counterterrorism operation at a hearing of the house select intelligence committee beginning it 10:00 a.m. eastern. on c-span, "washington journal" next fall by live coverage of today's u.s. house session. in about 45 minutes, we will discuss the economy and jobs with two members of congress. host: good morning, thursday, october 6. you're watching "washington journal." we will be on until 9:00 a.m. this morning. both the house and senate are in session this morning. they continue to work on the china currency bill in the senate.

we are going to open up our phone lines this morning to talk about the death of apple computer's steve jobs. in the papers this morning, he is held on know the front page of every paper that we have. there was a statement from the white house on his passing last night. words being used are visionary, a changed society, and a comparison to edison. the president called him the embodiment of the spirit of ingenuity. we like to hear from you about the spirit of ingenuity and whether or not steve jobs was uniquely american and we want to hear your comments on out. 202-737-0002 for republicans. 202-737-0001 for democrats. 202-628-0205 four independents

-- for independents. good morning. it seemed appropriate to reflect on the life and legacy of steve jobs. he built an american corporation that was known around the world. the front pages are filled with tributes to him. i thought we would open up our phone lines on your thoughts to his legacy and whether there are lessons from apple computer as its rise to prominence as we debate american jobs and the strength of our own economy. would like to talk to about that and our phone lines are open. you can send us a twitter message and an e-mail message as well. from the white house, the president has these reflections on steve jobs passing. he wrote -- "he exemplifies the

spirit of american ingenuity." that's what we're using as our phrase this morning. "he made the information revolution accessible and intuitive and fun. he brought joy to millions of adults and children alike. there may be no greater tribute because the world learned about his death on a device that he invented. this is how apple is reflecting on the passing of their leader. the phone lines are open and we will begin with a phone call from oklahoma city. caller: he was our current date thomas edison.

i got my current folks to buy an apple 2c. he has always been revolutionary and there'll not be another one like him. host: let me ask you -- if what they did in the bgarage, could that happen today? caller: it is problem happening right now -- it is probably happening right now. get to market and changed the world. we can still do this. is probably still happening right now. host: do you think is something unique to this country? caller: china or the united kingdom. we have free speech and we are allowed to think outside the

box, which is what steve jobs did. he thought outside the box. host: next up is a call from allentown, pennsylvania. we're reflecting on steve jobs who died after a battle with pancreatic cancer. he is being held as a visionary who changed the world. let's hear from allentown. go ahead please. caller: yes, hello. today is a day that we don't celebrate much. is october 6, in national german americans dead. i thought maybe c-span might be curious about that. we celebrate the contributions of 60 million americans of german descent.

petroleum industry, pharmaceutical industries, the first printing presses in america, much technology. we don't acknowledge them because they are assimilated. i want to say about mr. jobs, sorry to his family. i had one of his early computers. it was a great, great thing that he has done. this is an example of when reality steps in over the media image. we watch television and you'll see technology is betrayed -- almost everyone is a caricature it the white male as a bumbling idiot. this is the reality on everything from television to the saturn rocket and the microchip were all created by the european american.

we should once and awhile pat him on the back and say thank you. host: this message from gary on twitter. host: next telephone call is from long island. promoted to frank. caller: i like to say -- good morning to frank. i am sad that steve jobs died. it is a shame that good americans pass away and these old men seem to stay there forever. host: we have a couple of clips from the commencement address that steve jobs gave in 2005 and also dealing with illness. let's listen to one of those.

>> this was the closest i have been to facing death. i hope is the closest i get for a few more decades. i can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than one death was a purely intellectual concept. no one wants to die. even people who want to go to have it did not want to die to get there. yet death is the destination wheat all she all share. death is possibly the best invention of life. it clears out the old to make way for the new. right now the new is you. but sunday you'll become the old and be cleared away. sorry to be so dramatic but it is true.

your time is limited so did not waste it by letting someone else's life. to not be trapped by dogma -- do not be trapped by dogma. have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. they already know what you truly want to become. everything else is secondary. host: steve jobs speaking at stanford university back in 2005. newspapers have front-page stories and full-page obituaries. here's one in "the new york times" and kilobit of what w -- and a little bit of what they write.

host: let's go back to our next telephone call. plantation, florida, tom. caller: i would like to say that steve jobs represents a lot of what we can be proud about america. do you know that some languages did not have a direct translation of the word " wonder." but because of who we are, " wonder" is an important word in the american language. for me, steve jobs says this. he says that it is ok to be

alone if you have a vision. and in this nation, you can bring that vision forward and be successful. host: how does that message resonate? caller: number one, i think that americans need to celebrate together that will live in a great nation and we will get it done. but will we need is the leadership that has the same kind of vision and fearlessness that steve jobs had. we are waiting for the person -- the last person like that was ronald reagan, in my own opinion. but there were others. so i guess that's what it says. host: thank you for your call

this morning. host: our next telephone call is from las vegas. this is sarah on the democrats line. caller: i am reflecting on steve jobs, what he added to this world while he was here is what matters. but while you're on this earth, who are you? that is my thoughts. i am a democrat. my father is a republican. he is running for mayor in tucson. i love my father just the same. it doesn't matter which party. we have to come together as human beings. host: next up on twitter.

host: next comment comes from phoenix. the morning to rob. caller: i am the same age as steve jobs. i think about the path of my life and all the years of what i was doing and what he might have been doing and it just made me think of what makes a person achieve what they do and when he worked on his computer, what i was doing. i just think congratulations to him. we'll take different paths. we make -- it takes mistakes along the way to grow and what mistakes he made other than just his achievements so he could

fulfill himself as a person. i was at the festival that he created. i remember the year he would have been at the same age. i don't have a job. lots of differences between steve jobs and myself. i like to recognize that there is lot of people in this country that would like -- it is just not happening for a majority of us. host: can you talk about why that is not happening? caller: we have a social atmosphere that does not bring out the majority of individuals. recognizing what he has done and steading manufacturing -- people talk with the innovation process.

and the icons know, icons like him. there are a lot of us. our own individual talents are really being thwarted. it is a big problem. we have topics like this every day. host: thank you. steve jobs, the contours of highs -- of his biography are known. was fired by the apple board in his early 30's and during his time in "the wilderness, so he created pixar, the animated movie ccompany. he reflected on the virtue of being fired. >> it turned out getting fired from apple was the best thing that could have happened to me. the heaviness of being successful was replaced by the

light of being a beginner again. during the next five years and started another company named next, another company named pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would be my wife. pixar went on to create the first animated feature film, -- the first computer animated feature film, "toy story." in a remarkable turn of events, apple bought next. i returned to apple. we have a wonderful family together. i'm pretty sure none of this would happen if i had not been fired from apple. it was awful tasting medicine, but i guess the patient needed it. sometimes life will hit you in the head with a brick. do not lose faith. i'm convinced the only thing that kept me going is that i love what i did. you have got to find what you love, and that is as true for

worked as it is for lovers. your work will fill a large part of your life. the only way to be truly satisfied is do what you believe is great work. the only way to do great work is to love what you do. host: that is stanford's commencement back in 2005. we're talking about his legacy and the american culture that allowed him and his company to flourish in reference to president obama's words that he "embodied the spirit of american ingenuity." there is talk about that, especially in our environment today with so many people unemployed, and we are struggling with our economy, also talking about the role of corporations in society. reflections on steve jobs this morning and any lessons we might take from his success. next telephone call is -- is it returned gap, georgia?

caller: yes. thank you. i started out, i am 74 because i'm a little bit older. i started out with computers in college, sort of unique. the one question i would really like to see obama ask himself -- why did steve jobs go to china? my wife has been in china three times. we adopted children from theire. why would he manufacture all of this in china? that is the answer. we need to supply our country. also, i went through, when he got fired and i went over to another type of computer, then i came back to apple. now i have two ipads. i tell my boys, if you give your wife and ipad, prepared for a lot -- prepare for a lot of

questions because they sure like to ask how it works. it has opened tremendous doors to our people as far as looking and observing how to find information. it's like you're in your own library at home. host: from twitter -- "america needs more of misfits, rebels, and where people with visions and imaginations like steven jobs and einstein. green bay, wisconsin, good morning to colleen, a democrat. caller: i thought he was really brave to go on the way he did. he never quit. i think he had enough money, he could have just put his feet up and let the world go by, but he kept on reinventing himself, kept on going. i think that is the most impressive part about him.

host: thank you for your call. we're also logging comments on our facebook page. if you would like to send your message in as well, you can tweak us, talking about the legacy of steve jobs and what it means for our society and economy today. from "the washington post" this morning, "artist, role model, it is no leader, life changer. that was repeatedly mentioned on wednesday. he was, they said at a singular force. our next telephone call comes from the u.k. good morning to mark. caller: good morning. i think one of your first callers got it rather wrong. steve was an amazing character,

but he always acknowledged the work of other people and cooperated. the man who invented the world wide web is british. i am an american who lives in britain. responsible for the mac book procumbent iphone, the ipad. he would have been the first to give credit to these people. algorithms on which computers are based, that is the way you choose something you are going to get on the net. that idea was developed by a persian-speaking islamic scholar of the middle ages. host: so let me ask you -- caller: he was the first to realize that we did this together.

they made it to something everybody could use. host: i was going to ask you about the impact of all this. thank you for watching us from the united kingdom this morning. next, a call from amherst, massachusetts. kathleen, you're on the air. caller: this is kathleen. i wanted to talk about the social events that came from the macintosh. i have been using a macintosh for years and years. i am a graphic designer. what steve jobs talked about was we have culture, we have culture, we have culture. if you see the advertisements, mac is always involved with the intuitive nature people have. what is important to me about it is that we do not -- we are in a society where people feel

like we should only be studying mathematics and science. the thing is that none of the -- the mouse that was invented by hewlett packard, not by steve jobs it is critical to the whole thing because without the interface, we would not be able to have the visual reality that we have. we would still be stuck in dos where you could only move in a linear way. we think that somehow we are going to solve the problems of the world without bringing in intuitive learning and without bringing in an ability to know what the culture is, and ability to know what matters in life. nothing against science, but one of the things i once saw on c-

span that mattered to me was people throughout the day foundation, grants given to people who simultaneously produced creativity as well as scientific expertise. we need both. that is all i'm trying to say. host: thanks so much, kathleen. next is vivian on twitter -- "the world does not get many visionaries. steve jobs, we will miss you!" talking about steve jobs, who died yesterday at the age of 56, and the lessons of his life for our society. next call from ohio. good morning to alfred, a republican. caller: i would like to chime in to make a reference to our founding of the country and the constitution.

