>> watch the rest of the interview tonight, on the -- watch the rest of the interview tonight. >> the annual award recognizes individuals and organizations who have advanced greater public understanding and appreciation for freedom. from the u.s. capitol, this is about 45 minutes.

>> thank you, ladies and gentlemen for being here this evening. >> thank you for being here. historical society and i am ron serenson, the president and ceo of the u.s. capitol historical society. we have the great honor this evening of making a presentation of our freedom award to two very distinguished gentlemen. before weet to that part of the program, however, i do want to bring to the podium for two purpos, really -- one, to greet all of you here and also to make a presentation to the speaker of the house of representatives, the honorable john boehner of ohio. speaker boehner? [ applause ] >> this happens to be john

boehner's birthday. so we have a present for him. and the present is a letter that was written november 22nd, 1800. does anyone know what that date means? that was the day the first session of congress was opened in this building by president adams. and the letter was written by a gentleman -- a member of congress namedlouis morris of vermont who is a nephew of senator gerben morris of new york. congressman morris was appointed the first united states marshal by vermont and appointed by george washington in 1791. he provided an eyewitness account of president adams' speechere in this building. and he said it was a very

modest, good speech. and he also discussed in this letter the living arrangements he andis uncle had in one of the two houses on capitol hill built by george waington in mrs. washington's house, he talked about it. and he complained that dining in mixed company, which meant the other people who lived in the house, was very unpleasant but otherwise the accommodations were, quote, comfortable. so mr. speaker, please accept this letter, this hioric letter on this historic occasion of your birthday on the day we honor the historic service of two very prominent members of congress. mr. speaker? [ applause ] >> ron, thank you for the letter. and i'm honored to accept it on

behalf of the people's house. i've had a chance to review the text of the letter. and first, i'dsay this, i feel a little better about joint sessions of congress back then when i didn't have to sit straight up for an hour or so. but, you know, according to the letter -- and i looked at the letter earlier -- president adams said this -- he said that he hoped the manners and morals of the people of this city would long resemble the great character the name the city bears. i think our honorees tonight are certainly among those who have. john dingell played a role here in the joint session of congress long before he served. he was a page when fdr addressed the congress the day after pearl harbor.

his job was to take care of a radio reporter. and when the speech ended, john was supposed to turn the reporter's recorder off. but instead, he let it continue rolling as the house debated whether to go to war. the recording is now a critical piece of the capitol's history and, frankly, e nation's history. on that day of infamy, daniel inouye was getting ready to go to church when he heard the news of the attack. it came over the radio in honolulu. he ran outside and he looked west and saw the sky filled with smoke and exploding shells. and he was a red cross volunteer. so dan tended to the wounded and then of course went on to serve in the war. over the 70 years since these men have shaped some of the most

significant moments in our history. today they are the deans of the house and the senate. and while the facts of their careers speak to their longevity, it's their character and their contributions that we will remember. and it's no surprise that in the finest traditions of the congress, they will be honored tonight by members of the other side of the aisle. daniel inouye, john dingell have not simply honored freedom. they've preserved it for us with courage and with grace. so this award -- any award, really, represents a mere fraction of our gratitude to them. so, gentlemen, congratulations. it's an honor to be here with you. and, frankly, it's an honor to serve with you as well. thank you. [ applause ]

>> thank you, mr. speaker. i have to take the letter back so it can be secured operly. again, i want to thank all of you r joining us tonight. the united states capitol historical society w cread in 1962 by iowa congressman fred schwangle and chartered by congress in 1978. its genesis was sparked when fred encountered harry truman when fred was a history teacher. prior to running for ngress. and truman told himyoung man, you have to know your history if you want to be a good citizen. that's the founding rock for the united states capitol historical society. fred took tha advice to heart

