 The Institute was created in 2008 for all the right reasons. We wanted to signal to this Asia that we appreciated the relationships, we appreciated their history and importance in many different areas. But we didn't always know as much as we needed to know. And so this was going to be our way of learning more about cultures, about language, about politics, about economics in one of the most important reasons of the world. In 2009 our good friend Richard Liu, an international businessman from Hong Kong made a contribution of $2 million to the East Asia Institute. And it was then that we expanded our commitment, able to bring more scholars, have more lectures and basically provide students with opportunity also to travel to Asia, in East Asia, given us broader connections. Many Chinese students in one program came here as a consequence. Many of our faculty have been to Japan as a consequence. Today the East Asia Institute offers, as here today, lectures, seminars, conferences, film festivals, all kinds. We actually had a very good, interesting, exciting visual art exhibition as well. We host scholars and friends from different parts of East Asia, notably China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Korea. But from many of the different countries. I would like to take a moment here to recognize some of the individuals who have joined us here. Dr. Wang Xiang Yao is the director of the East Asia Initiative here. Go-to person. If you want to go somewhere, you want to expand, you want to know what fellowships are available, here's the go-to person. Dr. Mimi Yu, associate director of the East Asia Initiative. A go-to person, one of the most knowledgeable individuals of this region and travels and actually will be representing UTSA on my behalf this summer. Jamal? Two groups going to Japan. Two groups going to Japan. We just had a chance of setting a go-to meet the Council General Tatsuro Amano from who is Council General of Japan and the office is right here in Houston. The presentation. And I'm going to go easy here because his name is... It's Joaki Nozaki. Dr. Nozaki Nozaki is here. He is from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Sciences and came from Washington, D.C. From Princeton, here today, Dr. Ishio Karoji. Karoji. And they are also here with us, Dr. Saturo Yamasa. So we are honored to have such distinguished guests. And I know that also just I don't have to list a little bit of folks, but I know that we do have a good group of individuals from the city of San Antonio. Beard County and World Affairs Council. Plant Manager of... Ishio, Texas Incorporated from the Japanese American Society of San Antonio. And of course they're very, very special guests. The person is my wife. Dr. Herod. And most importantly, you're here. And you're here because you're curious about the world. You know that other parts of the world play a significant role in our own development. And one day some of you hope to either be in Japan or maybe you'll be in Washington to visit a group. And by the way, if you go to Washington, we have no better, more brilliant politician here than Joaquin Castro. Honestly, honesty will save us. I can't tell you how lucky I am to have him there, as our rep is also a friend of ours. But we've known him for quite a long time. So rather than read Joaquin, I'll give you three things. I'll look at you, we'll be tested at the end of the day. Good things are about him. First of all, when he was a state rep in Austin, Texas, he served as the vice chair for higher education. And there's a very important position, and at the time he co-authored and introduced and passed a bill that was the pathway for emerging institutions. The term 2-1 really took off because of his efforts. And so in 2009, they passed House Bill 51, officially designated DTSA's Emerging Research Institution in 2009, the London Times had never heard of us. Yesterday, I received verification of the new postings of the London Times, so the best universities in the world. Keep in mind that they only rank 17,000 universities. And other 17,000 universities in the world were in the top 400 in the world, which puts this at what percent that is, but it's actually, we're in a very, very great position. And if you get to Google that all the way, just put World University Rankings times World University Rankings, and you'll see who we are now competing with and better than. But we're now in the top five public institutions in the state of Texas. Back then, we were not even in the top 10. So we're moving in the right direction thanks to something new began. And as a consequence, having a lot of matching money from the state came along. So thank you for that. I think in terms of a concept and idea that makes you think, is this idea of building the infrastructure of opportunity? It is so well said, it says so many things. And what it really means is that it does care that the future of UTSA and all the institutions here, that there's a place for our citizens, our communities, and individuals whether they come from the low income blue collar group or wherever they come from, that they'll find here in Texas and places like our education, they'll welcome that. And then we extend to them, as a consequence of them being here, they will be better, more skilled, and have better shots at terrific kinds of opportunities in the future whether it's to work or whether it's a passion that they follow. The third point being that, while in Congress, and he is called upon by a lot of people, we may not see the passages of massive numbers of bills, but no one is busier in D.C. because he is a rational voice. And if you've not had a chance to see him on CNN or MSNBC, where they say, well, okay, we got all these crazy ideas and the congressman just sort of settle down, this is the way the world works. And it's just refreshing really to see someone with such a rational voice with a can do attitude and the feeling is, I'm with you, we don't make America a great society and it's already a great society now and we can move it. We can move it up all the time. But doing it in a way without just sort of staring and for that, I'm really grateful and for