i lived in the connecticut western reserve -- i live in the connecticut western reserve. the founders of this country were deeply in a linear argument about how they were going to set up this nation. one view was to restrict immigrants from coming into the country. the other idea was called an open gate. john adams, one of the great founders of the constitution, was in philadelphia in this dialogue, and his wife, abigail, sent him a letter and congratulated him for selecting the open gate policy. and she said that the open gate policy is a wonderful idea, but there are inherent dangers to

it. that danger is that the open the policy would allow people to -- cultures to come into the country, but they would set up new colonies here to restrict people from coming in to those in going into their community. the critical thing about john adams is that he fostered seeking an open or common cause in this nation, and the common cause concept caused great people to rise as a result of not restricting but finding each other's common cause for humanity. we are a collective world, not a linear world, and that common cause idea cause the people that came out of this great connecticut western reserve to set up a foundation. host: thank you for your

comment hearken back to america's founding. how much engineering related to the internet itself, free government engineering did jobs use, from twitter. steve jobs spoke about silicon valley and its addition to the economy of technology. and that i'm from a place called silicon valley, a rather curious place that has contributed to a large number of fortune 500 companies over the last 20 years, many more than the $100 million to two under $50 million class. it tells also contributed to ideas of our civilization in products relating to those ideas that we will recognize as peaks in particular, the whole

semiconductor technology that is driving computer technology, genetic engineering technology. one of the things you learn in silicon value is tvalley is thae company's column from smaller companies. toyota basically did not exist in 1961 and 30 years later it is the biggest car company in the world. how is this accomplished? how can we do more of this? this is a good idea. more and more of these countries are -- more and more of these companies are technology driven. not so much the financial capital side of the equation, but the human capital side of the equation. host: steve jobs back in 1987 talking about the importance of human capital. walter moss burt in the "the wall street journal" this morning, "apple co-founder built

one of the most valuable companies." "he did what a ceo should, managed for the long term, not the quarter or the short-term stock price. he made big bets and took big risks, insisting on the highest product quality and on building things to delight and power -- and empower actual users, intermediaries like corporate i the directors. he lived at the intersection of technology and liberal arts, and he could sell. man, he could sell." talking about the legacy of steve jobs, who died yesterday. and the lessons he might offer for america and our economy today. congressional leaders also contributed their tributes to him. beginning with nancy pelosi, who wrote, "steve jobs was a visionary, a risk taker, an entrepreneur, and the creative genius who brought joy to

millions." host: we have one more from eric cantor. he sends out this message. back to your telephone calls. next is from georgia. this is brian, an independent. caller: he was a true american. he got to live the american dream. garage.ed from this he did the iphone and ipad. myself, i am an idealist. and inventor

biggest black one thing to it is crucial and being able to of patents done and to have the money to invent things today in today's society with the with the economy is. i just don't have any capital. the only thing i can be myself is an idealist right now. i have done promotions for many years. even though the last 10 years i've been a salesman for a newspaper company doing promotions, even though the last 10 years have been a hard, my wife and i live on commission and our income has decreased the last 10 years because of the way the economy and allow congress runs the country. to get back to him, he was great, man. i wish sunday i will be able to

be somebody like him, to be able to live my american dream. i will not let bad times get me down. i notice have another idea inside my head, another way to make money, another way to put my name out there, another way to live that american dream that everybody wants to live in this country and should be able to. and i believe there is a lot of steve jobs out there, including myself. i'm not the only person in the country that would love to make a name for myself, be remembered by something then just to pass away in the wind without not even a glimpse of one time being on the tv set. host: thank you, brian, from georgia.

i want to mix in some other stories from the political world. sarah palin making it official that she will not run. this morning from "the wall street journal," the headline, in polls."gain host: talking about the life and legacy of steve jobs. next up is lancaster, california. good morning to loretta.

caller: i want to say that steve jobs was a great person, very intelligent. the world is a better place for him and people like him to s advancee advances that he came up with. i thought that my grandfather have lived through it so many changes in the world. but i think that i have, too. this is unbelievable where we have come, how far we have come. i was the first in my family to have a computer and i taught my children and grandchildren how to work them, and now i'm so far behind them it is unbelievable. there is one thing -- i had heard that healing accepted $1 a year for a salary.

that to me is being one of the greatest americans, especially where we are now, the country isn't so much trouble. -- the country is in some much trouble. i would hope the politicians in d.c. would think about that. i make $30,000 a year and i'm so much richer than most of the retired people i live among. i know that the politicians make a lot of money and they spent a lot of money, for their jobs. if they could take a page from his book and perhaps give up part of their salary temporarily, it all counts. it would all counts. host: thank you for your comments. we have a tweet. from the political scene, nevada

is setting their political caucus. new hampshire will soon choose a different date. their primary should be seven days police and the other primary caucus. early january, it looks like. next up is a telephone call from stockton, maine. caller: susan, c'est moi. i am a long survivor of c-span. i used only call on fridays. that always got a chuckle. host: our boss. caller: long ago, i worked -- i spent a lot of time with a lovely lady named jody hoffman,

an office manager of "rolling stone." she worked for a man -- i cannot remember if he was put in charge of "the san physical examiner." he had a conference and it was in a beautiful retreat that the hearsts have at the base of mount shasta. there were three guys named steve jobs, steve wozniak, and bill gates. i drove them from the airport to that place and i was kind of a fly on the wall. and did differenter things. host: what year was this? caller: maybe just before 1984 when rose was the publisher of

"the examiner." host: what did you learn from the experience? caller: i could see that these three mines were going somewhere. it was interesting. i'm not a real educated man, but bill gates, he had so much on his mind. he could not speak fast enough to be able to get it all out. it was just a very interesting weekend at this time. those three guys were there and it was interesting to see the minds at that point, knowing that there were probably all go somewhere, and lord knows they did. host: thank you for calling.

being in the backseat of a car with the heads of microsoft. there is a reference to that this morning in "the wall street journal." host: talking about the legacy of steve jobs on this day after his passing and we're mixing in a few other stories. we of seven or eight more minutes. next up is a call from spring, texas. caller: good morning, susan. i was thinking about the irony of this great icon passing away,

steve jobs, j-o-b-s, and the challenges we face in this country with creating jobs and what he did for this country in creating jobs. cabalism is so important to the growth of this country, starting in a garage, building a business, to hire thousands of people and even the spinoff companies that came out of apple. i just think that this is what we have to keep in mind and look to steve jobs as a lesson in the horatio alger stories that have been created here in america because we're so unique as a country that a man like steve jobs within intellect can grow and build this country, and there are more people like jobs. it is what differentiates

america from russia and from other countries where this could never have happened. we can only hope that this country will stay on course, learn what steve jobs brought to this country and turn to capitalism and build on this lesson and the legacy that he left us. host: bo;ill from orange, connecticut, writes -- a similar theme from pat in new hampshire. and from jim at the lake -- host: talking about the career and legacy of steve jobs this morning after his passing at the

age of 56 from pancreatic cancer. the front page of "the washington times" yesterday -- this is stephen breyer and antonin scalia talking about the role of the court under the constitution. let's listen to a clip of that. >> i did not agree with most of that. [laughter] i'm not sure i agree with the premise that our object is to figure out what congress meant. i think our object is to figure out what the law says. if congress meant one thing but enacted a law that says something else that is promulgated to the people, i am bound to apply the law. that's what it means to have a government of laws and not of

men. i'm glad senator grassley is gone. this is one of his pet peeves. . think we're governed by laws when i approached a statute or the constitution, i asked myself, what to these words mean to the people to which there were promulgated? once i figure that out, i can sleep at night. host: does is antonin scalia on capitol yesterday discussing the outlook and approach to the constitution of the two of them on the work of the court. other stories in the news this morning, the house committee to expand the probe of solyndra. this is from "the washington times" this morning. also from that paper -- this is

the work force committee of minnesota it introduced the work force democracy and fairness act. "this is become a bipartisan flashpoint." and one more from that paper. "only two days after president obama suggested the government -- the spokesman said the ministers and has no such plan to fight the fee." about stevetalking jobs and his contribution, his legacy and lessons we can take from his successful company.

next up is a call from west virginia. caller: i'm calling about steve jobs. he is a good man. he is a good guy. he took it to china. host: thank you for your comments. we have this note on twitter. host: last is a telephone call from seattle. this is mike, a democrat. caller: good morning. i think it's great that c-span and the world -- america is taking out some time to recognize steve jobs. i think that he was a great icon. i think that he embodies somebody that started from humble beginnings and has grown

to a company that has influenced the world. what i wanted to highlight is that we have to realize and sadness that steve jobs is no longer here, but i hope that we take from this is what type of conditions can we put together so that the hundreds of other steve jobs that are out there that do not have access to education, does not have access to certain conditions to allow them to be the great people that they are comes out. steve jobs was a great person. the iphone, the ipad, all of the different things in which he has done has transformed not just us here in america but throughout the world. the question we need to ask ourselves is, how many other hundreds of steve jobs that are out there and what can we do as a country to allow those

individuals to flourish and to bring forth innovation, types of things that we would be proud of? steve jobs, great man, great person. i'm so glad that c-span is taking out some time this morning. i think it is the proper thing to do. movie the conversation for, what can we do for the other steve jobs out there? thank you so much. host: our next guest is kevin brady of texas. he is the vice chairman of the joint economic committee and he has some thoughts about job creation in this economy. we'll be talking to him next. we have more from that hearing yesterday, this time with justice breyer talking about the role of the courts and the constitution. >> the first thing i want to know is somebody wrote that

statute. these words may be hard to figure out what they mean it one way or another, but somebody has something in mind in congress, and i want to find out what that means and i want to stick to h=. it. there are words like liberty or freedom of speech. it is not so much purpose of what used to describe it. that is basic values. and i think those basic values have not changed or not much. values are virtually eternal. but the circumstances change. so i say sometimes we discussed this and george washington did not know about the internet. a lot of our job is to apply the values that are there in the constitution, which do not change or not much. to circumstances that changed all the time, every five minutes. and that is not so easy to do.

>> before the presidential election of 1916, charles evans hughes was a lawyer and professor, a two-term governor of new york. and though he lost his bid for the presidency, his impact on political history remained, serving as a postwar secretary of state and ultimately chief justice of the u.s. he is one of the 14 men featured in c-span's new weekly series, "the contenders," live from the supreme court building in washington, d.c., friday at 8:00 p.m. eastern. for a preview about hughes, watch a number of videos about him at our special website for the series, cspan.org/thecontenders. >> who gets the door? >> i was paying close attention to discussion. i fail to hear the knock on the door.

brennan was on my left and they both up and answered the door. it made me feel like i was two feet high. one of the most important jobs of the zero judges is to remember that you are a doorman. >> john paul stevens on his new memoir, sunday night on c-span's "q&a." >> "washington journal" continues. host: kevin gray, thank you for being here. you heard about -- kevin brady, thank you for being here. you heard us talk about steven jobs. what lessons do we have from america's success in the

technology world to apply to job creation? guest: there is no substitute for the drive of an american entrepreneur. i did nothing to government could have created the ipad, the ipod, transformed music and entertainment. he had a country in the tax code that encourage investment. he had an opportunity in this country to be able to market and go against the big boys and be able to transform an industry without necessarily asking for government handouts along the way. and i think it is ironic on the day we lose such an iconic genius, on to burn or that

washington proposes a surtax on successful people like him. so of a success tax on those who have been worked and generated so many jobs. to me this seems to be a disconnect on that issue. host: his public held more than 300 patents -- his company held more than 300 patents. access to capital is challenging in this economy. guest: no question about that. and our patent process needs to be reformed. it is easier and quicker and less litigious to do with it other countries. i am hopeful that it will help some in that area. it goes at the heart of -- i did

not think anyone should be discouraged by this process. there is no question that we can do would and streamlined much better. host: i want to open the phone lines and the twitter account and e-mailed lines if you like to engage in conversation with representative kevin brady. our topic is jobs in the economic. republicans, 202-737-0002. democrats, 202-737-0001. 0205.endents, 202-628- the chairman of the federal reserve was on capitol hill. the talk about the role of the fed in job creation. you spoke about that and said this is something you like to change. explain why. guest: the fed plays an

important role in our economy. they should be focused on keeping the prices stable. avoiding inflation or deflation. that's what they can do over time and probably one of the strongest foundations of economic growth, changing the money supply. .hat does not spur job growth i think the fed is trying to do too much. most of the embers in the economy are on the fiscal side. regulation is not balanced. these are the factors the hold our economy back. i like to keep the prices stable. that is what most of the world has moved to. that is the role the fed should apply. host: one of your colleagues on

the committee asked chairman bernanke about this role. here is his response. >> this is a complicated question. i would say that we do have some ability to improve the situation and i think the dual mandate has worked pretty well over time. central banks that have inflation as the primary or the only mandate to pay attention to economic conditions. inflation -- that affects inflation expectations. i think the dual mandate is workable. the only thing the fed can control is inflation. so my bottom line is i think we can make the dual mandate work. i think it has worked pretty well. it is up to congress. we'll do what you assign us to do.

