his father died in office on march 6th after serving more than two decades in that spot. and french president nicolas sarkozy says authorities are raising the terrorism alert to its highest level across a swath of southern france where a gunman opened fire at a jewish school before fleeing. the attack in toulouse killed three children and a rabbi. the worst ever school shooting in france. one of the weapons used was the same used to kill three paratroopers in two different attacks in the toulouse region last week. at the state department here in washington, d.c., spokeswoman victoria newland had this. >> we were shocked and saddened to learn of the horrific attack at a jewish school in toulouse, france. we stand with the victims of the attack and offer our condolences to the families and their community. we join the government of france in condemning this unprovoked and vicious act of violence zpl victoria nuland, state

department spokeswoman. back in a minute with more "washington today." >> sub strib to the daily c-span alert and receive the latest c-span schedule of events. from the white house, capitol hill and politics. you'll also get the cap cal spotlight news story, trivia and unique c-span promotions. there are two more alerts available for the book tv and american history tv weekend line-ups. you can sign up for the c-span alerts at c-span.org. welcome back to "washington today" here on c-span radio. two years after the president signed the health care reform legislation, and with the u.s. supreme court about to consider a challenge from a number of states trying to overturn it, that challenge will begin next week with oral arguments. supporters and opponents of the law gearing up for what many are calling a message war like it is 2009 all over again when the issue was being debated. today a conference call with a number of democratic members of the house of representatives including representative javier basera, democratic of california

and january schakowsky, democrat from illinois, to question whether or not this is going to have any impact on the 2012 presidential race and congressional races. more from today's conference. >> the last question will be from politico. your line is open. >> quick question for the members. how concerned are you that the issue of health care and the health care law will drag down candidates this november? i saw a new poll today that shows the law is still very unpopular. >> doris and jan, why don't we each say some final closing remarks. >> go ahead. go ahead, avenue ijavier. >> i simply will say this. jan made the point best when she said the more people see what the affordable care act is doing the more they're going to like it and the more they're going to support it. people are hungry for a chance to have decent health care that hey can pay for and not go

millions of families who have benefited by keeping their adult children on their health care who now have children who have a preexisting condition who can enroll in their parents' health care. the seniors who are benefiting from the improvements to medicare and its preventive care and the doughnut hole coverage. you're going to continue to find folks benefiting. but in 2014, if the supreme court does justice by the american people, we will be able to include some 30 million more americans into this coverage so that people will be able to say, finally, that they're not concerned about paying their mortgage or paying their health care bill and they will be able to survive these bankruptcies that today we see are principally driven by health care costs. i have no doubt that the public will support this. i don't believe for a moment if a candidate stands up and -- and talks about increasing access to

a good doctor and a hospital, that he or she will find himself in good stead with the voters. therefore, anyone who believes that extending quality health care to americans under the affordable care act is good i think has a great chance of getting elected to office and should stand strong behind that. >> this is jan schakowsky. we're not going to leave it to chance that the american people understand the importance of the legislation right now and the benefits that are about to come. there are public information campaigns that are going to be conducted by groups like the alliance for retired americans. we're going to be doing truth squads. and people are going to be invited to meetings. we're going to get -- maybe barbara can talk just a little bit about what, you know, her group alone is going to do to get the information out. i think the government is going

to be explaining that better and doing a public information campaign about the affordable care act. it's about telling the truth. and -- and going after the lies that are being told about the impact of the affordable care act on people. and we feel convinced that telling people what's good for them is good for them probably is a lot cheaper than telling people who's good for them is bad for them, which is what the republicans and their funders are doing. and so we're going to -- this is going to be a primary organizing effort on the part of the democrats and our allies among senior -- legitimate senior citizen organizations and other public interest organizations. just to tell the truth over the next several months. and we believe the american people are desperately wanting

