanistan first. The mms of afghan who defied threats to vote and the service of our troops that sacrificed so much. This progress reminds us that even as our combat in addition in afghanistan ends this year americas commitment to a sovereign within united and democratic afghanistan will endure, along with our determination that americans are never again threatened by terrorists inside of afghanistan. Second, john updated me on the negotiations with iran over its nuclear program. Over the last six months iran has met its commitments under the interim deal we reached last year halting the progress of its nuclear program, allowing more inspections and rolling back its most dangerous stockpile of nuclear material. Meanwhile, were working with our of plusone partners and iran to reach a comprehensive agreement that assures us that irans program will, in fact been be peaceful and they wont obtain a nuclear weapon. Based on consultations with secretary kerry and my National Security team, its clear to me that we made Real Progress in several areas and that we have a credible way forward. But as we approach a deadline of july 20th under the interim deal, theres still some significant gaps between International Community and iran and we have more work to do. So over the next few days well continue consulting with congress and our team will continue discussions with iran and our partners as we determine whether additional time is necessary to extend on negotiations. Third, we continue to support diplomatic efforts to end the violence between israel and hamas. As ive said repeatedly, israel has a right to defend itself from rocket attacks that terrorize the israeli people. Theres no yes on earth that can be yesterday, israel did agree to a ceasefire unfortunately hamas continued to fire rockets at civilians there by, prolonging the conflict. But the israeli people and the Palestinian People dont want to live like this. They deserve to live in peace and security, free from fear. Thats why were going to continue to encourage diplomatic efforts to restore the ceasefire and we support egypts continued efforts to bring this about. Over the next 24 hours, well continue to stay in close contact with our friends and parties in the region and well eyes all of our diplomatic resources and relationships to support efforts of closing a deal on a ceasefire. In the meantime were going to continue to stress the need to protect civilians in gaza and in israel and to avoid further escalation. Finally, given the continued provocations in ukraine, today i approved a new set of sanctions on some of russias Largest Companies and financial institutions. Along with our allies, with whom ive been coordinating closely for the last several days and weeks, ive remeetly made it clear that russia must halt the flow of weaponsnd fighters across the border into ukraine. That russia must urge separatists to release the hostages and support a ceasefire. That russia needs to pursue internationallymediated talks and agree to meaningful monitors on the border. I made this clear directly to mr. Putin. Many of our european partners. Ive made this directly clear to mr. Putin and we emphasized our preference to resolve this issue diplomatically but this we have to see concrete actions and not just words, that russia, in fact, is committed to trying to end this conflict along the Russia Ukraine border. So far, russia has failed to take any of the steps that i mentioned. In fact, russias support for the separatists and violations of you yan sovereignty has continued. On top of the same shuntion we imposed were designating selected sectors of the economy as eligible for sanctions. Were freezing the assets of several Russian Defense companies and blocking new financing of some of russias most important banks and energy companies. These sanctions are significant but they are also targeteded. They are designed to have the d to have the maximum impact on russia while limiting spill overeffects on our american countries. Were meeting in brussels to agree on their next steps. And what we are expecting is that the russian leadership will see once again that its actions in ukraine have consequences, including weakening russian economy and increasing diplomatic isolation. Now, meanwhile, were going to continue to stand with the ukrainian people as they seek to determine their own future. Even in the midst of this crisis they have made remarkable process in the last few months. They elected a new president , supporting important reforms and signed a new Association Agreement with the European Union. And the United States will continue to offer our strong support to ukraine to help stabilize its economy and defend its territorial integrity. Ukraine has deserved the right to forge their own destiny. We live in a complex world and at a challenging time. None of these challenges lend themselves to quick and easy solutions, but all of them require american leadership, and as commander in chief, im confident that if we stay patient and determined, that we will in fact meet these challenges. Thanks very much. Can you talk about your talks with Angela Merkel . The president at the white house on several Foreign Policy matters including the announcement of new u. S. Sanctions on Russian Energy and defense entities as well as major banks meanwhile, European Union leaders have asked for tougher sanctions against russia asking the bank to sign no new Financing Agreements with moscow. The leaders also agreed to act together rather to suspend financing of the new European Bank for reconstruction and Development Operations in russia, they announced the decisions during a summit today until brussels. 