. . . delivering the commencement address at the u.s. naval academy. the headline from other newspapers, including "the wall

street journal" gulf coast tops the exxon velez. we will touch on the story for much of the morning and then later senator fred thompson will be joining us. let us look as some of the headlines, from "the boston globe." also from the atlantic journal constitution -- constitution -- the biggest in u.s. history. the present will be traveling down to the gulf coast later today. "the globe and mail in canada has" -- "the times picayune says" -- it quotes that louisiana fought for decades to convince congress that our state should get a share of the oil and gas wells be mined off our shores.

we are still waiting. here's more from the president's news conference yesterday. and we will also share some of the phone numbers -- let us go to the editorials. first from "the wall street journal." from "the new york times" this morning --

here's more from the president's news conference yesterday. >> this is going to be hard, not just right now, but it is going to be hard for months to come. the gulf, this spill, the gulf is going to be affected in a bad way. so, my job right now is just to make sure that everybody in the gulf understands -- this is what i wake up to in the morning and this is what i go to bed at night thinking about. this bill. -- the spill.

it is not just me, by the way. when i woke up this morning and i'm shaving and malia not on my dad from door and she peeks in and says, did you plug the hole up yet, dad? because i think everybody understands that when we are -- we are fouling the earth like this it has concrete implications not just for this generation but future generations. host: that is the subject of "the new york post" front page this morning. also from "the daily news" from the york, and "the wall street journal." brooklyn, new york, and the democrat line. good morning, caller. caller: the president is doing a good job. everyone should congratulate

him. he is doing a good job for the country. the oil spill is a disaster and i know he is to get everything under control. the republicans are supposed to stop blaming the president because he is doing his best and they can't just keep blaming him for everything. one point i want to make before i go. look at the banks that he bailed out and helped put the economy on track. everybody says he -- republicans, especially, they say that he bailed out the banks and everything and now he takes and he isank's, leaving bp to do their jobs. if he takes it over, they will say, look, he is going to take over bp as well.

give him a chance so either way they will blame him. host: we will get to more of your calls as well. you can join the conversation on line on our twitter page at twitter.com/c-spanwj. richard from new york of the republican line. caller: i did mr. obama is the worst president we ever had. -- i think mr. obama is the worst president. he should have been down there. the governor of louisiana was complaining and begging for help, and they completely ignored him. the same way they ignore the people of arizona. discriminated against -- they don't know the first thing about discrimination. they never had a water hose on

them, sicced on by dogs, but denied at a counter. we have people at rikers island to commit crimes, they don't get amnesty. these people are breaking the law. host: speaking of the governor jindal who will be with the president. "the new republic" has a profile and praise of his leadership. saying -- caller: i do want to make a couple of comments. conservatives seem to want less government until there is some kind of disaster that affects a corporation or the private sector, then we holler and scream and what not about why isn't the government doing something and that is usually

the democrats, why aren't they doing something. they could have done something years ago if they had stopped the ronald reagan idea that greed is good and restrictions on corporations are bad. the other thing i want to mention, i know a little bit about the norwegian system. they would not be have been hearing saying it is not our fault. they would require all payments right now for all of those hurt, they would require that they take the insurance companies of each one of those entities that are down there, which is they are not controlled by any particular sensible requirements for safety and that sort of thing. but at any rate, there should be no argument about who, about when or how they pay. they can argue who was most at fault after all payments are made.

host: these scenes are courtesy of the u.s. coast guard from the gulf of mexico. steve is joining us from whichway -- ridgeway, pennsylvania. caller: i am glad you lead with the headline, daddy, did you plug the hole? it is more of trying to propagate the whole camelot fame. right now, yes, it is nice there are young kids in the white house. but to use that as part of the political fodder to me is a crock. i hope, i pray, that this country continues to wake up and show our elected officials in washington in the polls and during election days that they don't control this country, we do. and it is going to be a long, hard lesson for some of these guys to learn and i would certainly like to see more information and stories about

joe sestak, how it unfolds. host: a couple of pieces this morning in the paper and we will get to them. carolyn has this comment on the twitter page to an earlier caller from wisconsin -- next -- palm bay, florida, on the republican line. caller: i don't know what the last caller was talking about mentioning the child in the white house. but what i don't understand is, yesterday, a democrat by the name of -- i can't really remember his name -- host: running for the u.s. senate, democrat from louisiana third district. caller: was breaking down and crying over the situation. i think back to katrina and i cannot remember one person breakdown and crying about actual people suffering and dying and nobody said anything.

there was nobody out there saying the response is too slow. i know the truth. i see what the reports were. the obama administration responded -- at least the coast guard, within 24 hours. but we had people actually dying the lost and nobody said anything and that is what i wanted to say. host: thanks for the call. we continue to monitor the scene from that other cable networks as well, from about a mile down in the gulf of mexico. these pictures, for a while yesterday the top kill effort was halted so scientists and engineers could monitor what was coming out. again, bp officials are saying this is mud. they expect to know as early as tomorrow whether or not the entire effort has succeeded. work continues on the two relief wells that would also permanently block the well down there. but concrete is ned -- is the next step to be placed inside the well to permanently shut down the league that began on the 20th of april. a couple of stories, this from

"the financial times." mystery over the crew's reaction time. and inside "the wall street journal" -- there was nobody in charge. one of the victims, 28 years old, his chow just born two weeks ago. his father testified. >> lack looks -- reckless acts

performed to try to make the most money the fastest will never be deterred by the payment of near compensatory damages. payment of punitive damages by irresponsible wrong doors is the only way they may learn. these businesses -- make money. punishing them by making them pay some of that money to victims who suffer most is the only way to get their attention. if you want these companies, one of which is headquartered in great britain, another in switzerland, to make every effort to make sure their employees don't act as these did it, putting american lives at risk, you must make certain they are exposed to payton -- paying, and only way they can feel it is their bank accounts. as a friend recently said, make them hurt where their heart would be, if they had a heart.

host: testimony yesterday. again, live pictures courtesy of the bp web cam. "usa today" diggs into some of the editorials today. a gusher of political gamesmanship. only good thing that could come -- moving us away from addiction to oil. caller: i just find also just amazing that everything just boil down to politics. i personally believe the government could have done a better job, but at the same time, there was a panel on fox news -- 60% more dissatisfied with the response but with bp,

75% were discussed at their response. you don't want the public sector, the government is bad, and you want the private sector, that is even worse. it is just a bad that people want less regulation, less oversight and it is always about corporations having more power and look at what happens. the clip you just paid with the family member that died, it is just sad and i think -- look at what was going on with mms under the bush administration and letting people get permits when they should not have and playing closing to the oil companies. i think there has to be more regulation, more oversight, and i think the government could still do a better job but to say last is the answer is just hypocritical. host: thank you for the call. also from "the washington post" is this editorial.

karen ball one covers the president for winter's new service. thank you for being drawn online. did the president clear up any confusion at the news conference in terms of who is in charge, controlled? guest: i think it is very clear he shifted his message. he shifted his message. his message and his administration's message up to that point would be that we have a boat on the neck of bp and we are pushing them to solve the problem. the rhetoric has been very months one of bashing bp and saying they are voting them accountable. yesterday the president said i am responsible, and that message came across loud and clear from the white house perspective. host: what kind of planning has gone into today's visit to the

gulf coast? he was there a couple of weeks ago. the weather hampered a lot of what he was expecting to see. a lot has changed. guest: that's right. when he went there on may 2, the oil had not started showing up on the beaches yet and he did not see -- he had deceived the slick itself on a helicopter tour so it was windy that day, and he went down there and had a briefing with officials and he met some local fishermen and he talked about the problems that were facing with the loss of their livelihood. today, he is also going to be meeting again with thad allen and other officials. he will make a statement. he will also again be talking to local people about how they are dealing with the impact. host: one of the moments that have been getting a lot of attention in cable chatter has been the president saying that he just found out yesterday

morning that elizabeth birnbaum has resigned as head of mms. your reaction to what the president said and the commentary since. guest: the president was a little bit unclear about whether she was out right fired or she resigned. my take on it, it does not seem to be the president's style to want to publicly humiliate somebody by saying, yes, i fired them. but i think the administration was pretty clear in putting out the message that she was forced out of the job. in fact, the president himself said he wants to make it clear that excuse making at the highest levels will not be tolerated and he did make it clear that he was unhappy with the pace of progress at mms in dealing with corruption. host: what do you think the story will be from today's visit to the gulf region? what does the white house want to accomplish? guest: clearly underscoring that

the president is personally involved in this. as i said before, i think the blaming bp and the bashing bp gave people the impression that the administration was maybe the administration was maybe distancing itself a little bit from the spill, and that seemed to backfire from men. -- for them. i think he wants to show a hands on response. i think he wants to show that he understands how devastating it is for the people on the gulf region. and also through the briefings, that he's got a real grasp of what is happening and he is on the case. host: will you be traveling with the president? are you in washington today or traveling to louisiana? guest: i am in washington today. i was on the may 2 trip but not today. host: and fewer press travel with the present because of the cost. guest: that's right. host: thank you for being here.

more editorials, this from "the wall street journal." another twitter comment -- joining us from houston. good morning to you. caller: how are you? host: foreign, thank you. caller: i think president obama is doing the best that he can and i also think no matter what, he just can't win in this situation. if he would have jumped in there with a lot of help from the government and everything, it would have been, obama is rushing in with the government to help the big oil companies, it would have been that, and the

taxpayers are footing the bill for it. him. t blame kind of separating himself. yes, it is backfiring down, but there is no way he could have won, to me, the republicans idea is just to sabotage the presidency. and also the last thought i have is -- independent, republican, democrat, we need to come together and try to help this president and when we help our president, we help our country. host: thank you for the call. this from "the new york post." several quotes from the hour- long news conference. meanwhile, nrsc, national republican senatorial campaign committee, released a new ad. here is part of the spot. >> the white house appeared to be tone deaf -- eta -- new york city for a fund raiser,

democratic senators, get on a plane and drive to california to have a political fund-raiser in san francisco. >> barbara boxer, what are these people thinking? >> either being stupid, arrogant, or ignorance. >> it seems like lackadaisical -- it seems like they are inconvenienced by it. it is not going away. >> the president scares' me. acting a little bit like vatican observer. when is he going to do something? >> he has always been detached, removed, not a guide to show up and say i'm in charge. >> the president has to come down here -- he could been involved with the families of these 11 people, could have demanded the plan in anticipation. he could be deploying people to the coast. the corps of engineers and the coast guard -- these people are crying and begging for something down here and it looks like he is not involved in this. man, you got to get down here and take control of this and get

-- take charge to get this thing moving. we are about to die down here. ♪ ♪ >> leadership and red tape. the words, never again spoken so often. host: a three-minute ad by the republican senate campaign committee. doug has a twitter comments. front page this morning of "the houston chronicle" not only has the oil spill and a ban of offshore oil drilling that is limited over the next six months, but this story, but tells the tropics may bring many more storms. this is based on a report issued yesterday by the national oceanic and atmospheric administration, as experts predict a busy hurricane season. as many as 23 named storms, 14 hurricanes, and seven major hurricanes.