host: reaction. guest: listen to the last part of his testimony. it is workable. keep inflation low. in other words, i'll do what congress tells me to do. in the long run, keeping prices low is what we do. the fed is going to do -- follow the mandates congress lays out. we of employment and -- they create conflicts. interest rates would be a good example. inflation is growing. this slows the economy down. it also -- you can drive inflation up at the time you're trying to increase jobs, which

is what the case is today. lower the interest rates to nearly zero in hopes of spurring the economy. another drag on the economy. at times you have two important mandates that are exactly in policy in conflict to which appeared our global competitors have learned that price stability will use the primary or the so-called central banks and a think they are right. host: the senate is debating the chinese currency. i'm wondering given the trade imbalance, the number of jobs have been exploited -- exported to china. what you think about the united states having a voice in the chinese currency valuation. guest: trade deficits and the imbalance of u.s. and china is a

real issue. the currency is a real issue. they made a mistake by looking at china only through the prism of currency. it is key to a segment of the economy. the broader range of american companies trying to compete over there. intellectual prproperty rights, capital account that is controlled to that manipulation of the raw export materials. all of those are barriers that have a much greater impact on our trade deficit. my concern is this will be counterproductive and it will not be productive and will make it harder to tear down the broader range of trade barriers. i am pleased that speaker boehner made the point that we need to look at china in a broader relationship. he is exactly right. host: potomac, maryland, this is

-- tell me your name please? potomac? caller: mary. i was going to make a comment about the congressman said about taxing the entrepreneurs. that is not what -- host: you still there? finish your thought. caller: i am calling to say that mr. obama is not asking to taxi entrepreneurs, who are creating jobs. but individuals who are making easy money on wall street, by influence and people like hedge fund managers.

there are lots who are making over $1 million who are not creating any jobs. they are making personal gains and wondering whether to buy a bigger boat or a small boat, and those people to flee need to be taxed -- and those people definitely need to be taxed. their mandate guest: republicans are very willing to work with the president on real jobs issues. right now we are moving three very important in trade and sales agreements that can create 250,000 new jobs where we can sell $13 billion in new sales to new customers in three countries.

when the president creates jobs bills that we believe improved trade and private-sector jobs, we are eager to work with the president. i am glad that the we are continuing to fight the notion that government determines what value that you have in society. we have one of the most progressive tax codes in the world. our top 1% of wage earners has shouldered almost 40% of the burden of federal income taxes. so they are paying their fair share and more. the higher income earners are paying effective tax rates three times greater than the middle class. that is exactly the opposite. the president is giving that information in that area. we spoke about people in pro-

broke tax bracket paying 50% on capital gains. 63% of the income from those in the higher tax brackets are from salaries like you and i have. it is a huge mistake to create another success tax on the pro- growth workers and businesses in america like steve jobs. it'll not make a dent in the deficit. we see the issue much differently. host: the twitter comment connects our earlier discussion and it's from russell. guest: thankfully, we had a tax code that encouraged investment in people like steve jobs. that's one of the reasons

capital gains is taxed at a lower rate while we encouraged entrepreneurship. the president has proposed a much higher taxes on capital gains investment and dividends. that would be a terrible mistake. the other thing that has happened in the 1980's and 90 90's was government shrank over those 20 years. regenerated of 37 million new jobs. government has grown and we are 2.5 million jobs short. the other part of that is that encourages the size of private- sector growth. host: you are on the air. caller: i wonder if there has been independent study done of the impact that nationalized health care would have on job growth or job production.

we have 80% gross national product related to health care. it's only 5% in peru. 10% in canada. even though i agree with almost everything the republican party stands for, i started to change my mind about healthcare. are there any independent studies done that could help us get more understanding of where the jobs, will be created in the future? guest: great question. the congressional budget office independent has estimated the president's new health care law will lose 800,000 american jobs by the end of the decade because of the costs that it imposes and shifts that it imposes. with small businesses, as they ponder the cost of the new health-care law, they don't want to go above 50 workers that

would trigger them into the new health care law. this bill does not focus on the cost of health care and controlling that, making it more affordable. a number of businesses right now, especially those with 250 workers or above, are looking seriously at dropping their health care plans, paying the fine and moving them into the exchanges, which means you and die as taxpayers will be paying more and more for other people's health care. at the end of the day that will drag on the economy. host: next call is from atlanta. margaret, independent. caller: i have a couple questions. pass president obama's jobs bill? just paying for the jobs bill to is what the taxes are for. the last night i did watch the thing you spoke about before the

trade. i have been unemployed since november 2010. i have been looking every day. i am signed up with 10 temporary agencies. i am administrator. what you are passing is good for farmers and manufacturers, but it will not get me a job. i am 50 years old. i have worked every day in my life since i was 14. host: how are you supporting yourself? >> my husband, who should be retiring, cannot. we only have one in, in this house. my son and i are both laid off. host: banks and good luck. guest: 45 million americans don't have a job. the unemployment figure is closer to 16%. we have diffuse numbers of workers in the workforce than in

quarter-century. --- we have the fewest numbers of workers. they can create 250,000 of jobs in america because we are finding customers for our companies. the companies we hope it will hire you are in manufacturing, technology, services. it's important we find those customers to support jobs. the other thing we can do is that to believe almost a million american jobs on the table by not letting car american energy companies or fully in the gulf of mexico. did not letting -- by not letting our american energy companies operate fully and in the gulf. host: last night the democratic senate leader

unveiled their proposal which is to make people over $1 million pay for the president's tax bill. people making over million dollars. guest: probably the whole business is good politics for next november. it is terrible economics. the it's not a serious debt proposal. from an economic standpoint, a success tax on people who often time to take risks and fail and go in debt to do it, work long hours to create that success, is a mistake. that creates almost no revenue to speak of. so i think it's more a political gambit than a serious issue. my guess is that a dead on arrival in the senate. it certainly is in the house, because it is not a serious economic proposal. host: it does provide enough over 10 years to offset the president's jobs plan.

guest: the president came through with 1.5 trillion in taxes, three times what his jobs plan proposed. at the end of the day i am not convinced that his jobs plan will really create jobs. we will raise taxes. i guess i'm a little discouraged that we continue to raise taxes or seek to raise taxes on jobs we never get from the stimuluses, they never occur. host: this comment from twitter goes back to the interest-rate discussion. guest: i agree. if we had a 5% savings rate in america, we would not have a trade deficit with china or any other country. low-interest rates. -- low-interest rates masked the cost of the true depths of america.

-- debts. we would really be between a half trillion and $1 trillion per year actually. i am concerned about keeping the interest rates so low for so long in fears that it will create another bubble down the road. caller: gordon, a democrat. -- in florida, a democrat. caller: good morning. i was a rescue worker at the world trade center. i have quite a few illnesses from down there. i don't believe in your health care plan. if i got a $6,000 voucher to go to the doctor, you health care plan would only pay for one visit to the doctor for me. i was watching the tea party.

they had a rally and they had the president of picture just like a witch doctor. i. appel was really funny, but there's no racism there. that's all i have to say. -- i thought that was really funny. guest: i need to thank you for your service at the world trade center and ground zero. that will never be forgotten. second, i do disagree with the premise deputy party is somehow -- that the tea party is somehow racist. there are elements in every party that are extreme. the tea party people are just average people or about how big the government is and how deep the ducks are. -- debts are.

they want their kids to have rights and freedoms, not like the past we are on now. they are just average people trying to get involved. i think that is very healthy. caller: fred on the internet says you have a primary talent from someone representing the party in your district. you are not conservative enough, some say. guest: in texas there's always someone who thinks you're not conservative enough. one of the major conservatives in the major conservative delegations in texas, 100% pro- life voting record, lifetime conservative record. there's no room on the right to run into. this is a common theme. we had a primary opponents last time around that's exactly the same thing. we have a proven track record as conservatives. they are part of that in the fight we are putting up today

against bigger government, higher taxes, and a growing government intervention. we think it exactly matches our constituents in our district. caller: let me follow with a comment from twitter. guest: i would disagree. if you talk with small businesses today, taxes are a major part of what they pay and does enter into those decisions. moreover, higher taxes make it very hard for american companies to manufacture and stay in the u.s. intel is a major manufacturer from america but has made the decision to build manufacturing in the u.s. near their innovation. they pay almost $1 billion premium for locating that plant

in america, hiring american workers, because of our tax code. i would disagree. our tax code is very discouraging of american job creation. in other countries they are taken a page from our playbook, low taxes, balanced regulation, a skilled workforce, and are beating us a global marketplace. that's why we need to change our tax code and that will allow us to be far more competitive than we are today if and would encourage companies, whether they if are starting out mid- size or major companies, to locate those jobs and plants in the u.s. host: freda's on our republican line in maryland. caller: good morning. mr. brady, i have a comment for you. i am a foreigner. i've been in this country 15 years. pour the past 10 years i have been republican and i have been faithful. but i am really disappointed in what you guys are doing, because it appears that you only care

about your job. if you find yourself in a situation where you don't have a job, you know it's very important to support the president's proposal. everything he has proposed, these are things, republicans like to do. 95% of its proposals are helpful to small businesses. the problems we have in this country is not because of taxation. the problem is jobs. the cost of production especially the cost of labor, and average factory worker in america is $45,000. in china it is 15 and thousand dollars. that is why companies take their jobs there. if you need to stop talking about taxation. we need to increase revenue in this country. we are not going to solve this problem only by cutting funding.

when you cut funding, you are cutting jobs. until you find yourself in that situation where you don't have a job, then you will not know what it means. if you don't know when you wake up in the morning whether you will have breakfast or dinner. you need to work with the president. guest: are you still on the line? tell me about the president's job proposal and a provision that would help create jobs for small businesses? host: he is no longer on the line. guest: we are searching for that within his proposal. one point you made that needs to be expanded, some countries have a definite assuaged advantage over america, but we have remarkable productivity advantage over many countries because of technology, because of a skilled workforce and our manufacturing productivity has grown dramatically faster than the companies that compete with. an example is a plant that

builds with its in 1955 might have 1000 workers to build those widgets. because of technology, that's 184 workers in america that it takes to do the exact same job. technology has advanced as dramatically. a lot of companies now are looking at a very punishing tax code that makes it hard to keep these jobs in america. we have got away from having the best business climate in the world for new jobs. until we restore that, we are not going to see the jobs on main street that people are hungry for. host: the president will have a press conference at 11:00 a.m. eastern and we will cover that. this is a comment on twitter.

