that takes a lot of gall to talk about that as a jobs bill. madam president, we have a jobs bill that we on a bipartisan basis passed on the senate floor. have i heard one word from my republican colleagues about a real jobs bill saying why is the speaker driving a nail in this bill that we worked on for five weeks? it's a nice thing to do if it were done in the right manner if we had some amendments that got rid of some of the bad visions. before this is all over, that's what should happen. >> those who are watching and those who are interested in the dp m bank. if i had harry reid's job, we would be turning to the xm bank next. right after this and we would be doing it with very few

amendments because the advantage to being the majority leader because you have the ability to schedule. i just want everybody who's following this issue to understand, if to i were setting the agenda, the next item up right after this bipartisan jobs bill would be the xm bank. >> my amendment sponsored by democrats and republicans was a partisan maneuver. they're not about to take the xm bank unless it's part of the overall package. so that's why we're doing it this way. he's not the leader, i am. and we have a number of very important issues that we have to deal with. and even though i believe in the

xm program, it's going to drop it to the bottom of the calendar because we have things we need to do. >> harry reid, republican leader mitch mcconnell. and the boeing corporation, which is one of the largest export/import loan recipients, a big supporter of the bilko sponsored including republicans like lindsey graham, richard shelby, a number of business groups including the u.s. chamber of commerce, the business round table and the national association of manufacturers, also backing the amendment. a number of conservative groups do oppose it, arguing the export/importment as to corporate welfare. the boeing company tonight vowing to continue to press for the bank's reauthorization. as you heard a few moment. s ago. it will fall to the bottom of the list with other items including the senate agenda. which goes back to the question,

what would you do? 202-626-7962. >> i'm calling from fairfax, virginia, and i would change congress by making a one issue, one vote and not allowing in different issues to be voted on in one bill and allowing accountability for each bill and each vote. >> hello. i'm calling from clearwater, florida. my name is dennis and what i would propose is that we limit the number of lawyers in both the house and the senate. because if you think about it, what do lawyers do, they simply argue their point and they're adamant about their position with no give. and that's why i think there's a lack of compromise because too many attorneys, too many lawyers. all they do is fight and argue. that's why things don't get accomplished. thank you. >> yes, my name is gilbert

calling from mansfield, texas. the way to make congress work better is to definitely have limited terms. right after you advertise the line, you're having a representative or senator mikulski who has 35 years as a house representative and america needs to quit having a short memory. here's a person who's been there for over three decades and yet we keep voting for the same old-same old. >> your comment, your feed boongs the radio fedback line. we want to hear from you. give us a call. how would you improve the reputation of congress? our phone number is 202-626-7962. tell us where you're phoning from. keep your comments brief and we'll lose your comments tomorrow and thursday here on c-span radio.

one blil note, a live simulcast here on c-span radio and on c-span television. the results from illinois, the new york times reporting that the news media's presence in chicago, a clear reminder for some vote thrashers illinois will have a say in this presidential republican race that is turning to what the new york times is saying is a slog for delegates, leading up to a convention in august. we'll have speeches by rick santorum and mitt romney, all live tonight on c-span radio and c-span television, getting under way in about 25 minutes. the federal reserve is slightly cutting the estimate how much it paid the federal government in 2011, but the bank says the payment is still the second largest in nation's history. it paid the federal government $75.4 billion last year and it's

down from the preliminary estimate of $79.9 billion. the money comes from earnings on investments the central bank made to bolster the economy. and it's down from the all-time record which w$79.3 billion in . the u.s. senate likely to vote on a scaled down bill about insider trading but congress and government workers. the majority leader harry reid sent together a vote that would require frequent reporting of financial transactions. the senate could vote this week on the house version of the bill. it stripped out regulation of political intelligence firms that get paid to obtain information from congress and sell it to investment firms. they would have to register and report their activities. the house also will give prosecutors better tools to win federal kruchgs convictions.

the big changes on the health care law before the spleem court, it will all be here on c-span radio as soon as the audio is released. today, though, there was another case dealing with health care. the supreme court says a state cannot be sued under the family and medical leave act for refusing to give an employee time off to recover from an illness. the high court refused to let daniel coleman sue the maryland state court of appeals for firing him after he asked for sick leave. he asked for that leave in 2007 to recover from that illness. his work request was denied. he was fired. he sued under the federal family medical leigh act but the lawsuit was thrown out and the u.s. court of appeals agreed, saying states cannot be sued under that law. the high court agreed.