last year we saw three hurricanes. the story this morning, from page of "the houston chronicle." bob from salem, oregon, republican line. caller: this is bob, how are you doing? i'm from boston and now live in oregon but i worked with mit. the alvin was able to go down to 1 1/2 miles to look at the titanic. you will agree with that. ok. 18-can't they get something 20 inches thick, 20 feet in circumference and a bowl with a pipe, let where it on top of it, seal up, and open the pipe and bring it to the surface? what is everybody missing here? you put a big don't over its -- because of those pressures at 5,000 feet, you put a big dome over it, 18 inches of steel faugh with a chimney on top, put

it on top of this bill and bring it up to the top? and i missing something? look at the top of the capitol dome of, put it on top of the oil spill, the leak, -- host: i am not an engineer. there are 22,000 people down there and over 1000 vessels. i know it is something that was talked about yesterday at a news conference as well. thank you for sharing your engineering inside. another comment from sasha -- next call is john from phoenix, the morning to you. democrats line. are you with us? caller: thank you for taking my call. first-time caller. i was just wondering if somebody

could weigh in on the possibility that if the oil leak is not fixed, is it going to continue until it dissipates all of the oil and does anybody know how long it would take? host: thank you for the call. the front page of "the new york times." analysis from peter bakker. regret, mixed with results. he says -- next to that is a story that we have been focusing on yesterday

on the house floor, the house votes to repeal "don't ask, don't tell." in a breakdown of the vote, it passed the house to 34-194. 229 democrats and five republicans voted in favor after an emotionally charged debate. the measure put forth by congressman patrick murphy, a democrat from pennsylvania. opposed was 168 republicans and 26 democrats. the next call is glenda from pompano beach, florida. caller: good morning. thanks so much. host: thank you. caller: it is about time for our president to be concerned about the gulf after so many days. 30 days. and instead of going to the gulf like he should have done, he decided he would be involved with the duke basketball team. he needs to be more concerned about his responsibility on the coast, the people down there are

suffering and he needs not to being worried about a basketball team and duke. host: let me just say. i am not here to defend the present but it is a longstanding tradition for every president to meet with teams in -- it caller: if there is not an emergency, i guess that would be fine. but this was an emergency and he should have been -- he needs to be where he -- in the emergency. host: "of the new york post" also has a story about the website that we and other cable networks have been showing you. they plan to pull the plug but they kept it up, following pressure from congressman ed markey. he argued the public has a right to see what has befallen the environment. bp did not return the call for comment. this is what looks like, live the strain. angela, joining us from cape cod, massachusetts.

good morning, independent line. a caller: thank you for taking my call. i'm very concerned about this. i believe timing is everything and when that explosion happened and that will then call for help, i think the federal government's years should of been drawn up and said, you know what, this is a big disaster in the making, what can we do? call bp. this was just a foot dragging on our government's behalf. i am not blaming everybody but somebody needs to be taken to task for this. bp did not have any oversight. the government -- when they permit, they need to have some inspections. before we even permit anything off shore, there should be safeguards in place. this should never have occurred. this is really as it -- a disaster. we have so many scientists in this world and no one can do a good job about making sure that these things are safe? i am very concerned. the people on the gulf coast, i

feel very sad for them. and by the general -- bobby jindal, 24/7, he is there night and day trying to protect the environment and wetlands. what i am disappointed is the army corps of engineers not giving him the go-ahead to put those birds in. host: this is a story that you referred to in the photograph -- 23-year-old who called the may day. mystique -- the piece is called, there was nobody in charge. if follow-up to an earlier caller -- kenny is joining us from virginia. caller: good morning, sir. yes, this is a very disastrous situation and it is hurting our

people who fish and stuff, our economy. also doing that, knocking people out of jobs. but three days before this explosion on this oil rig, halliburton and a lot more were working on this and it just seems like to me somebody threw a monkey wrench in the wrong place. we are having -- everything going to be destroyed by oil but people can't go out on beaches and vacation and stuff. the biggest part, though, is, they say the president never really got involved. he let bp do what they thought was best first before he jumped in on that company. he did send national guard -- not the national guard, but the coast guard, had offered to send more federal help. but they are the ringleaders of it all. i just have to say that in the long run, as far as, like i say,

halliburton had a part in this. they were the ones who were supposed to have the seal on this. the new british ocean and then you have, -- and bp. i will tell you from history, david dwight eisenhower when he was president, dick cheney for started into office and he ran halliburton ben and he can say he does not run it now but still runs it now. it's good joe has this comment -- "atlanta journal constitution" the frontpage. also from "the miami herald" -- the loop current could affect the florida keys and possibly move up the east coast.

a political story, front page of the hartford courant, blumen fall -- blumenthal keeps his lead. more from the news conference as he talked about responsibility, where it lies, and what happens next. >> the thing the american people need to understand is that not a day goes by where the federal government is not constantly thinking about how do we make sure that we minimize the damage, close this thing down, review what happened to make sure it does not happen again. in that sense, there are analogies to what happens -- to what happened in the financial markets and some of the other areas where the crises happens. it forces us to do soul- searching. i think that is important for

all of us to do. in the meantime, my job is to get it fixed. in case anyone wonders, in case you're wondering who is is responsible, i take responsibility. it is my job to make sure that everything is done to shut this down. it's got a couple of comments from the editorial pages. -- host: it couple of comments from editorial pages. a president best suited to ceremony. in essence of what he said yesterday and some of his predecessors, including mr. nixon's assurance i am not a crook and clinton's assertion that he was still relevant during the list -- monica lewinsky scandal. from our twitter page --

caller: jim on the republican line, hamilton, montana. good morning. caller: good morning. well, kind of good seeing everybody is paying attention and everybody has their opinions, which they are entitled to. i think one of the reasons why everybody is so angry is because they don't see any common sense or creative thinking for problems. that is why we see the public behaving the way it does. but with the oil gusher going, if they can't get it stopped, i thought as far as that, a really small nuclear explosion next to where the oil comes out of the whole because it would be at such a high temperature it would hopefully now all of that sand and soot down there and it would

close up the event. just another little guys' idea. at a memorial day. host: thank you, jim beard you, too. "washington times" has obama cancelling the gulf drilling project. and the front page of "the hill" with the president saying it is my responsibility. and the politico features that on its front page -- gusher of top members of congress cannot cap well but sure can hold a hearing -- or five. jamie from lexington, ky. good morning to you. caller: i would just like america to wake up. i am appalled by the media because all we get our opinions. congress writes the laws. what could the white house do? what could the white house do? they don't have the expertise

for the deep sea drilling. they don't have the expertise. sure, there is corruption all through the federal government. coziness. all through the agencies. and congress wants to point fingers every time things come to a surface and crisis. the financial crisis, this oil crisis, with the coal miners, that disaster. it just goes to show that they are not looking out for the welfare of the american people. there is too much money floating around in washington and we have to get it out of there. thank you did host: "richmond times dispatch" -- golf spill is the nation's worst. front-page of "times picayune"

in new orleans. above that, this editorial. louisiana needs its fair share now, mr. president. we are being asked to call our collective breath until 2017 for some of the revenue, when their revenue-sharing measure is adopted in 2006 takes full effect. effect. the associated press indicating that it could be this weekend before bp knows its latest effort, the so-called top kill, has been successful in stopping the well. it points out the company using the procedures so far says it is going well. although some blood is escaping from a broken pipes. you can see from the line with

canned. of the six ways and "isn't ideal but not necessarily indicative of a problem." zak is joining us from arlington, texas. democrats line. caller: good morning to you. i hear these people, they are not making any sense about this. anywhere the president of the united states goes, it is a huge production. you've got security, you got airplanes, you got cars, everything in the world, to try to keep the man safe and it creates a huge bottleneck wherever they are. bush said it himself under katrina, he said he stayed away from as much as he could because it just creates a problem when he goes down there. that is why he got so much grief when he was in the sky and looking down on katrina because he did not want to be on the ground creating a problem. as far as the business with the berm or the levee, i heard the

incident commander say the other day that it would take an estimated one year to build that thing, so it is not going to do any good now or three months from now. it is just going to be a mess and be in the way of people trying to clean the oil up. the navy does not have the equipment to go down and do this job. they have two subs not equipped. they have nothing for a particular spill like this. i real disappointed in the american vdot sorry the arctic in this point of view. host: another viewer on the twitter page -- two stories from "the washington post" paul king talking about congressman joe sestak. his brother has been talking to the white house.

saying thursday his brother has spoken with white house officials about a congressman's allegations he was offered an obama administration job if he would stay out of a democratic senate primary. the president saying an announcement could come soon, possibly later today with a statement on exactly what happened. inside "the washington post" -- the president is skipping arlington national cemetery this memorial day. instead he will deliver remarks at able to live in's cemetery just outside of chicago. -- able hillingdon's cemetery. but it points out he is not the first to mr. severability. ronald reagan spoke at west 0.1 year and went to his rich another, george herbert walker bush, a war veteran, did not going off, and clinton, who had a rocky time with that military,

went to arlington all eight years. silver spring, maryland, republican line. caller: i want to say that i think the government -- let the private sector solve its problems. if the government was to step in and take over like we took over in bail out the banks, would we be in the same position, having spent all this money in supporting the big banks? this is the principle of less government and let the private sector solve their problems. let us stand by the principal, less government and let the private sector saw their own problems. let us not bail them out. that is what i have to say. host: thank you for the call. host: thank you for the call. in "the washington post"

president obama tried to show he is in control of this bill. david is joining us from oklahoma, independent line. caller: i have a solution for fixing the well down in the gulf. i did not vote -- no who to contact. but i friend of mine, we talked about that last saturday. he worked on high pressure wells up in nebraska where they had a blowout. they tried to come drilling mud and they just blew the mud back out. down here in oklahoma i worked in polling units and service the a lot of wells and i had seen similar types of incidents in high pressure wells. there is a solution. take explosives, put them on the end of the pipe. they know how to do that. put it down there and collapse the whole with the explosion and it is supposed to work.