guest: if you look from the 1980's through the 1990's, you saw a time where the government at the federal level reduced itself in size, almost four percentage points. it started with president all the way throughtative president clinton. we created 37 million new jobs in that time. when the government began to grow more in 2001, the attacks of 9/11 and through the current president we actually lost 2.5 million jobs. the tax code is critical to encouraging job production. a government that lives within its means and is itstoo largest disciple growth is important to job creation -- and is not too

large to stifle growth is important to job creation. i have yet to find someone to say let's discourage adopt building activity, especially among tax brackets who happen to be some of our best consumers. in thee spent six years texas house before coming to the u.s. house and is a graduate of the university of south dakota. a couple more minutes left with him. now to houston, kathy, a democrat. caller: i wish we had a free- market. my son join the military, not to fight for cars nine. jobs are sent to china. wall street got my pension.

my government does not want to pay its bills. we have $1 trillion in student loans. and we are not educated. nobody in congress works for america. they have given my job to china, india, or mexico, while my s [unintelligible] cnn is still worried about casey anthony, somebody ought to send a grievance counselor to cnn. guest: what i do here is people are worried about the economy, at least back home. our folks are worried about the economy and about the debt. they see a country that cannot get its financial house in order and they are concerned about what that will do for their

family and what kind of burden their kids and grandkids will carry around a in the future. those are legitimate concerns that washington really is not addressing. host: economists are predicting the report tomorrow will stay steady at 9.1% for unemployment. what can people expect a year from now? guest: consensus for tomorrow is about 60,000 net gain, non-farm payroll. that is a very weak number. that would be different if it was two months and we are actually more than two years into the economic recovery. every blue-chip indicator and the fed have lowered their economic indicators going for. it looks like it's going to be a tough fall. one thing that worries me is that nearly half of all countries that go through a financial crisis like we did go

into a double-dip recession within the first three years. but often in an unrelated issue. is flyingeconomiy very low and slow. we could go down into a double- dip recession. an argument republicans have made from day one is we need to have a very strong economic recovery so we are not week at a point where if other countries often times down into a double- dip recession. so that we are not weak. i think we ought to take the steps that we can to strengthen the u.s. economy in case europe goes the direction that we hope it does not. host: thanks for being here. quick break and then we are joined by congress, and barley and we will be right back. -- congresswoman barbara lee.

>> fine new books for your on a reading list. this weekend on c-span2. september 19, 1881, president garfield is near death. morally wounded two months earlier by a gunman. political intrigue and destiny of the republic. and susan herman blames the patriot act and other anti- terrorism laws for damaging the lives and liberties of american citizens. 6 interviewed by a former bush assistant attorney general. also, a resistance fighter and concentration camp survivor as a

message for today's senate people. life and liberty are worth fighting for. find the schedule this weekend and every weekend online. >> i would like to start by saying unequivocally, and categorically, that i dnine deny each and every allegation against me today. >> when i ran for president i said we would cut the deficit in half in four years. we cut it by 60%. >> every weekend, the people and events that document the american story. this weekend, a look at the 90's, the 20th anniversary of the nomination of supreme court justice clarence thomas. and the presidential race between bill clinton and bob dole. look for the complete weekend schedule. washington journal continues.

host: congresswoman barbara lee represents the ninth district in california, master's degree from uc-berkeley, has been in congress eight terms and is a proficient committee member and active in the progressive caucus in congress. thanks for coming back. guest: good to be with you. host: talking about jobs. the support the president's jobs plan? guest: i am. callcaller: how would it create jobs > guest: there's a significant amount of investment in terms of school construction, infrastructure, work-force training that would prepare people for the jobs of the 21st century. also, the payroll tax extension, unemployment compensation extension, many provisions that actually

provides for a safety net, also, until the jobs are created that this bill is intended to create. it is very important to recognize that in the bill there are resources to help with the foreclosure prices, in terms of taking blighted communities, foreclosed houses that have been left with no ownership, unfortunately, and to provide resources for rehabing those homes, providing jobs to people in the community to react those homes and they can either read them or sell them. it's not big enough, if you ask me, but it is an excellent first start. the president is really committed to work in a bipartisan way to get this passed. we have millions of people unemployed and desperate for jobs. hopefully, they will find a bipartisan spirit to get the majority of the bill passed. host: yesterday your democratic

senate colleagues suggested a millionaire's surtax to help fund this. does this change the politics of tax discussion and the support the millionaire surtax? guest: the senate task to do whatever needs to do to make sure that the bill gets passed. when it gets to the house we will look at it. i think we have to look at ways to pay for this. frankly, a millionaire's surtax, i would have to look at very carefully, because i am not so sure that would pay for this, in essence. also, i'd think that -- talking about the super rich in paying their fair share, in the past i have and continue to support the repeal of the bush-era tax cuts. this deviates from that in some manner. we have to take a careful look at that. whatever it takes to move this forward and get something going, because people in our country are desperate for jobs. when you look at 9.1% national

unemployment, that is a disgrace. when you look in the african- american and latino and asian pacific american community, you have twice in employment rate. those are the numbers that are discounted. in the black community the unemployment rate is probably over 25% or more. if people want to work, but we need to get something going. host: california has had higher than the national average in the state. what is it like in your district? guest: very difficult. people in my district want to work like everyone else in the country. in addition we have drifted budget cuts in services. that is part of the problem, because when people are not working, you need to provide a safety net. when you have cuts in safety net programs, when you have budget cuts that would draw funds from organizations, nonprofits -- we have some wonderful nonprofits in my district which really

allow for leveraging federal funds. now those federal funds have been reduced or are have been taken away. i support providing congressionally directed funding better known as earmarks for nonprofits. you take a $300,500 earmarked, that leverages $2 million up to $4 million in jobs and services created as a result of federal funding. those resources now are not there. we have one of the highest poverty rates in california in my district. unfortunately, we have people hungry in my district and we have people who need jobs and health care. my district really reflects what the national despair is, but in my district i have to say we have people who are working very hard to provide job training and to create jobs. host: we want to go to phone calls, e-mails, and tweets.

and last topic. the super committee on deficit- reduction is at work. you have talked about the importance of federal investment in job creation. do you support the idea of the super committee and --what are your concerns about what might shape the process? guest: i voted against the super committee legislation. i hope this does not happen, the debate that we had a few months ago that caused havoc in terms of the political discourse, i hope that will not happen again. i worry that could happen. but i think we need to look at how creating jobs reduces the deficit. i hope the super committee focus is on job creation.

having said that, when you look at investments in job creation, we have several ways to do that. one is looking at defense. it's very important. i'm circulating a letter asking members of the committee to cut waste, fraud, and abuse at the pentagon, look at cold war era weapon systems, look at reducing our nuclear stockpile. all the measures to end the war would actually pay for many of our efforts to create jobs and not compromise our national security. also we are circulating a letter asking the super committee to protect the safety net, to protect medicaid and medicare and social security. host: there is a text from the letter. it supports people looking for employment, including the long- term unemployed.

a copy of the letter was sent to the super committee that encourages them to look at the social safety net. let's go to telephone calls for congresswoman lee beginning with fairfield, california. lee is on the republican line. caller: in reference to cutting defense, wondering exactly why we are looking at as a percentage that you are wanting to get cut. you have 35% of the american incomes that goes into social programs. defense has already been cut over the last 15 or 20 years to the point where military families are living off of welfare systems just to get by. we are talking about job creation.

are we looking at creating jobs for those that are on the welfare system, too? going back to the fact that they should prove that they can perform labor, office work, could be drug tested to receive and maintain their benefits. job creation is wonderful, that we are talking about it, but the main thing that i see would be that welfare reform needs to be looked at > job creation -- greater than the job creation. guest: in no way would be proposed cuts to our service men and women or veterans nor increase fees. we make that explicit in our letter. in no way would we want to see cutba that would jeopardize our national security.

we have identified, and this comes through a variety of commissions and task forces, identified $6.50 trillion that could be cuts in defense between 2011 and 2020. that is a significant amount of money. we have identified $100 billion to reduce the nuclear stockpile. that is a prudent and rational $100 billion that could be cut. we have identified the $30,000,000,000.-129694732 dollars in contract mismanagement, waste, fraud, and abuse in the pentagon. that has nothing to do with protecting and supporting our young men and women in uniform. there are many areas in the defense budget that could be cut, but do not tamper with our national security npor make it more difficult for our service men and women to do their jobs. host: the president has added an

11:00 a.m. press conference. we are told that he's focusing a press conference call on the passage of his jobs plan. what kind of political future and do you think it has in congress? guest: i was not happy to hear the republicans have said that it was dead on arrival. is not really a commitment to create jobs, by just saying that and moving in that direction. i have to remind you that senator mitch mcconnell said last year that their first priority was to make sure that president obama was a one-term president. so within that context, we have to look and see how the republicans will work with us do to get this bill passed. i certainly hope that they recognize that they have constituents who are unemployed also and who needed jobs and move forward to work to pass this bill. it should not be politicized, the american people should not be held hostage, and i hope that

people call their members of congress and tell them to pass this jobs bill. host: the president last week in discussions about his reelection bid has said that he believes he's the underdog in the race. guest: i think that the president is moving forward in a very aggressive way to make sure the economy turns around and to create jobs. the president naturally is in campaign mode. he has a campaign and he has to govern. the majority of the american people are with the president. they understand the economic crisis has to be addressed and they know that -- he does not remind the public that these economic policy is taking place are a result of the last eight years of the bush economic policy, so he has really been very diligent in beginning to help turn the price is around.

i think that he's going to win. we did he has been very diligent in beginning to help turn this crisis are around. we have to make sure people get to the polls and vote for president obama. if you talk about him being an underdog, he is president. he has the bully pulpit and he's doing his job. behalf to support him in congress to create an economic environment where people get back to work quickly. host: would you suggest to him -- i was just listening to a political analysis on the weekend, including david axelrod and others who know the president, who say that he's at a political tension and has a choice to make whether to remain a centrist and fine seeds of compromise or the better tactic is really to become more progressive and stays strong. what would you advise him? guest: i would advise the

president listened to the american people and listen to their cries and pleas for jobs. people want to work, but what the american dream, they want opportunities, to live the american dream. it has turned into a nightmare for so many. i know the president recognizes this and that's how you campaign. it does not have to be either or. i believe that the president knows what to do in the campaign. he is a billion campaigner. but also i think he knows how to govern. being a progressive, myself, i think that we want to make sure that the american people understand that being aggressive means we want economy turned around, if we want jobs created, and we want everyone to be afforded the american dream. host: democrat from west virginia on the air. caller: good morning, congresswoman lee. guest: good morning. caller: i am your employer.