when he entered the congress. he worked with then speaker of the house sam raburn, congresswoman church, among man other members of congress to create the u.s. capitol historical society. his vision was that the society would be the history teacher to the nation. next year in 2012, the society will celebrate its 50th anniversary. obviously fred had an idea that was right for the time and for the next five decades. given the state of history and civic education in our schools today, the society's educational mandate is much more important than it ever was. if we are to involve knowledgeable participation in government by future generations. it's part of its mission to educate the public about the history of the u.s. capitol and the congress. the u.s. capitol historical society created the freedom award. it was inaugurated in 1993 to honor the 200th anniversary of

the laying of the u.s. capitol cornerstone by george washington in 1793. for 18 years, the freedom award has been presented annually in recognition of the dedication to recipients, to freedom, democry and representative government. named for the statue that graces the capitol dome, the freedom award recognizes and honors individuals and organizations who have advanced greater public understanding and appreciation for freedom as represented by the capitol and the congress. we're pleased to have with us tonight several past freedom award recipients. cokey roberts in 2010. dr. richard baker in 2009. congressman bob michael. speaker pelosi who presented the award to former speaker tom foley in 2007. and tonight we pay tribute to two gentlemen who have devoted

their lives to public service and have left their mark on every aspect of america life. the society has named the deans of congress as co-honorees to receive the 2011 freedom award. daniel inouye of hawaii, president pro tem of the united states senate and john dingell of michigan, dean of the u.s. house of representatives and the longest-serving member in the history of the house of representatives. [ applause ] >> together they represent 110 years of public service in the congress. for more than five decades, their lifetime leadership has guided legislation affecting all walks of life in their respective states and in the nation. their dedication to public service and to the nation

represent an extraordinary example for all americans, as well as their colleagues in congress. to provide an introduction to senator inouye, i have the pleasure of introducing senator thad cochran. i'm pleased to call upon senator cochran to say a few words about his friend and colleague. senator cochran was first elected to the u.s. house of representatives from the fourth district of mississippi in 1972. a banner year, because thad cochran and i were members of that freshman class. in 1978, he was elected to the united states senate and is currently serving his sixth term in office. senator cochran is the vice chairman on the senate committee of appropriations on which senator inouye serves as chairman. ladies and gentlemen, please welcome senator thad cochran. [ applause ]

>> thank you very much. thank you very much, ron, former colleague in the house. it is a great honor for me to introduce the distinguished senator from hawaii, dan inouye, who serves as chairman of our appropriations committee in the senate, has been president pro teas well. we look to him for guidance, for wisdom and friendship. he's a friend to everybody, and he ia leader for all. in my judgment, in the history of the senate, we've probably not had someone with as diversified a bacround of military service and experience along with public service of a civilian nature in the house and the u.s. senate. so it is my pleasure to

introduce, really present to you, dan inouye as the recipient of this distinguished award from the capitol historical society. [ applause ] >> thank you. >> the award reads "to senator daniel k. inouye, president pro tem of the united states senate, in grateful recognition of your lifetime leadership in the united states congress and for all you've done to advance greater public understanding and

appreciation of america's representative democracy." theryou go, senator. >> thank you. >> i will take it back from you so you can say a few words. >> i thk you very much. i'm humbled by this award, but as i said, i couldn't help but recall my first days here. i arrived in washington on the eve of my 35th birthday, landed in baltimore. i didn't know who to expect. and there was this young fella at the foot of the stairs. and he's john dingell. well, that was the beginning of an adventure.

but believe it or not, the dates that i recall and the moments that i recall are not watergate or iran control or civil rights. i remember the first day i sat in my office. i had no staff. i was there by myself. answered the telephone. and the phone rang. i picked it up. hello? and the voice said, i'm looking for the congressman from hawaii. i can't pronounce his damn name, but his first name is dan. i said, that's me. then he says, this is speaker raburn. [ laughter ] if you're not busy, how about dropping in to see me? i said, i'll be right there. i had no idea where the speaker's office was. but i figured it was in the capitol.

