ter college. i think it would be a healthy thing for america to coider options and alternatives. and there is a project called the franklin project. it's headed up by general stanley mcchrystal who was the commanding general in afghanistan, and it is run out of the aspen institute. its goal is to get a million, basically, young people between the ages of 18-28 into these m programs and give them something for it, give them manager like a g.i. bill of rights or veterans benefits or some is some way to either compensate them or give them an edge in terms of their educational experience. some benefit so that they wouldn't want to do this for free. because i don't think people -- i think people need to benefit in some way with this even though it wouldn't be a lot of compensation. >> well, we'll turn it over now to the audience. if you have questions there's a microphone here there's one over here, and if folks want to

line up we're ready to take some questions. >> hi, my name is sean, and i'm from the university of san diego. so speaking about incentives for congress people to take the long view, take the hard vote, what do you think in your opinion is the best solution to incentivizing individual congress people to take the long view? >> well, first of all, nobody's going to do something that deliberately and intentionally causes their loss. that wou defy the laws of nature. so i'm from kansas so if i went up and i said wheat programs are bad for this country, i'm going to vote against them my constituents would think i was nuts. okay. because i'm sent there to represent their views, their perspectives on as much as i

can. but i'm also sent up this to use my own -- up there to use my own judgment with as well. and, you know, my judgment is that philosophically these jobs were not meant to be permanent jobs. there was meant to be turnover. it doesn't mean i believe in term limits but it means that people have to have the view that country is important which means taking decisions that not necessarily you'll get 100 percent agreement from your constituents on everything that you vote on. how do you incentivize that? i think that the system is always probably tense in that area, you know, in terms of -- i used to do polling i used to try to figure out what my constituents think. ultimately it became personal integrity. i'll give you one example. when i was in the house, bill clinton asked me to vote for nafta, the north american free trade agreement. i was polling, the polling was

71% now, 28% yes. but i thought, you know what? this mexico thing was probably right, and we're part of one broad america, and it's probably the right thing to do, and i thought i could talk my way out of it with my constituents anyway, so i went ahead and voted for it. i also voted for the crime bill in 1994 which had assault weapons and gun restrictions and i thought, well, that was the right thing to do. guess what? i lost. you know, mo udall, who ran for president, he says the citizens have spoken, the bastards, you know? [laughter] so i didn't call them that, but you know, i lost. you've got to -- but the people have to encourage their members to kind of try to want to do the right thing and recognize that people are really of two minds at this, you know? some people say hypothetically

they want you to do the right thing, but they really want you to vote what they want you to do at the same time. you're a leader. it means you have to sometimes stick your neck out. and there's an old expression behold the turtle, he never makes progress unless he sticks his neck out. and ultimately, that's what it comes down to, personal courage and integrity which should be reinforced by the public. >> yeah, fortunately a large percentage, i would say a majority, of the members of congress regardless of party try to do the right thing regardless of political consequence. their conscience is sufficiently strong that they do that and i tell you this story. t.a.r.p. was enormously unpopular. t.a.r.p. was enormously esseial. >> you might explain t.a.r.p., some of them --

>> oh, i -- yeah, you're all too young. [laughter] this was the decision on the part of the treasury department to pledge $700 billion in support of the financial system. attacked as a bailout for big banks by both the far right and the far left. is secretary paulson the secretary of the treasury, came before the congress with ben bernanke, the chairman of the federal reserve system, and said we have four days before the entire financial system melts down worldwide. and then bernanke said i have run out of tools. this is chairman of the federal reserve system saying i have no

tools left with which te deal with this challenge. and it's going to -- the only institution big enough to deal with it is the united states treasury, and it's going to be a very big number. and we said how big, and he said $500 billion. and the next day it was, no, we were wrong it's $700 billion and chris dodd was the chairman of the banking committee. he called me at night and said i want to meet with you tomorrow so that we write this legislation. i called senator shelby who was the ranking member of e banking committee, and shelby said i want no part of it, i'm going to vote against it, i think it's a mistake call bennett. i was next ranking. i called mcconnell, the leader and said chris has invited me to this, should i go? i want to go, and he said take

judd gregg with you, and we decided to take bob corker as well. so we three republicans walked in and i -- the democrats, crust had a couple of democrats democrats -- chris had a couple of democrats chuck schumer with him, barney frank came over from the house along with the ranking republican, and we sat down, and in about a two hour period we put a bill together that came up with the 700 billion that the treasury needed. a lot more details went into it, but that was basically it. okay. the house rejected it. nancy pelosi said, hey this is enormously unpopular. the republicans are in charge of the house. make the republicans pass it with republican votes, so she withheld x number of democratic votes where item upon john

boehner -- whereupon john boehner said i'm not playing that game, game, and he withheld the appropriate number of republican votes, and the thing failed. the new york stock exchange lost $1.5 trillion in value in the next 20 minutes whereupon mcconnell and reid, the two with senatorial leaders took the stage and together said -- the congress was scheduled to recess -- we are not recessing until this has been passed. we will see to it, we'll stand here. and the collapse in the stock exchange stopped after reid and mcconnell took their stand. and then talking to the house okay, nancy pelosi released the democrats she had held back, and boehner said, okay and leaned on -- it passed the house, came

over to the senate and we made a few very cosmetic changes to it as a fig leaf for the house so they could say, well, it was right for us to have defeated that version but we're in favor of this version. this version has a semicolon rather than a comma, so -- [laughter] all right. that background. it's now passing the senate by a comfortable margin, has passed the house. chris dodd who lost his seat chris dodd the chairman walked across the aisle to gordon smith, senator from oregon. any of you here from oregon? and chris said, gordon, you are facing a very tough re-election. we all recognize that. we have enough votes to pass this without yours, so i

recommend for your re-election in oregon you vote against it. this is a democrat talking to a republican. gordon smith said, chris, this is the right thing for the country, it's the thing we ought to be doing, i could not live with my conscience if i voted against it. gordon voted for it gordon lost. that is the deep american tradition. i think it still holds for all of the other stuff we talk about, get excited about, this is terrible, hannity goes crazy and sharpton go crazy and yell at us back and forth.

i think the majority of the members of congress on both sides, ultimately, are in that position. >> let's go -- [inaudible] we'll take two questions at a time and kind of let you both work through them. would you go ahead? >> patrick sweeney university of new hampshire. senator bennett i was really touched by -- >> a little louder, please. >> i was really uched by being drafted by the tea party. i'm just wondering why it's been such a successful -- [inaudible] on the right and why there isn't kind of the democratic equivalent of this kind of insurgent force? >> do you want to go ahead and -- >> my question's a little longer. sure i'll do it. okay. so -- >> your name

>> well, this is where the marketplace has to work. you're not going to mandate how many women are going to be in congress. >> yeah. >> it may be 20% now, i guarantee it was like 5% ten years ago. and i wouldn't be surprised if

it won't be 40 or 50% in another ten years in congress. there's just been a dramatic increase on both sides, and it ought to be that way. and redistricting to some extent helps that process if it's done fairly because it makes, it makes it so that the people voting in congressional districts tend to be more balanced more centrist, more independent in that process. but it's something. that's why one of the things i urge you to go see is this movie, "selma." it's a pretty good example of how the voting rights act was a really important part of the american political systems. and, by the way, one of the problems with the voting rights act is we have now districts that are compelled to be one, essentially, one-race district cans because the voting rights act has tended to put in many parts of the south all the minorities in one congressional district. so, you know you might be able to get two or three minorities

as opposed to one if you if we kind of made this a little more balanced. but that's my own perspective. but in any event yeah i think that you're gradually seeing -- it's still not equal still not perfect. same thing's true in corporate america. nuer of women as ceos in corporations, but it's really beginning to move, and now the recruitment. you talk to the party, and they're really focusing on female and minority recruitment. i know in your own state you now have a female african-american congresswoman from a state where how many african-americans there are in the state of utah? probably less than 2% i would say. >> it's very much in the low single digits. >> yeah. and so the other thing i would just respond because it was more direct to senator bennett, there is no real tea party on the left. there was the occupy america kind of fell apart. there is elizabeth warren who

kind of speaks a populist messaging now which maybe that will rise into a serious political challenge in the next presidential election. i don't, i don't really know. my own judgment is that the tea party was born out of i think, genuine concern about the political system not being response i. but -- responsive. but it just took a radical turn to the right, and it's kind of supporting extremist positions on a lot of issues and that's troublesome. but maybe, as the senator said the scariness will turn the party more to the center. >> we hope so. i think people are talking about elizabeth warren and saying is she the new ted cruz on the left. and, of course, she was very outspoken in the lame duck about what we were doing. this is terrible. she and ted cruz could have swapped manuscripts and read from each other's and sounded

alike. you're too young to realize that the democratic party has had its tea party led by a man named george mcgovern. now, the vietnam war was a huge mistake, and within the democratic party because the vietnam war got its momentum within the democratic party, the first major troop commitment was john f. kennedy and the significant escation of the vietnam war was lyndon johnson. and so within the democratic party a perfectly legitimate protest movement was formed as an anti-war protest movement. but it morphed into an anti-american movemen and within the democratic party there was a group formed to try

to counterbalance the electoral impact of that. the democratic leadership council. one of whose -- isn't that, do i have the right name? >> yeah. >> one of whose leaders was a young governor from arkansas named bill clinton. even though he had been a mcgovernite as a college student, he fairly quickly recognized that was a mistake, and he became part of -- ultimately, was the first democrat to win the presidency back after the democratic party had been taken over by the mcgovernites. now you can say, yeah, but jimmy carter won. jimmy carter won because of watergate. he had his one term and was gone. after this group took control of the democratic party, the republicans wofive out of the next six presidential elections. all right. the tea party is the mirror image of that on the republican

side, only instead of war being the thing that triggered it, it was a sense of tremendous frustration that government is too big too expensive and unresponsive. and those are all perfectly valid criticisms. just the way the vietnam war is a mistake was a perfectly valid criticism on the left. and just as people under mcgovern went too far in that direction, in the tea party thing they have gone too far, slipped off the edge of the menu completely into alice in limbaugh land -- [laughter] and as a result, they have made themselves irrelevant to the governing process. and i've said to some of my democratic friends if we republicans can't contain that

democrats are going to win five out of the next six presidential elections just the way the republicans did in the mcgovern age. now, he comforted me. he said, no, bob, our capacity to screw up is sufficient that you will win more than that. [laughter] in the elections ahead of you. but, yeah, we have, we have seen this happen before. and just briefly on this issue, america is the only place where the candidates are self-selected. if you've read some of the novels of jeffrey archer who's a former member of parliament of great britain about america, it's hilarious when he gets to the nominating process because he describes the nominating process in america as if it were the british process. where the party gets to pick who thcandidate is. and the heroine in his novel,

i've forgotten the name, it doesn't matter, is chosen by a select group of party officials to run for the senate in illinois. and i'm reading this saying this is hilarious because that's not the way it is at all. if she wants to run for the senate in illinois, she can run for the senate in illinois, in america simply by paying the filing fee and she's there. she's on the ballot. ask and so -- and so the diversity and the question of balance has a lot to do with how many people are willing to try it. who are of the various groups you are describing. and the party, yes, there there are recruitments. we tried a recruitment effort in utah for a young woman that would be a very attractive member of congress, and she wants no part of it.

for a variety of reasons. we don't select who's going to run. >> but i would have to say social media and use of modern technology has democratized the american political process. this is something nobody anticipated 30 years ago. and it may be one of reasons why you've seen a pretty dramatic upswing in the minority of women candidates. it's still not 50%, but it's moved up rather dramatically. that's one great thing about modern technology. it gives more people access into our political system than just having a party to pick the candidates. >> got about five minutes left so i think we might only have time to take two more questions. let's take them both at the same time, and then we'll wrap it up. >> i'm annternational student from the harvard extension school. in most of the countries where i grew up and lived, we have more than two parties. >> get a litt closer. >> can't hear you. >> i'm an international student. in all of the countries where i

grew up and lived, we have more than two parties. given how discan enchanted -- disenchanted the american public has become with politics, do you believe a strong third party might emerge and do you believe american politicsould benefit from more than two parties? thank you. >> go ahead. >> my name's stephen erickson and my question was related to election reform. you mentioned the low turnout in the primaries. do you thi an open primary such as what we saw in mississippi with thad cochran would be a good solution? because as you could see there was a more expansive like, coalition that helped him win his primary and then, you know, easily win the general election? because, arguablyithout especially the african-american support, the tea party guy what was his name mcdaniel i think? he would have been -- >> so you're talking about primary rules that allow democratic voters to vote. >> i favor the california jungle

primary. everybody's name is on the ballot and the top two go to the general election. so everybody can vote for the top two. one of the top two. in gerrymandered districts the top two are going to be two democrats. and that's why pete stark lost. under the old california system, you had the republican who won the republican primary which in pete stark's district meant nothing, and the democrat who won the democratic primary which was always pete stark. so he was absolutely invulnerable, congressman for life. they went to the jungle primary, and the top two names got on the ballot, and it was pete stark and another democrat, and they voted for the other democrat. and i would love to see that in the state of utah.

there are many circumstances where it would be two republicans because utah's overwhelmingly republican. but at least the democrats would get to choose which republican they preferred. whereas now they don't have a voice at all. so i would like to go in that direction. now, you're talking about a third party? >> third party, yeah. >> it's not going to happen. [laughter] because back to what i commented on earlier our whole system is based on state law and party rules. there is no federal basis. and state law and party rules have so embedded the two-party system into way things are done that a third party statutorily is going to -- it faces a hurdle that is virtually impossible to overcome. >> just states should be

permitted to experiment with this. in many states independents can go in and vote and choose his or her party at the election and then can revert back to an independent or the other party if they want to. but this concept of just a republican and a democrat voting in respective parties may be a bygone of a bygone era and states ought to be permitted to experiment whether it's california's system or others which i think are healthy. i'm not sure we're not going to have a third party at some point in time, but it's difficult because of the way money's raised in this country. it's very difficult to get dollars unless you fit into one of these two political systems n. kansas we had an interesting senate race this time we had pat roberts who was the incumbent senator running against an independent. really this was an independent-leaning democrat who had a lot of money. he put five or six million from his own pocket. and up until about two weeks before, the race was even. and this was a long-term

incumbent. he'd been in congress 18 years in the the house 18 years before that. he's a good friend of mine actually. but it looked like he was losing. the national party came in, they took over his campaign. he was from a bygone era, and they put in modern principle, modern, you know, communication techniques, and they put in modern amounts of money, and he won. now, we had a third party a few years ago, his name was ross perot. and this was probably before your time, but george h.w. bush, jimmy -- i mean, bill clinton and ross perot. and at one time it looked like perot was going to, could be a factor. and then he kind of fizzled because he -- >> he had 40 president in the polls -- 40% in the polls at one point. >> at one point in time. you know, he talked about aliens, and he had a few problems -- [laughter] but it's difficult. but on the other hand, if the system isn't responsive to the people if people don't believe that the parties are looking out

for their interests then, you know, we've had third parties before and, in fact, our current republican party was at one point a different party and it morphed into it. it's possible but it's not culturally part of the american political system, so it makes it a lot more difficult. >> will thank you. >> all right. well, thank you. let's thank our panelists. [applause] >> the 114th congress gavels in today at noon eastern. we'll see the swearing in of members and the election for house speaker. watch the house live on c-span and the senate live on c-span2. and with the new congress, you'll have the best access, the most extensive coverage anywhere. track the gop as it leads on capitol hill and have your say as events unfold on tv radio and the web. >> live next on c-span2 the

congressional black caucus hold its swearing-in ceremony. and live at noon eastern the opening of the 114th session of congress in the u.s. senate. >> this sunday on "q&a," author dick lar talks about the ground breaking 1915 film, "the birth of a nation," its depiction of former slaves after the war and the efforts of newspaper publisher william monroe trotter to prevent the movie's release. >> part two of the movie, which is after the war, reconstruction, is really the hart of the protest in the sense that this is where the blacks were just appalled by the portrayal of field slaves. and this is a scene showing what happens when you give former slaves, you know, the right to vote, the right to be elected, the right to govern. it's a scene in the south carolina legislature where their

first and primary order of business is to pass a bill allowing for interracial marriage. because again in griffith's hands black men are solely interested in pursuing and having white wom. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> author dick lehr on the controversial story behind the birth of a nation, sunday night at 8 eastern and pacific on c-span's "q&a." >> c-span2 providing live coverage of the u.s. senate floor proceedings and key public policy events. and every weekend, booktv, now for 15 years the only television network devoted to nonfiction books and authors.

c-span2, created by the cable tv industry and brought to you as a public service by your local cable or satellite provider. watch us in hd, like us on facebook and follow us on twitter. >> and we are live this morning as the u.s. capitol is active today. members of the congressional black caucus are holding a congressional ceremonial swearing in. the cbc will have its largest membership in the 114th congress with 46 members tis time. the ceremony's expected to include remarks from house speaker john boehner minority leader nancy pelosi. now, the weather in washington, d.c. is a little snowy today, so we suspect that this event could be a little bit delayed with some members arriving a little bit later. ..

>> again we are live this morning in the u.s. capitol where members of the congressional black caucus will hold a ceremonial swearing in as the 11 hadth congress will get underway at noon. we'll have live coverage on

c-span2. while we wait the u.s. senate begins new senate with a new majority leader. we spoke with the senate historian about the history of the majority leaders in the senate. >> donald ritchie, thank you for being with us on american history tv. the senate majority leader is not a position in the constitution. how did the job evolve? >> that puzzles a lot of people. we had a former speaker of the house why is the president pro tempore is second in the position. functional equivalent on the senate side. speaker of the house is written into the constitution and president pro-tempore is. and to mention of majority leader or minority leader. the constitution did not anticipate political parties. they thought it was probably going to happen but they didn't want to encourage political

parties so they make no provision for it. and for most of the history of the senate we had no majority leader from 1789 until 1913 there was no majority leader of the senate. there were chairman of committees who would sort of take care of things on the floor. there were chairman of the party conferences and open things up and close things the way they do today but nobody sitting down there in the front row center seat trying to organize what happened on the floor on a daily basis and that changed in 1913 when woodrow wilson was elected president. he was a former president of princeton university. he had a phd in history and political science. he written his doctoral dissertation about congress. he had very strong ideas about how congress ought to operate and he also had a very ambitious legislative agenda. so prevailed on democrats who had just come into the majority to pick one of their senators to be a leader, to be the person who could take charge of things

on the floor. instead of going to a senior senator as they would say for the president pro-tempore they went into a very junior senator john kearns. he had run for the vice president on democratic ticket in 1908. this is 1913. senator kern, who was a fresh man senator became the first majority leader of the senate. he functioned about the way majority leaders do today. he started out opening things up during the aand scheduling things and closing things down at night. when the republicans came into the majority in 1919 they decided this was a good idea. so they picked one of their senior senator henry cabot lodge, to help carry on those functions. they didn't officially have the title majority leader. they had all sorts of others, conference chairman, things like that. it is not until 1925 that charles curtis of kansas is

officially designated the majority leader but the fact of the matter and john worth kern and henry cabot lodge functioned the way a majority leader would today. ever since then the ma juror leadership has grown considerly in power. although if you read the rules of the senate you won't see a lost mention of the majority leader. a lot of it has just evolved over time. some of it is from their powers come from the precedence in the senate rather than from the rules. lyndon johnson who was probably the most powerful of all majority leaders used to say his single greatest power was his power of persuasion. howard baker a republican who suck set seed him a few years later and used to chuckle and he said the power to call bills up on the calendar is pretty significant. in 1937, vice president of the united states, john garner, who served previously as speaker of the house and he gave the

majority leader the greatest power of them all not by rule but by precedent. that was he realized control of the floor was really essential doing things in efficient way in the senate. so john garner said i will grant the majority leader the right of first recognition. when all of the senators are seeking recognition i will always call on the majority leader first. after that i will call on the minority leader. that means the majority leader can gets the floor when he wants it and that is a huge influence. it has a lot to do with the way things happen in the senate today. that is also one reason why you will not see minority senators presiding over the senate. there was a time when both majority and minority freshman would pride. one day a member of the minority party was presiding and majority leader sought recognition and that senator called on someone else. and it was a little like crack toe waa going off again. there was a huge eruption in the

senate. majority said from now on there will never be a minority senator in the chair. except for snow days when nobody is available you won't see a minority senator in the chair because that is so essential to the powers of the majority leader. >> where on the senate floor do we find the majority and minority leaders and how do they work together? >> majority and minority leaders are front and center. they occupy the two front row center seats since 1937. democrats were a little earlier. republicans had to wait for one of their senior senators to retire to move their leader up there. whoever becomes leader takes that seat. around them are all of the senators by senority. so the freshmen who just got elected will be way in the back in the corner and the senior senators are usually down in the center aisle or towards the middle. that is so again if the presiding officer is look out over the body and a number of senators are seeking recognition, the people front and center are the ones who

catch the presiding officer's eye. people in the back have to shout a little bit wave their arms to get that kind of attention. so that is one reason why people tend to move to the front. they have been there. they signed their names inside of the desk drawers to show they sat there. all the leaders of republican party and all the leaders of democratic party their names are in the front row center seats. usually seated besides them will be the party whip and usually behind them the most senior members about party. and that's, that's the seat of power i suppose you would say in the senate, that the difference between the senate and the house on this is that the house has ruled from the chair. the presiding officer the chairperson makes the rules and decides them. the speaker is a very powerful figure. the senate is ruled from the floor. the presiding officer, vice president president pro tem pour rare is the. real influence is on the floor.

all senators are equal. some senators are a little more equal than others and the majority leader is the first among equals. >> what is the impact on the senate when there is a change if leadership? >> well the senate is a very personality-driven body. 100 senators personalities are a huge influence in the senate. even a small change in membership has an impact. large changes have very large impacts especially the leadership. there is a certain rythym established by the leader. leaders talk about quality of life. they decide whether or not you will work on mondays and fridays. how late at night. they decide the tempo of the senate. and so a lot of it has to do with their own personalities. mike mansfield is very different from a robert byrd even though they're both from the same party, mansfield was much more laid-back. byrd was much more hands-on, aggressive type leadership. you see that in the republican party as well in the types of leaderships of bob dole or trent lott or bill frist will

each have a different style different advisors. they will have different tactics so senator mcconnell and senator reid were both the whips of their party. they both spent a lot of time on the floor and no the rules and precedence very well. each has images what they want the body to do. it is interesting to see in the shift of leadership if there is much of a change in the style of operations. senator mcconnell gave a speech at the beginning of the last session which he talked about what he would like to see in the senate. more regular order. more monday and friday sessions. variety of proposals and i think he will act to carry out that in the coming congress. >> we'll hear from former senate majority leaders howard baker bob dole and robert byrd. can you say a word or two about each man and the kind of leader he was? >> after 1980 there was a big

shock when the republicans took the majority in the senate for the first time in 26 years. it was only one senator who had been around the last time the republicans had in majority. everybody was a little bit stunned. no one had anticipated a change of that magnitude. even the republicans hadn't anticipated that they would take charge of the senate. senator dole was in line to become chairman of the finance committee and he said, who will tell russell law the long-time chairman of that committee? and one of the things that made that transition so much easier in the senate than the similar transition that happened in the house in 1994 was that howard baker was the majority leader, incoming majority leader. he was what i call an institutionalist. he was a son-in-law of a former republican leader, everett dirksen. he was the husband of dirksen's daughter joy. he eventually married second wife was senator senator nancy

cats send obama. he is very much a institution. he love institutions of the senate. he understood it. worked with democratic leaders when he was minority leaders. so there was almost seamless transition to it. every everyone breathe ad great sigh relief, though howard baker was coming in as the majority leader. he had a great sense of humor. he was he was type of person who was grasped what was going on at any particular time and could figure out what to do about it. he was a problem solver. not surprisingly when the whithouse got into the trouble at time of iran con tracks they brought howard baker as chief of staff for president ronald reagan exactly for those reasons. he also had a great sense of real estate. traditionally the democrats had a nice, big office next to the senate chamber and republicans had a much smaller office down the hall. senator baker said i will not change with the democratic

leader but i would like to add to my suite. and so he took over quite a bit of territory. republican leader now has a very large, coherent section of rooms on the west front of the capitol thanks to howard baker and the room the main room is known as the howard baker room. >> bob dole? >> senator bob dole came up from the house of representatives as a fighting partisan. he had been a chairman of his party. he was the kind of person who could really debate ferociously and in the senate there is really fighting, fighting partisans turned into a wise pragmatist. the man who realized that things didn't happen often because in the senate because they were ramrodded through. they happened because they were negotiated through. and that you had to find cosponsors and colleagues on both sides of the aisle. senator dole was the kind of person who could sit in a chair with a yellow legal pad and with

a bunch of senators standing around him working out text of amendments or you unanimous consent agreement that would gut them through the hurdle that was going on. he was leader on two occasions. first in 1985 and '86. then he was minority leader for a number of years and came back as majority leader in 1995 and '96. and in all of those occasions in the majority and in the minority he was the kind of person who worked out difficulty arrangements. he also had a terrific sense of humor. he was wonderful to listen to and he, he liked he enjoyed the history of the senate. he used to give historical minutes at beginning of each day and for the senate bicentennial in 1989 he published senator dole es historical almanac of the senate. he got a great chuckle out of doing that and always wanted more. the historical office was always working closely with him on

that. >> george mitchell. >> george mitchell, if you just watched him he looked very prove fest so. he looked calm and mile mannered. if you talk to the senators this is very tough politician. this person knows what is going on, who is scheduling and planning things. he was a very effective leader but he was just opposite of what he appeared to be this, detached person. he was not detached at all. he was very much focused on what was going on. it was a time when the parties were changing. when the structure of the senate was changing. senator mitchell as majority leader who began to complain the most about how many blocked cloture motions there were. he saw more filibusters coming along. he really tried to get and that but politics were becoming more polarized even then. he was a very shrewd leader and figured out a lot of ways to get

around that. and i think he had great respect from all of the senators and it is not surprising that he went on to a career in diplomacy after that. brokering deals between catholics and protestants in northern ireland. he had that kind of a judicial temperament that people trusted on both side. and he also had a way of deciding that there were solutions to these problems that you could find. >> finally robert byrd. >> of all the senators i worked with, i probably worked more with senator byrd than any of the others and true of my predecessor dick baker. senator byrd tapped into the historical office on a regular basis and senator byrd was unique in the senate. he never went to college but he took a class here or there but he never got a college degree. he actually went to law school as a senator at night and the american university law school recognized his service in the house and the senate as the equivalent of a college degree. he went on to get a his law

degree and he had president kennedy come to present his diploma at his graduation. but i have always thought here he was in a body of full of rhodes scholars and yale and harvard graduates and stanford graduates and all these ivy leaguers and people with terrific educations. he never felt inferior about that. instead what he felt was that he never ended his education. he was always reading. was always studying. once i rode with him to an event and in the back seat of his car with a copy of "the count of monte cristo" and i looked at it, it was a surprise. he said i never had a chance to read that when i was younger. so he was constantly reading. his wife complained that she could never dust her dining room table because he was always bringing books home from the senate library and library of congest. they were stacked up that he was working on it. in 1980 by chance he gave a speech, very impromptu speech because his granddaughter's school class was in the actualry

and pave gave a speech about the historical things about the senate. several senators came up and said i didn't know that. that was very interesting. he bee span to gave more impromptu speeches on what the senate did and parliamentarian and chaplain and the rules. eventually he became -- bicentennial of congress which would be in 1989, i want to give a series of speeches published as a book on the history of the senate. so we worked very closely with him for about 10 years as he did that. usually friday afternoons, quite friday afternoons when no one else had any business he would go on the floor and deliver speeches. he would often memorize them. finished that. published by the government printing office. he went on to study the roman senate and went on to study the british parliament. constantly studying. that gave him a huge advantage on the floor of the senate. he also studied the rules and precedence of the senate. he used to read through the

precedence book which is about a thousand pages. every congress, yellow marker going over looking for things. when you were on the floor and arguing with senator byrd on an issue he knew the rules and he also knew the history. and it was a very hard combination to get around. very few people took on senator byrd in any kind ever confrontations on the floor. he came into office as majority leader after being whip. he was whip for mike mansfield. mansfield was a very laid-back leader who believed all senators were equal and he was not ringmaster in the senatorial circus but senator byrd admired lyndon johnson who was mansfield's predecessor who was much more hand on leader. senator byrd also admired richard russell what this building was named his first mentor in the senate and knew the rules inside and out. byrd spent a long time studying rules and procedures of the senate.

he was determined when he became leader, he was going to make the rules, make the senate more efficiently. he cracked the whip a lot more than his predecessor had as leader. he was, you know, a very tough manueverrer and negotiator but he also worked closely with his republican counterpart. senator baker was the was republican leader when senator byrd became democratic leader. they worked together. they got the panama canal treaty passed together and it was only because of their partnership that happened. when senator baker became majority leader, he had to face senator byrd the man who knew so much about the rules. and senator baker tells the story he went up to senator bird one day i will make a deal i won't surprise you if you don't surprise me. byrd said, let me think about. that at the end of the day byrd said that and said i agree. that was their working relationship. they did not blind side each other. and that kind of cooperation

helped to make the senate work even when they disagreed with each other even when they were fighting with each other they did it buy by the rules and respected each other as colleagues and adversaries. >> donald ritchie. thank you very much. >> my pleasure. >> and again a live picture from the u.s. capitol where members of the congressional black caucus are gathering this morning for a ceremonial swearing in. today the start of the 114th congress and the congressional black caucus will have its largest membership in this congress with 46 members. we're expecting to hear from house speaker john boehner who is up for re-election as house speaker today. also minority leader nancy pelosi is scheduled to speak and incoming chair gk butterfield of north carolina. we have been told it will start in a couple of minutes and we're not surprised at all by the delay because of inclement weather in washington. it has been snowing a little bit more than expected. so things are a little clogged

up and a little delayed. meanwhile it will be a busy day in congress with the opening of the session. it starts at noon eastern for both the house and the senate. there will be ceremonial swearing-in ceremonies today taking place at 1:00 for the senate. vice president will be a part of that ceremonial swearing in. it will take place in the old senate chamber. ceremonial swearing in of u.s. representatives in the house. that starts at 3:00 p.m. eastern and house speaker john boehner will preside in that. we should also let you know today is the funeral service for former new york governor mario cuomo. that is taking place this morning at st. ignatius loyola church in new york city. he was new york's 52nd governor. he served three consecutive terms. he died last week at the age of 82. you will see live coverage of that funeral starting 11:00 a.m. eastern today on c-span3.

♪ [inaudible conversations]. >> ladies and gentlemen the congressional black caucus foundation incorporated proudly welcomes you to the ceremonial

swearing-in of the congressional black caucus of the 114th congress. please rise for the joint armed services color guard and the singing of the national anthem, sung by chelsea murray, 2014 cecs emerging leaders intern. >> forward march.

>> forward, halt. present arms. ♪ ♪ oh, say, can you see by the dawn's early light what so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming ♪.

♪ whose broad stripes and bright stars tlro the perillous fight oer the ramparts we watched were so gal lantly streaming? ♪. ♪ and the rockets' red glare the bombs bursting in air, gave proof through the night that our flag was still there. ♪. ♪ o say does that star-spangled

banner yet wave ♪. ♪ o'er the land of the free, and the home of the brave ♪ ♪ ♪ of the brave ♪ >> right shoulder.

♪ [inaudible].

♪ lift every voice and sing till earth and heaven ring, ring with the harm any of liberty ♪ ♪ let our rejoiceing rise, high as the listening sky let it resound loud as the roaring sea ♪ sing a song for full of the things darkness sing a song for the full of hope that the

presence has brought in us ♪ ♪ facing the rising sun of a new day begun let us march on till victory is won ♪ ♪ over the road we trod, bitter the chafe fenning rod felt in the day where hope unborn has died ♪ ♪ yet with a steady beat have not our weary feet come to that place for which our fathers died

♪ we have come over away with which tears have been watered ♪ we have ♪ we have come through the blood of the slaughters ♪ ♪ out from the glory path till now we stand at last in that white place where the bright star is cast ♪ ♪ god of our world god of our of silent tears thou who has

brought us far on the way ♪ ♪ thou who has by thy mind let us into the light keep us forever in thy path we pray ♪ ♪ let our feet stray from the places god where wertruh e tor fge te ♪adoeseneath thy han may we forev stand true to our

god, true to our native land ♪ thank you. [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, please welcome our emcee, joy ann reed. joy ann reed is the host of the reed report on weekdays at 2:00 p.m. on msnbc. reed is the former managing editor of creole.com, on line news opinion platform devoted to deliver stories and perspective that reflect and affect african-american audiences. >> all right everyone, good morning. i know it's cold but we can do a more robust good morning. all right everyone, i want to thank the joint armed services color guard for the presentation of the colors. let's give a a round of applause for chelsea murray and beautiful renditions of the national

anthem and lift every voice to sing. distinguished guests, friends members of the congressional black caucus i am honored to be here today for the ceremonial swearing inn of the congressional black caucus, class of the 114th congress. we are modern so we don't discourage phones. we want you to take out your phones please tweet the ceremony this morning. if you do so, use the horn tag, cbc114. that is the -- hashtag. respect the path, confront the future and it's a charge to recognize the lessons of our past in order to develop solutions for our future. this has been essential to the work of the congressional black caucus. for more than 40 years the cbc has remained the voice of african-americans in congress on issues that range from jobs to justice, health care to

education. they stood up for issues that impact the lives of all americans who have been underserved. members of the cbc your leadership on behalf of the african-american community is to be commended and we're honored to pay tribute to you this morning. i think i can get a hand clap for that, right? we're honored to pay tribute. everybody is cold. i especially want to acknowledge two of the founding members of the caucus who continue to serve and of course they are congressman john conyers of michigan and congressman wrangle of new york. we will acknowledge at the funeral for former governor andrew cuomo is taking place this morning in new york. so congressman wrangle could not be here. we will also note that the weather and other factors mean we don't have our full robust membership. we want to acknowledge the importance of the ceremony for governor cuomo this morning. we did start the congressional black caulk with us with 13

trailblazers. the cbc has since grown into the history-making 46 members are representing 22 states, the district of columbia and virgin islands. in membership in both the house and in the senate. this is an amazing accomplishment and the caucus will be a even greater force in the 114th congress. now without further adieu, let me honor it is my honor indeed to introduce the members of the congressional black caucus of the 114th congress. if every win will stand. who is here. and i will introduce them all by name. and those who are not here we will understand that they are not here. sorry. one moment. please hold your, hold your

applause until all of the introductions have been made. i believe that -- okay. congressman shaka fatah of the second district of pennsylvania. congresswoman marcia fudge of the 11th district of ohio. the outgoing chairwoman of the cbc. congressman g.k. butterfield of the first district of north carolina who is the incoming chairman of the congressional black caucus. i will now introduce them in order of senority. congressman john conyers of the 13th district of michigan a founding member of the congressional black caucus. congressman charles b. wrangle 13th district of new york a founding member. congressman john lewis 5th district of georgia. delegate eleanor holmes norton of the district of columbia. congresswoman maxine waters of

the 43rd district of california. congressman sanford bishop, jr. of the second district of georgia. congresswoman corrine brown of the third district of florida. congressman james e. clyburn of the sixth district of south carolina and assistant democratic leader. congressman alcee hastings of the 23rd district of florida. congressman eddie jobs son of the third district of texas. congressman bobby rush of the first district of illinois. congressman robert scott of the third district of virginia. congresswoman benny compton of the second district of mississippi. congresswoman sheila jackson-lee of the 18th district of texas. congressman elijah cummings of the 7th districtf maryland. congressman danny k. davis of

the 7th district of illinois. congressman gregory meeks of the fifth district of new york. congresswoman barbara lee of the 13th district of california. congressman william lacy clay of the first district of missouri. congressman david scott of the 13th district of georgia. representative emanuel cleaver ii of the fifth district of missouri. relationship al green of the 9th district of texas. representative gwen moore of the fourth district of wisconsin. representative yvette clark of the 9th district of new york who is also the first vice-chair of the congressional black caucus. congressman keith ellison of the fifth district of minnesota. congressman hank johnson of the fourth district of georgia. congressman andre carson of the 7th district of indiana who is also the second vice-chair of the congressional black caucus. representative donna edwards of the fourth district of maryland.

representative karen bass of the 37th district of california. also the secretary of the congressional black caucus. representative cedric richmond, the second district of louisiana. representative terry sewell, the 7th district of alabama. congresswoman frederica wilson of the 24th district in florida. representative donald m. payne , jr. of the 10th district of new jersey. representative joyce beatty of the third districts of ohio. rep hakim jeffries of the 8th district of new york. my congressman by the way and also the whip of the congressional black caucus. representative mark stacy of the 33rd district of texas. representative robin kelly of the second distribute of illinois. senator cory booker of new jersey. representative alma adams of the 12th district of north carolina. representative brenda lawrence

of the 14th district of michigan. representative mia love of the fourth district of utah. delegate stacy plasket of the virgin islands. representative bonnie watson coleman of the 12th district of new jersey. as they come to the stage ladies and gentlemen please give a round of applause to the congressional black caucus of the 114thongress. [applause] as the cbc of the 114th congress embarks on critical work on behalf of the american people they do so of course in faith and re dr. william j. barber the and pastor of greenleaf church and president of the north carolina conference of the naacp and will lead us

and followed by a soloist wanda barnes. >> let us bow our heads in prayer. gracious eternal and all-wise god, thou who formed what is out of nothing and called us into being to serve you you oh, lord who weighs every nation in the balance of your own standards. on this day of installation and new beginning in the midst of new beginnings and new challenges for this, the congressional black caucus and this congress, guide their feet, lord, while they run this race. as they stand remind them and us that this caucus was called not to engage in the politics of normalcy but always to be the con sense of this congress and this country always seeking new

ways to become a more perfect nation. to rebels, to george white to adam powell, to barbara jordan to shirley chisholm, to ed brooks and so many more, you have called this caucus to major in justice and truth and to minor in partisannism and bickering. place your hands upon this new chair, your creation, g.k. butterfield and every officer and member, order their steps in your words. let them know that they are born for such a time as this. let your word that says, woe unto those that legislate evil and rob the poor of their rights. do justice and mercy and walk humbly before god and maintain the wait at this err matters of law, love justice and mercy. your word who says you have not given us a spirit of fear but of power, love and a sound mind, let that word fill their hearts and district their decisions. give them the courage for the facing of this hour. give them the determination

determination to make this and the congress and the nation hear the first principle of our constitution which is the establishment of justice. let them, oh, god legislate for the lives and things that matter. help them because the lives of black people who yet deal with institutional racism and systemic discrimination matter. the lives of women who still face chauvinistic policies and unfairness matters. the lives of the poor and the working poor who need safety nets and health care and living wages and union rights and decent housing their lives matter. children who need, strong, diverse public education that keeps the promise of brown their lives matter, the lives of gay people matter and immigrants matter and protecting voting rights matters and resisting extremism matters. somebody standing up for the least of these matters. equal protection under the law matters. for you have said in your word, as we do it unto the least of these we've done it unto you.

teach us again this is why the mission of this caucus matters. we pray that this congress will seek you in the decisions that they make. so god let your spirit loose among this caucus. as your spirit guided martin and mandela, merry bethune and medgar he havers and mother rosa send it on down, lord, send it on down. in this hour of pain and possibility, this hour where america has a real chance to either recover her moral center or to go backwards. let selma be more than a movie but a reminder of the work of this caucus. reminder that it is through the baptism of blood that every member owes homage for their seat, the power they hold, the moral responsibility upon them, remind them and remind us to never sound retreat because your truth is always marching on.

use them, lord, for the prophetic ministry of truth-telling and hope-building even in the face of abusive wrongs in high place. even in the face of mean-spiritedness, aggressive adversaries and sometimes apathetic attitudes. enable to win over some of their enemies an encourage some of their friend. give them your word for their guide. your joy for their strength, and your anointing for their power. we is ask your cons craig and -- consecration and blessing in your name, both now henceforth and forever more, amen.

