Youre on. Caller great points. I think part of the problem is were used to going short wars. We get in, get out, and surprising or not we get peace with the countries we were warring with five years ago. Amazing. Not too many nations have that record. We have our hands in the tar baby, a thousand or two thousand year war which is completely different than the wars we get into usually. The other problem we have is after, with korea vietnam, we had two countries with changes in equation completely. Before, war was fought to the end. Who was bigger, badder. Now we have a different we cant just pull our big weapons out and solve it. The other thing is, it was a gift because we can use it for peace, a lot of peace that can come from it. And the good gift from world war ii which i hate to even say it was that people realized the world could be screwy. They knew it was going to be screwy they raised their families and said were going to do what we can do to keep the world right. Guest i think rich is exactly right in terms of the paradigm that weve been using. From about 1989, maybe the first gulf war panama was another example. We had this short war paradigm. First off, the paradigm wasnt about war. It was about battles. The battle for panama lasted pretty quickly. The battle for kuwait lasted pretty quickly. We didnt really wage any wars. We fought really good battles. That paradigm cannot apply to this yet we tried. We tried in afghanistan. We thought well get rid of the taliban and then hand off the tough part to nato. And in iraq well take down sad am and well hand off to i dont know. So part of the learning that should have been taking place from 2002 and 2003 and 2004 on is that our paradigm for short wars is the incorrected paradigm. Our leaders had talked about this in 2003 2004, we werent listening. This war you have to fight the war that youre in. Not the one that you want. We all like short wars. Host don from oak ridge nuge. Caller good morning. I have a comment regarding saub. Why arent the saudis willing to fight . And i mean by putting mab power. I think you would agree they have more at stake than this country does than america does. And its well known that they have one of the strongest or at least that they have invested more in military power than most other countries in the world. Is it possible that they are playing both ends genls the middle in this situation . Guest well, if they were, they arent the only ones. Iran is playing both ends against the middle the claim that iran is pumping money into a taliban. Now theres both ends against the middle. I think saudi arabia should do more. But from my view, its a matter of structuring an actual coalition. And saudi arabia should be a big member of that coalition. So far we have treated coalitions what some have called posses. An American Sheriff rides up and says who is with me . A bunch of countries say i will g with you and ride off following the American Sheriff. Thats not a coalition. A coalition decides what its common aims, strategies, policies. How will we as a coalition make decision as the war adapts . Wreff yet to structure a coalition like that. When we do, i think we might see Saudi Arabia Join and make a commitment because they will conclude that we are serious. If you remember in the beginning of the iraq war the saudis said to the said to us, look, dont do this unless youre into it. Well, were going to be into it. Well we left. So the saudis have to come along with this and we have to be part of this coalition as well. Guest general, a senior fellow at the institute of war. You can check out more on his on the next washington journal, reaction to Hillary Clintons campaign announcement. And Heather Conley talks about president obamas meeting last week and whether the sanctions against russia are working. As always, we will take your calls and you can join the conversation on facebook and twitter as well. 7 00 a. M. Eastern on cspan. Tomorrow coverage of commencement speeches continues with Governor Greg Abbott at north texas university. Eric swalwell of california and u. S. Attorney preet bharara. Here is Governor Abbott talking about the uncertainty he faced as a young man after in left him paralyzed. Governor abbott i dont have a clue who spoke at my graduation ceremony. I seem to recall some cliched advice about how the future was going to be filled with challenges. Little did i know how prophetic the speaker was because little did i know as i walked across the stage that day to get my diploma, that picture would be the last picture of me walking. After graduating, i moved to houston where i took a job. After a few weeks of living, i went out for a jog. A huge tree crashed onto my back , crushing my vertebrae into my spinal cord and leaving me forever paralyzed, unable to walk again. I see some of you shaking your heads. You are wondering how slow was he jogging to get hit by a falling tree . [laughter] during months of rehabilitation, i realized the future i had planned in college and law school, all of the dreams i had worked for and took for granted work on an instant were gone in an instant. Everything had changed. But i found after that, and going on and piecing my life together, becoming a lawyer, becoming a judge and an attorney general and now governor i realize our lives dont have to be defined by our circumstances. [applause] watch cspans coverage of commencement speeches tomorrow at 7 p. M. Eastern on cspan. Next, the Senate Confirmation hearing for administrator of the transportation Security Administration. An education under secretary ted mitchell and Lamarr Alexander on the cost of higher education. After that, Hillary Clinton opens her campaign with a rally in new york city. Wednesday, the vice admiral testified on his nomination to become the head of the transportation Security Administration. He currently serves as the vice commandant of the coast