to have some relief from the health care costs that are the number one cause of personal bankruptcies in the united states of america. >> two members of congress in a teleconference on this week. the second anniversary of the health care law. the president signed into law 2010. representative javier bacerra is a democrat from kra ra. just a moment ago you heard from representative jan schakowsky from illinois. joining us live on the phone from capitol hill, emily etheridge. she's following this story from cq. thanks very much for being with us. >> you're welcome. thanks for having me on. >> this is really the start of a message war we're going to be hearing from democrats and republicans. a week of events in which they're going to try to commemorate or criticize this legislation. what can we expect specifically? >> that's right. @already started. there's not only been conference calms like the one you just played but a flurry of press releases. today republican senators were on the senate floor having a colloquy about the problems they see with the health care law and

the damaging effects they think it will have. i've seen some democrats on the house floor beginning to give speeches. so expect to see a lot of people talking about this all week long. >> let's drill down one of the key issues that we're going to be hearing about from the republicans in the house, and that is this medicare spending board known as the ipab, which is the independent payment advisory board. what is that and what's the issue? >> the board is something created under the health care law that is a panel of outside independent experts that if medicare costs grow -- increase at a certain rate, it has this trigger. this board has to make recommendations for cutting medicare costs. then congress can decide whether to take those recommendations or make new ones. republicans think that handing congress's power to a board of unelected officials, they don't like the idea that they would have to give it over to somebody else. and it's really a big part of president obama's plan to fix medicare and keep medicare spending down, which we all know

is a big issue this year. >> congressman paul ryan this week unveiling his own budget blueprint. we're going to get more specifics tomorrow from the chairman of the house budget committee. but he has been talking on the house budget committee website about the issue of medicare making some significant changes overall to the medicare program to try to stop the -- the stem of spending that we've been seeing in this country and bring down the deficit. >> that's right. he really wants to make that a contrast to the ryan plan, a republican, house republican plan, as opposed to president obama's plan for medicare which they say is ipab. that's really another showdown this week that we're going to see in the house. >> one of the specifics from the ryan plan, and he has the support of congress, senator ron wyden of oregon, the idea that some options who decide not to take medicare would have the possibility of buying their own insurance through a private market and take a subsidy from the federal government. is that going anywhere? >> that is an idea that we expect to see in the ryan budget tomorrow. we haven't seen all the details

yet, but it looks like that's the way things are turning. we've been hearing from snoot wyden today. he said, i don't know what's in the budget but just in case it is the ryan/wyden plan here's what i think about that and here's why i think it's a good idea. it's definitely a thing that's slowly gaining some bipartisan interest. but definitely not enough now to really become something real this year. >> we're talking with emily ethridge following a story for cq roll call. she's on capitol hill. a week from today the u.s. supreme court will undertake three days of oral arguments and we'll be showing and letting our radio audience listen to the oral arguments each day as the supreme court releases them. that in essence is the culmination of this week long message war carrying into next week on the third branch of government. >> that's right. it's the perfect storm. you've got the president and congress and the supreme court all weighing in on health care. it's just a huge time for this law right now. >> what are you looking for this week and next? what are you preparing for in terms of stories for cq roll call. >> we're going to be covering

every aspect you can imagine. we're going to have someone inside the supreme court covering the hearings every day. my colleague and i will be outside talking to lawmakers. a lot of the lawmakers that helped write the law are going to be attending the hearings as well. so we're going to cover that as well as all of the outside groups that are protesting against the law or rallying to support the law. there's just going to be a lot of action here on the hill. >> emily ethridge following this for cq, thanks for being with us here on c-span radio. more republican reaction to the second anniversary of the health care law that the president signed on march 23rd, 2010. tennessee congressman scott day jar lay and arkansas republican tim griffin both freshman representatives in a teleconference earlier today. >> you guys have spent your time here in congress advocate -- this is about $500 billion in a cut of spending. why is this one not proper? >> you're talking about cutting $500 billion from medicare in