that, since you already know the three points well, we're ready to welcome our congressman, Gastro. Well, thank you Dr. Romo and I want to say, first of all, how amazing it is to be here and thank you to all the students and faculty members and other folks who've come today. You have such an incredible president. I was asking him on his way up here. I was not sure whether it was his 16th or his 17th year but it's his 16th year and you have done tremendous things with this university and I believe that in the very near future it will be recognized as the tier one university here in San Antonio. Thank you for all of your work. Thank you also to Albert Garisales and Mimi Yu who helped organize this and coordinate all the logistics. I know how much hard work goes into all of it so I want to say thank you all. To the Council General, Council General Romano, thank you for coming from Houston and all of the work you're doing. He just got installed in December and this is his third visit to San Antonio. So welcome and to our distinguished scientists and other guests, thank you for your presence here today. Well, I am Joaquin Gastro and I represent part of our city, about half of our city in the United States Congress in the House of Representatives and I am in my second term. I served before that for 10 years in the state legislature. So if there's anybody here who's wondering, I'm not the former mayor of San Antonio. That was my twin brother. My brother and I, although we're very much, we look very much alike, I used to tell people that there were basically two ways to tell us apart. There's a quick way and an easy way and the quick way for many years is that my brother was married and I wasn't. So if you could look real quick you could see on our ring finger that he was, Lleon was a married one and I was a bachelor. But believe it or not, a few years ago I actually convinced somebody to marry me. And my wife Anna is from the valley originally and graduated from UT Pan Am down there, now UTRGV. And we have two beautiful kids, Andrea Elena, who's about two years old and our son, Roman Victor, who's eight weeks old. And so now the only way to tell Lleon and I apart is that I'm a lot better looking than her. I'm just kidding. It is an honor to serve our city and one of the best jobs that I have up there is being co-chair of the US Japan caucus in the House of Representatives. I co-chair that with a Republican who's Congressman Reichard from Washington State now. The Republican co-chairs changed a few times as the Republicans have gotten promotions and moved on to different things in their own caucus. But it has been a fascinating work that we've been able to undertake. And let me tell you a little bit about how it got started. So about two and a half or three years ago now a group of folks approached us and asked whether we'd be interested in starting this caucus. And you might wonder why would somebody who is a Mexican American from San Antonio have an interest in starting the US Japan caucus? Particularly among the many folks in Congress who could have done that. Well, I want to tell you a little story that many of us are familiar with, but perhaps some aren't. And that's the story of how one Japanese company in Toyota, I believe, has transformed our city. In 2003, Toyota Manufacturing Corporation made the decision to locate its sixth North American manufacturing plant right here in San Antonio. Now, you might think that many businesses come and go from a city decide to locate in places like San Antonio or Dallas or Austin or somewhere else. What's so special about that? The way Toyota relocated to San Antonio created a model that I had never seen before. And I don't know that I've seen since at least here in San Antonio. First of all, when they decided to come to our city they didn't pick the busiest part of the city. They didn't locate out on 1604. Not that there's anything wrong with that. We're sitting here now. But they chose the south side of San Antonio where there wasn't much development. Where you could drive at the time in 2003 if you drove on 1604, even by then you saw a lot of development in San Antonio and Barrick County on the north side. If you drove it on the south side you would still see long fields and pastures and livestock. There's a different picture of those two places in San Antonio. So Toyota picked a place that needed a shot in the arm in our city. And it got it. It developed along with several other suppliers a company and companies that now employ about close to 6,000 people in San Antonio. That's the other part of the story. When Toyota decided to come here they didn't say we're going to pull a bunch of people who are going to come from other states and other places and they're all going to relocate to your city and you'll have 6,000 new jobs and 6,000 new residents. What they said was we're going to hire local people from San Antonio and we're going to go even further. And this is the part that was truly remarkable to me. They said we're going to pick people who are in business in your city and we're going to partner with them to make sure that they are park owners in the supply chain. They're really in business and in company relocations that truly is remarkable. And I think they created a blueprint and a model for what other companies should consider doing when they relocate to communities. And so I mean that to say that if there's anybody here from Toyota and I always praise them but certainly folks who represent Japanese businesses that this city is eternally grateful for Toyota's presence in our project. And so I was very interested for that reason by itself because I watched them transform the south side and be a shot in the arm for economic development for our city. Now you can imagine that that's one story that I'm sharing of one Japanese company. That story is replicated in different parts of the United States with Republicans and Democrats on the east and west coast and in the Midwestern states. And so our caucus is made up of people of both parties many of whom have strong Japanese companies that employ many people in their districts others who may have cultural affinities particularly in areas where you have heavy Japanese American presence many of those tend to be in places like the west coast in Hawaii but also in our cities like Houston, Texas and so for many reasons we have a lot of members who stepped up to join our caucus and it's been wonderful. Basically the equivalent of the US House of Representatives or the US Congress is known as the Japanese Diet so essentially their members of parliament have come over and we've received them members of the diet from all parties to talk about building and strengthening the relationship between the United States and Japan. So this caucus has allowed us to do great things. In August a few of us went and visited with Prime Minister Abe we also visited with Caroline Kennedy Ambassador to Japan who really is, of course she's a daughter of former President Kennedy really is a gem for our country and is working very hard in representing our nation well in Tokyo. We also sat with members of the Foreign Ministry and the Defense Ministry this was at a time and I'll talk about it in a little bit when Japan was going through a very controversial debate in the country about their affirmative defense legislation or their peace and security legislation as it's known there. That was a very contentious debate within the diet Prime Minister Abe expended a lot of political capital to pass that legislation to make sure that it got done and so we were able to play a role and let them know the legislators in Japan know that the United States considers Japan our most trusted and special ally in the Pacific region and so that's been very important to open up that dialogue between lawmakers in both countries and let me tell you as I describe that relationship what exactly is at stake now and I want us to think about the last two, the last one or two years, the last two years really in the history of our country and in the history of the world and I want you to put this in the context of the politics that are dominating our nation's discussion now so let's think about the Middle East for a second and the ongoing conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians you think about the fact that terrorism now between affiliates of ISIS and al-Qaeda is franchised across the Middle East and North Africa and increasingly in other parts of the world you think about Boko Haram and all of the horror and tragedy that is ravaged in Africa, countries in Africa you think about what's happened closer to our own country the Central American women and children from the Northern Triangle countries who arrived here tens of thousands in the last two years many of them fleeing desperation just about all of them fleeing desperation and destitution and gang violence in their home countries you think about the fact that the war in Syria specifically has created the largest migration in Europe since World War II and how all of the countries there in the European Union have been addressing that and dealing with it and trying to accommodate the migrants who have arrived in their nations you think about other conflicts like the conflict between Russia and its invasion of the Ukraine the conflict between Russia and Turkey and the jet that was shot down you also think about the peace processes that are going on of course the ongoing peace process between the Israelis and the Palestinians but also the Iran nuclear deal and also the re-establishment of diplomatic relations with Cuba and the President's visit just last week to a nation that no US President had visited for 90 years and the significance of the re-establishment of those diplomatic ties so you think of all of those things that are occurring in this world which has been tumultuous quite honestly for the last few years and think about what is at stake for America and this generation and for the generations to come there are many people in this room who are more senior to me and have seen much more and there are also many people here who represent a generation of Americans that will be here for 50, for 60 and hopefully for you all 70 years or more you'll have very long lives and will see a lot this is a world that demands American leadership and it's also a world that demands American leadership with strong allies and that's why our alliance with Japan is especially important the one region in the world as I went through those things that I didn't mention is the Asian region specifically in East Asia you think about the countries in East Asia and the economic power the economic footprint that they have around the world China for example is the second largest economy in the world behind our all Japan is right behind it at number three South Korea is at number 14 and these continue to grow so the economic impact of these countries is just incredible they are also all of them important trading partners to us and important trading partners to places like Europe and the European Union and so as we think about what's going on in Asia and we think about also the tensions there you know a few years ago you guys probably heard that the president talked about a rebalancing a pivot to Asia as he called it and some people wondered well what does the president mean by that does it mean that you're going to talk about these nations more and visit them more that you're trying to do more trade with them that you're concerned about security legislation and security issues and quite honestly it means all of those things and I think in the intervening years we've seen the president back up his words by recommitting the United States engagement in the Asia Pacific region and in East Asia in particular there was today a very harrowing story I don't know if some of you caught it about the last few years in the aggressiveness of China in the south and east China seas and how recently two ships a Chinese ship and an American ship were experiencing tense moments because American ships in allegiance to our allies in the region have been traversing the seas there to make sure that that commercial passageway which is so important to commercial trade throughout the world is a place where all of those nations feel free for their vessels to