it worked up in sidney, nebraska. they have not experienced a problem before. but a lot of people -- the old timers have all died. i am 67 years old and i am relatively young and there is just not a lot of drilling in the united states, so they really don't train a lot of men. they just don't have it. they don't have the experience. but some of these guys out there -- and i think halliburton and some of these guys will take bp for a ride and will use the jump shot next, and i did not expect that to do any better than what they are doing right now. host: thank you for the call did another twitter comments g-8 thank you for the call. another twitter, and -- although we should point out

this is the president's second trip. two headlines -- obama orders a halt to drilling as bp fights to contain the oil spill. and this is from "the baltimore sun" -- gulf oil spill is the worst in u.s. taxes. texas, good morning. caller: but think of it is, even though congress and everybody is held a responsible for making the laws, they would have to have people that have engineering experience to be able to make the proper laws to avoid such a spill in the louisiana. that would have never happened. host: ok. thank you for the culprit one other twitter comment -- thank you for the call. another twitter, it -- one other point -- thad allen heading up that effort in the gulf coast, a former commandant

of the coast guard. a tucson native -- profile story in "the washington post." was a retired coast guard chief petty officer and graduated in 1971 at the academy where he was a linebacker. george w. bush gave him the top coast guard job back in 2006, putting him in charge of the largest component of the department of homeless security but almost 90,000 active duty guardsman, civilian, and reservists, as well as volunteer workers. the story, page a-22 of "the washington post." garland robinette, a well-known radio talk show host from the orleans. it is may 28, wore a weekend coming up. don't turn that dial. we will be back. >> the coast guard and minerals management service are

conducting a joint investigation into the gulf of mexico oil spill that began with an explosion and destruction of the deep water rise and offshore drilling rig. that public hearing continues this morning near new orleans. investigators will hear from survivors of the accident about the rick's condition, the crews qualifications and emergency preparedness. live coverage on c-span 3 at 9:00 eastern. >> clay was in the parlance of today, a rock star. >> sunday, david and jean heidler, speaker of the house, senator, with a party founder, henry clay, on q&a. >> " washington journal" continues. host: joining us from new orleans, garland robinette, well-known radio talk-show host on wwl. thank you for being with us. guest: my pleasure. if this had taken place along --

host: would this have taken place in virginia are delaware, with the response of the different? caller: we all know it would have. louisiana -- guest: we all know it would have. louisiana at is not considered part of america. we have 30 percent signs of your lifestyle, 30% of your energy. when the wetlands that you keep hearing about sink, which they are, and the way, you have 30% oil on top. they don't been too well. you will be in big trouble with energy. we tried to tell you this said katrina, but we've got a very small congressional delegation, good people, but not a lot of power like most. we will lose a seat in the next census, lose a congressional seat. so, the bottom line is, of course, absolutely. host: the editorial in the front

page of "the times-picayune" saying we want our fair share, being louisiana. what is the issue? why hasn't your state received the revenues that that newspaper and many in your town believe you deserve in terms of the oil drilling? guest: it is beyond bizarre. we had a district attorney as far south as you could go, and i think it was harry truman -- i could be corrected there -- who said to him, we will give you a certain percentage of your oil because we started the offshore drilling and he said, no, we would more, and truman said, guess what, you will get less. today we get less than 10% of every thing we send -- wheeling, colorado, utah, new mexico, texas -- 50% of all of the drilling on all of their federal

lands, we get less than 10%. so, we get punished for something that happened 75 years ago. host: is this an opportunity for louisiana to get money that many feel you deserve? guest: yes. if america ever wakes up and gives it to us -- i tell you the truth, i got my doubts. when you talk to congressmen and senators who are not from here and you say, where do you get off giving us all of the risk? gov. schwarzenegger does not with the black goo we stop on his clothes, robert kennedy, jr., this not once even windmills' off the pristine coastline of hyannis port, senator bill nelson of florida does not want the black goopy stuff on his speeches, but we get the risk and we give you your life style. because if you don't have our 30% of oil, i tell ou, you are

cutting off the lights. and that is not a crazy radio talk-show guy talking, but that is pure facts. host: if you live in texas or louisiana or mississippi or alabama or in the pensacola area, along the gulf coast region, we have a line set aside. we especially want to hear from you. garland robinette from wwl will be with us until 8:30 eastern time. we continue to monitor the scenes from bp. when you look at the scenes, what do you see? guest: devastation of culture for us. i did 20 years of tv anchoring starting in the 1970's and i ran into a phd in it jollity and petrochemicals and hydrocarbons

-- phd in geology and petrochemicals. he said to me, what do you think about the loss in the wetlands? i said, was the wetland? it was a swamp to me. he took me back in the office and showed me u2 photographs from the spy planes that showed me the disintegration of the gulf coast. i went back. i was horrified and i said, wait until everybody hears about this. every year, starting in 1970 to 1986 -- i traveled the world, went to virtually every continent and covered wetlands and how to manage and what to do with it, telling people that it is going away and once it goes away we lose virtually all seafood, are cajun culture, everything that south louisiana is known for. by 1986 the manager of the tv station said, we cannot say --

received one call, one letter, anything, and people think we are not. we used to take film and shoot the city from a high rise and we would the water up to the roofs and telling people if the wetlands the way, new orleans would drown. a lot -- i was considered global do not and a crazy man. it all came to pass. and ironically what i have been predicting for years about the wetlands is coming true now because of the oil and receive the world horrified. we have known for a long time, the oil is eating it up. and incidentally, this is what none of you believe. let me take california, florida, it anywhere in the united states and let me put a sinkhole in a football field anywhere in you will track -- attract the media. let me do two, national media.

10, worldwide media. we have won a football field that disappears every 30 minutes and it is your energy, and you are oblivious, uneducated or more -- we don't care. my point to the rest of the united states, if you don't want the black to be stuff on your beach, give it to us. we've got all of the risk. with 30% of the energy, we would be one of the richest states in the country and you would not hear from us. we could only take care of ourselves. it's going to hear sarah palin and others -- host: when you hear sarah palin and others saying drill, they drill. guest: so ironic, another way, another place, the american people are not educated. liberal, conservative -- they stay with it regardless of the evidence. the fact of the matter is, i have done five years of alternative energy. i was talking about hybrid car

is one year after katrina and aggravating the heck out of my audience. i drive a prius and my wife drives a lexus hybrid. we have done $50,000 worth of conservation in our house. we are putting solar on the roof and it does not amount to a hill of beans. alternative energy is 3% of the energy in this country. if barack obama puts billions into it, he will raise it may be to 10%. that is still 90% of coal and oil. if you decide you don't want to drill anymore because of the black boobies stuff, you better go get educating -- blacks goopy stuff, but you better get educated about the products and what to do, start eliminating their use. small things like refrigerators, cars, phones. you name it. they are either petroleum or coal energy products that you

love but you don't want the product that gives them to you. it is either a product of ignorance or denial. host: garland robinette, a native of louisiana, radio talk- show host, former television reporter and anchor in new orleans. angela from new orleans. democrats line. caller: angelo. host: sorry about that. caller: you do us proud. the only thing left -- i grew up fishing, back in st. bernard. i tell you, i see the oil in the grass and i want to cry. it is more than a sad. it upsets me big time.

the drug use -- dredges are here. all of those islands they built, although dhabi and all that, do know they make that d redge in louisiana? and we could not get the berms. keep up the good work. you do good. guest: i hate to tell you -- i think we have all the proof of the world that we are not in america, not in south louisiana. we really are not. you would not sit and let half a state with hundreds of years of the most unique culture -- sorry, the united states, we have stuff you never dreamed of having and never have, it is just where we live -- we can't be a part of the united states because you couldn't give us no attempt in helping ourselves

after katrina -- don't get me wrong, a lot of it came down here and we are forever grateful and talk about all the time -- but still, we are treated in particular by the administrations, political administrations, i call the ants -- t republic demodon't and republican'ts. weast to be part of america, we really did. we have all these politicians to come down here for photo ops but the bottom line is, if this is the bottom line, come to think of it. america that is watching right now -- trust me on this -- these have been two gigantic catastrophes in the state. you tell me, the united states

of america's ability to handle catastrophe. for get louisiana. forget us. you look at what this country can do when it comes to catastrophe. what happens when somebody walks across our border with a dirty bomb and makes the chicago board of trade uninhabitable for 1000 years? one man with a backpack. c4, radioactive waste. what happens if you really think this country has the capability of taking care of it? you got to be kidding me. the corps of engineers -- it is a joke. the coast guard has failed us tremendously, and on and on and on. host: how would you respond to gary duncan who has this comment --

guest: where is he from? host: i don't know. it is a twitter comments. guest: he is watching right now. quit being a hypocrite. the 30% that we take the risk for -- we pay for the cuts in the canals, we pay for the education of the oil people. dino most oil people live elsewhere and helicopter in? if you really think we are the winders, give us 50% of our royalties' just like the rest of america, and you will ever hear from us again. . .

you are either ignorant or you or so blockhead and, you will not admit to it. host: in joining us on line, garland robinette. guest: i have to tell you, i am not going to say what you want to hear. we asked them to cut those canals in the 1950's and 1960's. this state had no idea that salt water would come in and killed a marshal. now we know.

but evidence of the schizophrenia of the country is , if it did is so bad, let us fill them up and stop the oil companies from doing this. i have to get myself on, i have to give up my microwave. i thought you were going to do another figure. the media and the world wide web the media and the world wide web is going crazy about what this stuff is do we to porpoises and turtles. it is not above louisiana, it is about the visuals. we have over 8000 square miles of deadzone. the reason is because everyone

send their stuff south. your sewage, nitrate. you cannot see it, but underneath there, it is dead. and there are no mammals swimming around. there is no bacteria eating the droplets. it is dead. we have asked for tears, please help us, and do not kill the gulf. you are uneducated. you get upset over the visuals but you do not read the facts. host: garland robinette can be heard every day from 10:00 until 1:00 central time. keith, go ahead. are you with us?

we are going to go to robert in oklahoma. caller: can you hear me? i have two questions. could there be any connection between the cap and trade bill and this oil spill? do you think bp is going to pay everything that they 0panowe? host: let me begin with the second question because on some morning shows, bp officials say that they have spent about $930 million responding to the oil spill. guest: i am sure the exxon may have said the same thing about prince william sound. my numbers may be skewed. the initial injury decided that

those people should get $500 billion. the supreme court gave them half a billion dollars. within the last year or two, they have gotten $15,000 apiece. to your second question, i have no faith that bp will make the lives which they destroyed right. host: matt in san antonio. caller: i want to bring up something that i think needs to be talked about more. i saw a report and they had a much larger spill like this in the ocean. they had supertankers and surrounded it and kept it from that area. that is something the president could have done a month ago.

