conversation and focus on job creation. the congrressmen for international trade will be here. that is tomorrow morning here on "washington journal." thank you for being with us on this sunday. enjoy the rest of your weekend. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] >> sees that is a private, non-

profit company king -- non- profit company created in 1979 as a public service. coming up on "newsmakers," 202- 737-0001 -- david dreier on the gop plan to cut spending. >> congress returns this week to work on a number of items. then plans began on a debate on a measure to cut non-security federal-to 2008 -- non-security spending levels to 2008.

it will turn to a proposal that will change senate rules on the filibuster, which is used to delay or block action on legislation. live coverage of the senate can be seen on c-span 2. this weekend on "road to the white house whitetwo -- "road to the white house," two speeches. one is from congresswoman michele bachmann. >> i know it is shocking that that speculation might come along. i am here to be a part of the compensation for 2012. there has been no decision about candidacy. i want to be part of the conversation. >> watched her speech in its

on "road to the white house" at 6:30 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. pacific. >> sunday, our guess is christopher hitchens. >> it is a tantalizing time to have cancer because there are treatments i can see just out of my reach, which is encouraging and a no-win -- and annoying.

>> what is tuesday's vote all about? >> first, it is nice to be with you all. my one directive is to be kind. clearly, john boehner and the republicans have said that our report -- our focus is on job creation. it is essential for us to reduce the size, scope, and reach of government to achieve that. we are on a path toward doing that.

this resolution we will be considering on tuesday is designed to get us where we said we would be, that is to funding levels before the bailout and before the stimulus. it is true. we want to have, the united states house of representatives, ourselves on record in support of our effort to resist -- to reduce the size and scope of government. it is a statement the house of representatives is making on this issue. there will be democrats who will join with us in saying this reduction is the right thing to do. we are beginning the process with that vote on tuesday. >> does this set a spot with you in terms of negotiations with the senate in terms of the continuing resolution?

other people do not think this is going to happen. does this set a marker where you want to be? does it give you flexibility to negotiate a little bit? >> as you know well, for the first time ever since 1974, the federal government is operating without a budget having passed the congress. it is unprecedented. we have had to take extraordinary steps to deal with that, including the fact that we have this continuing resolution. it was passed with the 10 levels up to march 4 of this year. we know that the senate is in the hands of the democrats. the republicans have the majority in the house of representatives. we made a commitment to continue to drive toward spending

reductions. i think we are going to end up with a negotiating process on it. there is no doubt about that. for us to do what we said to the american people we were going to do, that is pursue a level of spending that is before the bailout and the span this -- and the stimulus, is where we are going to be. that is the resolution that we will pass on tuesday. we will make it clear where we stand. >> do you intend to do one more continuing resolution for the current fiscal year? or will this be a stopgap measure? >> the short answer is that i do not know. it has to do with negotiations. i would like to think that if we could, we could pursue a spending level that is at 2008 funding levels, before the bailout and the stimulus.

that was a $14 trillion debt. we need to get onto this path. that is what i would like to see. i suspect we may end up in a position where we have to have more than one continuing resolution. we do not know how long that will go at this point. these discussions are taking place right now. >> have the events in tucson changed the tenor or the momentum? >> we got the news that that the difference was able to stand -- gabby giffords was able to stand. they are saying she may plateau at some point. of the things we are seeing may not continue at the same level. we hope and pray that they will.

there was a candlelight vigil on the campus where i went to college. this has been a sobering time for this institution and the american people as we have gone through it. i do think that we shot it has had has played a role in lowering the tender. -- lowering the tenor. we know that jared loughner was not politically correct. we are just marking the 50th anniversary of john f. kennedy's inauguration. on thursday, it was the 50th anniversary. i sat with the kennedy family. at the end of the ceremony,

which i suspect c-span will be they played kennedy's inaugural address. he said stability should not be seen as a sign of weakness. underscoring that has played a role. i have always believed in the clash of ideas that james madison wanted us to have. i engage in rigorous debate on the floor of the house regularly. i do think that it is important for us to do it in the most simple way possible. we are continuing that. as far as the momentum, we are still pursuing the things we talked about. we succeeded in passing through the house with bipartisan support a repeal of the health- care bill. a resolution authored was passed

