to destabilize the sinai peninsula, turning it into the wild west. it has now been replaced military regime. in iraq, isis and al qaeda affiliates preside over a radical muslim caliphate that stretches from the syrian border all the way to the outskirts of baghdad, and by the way, over 60,000 christians in iraq, the last remaining christians left in that country, have literally had to flee for their lives. mockinge terrorists are the entire free world and essentially spitting on the graves of americans who gave their lives to liberate that country, and this administration couldn't do anything other than send 300 military advisers. ofyou can watch the rest ralph reed's remarks as part of our western conservative summit friday night at eight eastern on c-span. >> tonight on c-span, coverage of the u.s. africa leader summit with first ladies michelle obama and laura bush. then former president george w. bush on fighting disease in africa. then president obama holds a news conference to close the summit. >> this month, c-span presents abates on what makes america great, evolution, and genetically modified foods. issues spotlight with in-depth looks at veterans health care, irs oversight, student loan debt, and campus sexual assault. new perspectives on issues including global warming am a voting rights, fighting infectious disease, and food tour,, and our history showing sights and sounds from america's historic places. find our history schedule one week in advance at www.c-span.org and let us know what you think about the programs you are watching. .all or e-mail us join the conversation, like us on facebook, follow us on twitter. >> as part of the u.s.-africa leader summit in washington, first lady michelle obama and former first lady laura bush hosts the program on opportunities for women. this is 45 minutes. [applause] >> good morning. good morning. thank you so much. thank you so much, everyone. i name is michelle obama and i am an african american woman. [applause] on behalf of myself and my husband, it is truly a pleasure and an honor to welcome you all here to washington. we have so many distinguished leaders here with us today. of course we have president bush and mrs. bush who are here today, and i want to thank them both, and the bush institute, for their passionate leadership on the issues were going to be discussing today. i also want to recognize my dear who isdr. jill biden, here as well. she has been a tremendous partner over the past five and a half years, and i'm thrilled that she is here with us today. and of course, most of all i want to thank all of you for joining us at this event. we have a fabulous program lined up for you today. as you have heard, we will be discussing important issues. we will hear from renowned experts and we will be making some really exciting announcements about new initiatives across africa. so this is going to be a really big day. this has been a day that has been part of a big week, that's been part of a big couple of months, actually. as you may know, the summit that your husbands are attending this week is the largest gathering of african leaders ever hosted by an american president. ago, 500 young leaders from across africa arrived here in the united states to take part in the mandela washington fellowship for young african leaders. i have to tell you that these young men and women are truly extraordinary. many of them are barely half my age. i don't want to say that, but they are young. and they have already found it ngo's, they have started their own businesses am a they have risen to senior levels of their governments. as part of the mandela fellowship, they have undertaken intensive academic coursework and leadership training at universities across america. the passion, the intelligence, the dedication of these young leaders has inspired all of us here in the u.s. who have had the pleasure of spending any time with them. i had the privilege of speaking with these fellows last week, and i met with a group of them who share my interest in girls education. fellows from that meeting will be doing a presentation today about their stories and their ideas. any of going to steal their thunder because they are remarkable individuals, but i can tell you this, that when we talk about a range of issues, there was one theme would cap returning to. youngand again, these people emphasize how important it is for them to have support from leaders in their governments. this is the very same message that i hear so often from the young american leaders that i meet with. these young people are working so hard in their communities. they are facing so many challenges and obstacles, and they are looking to all of us for inspiration. they are looking to us to champion the issues they care about. most of all, they are looking to us to empower them to be part of the solution. that means that we all are going to need to do everything in our power to bring these young people to the table. we need to spend a lot of time with them, more time listening, and i mean really listening to their voices, to their views, so that we can understand the challenges that they are facing through their eyes. and we need to learn from their experiences and from their expertise. you see, these young people are developing all kinds of new technologies and social media strategies to address problems that our generation hasn't yet solved. whether it is an apt to fight cervical cancer or a new approach to clean energy, they are coming up with solutions that we never could have dreamed of. inthe question is, can we our governments learn from them and follow their lead? can we embrace their ideas and incorporate them into policies and strategies? in our work as first ladies, first spouses, can we find new ways to be more inclusive of these young people and show them that we truly value their voices? alreadyany of you are embracing young views through your work, whether it's improving girls education or fighting cervical cancer or hiv or supporting micro-finance, you all have the potential to inspire millions across the globe. so it is my hope that today, we will rededicate ourselves to these efforts and commit to new efforts to lift up our young people. and i hope that you all will have a chance today to really connect with each other and learn from each other. and hopefully be inspired by each other. pleasure, it is now my to begin a conversation with the first lady who has long been an inspiration to me. a high bar for me during her time in the white house, and she has continued to do outstanding work around the world so she and her husband -- since she and her husband left washington. i consider her not just a role model but also a friend. i'm thrilled that our conversation today it will be moderated by another woman who i greatly respect and admire, one of america's leading journalists, our friend, cokie roberts. with that, i will have them come out to the stage so that we can begin our conversation. thank you so much for joining us. enjoy the rest of the day. [applause] >> well, i am so excited that we get to do this again. >> last summer. we did it in tanzania and i would like to thank you so much or that. it was a wonderful, wonderful experience for all of us to be there with you. thank you for hosting us last year. and thank you for hosting us this year. so here we are. >> our pleasure. >> it is i remember, i recall last year you were still getting blow-back about your bangs. >> yeah, that's over. let's see what they say about this one. >> my goodness, you have bangs from the program, i have to say. since then your daughter has turned 16. >> hmm. >> yes. but i have to tell you i'm envious to anyone who has a daughter turn 16, envious to have it happen in the white house where you kind of can keep an eye on her. >> we can share the experience with the world. all of the pain and pleasure that goes along with it. >> i remember lucy johnson, president johnson's daughter saying when she turned 16 in the white house and got a driver's license, she said, it was permission to drive a motor vehicle. that's all it was. for most people a driver's lie license is freedom. >> that's right. >> but you're experiencing it well. >> the girls are growing up and as laura and the president know, it is a true testament to the parents to raise wonderful young people through this experience. we have had some terrific role models. jenna and barbara are just amazing young women who are doing extraordinary things, not just in this country but around the globe. and once again, they're setting a high bar. but the girls are doing great. i'm very proud of them. >> and you have a grand baby. >> that's right. >> a girl. >> we have our first grand baby. exactly. our darling -- [applause] -- our darling little mila. george and i are just gaga over ur baby. >> how old is she now? >> 16 months. >> oh, she's doing real things. >> yes. >> 16 months. she's doing great. >> so we just saw that very important video and mrs. obama, you spoke last week to the young african leaders and you were very strong in your statements about the need for educating girls and treating women and girls with dignity and equality. why did you choose to do that? >> well, so often what we find in our positions is you can -- you have to change attitudes before you can change behaviors. one of the things i said to the young people, we can talk about the need for more resources when it concerns girls' education, the need for school fees, and need to improve transportation, but the bottom line is that until men, leaders, women, until we value women and girls, we won't tackle those other problems. ntil we prioritize our girls and understand that they are as important and their education is as important as the education of our sons. then we will have lots of work to do. and i wanted to just implant that notion in the minds of these young leaders because they have to approach their work with a whole new attitude. and one of the things i asked the young men is that you have to be introspective and ask yourselves whether you truly believe women can be your equal. and in sharing my story, just understanding the power of having men in my life who valued me and put me first and treated me with respect and didn't abuse me and didn't talk down to me. i want young men around the world to understand that they have a role to play alongside of women who are fighting for these rights and i want our young men to understand this at an early age. [applause] >> mrs. bush, you have been working on this issue for a long time, particularly with women of afghanistan. are you still doing that? tell us about where you are now. >> yes, we're still working on that. after