the dmz, the demilitarized zone separating north and south korea. it's the most heavily defended border in the world. president obama will be in south korea and will make the dmz his first stop sunday morning. back with more "washington today." c-span radio, you can listen live over your phone. 202-266-8888. >> you are listening to c-span radio, live on audio now. >> last week, the fatal shooting of a black teenager by a neighborhood watch captain gaining little media attention

beyond some of the florida newspapers. it also received some attention in mainstream media outlets and prominent black journalists wieting about it. but today, the killing of 17-year-old trayvon martin dominating news in the u.s. the latest example of how social media and technology continues to transform the very definition of news and the way it is delivered in this country and around the world. the "l.a. times" writing about this story online at latimes.com. if you don't know about the story, here is essentially what happened back in late february in which trayvon martin was returning from a candy run when he was followed and confronted by george zimmerman who was 28 years old. now martin had a cell phone, a bag of skittles and an iced tea. zimmerman reportedly had a .9 millimeter gun. he shot and killed trayvon martin. zimmerman claiming self-defense. the case, though, has taken on racial overtones. police have described zimmerman has white. his family says he's hispanic

and told the associated press he's wrongly being depicted as a racist. a grand jury will investigate the case and on the floor of the house today, representative frederick wilson, a democrat, had this to say. >> trayvon martin lived in miami, florida, in district 17, my congressional district. trayvon, a 140-pound young black boy, 17 years old was just trying to live and reach 18. despite that, the accused killer, george zimmerman has not been charged and is using the term of self-defense. the 911 audio tapes tell it all. they tell the story of the last moments of trayvon martin's life.

trayvon was screaming for help, fighting for his life and then he was murdered, shot dead. today i applaud the florida department of law enforcement, the fbi and the federal department of justice for their intervention. i encourage the citizens of florida and the citizens from around the world to continue to fight for jugs for trayvon martin. justice must be served. no more racial profiling. i'm tired of fighting when the evidence is so cloer. so transparent. $1 million nationally recognized and honored foundation that specifically addresses the trials and tribulations of young

black boys and sends them to college. it impacts almost 20,000 young men. in spite of that we still have to mavrj and demonstrate and write letters and protest. and sit and sit in. no more. no more, florida, no more, america, no more hiding your criminal racial profiling by using self-defense to get away with murder. stand up for trayvon martin. stand up for justice. stand up for our children, i'm tired, tired, tired of bury young black boys. thank you and i turn the balance of my time.

>> miami representative frederica wilson on the trayvon martin case from the floor of the house earlier today. this is washington today on c-span radio, facing a skeptical congress, the top commander in afghanistan today, insisting that the u.s. is winding down the decades plus war and has no intention to remain in the country indefinitely. it was the appearance of marine general john allen before the house armed services committee in his appearance allen did take questions from lawmakers. many tired of the war in afghanistan. questioning whether the u.s. should accelerate the timetable for withdrawing some of the 90,000 combat forces that remain in the country and whether a projected afghan force of 350,000 would be capable of ensuring the country's security. one note from former secretary of state rice says u.s. policy makers must save our nerve in

afghanistan. also general allen getting a number of questions about the investigation into sergeant bales who is accused of killing 16 afghan civilians including women and children earlier this month. and here's how that questioning unfolded with congressman rick larsen, a democrat from washington state to general allen who is overseeing operations in afghanistan. >> general allen, i'm not asking this next question to get too much into the weeds on sergeant bales incident because that's going to be adjudicated elsewhere, but with regards to the investigation related to command in afghanistan, the situation on the ground that he was operating in, but the command structure in afghanistan, are there separate investigations going on from the

criminal case in afghanistan? >> yes, an administrative investigation as well as a criminal investigation. >> can you explain what that is? >> it will look at the entire command and control process. how he was assigned, why he was assigned. it will look at the command relationships associated with his involvement in that combat outpost. >> has that been assigned then? is someone assigned to do that? >> it's being assigned to u.s. forces afghanistan. >> thank you. >> and then finally, general also then, can you discuss the attrition rate? it didn't sound like a lot but when you're talking about 2%, it gets to be a lot. >> it's improving. the latest number you said, 2.0. it's 1.9. that's only 1/10. but it's over a year.