and i inquired. and this young kid says, there. so i didn't know there was a subway. i ran across -- this is in august, hot, hot, hot. and for the firs time in my life, i that had a three-piece suit. i was told that washingtonians all wore three-piece suits in the summer. so i got to the speaker's office, climbed up those stairs and he took me on a tour, a tour that i'll never forget. the speaker of the house took me around. he took me to the barber, took me to the shoe shine boy. and i still remember. this fella gets paid almost nothing. so when you get a shoe shine, you pay him at least 25 cents. yes, sir. he pointed out the bank. then he took me in his chamber.

that's my seat. you can sit here. [ laughter ] meday you may be able to stand behind this long table. but that day will come. well, those were happy days. but today, i'm here because i've had a good constituency. somehow i kept them happy. second, i've been blessed with two wonderful women -- two wives. i did pretty well. one good one would have been plen, but i've got two. then i've got good vitamin pills. that's very essential because you're honoring me for having lived this long.

yes, i was 35 when i came here. i'm a bit older now. i have a cane, but if you guys are looking for money, my committee is the one. [ laughter ] thank you very much. [ applause ] >> we've invited congressman fred upton to introduce our next honoree, representative john dingell. he and mr. dingell have worked together for mr. years, both in their home state of michigan and

in their work assignments in congress. mr. upton has represented the sixth district of michigan since 1987. in 2010, he was selected by his house colleagues t serve as chairman of the committee on engy and commerce. after having served as the ranking member of the subcommittee on energy and environment from 2007 to 2010. fred has a well-earned reputation for getting things done in washington and at home in southwest michigan. ladies and gentlemen, please welcome congressman fred upton. [ applause ] >> thank you. it is my job to introduce my dear frien john dingell. he certainly has looked out for our great state of michigan virtually every day and every night. and by anyone's definition, he is more than just a legend. he's a remarkable character in

every respec a world war ii vet, a member that greatest generation who never asked for thanks for a job well done but just did his job. and that attitude has carried on in his service in the house. everyone does know that his the dean of the house. he has had a remarkable journey with so many legislative achievements. john always carried about the michigan delegation, both sides of the aisle. and i actually got to know him when i was a staffer, when i worked for another michigan member of congress. he has always been a gentleman, whether it's dealing with members, heads of state, presidents, staff or constituents. he is ever so gracious and sincere and as well know, he

uses a special adjective when he describes his wife, the lovely deborah dingell, always at his side, a al partner. he's always wanting to find a just solution. and i've been with him and against him on both the winning and the losing sides of lots of different issues. and it's no secret that it's a lot easier to be with himhan to have him be the adversary. but if he is, he will always enlighten your intellect. henry hyde once chastised one of our colleagues from the mike on the house floor saying, john dingell has more character and integrity in this little finger than lots of people have in their whole body. that's true. he is a man of integrity, a man

of the house and from the great wolverine state of michigan. let me present to you our friend, john dingell. [ applause ] >> congressman dingell, we present this award to you. it says in part "in grateful recognition of your lifetime leadership in the united states congress and for all you've done to advance greater public understanding and appreciation of america's representativ democracy."

congressman dingell? [ applause ] >> thank you, my friend, ron. my former colleague. and you, my friend, fred, thank you for your gracious introduction. mr. speaker, madam leader, my dear friend, ted cochran with whom i serve with and my wonderful friend, dan inouye. receiving this great honor is important and i'm very proud and very much honored. but standing on this platform with my friend dan inouye who is a real american hero is something that brings me particular pride and pleasure. our friendship goes a long way back. as he said, i was one of the

early members to meet him when he came here. and it's also to be remembered that my family helped his family select the doctor who was going to take care of his wonderful wife, maggie, during the birth of one of his splendid children. and that's a matter of some pride to me. to the lovely deborah, my wife, i'm delighted to see you here as always and to be with you, my sweetheart. and my dear friends, i want you to know it's a great pleasure for debby and for me to be with you this evening. to susie dicks, ron, becky evans and the entire historil staff and the board of trustees, i express my thanks to you for the great work that you do in preserng the history of our nation's capitol and in organizing this event tonight. having said these things, i see

so many friends here. minority whip hoyer, minority leader pelosi, congressman larson, the democratic leadership and caucus, and also speaker boehner who does difficult tasks well and to whom i have the gratitude of many years of friendship with h. and i want to thank all who have been responsible for this wonderful evening and to the republican leadership and their staff for their aistance in organizing this event. i want to thank my michigan friends and colleagues. i see senator levin and his dear brother, congressman sandy levin. they and their family are great friends going back to before the day that i was even on this earth.