september 11, when the spotlight turned to afghanistan, and we in the united states looked at the way women in afghanistan were treated, many, many people, women and men in the u.s. were concerned. and that's when i first started working with women in afghanistan. and mrs. obama is right, in fact one person said to me one time, why are you working with women? it's men that have the problems. [laughter] i think we do need to make sure worldwide that all humans are valued. women and men are valued, girls and boys are valued and that human life is valued. i think that's really the most important thing we can do. all of us can do, try to increase that knowledge worldwide that every life is precious. >> of course, on this question, the question of girls' education and women's health and all of that, we have so much data now that shows that if you educate a girl, you save a country. are you finding that you're able to keep working on that? is that something you're able -- one of the questions i got last year after you all finished talking and i stayed for a couple of days, from these wonderful women was how do you keep it going? >> one of the things we have done, george and i have done, obviously when you live in the white house, you have a platform. but former first ladies and former presidents continue to have a platform and a convening power. and we tried to do that with the first ladies' initiative ha we started last summer with the first conference. and that is to bring together really first ladies from around the world. we started with african first ladies but we're interested in engaging first ladies from every country to talk about the very unique platform that the spouses of world leaders have to help the women in their countries to make sure that everyone is paying attention to the education of boys and girls in their country. and that we're making sure that women have the opportunity to be involved in the economic lives of their country. because only countries where all people are involved can be successful. when we look around the world and we see countries where half the population is marginalized or left out, then we usually see countries that are failing. so it's important to keep talking about that. >> and it's important as i said in my opening remarks to make room for the next generation of leaders. because one of the things that the young people said to me as i mentioned is that they -- they asked me to ask the first spouses to make room for them because they're looking for a place at the table. and they specifically said that when you meet with the spouses of our country, tell them that we want to help. we want a voice. and that we're looking to them, they're looking to all of us to provide that seat. and that's where that platform that mrs. bush speaks of, why it's so important. because these young people, they believe that they get their inspiration from us. they're looking to us, they still don't quite know that they have the expertise and skills already. they think we know more. >> yes, we do. we do. [laughter] we do, we do. >> but when you listen to just the opening speakers, when you think about social media, just listening to the hashtags and twitter accounts, i mean, that was a little nutty. but it's how you can continue the conversation. >> and globalize. >> and globalize it. and young people are more adeptth at that. as i tease my kids, i tell them i want them to use instagram to take a picture of something really important rather than their food. you know, but young people can us. support to i mean no one really cares what you have for lunch. >> you both talked last year when we were having this conversation about shining a light on an issue. and that you are in this unique position, you have the opportunity to shine the light, at some point people stop wearing what you're and see what you're aiming at. one of the questions i get all the time is how do you choose? how do you choose what issue to shine the light on? you know when you came in you wanted to do something about military families but it was expected to do something about early childhood cognition and september 11 changed all of that. how do you put it together to decide exactly what you're going to do? >> i think you look at yourself and see what your expertise is. when i came to the white house, i was -- i had been a librarian. i loved to read. i had been a teacher. so education and literacy were very, very obvious interests of mine and expertise of mine. so that's what i started with. then also you look at what appears. take ere are ways you can advantage of different things that happen to go in another way. i got a phone call, for instance, from the head of the national heart, lung and blood institute here in washington. she said, did you know heart disease is take advantage of different things that happen to the leading caus death among american women? and i didn't know that. i just said assumed cancer was the leading cause of death among american women. i knew if i didn't know heart disease was the leading cause of death that many american women didn't know that either. so i was presented with the opportunity to talk about the heart truth and to get the word out to american women that heart disease was the leading cause of death so they could start doing things. because heart disease is often preventable. but also if you know that you might have a heart attack, it wouldn't just be your husband that had a heart attack, you can rush to the hospital yourself and get the kind of treatment that you would demand for your husband but you might not realize you would need yourself. so i think there are both ways, both look to your own expertise and just take advantage of other interests that come up and see if you can make a difference in your countries. >> also, where your passions lie . because i found that i have been most effective when i am uniquely authentic. there's a sort of -- there's authenticity to what i say, so that means i have to really believe passionately in the causes that i take on. and that lends itself to more power, more effectiveness. it just makes you a better advocate because this is something you care deeply about. this was true when it came to the issue of educating our young people, i just started an initiative this year reach higher. because one of the things i'm deeply passionate about is the role education has to play in the lives of our young people. and my story is the story that i try to share with young people to motivate them. there's nothing in my life that would indicate that i would be sitting here on this stage with a former first lady and one of the of the most renowned journalists and every first spouse in africa. nothing in my life indicated that. but my parents believed in the value of education, even though they were not educated themselves. and they pushed my brother and i to do the best that we could do. so what i want young people in america to understand is that we are blessed in this country to have public education, to have opportunities that many girls around the world are putting their lives at risk to achieve. so it's incumbent upon us here in america to take advantage of every opportunity, and young people have to own their education. i can do that because i believe it. it is my story. it is why i'm sitting here. and my hope is that i can start a national conversation about we igniting that hunger for education in our young people and using that to talk about the issues that our girls around the world are facing with 60 million girls today not in school. 30 million of those in subsaharan africa. i want our people across the globe to be talking about how do we fix that? that's just an example that i'm clearly passionate about. >> one of the things we're going to do today in the various panels is how to, essentially. and you all have done the how to. and part of that is private, public partnerships. and on all of your initiatives, it seems to me you have both done that. you have brought in universities, companies, foundations, whatever combination of things works. can you talk about it, for instance, with helping america's youth? >> helping america's youth was one of my initiatives and i traveled around the country and had summits actually, conferences, in many parts of the united states with all of the youth servicing agencies, types of agencies from individual foundations that people had to individuals themselves. two men, for instance, who used sports to teach character building in seattle. and worked with sports groups because they knew they could attract boys. and then they attracted their mothers there because their mothers would bring the boys to their sports practices so they would talk about sportsmanship in a way that really talked out life, and the way people can use all of the characteristics of a good sport to also be a good person. but what they discovered then mothers were, in many cases, single mothers. they didn't have a community really of their own and so they started after the sports games, they would have barbecues so mothers could meet each other and be with each other and really they were out to help the boys but found out they helped the whole family. with this one agency or one foundation that these two men started. and that's just one example of many, many others that were part of helping america's youth. >> and helping people get off drugs or not get into drugs. and there seems to be in some ways you have built on that with let's move. i mean, it is -- it is being preventablely healthy all along. talk to us a little about the about how you put that together. >> for those of you who don't know, let's move is my initiative to end childhood obesity in a generation. and we have really relied greatly on public, private partnerships because what we all have to understand is government has limits. limited resources, limited base of power. people look to government and think government can do everything but many of the solutions that we're trying to achieve require the involvement of nonprofit sector and the private sector. so we have really enlisted companies to market food differently to kids so that they are not marketing unhealthy products. have enlisted sports' organizations to get kids up and moving. try to invest in more sports and communities that are underserved, whether it's the u.s. tennis association or the -- the nba or what you have. many of these private players have been very eager to step up and partner with us to achieve this goal because we all have an interest in making sure that the next generation is as healthy as possible. we spend billions of dollars in covering obesity-related illnesses and all of