,"

♪host: this is washington journl for june 20 second. requiring women to register for the draft is up for debate again after a version was passed of

the national defense authorization act thatproposed e effort to expand the requirement comes the military faces recruitment challenges and increasing global threat. to start today's program, we want to hear your thoughts on the proposal to require women to register for the draft. here are the lines. yif. opposed, (202) 748-8001. if you are active or former ■748-8002. have experience with the draft, your line is (202) 748-8003. if you would like to text us, you can do so at (202) 748-8003. include your name and city. you can post a question or comment on facebook.com/c-span 1i■j. we willcomments in a few moment.

first, we will talk with conor o'brien, a defense reporter covering congress for politico. go morning. what can you tell us about this sete proposal? what does it look like? guest: sure. about the bill right now. the armed services committee marked up in closed session last week, so we know the broad outlines of the armed services committee has put o■@ about the bill, which includes a statement that it would require women to register for the selective service system. it is in all likelihood similar to what the committee has done for several yes running under the leadership of jack who chairs the committee and is the ranking member that.

he spearheaded a push to expand e selective service system which currently requires men who are from the ages of 18-26 to registeroral draft to include women in the same age has in previous and in all likelihood this year too, with a good chunandblican membee committee opposing it. that is the general premise that they have been working on for several years. host: the proposal has a ways to go biden's desk. what is next? t: the house has passed its bill, which the next move is for

the senate to go to the this bio the floor. it's unclear when that happens. it could happen over the summer. itou happen much later. the election is going to throw a wrench into any attempts to do big legislation for the rest of thit could be until after the election that this■gh■ happens. once the bills are the members of the house armedo services committee has shout their differences. em -- committee hash out their differences. this will be one of them. in the rare occasion when it was i believe 20 21, when the house passed a provision expanding a potential draft to include women. under pressure from republicans it did get stripped which is

a rarity. usually if it is in both bills it is a given that it passes. i think this is going to be a topic of house-senate n. i do think theovision do see itl fight. there are advocates, as you put it. what has been the reaction to the proposal? guest: hasn't -- thearguments hy consistent for aí0 number of yes that basically if■r going to keep this■g wherein young people have to register for a potential military draft, men ould be required to mid-2010's all, especially

at jobs in the military were open to women. so, there is an argument that there should be equality, some burden-sharing. particularly since failing to register for selective service incurs certain penalties. the argument against has been consistent as wl from conservative lawmakers, conservative groups outside of capitol hill. is that this is ry about equality. this is more about social engineering. that it is upsetting traditional roles what conservatives call woke ideology. those have been the battle lines. host:■ you mentioned there have been previous attempts to exnd why bring it up again now?

it comes up every few years. why again now? anything change? it has been a priority of senator reed. he has been the one cy pushing it. i think it is a debate that i think he is aware is an uphill law, but he has been very consistent in there -- he seems to think that this part of the law does need to be changed. there have been some commissions -- there is an independent commission that studies the draft that recommended this in 2020. the votes to get thisif he cani

think you will. he certainly has the votes in his committee to do it. host: the committeelegislation. is that any indication it could ll floor vote? guest:guest: i do believe so. interestingly enough, one of those th reed, the chairman of the committee. he opposed h which is virtually an unheard of stepthe committee adopted a republican amendment to increase the defense budget by $25 was sponsored by the ranking republican. across party lines to support reed voted againsti don't see e

service provision having a overall coalition for the bill. i dooff on a republican amendmeo increase the defense budget and that i■s fraught topic going back and forth about whether or not to raise cap limits on defense or non-defense programs, i think that that makes it a bigger gamble on the senate floor. in all likelihood it still has the votes to pass, b think the senate majority leader chuck schumer doeeed to make an active calculation to bring this bill to the floorp line. he may be less willing to do th. host: what are you going to be watching for in terms of this

bill as it makes its congress? guest: i think the immediate thing is, when does smer elect l up, and doei think there are a f considerations there. democrats are trying to push for, as i indefense and domestis that are about equal, where republicans areay that the threats emanating from russia and china require even more thad to the bill. they are competing with a number of other priorities. it will be interesting to see when, how soon, the senate takes up the bill. it is possible that this issue kind of stays on the shelf until after the election. a number of issues when

the house and senate finally do go to aegottion:: will be the defense budget level. being required to register for the selective service. then, a number of other factors. how many fighters■z t how issues of number of issues like that that will be on the table when they do. host: connor o'brien covering congress for politico. thank you for your time. we are asking you if you would support -- if you support requiring women to rethose lines, (202) 748-8000. if you support. if you oppose,20 748-8001. if you are active or former

mita, (202) 748-8002. if you have experience with the draft, there is a line for you. (202) 748-8003. we will start in ithaca, new york. you are calling on the support caller: good morning. thank you. my commentam suspicious that what is prompting this is not any geopolitical or advice from the experts in the defense industry. also, the definition of a woman and how that is changing over the years. i support the inclusion, but it is going to be interesting. connor this not taking root in discussion until after thelection, because it is quite a football. men to have been forced to register for selective services

have always been threatened with things like government on loans and such.s i'm such. it will be i■ñnterting, on how this lays out. register? how the of gender fluidity comes into this. if there is a threat that you will default on your loans do you just change your gender? it is a new world. i am suspicious that this topic is coming up because of that more s than any geopolitical situation. host:■h woodbridge, virginia on the military line. good morning, tom. caller:i am a pretty regular co. i have been in the military since 1987. most of the people who will call in today have absolutely no idea what the consequences of a draft are. we got rid of the and went

to an all volunteer military after the vietnam war. most people have absolutely no clue what they are talking about, including your guest. i think that it is genius. i think what we should do is require 50% of all combat arms, 50% of all police, 50% of all firefighters, 50% of all bricklayers, 50% of all ditch diggers, 50% of all people working on the highways into building the highways and building bries, we should á0■amandate it a requirement tht be 50% women. i way really to make it fair. to require them to do the heavy lifting, like men have been doing. most people don't understand that the reason men have a shorter lifespan thameerous jobs in the world. everybody wants all the

sacrifices, but they don't want to do the hard work. 50% of our daughters should all be required to go into hand-to-hand combat with the enemy. clearly, that is the only way for the world to be fair. they need to start workingthoug. every woman should start weightlifting start taking crowd my krav maga because we will require them to go into hand-to-hand combat with the enemy. everyone should know that our enemy just wants to win. they will make sure that there combat arm are full of men. that means that 50% of their ass whoopeed in. we are trying to have equal equality when it comes to

ridiculous things like this. we will probably have no draft ever again. g a draft to win a war the war is already lost. e host: julia in brooklyn, new york ong. i think this is the most ridiculous thing i've ever heard. if you want women kill for y ou, but they can't have an tion so theirtis we are supposed to kill for you buren't allowed to kill for our own lives. we are just supposed -- if women get anymore disrespected and despised in this country.

they lowered the vote to 18 beusthey said people can go into the ay 18 they should be able to voti think they shouf you're combat, we shouldn't be risking her life by not giving her an abortion when she needs one. host: patricia in california calling on the support line. morning. host: you are on, patricia. caller: well, i am in support of it. i think that rls should■? be put on the draft and serve in the service right along with the guys. i think they would learn a lot. and they would gain more respect for their country. it has nothing to do with whated to say about abortion or not

ing able to have abortions. that's ridiculous. se military and defending your why leave it up to one when we need to support our country too? i have daughters. if they were to be drafted or enlist, i would be totally proud of them. because they would be protecting mez6 country. host: that was patricia in california. he is former military. good morning. caller: can you hear me ok? background is i was a lt. col. and i served the special

forces before. no one is doubting that women can do the combat pilots, served in the military. we have a history in the military. they say be careful what you ask for. the idea of equality, the idea that anyone can do everything. i lived in israel where they had compulsory service. israeli women were fabulous as far as what they did. the truth of the mr every milits females possess. i am actually but there are goio be more lower pelvic injuries. what you carry in comba is ammunition and water. at one point seo, well, you can have a female ranger and female infantry. yes, some can pull that o. it grueling experience as a former airborne infantry gu encounter

is a great deal of legislation and legality in which people attempt not to serve. the military doesn't have time for that. i believe in the draft, but i'm going to go ahead and support it, but there will be a number of mothers and parents who say i don't want my daughter(k servin. the military, i want to make it clear, doesn't have debate back and forth. if twa them serve. i would honestly say that the majority are pba infantry or ra. they have marines female infantry and i love them, but the majority are probably not going to choose those mos's. let them choose what they w do'r service when the time comes. if to serve, let us all serve, as the russian wom female warriors have. but remember, there is a big social policy angled being involved in this. they want it, they got it now. thank you, ma'am. host: alan talking abouttime tod

also opposition to it. members of congress responding to the possible inclusion if ending the requirement. a congressman om texas, his response. you can go straight to hell over my dead body. mike lee, senator from utah, said we will not draft women. i'm with chip roy. it will happen over my dead dy. josh hawley, a senator from missouri, said not voting for any defense bill at forces my daughter to register for the draft. not now, not ever. lexington, kentucky, steve calling on the opposegood morni. caller:to everybody. i do oppose this. first off, let me say that women

can do anything that men do. there are really, really weak men and really, really weak women. there are women of amazing strength that can beat up beat up any men. it isi oppose it because every r that we've ever started, every war the world has started, has been started by men. the patriarchy. men, men, men. everything that we despise in war is caused by men. don't drag them into men's war. if a massive war had been started by a woman? han -- what is the old greek mythology about a war being started over a woman? every singlehappened in our hiss because of a man. leave women alone. they already have it hard enough.

