message on national security, it is easy to summon up by repeating ronald reagan when he talked about the cold war. we can apply this now to air war and terrorism the bottom line -- we win, they lose. we do all that we can to win. [applause] but>> for you, national security is more of a personal issue. you have a son and the army. how is he doing? >> he is doing awesome and i am so proud of him and a decision he has made along with all of the many, many men and women in uniform. i look at these young men and women and think that they could be doing anything or nothing else in our world and they have chosen to serve something greater than themselves.

they're not just biding time or wasting time in the young years of their lives. they get it. they understand the need to protect our security and to really be willing to die for our freedom and when i talk about my son, and he does not like me to talk about him. >> he may be watching. . . >> i do not think he has ever turned on c-span and his entire even life. [laughter] i am proud of him and the decision he has made. they are serving greater than themselves. as he would tell me, do not pick me out to the end me -- to thank me. thank those i serve with and those who have gone before me to allow me to do what i am doing. [applause]

>> 2010 is an amazing year. it is an election year. we just got through illinois primaries. are you going to be endorsing are you going to be endorsing candidates? >> i will. i will attend as many events for these candidates as possible. i will probably tick off some people as i get involved in the primaries. i want to encourage contested primaries -- this is how we find the cream of the crop. let's not be afraid of contested primaries . i will get out there and campaign. this common sense, a conservative message. >> i can think of two words that right and liberals -- that frighten liberals -- preisdent

-- president palin. [years and applause] -- [cheers and applause] >> sarah! gorun, sarah! run, sarah! >> we may not get to finish this. it seemed to be two words that get everybody on their feet. this is going to have to be our last question. if you are president tomorrow, what the three problems would be the first you tackle? >> we talked about the energy projects that have to be introduced. we're not just talking about them and we talked about the spending cuts that have to take

place and the growing debt we need to get our arms around. i am all for the bipartisan work ethic --effort that is needed in washington d.c. one issue that has to be tackled is to not make the promises about bipartisanship if the promise cannot be fulfilled. if there is no intention to work with the other party --there are so fundamentally disagreeable. .

>> thank you so much for coming down here. i really appreciate it. he may have to fight your way out of here from all the people who don't want you to leave. >> i have to apologize if i had anything to do with any of the controversy some of the media spun up. >> what controversy? >> i am happy, honored, proud -- anything written it out to me as a check, i will turn it right back around and give it to the cause. this is not about money, not about the title, not about a leadership position in the movement, but it is about the people. i will live and i will die for the people of america whenever i can do something to help and this party, that we call the tea

party, this movement, as i say, is the future of politics in america and i am proud to get to be here today. so, thank you very much. [applause] >> thank you. >> you are watching c-span. here is what is ahead. up next, today's "washington journal." first, a discussion on the recent toyota vehicle recall and a look at the housing market and a little later, how politics affect policy decisions.

>> a live look at the capitol, where the city and the region were impacted by a snowstorm. more snow is predicted for later in the week. whenever one does get back the focus may well return to health care, as president obama yesterday he will invite democrats and republicans to a bipartisan health care some with the hopes of breaking the impasse. the president did announce he would like the summit to be televised so check c-span.org for our coverage plans. as we take a look at the $787 billion economic stimulus program signed into law just about a year ago, over $333 billion have been committed, just over $179 billion having been paid out as of february 2. check our website to keep track

of the stimulus money. go to c-span.org/stimulus to watch hearings, briefings, and speeches as well as congressional debate and links to government and outside groups. that is that c-span.org /stimulus. this coming wednesday we will have a house hearing on the toyota vehicle recalls on c- span3. right now a discussion about that from today's "washington journal." is washington bureau chief for "the detroit news" to talk about toyota appeared this morning the headlines are they will be called priuses. guest: about 311 worldwide -- 300,000 worldwide. there have been complaints about sluggish breaks especially when customers go over uneven surfaces. last month toyota replaced or refigure the software in the new

prius, but have not figured out how to fix it -- or what they were going to do with the models already on the road. so we should see the next few days, maybe as early as today, official announcement of the recall. host: on a larger scale, why didn't we go to see the issue, the prius issue and issues of the stock gas pedal, on a wider range of models? why didn't toyota see this coming? if guest: a good question. this is a company that has grown very fast and a short period. in 2002 it just had 10% of the u.s. market share. now the 17%. last year toyota may have sold the most retail vehicle than any of the maker and the united states. they have clients all over the world. and this company just did not take seriously enough on of these incidents. as a result, really -- even they would acknowledge the response

was less than ideal. host: "see an end money" has figures of how much it could cost -- "cnn money." bianna the actual monetary figure, what is this going to do toy -- beyond the actual monetary figure, what is this going to do to cuyahoga's brand? guest: 6% of the vehicles -- cost about 20,000 sales. you are right, well loizeaux, long time toyota customers accept the fact that toyota fix did or will they have basically concerned and decide to shop around? i think you are right, getting the reputation, fixing this and convicting the public will start with these congressional hearings. host: c-span3 will cover the

hearings wednesday. we will open the line for a toyota owners and others. to their business? how does it affect their business? guest: incredibly difficult. many dealers have been staying open 24 hours a day. you are right, you go to the dealership and you want to buy a camera or matrix for -- toyota camry or matrix, and as a result some have gone to other brands. some of the dealers offering free car washes or food, anything they can to convince the customer is -- customers the understand how serious it is and they are doing everything they can to fix it quickly.

host: how has toyo cupp's response been to you? guest: i think it has been a disaster. they were caught flatfooted. they brought in consultants and they allowed this to fester. it began in november, released september after a terrible crash in california that killed an off-duty -- host: the stock accelerator. guest: stuck the accelerator and the format. this was recalled officially and then after weeks of investigating toyota opted to recall the other issue january but didn't -- did not stop selling for five days later and one day later the expanded the floor mat recall by another 1.1 million vehicles. it has been an endless cycle of bad news for toyota appeared host: lots of questions. manchester, ky.

charles, independence caller. caller: yes, sir. first-time caller. toyota is a perfect example of how fair trade works. they came here and created a lot of jobs -- host: i'm going to put your on hold. i think he may be getting confused. turn down your radio or television. muncie, indiana. democrats line. caller: i'm curious. is there a specific plans, maybe the alabama plant, or a particular plant where the majority of these problems originated at? they opened a new plant in canada also. i think part of that is because they had so much trouble training down in the alabama plant. i'm just kind of wondering where

the origin of this is. i am curious jiging do you think this is an attack -- the you think this is an attack on a toyota or the government just doing what is supposed to? guest: i think you raise an interesting question about the new plants. the pedals and question were produced by a supplier in indiana, not a toyota plant itself. i think there are a lot of people, especially in the japanese media, raising questions that because of the fact the mud -- government owns the majority of gm, maybe regulators being tougher on toyota. there is no evidence of that. this is a significant safety issue, and if it were ford and gm the national highway safety administration said they would treated the same way. host: the independent line. caller: i would like to know,

did the toyota motor co., when they close the plant last week, did they offer of unemployment to their workers? also, why is toyota being looked at as such a great car company when people can't even drive their cars? i will take your answer offline. guest: in fact, all of the workers stayed on the payroll. they got@@@@@ @ @ $@ @ @ @ @ @ r halo vehicle for the company, best-selling vehicle 400 to in japan. the established this reputation for very good quality. obviously believe the last few years they had some problems with that, they had a spike in

recalls in 2006, about 2 million vehicles, and as this latest incident shows, they got some issues to work out. host: they don't have a history of regular recalls. guest: they didn't until around 2005 when 2.2 million vehicles -- action in more than they sold last year, and the company about, days said -- about for a new quality program, which they start with toyota highlander. host: open "the wall street journal" talk about tuille, apostate u.s. achieve testifying wednesday. -- toyota's u.s. chief testifying. " is he and what should we know about him? guest: the north american ceo and president of toyota who will

testify wednesday. he has been very involved in this crisis. he met personally with the head of ntha. he's got to convince congress and the american people that we'll tell takes it seriously and it will not happen again. host: is there any sense of that the transportation problem was not on top of this early enough? guest: there are lots of questions how they handle this. they had six separate investigations on toyota about separate -- sudden acceleration and closed them all without doing anything. caller: i have a question. i'm a retired 40-year technician third and i think tuille it is on the wrong path. i think it does not have anything to do with a sticky gas pedal.

the computer system -- foreign cars have always had a ground battle. i think when they get them changed they are going to have a rude awakening. guest: you raise an interesting question on the electronics, which is exactly the issue that question with the prius. you are right with the sudden acceleration claims, there are a lot of safety advocates saying it has to be more than simply the format and the petals and is there something in the electronics of this vehicle. so far they have not found any evidence of that but last week they took the unusual step to agree to open this whole issue of whether the electronics is a contributing factor. host: shepardson, university of michigan graduate and head of detroit news washington bureau since 2006. talking about but toyota recall until it o'clock 30 a.m. eastern. your colleague wrote about the

toyota profit report and the forecast, writing they raised their earnings outlook last week -- what does this guest: if customers are convinced they got it right, it is not a huge problem to take this and reprogram the software. it should be a relatively simple fix. if it is something more than that and people lose confidence in the prius, it would be significant. : back about but they -- projected cost, for lost sales and actual repairs? guest: 1.4 million to fix the vehicles -- one. -- host: that is just the brake pedal not the prius issue. guest: they already made a fix on the vehicles being sold,

unlike the last recall where they had to stop selling new vehicles. host: waterloo, iowa. independent. caller: a couple of things. was ford and firestone with the tires, two deaths of people to become an issue? my question is, was it allowed to go this far with toyota because it would only cause a little less than half of the annual profit to fix it, so the bottom line, was allowed to go this far because of a money issue? guest: regulators would say that they did not have enough complaints. çthis issue of sudden accelerations is very difficult to pin down. in the case of the floor mats, the horrendous incident that involved the officer and the three other people who were killed in that accident, if you

accept all of the complaints and face value, 19 deaths, 2000 complaints over 10 years over a population of 20 million toyota vehicles, a relatively small number. there are about 40,000 traffic deaths over the year. the ford firestone case, 300 deaths due to the for firestone tires. . audi had a terrible issue with it in the early 1980's and it is very difficult with the to pin down if it is human error. host: the associated press reports quality-control issues for toyota doing damage to retail -- resale value. kelley blue book drop the value of recalled toyotas by about 3%.

edmunds the is said the traded value could fall by 10% in the short term. some may say it may be a bargain to go in and negotiate. guest: could you imagine how of the cold and is to sell a toyota? -- how difficult it is to sell a toyota? host:, cindy on the democrats' line. caller: i also wonder if this is not an attack on twitter totah. europe -- attack on. . europe had a computer overwrite ever since princess diana died. it only costs a little bit to put it into toyota and it cost $100 to put in to ford and another car. the most important part is to put the computer override in so people are not harmed. europe can do it for the past 15

years, toyota and the american cars can do it, too. guest: the caller is right, there is a computer program called the break override so if you are pushing your foot on the gas pedal and the break, the gas pedal to -- break would override the gas pedal. in california, the officer attempted to put his foot on the break but it did not override the gas pedal. toyota that out to put the system which is on luxury models in europe, on all models except 1 by the end of the year and should have it on all models in the near future. host: "the new york times" wrote over the weekend about all of the computers wrote -- used in automobile technology. "it would be easy to say that the modern car is a computer on wheels, but it is more like 30 or more computers on wheels." so, what sort of issue does that

present to dealers who have to be able to deal with this technology? are we better off with all of this computer technology than before? guest: think about it, the first thing that they do when you take it to the dealer is they plug in the computer system and they get hundreds of error codes. the mechanical nature of a vehicle is changing. you used to push down mechanical paddle and it would connect to a mechanical device. now you are sending signals based on the depression of the paddle rather than a set of cables. host: kenneth, republican line. caller: good morning. i am 74 years old, and i have driven products from ford, chevrolet, general motors, and chrysler products. in 1986 i purchased a toyota

camry. i still have it, 24 years old this year. i have since purchased a new camera, 2005. i have got about 40,000 miles on it. i have had so little trouble with both of those cars over the years it is unbelievable. my other american made products, and i agree that it was years ago, they were constantly in the shop and the there is no telling how much i had to pay to maintain them. none of them will -- were ever called for safety issues, i agree with that. but i had a lot of problems with them and i just thought it was the way that it was. toyota has not had any problems. my new toyota as of 2005, i drove from arizona to cape cod,

then back across the country through the upper midwest, colorado, wyoming, about 7,500 miles. i averaged 38 mpg. believe me, it helps with the price of gasoline these days. i will tell you that for sure. so, when someone asks what is so great about a toyota, that is all i can do is give you my experience. host: what did you say that the mileage was on the first family? caller: getting close to of 190,000 miles. host: that is in 1986 far? caller: yes. guest: that caller perfectly represents what happened to detroit. 1996, detroit still had 74% of market share. last year they fell to an all- time record low of 44.5%.

he is right, in the early 1980's the quality of detroit vehicles declined precipitously. people remembered a terrible vehicle that they had and they have not given detroit vehicles another shot. that is why they are offering rebates to toyota owners to convince them to come to the lots and take a chance on them rather than go back to toyota. host: jackie, eastlake. caller: what was the rate of injury and death in this problem with toyota? and i am sure that some of them were lexius'. the newspapers put this story on the back page. if it were an american corporation, it would be on the front page of every newspaper in the country. çóthe problem is that the storis

go back to page 7 and they do not talk about the number of injuries and deaths caused by this problem. i will take the answer of the air. thank you. host: -- guest: there have been 19 complaints regarding death over the past 10 years for various issues on the vehicle. clearly this is a serious issue and it is getting a lot of attention. certainly, our newspaper has dedicated an enormous amount of attention. cuyahoga is not based in detroit, although there are -- toyota is not based in detroit, although there are workers there in michigan to. they may be giving more coverage to toyota because they have such a good reputation, so surprising that toyota would have problems like this.

host: in response to the recall, toyota has taken out many full- page ad campaigns. "there's been a lot of talk about the recall. here are the facts for our customers. schedule an appointment with schedule an appointment with as quickly as possible. trained technicians have begun making repairs. how does their effort, this marketing and advertising, getting out to customers compared to similar incidents in the past? guest: of the main problem toyota had with -- when this happened, a disconnect between japan and the u.s.. first the time change, then u.s. officials want to handle things differently sometimes than in japan. cultural issues were some reason they nhtsa administrators said, look, you have to take this more

seriously and respond quicker. in japan, the officials said they were slow to react and what to study the issues more methodically before acting quicker. now the company, as evidenced by the prius -- prius recall, is moving faster. host: david, a democrat, go ahead. caller: i had a toyota in the past, an older one, about a 76. and i did have some problems with the toyota as far as the -- it was the carburetion system, was not fuel injected, and there were problems with gas getting to the carburetor, like a freeze in the gas line and when it warmed up the engine was like half a hemi because the spark plugs were halfway down inside a motor.

spark plugs were halfway down into the motor. that is the only toyota i have had. i currently own a 1980 plymouth colt, made by mitsubishi. i have 280,000 miles on it. i do not see a problem with older cars, however having an electronic background, i have to say that i believe that there are quite a bit of problems i have seen that in everything from ford to nissan. even the air filterñi sometimes, the censors do not react to the computer properly. host: we will get a response. thank you for the call. guest: he raises a good point on electronics and other issues. ford announced the they will call in theirçó fusion vehicles

for a software glitch that consumer reports found. electronics have a tendency to have glitches or fail after a while. there is no reason to expect that cars will not have those problems either. host: the avalon, the toyota corolla, the toyota camry, the toyota highlander, the toyota matrix, the toyota previoius, te toyota tundra, the toyota tacoma, all on the recall list. what about the lexus? guest: there are some of them on the format recall.

there are some overlapping issues.  in the u.s. in total. host: john, good morning. caller: i have 85,000 miles on my toyota avalon and i have never had any problems with it besides the radiator and a battery. also, i recently purchased a 2006 and they are putting the wrong size transmissions in those vehicles. they switched from a 75 -- from the 100 down to a 75 transmission. it cost me $2,500. i did not take out a warranty. they do not want to talk about me or have anything to do with me and i think that is not right. i have always taken good care of

my vehicles, doing everything have to do. by do not think that it is right that they are selling a super dude the ford vehicle like that. -- i do not think that it is right that they are selling a super dude the -- duty for a vehicle like that. guest: when you consider the number of vehicles sold in the u.s. every year, 300 million vehicles on the road, there are many problems. host: in your experience writing for detroit, have you seen a recall on this level before? guest: last year in october the ford motor co. completed the recall of 14 million vehicles in a cruise control switch where there was overheating and fires

occurring. that took 10 years in eight recalls. clearly, no recall has gotten the amount of attention as this one has. there were 600 recalls last year, 16 million recall that in the united states. cars have a lot of problems. host: are there any american cars made with toyota parts that are affected by the recall? >> -- guest: yes, the pontiac vibe. it was assembled on the same line and engineered alongside toyota. general motors is ending the pontiac brand and they only have a few of the lots. there are almost all gone.