these illnesses are completely preventable with good diet and nutrition, exercise. so what we have said to many of our partners is we all have an interest in this. there's a way can he can all do well by doing good. you know, we can -- companies can still be profitable by creating foods and educating parents and families to help them make better choices about what they feed their kids. >> i say with teenage daughters though, it must be -- i would suspect that sometimes they say to you, let's move, mom! [laughter] >> yeah, sitting at our dining room table, cokie, yes. ll, you know, every teenager has a little smart aleck in them, that's true. but one of the things we found in our household is that kids listen. they take on these new messages even when we don't think they're paying attention. and has a little smart aleck in them, that's true. that's one o try to tell parents is that they don't -- you don't know they're listening but i see how my children make different decisions about what they eat now as teenagers now they have control because they have the information about how food affects their yomb all health overall ability to -- health and ability to perform. but it's our job to empower the choices that are best for them. >> you have some blowback from it -- >> surprising! >> i don't know. >> that was just where i was headed. it is -- i know that you both get into these things and you're doing them for the good of the country. and suddenly you get criticized r it and it must be such a shock in a way. >> i was not that shocked. remember, we have somebody that lived in the white house that we watch very closely that we love. president bush and barbara bush. so i was very aware when george ran for president that you're always going to be characterized in a way that you aren't really. so i don't think it was any big surprise to me. hat doesn't make it any less hurtful, but on the other hand, i think anyone who's in a leadership position of any sort knows you will be criticized and a target really for criticism. >> that's absolutely true. and that's really the role of leadership. it's not about amassing power. it's taking some of those hits and continuing to do the work even when it's painful and sometimes unappreciated. but that's why it's important for all of us to have a vision as first spouses. when you have your vision and you know what you're passionate about and you know what direction you're going in, then all of the arrows and spheres and criticisms, they just bounce off of you because you keep doing the work every day. and -- >> they might pinch. >> they might pinch a little bit. you might get shot in the eye. go to the doctor, patch yourself up and get back in the game. >> that's an important message for people to hear. it's hard to do what you all are doing. you talked about -- it's not about amassing power. it's certainly not for the spouses, right? it's not being in that role and still you get the criticism. o it's important to say that can live through it. >> and everyone comes to these positions with different temperaments. you know, watching mrs. bush, she's been able to traverse all of this with a level of grace and kindness and compassion, you know, just seeing how our transition worked. e talked about this in tanzania, that people are who they are. i said this in my convention speech about the president. being president doesn't change who you are, it reveals who you are and that's true for first spouses as well. you come to this with a temperament. some people are shy and never want the limelight. other people are much more outgoing and maybe a bit more aggressive and able to withstand the heat of the spotlight that shines on us. but i think that all of us, we have to bring what is uniquely us to the table and work within that. and that sometimes what people around the world don't understand. first spouses, we don't choose this position. we just happen to be in it. and we do the best -- >> right. fired. can't be >> can't be fired. >> certainly hope not. >> i guess we will see. >> you know, one of the things is your voice as is your voice women. you both talked about that last year. i went back and looked, you were both quite eloquent about how important it is for women to use your voices and your power. i think mrs. obama you said, you're not complicated but we're complex. and i think that's a good way of putting it. but again, mrs. bush, why is it important for women -- for women's voices in this particular position to be heard? >> for the first lady? well, i think it's important because the first lady has an opportunity really to talk about what is most interesting to her and what she thinks she can help, the way she thinks she can help her country and the people in her country the best. i love to quote lady bird said the first lady has the podium, and she intended to use it, and she did. she was another texas first lady and i admired her from a distance. i didn't know her then but got to know her later when george was governor and we lived in austin. but she really did. she used what she loved. he happened to love the native flowers and the natural beauty of our country. she made a huge difference, daffodils she would see blooming here along the george washington parkway were planted because of lady bird johnson. yes, she used ed case and civil rights -- education and civil rights and she was a southern first lady so it was very important for her to speak out about civil rights and she did. she campaigned all across the south for the civil rights laws that were passed and signed during president johnson's administration. >> once again, i always go back to young people. you know, we meet -- i know i do -- meet thousands of just wonderful young people in our countries and around the world. to walk, to have a 7-year-old, 12-year-old walk up to you or send you a letter and tell them, thank you for what you do. i look up to you. you inspire me, you know, that reminds us all that whether we like it or not, we are role models and as women, we have the young girls in our world, in our countries, they're looking to us. they're looking to is for how we should be, how we should think, how to use our voices. and as a result we have a responsibility to show them the way in whatever way we can. and that may be something as simple as embracing a child on the line and telling them that they're beautiful and that you're proud of them and that you know they're important and they're valued. i think about that because every time i meet a child i think who knows what's going on in her life? whether she's just bullied or whether she had a bad day at school or whether she lost a parent. that interaction that we have with that individual, that child, for that moment could change their life. spotlight. waste the it is temporary, and life is short and change is needed. and women are smarter than men. [applause] >> that goes without saying. >> and the men can't complain because you're outnumbered today. [laughter] >> mrs. bush, you talked about that before too, it's a temporary spotlight. but you are now working hard to carry it on and i think that sense of couldn't knewty is very important. you have the george w. bush first ladies initiative, global women's initiative, women of afghanistan, you're keeping going. >> we are continue to work, both george and i are, through the george bush institute in dallas, the bush library and museum and it gives both of us a chance to keep working on the issues that were the most important to us. pink ribbon, red ribbon is our global health initiative. many of you already know about that. we launched in three countries in africa and we're going to hear about some more in a few minutes. but because petfar was started while george was president, the president's emergency plan for aids relief, we wanted to be able to continue global health initiative that builds on petfar. and when we looked at the cancer numbers across africa and really across the world and saw that cervical cancer, which is preventable, is the leading cause of cancer death among african women, we figured out there was a way we could use the platform that's already established and add the testing r cervical and breast cancer to petfar. so that's our global health initiative. it's given us a way to keep building. and we have a number of terrifi breast cancer partners who are in the room. so thank you all, to all of the partners and thanks to first ladies and countries where we already launched and where we're getting ready to launch. >> i thought that was such a smart initiative because it really does combine so many elements that are just sensible, which is another thing women are good at, the fact is that you had the petfar clinics so the women were already coming in. -- since breast cancer isn't caused by the same diseases, you needed to get somebody else in. so you got susan g. komen and pharmaceutical companies in and it really now turned out to be a total women's health platform. >> it is really and it's partner be obviously with the u.s. government as well, using, the u.s.a. is our partner because we're using the petfar platform. and the great news is cervical cancer really can be treated. not when it's advanced, which is why it's so important that women come to be screened early on. and then be treated and the vaccination programs which h.p.v. vaccination is important and i think many african first ladies are trying now to manage these vaccination programs so at we really won't even have to worry about cervical cancer ghirlse who are vaccinated grow up. >> do you think about that, mrs. obama? i know you're still right in the middle of it -- >> i hope you're not thinking about that yet. >> no at all. not at all. >> but how you can carry on and some of these initiatives too. because you have done these private-public partnerships, particularly around military families. >> dr. biden and i have started joining forces, which is a nationwide effort to provide the support, respect to our men and women in uniform and ghirlse wh families. we have worked with private companies to create jobs as these men and women transition to civilian life, working on making sure they get the education benefits. all of the support that they should expect having put their lives on the line in their family's lives on hold. >> and the medical schools you're working with medical schools? >> nurses are becoming trained to be able to identify and support men and women who may have posttraumatic stress disorder. just educating the entire country on what ptsd means. so g to destigmatize it these men and women feel like they can help when they needed. at is a passion for jill and i. she is a blue star mom. she