the form of rationing to seniors. so it's not a sensible or rationale or reasonable approach when it comes to seniors' access to care. >> go ahead. we all know if we're going to deal with the debt, we're going to have to deal with medicare, among other programs. we've gotretirees going on medicare every day. there's no doubt we have to deal with cost. the president's plan, he says i'm not going to reform it. i'm not fwoing to change the way it works. i'm not going to make it better. i'm not going to encourage innovation. i'm not going to do any of those things. i'm just going to rely on reducing line items as needed to reduce services. in my opinion, that's a total cop out. because just because you're against the ipad, doesn't mean

you're not for doing something. in fact, just the opposite. we're the ones who said, yes, we need to reduce costs. but you can reduce costs and harm seniors' access to care, or you can reduce costs in a reform way much like whether you can debate which one you like, whether you like the one that we passed last year, the wyden/ryan proposal, whatever it is. the one thing we ought to be able to agree on is the status quo is completely unacceptable. and from the president's quotes, what he says, he seems to get it. but his actions and his budgets have simply taken the approach that we're just going to cut and we're not going to do anything to change the forces within the program. so there are -- there are good ways to save and there are less preferable ways to save. and this particular proposal or

this particular law, ipab, will do nothing to make medicare run differently. it will simply say we've run out of money, now we're cutting. >> tim griffin is a republican from arkansas. scott desjarlais republican from tennessee. they spoke to reporters on capitol hill earlier in the day. jonathan whitesman says for conservatives on the health care law it is repeal or nothing. let me read to you what he wrote for the "new york times" caucus blog. republicans observe the second anniversary of the president's signing of the health care law this week, a new motto is emerging that could hurt the law's implementation. repeal or nothing. they're talking about ipab, a moment ago in the background from our interview with the reporter from congressional quarterly that gave an essence of what ipab is all about. here's how attorney general richard -- edwin niece writing a

letter to republican lawmakers against efforts to repeal. according to this letter it's not that they despise it. according to this letter they loathe it, they want to get rid of it. here's one sentence from their letter. ipab is an unelected and unaccountable board of 15 bureaucrats empowered to set medicare reimbursement rates in order to control costs and it will mean rational health care for our nation's -- ration health care for our nation's senior citizens. that letter that went out, if you want to read the details is available on "the new york times" website. emily ethridge pointing out ipab is the one issue house republicans will take up as a way to repeal a key part of the president's health care bill. that gets to the larger issue of agreement on capitol hill on many of the major issues. whether or not there is any sense of compromise or bipartisanship. there was a topic we talked about this morning with bill galston, co-founder of no labels. we want to hear from you whether

or not there are ways to improve congress. we'll show you the phone number in a moment. first here's a portion from today's "washington journal." >> the reputation of the congress of the united states in the eyes of the american people has never been lower. recent surveys put it around 10%. i suspect that used car dealers do a little bit better. now, having said that, the point is to try to fix the institution. no labels doesn't believe that members of congress are bad and corrupt for the most part. we believe they're good people trapped in a failed and obsolete system of rules and procedures. and what we're trying to do is to add a citizen's voice to encourage them to do what they know is the right thing. let me make one other point. yeah, there's much too much money in politics.

but we also have to recognize that this is a very large, diverse country. and many people campaign for office on the basis of platforms in which they sincerely believe, in which they push for when they get to the house of representatives or the senate. but if you're in the house, there are 434 other people whose opinions and whose constituencies you have to contend with. in the senate 99 other people. so compromise is the name of the game in washington. and there's a difference between compromise and corruption. and we'd like to try to persuade the american people that compromise can be honorable when it represents the search for common ground. >> our interview with bill galston, co-founder of no labels. he joined us this morning on c-span's "washington journal." if you want more information nolabels.org is the website. we are democrats, republicans and independents united in the belief that we do not have to give up our labels merely to put aside what's best for the