do -- they are almost all gone. host: democratic line. good morning. caller: good morning. this is a perfect example of asian technology again. drywall, medication. seafood. i had a client whose company was selling car seats back to michigan from china. it is a shame. this is taking too much money and i do not think that they really care what is happening. look at the recall all of these cars from 2005 through to now. it is ridiculous, don't you november i thank you. guest: i am not sure that that, although there are issues with chinese-made products in quality, in this case toyota has since the early 1980's billed for -- builds factories in the

united states. -- bibuilt factories in the united states. ñihost: the news this morning is that toyota is recalling the prius hybrid because of the brake failure. the brakes on those cars may fail in icy conditions or bumpy situations. the prius brake technology is their own testing technology, correct? guest: yes. what it does, as you break, the vehicle is capturing the energy

in and returning it to the battery. the way that the hybrid works, they use the battery to run the car, if you come to a stop you might hear the engine turned off completely. host: wayne, michigan. good morning. independent line. caller: toyota has had a lot of problems over the years. they have had a bad run. ñithey had a problem for 10 yeas where they had defied the engine blocking from sludge and where the front-end had the same problem. rav4 had the same problem in japan, but there was no recall in the united states. they have a problem where one of the major lawyers quit, saying the day of the leaded accident data.

it seems like the media is giving them a free pass. the guest: the caller has made some good points. because they had such a high quality record for so long, maybe some of these complaints were not taken seriously. consumer reports said aside an automatic recommended rating for toyota based on the recall problems from 2005. your right, they have been aggressive at times in declining to recall vehicles. now they will be closely scrutinized by congress and you can imagine that any decisions they make in the future regarding recalls are going to be closely scrutinized by the government and reporters. host: the head of the toyota u.s. program is going to be in

front of the house oversight committee for a look at the recall issued this week. this week "the wall street journal" writes "a much less friendly audience, the congressional oversight committee, wednesday." there is also a piece in "the associated press" from the other day about whether the u.s. is built -- bullying toyota on a recall. "u.s. transportation chief's public review raised eyebrows, given the u.s. government's major stake in general motors and chrysler. "the companies that gain the most out of this are general motors and chrysler." "their behavior is consistent

with the general policy of the u.s. government, whether it is dealing with coffeemakers or cars." guest: i think that that is overblown. it's a toyota prius owner going to purchase a car from general motors or a honda abela there is a marginal potential for benefit from general motors, but toyota owners are just as likely to choose a hon die or honda. -- hyundai or a honda. the government does have a clear financial incentive to see general motors duwel, but tokyo has 36,000 direct employees in the u.s., 170,000 people in dealerships. would they seek to damage the company just to help them out a little bit?

it seems far-fetched. host: mark, independent line? all right, woodstock, new york. robert, republican line. caller: i wanted to comment that i purchased a toyota camry and five years later i bought the same model two ye. they were remarkably different, which always struck me. 2007 had a more uneven performance. eventually also encountered major problems with it the gas pedal and the car taking off. basically a life-threatening

situation. host: you were personally in a life-threatening situation? caller: the strange part is that it occurred within a few months of purchasing the 2007 camry. i had decided that i would be exceedingly cautious, but for the next four months the problem never occurred again. it is an inexplicable situation. i recently took a car to toyota on the recall and a modified the gas pedal, carving out a piece, alluding to the fact that it was a problem with the format. the truth is that i never felt that it was, because we remove the the formats at a certain point. what i am trying to emphasize is

that there seems to be a very big difference between the 2002 toyota, which we had no problems with, and the 2007 camry, which was markedly different. there was always that feeling that it was not the same car, in terms of quality. there was definitely a problem that was badly life-threatening. i could see how it would result in something exceedingly hazardous. host: he talked about not reporting the problem initially. is there a sense about how many people do that? guest: how many people know to go to these websites from the government to file complaints? people have often never heard of the programs, and like everything else the number of everything else the number of complaints

host: annapolis, maryland, and the democrats' line. caller: agree with most of the the other gentleman said. the difference is i had an accident back in september and i was on an interstate, and it was a 2008 tuille the camera -- or a 2009, -- it was a 2008 toyota camry, or a 2009 that i bought in 2008. i replaced the car -- the really troubling thing is i could not swap the -- stop the car. i had to stop it because cars in front of me had stopped and i changed lanes -- in order to avoid hitting cars in front of me. host: didç you report it to the dealer? caller: you know, i did not report it, but i explained why. i tell you this, my insurance carrier, because i did not get a

ticket -- i destroyed the car, told lee flipped over, i was seriously injured. anyways, the insurance company sent the adjuster out to confirm it was destroyed. he came out a second time to check on the accelerator. right around that time they started talking about the formats. after my accident they started talking about the format. and then they sent an accident expert out of a card to determine more. the worst experience of my life was not being able to control the car. host: you are okay? caller: except for my spleen, where blood is being discharged

over time. i broke five ribs, lacerated my spleen. my left lung collapsed. host: to be clear, you had no previous indication that there was a problem? caller: no, i did not. i did not contact -- actually, i contacted the dealer and they said to take out the formats. i thought that it was ok. but something else was wrong with a car. -- the car. what is disturbing to me is the slow nature in which this has on wound. i have learned about this not being a match. host: we will let you go there, thank you for sharing your story. guest: unfortunately, those kinds of chilling stories you

see in the complaint files from people in these vehicles where they either get trapped by the format or they take off. there are a lot of similar resources to this. these cannot all be human error. clearly sometimes the wrong gas pedal or brake pedal, but there has to be more to it. host: there were two stories of drivers that did not even report. you mentioned a website? guest: saveefercar.gov. host: are you sensing a change in how these problems are going to be reported in the future? guest: the government is going to more significantly require

recalls. they have the authority nell, but i think that they will be requiring them to move faster now, showing that the government often waits for months and years before they decide to act. host: democratic caller from st. paul, minn. of. you are on the air. caller: one of my questions, i am long time toyota vehicle owner. other than regular maintenance, i have never had any problems, predating the ones that have the manufacturing recall. i am curious, it seems to me that as the detroit auto plants started closing, more quality issues have come up in toyota, primarily in the south.

has there been any look into whether there is sabotaging going on relative to the plans and policies? it is curious to me that a car that has had a high level quality mechanically suddenly becomes front-page. it almost sounds like this is if ford or general motors story. -- this is a ford or general motors story. guest: people have jobs nationwide at of plants make very good wages relative to other people living in those towns. volkswagen is opening a new plant and they have received tens of thousands of applications. this is something that affects all automobile companies.

everyone has recall problems but i do not think that toyota has realize the severity of it early enough. i do not think that there's evidence of any other issues. engineering and research problems as opposed to sabotage. >> be sure to join us wednesday when we plan live coverage of a congressional hearing looking into the recent toyota recalls. the house oversight committee plans to discuss the federal government's response. whether permitting, we will have it live starting at 2:00 p.m. eastern on our companion network, c-span3. join us tomorrow morning for more " washington journal" when our guest talks about a proposed jobs bill in the senate.

and mark moyar on afghanistan and a historian on an updated version of this book "who is buried in grant's tomb." all of that and your phone call beginning live at 7:00 a.m. eastern here on c-span. >> in a moment we will have more from this morning's "washington journal" with a discussion of the housing market and the political process and policy decisions on national security. a little bit later the chairman of the democratic national committee tim kane. kaine. >> this week on "the communicators" the proposed merger of comcast with nbc university -- universal. tonight on c-span2.

>> more now from "washington journal" with a look at the latest on the housing market. shington journal" continues. host: lawrence yun is here to talk with us this morning about the housing market, the latest trends and mortgages. what was the latest last week in terms of pending home sales? -- home sales, going up nearly 10.5%. what does that mean? if one looks -- guest: at the trend line, if one looks at profits were tumbling. 50% of the credit failed to have a strong rhythm and it remains elevated as the latest figure indicating the fifth highest in

the past two years. in the housing market there is momentum that buyers are feeling much better about the outlook. host: other evidence of that, existing home sales are down. is that a year to year number? guest: that was down from november. in november we saw a huge surge of viruses -- buyers. they now recognize that it has to be extended. we saw a huge surge, all those sales figures were still comparably higher compared to one year prior. host: the tax credit will be extended through the middle of this year, meaning that you have to what? settle on your house by the

middle of june? guest: they have to settle -- close a contract by the middle of april. host: your comments and questions about the housing market and mortgages, lawrence yun is with us. for republicans, 202-737-0001. for democrats, 202-737-0002. for independents, 202-628-0205. back to that tax credit, have you looked at all about what might happen? guest: the immediate months following the removal of the tax credit was a downward trend because some people had rushed to meet the deadline. people enter the market, but if they do it for the tax credit inventory is sold and values tend to stabilize.

the fear factor over purchasing a home can disappear with a home buyer tax credit. we will get to the point where we will start to see stable home pricing by the middle of the year. afterwards we will have normal home buying patterns with changes in job circumstances. host: what can you tell us about the new home market? guest: right now housing stocks are riding at half of a million. part of the reduction in construction, used to justify inventory -- when there is a large number of inventory, builders are not in the market as the buyers are not coming back. one thing that we hear from the

builders is that they want to build, but they cannot get the construction loan. because of the credit line, fairly optimistic. host: is that a fair assessment about the middle of the year belli guest: well, they are cautiously optimistic. i think that over the short term, unemployment will reach double digits again, as high as 10.5%. over the summer we will be hitting the peak level, i think. we will have job creation in the second half of the year. host: first caller, what are your thoughts on the return of

housing values bella "a economists warn that it could take a decade for homeowners to regain equity in their homes. some people in hard-hit areas of the country may not see it in their lifetime. many economists think of the property will take a mighty tumble. this return to equity, what is your view? guest: in 2005 there were quite a number of years in recovery, people using the market today, it looks like a sign for civilization getting back to normal, roughly 3% annual appreciation each year. people who purchased right at the peak or earlier, then

refinance, you would take quite a stumble. host: calls are waiting. michigan, john. republican line. are you there? sorry, sirius b g shelby township. caller: -- sorry, here he is, caller: -- sorry, here he is, i was able to combine both the mortgages for less than the payment, but the reason why they would not let me do it is because i don't have 20% equity in my home. i only have $20,000 equity. it is just kind of frustrating because i have not heard nothing about this problem, just hundreds of thousands of people who are having the same problem where they can better their payment for lesser but they will not let them for -- refinance because they don't have 20% equity. to me, i think that is a big

hold up on people refinancing. guest: absolutely. !y;vko]eo: k about how much lending they are providing, but the recent trend is that the bank's capital situation is improving. many of the banks are beginning to make profits. it is a recovery process. and the banks are in the business of lending. it is a matter of time that i think the banks will begin to provide more refinancing opportunity. but right now we have a situation, rock-bottom mortgage rates. in a situation where people have very little equity, or people who may be under water on their homes -- meaning the home values are below the mortgage -- they are having a difficult time refinancing. the government is trying to apply some guidelines, making it easier for people to refinance, particularly the loans backed by

fannie and freddie. . freddie mac. they are trying to help finance so that mortgages will be less burdensome. there are still lot of obstacles in the process. it is frustrating. i hope that in 2010 we will be doing much better than last year. host: what is the average 30 year mortgage rates? guest: 5.1%. still pretty good for people that are able to tap it. host: are you seeing that interest rate likely to rise? guest: one should not anticipate that it can last a long time. that it can last a long time. rend would be for higher rates. as well as macro economic forces. the economy is showing some signs of recovering after the huge budget deficit.

host: florida, an area very much affected. our next caller, barbara, go ahead. caller: good morning, gentlemen. there are tax credits and write offs for everything except the loss on your home. i was caught up in the peak and i was retired, i put the predominance of my savings into paying off my home, but i have lost half in equity, meaning half of my retirement. i would love to sell right now and move back north near my family, but i cannot sell at this tremendous loss. if there was some kind of incentive for us, they would probably move where lot more homes and have a lot more people. guest: the goal of the home buyer tax credit is to stabilize

value and mended backed up. -- men andd it back up. most middle-class families have their wealth tied to their housing and not the stock market or bond market. we continue to experience price declines, it would be difficult for middle america to get back on their feet. i think that the policy measure of the home buyer tax credits will begin to boost values. that is my anticipation. the worst is that i hope that it is over and we will be able to see a game in home values and recovery for the middle class. host: i am looking at some of the hardest hit areas in terms of foreclosure rates.

fort myers, las vegas, riverside, stockton, orlando, phoenix, miami -- what is the common denominator with these areas? guest: first is that there was an excess of demand, a large number of people entering the market and taking risky loans, subprime mortgages. also, oversupply. with that situation and some of the bad policy, we were left to the cascading effect of why we were arriving in closure with

seeing some signs of stabilization. host: we have been talking about single-family homes. what can you tell us about the multifamily market? guest: some of the government loans and their programs have more stringent requirements about condominiums, how much occupancy, how many people will be available. host: the next call is from marguerite, independent line. caller: let me tell you my experience -- we moved to connecticut and purchased a home that was marked down 1/3ñin prize, 30% down -- giving us a

lot of equity. but the interest rate is very high because it is a jumbo loan. my husband has a fantastic job making lots of money. we have taken the sun, and it has fallen quite a bit but we have equity in our home still after we refinanced into a better rate. in the two years i have been here, not one for sale sign has called off a lawn. we are paying very high property taxes, a one-third more than we should be. de realtors have told me this. my husband, his work was very solid, and now it is looking very shaky. we are 60 years old. if anything goes wrong, we will lose everything that we have. we cannot wait for this.

what happens to municipalities when this comes do? we will be reassessed next year and it will have to come down. when you look at the houses. the property taxes are too high, people walking out. i want to hear comments on that. thank you. guest: the market recovery has been predominantly on the lower price loans. on the more upscale homes activity has been very sluggish because the government loans carry higher interest rates that deter people from buying. but one of the elements of property taxes, they have dropped 1/3 from their peak levels. local property tax level

increased last year by moderate levels. something is out of whack. some of the assessments need to properly reflect today's market conditions. it puts an additional, large burden on homeowners. host: in terms of activity, take it further. suppose the they suggest a tax rate? the taxes on the house would be going down. guest: absolutely. lower property taxes would induce more buyers. therefore firming home value. host: what you think about the demand for housing for folks in their 20's and 30's? guest: because of the weak job market conditions, there is a

pump up demand. how it comes back to the marketplace is not certain. given historic low value in mortgage rates, qualified renters enter the market but they are hesitant about returning. the u.s. is one of the few industrialized countries that added 3 million people in homes each year. we have not seen a similar rise in housing demand from the new population, people are doubling up or moving back in with their parents. we m into a significant rise in housing demand. host: what about vacancies? guest: there is a rise in vacancies. people finding a third room, or young adults moving in with

their parents. host: robin, good morning. republican caller. caller: i lived in florida and my house faces foreclosure. we are going to court right now over the eviction. i wonder why the state does nothing about the no redemption laws. we offered to pay our house out to the ending balance of our mortgage. we were seven months behind but it would not accept the money. guest: the state-by-state closure law, there have been huge variations. the housing market, with its subsequent boom and bust, is an abnormal condition.

a 100 year flood phenomenon. we had 30 million closures last year. this year there are many factors. aid to just be a hiccup. policy -- it could just be a hiccup. policymakers need to be aware of the market's changing conditions. because of the changing market conditions, to apply the same rules as in the past is not fair to families. those still looking at your numbers from the fha last week -- host: looking at your numbers from the fha last week, we have

delaware, democratic line. caller: i know that they are in the business of making loans, but why would the banks be hesitant to refinance with someone who shows consistent payment when the value of the house has been reduced minimally by one-third given the market? they know who pays their mortgages, and they will have nothing to do with you. the gentleman with $20,000 in his house but they need 20% in the home, they insisted that he paid his mortgage, like i do, he is probably having a difficult time. the tax credits for new home buyers, why would they not do something to give people tax credit if they lost value.

we need some relief at this point and time. it was a situation where they were facing bankruptcy. guest: the first phase of the bank recovery, they are saying that they are going to boost capital. they will not lend it out, but they will have an insurance level of capital situation. given that the banks are in a better position, and remember that many of them got help from the u.s. government. they have repaid some of that money, but they got help from the taxpayer had a difficult time in their financial circumstances. given that, what does the financial community say about

the banks? banking institutions suffered a big loss. you will see it better to have the loans we modified with a response to all homeowners. -- re-modified with a response to all homeowners. to all homeowners. the afternoon. i have a question regarding the appraisals on houses now. previously, the way they were done before is the mortgage amount. what has changed what i am understanding is the way it works is the house as to praise for the selling amount. i have personal experience where

a home did not praise for the selling amount. the deal fell through on my sister in the last six months. she tried to sell but was not able to do so because appraisal did not come back on the sale price. i am in a similar situation. i want to know what his opinion is, on appraisals, and but there are trying to do to correct that. i see that as a major problem. i have always paid my bills, i relocated. what happened is, exactly that. i know a lot of people want to get a house, the seller and buyer agree on a price, then the paper comes back less. so the whole deal falls through. everyone is in this position because the appraiser did not have the right information.