saw when her son was deployed. it is truly a passion for her. for me, this is something i will do long after we have left the white house because these needs will always be there. the platform continues. and that is something that i would encourage all of you to think about as well as how do thesort of laid down foundation for the legacy you want to create for yourselves. shouldn't be afraid to talk about our legacies, what we want to leave behind in the work that we do. yes, there are so many importancesymbolic is in our role, but there's nothing wrong about thinking about our legacy and what we want to leave in the world. that takes planning. it takes coordination. it takes partnership. and i don't think we should be afraid as women to have those conversations. it's too soon for me to do it now. [laughter] but the time will come and i will embrace that because of what i have seen from the bush family. there is a level of freedom that also comes after you are out of the spotlight. it's a new spotlight. it is a different spotlight but i think that there is more that you are able to do outside of office often times than you can do inside office. phone could pick up the and get a member of congress and get something done. [laughter] i also want to come back because we are at an african summit. both of you have exhibited such a strong interest in africa. i think you have very much felt to shine a light on the continent and called us all to learn more about the great news that is going on in africa. i am kind of wondering how you got there. mrs. bush, i know you were in 75 countries when you are first lady, which was a lot, but why africa? >> obviously, it started with test far -- with petfar. people were dying every single day all across africa. it was a huge pandemic that would leave the continent orphaned if nobody did anything about it. that it was important for the united states to be actively involved in helping in africa. it was important for us as a willed it -- the wealthiest country in the world, both because we could and because we should and morally try to save as many lives as possible. so i went on the trip with george in 2003 when petfar was launched and our daughter was as well. she has really made her life choices because of that trip. she is now the head of global health core. she engages young people from every part of the world. corpseated global health to encourage people to work in the health field and in africa and the united states. because of that first trip them because of petfar, i just got a huge interest in africa and traveled there many times. i have traveled there many time since we went home. we had a wonderful trip this last march, a private trip, not tousiness trip, to ethiopia visit the christian sites. so africa has become an important continent to us, partly because of that, because tfar, but because of our experiences there. >> africa is important to the rest of the world. its success is integral to the success of this nation, the united states, and the world. undervalued, underappreciated continent. upon theincumbent world to have a better understanding of what africa has to offer. the importance of africa is very personal to me because, as the president said last night in his toast, you know, africa is home for us. his family is there. we have relatives there. we have visited the continent on several occasions. we have taken our daughter's back to his grandfathers village and they have seen a part of themselves. so the partnership with this continent means a great deal to us. and we have seen the power, the potential. to meet these young leaders and to see how hungry they are to to a newr countries level, that kind of passion is infectious. and something that people here should know and understand. we want people from america to travel to africa, understand its languages and different cultures, and not see it as a monolith. and to truly see the investment opportunities which is one of the reasons this summit has been so important. it hasn't just been a conversation with world leaders but some of the nation's powerful businesses are here. some of the most prestigious nonprofits are here. that is why today's session is so important. our success as a nation is directly tied to the success of africa. now it is time for the united states as a whole to embrace the reality. of a lothe beginning of work that needs to be done. but we are encouraged and we are optimistic. >> i think this has been very instructive for the whole country. i really do. it was wonderful to be in africa. but to have african leaders here in the united states is educating the country about what is going on there. i will end where we began, which as good as the news is coming out of much of africa, it will be as good as it can be until we do more about the girls. >>. that's right. >> if you would like to say finishing word on that subject -- >> thank you very much. youk you michelle and thank to president obama for hosting the african leaders summit here and thank you for inviting the bush institute to be a part of the whoosh ladies -- the first ladies initiative. and thanks to all the first ladies who have joined us. thank you for all the great work you are already doing in your countries, which we will hear about in a few minutes. thank you for all the good work you will do. [applause] >> well, thank you. back at you. absolutely. we are here today because of the example that was set in tanzania through the summit that he bush institute organized and my chief of staff stated that when we learn this was they organize we jumped at the chance to do something similar and continue the conversation and come together as first spouses and to continue to be inspired by each other. what i would say, just in tosing, is that we have fight for our girls. there should never be a girl in this world who has to fear getting educated. that should be something that is intolerable to all of us. girlsonly think of my own and i think we all have to see our daughters in these young girls. we want the best for our daughters. we want them to be smart and empowered and loved. we want them to be healthy. we want them to be mentally sound. and if it is good enough for our girls, it is good enough for every single girl in the world. but it will take leadership like us, women like us speaking up in our countries and making sure that young girls are not subject to abuse and that they are loved and valued. that, we willo not solve these problems. investing in our women, the people who raise our children, the people who take care of families, they have to be healthy and whole. that is the most important work that we do, whether we talk about clean energy or economic empowerment. until we start to value women and girls, we will continue to struggle on this planet. but i have high hopes when i look around this room that we won't tolerate that. not anywhere on the planet. and if we continue to work together and continue to lift up our young people who are fighting for a better future, then i think we will see some progress on these issues. so i look forward to working with all of you in the years ahead. so thank you all and i hope you enjoy the rest of the conference. cokie, thank you as well. [applause] thank you both so much for the work you are doing, first of all, for coming together. i keep saying you set such a good example for the men. [laughter] but also for allowing me to participate in the summit. thank you both very much. [applause] the u.s.-africa leaders summit, george w. bush spoke about efforts to fight hiv in africa and a program to fund cervical and breast cancer. this is 40 minutes. [applause] >> thank you. thank you. it is an honor to be with you. that this is called the first spouses event. [laughter] not the first ladies event. men in there are a few the audience whose wives are more famous than they are. [laughter] i am one and rightly so. i would expect that obama would say the same thing. michelle al-ahram, i thank you for the great -- michelle and laura, i thank you for the great example that you bring to the office of the first lady. it is great to see friends again. i also want to give a shout out to our daughter barbara. not many things have convinced me to come back to washington. [laughter] the first ladies summit is one. the other is he able to dine with our dear daughter who is a fabulous young woman making a big difference in global health around the world. i love you, baby. [applause] it was an honor to see dr. biden again. i am pleased to see sure you blair -- shri blair. spellings, secretary of education. if there are members of congress here, thank you for coming. if not, why not? [laughter] to thank lisa carty and ambassador deb berks, the cochairs of pink ribbon red ribbon. i thank you for your exceptional work on behalf of african women. i appreciate our founding fathers. michael saturday -- michael sid ibe. i have a little more time on my hands these days. surprising to some, i am painting. [laughter] doesn't cause me not to have enthusiasm for the future. and as a father of two wonderful girls and now the grandfather of the world's smartest granddaughter -- [laughter] i am more concerned about the future nonetheless. institute, laura and i are in gaze's -- are engaged in issues and many of the priorities and proposals are involved in one thing. the success of any nation is impossible without the political participation, the economic empowerment, the education and health of women. ago, the healthy emergency for women and for everyone was an uncontrolled aids pandemic in parts of africa. some of you probably have family stories of tragedy and loss. but together, we witnessed one of the brighter chapters in the human story. a combination of global resources and local courage has demonstrated two points. disease can be defeated. and people living with aids refused to be defeated. they are holding jobs, raising crops, starting small businesses, raising children and contributing each day to african success. the american commitment to the fight against global aids has reached two administrations. and globaletfar funds and the resources of african governments, more than 9 million men, women, and children are on aids treatment in sub-saharan africa. [applause] page generation on the verge of being lost has been found. life expectancy is up. health care systems have grown stronger. their mosteople in productive years, from their 20's to their for these, are -- to their 40's, are contributing to africa's growth. and many of the first ladies, endt spouses, have led the of mother-child transmission. battle against aids with a broad emergency response and there was really no