country. that's our question. how would you change congress? would you change congress to make it work better? our listener feedback line is 202-626-7962. again, 202-626-7962. tell us where you're phoning from. keep your comments brief. we'll use more of your comments throughout the week here on c-span's "washington today." again, the question is how would you change congress? how would you make it more effective in order to get things done. 202 is the area code. 626-7962. senator barbara mccull ski reaching a milestone having served 35 years in the house and the senate. now the longest serving female member of congress in history. back in 1988 she talked about politics, gender politics, at the democratic national convention in atlanta. >> every family's got its worries. paying the mortgage. school cost. an ageing parent who needs help. some families shoulder more than

seems possible. drug addiction. family violence. broken homes. but family life should be more than just coping or making ends meet. more than just pinching pennies and dipping into the nest egg. if there's anything that concerns the american family today, it's this. our government hasn't caught up with the new facts of american family life. families have changed, so why can't washington? new facts. moms working. nearly 65% of all mothers are working. part time, full time, all of the time. keeping the family together. making ends meet. making america more prosperous. working mothers need affordable day care and the pay they deserve. too often they can't get either. over 10 million children under 6

have working mothers. yet child care centers accommodate barely a third of the need. if we want to keep our economy humming, let's get mother some help with the kids! affordable day care, family leave, it's just not too much to ask! and no working woman should take home a paycheck that is less than she deserves. american families will be stronger when working women get changes in their checkbooks and in their law books. >> a milestone this week for senator barbara mikulski. she's now the longest serving woman in congress having first been elected back in 1976 to the house and later to the u.s. senate. she's joining us on capitol hill. thanks very much for being with us. >> happy anniversary, c-span. you know, you've brought the congress its floor activity, its committees, to the american

people. and you've not only made history, but had a big influence on history. >> in fact, you saw thehistory. >> you saw the advent of c-span two years after first being elected to the house of representatives. >> yes. it was electrifying. >> let me ask you about your first run for the house and when you ran in 1976, did you expect to serve 35 years? >> when i ran for the house of representatives in 1976 it was the bicentennial year of our country. 250 years. and i was excited to be part of a great reform movement. we were in a post watergate era and we wanted to change the way congress functioned and opened it up to the american people. and do things certainly very differently. the other was i wanted to be part of the new wave of women that was coming in to the congress that were -- there was an outgrowth of the woman's movement. so the face of the -- both the house and senate have changed.

and i would also say the whole demeanor of the institution as changed. >> when you were first elected to the house there were 21 women in congress, 18 in the house three in the senate. today that's increased significantly. 92 serving. >> yes. when i came to the senate in 1986, ten years after elected to the house, there were in all of american history only 17 had served. very few had been elected in their own right. most had succeeded their husband. when i came there was only one other senator nancy kas bell. right at this minute there are 17 women serving. 12 democrats, five republicans and who knows hopefully we can increase our numbers with the next election. >> from your perspective, having served in both chambers, how has

congress evolved and changed over the last 35 years? >> what i have observed both in the house and certainly in the senate is that there's been a change in the demeanor. there's less of a sense of bipartisan comradery and less of a sense of civility. when i serve maryland the house, we faced some really big, big challenges like we weren't sure we could meet our social security check obligations in the mid 1980s. ronald reagan was in the white house. tip o'neill was in the speaker's chair. bob dole and bob baker were leading the united states senate. those men put party aside. we had to make tough decisions. and each had to give a lot. but at the end of the day we saved social security and showed that we could govern. now what we see is the people are more interested in party. more interested in scoring points, and i think we need to get back to finding what collin

powell called the next generation. >> why is that so difficult? why is compromise so much more difficult in today's environment? >> it's more about a struggle for power of both the party. and i believe that we need to get back to remembering that we're there to serve the nation. the oath that we take is to the constitution of the united states of america. one nation under god indivisi e indivisible. we don't take an oath to a politics cat party. sure, we sign up for a political platform, but that's advisory and optional. the constitution is not. >> we're talking the maryland senator barbara mick muls ki. spend a moment to reflect on the