host: what is the difference between the selling price? the difference. host: what was the difference? caller: $10,000. ultimately, i see this is a big problem with people that want purges a home. bad. -- people that want to purchase a home. i know that this is one that the realtors have opinions about. host: we will get a response. guest: new appraisal rules went into effect in the middle of last year. we have been flooded, our members with problems related to appraisals. host: are these federal rules?

guest: there was a lawsuit in which the federal government agreed to apply these tools around the country. it is called a home valuation code of conduct, the intent is to remove it from from the system. on justifiable appraisals. -- appraisals that could not be justified. clearly, a good intent. but the results are bizarre. appraisers are receiving more compensation in you have this situation where they are driving much longer distances and they are not familiar with local, geographic areas, not participating in the unique features of the home by doing only drive by appraisals. they are not even considering the unique characteristics of the home and as a result,

appraisers have been putting in artificially low levels where the buyers and sellers had already agreed to a price but the appraisal process is holding it back. host: what about the banks themselves? they have been taken to task for bad loans in the past. part of the reason they are not lending is because they do not want to get back into the same situation they were in? guest: lenders need to be cautious about not getting back to their subprime blending positions, but sometimes there is a rule that has a good intense -- intent, like where their appraisers do not have local mileage. -- knowledge. obviously this is leading to bad

consequences, coming back to the proper way of valuing. from the lender's point of view , i do not think that subprime lending will resurface, but normal, underwriting and appraisal standards will help to slow the recovery. 30 year fixed rates are at historically low rock-bottom rates. but people are very cautious. they want to know that when they purchase a home, their monthly payment will stay the same. host: the alberta, republican line. go ahead. -- host: alberta, republican line. go ahead. caller: my question is -- does the home buyer tax credit only attack -- only apply to first-

time home buyers? guest: it applies to many first- time home buyers and some repeat home buyers. there are restrictions on what it needs to be, but when i look at the day that it looks like for most americans that our current home owners that want to trade, as long as they make it into their primary residence they would qualify for the home buyer tax credit. up to $8,000. for repeat dollars it can be up to $6,500. host: democratic line, michigan. go ahead. caller: i am a licensed real- estate agent myself. i feel that we have a responsibility to make this projection to people. from what i am reading and seeing, what will be taking

place down the line, it looks like the people that have gone into foreclosure and the people that have gone into short sale, closing with a realtor to find out what the market value of the home is or any way that they can work it out, if they cannot work it out for their finances than many people, as everyone knows, are going into foreclosure or short sale. . i have read an article that it could be up to 20 years later to come back and prosecute these people. people just need to be reading about this and be aware of the consequences of letting their

home go, or even if a short sale is not negotiated correctly, they can be prosecuted years from now. i feel we have a responsibility to tell people, you need to be checking this out. if there is a way you can hire an attorney, do so. there will be consequences down the line for you in your family. there will be serious consequences down the line for you and for your family. guest: in the hectic market conditions, where now we have situations, rising foreclosures, many of the home sellers requiring short sellers approval, having very good knowledge of the situation -- with any fast changing market conditions, there are sleazy people who want to come into the marketplace, and in any fraud or violation of the eligible you, they should be prosecuted.

-- any fraud or violation of the law, they should be prosecuted. from the consumer's point of view, they need to understand to work with professionals that have clear knowledge of the process. host: how many members does the national association of retailers have? guest: at the peak we had 1.4 million members. we have seen a large drops in membership. some people make it, other people don't make it. what we find the survey of customers is that nearly 80% of the clients like their retailers -- like their real terms, but they're not trusting other agents. there are people in the business who are knowledgeable, peopled by contrast, the people who are new -- sometimes it takes quite a time and experience to -- because the number one factor

for the successful realtor is repeat business and referrals. host: what it -- has it been like in terms of the average salary in the u.s.? how much as a drop since the housing bubble? guest: we have experienced four years of the real-estate industry recession. the income level has been falling. the average income for realtors is about $40,000, but huge variations. the successful ones are in the six-figure level. many who have entered the progression in recent years are struggling. host: bethesda, maryland, next up. cindy on the independents' line. caller: i would like to ask the other realtor that just talked -- i have been our realtor in maryland since 1986, and they came across a short sale or the seller was also our realtor.

she said she was going to dump this place and just go buy and other one. i was reading this morning -- i didn't e-mail from the maryland association of realtors -- i got an e-mail from the maryland association of realtors called stopscaringus.com. a buyer can sell on a short sale and instead of waiting two years to purchase again -- i think in four coaches who have to wait for seven years to purchase again -- they are allowing people to purchase even before the two years as long as they have not shown delinquency in the mortgages. my concern is that from some of your prior callers, the real estate value in neighborhoods is dropping so severely because people are just -- there is no accountability. even if you can pay your mortgage, they just dump their properties and move on to what is now are really good buy in

areas, and leave their neighborhoods -- i mean, what's to say you cannot buy the house across the street? i don't understand where the accountability is the home under -- is for the homeowners selling on short sale and just being able to go and purchase something down the street. host: we will get a response. thanks for the call. guest: a couple of years ago, the problem was along the subprime defaults. in recent months, we have seen a strong rise among prime borrowers -- this could be related to the jobless situation where we have a weak economy and high unemployment rate. the other reason for a rise in the default rate among client borrowers -- those people with the financial resources and the income were turning and the keys because the home values are much lower than the mortgage balance. we have seen rising trends of this. it is very discomforting, because we are a society of --

we try to fulfill our obligations, financially, and for people to just be faulted -- the first step should be to try to negotiate with the bank, that given this market condition, let's try to refinance to a better term. it raises the concern where we are beginning to seen many of the prime are was strategically defaulting. -- prime borrowers strategically defaulting. host: i want to get your reaction to this headline. "housing rebound in canada at spurs top of a new bubble. canada's housing recovery has been so rapid that some here are worrying about a bubble. last wednesday, the housing price index for canada's 6 highest cities posted its seventh straight monthly gain, showing that home prices in november or back to their pre- recession peak." a chart here looking at the disparity in home prices and the

rise of canadian home prices. what can you tell us? what you know about the differences between the two countries in the housing market? guest: if we have a situation where the buyers are entering the market and it is comfortably in their budget, i would not be concerned with the housing market. as long as the buyers are taking on at a mortgage that is comfortably within the budget, it will be fine. in the canada situation, most of the market is are not 30-year fixes. it is a very short-term adjustable rate mortgage. they may have low monthly payments this year, next year, or maybe even the year following. after that you readjust it is the -- if the interest-rate environment is to rise, some of the canadians who may have felt they were well within the budget today but not three years from now, they could run into a problem. i don't know the level of down payments situation among canadian buyers, but people were

entering the market with very the downpayment -- if somehow the interest rate begins to rise and the mortgage rises, that will put in additional concerns. host: a couple more calls. phil, good morning. republican line. caller: good morning. i have a question about something that seems a very mysterious to me, and that is the the scale of values on homes region in versus region. we moved to new jersey in the late 1980's, and we had a home in kansas city for $80,000, which seemed a fair price. we moved to new jersey and started looking at homes to buy, and found that the basic fixer upper, the one that needed fixer upper, the one that needed a lot of rehab, we move from new jersey on to tennessee, and then in kansas, we bought a 4000-square-foot home, pay $74,000, and

basically the money equal in value, about $160,000 right now. my wife, when she worked for facts, she had employed the on the west coast and they took a weekend to look at some homes. they showed my wife a 1000- square-foot house that was water damaged. they were going to sell it for $400,000. my wife could not dissuade her from buying it. my question is, how can you have a scale of the news like this? for instance, for us, it is cultural advantages, can the city is just up the road. we have low crime rates, cost the school district is fine. what accounts for such a strange difference? is the value of lumber higher on the west coast than here?

guest: number one difference that drive the cost differences, middle america, homes are very affordable. kansas city, homes are very affordable. you go to the coastal region, the california market, the median price even after the price drop is $400,000. on the east coast, anything from boston to washington, a very expenses. -- the very expensive. the building activity is much more restricted. it is hard to take that housing permits. it is much more expensive to take out a housing permits. some of the zoning restrictions that prevent building activity. in the current environment, we have inventory, i inventory, we want the building activity to remain in the normal circumstances, the number of housing starts that occur in the coastal regions is very small compared to say, middle america.

in middle america, if there is demand, they will build to satisfy demand. but on the coastal regions, if there is demand, builders sometimes just cannot deal. it is because of the difficulty in getting the housing permits. host: chuck, democratic caller. caller: thank you for taking my call. we are hearing a lot about homeowners who have lost their homes due to foreclosure. as we start the beginning of this year, we realize that there is a tremendous amount of people who still have homes who are watching c-span, bloomberg, "new york times," listening to the republicans and democrats and things of that nature. i believe there is thousands if not millions of people who are looking for some type of stopgap measure to say, ok, if this happens, i am going to either walk away from the home, try to sell the home at a lower value,

or just take my keys and mail it back to the banker. my question for the guest is if there were three things that you can identify that individuals who are looking to get rid of their homes can look to as a measure to either keep their home or get rid of their home, what would it be? as an example, should we look at the job market situation? and that, you mentioned a little earlier, is probably going to peak at about 10.5. if that's the thing that we see, it should be moved to getting rid of the home? and let me phrase it this way -- you are not giving advice to homeowners, but what i think americans really need is just some real common sense. host: we will get a response to that just a couple of minutes

left. guest: 4 people in their homes, maybe they are under water, but they can make mortgage payments, that is a good thing. people feel good about that, they are fulfilling their financial obligations. some of the harshest markets where prices have tumbled 50% and are deeply under water, at some are advising to go ahead and turn in the keys. i am not sure if that is the way did we have seen some demand recovery, and we are beginning to see some prices to firm up in the hard-hit areas -- florida, california markets. one of the first to go down, but also appears to be the first to come back on the recovery path. you look for some time to fully recover the value. if people view their home not just purely in terms of finances, but where they are raising a family and creating memories, they should think of over the long term not only in their home but the long-term consequences on the credit

history, the overall finance situation. but i do understand that people who lose jobs or suddenly get hit with a large medical bill -- it is very difficult to make the payment. banks have been in a very loose lending criteria during the boom and now very stringent. homeowners in a difficult situation -- i would say the first point of contact would be to talk to the lender and say that this is the situation, let's make a better deal. host: linda on our republicans' line. caller: i actually have two questions. on the tax credit, if you have got a loan modification, would you be able to get a tax credit? my husband and i got a loan modification. we did not get a home improvement loan. that is one question.

and with all the people losing their homes, is there is -- is there somewhere where you can get eight break out were people buying new homes at versus refund -- a breakdown were people were buying new homes and versus refinements, how many were fixed rate homes, how many were accessible rates? do you understand what i mean? guest: yes. one website that provides many information for consumers is called houselogic.com. there could be some of that information and there. if you cannot find it there, some of the government websites like fannie mae and freddie mac and the u.s. treasury department or hud.gov -- those would be the websites to look into it regarding the tax credit for loan modification got to my knowledge, it is for people independent of the loan situation -- people buy a home and make it into the primary

residence, as long as the person has the income i believe below $200,000, or $225,000 for married couples, and they don't purchase a home in excess of $800,000, i believe that most people would qualify for the tax credit. credit. it is a matter ofof purchasing a the sure to join us tomorrow for more "washington journal" when our guest will speak about the proposed bills in the senate. mark moyar on the war in afghanistan. richard norton smith will also be our guest. that will be tomorrow at 7:00 eastern.

coming up next, more from this morning's "washington journal" on questions about the political process for national security. then the chairman of the democratic national committee tim kaine. taking a look at the $787 billion stimulus plan signed into law one year ago, over $303 billion has been committed. take a look at the website to keep track of the stimulus money. c-span.org/stimulus.

and a look now at the political process and how it influences national security from this morning's "washington journal." l." host: julian zelizer is a professor of history and public affairs at princeton university and the author of this book, a brand new, "arsenal of democracy: the politics of national security from world war ii to the war on terrorism." or does the title come from? guest: it comes from a famous speech by fdr, making a speech try to get america behind world war ii, saying that we need to build an arsenal of democracy. host: why was that speech significant? guest: fdr was a transition to a period where america has a permanent national security state. before world war ii, we fought wars on an ad hoc basis. second, fdr was a period where liberals were strong on the

national security issue. during world war ii, he built a very big coalition behind the effort and he came out as a model of what presidents should do. host: your book is about politics from world war ii to the war on terrorism, but you really start during the spanish- american war, i believe, and before that. what was it about world war ii that fdr, he said created this national security state. explain that in all but more -- explain that a little bit more. guest: i gave the backup to readers to understand basic history of foreign policy and national security. we went to war to take things apart. that is what happened after world war i. that is why i give the whole pre-history, so to speak to the national security state treated under fdr and truman this was to seek permanent institutions devoted to national security.

the cia, fbi, a vastly enhanced navy and air force. even the draft. we always need to do with national security and we need to govern -- need government institutions working on this. host: julian zelizer is here to discuss the politics of national security and taking your calls. what did fdr learned from the experience of his uncle, teddy, what did fdr learned from the one thing he learned it is politics is part of national security. one thing he learned was that politics is part of national security. he saw with teddy roosevelt that tr used to build a more internationalist role for

america, a more permanent role abroad for the united states, and he built a political collision of progressive, republicans, internationalist republicans, to combat what was kind of isolationism and unilateralism in america. if the artist the same thing he proposed -- fdr does the same thing. he proposed these neutrality acts, and he learned that politics and security cannot be separated. host: how was it a victory for the u.s. and for democrats? guest: they were steadfastly against intervention a natural world war ii. but fdr as a democrat led the way. because of the victory, democrats came out as the party you could trust, so to speak, to handle national security. host: what changed when harry truman became president, particularly in the election of 1950? guest: the 1950 elections make a lot of the politics of today

seem tame. a very bitter election. a lot of republicans start to challenge democrats on issues like who lost china, when china fell to communism in 1949, and the emerging war in korea. by the end of the mid terms, the conservative coalition increases in congress, but the politics of the cold war are wide open and very bitter. host: the politics of national security is our topic. kerri on our independence line, bill ahead. h -- gary on our independent line, go ahead. caller: i notice that most of the callers get about 60 seconds or so, so i will make this could pick on 9/11, at fox news interviewed number of citizens who said they heard multiple explosions as the towers came down. the interview firefighters -- they interviewed firefighters and they said they heard detonators.

and there is a professor from brigham young university who was found residue of their might explosives from the dust of the twin towers. the fbi told him to shut up. host: is it your view that the towers were not attacked? caller: i am not try to put this on anybody. you can leave it with whoever you want to leave it with. i just want to make a couple quick more points. i have a question, actually. flight 93 -- someone said that 20 minutes after he was on at the site, there were no bodies. it looked like someone dumped eight -- dug a 15-foot hole and dump trash in it. host: the issue of politicization of 9/11. guest: it was remarkable when i was writing this book, how quickly the politics returns. republicans and democrats by the

first year are fighting over things like airline security, and should you have unionized workers or not. what is remarkable about 9/11, in addition to the tragedy, was how quickly the politics returns, and how little it changed the kind of political combat which we have had during @ "r law or international treaties. was this a new argument for the executive to make? guest: no, executive power had to expand during war, during national security crisis. truman sent troops without a declaration of war. but there is an expansion that takes place under president bush. host: bedford, massachusetts.

host: next caller. caller: i have a different perspective on all this national security. i think that americans, as we have seen from the tea party and the interests by sarah palin to get involved in, that we are getting fed up with security rebound and its effect on our businesses. for example, some to put on expose of underwear and pretty soon we will be scanned going into airports to make sure that we are not the risk. who wants to have a naked body scanner of themselves floating around by these low-paid tsa agents? you have heard stories of some of these tsa agents doing their own criminal actions and breaking a laws and taking too much power. how do you feel about the rebound of what this does to our rights and business and what the constitution was designed for, to let this be a free economy? guest: i think the tension you

talk about has been one within conservatism since the cold war, meaning on the one hand, a more hawkish posture in the gop and a call for expansion of government, and on the other hand, and civil liberties strand of conservatism, it libertarian's brand, which has been at odds with this. after 9/11, some of this faded away and the republican party had fewer prominent voices questioning the national security apparatus agreed with the tea party, you might see some of our return to some of those arguments. host: you use a term called "conservative internationalism." what does that mean? guest: i think it was an alternative to fdr. war without sacrifice. you don't need tax increases or the draft. you can use a professional army. if the goods on using air power and technology -- a focus on using air power and technology as opposed to ground troops. it focused on unilateralism. host: the u.s. acting alone

without partners. guest: kind of criticizing the united nations as an institution not to be trusted. host: next caller. caller: i want to say a quick thing about war ii. my grandfather was a chief intelligence officer. i've been going through archives in maryland and reading about fort hunt and our history. we used to bring in the middle that some of the biggest middle -- the night some of the biggest nazis and interrogate them right here in alexandria and 400 a lot of the problem in this country is that we have a lack of knowledge of our world history and a lot of a fear that is without especially about guantanamo and prisoners and paranoia that is all abnormal. if you look at history carefully, we never had a year, no matter what we dealt with, --

never had fear, no matter what we dealt with, and as far as our military, world war ii and i, citizens would want to industry now we have people who were cowardly types who do not want to go to war and do not want their kids to go to war, so we have to have an all-volunteer army depending on who is willing to fight. host: she says we never had feared a matter what we dealt with. -- never had feared no matter what we dealt with. guest: that is not true. during the cold war, it was pretty dishes. there were republicans attacking treatment for essentially treason. it was a great fear of the soviet union as essentially an evil empire intent on world destruction. democrats did some of the same thing, accusing republicans in

the 1950's of being total isolationists and not caring what happened. fear is always part of national security politics, and often it does lead to bad policy making. host: i wanted to read a bit from the section on jfk and the cuban missile crisis. "from the start of his administration, republicans worked hard to undercut jfk's appeal on a national security. the john birch society, founded in 1958 by california-based businessman, included 100,000 members, mostly in the sun belt. anti communism was the glue that held the society together, though opposition to civil rights was important for southern members. conservative radio hosts railed against the administration's failures to stand up to the soviets. conservatives enjoy a vibrant period of book publishing with companies like regnery." some of that is ringing true today. guest: we forget in the 1950's that the conservative movement

was emerging. republicans were making keep a central issue of attack going into the midterm elections of 96 -- making to the central issue attack going into the midterm elections of 1962. we had a proliferation of conservative publishing, conservative radio and tv, and the question is today, some of that is being revitalized again. host: do you think the cuban missile crisis was the height of u.s. your of the possible soviet attack? -- u.s. fear of a possible soviet attack? guest: no, it would continue he was scared and not just of the soviets but attacks on his administration. host: next caller, go ahead. caller: thanks for having me on this morning. there is a documentary out there on youtube called "national security alert."

it is pretty astonishing. i spent a lot of time looking into 9/11, and i am one who stays on the side of logic. looking at this video, it has numerous eyewitness reports of exactly what they saw that morning, with the plane approaching the pentagon. these people testified after 9/11, and the testimony is buried in the halls of congress -- host: what is the name of this documentary? caller: "national security alert." host: thanks for the call. thomas on the independent line. caller: might take on it is that it'll -- it all depends on a white racist to proceed at this country has existed for years.