alternative. but the great need and hope that this stage of the fight is to focus our efforts and resources. better data, better treatment options, and better prevention approaches help officials to reach and help the highest risk regions and groups. clear goals and accountability, this saturation approach presents an amazing opportunity, the beginning of the end of aids. it also requires something from the rest of us. it is impossible to direct help where it is needed most when any group is targeted for legal discrimination and stigma. compassionate tolerance are important medicines. one group that requires -- [applause] one group that requires our particular attention is women and girls. we know young women are particularly vulnerable to hiv aids because they are particularly vulnerable to poverty and violence. they are more likely to develop cervical cancer because their bodies have a reduced ability to fight infection such as hpv. between hiv and cervical cancer can be broken and it is our job to break it. cervical and breast cancer are the number one killers of women in africa. it is surrounded with stigma and ignorance. this spreads across generations. when a mother dies young, her children are less likely to be healthy and educated and more likely to die young as well. one of the best ways to help children is to help their mothers live and raise them. three years ago, the bush institute launched pink ribbon red ribbon which is a partnership that combats women's cancer with a simple commitment -- people living with aids should not be dying from preventable and treatable diseases. by bringing together a broad partnership of government, corporations, foundations and multilateral organizations, we set out to raise awareness, screen high-risk populations, vaccinations and treat those with lesions through simple low-cost methods. we work to live the -- to lift the shadow of stigma from the cancers that target women. our role is not to build a bureaucracy, but to build a broad, shared, practical commitment. ard we took the petf approach as our model. we work to show that a program can work and increase capacity and bring it to scale. in the three countries were pink ribbon red ribbon started, we are seeing results. havethan 100,000 women thus far been screened or cervical and breast cancer. [applause] the first lady of zambia has been a champion fighting against false rumors against the hpv vaccine, something that needs to be done here in america as well. [applause] mama keep what day, first lady of tanzania led the mobilization for mass screenings. [applause] first spouses are leading the way and all of us thank you for doing really what you should be doing. [laughter] laura and i have seen the outcome. time in zambia helping to refurbish and reopen health clinics. i was in charge of painting. [laughter] she was in charge of going over the spots i missed. [laughter] she had a lot of work cut out for her but in my defense i was beginning to study the impressionist movement. [laughter] whenever we want an example of kindness and hospitality, we always think of the zambian people. [applause] besides dancing with the women, this is what i remember most. [laughter] by the way, it was forgettable dancing. the women were nervous at first. they were nervous to be screened. but then they became joyous. joyous to know that people cared about them and joyous to know that their government wanted them to be healthy. in 2013, the people of zambia have screened 43,000 women for cervical cancer. about a third of those tested positive for cancers cervical cells. in other words, the screening was a matter of survival. seenw the process can be as intimidating, but it is truly a source of life and hope. and by the way, for the first ladies, if you are worried about future,band's' clinical taking care of women is good politics. [applause] many share the work and credit of pink ribbon red ribbon. i want to thank them for demonstrating a moral commitment to human dignity that unites our country. deeplyilly -- i appreciate our corporation members, many of whom are here, for the consistent dedication to women and girls in africa. it is also a partnership with the countries in which we operate. these programs survive and thrive when local leaders take ownership and commit their resources as we have seen in tanzania, zambia, and bus one. models -- and botswana. models can incorporate into their national plans. it has always been my approach to develop partnership, not paternalism. i am pleased to announce that think ribbon red ribbon is expanding to include the beauty of -- include namibia and ethiopia. [applause] particularly grateful to ge, andk-swiss klein, the american cancer society for their willingness to work in those two countries. by providing educating, vaccination must inning and treatment. today, we will announce as well a distinguished group of ambassadors who will take this important message across the continent of africa. names buty their last i am confident i would mispronounce them. [laughter] the truth of the matter is that first ladies out to be ambassadors as well. the first spouses have the opportunity to impact your country in a powerful way. you can work to build political will. you can save women from cancer. you are uniquely positioned. here is one of the problems we have. people die of stigma. there are too many people now being treated because of false rumors. and the first ladies, while stigma may seem like an unbridgeable wall, you've got to realize that it is really made of glass. and through your leadership, it can be broken by being outspoken and by being honest and by being compassionate for the sake of mothers and grandmothers. to -- itt take a lot takes a lot to get me to leave dallas. this conference surely is one reason why i came. this is great and we thank the white house. andink the bush institute their team for helping prepare this important conference. invite the first lady of ethiopia, the first lady of namibia to join me on the stage. god bless you all. [applause] [applause] ladies,lencies, first distinguished guests, thank you for your service. let me take this opportunity on behalf of the government am people to express my profound gratitude to pink ribbon red ribbon for choosing namibia as a new country of engagement. the studies and reports indicate that cancer in all its forms is a critical public health problem in the developing world. in africa, cervical and breast cancers are found to be the leading causes of death in women. owing to the overwhelming burden of communicative diseases, they have not been adequately addressed in ethiopia in the past. taking into account the increasing burden of cancer, if you have taken a number of initiatives in preventing and controlling cancer. it is included in the national reproductive health. in ethiopia currently, there --n't 25 health facility there are 25 health facilities visualg cancer through unaestheticnd aspects which is very effective. it takes various development partners to enhance prevention, education, and treatment services and qualitative care. with the ministry of health on this committee, reached out to the parliamentarians to advocate for increased funding for women's cancer in ethiopia. efforts are underway to improve access to cancer treatment and care facilities. our government plans to establish five regional centers for cancer treatment across the nation by 2016. while we will be working hard to provide effective services to treat cancer, we also need to work diligently toward the prevention of cancer because it is the most cost-effective and sustainable way of reserves -- the reduced in the cancer burden. in the long-term. . cost-effective interventions must be made available through axis to information and education about cancer at the primary care level as well as early detection programs and affordable quality medicines, vaccines, and technologies as part of a national cancer control program. effective cancer prevention at the national level begins with a national council control -- national cancer control plan. alongside work hard health care providers to make sure that anyone who needs cancer care can access it come including the necessary medications for managing the disease. there are so many challenges related to cancer treatment and prevention in ethiopia. one is a low level of awareness among the presentation in which treatment they also involve mortalities come including surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy. financial concerns have also been hindering the effectiveness of most interventions in our country. last but not least, it is my earnest hope and indeed the expectation of all women who are suffering from the uncontrolled burden of cervical and breast cancers in ethiopia that pink ribbon and red ribbon will work in earnest with the government of ethiopia and stakeholders to increase cervical cancer vrevention, including hp vaccinations and screen ends, screenings and treatment for women like never before building on existing health platforms. you that,assure through intermission, -- through intervention, we look forward to working with you. thank you for listening. thank you. [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, the first lady of namibia. [applause] >> your excellencies, ladies and for an -- ladies and gentlemen. today in being a future investing in our in the africa leader summit and i am delighted that my country, the republic of namibia, will be one of the next two countries for ink ribbon red ribbon. in investing in and committing to our future the theme of this summit is a noble goal that all humanity must embrace. part of the strategy for implementing this role must be protecting all women. to witness aoday commitment. future ofnt to the andmillion namibian women girls, a commitment to a cancer-free namibia. is a growinger health problem in our country and ranks as the second most frequently diagnosed cancer among women. rest cancer is number one -- breast cancer is number one. half of the women diagnosed with cancer diet of the does -- die of the disease. concern.ause for but in our country, with our small population, the impact is particularly devastating. as a nurse by profession, i experienced this firsthand while caring for namibian women and their families over many years. oute statistics are playing daily in our cities and towns, in families all across our country. theircause of vulnerability, of women and girls to hiv, and because women with hiv are so much more vulnerable to developing cervical cancer than their hiv-negative peers, the problem is even more pressing. that cervicalis cancer is an avoidable disease. i am so grateful