40 years ago the watergate scandal led to the resignation of the only american president. American history tv revisits 1974 and the final weeks of the nixon administration. This weekend Opening Statements from the House Judiciary Committee selection of the president that occupies a unique position within our political system. Its the one act in which the entire country participates. The outcomes accepted the of course pan the of that office stands as a symbol of our National Unity and commitment. The majority of the will is to be undone. If that symbol is to be replaced by the action of the representatives it must be for substantial and not trivial offenses. Watergate 40 years later, sunday night at 8 00 eastern on American History tv on cspan 3. A panel of advocates discusses how to help post 9 11 veterans. They talk about the challenges of getting resources for programs and how to measure success for the programs. This is part of the george w. Bush institute in dallas. Thank you. I just want to start out by saying thank you to each and every one of you that are in this room. Our business professionals, our ceos, men and women that have worn the uniform, if it wasnt for individuals like yourself, i wouldnt be able to stand up here today. On august 3rd, 2008 i was running a convoy in kabul, afghanistan. On that particular day there were two taliban individuals that decided to detonate a roadside bomb that detonaten right under the gearshift of my truck. Through the blast, it crushed every bone in my face, right arm, left hand left hand, hip, right knee, shin and right foot were all crushed. I want to walter reed, spent a little bit of time there, i met some wonderful people that wanted to help out through Nonprofit Organizations. They helped me discover the game of golf. Its a frustrating game, it is, as many of you may no. I love the challenge, i love the fact that it motivated me to want to aspire to do something, do something great. It wasnt up for me yet. It gave me the motivation i needed and through the help of other Nonprofit Organizations ive been able to continue that success, with bush centers warrior open, i was selected to play in the first warrior open back in 2011 i believe. Justine sterling gave me a call at work and i was so excited i literally knocked my computer off my desk. After competing in that first warrior open, i made the decision i had to move to texas. Four short months later i did. Because of the warrior open, i met the woman of my dreams who shes still putting up with me today, believe it or not. And im a full time student at the university of north texas, i am a senior, working full time at a company in ft. Worth. They do a lot of work with the government. I get to stay with my brothers sisters, which is awesome for me, so its truly a blessing to have the help that i needed to really be successful in this transition for me, but its my pleasure to introduce to you the second panel. If i butcher any names im sorry, im from arkansas. Its my fault. [ applause ] jake wood. [ applause ] joe de pinto. [ applause ] mayor alvin brown. [ applause ] jean case. [ applause ] thank you so much. Were supposed to have another woman up here, okay . Well be the book ends. We have talked a bit about quite a bit about the Nonprofit Sector and the private sector, we have representatives here from business, education, philanthropy, communities. And the nonprofits, and we really want to take a deeper dive here on all of this, and joe, i want to start with you. You are the ceo of 7eleven. You have certainly been hiring veterans, you know the value of veterans, i want you to talk about the challenges you might have had in hiring those veterans. There are fantastic Success Stories and weve heard it and youve had fantastic Success Stories. The challenges, first and foremost, i agree with everything that was said earlier, particularly the gentleman from disney. I think we all have to take a look, and we appreciate the military and what the men and women in the military do for us. We need to take a look at how were impacting that. I have an opportunity in my role to set a tone for the organization, the tone for us is, that we will hire military. Because we appreciate what the military has done, we have a lot of recognition from that where does that come from, by the way . It comes from me, but we have many folks throughout our system that believe in that. And so the challenges that we have were bringing folks in not only to the corporate side of our business i think about five and a quarter percent of our employees are military. But were now bringing them into the franchise side. What were recognizing is, that military veterans have a real entrepreneurial spirit, the challenge on that side is financing. We currently offer a 10 discount for military folks, were looking to go to 20 . We offer about 75 up to 75 to join 7eleven as an owner operator. We cant get financing, they carpet get financing, they dont have the dollars to make up that 25 . That to me is the biggest obstacle. Weve all talked about the values, the leadership, the can do attitude, it really am coulds down to dollars. Jean case, you are ceo of the Case Foundation, philanthropist. What worries me when i look around at the atmosphere of the country war weary, a little bit tired of hearing about veterans how do you keep this up with the waning Public Interest because its all something we have to admit, there is waning Public Interest. And i fear by the end of this year its going to get even worse. Im glad you asked that question. We like to say we invest in people and ideas that can change the world. Were different from a lots of foundations because were six blocks from the white house. Literally in this case, weve found it to be a tremendous benefit to have the opportunity to lead Public Private sector initiatives. Your question is one of, is there pessimism out there, is there an opportunity. As i sat here this morning and listened to this Remarkable Group of folks and moved around during conversation time, i am super optimistic, because i actually think the private sector hasnt been fully tapped for what the private sector is really good at. If you want a marketing campaign, if you want to get in the ether of pop culture, if you want to use technology to help drive a solution. Youre usually not looking to government to do that, the remarkable leadership efforts already to take these issues forward, there really hasnt yet been a clarion call. And when ken fisher tacked about people raising their right hand, im a believer that my colleagues in philanthropy, my colleagues in business, my fellow citizens want to help. Whats really honestly been lacking is a clarion call and clear onrams, where do i get started. This should be the most inside the tent group we have. Still we heard questions from this audience, where do i get started. Im optimistic, because i think 2. 