guard. This is one hour 20 minutes. This hearing will come to order. We welcome the admiral and we appreciate your willingness to serve considering your nomination for the position to Security Administration we had an interesting hearing yesterday and i thank you come into this position understanding you have significant challenges ahead of you and we are looking forward to the hearing today. Were looking forward to your oral testimony and answers to our questions. I will hold off on further comments. We will also consider the Postal Service. Another agency which will require a lot of the box thinking so i just want to thank both nominees for your willingness to serve in that i turn it over to the Ranking Member. Thank you for your service , 34 years. You have anybody with your family here today . Ok. Some brief comments thank you for joining us yesterday also in take the measure of a man, as we say in delaware. As we have learned from press reports as well as numerous briefings yesterday, the tsa faces serious challenges. The president has nominated in you, admiral, someone who can provide tsa with the kind of leader that we need. We know in the coast guard, you have served since 1982. Throughout your career in the coast guard, you have displayed leadership skills and the ability to confront problems head on. He served as the commander over the deepwater horizon spill. As inspector john roth said to this committee, he said tsa needs people can face the challenges facing this agency and someone who will strive for perfection, and while addressing the competing priorities of security. We want to make sure we are flying planes that are safe, and we want to make sure we can expedite their movement through checkpoints. Often times they are in conflict, so it is not an easy job. We are grateful for the people who do this work and want to make sure they are meeting their challenges and that we are providing the support and leadership they need. I have the opportunity to meet with admiral neffenger recently. I came away confident he is the right person for the job. Following our discussion, we will consider david schapiro, here on the front row. To serve as government on the board of governors. It is a challenging time for the Postal Service. As Albert Einstein said, adversity provides opportunity. A lot of opportunity it employs millions of people and even as firstclass mail is lost to other forms of communication the future is more promising than some would believe. Advertising mail is a popular option for millions, thousands of mailers millions of people like to receive their magazines in the mail every week. They like to have a printed copy. Not just the stuff on the internet. Ecommerce is booming, making the post office a vital partner. Even competitors rely on it because they go to Rural Communities around the country fedex and ups dont always go the last five or 10 miles. The Postal Service is happy to do that. I look forward to talking to mr. Schapiro about what you think needs to be done in order to address the ongoing challenges and the skills and experiences he will bring to the board. As the leader of a 10 billion company with 40,000 employees, mr. Schapiro will bring day unique business perspective that is needed and welcomed. If confirmed, he and other nominees would double the size of the board and we need that. I see an opportunity to make progress toward strengthening the Postal Service. I want to thank both of our nominees admiral, and hopefully we will be able to call him governor schapiro. Thank you and we look forward to hearing from you. Thanks so much. Admiral, it is the tradition to swear witnesses in. Please rise and read your hand. Do you swear the testimony will be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth . Please be seated. Vice admiral Peter Neffenger has held various leadership positions. He served as the commander in los angeles, california, home to the largest port complex in the u. S. And he served as the common where he was responsible for operation throughout the five great lakes and secured 1500 miles of the border. He served as deputy instant commander during the 2010 Deepwater Horizon Oil spill. Admiral. Vice admiral neffenger i have submitted my statement. Good morning distinguished members of the committee, im privileged to appear before you today is the nominee to head to the Security Administration. Im honored by the call to service and be by the support of our department. I would like to thank the 50,000 men and women of the coast guard and the 30 thousand members of the auxiliary with whom ive served more than three decades and from whom ive learned lessons about service to the nation, commitment and duty to people and to the men and women of tsa, im honored to join your ranks and to serve along with you and the American People in securing our transportation systems. I have confidence in them and i will be honored to lead them. As tsa pursues solutions, there are several concepts that must be addressed. Tsa must ensure the measures are in place to drive a focus on the mission across the Agency Securing aviation. There must be a culture of evolution, when the questions assumptions and processes and is able to field new concepts of operations and new capabilities. Delivering an effective system will come through confidence, professionalism. It confirmed, i will pursue these objectives, to address the challenges and accomplish the Important Mission entrusted to tsa. Striking a balance between security and liberty is critical. I will take on this challenge with the Leadership Perspective that has been at the core of my leadership. Clear standards of Performance Training and resourcing to achieve success and a relentless pursuit of accountability. In my 34 years of active service, i have been assigned to a variety of positions culminating in my current can position in the coast guard. Each has brought more complex responsibilities and challenges and i will apply the skills i have gained and my experience in lawenforcement, Maritime Transportation and management of agencies to ensure the protection of our nations transportation systems. 