do what ever you have to do to keep this from getting to the shores. there needs to be more discussion on that. i do not think it is too late to do that right now. guest: it was not the indian ocean, it was the persian gulf. it is the largest oil spill ever. it went on for nine months in 1979. the two american maintenance and liability guys that lived in saudi arabia and came up with the idea of supertankers, ordered in and executed it. then picked up water from the then picked up water from the top and from the deep. the water was so pure after come in the past route a supertanker in went back into the persian ocean. the former head called in to my

show to say that this works. we have something called the loop, where supertankers come to unload, not far from the horizon platform. the oil people that i spoke to that are not involved with the oil spill said, malarkey. it is the typical bureaucratic corps of engineers that do not want to try it because it was not their idea, does not jell with their organization, threatens their power over this. but more importantly, it costs too much money. when the president mentioned money, when the coast guard

mentions money. when the corps of engineers mentions money, my question to you is why? one would take in -- be concerned about money? if the p is going to take the bill, why should any government agency be concerned about the money? perhaps bp is one of the largest lobbyists in washington. host: your reaction to the president's news conference? guest: i take a lot of heat in this region of the country. i like barack obama. i like his calmness, i like his intelligence. i do not agree with a lot of his ways of doing things. i am not big on big government. i have seen what he cannot do. but i was most stunned about was he never said, this is

america. civil rights knew something about equal opportunity. wyoming, you have $500,000 -- 500,000 people. you get millions a year. but you give us less than 10%? you make a congressional delegation again on their knees and beg for 37.5% in 2017? there is going to be nothing left. but then again, it is not america, it is just louisiana. host: in the "times picayune" louisiana need its fair share

now, mr. president. next phone call. caller: i would like to thank garland robinette for being a bright light in louisiana. host: by the way, how many listeners do you have a day? guest: at least over two. they tell me it is in the millions, but i do not look much at the ratings. caller: i am one of his listeners. how vulnerable are we with hurricane season coming up, with all of this oil in the wetlands? guest: we had eight workers there were taken to the hospital yesterday because they got sick from the vapors. what do you think is going to be in error the gulf stirs up the

oil? none of the interior is affected yet. if the waves do this, it is going in and. once that happens, scientists would have to tell you what happens. there was a writer here at the "times picayune" showing an area, origin of every species. without that, it is like a nursery without a bottle. everything dies. if we had a hurricane of minimum

consequence, certainly, there are scientists that told me whatever maybe on the periphery of the wetlands moves inland. host: the noaa indicating that they expected to be an active hurricane season. this is the front page of the "times picayune." the jury is still out on whether or not the top kill will work. allen is with us on the republican line. wolfsburg, pennsylvania. -- wilkes-barrcaller: i wonder d not try a marine cream, which not ensure they have, a

hydraulic clamp. and they have hydraulic works under water. couldn't they just clamp the pipe? even a rubber bladder, i do not see why they could not in flight that in the pipe -- in flight and that in the pipe hydraulically. there are lot of things that could work. what they are dealing with the mud doesn't seem realistic, but i do not know the details. guest: i do not have the expertise, but if you go on to wwl.com where there is a banner and coast guard looked at its a.

i heard that they had received over 7000 ideas. the actor kevin costner came down here with a system that he put $20,000 of his own money in, and there are just now getting around to testing it. ideas are tough to be presented. host: james carville met with reporters earlier in the week and had some words about where the president needed to go. the president of looting to criticism. your reaction to what he said, the reaction it has had in louisiana? guest: my reaction is prejudice. he moved here from washington. he could have moved anywhere in the world. he and his wife have done everything to help this city, this state.

he has the national platform to say what everyone was thinking. basically, he was saying the same thing politically. mr. president, this is an opportunity. you should be moving along the lines to show louisiana and the nation that the country can respond to catastrophes. forget louisiana on that one. america, subliminally, is becoming convinced they cannot handle major catastrophes. we agree with everything he says. host: so you think the country is ill-prepared for another katrina, another disaster down the road? guest: excuse me.

i have 12 years of absolute proof. i listed 14 thing where the coast guard says this, the corps of engineers says this, the fda says this. it is the same thing that we faced during katrina. the government cannot get it done, it is that simple. host: david from asheville, north carolina. caller: thank you for the opinions you are expressing because they are some of the most nuanced that i have seen. it is refreshing. we need to reform the environment. i wonder if you could say something to the fact that we

need to get corporations to start redesigning products infrastructures to work more closely with the way that major functions. we are completely dependent on these types of products. i appreciate your bringing it up, but what can actually be done about it? guest: i appreciate the question. incidentally, i love asheville. first of all, we have to educate ourselves. it is happening in greece, portugal, spain. when i am on the air and somebody contradicts something that i say and i have nowhere to go because i am wrong, i am forced to change. that is where america has to go.

that is where america should be heading. nobody reveres the cousteau family more than i. i grew up watching them try to save the world. we have a great doctor here who is trying to help us. i heard the end others on larry king say, we should continue what we are doing. has led the louisiana take the risk because we do not want it anywhere else. allow the drilling to continue but no more. why? all of your mechanics and their rounds on copper wire -- in there runs on copper wire.

you are using strip mining products to show us that the world is being destroyed. all of the petroleum products in your boat, from the captain's chair come into your dashboard come into your rubber suit, is either from the forest, mining, or is petroleum products. let us say we want to maintain the environment as is. what we have to do is start using less. pardon me for the analogy. i was explaining this to a group of college students. they said no, of an drilling is going to get us out of this.

thewe cannot drill our way, of this problem. but if you provide petroleum products, is that not like saying that we are running out of food? we are looking for an alternative. we have barely found 3% of it, but i have a processor in louisiana that works, but there it is a chance that it could spoil your beaches, your marine life, there is a chance in could make us look bad. would you say, i do not want it? does that make any sense to america?

or are you simply a liberal, conservative, or a limbaugh? you are not learning what has to be done. not a politician is no longer in office. host: garland robinette can be heard on wwl, heard around new orleans. please come back again. primary day will be held in new orleans. this is a runoff between the top two democratic candidates. she is seeking a third term. the latest polls in the race showing bill halter is ahead.

here is a look at some of the ads that are on the air right now in arkansas. >> i trust bill. >> it is no wonder president clinton put bill in charge of social security. >> bill would never do what blanche lincoln did, vote to cut social security and medicare. >> or otherwise, she will be hearing from me. >> breaking news, the united states said it has just passed the wall street reform bill. >> wall street, they hate this so much, they are livid. >> all the big guns are aiming at her. >> but blanche lincoln is

standing firm for arkansas, for historic change. host: and joining us with some perspective it is andrew. we will have coverage of that tonight on the c-span network. give us an assessment of the race and what you are looking at. >> this is going to be a tight race, based on turnout. as you said, president clinton will be here today campaigning with senator lincoln at an historically black college near downtown little rock. this is really aimed at turning up the base in the democratic primary. it also shows just how much both sides are focused on turning out the african-american

vote. she had won pulaski county, an urban area. bringing president clinton to this school, and i think they're hoping to turn out that though even more. >host: is it safe to say that he has organized labor in his corner? >> before the primary, labor was spending $5 million on the race. privately, they say that they are ready to spend a similar amount. they said they ever going to put another $1.4 million into the race, with most of it going into a tv ad buys.

the current one is accusing lincoln of turning washington. host: looking at some of the early polling numbers, congressman bozman beats both. >> that is true. whoever wins this nomination will be far behind congressmen bozman. he won the nomination of right on may 18. he basically gets to sit back and watch them go after each other in this runoff campaign. host: you alluded to this a moment ago, but the issue of turnout in the runoff election. this is the only question on the ballot. >> there will be other races.

there is another run off in the second congressional district, a democratic primary. there is another democratic runoff in the first district. you have also got a couple of statewide runoffs, one for land commissioner, another for secretary of state. this one is definitely the most high-profile. the other races will also affect turnout, especially in central arkansas. you have a high-profile race where you have the house speaker running against a state senator who is african-american. that race is helping to turn out the african-american vote. host: andrew demillo, we appreciate your perspective today.

the book is called "teaching the pig to dance." our guest is former presidential candidate fred thompson. how do you teach a pig to dance? guest: very carefully. there is a saying that trying to teach a pig to dance is a waste of time and it irritates the pig. i am sure that that is how my parents felt about me growing up. of course, i played a part of the pig. i was hard-headed, learned things the hard way. the book indicates, it is about growing up and second chances. i got some of those and was able to take advantage of the wonderful things america has to offer. host: the book is dedicated to the memory of your daughter

betsy. guest: yes, she passed away in my last year in the senate. host: what did you take away from that experience? guest: well, it is the ultimate tragedy that anyone can experience. i was surprised to learn at the time there were several others in the congress, parents, who experienced than that. they came around and talk to me at that time. very comforting at the time. all i can say is it is the ultimate human tragedy to lose a child. it affects everything else you do and think about. host: you write, "it was the first time in my life that i had proven in a publicly that i could not accomplish something that i had set up to do.

it was a rather humbling experience." guest: i had been fortunate. in so many respects. i had this tumultuous roar went up in terms of behavior, great, i'm barely got out of my school. but when i decided to do better, i was able to walk onto a movie set, never having seen one, sitting across morgan freeman, and get into movies. i was able to be successful as a prosecutor. i have been able to run for public office. i had never run for anything before i ran for senate. so this was the first time in

politics or anything else professionally that i have tried to do that i found out i could not do. host: why did you fail? guest: i do not know, there is always a combination of reasons. as i like to say, many are called but few are chosen. some men better than me have failed. one of my mentors, howard baker, was one of them. host: did you want to be president? guest: yes, i would not have run if i did not. i think perhaps i did not appear to crave it, feel like i would be less of a human being if i did not have it. perhaps that is what it takes, what people want to see. i thought i could do it differently, get in later than when normal people usually do,

with less money. i wanted to do something and be something. i think that translated well, along with my laid-back personality. but if you compare my schedules, i beg you will find for the time when i was in there, i was doing the same things that everyone else was doing, just in a less hyper way. host: what role will the tea party activists have in the midterm and in 2012? guest: i think they will be sick and again in 2012 -- they will be significant in the midterm. i am surprised it has taken this long for people to get upset. so vocally, so publicly.

we have been talking about the deficit, and that, the entitlement programs, for a long time, and there have been catalysts that have really brought people to say that this is serious. we need to do something about it. i think they are going to play an important role. especially independents. the numbers that i see indicate that the independent voters are going to be very prominent in this next election and would line up with the same sentiments as those in the two-party. host: would you run in 2012? guest: no. host: who you think should? guest: i do not have any

favorites. most of the time, america produces what it needs. i think there are several bright people around. and i do not think it is a bad thing not to have anointed someone at this stage in the process. i think we will go through the process and in the end, have a good person. host: your father was quite a smoker. you write -- you unveil a lot of details about your father and how he died. guest: he was a remarkable man, in many respects. he came off the farm with little education and learn how to sell cars.

he did that for about four years. -- 40 years. he was a man of his time, his background. part of that was smoking three packs of cigarettes a day. of course, it finally got him. we suffer the consequences from that. but he was the funniest person i have ever met. he saw the irony in life. he saw the irony in life. he never really told jokes, but he would find the irony in life. the same thing was true as he was in his final days, suffering a lot. he could not help himself, but that part of him would come out. it was with him until the end.

we were rolling him out of the operation room after a procedure, the doctor was standing there, and we were standing there. he motioned he wanted a pen and paper. he could not speak. he wrote the word sue on it, looking at the doctor. the doctor did not think that it was quite as funny as i did, but that is the kind of guy that he was. host: phone number is are on the screen. you can also join us through e- mail or twitter. when did you mean ronald reagan? guest: he came to jackson tennessee on behalf of some candidates. because i was young and did not know any better, but organized

in democratic campaign against him in the wrong district. we got beat bad day, but i've got to sit back stayed with ronald reagan. he said to me, i am here on behalf of your guy. i did not know much about him. what should i say? i said well, taken aback, just say that i do not know him personally, but i know pakistan's four. that is what we believe. he said exactly what i suggested. he said, this man is a from berlin to. host: next phone call. caller: i would like to ask you a couple of questions. when-will have devastating floods, we heard nothing from

the president. they are trying to link him with katrina and the disaster in the gulf. i think it is more than that. what happened when the emergency have been in haiti? he got on me for emergency lines to ask everybody to help haiti. this is america. we have two disasters going on. we see nothing. they may not want to compare him to katrina, that is fine. but let's compare him to haiti and how he handled the situation, and it is not even part of america. it is dangerous to see how incompetent this man is. guest: i was concerned about the national situation and how it was handled. i have a radio show and that is one of the things i talked about quite a bit. i think is a combination of

things. i think the national tragedy happened at the same time that these other things were going on. competition for attention, no doubt. also think that it was a lack of a program priorities of the white house, ask you to just. with regard to haiti, you cannot really criticize the president for offering help and offering the sentiments that he did, as far as in neighboring country is concerned. perhaps he could have done more sooner, earlier. as far as nashville is concerned. i hear that the government is doing all that they can do right now. so i think we are back on track. you have to remember, too, haiti

is not necessarily his party. host: the president had a lunch the other day with republican colleagues. the president was in california this week talking about the issue of bipartisanship, or lack there of. >> it is hard for republicans to work with the right now. the members of their base, if someone even smiles at me, they think, you are a trick or -- traitor, you were polite to him, you were nice! if you are rude to him, we will send you money.