i have been paying taxes 50 years. everybody in congress works for me. i wish more people would say that you all work for us. what i want to really talk about moneyeople cannot save because the banks will not pay interest for savings accounts and the federal reserve has cut it so bad that they would rather borrow their money from the federal reserve because they get for nothing and don't have to worry about paying interest for people to save money. if that's a mistake, because they could save -- use all the money that people put in their savings accounts. but if we're going to pay you less than 1%. if they will pay you less than 1% for your savings, there's no way to save money. it makes it hard on people. guest: it makes it very

difficult. for reminding us that we do work for you. i do work for you. that is the essence of our democracy and our elections. i think my constituents know that i work for them. that is part of public service. i think that what we're seeing now with the wall street occupation will is a phenomenon that represents a manifestation of part of what you are saying. people are fed and sick and tired of the financial services institutions and wall street really ripping us off. that is what is taking place. and so, i would encourage everyone to look at the movement that is taking place across the country with the labor unions and wonderful activists who are beginning to raise their voices and put the heat on wall street and to say enough is enough and we have to have some fairness in our financial system and some fairness in our economic system

and with our economic and financial institutions. timeshere's a new york's front-page photograph about wall street. you see a lot of criticism, but it lacks a coherent message at this stage, would you agree with that critique? guest: i think the message is we want some economic democracy and economic security in our country. we don't want to be gouged by wall street anymore. i don't think a coherent message is important right now. i think it's a movement that has to be built, a people movement, a movement that's as enough is enough. that is what is taking place. i think this will grow and it should grow. i think the coalition will be greater. hopefully, this will show wall street the voices and needs and

economic security of people should be first and foremost in our democracy. host: would you go as far as the deadline at msnbc which says "wall street rally could be bute left tea party." guest: we have to have voter registration connected with any movement. we have to have a forceful, progressive movement on the left. it could emerge as a counter to the tea party, which i think is very important in our country, because when you have one group of people, for example, in congress, running the show, being obstructionist to a jobs bill, for example, or obstructing any kind of progress that we are trying to make for the american people, we need a counter to that.

we need a movement of people to take that on. host: surprise, arizona, malcolm online, independent. caller: number one, through the last decade or so we have been [unintelligible] [bad connection] we have invested billions of dollars in countries. what is our benefit from investing in these countries? second, as far as the unemployment is concerned, since you folks do work for us, if our unemployment is 9.9% and

even more in the african american countries in the district, based on what else finality you are, would you support a constitutional amendment that would require your salary would actually be cut based on unemployment? that way it could possibly give you guys incentive to work together. other than that, is very disgusting to live in the country and see all the terrific things happening, get all of you people who work for us, the only thing i hear you saying is that this and that is not good. your last colleague there out of texas, he mentioned 250,000 jobs being created, yet you have 25 million people out of work. what is 250,000 jobs? host: thank you. guest: thank you very much.

i am leery of opening a constitution we did opening the constitution for any type of amendment. that is in many ways a very difficult and dangerous precedent. as relates to the wars, i did not vote for the war after the terrible events of 9/11. it was a blank check for any president to use force and go to war forever unless we repeal the authorization to use force. afghanistan now has been a long list war in american history. tomorrow is the 10th anniversary. we are holding a hearing on capitol hill today to talk to experts about the war and the cost of the war. we have had many of our young men and women have been killed and maimed and injured. our veterans deserve more than what we are doing for them.

everything we have asked them to do, they have done, but we are still at war. i am saying we need to look at the fact that there are no military solutions and we need a different strategy to address our global peace and security. we are doing that today on capitol hill. if i think we really need to begin soon end the war in afghanistan. i have a proposal that i'm working on to say no more fighting except to protect and secure our young men and women and contractors and to bring them home and look at a different strategy to assure peace and security in the region. host: the panel being held, the co-sponsors, maxine waters and others from california. just to follow up, one of your supports the no votes.

he writes, go barbara lee. have you been happy with president obama's decision making about afghanistan policy? guest: we have been talking to the white house and insisting that the white house changed course. we have written and sent letters and had meetings at the white house to indicate we want an end to the afghan war much quicker than what is being proposed. we will continue to fight and make sure that happens. we hope that at the end of this year the commitment to bring home all our young men and women and contractors out of iraq is made. we hope that commitment is completed, rather. if we have been pushing hard and we will see. but i think the president understands that the american people want to see these wars ended, they want to see the resources put into investments in our infrastructure,, into jobs and schools and teachers

and securing the future and the economic future for the american people. without jeopardize in our national security, that is. caller: jim, republican. caller: thank you for your comments. the american people are ready for a civil conversation. we are tired of the political jabs back and forth. on taxes, how do you define the middle class and how much more progress can we make the tax system? the top 20% of personal tax filers, often middle-class, pay is 60% 70% of taxes. how much did those people pay when the bottom half of all taxpayers are not paying anything or even getting something back? guest: as a former business owner, let me say that i

understand clearly that small business are our greatest job creators in our country, so we have to provide every incentive brick for small businesses to create every job they can. we have to have a fair tax structure to ensure small businesses can continue to be job creators. but we have to have a fair and progressive tax system. people who are low-income do pay sales tax, they pay taxes. i think we have to have the earned income tax credit, that must remain in place. we also have to make sure that payroll taxes are reduced. i think it is important and the president's jobs package also addresses payroll taxes. overall, our tax system needs to be reformed and it needs to become more progressive. that in itself would begin to help equalize the the fairness in tax.

host: we have a couple people on twitter who have suggested a tax such as this. here's one of them. guest: we have proposals we are looking at now to reduce how a tax on stock trades would work. we are looking at that. any way that we can make it a level playing field and have fairness in our tax system, we should look at and review and embraced. host: clifford in north carolina, independent, good morning. caller: my name is clifford michel and i can create all the jobs the u.s. needs with taxation 0 without taxation. my proposal has been sent to each federal reserve district that they would ask the fed chairman about except. host: how would it work? caller: it would use the

treasury for the benefit of the people. put the money into the ideas and concepts of people that have new ideas and business concepts that would benefit all communities, particularly in each individual community. i have already called your office and mentioned how to do so. host: thank you. guest: i agree with the principle that the treasury should support the people rather than big banks and financial institutions in a disproportionate manner. host: in the last conversation with congressman kevin brady, his concern about the federal reserve is the dual mandate for economic rent stabilization and stock creation since they sometimes conflict with one another. he would like to change that. would you? guest: i don't know what the alternative would be.

i would have to see a proposal. if the fed and treasury and all of our financial entities, they need to focus on to operation at this time and really understand that to be a priority, because we cannot have -- economic activity is all based on people having a job, consumer spending, and that needs to be their priority. host: palmyra, new york, chris is a democrat. caller: representative, i want to thank you for a vote against the war. i support the president in what he has done in the unification of vietnam and keeping israel at their 1967 borders. one subject i want to talk about which is important and most democrats avoid, and you are from california where you marijuana.al canada when will it be a 50-state legalization proposition?

it is a very important madison. it's amazing that the narcotics act dates to run the same time as another coup legislation. it should not be considered a hard drug and should be legalized. it has been proven safe. 1972 commission report. host: let's get a response. guest: in california and in my congressional district we are doing just that. this will take a political movement, because it is very controversial. i think people are beginning to understand that medical marijuana at least is something that people especially with some illnesses really can benefit from. some states are beginning to look at it. i commend my state of california and my community for being very visionary and

progressive and very humane in their efforts. host: weekly unemployment numbers. a number of people who applied for unemployment grows slightly last week, the job market remains weak. weekly applications increased by 6000. the labor department secretary said. applications are still higher than they would be in an economy -- it may help the economy. guest: part of the president's packages that we are considering, american jobs act, as an extension of unemployment compensation in that package. what is important to recognize is we have individuals who have hit 99 weeks, not eligible after 99 weeks for unemployment compensation. i have a bill with congressman

bobby scott of virginia that would extend unemployment benefits for those who headed the 99 weeks on wall for 14 weeks. we have to help the long-term unemployed. these numbers are an example of why we have to fight not only to get the package passed, but to look at the long-term unemployed and extend for them. caller: a few minutes before the house of representatives comes in. the next call is from texas, republican, hal. caller: good morning. congresswoman lee, thanks for being on the program. i am a progressive and a democrat. i have voted republican for a long as i can remember. a couple of things, i am 73 years old. i am living on $750 a month.

i can tell you right now that george bush should never have gotten into that war to begin with. there were a lot of ways to handle that instead of going to war and spending all that money. that is just crazy. second, we are over there now. we need to get out of there right away. we are spending $60 billion the year, i think it was, over there. a lot of money is going right back to the taliban and all those corrupt people over there. that is the second thing. the third thing is our economy did pretty good from the late 1940's into the 1970's, but minimum wage kept going up. we want to keep creating jobs, jobs are created through demands of products and services, not through supply. it is demand.

that theyll passed did not last long enough. we need to put more money back. the interest rate is so low right now, we could borrow money and start paying it. extend unemployment. host: anything for him? guest: thank you very much for your questions and your statements. as it relates to the wars, this is a bipartisan effort. this morning congressman walter jones and ron paul and several republicans and myself and several democrats are moving forward to hold this hearing. we have come together to support efforts to begin end these wars in a big way. this is a bipartisan effort. i think the majority and what

you said reflects the majority of the american people. this is not a democratic or republican issue. the american people want these wars over a, they want to end these wars and they want to bring our resources on to create jobs and to turn this economy around. we are building this bipartisan movement in the country. i want to thank you for staying the course. host: manhattan, barbara, a democrat. caller: good morning, susan and good morning, representative lee. i want to talk about the american jobs act, the president's proposal. i was reading yesterday. you have a definition in their of the term "qualified employer." it means any employer in the u.s. or any instrumentality of the foregoing. i was wondering if you would amend that to say that those tax credits available to employers who hire people would only be

available to companies whose work force, 51% of their work force consists of full-time employees, that is 35 hours per week? what the companies are doing is keeping everybody officially part time and keeping their hours ago. maybe 20 hours or 25 hours per week. i don't want the company to be eligible for this tax credit. the people that call up to six congress salary should be cut, they don't realize you are human beings with a family and bills to pay. i don't understand people when they say those kind of comments. thank you for all you do. guest: thank you so much. if you have an excellent point. i will look at this further. there are so many companies that hire people for 15 hours per week part-time personnel does to get away with not being able to pay health care benefits or pay a living wage. i will look at that.

i'm not sure how this bill will move. we have heard the republicans say that it's dead on arrival. and so, we will have to see the mechanisms and politics of how we will move forward on this. you raised a very good point and i hope that you'll make sure we get this bill pass. this bill passed. host: thank you very much to congresswoman barbara lee for being our second and final guest this morning. now to the house of representatives. r the members of this people's house. words and sentiments that have been spoken and heard in these recent days were borne of principle, conviction and commitment. we ask discernment for the members that they might judge anew theired a hearnes to --

adherence to principle, conviction and commitment. work crab tifly to solve the -- corroboratively to solve the important issues of the day. give them the generosity to work toward a common solution with sacrifice on both sides. we pray that their work results not in a nation comprised of winners and losers, but where our citizens know in their hearts that we americans are all winners. may all that is done this day be for your greater honor and glory. amen. the speaker: the chair has 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. the pledge of allegiance today will be led by the gentleman from rhode island, mr. cicilline. mr. cicilline: 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: the chair will entertain up to five one-minute requests on each side. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? mr. poe: request permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker: without objection, so ordered. mr. poe: mr. speaker, walking home from school a girl of 12 is approached by a man who promises to give her everything. in her short life she has already suffered abuse and neglect from her father, her foster parents. she thinks the promise of food and shelter and love is something she cannot pass up. but the man takes the girl to a hotel room where he beats her, forces her to do drugs and rapes her. then, she is sold on the internet and taken to hotel to hotel around the country and regularly raped by multiple men and treated as a piece of

property. she becomes a sex slave. this is the plight of an actual domestic minor sex trafficking victim in the united states. we cannot continue to be blissfully ignoreant of this crime against these victims. as co-chair of the victims rights caucus along with jim costa, i commend the work of care lynn maloney and chris smith for their legislation to help stop this scourge of child trafficking. these children need to be rescued and treated as victims, not criminals, and the customers and the traffickers need to be arrested, tried before a jury of 12 and get their just rewards for having being involved in the sex slave trafficking and that's just the way it is. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from rhode island rise? mr. cicilline: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent to remove my name as a co-sponsor of h.r. 2920. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. cicilline: and i ask unanimous consent to address