5 million is a very solvable number. We built american online, when we started, only 3 of the people were online at all and it was only an hour a week. It wasnt long before society had changed. Were big believers in leveraging the change. Weve seen people come out to be a part of it. The president talked this morning about the goal of the center not really just being dialogue and ideas, but taking those ideas to action. Im encouraged by the fact that i dont believe its been fully taken to action yet and im looking forward to what might come out of a day like today. One of the things youve done is really focus jacksonville florida, on this issue. You have the largest municipal population of veterans in florida, theres a good reason youre doing that, how have you really involved your community your city. Sure, i think first of all as the mayor of the city of jacksonville, once you serve your country with distinction, you should be able to get out, get a job and take care of your family. My two boys and my wife get to enjoy our freedom every day for the men and women who have served. I thank god for that. In jacksonville, i made it a top priority because we have a 14. 1 billion Economic Impact on our city. I made it a top priority by first appointing an admiral recent admiral, made it a cabinet position. He reports right to the mayor. I want you to stand up. I want everyone to see you. Stand up, thank you. Thats the first thing i did, invest in the infrastructure, so i have a full team of people. My director of public works is a veteran, my director of state affairs is a veteran. I brought them on. Secondly, i made sure that we forge this Public Private partnership i launched a partnership with the jacksonville military Coalition Many my goal was to put veterans back to work, those seeking jobs. I partnered with a young man, mike fleming of deutche bank. Today we have over 200 Companies Working with the city, putting veterans back to work. I think the private sector is the engine of our community and i think theres some great opportunities that you can really wrench to get a return on investment for your community. The other thing is i launched what i call a week of valor honoring the veterans not just on veterans day, but having a job fair for veterans, you cant show up to the job fair unless you have a job for veterans, i think its important to have activities during that week, and then an annual summit on National Issues and local issues, particularly local issues as it relates to veterans and the concerns of the military veterans in my area. We worked with the local colleges and universities bringing all the stakeholders together to address the issue of suicide. I brought all the hospitals together to deal with those issues and come up with best practices. Your community is not only involved with veterans, but they see veterans working and that its successful . Absolutely. Thats an advantage of being mayor, you can bring attention to whatever you want jake, can you read about him in your program, team rubicon is a fantastic organization. Ive met several veterans in afghanistan who are just incredible people. Welcome, jake. When you hear this. Jean says she seas this as an opportunity that there is not waning interest, are you seeing the same thing . As much of my colleagues in the space fear the 2018 2019 time frame, the next five years post afghanistan withdrawal and what thats going to mean for funding, i think that the cream of the crop, weve all heard the number 46,000 thrown around today as the number of organizations with some charge in their mission to help veterans come home, i think that the best in class right now, were trying to figure out ways to do better at measuring and showing progress. Wane robinson was up here talking about the efficacy of education. Students of veterans of america. If you dont know that one by now, come on. Im not sure. And i think we need to do a better job at this. The space is a very young space, its not like Cancer Research or a lot of the other Nonprofit Organization spaces and verticals out there that have hundreds of years of history, that have sophisticated ways in measuring their progress. This is a post 9 11 vertical. We all know there were only there were hundreds of organizations before 9 11, there have been thousands of organizations that have sprung up afterward, and theres a new focus on Veterans Issues now. As a vertical in the Nonprofit Sector, we have to do a better job of measuring our impact. The best organizations the ones that will survive and continue to grow past this fiveyear window are going to be those that can prove the efficacy of our work. Thats troubling and very hard. Its particularly hard in a space that or within an organization has resource constraints. Its hard to set up the systems and the programs and dedicate the manhours to measuring output, to measuring progress. And often people are iladvised on what outputs theyre measuring. A lot of times we find organizations that are measurings inputs as h instead of outputs. There used to be a system to go to the Case Foundation and make a case of why an investment needs to be made. Weve done a very good job over the last two years of measuring our impact in the disaster zone, if we go out and deploy, we can go back to our donors and show the economic output, the Economic Impact of our activities, in moore, oklahoma a response that cost us 400,000 to deploy military veterans in the course of five weeks, we had an Economic Impact of 3. 7 million back into that Community Based on the work we did. We have a 7x return on investment. We need to do a better job of measuring the effect the impact we have on veterans coming home were trying to partner with ibmf and some other organizations that do data well. Were a burg of marine sergeants, but we dont understand the numbers as well. I wanted to say, ive been in the fortunate position, not only is disney my parent company. Thats not why i called on you, i couldnt see you. But has made a real commitment to veterans not only in hiring veterans but as Abc Television has made a commitment covering Veterans Issues, which is fantastic, im also involved in the bob Woodruff Foundation. He was terribly injured in iraq in 2006, and he and his wife leigh have devoted their lives to helping veterans, one of the things the Woodruff Foundation does is what youre talking about, trying to find where first of all, you have to raise the money, Ann Marie Dougherty is here and helps us with that, but also, to do Due Diligence on who to give it to and who is getting results, and that is something we have to continue to measure. I want to also turn now before we go again on each of these topics to kent hance p. M. We heard a lot about education and how some of the veterans are using the money that they get from the g. I. Bill. A lot of it seems to be going online. What can you do in the colleges and i think the first thing you have to put the resources in. You do have that accent i love it. My boss