so i am sympathetic to that. and but when we talk about bipartisanship, what we mean is there is going to be negotiation and, no, republicans are not going to get their way on everything. and there will be times where we disagree. where we disagree, and they say, i am going to take my ball and go home and not vote for anything, that is not a failure of bipartisanship on our part. host: fred thompson, your response? guest: the president has a lot of nerve talking about pandering to his face. that is how he spent a lot of his time. it is no accident he is keeping this arizona immigration issue alive by having these meetings,

making statements, having the attorney-general apparently filed a lawsuit. they are doing their best to keep that in flames and alive. in terms of bipartisanship, the problems that some of the republicans had in that meeting was, this had just follow the passage of the financial reform bill. bob corker and others had tried to work on anbar partisan basis. they made progress, were having meetings, reached agreement. then christopher dodd comes in and he has gotten word from the white house that they want their bill now. they do not want any republican input in it because it would compromise the issues. so they forced it through committee and passed it, basically with democratic votes

and a handful of republicans. it was in the aftermath of that where the president says now we need to be bipartisan and work on these other issues i have coming down the pike. i thought that was a little disingenuous. host: next phone call. caller: good morning. i loved the show that you were on "law and order. sorry to see it go. not as sorry as i was to see you lose along with all the other republicans. my question goes back to 2001. richard clark was trying to meet with dick cheney and he said that he was meeting with oil companies to relax oil regulation to create insidious

policy. do you think the republicans have any responsibility maybe you can give us that tennessee giggle and laugh off everything. guest: we got 10 minutes into this without dick cheney being brought up. i think we are setting new records with regard to that. it is difficult to address the promise of your question. there is so much to it. all i will just say this. i would guess the people who have a vested interest in

getting this passed have had representation up here and have spoken to national leaders about that interest. as the government grows bigger and lobbyists grow more numerous, and they tried to see who they can get, maybe try to get advantage of another company -- that is part of the problem with big government. this town, under barack obama, it is swarming with more lobbyists than ever before. they are all over capitol hill. the head of the nci you -- seiu apparently has a permanent pass to go in and out. i guess that is a good thing, it is ok, but whether they are good or bad, they are numerous, they come to public officials about

things that affect their lives. always have, always will. that is not a bad thing, in and of itself. and i have not heard all what about the issue of lack of transparency out of previous administrations, obviously, for reasons. host: one quote that i want to share with the audience. they may remember sam ervin, a democrat from south carolina -- guest: he is the chairman of the watergate committee. i was just 30 years old. howard baker brought me up to be the republican counsel. i got the opportunity to spend a lot of time with them.

a great man. he had a lot of great things to say, country sayings, with which he tried to mask his harvard education. i used it in the context of my dead. he did not talk much about his beliefs, ideals, anything like that, did not lecture to me much about those thin, but he set an example. something that has always stayed with me, even though i could not live up to the example he set. he did not need to paint the picture of the cattle because you live that picture. host: indianapolis.

good morning. caller: good morning. this is an honor to talk to fred. we are in indiana. during the presidential primary, my wife and i wanted you to be the president. by the time you got to indiana, you were already held of the race. i believe the reason why is the republican party has this thing about letting the independents come in and vote in the primary. if we could eliminate the independents and have the only republican to vote for the candidate that we want, i think we are going to get a much better conservative person. guest: i think it is probably a good idea to concentrate on

winning those independents over. it could be happening now. independents are siding with republicans on more and more issues now. as far as the primaries are concerned, state and local considerations, they should be able to do it however they want to. conservatives have good candidates, they are going to win. it is just that simple. we should not worry too much about the process. host: darrell issa in this twitter comment -- guest: i was talking to lindsey graham yesterday. seven members of the judiciary

committee have written the attorney-general suggesting an independent counsel take a look at this. these guys do not do this sort of thing lightly. and jokingly, but not really, i was asking him if he remembers in watergate those the dirty tricks, and he said that is just how the system once. that scooter libby thing, that is just politics. nobody said any of those things. they had congressional hearings, special counsel's. it will be interesting to see how this is treated. a lot depends on how the press puts it, but there are some pretty clear statutes out there.

section 600 of the federal penal code says basically you cannot offer somebody a federal job for political considerations, in order for a political quid quo pro. pro. so if sestak is correct, they have a problem. the problem is, they are hunkering down with their lawyers to figure of the wording so that both sestak and the white house can be correct. apparently, it is proving to be a challenge. you do not need weeks in order to relate a passing conversation like this. we will see. host: one of our viewers saying -- guest: that is a very kind.

the only disappointment i have in the experience is running into the people who were disappointed that i was not more successful. i guarantee whoever is going to be president is going to have challenges that are extremely difficult. some of these problems cannot be solved. i do believe that some of our problems are getting worse. the president can control that. some of these problems, we have allowed it to fester for some time and there are only two painful solutions left. we need the leadership to explain to people what we are doing. then the american people can accept them and move on. people talk about ronald reagan, who i think is a great man, but there is not going to be any same year, ronald reagan, barack

obama, or anyone else. this oil spill might be a good reminder of the limitations of government, of human beings. host: bill from louisville, ky. republican line. caller: i wanted to get your feelings on illegal immigration first of all. i am against it. i am a caretaker for about four elderly people. i had an occasion to pick one old man down to a family health clinic, here in little. -- louisville. i was sitting there when three hispanic data on men and a

social worker had accompanied them. i speak spanish. i was talking to them and found out they were illegal and that they had come down to get their flu shot. this elderly gentleman was getting his flu shot all sell. the social worker, when she heard us talking, told us to keep quiet. he was able to get the ordinary flu shot but not this one flu because he was too old. those three hispanic john and went in there and they got there is one flu shot. -- swine flu shot. i find that to be disgusting. i called the clinic, and never received a response. guest: the first thing that occurs, toomey, the tragedy

falls in many respects most heavily to those illegal immigrants who have come to america the right way, who are an important part of society. i know it is true with our family. because of situation that you are talking about which have been over and over again, resentment is being built up across the board. that is a bad thing. we aren't losing sight of the basics. a sovereign nation is not sovereign if you cannot protect your own border. we are making excuses for why we even attend to do that. the president takes sides with a foreign leader against one of his own state's now, and that is the latest along the arizona border.

but is a bigger picture than that. in one year, they have stopped scores of people, arrested them coming from places like pakistan, yemen. and other countries of concern, like saudi arabia. they can carry with them whatever they want. is a national security issue, in addition to a sovereign issue, which affects our hospitals, health care, school system. in addition to making the phoenix and the kidnapping city of america. and then we get lectured for trying to do something about that.

it is building up animosity. what concerns me the most is and bearing the brunt of those people, those who play by the rules. i suspect that they are probably interested in making sure others abide the land along the way that they did. host: this is your second book. your radio show can be heard on westwood 1. in the book, you say, no matter how much good news is connected when you hear cancer, you are never the same. from that day forward, there is a stranger outside your door and you have to do everything to keep him from coming in. i went through all of the range of lotions that one might expect. guest: high had to lay it on the line, or also could not have been talking about that at all.

i was diagnosed a form of lymphoma. i have learned there were many different kinds. i have the so-called good kind. it is treatable. i have not had any repercussions or ramifications from it, during or subsequent to. i am a lot more fortunate than others, unfortunately, but as i say, it gets your attention. it puts things in perspective. i thought i was through with politics when i got out of it. i went back to live in private life, as i intended to. but you start thinking about

things, your kids, grandkids, the shortness of all of their lives, the kind of difference you want to make. it impacted me in good ways, i think, but another thing i mentioned it is, the miracle of modern technology. they treated me with something that was not available five years prior to my diagnosis. they gave me treatment, i was not sick during the treatment, i had no aftereffects. i went on with my business. i have not been set one day, other than a cold. i remember having loved ones come as a kid, having similar things, and it was a much different story.

i see what arlen specter is able to do physically with his age with his diagnosis. when you talk about the big, bad drug companies and so forth, think about the millions they have to spend in order to get something as good as this for your mother, your child. host: one minute left. nick from oklahoma city. caller: in the campaign, barack obama condemned the christian bible. then on inauguration day, he swore on the bible. by doing that, he condemned our god. guest: i am not familiar with him doing that. host: one tweet -- guest: now that i am gone?

i think i was a bit more in the maverick category. i do not know the answer to that. i think it depends on the issue. when it comes to international affairs, maybe dick lugear. when it comes to the economy, debt, judd gregg. . .

time and aggravation. host: ronald reagan once said he could imagine not being an actor and being president. guest: he also said never -- nobody ever accused him of being an actor until he got into politics. host: the book is called "teaching the pig to dance," new mexico are of growing up and second chances. fred thompson, -- the house of representatives, morning business is allowed to get under way. live coverage on c-span and c- span2. a reminder, on book tv, c-span2 all weekend, a chance to catch up on some of your favorite

nonfiction authors. you can get the schedule by logging on to the website. and we will have live coverage of the memorial day ceremony here in at arlington national cemetery with vice-president joe biden and the president will be at the abraham lincoln memorial outside of chicago, illinois. we hope you enjoy your weekend and we will be back tomorrow morning at 7:00 a.m. eastern time. have a good day. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc., in cooperation with the united states house of representatives. any use of the closed-captioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u.s. house of representatives.]

the speaker pro tempore: the house will be in order. the chair lays before the house a communication from the speaker. the clerk: the speaker's rooms, washington, d.c., may 28, 2010. i hereby appoint the honorable david r. obey to act as speaker pro temporerary on this day, signed, nancy pelosi, speaker of the house of representatives. the speaker pro tempore: the prayer will be offered by our chaplain, father coughlin. chap chap we believe in one -- chaplain coughlin: we believe in one god. we see you are one is to hear that you're perfection. to call you a trinity of persons is to bless you in your oneness of relationship.

