>> how is c-span funded? >> i have no idea. >> public money, i am sure. >> my taxes? >> 30 years ago, america's cable companies committed c-span as a public service, a private business initiative, no government mandate and no

government money. >> nancy pelosi talk about issues she is dealing with. this is about 20 minutes. >> good morning, everyone ca. this has been a great week for veterans as we prepare for the fourth of july. earlier in the week, we passed the supplemental bill. it is of great pride to me that, in that legislation, we not only support our brave men and women in uniform, but it extends the

g.i. bill of rights to the families of the fallen. you would be able to transfer a benefit from a veteran who was not interested in using it to a family member. what emerged in that conversation with family members is that, if your family member felon, but, you lost the benefit. if your family member -- if your family member felt in combat, you lost the benefit. they were very pleased with the turn of events. in addition to that, we have something that they have been asking for for years, advanced appropriations funding. as you know, the veterans

issued has been a high priority for us. we did more in the first two years than have been done in the 77-year history of the veterans administration. we have a democratic president in the white house, the secretary working with him, and we are able to do it even more apparent the advance the preparations -- even more. the advance appropriations -- the arms services committee marks up its bill -- marked up its bill way into the wee hours of the morning. they established an internship- pilot program for military spouses.

we were delighted with what we were able to report to the veterans services administration. since we met last week, we passed the tobacco bill last friday. it passed in the senate and house. they both had bipartisan majorities. we have introduced our pay-go legislation. this is very important for us. if we go forward to follow the blueprint set forth in our budget, to invest in education, health care, and energy, to grow our economy, to create jobs, to

reduce the deficit, the pay-go legislation is essential. it will go to the floor when we are ready and that will be very soon. i want to remind my caucus and i tell you this because i mentioned it last week, while this is at an article of faith for the blue dogs in our caucus and has become a guiding principle for our entire caucus, pay-as-you-go, we must reduce the deficit, we cannot keep mountains of debt on to future debt -- future generations. in 1992, when many of us were

gathered at the democratic convention, the democrats propose a resolution that became a part of the democratic platform. that was the pay-as-you-go. in president clinton's administration, his last four budgets were either in balance or in surplus. we want to return to that. we are nearly finished with our energy bill. we will bring it to the floor as soon as it is ready. we are making good progress as well in the house. i am very proud of our three chairman. they are working together in unison to bring that legislation to the floor and make a very

significant difference in the lives of the american people. any questions? >> [unintelligible] there is a mixed review. there is some concern. what changes would you like to see in the legislation? >> first of all, i commend the president for his announcement yesterday. it represents real change. barney frank is taking the lead. he was there when the president signed the order yesterday. i spoke with him this morning. we will be meeting with in the next 24 hours to continue the conversation about how we go forward legislatively to employment, if it needs -- to implement, if it needs further assistance. people in our country who are in

jeopardy of losing their jobs and losing their homes are having their savings jeopardized. therefore, the education of their children is in question. it is very important to have this consumer protection agency. i am very pleased with what the president did. >> do you think it gives the fed to much power? >> the new authority for the fed to supervise all firms that could pose a systemic threat to our financial system, i think, is very important. i wish i had been in place before. i am not certain that the fed could not have assumed more authority and used more authority than it did in a timely way. but, having higher capital standards, once tended to look

at all of it, that is all very important. the office of thrift elimination as been blended into the office of the currency. they should have had the oversight of aig. it had one of its investments a thrift. therefore, under the ots, that is absolutely ridiculous. i am glad that the office is gone. >> there are 330 two co- sponsors/ -- there are 332 co-sponsors

currently. 66 of them are democrats. what is your position on the particular bill, including the expansion of the role of the fed? >> people want to know more of the secrets of the temple. that may be a phrase from before you were born. it was required reading in my day. many of us are not surprised, at taken aback, when the fed had $80 billion to put into aig just out of the blue. we woke up one morning and aig was receiving $80 billion from the fed. for was the money coming from? not only that, we had more. a balance had to be struck as to what is required to run the fed

and irresponsible way, what transparencies there should be, so that the american people have more knowledge about it. i am really not familiar with the details. >> the reports on the current health care plan shows that it is arctic coughing up -- how much are you concerned with the cost of health care? >> i believe they were just scoring a particular bill. first of all, the health-care bill will be paid for. second of all, we have to reduce cost.

