Mr. Dewar. [speaking french] the guest of honor has arrived, french president Francois Hollande greeted by the president and the first lady. This is the seventh state dinner were official visit for the Obama Administration. We will take you to the south lawn pavilion, a tent that is turned into a springlike display. First, we will take a look inside a state dinner as part of our coverage here on cspan2. We will tell you what it is like to be invited to these expose of affairs and will get the role of first ladies over the years. We will have a conversation with Julianna Smoot who serve in the Obama Administration. We want to begin with the perspective of james fallows. As a national correspondent, you have attended three state dinners. What are they like . They are interesting and fun. Ach dinner, there was sprinkling of journalists, usually people who of some connection to the country are being invited. Ive been to the ones for korea. For china recently and then for canada, because i
First i thought that was interesting was the internet feed idea. We put a camera on rising waters on the river and everyone in the community tunes in to see what is happening so they can see it or we use this all the time for weather. People are constantly checking today, right, when the storm is coming in tonight and the simple idea that people could with Simple Technology check to see what is happening with voting lines in their precincts. Would you be turning a camera on the people or just giving reports . I think what we had envisioned is that the administrators would be continuously assessing wait times and posting reports that citizens could consult if they sort of plan out, when it would be most relevant for them and efficient for them to vote. And as you pointed out, this is fairly straightforward. It is one of the ways in which we believe we have to be continuously thinking about the introduction of technology to support the voting process. Put election administrator saying no
Vote vote vote the presiding officer any senators wishing to vote or to change their vote . If not, the yeas are 92, the nays are 6 and the nomination is confirmed. Under the previous order, there will be two minutes of debate, equally divided in the usual form prior to a vote on the gibson nomination. Mr. Reid madam president , i yield back all that time. The presiding officer without objection. The question is on the nomination. All those in favor say aye. All those opposed say no. The ayes appear to have it. The ayes have it. The nomination is confirmed. Under the previous order, the motions to reconsider are considered made and laid upon the table, the president will be immediately notified of the senates action and the senate will resume legislative session. Mr. Reid madam president , with the consent of the senate i ask we proceed to a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for ten minutes each. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Reid i ask
President. I was a speechwriter and i never got to attend the state dinners as a guess guest. I was under a lot of stress trying to make the toast but the ambience for the guests i think as far as i can tell its just fun. People are almost universally excited to be there. Im not trying to make this sound silly but it would be deal dishonest to say people dont enjoy this because there are a lot of usually wellknown people there. They have common interest generally for the visit and it is always interesting just to see the five and the body language of the american president and his spouse and the foreign leader, what they are like and how they carry themselves. The vibe is a positive one. How important are these dinners for american diplomacy and how to heads of state view their visit at these events . I think they can be very important. For example when the chinese leader at the time i believe it may have been hu jintao in his early stage came during the george w. Bush demonstration th
District its from washington. Senator, thank you for your leadership on this. Thank you for being with us. Thanks for putting it all together and giving us these great ideas that we can turn into legislation. Thank you all. [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2014] [inaudible] the context here is that lee enjoys a reputation in the modern day as someone who counseled acceptance and resignation to the situation. And that has always struck me as its sort of a theory that doesnt add up in a sense. We know he was the most prestigious man in the south. We were told that he counseled submission. But we know in the end the south didnt simply submit to the political will of the north. That southerners, exconfederates began to contest the northern understanding of the meaning of the war and the peace and northern plans for reconstruction and contest them through political means and extra legal means and violent me