yours is continual communication and relating. we beg for your grace and power that we may be one, remove all divisions and discord which cause dysfunction and confusion in our souls. make of our diversity a new strength that will bind us to one another in purpose. heal our understandable wounds of the past and all paralyzing fears of the future. help us to develop better skills in relating to others. shape our differing perspectives by respectful dialogue so we may be unified in serving the common good of this nation and be a light to the world. amen. the speaker pro tempore: the chair's examined the journal of the last day's proceedings and

announces to the house his approval thereof. pursuant to clause 1 of rule 1 the journal stands approved. >> i request the yeas and nays on the speaker's approval of the journal. the speaker pro tempore: the question is on agreeing to the speaker's approval of the journal. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. the journal stands approved. >> mr. speaker, i demand the yeas and nays on the question of the speaker's approval of the journal. the speaker pro tempore: the yeas and nays are requested. all those in favor of taking this vote by the yeas and nays will rise and remain standing until counted. a sufficient number having arisen, the yeas and nays are ordered. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, further proceedings on this question are postponed. the pledge of allegiance will be led by the gentleman from minnesota, mr. walz. mr. walz: please join me in honoring our nation by reciting the pledge. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

the speaker pro tempore: the chair will entertain up to five requests for one-minute speeches on each side of the aisle. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from massachusetts rise? >> i request permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. sonksonk i rise today to pay -- ms. tsongas: i rise today to pay trbt to those who have worn the uniform of the united states of america. it has been my honor to work with my colleagues, to provide our veterans with the resources and care they so justly deserve. to that end i'd like to highlight just two of the many programs this congress has enacted in itsests it to provide better support to our veterans. since the post-9/11 g.i. bill went into effect in august, 2009, $1.2 billion in education

benefits have been paid to veteran students, including members of the guard and reserves and in some instances their wives and children. providing them with the skills they need in a global economy. through provisions in the end veteran homelessness act of 2010 we are working toward a goal of ending veteran homelessness in five years. to all our veterans, it is you and those who came before you who have made our freedoms possible. thank you for your courage, commitment and sacrifice. knowing that service and war is a life changing event that we must ever honor. thank you and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from illinois. mrs. biggert: unanimous consent to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mrs. biggert: mr. speaker, i rise today to honor an educator and former student from my district, elizabeth lukes. on march 10, 2010, elizabeth lukes was named illinois high school boy's diving coach of the

year by the illinois switching association. for the last eight years she has been coaching boys and girls at hintsdale south high school in carian, illinois. one of her divers, jordan dyson, has placed in the top three spots for all four years of his high school diving career. capping this accomplishment with a first place finish at the illinois state swimming and diving championships this february. elizabeth lukes graduated from illinois -- or in illinois from eastern illinois university in 2001 with a degree in art education. besides coaching she teaches art in the elementary school at district 58. elizabeth lives in warrenville with her husband ken and daughter mackey. i am proud to honor elizabeth lukes for this great award and recognition and congratulate her again for an outstanding job at this school. thank you.

and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from minnesota. >> address the house for one minute, revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. >> thank you, mr. speaker. this monday, memorial day, gives citizens from around the country to pause, come together, remember those who have laid down their lives in protection of freedom. the debt we owe our nation's members of the armed services, our veterans and their families can never be fully repaid. today we continue to be engaged in hostilities in iraq and afghanistan and young men and women will continue to pay the ultimate price for this nation. mr. walz: as a 24-year veteran of the army national guard i'm proud of the work we've done in this congress to support our veterans and military families. although we've come a long way concerning care for our veterans, there's also more work to be done. we must make sure our veterans do not fall through the cracks as they transition from the military to civilian life. back in minnesota at the 34th infantry division prepare to deploy again to the middle east, the more critical than ever we back up those words with action. it's the right thing to do for our veterans and the moral health of this nation.

on behalf of a grateful nation, we thank our current service members, veterans and their families for their service. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas. mr. poe: request permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. poe: mr. speaker, memorial day is the day we remember americans that served and did not return. their blood has stained and sanctified the soil on every continent on earth. they're buried in unmarked graves. they brought freedom to peoples they did not know and lands they had never been. the warrior, not the preacher, has given us freedom of religion. the warrior, not the reporter, has given us freedom of press. the warrior, not the lawyer, has given us the right to a fair trial. the warrior, not the politician, has given us the right to vote. the warrior, not the critic, has given us freedom of speech. the warrior, not the movie personality, has given us freedom to assemble.

and the warrior, not the college professor, has given us liberty. it is the warrior that gave his use so we could have a future. it is the warrior who absolutes -- salutes the flag and serves the flag and it's the warrior that is buried under the flag that we honor this memorial day, 2010. and that's just the way it is. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey. mr. andrews: ask to address the house for one minute, revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. andrews: mr. speaker, -- >> mr. speaker, the 2008 economic meltdown had some roots in consumer finance. financial lenders steered families into mortgages they could not afford to repay, steered them into subprime los, then packaged those loans and sold them to investors in the securities market. credit card companies used unfair and deceptive practices to exacerbate nearly $1 trillion in nationwide credit card debt. mr. holt: so the important that we have a strong independent

consumer financial protection agency such as we passed in the house last year. putting this under or in another agency won't really protect the consumers. the new cfpa must have the independence both to write and enforce regulations that will truly protect american families from abuses. this is our chance to reform wall street and stand up for ordinary americans. and this is our chance to get it right. i urge house leaders to insist on the stronger, more independent house-passed version of the consumer financial protection agency. our constituents deserve no less. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from south carolina. >> permission to address the house for one minute, revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. >> mr. speaker, i want to thank my colleagues on the house armed services committee for including an amendment to the national defense authorization act, to require a detailed report on the ramifications of closing the yucca mountain waste repository.

mr. wilson: before the administration irresponsibly walks away from a $10 billion investment in a 23-year bipartisan agreement, we need to provide america's taxpayers and decision makers with adequate information. to lessen our dependence on foreign oil, we mustry main committed to investing in developing technologies. nuclear energy is a clean, safe and cost effective energy source that has provided over half of the electricity generated in south carolina for over 30 years. but in order to keep it safe, we must have a permanent site for disposal. in conclusion, god bless our troops and we'll never forget september 11 and the global war on terrorism during memorial day activities. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from arizona. >> qui permission to address the house, revise and extend rep. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. >> mr. speaker, it seems at times that washington has

forgotten that americans don't need million of dollars to create jobs. they can do plenty if the government just gives them a chance to succeed. in my district, we are set to create new opportunities in the tourism industry with federal action, not federal dollars. millions of people already visit greater arizona and see our natural wonders, with a tremendous economic impact. mr. kirk: we can grow our economy by preserve -- mrs. kirkpatrick: we can grow these sites. i'm getting the ball rolling to designate the sedona red rocks as a national scenic area. these bills will protect these magnificent attractions, bringing new visitors to arizona and help us get folks to work with almost no cost. the national resources committee has scheduled a hearing on these measures. i appreciate their willingness to help us make progress. congress needs to pass these job creating provisions as soon as

possible and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from north carolina. ms. foxx: thank you, mr. speaker. permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. ms. foxx: thank you, mr. speaker. house democrats are refusing to do one of the most basic jobs that the american people have sent their representatives to washington to do, make a budget. we're in the midst of a spending crisis. seven months into this fiscal year and the federal government has already spent $800 billion that it doesn't have and that number is skyrocketing. house democrats are ready to add another $134 billion to the deficit this week. so how do we fix this problem? how do we stop taxing and borrowing and spending without restraint? one of the most obvious ways is by having a budget. that's our job, to pass a budget that makes hard choices and sets priorities and brings government spending under control. for the democrat majority in this house is afraid to let the american people see more of its deficit spending, they don't want to put a budget on paper because then they'll have to

debate it and explain to the american people why they want to keep spending hundreds of billions of dollars that we don't have. i yield back. . the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas. >> to address the house for one minute. revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. cleaver: mr. speaker, i intend to honor those who have died and have given their lives so that we might have a better. but it's not enough to simply thank them with words. this is why the 111th congress has passed homes for heroes to help with the homelessness among our veterans. this is why we provided college benefits for the children of our veterans. this is why we produced a $2,400 tax credit for employers who hire our veterans. mr. green: this is why we provided a $250 economic recovery benefit to our veterans. this is why we produced $23 billion in health care and other

services for our veterans. they have been there for us. i thank god for them. it's time for us to continue to be there for them. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from hawaii. mr. djou: i address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. miss djou: -- mr. djou: mr. speaker, i stand here today to request this congress immediately pass the free trade agreement with south korea. it is important measure that languished too long before this congress. first and foremost we need to pass this because it is important for our economy. free-throw and opportunity is critical. for my district in hawaii, it will directly help the tourism industry. second, south korea has been a strong ally of the united states. it's important right now we stand alongside our important allies in the foreign field. third and finally, mr. speaker, given the instability in the korean peninsula, right in the

flight arc of the missile, it is important we right now stand beside south korea and pass this free trade agreement and pass it now. thank you very much, mr. speaker. i yield back the balance of my time.

for what purpose does the gentlewoman from new york rise? ms. slaughter: good morning, mr. speaker, everyone. by direction of the committee on rules i call up house resolution h.res. 1403 and ask for its immediate consideration. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the resolution. the clerk: house calendar number

200, house resolution 1403. resolved that upon adoption of this resolution it shall be in order to take from the speaker's table the bill h.r. 4213, to amend the internal revenue code of 1986 to extend certain expiring provisions, and for other purposes, with the senate amendment thereto, and to consider in the house without intervention at any point of order a motion offered by the chair of the committee on ways and means or his designee that the house concur in the senate amendment with the amendment printed in part a of the report of the committee on rules accompanying this resolution as modified by the amendment printed in part b of the report of the committee on rules. the senate amendment and the motion shall be considered as read. the motion shall be debatable for one hour equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the committee on ways and means. the previous question shall be considered as ordered on the motion to final adoption without

intervening motion. section 2, house resolution 1392 is laid upon the table. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from nework is recognized for one hour. ms. slaughter: i thank you very much, mr. speaker. for the purpose of debate only, i yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from texas, mr. sessions. all time yielded during consideration of the rule is for debate only, and i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized. ms. slaughter: i also ask unanimous consent that that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. ms. slaughter: thank you, mr. speaker. h.res. 1403 provides for consideration of the senate amendment to h.r. 4213. mr. speaker, the legislation is like many of the bills that we do. it's the product of many hours of hard work. it's also an effort to strike a balance between extending important, lifesaving assistance

to laid off workers and investing in smart spending that will help our economy. a significant portion of the bill would go directly to helping our citizens. we extend unemployment insurance, we invest in summer jobs, loans for small businesses, and make bonds available. but i'm pleased the bill also cracks down on corporations closing tax loopholes that have encouraged companies to ship jobs overseas, a think i have devoutly desired for numbers of years. unlike the previous administration we use pay-go rules here to make sure that new spending other than emergency spending is fully paid for. in fact, i want to remind my colleagues that the debt was created by the last administration which financed two wars, prescription drug plan, and huge tax cut all of which was unpaid for. and consequently it's responsible for over 2/3 of the

deficit. in the recent frenzy back and forth over this bill, it is easy to lose sight of the important steps that congress has taken up to this point to help right the economy. we passed small business tax relief, expanded the first time home buyer tax credit, changed the way students applied for loans, fund add cash for clunkers program and injected money into the economy, and helped protect domestic jobs at a crut cal juncture. with this vote we could help families across the country continue the pattern we set out on last year to help dig the country out of a terrible recession. for small businesses the backbone of the nation's economy and the place where most american workers are employed, we use this bill to ensure them an easier time in getting loans. the bill also continues the very successful research and development tax credit, a powerful incentive to creating

well-paying jobs. the measure, tends the ongoing recovery -- the measure extends the ongoing recovery by bonds making it less expensive for cash strapped state and local governments to finance the rebuilding of schools and sewers and hospitals and transit projects. the legislation also american families with failed tax relief, property tax relief, disaster area tax relief, and college tuition deductions. the bill widely invested i important energy provisions such as the biodiesel tax credit while making good on our obligation to black and native american farmers. finally, the measure also strengthens the oil spill liability trust fund. by increasing the amount the oil industry was paid to clean up its disasters. i also want to pause for a moment to talk about two pieces of legislation that i am

personally happy to see in the bill because i think they will pay enormous benefits. this bill close as loophole in the tax code that's been used by huge corporations, including publicly regulated utilities. companies use this loophole to avoid paying millions in dollars in taxes when they spin off a subsidiary. these deals cost taxpayers and they hurt consumers, especially when the company using the loophole is a phone company that wants to get rid of the older telephone lines in small towns and rural areas. with this bill we close that loophole and we'll save the taxpayer $250 million over the next 10 years. on another front, the bill also extends funding for the world trust fund which helps to keep thousands of textile and apparel workers around the country employed. i was proud to work on this issue because of the relevance it had to hickey freeman,

