>> washington journal continues. host: our next guest was sworn

in as republican speaker of the house in 1999. here a bit from back then. my republican colleagues, i say it is time to put forward the major elements of our legislative program. we will succeed or fail, depending upon how sensible a program we offer. to my democrat colleagues, i will say, i will meet you halfway. maybe more so on occasion. but cooperation is a two-way street, and i expect you to meet me halfway as well. the president and the number of democrats in the house here have been saying, it is time to address several issues head on. i will buy that. that think we should agree stalemate is not an option. solutions are. [applause]

and to all my colleagues, i say we must get our job done and done now. we have an obligation to pass all the appropriation bills by this summer and we will not leave this chamber until we do. [applause] i intend, i intend to be a good listener. but i want to hear ideas in the debate that flows from them. i will have a low tolerance for campaign speeches masquerading as debate, whatever the source. >> joining us now here on the set, the former speaker of the house, republican from illinois. good morning.

anything from those words back then that you would deliver to the incoming house and senate as the next session comes in? >> it is an old lesson over and over again. new'twas a dynamic guy. he did a lot of things with speakers task force. i want to get back to order. you had to get your appropriation process done, get done,udget appropriation so you had your budget done by the 15th of march, so you have reconciliation with the senate by the 15th of april, so you start to do your appropriation bills and get things done. everything else flows from that. you set up a rhythm. things get done, you need to get committees to do their work. bypass committees. we had dissension back then as well. homogeneousave party. there are different ideas even in our society. but you had to give people a part of the process and let them be a part of the solution instead of part of the problem.

that is how i operate. promisedsaid, under and overproduced. basically, that is what we did. >> as far as the process now as an outsider looking in, what do you think about the process? has it strayed far? >> i think the process has been deadlocked. we have not had a budget in 10 years to pass. so you do not have a budget and everything gets jammed up in the end. you have ongoing resolutions to try to fund the government and nobody has a definitive ideas on how things happen here at that is why the process is set up. comeut having these things out of the senator, that type of cooperation. not a lot of stuff gets done. you end up in a gridlock. host: on the house side, is part of the reason that there is vast disagreement on how to do a these issues, and i'm talking about those he came under a tea

party banner? there.ere the majority. basically, the backlash of the movement. you have to make them part of the solution. you cannot isolate them. we did outreach. we did a lot of things under budget. feelings a very strong we did not spend any of the surplus. the first four years i was speaker, we spent $640 billion of public debt. it has not been done since or before. doneally got some things because we did work together. >> our guest is with us to talk about his time in the senate, his time as speaker. the republican agenda going to the next congress and a pastored

-- and joining us. if you want to ask questions -- .> people are tired of gridlock i cannot talk too much for the senate. that is my world. we see that in the sixth year of any president, has a type of feedback.

i think there are solutions and i think there are ways to work across the aisle. you have to have cooperation on the other side of the aisle. you have to have people who want to come together and share ideas. >> with the ship that happened last week, how would you advise john boehner to go forward? >> i will not advise him. he has his own agenda and leadership promised. you understand the problems better than anyone else. >> do you talk at all? >> yes. we talked some am a but not a lot here at less about issues going on? >> probably just, it is really palace politics, how things happen inside and some of you have to do. >> what did you tell him question mark >> look, everything i tell them is between he and i. we haveg forward, issues like immigration. a few colors brought up and there is a story today about executive action.

the think house republicans should work on this? >> i think it is an issue, national issue. there are solutions. no one really knows whether it is 10, 12, 14, 1 million people embedded in this country. they are here undocumented. they by and large pay taxes and pay into the system. i think there is a role, the bad is to gives thing them some type of click citizenship. you legitimize them and say they are here. i do not think you can uproot them. i do not think that is possible. some of them have been here for one generation or two generations. you cannot pick them up and put them somewhere else. they are here. you have to legitimize them in some sense. care if it is a red card or a purple card.