-- white racist super mehsud that this country has exerted for years. -- supremacy that this country has exerted for years. they are in this country, and they are nazis and they are living in this country, and there was a connection because of their heritage. if you move over, racism existed even when you talk about national security. they would not allow the plaques to be in the military, would not allow the blacks -- not allows blacks to be in the military, not allow blacks to do this. guest: race has been part of national security. early in my book, during the spanish-american war, the perceptions of the u.s. need to civilize groups of people was part of the rhetoric of our president, people like tr.

during vietnam, we heard a similar discussion of the vietnamese. there is a connection between racial attitudes and foreign policy. i think it is much more than that, but that is always a strain for certain politicians. host: was the credibility of the u.s. ever at stake because of our civil rights policy, before the voting rights act? guest: absolutely. during the 1950's, a lot of pressure force of rights does not just come from the civil- rights movement, but from state department officials who are feeling pressure because the soviets are spreading word of all the racial incident in the united states, and what it says about our democracy. there are diplomats being arrested in the united states. some of the pressure comes from that, and also from african- americans who fought in world war ii and korea and wondered why they don't have the same rights here.

host: george, republican color. caller: a few callers ago there was a lady who said that we are a tower the nation because nobody wants to join the armed forces. -- we are a tower to the nation because nobody wants to join the armed forces. in the 1980's, i volunteered for the air force. but as far as the voluntary force, yes, a lot of parents are refusing to have their children in this, because they are looking at the amount of illegal aliens in the country. why isn't the president giving the illegal billions ideal -- illegal aliens a deal, if you want amnesty, four years and the military, get out within honorable discharge, then you get your amnesty. many refuse to have their children to join because of so many illegal indians but what are they going to do their part for their freedoms and their rights? -- illegal killion spirit what are they going to do for their

part for their freedoms in th%ir -- illegal aliens. what are they going to do for their part for their freedoms and rights? guest: the president got rid of the draft was richard nixon. vietnam what on his presidency -- would haunt his presidency. that change the way we fight our wars. many citizens are exempt from the sacrifice required when we sent troops abroad one argument was that it made easier to quit wars and deployed troops -- most americans are not scared of their children will be sent abroad. it was a profound change after 1973. host: outside of the vietnam, what were richard nixon bostick biggest accomplishments on national security -- richard nixon's biggest accomplishments on a national security and foreign policy? guest: detente. it culminated in something called salt in 1972, and the

famous trip to china in 1972. detente -- easing relations in the cold war -- was key to his reelection in 1972, and if watergate had not happened, it could have made him a transformative president. host: how did that play with the more conservative wing of the republican party? guest: they were furious. ronald reagan was absolutely livid with richard nixon, because it seemed to be betrayed everything he stood for when he was president. he had been a hard line anti- communist. another famous intellectual in the conservative movement was very critical. nixon, like ronald reagan in the 1980's, had to fight against conservatism in this term. host: you said that ronald reagan was not always as tough as he seemed on the soviets. guest: early on he had his

hawkish rhetoric and at a big increase in defense, but later, in 1987, he accepted the opportunity to negotiate with mikhail gorbachev. many were not happy with it. one called him a dupe of the kremlin, and another compared him to neville chamberlain. host: the lesson there -- you look at nixon and reagan -- at some point you have to ignore the criticism from within your party. guest: sometimes that is the case. by blocking the base of their party, they engaged in what were very important diplomatic initiatives. host: long island, anthony on the democrats' line. caller: it seems to me that governments have always define themselves by selling protection to their citizenry. after the collapse of the soviet union, it seems as though the united states was in great need of a new bogyman.

what happened to the peace dividend? i believe that was all clinton was able to balance the budget, and the fact that they were able to cut defense spending. it seems as though now we have squandered the dividend to such -- we are collapsing ourselves now because of all of this. it seems as though there is no end in sight in this barrage of agencies and bureaucracies selling as protection, nsa, cia, fbi, navy, army, coast guard, and now homeland security. they all point in each other with the goes wrong, like is the other guy's fault. like i said, where is the end? guest: when president eisenhower stepped down, he made famous farewell address where he warned about the military-industrial complex that he argued was taking shape, contractors who sell weapons, congressional

committees and legislators who depend on military money through depend on military money through t the second fact is 9/11. it became the new cold war. there was talk of a peace dividend during george h. w. bush, as well as during president clinton, meaning money needed to be put back to domestic issues. after 9/11, that went away. we have this new cold war, this time about freedom. . ñi was part of his att

but becoming president, he was frustrated by the inability democrats like john f. kennedy attack eisenhower, saying he is too conservative on balancing the budget and in danger in america and creating what is called a missile -- enda ngering america and created what is called a missile gap. host: new orleans, independent color. -- caller. caller: good morning. i would like to know what is it, what mental incapacity, what orders you have been giving, that will keep you from addressing the hard facts and evidence that i keep on hearing from callers that call in about 9/11. when someone says there is evidence of explosives and

buildings, you don't address it. when someone says there are hundreds of witnesses to explosives to buildings, you don't address it. when someone brings up any questions outer -- that counter the so-called official story of 9/11, you ignore it. you go on to something else. also, let me bring up one more that a gentleman did not bring up. seven of the alleged hijackers were on bbc tv after the fact being interviewed. these things are facts. they are in the public record. i would like one time for c- span to address these issues. host: thanks for your input. anything you want to add to that? guest: no. i know the arguments are out there, they are there, part of the atmosphere. one thing that this change

national security is the internet, and that have information filters out -- that kind of information fill this out quickly, true or untrue. host: trevor, republican column. -- caller. caller: i would like to comment on the last guy. you can make your conspiracy theories all you want. host: make sure you turn down your television or radio there said that you don't feed back. caller: well, at the last guy -- it is a free country. you are here to say what you are gonna say and he will say. normal people will never know the answers so you might as well stop worrying about it. the woman earlier that called about cowards in our country today. i am 18 and i just listed in the united states army and i just wanted to let her know that

there is cowards -- quite a few at the school i went to, and there are good hearted people out there who are willing to serve their country and die for their country. host: thanks for your call. houston, texas, democrats' line. caller: thanks for taking my call, i think the cable company for sending my payments so that we can have at c-span. a gentleman called about 9/11, and those arguments that are out there. but on c-span today, something kind of amazed me, and it had to do with airport security. dr. kennedy gave testimony about the crotch bomber was allowed a visa by the intelligence agency. patrick kennedy worked for the state department. he was allowed eight -- allowed

a visa, and his a boarding was allowed to continue an ongoing intelligence operation. he got on the plane, and landed -- host: this was i hearing you saw on c-span or something? caller: yeah. it was kind of amazing that american lives were collateral to continue the cia operation. we also have these scanners, these liquid scanners, and have gone out immediately. this is a fact, not an argument, but the security for the airport where the crotch bomber boarded was the same security vendor that work on the london tube and all of the alleged departure dates for 9/11.

host: in a little bit off topic, but anything you want to respond to? guest: one thing we learned with the christmas bombing effort and other incidents that, is that it changes after 9/11, trying to rectify problems in national- security programs. there was a commission report on it in 2000. it was not a completely successful transformation. there are holes in things such as intelligence sharing, which the president spoke about. in terms of the kinds of the scanners were willing to fund. where we did make all the changes -- that is really the issue to grapple with. it is more attractive to say that president obama is responsible, president bush is responsible. but it is the post-9/11 system that we need to address. host: the president's security adviser john brennan was on the sunday shows. this headline -- "stop criticizing anti-terror effort.

he says he briefed officers about abdulmutallab's a rrest and none of them raised objections. the officials said they were not given any information beyond the facts of his arrest." is this sort of political back- and-forth -- has this been done all throughout history going back to fdr? guest: absolutely. going back to president eisenhower, he used to complain that democrats were aware that there was no missile gap. he had pictures proving they were wrong. but it was under surveillance so president eisenhower could not reveal it. lyndon johnson was busted, because republicans were far -- lyndon johnson was frustrated, because republicans were supporting him with funding and

everything, and yet publicly they were criticizing him. there is always the tension between the political arguments and sometimes the back room deal. host: what was the political calculation that lyndon johnson made about the vietnam war? guest: it was a costly one. he was terrified that republicans were going to undercut democrats' on national security. he was born in the 1950's in a garment of republicans saying that democrats lost china, -- 1950's environment of republicans saying that democrats lost time and had not fought real well. he was going to show that he was tough. many advisers, including a hawkish democrat, said that this is not worth of the war. it is too dangerous. is not strategically important. in the end, she did not withdraw, he accelerated the war -- he did not withdraw, he accelerated the war. in large part, he was terrified that republicans led barry

goldwater and ronald reagan would say that any sign of weakness which show that democrats cannot be trusted. hubert humphrey wrote a memo to the president after the election saying that it was the opportunity to withdraw from vietnam. his response was to tell hubert humphrey, no more memos, and he kicked him out of the inner circle of advisers. host: ron on our independent line. caller: what always troubles me is the hypocrisy of american foreign policy. we have always preached democracy and supported it dictatorships. i'm 61 years old. my whole life we have done this. we did it in the middle east, we have done it in south and central america, we are still doing it today. i've just never been able to

understand it. it seems that whenever a foreign leader comes along and puts the lives of his own people ahead of the profits of american corporations, we consider him an enemy. i don't understand that. i think we would be a lot safer if we put people ahead of profit. thank you. guest: well, i do think there is a long tradition from the cold war to the war on terrorism or there is a disconnect between our rhetoric of freedom and democracy and the fact that part of our foreign policy always supports governments that are entitled that -- that are antithetical to that. it is always part of our foreign policy. i did it is frustrating to many americans. host: you wrote about jimmy carter, "seeking studies to

achieve peace with the soviet union while strengthening the image of democrats on national security. he seeked all the hallmarks of detente. he elevated the issue of human rights to the center of the administration policy. this is arguably his most dramatic ideological move. he believed that the promotion of human rights could give more legitimacy to a foreign policy and it tensions that he believed resulted in support for the soviets." was he the first president to address this? guest: he was not the first, but the first to do it so dramatically. richard nixon was a practitioner of realpolitik and overseas working with henry kissinger, he downplayed ideological issues, saying that that could not be part of the foreign policy.

jimmy carter was the first to make it front and center since the creation of the un. host: has a remain part of our foreign policy? guest: it has to remain part of our foreign policy. president bush used that rhetoric during the war on terror, drawing on language that jimmy carter used, and tapping into the image of a president that he wanted to separate himself from. host: gerry, republican line. caller: earlier you talking about the tremendous attrition and the tension between republicans and -- the truman administration and the tension between republicans. i think in the defense department -- you glossed over that, but it was proven to be true when the soviets released the files i guess in the late 1990's. guest: i could comment on that. yes, we have had the release of the soviet archives saying that

there was a soviet spy network in the united states and some of those accused were guilty. importantly, a lot or not. it was kind of scattershot, the attacks during that period. it does not mean that people like joseph mccarthy, the senator from wisconsin who leveled a lot of these attacks, was right and what he was charging. but a lot of the spy's existed. host: dexter on the democrats' line. caller: good evening, gentlemen -- good morning. nobody ever mentions the project for a new american century. in 1996, they sent a letter to then-president bill clinton asking him to remap the middle east, and he declined the letter. it was signed by donald rumsfeld, dick cheney, richard armitage e, the whole cast of

characters that wound up in the bush administration. guest: yes, neoconservatives and conservatives who used to be democrats and others who really emphasized foreign-policy, and during the 1990's, through these groups, there are pushing a new emphasis on iraq and certain other rogue states to define our national security system. clinton is not a very liberal president on a national security. he sometimes is not that far off he sometimes is not that far off from where they ar host: washington is full of think tanks and other idea shops. have these organizations grown more influential in national security and foreign policy development? guest: they change. had a handful back in the 1940's

and 1950's. brookings' nominated. in the 1973 had they are much more savvy in terms of the media. they produce reports not intended for up to debate but one-page briefs for policy makers. they become very important. these kinds of think tanks are wait for parties to rebuild themselves and keep their ideas in circulation. host: a couple more calls. winston, north carolina. caller: thank you. i do like the think tanks. i like it when c-span covers, when they have coverage from the speakers and a great topics. that is not my question. i want to go back to roosevelt.

prior to world war ii -- the constitution. i'm confused a little bit. did he take some liberties with the constitution to sort of expand his power outside the realm of the constitution? i think that was 1933. this was during the depression. k, the depression and the new deal. there was a lot of things going on, it was pretty busy in washington, as far as trying to negotiate everything with all the parties, because back then it was not just the republicans and democrats. it was eight barnum and bailey.

host: we will get a response. guest: in the 1930's, late in the 1930's, and not in 1933, roosevelt pushed the boundaries of executive power. there was a neutrality act that restricted the president with what he could do overseas. he was very frustrated. there is a quotation in the book where he says that hitler should put a statue of senator arthur vandenberg of michigan, who was opposing him in terms of intervention abroad. some of the themes of expansion of its executive power today were planted during this time or he tried to circumvent this with try to get money and assistance for the allies. host: who do you think best articulated national security policy? guest: i think fdr, who had a very compelling vision of why we

had to fight and how we had to fight. he called for a full mobilization of this country, people having to fight this war, all people having to fight this war, and having to pay for this war. fdr expands the income tax from 4 million americans to 44 million americans. how to fight at home, who we fight against, very compelling in his rhetoric and policies. host: kevin, go ahead, democrats' line. caller: i was wondering how we could build an arsenal of democracy, given what has happened in this country over the past, i guess, close to 100 years, starting with the federal reserve act that created the federal reserve. and corporations that control our money. leading up to today, where we

have the globalists pretty much taking over the country. we cannot purchase anything in our country that is not made in china. it is driven out -- it has driven out all the labor in our country. host: the impact of the economy on its arsenal of democracy. guest: it is hugely important. the same way diminishes our trust in domestic policy, it diminishes our trust in national security policy. we always have the questions of who is controlling our decisions. is it just people who want to make money abroad? government reform, campaign finance reform, at the touch both areas of policy. the economy is part of our national security. president clinton made this argument and was very strong on it.

global trade and our relations with countries like china to the european countries are actually central to whether we are secure as a nation. it is not just about weapons. it is about commerce. host: julian's also teaches political science -- julian zelizer teaches political science -- i'm sorry, history -- at princeton. >> join us to mark for more washington journal. our guests will include john stanton, author mark moyar on afghanistan, and richard norton smith concerning a book about a tour of presidential grave sites.

in a moment a speech by the chairman of the democratic national committee, tim kaine, then remarks from the chinese foreign minister, and later -- transportation secretary ray lahood on recent toyota recalls. live coverage of the congressional hearing on wednesday looking into the toyota because. the oversight committee plans to discuss the government's response. -- of toyota's recalls. >> this week, the proposed merger of comcast and nbc universal with analysis from the ap.

tonight on2 on. on cspan2. >> new force educators -- we have redesigned the website. it has the most current and timely videos for use in your classroom. you can watch the newest video clips organized by topics. also, the chance to connect with other teachers. it is all free. >> dnc chairmen tim kaine recently in washington. he talked about obama's initiatives for health care and the economy, the election of scott brown, and what the party may do to win this fall's midterm elections. he spoke for about a half-hour.