costs must be reduced as we go forward. we know there are many initiatives for wellness that may not score down. nonetheless, we have to try to keep the number a containable one and an affordable 1one. as the president has already indicated, there is money to be found in medicare and medicaid. administratively, it is ok. but it is how the money is spent. we cannot just say that we want the health care bill and we will pay for it and how are we going to do that? known. we have to reduce costs, establish priorities, and then go forward on how we pay for it. that particular bill, which it

costs, and recovers is a separate subject from with the legislation we will put forward in the house is. >> lastly, you said that there is this something in the house for public options. but it does not say the same thing in the senate. are you concerned that, ultimately, it would be tough for congress to pass the bill with the public auction in the timeline that the president has laid out? >> i have every confidence that we will have a public auction coming out of the house of representatives. but it will be one that is sound, but administratively self-sufficient, adds up to competition, does not eliminate competition. eminem be called a public auction, but it will be a public -- it may not be a public

auction -- it may not be called a public auctiooption, but it we a level playing field. for us to have substantial health care reform, this has to be a part of it. i am pleased that president obama has been so positive in his statements as well. >> given the snags in the senate to get the votes, are you saying that it could be short of the public option that you support that ultimately gets to the president? >> absolutely not. if it is not real, there is no use doing it. if there is no public auction, it is not -- if there is no public option, it is that

went to work. you may call them snags. we called the legislative process. [laughter] -- we call it the legislative process. [laughter] we put it on the table, see what it does for the american people, see if we can afford, and establish our priorities. we do not all come here because we think alike on every subject. the form of the health-care system in their country, in terms of expanding access to health care, making it affordable, quality, accessible, prevention, we do think costs and retaining choice. this is a tall order. this is not something that you

budget out on a piece of paper and everyone salutes. what this health care reform will be is affordable, quality, accessible, and workable for the american people. it will wreak it -- it will reduce costs and will be paid for. >> when you talk about the public plan, how much support do you see in that? will there be federal dollars? will there be startup? >> i do not see a continuing effort. it does not exist now. so it will have to start up. the question is should the money that is invested be recoverable? is that possible.

that is the only way it could be competitive. this is not to drown out the private sector. this is to say let's all do our best. let's compete. but given the american people the choice that they want and that they need. that is better served by a public auctiooption. let's go back to pay-go. >> one of the issues is the idea of -- programs like medicare would be cut if there would be put a deficit in the scorecard. is that when to be any -- is

there going to be any problems? >> we will now have the legislative process weigh in on it. one thing that is for sure and i will keep coming back to this is that we will have a pay-go that will work. it will reduce the deficit and will take us down in terms of the national debt. therefore, the interest on the federal debt. if you look at the pie chart of the federal government and see how much it spent on interest on the national debt, it should tell you that something is very wrong with this picture and we must reduce the deficit. going back to health care, health care reform is deficit reform.

>> the senators are frustrated on the scoring of the potential savings for health care reform. is there anything that can be done? what it makes sense to use omb numbers? >> it has always been a source of many of us in the congress, but the cbo will always give you the worst-case scenario on one initiative and never a best case or even the best case, any credit for anything that happens if you have early prevention, health care, wellness, inoculation of children, or education. you name any positive investment that we make that we know reduces cost, brings money to the treasury, but never scored

positively by the cbo. yes, it is frustrating. i hope that we will see them saying that this is what we see the cost of something. we have not accounted for the benefit. because they do not. and they have not. and it should not be inferred by what they do. thank you all very much. >> every weekend, a book tv has latest nonfiction books and authors on c-span 2. writers and artists, gods and visionaries, up from the garden of eden to today, eduardo

ghalib. -- g aliangaleano recalls the historf the world. also, john talbot exposes the midst of the recession and what it will take to recover. why is capitalism the best way to ease poverty and protect the day in -- protecting the environment? americans exposed to much sure can control their eating habits. all of that is this week and on a book tv. we have great new features, including streaming video, archives that are easy to surge, and a simple way to share your favorite program.

