announcer: the senate armed services committee holds a hearing to review recommendations from the commission on national defense strategy. it goes from 9:30 a.m. on c-span3 you can also watch online at c-span.org or listen on the radio at. later in the day, from on senator bernie sanders talks about his new book, "where we go from here," about the progressive movement and its future. that is live at 7:00 p.m. eastern on c-span2. announcer: when the new congress starts in january, there will be more than 100 new house and senate members. the democrats will control the house. the republicans, the senate. new congress, new leaders.

watch the process unfold on c-span. announcer: over the weekend, the european union unanimously approved a plan that would allow the u.k. to leave the eu by march of next year. the presidents of the european council and european commission spoke to the media shortly after the vote, alongside the eu's chief brexit negotiator. from brussels, this is about 15 minutes. >> thank you. today, the european council on the agreement for the withdrawal of the united kingdom of great britain and northern ireland from the european union and the community. the european council and the

commission, the european parliament, and the council took the necessary steps to ensure that the agreement can happen on march 30, 2019, to provide for an orderly withdrawal. the european council approved the political declarations with the framework for the relationship between the european union and the united kingdom of great britain and northern ireland. the european council respected the determination to have as close as possible a partnership with the united kingdom in the future. i quote this passage of today's conclusions, and it contains the essence of our meeting. after a difficult process of ratification as well as further negotiations, but regardless of how it will all and, one thing is certain. we will remain friends until the end.

the day on which we have set aside the results that have been obtained, but it is a very sad day to see a country like the u.k., in the same would apply to any other country. a country leaving the eu does not give way to the raising of champagne glasses, and they have attempted to express their sadness, broadly shared, if not unanimously shared. just over a year ago, the european commission was given a mandate to conduct negotiations with the united kingdom. we agreed to ask our friend to conduct the detailed

negotiations, which i have followed very, very closely, increasingly closely. i met with michelle bernier to express views. sometimes we disagreed, but only occasionally. we always did agree because of difficulty was, the challenge was, to maintain unity, so the performance, if we consider despite the pressure, which came quite often from the u.k., pressure upon member states, that we have been able to assure that we maintained the unity of the 27, not only for the duration of the negotiations but on a daily basis, as well, because often we had representatives of member states, ambassadors, and so on,

and we also had members of the steering committee of the european parliament, because you have got to remember that as regards the european parliament, we are not the final say. ultimately, we did have difficulty with our spanish neighbors. do not underestimate this for the kingdom of spain. i have talked to them on numerous occasions about this. the prime minister as well as his majesty, the king, and i will point out that the agreement that we have attained today is an agreement that is good for spain, so we are with spain.

we very much appreciated and admired the work that was done by our friend michel barnier, so i would like to pay special tribute to michel barnier and also to those around him, because there are those on the television who work, and then you have got those who allow those who appear on the television screens to work, and i would like to pay tribute to m ichel's main right-hand persons, and as michel was negotiation on

behalf of the commission, also a word of gratitude from my secretary general, to my head of office, and also to all of those around him. very difficult to pronounce, but he is easy to recognize. because without all of these, this agreement would not have been possible. i am inviting those to have this deal in the house of commons that this is the best deal possible for britain, the best deal possible for europe. this is the only deal possible, and i would like to add one sentence concerning the civil servants, those at the service of the commission.

nobody, nobody of them will be pushed out. nobody will be ejected. i always admired the professionalism, the loyalty, the commitment of those coming from britain to serve at the commission, so i cannot promise -- nobody will be ejected from the commissions. this deal, not the deal itself, but the brexit is a sad moment for the european union and i want to say that this is the best deal possible. this is the only deal possible. i am convinced that those having

to ratify this deal and the european parliament, they have this in their minds when they are taking that. the difficult decision. a member of the european car -- european parliament, everyone admittedly, the same applies to the members of the house. thank you. >> good afternoon to you, and first of all, thank you for inviting me to be on your side for this press conference. today, we have, in fact, reached a fair and balanced agreement with the u.k. it is the best deal possible. throughout this extraordinary, complex, difficult negotiations, we worked constantly with the u.k.

the u.k. work constructively with us. the british team. the agreement must now be ratified. it is time for everybody, everybody to take their responsibilities. today's agreement will create the trust and confidence needed for negotiating our close and unprecedented future relationship. we remain allies, partners, and friends with the united kingdom. if i may just add a few words in french. i do so to explain about this outcome in a very serious situation. brexit is a very serious situation, but i would like to explain why we have ended up with this outcome. it is an agreement, a treaty,

which amounts to 600 pages. it gives legal certainty to all of those who are affected by brexit, people, citizens, states, and all of this would not be possible, mr. president, without your personal trust and the president of the european parliament. none of this would have been possible without the expertise and skills of our teams. first and foremost, the team that gathered together within the commission, as i have always done, negotiating on behalf of the european commission. people already mentioned, in particular. but like many others in the commission, these two ladies have really, really done the

european civil service proud and all of their colleagues, as well, and i am thinking of your team, mr. president, your private office, the secretary-general and his team, and as i said in front of the heads of state of government this morning, all of the departments in the commission have contributed. the director general, the secretariat, martin, martinez, the private office, richard and paulina, who i know very well. luis romero i would also like to mention. the heads of the two legal counsel's and commission. a treaty, as all lawyers know, every word count, so what i am saying is that all of this work has only been possible because

we have pooled all of this expertise and experience, all of the skills these persons could muster. i worked towards unity, and i very carefully nurtured the unity which heads of state of government wanted to show from the very outset. ensure that unity among member states and institutions. i would be very happy to continue the work. thank you. announcer: british prime minister theresa may spoke about the brexit plan a day later at the house of commons, where she faced opposition from members, including those from her own party. a final vote on the brexit deal is set for december 11. for the prime minister. prime minister may: