and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: now, mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today it adjourn till 9:30 a.m. thursday, march 10. following the frairnlg, the morning hour be deemed expired, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, and the the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day. fourth following leader remarks the senate be in a period of morning business till 11:15 a.m. with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. further, following morning business, the senate resume consideration of s. 524, further, that notwithstanding the provisions of rule 22, all postcloture time on s. 524 expire at 11:30 a.m. following morning business, the time until 11:30 a.m. be divided

and controlled between the two leaders or their designees. the presiding officer: quacks. mr. mcconnell: if ness no further business to come before the senate, i ask that the senate standard adjourned under the previous order following the remarks of senators inhofe and sullivan. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. inhofe: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the i recognized for 15 minutes -- up to 15 minutes as if in morning business. officer 123er without objection. mr. inhofe: mr. president, i am rising now to respond to a statement that was made by our good friend from illinois a few minutes ago and to clarify -- i.t. kind of interesting that we look back and we -- it's kind of interesting that we look back and we find that when the democrats, when the republicans had someone in the white house and the democrats were trying to block a nomination, it was just the opposite as what it is today. in fact, i will read you -- at that time the senators in the

leadership in the democrats -- barack obama, biden, clinton, shiewrmd and. mr. reid: all made a joint statement that the senate does not have to confirm presidential nominations and urged that the senate refuse to do so, especially in an election year. now, just the opposite of what the senator said. but, you know, i don't blame them. i don't blame any democrat for trying as best to get a nominee from this president because, as a democrat, they are more liberal than republicans are, and they would like very much to have a chance to change the balance of the united states supreme court, who has been consistent in recent years in objecting to some of the extremist left programs. and so i can't blame them for trying. but nonetheless that's not going to work, and i applaud the leader. at the time of the death -- the sad death of scalia took place, he was in a position where we were in recess, and he had to

make a decision, and the decision was the right decision. and so -- anyway, i want to share a couple things with you, mr. president, that -- letters that came from my state of oklahoma. and i will give the names and addresses to anyone who wants to check. this is what real people -- you get outside the beltway, get outside of washington, d.c., and you go back to states like oklahoma, this is what concerns that they have. i want to read the first one from a guy named robert, from tulsa, oklahoma. came right after the sad death of justice scalia. he said, "deer senator inhofe, i've just learned of the death of justice scalia. i should only be feeling sadness at the death of this great patriot, a man of the law, and i'm terrified of what i am sure is now already in the works, his replacement by president barack obama. the person who replaces justice scalia will have the potential to change the balance of power

on the bench for decades and may have the possibility to reshape the political land shape immediately -- landscape immediate lid and unalterably. i therefore, beg you and all of your fellow senators to not vote to affirm any candidate put forward by president obama. this is an election year, and the people should be given a chance to choose which direction this country will go and not have it decided by president obama, as he leaves the white house. please do not vote for any candidate offered by this administration." another letter. this came from chicashay, oklahoma, from donald. "dear senator inhofe, i have just received word of the death of supreme court justice scalia. his death is a loss for the conservative moavment, but i fear it also puts our country in peril. with scalia gone, president

obama will certainly present a nominee for his seat. if it is a justice that holds to obama's progressive ideals and agenda, it could mean grave danger for our constitution. i urge you to hold fast and refuse to confirm any obama appointee to the court, hold out until he is out of office. i feel the future of our nation depends on it." that's from donald from chickashea, oklahoma. this is from a town where our famous will rogers spent his childhood. everyone has heard of will rogers. a great guy, right guys? anyway, he was -- matthew said, "dear senator inhofe, i'm contacting you in regards to the loss of justice scalia and his replacement. justice scalia was a brilliant man and a true patriot. unfortunately, yoos i do not fey

appointment by the president would follow the stud and serve with the same virtue as justice scalia. i am asking that you and the other members of the senate do not confirm a new justice until after the election when the newly elected president can make the appointment. we have sent you to washington to stop the agenda of the president that runs contrary to the wishes of the country. please stand on your principles and do not allow the president to appoint another justice that may be detrimental to our freedom for decades to come. thank you." that's madg matthew from clean airmore, oklahoma. -- that's matthew from claremoore, oklahoma. i have in intention of allowing a president during an election year to make such a nomination.

so i think we did the right thing. i think this would have been inappropriate to say that we're going 0 have hearings knowing that we were not going to confirm a nominee. i don't think that would be fair to the nominee. so these are just a few examples of hundreds of letters and calls from constituents that i've received asking the senate, that the senate wait to confirm the next supreme court nominee until we have a new president. we've heard from our colleagues and pundits on the other side, the democrats, the other side of the aisle, that it is our constitutional duty to confirm president obama's nominations. the constitution says, and it says very clearly, that the president shall -- quote -- "shall nominate and with and by the advice and consent of the senate shall appoint judges to the supreme court." the senate clearly has a role in this process and the senate can either give its consent or it can withhold its consent and

completely fulfill the constitutional duties. so it doesn't make any difference. we have the latitude of making that determination, and we're going to do it. it wasn't long ago when the democrats were seeing a -- singing a different tune when a republican was in the white house, and that would have been president bush at that time. some of them on the floor, the democrats, said -- quote -- "the senate does not have to confirm presidential nominations and urge that the senate refuse to do so, especially in an election year." now, that was the democrats saying that. so it's just the opposite of what they're saying today. in fact, the senators -- the leadership who was saying that at that time were none other than senators obama -- he was a senator at that time -- biden, he was a senator at that time, clinton, she was a senator at that time, schumer and reid. they all made the same statement. they said the senate does not have to confirm presidential nominations and urged that the senate refuse to do so,

especially in an election year. now, that's where there is a difference of opinion, because in an election year the last time it was done was in 1888. you have to go back to 1888 until you find a similar situation to the one we're in today. that's the last time a vacancy arose during an election year and was filled by the senate from a party on the opposite side of the president. this is the last time that happened, 1888. and we're not about to change that now. furthermore, even if this were not true, this president has -- hasn't worked with congress on much of anything, so why should we work with him on this? but that's not the point. the point is that we don't have to do that and that when the senate -- when the democrats were in control of the senate, the republicans had the white house. they made it very clear, the leadership said the senate does not have to confirm a a

presidential nomination, and they urged us not to do it. the tables are turned now. why is this important? we've seen time and again that when president obama is unable to get his liberal agenda through congress, he's turned to executive actions and to agency rule making to implement his priorities. and these regulations and actions are making their way through our courts and are either going to be heard by the supreme court or are already heard by the supreme court. president obama's executive amnesty was stayed by the lower courts and the supreme court will decide this term if that injunction will stand out or not. now, what we're sake is this: the president has a very liberal agenda on almost every social issue, every fiscal issue, every military issue. it's a very liberal agenda. and so when the president can't get things done through legislation, he then turns around and tries to do it

through regulation. if you talk to the american farm bureau right you this now, they will tell you that the greatest problems that farmers and ranchers have is not anything that's in the ag bill. it's the overregulation of the e.p.a. and they single out of all the regulations that are being damaging to farmers and ranchers in america, the one that is the worst is the wotus rule, waters of the united states. historically, the -- it has always been in the jurisdiction of the states as to how to control and manage the waters of the united states, except in cases where it's navigable waters. wlg, we need that. we need that's where the felgt should be involved. so six years ago there is a lost legislation and one in particular, one bill that was offered in the house and the senate. that would take the word

"navigable" out. that being the case, that would mean that all of the waters of the jurisddiction would go from the states to the federal government. we weren't going to let that happen. but it is what is going on right now. things -- they've tried to get passed through legislation, they haven't been able to do t they're trying to do it through regulation. now, if the supreme court is split 4-4 in these two cases thacasesthat i just mentioned, e injunctions of the lower courts will stand until the underlying issue is fully -- issues are fully lit gailted. that's what they're waiting for right now. the courts have said until the litigation is cleared up, we're not going to act on this on this rule. as you know, that's going to take a long time for that to happen. the clean power plan -- that's the other one. you might remember, to give you a little background, mr. president, going back to about 2000, the year 2000. that's when all this global warming started and the end of the world was coming and so they

were introducing legislation at that time to have cap and trade, to try to regulate the emissions of co2 throughout america. and when people realize how much that costs and the fact that the science was not yet settled, it was defeated. every time they brought it to the united states senate, it was defeated. i'm talking about through legislation trying to do a cap and trade for -- in america. and one of the interesting things was the first director of the e.p.a. that was appointed by this president was lisa jackson, and i asked her a question when it was on the record, live on tv. i said, you know, if we were to pass either this legislation for cap and trade or do it by regulation in the united states, would that have the effect of lowering the emissions of co2 worldwide? she said, no. because this isn't where the problem s the problem is in china. the problem is in india. the problem is in mexico.

and so that was -- that was -- we went through that whole thing. so the president, when he came in office, decided, well, they're never going to pass this by elected representatives of the people. so we'll do it by regulation. so he came out with the clean power plan. the clean power plan is what president obama came up with that -- slings it does the same thing as legislation would do -- perform cap and trade for the states. remember about the trip to paris. when he got to paris and was unable to get anyone to do anything, you know, the deal they came up with was kind of humorous because china said, no, we're going to continue our emissions until 2025. at that time, we'll start lowering our emissions, as if they were going to do it. they're not going to do t but nonetheless, that was the clean power plan. it was essentially the same thing killed by legislation. clean power plan would cost the -- about $292 billion and

mandates carbon dioxide cuts from the power sector that meet his standards and he had said -- he said this in pairs, president obama, that we're going to lower our co2 emissions between 26% and 28% by 2025. he never did say how he was going to do that, never did say how we were going to comply with that but nonetheless we were going to try to do it. obviously that was something that would not have worked. these and the other executive actions and regulations will value big impact on our people, our economy and will all likely be decided by the supreme court. that's where we get back to the supreme court. the clean power plan would be then decided. and right now the clean power plan, there is a stay in the united states supreme court on the clean power plan until all of the litigation that is pending right now can be settled. and that can be a long time, certainly more than way past this particular presidency. it's not just executive actions

at stake. it's the moral direction of our country too. just last week the supreme court heard a case challenging the state of texas on its new abortion regulations that require that clinics meet the standard of other outpatient surgical clinics and mandate that abortion doctors have admitting privileges add nearby hospitals. that's the supreme court. that's the type of thing that you would see if the liberals would have their way and if the supreme court would change its direction. many of these decisions are 5-4 decisions, and that's why i say this is a swing decision. it's the american people who will bear the burden of these decisions and therefore they should have a say in who would fill justice scalia's vacancy. this decision should be made by the next president and let a new president decide who should replace justice scalia, and that's exactly what's going to happen. with that, mr. president, i

yield the floor and suggest an absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. a senator: 34r-79 sm. the presiding officer: the senator from alaska. a senator: i ask that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. sullivan: mr. president, today i know we've been focusing on a really important bill, the cara bill that has been led by senators like senator portman, senator ayotte, many others; very, very important bill for our country, for states like alaska that are seeing this explosion of opioid use, heroin

use, drug addiction, that is impacting so many families. i had the opportunity to talk about this when i was home in alaska last week down in juneau in front of our state legislature. this work is showing bipartisan work, very important to the country, very important to states like alaska. and i'm certainly proud to be a cosponsor of that bill. we're going to continue to try and get that over the goal line. mr. president, i also think it's important to focus on issues not only domestically, of course, but issues beyond our borders as well. and what i want to talk about in terms of these kind of issues this afternoon is the issue of american leadership in the world today. now, a lot of us in the senate have experience in foreign policy, national security issues. there's been members who served

in the state department, decades in the military. the presiding officer has a lot of experience in international business. so we have a fair amount of experience here and certainly is part of our responsibility as senators in the constitution to be very focused on these issues, these important issues. national security, foreign policy, hearings, codels, meetings with foreign leaders, it's all part of our responsibilities. and i think one thing is very clear. foreign policy, national security issues, they're almost always messy, complicated, never really easy solutions, often very opaque in terms of what's happening in the world, how it impacts the united states. so we recognize that. that's usually the case.

but sometimes in the world of foreign policy, sometimes in the world of national security there are moments of clarity when big issues come into focus. it doesn't happen often. it's rare. but when it happens, you know it. when it happens, you sense it. mr. president, i was recently part of a bipartisan congressional delegation led by one of the foremost experts on foreign policy and national security in the u.s. senate, senator john mccain. we all went to the munich security conference in munich, germany. for over 50 years this has been where leaders have come together, americans certainly, prime ministers, foreign ministers, defense ministers,

international affairs experts, to discuss national security and foreign policy issues usually as it relates to the atlantic partnership. nato. the e.u. and, mr. president, my experience there led to one of these clarifying moments, and i think i'm speaking for many of the people who were at munich about three weeks ago. here's the clarifying moment. the united states is withdrawing from its traditional leadership role in the world. our allies know it. they feel it. and they are desperately worried about it. in meeting after meeting, in speech after speech, if you were in munich a month ago,

listening, paying attention, discussing the state of the world's security with our allies, you heard it. you heard it. sometimes it was subtle. sometimes it was direct. and occasionally it was even pleading, pleading, where our allies were pleading for american leadership in the world again. we saw it. mr. president, one of the meetings we had was with an important leader of an important country in europe. you and i were there. and at the end of the meeting

when this leader was asked what can the united states do ho -- to help your country in terms of security? military cooperation, what can we do? this leader looked at a group of several senators, bipartisan, and said the united states has to lead in the world again. you're not leading, and the world is becoming a much more dangerous place because of the lack of american leadership. whoever the next leader of our great country is, please tell that person that the united states has to lead again. think about that. that was the message. that was the message from munich our friends are worried.

they've certainly lost confidence in us. and our adversaries are taking advantage of the vacuum that we have left all around the world. that was the message of munich. and anyone who went there heard it. now, i know what some of my colleagues might be thinking. well, this is a republican senator on the floor of the u.s. senate criticizing the obama administration. that's probably a partisan criticism. but, mr. president, there were many people at munich, and thrches republicans and -- and there was republicans and democrats in munich. and just a perusal of newspapers from those who went and some who weren't there, all are writing about the same issue.

that one of the principal foreign policy issues facing the world, facing the united states right now is what the lack of u.s. leadership globally is doing with the national security of our country and to those of our allies. let me just provide a few examples. senator joe lieberman, who graced this body with his knowledge and exer tease and wisdom -- and expertise and wisdom for many, many years, a democrat, he was in munich. not too long after coming back, he wrote in "the washington post" -- quote -- "the world has never seemed as dangerous and leaderless as it does now. only the extremists and bullies act boldly and therefore they have seized the initiative. it's a moment in history that

invokes the haunting words of w.b.yates when he stated the best lack all conviction while the worst are full of passionate intensity." that was senator lieberman who was with us in munich just a couple of weeks ago. under secretary -- former under secretary of state nicholas burns who has worked for democrats and republicans, he was also there. i served under secretary of state condoleezza rice with under secretary burns, a great career foreign service officer. he also stated -- quote -- "we are being humiliated. we've lost our strategic foot hold." he's talking about the middle east. "and we've abdicated our leadership. " that's not a republican partisan saying that.

and general john abizaid, in my view, one of the premier military leaders our country has seen in a generation who i had the honor of serving with as a marine major, recently stated "without american leadership, we're not going to move in a direction that's going to produce effective results." and then there was another recent article in the paper, in "the washington post" by another observer, expert on foreign policy issues, fred hiatt who wrote about what he saw at munich and what he stated was that the endless negotiation by our secretary of state that perpetually and falsely holds out the prospect of eminent

progress on so many different issues ends up providing cover and excuse for inaction, an anesthetic, in many ways, what he said, where the congress and the american people don't even have to feel about focusing on these issues what's going on in the middle east or the south china sea or in north korea or the korean peninsula because we have endless diplomacy that covers it. finally another participant in munich, former senator bill cohen, who worked as the secretary of defense for president clinton, stated we no longer seem to know what our new role should be in this new century. he was interviewed on the radio

a couple weeks ago, right after munich. are we going to lead from behind? the truth is that president putin has been bombing, and the united states has been dithering. that's former secretary of defense bill cohen, former u.s. senator bill cohen. so, mr. president, it's very clear, whether you're democrat or a republican, anyone who spent time at the munich security conference a few weeks back came away with the similar conclusion. our allies are extremely worried about what is clearly happening, the withdrawal of the united states leadership from the world. and they are seeing it, and we are seeing it in almost every region of the world, and it's leaving a vacuum where other countries that don't share our

interests, don't share our values are filling that vacuum. we know the list. we've been debating it on this floor. russia certainly. whether it is in the middle east, syria, ukraine, the arctic, iran, the world's largest state sponsor of terrorism who our diplomats and secretary of state seem to spend more time with their diplomats and their foreign minister than almost any other country in the world, china and the south china sea. and in the face of these challenges, we're also starting to see something that is truly alarming. the postwar structure, the national security structure of the world that the united states was instrumental in building is

beginning to crumble. -- in different parts of the world. so what should we do? what can we do? well, mr. president, i think there's a lot we can do. we can certainly bolster the american-led order that was established after world war ii. it certainly does not have to crumble. and this is what our colleague, senator mccain, laid out in his outstanding speech in munich. he talked about that this is one of our most important inheritances, this world order, this american-led order. and how we need to focus on it, not with speeches but with action. what else can we do?

we can look at the changing landscape of the world and see if we need to devise new political structures that address new challenges in places like the middle east, where borders seem to be being erased on a daily basis by terrorist groups like isis. this is something that general abizaid has written about recently. but both of these alternatives require american leadership. they're not going to happen without the u.s. in the lead. and if you went to munich, you realize that our allies want us to lead. what can we do in the senate? well, we can certainly press for a more assertive and leading role for the united states of america from this body. the constitution gives the united states senate significant

power in national security matters, in foreign affairs, and we should be using that -- and we are using that. mr. president, under the new leadership of the senate, we have been moving forward in many areas of foreign policy and national security, whether it is the north korea sanctions that were passed by this body two weeks ago, which now the world is following our lead on that. senator gardner and corker did an outstanding job in that regard. whether it is the bipartisan approach to ukraine that we see on the armed services committee. every member of that body, democrat and republican, thinks we should be doing more to help the ukrainians defend themselves against russian aggression. afghanistan -- the same thing, bolstering the need for troops there to guard america's

security. the president has seemingly wanted to -- taken out all our troops there like he wanted to do in iraq. but, again, a bipartisan group of senators have been questioning that strategy on daily basis. and in the south china sea, where we have been encouraging the administration to do what we've been doing for 70 years -- conducting freedom of navigation operations to keep the sea lanes of the world oavmen open. these are all things the senate has been doing. in essence, trying to give this administration backbone. to assert the leadership that we know is so important to our security and the security of the world. but there's another thing, another option that might be out there. we can ignore the problem of what's happening in the world. mr. president, i hate to say this, but if you saw secretary of state kerry's speech in

munich, certainly compared to senator mccain's key note address, what the secretary of state seemed to be doing was that fourth option. he seemed to be saying, hey, things aren't going that bad. things in syria aren't that bad. he cautioned against pessimism and said that we have good reasons to be optimistic about what's happening. this is a quote from his speech in munich. he talked about "fewer people are dying in conflict today than ever before." you could -- you could literally hurt -- you literally heard a gasp in the audience in munich when this was stated. that's not true. and what this does, whufer the

secretary of state -- when you have the secretary of state making these kinds of statements at important security conferences with all our allies, it further undermines the credibility of the united states in terms of foreign policy and national security. so, mr. president, we need to lead again. our allies want us to, and, most importantly, i believe the american people want us to. why? why shouldn't we just withdraw from the world and let everything catch on fire? bring the troops home and have the two oceans protect us, the atlantic and pacific. we need to lead, and i believe the american people want the united states to lead, because

they know -- they know -- that when the united states leads in the world, it's a safer place abroad, and it's a safer place at home. they know what senator lieberman said recently in his op-ed after munich. quote -- "the absence of american leadership has not caused all the instability we're seeing in the world right now, but it has encouraged and exacerbated it." mr. president, the american people also know that when there is a lack of u.s. leadership in the world, it not only turns to undermining our national security interests, but it turns to humiliation for our own citizens.

just think of the photos that we saw recently of u.s. sailors on their knees at iranian gunpoint with their hands raised in surrender and what that does in terms of how americans are thinking about our role in the world, the security of the wor world, and what is happening with regard to u.s. leadership. we have to change these policies of leading from behind. mr. president, i'll conclude by mentioning in terms of this lack of u.s. leadership what i fear the most. i started by saying, we're at a conference where our allies directly, indirectly were asking for american leadership once again.

but what i fear the most is the day -- i that a group of -- is e day that a group of bipartisan senators go to another conference like munich or the shangri-la dialogue and we don't hear from our allies, we don't hear them asking for us to lead once again, because such silence will truly be dangerous indeed. because that's when we know that our traditional allies will have given up on the united states. that's when we know that our traditional allies will have lost faith in america and will have begun the process of making accommodations with our

adversaries. we in the senate must do all in our power to make sure that that situation, when we lose our allies, when they don't ask for our leadership, that that situation does not happen. mr. president, i yield the floor. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the senate stands adjourned until 9:30 a.m.

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or were tersely he did signal in space the proposed state and will continue tomorrow as people paid their respects to the former first lady. bid will surface as will be held friday afternoon and some people attending not expected to speed could be chris matthews, sam donaldson newt gingrich gingrich, wayne newton newton, angeles a houston to lung the guests that are

expected at the north carolina reagan's funeral. b will have that life 2:00 p.m. on friday on c-span.

end it tackles highway and bridge funding. >> big trucks and hp and 70 miles per hour speed limit. with more than a other country and of world. .org and wet the tripod for granted. 2 million miles of roads and 600,000 bridges are aging and congested and dangerous. >> things to all stages the teachers who competed this year and congratulations. the top 21 winning entries wells start airing on the c-span in april. all are available on line. backr congressman jc watts >>host: we're back with former congressman from oklahoma. also the author of two books the latest call dig deep.

once again with the results of the primary last night. to the wall street journal front-page trump titans the grip of the g.o.p.. doesn't look like he is the nominee? >>guest: they make a a strong argument that it does. and it after next week or if you see someone drop out but next tuesday could be telling in a forceful.u have a l if you get down to the tunisian field you have a little bit of time if you can see donald trump strength but there is to

encourage me to think they are not real. >>host: have you endorsed? >>guest: i was with rand paul when he dropped out to have not hitched my wagon tot any horse and we will see how that plays out. >>host: you are not ready to support somebody at? >>guest: actually people ask me why i supported rand paul? i thought some of the issues he talked about reconciled with the very well and profiled with things that i have worked on over the last 20 years even during my time in congress with incarceration and disparities in the day anti-poverty legislation. those are things that republicans usually don't take on issues of primaries but senator paul talks about those when he asked for my

support i felt compelled to do that alien to stand with him if he was compared -- prepared to talk about that but in a primary i have not talked to anybody about the endorsement so i and in a position to say let's see what happens in the general three will go from there. >>host: of donald trump gets the nomination, what is the impact on the republican party? >>guest: these are my personal feelings andny opinions. i don't buy any other republican to my opinion but personally i think it is a rather negative impact just like qc the republican

national committee to thosewh democratic candidates to president clinton in 1996 even in the of vice president gore used his distance and democrats2004 turned around and didn't 2004 or 2008 the republican candidates are tied to president bush because of the baggage he was carrying and when you consider what has happened and what has happened i disagree i think it is been painted with the broad brush i disagree with

he has encouraged with his rallies and to encouragei that but what he said was a litmus test to get into the country that you draw that conclusion and then recently won rigo with the kkk david duke. me personally would haveve some serious problems i do have serious problems. and i don't give the torr about political correctness but i do care about decency. i and trying to protect

decency. it to be politically correct.? do you think he did in go far enough or that did not satisfy you? >> it didn't satisfy makes. i think something that ferocious and clear-cut not that i don't know david duke but to say i denounce him pure and simple that is one of many it is difficult to

have a debate and 42 try to save the motives or if you say that my motives were that. that is unfair but you can judge my actions in the things that i do you can say why with the motive but you can clearly judge my action and we can say the actions are wrong. when you have a presidential candidate to stand behind a statement as we have heard all along. m that is the way i am.unity that concerns me simply because in but they usually say i don't want accountability.nally

if if they are probably not going to grow personally. and it is it any one thing i can point to a whole host. >> you think that hurts thet: republican party in the future and that hurts your brand going forward if he is the nominee? >> with non traditional constituencies, and our brand has already trying to build a brand of non traditional constituencies. i have worked the last 20 years to reach out to nontraditional constituencies but that is is tremendous and every republican house, senate candidate out there have to defend these things.s.

>>host: let's get to calls. >> caller: good morning. you are part of the problem but i will break it down. number one donald trott of this using his own money. it is in the establishment to tell the people. so you tell the people that.

en tueber rob obama my search party is to stoppmcconnel barack obama. republicans were damaged a long time ago. i know now how he will solve this problem. >>host: we heard your point. >> i know of the was eight tromps supporter or not. >>host: that is the thing. and vitter is vice versa. is looking at the dynamics with that bernie sanders effort but there is aff

populist rebellion and donald trump and says to stop the illegal immigration and. bernie sanders doesn't talk about building a wall. but we don't think thesi uproar started justin the last seven or eight years. but it started in 1982 with ross perot a and then begano in 96. and resaw that it was strong enough on the democrat side that vice president gore did not even endorse because

that is where the energy was there a new fast forward to today you have sanders on one side and a trump on the other. i don't think those two spaces are the same thing. ted cruz was not born in the united states but he is a legal citizen of the united states of america. that is political campaign sylvanus. i just want to denounce that there is nothing that disqualifies ted cruz from running as president of the united states. >> can you vote for donald trump if he is the nominee? >>guest: i would have a very difficult time and i don't say that as a republican.quation

and for what i have fought four of the social side of the equation donald trump and i have very little in common. >>host: what about hillary clinton? >>guest: everything i have fought for and stood for, i would have the difficult time of that because we don't profile for eachre are other. >>host: what do you do? that is what we're asking our viewers. >>guest: but those that are in that dilemma because you had the sanders voters to say we could vote for troponin did they say we would vote for sanders but then you have another demographic out there to say because of these issues and

would have difficulty putting for both. they are unhappy for a lot of different reasons. >>host: go into your home state. >> caller: good morning. we are big supporters. my brother had season-ticket its. [laughter] >> while the price of oil is down. >> this still keeps going pretty good. i will get to where it.

this worries me and nobody looks at the democratic side at all they just keep marching one after the other. i think they could do some good and they get some respect from both sides but i bet it will take more than 20 or 40 years. >>guest: weld the issuegn tal that you don't hear the trump campaign talk about. keynote here this sanders campaign talk about or the clinton campaign.

so those three candidates is the center of attention to pay over $1 billion per dayot of loans on the debt so if we didn't agree to be spending $365 billion per year on research and development for cancer or heart disease for the broken down bridges there is a lot of different things we could spend $365 billion on but nobody talks about that. so when you go back to the two camps of the sanders he and the trump campaign mr. sanders says he will

give you this and this but he never talks about how we will pay for it then on the right mr. trump talks about building a wall and dealing with china but you never hear plans how he will do that or the debt if you wantu to hear that conversation get down to the cruz and the rubio and the john kasich circles by the way the last time we had a balanced budget that we actually would pay down on the public debt common john kasich was chairman of the budget committee. i served eight years in congress.udget we put ourselves on a path to balance the budget in two years and did it in the first six and then we had a balanced budget to pay down

the debt. and he raises is that question i will close the circle by saying if we don't deal with national debt it will be extremely painful for our kids a grandkids is the data isn't mentioning in the debt that we're running for medicare party. there is a lot of things so twould submit with $35 trillion in debt.t. >> let's talk more about your book.

>> what about that morality word that was of factor in this campaign? even though they are voting for donald trump. >> that in itself is baffling but what i say in the book is i am a dysfunctional person but we come out of the mother's womb the right way you don't have to teach your kids to be bad. they come out knowing how to be bad. we have to teach them how to be good in to do the right thing. so when they say we're all dysfunctional it is just a matter of degree i may be more than nuclear alll dysfunctional. i say that because we get

ourselves in trouble when we make our dysfunctions the normal. is not that is what i talk about because it isn't a natural instinct to forgive or not to be selfish to do unto others as you would have them do unto you. and and running our own business i have spent up faster in there is one thing that is common and it is to cheer the crowd.

for it to be intoxicating and politics so what did deep does is it is not a holier than thou but what i have taken my experiences to take my knuckle headed decisions and some of them i have made on my own and i have taken those experiences to talk about it and it has made me a better person because i deal with them hopefully the right way. and what it takes to grow ass. a society we don't, all born to naturally do those things.

and from the pay and that we experience with bad decisions.ons and and this is written out of the of pain that i have for but people have done to be. but how do i take all the fat kid use that in a way to do that better? i will make a shameless plug. and it will be beneficial as well. >> caller:. >> i'm calling about donald trump.

and with those that are supposed to be or going to try? but he gets the most votes and then should get the nomination. and then you just drive a deeper wedge. >> and not to have anything to do with that i would agree in this sense that isut said deeper chaos than what

they have today.about donald tru and mitch mcconnell doesn't have to endorse my opinions of donald trump. these are my feelings and my thoughts and what my wisdom tells me and for the country and as i have said i probably would not vote for donald trump and and i may disagree with donald trump being a the president but i trust the american people.cannot the same way with presidentli clinton nor president obama. u

did you don't like what the democrats put up in that is what that means. >>host: democratic line go ahead. >> caller: my observationthat fo is with the basic instincts of a damage constituency. how do have that racist behavior? to be quite disturbing how does the party reconcile those behaviors of a trump canada say -- candidacy? >>guest: you bring up a

great point. i cannot reconcile that position he has taken about seven to pay that broad brush to encourage hostility with the kkk to outright denounce david duke and others.' the you are right touted as the party reconcile that? and vice said i can't speak 49 the most conservative republican there is. donald trump with 150% for kim. nine of the rest of them, johni wo

kasich, rubio, planted -- clinton. >>host: why? >> caller: because they take all of the americanuf jobs in my grandkids jobs to straighten this out with this trade stuff almost half a trillion dollars to stop all of this all the jobs are going over there. if he double cross is has become up with the same response from the last 100 years. >> one thing i would have asked is what are the thoughts on ted cruz? for those supporting trump

they say he is not one of them would he support ted cruz? but that he is unpopular even donald trump says he is the most hated being in washington. if you are unhappy with washington would you have some attraction and that is perplexing to the with jerrymp. falwell, jr. with the first baptist church. i am perplexed over that. i space met jerry falwell, jr.. his dad and i were friends

preaching at the church and i had a son that went to school there but it is perplexing because in my mind i would ask how can you jump over ted cruz? but how do day jump over john kasich gore remarked huckabee or rick santorum? and with those other candidates running for president. [laughter] >>host: senator ted cruz has been in washington. but those voters that are calling that power and money drive washington they feel donald trump could come to shakos up -- shake that up.

>>guest: that is the perception people have an ims frustrated with washington. >>host: you write. you said that was the perception. you come up your thinking washington is a cesspool and after six months you think it is a jacuzzi. [laughter] but donald trump has strutted as well as anybody j working with immigrants on the construction jobs.te the r ted cruz did not create jobs his government officials job

is to create the right environment for the jobs that we created.if that is just as importantmerica because if you create a high style environment that investment will go overseas. ted cruz has talked about immigration. but we have to be careful we're not talking of both sides of our route to say this is what i wanted aan candidate but then we go to donald trump when you can surely find the same thing and another candidate that is even be a somebody supported me they had choices. but you have to peel then opinion of little deeper to get to the basis of where

they're trying to get. >>host: representing the district in oklahoma to talk about how he really be in washington for a while serving the people of oklahoma and decided to the that after those four termse is now a chairman of bell lobbying firm in washington. >> it just became president and ceo of the dutch children and i am pretty excited about that. in 2015 reserve to 9 million kids in the united states and overseas every day we treat 263,000 kids. i don't take you have to be in public service to serve i don't think when i ran i did