traverse so that they can carry out their commercial trade and their business but China has gotten much more aggressive in the Senkaku islands and the Spratly Islands in the seven islands in this region also in the south China sea and so there is this tension that has developed over the last several years between the military tension between the United States and China and we have to make sure that the United States remains a leader in that region that we reaffirm our relationship with South Korea and with Japan so that it is clear China again is a very important training partner to us has been helpful in accomplishing certain things that we wanted to do around the world with the Iran nuclear deal for example they went along with the U.N. which is helpful sanctions for North Korea again China has been more recently helpful so we want to make sure that we have a good relationship with China but we also want to make sure that the waters around Asia are as they have been and should be which are waters that are free for each of those nations to traverse but that has created some tension so as I talk about the importance of this relationship and three particular things I want you guys to think about that context and what it means for the United States the challenges for the United States and also the challenges for the region a region that is only growing and will continue to grow in importance for the world so when I visited Japan in August and met with Prime Minister Abe our delegation met with Prime Minister Abe there were really three pieces three issues that we addressed most we spend most of our time on the first one was security legislation because as I mentioned the security legislation was being debated at the time and it was very contentious since World War II the 70 years since Japan has essentially been a pacifist nation it's in the constitution so any changes to that are obviously incredibly controversial very hotly debated there were meetings and pulled up to the Foreign Ministry there were folks and we went by the diet there were folks that were protesting there were Japanese that were out on the street showing their disapproval of it there were also folks who obviously supported it and enthusiastically but what it has meant for them is a slight change in posture to me and what I conveyed to them is that the change in legislation the president supports it and our caucus supports it is a way to make sure that Japan is not jumping into every fight that's not the intention of the legislation but given China's aggressiveness and other realities in the region it's also a way to make sure that Japan is prepared for whatever comes for any nation the balance should be to never be trigger happy or anxious to jump into war or engage others in a hostile way but on the other hand you also want to be a nation that is prepared for anything and that legislation represents a way for Japan to be prepared and so we conveyed to Prime Minister Abe and to the diet members that we were supportive of it and we're glad that it passed and the second issue that we spoke about is energy Japan has had very high energy costs in the last several years in the United States we have been very fortunate except obviously recently with the decrease in gas prices and the decrease in oil prices but as you all know for several years because of the Eagle Fort Shale in this region we have been pumping out a lot of oil and a lot of natural gas well right now a lot of our allies around the world including Japan are paying, number one they're paying high prices for this energy but also a lot of folks are getting their energy from countries that are quite hostile in many ways in the United States and sometimes even quite hostile to the very countries who are purchasing that energy the best example of that is probably Russia and the Ukraine even after this conflict between Russia and Ukraine over the last few years the Ukraine is still receiving a lot of its energy resources dependent upon Russia for its energy resources the same thing with Germany Germany was receiving about 30% of its energy from Russia so you might ask well what's the importance of that well I'll tell you why it matters because when you try to get a coalition together to impose sanctions on a country in this case Russia the more engagements and relationships and entanglements that they have that are pecuniary and financial the tougher it is for our allies to stand with us when we want to take action against a country like Russia who invaded the Ukraine and so it's important where we can I believe to be able to supply energy to our allies like Japan and Germany and other countries around the world so I was one of the Democrats in the Congress that supported expediting our liquefied natural gas our LNG exports and much of that work is done here in San Antonio and in South Texas and if we can do that then we can create a situation where Japan and our allies are hopefully receiving their energy at a cheaper price but also are in a place where they can stand up when countries violate other countries when countries violate the sanctity of sovereign borders and so that legislation and the legislation on security and the legislation on energy are incredibly important and also the third issue that we talked about is economic development you know between the United States and Japan has come a long way you think about its development since World War II these were two nations who once upon a time obviously were at war with each other but for 70 years now it developed into becoming the very best of friends but let me take you back to those of you that lived through the 1980s you remember the 1980s the 1980s the country was very fearful of Japan Japan's economy was very much on the rise you know in the United States there was fear of Japan buying up assets in the United States and there was this there was sadly a kind of anti-Japanese sentiment in the country and that has changed incredibly thankfully and so part of the big reason that's changed is because there's been massive investment both from the United States in Japan Japanese companies investing here in the United States and