working very hard to ferret out the reasons for attrition. and a viety of those reasons are the issues of pay, quality of life, the missions in which they have been involved. and the removing of corrupt commanders. all of those things i think have pushed down, in fact, attrition. very shortly with the expiration of a presidential decree, those individuals who go on awol status are going to start being held accountable for that as opposed to just being able to come and go as they have previously done. that's part of a disciplined force. we're seeing all of that improve

on a regular basis. >> taking questions from rick larson. among other topics, afghanistan and the ongoing investigation on sergeant robert bales who remains in solitary confinement in fort leavenworth, kansas. this is "washington today" on c-span radio. an issue which has been somewhat under the radar screen, be uh we want to spend a couple of minutes with some background on a controversy which has been brewing within the eisenhower family and among architects and historians here in washington, d.c. "the washington post" writing about it over the and frank gerry saying he is open to changes because of objections over this tribute to our 34th president and nato commander. a number of eisenhower family members sharing their concerns today.

the letter from the architect for this memorial also introduced his testimony. the design calls for a memorial park framed by large metal tappestries, depicting his boyhood home in kansas. there would then be two large carved stones. the memorial is being planned just off the national mall, near the national air and space museum. susan eisenhower is the gra granddaughter of our late president. here's what she said on capitol hill. >> we as a family are committed to seeing that the building of a memorial to have dwight eisenhower be done in and open, democratic and transparent way. this is what ike would have wanted. he have been gratified by the public debate that's finally begun and we're grateful to all of those who have worked on the commission and worked on the memorial, especially mr. dprank gary, who's graciously interacted with members of the

eisenhower family. the public debate has demonstrated that the american people overwhelmingly endorsed the memorial, but they are saying it's time to go back to the drawing board and we agree. aside side from all the things that have been said in the press and the internet, we have been inundated as family members with letters about the unset imagine of creating a fitting memorial. given this, mr. chairman, the eisenhower family sees no alternative but to suggest two remedies. one, two redesign the eisenhower memorial and two, to call on the memorial commission to review its staff management and stakeholder policies. first, let me addressed myself to the design. great monuments in our country make simple statements that encapsulate the reason the memorial has been erected in the first place. george washington is remembered as the father of our country. the lincoln memorial declares that he saved the union. the monument to christopher columbus to union station says he gave to man kind a new world.

one of the main flaws of the current proposal is that eisenhower's contribution to this nation is not the central theme of the design. instead of the focus on eisenhower, the liberator, the commander who led the largest military operation in the history of warfare and eisenhower the president who championed freedom and prosperity, the narrative relies on a romantic, horacio alger notion, a young eisenhower viewing his future career. the eisenhower our nation wants to celebrate is not a dreamy boy but a real man who faced unthinkable choices, took personal responsibility and did his duty. with modesty and humility. symbolism will also play a vital nonverbal role in capturing the essence of ike's contribution, but we've heard from many people in the last months who have objections to the 80-foot metal mesh so-called tapestries. despite the memorial commission's references to this ancient tradition, modern tapestries have generally been

found in the communist world. marx, engales, lennon hung in moscow during ike's time as did ho chi minh in hanoi. they are in effect an iron curtain. if this is how it symbolically strikes people could the cylindrical columns also be seen as missile silos. the number of holocaust survivors say it's reminiscent of internment. one survivor told me that the chain link quote/unquote fences reminded her of the camps. the proposed metal curtains tor provide a screen that would obscure the johnson department of education. we have been concerned and others would agree this could be seen as a symbolic affront to one of eisenhower's contemporaries, the majority leader of the senate during his presidency. we do not thing design team

thought of these things in advance. frankly, nor did we for a while. but the public criticism does underscore the importance of context with respect to eisenhower's life and times. in addition, we're concerned the metal scrims will pose ongoing maintenance issues especially in the budget constrained times. any high wind would ensure leaves and trash could be caught in the gaps. the same can be said of interactive technology. let me address myself briefly to process. from the early stage, the eisenhower family has been calling for a memorial that's simple and focuses on eisenhower's achievements. my father john s.d. eisenhower, ike's sole heir and executor of his will wrote to this effect. i've submitted the letter for the record. the memorial commission has repeatedly suggested that among other things the eisenhower family is not united in his views. im also submitting a statement today from my brother david for the record.