they have to play by our rules. it isdon't drag them into it. said the abortion thing -- ago said the abortion thing. you don't want to let them do what they want to do with their body but you want to take them to war and have themselves killedr some more complex that america has? get over yourself, guys. thank you. host: the debate over requiring women to register has been ongoing. article from npr from 2020 talking about a commission that links and -- looks into military issues including adding women to the draft. a congressionally mandated commission says i'women and mene possible revival of the military draft which has been mothballed since the u.s. ta became volunteer only in 1973 after dozens of hearings across the 42 cities and 22

states over the past two, the 11 member convention on mil, national, and public service on wednesday revealed 49 findings in its final report. finding number , the commission recommends that congress amended the militarye o eliminate male-only registration and expandraft egibility to all individuals of the applicable age cohort. a year later, during a hearing, the chair of that commission outlined the committee's recommendation to include women. here are some of his remarks. [video cp] ; ■ >> after extensive research, discussion with experts, and the american public, we recommend the united states maintain the selective service system. it is a low-cost insurance policy to supplement military personnel requirements in the face of ahowever, the system res

modification.most significantly , in the event of a draft, the nation must leverage the skills and talents of all americans, regardless of gender. including women in selective service registration is what the national security interests of the united states demands. it will improve the ability of the mitary to maintain higher standardsthe passions deeply hey proponents on this decision ultimately comes down to two factors. standards and equity. at a time, as you pointed out mr.■z chairman, when nearly 70%f -24-year-olds will fail to meet military standards, we cannot afford to of the population, the female half, from the potential pool of inductees. if it is enacted we should ensure tghest quality conserve. those more likely to complete training successfully and be more proficient at their jobs. expanding draft eligibility to

women is an issue of standards, not gender. expansionill strengthen national security and mitigate the proposed by an unforeseen future. it will allow the military to access the most quy individuals regardless of to respond to an ever-changing threat environment and provide all americans an opportunity to the rights and freedoms that come with beinan american citizen are accompanied by responsibilities including the defense of the■b nation. selective service registration presupposes thisbligationfor th. consequently, the treatment of wome the women from sharing in this obligation. male-only registration sen are not vital to the defense of the country and that they are not expected to participate in defending it. hence, requiring■ women to register and perhaps be drafted

a common civic duty. america is stronger when we all engage in the obligations of citizenship. host: we are hearing from you about the proposal to require women to register for the draft. on facebook, i believe women are smarter, stronger, and better than men at most this.unfortun't agree with me and try to plsee't provide equal pay. when those things are resolved in truly equaled then and onl then should women be required to ster for the draft. james hopkins says, between women and men it is ae agenda, so be it.

aseno and should occur the same duties and obligations and same rks reasonable accommodations should be made due to women' iunue and outstanding functions that are biologically different from men, but my answer to the question is unequivocably yes. mike says absolutely with equal rights and equal responsibility. women have proven they are capable and up to the challenge. let's hear from ray in tennessee calling on the support line. good morning. caller: i am 85 years old. i can rememr the 60's when the girls ands grandmother's were walking in the street saying that ththey w. now, we have men in women's ports and they cannot do everything a man can do. now, they he e majoty of the jobs in this country at ls o have. i was ■in combat at one time in my life. if there is a firefight and you got a man would drag you

out of harm's way. if you're in a firefight and you get hit, and 120 pound woman is not going to drag you out of harm's way. if they want to be equal to men, let's draft them. that is all i got to say. host:anton, georgia. he draft. good morning, earl. caller: good morning. i was drafted in july of 1969. after i finished high school, a month after i finished high school. i w actually lucky that i didn't go to vietnam. i ended up in germany, which is a good job. i was glad tha it, but i was un that as i was drafted joined. ned up. i would have never joined it.

i was drafted, but i went ahead. which is go me, because it brought me away from the friends i had here. they -- when i came back they were all into drugs and everything else. en in the myana. it didn't hurt me. the draft i think everybody, no matter what your situation is, woman, man, handic everyone is good for something. that ishalitary. that is about all i can say. host:rank in georgia, former military. morning. do you support or oppose? caller: i support that women should register with selective service. i think it is terrible that we did away with the draft to begin with. i don't think we will ever be able to bring it back.

that's just it. you know, if a woman can be elected president, and she can send men to war to fight,ce in r government, she has to get some ■■= game. she needs to be eligible. just becausembat support and combat arms. a woman doesn't necessarily have to be drafted for combat arms. she can be in a support position. everyone will beeeg away with ts somein■ng nixon was presidby the democrats. we look who is in the office right now. woput that guy in office. you need some skin in the game. you see what you are voting for you might change your mind.

host: jim izyn little roc good morning. caller: hi. i think that this whole thing is a lot of whooey. the one guy in congress talking but national security, national emergency, there is the rio grande. if that is not a national security and national emgey i don't know what is. it would be interesting to see all of our miliry aged men going overseas to fight these warsoverrun by foreign militaryd men. we have all of the young man out of the country while we are importing, allowing illegally, whatever it is, into our country. to shake our hands and ask us over for a barbecue. they are here to do usif the ids

to fight these wars that are basically gentiles fighting wars for the chosen ones. that is all this comes down to. russia and ukraine are gentile nations. they are killing each other, the chosen ones. john florida has experience with the draft. do you support or oppose? caller: i support the draft. i wafe by it, but in the long run i saw that it was good because we had quality people in the service. when you have volunteers it is only the people who have tjo arf making a living, or have prlems. the draft brought in a lot of experience. i had experience with intelligent people. he draft. it affected me becausevery goodd

me, but i was willing to serve becausi thought the korean war had to be -- i'm sorry we didn't win, it is still going■&d come back. i think women should be volunteers oa lot of women, we't bring women intoo come in.you'll probably get volunteers like we did in the korean war. we had no problem with the amount of women. and under first. especially single men without families. i think the country would have a better military people.d thank you. host: opposes -- thank you for takingy call. i have enjoyed listening to all

of the comments so far and i'm reminded of a quote. old man start wars, and young men fight wars. that seems to be always the case. myecently graduated from high school and signed up with the navy. herwife, were also in the navy. +mbut i'm also very frightened r her with all of the wars that are currently going on. i agree in some ways that women should be drafted, but i also agree with some of your other rs that say for women, combat ssnsi think that there h areas in the four military branches whe thecose without going into th■li think s that,

s diplomacy. i'm very afraid with thes of barbarism we've seen in andussia, to put women in tituations. i'm already horrified that men have to douca thing. think women could work very well behind the lines. i know we have a lot of women pilots and a roles that i cattle on the front --host: you know what your granddaughter is going to be doing in the navy or what she wants to do? caller: yes. she is in the nuclear program. just like her father wasn't her mom. -- father and her mom. i am imaging she may choose to serve on an aircraft carrier. my■k son was on nuclear

submarines. i'm so proud of her. have a volunteer military now any young person or person who has served in that capacity -- they are really putting country before themselves. the draftvç -- i am wondering if they are talking about bringgthf the wars that are going on at this time? i know that we need to be able to defend our country. it is ironic. i rarely agree with anything that chip■7 roy, the representative from texas, has totj■f, but on this point i happen to agree with him. i don't think that women need to have a combat role. if you think about world war ii, women were serving in the u.s. in positions of working in factories like rosie the men wel

overseas. if we se, who will be here for e children? combat missions, dying and losing limbs and not being able to get back to families, who will take care of our children? e women going into combat. i know countless, endless positions for women and men throughout the hope they d'o host: maureenat role mentioned chip roy and his opposition. an sam brsenate candidate. he ismbent jacky rosenrb and isa retired u.s. army captain.