you think about it as I mentioned earlier we have the first and third largest economies in the world we are each other's top three trading partners within the world and so there's incredible good that we can do together I see all of that continuing I see the coming years that relationship and that prosperity for each of our nations continuing you know more recently in the Congress the TPP legislation was considered depending on what happens that may or may not come to pass but whether it passes the Congress or not this relationship, the fundamental basis for it is larger than one trade agreement however important that may be and so to those of you that are studying the US-Japan relationship those of you that are going to engage with the US-Japan relationship I hope that you will be a generation of Americans who continues to build it who continues to take it to new heights because that relationship is only going to grow in importance and I think it can continue to grow in prosperity and then finally I want to say you know thank you to UTSA and specifically the East Asia Institute with regard to your engagement on Japan issues you know so much of so much of the so many of the think tanks and so much of the thought on this relationship for lack of a better word tends to come out of the two coasts the East and the West coast and UTSA and San Antonio and Texas make a strong statement by the formation and the presence and the scholarship of the East Asia Institute President I want to thank you for all of that and for that work absolutely and I think it also will go a long way this relationship and the coordination with the University of Tokyo will go a long way in making sure that UTSA is recognized for its scholarship and also will go a long way in moving us even closer to Tier 1 status and that will be something that will be great for everybody here in the city so thank you all very much and I hope that you guys will do everything that you can to build the U.S.-Japan relationship thank you we have our Council General from Houston who is presenting and he will offer a few remarks and then we will have a few remarks Council General please the honorable congressman Dr. Richard Rumeau present for UTSA DC's guest ladies and gentlemen good afternoon I'm very excited and honored to please be here to witness the esteemed congressman's lecture now and to be present at such a very prestigious school as the University of Texas Antonio I am incredibly grateful being here to witness congressman Castro's precious and splendid remarks on the future of the current and the future of U.S. relationship congressman Castro has been a great friend to Japan's relationship with the United States and so taking this opportunity again that I'd like to accept my sincere appreciation on his all the support thank you so much by the way I arrived in Texas just December 22nd last year I passed almost three months but I'm so lucky and happy to repeat during such a short period I repeated the three times here because I feel strong bondage between me and the San Antonio I think so too San Antonio has had strong and deep relationship with Japan for many years San Antonio shares a long standing sister city relationship for example with Kyoto, Japan there is also the presence of many Japanese business here represented by Toyota also and also both small and large such as Toyota's manufacturing plant we get the time also to be visited by Toyota's manufacturing I'm amazing I've never seen such a big comparison and also most advanced of the technology here I'm so happy to see that such a big Japanese technology here to contribute the good economic relation between Japan and the United States and also the city possesses deep cultural and speech of ties with Japan as represented by the Japanese monument to Aramo heroes co-memorated there on the Centennial anniversary in the 2014 Japan and San Antonio also share the active exchange of the Japanese people and Americans who are committed to maintaining this international connection in fact the appearance of all of you here today is further proof of San Antonio is a pivotal partner with Japan so I do not think it is too much to say that San Antonio is indeed a key place in strengthening the future Japan and United States relationship in addition to the excellent such a relationship Japan as a wizard city of San Antonio both economically and culturally I deeply believe Japan has a robust future in Texas such to growing activities and vital fields Ladies and gentlemen as you will know the alliance with the United States just a congressman Castle already said the alliance of the United States is the most important axis of foreign policy for Japan but it is indispensable not only for reinforcing Japanese security but also for ensuring Japanese economic growth which our Prime Minister said that a better mix he is a very peculiar between policy as we are tackling to steadily divide additionally I am sure that our bilateral relations are of great interest and profit to the United States as well so in such a current situation I will try my best to continue to appeal the importance of Japanese presence for this country and simultaneously promote the attractiveness of this country especially Texas to Japan because I am sure that it is not too much to say that it is most useful not only for prosperity of both countries but also for prosperity of the world to enhance the bilateral national interest between Japan and the United States Furthermore 2015 last year was the 17th anniversary of the end of the World War II on this anniversary Japan has reiterated its determination not only work the partial pathism but also to contribute positively to the peace of the world as a part of this last September the Japanese direct admitted a bill for the registration development of the registration for Japan security that is a newer security issue as the Honorable Secretary has already presented to you thank you very much and also through such efforts Japan will contribute to the prosperity and peace of the world in close cooperation with the United States following this example I would like to contribute the cooperation between our two countries as much as possible in my position of Consul General of Japan and this takes us lastly but at least in conclusion I'm very happy to share my insight with all of you and again I greatly appreciate being granted this precious opportunity to speak to you following the congressman's lecture on the future of bilateral relationships thank you very much for your attention thank you Consul General Mano we would like to welcome you back to the podium because we have a few minutes for three questions we understand that Japan and the US share a lot of values in terms of democracy promoting human rights and a lot of other issues so it's great to have both Japan and the US as a great ally yes and if I could add to that real quick, you're right a commitment, a shared commitment to democracy and in Japan we have found a partner around the world who is committed to patrolling human rights abuses and also to combating terrorism they've been very helpful in those endeavors so first question quick Congressman I want to hear from General Consul as well what is the position of your caucus upon the reactivation of Japanese nuclear power plants and as I said if there's time I'd like to get General Consul's statement on the official position of the Japanese government of course the tragedy a few years ago has forced you to add into different sources of energy and that's when I spoke about supplying natural gas the United States situation is one where we have as a president as described in all of the above situation and of course I can't speak for the Japanese government and how they'll proceed I know that one or more of the plants has been reopened in their intervening years and I would suspect that that continues but again that's the country's decision we want to be a nation that is supplying them what they need it that's affordable and energy that's coming from an allied source rather than sources that we consider more costly okay second question okay right here you're the winner thank you very much I'm representing the Japan society for the normal science so my job is to promote the Japanese partnership in science and technology so how can I help you for your vision my question is how the science and technology cooperation can be well first please spend more time at UTSA with these wonderful folks of course there's a wonderful cooperation between NASA and Japan that's going on right now but I guess my request to you and let me preface this by saying that one of the wonderful things in this role has been seeing the strong support societies that exist in helping to build these are civil society not just government obviously I'm part of the government the council general he's part of the Japanese government but just volunteer civilians who are getting together to help strengthen the relationship so my plea to you would be when you can to come to places like this and get to know the incredible minds who are here, who are sometimes hidden gems and not always celebrated, sometimes tucked away and sometimes not sometimes celebrated but there are incredible resources here and incredible partnerships to be made at places like UTSA so most of all thank you for being here that means it's going to be a hard question my name is Andrew Hubbard I serve as the student body president here at UTSA I have all the students as well as a student who is increasingly interested in this lecture may have been a catalyst to increase interest in visiting Japan or being more active into the relationship between this hemisphere and the other what are some next steps for us as students to partake in to become more active and to become more of a participant in these new increasing opportunities if that is your interest and I would say please get a hold of my office and the caucus and we can put you in touch with the different civil societies the support societies here in the United States and there are active chapters here in Texas there are exchange programs that send students, American students to Tokyo and other places in Japan so that they can study there, get to know the country build a relationship, foster a relationship last week I was in Washington and ambassadors aside was hosting I guess about must have been about a dozen students who were going to be going on who were leaving the next morning actually for Tokyo and so that's just one example of the Japanese effort to engage American students and it's important to engage American students and more than it is sometimes even people my age I'm 41 because you all really are both on the cutting edge of scholarship today and also represent a generation that will be around for much longer so you're going to be the ones who will resolve conflicts in the world you'll be the ones that deal with conflicts in the world you'll be the American electorate how engaged the United States is with other nations or how much we pull back but the relationship with Japan I hope that all of us over the years will help sustain it and build it because it's one of the best we have around the world but please reach out to me and I'll be glad to help I have to admit that I don't I'm not a traditional Japanese wishing doll so what you need to do is to decide on a specific goal you are determined to achieve and we hope it's going to be US, Japan congressional caucus initiatives we're not going to intrude privacy and ask you what it is we'll give you 30 seconds to think about it I'll say US Japan because we have about 70 members now we want to grow it to about 100 so that's my goal I'm going to hand one of those double-eyed blank eyes either eye is fine to signify your commitment to achieve either one eye just like this one just like that one now Thursday you need to put somewhere visible in your home or your office I think the house floor will be a great place for you I'll put it on my desk on the house floor we actually don't have desks so you can focus on retrieving your goal and step forward once you achieve your goal please draw another eye thank you this is truly one of the most informative genuine local lectures that we've had the ability to have so let's give our congressman a really big hand UTSA thank you