>> today's state department spokesman -- she fractured her of all on the way to a meeting at the white house. other protests -- other topics include the protest in iran. this is about 40 minutes. >> first of all, let me apologize for the delay. i wanted the ability to come out here to be able to answer some of your questions. let me start with what is on most of your minds. secretary clinton was preparing to depart the state department for a meeting at the white house and fell in the basement as she was walking toward her car.

she suffered a fracture of her right elbow. she was treated at the george washington university hospital before heading home late last night. she will receive surgery to repair the boat in the coming week. as a result -- to repair the elbow in the upcoming week. as a result, she did not attend the world refugee event this morning and will not attend the world out such a ceremony -- a the whirled afsa -- the world afsa sir manning tonight. -- the world afsa ceremony tonight. she is that home resting

comfortably, or uncomfortably. she is working from home. she is taking some calls. i am sure she is starting to learn the limits of movement, how well you can text with one arm in a sling. >> what time did this happen? >> the fall occurred at about 5:00 p.m. yesterday. she and richard holbrooke work together and heading for a meeting at the white house. richard fall brook -- richard holbrooke proceeded to attend that meeting. she was examined and they determined that it was appropriate for her to go to the hospital. >> why did it take until 1255. -- until 12:55 p.m. to report it? >> she proceeded down the street

to george washington hospital. she got back to her house at roughly 10:00 p.m. she took a call from the president shortly thereafter. we started to work on a statement some time in the next hour and put it out as quickly as we could. >> it was 11:55 p.m. >> yes, sir. >> obviously, we knew she had fallen. we thought it appropriate to get complete facts before we informed the public and the media. >> [unintelligible] >> cheryl mills is a very close confidant and counselor for the secretary. with all the was the most appropriate person to comment. >> is it likely that she will likely not be in attendance

because of surgery? >> will it will be able to address that later appeared >> was a bad break? >> i am sure it was painful. i am not a physician. i do not think it was a severe break. that is why i think she will have the surgery in the coming days. but how it affects her -- you all know hillary clinton. she is already probably plotting how to get back to the office as quickly as possible. they're just going to assess this on a day-to-day basis. >> it was not a compound fracture. >> some of this may not be totally known until you get into surgery. my impression is that it is a simple fracture. >> when will she had surgery? >> it is not scheduled yet.

>> she fell. did she tripped over something? [laughter] >> did she get into a fight with the israeli foreign minister? >> we await the the movie and the dramatization. she fell. there is a formal procedure, given that the boss fell. >> was in the garage? >> it was in the basement. >> it was not in the garage. >> it was in the basement. i think she came down the elevator, walking distance to her car. somewhere along that line, she fell. >> [unintelligible]

>> i do not know the nature of the meeting. >> does she plan to be the white house for the president's signing of the memo on the benefits? >> i do not know. i do not think that was on her schedule. >> she is obviously on medication, painkillers or the like. >> she is obviously under medical care for the coming days. but she is up. she remains the secretary of state. >> will she make a decision after surgery? >> we have to get the surgery scheduled. once she cancer surgery, we will be any better -- was she gets the surgery, we will be any better position to answer those questions. >> you said that, knowing secretary clinton commission was

to get back to the office as quickly as possible. i mean, are you going to err on the side of caution and the long-term use of her arm, just making sure that she can get to -- >> she is not to the first cabinet secretary -- >> to travel overseas and the day after surgery -- >> these are all fair surgery. i think we need to take it day to day. she is -- these are all fair questions. i think we need to take a day to day. she is already working from home. >> to whom did she make the call from home? >> i think that she has been receiving calls. obviously, her husband and