my dad was friends of their fathers and grandfathers. to all of you, i express my thanks for being here. and express how grateful i am to have friends like you. i've had the privilege of long service with distinguished people, real men and women, people of incredible values and decency. and i value the mories, the history and the thoughts. i also am deeply grateful for the privilege of serving as a part of this glorious institution which all of us have reason to love and which is such an important centerpiece to this nation and to its greatness and to its history. and i'm particularly privileged that i can serve here and that i can have the wonderful friendships and personal relationships and that we can be

here in an old chamber of the house of representatives with the statues of great americans around us. i'm delighted that i've been able to serve michigan. it's a wonderful state and it's a great part of our beloved couny. and i want to again express my pleasure that i've been able to serve with so many superb colleagues on both sides of the aisle. i have a wonderful lifetime of memories, going back to the days when i was a page. and, frankly, was of generally good behavior during those times. and i think that it is very important that not onlthe members of congress should know and cherish the history of this country, but that we should keep it alive and cherish it so that we can share it and pass it on to those who will follow us. but more importantly, so that we can learn from it, we can learn

from the trials and tribulations. we can learn from the successes and sorrows of this great nation. and we want to express, i think all of us, our special thanks to the united states capitol historical society for their work in preserving the history of this buding, the people who have worked here, the events which occurred and the history of the united states in reminding us of how important this institution and this wonderful old building is to the history and the reality and to the future of this country which we all love. we only have to look around to imagine all of the wonderful history that occurred here. but also to look and to remember those great men and women who served this wonderful country from this ilding and in this city.

we have the privilege of serving as the part of perhaps the greatest history -- rather, the greatest experiment in the history of government, the most successful democracy and something which was characterized, i think, by ben franklin. ben franklin was leaving the constitutional convention one time. and somebody said to him, what have you given us, democracy, a kingdom? he said, we have given you a republic, if you can keep it. he was giving us then through the generations a tremendous challenge. our founding fhers gave us a great institution, the government of the united states. it's our duty to see to it that we preserve it, protect it and pass it on to generations yet to

come. we function under a living, breathing document, the constitution of the united states, theeclaration of independence, works that have seen changes in the country and whose meaning has somewhat changed but whose basic principles remain the same in each case. they've served us through a tremendous civil war, through tremendous wars, through a hideous depression and many tumultuous events. these are no only the documents that guide us and shape our life and that of the country, but they're a reminder of the great hope and the vision that our founding fathers had for this nation. we are in rough times. and we must all work together. the lessons that the founding fathers and our predecessors

taught us are valuable. they were the visions of a country that's free, that embraces liberty and that provides equal opportunity for everyone who works hard and plays by the rules. this organization, the historical society, does something that was characterized by comments by george santana who said, those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. some of our history we would like to repeat. some of it, very much not. congress here is at an enormous juncture in our nation's history. we are a great nation. we are a wonderful country. we are a part of an extraordinary institution, the congress and the government of the united states. we are americans.

we share all the privileges that were left to us by our founding fathers. and we enjoy the promises tt the founding fathers made to our people. but we must remember that having these wonderful privileges, these wonderful possessions, these wonderful things which they left us is a trust of the highest character. we have a vision of the nation which we hope is the vision of our founding fathers. and we hope that that vision we can put into and keep in practice. to carry forward what they intended for us and for this nation. that we can protect it and that we can work together with affection and respect. i have to say at times, i see things which cause me considerable sorrow. i see that we're not able to do

that. and it's not frequent. it's not infrequent that we find that we cannot make this place work. and i think a little bit of reflection on perhaps that and those facts would be important to us because as we hold the trust that was given us, it's important that we recall that that trust imposes upon us a duty to cherish and guard and to protect the things thaour founding fathers and that our forebearers and that our predecessors in the congress left us. we have different viewpoints. but we can honor the viewpoints while at the same time we respect each other and while at the same time, we understand how important they are to us but alsoo the future of this country. i'm enormously fortunate.