response to the proposal. [video clip] >> unbelievable. u news i just got. look at my face. this is the high cost of war. i just found out that jacky rosen voted, this week, to make signing up for the draft mandatory for our daughters. you will be hearing more from me on this,believable and unaccepte way fto be voting right now. your policies and the policies of this administration have left a severe deficiency in our recruiting of a volunteer army. i vo wife volunteered to serve. i honor all of those who lunteetoi serve, but this is absurd. this is unacceptable. our daughters will not be forced into a draft. you should be ashamed of yourself, jacky rosen. you will hear more from me on this later. america, nevada, voting in

noernts. not just for us, but literally for daughters. host: we are hearing from you this morning about a proposal to require women to register for the draft. a tweet coming in bonnie. noal women are built equal, therefore i don't agree with this proposal. voluntary women should be able to join the military, but not forconook, joe sayso. if i were comes and we need to draft we will stic to needs of a large amount of two sexes will lead to chaos. also, the of sexual abuse of women in the armees exposes the women. that women are more in danger from their fellow let's hear from in north carolina calling on the support line. caller: good morning. i am also former military.

i feel that there is certain things that citizens should be required to do. part ofhe price of citizenship. is serving through national services in the military. the other is jury duty. the third would be to work at the polls. we all have responsibilities. to shirk these responsibilities is ir all these republicans complainingdaughters. maybe facing the draft. i don't imagine my parents were

really too cra wi went in. i think it is part of the requirements of goodcxit soundse people are not really very good citizens. host:d■ bill in oak creek, colorado, former military. do you support or oppose? there? are you there? caer■; who? host: go to benny andarkansas cn arkansas calling on the support line. good morning. caller: good morning. it is denny with a d. my mistake. host: that is my mistake.

how are you, denny? call: i have always supported it because iael deral other countries, their females are drafted or conscrtete. i was raised by single mother and they did a study that women are better at multitasking than men. i started laughing. my mother gave me the look of death. i agree with it. she didn't know what to respond on that one. people who sending their daughters and granddaughters into combat, runs it is like, we are going to send you to war, send youif they havs and girls over there, maybe they will think twice before they bomb the snot out of something and put troops on to help. e to help after you just wiped out my village?

caller: good morning.he out there understand that rape is a tool of war. if you send women to the front lines, with socially in muslim , 're going to see women get raped, murdered, beheaded, off . it is going to be very ugly. those are going to be your i am so thankful that my has -- that is all i have to say -- my daughter has flat feet. that is all i have to say. host: another caller mentioned conscription in other countries. earlier this year it was from march, denmark began women for the military in a rare move. the article talks about the plan

to conscript women for military service, and says that denmark is now the thirdnscription. norway and sweden did so in 2015 and 2017 respectfully. pélet's hear from herbert in columbia, south calling on the former military line. good morning, herbert. caller: go that's ridiculous. that iswe want the women to have babies and come home in body bags from a war? the men in this country, if you over that we've lost it.we've l. what is wrong with you guys? are they going to have their bab

ies in a war? agrees with that, you are ridiculous. stupid. host: let's hear from marshell . caller: opinion on the women -- whoever brought the women. i am definitely opposed to thate already in there, and it is up to them if they nt let the women do as they are doing now. don't make it a draft. womens can't do everything, have babies like the man just war too. let them do as they are doing now.■m do on their own without being a draft. thank you. host: james in washington, west

virginia on the support line. good morning, james. caller: good morning. i would like to talk to you about world war ii. rosie the grable was a pinup gi. women in the military but they don't have to be on the front lines with guns. they can support in other ways. iwomen gotnto construction. it seems i am a trump supporter -- but it sms like■s they want to protect. what about the men? a parent who has a single child who is sent overseas and dies? how about their rights? that is about all i have to say. host: mary in brook park, ohio on the support line.

caller: good morning. think all won should serve because they want to rights■ ■0 being like a man. they want their pay, th w world with their voices. get■+■s in there and serve likee men have to. thank you. host: -- ear■unie in west virginia. caller: i am a disabled vietnam veteran and am opposed to drafting wdrafted in go. i was glad to serve, but i think when you want to start■% wars it working people who start wars. it is the politicians. let's send and let them serve. they don't do nothiid big moneyb

let them go first. let's put biden over and see if they want to fight. i don't care about your age or your sex or nothing. s send the politicians because they cause the wars. they don't have feelingsorto se. they never had to serve so they wouldn't know. have lost family members, i am disabled, and i'm not against fighting as long as we protect the country right here. i don't see going to ukraine or any of these other places. let's take care of the united states right now. all of the people before that if they have anyse. i don't think these women should serve because women need to be at homeit■their families. that is where they are supposed to be. i'm not against women working, but women need to be hit is bade to go to war that the politicians always start. n'let's keep people here.

we don't need more. let' god into our country and serve him and we won't have wars. that is about all i have to say. ho new york, new york also on the oppose line, good morning, jim. caller: good morning. i would like to simplyay conscra violation of the 13th amendment states which forbids involuntary servitude. thanks very much. host:■ let's hear from in ford on the support line. i cannot see your ngo ahead. caller: government host: what is your name? you. caller: i am calling on the suppe but it is a flip.

i■q support if there is a draft that women should be included. if women can be commander-in-chief there is no reason they shouldn't be. some people calling and seem ridiculous. they are not going to send a woman who has children at home or are pregnant. they won't a lot of the comments ■at will never happen. my big problem is, i don't believe in t draft at volunteerd women. i don't think we should be forcing people to go who don't nt would have enough people if we had a just cause. we would get eh the case in poif the cheney, would stop having and tn come back and find out the whole thing was a lie, this is why people won't volunteer. if there just cause i think that americans in general will

step up to the plate and do what they need to do a win a war. they will need men and women tos will not be easier as they were before. it will be a completely you. host: george in kentucky on the oppose line. go ahead, george. caller: i am an air force ve■5te i served in desert storm. i would like to say that i oppose the draftúit has never w. take trump for instancea bone spur and the rich get out of it, white, or yellow. host: the proposed legislation has had a senate armed services mmnot been brought up in the hou b has been previously discussed. in 2021 during an armed services committee ndaa markup=a,

rep christie fro pennsylvania spoke about her amendment >> i'm graful to offer this bipartisan commitment with my colleague. we are toget this amendment to modernize the military selective service system. this policy is not rushed or unnecessary. for decades, our citizens, women and make this change. it is past time. women make up over 50% of our population. not including them in the selective service is not only a disservice to these women but to our nation as a whole. simply put, as the selective service system is wtten it is unconstitutional and discriminates based on sex. thisme clarifies that the purpose of selective service is bigger than just drag replac. it ensures that the selective service system is able to

provide the dod with all of the sufficie event of a national mobilization, which m technicald others. it isn't limited to those outdated use of the aft for combat replacement roles. last year, the congressionally mandated national military, national, and public service came out in favor of including women in twe had a dee la yeaqér and determined at that time that it wasn't right for this committee's consideration. earlier this year the supreme court declined to hear case on the issue noting that congress is considering this question. '8justices sotomayor, breyer, cavanaugh representing different ideological views noted that role of women in the military s chthe court last consider the question in 1981. roles and have passed demanding tests to become rangers, seals, and green berets.

the senate armed services committh up and approved a provision to expand selective servicto women. it did so in their basic text. it is time that weco same. by refng the selective service to be gender-neutral we our entire nation time of the national emergency. as the inspired to serve male-only registration since a message to women thatotnly are they not vital to the defense of the country but they are not expected to p in defending it. that is a quote. it sends a message demand that they for some reason are uniquely and perhaps unfairly depended upon. this needs to will do that. i seek support for the bipartisan amendment to make this change to the selective service. host:'an in yorkville, illinois on the oppose line. good morning, brian. caller: good morning. i am very much opposed. first of all,en versus mendense

biologically are very different in terms of their structure, not reproductiveeir structure. men are bigger and consequently stronger. i think you are going to put people at risk, men and women you're going to put men at risk in combat situations that wouldn't be at risk that without trying tosmaller 5'1",'y their side that is under the same fire they are. that is one thing. it seems ironic. i will skip around a little bit. i don't have a coherent progression of points, but we live in a country where our intellectuals, our intellectual leaders at times when pressed

cannot even defi whaall of a suh just putting women in combat? it■md in terms of the thought progression and logic behind it. two, or three, are we in need of volunteers or this some woke initiative by someone trying to do something active in congress rather than sit there and collect a check? three, on asus the wnba. -- versus the wnba. we have and prop these women up to have a professional league that shows games on national tv. to be subsidized because they are not as strong as the men. they're not as men.

