To summit that will take place in washington, d. C. Over the summer. Good morning, everyone. On behalf of the Atlantic Council, its my pleasure to welcome you to todays event, nato at 75, an alliance for a better world. 75 years ago today, 12 countries came together to sign the washington treaty. Marking the very beginning of what would become the worlds most powerful and successful military alliance. In 1949, nato was founded to provide collective security and defense and prevent the outbreak of yet another world war. In the 75 years that have followed, nato has welcomed 20 additional allies, all committed to safeguarding Democratic Values and to promoting peace and stability in the euro Atlantic Region and beyond. This anniversary is unquestionably a moment to take stock and celebrate the accomplishments of the most successful alliance in history. These celebrations are taking place against a backdrop of tremendous uncertainty. War is raging in europe and the Global Security environm
To summit that will take place in washington, d. C. Over the summer. Good morning, everyone. On behalf of the Atlantic Council, its my pleasure to welcome you to todays event, nato at 75, an alliance for a better world. 75 years ago today, 12 countries came together to sign the washington treaty. Marking the very beginning of what would become the worlds most powerful and successful military alliance. In 1949, nato was founded to provide collective security and defense and prevent the outbreak of yet another world war. In the 75 years that have followed, nato has welcomed 20 additional allies, all committed to safeguarding Democratic Values and to promoting peace and stability in the euro Atlantic Region and beyond. This anniversary is unquestionably a moment to take stock and celebrate the accomplishments of the most successful alliance in history. These celebrations are taking place against a backdrop of tremendous uncertainty. War is raging in europe and the Global Security environm
D. C. Tonights program is part of a series of discussions, films, lectures and other programs that tie into our special exhibit remembering vietnam. Upstairs in the gallery. The exhibit is a fascinating collection of newly discovered and iconic original documents images and film footage that illuminate 12 critical episodes in the war that divided peoples of both the United States and vietnam. One of those episodes focuses on the tet offensive. Documents and photographs from the National Archives and its president ial libraries described the attacks and their consequences but particular blow to American Public opinion of the war was the vietcong infiltration of the u. S. Embassy in saigon represented in the exhibit by a map of the defense of the embassy. And a memo describing the breach. If you have not already gone to the exhibit, i encourage you to come back and spend time there remembering vietnam, explores the were not only through documents but through interviews with american and
That also includes voter rights. It also includes that. So just because you are a dream activist doesnt mean you can be advocating for brothers in mr. Zukin about because we are voting for that. My vote counts five times for four dreamers they can though. We have to build coalitions and everyone is making a difference and talking about that and i think its right that the candidate level. [applause] it is really repetition. There is no magic to this. We have to continue to tell this story ever a single year even if we are not just them saying it and over, we have to make sure it is the great equalizer. That is real. And so, in doing that, my good friend Christine Pelosi said in some of her training if you dont respect me, dont expect me. And for a lot of communities of color or a lot of poorer communities, they dont feel like folks whove been elected to office care about them or their issues. That is the bottom line. In order to get people into the process we have to energize and remind
Today the subcommittee holds a hearing entitled combatting the opoid crisis, battles in the states. Make no mistake, the term combatting and battles are entirely appropriate. Our nation is in the midst of a tremendous fight against death affecting every corner of our nation. There were more than 52,000 deaths in overdose. A 20 increase in the prior year. It was almost seven time it is rate of death from the heroin epidemic of the 1970s. We learned we have lost roughly 60,0 0 people to Drug Overdoses. That is more in one year than all the names on the vietnam veteran memorial wall. That is likely underestimated because much of the data will not be in until the end of next year. For every fatale overdose there is 20 nonfatale overdoses and for 2016 that could be near one million. More than 130,000 lives have been lost between 1999 and 2015. Thats about 50,000 oh 500,000 will be lost over the next decade. The roots began in 1980 when a letter was misinterpreted as evidence it was unlikely