i'm perhaps one of the luckiest men alive. i have a wonderful wife, great constituency, a wonderful place to live, a nation that's the greatest in the world and a group of men and women to work with who are a credit to this country or any nation. i give thanks each nigh when i go to bed that the lord would so favor me. and so i thank you for tonight's honor. and i ask god to bless you and i and all of us. and i asked that he give us his blessing upon this great institution and upon the united states of america. thank you very much. [ applause ]

[ applause ] >> we are inhis magnificent room which has now called national statuary hall and as most people know is the hold house chamber. this is old house chamber. this is where the congress met for about fbt -- and i wanted to spell a rumor. it's not true that congressman dingell served in this room during that time. but it is a magnificent room. just look around you. the opportunity we have, those of us who are part of the u.s. capitol historical society to make a small contribution is, for us, overwhelming. we appreciate the work and the effort of all that allow us to do that and work with the congress, the house, and the

nate. i want to thank the people who participed in this evening's event. especially, our honorees. and also our sponsors, as well as all of the supporters of the united states capital historical society. i would point out that there are guest books on each side of the room. we'd ask you to take a moment and add some thoughts in those guest books, which will then be presented to congressman dingell. they are located just at the desks on the outside of the chamber. so ladies and gentlemen, this concludes our evening. please enjoy the reception. thank you very, very much. [ applause ]

>> said the former director of national intelligence discusses how potential budget cuts may impact u.s. military readiness, like to are at 12:15 eastern. after that, live at 2:00, a member of the joint deficit reduction committee talks about the committee's failure to reach an agreement and what it could mean for the future of the country. following his remarks, a panel will look at the political and economic implications for the lack of consensus on cutting government spending. that's live tomorrow, here on c- span. >> the "new hampshire union leader" has endorsed newt gingrich in the republican presidential race.

last monday, mr. gingrich met with the paper's editorial board to discuss the issues and his campaign. here's a portion of that meeting. >> what we're companies paid to do by freddie mac? >> we were offering a strategic advice. there is a buck that was a good introduction to the eye you get large scale change. my specialty was listening to people telling us what their problems were and trying to help them think through what they were up against. in the case of housing, i was reminding build vendor of this this morning, i worked with jack kemp starting in the mid '80s on how do you help poor people get

into housing? there is a conservative way to do it. you teach them how to take care of their house. there is a frugality that allows relatively poor people to own homes and be successful. you don't just hand the money to buy a house, they cannot sustain it. if you are serious about meeting these goals, how would you try to do it? >> one of the freddie mac directors was quoted as saying we were hoping he would write something in support of the gef model to get conservatives on board. but that never happened. >> i looked at it and, again, government sponsored enterprises go all the way back to the founding of america. they can be useful -- no rational person was going to advocate creating a bubble.

i used to teach economic history. the fact that something is good if you do it up to this point and say that you do it up to this point doesn't mean suggesting you ought to do it up to this point suggests it puts you over here. do i think we should find relatively poor people own houses? of course. do i think that means you ought to give away a bubble and have people trapped in poverty. there's a big difference between the two. >> were you in a position to see the bubble coming? did you warn against it? >> if you go back and look at my speeches, it was not obvious in 2007. it was initially things like countrywide. the minute you started getting things like people buying houses with no money down and no credit, these things are and say. i was saying that in my public

speeches consistently in that time because -- again, people do not come to you and say -- i had no access to internal information. i was not on the board of directors and i was not brought in to review what they were doing. they asked me to give general a device. anyone who had said to be do you think we should do the following five things, would have said no. those are all of the things that and frankd dodd wanted done. private citizens are allowed to be in business. i did no lobbying of any kind. i checked with rick lazio who ran the housing subcommittee when i was speaker. he said be a note the a day and said he would be glad to talk to any reporters.