this week that called on committees to begin work on this. we are going to have a bill that calls for us to get back to 2008 spending levels. >> there is momentum for spending cuts. you listened to democratic rhetoric on your marks. you have momentum. what do you think is going to happen when spending cuts are realized and some of the members who have been calling for larger cuts and members are knocking on the door saying they need transportation and research into illnesses. ? what do you do when your constituencies come to you and say we want the bold line in los angeles or we want some diseases

look into that might be george? >> i shudder when i see this because i do not want to see it in front of susan. i began my fourth decade in the congress. suzanne probably will not believe this. >> she does not age. >> the thing that is important to note is that in the three decades i have been privileged to serve is that i have not had people coming into my office coming from california and making a request to reduce the size of government rather than through republican rallies. when people come in, they have an agenda and they want to see spending. i see that climate for the first time changing. that is not to say there won't be people who will be coming in and asking. i had the mayor of los angeles in my office this week. we were talking about transportation funding for

california. infrastructure is a priority. one of the miss characterization's put out there -- mischaracterizations is that the moment we talk about cutting spending, we have our colleagues talking about the national institutes of health funding will be cut and we will not be dealing with the disease is up today. this sky is falling tenor is out there. there will be an attempt to stir a lot of that up. if you think about our requests to go to 2008 spending levels -- we were able to function with 2008 spending levels. frankly, i believe those were too high. it will not be easy.

i should tell you that from everything i have seen in the media with these 87 new republicans and nine democrats, 96 people have come to the congress, there is a sense that these people were crazy. based on a lot of those reports you saw in the media -- i participated in two events for the orientation. i have gotten to know these people. i am really impressed with their intelligence, dedication, and patriotism and their resolve to deal with the issues you raised. there are going to be people who are out there demanding that we not bring about spending reductions. it is not going to be easy, but we will have to do it. >> how is cutting federal spending to fiscal 2008 levels create jobs?

>> if you look at the $13 trillion national debt and look at the deficits we have right now, the idea of diminishing the burden that is imposed on job creators and individuals, which would be the byproduct of reducing those spending levels, which would -- of those spending levels, would be reducing -- would be creating jobs. the perception would be a positive one if we were to began on a path toward getting our economic pact in order. by virtue of that, it would have a tremendous ripple effect. there are a number of things i believe need to be done that go hand in hand with reducing the size and scope of government. we need to open up new markets for u.s. goods and services

around the world. we have three pending trade agreements right now with south korea, colombia, and panama that have been languishing for 40 years. they have been languishing because of the fact that, under speaker pelosi, she refused to bring them up. we are in the majority and president obama is there. i am impressed with the fact that president obama has indicated a willingness to bring up these agreements. the colombia and panama deals were completed before the korea deal was done. that will create jobs here in the united states. reducing the size of government, getting to 2008 levels and opening up new markets -- i was

glad to see the president talk about reducing the regulatory burden. he was to work with us on the issue of tax reform. there is a litany of things that, coupled with going down those -- down to those 2008 levels, will go a long way toward economic recovery and down growth -- and job growth. i believe that the economic growth we are seeing today is in spite of, not because of, the stimulus package. i think to have president obama embrace what i called the john f. kennedy/ronald reagan notion of a supply side pro-growth economic policy is something the president embraced by virtue of the extension of the 2003 and

2001 tax cuts and his quest for tax reform. those things coupled with spending reduction will give us the kind of growth we need. >> both parties talk a lot about jobs and how they are not available with 9% employment rate -- 9% unemployment rate continuing. if congress opens up and the first thing we see is the repeal of the health care law. the next day, the dropping of a bill to ban federal funding for abortion and expand the ban a little bit. we hear handgun bans on the democratic side in the wake of the tucson strategy. why is anybody talking about jobs versus other policies? >> i think i just have and i have on the floor of the house

prepared if you look at the $2.70 trillion levels of expenditure when it comes to the health care bill, it seems to me that our repeal, which we did this week, and our pursue -- pursuit of allowing healthcare to be purchased across state lines, these kinds of things will be job creators. i believe the mandates that exist in the health care bill itself -- the notion of hiring additional irs agents to enforce those mandates -- those kinds of things to undermine economic and job growth. we saw the health care bill the pill as an important job creation effort. -- health care bill repeal as