e, but it's a real thi ng and is a limitation and a difference that needs to be recognized as fact. not create a fantasy to argue againstties. that is my point of view. thank you for listening. riverside, california on the support line. ng, cheryl. caller: i called online, becaus. i have heard this story for years, draft, don't draft, draft, don't draft. women of course can and will do everything that men do. maybe with different abilities, or some with the same abilities. i don't think that we have to women or restrictthere are a lo

want to do the harder work th some of these menat -- that some of these men are talking about that called in before. to restrict them and make them feel less than is not, i prudent. women don't have to be on the -- on the front lines to be ■[women can work in different areas of the military a placed r and somewhat their interests, also. i don't think to be drafted is a sentence to be on the front line. is not a sentence at all. it is help out and contribute. women will contribute even if they a nso, that's my feeling o. host: california california.

we will go to sun maine on the oppose line. out of killing. lized and we will never stop the killing of each other. ■can we start making peaceful diet? that means a peaceful -- vegan diet without fastfect upon the y and mind will be veryx peaceful and civilized. with the insight and foresight to realivilization, peace on earth, progress, the arts and

violence and stop making war a business. host: that was susan in maine. after the announcement that the senate armed services committee passed that■■< legislation, senr joshissouri was on fox news and was asked about the proposal. here is a bit from that interview. [video clip] >> the house and the senate armed services committee and the committee went through 22 tohree equal treatment under the law. women want eql you have the demo want to turn the military into a trained experiment -- trans experiment. they want to turn biological women into men. then you have republicans who want more people to fight all of these wars.

the rest of the country, the number of people are like leave our daughters alone. have a three-year-old daughter. if she wan for the armed forces, that is terrific. the idea that she would be drafted against her will is insane. every father in america feels the sa wthese people are so outf touch. >> weáv see again, the push for equal rightsopportunity and gird all thethe argument is, that ist women then that is what they will get. that means they have to do their part. >> here is the thing about equality. if women want to volunteer for the armed forces, they are welcome to do it on the same fo men. we have many women who serve including members of my family. that's fantastic. that's not what the liberals are talking about and some ofwarmon. they are tal draft which is inv.

let's go back to that. it is involuntary. that is what a draft is. if women don't want toerve, too bad. they will get drug into it. this is crazy. at the same time they are saying that women have to accept men in the ckooms, in their sports. now women have to serve in the military with want to or not. it is further women in our society by these radicals. to that extent, i guess it is logical. host: we have a couple of thoughts on requiring womenregi. let's hear from5m lester in oren on the support line. good morning. caller:morning. how are you? host: doing well. caller: i have a suggestion. we have they have been

killing here in the united states. my dad was aergeant. he was in charge of during world war ii. those guys are able to come back to the ud reedom if they fought for their country. that is a good ideal. we should put thosej people -- i don't care what nationality you are country if you are you will get freedom when you come back to the united states.o prison. that is whaty gg is. host: that was lester. that's all the have for the segment. still ahead on washington journal, free our vote cofounder and director neel sukhatme will

join us and discuss efforts to restore voting rwith past felon. author gabe fleisher will discuss his wsle and political news of the day. we will be right back. >> as we look forward to the 2024 deb we revisit landmark moments from the 2020 debate between president trump and former president joe biden providing the unique e 2020 election.

>> we can create goodthe enviros clean and we all are in better there has never been an administration or president who has done more than i have done in a period of 3.5 years. >> tune in this sunday for the first 2020 debate■m and monday t 9:00 p.m. eastern for the second presidential debate of the 2020 campaign season on c-span or tch the 2024 cnn presidential debate thursday on c-span 2. week on the c-span networks , the senate is out for a work period. the house bills for the state department. on tuesday michaellps and allison schmidt will testify before the house energy and

commerce subcommittee examining agency are taking in advance of the 2024 olympics. thursday c-span's 2024 campaign coverage continues with a simulcast of the presidential debate live on c-span 2. watch next week on the c-span now, the free mobile video app. or scheduling information or to watch on-demand anytime. c-span, your unfiltered view of government. >> the house will be in order. >> this year c-spanr@ celebrates 45 years of covering congress like no other. since been your primary source for capitol hill, providing balanc of government,g you to where the policy is debated andf the support of america's cable companies. c-span, 45 years and counting,

powered by cable. >> "washington journal" continues. host: joining us now to discuss felony convictions and efforts to restore voting rights is neel sukhatme, the cofounder and director of free our vote. guest: thank you. host: tell us about your organization. why was it established and what is the mission? guest: we started?f in 2020. i am a law professor. i am a computer engineer originally. i am an loyal -- i am a lawyer and ecomist. i work on research in different areas particularly related to the criminal legal system. in july of weird going on in florida. florida had passed a ballot initiative that was supposed to restore voting

rights for people with past felony convictions. 1.7 million people, 10% of the ■bstate's voting age population. it turned there is a complicated legal back story to this. most of these people would not be able to vote. why is that? it is because the oldy od fees associated with their conviction. they were no being told how much they owed. the state was sayg you havepay . we have a really complicated system. ifferent counties. every county works differently. vote unless you pay them off. weby the way, if you make a mistake and you money, you may d for a new felony conviction. that really troubles me. regardless of political background, pe s how much they owe.

that seems to be a very basic thing. i go together my colleagues at georgetown where im my law students, my phd volunted pulling on half a million individuals across florida, writing customized programs called web scrapers. we connected a host of sources to identify tens of thousands of people who owed nothing but did not realize that they owed nothing. we partnered with the campaign legal center to send mailers to these individuals to informat yn thoughso. in for people who owed very small amounts so that we could re-enfranchise them and they could vote. phone story short, i am a researcher so i can measure the impact of our outreach. we increase voter turnout by6%

in the population that we helped in florida. it was a project that troubled me. the problems in florida are throughout t nation actually in states like arizona and georgia. more where there are complicated voting laws that are w/disenfranchising hundreds of thousands of individuals. host: so we get everyone on the same■ag what types of crimes constitute a felony conviction? what are the typical sentences? guest: felony conviction can be, there is a we range ofm things. anything that if you end up in prison for one year or longer or potentially could, that is a felony conviction. for■msident trump, that is a felony conviction. he probably will not receive a sentence of that length, hunter biden, that's a felony conviction. e are disenfranchising convictions. some felonies are very siothey r

murder. some might be not as serious but all of them can be disenfranchising. it depends on the state law. but all of them can be disenfranchising. host: talked about florida as an example. but it varies across the why is the system set up like that and csi states generally cl the qualifications ofthey contrf felony disenfranchisement. a lot of these walls -- laws wereas crow following the civil war. if you look at the history, a lot ofhem re passed to disenfranchise newly emancipated blover time that has changed. the laws have changed. have been opened up to let more people vote. it is a patchwork of laws. that is really the problem here. it is complicated to figure

whether you can vote in a number of states. host: how many americans are impacted by this issue? o&■ytalk a little bit about the demographics in groups that are most impacted. guest:americans that are affect. there are hundreds of thousands of indiduals potentially in arizona loan we have identified -- in arizon alone we have identified. georgia, florida and a number of states across the country where this is potentially an issue. demographics are disproportionately, not predominantly, people of color, particularly blackusually male e convicted of crimes of felonies are male. that is the rough demographic breakdown. host:■e for people watching at

home who may be do not have a felony conviction on the record, explain why this is an important issue. why should people be■b concerne? guest:óf democracy, on being a place where voice in what happens in government. faith in democratic institutions is waning. when you have a system in which people are eligible to vote, one thing i want to emphasize is that millions of these individuals are eligible to but this is to be so complicated that they cannot actually figure themselves and they cannot vote with confidence. that, it undermines democracy for all americans. about becausl care about a fair system in which everyone who is eligible to vote has the ability to vote. that is a very basic thing we can all get behind hopefully. host: we are talking with neel

sukhatme. he is the of free our vote, an rights to convicted felons. if you have a question or comment, start calling now. the nes, republicans, (202) 748-8001. democrats, (202) 748-8000. independent, (202) 748-8002. with felony convictions, there is a line for you. . we talked a little bit about the fact that it varies so much by state. let's take a look at what me of those differences when somebody is convicted for a . 10 states felons lose their voting rights indefinitely for some crimes require a governor's pardon for coved -- for voting