the eisenhower family publicly intervened when we learned the design concept was evolving. we knew it was evolving but suddenly it was slated for fast track review and a late spring ground-breaking. we are concerned about a ground-breaking before the money and full funds are raised and we would oppose it if the gap is too large. this will be a public/private partnership so getting the funding element of this correct is very important. we now believe that a redesign will be the only way to make this memorial acceptable to the american people so that it can garner that support. >> susan higeisenhower is the gd daughter of president divide david eisenhower. she testified today. joining us on the phone with some perspective on this story is ian simpson. he's covering it for reuters. thanks for being with us. >> pleasure. >> why so many questions over this memorial? >> well, it's not easy to build a memorial in washington,

especially on the -- on or right near the mall. this memorial will be four acres which is a good chunk of real estate. it's going to be right behind the air and space museum, right off the mall. and at the base of capitol hill. it's going to be -- have various elements, including pillars which will be about 80 feet high which will support these kind of steel mesh curtains which will surround this plaza which in itself will have a statue of eisenhower and representations of his presidency. there will be interactive displays in the memorial site. so there's a lot going on in the site itself, in the memorial. >> and the family has said they want something much more modest. >> yes, they -- the family has said that they do want something

more modest, that's more in keep with eisenhower's own character of being low key and being from humble circumstances. they say that this is -- this memorial is far too big. that it's too elaborate. that it is -- would be very hard to maintain given these enormous mesh screens which will be difficult to keep clean. that it's not something that eisenhower himself would have enjoyed. he himself did not like modern art. and so this simply is not something that is in keeping with the character of the 34th president of the united states. >> the price tag as you point out in your story is just over $112 million. what about the timeline to begin construction and get this completed? >> well, you mentioned that price tag of $112 million is just for construction. there's also the design process which is about another $16 million according to the folks that the hearing today.

the timeline has been quite long. it's been about ten years from -- since this first saw the light of day, it's gone through a number of commissions and hearings and various approvals. as i mentioned at the start, it's hard to get things built in the capital. and so there's a feeling among the memorial commission and officials that they want to get this thing done. it's been a long process. right now, the next stage is the final approval of the design by the capital planning commission. and that approval has been delayed or the hearing for approval of the commission of that approval has been put off for a couple of weeks. simply -- basically to air the concerns of the family and other critics at the hearing today.

>> so could you explain the purpose of today's hearing before the house natural resources committee and did anyone defend frank gehry who came up with the design? >> well, the reason for the hearing today was for this committee to hear the concerns. the committee -- the congress has -- holds the purse strings in this. they can say we want to have this process redone. we want to have a revised plan or whatever. they are the pay masters in this. so they can basically do what they want. the mood of at least from the chairman was let's try to get a revision in the design. and gehry himself -- well, defenders of gehry's design have said that the representation shows a young eisenhower, almost a boy-like eisenhower perhaps,l

accomplishments as president and this would be an inspiration to young people to achieve the kind of greatness that eisenhower himself did. >> we're talk with ian simpson, washington correspondent for reuters. so what happens next? >> well, the next step will be a meeting of the national planning commission which will have to give the final approval for the design. and then construction can go ahead. i mean, construction was supposed to begin this year. that may have been pushed back a little bit because of this controversy. and there may very well be a new design of the memorial. the eisenhowers have suggested that the main sticking point are these enormous screens and that that would be a first step or a major step to getting their okay

for the construction of this thing. >> ian simpson writes for reuters. his story is available online. the chicago tribune website among other sites. thanks for being with us. >> you are listening to "washington today" on c-span radio. nversation tomorrow morning with the results from the illinois primary. congressman mike conway will be joining us, republican of texas, to talk about u.s. efforts in afghanistan and debate over the budget with representative allison schwartz, democrat of pennsylvania. tune in tomorrow morning on c-span's "washington journal," 7:00 a.m. eastern time, 4:00 for those of you on the west coast. the irish prime minister in washington, d.c., today, including on capitol hill with david o'leary, an irish tenor with this famous irish song. ♪ the pipes are calling from glen to glen and down the mountainside ♪ ♪ the sun is gone