they are here, they are paying taxes, and if they want to be a citizen, they have to get to the back of the line and become citizens. on the other side, you also have to fix our borders. one of the things i did a lot, before he became speaker, was the anti-drug, illegal drugs come into the country. 75% of them come across the southwest border. will fix the border if you're going to fix immigration. >> what you do currently? isaiah the law firm in d.c. -- i have a law firm in d.c. lng.y and i do not lobby a lot, but i'm up on the hill. i touch base and i'm really thinking about the bigger issues. how do you move these issues,

energy is a big issue for us. we also have allies around the world such as the largest consumer of gas in the world. >> this is the democrats line. you're on with the speaker of the house. i have a question. seen schumer's democratic immigration bill? guest: he has had a number of bills. i have not seen the most recent. i am not in the everyday flow of legislation anymore.

i look at bigger issues, but not particular issues. product ofll be a negotiation and two sides working out. it is the end and not the beginning that is important. >> from kentucky, ron is a is up next. caller: good morning. if in america, we're all supposed to be held accountable to the same walk, how is it to the representatives of this country can allow people to illegally enter the country, get benefits, and be treated differently than the regular taxpayer, then we as the taxpayer, how are we supposed to respect the law, when we see it is not working for us. it is working for people who should not be here. guest: we do not allow people, but they do get across.

to fix the have got border. it is the first thing to do before anything. immigration reform is to fix the border. got to stop people from coming across. you will never stop them from are,g across, but who they they are coming across legitimately, and they're not carrying drugs. that is the important thing. >> from florida, republican line. you are up next. click heard you mention you gave as speaker of the house. to great applause in the house you will you stated not adjourn until you get all the appropriations bills voted on, which sounds like appropriations means spending. today, you should be working across the aisle and

since america is $16 trillion in debt, why would you recommend more spending in any form? i am not recommending spending. i am saying the appropriation process. you have to discipline yourself and budget area just like you put a household budget or a business plan together, you have a budget and you do not go over that fear that is the whole purpose of the budget. establish the budget, then establish the spending process. we saved and spent down 650 billion dollars in the first four years i was speaker. that is not spending more money. that is not adding $1 trillion on the national debt. illinois our next caller. independent line. caller: hello. remember me? [laughter]

is gone.hink he let's go to ohio. jerry. hi. caller: how are you doing? guest: fine. caller: i have questions about certain stuff. i know you are talking on politics. in, beforety i live a bunch of bad stuff started, an example is, like my you can -- my utility company. they have been ripping people off. i am an honest, hard-working husband. i have been charged almost $300 one month just for aseptic water bill and they dug the street up in front of my house. instead of admitting it was their mistake, i financially. for all of it. even with them ripping off, we are still driving through streets with holes. they could at least fix the street if they're going to rip us off.

that is just one comment. my family has been victimized by a bunch of people in this town and even law enforcement is participating in part of it. caller, thanks. you talk a little bit about working together. given example of how that worked on both sides and what can be applied to the incoming congress. down talked about sitting $650 billion. we had a balanced budget agreement tween the president clinton, and myself. and congress and president. i remember the discussion we had last year clinton was in office. we got down and the senate had spent more money than we have spent. they basically went over the budget. had to get down, and we will stick to the agreement. the president was in africa. hold, i think jetblue, now the u.s. treasure,

was the guy in charge of operating the budget in the white house. i got a hold of jack lew a couple times and said, we need to sit down with the president. it is the end of the session and we need to close things down. the president is in africa and cannot get ahold of them. i said, we need to talk. finally he said, he will be in turkey tomorrow morning at 10:00 in the back of the limousine. you have that window to talk. 10:00 in the morning in turkey, 2:00 in the morning over there .t the capital i dial the white house switchboard and they put me into the back seat of the limousine. bill clinton is a very engaging guy. he said, how are you doing? i said, fine. you have a very successful trip. we have things we have got talk about. he said, what is going on. i said, we have got to get the budget done and we are about

$100 billion over. he asked what i think we undo and i said, we ought to do 1% across -- across-the-board cut. he said that is a lot. i said, we need to work it out. he said, what you think we have to do question mark i said 1% and he said i think 1.25. i said, -- we're going back and forth and back and forth. finally, we ended up with .86. we had an agreement. getissue is, you engage and the agreement. clinton was willing to engage in we were and we got things done. to be engagements on both sides to get things done. there are other things we worked together on. basicallycolumbia, we sold off the drugs in this country. did urban development.