think i had to be a congressman to make aa contribution.ow whereu i don't think i have to be the president but growth wherever you are planted. what ever you do, i tried to do well to be an asset to the company that you surveyor of the constituency and the people that you serve. >>host: a few more calls on the independent line. >> caller: four republicans voted reagan twice bush four times bob dole and now i have a reservation. so you are a lobbyist david jihadi lobbying company? do you have any clients that pay you to lobby? doherty answer right now because i will be cut off. i will tell you why christian right wing year's

vote for trump they used to call these c-span junkies in the '90s and i would watching on tv and also to have lost weight you used to look more like a football player. [laughter] >> you are right. rigo longer believe the republican party. i of the christian i would much rather be with the senator who admits that the and have dinner with a stocky christian he pretends he is somebody he is not even with ted cruz with fussy as are involved in the study that concluded that north america should take

down its borders. that is a global disposition >>host: because we're running out of time i will leave it there. but christians like him along her trump the edge g.o.p. you help with the programming. what does that mean? >> i think anybody that has ever served i've been in public service will be ann insider. i have had differences with my party since i became a republican.. we're doing more to establish those deeper relationships. . .

i had my democratic opponentnt when i first ran take a picture of me in my afro-that could not have gotten through those double doors and put it in one of his commercials and was basically implying is this we want to be your congressman? so i have been on the frontline against the republican party to change some of their old ways.i i have been on the frontline in trying to get the party to embrace, to not discriminate

against or democrats as well, not discriminate against faith-based entities trying to serve their community in terms of feeding the poor and housing the homeless and clothing the. so john, anybody that has ever been in public service you would consider them, you could consider them an outsider. but it is what it is and people are going to vote the way their perception tells them to vote. all i would do as anybody is voting what i had them at the black community over the last 20 some years is to say when anybody comes into your community asking for your voteu. really peel the onion. hold them accountable and so again if you are unhappy with washington, again my thing is how can you be happy? i think donald trump himself is

probably more of an insider than mo ryan. posted james chattanooga tennessee, democrat. guess god he is the speaker. >> host: you are on the air, go ahead. >> caller: good morning mr. watts. sir i met 66-year-old veteran proud to say i'm a democrat. i followed your career over the years and i have to say my hats off to you. you have done a brilliant job in and what you have applied yourself to. i have to say this, but cobb my attention was your book and how you titled it, dig deep. ownther words soul searching, finding your own niche and your narrative about coming out of your mother's womb and how the

process began. it's very thought worthy and intelligent raid i have nothing but praise for you. >> host: james we have to leave it there because we are running out of time. >> guest: james you are kind and i think the more -- james i think the more we accept thee at fact that we are thence the wrong way, that we are dysfunctional. as i said it's just a matter of degree grade i am probably more dysfunctional than james and i am probably more dysfunctional than you grab a bite button we all are dysfunctional. it's just a matter of degree and when we make those dysfunctions our normal that some may get in trouble. james talked about add. it's a phrase that i used to say you have got to, to get to the mountaintop mountain top regardless of what your skin color and your gender there are going to be times that you will

have to reach within yourself and get beyond the superficial excuses and say i am going to have to throw myself into the middle of this circumstance in order to get their and if james, he's a veteran. let me tell you there are many times he has had to dig deep. one moment in athletics i was thinking the other night about kurt warner. all three quarterbacks wore in his art in the hall of fame. i played against him in canada. one was undrafted but today he's on the hall of fame. nobody wanted him coming out of college. you think there were some times that he had to dig deep? tony romo was undrafted out of college. kurt warner, the guy was sacking groceries at a grocery store when they gave him an invitation to come and tryout for the st. louis rams.

that's what i'm talking about and again there is no soldier, no veteran that one understand what this book is trying to say and trying to teach.e >> host: we will get and randy of huntsville alabama, republican. randy, welcome. >> caller: thank you, greta. >> host: go ahead with your question or comment. >> caller: i have been a democrat. i hadn't voted because i didn't agree with the party and what they are doing but i'll tell yow what i am a registered republican. i did come out and vote for donald trump and i just wondered why people like mr. watts the republican party is pulling so against donald because i mean i think you know he got me out of the closet and put me back on

track. i believe in his teachings. i believe in what he is saying. i believe he will do what he says he will do. >> host: randy have you always voted for republicans?th >> caller: no, no. this is my first time. >> host: this is your first time voting? >> caller: yes. >> guest: randy let me ask you do you agree with any candidater in their rallies encouraging security and other rally goers to be hostile towards protesters? would you encourage that? >> caller: i don't think he does either. >> guest: we have got it taped >> caller: i understand. >> guest: randy i said at the outset i don't expect ms. -- mitch mcconnell, i don't

expect paul ryan, you know that guy that followed from oklahoma tom cole, i don't expect any of the republicans or i don't demand any other republicans to take on the way i feel.ing for the way i feel, i'm speaking for me. i'm not asking. >> host: let's have randy finish his thoughts. >> caller: mr. watts you remind me of bud kramer from montebello. >> guest: i remember bud. >> caller: he retired and went to be a lobbyist and has gotten filthy rich so you can't tell me that you guys don't get paid well.gues >> guest: randy also let meco encourage you, i will never depend on man to feed my kids and do what i need to do. i do more than consulting.m in e

i am in the john deere business. you know, i am on the lecture circuit. i preach eight to 10 times a year somewhere around the country and different churches, so it's a false narrative. i will say that yes i have done consulting but consulting is not my sole-source of income and i don't need consulting to make a living. so i just want for the record to clarify that.yo >> host: why did you want to write this book?ll >> guest: well again, i think greta, i think the demeanor that i see and it's not just this year. the demeanor and what we have seen, the attitude that we have seen against president obama.ba i appreciate it at the same time i saw that same attitude against george w. bush and didn't appreciate it then.han that.