and my heart are in west texas, where the highway ends and the west begins. We need a little humor in here. One of the things that if you dont put the resources in, youre not going to get a rate of return, and lee iacocca once said that the vision and the ideas at the top will be throughout the organization. Thats so important, when i got to texas tech, we had one person. We have 12 now. The last three years weve had a National Football game Wounded Warriors. We had more people with a purple heart award on the field than ever been assembled in the United States. We had 326 on the field. Our head coach, his dad was on the field. He was a purple heart representative from vietnam. We emphasized that, we got 1600 veterans and dependents at texas tech. You have one place you go, we dont care what your question is were going to be able to help you, and the average student that comes to texas tech as a veteran, we allow the average, 26 hours that they transfer in. Some of those they took, but a lot of them are things they did when they were in the service. If a Young Persons been a medic, theres no sense of making repeat courses if theyre going to nursing school. Ive heard that problem. You can be a medic and you can come out and not get a job. We dont let them start all over. We let them have credit for what theyve done, theyve been on the field doing it. Its not that theyve been in the classroom, i think thats Something Else. And the word gets out, when we graduate someone in the military, they have a camo stowe. And we introduce them, and they get a standing ovation. Every year, ive never seen it fail. We introduce the people that have served, and we appreciate their service. We also have a Training Program for faculty members, they are certified as green zone. They have a door knob hanger to let the students know thats someone you can talk to about whatever problem that theyre military friendly and we have a bunch of them. You have to attack it in every way. How do you get to the colleges and universities that arent attacking it in every way. Im thinking of something personal, a woman who went to college not in texas, at her graduation speech which was in 2007, they did not which were the years of she started college in 2003 when the iraq war started. And she graduated in 2007. No one mentioned the war in that entire commencement speech, it was never mentioned, to me was pretty stunning. And some friends of mine noticed that at my daughters commencement. How do you get those colleges who arent . Well, one of the things i would say is the amount of money that youre going to bring in, we have 12 Staff Members working on that, but we brought more money in, because we had more students, theyre paying tuition. Its been something thats been positive for us. Its been positive for the veterans, i think theyre messy, we talk about diversity in this country, if you want diversity, go to the military, bring veterans in. I tell my students, that diversitisome so important. I want to know people that can tell them what it was like in certain areas of the world, protecting the United States i still come back to saying you have to put the resources in, you have to be aggressive, you have to let people know. One of our 12 Staff Members told me a story, he bumped into a young man. The guy looked like he was lost. He was at texas tech and he wanted to apply for admission, and the reason was he had seen a Football Game where we honored the military veterans. And when we had the purple hearts, we had him come out, we had a flyover. Its a big deal. I mean we put on a great show, and people leave and theyre proud. And i think thats the attitude that you have to have. Were proud of our students that are going into the military. We also introduce them separately at graduation we have four graduation ceremonies in may and december. Theres a lot of people there, but they always give them a standing ovation. I mean, its a proud moment. Im sure it is. And ive seen many of those proud moments, jean, i want to go back to you, something jake was talking about, how do you measure the effectiveness of some of these programs that youre interested in that the Case Foundation is interested in. If you agree that its still somewhat early days. Im hesitant to say that, if you have a need, every day probably feels like a year. We need to bring urgency to everything we do, i do believe if we were to step back, were still early days and theres an opportunity to do things. Some of the research we saw this morning, the worst thing for me is, when you come together in an initiative, whether its Public Private or just private or whatever, you dont have the data our foundation has funded other data, a lot of you participated in other studies, were starting to get clear data which is great news, we know what we need to target. If we can get smarter about where the impacts are, the return on investment, we actually need to not have 46,000 organizations, we need a small number of really really great organizations, having a Significant Impact and i do think each organization struggles with and jake hit on it, it isnt input, its what were the outcomes of those that you set out to serve and how do you measure that, i can tell you, im really impressed with what im already seeing in terms of a focus on return of investment for Many Organizations we know and have worked with, and i would say even that question of, how do we define impact is a great way for the private sector to come along and play a role. Because trust me, the private sector has really got it down about how do you look at return on investment getting pro bono support, heres our data, but what do they need to see to know were having an impact here, im encouraged i think theres a huge opportunity. But where well really be seeing some big differences is when we know the things that are there that can be scaled. I think thats what the private sector how do you scale that . We had someone we knew who was a Mental Health counselor, a psychologist, she had been seeing families, were in the d. C. Area, so we have a lot of military families and vets. She was hearing time and time again, we cant get in, the systems overloaded theres clearly a problem that more resources are needed than the system has whether you want to argue that problem or not, thats what every doctor was hearing. She said, i cant handle this, what can i as one person do, she came to us with a vision, what if we created a clab tigs in the nation, started with a pilot, to ask each counselor out