14 years after 9 11, we must recognize the terrorist threat has evolved. Today it is more diffuse and complex. Certain groups remain intent on destroying in the United States and we know some of these groups are focused on commercial aviation. We have seen a threat from loan will factors. They are our most pressing challenge. Workforce training and accountability is the second challenge. I will pay close attention to the development of the workforce and examine how to use the tsa academy to instill an ever greater sense of pride in the agency and its mission. I will continue to focus on customer service. They deserve respect. The third challenge is ensuring tsa has the tools it needs. We must question ourselves evolve our capabilities and adapt faster than those who wish to harm us and the vision what comes next. If confirmed, i will commit myself to ensuring tsa remains a highly capable counterterrorism organization. The operations while placing a premium on professional values. And that tsa continues to strengthen its integration in intelligence with the private sector stakeholders, and among local partners. If confirmed, i will follow this strategy and adapt and invest appropriately. I believe i have a record of leading people i have a background in applying security principles to maritime threats principles that translate to other modes and i have a record of leading through crises. Finally i have remained aware of the need for balancing security with the liberties we cherish. If confirmed this will remain a top priority. I look forward to partnering with this committee to enhance the safety of the traveling public and achieve this balance. I think president obama for their confidence and thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today. Before i begin, it is the tradition of this committee to ask all nominees three questions. I will start with those. Is there anything you are aware of in your background that might present a conflict of interest . Do you know of anything that would prevent you from discharging the responsibilities of the office . Do you agree to comply with any request to testify before any committee of congress . Admiral, the hearing we had yesterday was reviewing. One of the things in my preparation for my hearing and during the hearing that was stark is the dual mission of tsa. On the one hand you have the need for efficiency that we move through the test zone, so the public is not impatient. And we are looking for 100 security. Can you speak to the conflicting nature of those goals and how you would evaluate priorities . Vice admiral neffenger i would be happy to speak to that. The priority is always the mission. I have never lost sight of the fact it is about the safety and security of the people using Maritime Transportation. You still need to move goods and services through the systems. Aviation is no different. It is critical the move people efficiently. It is a balancing act between getting those right. If you focus on security, if you are transparent with the need for that security, a Security System creates inefficiency. We know that. The port environment was important to that. Before 9 11, the portes were wide open. You needed to move a lot of stuff, containers, cargo, the like. There is a lot of Access Points because you wanted to get trucks and rail and other services in and out. After 9 11, and we started to look at the attempts to sure that up, it was a challenge to do that without clogging up the system. You work with your private sector partners. They had a lot of good ideas. I think we can benefit from those ideas. It is no different in the aviation sector. There may be some need to introduce a few inefficiencies to address some of these recent findings. You have to do that very carefully with the airport. The people who are running the airlines. The people who operate the airport environment and the traveling public to explain why and then in the long term, you have to think about what the Security System looks like. It is going to take outofthebox thinking, what would the Security System look like if we designed it for tomorrow . It will always be a balance, but i dont think it is impossible. Or you surprised by the revelation that said there is a 90 failure rate to detect metal weapons and fake explosives . Vice admiral neffenger yes, sir. And it disturbs me. It is the immediate priority to address those findings to close those gaps. And then to look systemically at what the issues are that brought that fourth. You acknowledge that reality. Let me say there is some deterrent effect for those checkpoints, but do you acknowledge the fact it is not working . Vice admiral neffenger if i can talk in terms of how i view the Security System. It is a system. If i think about entering that system, from the moment i put my name into a reservation system, i want to know i am looked at in some way. Some of that is behind the scenes. I want my name scrutinized and i want to ensure the people who are doing that have access to the intelligence they need. I know some questions have been raised. I want that to be continuous and from the time i put my name into that system, i want to be looked at. I want things happening behind the scenes. I want other things as well. There are other ways you can scrutinize an individual. I want to know about the travelers moving through. Im a fan of known travelers programs. Im a member myself. I did that for a good reason so to move myself through the system and to participate in the system. Following that when i get to the airport, i like to know there are a number of things that might happen. If im a bad guy, i dont want to see a path through. I