for the commitment of pink ribbon red ribbon partners. thanks to their work with our government and local ngos, namibian doctors and nurses already receive training and are saving our women. the third week show 279 women, 15 of them tested positive for precancerouss -- lessons. these women -- these are women, if left unscreened, might have developed cancer. women who benefited from this treatment were able to know tendedealth better and to their families with hope for the future. i am encouraged and inspired that our government is committed to women's health and particularly its emphasis on cervical cancer which includes the introduction of vaccination of young girls against the human papilloma virus that is causing the disease. toare aware that we need build our health record to do this and they are willing and able. readiness tontry's tackle this disease had on. if we successfully brought together leaders from around the from the 20th to the 22nd of july to discuss how to end cervical cancer by 2030. [applause] that namibia can be a role model in the fight against cervical cancer. we have been successful in controlling the burden of hiv and reducing death from the disease thanks in large part from support of the american people through petfar. we can do the same with cervical cancer and we will and we must. in pink ribbon red ribbon are standing in this battle as part of our preventive forecast for all women. working together, i am strongly convinced that we can reduce death from hiv and women with cancer. attending. for [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, please welcome think ribbon and red ribbon ambassadors. [applause] >> your excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, what i have heard today, cervical and breast cancer are cutting short lives too many women in south africa. but pink ribbon and red ribbon are working to combat these diseases. will leave today with the knowledge that prevention and screen options. young girls of today and their mothers may never have to face the possibility of cancer, breast cancer and cervical cancer diagnosis tomorrow. this is important not only for citizens but for the health of our economies. the power of our women is the key to strong southern africa and the world. thrilled to be pink ribbon red ribbon ambassadors. we are eager to use our voices, ofluence to raise awareness these diseases. we are committed to doing all we of healing and hope to the women of our own countries and continent as a whole. thank you. [applause] your excellencies, ladies and i want to echo and i am truly grateful for opportunity to represent pink ribbon red ribbon as an ambassador. all of us gathered here today can be ambassadors for the women of africa. i encourage you to join with us in our mission. useirst ladies, you can your unique platform as ofluence to create awareness the problem and champion preventive solutions. ngo or aader of an corporate, you can partner with us by bringing capacity or financial of kind donations. as an individual, you can use the power of the knowledge you , to sharenow have what you know with your network and within your spheres of influence. and here, i want to commit to solveich experience the women of africa once more. on behalf of partners in the secretariat, i want to thank you in advance for joining us to save the lives of the generation and the next generation of women on our continent africa. we are grateful to be working alongside with you. thank you. [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the second lady of the united states, dr. jill biden. [applause] >> i feel so tall on this. [laughter] i feel i should push it aside. [laughter] now, good afternoon, everyone. thank you for that warm welcome. it is a pleasure today to be here with my great friend and partner michelle obama. you have been a great example of the profound difference first ladies can make. so thank you, michelle, for your leadership and your friendship. [applause] seeit is wonderful to president and mrs. bush again. we had a great event in texas earlier this year. thank you for the work you are doing on behalf of the us 9/11 veterans through your military -- the post-9/11 veterans through your military initiative. part inu for taking this historic summit and for adding your voice to this important conversation. i have been a teacher for over 30 years. in my own classroom and in my travels around the world, i have seen firsthand the difference of strong educational foundation can make. i had thes ago, incredible opportunity to visit a girls school in kenya where i saw how education was inviting a sense of hope, of normalcy, and the chance for a better life. last month, when i visited the democratic republic of congo and sierra leone, i met with students who were excited to learn, who are dedicated to their studies, and you have big plans for their future. in the hallway outside a classroom in zambia, a color for -- a colorful board with the words "our dreams" my attention. students had posted notes on the board describing what they dreamed to become when they grow up. pilots, and mys, personal favorite -- teachers. every dream posted on the board had a common purpose -- a desire to give back, to help their community, and to move their country forward. that is the spirit of the next generation in africa. to make this possible, it means ,aking sure that all students boys and girls, have access to quality education. the united states is committed to making sure girls and young women have the tools they need, not just to survive but to thrive in their communities. today because we believe that it is our responsibility, yours and mine, to provide the next generation of women with the confidence and the education they need to exceed they can -- to succeed you can as we know that a nation cannot reach its full potential until it's women meet theirs. thank you very much for being here. [applause] [laughter] ladies and gentlemen, please representatives of mandela-obama-washington leadership for african leaders. [applause] honorable first ladies, ladies and gentlemen, i come from mozambique, from a very remote village in the southern part. i am proud to be an effort in woman. nine andom a family of the first young child in my family to earn a degree. i was fortunate because i had a scholarship to study. my brothers and sisters did not have the same opportunities and face many more challenges. especially for girls, to go to school is very rare in my village. girls don't have a voice. they don't make decisions. shouldsay that girls stay with their husbands and raise children. you anto explain to experience from one of the girls. grade, she isth forced into marriage with an old man of 51 already with two wives and 11 children. father is sick with only solutionhe to take care of his health is to give his daughter to this old man. and in return, he will receive care, bold, and money in form of bowery. the innocent girl has no option but to accept the parents idea as a sign of respect and obedience. years and hasw 22 four children to take care of. the old man she was married to is dead as well as both of her parents. i think you can all imagine the future of this young girl. and this girl is my cousin. girls'ion to fight for education is motivated by her and her story. organizationrt an where girls like my cousin are brought back to school. , with their hands, their skills, with their knowledge, they can help themselves moved up in life. honorable first ladies, ladies and gentlemen, if it is not now, then when? if it is not us, if it is not we will support child education in our communities in africa? it is time to take action. thank you very much. --oo cheers and applause [cheers and applause] >> honorable ladies and gentlemen, girls face many problems and challenges to finish school. they are traumatized. they are abused, neglected, and abandoned just because they are girls. i am from the democratic republic of congo. today, i want to share with you my story. was attackedamily at night by rebels. they attacked our neighbors first. they killed all the seven children and their father. there were 25 rebels and they all raved their mother -- all raped their mother. the next door was hours. they entered in error house. -- the entered into our house. at that time, i was nine years old and i didn't feel afraid. i was looking at their commander without shaking my eyes. he pushed me and said, young girl, don't you know that i can finish you in a second? i said, yes, i know, but i am not afraid. i know you are going to kill us, but you will also pay for what you have done. he looked at me and asked, what is your name? is mire. my name he said, i have killed many people, girls and boys, but i have never seen someone resisting me like you. you have surprised me. i won't kill your family, but i want you to move away from here. since that day, i grew up with one mission -- fighting for human rights and for girls' education. [applause] i continued my studies. i saw many of my classmates killed by guns and raped. i graduated last year and i was the only girl among boys to pass with honors. [applause] i decided to start a project to educate women and girls victims of sexual violence. today, i ask you to join me without any fear because fear is the little [indiscernible] this day, i asked all the girls all over the world to take out the fear and to take up with the pants and boots. let us take them back will. thank you -- back to school. thank you. [cheers and applause] >> at the close of this week's u.s.-africa summit, president conference. press this is 40 minutes. >> good afternoon. please be seated. as i think everyone knows by now, this first u.s.