so i mean, there are things we can do together. you have to find some things where you can get things done and find success. >> how often were you in personal medication with president clinton? >> i would probably talk to him every week in some context one way or the other. >> do you think president obama could have different types of relations with -- going forward question mark less i do not know what medication is doing. if you're going to have success with congress, you better talk to congress. put forth ideas, and one of the things i -- i said, you have to be a listener. call me listener and not speaker. you have got to listen. listen to members, people, and the white house. then you can start to solve problems. >> from kentucky, this is greg, democrat line. hi. go ahead. caller: how are you doing this

money? things going good with you today? guest: not bad. caller: i want to talk about some things. i mean, you know, i hear you talking about everything going on there. the policies i see today, most are not working. there is a policy, it takes five years to get the policy done. now, i have seen for the last five years, people going canada, to geto, away from the epa. the policies are not working. what can we do to get it working? >> there certainly is a difference in thought on where republicans want to go with some environmental issues and where the president wants to go with environmental issues. that is a difference in philosophy and not a difference in policy, basically.

as long as he is going to be president, he will have the ability to direct the epa and do the things he wants. when the presidency changes, if it changes, you will have a different philosophy in place. people elected the president twice, and basically, endorse what the philosophy is. until this changes, you will have a push, especially on environmental issues. i think there is a middle ground . you have to bring capital back into this country. he believes the country, because the capitalists left this country, we have to bring it back. we have these laws that say, japan, theymany, have to bring another tax with you. we are only one. we have trillions of dollars of expanded capital overseas.

we need to bring the capital back here. that could make rich people rich. to pay that tax, reinvested, and make jobs. we hire people to drive them. host: carolyn is up next in pennsylvania. caller: i hope you can give me an answer to this question. i watched the news, and i see in israel, they have got a really good and secure border fence. tell me please, what is the real reason our government will not put up a fence that will peak -- keep people out? the real reason please. for have been an advocate fencing the border, sometimes with opposition. because of the drug issue, they need to keep illegal drugs out of the country. place iso it if some no longer in the border, it can be a physical fence, or a virtual fence there it radar and all these types of things, the technical things we have. we need to let our border patrol do our job -- do their job.

the national guard and other people can do it. we can do it if we have the will to do it. sometimes, it is the local governments that do not want it. sometimes, they do on it, but it from brownsville, texas, san diego, and california. we have got to make it uniform. i agree with you that we can do it. if this country puts its will to it, we can do it. will,are also people who through the caribbean, and they will come across the canadian border, which also happens to be poorest, but that is where we have to start area >> we asked folks on facebook to ask questions to you. something i think your name is attached to, alice said, the rule in the house of representatives is undemocratic and goes against democracy.

can you explain what that is? >> there was no rule. it is, if you got 218 votes, you move the bill and get it taken to the floor and move it. a misnomer,ea is saying you have to have a majority. let me say, every speaker that existed, if you let the other side control the process of politics, you probably will not be leader very long. almost every speaker in history you have most things to pass, you have to have a majority of your own people or you are not leading anybody. host: gaithersburg, maryland, michelle. let's go to melody, florida, democrats line. hi.er: i'm just wanting to understand why our v.a. veterans have

nothing to come home to. they are not getting the respect they deserve. middle-class, we are actually the poor. we are not receiving and you all are not listening or even excepting putting anything out that will sell -- that will help the families in the middle-class. we can do best thing for this whole country, when we talk about classes, i think we are wrong. we're one nation and we have got to work together. some people are more productive and some people have the ability to put together wealth. what you do is use the capital and the research we have to create jobs in the country. when we create jobs, everybody went. jobs, everybody wins. the middle class wins.

we should not add on to medicare. you have to move people and create wealth. everybody in this country can share in that wealth. efforts toody votes repeal portions of the affordable care act. what do you think about that as an effort? i disagree with the affordable care act. the philosophy that the government is big brother, they will provide everything for you and they will make decisions. you are not making those decisions. those decisions ought to be between a patient and a doctor. that is a very personal thing. there are ways to do that. are trying to

take apart pieces of the affordable care act. we need to change the philosophy . we should not have the big brother deciding our care. that is a personal choice. that is why people want to assemble part of it. >> what do you think it on a separate fronts? .uest: there is a difference it is not a policy issue. it is a philosophical issue. government should not be there, then you really need to change it. as long as the president has veto power, you will not get much changed. in way you're going to do it is through the reconciliation process.