>> wasn't it great to have a president with us this morning? [applause] as the president alluded we have had ups and downs since the of inauguration. he went through accomplishments of the year and could have gone on longer. it has been amazing what he has been able to do in the midst of this difficult climate. to personalize it for second on one of the items, just one -- the recovery act -- you hear the republicans a save two senators, saying that they voted against it, going around to say that is not doing anything, but i'm here to tell you i was a governor. i had to write a budget before the recovery act was passed. i got to rewrite it afterwards. what i saw in the before and after scared me to

the recovery act was critical to getting this nation back on track. from 740,000 jobs we were losing we are down to 20,000. it is a big jump from losing over 6% of gdp to gaining as much this year. it is a big deal. manufacturing coming back. it has been a big turnaround. jobs numbers cannot better than expected yesterday. the difference just in difference-- it meant 9000 state employees that i would have been giving a pink slip to in the midst of the worst job atmosphere in the last 20 years that we did not have to give those slips to. [applause]

i will tell you what the recovery act did. it stopped and economy in free fall. it put hpe back in of this president and congress deserves enormous credit. the other guys were going to let it go into free-fall and not even pull the ripcord. this president has turned around and we owe him a huge debt of thanks. [applause] we are seeing encouraging signs. the economy grew 6% in the fourth quarter. the unemployment is coming back down in january. the senate is moving forward on a jobs bill. it is time for republicans to stop saying no and to join democrats to get this economy moving. we're waiting to see evidence the other side cares as much as we do. but we are heartened by the fact

that things are coming back, as the president said improving statistics are cold comfort to people who are hurting. i saw in virginia that unemployment was pretty good, but not everywhere. there are pockets, neighborhoods, families that however the statistics are, they are hurting. that is why jobs will be the number one focus in this administration. it has been about jobs beenday one with a recovery act. it has been about jobs and the economy. even now, in a more laser-like way, focusing on small streets. the economy grows because of the mom and pop, startup companies, technology entrepreneurs. it is the small business sector

that causes the economy to grow. the president is championing that was more strategies. we're not backing away from the compelling moral and economic costs to reform the health-care system of this country. we are not. [applause] you know what? we cannot back away because if it will be done it will only be because democrats will do it. right? it is not the other side out there saying we need to make reforms. they think it is fine with your businesses able to buy insurance for employees. they are fine with premiums and costs. they are fine with growing numbers of the uninsured. that makes them feel great. if we're going to change that status quo it will be up to us. analyst and i shared with you motivation for me is a health

clinic i go to every year in the appalachian community in virginia. once per year on a hot weekend in july people drive from oliver, 16 states, to park in a parking lot and wait for days to walk in to see a doctor. they wait through heat, storms, and the evenings. -- they come from all over. the wait in lines all week long. people are still waiting. they are still waiting. businesses that are getting a premium notices are still waiting. folks are getting turned away from treatment because of pre- existing conditions. they are still waiting. seniors having to pay more for prescription drugs are still waiting. we have millions of americans waiting. they are waiting on us. we want the other guys to help

us, but let's be realistic -- they will not help much. if it will be done it will be us. we're not backing away. it will be tough, but we will succeed. the american people for decades -- the story will be written that we stood up and have done something seven presidents tried to. we have to get this over the goal line. comprehensive health insurance reform. we will. [applause] now let's talk elections and some challenges. the loss in the massachusetts changed a the math in the senate about health reform. we never like to lose the race. we did not want to lose that one. it was'ted s seat.

have to absorb the lessons from it. today there is one more democratic senator then there was on the day president obama was inaugurated. there are eight more democratic senators then when obama was elected. we have not had this big a margin since 1979. don't expect me or anyone else to walk around with a hang dog looked -- the ghost of harry truman would kill us if we complain about having only 59 senators. we have to govern incompetently and with optimism with59. we do have to learn some lessons. the lesson was that people are fed up with business as usual. that is one of the reasons obama is our president. they still one more change.

while that massachusetts race did not end the way we wanted it to, let me say i'm proud of your contributions to the campaign. in terms of a harbinger, the intense activism made to generate that support beginning with massachusetts suggest our people are ready, willing to get revved up and participate in these 2010 elections. [applause] we had more than 50 dnc steppers in massachusetts for the last eight weeks. state parties in conjunction, and volunteering for america, organized 45,000 volunteers to make 2.3 million phone calls. our people are hungry and ready to get involved. that is a good sign. [applause]

the loss in the massachusetts -- we were going ok in 2009. we had won five out of nine special alexians in the congress. but beginning in november those mid term blues that affect every president began to set in. i am describing it as our ghost of christmas future experience. remember "a christmas carol." scrooge did not like what he saw. he asked the ghost -- is this the future or the future that might be if i don't make changes? you know the answer. it was the future that would be unless there would be changes or adjustments. we had our ghost of christmas future in january 2010.

that instead of november 2010. i know that we can get energized. one reason -- in virginia democrats did not like losing the governor's mansion. we have fought in regina from are reliably red state to win even one in the last five years. we got used to winning. three days before my term ended in january there was a special election in a senate republican district. he was elected attorney general. the democrats in the va had taken over the senate majority in 2008. it was a big battle. he was a seat and the republicans were sure there would win. but democrats who did not like what they saw in the november got energized, went into the districtintowon the seat, added to the margin. we have to be more energized.

i know that we can be. [applause] if you look at the last 17 midterm elections -- the president does not mind running into a headwind, he says. i don't know all of you personally, but uphill battles do not make you nervous. we're not going to stop. here's what we know about midterms. in the last 17 the president's party loses an average an28 seats and also loses governorships. that is the average. we're not living in average times. we must assume that norm might be a little more tough on us this year. there is volatility and anxiety out there. it is by no means a foregone

conclusion. if we work hard we can beat expectations. a couple reasons i feel optimistic, we will be the norm because we have a great president and a great success story. we have a successful president with a successful story already. we need to do a better job telling it. we see it happening each week already this year. i think there will be a new blog their improved jobs numbers, meaningful financial reform -- that american people grab onto. , the second thing, as i visited 29 states we have a lot of great candidates. you are fielding wonderful candidates. in the mid terms we're not just

playing defense. we have people out in the field to win races currently held by republicans, to take over governors' mansions. to knock off incumbents, to win house seats, pay special attention to house legislative chambers concerning redistricting. we're playing offense with great candidates all over the country. it is another reason we can stand a strong in 2010. republicans have a few honorable ways. sometimes they are very best friends. we will continue to shine a spotlight on the division's within the republican party. between the establishment, that shrinking establishment, and the tea party crowd. they helped to deliver a senator

to us with arlen specter, and a congressional seat in new york when the republican nominee that they sunk $1 million into was abandoned by the party and endorsed the democratic candidate owens 1. we have not had the seat since 1972. [applause] you see the battle on the republican side erupting into a corrosive as civil war. the primary in florida, the republican gubernatorial battle in texas. we have lions of the republican party. john mccain is being challenged from the right and their primary in arizona. bennett from utah challenged in a primary battle there. that corrosive civil war on the other side is something that

will produce dividends for us. again with the virginia experience we took the state senate back from republicans in 2007. this is how -- republicans from the right to gone republican moderates in our state senate and we ended up beating races we thought we had no business winning. we will also continue to highlight not just that division, but the republican party's choice to become the real captive of wall street and special interest. just this week we learned from a front-page story in "the wall street journal" that republicans

were soliciting money on wall street. the pitch was something we must pay attention to. their pitch was invest in the republican party because we are the hope. with help for you to stop a meaningful reform of the financial system. if you invest in us instead of supporting democrats, we will stop all reforms of the financial system this president and congress want to do. give us money and we will do your bidding. stopping the reforms american needs. stopping reforms we need in order to have a stable financial system. that is the scratch my back and i'll scratch yours the people also the beltway are sick of. republicans of 2009 with a party of no, now in 2010 they are the party of wall street. democrats are fighting for small

business, workers, middle-class. we will also pint out republican obstruction. republican senator richard shelby and others are holding up 70 nominees around him there is no controversy. these are nominees for judges, defense officials, homeland security officials. they are holding them up because shelby wants money for a particular pet project in alabama. he is holding up the very people we need to protect our country and national security. the dnc will play critical role in the 2010 and a surprising people. first, we think we have a unique role to play, a core confidence in communicating regularly with

our '08 surge voters. we are data freaks and we know who they are. we know who those surge voters are in every community in this country. we will succeed by frequent and regular communication with them, especially the young, minority, first-time voters. there were about 15 million of these voters we know. whether the turnout in the nov. can make a huge difference. out of those 15,456,000 of them are in colorado. the senate race, governors' races, others.

456,000 of these voters are in caller. there would normally vote at about 40% when the president is not on about. if we could get that up to 40% or 50%, it would be nearly an additional 40,000. in colorado where we tend to have close state elections it could be critical. the communication with the'08 surge voters is one of the first things we will do. we believe it will facilitate relationships. second, we made our registration a key priority ourdnc. working together with state parties and other groups we did a marvelous job on voter registration we're not done. there are still so many more to register.

i'm struck how often it comes up. ththey're still so many voters o register. i had discussions with those in texas about the numbers still out there. a state that will be blue and if we do the registration job. what you will see -- we will shortly rollout a national registration website. this surprised me that up until now there is not a central resource or website for voter registration. it is all through state parties or state board of elections or local registrars. we're close to having a single source that will enable people to get through the process and register. ongoing registration efforts are

a key to success for 2010. coupled with those we will continue to focus on better protection. our vice-chair is focused acutely on that. how many areas today heard speaker nancy pelosi? the speaker read a single definition about the democrats and republicans -- difference between them. another relevant difference that i have always found incredibly compelling, if you need a reason to be a democrat, this would be reason enough -- when it comes to elections we want more people to vote and the other guys want fewer people to vote.

do you need to know anything more than that? right? [applause] that is why the registration and the voter protection is so key. trying to keep people from voting, try to keep turnout down is part of their strategy. being more democratic, getting more people to participate is part of our strategy. butter protection is critical. your support on the ground, state parties is critical to success. we did see in 2009 and in the massachusetts race that our base voters are reliable -- did not turn out the way we hoped. there will always be volatility. some of it is on us to tell the

story incommunicable. we will need supporters to be strong. you have relationships in the communities to make ity happen makeou were there in previous elections. we can make huge gains if we have base voters with us. ñiwe will do things to get independents back in our camp. let me say a word about the change commission before i sum up. it was appointed -- you hear little about later. it began at the convention in denver. the conventions begin with the most number of voices. to look at identifying best

practices for caucus states. second, to deal with the calendar of the primary and caucus season to avoid the early creep. the third issue was directed to deal with reducing the number of unpunishein-pledged -- unpledge delegates. they proved a report, concerning the bylaws -- it will start a process to dig through their recommendation. we will focus on those three areas.

it is the first step, a good report. it tackles those three challenges in a good way. the rules and by law commission, and with input from all sources will carry that to make the right decisions. let me conclude to say we know what we have to do. we have our work cut out for us. we have done it. ñrñiwe have won races in tough states, tough times, and tough climate. we do not back down. our energy, passion, enthusiasm is what carries it. i am confident we have a wonderful team. i would like to ask any member of the dnc staff to stand. give a big round of applause [applause]

we have a great team. they keep me young. they have great ideas. we will keep communicating this message of a successful presidency and our message of support for the middle class. we will help to define the choice for november 2010. the choice between democrats fighting for the mill class, workers, families, small businesses, and republicans who want to return to cozying up to special interests and wall street. that is how we will compete around the country. we know that the stakes are high. we want to produce good partners for the president to get more good work done. while the stakes are high -- we

need to show the clear choices which are in a judging. when we do we will do quite well. thanks very much for all your effort. i will see you out on the road at the community near you. [applause] thank you very much. >> up next on c-span the speech by the chinese foreign minister. then transportation secretary lahood on the recent twitter recalls. later, prime minister gordon brown on foreign affairs. taking a look at the $787

billion stimulus program signed into law about one year ago more than $330 billion have been committed with just over $179 billion having been paid out after february 2. check our website to track the stimulus money. c-span.org/stimulus. we're hearing now that representative john murtha, the democrat from pennsylvania has died. he was suffering complications from gallbladder surgery. his a retired marine officer who became an outspoken critic of the iraq war. he was 77 years old.

>> the proposed merger of comcast and nbc-universal. analysis by these reporters. >> at the recent munich a security conference the chinese foreign minister spoke before hundreds of global defense leaders. he talked about maintaining national security and unity. he also talked about china's relationship with the copenhagen climate conference and european leaders. this is about 45 minutes. respectful ambassador and now a highly respected chairman of this very important conference. i really feel at home here with

some many friends and so many new friends and acquaintances. i have come here to learn and to exchange views with you for the purpose of working together to build a more peaceful, stable, looking back at the first decade of the 21st century i'm convinced the enormous and profound changes the world has experienced will leave at 3 indelible imprints in history. china is without doubt an important part of the changing landscape. when i read newspapers or watch television i see stories about china

many people ask how china will interact with the rest of the world, and what role will it play on the international stage? let me therefore began my speech about china. we celebrated the 60th anniversary of the founding of the people's republic of china a few months ago. these 60 years we have found a new development path through long and hard exploration. the past 30 years in particular have witnessed a tremendous achievement and a tenant thanks to the policy of reform and opening up. china's gdp has been growing at an average rate of about 10%. 235 million people have been lifted out of poverty.

china has achieved three historic transitions from of highly centralized economy too dynamic a socialist market economy from a closed or simi- closed society to a fully open one, and from a state of mutual estrangement with the rest of the world to one of close interaction. on the other hand, china still faces many difficulties and we in china are most cleaninkeenlye of our john does. gdp has just exceeded 300 u.s. dollars a ranking 104th in the world. uneven development remains a problem for many rural and remote areas which are still very poor. 35 million people are living on less than $1 per day, and 10 million people have no access to a trustee.

china is a developing country and it will take the strenuous efforts of a dozen generations before turn it can truly achieve modernization. to enable 1.3 billion people to live a comfortable life we must focus all our time and energy on development. we will seek a peaceful international environment to develop ourselves and at the same time contribute to the cause of world peace through our own development. this is the strategy of choice china has made. it is a choice -- in china's interest whereas the long-term interests of the whole world. a more developed tenant is an opportunity rather than a threat to the world. harmony without the same as has been a much-cherished value of the chinese people since ancient

times. the argument that a strong nation is bound to seek hegemony fines and a supporting case in china's history, and it goes against the will of the chinese people. china today is committed to a path of peaceful development. we pursue a policy that is defensive in nature and in a clear strategy solely for self- defense. we adhere to the policy of no first use of nuclear weapons at any time and under any circumstances. we have made the unequivocal commitment that will unconditionally not use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear weapons and the free zones. china's military development has a clear purpose, to maintain national security and unity and ensure smith economic and social

development. a more developed china will continue to treat others as equals and would never impose its will on others. china has always maintained that all countries big or small, strong or weak, rich or poor are equal members of the international community and must respect one another and treat one another with the quality. chun is diplomacy is guided by this principle. the quality we call for is not just the quality of reform. more importantly, equality in substance. allow us to embrace a diverse world with an open mind -- to do you must respect values and the independent mind of the development path of other countries, respect each other's core concerns, and restrained from interfering in their internal affairs. in the same way, china like any

country stick to principles reflecting its core interests. a more developed china will undertake more international responsibilities and never pursue self-interest at the expense of the interests of others. we know full well that in this interdependent world china's future is closely linked to the rest of your. interests are best served when we work together to expand, and interest, share responsibilities, and seeks win- win of comes. while focusing on its own development, china is undertaking more and more international responsibilities commensurate with its strength and status. and china has taken an active

part in the international cooperation on the financial crisis. we promoted the establishment of an asian foreign exchange board with $120 billion and signed with other currencies totaling $650 billion usd. we have cancelled the debt of 49 heavily indebted poor countries and provided over $200 billion rmb in assistance. chun has been actively involved in international peace-keeping operations as the largest peace- keeping contributing country in a permanent member of the un security council, we have altogether cent over 10,000 peace-keeping personal to 24 missions including over 2100

currently performing such duties. . . how should we read the changes our work has gone through in the past decade? the way i see it is this. as a multiple rarity gathers momentum -- as a multiple parity gathers momentum which represents the trend of the time becomes stronger than ever.