individuals that have influenced you or shaped your agenda. >> well, i served with wonderful people in both the house and the senate. when i came to the house of representatives barbara jordan was completing her last term. i sat next to her periodically and learned a lot about parliamenttary procedure. congresswoman jordan was one of the great leaders of our time and worked with wonderful people like the legendary tip o'neill. in the united states and of course nancy pelosi, nancy and i went to the same -- grew up in baltimore. she in little italy and i in the polish neighborhood. we went to the same girls catholic high school. little did we know when we wore navy blue jumpers and could only play half court basketball that

we would be doing a full court press in the house and the senate. >> what's next for you? do you intend to stay in the senate? any other aspirations? >> i think being in the united states senate is one of the greatest jobs in america. i have a six-year term to think about the people of maryland and our country. and i think about it every day. for me it's not how long you serve, but how well you serve. you know, growing up in a neighborhood in baltimore my father ran a little neighborhood grocery store. and every day he opened the door to that store and regardless of who you are he would say good morning, ki help you? and that's the kind of senator i'm going to be. to think about the day-to-day needs of my constituents and put them into national policy. the long range needs of our country and we're where going to be in the new century, the issues of war, peace, jobs, innovation. how do we have a great economy while we're in such great

transition? and most of all, get back to putting our country over our political parties. >> you have also worked with every president since jimmy carter. >> i worked with every president since jimmy carter and each has had their own personality, their own agenda. i certainly enjoy working with president obama and look forward to helping him with his re-election. >> and finally, wednesday on the senate floor and live on krrgs-span 2 your colleagues paying tribute to your tenure in the house and senate. what do you expect to hear? >> well, i think my -- knowing my senate colleagues they're going to say nice things about me. i think they're going to tease me. and i hope that they do. the senate is a great institution. and i know that it will be a sense of friendship and collegiality. i hope it has a little fun and humor. and most of all when people hear

about me, that they hear really the story of america and that maybe other young people will think, oh, i can be her. oh, i can break that record. or, gee, i think i'd really like to be there and be a reformer. be a fighter and move our country into the next century. >> i have to ask you, what will they tease you about? >> stay tuned. live on c-span. >> senator mikulski joining us live on capitol hill on this monday. thanks very much for being with us and happy anniversary. >> thank you. >> you're listening to washington today on c-span radio. there was another anniversary today. it was 30 years ago today that cameras were turned on the floors of the house of representatives. among the first to speak a congressman from tennessee al gore. >> the gentleman from tennessee. >> good afternoon.

mr. speaker, on this historic day the house of representatives opens its proceedings for the first time to televise coverage. i wish to congratulate you for your courage in making this possible and the committee that has worked so hard under the leadership of congressman charles rose to make this a reality. television will change this institution, mr. speaker, just as it has changed the executive branch. but the good will far out weigh the bad. from this day forward every member of this body must ask himself or herself how many americans are listening to the debates which are made. when the house becomes comfortable with the changes brought by television coverage, the news media will be allowed to bring their own cameras into this chamber. in the meantime, there is no censorship. every word is available for broadcast coverage. and journalists will be able to use and edit as they see fit. the solution for the lack of

confidence in government, mr. speaker, the more open government at all levels. i hope for example, that the leadership of the united states senate will see this as a friendly challenge to begin to open their proceedings. >> under the rules, the gentleman's time has expired. >> the marriage of this medium and our open debate has the potential, mr. speaker, to revitalize representativedemocr. >> congressman al gore march 19, 1979, recognized bier the speaker of the house thomas p. tip o'neill of massachusetts. as television cameras came to the floor of the house of representatives and brought the advent of c-span 33 years ago when this network went on the network went on the air. now we are three networks, a radio station, cspan.org and seen and heard in more than 105 million homes around the country. 33 years ago c-span went on the air. this is washington today on c-span radio. >> listen on the go with the free c-span radio