the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. cicilline: i want to honor donna, the superintendent of the year. dr. tobiano, who attended north providence high school as a student, has led the institution with distinction since 2004. she has spent nearly 34 years as a teacher, principal, assistant superintendent and public health educator in my state of rhode island. in addition to the work she's done to the education system, she's devoted her time to breast cancer awareness as well as giving time to the special olympics. she will be recognized at the national school administrators national conference on administration. in addition to the $1,000 scholarship in her name will be awarded to a senior from north providence high school. i commend her for her dedication and commitment to educating the future of rhode

island and i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? mr. johnson: i ask permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. johnson: thank you, mr. speaker. you know, the president wants the congress to pass his $447 billion jobs plan. it really ought to be called son of stimulus, yet, more spending and higher taxes as the president's jobs plan proposes won't get our economy in the right direction. it's just the same act, different day. it's time for our tax and spender in chief to stop pushing these failed policies, start listening to the american people. with unemployment above 9%, we need to get americans back to work by stopping out-of-control spending, reforming our tax code and putting an end to the senseless job-killing regulations of this

administration. jobs are there. one example -- let's just drill for oil and gas. we simply cannot tax, spend and borrow our way to prosperity. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from minnesota rise? >> to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. >> thank you, mr. speaker. i rise today to let folks know that the american can-do spirit and the spirit of innovation is alive and well in southern minnesota. mr. walz: one business opened in 1885. it currently employs 35 people and produces metal castings for asphalt production, road construction and power generation. the president told me the real problem he has is this -- without investment in critical infrastructure like roads, it doesn't sell any products. when demand dries up so do the jobs. we build roads, we build bridges, we create necessary infrastructure to power this

economy. congress has the tools to build again. we have a president prepared to break ground. we can create the infrastructure our grandchildren will need in the 21st century. i visited u.m.f. of winona to remind myself that building things is in our d.n.a. building things is the american spirit. that will create jobs and build the economy we need in the 21st century. thank you and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from virginia rise? >> mr. speaker, request to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. >> mr. speaker, i rise today on behalf of the congressional prayer caucus to note the importance of prayer and the founding of our country. this week in 1791 john hancock, a signer of the declaration of independence and the governor of massachusetts, issued a proclamation declaring the day of public thanksgiving. john hancock said in part, i thought fit to appoint a day of public thanksgiving and praise to almighty god for all his goodness towards us. above all, not only to continue to us the enjoyment of our civil rights and liberties but

the great and most important blessing, the gospel of jesus christ. mr. forbes: i do earnestly recommend that we join the blessings of heaven upon this people. especially that he would be graciously pleased to direct and prosper the administration of the federal government and of the other states in the union, to bless the allies of the united states and to afford his almighty aid to his people who are virtuously struggling for all rights of human so universal happiness may be established in the world, that we may bow to our jesus christ. mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from ohio rise? -- the gentlewoman from ohio rise? ms. kaptur: to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. ms. kaptur: well, let me render this opinion. it is congress that is

unfocused, disorganized. it is congress that has not met its obligation to the american people. congress has not addressed the real damage caused by wall street greed. this institution can't even do rigorous oversight hearings across america. starting on wall street. the demonstrators have found the right piece of geography. they have their eyes on the right subject. it is this body that has allowed justice to be denied to millions of our fellow americans harmed by wall street wrongdoers. wall street's taken bonuses as we've seen the largest transfer of wealth from main street to wall street in history. too much power in too few hands. i'm placing in the record today 12 bills congress needs to pass to yield long overdue justice, restore trustworthy competitive banking system and get the big money out of politics, influencing this congress. these bills include restoring glass-steagall, helping those facing foreclosure and adding

1,000 f.b.i. agents to do real investigation and prosecution along with forensic accounting to bring those who have done wrong to this republic to justice. i yield back my remaining time. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from indiana rise? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. pence: you know, in the midst of these rankerous and divided days in our nation's capital, there is a growing consensus across this country that washington, d.c., isn't just broke, it's broken. with a $14 trillion national debt, the american people want solutions, not fights. they want reforms that will transcend political parties and the historic divides that has made this city seemed for most americans appear to be a house divided. well, thanks to tough negotiations this summer the american people deserve to know that congress has a historic opportunity to vote on just

such a bipartisan solution. it's a balanced budget amendment to the constitution of the united states. for the first time in 15 years, the house and the senate will have an up or down vote on this historic measure and every american who is fed up with borrowing and spending and deficits and debt should let their voice be heard and be heard today. most americans work hard. they pay their bills and they live within their means. i think it's time we have a national government as good as our people. it's time to pass a balanced budget amendment to the constitution, send it from this house to the senate and from this congress to the states for ratification. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from delaware rise? mr. carney: to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. carney: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, last week i sponsored a job fair in my home state of delaware in my

hometown. they met 55 employers, some of which had jobs for them. the bad news is that so many people out there are looking for work. thousands of people in delaware and millions across the country are looking for work. mr. speaker, it's time we vote a jobs bill here in the house of representatives. the president set the american jobs act. it contains infrastructure investments on roads, highways and schools. it contains tax cuts for small businesses. these are things we could all agree on here in congress, and they will help businesses create the jobs that people need right away in our districts. it's time we do what the people sent us here to do in washington. it's time to pass a jobs bill here in the house of representatives. thank you, mr. speaker. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from arizona rise? >> mr. speaker, i ask permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> today i would like to recognize barbara mickleson, a

special woman and a hometown hero doing extraordinary work for our veterans in prescott, arizona. she has led their effort to provide affordable housing, quality health care and job training to the homeless veterans of the quad cities of northern arizona. nationally, u.s. vets feed, clothe, shelter and help get back to work over 2,000 veterans every year. as the prescott site director for the u.s. vets, the largest service providers for the homeless veterans in the united states, barbara was awarded the 2007 national award for site director of the year. additionally, the arizona department of veteran services recognized barb with an award of recognition and appreciation. i applaud her for going above and beyond the call of duty. i congratulate her and am proud of the wonderful service to our military men and women in arizona's first congressional district. i challenge others to follow her exemplary leadership and give back to their community in this time of great national

need. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from california rise? without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you. mr. speaker, i rise in support of our service members and their families. for the last 10 years our -- our all-volunteer force has graciously and without complaint done all what we have asked of them. they have deployed many more than once, leaving their family and friends at home to go fight on foreign soil. mrs. davis: and today during this time of budget constraints and upcoming cuts, we must remember the sacrifice our service men and women as well as their families have made. we cannot balance our budget by cutting the benefits they have earned and deserved. i agree that all aspects of government spending must be looked at and considered for possible cuts. in this era where our budget is so out of balance, no entity can be spared. however, we have to make smart cuts and ensure that our

fighting men and women are taken care of. we need to look at weapons programs that no longer meet our needs, redundancies that can be streamlined and other programs that should be more efficient. i encourage my colleagues on the supercommittee to fight for our brave men and women by protecting the benefits they so rightly deserve. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from alabama rise? >> mr. speaker, due to a clerical error, i was inadvertently made as a co-sponsor on the wrong bill. as such i ask unanimous consent to remove myself as a co-sponsor of h.r. 2954. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. for what purpose does the gentleman from kentucky rise? mr. whitfield: mr. speaker, i ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks on the

legislation and to insert extraneous material on h.r. 2250. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. pursuant to house resolution 419 and rule 18, the chair declares the house in the committee of the whole house on the state of the union for consideration of h.r. 2250. the chair appoints the gentleman from california, mr. denham, to preside over the committee of the whole. mr. denham: the house is in the committee of the whole on the constitution for consideration of h.r. 2250 which the clerk will report by title. the clerk: the bill to provide additional time for the administrator of the environmental protection agency to issue achievable standards for industrial, commercial, and institutional boilers, process heaters, and incinerators, and for other purposes. the chair: pursuant to the rule,

the bill is considered as read the first time. the gentleman from kentucky, mr. whitfield, and the gentleman from california, mr. waxman, each will control 30 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from kentucky. mr. whitfield: thank you, mr. chairman. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the chair: without objection. mr. whitfield: since 2009 the environmental protection agency has rolled out a long list of regulations that are really unprecedented in their cost and complexity. the impacts on jobs, energy prices, and america's industrial competitiveness in the world are extremely serious. but of all these rules the boiler mact rule, which we'll be discussing today, stands out and it will apply to a very wide variety of employers. not only will industrial facilities be impacted, but also

colleges, universities, hospitals, government buildings, and large commercial properties. the impact on jobs projected is staggering. but the costs will be born by all of us in the form of higher tuition costs, higher hospital bills, higher rent, as well as higher prices for manufactured goods. just about everyone will be adversely impacted either directly or indirectly. the good news is that we can reduce emissions from boilers without causing economic harm. the e.p.a. regulatory relief act , h.r. 2250, accomplishes this goal by taking a sensible middle ground, balanced approach and i would like at this time to thank mr. butterfield of north carolina as well as mr. griffith of virginia for their

sponsorship of this bipartisan bill. a study conducted by ihs global insight, a respected research company, found that the rules that we are talking about today would impose total cost of over $14 billion and put at risk 230,000 jobs in america at a time when we already have a .1 unemployment rate. -- 9.1 unemployment rate. my home state of kentucky under the analysis would face estimated costs of $183 million and 2,930 potential jobs losses. 25 other states are hit even harder. that includes at least 10,000 jobs estimated for north carolina losing, indiana, ohio, michigan, pennsylvania, south carolina, and virginia. as well as over 5,000 job losses

for minnesota, wisconsin, alabama, tennessee, iowa, new york, illinois, maine, georgia, florida, louisiana, and arkansas. these water rules largely target also coal-fired boilers and thus discourage the use of this energy source which by the way today provides about 50% of all the electricity produced in america. i should add that the problems with e.p.a. boiler rules are not the sole fault of the agency, these rules like many today are being rushed out the door to comply with a court ordered deadline. e.p.a. asked for additional time but their request was refused by the courts. e.p.a. then published the rules by the deadline but immediately announced that it was reconsidering portions of them because they are so complicated. however, this is not an adequate

solution. as the reconsideration only applies to some of the many problematic provisions in these rules. and the reconsideration process is an uncertain one. in reality it is unlikely that all the issues can be addressed. so, our legislation is to help e.p.a. deal with this problem. we create a comprehensive solution not only for e.p.a. but also for boiler owners, and we provide the certainty that this solution will be implemented. it still requires additional emission reductions from boilers, but it gives e.p.a. the time it needs to do it right. it gives the regulated community the time it needs in order to comply. now, this bill is supported by over 300 organizations and five national labor unions.

it will require that the standards be reasonable and take into account cost and achievibility under real world conditions. i believe that e.p.a.'s original rules were a departure from the congressional intent in the clean air act, and the e.p.a. regulatory relief act that we are discussing today represents a return to congressional intent. make no mistake, under this bill that we are discussing new standards will be imposed on boiler owners and operators. the goals of the clean air act can be accomplished without undue cost and job losses. particularly at this time in our nation's economy when we are struggling. however the e.p.a. regulatory relief act is the way to do it. so i would urge every member of this body to come forth today and help us pass this legislation, help us save over