the destiny of all countries has never been so closely linked as they are today. multilateralism with national relations has won the ever greater popular support. there's also the other side of the coin. that is the impact of the financial crisis which is continuing and the prospect of the economic recovery are unclear. climate change, food security, public health, and other global issues have become more acute. nontraditional securities including terrorism, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and transnational crimes persist. when some longstanding conflicts remain unresolved, all of these codes great threats and

challenges to world peace and development. living in a changing world, we must see things in the lives of their development and seek solutions with a cooperative spirit. we should foster the cooperation based on mutual respect and equal consultations and safeguard the rights of developing countries to equal participation in international affairs. we should foster our interests which emphasizes mutual benefit's and common developments and advanced global progress and shared benefits. we should foster a security outlook featuring mutual trust, benefits, equality, and coordination, respect each other's security interests, and pursue security for all. we should foster an outlook on

civilization that encourages mutual learning and six common ground while reserving differences'. we should facilitate exchanges within civilizations and development models for common progress. we should foster an outlook on the environment that champions mutual support and a coordinated program to make joint efforts to preserve our common home. to promote world peace and development, it is particularly important that we probably managed to tackle the pots but issues and global challenges. that we -- that we promptly manage these. this warm ridge of this room is too warm. maybe we do not have such energy to have a belt well heated room. [applause]

i think the warm hospitality of my german friends. -- i thank the hospitality. tensions surrounding this issue have eased to a certain extent and there's now a new opportunity to restart the conversations and push forward the process. the korean nuclear issue is a sensitive complex and involves the interest of different parties. we must find a solution to this problem throughout consultation and political and diplomatic means. this is the only correct choice which serves the common interests of all parties. we must all work together to keep the dialogue going, demonstrate the conditions for

the continuation of the six party talks. the international community has able will look forward to the de-nuclear is asian -- de- nuclearization of the peninsula. secondly, afghanistan has made headway in its recent endeavors but faces its own challenges including the resurgence of terrorism, drug trafficking, and slow progress in reconstruction. afghanistan requires the arduous efforts of people in all sectors of its country and the entire international community. we fully support the afghan government efforts for peaceful reconstruction and for national

reconciliation for building a more prosperous afghanistan. as a neighbor, china and hopes to see a peaceful, stable, and independent afghanistan. we will continue to take an active part in afghanistan's reconstruction process to work with the rest of the international community for the realization of stability and development there. third, the iranian nuclear issue has entered a crucial stage. they're concerned with the overall long-term interest. the need to step up diplomatic efforts, stay patient, and it take a more proactive policy. the purpose is to cease so dialogue and negotiations can happen.

the non-proliferation regime needs to continue. china will make efforts with the international community to play a constructive in this is year. fourth, climate change. it is a major challenge facing the world today. a review of the history of the industrialization and shows that over the past 200 years and more on the developed countries with a combined population of less than 1 billion achieved modernization. from their region their modernization came in a huge cost of the environment. then presented an unsustainable model. we must have international cooperation to counter climate change. the copenhagen conference produced a positive outcome which was by no means the end of our endeavor.

it only signifies a new beginning. all parties should stick to the basic framework of the united nations convention on climate change, the kyoto protocol. the consensus shown in the copenhagen accord shows to me the commitment. the chinese government, for its part, takes climate change very seriously and we have adopted steps in this regard. china's car dioxide emissions were cut by 46% between 1990- 2005. -- china's carbon dioxide were cut. we hope to cut another 40%-45%.

we require a tremendous effort on our part. chinese government will honor its word with the real actions and do its best to achieve these tasks. mr. chairman, ladies and gentleman, this year marks the 35th anniversary of the above audit relations between china and the european union think to the joint efforts. china and the eu had a strategic partnership that is wide ranging and multi tiered. we have brought relations to a new starting point. china and the eu are some of the

most important economic trade partners for each other. we share a broad consensus on promoting multilateralism and seeking peaceful resolutions to international disputes. we need closer cooperation in addressing climate change and the global challenges. our common interests, our share responsibilities in international affairs are increasing. the foundation of our corporation is getting stronger. although these will lead a powerful boost to the china-eu relations. the chinese government places great importance on relations with europe. it is always high on the diplomatic agenda. we are pleased to note that with the lisbon trading, the eu integration process has entered into a new stage. we hope to see a europe that plays a bigger and more active

role in international affairs. we look forward to working with europe to find an even brighter future for china-e relations. to achieve such a brighter future, we must manage our relations from a strategic and long term perspective. we need to build on the progress that we have worked so hard to achieve and see to it that the relations are not obstructed by any individual incidents at any particular time. we must respect each other, treat each other as equals, and accommodate each other's core interests and a major concerns. it is our hope that europe will see china in a more objective and sensible light and recognize that china's development is not a challenge but an opportunity. we do not expect china and europe to see eye to eye on each and every issue and we need not be afraid of our differences. as long as we both embrace with

an inclusive spirit, we will have more consensus than differences, more mutual benefits than friction, and more cooperation which will be the defining fame of the china-e year relationship. germany is an important country with considerable influence in europe. -- defining the frame of the china-eu relationship. in recent years, china and germany have intensified communications at various levels and has set a mutually beneficial cooperation with response to the financial crisis. china-germany's ties have them -- have maintained dynamic ties in the face of the grave challenges. china and germany must bear in mind the long term interest to further enhance mutual trust.

china is ready to join germany in the common effort to elevate our partnership of global responsibility to a higher level. mr. chairman, ladies and gentlemen, the german military giant said,, "the individual is not enough." society [unintelligible] has been into the 21st century, we heralded the dawn of a new era full of hope and challenges. these represent the core of the day and offer the only viable pathway to security and development for all. china will work with other countries to advance, security and build a splendid future of prosperity and progress. thank you very much. [applause]

>> thank you. thank you. as i was able to say before the minister's speech, he has agreed to take a couple of questions. it now is the time to ask them. friends what? -- francouis? here is the microphone. >> thank you, minister, for an extremely thoughtful speech. the question i want to ask you is about an issue you hardly touched upon and that is american-chinese relations relating to tie one. -- relating to taiwan.

they have announced the conclusion of an arms sale to taiwan. those go further than similar measures which have been taken by beijing when previous arms sales were made from -- by the united states to taiwan. the fact that you're going further than you did in the past, is this the consequence of the china feeling stronger or is this the consequence of the arms sale to taiwan being considered bigger and worse than the previous arms sale since there is a long history of arms sales to taiwan? thank you. >> yes. china is coming from a place of strength.

we do not feel week in terms of social economic growth. -- we do not feel weak. i have been through this god knows how many times. central heating is very good. south of the yangtze river, [unintelligible] the government was not supposed to support a central heating systems out of the yangtze river. in china, now in the cities lives have improved and they have central heating or air conditioner. there are still many people who are suffering from colds.

most of europe, i would say most not all, if they were in china the government would not be opposed to provide them with central heating. i would not be so outrageous to say that if you would like to talk climate change with me to shut off all of your central heating so we are on equal footing. there are hundreds of millions of people in china during the wintertime that are having a quite difficult time. i hope there can be more mutual understanding. about the u.s. arms sales to taiwan, let me say that back in the 1980's there was issues about a joint communique that goes like this. the united states will gradually reduce its arms sales to tie 1 and will not exceed in quality

of -- qualitative terms. that was in the carter years. 4 billion u.s. dollars -- $4 billion u.s. to them. this is obviously in violation of the code of conduct and it is a violation between the joint communiques issued between china and the united states. i think the chinese people and government have every reason to appear in didn't about this. -- to appear indignant. the united states still went

ahead with the sale. of course the chinese government and people would have to react. we think it is our sovereign right to do what is necessary. the central question here is whether a country is feeling stronger or not. all countries, big or small, strong or weak, weak or pour -- rich or poor should be the same. before you make any decisions, would you like this to be done unto yourself? of course not. so i hope that our friends and people in europe can understand that what china has done is very reasonable and any dignified people would do this. i hope people would honor their commitments.

i, too, hope that the united states will change its behavior on arms sales and will be hot -- and will abide by the communiques and stop sales to taiwan which is actually having more progress together with us in a peaceful development across state relations. the united states supports the equal development of relationships across the state's. we urge them to do things which will contribute to the good developmental trend and not the other way around. thank you. >> thank you, minister. i know there have been a number of questions. i think we can only take one or two more. the next one on my list was from

new york. john? microphone? >> minister, could we talk about cyberspace? i know it is a confrontational issue. a lot of businesses are concerned about the common threats that we all face to the digital economy coming from increased cyber crime and other areas. i wonder if you could give us some perspective. >> to be quite honest, i do not want to offend the media and let me say one thing very clearly. i listened to chinese radio and tv news programs far more than i listen to some western media. i am the foreign minister of china. every morning i have to have solid news before i go into my office so i have to use every

minute i spend on news very carefully. i have found that i have more solid news from china's radio and tv programs. when i go into the office i feel quite confident that i have most of the news is not all. this is not saying that i do not watch western news, but i do and continue to do so. but i want to tell you is that the average man or woman in china are entitled to more extensive coverage of a news in every corner of the world than i am afraid some western media. this is a fact. they have all of the major information at their fingertips

like the foreign minister. every year, 50 million chinese go abroad for business, travel, tourism, and so on. every year, 15 million foreigners come to china. i hope everyone knows that the chinese people are well informed. the french foreign minister is not here, bernard. at the bottom of the eiffel tower you might hear lots of chinese. freedom of speech is what we advocate. the chinese people are well informed. they go abroad, they see the things around them, they compare what they have seen abroad with the things at home. of course, we still have a lot to learn from other countries including the developed countries. on the other hand, we feel quite

proud of what we have achieved. 30 years lifted almost the total population of the united states out of poverty. that is what china has done. we have given lots of aid to our friends abroad. i think for the developing countries commit the most important thing is to build up the social structure, the basic infrastructure, and that is what has helped to sustain the development in china. i do not know how come this google thing has come up. we are promoting a free exchange of information. yes, we are promoting freedom of speech. on the other hand, every company which comes to china or goes to

another country, they -- there are countries of different social systems. people have to respect a country's historical background, culture, and the traditions. the chinese government, as any other government, has the right to regulate according to what is in the best interest for china. that is what we have been doing. i hope the foreign countries, while they try to expand their business in china, they will continue to respect the public interest in china and the culture and traditions of china. yes, we are against hacking attacks. we have been a victim. china will cooperate with the international community. to that i want to say, this go golfing -- a this google thing -- we welcome international

companies coming into china. this has been a consistent quality for 30 years. the people who come into china basically do not regret doing so. those companies who took that path will never forget. -- will never reach that -- regret. >> we will take one more question. jim? make it brief. >> mr. minister, thank you for your remarks. i did want to follow up on the first question. it is not only arms sales to taiwan that has recently elicited a strong reaction from china diplomats.

china is also vigorously resisting new sanctions on iran. there's also the matter of the copenhagen summit where china was putting together a four country bloc that president obama had to engage with and was seen as a newly assertive. as a doctor european americans and indians, they do see a new, stronger china, but when you add in the currency management issue, do you feel this will produce conflict more than harmony? >> that is more than one question. [laughter] i am obliged to answer them. let me first talk about the copenhagen conference. china made its position very clear before hand. to other countries, india,

brazil, and south africa, the all made their positions very clearly. the necessity of maintaining sustainable development in their own countries while contributing to the efforts against climate change, yes, there is a base of countries. on the other hand, china has -- there is also the 77 plus one structure. it is not just the basic countries keeping more or less on the same wavelength. there are many others. the have complimented our efforts. this conference still leaves some big to be desired. we need to make concerted efforts to make the next

conference a bigger success. on the other hand, the conference has achieved something. it has reaffirmed unfcc and kyoto protocol for dealing with climate change because it has recognized that we have to continue to work on a two track way. in terms of long-term goals and technical and capital support to developing countries, controlling greenhouse gases from the developing countries have all of these achievements from the copenhagen conference. i think we have to continue along this track to make sure

that the next conference will achieve even more. china is ready to continue to make its contribution. let me say -- the question on relations with the united states. we will continue to exchange views with the u.s. we do believe that a stable, healthy, and a developing relationship between china and the united states is in the best interests of our two countries and in the best interests of the world. is there anything i am missing? any other questions? [laughter] oh, iran. iran, actually, was not part of my agenda.

it has emerged in many of my discussions. let me say again that china is fully supportive of maintaining the nonproliferation regime. on the other hand, we believe that a run on the basis of the ieae as the peaceful right to use nuclear energy and we believe this issue should best be solved through diplomatic means so as to maintain peace and stability in the gulfxd region. being in the middle east, we believe that a run has not totally shut the door -- we believe iranñr has notu totally

shut the door on a fuel supply to the research reactors. we believe it is important to have, under the p-5 plus one dialog. we have on the basis of the proposal put forward by the p-5 plus one and the package deal proposed by the iranian side some have a mutually acceptable formula can emerge. there are chances for us to explore. china's view is very clear to not complicate the situation. it is better for us to concentrate, have consultations,

and a dialogue so as to achieve a satisfactory solution. let me say that many countries see china as a force of peace and stability and development. we have one fifth of mankind. at least we deserve a chance to express our views on how things should be run in the world. what we're trying to do, like other countries, is to improve on the international mechanism on the ways to make sure that both the developed and developing countries will benefit from our cooperation in the future.

we are offering our years and we have immodesty to listen to others. there has always -- that has always been the tradition of china. i think we also deserve a hearing of one kind or another. i say this in a very humble way. if we are talking about equality, freedom of speech, we are not only talking about such attributes to a decent society on an individual basis but also on the basis of countries. one country, two countries, or three or four countries can definitely not decide the future of the world. china is not talking about that. china is talking about common interests. that should be the language we

all speak in the future. thank you. >> thank you, mr. minister. thank you. [applause] >> rep john murtha, chairman of the appropriations committee, died at the age of 77 today. on saturday, congress murtha he became the longest serving member in pennsylvania history last week with complications from gall bladder surgery.

>> in a few moments, the transportation secretary ray lahood on the toyota recalls. then, prime minister gordon brown is questioned on the economy and foreign affairs. tomorrow on "washington journal" guess john stanton talking about a proposed job bill, authored mark moyar, and historian richard norton-smith with the updated version of the book "whose in grant's tomb?" all of that starting with your phone calls at 7:00 a.m. here on c-span. we plan live coverage on wednesday of the congressional hearing looking into toyota recalls. the house oversight committee plans to look at the federal government's response.

weather permitting, that will be at 2:00 p.m. eastern on c-span. >> the proposed merger of comcast and nbc universal. that is tonight on c-span2. >> transportation secretary ray lahood clarify remarks he made last weekñi abouthe recent recall of millions of toyota cars and trucks. the house appropriations subcommittee meeting, he said toyota drivers should not drive their cars at all. there he said -- later he said they should take their cars in for repairs. this is two hours. >> the hearing will be in order. we have as our guest today cabinet secretary ray lahood from the department of

transportation. welcome, mr. secretary. welcome to the subcommittee. with other committee workings before, we are happy to have you back today. we're very happy to have you back again. i want to thank you for coming before us to explain the president's 2011 budget request for the department of transportation. your entire leadership is in place. during this time, the department has taken a number of steps to transform and modernize the transportation system, and in particular, the recovery act provided you with an opportunity to rebuild infrastructure and

transformative initiatives and new jobs. however this transformation has been hindered by complications that we traced last year, aviation authorizations, and the continued insolvency of the highway trust fund. with a purse step in developing the reauthorization in their proposals. given the national and long term impact in changes to the authorization, the administration must exert great leadership in this area. and i will look forward to seeing the products of your store. -- tour. we are producing our national debt and sustain economic growth that produces good jobs for the

american people. our challenge is to produce a bill that is fiscally responsible and yet does not stifle the momentum created from the critically important infrastructure investment that was made last year and will be continued to be made this year. the 2011 budget proposal before us request a total of $78 billion, roughly. i hope that is the largest difference that we have. i think your testimony suggested $79 billion, but we will not quibble about $1 billion. it includes a modest increase of $2 billion, a 2.5% increase from fiscal year 2010. the department of transportation budget request a significant new initiative. i am very pleased to see the inclusion of $527 million for

the livable communities initiatives, as you and secretary donovan testified last year that transportation and housing are inexorably linked but for too long have been treated in separate spheres. i look forward to hearing more about the department boss plans to improve coordination with other government agencies. additionally, i am a jew to hear more details about the infrastructure finance fund, which appears -- i am interested to hear more details about the infrastructure finance fund. the demand is emphasized for moving passengers and freight among multiple transportation

modes. within aviation, i am pleased that the budget request continues the administration's commitment to the air transportation system. this is vital to our efforts to accommodate growth in air traffic and reduce delays by increasing efficiency of the management of our airspace. the department must remain vigilant when it comes to the safety mission. the last time i was fatalities dropped below 40,000 was in 1992, which was the last time we face serious economic crisis. however, as the country's economy started to recover, americans saw significant growth in vehicle miles traveled, and we also saw steady growth in the number of highway fatalities. the latest figures show that i

would fatalities in 2008 were slightly above 37,000, the lowest level since 1961. americans are driving less because of our current economic downturn. when people travel more, the dot will remain focused on continued safety and improvement across the network. and in particular, the recent transit tragedy's in washington and other parts of the country certainly underscore the need for federal oversight for minimum safety standards. mr. secretary, we all know that you are entering a tough budget year. the infrastructure needs are great. many airports require basic maintenance. many communities are in need of additional highway capacity, and we must continue to seek alternative solutions such as high-speed rail that have the

potential to transform the transportation network. i express my sincere hope that under your leadership, we could focus on comprehensive approaches that reduce congestion and improve mobility in the last year you have taken significant steps and i look forward to working with you to maintain that progress for the fiscal 2011 budget. now, before you had your chance i will turn this over to my ranking member from iowa. >> it thank you very much, mr. chairman. -- thank you very much. i look forward to the hearing. we have a lot of work to do. welcome on this very snowy day. it is always a pleasure to see you here at the subcommittee. i will keep my remarks to the men among because we had a mere two hours to cover the $79

billion you have requested. we want to provide some oversight on the $67 billion the department received in fiscal year 2009 plus about $40 billion received through the stimulus bill which is about $270 billion were $2.5 billion per minute side guess we better talk fast. last year, we were facing bankruptcy in the highway trust fund, a lack of authorizations for the aviation programs, and a bleak economic and employment situation across the country. service and aviation programs, and a bleak economic employment sigil -- situation across the country.