there to give an hour a week, and she called to give an hour. The Lieutenant General mentioned this morning he was a beneficiary of that. That was a greated in. When it was clear that the outcomes were there then we basically did sustainable funding. Its a Large Organization that has not only 7,000 Health Counselors around the nation. We can go from 7,000 literally its unlimited in terms of the connections that can take place between those who need it and those who are willing to provide the services. I think its really important, with 36,000 organizations out there, weve run enough experiments. We can we should be able to pick winners moving forward and invest heavily in them. If theyve been diligent in building a foundation. If theyve been diligent in putting together a good core team and instilling the principles that are going to make a 40year organization a 100year organization we should have a system for identifying who those organizations are. We need to kohless around those organizations and help them scale. We need to talk to fortune 500 companies that have 58,000 Stores Across the what was it, 58,000 . 52,000. Sorry. Hes not so good with numbers. I do want to add to that, though. Please, jump in, whoever wants to. The point is a great within for us. And we give in many different areas across many different nonprofits in the military sector but its a mile wide and an everyone deep and if we can pull that together so that we know where were putting our dollars is having an impact, i think thats a you know, thats a big roadblock that if removed, wed see a lot of money flow in. Theres not a scarcity of resources, we need to be better and smarter in how were investing the money thats already at the table. There could be an argument that needs more money. In a different way to stay connected, how do you do the collaboration of all of what you do and with the government . I mean, its somewhat easy to say we need this, we need that. And jean that was a great explanation on how you do that and scale that down. But youre talking about transitioning from government and bringing these warriors out and taking care of them. Ive seen success, though. I think its leadership starts from the top and its how you make the case for veterans, in my case, in the city, i sell it add it helps me with my workforce. My goal as mayor is to make sure that the city of jacksonville is the most military, veteran city in america. And i always say to all the military personnel and veterans, i go on all the bases, meet with the commanders every quarter. And i always say to them, when you get out, i want you to make jacksonville your home. Making a case so we can compete globally in the marketplace. If you want to expand your company and you want the best workforce, come to jacksonville. Im doing something about it, partnering with the private sector, we have some Great Company companies. Csx is one of the best companies in america that hires veterans. Florida blue, and they invest back into the community. A good example is the Jacksonville Jaguars foundation, we have probably the best nfl owner in the country. He committed a Million Dollars to the city for five years and november of 2013 i open a resource a veterans Resource Reintegration Center to help veterans. City hall is a point of entry for veterans we do every third thursday of the month, resume writing, interviewing skills. Were hands on, they know they can come to city hall, and well make sure we leverage our resources. We get a return on investment, the private sector actually sees it. I want to ask you, that is a great example of what you can do and have done in your community. Is this a pip cal story. Unfortunately no. I think we need to find people that are willing to say yes rather than no. A lot of what ive heard today centered on the reasons why we cant do something. Centered on the rules, you know, it. Im a ive come to know lieutenant generous sell oneray over the last year he says an interesting thing, he says, rules are made for peace time. When its wartime, rules are made to be broken. We are literally in wartime right now, but this is a National Emergency. This issue of veteran reintegration, veteran suicide, this is a National Emergency with national implications. Its time to break rules, the information sharing. General, we were speaking backstage about how people can take government money to do research and that research is their intellectual property and they are not mandated to share that with people. I wrote my resume during my transition. I was a marine sergeant for four years, i wrote my resume by hand on a piece of paper. I had someone look at it for five minutes. That was your transition . I probably got yelled at for throwing it in the wrong trash can, but i was lucky, i had already been to college, been through resume writing worksh workshops. Think about that veteran who is 18, 19 years old, he wrays his resume down. And hes full of adrenaline. He cant wait to get out of there, what happens to that resume. Make him put it on linkedin. Its a ubiquitous platform they can apply for jobs. The vocational skills not just going to college and higher education, vocational skills are something that our need badly. Those mostly in the Community Colleges and its one of the benefits that i still go back to giving people credit for what theyve been doing in the military. Thats very important. Joe . What i was going to say is, go back to what president bush said. We hire folks for values and we teach them in our situation to be retailers. When i was in the military, many folks here, the way we trained was through skills, qualification test. When we bring folks into our organization that come from the military and want to be entrepreneurs they go through seven weeks of training, selfpaced, it can go longer than that, they have a test of 60 skills they have to master before we turn the keys over to them. Were training them in a career, and i think thats critically important, i know weve talked a lot about a lot of things today, from pts to integration, to medical issues to families and its all very important. But from my lens its pretty simple, its about providing opportunity. These folks, guys im from chicago, so guys means everybody. They want opportunity, they dont want handouts, they want a purpose and a mission. And if we provide jobs, the other stuff, its going to take a lot of work, but it will work itself out. I truly believe that, its not only a call from me, but many other Large Organizations in the United