100-year-old company and maker of fine men's suits located in rochester, new york. the fund provides fund to makers of world fabric and yarn producers as well as sheep growers to help maintain the domestic production. too many of our industries in the united states have closed up and moved overseas. i frequently say that we can't be a great power if our entiring manufacturinsector moves to other countries and we are obligated to buy from other countries for our very livelihood. mr. speaker, congress can rightly take great pride in some very historic work on behalf of our constituents this year. but we must remind ourselves that many people are still struggling, and we must do everything in our power to fund the necessary programs that protect the unemployed americans, help small business, enhance job creation efforts, and keep america on the road to economic recovery. and i urge my colleagues to join

me today in voting yes on the rule and yes on this bill. and i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas. mr. sessions: good morning, mr. speaker. and i want to thank the the gentlewoman from new york for yielding me such time as i may consume. it seems like every time i come to the house floor i point out that my democratic colleagues are using an unprecedented restrictive, and closed process on the house floor. and here i go again. to tell the exact same story. in fact, i'm not even really sure anyone on the house floor knows what we are debating or getting ready to vote on right now. amazing. bill after bill, day after day we were provided with a copy of the final billt 9:06.

i guess that beats 3:15 in the morning. mr. speaker, nancy pelosi and the democratic majority promised the american people that they would run the most open, honest, and ethical congress. to date this congress and i think the last one has seen more backroom deals, arm twisting, and more partisan negotiations than ever before. i think the american people are fed up with it. they want transparency, they want accountability, and i think what they are looking for are solutions. standing up and touting about this bill when nobody even knows what's in it and how great it is , i think it's a sham. mr. speaker, it's my understanding that the democrats -- repeat that, it is my understanding that the democrats are planning to amend the rule

to change the text of the underlying legislation that we are discussing here right now. are they planning to change this to the $100 billion in spending? i don't know. what are they going to do? i don't know. what's in the amendment? more spending? i bet you. more taxes? i'm sure. are they gutting the state medicare funding? are they eliminating the cobra extension? will doctors see a 21% cut in reimbursement next week? i don't know. nor does anybody who is going to vote on this bill. unfortunately, the answers to all those questions regardless of what's in their amendment is, yes. the senate has already made it clear to this house and my democratic colleagues, the press, and the american people

that they will be going home -- as a matter of fact they have already done that, before acting on the extenders package that we are doing right now. so, mr. speaker, what is the point? . why is the speaker having this bill today on the floor? this isn't about jobs. it's not about the unemployed. it's not about those without insurance or even not even about physicians. it's about a political agenda. it's about taxing and spending and a message on this floor that tries to make it seem like the reverse. i would submit to you that this if this democratic majority were trying to help small business, they'd start with any one of the top five issues that small business has and that they present to the national association of manufacturers and they've done this for years. that list is ignored.

yesterday in c.q. today the chairwoman of the rules committee was asked whether the democrats' backroom deals were going to hold up on the house floor and her response, and i quote, are you kidding me he? we're democrats -- me? we're democrats. mr. speaker, what's in the deal? does it provide any reallusions -- solutions? are we voting on this to accomplish anything? i would say in the next two hours we will be voteing on legislation -- voting on legislation that this body will have no clue what is in the bill. once again, par for the course. it's also my understanding that the democratic priorities of implementing new and permanent taxes, increasing deficit spending and ficting errors and

oversight in the democrats' trillion-dollar health care bill is exactly what it will also be in the bill today. but i don't know. yet the majority continues to patch the nation's problems together with expensive short-term fixes that create even greater budget short falls in the future rather than dealing honestly with them. monday night in the rules committee i asked chairman levin to quantify, please, please, how many jobs this bill would create since the majority insists on-calling it a jobs bill? the fact is, he couldn't. this legislation throws billions of dollars at a bunch of short-term solutions while creating permanent new taxes on business. i know the democrats like to call them corporations but i call them employers. this legislation will increase the tax treatment of carried interest for real estate, energy

and investment partnerships in some cases more than doubling the tax rate from 15% to 35%. that's it. the democratic agenda, tax and spend. tax and spend employers and then blame it on them when something bad goes wrong. what maybe better, blame it on george bush. this bill increases payroll taxes on s. corporation shareholders as well as changes the long standing u.s. international tax code law. according to the u.s. chamber of commerce, these changes could saddle small business, american worldwide companies and investment partnerships with draconian tax increases that will hinder job creation and decrease the competitive -- competitiveness of american business. and that i quote. yet my friends on the ear other side of the aisle are still calling this a jobs bill. i know what it is and so do you. taxing and spending.

the hall mark of the democratic majority -- the hallmark of the democratic majority. job killing members once again present on the floor of the house of representatives today. additionally, mr. speaker, the extenders bill that is before us today has billions in additional health care spending. spending the democrats couldn't find to offset for their $1 -- $1,200,000,000,000 health care bill. they wanted to mask the true cost of the bill that we passed on -- or around march 22. one key example, this legislation prevents a 21% cut to physician reimbursement for medicare payments but by preventing this cut for next year and a half, they leave physicians with a 33% cut in 2012 that will cost over $300 billion to fix. that's not open, that's not

honest. and i don't believe that's ethical. mr. speaker, today i talked about how republicans over and over continue to be shut out of process on the house side, even right now, where i suspect my colleagues who would offer an amendment to change the text of something not one of my republican colleagues have seen and no one on the house floor has read. this legislation provides us for a couple months an extension for noncontroversial extenders by levying in public tax increases on small business. the engine of our economy. and of course investment partnerships. and lastly this legislation uses budget gimmicks to push our medicare programs further in debt. putting the care of our nation's seniors at risk. yet my friends on the other side of the aisle continue to move forward with this tax and spend agenda.

and then blame their inity to receive the results they want on somebody else. i urge a no vote on the previous question and bring some fiscal restraint back to this house and no on the rule and i reserve my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from new york. ms. slaughter: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized. ms. slaughter: i've heard the phrase all my life as you have of taking out of context. let me assure anybody who wants to know about that, no reporter's ever said to me, do you think your backroom deals are going to hold up. and if anyone were ever to say that to me and i hope to keep that record in tact, believe you me, i would not laugh and say, we're democrats. i do recall saying to someone yesterday with pride that we are democrats. i am proud we are democrats. we are the people trying to take care of the people without jobs in this country and to make the climate right to create more. now, before i yield to my next

speaker, i want to let members know that i will be offering an amendment to the rule at the end of the debate. the amendment makes three changes to the text and it has been posted on the rules committee website, this thursday, may 20. it strikes two sections from the house amendment, section 511, sections 516 and it changes the effective date of the carried interest provision, making it effective on december 31, 2010, instead of the date of enactment. the amendment provides for a separate vote on section 523 which is the s.g.r., the so-called doc fix, and a vote on the remainder of the modified house amendment. this does not add money, mr. speaker, it subtracts it. and i'm pleased to yield two minutes to the gentleman from new jersey, mr. pallone. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey is recognized for two minutes. mr. pallone: thank you, mr. speaker.

and i want to thank the chairwoman of the rules committee and i urge support for the rule as amended. for far too long members on both sides of the aisle have talked about the need to reform the way we pay physicians under medicare and provide them with a fair and reliable reimbursement. today unless we act, physicians are facing a 21% cut in their reimbursement and such a drastic cut will drive physicians out of the medicare program and make it harder for seniors to see a doctor. mr. speaker, if we fail to act, people will be harmed. i've already seen it take place back in my district. i've had patients call me to say that their doctors will no longer take medicare because of the cuts they're faced with. house democrats are tried to prevent this from happening. last year we passed a bill that would have permanently repealed the formula that results in these annual cuts and replaced it with a more stable payment system but that bill passed the house with only the support of one republican and unfortunately the senate was not able to find the support for a permanent fix. so we've been forced back to

legislating by patchwork, a six-month extension here, a 60-day extension there, but if our senate colleagues cannot find the votes for a permanent repeal, then we need to provide the longest relief that we can. this bill will provide doctors with a positive update for the rest of this year and next year. that will help doctors cover their growing costs and continue to serve medicare patients. and it will give those of us in congress more time to work with the physician community to find a workable solution that can pass both the house and the senate hopefully with republican support. the policy in this bill is not everything i'd hoped for. i know the physician community wanted more but it's important to pass this to make sure we do no harm by preventing those drastic cuts from taking effect. so i urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to vote yes. this is a very important piece of legislation. thank you, mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas.

mr. sessions: mr. speaker, at this time i'd like to yield three minutes to the distinguished gentleman, the gentleman from washington, mr. hastings. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for three minutes. mr. hastings: thank you, mr. speaker. and i want to thank my good friend from texas for yielding the time. mr. speaker, i'm disappointed that democrat leaders have decided not to allow the house to vote on my amendment to improve the proposed indian settlement. a settlement that benefits individual indians across the country. the amendment i offered was simple and addressed improvements requested of congress by individual indians, tribal leaders and an association of more than 50 federally recognized tribes in the northwest. mr. speaker, i want to make it very clear, a settlement on this issue is long overdue. but the agreement -- the -- but the agreement negotiated by the obama administration and the appellate's lawyers can be improved by congress to benefit individual indians. let me explain why.

while most of the indians will get between a $500 and a $1,000 check, the lead plaintiff could receive $15 million or more as an incentive award. a handful of lawyers could be paid over $100 million which is almost 1/3 of the value of the claims that they litigated. two months ago the plaintiffs' attorneys were asked to provide congress with documents to justify their large fees and expenses. after repeated inquiries, mr. speaker, the attorneys have provided no information to this day. instead of responding with documents to justify how much they should be paid, the attorneys have instead threatened to kill the entire deal if they are denied the ability to get the $100 million. mr. speaker, i want to emphasize this. every dollar paid to the lawyers is a dollar taken out of the pockets of individual indians.