i never mentioned fanny or freddie to him. in my public role, i was very clear in what i was doing and i think it's important to understand that. as a private adviser, had he come to me and, again, every time someone said to me here is what is happening, this occurred pretty late. i said this is unsustainable because if you steady economic history, it is clearly not possible to do this. two other examples -- a good friend of mine is a very successful investor. in 1989, we walked down the mall and he was describing the grounds of the japanese imperial palace -- had a fraction of the state the value of florida. i said that the bubble.

he sold everything he had in japan just before the nikkei crashed. it was a random conversation. take much to think that when things are out of whack that it is unsustainable. >> the education department, which you mentioned, you have a long list of education reform ideas, one of whom is a pal grants for k through 12. then you say you will sing -- your shrink the education department to as much as you can get it. if we have pell grants, isn't that just entrenching the federal government? >> i would let the states do it. in the president's role, like address the joint session and stay here are 12 things i hope this government does and the --

reagan understood this thoroughly. as leader of the country, i can abdicate all series of things. i think every state should adopt a law that says student will encounter the declaration of the dependence every year they are in school. i now think the federal government should adopt that law but i will actively advocate that in every single state because the declaration of independence is central to who we are as a people. >> the education department would be data collecting? >> data collecting and analysis. >> you have lunch programs and subsidies -- how do you go through that? >> it goes through the department of agriculture. we broke the school lunch program after world war two because of malnutrition -- we

wrote the school lunch program after world war two. it was sponsored by ritual russell is conservative. so many people were incapable of serving in world war two because of basic health problems. that was the original theory behind it. i have not taken a position on school lunch but it is something i want to think about. i think he would be cautious before you jump off a cliff and say we're going to disband at. -- disbanded that. >> every school had a certain percentage of its budget comes from washington. is that a problem? >> it a pretty small percentage and if you go to the average school and if you were to take from new hampshire homage does that -- how much is federal regulation cost you and how much time do you spend filling out forms and public-works to you hire -- it's like when you talk to doctors about the number of clerks they hire to fill out the various forms. federal aid, you might find it

was more of a break even bad news think. >> in manchester, we have some 70 language spoken in the city's school system. they want to take these kids to -- take these kids who are esl and have them not take the test. >> if you have a kid that shows up from ethiopia or cambodia -- you say i'm glad you've been here six months and a test tube and they get average into the schools -- >> no child would be left behind. >> i am adamantly in favor of the official language being english and the government. immersion and english is the

first up toward prosperity for emigrants. >> in a gingrich administration -- every now and then it will pop up that someone will get offended because there are government documents and miami that are printed in spanish -- you hear this -- >> to have the requirement to pratt voting documents in every language in the country. theoretically, and california, i forget the total number of languages they forget the voting ballot then. it is absurd. >> and a gingrich administration -- >> english. >> english? >> english. >> see more videos from the candidates and read the latest comments from the social work -- from social media sites and link to the c-span media partners in the early primary and caucus states. all at c-span.org. >> this past july 4th, and lee a

ceremony held aboard the u.s.s. constitution in boston harbor, simon winchester became an american citizen. >> i decided i would take all the necessary steps in the exam -- there is a 10 question exam. i got one of the questions wrong. i had an australian friend who is also up for citizenship and i rang her and said i got one of the questions one -- i got one of the question is wrong. >> not the one about what color is the white house. i said i feel a fool confessing it, but it is what is the american national anthem? i blurted out "america the bird -- america the beautiful." he said in my view, it should be, but it's not. >> be author of 21 books, watch the rest of our interview with simon winchester tonight at

8:00. >> >> this week on "newsmakers," raul grijalva joins us from tucson, arizona. here in the studio in washington, two congressional correspondents. david has the first question. >> good morning. since you left town, the super committee has failed in its mission to come up with a deficit reduction plan. were you sorry to see them fail? what should congress do about that? >> it was mixed emotions for me. i had hoped that the committee would think big, that they would forge a package that involved