rights to be restored, after completion of a sentence includede an probation require additional actions before voting■á states, felons r voightduring inrcat after, typically while on parole and probation. former felonalsoave tome. pay any outstanding fines, fees or restitution before their rire restored. 23 states, felons lose the voting rights only while incarcerated and receive automatitwo states plus the cole eir right to vote, even when incarcerated. you talk a little bit about tchn they are out of trying to figure out what they quhow many states actually notiy

guest: i am not sure of the exact number. that is a moving target too because many states che speak. for example, istate changed thed o. washington for notifies individuals if you are being ■c robust. in some states there is notification when you're released from prison. in other states, that is not there. it is not something that states are ly picking up and being very clear about. complicated, it becomes hard. u state. is. it is kind of overwhelming. they are somebody dierent

variables. i mentioned fines and fees. those are two different things. there is also something called restitution. these are different forms of money that is owed. disqualifying but others are not. in some states, when you are released from prison, you can vote. in othere off of probation and parole. in other states, probation can be extended if you owe money. everything is kind of interconnected. in some states you have to petition to be able to get your rights restored. it is this crazy patchwork of on top of that, it is data becat of the stuff is not just at the state level.blem. it is actually at the county level because cou determine ande your records of your conviction. if you want to determine whether you can vote, you sometimes have

to look at the county level. counties vary in the ability of data and what they are providing individuals. they may look online to check your status and you go there and there is nothing online.it is a complex area of d data. that is what free our vote has stepped in because our specialty is in law and data. we can help individuals figure out what their eligibili in an ideal world, we would not be necthis will be something the government or care of. we have system, then this would not be an issue. host:■u you talked about the fat that it can be difficult for somebody to get the status back. how long does it is not aware or status? they have to kinoft who to go to and what they may have to do to get back. beginning to end, is there an averagtimeody to get their

rights back? guest: i wish i could give a straight answer but it is complicated. in some states it is automatic. for state when you're released from prison, you automatically get your voting rights back. same thing in pennsylvania. to potentially have your convictions expunged. for example, an arizona, i apologize to the listeners if is arcane, this illustrates how complex it is. arizona, if you have one felony vote restored at the end. if you have more than one, you have to petition to do that. unless your convictions are for marijuana, in which case there is an automic eun law that reduces your conviction amount. if you all fines a fees, that can be disqualifyingthat is the.

there is not an set!8when you fs going forward, it can be relatively quick. again, that varies. host: we are talking with neel sukhatme, the cofounder and director of free our vote. let's start taking calls. we will go to mike in new jersey on the independent line. good morning. caller:úu good morning. thanks for having me. i want to say first of all, if you are a convicted felon, you should get the right back to vote after you serve your time. my question to you is t, do you see a difference based on the laws in each state for voting rights for convicted fens? is it related at all to the political parties that run the state. i just want to say, enforce.com

-- infowars.com. guest: the question as to what teoes politics matter. free our vote is an nonpartisan i want to make that clear. there is a, i would say it is more regional than political. certain parts of the country,the laws were passed during jim crow and segregation. it is disproportionately southern states but not uniformly southern states where the laws are more restrictive. i don't know if it is necessarily directly tied to politics. there is probably a crelathis if all political stripesind. for example, there are libertarian organizations that view felony disenfranchisement as liberal organizations that do thsaf a human rights

issue. i understand the question about politics. that is obviously always there. host: this is being brought back into the spotlight because of former president trump's recent conviction. has there been -- what has been the reaction to his conviction and wstatus? guest: it depends on what happens to him. if he is incarcerated, then he will not be able to vote while he is incarcerated. in new york, and this is li because he is a resident of florida but the conviction is in new york. far as my understanding is concerned, when here prison, hee to vote in florida. the governor of florida has suggested that is the case. restoration board and indicated thate ore rights for him if that ever happens anyway,

which is greatorp. there is one million plus individuals in florida who are not getting that opportunity. tony in st. lou, missouri on the republican line. good morning. caller: good morning. i wanted to say two comments. i live in missouri. they did send me a notification in the mail eligible to vote again when i got off parole. another comment i want to say is , missouri only restores some of your rights. cannot own a firearm or work for the federal governmenl expunged after seven years of being on parole or whatever it is. that's all i want to say. have a good day. guest:m thank you, tony. free our vote has not done work inf( missouri but i appreciate hearing about your personal background and what the rules

again, that point. the issue of civil rights is n■ just about voting. it goes beyond that. tony mentioned the right to own a weapon, the r t the government. in many states, there are other with a criminal conviction or whether you owe money. florida, if you owe money from your felony conviction, it can result in you not being able to drive a car, not being able to have a drivers license, which is a trying to pay fines and fees. host: where does your organization currently do work? are there efforts to expand? if someone is in a state where now, what other resources are available? number of states right now. we are focusing this year in arizona where i mentioned the

laws are complex. ñ$virginia is another state. we have been partnering with the aclu in kansas. kansas has complb8ic laws. we are looking in texas and virginia and pennsylvania. pennsylvania is an interesting cases are actually quite clear. of thousand, hundreds of thousands of who are on probation or parole there who can actually voteif you google, can i voted pennsylvania, parole, probation, it is not like you get a clear answer. you have to dig through. a lot of people do not know what theven in states where the laws are relatively host: a comment coming in on twitter from kevin. he says, "on one hand they supposedly paid their debt t society.

have a proclivity to commit more , voting more than once, harvesting ballots, intimidating legitimate voters." what do we know about former felons looking to have the rights restored? evidence that likely to commit the sorts of crimes that this individual is suggesting afterward. individuals, this is an imptant part ing a c. you make a mistake, you serve you come back out. most of these who want to vote want to do so because they want to be part of society again. they want that chance to be a whole memb of society. i don't think there is any evidence to convince --

commit this voter fudindividual. host:■. what we know about their participation in elections? guest: they generally participate at lower levels. .-people with past convictions o vote. florida, among the people that we over half ofe di the subpopulation we were helping to be able to vote in the electio in 2020. they don't vote in the same numbers but they definitely do it is something that they care out and let's hear from kimbery in colorado on the republican line. good morning. caller: as a republican, as an

individual, everyone should have the right to vote regardless of their political status or their mistakes in the past. right to deny someone to rticipate in a system that they pay taxes in? i am against a noncitizen voting in our u.s. elections. let's gethe real deal here is immigration and the ability for a noncitizen to vote in our elections. ■@if we are worried aboutone she the right to vote except for noncitizens. orry i am redundant but by the same token, we need to address them more critical issue where laws are being passed for noncitizens to vote in our nation. thank you.

guest:kimberly. i appreciate your support foro . free our vote does not work on the issue of non-american citizens and voting rights and those debates and disputes about that. of that. our focus is on if you are an american citizen, if you have served your time, you should be able to have this right to vote. so complex. state data systems cannot so opaque that people are scared to vote■n because they do not knowf they are able to do so. that's not good. st:■m 2020, people who were convicted felow? neel:51proceeded.

they filed a criminal case, nobody was actually convicted. the stda it is something which is not a, it is prove in a criminal case but i guess that does not necessarily matter. if you're going to potentially even be charged with a crime, en if it's not proven. if i am a person with a past found a conviction, i could be charged with a crime if i voted. am probably not going to vote. it's not worth the hassle. lem is even worse in that regard. you could say in the law, they would not actually be convicted. you show those who are not necessarily sure or don't want the hassle from even trying to oint. that might be the point for some people. these people, let's scare them so they can't about. i don't know -- cannotw.

host: states have been trying to update their ls. you talked about florida and what they did but what are the challenges to changing their laws to better accommodate people who a -- have felony convictions and want to vote again? neel: i am not sure there are challenges per se in. terms of like legality. íp do that. i mean, it's a lot of people. we have so many people in this country and the criminal legal for nonviolent crimes. -- of individuals i think makes any kind of case charging. but i think there's really nothing preventing states from example, a simple rule wou b. right? then you don't know, is my probation being extended? or restitution do i owe? it's aimple kind of role kind

of nationwide that says if you're not in prison, you can vote. further. during your incarceraon, you come up. i don't see -- you can vote. i d't see any kind of reasons why that system will not be implementable. legislation introduced. representative priestley and senator welch have introduced legislation guaranteeing the right to vote for people with felony records. cracyguarantees the right to vote in federal elections for citizens who have criminal convictions and require state and federal entities to notify individuals who are convicted,probation, or on paroe right to vote in federal elections. if legislation like that were to be enacted, what impact would it have? would it put your organization out of besel: hey, i would be dd if we were p o

you started on this topic, the end goal was to be able to help these individuals, if that's the case, they are being helped, that's great. ■i think there are other things so as we are collecting information on people with past felony convictions, there are a lot of ways in which these■ so you know, i mentioned expungement. so if your criminal convictions expunged -- if you have your criminal convictions expunged, that could make you eligible for jobs he would not otherwise be able to have. . what we are exploring in nonelection ye putting toering citizens in othr aspects of their lives, whether eligibility for benefits, whether know, being able to get a job, things like that.