i think we are better than that. i can disagree with you without being hostile. people used to come to my office and you can imagine a black republican i was a black republican a little more comfortable today, a little more acceptable today than when i ran for office. i was the first african-american elected first african-american republican elected south of the mason-dixon line since reconstruction, and i had a guy and i talk about this in the book, a guide is set after i was elected in a certain part of my district and he used to be a democratic legislature and he said and it was some what of the backhanded compliment. i don't think you set it to be ugly but he said you know i never thought that i would see i republican elected in this district and he went on to say i let alone a black republican.

>> i was standing right there and again i don't think he was saying it to be ugly. i think he was being honest. i think it was somewhat of a complement. i think he was articulating ittk to be complementary. i talk in the book about how just in the last three years i'm in a department store in norman oklahoma where i played quarterback where he served asi congressman and i have a security guy following me and ih establish that he was following me and i finally turned around and i said sir why are you following make? i said sir are you following men and he said i'm doing my job. i said is your job to follow me? so i left and i went back and i confronted him again and i said sir my wife and i are in the store overtime. people know me and he said i'm doing my job. i don't know him at the present of the company or the president

of united states, so i went on and i told my wife what happened and she said you should tell the manager. i went and talked to the manager and told her what it happened and she understood and she said mr. watts viewer in her all the time.at we know you and so i finally went back to him and just to say something to him to let him know what has happened. so when i went back the manager that i talked to us talking to him and he came to him and said mr. watts i am so sorry, i am so sorry. he said i'm so sorry for that and i said sir let me tell you i accept your apology. i said but i do want you to know i have got kids, i've got grandkids, i would hate for them to come into this store and you put them through the humiliation that you have put me through-3 over the last 25 or 30 minutes. and so greta again, these are my

experiences. and i talk about the wisdom that i have gained from those experiences. i didn't get hostile, i didn't get upset. i just wanted the gentleman to know, i tried to walk them offle the ledge and he would not allow me. but i wanted him to know that he made a mistake and is nothing wrong with making a mistake if you learn from them. i hope it was a teaching learning moment for him. >> host: commerce and we thank you for talking to our viewers v this morning. again the book dig deep savages to finding the truth. i know you have to run so thank you. come back again. >> guest: thank you.

every year budget is formed of sending a large 23 main areas for the first is discretion in

spending which is 201515 received one by one gillian dollars. the second section is mandatory spending which is $2.45 trillion in the year 2015. lastly the interest on the federal debt which was $229 billion. >> is a grand prizewinner olivia made $5000 for to for genji spambots will travel for genji spambots will travel to her school so we can present her with a check for the grand presbyter first grand prizewinners are me and ava lazar. mia is in eighth-grader and ava a sixth-grader in black or virginia. they're winning documentaries titled what should be done about money in politics? >> you see flies at a mailbox and advertisements on tv the radio and the internet. this is the way politicians tried to get elected. politicians spend millions of dollars on their campaigns are destined as one election and the fund-raising for the next election begins. everyday congress is in session

there are fund-raisers all of the country. in 2012 the presidential election cost about $2.6 billion. you can't help but wonder where does all this money come from? >> averse prizewinners of our high school central category are twelfth-graders griffin old michael fraser -- they'll attend troy high school in troy michigan. the documentary is titled the 1% and it addresses the scarcity of fresh water. >> today americans are drowning in the debated issues that say immigration medicare terrorism leaked leaked e-mails but although these are important topics they should affect the issue of the 1%. >> 1%. >> no, not that 1%. this 1%. the shining blue jewel of the united states him at the great lakes. >> truly the unique resources of the world. fresh water resources. there's nothing like it.

>> our student campers prizewinners from her high school west category are twelfth-graders daniella and tenth-grader sophia who attend metropolitan arts institute in phoenix. the documentary is titled rethinking reform prisons in america. >> the prison systems around the united states have changed radically in the last 20 to 30 years. let me address arizona. 20 years ago our prison population was about 20,000 people. now our state prison system is over 40. the composition of the prison population has also dramatically changed. >> finally our fan favorite was selected for your on line voting and we are happy to announce the winners will receive an

additional $500. our first prizewinners for high school age category tenth-graders sam miller liam and charles greiner. >> americans love moving around. we tried farther and have more cars than any other country in the world but for all i love on what we try to pretend to take what we drive for granted. america is 2 million miles of roads and 600,000 bridges are aging, congested and often dangerous. >> thanks for the students and teachers who competed this year and congratulations to all of our winners are the top 21 winning entries will air on c-span starting in april and all the winning entries are available for viewing on line at studentcam.org.

>> house speaker paul ryan paid his respects today to former first lady nancy reagan at the reagan presidential library in simi valley california. [background sounds] [background sounds]

>> that was the house speaker from earlier today. now getting a live look at the reagan presidential library. former first lady nancy reagan will lie in repose through tomorrow. she was first lady from 1981 until 1989. [background sounds] [background sounds]

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[background sounds] [background sounds] nancy reagan died sunday at the age of 94. she will be buried next to her husband ronald reagan on the ground of the reagan presidential library. we will have the nancy reagan

funeral service on friday. it comes up life at 2:00 p.m. eastern time on our companion network c-span. ..