♪ ♪ we've come this far, god by faith leaning on the lord ♪ ♪ we come trusting in his holy word ♪ ♪ jesus never never failed me yet ♪ ♪ that's why i'm singing oh, oh,

we come before by faith ♪ i wrote this verse right here. ♪ many hearts triumph and tribulations we have come through and we're sll going through today ♪ ♪ some may wonder how we take it, many are wondering how we made it, we have come this far come this far by faith ♪ anybody have faith today? ♪ we have come this far by faith, whoa, we're leaning leaning on the lord ♪ ♪ whoa, we're trusting, trusting in his word jesus never never failed me yet ♪ ♪ that's why i'm singing oh,

oh oh, i can't turn around, we've come this far by faith ♪ ♪ oh, we've come this far, we've come this far by faith, yeah, yeah yeah, we've come this far yeah ♪ ♪ we come this far anybody come by faith? anybody leaning on jesus? it's all right we've come this far ♪ ♪ i'm walking and talking and living and being because of jesus, we have come this far by faith ♪ ♪ whoa, we've come yeah, we've come this far ♪ ♪ i couldn't have made it

without jesus he's in my heart ♪ he is in my mind, oh, he leading me all the way we've come this far oh, yes we have, we've come this far ♪ ♪ oh, him singing oh, oh, i can't turn around, we've come this far by faith by faith ♪ ♪ we've come this far we've come this far by faith yes yes, we've come this far yes we have ♪ ♪ leaning on the lord, we've come this far we've come this far by faith ♪ ♪ oh, we've come, we've come this far by faith ♪

♪ yeah, we've come this far by faith ♪ hallelujah. [applause] >> thank you wanda barnes, for that beautiful selection. we're now pleased to welcome democratic whip steny hoyer who will bring getings followed by assistant democratic leader james clyburn. please welcome congressman hoyer. [applause] >> good morning. >> good morning. >> facing the rising sun upon a new day begun. what an extraordinary group of

americans i have as my colleagues to face that rising sun. with new challenges and new opportunities. i want to congratulate my dear friend, marcia fudge on the extraordinary leadership she has given to the congressional black caucus. [applause] and to commiserate with my brother g.k. butterfield for the shoes he has to fill. and to all of the officers of the congressional black caucus. this is a significant year as i'm sure jim clyburn my friend, will talk about as others will

talk about. my friend john lewis. 50 years, half a century. martin luther king said i may not get there with you but i have seen the promiseed land. everybody in this audience knows that we may have seen the promised land but the promise is not yet redeemed. that there is still much to do and the last congress the cbc played a essential and critical role in shaping policy and moving legislation forward to benefit all americans. as this new congress begins with new challenges facing our country we will continue to look to the group that is known as the conscience of the congress. for ideas and inspired leadership and inspiration. for over four decades the cbc

has promoted a vision of america where he have one regardless of color, creed economic circumstances has an equal shot to pursue the american dream and is entitled to equal justice under the law. that's the objective. that is the vision, that is the promise. no one in this auditorium would say that promise has been redeemed yet. so there is still much work to be done. it needs not be only a vision but a reality. sadly it is not but it must continue to be the goal for which we strive and towards which the congress works. there are no members of the congress of the united states who further that vision more passionately or more focused or as john lewis would say keeping their eye on the prize than my

colleagues in the congressional black caucus. how proud those of us are who serve with them, of their leadership and their inspiration, of their integrity and their courage. under chairwoman fudge the cbc has continued to raise its profile by serving both as a moral voice and an active player in shaping policy not only to better the lives of african-americans but to expand opportunity for all americans. my buddy barbara lee will tell us all that lifting up all americans and all people, irrespective of race, from the ravages of poverty and of wont is a major objective of us all. with chairman butterfield at the helm i know this important work

will continue and strengthen. for the 114th congress the cbc has grown to include the largest numbers of members in its history comprising nearly a quarter of -- [applause] almost 25% of the democratic caucus pastor, are african-americans. 10% of the congress of the united states, african-americans but it is not just the color of their skin that is so important. it is the content of their character that they display on a daily basis calling us all to the best that is within us and the best that is america. cbc members represent 22 states and the district of columbia. all five of the new cbs -- cbc

members of the 10014 congress are women. i will tell my male friends -- [applause] bringing the total to 20. almost half of the members of the congressional black caucus. in another historic first and most illustrative of its strength and policy making, seven full committee ranking members are cbc members. [applause] will the ranking members stand? will the ranking members stand. [applause] this speaks to the enormous progress that we have made over the past 50 years. in 1965 john lewis walked across a bridge, the edmund pettis

bridge in selma. two weeks later dr. martin luther king with legions walked across that bridge. the conscience of america was moved. and we made progress. today though, the voting rights act is under threat. all our efforts in restoring its protections for a new generation of americans have not yet succeeded. supreme court said things were much different and indeed they are much different but the supreme court was wrong that the job was done. it is not. i want to congratulate my friend jim clyburn for his leadership in assuring that we redeem what has been bled for and died for. when the raw was -- law was passed i was active in my own state, a southern state

segregated state in many ways, i come from a region as southern as any region in the country i think. we had great problems in cambridge, in baltimore and yes in my county of prince georges county in southern maryland. thanks to the cbc these battles are being carried forward with strength and conviction and a dogged determination in congress as we prepare to mark the 50th anniversary of bloody sunday. i'm looking forward to accompany many of you to selma and to other other places where people died and fought for the freedom and dignity of my three children as well as all children of color. we are in this together. pastor, you would say i think with me, that every individual,

every sparrow has god's eyes on them and and they ought to have our eyes on them as well. i'm so very proud to be here to congratulate all of you. those of you who are new and those of you who have fought the fight for decades. those of you who began this black caucus. you have made congress better. much more importantly however you have made america better. god bless you godspeed and thank you. [applause] . .