so i still think we have other things we can do but if table,'. host: has there been federal legislation previously introduced that comes close to this and what happened with it? neel: i think there was the freedom to vote act. i think it wasleand that was, do anywhere. i think that was introduced in 2022, and i think it had a provision about restoring voting rights for, you know, for people these bills have not gone anywhere. i think partly because many times they are bundled with all sorts of other provisions. think if you focus on this particular provision, you find a lot a bipartisan support for restoring voting rights across the board. host: let'he joe in new jersey on the independent line. good. >> i would like to say i agree with somof the stuff he is saying. but i want to know, how about if you have twothat you got arrestd

you are put jail, does he still think you should be able to vote? and how many, let's see, lsee, ? what cris think that you should not be able to vote for, no matter how ny years and that's my question. i'm not sure know, i give everybody a break, but as far as expunging their records and everything, i don't think you should do because once they did the crime, they did the crime. why should you do away with it? ok. thank you. neel: thank you. i think you pointed out a couple things that people might not be aware of. so, many americans are in jail waiting trial. not actually been convicted of a crime yet. so they are■j technically, technically their right to vote has not been taken away.

so these individuals should be able to vote as well. and you millions of dems are not getting that chance. because if you are inl, trial, t been convicted of anything. your many times not gog to be focused on voting. for know, who should be able to vote? decision, i feel like that's a decision that we say, listen, you are an individual, you have been integrated back into society again. pa being integrated back into society again is being able to vote in a democracy. kómy view is that regardless of the crime, once you are released fromple can go different ways. people will say even if you are incarcerated, you can vote. i am saying at a minimum, once you are released from prison, society is saying you should be reintegrated into society because you are no lonr a tever the reason, then at that point, you should

be able to get your right to vote back. minimum it should not be some sort of really complicated hoops you have to jump through to figure o vote ae states making itcomplicated forn simpler. percentage of those with felony convictions try to get their voting rights restored? neel: i don't have a clear number. it's so try to, in many states, it'chtomatic once m prison but many don't know about it. if i don't know about it, and i have my right back, have i tried? you could have petitions. in certain states, you have petitions to have your civil rights restored. there are thousands who do that. it is sort of■ order of magnitude, smaller the problem. if the problem is in the , you might have in the thousands, 10 thousands or mething li t who do this. it's not being solved in that way. host: let's hear from sean in

florida on the independein >> my issue on suspended license, support, so it's like a dou of a whammy. youan drive but how are you supposed to get to work? the conviction was in 2006. honestly, to b you, i was not fully aware of the fact that i had lost all my rights. i thought with the way that they kind of did the sentencing that they were saying certain things were withheld and they was going to do certain stuff. i was thinking that i still have the right to vote. and hmy question was, they sentd r since.

so i am like, how am -- how am i still on the voter rolls? is the systems right? nt to go by a weapon from a --■$( went to buy a weaponchaine background check. they actually sold me the weapon two times. how was i able to pass a background check if i am a convicted felon? id not even know that i was a convicted fel until a situation came up and i put in my information with the police. and there was like, ooh, you can -- we cannot let you in this program because you a convicted fen '06 you got a conviction for driving on a suspended get my rights restored. seems like some of this should have been automatic. i agwi not have to go through this and i am still going through this. it's not over with. i am trying to wonder, will it

even be over with? can ibecause i've been going thh this 's not like it was speedy. time doing it. neel: thank you for your story. i think sadly, i don't think that's an unusual story. right. you ve for whatever reason. his was for chiland then if youe anywhere, so you drive on your suspended license, which is against the law, you get a conviction. and then,ose your right to vote, you lose all your civil rights and otherwise. and it's confusing, especially when stuff has happened, what, 18 yearsit's clear from his exae about the state actually d wha'h these dividuals as well because they are, you know, letting them pass through background checks and say you are toter role. that goes to show that the

too complicated. elsewhere is it's getting in the way of peopleeing■+ able to sort of live their lives, being able to vote, participate in democracy. a simpler system where you are not this, you are not removing their civil rights for unrelated stuff. a lot of pe wir licenses suspended in florida has nothing to do with driving. it has to do with owing money on a conviction that's completely unrelated to driving. it's■ not a public safety issue in terms of, oh, this is an unsafe driver. gthey decided this would be a good policy, to suspend people, suspend people's driver's license if they owed money on a nv complexity and messy creates for people and the system as a whole. host: we have time for one last call. we were here -- we will hear from tony in atlanta, georgia on the democrats line. good morning. caller: good

"washington journa." kind of want to piggyback off system. i think it's ridiculous thatou are a felon on a suspended driver's license. i've never heard that before. ■phow is anybody that's a convicted felon and you a you, , and you say, well, i think i want to st■t ting. in order to vote, you have to register. with the system? i guess what the previous caller was sitting, is there something wrong with the system that are even allowed to register to vote? you should not even be allowed to register to vote. do you agree?or i mean, what caa to, uh, prevent this

kind of flaw in the thank you, . i absolutely agree that if the law says you should not be able to vote, it should not be allowing you to register to vote in the first place. but the truth of the matter is in man states, the systems are not speaking with each other so they are not able to actua known systemther. there is, you kno■n know, monetary systems that track money that's been paid. they are not all talkingbecaus'd system, it's hard to determine people's status so they leave it to individuals to figureuther te through the law, parse through the data themselves. em. we have to rely on organizations like free our vote to do that work for tether they can vote o. that's what we are trying to do at free our vote. that's what we've been working on. but in an ideal world, that

would not be an issue in the first place. the law would be simpler so that individuals could know whether and the state could know who's eligible to vote as well. ■wthat's been what we are doingt free our vote. host: for pconvictions who wantt what their status is or see about restoring their voting rights, what advice do you have? where do they start? neel: i think first thing is, right, you can reach out to free our vote. we are not operating in all we are a very small sort of start up. we have been working in a few states. states like, you know, if you're in georgia, texas, right, these are states in which we've been doing a lot of work. florida. you know, you can reach out to us.

■÷. you can al gfreeourvote.com andt there. it's hard for us to build an infrastructureformation. so what we do is opera gwe actue outreach with our partners. for example, like the campaign legal center, to be able to that's what we are planning for this year for this election. host: neel sukhatme, cofounder and director of free our vote. you can find their work online at freeourvote andthank you so h us this morning. neel: thank you. host: later this morning on "washington journal,"■g on substack segntih with gabe fleisher about his "wake up to politicsd

political news of the day. first we are going to hear from more of you during our open forum. you can start calling in now. republicans, (202) 748-8001. democrats, (202) 748-8000. an independence, (202) 748-8002. ♪■é>> on thursday, to enter then presidential debate simulcast live on c-span2. watch as president joe biden and former president donald trump face-off as they try to earn your vote ahead of the general election in november. begins at 8:00 p.m. eastern for the preview of what's to come.