States. This is something that should be atoned from the top. We should have targets around it and we should work to meet it, i think its that simple. I want to debunk a little bit this idea that the gov cant partner with companies in private sector, ive been in my role 17 years, weve led numerous initiatives. We do need to break rules, but we need to be clear in our goals and our language set and have a reason why it makes sense for certain members of the people to be at the table. We launched start up america, and at that time we had noticed that startups in the nation were declining and we were all very concerned about it, knowing that start ups were truly the secret sauce of america, and what could we do. We linked arms with a bunch of partners, we partnered with the Kaufmann Foundation and at the white house with several federal agencies present we went forward with it, today its providing a terrific platform for veterans who we think are going to be unbelievable assets in the startup community. Just last weekend startup weekend happened in san diego, that was purely veteran focused, there are these initiatives at that launch. We asked for a billion dollars in Corporate Resources aimed at startup organizations and we got there in less than a year i think thats calls where you say, heres what were about, heres what were trying to achieve, join us, lets link arms, weve seen a tremendous response from the private sector, and a willingness from the public sector. Mayors, governors, president s. To say, yeah, it makes sense to have the private sector and part of this. I love the words you spoke, opportunity. They want the opportunity, everyone here is helping to provide that. Lots of questions for this panel from the audience. Yes . This isnt so much a question, but a comment. Im here with nick the speaker. My brother is a fouryear marine, hes out now, he had this issue weve been talking about. He applied for multiple jobs in the private sector, and found every reason in the book not to hire him, he resorted to a lot of drinking and depression, hes been diagnosed with ptsd, he has it. He was in okinawa for three years. Were the employers aware of that . Yeah, they just i mean he thinks that is the reason he wasnt i understand that what theyre doing at this level, at the top, the executive level, but the question is, how do you implement it from the executive level down to that branch. The hiring manager . Thats a really good. Lets talk about that, how my example, i would use is, i had secretary shinseki come to the area. We sat around the table and talked about, and then i brought the ceos from the private sector. And we discussed it. Someone said it best earlier, it has to start from the top with the ceo. You have to take the fear away. Companies and hr directors really need to know, they need to be educated. They need to be informed. It does start from the top, there are people at the bottom who can talk about it, right . I know in my own organization, i am a huge advocate for them we have to get stories on about veterans, we have to do this. And people listen. They do. I think the key is, at least whats working in jacksonville is, really bringing people together and talking about the issue. Not running away from it. Putting all the issues on the table is the key. Making sure the ceo and the director of hr and the managers are working together, and really focus on it, so for example i mentioned earlier that we have a job fair. I hosted the city hosts a job fair with the jacksonville veteran coalition. That job fair, have you to have a job. There is a lot of work that we go behind the scenes that admiral gillerry and his team are working on, making sure that we inform the hr directors, educating them. Its really about leadership, its about that commitment to provide opportunity for those veterans. Its hands on. And i can tell you every company in jacksonville we have over 200 companies right now sign up large and small. We all meet, we talk, you have to be engaged. One of the things to take away from this session, you can go on our website and literally, you dont have to be in jacksonville to get a job. We have people coming from all around the country getting a job in jacksonville. Were just basically, i think its military 101, were taking a myth out of the transition to hire a veteran. They need training and education. But at the end of the day, like i said, im selling it as an asset for my city to have a good workforce, they provide leadership. It doesnt mean there arent huge frustrations and a long way to go on this. And i go back to the comment that we all liked so much, and it happens to be from our disney rep there, but one veteran at a time, and that one point id make, its about gets folks throughout the organization in the spot that understands the military. And familiar with them. And they become a catalyst. Its leaders at all levels that understand that. Examples at our company, we have several of our franchise sales managers. One of our heads of defrancisco is military. Hes hired several folks that are military. Theyre out, and they could communicate with these folks in their language and bring them in, and they become our biggest advocates of selling our company to other military. And so i think you have to its a tone at the top, but you have to have folks at all levels that understand it and are committed to it. I want to take off on that point too. Were all talking about the marvelous veterans out there, there are incredible veterans who want opportunities in jobs and some of them will have challenges. And those companies have to understand that too. Sometimes someone you hire might have pts. That person might face different things, im sure youve seen that. Sure, disabled veterans. I havent come across pts, but you know, weve got employees with depression, we have employees with cancer. Come on. So this is about what they bring, the skills set they bring, and why its good for business. And that we as a nation have to help. If they do have challenges we have to find our way around that. My name is jane horton and p christopher horton, he was an army sniper killed in afghanistan in 2011. I wanted to bring into debate a little bit about all these families that are left behind. Im here to represent the thousands of widows and widowsers that have lost their main source of income. We dont want to sit at home and cry, we want to be empowered as well. We want to take the American Dream that our loved ones gave everything for and do whatever we can with