an important job creation efforts. i talked about the quest for these trade agreements. i hope the president on tuesday night will talk about the colombia and panama agreements along with hickory agreement, which we have been pushing. now that japan -- colombia and panama agreements along with the korean agreement, which we have been pushing. there are democrats and republicans who believe the reduction from 25% to 30% will do as not to create jobs. we need to have an hearing -- have a hearing this week on the tax issue with the goal of creating more jobs. we have a good chance to continue on that path and we

are going to. >> if i can follow up on that. with the reduction of the corporate tax rate, would you be in favor of doing things to ensuring that companies are paying -- >> of course. i introduced something called f.a.s.t. it was modeled after something created by rudy guiliani. it takes the six rates and slashes them to three. 10% on the first $40,000 of income. a flat bed it% on income above that. it takes the corporate rate to 25% -- a flat rate on income

above that at 40%. we have done that may be some kind of tax holiday so that we can increase compliance -- one of the reasons we have a lack of compliance is the complexity of the tax code. if we can simplify the code, it is clear to me that we can enhance the level of compliance that we see today. >> the thus simplifying include closing all of the -- does simplifying include closing all of the loopholes? >> we maintain some deductions for charitable contributions and home mortgage interest. we know they are incredibly popular.

there are some things that we encourage. there is a $15,000 credit for the purchase of health insurance. i expanded ira retirement incentives. there's some things that we do that are important. it does move to close loopholes that bill -- loopholes that do exist out there. >> how do you get done what you need to get done legislatively and keep the process open? leaders from the last couple of decades have come to the realization and belief that closing down the amendment and rules process, which you are in charge of, helps them get their jobs done. there has been talk of opening that up. how do you do that in a way that allows you to get your agenda out? >> in the first time in the 221

history of the republic, we went through the entire congress without a single bill be considered under the amendment process. that is history. we are looking forward now. speaker john boehner has said he wants an open process. i feel strongly about that. it is our responsibility to move our agenda. at the same time, we want to do it in the fairest and most open way possible. on the appropriations process, never before has that been shut down the way it was in the last years. it is a challenge. one of the things that i and speaker banner -- speaker john boehner have said to our colleagues is that we have a lot of work. we are going to spend a lot of time on the floor.

it is not the job of the rules committee to structure the debate. we all have our own ideas of what we would like to do. everyone should have a chance to be hurt. it is possible for people to engage in a filibuster by amendment. there is a lot of duplication sometimes. having some kind of structure is important. our goal is a more open process. speaker john boehner has said we need a process that allows us to move our agenda at the same time. >> your committee is the only one that is up and running at this point. you are working with the freshman class, some of which have budget goals that are more stringent than the leadership.

how will you work with them? >> i am so impressed with this new congress. they are dedicated to getting the economy growing and creating jobs and reducing the size and scope of government. i am going to be having a reunion at the reagan library for those of us who were elected to congress 30 years ago with ronald reagan. the conservative members of congress and lots of new members are going to be there. we will have a chance to talk about this. this is part of the free-flowing debate that is taking place internally as well as on the house floor. we are on the same page. in a perfect world, there are things we need to tackle. we need to tackle entitlement

reform. that is a political football. it is absolutely essential that we do that. i know these new members are dedicated to doing that. we will have ongoing discussions in our quest to get there. >> on a question? >> one of the most contentious issues to come up will be the issue of raising the debt ceiling. there are some members who say they will vote against that. how will you get that done? >> we repeal the rule -- repealed the rule allows for an automatic increase. vote.w there has to be an we do not want to proceed with this unless we have a commitment from the president that we are going to be able to see dramatic

reductions in the level of spending. i am convinced we will be able to get there. it will not be easy. that is why we are here. it is something that does have to be done. discussions are going on right now. it will be tough, but we can get there. >> what is one area where you agree with the president? >> there are several areas. opening up the markets outside of our borders is critical for us. the president gave a great statement on the issue of trade one year ago. after he gave these great arguments, i told him he made

compelling arguments, but he did not say he would send these agreements to the congress and work to pass them. this year, we will have a chance to do that. i mentioned tax reform. he talked about the issue of tax reform. i think that is fertile ground for us to work together on. regulatory really. -- regulatory reform. we are going to enthusiastically pursued these things with the present. >> that is the end of our time. will you come back? >> absolutely. >> david dreier was our guest on "newsmakers." "newsmakers."