we have a disturbing level of national debt, which we are all concerned about. i think we are all hoping some of the issues were going to be resolved last year. our states do not need another short-term repaving "stimulus" bill, and these bills will allow states to do the planning and the need for real highway construction and maintenance. i think we need a real bill that would be helpful to get the ball rolling, if the administration would put forth the bill on paper to bring forth to the congress. i don't think we need any more listening sessions. we've all heard from our constituents at home and in the states. so as we embark on a new budget cycle, we look forward to working with you and the department. i had the pleasure of meeting with a number of your administrators and assistant secretaries, which i appreciate

very much. i think we will of a good dialogue and resolve many of these issues. because we have such a short time with you today and a lot of ground to cover, the chairman is working on a schedule on a number of different topics this year. i like to make sure that we can get a commitment from you that we have the appropriate person from the department as witnesses as we look is these different proposals that are out there so that we can do our homework, and if we get that commitment from you, that is important. >> you have it. >> to do the type of oversight that we need. thank you very much, my good friend, secretary lahood. i yield back. >> mr. secretary, the floor is yours. user -- your complete written statement will go into the record but the floor's yours. >> thank you, mr. chairman, and am delighted to be joined by the

assistant secretary for the budget, chris, who has worked very hard with: the input in our budget together. thank you for the opportunity to discuss the fiscal year 2011 budget request. i've traveled to more than 30 states, 65 cities last year, and i have seen firsthand how much our citizens depend on a reliable transportation system to access jobs, health care, and other essential services. the president's request total $79 billion, 8 $2 billion increase over fiscal year 2010. the resources will support the top transportation priorities for safety on the road in in the air, making the community level and sustainable, and modernizing our infrastructure. safety is our number one priority it be it. distracted driving kills

thousands of americans every year, and it is critical we continue to lead the charge. we're seeking $50 million for the national highway traffic safety administration to develop incentive-based grant programs to encourage more states to pass laws prohibiting the unsafe use of phone and texting while driving through the president also asked for 66 additional personnel assigned to highway and vehicle safety issues in the area of transit safety. we're seeking $30 million to establish a new transit safety oversight program within the federal transit administration. this program will carry out a comprehensive safety oversight strategy by establishing common safety standards nationwide as envisioned in the administration's transit safety bill. this is an important step for for rail transit and industry which has suffered recent accidents in washington, d.c.,

boston, and san francisco. this is unacceptable and we must put strong remedies in place as soon as possible. i am urging congress to pass this legislation this year. transportation must not only opposite -- be safe but contributed little and sustainable communities. thank you for your leadership on this committee, and its focus on livable communities over the years. the president promises to -- we're seeking $527 million which will help the spirit together we're helping states and local governments make smarter investments in their transportation, energy, and housing infrastructure with better outcome for our citizens. our investment in high-speed rail has generated tremendous excitement around the country. it will go a long way to enhance mobility in many community.

we seek $1 billion to continue the $5 billion, five-year pledge that congress made in this budget. i want to thank you, mr. chairman, and the committee for your leadership on high-speed rail so far. $2.5 billion you provided the department for high-speed rail finance, combined with the $8 million we announced last year, brings us close to ushering in a new era of passenger rail service in this country. we must find new ways to fund infrastructure. we will establish a new finance fund. these first-year funds would be used to invest in multi-modal transportation projects that are crosscutting, based on funding, which will get away from the siloam mentality that has long hindered our ability to spot respond to local and regional needs.

the president proposes to continue current spending with $42.1 billion for highways. this request includes $150 million to enable washington, metropolitan areas of faucets, to develop much-needed improvements. it includes $1 billion for nextgen, to modernize our traffic control system. that is a 32% increase over 2010 levels. these bonds are essential for transitioning from a ground- based radar surveillance system to more accurate satellite-based systems. this is already in use in the gulf of mexico. we look forward to our success in this area. we're seeking $30 million to make more long-term investment improvements in the u.s. merchant marine academy spirit this has been a goal of mine

from the very beginning. i want to make the merchant marine academy and the others, we have wonderful students there, over 900. they work very hard. we want to make sure that the facilities are there for them to accomplish their academic goals. and we just completed a blue- ribbon report which will -- which we will be happy to give the committee which outlines the great details of the needs at the merchant academy, and the reason for the $34 million. a look forward to your questions. >> thank you, mr. secretary. we will follow the procedure of each of us and turned adding five minutes in a round of questioning. we now have one hour and 40 minutes to be able to do it least a couple of bryant -- round's write down the line. with that, mr. secretary, your

budget request includes, as i and you have mentioned, $527 million for the livable communities program. it increases transportation choice to integrate housing and land usage to transportation decisions. i am pleased to see that you were working closely with hud and with epa, and others, i understand. maybe you can say more about that in this effort. but i am curious, how actually -- what is your concept of how the $527 million that you are asking for here, which is a new item, important item -- how that is to be deployed over the period of the fiscal year for which we are working? >> we had a working group within

the three agencies, the staff that his work together to gather to develop plans for the use of this money. we've also traveled around the country and look at places -- look at places were governors and mayors have put together plans for not only livable communities but livable neighborhoods. when i was in one congressman's area and saw that the kind of transportation system that goes through neighborhoods, from downtown los angeles, to connect people to grocery stores and drugstores and good housing -- i mean, that is the kind of approach that we're really looking at in terms of where people want to live. some people may want to like to work. when i was in portland, ore., i saw over 100 people biking to work that day. there are all forms of transportation that americans

are looking for. we know that people are going to have cars. they're going to want to use their automobiles. but we also know that people want to get out of congestion. they want different forms of transportation, whether it is bus, light rail, walking, biking paths, and other opportunities. we're working with hud to make sure that the kind of housing a availability -- i would say that when we were in dubuque, and saw what they were doing in the millworks area, where they decided to come in with 1500 new employees, the takeover and old downtown department store and relocate these 1500 employees, and so what the mayor and the community leaders decided to do is to take this old mill work area and completely redevelop it. they are going to need transit and forms of transportation, so that people can walk to work.

these are the kind of innovative approaches combining our resources with hud in epa to create the kind of neighborhoods and communities where people can attract business, attract jobs, and create the kind of housing style and transportation forms that people really want. >> will this be a joint request from the three departments who have a role in this initiative? >> i think we will get to is looking at things that have worked around the country, and then making opportunities available for communities to want to attract new jobs, attract new business, and really create different forms of transportation. >> i have to comment, mr. secretary, the bicyclist that you saw, there were probably

2000 in the portland area. you go to copenhagen, some here may have been in copenhagen very recently, i very carefully checked into how they were dealing with their complex transportation system, and that roughly 2 million metropolitan area, they have about half a million coming in by bicycles than half a million by cars, and half a million by bus and subway. the bus and light rail system. there are ways that their systems were very well. >> let me just say, when i was in detroit on this trip, what congresswoman kilpatrick, we had a meeting with stakeholders. they wanted this idea of creating more options with

transit and bus. we're going to work -- they just elected a new mayor there. again, what -- our livable community would fit in with these kinds of things that they are talking about there. >> thank you, mr. secretary. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. one issue that has come before us -- the situation with toyota. i am curious as to what -- if you could tell us what the department is doing, are they equipped to investigate and find out what happened? is there a computer problem or do we know exactly? >> as a result of our investigation, we know that toyota has determined to fix for the pedal problem that has cost

acceleration. we also had complaints about the electronics. we will be investigating the electronic components that are in these cars to make sure that they are safe, and if they are not, to have toyota began taking not, to have toyota began taking a look at that. we are in discussions with tokyo that -- toyota every day about the safety issues with their automobiles. the reason that they are where they are at today is because of our investigations and at our meeting with them, and one in minister ever went to japan and met with the toyota officials and told them in no uncertain terms, you need to get onto this. we've got a problem. you need to fix it, find the fix. as a result of that meeting, that began to take seriously the fact that they had some serious problems. .

>> we have had some complaints about the electronics and these automobiles and that is why we are looking into it. >> are you getting cooperation from toyota? >> absolutely. >> is there any recommendation from the department? we are both from the midwest. when you get on slick roads, your car starts pulling through on ice. you slip into neutral. is there any kind of discussion about putting out information about its the accelerator 6 to put it into neutral and applying the brakes? can we publicly tell people how

to respond if they get into a situation? >> >> i think that divens has been put out. i have seen that, where they have -- ice have seen where that divens has been recommended. >> then you might lose braking power. >> we need to fix the problem so people will not have to worry about disengaging the engine or slamming the brakes on and putting it in neutral. that is really our goal. my advice is, if anybody owns one of these vehicles, stop driving it, take it to the toyota dealer, because they believe they have the fix for it. >> i appreciate it, and we will follow-up with you on that. it is obviously a tremendous safety issue for a lot of folks. getting back to the reauthorization, the current service program expires about 10

legislative days from now. is there a plan for the administration for an extension? >> we continue to ask congress to pass an 18-month -- we continue to try to find the money for that. we believe that gives us time to work with congress. the $48 million that we had starting a year ago has been well spent. it has put a lot of people to work, thousands of people. resurfacing roads and bridges. the president encouraged passing a jobs bill. it is not that the president does not want a robust, comprehensive jobs bill. it is trying to find money to pay for it. it is not that the president does not want a comprehensive, robust build. it is trying to find money to

pay for it. the 18 months gives us time to do that, and as we finish out this portion of our economic recovery and if the congress passes and other jobs bill, we have an opportunity to continue to make progress on these projects around the country. >> i mentioned in my opening statement about, is the administration going to put a bill forward to discuss that? i know last year there were discussions going on just about every day at the white house, this is on the people's agenda. there is a real urgency. obviously we are not there yet. >> we are working on some principles, and we will continue to work with the committee on these principles. we are not in much disagreement with what the chairman has written.

>> apparently my time is up. thank you. >> we will proceed in the order that people, members of the subcommittee came into the hearing room. ñi>> let me add my words of welcome. we are all scrutinizing the budget, and a couple of things caught my attention right away. the department's continued commitment to level committees and high-speed rail development. i appreciate your leadership in prioritizing these items, given the strange physical environment in which we are operating. as you well know, the high speed rail request builds on the finding that the congress provided in the recovery act. i was pleased to welcome our epa administrator, lisa

jackson, to during, north carolina last week to announce a major recovery act awarded to north carolina for further work on the raleigh to charlotte lead of the high-speed rail corridor. we have been laying the groundwork for this for about 20 years, but it has been slow progress. there has not been a substantial federal revenue stream, and we have now changed that. we feel like our own investments, our efforts in building up this route have been rewarded. we are well positioned now to make use of the federal funds to finish the job, to get the raleigh to charlotte corridor where it needs to be. 90 mile an hour speeds, something over just two hours of travel time between those two points. we look forward to making this a reality.

let me turn to another item, and that is the new starts program. this is another area where you have a broad vision and perspective to the department. i was happy to see the announcement last week that the department would alter criteria the previous administration had applied to this program. they will broaden the criteria used to it in by late new starts and transit projects. rather than emphasizing only the projects that would need a minimum requirement for decreased vehicle miles traveled, the department will instead put greater emphasis on other criteria. as one who argue that the prior policy was penny wise and pound foolish, i applaud you for taking this step. we are all aware that this new flexibility will still apply to

a finite resource, and the competition will be quite intense, maybe even more intense. it is still very important for states and cities to understand these criteria and how they can address them. another is an effort within omb to measure and quantify benefits such as environmental benefits. we need to make sure these measurements are as straightforward as possible and are related in the real world to the kind of development we want to incentivize and reward, and that we can undertake. i wonder if you could provide any further clarification this morning regarding these new criteria, the new measurements, and any other insight about the features you will be looking for and the projects that would fare best under these new criteria? what is the timeline for rulemaking on the new criteria?

>> thank you for that. you have said about as well as i could see it. the common complaint i heard during the time was being considered by the senate was, like did take 12 years to get a new start? back and forth on the economic aspect of it, without looking at other criteria. we made a decision that we need to look at the whole comprehensive set of issues, and there will be good competition for this. what will get is a lot of good, creative opportunities, and it will allow communities all over the country to compete for dollars for good projects, whether it is light rail or busts or inner city passenger rail, or whatever. and do it in a way that reflects the values of the community in terms of move ability, internal

opportunities. -- environmental opportunities. we believe it will get a lot of cars off the road and get people out of their automobiles and create opportunities in communities. you restated what we are going to be looking at. we are looking at a lot of different criteria. we think this enhances a lot of opportunities around the country and in a much shorter period time. it will not take 12 years. >> can you give some indication of how you are going to firm these up so the community's know what they are dealing with, and also the explicit rule making that he will undertake. what is the time line on that? >> we are getting started with it right now. we want to implement this very quickly so that when our budget is approved by congress, we can begin as quickly as we possibly

can. you have outlined what the criteria are, the changes we have made, and it is all very accurate. it is just a matter of implementing it as quickly as possible. >> you are doing a great job. just a couple of housekeeping matters. >> the statutory requirement that was in the bill is set february 17. it will probably be a day or two before that. >> i wanted thank you on behalf of the state of ohio for the money for the rail project. in 2008, i was one of the authors of the rail safety improvement act.

in that act, it mandates positive train control, of which i am a big advocate. it also indicates there is a baseline for routes and mileage. it will be effective as of projecting out through december 31, 2015. despite being cognizant, there are using the 2008 map. it may lead to over 8,000 miles on which there is no passenger traffic, being subject to positive train control. my question is why? >> i will have to get back to you on that.

i will ask our fra administrator to visit with you about this. i do not know. >> i would appreciate your looking into it. you indicated there would be $42 billion for surface transportation and $10 billion for transit. the highway trust fund does not the highway trust fund does not generate >> i believe the budget proposal calls for borrowing $20 billion from the general fund to fill the shortfall. further, it is my understanding that by taking that money, you are also a program to produce the contract authority to $9.50 billion which i know has to be disconcerting to some. editorial comment, the problem

with the stimulus bill was that it had some great stuff but overstar would tell you that over half the jobs that the administration is taking credit for creating came from a% of the funding and it was the stuff under your control. the other 92% sun created the other half of the jobs. the jobs bill that is currently passed the house and being considered by the senate repeats the same mistakes but it has 25% funding for things that will actually create jobs. 30% of the people are out of work. that is in the construction field. with no disrespect to the leadership from california, some people from california kid in there and it has all sorts of things that do not have to do with job creation. year feverishly to figure out a way to get this done, and despite a horrendous whipping effort by my leadership against the three month extension, they got 85 republicans to vote for

the extension and 84 against. on the belief that we need 86- year plan, i have to tell you, even though i have the greatest respect for you and the president, keeking this can down the road to march 2011 is irresponsible. this has to be worked out. it is not like suddenly some light bulb is going to go on after listening for 18 months. we will bring republicans to the table. i get that the democrats are scared because of some of the election results. they do not want to have a tax increase on top of the other things going on, but the fact is, it is time for leadership on this issue. it is irresponsible, in my opinion, to not deal with this. early in your tenure, you made

some observations about vehicle miles traveled, and i got the feeling you were summoned down to the white house and stopped talking about that, but it has got to be done. if we did this in a bipartisan way, will you help us down there? >> the administration is for an 18-month extension. we are going to work with congress on that, and we believe that is the best path forward. i can show you many places around the country where our economic recovery plan put a lot of people to work. a year ago, a lot of those people were on unemployment, did not have jobs, and throughout the summer and fall and even into the winter, they are continuing working on these projects and will continue for the next six months spirit >> despite my fondness for you, i respectfully disagree. when you look at the jobs created in the construction

sector, they work make work. people worked for a few weeks, and then they were out of work again. the unemployment rate in the construction trades is 30%. >> you mentioned earlier your visit to los angeles. i want to thank you for being there and for touring the metro goal line right whallight rail. it began one month earlier than scheduled. it adds to the record that it had of being completed on time and on budget without a loss of any time injury, even though the construction team amassed the safety record of more than 3 million work hours. we are very proud of that

project and we look forward to continuing to work in a strong partnership with you as los angeles continues to expand its rail network. >> is really a great project. it is a great example. i know you all worked hard on it, and it is a magnificent project for the people. >> we worked very hard to make sure that the community was involved in that project. the results were very positive. >> everywhere i go, i talk about that project, how you really put a lot of different neighborhoods together with affordable housing and stores. it is a magnificent project. >> in the fiscal year 2010 appropriations bill, it includes funding for the human intervention in motivation study, which is a comprehensive

education and training program for alcohol and drug abuse prevention in the airline industry. as you know, it was originally a substance abuse prevention program only for pilots. however, in 2010, i was very pleased that at my request, congress increased the funding for this very critical health and safety program to include a program directly for flight attendants. can you give us an update on the status of implementing these two programs? >> i expect to be releasing this very soon. it is being reviewed by my office and we are about ready to release it. >> do you have the idea, will it be this month? >> it will be soon. >> hopefully this month. last week the national transportation safety board held a hearing on the september 2008 metro link collision near los

angeles in which 25 people were killed. at that hearing, the board adopted recommendations that asked the federal railroad administration to require the installation of cameras inside all controlling locomotive cabs in order to verify that train crews are operating in compliance with safety rules and operating procedures. in responseñiçóñi to the recommendation, what are the it plans to promulgate these new u%i ;ors inside locomotives? ñiwhat resources do you expect they will need inñi order toñi y out these recommendations, and how will you ensure the safety and protect employees' privacy? >> we are looking at the ntsb ñirecommendations, and this goes to our number one goal at the department that safety is uppermost in our minds in all

forms of transportation. we will take very seriously the recommendations. i hope congress will take very seriously the idea that we are pushing a transit safety billçó ñith@v wexdñi think is criticalr our agency. the law prohibits us from getting involved in these kinds of safety activities with transit programs. we think we need that kind of çó-/ainvolvement. we are going to review the recommendations. that is the answer to the question. this will be a priority, and we will look for waysñi to make the systems safe. >> as you are well aware, hundreds of transportation agencies are facing an enormous deficit at this time. the shortfalls are often an operating funds, which leads to layoffs in transit agencies at

the exact time we are trying to stem the loss of good paying jobs in america. in los angeles county, the metropolitan transportation authority is facing a shortfall of at least 200 victim million dollars in operating funds at the end of 2011. --ñi $250 million in operating funds. what are your views on giving some flexibility to the use of federal funds, at least during this time of crisis, for operating costs for a transit agencies? is there something that you and the administration are willing to consider? >> when you all passed the omnibus, you included a provision that allows for up to 10% of the transit funds to be used for operating.