230,000 jobs at risk in america that we can ill afford to lose with this balanced approach to the problem. with that i would like to retain the balance of my time. thank you. the chair: the gentleman reserves his time. the gentleman from california is recognized. mr. waxman: mr. chairman, i yield myself five minutes. today is the today that's going to seem awfully familiar to anyone that's been paying attention. today's the day will remind us of the bill we passed in april to block any requirements to control carbon pollution. the bill we passed in june to loosen pollution controls on oil companies. and the bill we passed in september to gut the clean air act and block pollution controls on power plants. and the bill we debated yesterday to ensure cement kilns don't have to clean up their toxic air pollution. in total the house has voted 146

times this congress to block action to change climate change, to halt efforts to reduce air and water pollution, to undermine protections for public lands and coastal areas, and to weaken the protection of the environment in our ways. this is the most anti-environment congress in history. today the house continues its frontal assault on public health and the environment. the bill we consider today would nullify and indefinitely delay e.p.a.'s efforts to reduce toxic emissions from industrial boilers and waste incinerators. if this bill is enacted, there will be more cases of cancer, birth defects, and brain damage. the ability of our children to think and learn will be impaired because of their exposure to mercury and other dangerous air pollutants. in 1990, congress adopted a

bipartisan approach to protect the public from toxic substances. the law directed e.p.a. to set standards requiring the use of the maximum achievable control technology. the control emissions of mer cure, -- mercury, arsenic, and other toxic emissions. this approach has worked well. industrial emissions of carcinogens and other highly toxic chemicals have been reduced by 1.7 million tons each year. e.p.a. has reduced pollution from dozens of industrial sectors, more than 100 cat gore -- categories of sourcings have been required to cut their pollution and this has delivered major public health benefits to the nation. but a few large source categories still have not been required to control toxic air pollution. due to delays and litigation. now that pollution controls our

-- pollution controls are finally being required on industrial boilers and waste incinerators, this bill would delay pollution controls indefinitely. it would also rewrite the standards setting provisions in the clean air act to weaken the level of protection and set up new hurdles for e.p.a. rules. we are told this bill simply gives the e.p.a. the time they requested to get the rules right. well, the e.p.a. has not requested this from congress and the president has said he'll veto this bill if it gets to his desk. we are also told that we need to pass these bills because the threat of e.p.a. regulation is dragging down our economy. the reality is that requiring installation of pollution controls will create jobs, fabricators, and factory workers fill the control, pollution controls, construction workers

install them on site, and industry employees operate them. we'll hear over and over today as we have heard in the past about self-serving industry studies that claim pollution controls will cost us jobs. these studies have been thoroughly dedunked by independent experts. for instance, the congressional research service examined the key study by the council of industrial boiler owners and concluded that it was so flawed that, quote, little credence can be placed in these estimate of job losses, end quote. it's my hope this body will not be so easily misled. it was the lack of regulation of wall street banks that caused this recession not environmental regulations that protect children from toxic mercury emissions. i oppose these bills on the substance, but i also have concerns about the process as well. when congress organized at the

beginning of the year, the majority leader announced that the house would be following a discretionary cut-go rule. similarly chairman upton of our committee stated that he would be following that same discretionary cut-go rule. c.b.o. has determined the bill we consider today authorizes new discretionary spending, and will have significant impact on the federal budget. however this new authorization -- i yield myself an additional 0 seconds. this new authorization is not offset and the bill does not comply with the republicans' discretionary cut-go policy. it is not discretionary in the sense that it -- they have discretion whether to follow it or not, but discretionary spending when it's mandated in a bill must be paid for. the american people need to focus on the radical agenda of the republicans that control the house of representatives. i don't think when the republicans were voted into office the american people

wanted poisoning more children with mercury, letting more of our seniors die prematurely because of uncontrolled pair pollution. i reserve the balance of my time. -- air pollution. i reserve the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman reserves. gentleman from kentucky is recognized. mr. whitfield: at this time i would like to yield 2 1/2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from ohio, a member of the energy and commerce committee, mr. latta. the chair: the gentleman from ohio is recognized for 2 1/2 minutes. mr. latta: i thank the gentleman for yielding. mr. speaker, i rise today in support of h.r. 2250. i'm co-sponsor of this legislation which was introduced in response to yet another overreaching e.p.a. rule proposal, this time for industrial boilers. this rule finalized will have devastating effects on the nation's economy and lead to further job loss, especially in my home state of ohio. the community of orville, ohio, east of me, a small city which has over 8,300 residents provide

the perfect example of the wide ranging impacts of the rule. as written the boiler mact rule would require a nonprofit electric service provider to spend $40.2 million in additional controls to remain in compliance. this equates to $4,843 for every man, woman, and child living in orville, as well as putting utility workers' jobs at risk. that cost alone would be devastating to the families and job creators in the community, the unintended consequences reach much deeper. . for example, smuckers, the company we all love so much that makes jelly, jams and other food products has been a staple in america's homes for over 100 years. employees over 1,500 people. they have been a customer of the orville utility since establishment of the utility in

1917 and the c.e.o. said that we have remained in the orville, ohio, community because of the low rates, reliable service and the comfortable benefits of working with a city owned and operated electric utility. it is impossible for me to understand why anyone would support a rule that forces a nonprofit utility like orville's to significantly raise their rates as a result of a rule e.p.a. admitted was based on faulty information and make it more difficult for companies that have been providing thousands of jobs in communities like orville for over 110 years to do business. it's important to note that this bill does not ask the e.p.a. not to regulate these facility. it lays out a framework that allows the e.p.a. to regulate in a more reasonable fashion in a reasonable time frame so we can take care of the environment and take advantage of all the economic benefits that these facilities provide in the communities they service. mr. speaker, i ask my colleagues to support this important job-saving

legislation and i yield back. thank you. mr. waxman: mr. chairman, before i recognize the subcommittee chairman, i want to indicate to the gentleman from ohio that just spoke, mr. latta, that he was giving a speech on the wrong rule that this bill does not pertain to the rule that he mentioned in his comments. and i want to yield five minutes to the gentleman from illinois, the distinguished ranking member of the subcommittee on energy and the environment. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from illinois is recognized for five minutes. mr. rush: i want to thank my leader, the ranking member of the full committee, for yielding this time to me. and, mr. speaker, i rise today in strong opposition to h.r. 2250, the dirty boiler enhancement and enableler bill. mr. speaker, here we go again,

and this bill represents yet another republican, unrestrained, unrestricted assault on the clean air act and our nation's most fundamental environmental protection laws. in fact, since the new republican majority has taken over, there's been a constant assault against the environmental protection agency and the clean air policies that they enforce on behalf of a few of the most opportunistic and dirtiest polluters ever known in the history of man kinde and to the detriment of the american public as a whole. since the new tea party-led majority has taken control of this congress, this body has

passed bill after bill that will weaken our nation's most basic clean air and clean water regulations. one of the very first bills that this new radical republican majority passed out of the energy and commerce committee, h.r. 910, was a direct threat on the e.p.a.'s ability to even regulate greenhouse gas emissions at all. despite the warnings and evidence from those in the scientific community that these gases directly contributes to climate change. last month, the radical republican majority followed that up with h.r. 2401, the train act, which will repeal and -- mercury and air toxic

standards for power plants that will potentially save thousands of lives and more asthma attacks in this nation. now, here we are today debating h.r. 2250, the dirty boiler enhancement and enabler bill which would vacate three clean air act rules that establishes the only national amendments on emissions of very toxic, including mercury, from certain boilers and incinerators. this bill will require e.p.a. to propose and finalize weaker alternative rules that will allow for more pollution than the law currently permits by intention low making substantial changes in how the e.p.a. sets the standard for the rules. at a minimum, this dirty boiler

enabler and enhancement bill will delay e.p.a. reductions for boilers and incinerators for at least 2018, which is a three-year delay. mr. speaker, the science tells us that these dirty air toxins can cause a variety of serious health affects, including cancer, respiratory and neurological impairments as well as reproductive problems. the research also tells us that low-income families and minorities are disproportionately affected by toxic air pollutions including neurological development as well as higher rates of respiratory and cardiovascular disease because these groups are more likely to live closer to industrial power plant facilities. in fact, by the e.p.a.'s own

estimate, h.r. 2250 will allow up to tens of thousands of additional premature deaths and heart attacks and hundreds of thousands of additional asthma attacks that could have -- mr. waxman: i yield another 30 seconds. mr. rush: mr. speaker, it is time, it is now time that the radical republican majority stop putting profits in the pockets of dirty polluters and stop putting dirty air in the lungs of the american people. mr. speaker, it's time for the republicans to cease their enending assault on the environmental protection agency. mr. speaker, i urge all my colleagues to oppose this egregious and dangerous bill, and i yield back the balance of my time.

the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from kentucky is recognized. mr. whitfield: at this time i'd like to yield four minutes to the primary sponsor of the legislation, mr. griffith of virginia, a member of the energy and commerce committee. mr. griffith: thank you, mr. speaker. excessive regulations are threatening jobs across the nation. we all recognize the need for reasonable regulations to protect the public. there are good regulations that ensure public safety and protect our environment. but there are also unnecessary and unreasonable regulations that hurt jobs in our nation's most critical industries. recently, one company said the boiler mact rules, as written, could significantly scale back or change operations at a plant

that employs hundreds of people in the ninth district. in communities throughout southwest virginia are already facing job losses resulting from other excessive e.p.a. regulations. the boiler mact rules are a very complex area of law and regulation. we are talking about hundreds of pages of rules in the federal register. these rules would affect boilers used by thousands of major employers and smaller employers, including hospitals, manufacturers and even our colleges. by the e.p.a.s a own estimates, compliance with its boiler mact rules will impose $5.8 billion in upfront capital costs and impose new costs of $2. billion annually. however, the council of industrial boiler owners estimates that the capital costs alone of the final rules will exceed $14 billion and could put more than 230,000 jobs at risk, including 10,000

jobs in virginia. the e.p.a. regulatory relief act would provide the e.p.a. with 15 months to repropose and finalize new achievable and workable rules to replace those that were published earlier this year. the legislation would extend the compliance deadlines from three to at least five years to allow facilities, like sullingies and others, to comply with these complex standards and to install the necessary equipment. it also directs the e.p.a. to ensure that new rules are in fact achievable by real-world boilers, processed heaters and incinerators and direct the e.p.a. to impose the least burdensome, regulatory alternatives under the clean air act consistent with the act and president obama's executive order. despite what opponents may say, this bill recognizes the need for reasonable boiler

regulations. this is not an attempt to forgo the rules entirely. under h.r. 2250, the e.p.a. must issue replacement rules and mississippi set compliance dates. the bill provides sufficient time for the government to get the rules right and come up with a more reasonable and achievable approach that protects the public without imposing unnecessary costs in businesses that employ thousands of hardworking americans. protecting jobs is an issue that transcends party lines. this commonsense bill represents a compromise. like any compromise, the language of h.r. 2250 is not what i might have done if i were acting alone. however, this bill brought together a group of legislators from both sides of the aisle with a reasonable approach and reasonable language. the e.p.a. regulatory relief act has bipartisan 126 co-sponsors. america's job creators are also speaking out in support of this