-africa leaders summit is the august we have hosted with heads of state and government. that includes with 50 motorcades. thanking to begin by ,he people of washington, d c for helping us hold this event and being patient with the traffic. deskas africa country news continues to face great challenges, we are seeing the emergence of a new, more prosperous africa. africa's progress is being led by africans, including leaders here today. i want to take this opportunity again to thank my fellow leaders for being here. rather than a lot of prepared speeches, our sessions today were genuine discussions, a chance to truly listen and try to come together around some pragmatic steps that we can take together. that is what we have done this week. first, we made important progress in expanding our trade. the $33 billion in new trade and investments that i announced yesterday will help spur african development and support tens of thousands of american jobs. with major new commitments to our power africa initiative, we tripled our goal and now aim to bring electricity to 60 million african homes and businesses. will, i reiterated that we continue to work with congress to achieve a seamless and long-term renewal of the african growth and opportunity act. we believe that africa's growth depends first and foremost on continued reforms in africa by africans. the leaders here pledged to step up efforts to attract investment, and to promote regional integration. and as i announced yesterday, the united states will increase our support for africa to trade with itself and with the world. ultimately, africa's asperity depends on its greatest resource, its people. i'm encouraged by the leaders here to partner with us and entrepreneurs, including with our young african leaders initiative. if countries are going to reach their full economic potential, they have to invest in women, their education, their skills, and protect them from gender-based violence. that was the topic of conversation this afternoon. the united states announced a range of initiatives to help women across africa. our new allies for food and dish aspen security continues to grow -- our new alliance for food initiatives and security continue to grow. even as united states is deploying some of our medical first responders to west africa to help control the ebola outbreak, we will strengthen african centers for disease control. i also want to note that the american people are renewing their commitment to africa. leading alliance of american ngos is announcing that its members will invest $4 billion to promote maternal health, children's health, and the delivery of vaccines and drugs. this is not just a government effort. it is also an effort spurred on by the private sector. combined with the investments we announced yesterday and the commitments made today at the symposium hosted by our spouses, that means this summit has helped to mobilize some $37 billion for africa's progress on top of obviously the substantial efforts that have been made in the past. second, we addressed good governance, which is a foundation of economic growth in free societies. some african nations are making impressive progress but we see troubling restrictions on universal rights. so today was an opportunity to highlight the importance of rule of law, open and accountable institutions, strong civil societies, and protection of human rights for all citizens and all communities. and i made the point during our discussion that nations that uphold these rights and principles will ultimately be more prosperous and more economically successful. in particular, we agree to step up our collective efforts against the corruption that costs african economies tens of billions of dollars every year, money that ought to be invested in the people of africa. several leaders raised the idea of a new partnership to combat -- it -- combat third, we are deepening our security cooperation to meet common threats from terrorism to human trafficking and we are launching a new security governance initiative to help our african countries continue to build strong, professional security forces to provide for their own security. we are starting with kenya, niger, mali, nigeria, and tunisia. during our discussions, our west african partners made it clear that they want to increase their capacity to respond to crises. we also agreed to make significant new investments in african peacekeeping. the united states will provide additional equipment to african peacekeepers in somalia and the central african republic. we will support the african union's efforts to strengthen its peacekeeping institutions. most importantly, we are launching a new ecb rapid response partnership with the goal of quickly deploying african peacekeepers. we will join with six countries that in recent years have demonstrated a track record as senegal,ers, ghana, rwanda, tanzania, uganda. we will invite countries beyond africa to help in this effort because the world has a stake in keeping peace in africa. in closing, i want to say this has been an extra dairy event, and asked rory -- uninsured are -- an extra ordinary event, on extraordinary summit. we agreed that the u.s.-african leaders summit will be a recurring and i'll strongly encourage my this work o carry on because africa must know they'll a strong reliable partner in the united states of america. some questions. i'll start with julie. >> there's been a lot of about the ebola outbreak ask there's an untested unapproved drug in the u.s. that appears to be helping some of the americans who are infected. is your administration considering at all sending supplies of this drug to some of countries in west africa providing ou discuss it to only americans and not ther countries if it could possibly save lives? >> i think we've got to let the guide us. i don't know if all the nformation is in whether this drug is helpful. what we know is that the ebola both currently and in the controllable if you have a strong public health infrastructure in place. that are affected are the first to admit that that theppened here is republic health systems have overwhelmed. they weren't able to identify isolate cases quickly enough. have a strong trust relationship between some of the communities that were effected workers.ic health s a consequence it spread more rapidly than has been typical periodic ebola outbreak previously.ed the hardships of the people infected this is an aborn disease. controlled and contained very effectively if we use the right protocols. done is make sure we're surging, not just u.s. but reached out to european partners and getting all the workers on the ground et's help to bolster the stems we have in place and let's nip as early as possible any outbreaks of the and then during the course of the process i think i's important to see if there additional drugs or medical the ments that can improve surviveability of what is a brutal nd obviously disease. we're going to -- we're focusing on the public health approach right now because we know how to that. i will continue to seek information about what we're to these ith respect forward. ng >> would you support fast approval is it >> i don't know enough anormation and data to offer opinion on that. >> when you were running for you said, quote, the biggest problems we're facing right now have to do with tkpworpblgt bush trying to bring more and more power into the executive branch and not going through congress at all and to reverse.i intend my question to you, has inability to do anything given you a green light toeuts the limb executive power even a duty to do so or put it another way, it bother you more of being an imperial president bushing accused ofs or to be do-nothing president because you face a dysfunctional congress? i think i never have a green light. bound by the constitution and i'm bound by separation of powers. things we can't do. fund a large o infrastructure that would put to work and boost or gdp. e know we have roads and bridges and airports and electrical grids that need to be ebuilt, but without the cooperation of congress what i an do is speed up permitting process and make sure that we're channelto see if we can investment into much needed projects. has to mately congress pass a budget and authorize spending. i don't have a green light. going to onsistently legal herever i have the authorities to make progress on of middle class americans whether it's by making the federal contractors are paying a wage to their workers, making sure that women have the that unity to make sure they're getting paid the same as doing the same job where have the capacity to expand some of the student loan programs so payments are graduates for college opportunities.se my preference in all these to work with congress because not only can but it's going to be longer lasting. a not only the american people want to see action. not only is there 80% overlap the republicans say hey want and democrats, we passed a bill that was bipartisan. circumstances what the american people expect is that despite the differences between parties, there should at least be the capacity to move on.ward on things we agree and that's not what we're seeing right now. of that kind of dysfuncti dysfunction, what i can do is try to r authorities to make progress and we're going to make sure that every time we one of these steps that we are working within the confines my executive power but i promise you the american people just standing around twiddling my thumbs and aiting for congress to get something done. even as we take these actions i'll continue to reach out to the epublicans and the leadership on both sides and in both chambers to try to come up with we can make e progress even if it's incremental. >> do you believe the power to to those heremits illegally? what i recognize with respect to reform and i've said havein the past is that we a broken system. it's underresourced and we got choices in terms of how we allocated personnel and i'm going to, f for example, send more immigration judges down to the process some of these unaccompanied children that have border, then that's coming from someplace else. to prioritize that well within our authorities discretion. my preference would be an actual immigration law and we already have a bipartisan law that would solve a whole bunch of these problems and i'll have to make choices. and that's what i was elected to do. of executive ines authority, the executive branch f government doesn't have the authority to slow or start inversions. but now he is reviewing options and this is an issue that a lot are interested in. hat prompted this apparent reversal and what actions are now under consideration? will you consider an executive limit or ban ld such companies from getting federal contracts and how soon to see treasury act given congress's schedule. review why we're here. ed you have accountants going to corporations, multi-national corporations but clearly u.s. based and have the bulk of their operations in united states and these accounts are saying, we found a great loop hole. flip your citizenship to another country ven though it's just a paper transaction, we think we can get you out of paying a whole bunch of taxes. well, it's not fair. it's not right. revenue to treasury means it's got to be made up omewhere and that will typically be a bunch of hard who either payns through higher taxes themselves or through reduced services. meantime the company is still using all the services and benefits effectively being a u.s. corporations and that they ecided would go through this paper exercise. so, there is legislation working its way through congress that eliminate some of these tax