.ou can pass it in-house it is all dollars and cents. host: it could be different next year. guest: it could be moderated. host: our guest is former speaker of the house. also served in the house as representative from illinois. the next call is from valdes. sick is noting philosophical. it is real. i have fantastic insurance in california. you and myself can speak about health care because we do not have to worry about it. a lot of people don't have anywhere to go. that is my first point. when i hear people talk about

immigration, i have to correct people. agribusiness in california start of the influx of illegal immigration. it has spread out. it they did not intended to. mexicans are taking over the industries. they are moving west. -- i am sorry, they are moving east. that is what people do not like. doing unpleasant jobs. ingrained in this society. they have to get used to it. yesterday my congressional -- guest: my congressional district was made up of immigrants.

nativee except for indians are immigrants. this is a natural process in immigration. it is legal. you have to control the borders and you have to bring through immigration, not just whoever can get across. host: mike, virginia. i appreciate your service. i hope there is more civility. i look back on your time and you look like gandhi. reason i am calling you, i never heard a definitive answer. there was an accusation made years back that you had a

highway diverted in illinois where you in your son owned property and that you made millions and you did not respond at the time. i would like an answer -- did you profit from some highway being moved because of property you own? there was a highway that was proposed that was never built. i sold the farm and bought a farm. people who did not want the highway made that an issue. we never profited because there was a highway there. awayighway was five miles from any piece of property i had. host: gregory, republican line. i am a student of hamilton. i do not know why we cannot turn the debt of hours into a blessing.

shouldn't we discontinue the payment of interest on the debt and use it as a fund to offset any deficits and surpluses in our budget. words, if we pay interest on the debt, that seems to be excessive. get our good faith and credit, why would we want to give them interest besides? use it as a funded to mitigate budgetary --. if there is a surplus, you add to it. you remember back in the 30's -- back in the 1930's when we went off the gold standard. they come out with a hundred thousand dollar bill. it was easier to carry than 4000

double eagles. when you're are on the run, it seems like the right ring to do. guest: i think if you are not paying interest on the debt, you will pay interest on inflation. nobody is going to lend money to the federal government, whether it is an individual or if it is . foreign country there has to be a play there. that frees the country up to not very interest back. you can spend it on real things. host: dennis hastert joining us on "washington journal." i wanted to read a couple of things.

to people in the house, value the work courses. can you expand on what you meant? guest: some people like to get in front of the cameras and talk all the time. when i left congress, i was probably one of the lowest name i spent ans because lot of my time sitting around a table, trying to bring people together and find solutions to problems. that do the hard work are not on tv all the time. they are the work courses. there are some great people in congress who have worked hard and dedicated their life to it technicians. they understand the process and the tax system. by being onndo that

tv all the time. it takes a lot of work and a lot of study to be an expert. you find a lot of people in congress are specialists. say coverageld you has changed since you have left? we were pretty much cable tv, 24/7. in the old network system, when i first came to the exception of c-span, people had the nightly news or morning news. it was cap's elated. it was on the big networks. today, msnbc, fox, whatever you choose to do, you can pick what you want to hear. they have to have this news to keep people going.

you fan the flames of the feeding frenzy. news has become less analytical populist in a sense. sometimes i turned to a station that is pretty neutral. that is what i want to hear, the real news of what happened. host: today is house orientation day. we will show you a little bit of that. have ameanwhile, we will conversation with the former speaker of the house. i have a couple of questions.