and then at 9:00 p.m. eastern, simulcast of the cnn presidential debate. debate, stay with c-span as we take your calls and get your reaction to the first debate of the campaign season. the cnn presidential debate simulcast live e0sd on c-span2,n now, our free mobile video or online at c-span.org. c-span, your unfiltered view of politics. bookunday on c-span2, featu their latest nonfiction books. uwformer texas republican senatr phil gramm and economist john myth of american inequality," winner of the 2024 hyatt priz at 10:00 p.m. eastern on afterwords, a former new york times editorhares has book "a

fatal inheritance," about his family's rare medical history with cancer. he is by the wall journal's health and science reporter. watch book tv every sunday on c-span2 and find a program guide or watch online anytime atorg. ♪ now is a free mobile app featured live and on-demand. keep up with the day's biggest events with the live streams of floor proceedings and hearings from the u.s. congress, white house events, the court, campaigns, and more from the world of politics, all at your fingertips. stay c episodes of "washington journal" and find scheduling information fo■@ c-span's tv networks and c-span radio, plus a variety of compelling podcasts. c-span now is availablet the

apple store and google play. scan the qr code tó7■óo visit ty or visit our website, c-span.or. c-span your front row seat to washington anytime, anywhere. >> "washington journal continues. host: welcome back. for we are going to be hearing from you during our open forum. again, t lines, republicans, (202) 748-8001. democrats, (202) 748-8000. an independence, (202) 748-8002 . we will start with gene inlouise democrats line. —good morning. caller: my sister was murdered by nbc. ■areason why i keep on coming out with telling about how this government went to war with rh got 80% of heroin and if the size of california. you pay money to iran to give

money so they can fly over airspace to fly over afghanistan. didn't fly to iraq to get fueled up, fly back here and dispersed the drugs like oxycontinhrough johnson & johnson, purdue pharma, cardinalwalmart. nbc is involved in it and abc is involved in it and cbs is involved in it. it's corruption at its finest in this country. and my sister was murdered by news station, organization and the feds. the feds and news organization killed my sister because i was saying stuff like this, be like, and i've been senate for 20 years since that war been gogon. i have been tortured. i have been kidnapped. my wife was raped by federal ag like, cuz she's a nd she was made a prostitute in the whole game and everything like that. host: got your point.

we will go to donald in michigan. good morning. caller: yes. i would like to sayi will starty with the polia fdr's term so that will give you an idea of my age and i would just -- will just start with him. years and years and years. then we came to he was the same thing. he broke his wedding■ vows hundreds of times. then we come to -- go on your internet and type in jfk, federa settle, and you will the information. host: brenda in fort lee, new jersey on the democrats line. good morning. er good morning, america.

i am just calling in regards to what's going on with the president. he is taking a whole week off to do this debate with trump. i really understand that he but a whole week? his toes, there'hat he could be a part of. taking a whole week off to■@ knowledge about what's going to be on furtherir debate is just so -- for their debate is just so wrong. you know, i've always been a democrat. and i am just so disappointed in what's going on with the democrats. as far as thinking about voting for president it's in my mind. i mean, really, biden right now is not doing anything for ourise

better. weand i think that could be president trump ithe future thank you for listening. host: that was brenda in new jersey. she mentioned the debate that's upcoming this week on the front page of this morning's "wall st journal," the headline ready to face off in debate to set stakes of race." thursday's showdown in atlanta the first■ff two debate scheduled this year provides the campaign rivals their biggest platform to e race. it marks the earliest encounter by two presumptive presidential nominees since the debate began been tevand will offer many voto have not f tun icampaign a chanh men side-by-side. leah in bronx new york on the

independent line. good morning. caller: i don't believe in ideologies. i switched from christianity to theism because i don't like religious ideologies. this new gender ideology. in earlier, you guys played c and heas talking about the new selective service or whatever, he was speaking about gender. i find it absurd that in some o say these guys are women, and now we are going to take women and make them serve in t'. bye. host:n lancaster, ohio on the republican line. i just really liked what the two women said before i got on.

very good. i really l■=■say. but i will tell you what upsets me. i would have been upset if it was trump or anybody up know, tf limitations ran the judge is a . that, you cannot have it. it should have been in a different venue.i don't know, iy else, yo■xlunow, the court systm failed. are you there? host: i am here, jenny. go ahead. caller: oh,i'm serious. ■b not, the statute of limitations ran out. you have to follow the law and they are not doing that. so, i don't know. i just think, ok, i tell you one more thing that bothers me.

ok■,. the children. [indiscernible] other kids are at lunch at school. i cannot put that on the school laws but we could teach kids about transgender things? i hat. we areec godless country. and biden, biden itraitor. all he's worried about are votes and i believe somebody's behind him that's telling him what to doi hope the twoen to before liked what i said, too. ashley in pennsylvania on the democrats line. good morning. caller: hi. i don't know. just, i am a little thrown by a lot of these comments this morning from other viewers. i am abhorred by them,i feel lim

are either completely unaware of the incoming threat of project 2025 as laid out by the republican party or they just don't care. i feel like the democrats are doing a good job to spread thas now finally. le too late but they are getting there. but as far as goes, i think the only it with the nazi in general and that's all i have to say about that. thank you. y in chicago, illinois on the democrats line. good morning. to the debate between donaldwhen donald

hillary clinton, ible] missed the whole point. he did not answer the questions. i mean, he just made up his own questions, even questioned them. i mean, hillary answered all the questions. trump just trampled all over. they need to get reliable bra ined moderators when they have this debate. that's all i'm going to say. host: are you going to watch the debates, henry? caller: hello? host: are you going to watch the debates? caller: oh yeah. i hope they havegeous, brave moderators. with trump -- and not let trump donald trump, take over. host: that was henry in chicago.

in the washington post today in the obit section, house speaker, gop operative made splash in cut, who died on june 14 at ther age of 79. these obituaries say g spokane,n with limited political experience who beat has local congressman, democratic house speaker thomas sz5■n foley, as t of a stunning gop wave that shifted national politics to the right indied june 14, atthe cauo degenerative brain disease. elections, which came halfway thugh president clinton's first term were a resounding victory for republicans who won control of houses of congress for the first

time since the early■[ 1950's. he had represented the district for 40the last five, mr. nethe's campaign pointed out term limits pointing out that fully had been in office since top show on tel. he was the first speaker to lose a reelection bid since 1860. charles, alexandria, virginia, independent line. caller:'9 thank you for taking y call. i will be extremely brsince this out the other day and i saw someone in their yard with an upside down flag. it disturbed me as a 24-year member of the military. it got on my nerves. it bothered me greatly. a caller yesterday, for the maga

mom yoguys had on, and all of the other maga matter, i want ts question. the love for donaldmp, she indicated yesterday, i ho lister this one simple question. donald trump mentioned he could touch private parts because he is so famous and get away with it. would you still love him and adore him, america, if he touched your mother's parts, daughters parts, so on and so forth because he brags ont?she n needs to apologize. for what, i don't really know. i want to ask anybody else, has donald trump ever apologized the central park 5? the five youd of raping a white? it was true they did not do it.

he never apologized for that. he never apologized for discrimina in their housing units. t to understand, america, the love and fascination for an adulterer and one who believes>y in christian values, wha values of america? we are supposed to be the shining light on the hill like ronald reagan said, but we are far from it. i wanted to ask america, if donald trump was to touch your family's parts and rage0 it, would you still have adoration for him? host: don in columbus, ohio. goodcaller: good morning. thest got finished -- host: you are breaking up. you are a little hard to hear.

caller: i am in agreement with the gentleman who just called. if donald trump touched your daughter's parts's private parts. also, have a question. [indiscernible] -- and still run to be president of the united states? host: let's go to aaron in truth or consequcaller: i am in new m. massachusetts. so, there is this rumor on tiktok that they are going to replace biden on the ticket. jesse waters was on fox the other day talking about it.

is there any truth to this? host:re you going to vote for biden or a replacement? caller: no, ma'am. of course not. parts donald trump touches and who to it. i love donald trump and i would love him more if he molested my mother. host: good morning, mhacaller: t line to answer his question. what goes on, whether my mother and the other lady, consenting ults, as was described in that tape he was referring to, that is none of my business. i'm not here to judge people that do things consensual.

park five were convicted, and then their conviction was overturned. when donald resident, criticize. at tonvicted in court. so, yeah. it is unfortate maybe they were -- they were falsely convicted. but how was he supposed to know. this debate coming has to do to, know, say he did a great job is not if he can go out and be■ncoheres together.but based on what happt bait where the moderator aided biden and shut down president expect it, especially on cnn -- on top of that there

is a judgment against president trump for sexual assault from defendants -- plaintiffs, sorry, from a person with no witnesses. says that she was wearing something that wasn't time. tells differentjudge indicates e prosecutors were friends. the rent 3felt ath -- 34 felony thing, that was a literal crime scene. you had a ranking member lee of local da. previously, no personom the

biden justice department goes there. then they try the case. also in georgia, another crime scene because of the prosecution. just total, blatant corruption. there is a member of the house of representatives state that ig legal action against what is going on in new york for election interference. let mewhen do you ever hear any about the trump trials without it referring to the electn?now,s being harassed on the news and defamed. she is not going at it fast enough. it won't be there in time for thegs. host: got your point, michael. lori in hamburg, pennsylvania on the democrats line. caller: good morning.