my amendment caps attorney fees at $50 million and by doing so, it reduces the payments to lawyers to increase payments to the individual indians. my amendment would also benefit individual indians by correcting several other flaws that were entified by indian country. the committee has the ability to fix these laws on a bipartisan basis. the settlement has been changed by the administration and the plaintiffs four times already. while the house won't be alled to vote on this amendment to improve the settlement to better benefit individual indians, mr. speaker, i'm hopeful that the senate will act to make the improvements that indians, tribal leaders and respected tribal organizations are asking congress to make. congress should be afforded the opportunity to fix the settlement in response to requests from our indian constituents. by refusing to make my amendment in order, democrat leaders have turned their back on these requests. thank you, mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time -- i

yield back my time to mr. sessions. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman from new york. ms. slaughter: mr. speaker, i yield two minutes to the gentleman from new jersey, mr. andrews. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey is recognized for two minutes. mr. andrews: i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. andrews: i thank the gentlelady for yielding. so here's one of the issues before the house today. say you have an american company that owners live here and they decide that they can make more money by sending their jobs to asia or south of the border, out of the country. and they do. and they bring the money home and enjoy it here, but the jobs go overseas. and they figure out a way to gain the tax laws so they don't pay taxes for that business to the united states interest treasury. so the profits come home, the jobs go overseas and the tax revenue doesn't flow into the treasury. this bill closes that loophole. it says, if you outsource our

jobs from this country, you don't get off the hook when it comes to the i.r.s. now, what does it use the money for? well, if an american business goes into a bank today and the bank says, you know, we would make this loan to you to expand your business but we just need a little more collateral, a little more guarantee. this bill says, the small business administration can step in and make that loan happen. and create those jobs. or a woman running a soft wear company or a bio-- software company or a biosciences company says, i have a real opportunity here to hire more scientists and researchers but i can't quite find the capital. this bill says she can hire five scientists for the price of four because of the research and development tax credit. or the mayor and council of the town is saying, we could fix our antiquated clean water system, we could build a new water treatment system and have cleaner water and more jobs for people in our town, but the interest rates are just a little bit too high for us. if we could borrow the money

just a little bit less expensively, we could create more jobs. this bill says that they can do that. . it creates those jobs by saying those who outsource our jobs can get off the hook an and don't pay taxes. i know some on the minority side, it goes against their philosophy whatever corporate america does is ok, we think if you outsource your jobs you shouldn't get off the hook for your tax obligations. i ask the gentlelady for 30 seconds. ms. slaughter: an extra minute. the speaker pro tempore: is recognized. mr. andrews: i know it was a long-standing tradition under the prior administration and the erstwhile majority to let people outsource american jobs and not pay their fair share of taxes. those days are ending. and the days of jobs hemorrhaging from this economy are ending because we are reinvesting in small businesses, local governments, and

entrepreneurs around this country to put our people back to work. that's the legislation before the house today. i would urge a yes vote. and yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas. mr. sessions: thank you, mr. speaker. there's no way to get around this. this is a monster tax increase and permanent tax increase on taxpayers and business. it's interesting -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yielding himself time? mr. sessions: excuse me. mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. sessions: i apologize, mr. speaker. i thought i was recognized and i appreciate the gentleman. i want to quote from the national association of manufacturers which are all about american manufacturers, american companies who do do business overseas and will find a monster tax increase on them for doing business, penalizing them. many of the tax increases which are mischaracterized as tax

loopholes, no, they are actually tax law. actually represents significant changes to a tax policy that has been supported by congress and this administration. now they are going to come back and change that. got to blame somebody. it's obvious to me that what we'll end up doing is pinning the tale on the -- tail on the donkey because we know who is about trying to kill jobs. it comes through heavy taxation and rules and regulations and i've got letter after letter after letter from businesses across this country who say, this will harm american jobs. mr. speaker, at this time i'd like to yield five minutes to the gentleman from an dimas -- san dimas, california, mr. dreier. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. dreier: i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. dreier: thank you, mr. speaker. we were all promised, this

institution and the american people were promised, back in 2006, a new direction for america. mr. speaker, that was in fact the title of a publication that then majority leader, my california colleague, nancy pelosi, put forward. what did it promise? it promised a new era of transparency, disclosure, and accountability. a new era of transparency, disclosure, and accountability. well, mr. speaker, i will inform you that exactly 47 minutes ago at 9:00 a.m. eastern time, we were handed this amendment to the rule. now, as i look at this morning's "c.q. today" i did read the quote to which my friend and distinguished chair of the committee on rules referred when asked this was a precooked

measure, she responded by saying, are you kidding? are you kidding me? we're democrats. that's the quote. that's the quote that appears in this publication. now, mr. speaker, as i read this quote i'm reminded of the statute we always encourage our constituents to look at and rub their feet on as we go into statuary hall. it's the statue of will rogers. will rogers, that great, great comedian famously said, i'm not a member of any organized political party, i'm a democrat. mr. speaker, we have observed over the last three days the democratic leadership running around this institution like chickens with their heads cut off. attempting to put together some deal which when asked if it was precooked, the chair of the committee on rules said, are you

kidding me? we're democrats. well, mr. speaker, the american people get it. they are not only not being delivered -- they are not getting the kind of transparency they were promised, but we are seeing a measure here that is being put into place which i am convinced will continue to have the dilatorious effect that the other measures that have been put into place over the last several months have created. we all know that when we dealt with the serious economic downturn and we can point fingers at ourselves, we can point fingers all over. but we do know that as we have done with the economic downturn, that this congress made a decision, i think an unfortunate one, to dramatically increase spending. dramatically increase spending. what has happened?

during that debate we were all promised by the president and other leaders if we were to pass that stimulus bill we would ensure that the unemployment rate would not exceed 8%. in fact, we were told that by this time with the implementation of the so-called economic stimulus bill, the unemployment rate would be 7.4%. mr. speaker, as we all know the unemployment rate has surged, and it is just under 10%. and unfortunately we continue to have people suffering. i happen to represent the los angeles area in california. my district, the unemployment rate is as high as 14 1/2%. there are parts of my i state -- of my state of california, the central valley of california, where the unemployment rate has exceeded 40%. 40%. now, that's after we have been

promised that the implementation of all the spending bills that we have had would ensure that we would not have an unemployment rate that would exceed 8% and look at what has happened. what is it we are doing now? we are looking at a multibillion dollar spending bill that will exacerbate not ameliorate the economic downturn which we all want to emerge from. mr. speaker, my good friend dennis krieger, likes to say he put out bumper stickers, the great writer says the bigger the government, the smaller the individual. mr. speaker, we know that the bigger the government grows the smaller the individual becomes. we have learned that because as we look at the european model, and tragically we seem to be seeing our friends on the other side of the aisle attempting to implement a european-style equipment -- entitlement

society. it has failed in europe, mr. speaker. and we should do everything that we can to ensure that we don't pursue that same kind of policy here. that same kind of policy here. mr. speaker, i urge my colleagues, i urge my colleagues to defeat this rule, create transparency, and let's go back to exactly what was promised. ms. slaughter: i yield two minutes to the gentlewoman from california, ms. chu. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized for two minutes. ms. chu: mr. speaker, i stand here today in support of this rule and the underlying bill for one reason and that is, jobs, jobs, jobs. that's what this bill is about. it's about creating jobs across the country from massachusetts to florida to my home state of califoia. this bill extends an important program i call jobs now. -- while it may be little known

it's funded through tanf emergency funds and it has a huge impact on the unemployed in 39 states creating over 160,000 jobs which will disappear in an instant if we don't pass this bill. in l.a. county it's paying 10,000 jobless workers $10 an hour and placing them in temporary jobs for up to a year. in exchange the businesses provide training, job skills, and get extra workers at little or no cost. it's truly a win-win. for small business hard hit by the economic downturn, the chance for extra workers to grow and expand their businesses is a welcomed boost, even if it means providing training and work space for the temps, and it's great for workers, too. forced to go on welfare, they struggled to provide for their 2-year-old daughter, but jobs now hired them to work at a display system which manufactures trade show

displays. the company used them to help handle a slow but growing recovery in sales allowing it to move forward and save a life after taking mch of cuts in business. after the temporary job ended, they both were hired permanently. this family and this business are making a comeback because of jobs now. let's pass this rule and h.r. 4213 to help working families and our nation do the same. and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from texas. mr. sessions: thank you, mr. speaker. delighted to have our colleagues on the democratic side come and talk about jobs. it's not going to happen. these are massive tax increases. business is trying to say through the letters which i will more fully get into in a minute, that's how to kill jobs in this country. permanent tax increases. no, no, no, those are corporations. those are evil corporations, my

friends, they are called employers. they are called employers. and you are putting permanent tax increases on employers which means you'll have fewer jobs in this country. don't blame it on somebody else. blame it on yourself. pin the tail on the donkey. that's the reason we don't have jobs. we don't have jobs because four years ago when the democratic majority took over all they talked about is taxes and spending. rules, regulations, more on business. and members come to the floor and say this is just about jobs. read the bill. mr. speaker, at this time i'd like to yield five minutes to the gentlewoman from godfather, north carolina, dr. foxx. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman is recognized for five minutes. ms. foxx: thank you, mr. speaker. and i thank my colleague from texas for yielding time and handling this rule on the floor today. there's so many things to refute

from our friends on the other side that there's simply not enough time to do it. but what we need to say over and over and over again that instead of addressing the staggering deficits and debt that the democrats, who are totally in control of congress, and that needs to be repeated over and over and over again, what they are running up in washington, $714 billion in deficit spending in the first half of fiscal year 2010 alone. speaker pelosi and leader hoyer are trying to shield their members from taking any more, "tough votes" during an election year. as one washington newspaper put it, without much house on the house agenda they simply don't have any excuses not to do a budget beyond cowardness. economists say that washington needs to cut spending now to create jobs. but democrats aren't listening. out-of-touch washington democrats may think by skipping the budget process this year

they can avoid the tough choice that is come from governing, but they can't hide from our nation's problems. especially when their job killing agenda is making things worse. they could come to the floor and say they are creating jobs, but the numbers prove otherwise. the simple truth is why the liberals have repeatedly claimed the trillion dollar 2009 stimulus plan was, quote, the right thing to do, end quote, it's hard to tell that from looking at the job situation across the u.s. according to the latest data from the u.s. department of labor, by april 2010, a total of 48 out of 50 states had seen net job losses since the president signed the democrat stimulus plan into law in february, 2009. the data show that only alaska, north dakota, and the district of columbia has seen net job creation since then. and other than perhaps predictible exception in d.c.,

even those states that are seeing some increases in jobs are still well short of the growth of white house originally forecast. what is clear is that 2.7 million more jobs have been eliminated, eliminated, mr. speaker, since democrats' stimulus. unemployment roads 9.9% instead of falling to 4.4% as democrats predicted. and 15 million americans, an all time record, for the month of april, are currently unemployed. it's baffling that those people charged with leading congress cannot learn from their failed attempts at addressing the problem facing everyday americans. and as my coeague from texas has said, they like to bash corporations, but what they are bashing are employers. they love to brag about how they love to brag about how effective they have be