loopholes entirely and it's what treasury secretary previously said that we can't solve the entire problem administratively, but what we the oing is examining elements to how existing statues dated by rule or regulation or tradition or that can at least discourage some of the folks who trying to take advantage of the loop hole. i think it's something that bother the average american, the idea that somebody renounces their citizenship but benefit from operating in the united states of america. a whole void paying bunch of taxes. reviewing all our options and related to the answer i gave about executive actions preference would always be it's still a small number of resorting to are this because i think most american companies are proud to e american and recognize the benefits of being american and are responsible actors and their fair share of taxes to support all the from ts that they receive being here. but we don't want to see this grow. haven't want companies who up until now been playing by the rules suddenly looking over the saying, what some of our competitors are gaming it system and we need to do too. that kind of herd mentality is avoid so wee want to want to move quarterbackingly as possible. > just to clarify, the federal kraer contracting seems lick an area you like -- it's worked ell for you on issues on promoting gay rights or contraception. fair to assume it would be the first thing you would think of? i'm not going to specifics. we understand what our you rities are i'll let know. >> thank you, mr. president. it is going toay an food and agricultural imports that was $1.3 billion last year. t the same time chuck hagel said amassing of troops along the border of ukraine increases likelihood of invasion. sanctions not working? >> we don't know yet whether sanctions are working. as tions are working intended in putting enormous ressure and strain on the russian economy. that's not my estimation. and u look at the markets you look at estimates in terms of capital flight. projections for russian growth with a you're has g is that the economy ground to a halt somewhere 100 and $200 billion. ou're not seeing a lot of investors coming in new to start inside of russia. has presented the choice putin as to whether try to resolve the issues in eastern ukraine diplomacy and peaceful that ukraine zing is a sovereign country and that ultimately to the ukrainian people to make their own lives or continue on the course he's n in which case he'll be hurting his economy and hurting his own people over the long term. in that sense, we are doing exactly what we should be doing we're very pleased that our allies and partners joined us as well as a number of world.ies around the having said all that, the issue is not resolved yet. fighting in e eastern ukraine. civilians are still dying. we've already seen some of the insequences of this conflict the loss of the malaysian or jet liner.ne can get back we on a track in which there are place discussions taken to assure that all ukrainians hueard and they're represented and that the reforms already been offered by the government and kiev are protect russian peakers to assure decentralization of power shall the sooner we move on those and sooner that president putin recognizes that ukraine is an country, it's only at that point where we can say truly been blem has solved. in the mean sanctions are they're supposed to. >> the troops amassing on the highly trained. does that make you reconsider as suggested rats have providing lethal aid to ukraine. the russianind that rmy is a lot bigger than the ukrainian army. is not he oh up ntil this point they've been fighting a group of separatist ho have engaged in terrible violence but who can't match the ukrainian army. an invasion seeing by russia that's obviously a different set of questions. we're not there yet. hat we have been doing is providing a whole host of to the ce packages ukrainian government and to the continue to we will work with them to evaluate on a day, week by week basis what exactly they need in order their ble to defend ountry and to deal with the separatist elements that are being armed by russian. forthe best thing we can do ukraine is to try to get back on train. ical >> thank you, mr. president. been hosting african kings, prime ministers and last three or the days. what can the international to ensure we have a trong media in africa and secure the release of the journalists that are behind bars. africa havetries in terror.of what can the international do to neutralize cameroon, ats in kenya?a and >> what was the last part of the question? >> could the terror threats be the reason you keep kenya in visits? >> no, no, no. to t of all, with respect ournalists in the media, emphasize that good governance has a voice and hat government is transparent and thereby accountable and even like it the don't edia play as crucial role in assuring people that they have he proper information to evaluate the policies that their pursuing.e e have been very consistent in pushing government's not just in frica but around the world to respect the right of journalists to practice their trade as a civil society f nd a critical part of any democratic norm. issue of the l-jazeer journalist in egypt we've been clear both publicly and privately they should be released. we have been troubled by some of laws that have been passed round the world that seem to restrict the ability of journalistic pursued stories and efforts to ed by control the internet part of over the last new media,wo is that new tech knolly allowed people get information that previously would never be now people can punch something up on the internet and pull up information that's relevant to their own lives and their own societies and communities. we're going to continue to against these efforts as is true on a whole range of i've said this in the work many times we will with countries even though hey're not perfect on every issue. and we find that in some cases country that is generally a good partner but not performing optimally when it comes to all the various human rights that we can be effective by working on certain areas and criticizing them and trying to other improvements in areas. even among countries that have strong human rights records, there are reas where problems. that's true of the united states by the way. news, we heard is that moreummit, and more countries are that in the absence of good governance and in the accountability and transparency that's not only to have an effectdom legitimacy of e the government but on economic development because in an information age open societies have the capacity innovate and educate and move globaland be part of the arketplace more than closed societies do over the long term. i believe that. with respect to terrorism i concern re is uniform of terrorism infiltration and globally. have a lot of the initiatives we put partnerwere designed to so that countries first and these t can tale with problems within their own regionally and the the d states doesn't have desire to expand and create a big footprint if side of africa. want to do is partner ith the african union and with individual countries to build up their capacity. things in encouraging the sessions was a recognition hat fighting terrorism also requires security forces that re professional and that are disciplined this themselves are ot engaging in human rights violations and that part of the esson we all learned about terrorism is that it is possible reaction to terrorism to accelerate the disease. responsing one that lienates populations or particular ethnic groups or religions. so the work we're doing i think can make a big difference in direction. it's not just a matter of providing better equipment or that's a part , of it. sure rt of it is making that these security forces and he intelligence operations are coordinated and professional and populations.ating the more we do that the more been.tive we can besting overnance, the a society in which everybody has a stake in the existing order grievances can be meansed through political rather than violence. that's one good reason why good of thence has to be part ecipe that we use for a strong country.nd prosperous last question. primelier todayies reully inister began the operation of justified and proportion nature. of it seems to be at odds the cease fire. are you hopeful it can be can the and what role u.s. play in the current talks > i have said from the beginning that no country would launched ockets being cities.eir as a consequence i have supported israel's right to defend itself and that it needs to g what do to prevent rockets from on population centers learned recently as we preventing tunnels from being ug from under the territory that can be used to lunch terrorist attacks and also to remember that hamas acts extraordinarily it is nsibly when si erately rocket tely putting centers. in population now, having said all that, i expressed my distress at hat's happened to innocent civilians including women and children during the course of rocess and i'm very glad that we have at least temporarily achieved a cease fire. do we build on this temporary cessation of violence in a ve forward sustainable way. we intend to support the process that is taking place in egypt. term goal has rt to be to make sure that rocket not resume and that the work that the israeli closing out d and these tunnels has been completed that we are now in the process of helping to rebuild a that's been really badly a consequence of this conflict. term, there has to be a gaza cannot hat sustain itself permanently, losed off from the world, and incapable of providing some opportunity, jobs, economic for the population that live there particularly given population is and how young that population is. to see a shift for the people of gaza. hamas. no sympathy for i have great sympathy for ordinary people who are gaza and the hin question then becomes can we ind a formula in which israel gazareater assurance, that will not be a launching pad for attacks and perhaps more dangerous attacks as technology country.into their but at the same time ordinary prospectsns have some for an opening of gaza so they off and el walled basic le of pursuing prosperity. that k there are formulas are available but they'll equire risks on the part of political leaders it will require a slow building of trust. it is difficult in the aftermath of violence we have seen. i don't think we get that right away. the u.s. goal is to make sure the cease-fire holds, that gaza thategin to rebuild, and some measures are taken so that gaza feel some sense of hope and the people of

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