triumphalist t for masses of people. ihat he stoked their fears, starting with obama. even before he was in the talking about how bad toyotas were coming from japan. whating from people about him attacking their mother, i -- awful. everybodyas a reason to be angry when the working class get taxes. we alws get taxed the shit out of us. host: lori, watch your language. caller: hard, we try to get ahead, we get ahead, we get kicked down. we are frustrate angry. our representatives are not

representing us anymore. they are representing big-money. i am saying from either. for people to give up on their put trust in a man whose life has been nothing but evil court cases since he has been old enough to goo this is nothing new for donald trump. this is donald trump working on. the fact that othercans are standing around and letting their jobextreme it would be das for the country, they have to get up and say something. somebody has to say something. if you gets in the white house again everyone out there who always thought the democrats woulde your guns, he just had a bump stock case. he banned the bumptock. administration, the lower courts

aged. they knew that the supreme court would not ban the bump stock, judge was loyal to him. that was lori. let's heafrsville, indiana on te republican line. good morning, keith. ca good morning. i have a comment that i want to make. they say we are on labor in this country. there they want to have abortions. we are short on people, but w 's people. but we are short on people. but you need t an abortion. i seen an ad on the news this morning where the government saying that it's dangerous for you to go in and try to get help with your pregnancy. it's a danger.

democrats putith your baby. it's aby. so, i believe in the first amendment, i believe in life. you have to meet your maker upstairs. my wife was adi have been marrir 48 years. you know, if you get rid of all the people that works here we in this country.d other people why are we getting rid of our own people? i do not understand that. host: joe in north branford, line. good morning, joe. caller: good morning, "washington journal." how are you today? hocaller: i would like to talk about the deportation of migrants. it is kind of interesting. i wouldi am hearing from peoplet

they want to round up all these people and deport them holding camps. do people realize that they talking thousands of people. maybe more. what countries are they going to send them to? what happens if the countries they plan to send them to refuse to take these people? ,!now you have these people in holding camps. you can call them somethingamps. you will have and hunger rampant in these camps. you have to feed them. clothe them. taking people that are prtive, paying taxes, providing the service, doing things, and now you're going to round them up and throw them into camps for deportation? who is going to pay for all this? who? host: tom in zion, illinois o

good morning. caller: good morning. saying to i am a former reporter for a newspaper, and a political and news junkie for yetill am. i'm sho■cked by the amount of propaganda being spread just this morning oth show. donald trump is other -- is like no candidate, no other president that we've had. this is a man whose arrogance, whose lies, whose compassion orr anything is shocking, frankly. there were a lot of callshis sed abuses, and other things that

people are upset about with him. things. they crucified bill clinton over his affair with monica. some people say, what is good for the goose is good for the gander but the fact is this debate and election will focus economy. highmigration. all of the experts are saying that these are the main, key things. one thing that drives me crazy about immigration issue is bac'e corporations went to the mexican left here for lower taxes, brought in cheaperr facts and so on. since then, there has been an influx. i also a recent article in the chicago sun times, talking

about how the president of mexico is suing the nra. it is the first time a foreign country has ever sued the nra. it is actually of dollars. i think a few billion dollars. it is because they are finding that a lot of these drug cartels in mexico who are driving all the immigrants appear were sold guns by the nra from the united states. so, it just seems like such hypocrisy and gas lighting that the is always blaming democrats for this or that, blaming them for the bdeprobleme problems were started by their sound biased, but it is the truth. governor abbott in when i was growing up in the

1970's andpolitics had its divisiveness at times, but somewhere after90's on, it seeme everyone went way right -- wente ground anymore. host: good morning. caller: good morning. i am stuck on the■9■ --man wheng about the guns. it was obama auns to the carteln order to track them. butnyway -- i forgot what i wanted to say. thank you.

host: we will go to larry in texas on the democrats line. good morning, larr yes. i want to talk about the first. he first president put a black woman on the supreme court. also he is the first let me talk about trump. he is the first president to ll it black woman a dog. the first president to sob's.

[indiscernible] the first one to tell them to go back to where they came from ous joyce in stockbridge, georgia on the republican li mo. you can tell who liste media. all the lies. trump never called anyone an sob. he loves soldiers. he did more for the military president. all this and talking about maga's. the main thing i wanted to talk about was illegals.

is a difference between immigrants and illegals. biden has led over -- let over illegals into this killing our women and children. but no one ever tells about there were three this week. a mother ofgirl that was raped,a 12-year-old girl that was murdered in houston. you don't hear that on mainstream media. all you hear about is how horrible trump is. they never refute it. like the three years of russia, russia, and it was proven that hillary clinton bought the steel dossier, but no one mentions on med■áia m

democrats all the time. then they talk about, no, it is the maga's. the maga's areng wrong. it means make america great again. right now our country is not great. we have college students saying "from the river to the sea" and wanting to kill the jews. you know who else wanted to kill the nazis. but they called trump hitler and the maga's nazis. they need to getfacts and stop listening to mainstream media. host: that doesn't for this open forum segment. next, we will be joined by recent georgetown university graduate and newsletter author gabe fiswe will be right back. ♪

>> c-span2 features leading authors discussing their latest nonfiction books. at 8:0p.m. eastern, former senator and john early discuss their inequality." the winner of the hynek prize a former new york timesditor shares hisfamily's rare medicaly with cancer. wed by the wall street journal health and science reporter. watch book tv every sunday on c-span 2, full schedule on your program guide or watch online anytime at

booktv.org. announcer: sunday on q&a, we sit down with ben's chili bowl owner author of breaking barriers with chili, about the history of the washington, d.c. landmark. >> 1968. ben's stay open? >> yes. we were the only place that was allowed to remain open. allowed? >> to remain open. they wanted everything closed in d.c. that uprising,fc on curfew for three nights. >> space for african-americans to feel

safe, that this is our place t o the jukebox. ■nnew york has sylvia's. d. had ben's chili bowl. announcer: ben's chili bowl owner and historian on c-span's q&a. you can listen to all of our podcasts on the free c-span now app. >> "washington journal" continues. host: joining us for our spotlight on sub stack seg of "wake up to politics" on sub stack. welcome. why don't you start by telling usbout "wake up to politics".

when and why did you startlu it? >> i started when i was nine years old in 2011. i have now been doing it for yen 40,000 subscribers. it is a daily rundown trying to as a guide of what is going on in american politics down in washington and across the country context and an idea. not trying to tell people what to think or mold their opinions. just what the government is doing. the big stuff and the more under the radar things that the government is doing every day. host: nine years old. what pead interest at nine years old? guest: i was interested during the 2008 ectliving now during t. yard signs and debates. something about me. i started reading about politics host: with so much going on in

politics then and now, how do you -- how do you decide what to cover? guest: it can be challenges, especially with the daily news. i guess there is a lot of political news out there, a lot of news.i try to focus on things a little different. i try to focus on the headlines and make sure that my readers understand those, is to give my readers something different. to take a granular look at all three branches of government and make sure my readers understand the ins and outs of processes undergirding the legislation coming outcome executive orders,hs. my goal is somewhat news of the day but trying to go under the headlinesç to give my readers something they might not get elsewhere. host:■ who is reading it and who is your target audience? guest:■a0 readers and a really diverse group. readers in all 50 states and than 100 other countries.

people who ayou will hear membef congress, white usnews executiv. but my target audience is -- i am louis. people from all across the country read from thewashingtone country, giving people an idea of what their leaders are doing. people who are not ste ipolitic. i get emails from people every day. that is really my target audience. i have a lot of really wired people and politicalbut my audid may not have time to read a different newsletters but want to know the important rings and stay informed. -- important th and stay informed. host: for people whore learning about your newsletter but may get other newsletters they are reading, what makes yours different? guest: a, accessible to

all readers. there are a lot of newsletters that are targeted for an inside the beltway audience. if you missed a few days you are suddenly lost. i focus on giving people the full sweep of the story, giving context, taking the long view.ei look a i never before seen? is this never before seen? i go through examples, why be different, what this could compare to. ihe context and think that i'm focused on not just the big stories that you can get everywhere. every friday one of my features is, what did cpass this week? on c-span people are watching and weil that, but a lot of major outlets are focusing on theí] infrastructure bill or the major pieces of legislation. reality is, each week there are smaller but very substantive and imrt bills getting through congress.

i believe they are having an impact on americans and deserve to be written about. what makes my newsletter you need to strung to focus on what happened this week, here is who it will impact, and here is why it matters even though most news