i believe it is incumbent upon us to try and be helpful in these transit systems. one of the ways we can be helpful is to allow some of the funds to be used for operation. it is silly to provide funds to buy buses and then we do not have the people to driveq them r to operate the system. it is a good use for some of the money to be used for operations. >> mr. carter. >> recently in my office, i have had a parade of people come in on projects that were part of the stimulus, were supposed to be shoveled ready and ready to go, and they bump up against in

purnell studies. -- against environmental studies. half a dozen projects have come in and said they are ready to go, but they cannot get the environmental studies done. they have a deadline have to meet, but in reality, txdot holds back, knowing they are overwhelmed. once you come out with an environmental study, the environmentalists take you to court. by the time you get to that process, you have to have another environmental study. is a circular process that is delaying the construction of highways in my part of the world, and from what i enter stan, around the country. if we could go to binding arbitration, rather than going

to the courthouse to resolve these issues once the internal studies have been done -- once the environmental studies have been done -- instead of bumping up constantly what some would call radical environmentalists. >> if you want to do that, you will have to do it legislative ly. one of the things we have to abide by, under the economic recovery, part of the legislation said we have to follow the regular guidelines for constructing roads or resurfacing. part of that is environmental

impact statements, which many of the states had completed all of these projects, and obviously some did not. if you want to seek that kind of remedy, i suggestion is it will have to be done legislatively. >> i understand that. i ask for your comment on binding arbitration, if we could get a statute written. i would like your comment on whether you think that is a good idea. >> i have not got enough about it, but i will think about it and give you my opinion on it. off the top of my head, i would rather not say something that later on i might not know enough about. let me think about it, and i will get back to you. >> i would like to have some other folks join me in sponsoring that type of legislation.

most of the high-speed rail is at the 110 miles an hour maximum. >> if you look at some of the regions, we allocated money to 13 regions around the country. in some of those regions, and in some parts of california and other regions, the trains will go faster than 110. is a matter of using some of the resources to fix up freight rail lines and amtrak lines. in some of these corridors, trains will be going faster than 110. >> but most of them you envision going on existing tracks? >> it is a collaboration between the freight rail and amtrak. some will build some new infrastructure, but the lion's share will use existing track.

either through the phrase or through amtrak. >> is their money available for studies to be done? >> we will be announcing some study money very soon. that was not part of the $8 billion, but we do have some money that we will be making available very soon for studies. >> recent study by a french real company says -- we are excited of trying to get that project going. ñi>>ñr we will be making thoseñy allocations very soon. >> i appreciate your comments. çóçóçó>> thank you for being he.

secretary. çóçó@@@@@@@@@ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ >> violations of rules and regulations and that sort of thing. could you just sort of palace, i would be surprised if you have not paid attention to that. >> airline safety is very important for us. we pay a lot of attention to it every day. our faa administrator traveled the country and held safety summons talking about the training of pilots on commuter airlines, fatigue issues, pay issues. we made some very strong

recommendations to the airlines on this, even before the ntsb report came out yesterday. we also are right in the middle of a rulemaking that will require airlines to do certain things in terms of training, in terms of pay, in terms of schedules, and those kinds of things. that is our job to pay attention to these things. we are on this. we know that there is a great concern. i met with families on two different occasions, so i know the heartache they are going through. this was a very tragic accident, but since that time, we have taken a number of steps voluntarily to get on top of this. we will have a rule making very soon on this.

>> thank you for coming to michigan several times. michigan is the epicenter of much of the economic stress we find ourselves in. a year ago you said at that table and talked about rebuilding communities and all of that. in michigan, we have been very happy with the support we have gotten. the recent neighborhood stabilization program, 12 cities came together in michigan and are now doing all those things, thank you for that. the chairman mentioned the tiger grants earlier. what is the status of the tiger grants? ñjyñ the statutory requirement s our before february 17. we will be right close to that date, and we are working with

the white house on the rollout of those. let me just say that your leadership in detroit, particularly, in the meetings that we had, and since then has been extraordinary. we will continue to work with you, your staff, the ñrírññiñcóñoc9ñiourçó @9m%qñin detroit in the next few days meeting with theñi mayor and meeting with theñi mayor and others to figureñie1ñiiáá= u$eçó kind of things that you all want to do their. there will be some good activity and some good planning that will continue as a result of the meetings that we had when we revers last year. on or before the 17th, you will be hearing the news about the tiger grants. >> on christmas, a young fellow came with a bomb on a flight that was about to land in detroit.

s. aviation manager, how close are we? that gentleman was not on any watch list. any update on that? >> those kind of activities are done more for a homeland security. our job at the faa is to work with airports and airlines. tsa is under the jurisdiction of homeland security. flying is safe. i can tell you right now, there are thousands of people in the air all over this country and all over the world. flying is safe. are there things we do? there are things we need to do. we will look at the ntsb regulations, but we will also continue to stay on top of these things, because as we know safety is most important.

thousands of people aboard airplanes every day and get to their destinations safely. that is something i want people to know. çóit is thanks to the fact that there are people looking out to their safety, whether it is through the airlines themselves. >> we appreciate hearing you say that. the other part is a high-speed rail corridor. the $8 billion just recently, and nowçó)i6 the 1i!illion in e bill. how does that fair today as we the apple? >> now that we have announced the $8 billion, thanks to your

committee, we have $2.5 billion in our appropriation bill. we hope to continue to work throughout the next several months to get that money out the door, particularly for those communities who felt that they were disadvantage because they did not get as much as they wantedçó;ñi. in believe we will be announcing some study money that some states need to do b.g.e. immediately we will be announcing some study money. america is getting into the high-speed passenger rail business, and we take seriously the fact that this committee added $2.5 billion in the appropriations bill. the president is requesting $1 billion in his budget, so we are on our way. high-speed rail is coming to america. i have had two conversations

with the governor of michigan, and we will work with them on this. >> you are way better in that chair at this year than last year. what a difference a year makes. ii commend you on your knowledge of transportation. >> thank you. >> mr. rodriquez. >> let me thank you for coming to san antonio and for reaching out throughout the country. we understand what the situation is in terms of transportation and the lack of it, and the fact that we look at other forms of transportation. i know you heard about port

santonio and the importance of freight coming into santonio. -- into san antonio. ñiyou got a chance to hear from our mayor as we planned for the future. i gather that is the same situation throughout the country. we know we do not have sufficient resources out there. i am hoping there is an attempt by yourself and the administration as we look at -- if it happens or not on a new stimulus package, trying to put these resources and transportation and infrastructure, and i would ask you to comment on that, if possible. i also want you to comment on the importance of safety on rail. i have a lot of small

communities where those trains are going through, and were used to have one train a week, now we have one or two today, and how critical it is to put the resources there, not only in rail safety and improvementsñi. >> safety is our number one priority in all modes of transportation. we have paid a lotúo] attention to what happened in california with the train wreck. some people were killed on the metro system. that is the reason we put forth this transit safety bill that we are asking all of you to pass, so we can really get into the oversight opportunity on these transit systems around america, which we have been prohibited from doing by law. someone needs to provide the oversight. that is the reason we put forth this bill. we really encourage you -- that

steps up and shows that safety is a priority on the rail and the positive train control rule that we have out is another example of how safety is a priority. the work we have done with our faa administrator stepping up, with the recommendations he made immediately after the helicopter hit the small plane over the hudson. the two arab traffic controllers were dismissed. -- the to air-traffic controllers were dismissed. ñiwe are notñiçó going to sit ad on our hands waiting for someone else to do these things. when we see violations, we will step up and take action. we need your help on this transit safety bill. >> let me ask you to follow up.

>> we still have to complete the work that was started with the first stimulus money. we are just about ready to allocate all that money. we were pleased that the president asked congress to pass another jobs bill that would provide us a substantial dollars so we can continue the progress we are making in putting people to work. >> as we talk about port san antonio for air and rail, we have a good number of 18 winners coming through there from mexico, coming and going. the importance of making sure the safety requirements and the resources being put in that area -- can you elaborate on that? >> every drug that comes across

is subject to very tough safety standards. our people are they are checking the trucks and making sure the drivers have the proper licenses and that the vehicles are safe, even though the mexican truck program was suspended. we still are doing our work and checking these trucks that come across the border. but as it becomes important that we continue to do that. >> first of all, i want to thank you for the excellent job you are doing and thank you for the hospitality you have always extended to me. as you know, the 20 miles of light rail we constructed has been in operation for one year. it has been a success. writer ship has succeeded all

expectations -- ridership has exceeded all expectations. today we are in preparation to extend the line east from the downtown area in phoenix and south. we think the south expansion and the west expansion will get to the people who will need the transportation because of their socio-economic level. we continue to work with the f t eight who is a great partner with us, and we thank you for the cooperation. hopefully february 70 that will have a chance to call you and thank you for the people mover. that is high on our list for the

tiger brands, and hopefully we can get that accomplished. people are working, and with the additional grant, we will add more employment. i wanted to talk to you about the livable communities that two or three years ago the chairman started this initiative. it is one we all support. every community is different. in the phoenix metro area, will have 20 malls and even within have 20 malls and even within the 20 miles >> even within these 20 miles, there are differences. i would ask that you provide

money for the planning and the studies. and there are areas that have been studied and looked at but in order to make them lovable, we need to provide grants to communities so that the actual, whether it be the small business creating jobs along with the affordable housing becoming a reality and with the economy of today, that type of grand -- grant given to the authority might be able to make this a reality. i do not know right now, you are going to create the office, but hopefully as this is being created that even within a light rail line, there are different economic situations so that the.

this occurred in phoenix. there was a large apartment complex, privately owned, that went belly up. working with hud, we were able to have the city of thinks they get up -- is city of phoenix take it up. that particular import -- a portenapartment unit is less th1 mile from light rail. it is projects like that that we have an interest in that we are looking for, that flexibility so that we can maximize the investment, expressly when you have light rail existing that will create the jobs and create the businesses and also make livable communities, so i make that request. >> first of all, your comment

about your a light rail. if you build it, they will come. that is a great example of it. i was there when that system got started, and i know it is exceeding the ridership that everyone thought. they are comfortable and affordable and deliver people where they want to go. on the livable community issue, we will certainly work with your folks to try and do things that will make sense for the neighborhood or the community. >> because of the economic situation at the state in arizona and the metro areas, the use of federal money to continue -- is a great relief. if you can continue that, we

would really appreciate it. >> i think that congress will continue it. it is important when it is hard to operate these transit systems. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. i apologize that i could not be here earlier. i thoroughly enjoy the time we spent together last year in new york. for you to take that trouble in your first year to go up there was really commendable. you were very supportive of the long-term infrastructure improvements, and the

administration was supportive of those programs. you know that the st. lawrence seaway is important not just to the region but to the maritime ports of the great lakes that depend on international commerce, including home town of toledo, ohio. in the 10 year asset renewal program, i note is not funded at a level necessary to ensure completion of the projects along the seaway. the budget included an estimate for 2011 of 18.4 million to complete the renewal projects. the submission received earlier this week only includes $15.7

million for 20 projects. there appears to be a gap there, and i have three questions. why did the administration reduced this the way asset renewal program budget by almost $2.8 million, or 15%? 3will the reduction require additional years to be added to the program, and finally, what reassurance is there that similar reductions will not be made to the program? >> my general comment is, when we were together, you know that we have a commitment with the st. lawrence seaway that is very important. i will let my budget assistant secretary answer the specifics, but i want you to know we are committed to the st. lawrence seaway. it is very important.

>> the request is $15.6 million, which would complete the three- year structural rehabilitation of the bridge that goes over to canada as well as upgrading locks, which is what they tell us they need, and that can be accomplished in fiscal year 2011. we continue assessing what they can actually spend, as their construction season is constrained up there because of the weather. mì(lc@&c+ is enough for their needs in 2011. >> the 2010 budgetñr included an estimate of $18.4 million for 25 projects. ñryour but jack -- your budget s only covering 20 projects.

you are saying that the seaway authority has said that they do not need that additional funds in 2011? >> they told us that is the funding levels they need for the projects they can undertake in 2011. >> when the department of transportation submitted its budget to omb, that is what the seaway administration asked for, or did omb cut it? >> i would have to review it. i do not recollect right now what the seaway authority asked for. >> i would be interested in any detail at your office could provide of which projects were anticipated in the prior budget and what has happened with your 2011 budget request. >> we will do that. >> again,ñliñr i am sure you mut

have asked about high-speed rail in your questioning. the first projects that have been identified by the administration will really not go into the northern corridor of ohio. did you cover that, steve, in your questions? >> i did not. >> where we really need the administration's help is in the higher speed corridor that would be pittsburg, cleveland, chicago, that has to go through indiana. for some reason, the state of indiana was not able to provide a match for planning in the northern part of indiana, and that has put on hold our ability

to move that high-speed rail corridor. they claim they did not have the match. perhaps the secretary could get to the bottom of this. as above got, i want to work with the hoosiers -- as a buckeye. the more traveled corridor will be the pittsburg, cleveland, toledo, a chicago court or, and we cannot do it without indiana coming to the table. >> i would say that indiana is interested in this project. we will be making some planning grant awards here very soon. we will be working with indiana on this. part of the dilemma in some of these states is the legislature was not able to pass the batch money. that was true in about three or

four states around the country. it is not for a lack of leadership on the part of governor daniels, but maybe the timing was not right. we are on top of this. we know is important. i will also tell you that the reason ther three c's was funded was because of the strong support from the governor and the ohio delegation. >> we will start the second round and continue in the same vein. mr. secretary, you had proposed here one of your big initiatives is the national infrastructure innovation and finance fund. this appears to be combining the

proposal for last year's in destructor funds beat the infrastructure funds that was proposed at that time for $5 billion. we moved some of that money around to do a bunch of other things including the money for tiger that went into the 2010 bill and such. the high demand for the tiger program has clearly been established by the response to that set of funding opportunities. it certainly demonstrates the great need for investment in the infrastructure, especially projects moving passengers and freight, including ports and rail and transit air and highways.

last year, we never got legislation for an infrastructure bank, and is not an authorized item. it is a major item. do you have a sense of when we will get a proposal for the infrastructure bank, as you have proposed it this year? >> i am not going to refer to it as the knife, but i will offer to it as the infrastructure fund. we will be proposing authorization language very soon, and we envision this. when you see the authorization language, it is an opportunity

to find all of projects including rail, ports, and maritime. >> does it plan to incorporate lessons you learn from the process of going through the tiger grant process? the lessons learned in that process, or they already being included? >> we have received a lot of very creative proposals from all rahm country. we have seen there is a lot of creative thinking, a lot of creative juices flowing. we think that what we would propose in an authorization bill

is a multi modal, taken from some of the creative things we have seen come in from around the country under tighter. -- under tigher. >> when people respond to a notice of funding availability, it depends -- the responses you get depend on the capacity on the part of the folks who are making those applications. some have very great needs and not very great capacity. others have a great deal of capacity to put forward and maybe have even stronger needs if they have that capacity. the heavy thought about how one takes into account that there are places that have great need but not so much in the way of capacity to accomplish that,