it. I have many friends that were stay at home moms, they have to find out what kind of career theyre going to have. I wanted to throw in here with all the ceos around, one of the big problems ive come across that upsets me more than anything, as well as other military families is once we lose our loved one in war or if theyre killed in action, we still have the military i. D. , but at t and other type of retailers or other organizations that will give military discounts strap us, were no longer eligible for discounts. Its not the 10 off i get on my phone bill, but that were being pushed out of the community. Most people dont know what to do with us, because they dont deal with us often. I dont necessarily think about me, i think about the mother with the child that goes to a theme park or a museum. They tell them, were sorry, we dont know what that i. D. Means, we cant help you. Those are excellent points. Thank you. I do want to throw that to the panel here particularly about empowering the spouses, the family, those left behind. Well, i was a marine sniper, and im very sorry for your loss. I cant offer you a job, i cant promise to offer military spouses or military widows jobs. But if you want to come and serve in your husbands honor, team rubicon would love to have you, and well go kick butt. And 7eleven too. Yes, but i cant offer a job, and so you can come see us, well figure it out. Well work with you to figure it out. And the mayor will help too. Absolutely. Absolutely. If youre willing to relocate, jacksonville. Right now, the admirals here, well make it happen. Thank you so much for bringing that up. Its an important point. Ceos and everyone should listen to your second point as well. Another question . Im pretty good at pointing there. Im charlene stark, the executive director for hope for the brave. Ive seen this success at texas tech because the proper resources were invested. I also agree with the comments that we have a sense of urgency, we have a short window of opportunity to help these veterans make a successful transition. My question is for jean case. How can we engage your leadership in helping to educate other foundations and funders of the importance of focusing on this area during the next five to seven years, so we can make a real difference now versus spending the next five to seven years trying to educate the 99 who havent served. So im in the 99 . I havent served. But i feel grateful to be on the stage because of the 1 . And wherever i go and those that i talk to, i mentioned the support we give and the st strategic nature. We talk about that i think what im going to go away from, well walk out here with, what happens to the things . How do they turn into action. For me as i sat here, i tried to make it clear, i believe we can step up our game, i believe were missing something if im only talking to my foundation colleagues. If im only talks about it in front of an audience. I think theres a really big idea here, and in some cases, you know, going back to the 46,000, there are some things out there already, and i actually would love to talk to the young woman who spoke earlier, there are some people we can connect her with. How can we get traction its beyond us talking. Is there something more beyond us talking. If youre a citizen and you want to support, if youre a company and you want to support, or youre a nonprofit or philanthropy. I think we have to make it clear, its what i said at the beginning, ready, willing and able. And the Case Foundation would be happy to engage in discussion with folks here who might want to talk about that further. Thanks, jean. Great point. My name is jeff hinsley, im a leadership fellow im also the Program Counselor in texas. And we have a veterans program, where were changing lives every single day, we dont have a big microphone. I mean, we do right now, we dont typically, and were not able to compete with nonprofits. I think the argument can be made much of the heavy lifting is coming at the local level with local nonprofits, i wonder if you would speak to that, and how we can get our voices heard. I can tell you in jacksonville. Im going to take kent on this. We have an Equine Program at texas tech, its a good program. The other thing on the prior question, of our 12 people working full time, they give just as much attention to a dependent as a veteran. The Equine Program is great, and i appreciate youre doing that. I was going to say we bring all the not for profits together every quarter, they meet with the mayor, the rank and file. I work with them, because it helps me to leverage assets and secure resources. We actually meet every quarter in the city and its powerful. We know what were doing. One of the ideas i have is to eradicate homelessness among veterans. You have to work with the stakeholders to make that happen. We have over 200 Homeless Veterans off the street, stabilized with a job, in a home. Thats working with everybody. Bringing that coalition together. One more question . Yes. I applaud everybodys participation. Can you give us your name and affiliation. Linda davis im currently on taps and serve on the Student Board of veterans of america, the Elizabeth Dole foundation and a few others. I was honored to work for president bush and implement the dole shalala recommendations with the help of almost everybody in this room. Lets not start fresh, lets build on the legislation instructions, directives that are in place under the Previous Administration and this administration. We have things that are there to integrate care from a session to survivors, if we look at things like the Recovery Care plans and the National Resource directory, which can be the one Single Source for things like these 46,000 Different Services to be integrated and add to it, the Rating Systems and the results reporting and the disemenation reporting that you have all so keenly focused that does need to be done. Thank you very much. Not a question, but a good way to end there. I would like to go down the row, some final thoughts. This is great. I first of all, i appreciate president bush in all that hes done and this institute is doing. On various issues. And this is cutting edge. I appreciate the opportunity to get a chance to tell you about what were doing. Were proud of it. Youre going to see another Wounded Warrior game on television this year. One of the things we talk about with team rubicon and in the veteran space is that we have to continue to continue to peel back the layers and look at these symptomatic