bill. the e.p.a. regulatory relief act has received hundreds of support letters from businesses, unions and trade associations that understand the investment required by these rules are irreversible. for those businesses that decide to stop producing their product at a particular location, the job losses are also irreversible. the good news here is excessive regulations are reversible and fixable. we must fix unreasonable regulations like the boiler mact rules and keep the focus on protecting valuable american jobs. the chair: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. griffith: thank you, mr. chairman. mr. whitfield: i yield the gentleman 30 more seconds. mr. griffith: mr. chairman, i urge all my colleagues to join me in supporting the e.p.a. regulatory relief act of 2011. i appreciate this opportunity

to carry this important regulation which will protect jobs not only in the ninth district of virginia but across these united states and i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from kentucky reserves. the gentleman from california is recognized. mr. waxman: mr. chairman, at this time i wish to yield five minutes to the gentleman from massachusetts, mr. markey. the chair: the gentleman from massachusetts is recognized for five minutes. mr. markey: i thank our leader from california and i just want to say that these bills represent a toxic assault that compromises public health for polluter wealth. republicans are continuing their war on the environment, with episode 37 of the clean air act repeal-a-thon. it's a tried and true three-part republican strategy. first, pass legislation that repeals regulations that have already been set. second, inkeff nitly delay new

regulations -- indefinitely delay new regulations from ever being set. and third, just for good measure, include a provision that eviscerates the very underpinnings of effective federal law and deters any effort to protect the health and well-being of millions of americans. make no mistake, that is what we are doing here this week. these bills block and indefinitely delay implementation of the rule that would reduce hazardous air pollution such as mercury, lead and cancer-causing substances released from cement kilns and industrial boilers and do so in callous disregard for adverse impacts those pollutants have on public health, particularly on the health of infants and children. republicans have decided to

stage their own public event today on the floor, occupy stall street. but unless you think republicans always want to delay regulations, it turns out that sometimes they want to speed up the wheels. republicans voted to tell e.p.a. to hurry up and make decisions to issue air permits for drilling rigs off the pristine coast of alaska. republicans have voted to give the department of interior a mere 30 days to approve permit applications for drilling in the gulf at the same time they block legislation to implement any drilling reform in the wake of the b.p. disaster. and they've also voted to reduce the time allowed for environmental review so that the state department would approve the keystone pipeline

as soon as possible. but when it comes to regulations that would decrease the amount of toxic pollutants in our air or water, apparently the same federal agencies that evaluate hazardous pollutants in the first place just need more time to review the science, more time to understand the technologies, more time before doing anything to make our water safer to drink, make our air safer to breathe and protect the health of children around the country. . it also turns out the republicans don't always turn a blind eye towards the health effects of toxic chemicals. three months ago, as our country stood on the edge of default due to tea party brinksmanship, house republicans chose to vigorously debate a bill to ban compact fluorescent light bulbs. during that debate republicans repeatedly told us that the

mercury vapor from those light bulbs is dangerous and that exposing our citizens to the harmful effects of the mercury contained in c.f.l. light bulbs is likely to pose a hazard for years to come, yet the bills considered today would result in nearly 16,600 pounds of extra mercury vapors being released directly into the air, and that's just in one year. that is the equivalent of 2.5 billion compact fluorescent light bulbs, and the mercury released as a result of these bills is not the kind you can sweep off the living room floor or throw into the trash can, this is the mercury released directly into the air that we all breathe. and finds its way into the food that we eat. if the regulation to remove

mercury from cement plants, which is already 13 years overdue, is delayed for even one year, up to 2,500 people will die prematurely. there will be 17,000 cases of aggravated asthma, and the 1,500 people will suffer heart attacks. if the regulation to remove mercury, lead, and cancer causing toxins from incinerators and industrial boilers, which is already -- i thank the gentleman. if the regulation to remove mercury, lead, and cancer causing toxins from incinerators and industrial boilers which is already 11 years overdue is delayed for even one year, there will be 6,600 people who will die prematurely and people will miss 320,000 days of work and

school. the republicans are presenting yet another false choice for the american people. we do not have to choose between manufacturing and mercury. we do not have to choose between concrete and cancer. we can have both clean air and a healthy manufacturing sector. i urge my colleagues to vote no on this terrible republican cancer causing bill out here on the floor today. mr. waxman: i continue to reserve our time. the chair: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from kentucky is recognized. mr. whitfield: i might note that our legislation does not postpone this indefinitely. e.p.a. has 15 months after passage of the bill to come out with the regulations and five years to comply. the only way they can be extnded beyond five years is if the e.p.a. administrator decides to do so. at this time i would like to yield to the gentleman from georgia, dr. gingrey, a member of the committee, 2 1/2 minutes.

the chair: the gentleman from georgia is recognized for 2 1/2 minutes. mr. gingrey: mr. chairman, i rise in strong support of h.r. 2250, the e.p.a. regulatory relief act of 2011. this important legislation will greatly reduce the onerous regulatory burden caused by what is commonly referred to as boiler mact. the boiler mact rule that has been proposed by the e.p.a. furthermore, i commend the sponsors of the bill and fellow members of the energy and commerce committee, chairman whitfield, mr. griffith of virginia, and mr. butterfield of north carolina for their leadership on this important issue. unfortunately the boiler mact rule has the potential to cause a broad base of industries a total of nearly $14.4 billion in compliance cost and it could jeopardize upwards of 225,000 jobs. in my home state of georgia alone, the boiler mact rule would put nearly 6,400 jobs at

risk. a time when 14 million americans are out of work, we need to take the necessary steps to prevent adding even more people to these unemployment rolls. mr. chairman, h.r. 2250, which simply delayed this rule by 15 months, in order to insert much needed common sense into this rule making process. by providing this important delay, there will be ample time for the e.p.a. to craft rules that will take into account the economic impact of these regulations and to provide industries with the needed time for their implementation. this has the potential of creating more certainty in the marketplace and currently exists and will help spur economic growth. pl chairman, critics of this legislation will say that we are simply ignoring the clean air act and risking irresponsible harm to our environment.

let me assure my colleagues that this argument is false. the intent of h.r. 2250 is not to completely repeal this environmental rule. the legislation seeks to correct the regulatory overreach by the e.p.a., especially in this depressed economy. and to reconfigure this rule so it can be functional for industries and save much needed jobs in the process. so, mr. chairman, in closing i urge all my colleagues please support h.r. 2250. i yield back the balance of my time. the chair: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from kentucky reserves. the gentleman from california is recognized. mr. waxman: mr. chairman, before i yield i want to set the record straight. our distinguished colleague on the other side of the aisle said that this bill would provide 15 months to promulgate a rule and five years to comply. there is 15 months to promulgate the rule, but there is no requirement that there ever be

compliance. i want to also point out this argument about jobs being lost are absolutely wrong for four reasons, four reasons you shouldn't believe them. the claims are based on fundamentally flawed studies, bought and paid for by the regulated industry. second, the rules state e.p.a.'s in the process of redoing them and not one of these studies has analyzed the actual final rule. thirdly, e.p.a. has done a rigorous 251-page economic analysis and found the boiler rules issued in february would be expected to create over 2,000 jobs. and finally, history tells us to be very, very skeptical of industry claims that the sky is falling. e.p.a. is in the process of rewriting these rules. i say to the industry, let us work together to fashion legislation that will solve the immediate problems, one, legislation, a bill that can be siped by the president.

not this bill which may never see the light of day out of the senate, and if it did the president indicated he would veto it. i yield one minute to a member of our committee, the gentleman from georgia, mr. barrow. the chair: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. mr. barrow: thank you, mr. chairman. i thank the ranking member for the time to express another view on the legislation. i'm proud to be an original sponsor of the e.p.a. regulatory relief act. this legislation was drafted in response to new e.p.a. regulations on emission from industrial boilers. i believe those regulations, however well-meaning, cannot reasonably be met with today's technologies. i believe that this bill is a more reasonable solution than that proposed by the e.p.a. the choice between us is not between the two mutually exclusive outcomes of dirty air or more jobs. our challenge is to serve policies that serve both. i think this bill strikes a better balance. it will spur industry, to make investments to cut down on harmful air emissions while minimizing the chances of negative consequences and job

losses. i'm proud to work in a productive, bipartisan way to get this bill to the floor and i encourage my colleagues' support. i thank the ranking member for the time and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from kentucky virginia tech. mr. whitfield: at this time i'd like to yield two minutes to the distinguished gentleman from texas, mr. hall, who is chairman of the science committee. the chair: the gentleman from texas is recognized. mr. hall: mr. speaker, chairman whitfield, of course i rise in support of h.r. 2250. as policymakers it's our job to use common sense and judgment to balance the universal priorities of a strong economy. security at home an security abroad and healthy communities. this country has a history of remarkable achievement in addressing these priorities. however, with an unemployment rate of more than 9%, it's irresponsible for the executive branch to stifle job growth and for that matter to create job losses through the outrageous

and inflexible negotiations and regulations. in my district alone, the boiler mact rules threaten more than 800 good-paying manufacturing jobs. these are not just that can be recreated. once eliminated, they are gone. several weeks ago assistant administrator stated arrogantly, quote, i don't want to create the impression that e.p.a. is in the business of creating jobs, unquote. i feel that statement's inappropriate and unfeeling towards those who have lost their jobs and lost the ability to provide for their families' future. h.r. 2250 is a clear statement by congress that e.p.a. slow down and allow for reasoning along with regulations. the president said that his administration would be the most transparent in history. instead we find clandestine models, cherry picking of data, double counting of benefits, and failure to follow basic peer review guidelines. this is a recipe for losing the

public trust. e.p.a. needs a time-out and this bill provides it. i urge all my colleagues to support this bill. i yield back my time. thank the chair. the chair: the gentleman yields back. the gentleman from kentucky reserves. the gentleman from massachusetts is recognized. mr. markey: can you inform us how much time is remaining on both sides? the chair: the gentleman from massachusetts has 11 minutes. the gentleman from kentucky has 13 1/4 minutes. mr. markey: i yield five minutes to the gentleman from virginia, mr. moran. the chair: the gentleman from virginia is recognized for five minutes. mr. moran: i thank my very good friend for yielding to me. mr. speaker, a rigorous, peer-reviewed analysis called the benefits and cost of the clean air act from 1990 to 2020 conducted by the environmental protection agency found that the air quality improvements under the clean air act will save $2

trillion by 2020 and prevent at least 230,000 deaths annually. 230,000 lives saved on an annual basis. we could save four times the number of people killed each year in automobile accidents by reducing air pollution. yet just two weeks ago this chamber approved legislation to block the e.p.a. from implementing rules to clean up the single largest stationary source of air pollution. that legislation gave this nation's oldest and dirtiest coal-fired power plants another pass to pollute and avoid compliance with the clean air act. today we are considering legislation, the e.p.a. regulatory relief act, to exempt the second largest source of hazardous air pollution, industrial and commercial boilers, process heaters, and commercial and industrial solid waste incinerators. under this bill these large

boilers and incinerators would be given at least a 75-month pass from regular ligse. a 15-month delay before any new rules could be issued. and an additional five years beyond that delay before any new emission standards could be issued. and no deadline for industry compliance. this bill does more than just offer a pass from regulation, it also ensures that any final regulation will be weaker than what the law requires. the final section of this bill implements the clean air act's most protective legal standard for reducing toxic air pollution, the maximum available control technology. after 20 years, we are replacing it with the absolutely least protective of measures called work practice standards. such as equipment tune-ups that need not even reduce emissions. pass this bill and you sentence pass this bill and you sentence hund