i am independent. i am from a family that is military. they used to be republicans, but now our family has gone away from that because of everything that has been going on. thatestion is, how is it hold on, i have a whole bunch of notes. it was brought up that some of the republicans were talking about how they were dissing the women, saying they -- speaker boehner was like -- oh, yeah, whatever. like toat would you address our guest with specifically? caller: republicans are treating women and immigrants and those that are not white and then also, how it is that their pay structure is. can't we take some

of the deficit and lower all of in the capital and lower their pay? guest: it is what the government spends. when youit happens spend more money than what you bring in. a lot of people say we have to have a balanced budget amendment. you did not spend more than you took in. that is how you bring spending sensibilities to the congress. host: gene is up next. go ahead. caller: i hope your party will support the agenda. the open fuel standard proposed by several members of congress.

it is a reenactment of the alternative fuels act of 1998. it is worth noting that china is spending $4 billion building a ,lant to take our natural gas which is a great benefit to us all. guest: i believe in renewable fuels. we do not use methanol because it gets in the water supply and is very harmful. ethanol is being used in some places it is 10% and some places it is 15%. it is cheaper than gas and bring down the price of gas. i support it. host: as we talk on capitol hill, congressmen are getting their orientation today. what are they learning and what would you advise if reshma and

coming into congress? guest: one of the first things and learn are the ethics the traps that surrounds you all the time. if yous normal behavior are a businessman or something as aet you in trouble member of congress. oft is the first thing most these guys come out of their scared to death, why there are all of these ethics things. you -- it- they make changes how you live your life. host: you referred to them as traps. you either have good people in congress that have al standards. more mousetraps you have, more people will get their clothes caught in it. those types of things. in my view, some of them get petty.

host: did they existed during your time as speaker? guest: some of them were laid on right after i left as speaker. is that perspective solely because of the job you do now? guest: you did what you had to do. the more rules, the more laws -- sometimes law tells you to do one thing and another law tells you to do something else. host: what would you advise going forward? guest: elect ethical people. not on the ballot, but that is why you have elections. crucible to elect good people. people thatonly have to look at parties and

philosophy, but who that person is. host: dawn, claremont, california. don, claremont, california. caller: i am surprised you'd look the question when they asked if you are a lobbyist and you said no, you are not. i think of all the people that represent the 1% ours. -- the one percenters. there is a whole thing set up where the 1% are dictating how we are going to be. you have this immigration system and other people pushing -- asese guys to have poor as they are, they are being used to keep down wages. listen to the people out here.

the democrats and republicans this whole idea, pushing immigration is not needed right now. thats this a big thing obama has to push out and violate the constitution just to prove he is the king and he can get what he wants? guest: the immigration issue has to be handled. -- theppens today is reality is you have millions of people that are here that are undocumented. themhad been here, some of have been here since world war ii. they came here because we needed working on the railroads and the foundries. they have become part of the society. they have children and grandchildren. their families are here. that is a reality. you have to deal with that. you also have to deal with that by making sure everyone else

that comes -- the process. caller: i have quit questions. what about the millions spent jobs to hisbag gave friends and the military-industrial complex so that there is fencing, whether they completed it or not is another question. duringout the fact reagan's time there were little bills attached to the big bills mastersowed the puppet in the background to offshore ship our jobsd to overseas. that is when this started. next turned our health care over , to make insurance judgment as to who could be

covered. guest: you asked a lot of questions. i am not sure if they are all valid. you and, along time before i was involved in politics, he did create medicare. a long timeixon, before i was involved in politics, he did create medicare. , when you talk about jobs going overseas, quite frankly, a lot of jobs did go overseas. we created jobs in this country because of our technical side and what we have been able to do is far superior than any other country. you have to go with where the trends are. we do not make as much steel as walked downbut i

the streets of my hometown and i see cars with labels on them that were not made in this country, but no government is telling people to buy those cars. people make that choice. you have a free market. people decide what they are going to purchase. i drive an american car because i made that decision. that is what the free market is. thate going to buy a car is made overseas, jobs will go overseas. what we need to do is make an effort, i think there are fiscal issues we have to address. i think to get back to regular , and not to overspend and get everything jammed in the end , and have the senate ad things on an overspend, i think there needs to be a process. approacha common sense

you can take for immigration. you have people here. you need to strengthen the borders. not everybody is going to get everything they want. whole idea. working together and finding agreement someplace, where you can work together and find a place where you can trade often they can trade-off and both sides get something.