issues and think more abstractly about what we need to get to the root of the problem. Our output is in purpose and community for those returning Service Members who may have lost when they took off the uniform. I always challenge people to think of deeper about the issue and get to that core, that sense of a sense of mission, a sense of purpose. Or maybe not. And what that really the impact that that potentially has and some of the issue that is weve been talking about, which arent true. I just want to say i think the conversation is awesome. I think bias towards the action, weve got a lot of very influential people in this room. A lot of influential people that we interact with. And a lot of them know about the importance that a set is havete brings. If we put veterans to work, i really believe that were going to get the other stuff solved. I want to thank president bush for making this session happen. Mcgill and his team, i think thats exactly what this is for. We have an opportunity to really reedge kat and reedgeucate and inform. They can add to the bottom line and create hope and opportunity. So i work with mba students at georgetown. And ive been taking them through something which was a 90s business book which was pretty popular called crossing the chasm. Its moving people from, eh, why do i need this . Whats it all about to oh my gosh, i cant live without it. I have to do something here. And i think we have to cross the chasm. I feel like a broken record. But 99 do care. Im not sure its entirely 99 , but its most folks out there. No matter their sector. No matter their role. I think we have to take seriously leaving this group today. How do we cross the chasm . How do we really create a Significant Movement here . I think the appetite and the care is there. We just have to do the work, i think, of showing them the way. Thanks to you all. The words im going to take away are opportunity and eugene case traction. I think that is what this is about. Traction. Everything that happened today, we want to happen. We want to go forward. We want to connect all of those dots. And i will add one word, and that is remember. Thank you very much for the opportunity, and well turn it over to colonel howell. Thursday, general motors, ceo testifies about the general recall, nearly 600 million vehicles. So i wanted to ask what forces are contributing to this lackluster housing recovery. Well, you know, housing did seem to be recovering throughout most of the recovery. It looked like it was on a reasonably solid course, recovering from a very low level. And then we saw, essentially, a cessation of progress when Mortgage Rates rose significantly last year. I think my expectation was that that would be a temporary setback for housing and with Mortgage Rates higher and still at very low levels, and with a period of very weak household formation, i expected that we would see a rebound by now, a pickup in the housing sector. Frankly, it continues to be sluggish. And i cant give you a precise reason why thats occurred. Were certainly aware of the fact that mortgage credit remains very, very tight. So i said several times this morning, for a wide range of borrowers. That may be part of it. We also hear about some supply constraints that perhaps builders face. Perhaps that may be part of it. So what more do you think the fed can do to help stimulate recovery in the housing sector, both for those homeowners who are upside down in the values as well as to help new entrants be able to qualify for home sns. Housing prices are continuing to increase. And they have increased substantially. And i think particularly in the markets that saw the worst booms and busts. I think there are a large fraction of homeowners who are under water. If you look at the aggregate in numbers, just the increase in house prices that we have seen, and that is, in part, reflecting our accommodative monetary policy. Many fewer borrowers are under water. The numbers have diminished substantially. I know the las vegas area, particularl particularly,is one of the most hard hit and still has if not the highest, about the highest numbers on this. And i think thats helping. And i think eventually, we will see greater progress in the housing market. But, you know, there are many impediments that servicers face in the aftermath of the problems and the foreclosure prons weve had during the crisis. Things have not yet settled out there. 40 years ago, the watergate scandal led to the only resignation of an american president. American history visits this weekend Opening Statements from the House Judiciary Committee as members consider articles of impeach. Against president nixon. The outcomes accepted, stands of a symbol of our National Unity and commitment. So if the judgment of the people is to be reversed, if the majority is to be undone, to the action of the elected representativ representatives, than it must be for substantial and not attributable offenses. Watergate, 40 years later. Sunday night at 8 00 eastern on American History tv on cspan3. Next, attorney genric holder is the featured speaker at a ceremony commemorating the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Civil Rights Act. From washington, d. C. , this is 50 minutes. Please welcome the interim president of Howard University, dr. Wayne a. I. Frederick. It is an honor for the university to host this symposium which will explore the history and future of this Ground Breaking legislation. It is my pleasure for the groups in attendants and contributions to todays program. Our esteemed program guests, cabinet members, including those whom we are honored to have in our program today, attorney holder, secretary perez and secretary duncan. White house officials, members of congress and other elected officials, leaders of various agencies that are represented today, leaders and stake holders for the Civil Rights Community and the distinguished members of the Howard University students, staff and alumni. The long road to the passage of Civil Rights Act of 1964 was paved with the countless footsteps of Many Americans who marched, held sitins, staged boycotts and ended freedom rides. The call for comprehensive civil rights legislation gave momentum in 1963. Our Civil Rights Activists continue to organize Peaceful Demonstrations throughout the country. After hundreds of nonviolent protests, president john f. Kennedy delivered a nationally televised speech. After president kennedys assassination, president
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